#the goddess test

[books-to-add-to-your-tbr]

Title: Goddess Test

Author: Aimée Carter

Series or standalone: series

Publication year: 2011

Genres: fiction, fantasy, mythology, romance, paranormal, retelling

Blurb: It's always been just Kate and her mom, and her mother is dying. Her last wish: to move back to her childhood home. That means Kate has to start at a new school with no friends, no other family, and the fear that her mother won't live past the fall...then she meets Henry, dark, tortured, and mesmerising. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld, and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests. Kate is sure he's crazy...until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now, saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride and a goddess. If she fails...it doesn't bear dwelling on.

[alatismeni-theitsa]

So I just got done reading The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter and it's just... My gods, it's awful! First off, you know that thing where letters are substituted for Greek ones? So, Σ instead of E? Yeah, it does that for the cover and I wish I could say that was the worst of it. Because then we have Demeter, Hera, Aphrodite, Hermes, and Hades—or should I say Diana, Calliope, Ava, James, and Henry. Also, Zeus is called Walter now.

Ah yes, all hail the mighty Walter!

It's not even a reimagining or reincarnation thing, either, these are just their actual names now! And let me tell ya, seeing the names Diana and Calliope when they weren't referring to, y'know, the actual Diana and Calliope, just made things hella confusing at first! And here's the reason for not using the actual names:

"We all choose new ones throughout the years."

"Ones that match where and when we are," said Henry. "We are most famous within Greek mythology, and that is why we are known throughout by our Greek names."

"But we have no real names," said my mother. "We were created before names."

"And we will survive long after names are needed," said Henry.

I'm not even Greek and even I'm offended! Why do these writers keep forgetting that Greece is still an actual country? There's no reason for this other than American convenience!

Also, Hera's evil now. And granted, this was basically her role in many myths as well, but you would think her motivation would be to get revenge on Zeus, right? Nope! Or at least, that's not the biggest one. Turns out, she teams up with Cronus (who's actually treated somewhat sympathetically in this, weirdly enough) because Hades doesn't love her!

I can't!

And to be fair to Aimee, these books did come out in 2011-2013, so I'm hoping she's improved since then, but still.

I don't know what Aimee is doing these days but the book was a big meh for the average reader and a big disappointment accuracy-wise.

The "we don't really have names" is really awful. Not only accommodates the Anglophone reader by cutting the gods from their culture, but it also equates all deities worldwide with each other just because they have similar traits. I don't know what craze happens in the west lately when they see Eastern nations as incapable of cultural diversity and nuance. For example, we insist Aphrodite is not Ishtar and they are like "oooh you poor babyy! I forgot you obviously don't have scientists and educational institutions down there. Of course you don't understand that there are similarities and that makes you all the saaaame." No, sir, we are very aware of the similarities and the cultural exchange. We just have no need for you to put us all in the same sack just because we look the same to you, who don't know the additional nuances of the local cultures.

Making Hera allied with Kronos is sooo random. I also recall Hades was a virgin there. Most things here are random. This should have stayed in a fanfic site, as one of the bad fanfics.

[mypissedoffsandwich]

And the first book of 2023 is

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

I am a quick reader and this is 293 pages, so it wont take long.

1/52

[alley-cat777]

Book Review: The Goddess Inheritance (The Goddess Test #3) by: Aimee Carter

I see the sunrise now,” he said. “Because of you, the days have color. Eternity has meaning once more. You found every broken piece of me and put me back together, even though I hurt you too many times for me to deserve it. You are the glue that holds me together. If I lose you, it will be the end of me. The end of everything good in this world. The Goddess Inheritance by: Aimee Carter Initial…

[nightshademyn]

Ok ok I mean this with all the love in my heart for God Games and this is by no means a criticism but I love how much Apollo’s verse sounds like he got called for jury duty lmao

[puretopia]

testing @sims3melancholic's new skins on Allegra & Kaliyah. ♡

[sonhogentil]

made myself a lil treat w my blorbo (Elinne) 🦋✨

Patreon

[fayesdiary]

reverse unpopular opinion for....aw heck, go ahead with Rhea for this one as well

This might as well be a part 2 to the previous Rhea ask so :D

I find Rhea to be so compelling for several reasons, one of the biggest being the inherent contradiction that she is very much capable of caring, loving and trusting others, sometimes with some insane gestures when you realize their meaning behind them (ie. Saving Jeralt's life by giving him her blood thus risking outing herself because of it, letting Catherine keep Thunderbrand despite the fact it's the one Relic she could safely recover- implicitly trusting her with one of her family's remains without any obligation to do so, risk angering a noble house to give Cyril a better life and treating him like her son in all but name)... And yet she cannot, for the life of her, bring herself to be honest with them.

Something fascinating I noticed about Rhea is that she ironically seems to prefer people who are blunt with her, because look at the people she's closest to - Seteth spends all of Part 1 openly questioning her, Flayn is constantly on the verge of accidentally outing herself, Cyril is so direct and honest he sometimes accidentally comes off as rude (Shamir too even if she's not as close to Rhea) and Catherine wears her heart on her sleeve.

Heck, all of them are either not that religious or outright non-believers, which ironically I believe helps reassure Rhea they love her because of who she is as a person and not because she's the archbishop, especially given how much she implies to find the position incredibly alienating.

And isn't that just so fascinating? That she is more than capable than loving others and caring for them risking her own personal safety, she appreciates people being honest with her.... But cannot, will not be entirely honest with them in turn.

Because make no mistake, that right there is Rhea's true fatal flaw: her compulsive need to keep everything a secret.

From the big but understandable stuff that would get her and her family scrapped for parts if it became public to downright pointless shit to hide like not liking hot drinks, and it's the one trait that screws her over the most, between being the reason Jeralt left (since she didn't tell him ANYTHING about what happened with Byleth so he assumed the worst and fled) and the thing preventing her from making connections as deep as she actually wants (like even just telling her loved ones how much they mean to her), as well as getting the support she actually needs. And because she feels she has to bear everything on her shoulders, she crumbles under the weight because no matter how hard she tries, she will never be good enough.

In that sense the role of archbishop is a sort of mask to her. It's definitely a part of her, but also something she has sort of burrowed into like a safety net preventing her from being true to herself. Because that'd mean making herself vulnerable, in more ways than one. To say nothing about putting her surviving family and remnants of her dead kin to jeopardy.

If she were to open up she'd be... More lively, I think. Definitely sillier if Heroes is any indication, and arguably more willing to take a direct approach in helping people. And definitely more loved and happier.

And perhaps, one day she'd realize she doesn't need to bring her mom back to fix Fódlan. She's not doing it alone anymore, after all.

[thylionheart]

I have a theory… that Hecate MIGHT be on the side of Chronos. Or at least on the side of the next turn-over of power. For fighting against the Titans, there is an odd quantity of titans in the crossroads crew, namely Selene (I know if we’re going to have a witch season with Hecate, we HAVE to also have the moon herself. And gameplay-wise, mechanically, she needed to be distinct from Artemis). (And Hecate isn’t a titan in the myths, so this is an oddly intentional change to her character!)* But Selene says something after like the third or fourth bottle of nectar gifted to her, something along the lines of, “Ah, this custom of gift-giving, maybe there is something worth saving from the Olympians.”

I’m sorry WAT 👀 I know we’re supposed to be focusing on the health of the Underworld, but Olympus is actively burning, what did you mean by that, ma’am???

And we still don’t know- I’m pretty sure?- HOW Chronos was re-materialized. He would have needed help from a chthonic god/being for sure, right? My theories on the Egyptian connection and Hecate equating to Isis and Chronos to Osiris aside…., Hecate laments that she couldn’t have stopped Chronos taking Melinoë’s family. She says SHE was the one tasked with protecting the underworld. If Chronos broke through and Hecate was the door… I’d at least like to go over the security footage again. Hecate carries so much guilt over what happened to Mel’s family, and SO insistent that I’m NOT your mother, and I wonder if there is a weightier reason behind it. She’s so triggered when Hades passes on his gratitude to her, like pls don’t. I don’t deserve your thanks, I failed you.

I don’t think the majority of the Crossroads crew would be in on it. Moros is obviously genuinely worried for his sisters after Chronos kidnaps them. Nemesis maybe, but I wonder if she would be so willing to go along with this plan if she truly believes Chronos deserves divine retribution for what he has done. And she never holds back from sharing her honest thoughts. But on my post about everything coming out of Odysseus’s mouth being a lie, someone mentioned that he could be in a lying-as-default mode in order to protect someone’s secret. 👀 And people have mentioned how fucked over by the gods Odysseus was in life. Is it a little odd he is so ready to lend his strengths to them now? He’s not like Heracles, he doesn’t HAVE TO be here, what does he gain from all this?

Of course, Chronos, like any villain, is always saying, why are you fighting me? I’m bringing a golden age. You think the world was better under the rule of the gods? And…. If it wasn’t for the baby eating thing…. I’d hear him out.

*I was wrong abt this lol

[positively--speculative]

I feel like the way some straight dudes read the character of Odysseus can be used as a bit of a litmus test--Do you read him as a man who fell victim of his own arrogance and as a man who was forced to be unfaithful to his wife more than once in order to have any chance of seeing her or their son ever again *OR* do you see him as a "lucky" man who *got* to sleep with goddesses?

I think this answer can vary based on the version of the story someone is most familiar with, so it's not black and white. But I think it could be used as the opening of a good, informative conversation

[xavalav]

lil malenia sketch for pose practice

[lukecastellanshandholder]

I have a feeling that tomorrow is going to be a very good day for annoying people (a.k.a: me) I just have a good feeling!

And if Rick manages to butcher this new book, I’ll just rewrite it myself and give myself the story that I know would be amazing 😌

[magnusbae]

'I have something you want.' "And that is?" 'Information.' –At Death's Door

[margaritadaemonelix]

Keeping Promises

By Kabachi

I'm so honoured to have gotten the chance to illustrate Moon Supreme!Xiao Lanhua/Xiyun for Kabachi's LBFAD Minibang fic! Please read Keeping Promises, it's such a lovely, evocative exploration of Xiyun's grief after Dongfang Qingcang's fading.

In terms of the design of this piece, the brocade of Xiyun's robe is directly taken from a set of DFQC's robes, while the cut is an amalgamation of the cuts of his robe and her Cangyanhai dresses. The Xilan holy aura version (the green one, if you will) features a halo inspired by classical Chinese depictions of Guanyin/Avalokitesvara, the bodhisatva of mercy. The faintest text says 小兰花/Xiao Lanhua, the largest text says 息山神女/Xishan Shennü, and the largest two characters say 月主/Yuezhu/Moon Queen.

Many thanks to Haro for hosting this minibang, and congrats to everyone who participated! It's incredible to see all this community involvement. Happy minibang, all!

[alley-cat777]

Book Review: Goddess Interrupted (The Goddess Test #2) by: Aimee Carter

It is supposed to be the truth.” He stared at me and my breath caught in my throat. “If I were a better man, I would be able to show you the love and affection you deserve. As I am not, I can only offer you what I’m capable of giving. But I assure you, just because I do not show it, doesn’t mean I do not feel it. Goddess Interrupted by: Aimee Carter Initial Thoughts: There are series that I…

[pumpkinsouppe]

I love how different I treat OOT link vs taol link in my head

OOT link is a tragic character in OOT yes, but his story from Majora’s mask onward is not a tragedy. He relearns what it’s like to love and to live despite the pain and terrors. He is the ultimate symbol of hope and learning to cope with one’s own grief, to forge a bright future despite the past. Yes, maybe if link stayed in the future world of OOT instead of returning to the past he would have found more tragedy or even death, but his story in Majora’s mask is one of the most hopeful stories any link has faced. The damn game ends with a wedding!! The game symbolizes and cherishes love and happiness more than anything, link is NOT a tragic character during or post Majora’s mask.

TAOL Link is the ultimate tragic character in my eyes. Yes we get very little of his story since the games are very old but I would argue that the world tloz/TAOL link lives in is even more apocalyptic than botw/totk. You start as a child in the middle of nowhere, a sword thrust upon you and a destiny you’re forced to follow to save a strange princess from a monstrous pig. Myself and others even theorize monsters originally burned down link’s village and people and that’s how he ended up where he is at the start of the first game, from fleeing that horror. By the time of TAOL, he’s around 16/17 now so 6-7 years older than in the original tloz. He has been in possession of two pieces of the triforce all that time and is forced to find the third to prevent the resurrection of the same monstrous pig. Now this takes context from other games but if you’re familiar with Ganondorf from OOT, you know that his possession of the triforce of power for 7 years has physically altered his appearance. I personally view it as the triforce of power is physically altering him to look similar to the goddesses, more animalistic than human (even if it’s only been a slight alteration between the past and future). TAOL Link has had both the triforce of power AND wisdom in his possession since he was 10… who knows how that has changed not only his body but his mind. With his possession of the triforce of courage by the end of the game, who knows how that will affect his soul too. Most often when link has had the triforce of courage for long periods of time, he loses any sort of fear or care for himself. Albw is a great example of how his sacrificial desire to protect others can cause more harm than good, the same reason why link died in botw (even though I have more thoughts on that). Taol link, a child by all rights, thrust into a terrible world to protect two different princesses, and slowly turning into the perfect puppet of the goddesses. The triforce gives you the power to grant any wish you want, but what if the cost is losing your own free will the longer you have them? Link is harboring the triforce to prevent a resurrection and further ruin, surely that doesn’t come without consequences. OOT link was able to break free from his fate and was forced to confront his greatest fear: himself. The cycle of never ending grief… was broken. However similar to OOT link, TAOL link also had to confront himself. But it wasn’t to confront his trauma and fears, it was a test specifically designed by the former king and the goddesses. A perfectly designed test to prove to the goddesses that he is the perfect puppet and harborer of the triforce: dark link. I think shadow link is a more apt term because dark link is not an evil version of link, dark link is the manifestation and mirror of all of link’s strengths, fears, kills, deaths, and courage. He is a perfect puppet of link just minus his weaknesses, the link the goddesses want him to be. So TAOL link doesn’t confront himself to conquer his grief and fears, he confronts himself to fully submit to the triforce and the goddesses and the kingdom. He is the link who has fully fallen victim to the triforce and may never be himself ever again.

So all that to say, I will defend OOT/mm to my death bed about how link’s story is not a tragic one. And I will argue to that same death bed about how tloz/taol link’s story is.