#spoilers for the last olympian i guess

[professorhayforbreath]

percy jackson jesus parallels

son of (a) god

walks on water

"one of you will betray me"

[the-broken-beluga-tail]

Ok so spoilers for Percy Jackson The last Olympian but like I just realized Silena and Clarisse are a platonic version of Achilles and Patroclus. Oh.

[helyeahmangocheese]

not to bring percabeth into this but why didn't rayllum get an underwater kiss... sigh

[soulless-bex]

to all the new pjo fans, just thought id let you know:

in pjo, the gods canonically follow the western powers and canonically are influenced by them.

they reflected the greeks when their siege of power was there, they probably reflected britain at some point in history, since again, they follow and are influenced by western powers, and now they are in the states because they followed the western power there and are therefore also influenced by the culture.

and last i checked, togas were not in fashion in the states

[icarusvshozier]

Luke Castellan x Hephaestus!Reader who crafted Backbiter

a/n: this started off as general luke x hephaestus!reader hcs but quickly spiraled into just luke x hephaestus!reader who made Backbiter with no hesitation but with no knowledge of what they were making it for + luke's betrayal. so, here's that. reblog if you like it, and come talk to me abt luke!!

warnings: not edited SORRY. lots of plot, spoilers for tlt duh, might not be totally canon compliant but fuck it we ball, swearing?, inconsistent grammar?, angst, a little bit of thirst, implied established romantic relationship between luke & reader, vague sword fighting, at one point reader literally turns into a bird and flys away like Superman so dont say I didn't warn you, I'm pretty sure this is GN!reader but let me know if it's not

— You could have never imagined having Backbiter being pointed at you in this way. When Luke told you to follow him during the firework show, you hesitated but only because you and your siblings worked hard on the display all year and you would be lying if you said you didn't care about seeing it play out. But he said it was important, you smiled and left with him thinking he was only playing, not wanting the ample makeout time to go to waste.

— But then he took you into the woods and started talking about the Gods faulty parenting, which wasn't terribly out of the ordinary but you hadn't been expecting a vent session. You just ran your hand through his curls and stared into his eyes, waiting for him to kiss you but he kept talking.

— All about Clarisse and Percy's quest and the master bolt. You guessed any camper would have a lot on their mind right now but you kind of wanted him to shut up and kiss you.

— "But it isn't over. Clarisse didn't steal the master bolt." You had been staring at his lips, but you snapped out of your haze, "What? What do you mean?"

— He confessed to you that he stole the bolt over the winter solstice. You gave a soft but slightly nervous chuckle as he held you close. You repeated your last question again with an added, "Why?" like a fool.

— He only held you tighter and poured his soul out to you, everything he had been hiding. The tricky son of the God of Thieves, how Kronos came to him in his dreams, how he played perfectly into his despise for the Gods, how he gave his shoes to Percy so he would either give the Master Bolt to Kronos or die getting there, and how he needs you by his side

— You realize much too late into his ramblings that you have already helped him in his mission, you gave him Backbiter with no questions asked.

— So many questions flooded your brain, how long has been planning this? How long have you been part of this scheme? Has he only ever gotten close to you for this reason, just to get something out of you? Are you even part of this scheme? Or would you join him and find out Kronos doesn't think you're worth jackshit and kill you the second you step out of line. You know how the world was before the Gods, when the Titans ruled, and you wouldn't live like that.

— You push him away and tell him such. Tell him that he's crazy for thinking Kronos is a better overseer than the Olympians.

— He asks you if you're really gonna die on the sides of the Gods just because your father has given you two acknowledgements in your whole 19 years of life.

— You almost sass him and tell him that you've actually had three interactions with your Godly father. But then you realize one of the three was being claimed as a child of Hephaestus, and he probably wouldn't count that right now.

— Though, Annabeth did just tell you all about her meeting with Hephaestus on her quest.

— You had thought of your godly father fondly enough before she told of meeting him. The second time you interacted with your father was when you prayed to him to help you figure out a way to make one of your latest inventions work, and he actually responded with input. The third being him gifting you a necklace of shapeshifting when you took his advice and successfully made a first of its kind invention. You thought responding to a call for help and then rewarding a child for pulling through something complicated was more positive enforcement than most demigods got from their parents in Olympus. But now, you really thought that he might be different from the other Olympian Gods. But it reminded you of when you first received your necklace.

It made your relationship with Luke a little weird for a while after, like walking on eggshells, just the visible reminders and contrast of your parents' behaviors. Him with his scar, you with your necklace.

Eventually you talked to him about it. Or, he told you how he felt about it, rather.

He warned you that your father was only doing this so you would do something in return for him. Warned you that someday, be it next week or 10 years from now, he will be cashing in that favor.

But its been years since you got that necklace, and you haven't heard from your father since.

With Luke's warning, you considered it a good thing.

You joke about it offhandedly how you haven't heard from Hephaestus in years on the anniversary of when you got your magic necklace, "Guess he doesn't need that favor yet." And Luke twitches.

"You say that like it's a good thing." "Isn't it?" "What? That he disappeared on you right after giving you a gift? Have any of your siblings even heard from him in the last couple of years?" He spewed it out like a cough he could no longer keep in.

As much as you liked the occasional structured debate for fun, you got choked up when Luke said this. You weren't sure if it was the words, or his tone or how fast he spilled his thoughts that got to you, but you wondered, was he mad at you?

"I mean," you could no longer look him directly in the eyes, so you flicked your gaze to the ground, to the stables behind him, his nose, his shoes, anything. "I dont kn-I guess, well- I mean, I don't know about everything that goes on with my siblings so..." you stammered out.

"As far as you know?" Tears welled in your eyes from the confrontation, you looked straight up and blinked as light and as fast as you could. "No, I don't think so, Luke." You paused and faced him, "Why even? Why do you care?"

"Why don't you care?! Your dad does one thing for you and you're loyal as a dog to him! He doesn't deserve that! He doesn't care about you! Or your siblings!" Or your siblings felt like an afterthought.

You didn't know where to start with him. Did he call you a dog?! Or how about him projecting and taking out his own daddy issues on you. You didn't know where to start so you didn't, you used the power in your necklace to shapeshift into a bird and fly away from the boy to find a nice tree to stalk observe him from.

He yelled after your disappearing form, "Y/N! No, wait! Come back here!"

He looked around, but couldn't find your form camouflaged in the branches behind him. He sighed defeated, and ran his hand through his curly hair.

He found you the next day at your workstation, back to regular, and apologized for saying what he did. You considered ignoring him but turned to face him.

"You hurt and confused me." You pout bluntly. "Do you believe what you said or did you just want to hurt my feelings?"

Luke pulls the work gloves off your hands, then takes one and leads you into the forest. Some of your siblings were starting to stare and he knows that you both would rather not be so emotionally vulnerable in front of so many people.

"I didn't mean what I said about your dad not caring about you.. I never want to hurt you, I just don't want to see you get hurt by someone that's supposed to protect you. And I guess I thought that if I could tell you what the Gods are like before they get to you, then they couldn't harm you."

— Which takes you to now, with shaking hands holding out your finely crafted medium sized blade a few feet from where Luke stands with his hand resting on another piece you created. A blade you created with only love in your heart, a blade you handed Luke while thinking about Viking weddings; how they exchanged swords instead of rings like today - a blade now used against you.

— You fight, gnashing teeth and spitting salvia and blood at each other's feet. The sound of blades clashing is silenced by fireworks overhead, you're yelling at each other, how could you be so stupid, why cant you see what's best for you? I thought you loved me & I'm doing this because I love you.

[shwarmii]

You know the books and like Clarisse and I haven't read the books yet, so maybe you can explain something for me? They say the gods don't always claim their kids especially if they don't have 'glory' yet, and they say (and I see on tumblr) that Ares doesn't like his girls, and he's overly mean and almost abusive to Clarisse, but she's HIS.

Does it ever say when/why he claimed her? Was it a possession thing even though he doesn't at first like her or approve of her? Did she do something special and he went yup that's my kid I guess?

this ask is referencing this post

oooooh, okay, uh... important things to note: (1) i have chronic memory loss, (2) i havent read these books in years, so let's see how i do from what i remember lmao

regardless, thank you for asking me a question! very sweet that you thought id have the answer

the answer will be a bit of a spoiler in terms of world-building, so lemme just

⚠️ pjo world-building + mild plot spoilers below ⚠️

so, the last book in the first series ("Percy Jackson and the Olympians") reveals most of the unclaimed kids are actually the demigod children of minor gods

these minor gods were implied to have been fearful of what might happen to their kids if their kids were claimed. because then, their kid would need their own cabin, and a minor god getting a set-up right next to the big 12 could cause anyone in said big 12 to percieve that act as a slight, and might take out that fury on either the said minor god in question OR their newly claimed kid. not even Hestia had a cabin for her kids, and she used to be in the main 12 until she stepped down for Dionysus to be amongst the big 12 instead (when the minor gods are allowed cabins, she gets cabin 21). Percy Jackson is the one who makes the demand that every god claims their kid within a time-frame of arriving at Camp Halfblood, which then gives the minor gods a pass to claim their kid without being worried they or their child will be punished for doing so

Riordan makes this a very small reveal, considering how important it is. but Percy isn't friends with any unclaimed kids really, all the people Percy meets who are new to Camp get claimed within the book they are introduced in. so there's no one to really be our emotional throughline for that reveal, nobody for fans to theorize who such-and-such's godly parent might be. it takes up only a few paragraphs, unfortunately, not much; definitely not a full chapter. i dont remember if there were any stragglers from the big 12's kids who had been unclaimed up to that point? i dont think there were many, if any. it sets up and disillusions in one go that the whole "you get claimed if you are worthy" as having been an assumption the kids made to find "logic" (in a self-deprecation way, similar to how divorced kids or kids of a single parent may "logic" their parental situatuon as their own fault) to their unclaiming

however, the toxic notion of "achieve glory = godly parental attention" is still prevelant in the claimed kids too. it is why Clarisse targets Percy; he comes into camp having already fought a minotaur and won? him doing that sets off her insecurities about not being worthy and makes her jealous, which is why she goes after him so often before Percy's first quest. there's very few chances for kids at camp Halfblood to prove themselves, unless they leave; and they only can leave by either sneaking out (and dying, or at least risking death) or going on a quest (which also risks their deaths). so any chance to prove themselves for glory, in friendly or unfriendly ways, is highly covetted

i mention this because Clarisse HAS proven herself to her dad in some way. her electric spear is from Ares. now, because we dont get a lot of gossip about WHY Ares gave her a gift (esp since he isnt the gift-giving sort. he values violence/battle prowress, strategy, and victory (regardless of if that is an "honorable victory" or not)). she likely proved herself in an above-average way from her cabin-mates but not in a legendary way. if it had been legendary, we wouldve heard about how she got her spear when people were warning Percy about Clarisse. and we know Clarisse didn't earn her spear as a reward for a quest (or as "good luck" gift before a quest), because Clarisse's first quest comes in a later book. but yeah, makes it all the harsher in this world where it is so hard to get godly parental attention that Percy broke the one token of it that Clarisse had (and, no, Ares never replaced it. tho Clarisse does get a new spear called "Maimer"; but all the kids, including her cabin-mates, call it "Lamer" behind her back unfortunately), and Percy breaking her spear definitely adds to her hatred of him. so Clarisse HAS proven herself to her dad once. and it is unlikely that she did something so great that he claimed her and gave her a spear in one go. so the two (her being claimed and her getting the spear) are likely unrelated events

now, did she prove herself in order to get claimed? perhaps. the big 12 gods tend to claim their kids as a reward within their first year or less of being there (fucked up that Poseidon chose "good job humilating that Ares girl who misdirected her anger to be at you" for Percy's, but okay). it isnt until Percy Jackson wins the war that he demandingky bargins for all gods to claim their kids. but yeah, out of the big 12 (minus the Big Three, minus Artemis, and minus Hera = 7 gods), they all are decently prompt when it comes to their own kids. they are implied ot have been, at least. again, very few stragglers, if any, that were not the demigods of minor gods within the books

Dionysus especially was prompt (bc he is AT the camp). which, i know this is a tangent, but i gotta talk about Dionysus as a godly parent because the books barely do. but part of his punishment regarding being exiled to Camp Halfblood isnt just about his punishment being no throwing parties and no Olympus. his punishment is his own kids, and not in the way that initially sounds. Camp Halfblood kids dont live long. theyre considered lucky to make it to college-age, and absurdly lucky to get to their 30s. Percy himself never imagines himself getting older. this fucked up lifespan is resolved in many ways thanks to the "Heroes of Olympus" series. but, before then? Dionysus' exile is about being forced to be a present figure in his kids' life and watch them all die tragically young, being forced to help bury them. he's actually very traumatized from it all. he even begs Percy at one point to keep an eye out for any Dionysus kids during the war's final battle; and he even runs up to some of his kids who survived (i think? it was his twin girls?) and hugs them, crying. we dont get to know any of Dionysus' kids through virtue of none of them being friends of Percy, so we don't get to really know how Dionysus is like as a parent, especially as a godly one that is very present in his kids' lives. we get glimpses of him in the background, and for a guy who misdirects all his bitter anger about his exile onto the campers who are not his kid... he sounds lovely to his own kids? idk, thats at least from what i remember. shitty and bitter to other kids at camp, very loving in a quiet and traumatized way to his own. its not an excuse but it does make sense. (its also why he hates Percy; his presence means dangerous things will happen as long as he is alive, which therefore puts his own kids in danger. ...maybe thats why Percy isnt friends with any of Dionysus' kids, maybe he forbade them from getting close to Percy? idk)

but yeah, the big 12 are all p good about claiming their kids in the book, in retrospect once its revealed that the unclaimed children are largely the minor gods' kids. the timeline Percy forces them into does demand they somewhat untangle the "claimed as a reward" aspect too which is nice, they now just have to claim their kids p much as they are (unless their kid doesnt something great FAST), and not during a moment where it is good for the godly parent's image to be associated with this "moment of glory"

that being said, that doesn't mean Ares is a good dad in the books. the one moment we do see Ares and Clarisse together is in a later book, and she is uncomfortable in his presence and one time even flinches around him. i dont think Ares physically abuses his kids, mostly because i dont think he is present enough in any of his kids' lives to find a fucked up "reason" to hit them (i would not be surprised if the flinch and whatnot was from a sparring match gone too rough the last time they met tho). i think it is more so a flinch because Mrs. La Rue likely has gone after similar men to Ares, therefore making visual markers of Ares (eg. a leather jacket, motorcycle, etc) triggers to Clarisse's mind to be on guard as these other men have been unpredictable and/or abusive; and Ares hasnt been around Clarisse enough for her to trust him not to be the same nor does she trust him enough to be comfortable in general around him (as it's an Event when her dad shows up, not just some Tuesday). and that's in the books. thats not accounting for the tv show deciding "Clarisse will never be good enough to Ares because she is not one of his sons" (which i think makes sense in a representation point of view; but i also think it makes less sense sense about Ares specifically. because Athena is also a god of war, and theres even evidence that Aphrodite is/was a god of war when she was initially worshipped, so Ares is aware of women being equal and capable; Ares was also the patron of Sparta, which was the city-state with the most rights for women, one of which was that it was only one that allowed women to protect themselves against their husbands. and you could also argue, due to some of his actions in his legends, that Ares protected mistreated women. however, "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" states that Olympus' move to New York meant that the gods changed to better reflect their enviroment, and Ares is the most likely best-fit to represent the Western/American brand of toxic masculinity. so. his depiction in the books works well enough for a man still in an affair with Aphrodite who upholds glory in battle as the pinnacle of human greatness, and his built-up depiction in the show to be more abusive and sexist does and doesnt make sense. i care more about representation and a good story than i do have Ares be academically perfect to how we understand his lore to have made him out to be, personally). but yeah, in both versions, he's been set up as a shitty dad. he's inattentive and lacking self-awareness at best (and, again, is still actively having an on/off affair with Aphrodite, which no doubt complicates his kids' feelings for him the same way any irl dad cheating and/or paying more attention to his girlfriend than to his kids would) in the books. which does then feed into Clarisse's relationship with him. Ares, like many of the gods, sees their kids as extentions or representations of themselves. so its good when things are good and you make them proud, but then anything you do badly then "reflects badly on them too" which can be really damaging to a kid

the only gods we see as exempt from this mindset of extension/representation (other than obviously Hera and Artemis, as neither have any biological demigod children. Artemis does have her mistresses of the hunt tho) is arguably Dionysus as aforementioned, kind of Poseidon as he keeps trying to connect with Percy (also maybe Hades for the same? we don't see him a lot, so it is hard to tell), as well as Apollo kind of? Apollo had his initial personality kind of backtracked and retroactively better-dad-ified, as he got his own POV book series ("The Trials of Apollo"), which includes a very heartfelt scene for when he got reunited with his son, Will Solace. so the gods arent terrible parents with all the same ideaologies, but they are absent more than they are present (with the exception of Dionysus, whose punishment is to be present and get attached 💔 not an encouraging move, guys)

which brings up another important point: that we dont really get other points of view in the first series, Percy is all we get. and though Clarisse is his ally (i love that Riordan did not have her betray the camp for the war in the first series. she just doesnt fucking like Percy lol), she is his most argumentative ally. in order for the reader to know Clarisse's backstory and know if she had to earn her claiming or not (which again: i dont think she had to. she may have been manipulated to think she did tho via the whole "i will claim you as a reward/i will claim you when it makes me look good and i can have some of your spotlight" bit), as well as learn how she earned her electric spear from Ares that Percy broke, Clarisse or someone close to her would have to sit down and tell Percy about it. and Clarisse wouldnt do that because she is not close with Percy; and nobody close to Clarisse would do that because they know Clarisse would feel betrayed if they talked about her private stuff to anybody, Percy or otherwise. all we really know about Clarisse La Rue's backstory is she was born in Phoenix, Arizona; and the satyr who led her to Camp Halfblood was Gleeson Hedge. that's it.

and i have a lot of complaints about how Rick Riordan writes (mostly how he writes women and people of color, especially women of color. but other parts of his writing does suck too). and part of the novel aspects of the new show is it allows "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" have a new re-write with a team of writers (which does still include Riordan), so there are likely things that will be changing. hopefully, unclaimed children will have a spotlight (i would love to have a show-exclusive character be unclaimed, but thats unlikely to happen). again, i havent seen the show yet, but it is possible that they will not follow the books in the aforementioned claiming details and will instead go "no, all claimings happen in a moment of glory", rather than "it was going to happen if you were a kid of the main 12 regardless, and we are just waiting to do it when it most looks good for us to announce you are ours". maybe they will explain the circumstances around Clarisse's claiming and spear, i dunno. the first series of books are all written in First Person POV and limited to just Percy's, and the nature of television is to be more Third-Person Omniscient, so there is a good chance we will learn things outside of what Percy knows this time around

but yeah! that's the climate around claiming and parenthood at Camp Halfblood, which even impacts claimed kids post-claiming; and everything we know about Clarisse past and her relationship with Ares before Percy Jackson arrives (at least in the books, lol) if you read this far, i do apologize that this is very long and that i kind of meander into some tangents. i have a habit of overexplaining. however, i hope that makes sense!✌️

[handbarfs]

OKAY JRWI RIPTIDE THEORY TIME

i wanted to talk about the prophecy a little more, try to analyse it a bit and some of my dumb theories! spoilers for episode 110 ahead!

"An entity threatens world stability Caged in the deepest layers of infinity" The egg from the one shot that Drey took most probably released this entity and caused the hole in the sea.

"The seal remains locked by a key of divinity." If the Ferin bloodline possesses divine or special blood, it would explain how Drey, by holding it, could open this egg. Perhaps this egg was sealed away millennia ago by the two main goddesses, with the warriors who served them. The conflict may have started between two factions: those in favour of this entity and those opposed to it, maybe? The tree mentioned four bloodlines in the world, and it's possible that one of them had a disagreement with the other three, which eventually escalated into this war. This particular bloodline might have used this entity as a weapon in the great war, but perhaps things spiralled out of control?

this is what the tree said- "a war won by these combined efforts sealed an entity away and together created not only its prison but a key and a warning. this warning is the original prophecy meant to be passed down until the inevitable- time." and visions of tritons riding leviathans, red haired olympian looking elves flying with own wings, gargatuan dragons, casters controlling the elements like they were born to do so.

"Its release in time, an inevitability." The chains that imprisoned the entity might have a time limit I guess OR like most ancient prophecies, this one recognizes the inevitable hunger for power among most living beings. It foresees that people will attempt to find this entity to gain control over it and hopefully use it to become more powerful in Mana. Maybe the navy's secret project or Nikalus's personal plans are related to this entity?

"A sea god's last egg, the chosen is born underneath an eclipse, in the midst of a storm " The prophecy didn't come into action with Gillion's first birth but, in a way, with his second birth in the episode "Moonlight, Storm, and Sea" when he emerged from the Luxbris Pearl. I'm not entirely sure if it was an eclipse during that moment though; I just remember it being pure darkness, without a moon.

"foreboded calamity, the chosen is warned the shape of all life shall take a new form" If people have desires with with selfish motives, there will be repercussions. It's the same deal with Nikalus; he grants people's wishes, but they need to be pure-hearted. If someone asks for something with greed and self-serving intentions, it messes them up, with the tar corrupting and eventually killing them.

"the shape of all life shall take a new form" so this corrupted tar affects all creatures, all life forms- turning them into tar monsters, with their greatest fears and needs plaguing them as they become undead- a new form.

"A choice to be made, with no time to mourn." This part gets pretty confusing because the story hasn't really touched on the idea of making choices (except for that culty nonsense the elders fed Gillion). Maybe there's a choice between fulfilling personal desires or attaining true freedom from the desires that lock us into labels and hinder personal growth. Like Chip's burning desire to find Arlin, which keeps him stuck in his painful past and memories, preventing him from moving forward and growing. Or Jay's dilemma, torn between her Navy Ferin family and the loss of her sister, versus taking control of her life and focusing on herself. And Gillion, caught between the undersea rules and manipulation that's easier to accept, versus facing the pain and fear of confronting the lies and manipulation the guardians have fed him, discovering a much larger and complex world beyond the undersea. Their freedom from these desires would leave no room for mourning because they'd be too busy enjoying their liberation from such constraints.

A couple more things- Niklaus's powers bear a striking resemblance to the entity that corrupts the Black Sea. Maybe his freedom is tied to freeing this entity, giving him full access to his abilities? Another character with powers similar to this entity is Kuba Kenta, involving black tar oozing from wounds inflicted by him and and nightmares of people's worst fears. Kenta's powers have been described as otherworldly (the probability of different planes, existence of creatures worse than demons and fiends that come from the darkest depths "crawled from the darkest depths of creation itself"). All of these powers—Black Sea corruption, Niklaus's, and Kenta's—basically lead to a slow killing for their victims, exploiting their fears and greed while breaking their sense of self before ultimately killing them. My theory is that one of the bloodlines involved in the great war against the others dabbled in forbidden dark magic, and invited this entity into Mana. Things likely spiraled out of control, and the other bloodlines had to quell it through the great war and cage it within the egg, and then shunning out this particular bloodline for its actions. Now, it seems this bloodline is trying to regain its place in society by tampering with this entity once more, and I THINK it has something to do with the Hendrix bloodline and Nikalus's desire of freedom.

And I also think the Navy is aware of this entity and its history (maybe Ferin family secrets) and is trying to create a machine to help control this entity and ally with fiendish creatures like Kenta under their ranks. They plan to USE the entity to stay in power socially and militarily in Mana.

[veryace-ficrecs]

Hey! I saw your pjo fic list and was wondering if you could do a spoiler free list for tv show fans like maybe just book one stuff thanks!

Of course I can!

Percy Jackson TV Fic Recs (Spoiler Free)

So! the way that I've done this is divided it into two levels of spoilers. The first half will be fics that are spoiler free up to the currently released episode (as of right now, that's ep5 A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers). The second half of the list will be spoiler free up to the end of the first book, and subsequently the end of the first season of the show.

Keep in mind that most fics will be based on the books, and there may be some events that are either re-arranged, or happen differently then they may have in the show.

This list will include all ratings and tags, so read at your own discretion! Enjoy!!

Spoiler Free up to Ep 5: A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers

A Hephaestus TV Special by Alexandra989 - Rated G

Olympus tunes in to a Hephaestus TV Special- featuring Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase on the Thrill Ride of Love.

Episode Four: I Plunge to My Death by beady_toast - Rated G

He took a deep breath, counting to three before letting it go. He could see a little better now, faint light breaking through the window as the scenery whizzed past outside.The floor of the train felt hard and cold against his back, every bump sending a jolt to his heart. He opened his mouth to speak, but second guessed himself.

Annabeth still seemed to be considering whether or not he was worth keeping around at all. Grover would be insufferable. That guy (goat?) liked his sleep almost as much as he liked food.

“You asleep?” He whispered, words slipping out before he could decide whether or not he wanted to say them.

The silence was deafening, filling Percy’s ears with static. He chided himself for even thinking anyone would be awake. It was a stupid, childish–

“Yes,” a soft monotone voice replied. Percy fought the urge to smile. Silence stretched between him and Annabeth.

dangerous games // percabeth by annabxth - Rated G

percy shook his head helplessly, as if in disbelief of what she was implying. his face was sickly pale, his veins were prominent now, and his under-eyes a stark red. his face was sheen with sweat. annabeth knew he didn’t have much more time if they didn’t hurry. she moved to close the door, urging them to go, but percy called out again. “wait.” he said. he dug into his pocket. his hands trembled as he carelessly flicked the cap off of his pen, allowing it to become a sword. he offered it to her. “take this.” ~~ the arch scene in episode 4 from annabeth’s POV.

verklempt by achievingelysium - Rated T

Annabeth never liked water. ... Percy was nothing like she imagined the most important person in her life would be. He was her ticket to a quest. He wasn’t much of a reader—didn’t like books—but had sharp eyes and could think fast. Luke said he was a natural with his sword. He drooled in his sleep. He was quite possibly the most annoying person she’d ever met. And… even though she wasn’t supposed to, she liked him.

The start of a legend by Phantomxlegend - Rated G

When you just find out you’re a demigod and immediately get thrown on a world ending, life or death style quest. It can be a little stressful. Or Just some small Grover comforting Percy because y’all forgot about Grover.

A Mother's Love by wiseassrat - Rated G

"She must've loved you a lot to put up with that guy--if it makes you feel any better." Actually, that did not make him feel better. That did not make him feel better at all. Grover puts something into perspective and now Percy feels undeserved guilt about his mom. Takes place just before their first quest.

Packed and Petrified by DancingInTheSliverGlow - Rated G

In the lightning thief, Percy Jackson defeats Medusa and then promptly sends her decapitated head to the greek gods.

When the olympians got a package “best wishes percy jackson," Zeus probably said something along the lines of, "At last, my bolt! Finally, your son admits to steali-" and then gets turned to stone for like five seconds.

This is what I imagined happened, starring: Zeus mostly as a stone statue (we all like him better that way), Poseidon, Hermes, Martha & George (the snakes on Hermes caduceus).

Decided Family by greensgables - Rated G

Despite what most people might think, Grover is very aware of the fact that he doesn't have family at Camp Half Blood. Or he didn't, until Percy came around.

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Spoilers For the end of The Lightning Thief! Proceed With Caution!!!!

a girl who sees it all by thesleepingsiren - Rated T

Annabeth is hyperactive and hyper-observant, and there’s something about the way Percy deflates when he thinks nobody’s watching that makes her wonder. She’s noticed things. The way he furrows his brows when praised or his wide eyes when anyone asks him to hang out or do anything besides spar. When he makes someone laugh, his eyes narrow like he’s trying to decide whether it’s with him or at him. The way his nose crinkles when he’s struggling through Homer and how he apologizes with a self-deprecating joke. How initially resistant he is to a hug or any comforting contact before he melts into it, whole body relaxing. Sometimes, when he’s lost in thought, he scratches at his collarbone—a scar she doesn’t know how he got. He has a lot of scars she doesn’t recognize, old ones. Or, Annabeth picks up on Percy's childhood, and makes sure he knows he's deserving of friendship. Set after the TLT quest but before SoM.

Styx by Soggy_Ice - Rated G

Summary

The river Styx reflected his face against its murky water. It smelled of beer, seven-layer dips, and sweat. It smelled of garbage. For a moment, Percy was Gabe’s apartment again, locked inside his temporary room for the summer while Gabe’s voice demanded for his mom’s salary, as if his mom were the one who spent every night gambling. His reflection showed a boy, knuckles white over the edge of the boat, glaring at him with the same dirty hair and glowing green eyes. He was angry. Percy didn’t realize that he was leaning over the edge until Annabeth pulled him back, raising an eyebrow. She gestured at Grover, shaken up, murmuring prayers under his breath as they made their way down the river. Right. Underworld. Meeting Hades. For the bolt. For the quest. For his mom. OR Percy and Styx bonding.

Across the Hall by Deerlie_03 - Rated T

The lives of the Jackson family pre-The Lightning Thief as told by a mortal neighbour who wants nothing but the best for the young woman who recently moved in across the hall, pregnant and without anybody in her life, and her unborn son

mundane by laruegard - Rated G

"I don't like not knowing how to do things." "Well, that's an easy fix. I'll teach you." or percy teaches annabeth how to play video games while theyre at the lotus hotel and casino.

anytime, kid. by polypanpercyjackson (ineedibuprofen) - Not Rated

“So…,” Drew drawls, motioning with her chin to Percy’s chipped blue nails. “What’s with the nails?” Percy sits across from her, glaring up at her warily, “Why do you care?”

little oracles by Arten - Rated G

I laughed. “You? An architect?” I don’t know why, but I found it funny. Just the idea of Annabeth trying to sit quietly and draw all day. Her cheeks flushed. “Yes, an architect. Athena expects her children to create things, not just tear them down, like a certain god of earthquakes I could mention.” It wasn't until Annabeth watched Percy's face crumple that she realised that perhaps accusing someone of being the ruiner of all good things just like his father, right after he admitted the lengths to which his mother had gone to protect him– from marrying an awful man to literally dying to make sure he reached Camp– was the worst possible thing she could have ever said to anyone ever. Even if he had just laughed at her for thinking she could ever be an architect.

[nighttimeebony]

Reactions to The Last Olympian. Spoilers under the cut. And warning: long-ass post ahead.

EDIT: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4

Yay, Rachel’s back! I like that Percy is able to have a mortal friend.

Paul is cool.

Look, I love Rachel, but why does there have to be a goddamn love triangle? Percy likes Annabeth, Annabeth likes Percy, you’ve already put the work into making me like them and we all know they’re going to be endgame, so why does there have to be so much fucking romantic drama? Can’t Percy and Rachel just be friends without the weird romantic tension? This whole plot is busy enough on its own without you trying to shove something else in at the last minute just because you’re bored, RICK.

Wow, Percy really doesn’t get to have any downtime, does he? My boy’s really on “save the world o’clock” time at all times.

Yay, Beckendorf! I love you!

OH MY GOD AND HE’S ACTUALLY DATING SILENA???!!!! Oh, that makes me so happy!! I love that my little background crackship is actually canon! And the fact that they were apparently Camp Half-Blood’s “yeah, we know” ship is hilarious and I love life right now.

Ooh, bombs.

Wait. No. No no no no no no no stop

FUCKING STOP, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!

WHY?!?!? WHY DID BECKENDORF HAVE TO DIE?!? RICK!!! WHY??!!! WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME

I can’t even be happy that Tyson is here, I’m already so fucking depressed and it’s your fault, Rick.

Oh, hey, Triton. Which, fun fact, since Triton is Ariel’s father in the Disney movie, this means that (in the Disney canon at least) Hercules and Ariel are canonically cousins. So, hypothetically speaking, Percy would be related to the Disney princess Ariel, which you can’t convince me he doesn’t brag and joke about all the time.

“[Poseidon] had told me that I would know when to ‘spend [the sand dollar],’ but so far I hadn’t figured out what he meant. All I knew was that it didn’t fit the vending machines in the school cafeteria.” I love that the implication behind this is that Percy actually tried. He took this mysterious magic sand dollar that the god of the sea gave him and told him to spend wisely and wait for the right time to use it, and one day while he was at school, this fucking mad lad child decided to just cram it in the vending machine just to see what would happen. Percy is amazing and if you don’t love him, you’re wrong.

“Annabeth ran in right behind him, and I’ll admit my heart did a little relay race in my chest when I saw her. It’s not that she tried to look good… Still, just seeing her made me feel fuzzy in the head.” Actually screaming.

Clarisse’s friendship with Silena makes me so fucking happy. Clarisse is softer than she wants people to know and I love that about her. She’s so gentle with the people she loves and I’m here for it.

“Chiron and Annabeth exchanged looks, like they knew something that I didn’t. I hated when they did that.” Understandable. It happens a lot.

Oh, I recognize the name Chrysaor. Such a random reference, I love it.

JUST ADMIT YOU LIKE EACH OTHER YOU FRUITCAKES

“We headed downstairs to join the others. I didn’t know it then, but it would be the last time I ever visited the attic.” You know, Percy says something along these lines in every one of the books leading up to this one, and you’d think that I would learn to stop freaking out every time we get one of these lines, but you’d be wrong. Still getting anticipatory nausea and anxiety.

"The mountain tore itself apart, collapsing inward, and an enormous form rose out of the smoke and lava like it was emerging from a manhole." Typhon?!?!?! Do we have to deal with Typhon now too?!

Well shit, I guess we have to deal with Typhon now. Yeah, okay, sure, I don’t mind or anything.

“As far as I could tell, Rachel’s only rule about music was that no two songs on her i-Pod could sound the same, and they all had to be strange.” Hey, Rachel and I have the same music library.

Wait, so Rachel’s getting future vision dreams now too? But she’s not a half-blood, right? I thought only demi-gods got prophetic dreams.

Where the hell is Nico? What has he been doing this whole time? Just chilling in hell with dead people? And what even is his plan and why is it bad?

I think Silena is my new favorite character. Eating chocolates she doesn’t even like to try and cheer herself up is so horribly sad and depressingly relatable.

Percabeth!

“I shuffled uneasily and pretended to go through some more reports. Technically, even on inspection, it was against the rules for two campers to be… like, alone in a cabin.” I see what you’re implying, Rick, and I’m laughing.

“And I know some of you might be thinking, Aren’t all demigods related on the godly side, and doesn’t that make dating gross? But the thing is, the godly side of your family doesn’t count, genetically speaking, since gods don’t have DNA. A demigod would never think about dating someone who had the same godly parent. Like two kids from Athena cabin? No way. But a daughter of Aphrodite and a son of Hephaestus? They’re not related. So it’s no problem.” This is exactly how I predicted half-blood dating works, and it absolutely did not need to be addressed, but I kind of love that it was. It’s probably only funny to me because I was talking to my friend about this exact topic during school, and I made a “god incest chart” on a whiteboard so I could figure out if Percabeth would be considered incest. We eventually decided no, but still. My other non-pjo fanatic friends definitely started to question my sanity after that.

OH MY GOD! Is something gonna happen?! Are they finally going to confess?! Please, God, just give me this!

FUCKING GODDAMMIT, RICK!!! YOU CAN’T KEEP BLUE-BALLING ME LIKE THIS OR I’M GONNA RIP YOUR HAIR OUT

Oh, yeah, where the hell is Grover?

Wow, Annabeth really going for the throat here.

Aww, giant hell puppy

Nico!

Aww, of course Nico is sweet with the hell puppy

“Leneus’s knees started knocking. ‘I… I won’t answer questions with this hellhound sniffing my tail!’ Nico looked like he was trying not to crack up. ‘I’ll walk the dog,’ he volunteered. He whistled, and Mrs. O’Leary bounded after him to the far end of the grove.” I love this child. This child is my spirit animal.

Aww, Nico likes Juniper. That’s kind of adorable.

“[Nico’s] cold creepy smile made me sorry I’d agreed.” Have I mentioned I love this child?

Okay, shadow travel is the coolest thing ever, and definitely one of the coolest powers you could give to a child of Hades.

Everything with Luke’s mom… Oh, that’s horrible. I can’t imagine having to come to the realization that your own parent isn’t entirely there, especially at so young.

Little girl… not a monster… and something to do with fire… Shit, I got nothing.

HESTIA! Goddammit… I should’ve known that one.

I like that Percy refers to both Paul and Sally as his parents.

I really like Paul. I love it when step-parents are portrayed in a positive light, ‘cause I’ve got a step-dad too, and he’s more of a dad to me and my brother than my biological father.

Percy telling Sally that his signal to let her know he’s alright will be blue just about broke me. Fuck.

Orpheus!

The black figure Grover saw—I know him. Hypnos, the god of dreams. He’s a twin brother to Thanatos, the god of death. I think in some versions, Hypnos is actually female, but most people seem to agree that Hypnos is a male deity.

MOTHERFUCKER! Okay, so not Hypnos. Morpheus. I guess that makes more sense. *one google search later* Okay, I was kind of right. Morpheus is the son of Hypnos, and while Hypnos is the personification of sleep, Morpheus is the god of dreams and also has the ability to put people to sleep like Hypnos. Close, but no cigar sadly.

Nico! Why would you trick Percy?? If you just told Percy that Hades wanted to talk to him, he probably would’ve agreed, you didn’t have to lie to him.

PERSEPHONE!!!!!! And Demeter!

Demeter being a massive bitch about Persephone choosing to marry Hades is so on-brand and perfect. And that line about marrying the god of lawyers or doctors—oh my God this book is amazing.

Can we have an entire book about Hades and Persephone, please? This entire scene with all three of them is golden.

Why does Hades suck? Why did you do this to me? I had faith in you, Rick.

WHY IS PERSEPHONE SO INDIFFERENT TO ALL OF THIS?!?!??!!

ACHILLES!!!!! Wait, isn’t Achilles supposed to be blond?

Is it a coincidence that one of Greece’s most famous gay icons now stands before Nico di Angelo?

ANNABETH IS PERCY’S LIFELINE!!!! HIS TETHER, THE THING THAT KEEPS HIM HUMAN!!!!!! ToT DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY GLASS I CAN EAT

Holy fucking shit…… River Styx magic doesn’t fuck around.

Percy going on a murder rampage and nearly stabbing the god of the underworld because they threatened his dog is honestly such a mood.

*GASP* Baby Annabeth!

“The god looked at Annabeth, who was doing her big-pleading-gray-eyes thing.” The fact that Annabeth leverages puppy-dog eyes is hilarious, and the fact that Percy is so familiar with it by now implies that she’s done it on him before and that it apparently works! Oh my God, I love these children.

Also, Athena being an overprotective mother who doesn’t approve of Percy is just… Have I mentioned I love this book?

“‘This is a huge spell,’ Silena Beauregard said. ‘The bigger the spell, the easier it is to resist. If you want to sleep millions of mortals, you’ve got to cast a very thin layer of magic. Sleeping demigods is much harder.’” Yeah, that makes sense. Since the spell is bigger and spread across a greater number of people, it’s less concentrated than it would be if you wanted to just knock out two or three people.

The Hermes Cabin is just an army of Weasleys. (PJO Harry Potter au where the Weasleys are all children of Hermes and Harry is a son of Zeus when?)

“‘I’ll go with Percy,’ [Annabeth] said. ‘Then we’ll join you, or we’ll go wherever we’re needed.’ Somebody in the back of the group said, ‘No detours, you two.’ There were some giggles, but I decided to let it pass.” Everyone knows Percy and Annabeth are completely obsessed with each other.

“The girl in the lead had spiky black hair and a black leather jacket. She wore a silver circlet on her head like a princess’s tiara, which didn’t match her skull earrings or her Death to Barbie T-shirt showing a little Barbie doll with an arrow through its head.” Have I mentioned that I love Thalia? Goth-punk icon for the generations.

This is so fucking epic. I love the fast-paced battle planning stuff.

Michael Yew has a brother named Austin. I have a brother named Austin.

Percabeth. There’s that light-hearted snarky banter I’ve been craving.

Oh, yeah, since Percy’s fighting the Minotaur right now, I figured I’d make a reminder here that I forgot to write down in my first reaction post to the Lightning Thief. In the original mythology, the Minotaur was killed by Theseus, who was also, coincidentally, a son of Poseidon, so Percy slaying the Minotaur is kind of like a mirror to the original myth, even though he’s named after Perseus. But also I thought this was a good time to remind everybody that the Minotaur’s mother Pasiphae had sex with the Cretan Bull, an actual animal. Which, fun fact, is because Poseidon arranged for Aphrodite to put a spell on Pasiphae to make her fall in love with the bull. Kind of awkward that the Minotaur is technically Poseidon’s fault, and now Percy is the one that has to deal with the consequences.

“Tied around the base of each blade were lots of bead necklaces. I realized they were Camp Half-Blood beads—necklaces taken from defeated demigods.” Holy shit, that is dark. We’re really going there, huh, Rick?

Percy is a first-class badass.

Having all the monsters disintegrate when they die is a pretty clever way to avoid having to show actual blood and gore.

ANNABETH!!!!!!!!!!

“‘Percy?’ Silena Beauregard sounded like she’d been crying. ‘Plaza Hotel. You’d better come quickly and bring a healer from Apollo’s cabin. It’s… it’s Annabeth.’” NO!!! NO NO NO NO NO NO DO NOT DO THIS TO ME!! I SWEAR TO FUCK IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO ANNABETH I’M GOING TO SET MY HOUSE ON FIRE

“‘Get back!’ I slashed the air in a wide arc, driving the rest of the demigods away from Annabeth. ‘No one touches her!’” This. All of this.

Will Solace. I found the other gay one, but I can’t even be excited about that because ANNABETH IS PROBABLY GOING TO FUCKING DIE

Even when Annabeth has actual poison in her system, she cannot resist the opportunity to tease Percy for being worried about her. I’m deeply upset, but I still love them as a couple.

This entire scene is everything. Annabeth touching Percy’s weak spot—this is easily the most romantic thing I have ever read, and I read fanfiction for a hobby.

Okay, someone really needs to find this spy because they are wreaking shit and hard

I have no idea who the spy could even be. My first thought was Silena because of how prominent a character she is, but not only does that not make sense, but that would also be a fucking horrible idea. I don’t need to hurt anymore than I already do right now.

Wow. Holy shit, Nico’s life is a fucking tragedy. This child needs all the therapy after this. I’m not thrilled with this portrayal of Persephone, but it is what it is and it is fucking depressing.

What is going on with Rachel? She knows Greek now?? What is happening???

Oh, hey, Prometheus

*after learning about Luke's backstory* I can smell the redemption arc.

I feel I should mention that in the original myth, Pandora was the first woman and was created by Zeus specifically to make men's lives harder as punishment for Prometheus giving man fire, because Ancient Greece was sexist as all fuck.

HOLY SHIT!!! Percy is a first-class badass!!

Okay, so, Hyperion getting absorbed into a tree is prime nightmare fuel.

(Also, I was listening to We Will Rock You as I read this scene, which I feel is pretty apt.)

"'Yeah, baby!' a voice wailed. 'PARTY!'" Ah, I see the centaurs have joined the chat.

"The last part was because a panicked Hyperborean giant stumbled backward and sat on top of him. The lord of time disappeared under a giant blue butt." Only in Percy Jackson can you expect to read a sentence like this.

I love Dionysus being weirdly invested in Pac-Man of all things. That entire conversation between him and Percy in the bar was absolutely hysterical. Percy is such a snarky little shit and I love any interaction between him and Dionysus. It’s like watching two smart-asses trying to out-roast the other.

Sally and Paul!

Oh, no. Oh, this fucking hurts.

That fucking jar! Goddammit!

Rachel!

Annabeth, stop acting like Rachel isn’t already your friend now too. We established that last book, remember? You guys are nerd friends now.

YAS, ANNABETH! Girl held onto the outside of a crashing helicopter, and after pulling herself in, somehow managed to make sense of the controls and not only stopped the helicopter from crashing into a building, but also pulled it out of the fall to turn in a circle and hover before landing it on a New York highway with other people nearby without hitting anything or hurting anyone else. And she did all of this while the helicopter was literally seconds from crashing. Also also, technically only hours after she was stabbed in the shoulder with a knife coated in poison. *slow clap* BAMF Annabeth Chase, everyone.

“Rachel plopped down on the curb and put her head in her hands. ‘I’m sorry, Percy. I didn’t mean to… I always mess things up.’ It was kind of hard to argue with her, though I was glad she was safe.” Jesus Christ, Percy. Annabeth’s abandonment issues and poor socialization skills are not Rachel’s fault. But I guess she did just fly headfirst into a literal warzone, so I guess Annabeth’s reaction is a bit more understandable.

“I looked in the direction Annabeth had gone, but she’d disappeared into the crowd. I couldn’t believe what she’d just done—saved Rachel’s life, landed a helicopter, and walked away like it was no big deal.” Yup. You picked a good one, Percy.

"'Everybody keeps telling me to sleep,' I grumbled. 'I don't need sleep.' Chiron managed a smile. 'Have you looked at yourself recently, Percy?'" Yeah, for real, when's the last time any of these kids slept?

"You can't just abandon your family because they did something horrible." Um. Yes. Yes, you absolutely can. The abuse victim says you can. (It's me, I'm the abuse victims, and I give you full permission to tell your family to go fuck themselves if they've ever done anything horrible to you.)

I get what the message is intended to be, and what Nico's trying to say: wanting revenge is a valid feeling to have, but holding grudges and holding onto that pain and fury will not actually make you feel any better. And by refusing to help the Olympians in the fight against Kronos, not only is Hades ultimately destroying himself, but he's also inadvertently aiding in the destruction of everyone else. Zeus is really the only one that deserves Hades's revenge, but at this point Hades isn't just hurting Zeus, he's hurting everyone, and when you cross the line of hurting innocent people in your quest to hurt the one that's actually guilty, your desire and quest for revenge is no longer justified. And if you've reached the point of hurting innocent people for no other reason than to make yourself feel better, then you really are no better than the person who hurt you in the first place. But none of this has anything to do with the so-called sanctity of "family".

We really need to find this fucking spy. They're running everything.

CLARISSE!!!!! YAY CLARISSE IS BACK!!!!!!

"Through her war helmet, I could only see her eyes—but I could tell something was wrong. Her blue eyes shone with fear. Clarisse never looked like that. And she didn't have blue eyes." Wait, what? What's going on????

"I looked down at the dying face of Silena Beauregard." WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!!????!!! WHY?!!??!!!??? WHY DID SILENA HAVE TO DIE?!??!! HAS SHE NOT BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH ALREADY?!??!!!

"Silena opened her hand. In her palm was a silver bracelet with a scythe charm, the mark of Kronos." WHAT

This entire chapter is literally nothing but pain.

"Standing at the foot of Zeus's throne, looking up at the stars, was Rachel Elizabeth Dare. She was holding a Greek ceramic vase." Oh no.

"[Rachel] focused on me as if she were coming out of a dream. 'I found it. It's Pandora's jar, isn't it?'" OH NO

"Her eyes were brighter than usual, and I had a bad flashback of moldy sandwiches and burned cookies." OH FUCK

"I picked up Pandora's jar. The spirit of Hope fluttered inside, trying to warm the cold container. 'Hestia,' I said, 'I give this to you as an offering.' The goddess tilted her head. 'I am the least of the gods. Why would you trust me with this?' 'You're the last Olympian,' I said." Title drop! It's all coming together!

This is the hypest thing I have read in years.

Chiron! Please don't die, I am literally begging you.

NICO'S BACK!

Everyone here is a fucking badass

Paul just stabbed a monster with a sword, and Sally fucking shot another one! In stories like these with divine powers and weapons that begin and end with stabbing, you are not expecting someone to just pull out a fucking gun and shoot the thing. I love this book.

"'Thalia!' Grover cried. When the dust cleared and the mountain stopped rocking, we found her still alive, but her legs were pinned under the statue." Holy fucking shit!

"Annabeth wipes her tears away. 'There was a time I thought… well, I thought…' She looked at me, like she was drinking in the fact that I was still here. And I realized I was doing the same thing. The world was collapsing, and the only thing that really mattered to me was that she was alive." Love. Just love. It's beautiful and heartbreaking and I love these kids so much and I'm so glad they found each other.

"I turned and faced the Olympians. 'We need a shroud,' I announced, my voice cracking. 'A shroud for the son of Hermes.'" I mean…… What can I even say?

Percy's wish is everything.

OKAY, WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING TO RACHEL?!??! Someone really needs to do something about this!

I love that Percy refers to Blackjack as his pegasus.

RAINBOW! <3

Oh! She has the gift of prophecy! Now that makes sense!

Wait. OH, FUCK!!

Okay, I'm glad Rachel is okay, but these fucking prophecies, man! We literally just got done with the Great Prophecy, but now there's another one we have to deal with?! Don't get me wrong, I'm still gonna read it and I'll probably love it, but still!

The moment when Percy and Annabeth finally get together is everything I ever hoped for, and it completely justifies every goddamn fake-out leading up to this point. I'm just so happy right now

That ending, man..... This book series is amazing. I'm so glad I was able to fall in love with it without knowing any significant spoilers. I cannot wait to read The Heroes of Olympus. Maybe I'll do a reaction series for that too.

[lilithspade]

Percy Jackson & the Olympians episode 8 spoilers

This last episode is good, but after the amazing and heartbreaking episode 7 it kinda feels… a bit lacking.

The fight with Ares was good, but a bit too short.

The scene showing Olympus is beautiful but feels really empty. I guess they are trying to show from the beginning how no one really liked how Zeus rules and how many minor gods would willingly switch sides just to ‘have better benefits’.

The scene between Zeus and Poseidon was just great! I have zero complaints. It’s perfect.

The whole scene where it’s revealed that Luke was the real thief felt less impactful than I was expecting it to be. Of course the Luke that sees his own anger reflected on Percy and believes he can be persuaded to change sides wouldn’t try and kill Percy, but the whole chock that we should see on Annabeth’s face doesn’t have half the impact because their relationship hasn’t been explored enough yet. I do believe that they will address it better next season but still.

And I think Disney are a bunch of cowards that don’t want to say Sally straight out murdered her ex and made him instead open oder people’s mail like the sc*mbag that he is. But I’m willing to let it slide if Sally still sells him to the museum.

[nauticalmyles]

January 2, 2024

Pokemon Sleep

Befriended a Pikachu & Mareep. Kept neither.

Made new dessert dish, "Steadfast" Ginger Cookies.

Pokemon GO

Tagged all fully evolved with either good or bad moveset.

Won 4/5 PvP Battles (Went 0/5 last time I tried PvP)

Binding of Isaac: Repentance

Attempted Mother with Keeper. Got stuck in Dead Cat hell against Rotgut. One of my least battled bosses so don't really know how to survive against them.

Spoilers for Breaker of Horizons and Percy Jackson below

Breaker of Horizons: A LitRPG Adventure

Starting a new book series. Always so weird to do so after finishing/catching up to the latest on another series.

Guy named Nicolas wins a lottery to go to a new world.

Proceeds to get his ass beat as a distraction for his friend to have a better life before he leaves.

I guess people may become different beings after going to a new world, so he turns into an axolotl person.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Episode 4: I Plunge to My Death

Ngl, I originally forgot why/how Percy got to the top of the Arch but remembered that he fell from it.

The way Annabeth nerds out about the arch was cool.

The scene where Percy makes Annabeth laugh was cute.

[wondereads]

Personal Review (10/09/22)

Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan

This is another one of my full series reviews! As such, there are spoilers for the books scattered around in here, so proceed at your own risk!

The Lightning Thief 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

This book is the blueprint. Seeing or hearing the phrase "Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood" makes me froth at the mouth. This is the perfect introduction to the series; it sets the tone, introduces the basic worldbuiding, and builds up some amazing characters. This goes for all the books, but Percy is an incredibly likable protagonist that still has his flaws. His introduction is amazing, and we know from the start that he's a struggling kid that tries his best and comes to find himself as a demigod. The Lightning Thief is only the first book, but it has a great plot twist that has a ton of impact on the rest of the series, plotwise and emotionally. It's one of the best first books I've ever read, resolving things while still having that overarching plot to continue off of.

The Sea of Monsters 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

The second book is generally considered the weakest of the series. Don't get me wrong, it's still an absolutely amazing book, but compared to the others it is missing thing. My theory is that it doesn't contribute as much as the other books to the grand scheme of things. The biggest development is at the very end; the rest of the story is interesting but ultimately unimportant when it comes to tying into the other books. However, it does introduce Tyson, an amazing character, and it establishes the empathy link. I just think that if there were any of this series that didn't quite meet the standards for a 10 it would be this one.

The Titan's Curse 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Ok, this one is my personal favorite. There are so many developments in this book. We get to know Thalia, we meet characters like Nico, Blackjack, Bianca, and the Hunters, and the relationship between Percy and Annabeth develops a lot. This is also the turning point of the series where things get a lot darker. In this book, we have the first death of a major character, and it's done very well. The characters react accordingly, there's fallout after the fact, and Percy in particular has a lot of survivor's guilt. It's done in a way that keeps it appropriate for the target age group while still imparting the gravity of the situation. We also get to see Percy in a more authoritative position. Up until this point, he's been the one receiving orders and being cared for, but his interactions with Nico in particular put him in a position of authority that he's going to be expected to fill more and more.

The Battle of the Labyrinth 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

I think this book is the best for the side characters. Annabeth and Grover in particular really get to shine. Annabeth finally gets her own quest in the labyrinth while Grover is continuing his search for Pan. Other than The Lightning Thief, this book might have the most worldbuilding in it. The labyrinth is a great tool for seeing new pockets of mythology in the US that have previously gone unnoticed. Also, this is one of the most comedic books in that Percy interacted with no less than four people who had crushes on him and had no idea. Going back to the side characters, Nico and Rachel got some amazing development, and while you'll know something's up with Quintus, I doubt you'll be able to guess what it is (I actually totally forgot about it so I got to be surprised all over again). Also, Mrs. O'Leary my beloved.

The Last Olympian 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

I have read this series multiple times, but I was still grinning like an idiot the last twenty pages of this book. This is an amazing conclusion to the series! It's suitably grand, a battle with very high stakes, and the character development is top notch. Percy finally feels secure and content, Annabeth's family issues, biological and found, are resolved, Grover has a plan for his future, and Luke is... there. Sorry, I hate Luke. It also does a really good job of setting up the sequel series without detracting from the finale. The perfect end to a near perfect series!

The Author

Rick Riordan: American, 58, also wrote The Heroes of Olympus, The Kane Chronicles, and Magnus Chase, created Rick Riordan Presents

The Reviewer

My name is Wonderose; I try to post a review every week, and I do themed recommendations every once in a while. I take suggestions! Check out my about me post for more!

[bellamyroselia]

That promised abridged essay about Apollo and how he could be handled in a future Kid Icarus game

Since you liked that one abridged essay about Ares and my speculation on what his relationship with Pit could be, I decided to make more of these and the first one on the list was Apollo. So some spoilers here - my opinions are definitely going to be controversial. But at least by the end of it, I hope you’ll understand why I think this way and I promise, there’s going to be an happy ending so no need to fear in that regard. 

To quickly go over who he is, Apollo is the younger twin child of Zeus and Titaness Leto and the god of prophecy, healing, archery, sunlight, music and various other arts, along with being a bringer of sudden death and disease and protector of young boys. Considering how about 6-12 year-olds Castor and Pollux led a siege against Athens, Parthenopaeus and Hippolytus both died presumably around the age of 15 or younger by rather violent means, Neoptolemus was already a war criminal when he was around 12 and his own young son was beheaded on his own altar with him being unable to do anything, one could argue how well he’s doing his job on that last one. When described in art and literature Apollo is said to be youthful and handsome, though apparently not as handsome as Ares, Poseidon or Dionysus since Aphrodite never saw him as a potential lover. He’s typically portrayed as a long-haired pretty boy and and is often seen wearing a laurel wreath or golden headband Zeus gave to him - he’s actually the only male member of the 12 Olympians who has never been portrayed as an older bearded man even back during the Archaic era, at least up to my knowledge. Usually he has either lyre or bow with him and a crow is accompanying him.

Now let’s jump straight into the controversial opinions, which is that I think Apollo should be an antagonist - it’s unsurprisingly for the exact same reason I think Ares shouldn’t be one, aka Pit’s status as an Eros-expy. This is a kid who gets along with his parents and siblings just fine (except that one time, but that’s a topic for later), but who’s usually characterized as someone who thinks his uncle is easy to bully and has a punchable face. This serves as the starting point of Ovid version of the Daphne-myth, but considering Eros’ status as the god of love, how Apollo’s quite an emotional deity whose thoughts are more often influenced by his manhood rather than brain, with his love life not being the rosiest and how he tried to sabotage Eros’ own romantic relationship later on the line, the idea of them not getting along isn’t a one that comes out of nowhere. On the contrary it makes it rather easy to come to the conclusion that these two will continue annoy each other for eternity, with Eros never turning away the chance make his uncle taste the ground and Apollo always being both petty and pathetic enough to fall for his nephews’ tricks. So could this be just another boring take to a relationship that satirists have made fun of for centuries? I guess, if our protagonist was literally anyone else but Pit. You see, Eros and Apollo’s relationship is almost exclusively portrayed from Apollo’s point of view in media, with him having to deal with a nephew from hell who just hates him for no apparent reason… Though when you start to think of it, it’s easy to come into the conclusion that from Eros’ point of view Apollo’s an arrogant deity who thinks way too highly of himself and needs to be knocked off his high horse. And it’s not like he’s completely wrong in this regard, Apollo has done some rather extreme things and gotten away with them with little or next to no consequences but that’s a topic for later. Because he refuses to yield to Apollo even when the likes of Zeus and Gaia give in, Eros is pretty much the only one capable of giving his uncle his much needed lessons in humility. Now wouldn’t that interesting?

Let’s think of this context of Kid Icarus. The idea of Pit looking someone and thinking that they’re full of shit is just funny, especially if this is his opinion about a major god of whom he’s not opposing morally. Sometimes you just don’t approve the behavior or methods of some people you don't otherwise have anything against to, with it becoming increasingly more annoying when others let them continue with no consequences and it would be the case here. It’s just Apollo doing things in a matter that leaves lot to desired of and especially if it means that people end up getting hurt in the process, Pit’s not going to keep it quiet. While it would be uncharacteristic of him to point it out in a rude way, it’s not necessary since we know that Apollo is both arrogant and petty - it shouldn’t take much for him to declare Pit his personal nemesis, simple “You’re jerk and you should feel bad” could be enough for that. Alternatively we could have Apollo already holding a grudge, a one Pit’s completely unaware of so he would be up to a nasty surprise by the time he officially meets Apollo. The three years Pit’s consciousness spent in the ring of chaos aren’t really explored, so who's to say that his body didn’t do something that may have angered Apollo? It doesn’t need to explored beyond that, as implied, embarrassing noodle incidents are often funnier when left without context. He would be a very low-scale antagonist in both of these cases, his only real crime being his own pettiness and inability to let go of past events. He wouldn’t be a bad person per se, just someone in desperate need of those humility lessons Pit’s the only one capable of giving to him.

To explore Apollo’s potential outside of simple pettiness, he along with Poseidon was the one who built the walls of Troy for king Laomedon. As for why are they doing this, it varies - some say they did as to check how prideful the city’s king was, but the more common reason was that it was a punishment, as they dared to plan an uprising against Zeus with Hera and Athena. While the ladies got away without larger consequences, Apollo and Poseidon were made to build the walls yet Laomedon’s promises of great rewards was enough to keep their spirits high - Apollo even had a child with Poseidon’s daughter in the meanwhile. However Laomedon was a textbook jackass and refused to give the two gods any rewards he had originally promised to them, and to make himself seem like an even bigger jackass he said that he’d sell the two as slaves as he didn’t believe them to be gods. In anger Apollo inflicted the city with plague and Poseidon sent a sea monster to terrorize it. When Laomedon asked the oracle what he should do with the sea monster, Apollo offered no useful advice and instead told the king that he should feed his daughter Hesione to it to calm it down. Luckily for Laomedon, Heracles had just returned from his misadventures with the Amazons and said that he could save the princess if Laomedon gave him his amazing horses which had descended from those his grandfather Tros had received as compensation over the kidnapping of Ganymede. Laomedon agreed but once his daughter was safe and the sea monster dead, he refused to give the horses to Heracles - he in return threatened Troy with a war and orchestrated a siege, in which Laomedon and many of his sons lost their lives except one named Podarces, whom they took as prisoner. Hesione bought her brother’s freedom with a golden veil and from that day onward Podarces was known as Priam. This story serves an in-universe explanation for many things and while Poseidon arguably had a bigger impact than Apollo when it came to it, at least we now know that this is a possible teamup. It could even be paired with the idea I presented at the end of the abridged essay about Ares, the one about Poseidon wanting sue either Ares or Pit.

There’s also one way I could see Apollo being a main villain of a future game which would ironically be the only time I could see him learning his humility lessons without Pit around, and to explain how I came up with that idea I must first tell the story of Asclepius, the god of medicine, physicians, healing and rejuvenation. Asclepius was a son of Apollo by Thessalian princess Coronis and her father was Phlegyas, the king Lapinths. The most famous version of the story goes on that while Coronis was pregnant, she fell in love with another man when Apollo wasn’t paying attention to her and when he learned about it, he wasn’t all that happy about it. In a fit of rage he turned the feathers of a crow who had told him about the unfaithfulness of his lover black and either told Artemis to shoot Coronis or he shot her himself. Apollo however did end up regretting this choice pretty much immediately and tried to heal her, but once he realized there was nothing he could do to save her life he performed C-section to save their child. According to some Coronis became the constellation Corvus (Crow) after her death, though in some versions it’s the poor crow Apollo scorched. Now her father Phlegyas was predictably outraged by all of this and burned Apollo’s temple down as revenge - Apollo responded to this by shooting Phlegyas and casting him down to Tartarus.

Back to Asclepius, he grew up to be an exceptionally talented healer, so much so that he could bring people back from the dead. This naturally displeased Hades, who firmly believed that what was dead should stay dead and he went to Zeus to complain about this. Zeus thought of the situation and then came to a realization that if Asclepius managed to teach this skill to other people, they’d have a massive problem on their hands and it can’t be allowed to happen. The logical course of action was to of course kill Asclepius before he could do any of that, so Zeus struck him down with his lightning bolt. Now it was Apollo’s turn to be displeased, and in a fit of anger he killed the cyclopes Brontes, Steropes and Arges as revenge as it had been them who had created Zeus’ lightning bolt along with Poseidon’s trident and the helm of Hades. Pretty much everyone was pissed at Apollo - while this wasn’t the first time he had killed a child of Gaia, Brontes, Steropes and Arges couldn’t have been more different from Python. They were creators of some of the most legendary weapons of all Greco-Roman mythology which helped to turn the tide in favor of the Olympians during Titanomachy. While Gaia had demanded for Apollo to be thrown to Tartarus over Python’s death, this time Zeus would’ve actually cast Apollo down to Tartarus… That is, had Leto not intervened and as a compromise Apollo was banished from Olympus for a year and made to serve king Admetus of Pherae. And he would even end up getting the last laugh, as Asclepius’ body was raised to the heavens to become the constellation Ophiuchus (Serpent-bearer) and he became the god of medicine. With myths like these, no wonder Pittoo has such a sour attitude towards deities! 

So I guess you all know what I’m going after here - the setup here would be that after killing Brontes, Steropes and Arges, Leto either didn’t come to save Apollo’s skin or that Zeus wasn’t persuaded by her words and so Apollo was thrown into Tartarus as punishment as it was originally planned. He however refused to let this banishment to slow him down, immediately started to plan an escape and tried to make some allies while in Tartarus. While Titans were an easy option, I decided to not include them as his potential allies for the sake of variety. Apollo’s also much weaker than them when it comes to raw power, so I think he would fail at persuading them into joining his cause and so he needs to find new options. For the sake of driving the point on how people’s reasons for being cast away to Tartarus aren’t always equal, I could see this group being composed of individuals like Ocnus, Phlegyas and Arke. This may not be enough to form an army, but I’d say it’s enough named figures to give Apollo an admin squad to interact with. To make it an actual army, maybe some generic background folk who we’re informed were punished wrongly can be added. 

To quickly go over this potential admin squad and their relationships with Apollo, let’s start with Phlegyas since there’s so much potential with their possible relationship here. The two likely did start with the wrong foot when they met again in Tartarus, especially once Phlegyas got to know why Apollo was in Tartarus - you don’t get to whine about your dead son when you threw someone else to superhell for losing his mind over his dead daughter, that kind of deal. But as time passes on, the two men start to warm up to each other and overcome their hatred. I think there’s a lot of potential with Apollo forgiving Phlegyas now when he knows what it feels to lose a child for seemingly unfair reasons, and Phlegyas seeing that Apollo has realized he rushed into conclusions, made a mistake and wouldn’t repeat it were he still among gods. So in this scenario the two would become trusted allies and with Phlegyas being Asclepius’ grandfather they now have common enemy, the deities who thought that killing Asclepius was justified. As for Ocnus, he just has no reason given for why he’s in Tartarus in mythology proper. In context of Kid Icarus all I can imagine is Hades thinking that it would be hilarious to throw someone who didn’t do anything bad to superhell for no reason at all. Wouldn’t be out of character from him.

Now to the most interesting one besides Phlegyas, Arke. As the messenger of the Titans, Arke is pretty much the closest thing to a fallen angel Greek mythology has to offer, if one thinks that angels are specifically winged messengers. Once Titanomachy had ended, Arke’s wings were ripped off and she was cast down to Tartarus with the Titans she had once served. Her wings would later on be given to Peleus and Thetis as a wedding gift, which Thetis would later gave to her son, earning him the epithet Podarces (Swift-footed). It’s not much material, but it does give a clear outline - a winged messenger deity loses her wings and gets to suffer what’s basically an eternity in superhell for being a servant of the wrong side of the war. That already makes her sound like a massive woobie, so she’d probably take any chance to leave if given to her. With Apollo being a known skirtchaser, it’s also pretty easy to imagine that there’s also some other feelings going on with both of them rather than just sheer gratitude on Arke’s part. She could also serve as a foil to Pit and Pittoo simultaneously - she may be oldest of her little group, but she sure has seen world outside Tartarus the least. She’d be both jaded yet naive, now that would be an interesting character to see Pit and Pittoo interact with.

Now that Apollo has made his allies, they then plan their escape, bid their time and wait for the right to moment to escape and for the plot to actually start - that time came in KI:U after the defeat of Hades. In the following chaos and celebration they leave Tartarus and it becomes pretty clear to them that world has changed a lot since they’ve last been out. But no matter how much it has changed it’s still far from perfect and would you look at that, while Apollo was getting his humility lesson to heart, the other deities certainly didn’t. There are still bones to pick with them for throwing them away, and Apollo may still want revenge for what happened to Asclepius. So this would be a revenge story from the point of view of Apollo and the Tartarus escapees, with a big moral dilemma thrown into it. What punishment is a fair punishment and can people be redeemed? Sure, after Pit has defeated them Palutena could just cast them off there again like Zeus and others did before her, but besides it making an unsatisfying ending I doubt Pit would allow that to happen. Remember, this would be a version of Apollo who has already been humbled and pulled off from his high horse - besides his kind and empathetic personality, Pit has no reason to think that this Apollo is arrogant and full of shit. Driven by revenge certainly, but just like in the more innocent scenarios in which he never learns his humility lessons he’s not a bad person to the core, and here he has proven that he’s capable of changing. Pit wouldn’t allow others to treat him as he was irredeemable, and upon hearing why some of the Tartarus escapees ended up on there for unfair reasons he would likely try to solve things as peacefully as possible. These people aren’t like Hades, so Pit’s wouldn’t treat them as if they were like him and he would likely also encourage Palutena and others to treat them as people worth another chance if they’re willing to take it. True, there are people like Hades. Some people are just there to watch Rome burn, some people are just evil and they have to be defeated before they can cause any more harm - but there are more people who’re willing to learn from their past wrongdoings and try to make things right in the future. If Apollo could forgive Phlegyas and vice versa in a place of eternal suffering, if they both regret their actions and were willing to work together to get what they both thought as justice, why can’t deities who have spent all their time under blessings and prayers of believers do the same? 

As for what could calm Apollo and the Tartarus escapees down, I think there’s actually pretty easy solution to at least help with Apollo’s anger towards other deities - just show what happened to Asclepius after his death and that that the gods realized that by killing him they made a mistake. Let the father and son reunite, since at this point he has likely been the god of medicine for quite some while. This would show Apollo and the Tartarus escapees that the deities can not only acknowledge that they’ve made mistakes, but also swallow their pride and try to fix said mistakes - just like how in Tartarus Apollo and Phlegyas forgave each other and started to work together towards a common goal. Both sides now know that they’re capable of changing and if they’re willing to change for the better, they should give each other a chance. Apollo especially would end up likely regretting all the chaos he caused in his quest for revenge as he now knows that it was pointless, and since he’s a changed man from his time prior Tartarus he’s willing to fix the mess he has caused. Thanks to Pit’s efforts, Palutena and other deities are now willing to give him that chance and that would lead into him being once again accepted among them. Now as for what could happen for the rest of Tartarus escapees, that would depend if they’re mortal or immortal in origin - Phlegyas and others who were once mortal would likely return to the normal flow of souls to finally have some peace. For someone like Arke, it would be allowing her to heal and give her place in this new world. Maybe Apollo could just marry her if there was any feelings between them. Practically what saves the day isn’t a complete beatdown, but rather apologies from both parties and promises to do better. What a feel-good ending!

So… I think there’s an easy aesop about humility that can be explored with Apollo, in the lighter scenario it’s him who gets the humble pie and in the darker one it’s the other deities who are knocked off from their high horses. And Pit gets to be the teacher of said lesson, not else to be said here. And to think all of these scenarios came to be because of a bad uncle-nephew relationship, good riddance! Well no matter what, Ares isn’t going to be happy about how Apollo treated his little boy.  Maybe he can forgive Apollo once he says sorry to Pit first and he accepts the apology.

[asexy-phoenix]

More Fic Recs

Back at it again! I’ll keep posting these until I’ve recommended everything in my bookmarks plus more probably. List under the cut!

getting (back together) over her by Letterblade

so this one is rated explicit, read at your own risk. That being said, it’s excellent, a great Aang exploration and a pretty realistic look at how being 12 for a hundred years would make one feel

plus I have at least one quote from this story living rent-free at all times in my head, please read it, i can’t be the only one

The Family You Choose by TunaFishChris

another soulmark AU fic! This one is a platonic story about the Gaang finding out about Zuko’s past. It’s a cool soulmark system that I don’t think I’ve ever read before and is very awesome in execution!

Team Building Exercise ‘99 by regents

a story about the Parks and Rec crew and three different team building exercises over three different years as told through the eyes of Ron Swanson. It is an excellent characterization of Ron Swanson and you should read it for the comedy factor alone

A Study in Asexuality by ladyxdarcy

rated mature for a lot of potentially triggering subject matter, this Sherlock fic is excellent. It’s a character study of Sherlock and specifically his asexuality, his relationship with John and how those two things interact. It has enough assurance and comfort to make up for every bit of hurt in the hurt/comfort and ends SO happily

Stay by Valentined

never played Subnautica? doesn’t matter! This is such a good, sad, story that leaves you with a lump in your throat and a ridiculous feeling of nostalgia for an alien planet you’ve never been to. 

I should note though, there are huge spoiler warnings. This fic basically ruins the end of the game, so if you DO want to play Subnautica and haven’t yet, go play it and then come read this

And All of This, Exactly That by antistar_e

an old fic from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians franchise, released the year after the last book in the original series was published. This story is about a relationship between Percy, Annabeth, and Rachel and is atmospheric and beautiful. It’s also funny and has a dragon in it, so that makes it automatically great

This Is an Essay by Dee_Laundry

I wish Harry Potter was narrated by Margaret instead of Harry. This is a fic absolutely dripping with personality and humour that is about a Gryffindor student in Harry’s third year who is neat, methodical, and autistic. “Margaret would rather write the same thing a hundred times.” and I would let her. 

Dr. Stirling’s Purple Pill by Ashling

this is a short, funny story about one of L.M. Montgomery’s sadly underrated works. The characters are brilliant and their voices are captured perfectly.

between the shadow and the soul by deliarium

this fic feels like a missing chapter from The Blue Castle. The haunting prose of the original is reproduced beautifully here and it’s some of the most gorgeous, intimate prose I’ve ever read.

Jack Frost and the Shadows of Van der Bor by emanime5

an RotBTD Harry Potter AU. Full of friendship, magic, and adventure it’s continuing proof that literally anyone except Rowling should be hired to write her works. 

Like A Fist In The Eye by soulsolid

a funny and in-character soulmate AU that pairs Jack Frost and Merida. It’s also a college AU so that just adds the cute and fast-paced atmosphere.

Eternity in a Kiss by Snacky

a fun and evocative story of Mary and Bert’s relationship as told through Bert’s eyes. It involves Bert being magic (because of course he is) and a bunch of fun, stealth crossovers!

seriously though, if you want to guess the crossovers on your own, don’t read the comments until after you’re done the fic

[millylouedward]

November Reading Wrap Up 2023

Well folks, my favorite month of the year has come and gone. There's something about the quietness of November that fills me with peace. The leaves are well into turning orange and red and yellow. People start to stay indoors and avoid the cold. The sun leaves more quickly. This was my first November in Seattle, and overall it was a good one. I wrapped all of my Christmas presents early, had a nice Thanksgiving dinner with my girlfriend, finally watched Love, Actually, and spent a lot of time with my cats. I also went a little overboard and read seven books. That's right, SEVEN books. In one month. Cue Miley Cyrus Can't Be Tamed. 

There comes a time when an adult woman must regress to her childhood for reasons unbeknownst to scientists. Last month, I finally hit that point. It all started in September when I saw Rick Riordan speak at Benaroya Hall about his new Percy Jackson book, The Chalice of the Gods. Being around all these PJO fans got me thinking that I should reread the series before getting to the new book. So a few days later, I crept on over to eBay and found myself the OG copies of the PJO series. And to make it even better, it was four paperbacks and one hardcover, just like I used to own. At some point I guess I donated my original copies. But when the movie came out for The Lightning Thief in 2010, I ran (not walked) to the bookstore and bought the entire series. The Last Olympian was still only in hardcover at the time, so I bought it along with paperbacks for 1-4. No offense to the artist of the newer covers, but I just had to have the originals or else it wasn't the same. 

At this point, you might be thinking that I binged the series as soon as I got them, but you would be wrong. I fell into a short reading slump in October and couldn't bring myself to read anything. That was until I received the notification from my library that my ebook of The Woman in Me was available.

Warning: spoilers ahead for some books!

The Woman in Me - Britney Spears ★★★★★

Did I think this memoir was very well written? No. Did I describe it as a "fantastically written memoir" in my Goodreads review? Yes. I cannot stomach it when a celebrity (or anyone) writes a memoir that isn't somewhat chronological. It doesn't even have to be chronological if it follows a clear path along the timeline. Maybe we have two timelines that are divided as childhood ages 6-12 and adulthood ages 20-30 because similar events happened that led to the present. That is fine. What I don't like it when an author jumps from 26 to 7 to 13 to before they were born to 30 to 19 and back to 7. Britney does not do this. She writes chronologically, and for how chaotic her life story is, it paid off. She both reflects on her pain and gives narrative accounts. Frankly, it was a vibe, and I'm a sucker for memoirs so this was always going to be a highly rated read from me. #FreeBritney.  

PJO: The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan ★★★★☆

This is where my PJO reign of terror commences. At first, it was sweet and innocent. I started reading this in October, but then put it down after 40 pages to read library books. I was worried I wouldn't be able to get into the story again. I mean, I read this series when I was 12 and I'm 26 now, and very much not the target audience. Nonetheless, after binging the Britney memoir, I was back in the game and I gobbled this book up like a turkey. Can I just say I had no memory of reading more than half the stuff in this book. Like I couldn't even remember how it ended. I only recalled the main plot (stolen lightning bolt) and there being a mattress store. Crusty's Water Bed Palace turned out to be way more horrifying than I remember. And the Underworld waiting room made me feel constrained and anxious in the best way. Ugh, I loved this book.

PJO: The Sea of Monsters - Rick Riordan ★★★★☆

Full disclosure, TSOM was always my least favorite book in this series. I didn't remember why. I still don't. But I think it's because it's orange and the eye freaks me out. I'm a blue girlie. But this book was amazing. I read Atalanta by Jennifer Saint a while back and it made this book come to life in a new way for me. Sooo many of the characters and monsters of Atalanta made appearances in the Sea of Monsters. The part where Annabeth wants to hear the songs of the sirens and Percy has to literally jump overboard to stop her, then protect her in an underwater bubble of air had me screaming crying throwing up. I am a Percabeth shipper for LIFE.

PJO: The Titan's Curse - Rick Riordan ★★★★★

I always said The Titan's Curse was my fave in this series. It's probably because there's a horse on the cover (sort of). At this point, I am well into Project Reignite Milly's PJO Obsession. When I tell you I sprinted all the way to the Link after finishing TSOM at work, I was seriously running. I barreled through the door of my apartment, ran to my bookshelf, and grabbed TTC. I made a drinky drink (an apple cider chai) and began my descent into this book. I did not stop reading for basically an entire day. And as I reached the halfway point of November, I was actually gripping my seat because of the wild ride I was on. I was reading this while googling flights to Nevada so I could see the Hoover Dam. I want to go to the dam snack bar. And get some dam fries. And fight off a dam monster. 

PJO: The Battle of the Labyrinth - Rick Riordan ★★★★☆

I'll admit that I never much cared for TBOTL either. It's because the cover is red. Again, warm tones are not my vibe, and apparently neither is being trapped. I was actually afraid to fall asleep at night when I started this book. I have literally had panic attacks from being trapped before. The whole getting lost inside an endless labyrinth is soooo not my jam nor toast. Not even my eggs or bacon. But I still had a good time rereading this. Also, the Percabeth kiss LITERALLY had me weeping and throwing my book across the room with joy. 

Girlfriend on Mars - Deborah Willis ★★☆☆☆

Let me get one thing straight, I thought this book wouldn't be. Straight, that is. I don't know why, but I had it in my head that this was going to be about lesbians on Mars as part of a reality show. I thought it would be silly and gay. Who lied to me??? WHO?? This book sucked. I'm so serious, it was trash to me. If you like My Year of Rest and Relaxation, or The Bell Jar, Girlfriend on Mars is up your alley because all this book is is two annoyingly mentally unwell people making everyone else's lives suck because they won't go to therapy. And to make it worse, they're both cishet. There were things to like about this book, like the realness of it. It was so horribly true to what I imagine would happen if some douche mcgee billionaire sent innocent stupid reality stars to outer space without the guidance of a real astronaut. Aside from that, I hated the plot holes, the characters, the inconsistent grammar, the pop culture references. I went on a walk with my girlfriend a couple days after finishing this book and I kept hearing myself say, "And another thing I hated about Girlfriend on Mars was..." I just cannot contain my distain for this book. Deborah Willis please keep your literature far away from me. 

Tell Me Everything - Minka Kelly ★★★★★

And here we are at the conclusion of November and my manic reading frenzy. Minka Kelly's memoir was the breath of fresh air I needed. It literally cured every annoyed bone in my body after the hate crime that was Girlfriend on Mars. This memoir was so good that if it was a bowl of soup I was plunging myself into it like I was shredded chicken. The prose! The dialogue! The scene setting! I swear, this narrative is so whimsical I wanted to do a little dancey dance every time I read a perfectly written paragraph. Now, I was totally expecting Minka to tell us a lot about her acting career. I am a huge Detroit: Become Human fan and hoped to hear about her time on that set. Instead, this was all about her childhood, and I ate it up anyway. Her story is devastating, heartbreaking, and yet so gripping. Memoir fans, y'all got to go get this one right now I tell you! 

I'm writing to you from my office right now, and it's about time for me to go home. I'm reading Iris Kelly Doesn't Date right now and all I can say is I'm anticipating a very high rating from this one. Definitely going to write an entire post about the Bright Falls series because my gay self is literally swooning over Ashley Herring Blake's characters. Ugh. 

Also, this a new blog and my first post! I've been active on Goodreads for a couple years and I wanted to expand my reading into blog format where I can say a bit more about my love of books. I'll be posting here on the reg, but still staying active on Goodreads!

[lightfulonion]

Tag game: people you want to know better

Thank you so much @livingonyoghurtandspite for tagging me!!<3 <3 I gave kinda big answers so sorry about that 👉👈

favorite color: i love all the colors dearly but most of all i would say blue, orange and brown... I love all the blue shades!! They remind me of the sea and the islands and generally happy sunny days or calm cool nights. I love the specific shades of orange that fruits have! Like, the tangerine one? Magnificent. The peachy one? Show-stopping. I just... really love orange. And all the shades of brown are good to me except maybe the kinda green-y ones i guess... Anywayzz sorry for the ramble i just really love colors lol

currently reading: fanfiction!! i really don't have energy for anything else rn!! it's a sakuatsu fic btw called "Again, until it's perfect." by fairycake on ao3 and i just started it so i don't have any comments yet lol (and it has manga spoilers!)

last song: uhh according to spotify i just listened to a greek song called : "To Koritsi Tou Mai" by Paschalis and Olympians ! The english translation is "May's girl" and it has nice 70s vibes!!

last series: the last non animated one was "Our flag means death"!!!! Which i really really loved!!!! i finished it in one afternoon while needing to study for my exams and i was an emotional mess for 1-2 days afterwards (i didn't study much for the exams ofc orz) It was really nice and i recommend it, 5 stars 10/10 would watch again etc etc

sweet, savory or spicy: SWEET!! can't handle spicy to save my life (even though it's kinda nice) and savory it's ok at the right moments but SWEET, oh sweet! i would sell my kingdom for sugar fr

currently working on: exams!!!! i try so hard not to complain and do my part but!!!!!! i hate this!!!!! :)))) also i post art everyday on instagram so that too ig (username is the same as this blog's but i will post the art here too later on)

i'm tagging @horson (if you have the time, absolutely not pressure, there is no problem if you don't want to)