#(the same way Zeus birthed Athena)

[kattythingz]

Believe it / I'm in love and I mean it / Her name's Penelope and I need her to be mine

And the epic brainrot continues... This time thanks to yet another TOO DAMN ADORABLE animatic that I just had to redraw edling to, with the wonderful collaboration of @sirchenchen!!! She did Ling's design (that I had to crop WAY too much of... Full version under the cut) and I did Ed + the bg. Chen also does other art on her account so y'all better check her out 🔪🔪

Au details nobody asked for under the cut~

Ling has been the youngest king of Xing for some years now, and his council is nagging him to find a bride now that he's turned a very mature sixteen. There are many things Ling can and has fought his council on—but they won't budge on this specific matter. Thus, Ling resigns himself to opening his hand for neighboring nations.

Xerxes is one of the many nations to hear of this opening, so King Hohenheim drags his own children to the event in hopes of cementing an alliance with Xing. Al goes along with his father's will, ever the polite boy, but Ed is far from happy.

Right off the bat, there's a bit of a misunderstanding, as Xerxes arrives in their fanciest whites for the occasion... unknowing that white is Xing's mourning color. Ed is the only one to refuse to dress up like the rest, so he compromises with a fancier cut of his favored red-and-black instead.

This creates a laughable confusion as people assume Xerxes suffered a great loss. Only the First Prince seems unbothered, dressed boldly in colors not of supposed mourning.

Ling, bored out of his mind already, is naturally piqued by this rebellion, and he's compelled to talk to the First Prince—Edward—before the rest of the suitors.

("Wait. Are you saying you're only talking to me right now because you thought I was an insensitive jackass spitting on someone's grave?!")

("That does seem to be the case, yes!")

... Ling doesn't think he made the best first impression.

Edward's brother is much less of a riot, though perfectly pleasant. All the suitors are. They just... don't interest Ling. Not as much as Edward had just in that single conversation. Edward doesn't even participate in the bridal events, skipping every time in favor of hitting the town, chatting up the locals and learning their crafts. Or just finding the largest olive tree in the palace gardens and settling down to study in its shade.

Ling is in love.

Desperate now to right his wrong with Edward, Ling beseeches Athena help him court the boy of his dreams.

It's then that Athena so kindly reveals that Edward is one of the rare few scholars personally blessed by her. Xerxes has always been close to Athena, worshipping her moreso than the other gods, but Edward and Alphonse's minds are especially sharp, she tells Ling with an almost smile gracing her lips.

(He was almost made her champion; she's watched him long enough consider it. Upon further observation, however, he proved a little too soft-hearted.)

She supposes this wouldn't be such an awful union to see through. One of her brightest scholars, wedded to her chosen champion? The results oughta be fascinating, at least.

No amount of godly advice could save Ling from fumbling those first few wooing attempts, of course. But Ling is nothing if not dedicated to a good cause. And Edward might just be the best cause there is.

He's absolutely not subtle as he, too, begins sneaking away from the bridal events to seek out Ed and "run into" him several times a day. The locals have watched their young king grow since he was but a sunspot of a child. And that look right there in his eyes is positively moonstruck.

(Or perhaps... sunstruck is more appropriate to say?)

They wish their king the best of luck. Judging by Edward's impressive scowl at the mere sight of him... he has quite the challenge ahead of himself.

[snoopychris]

three identical triplets

in which... three identical triplets are living three absolutely different lives

warnings: very light smut

August 1 was an eventful day for thirteen Greek Gods and Goddesses. the birth of three identical triplets. three identical demigods. it was unknown just exactly whos children they were. it caused an uproar between the men. there was fighting between in every hallway and chamber in all of Olympus. even hades was involved. the last time he was involved in anything was the commotion caused by the discovery of Percy Jackson a few years prior. it was loudest the empire had ever been. between the women was nothing but speculation and rumors. when everything had finally died down enough, a meeting was held, led by none other than Zeus himself. his face was flush with anger. his expression was like none other. for somebody who had his own forbidden child, he sure was involved in other peoples business. 

“is anybody gonna fess up? Is anybody going to claim the children?” silence. complete and utter silence everywhere. theres a cough heard in the room, a sign of everybody keeping their mouths shut. the silence was broken by Athena speaking, clearing her throat beforehand. “you idiots could always… visit the mother. surely one of you will recognize her, no?” she suggests, looking around the room. the Gods all nod and agree, preparing themselves to make their journey to the human world. though they could have gone if they wanted to, most of the Goddesses kept their place. the only outlier of the situation was Hera, Goddess of Marriage and Family. she, too, got ready for the trip. the goodbyes to the other Goddesses were quick, its not like there was much to talk about anyway. most of them disliked one another for ninety percent of the year.

upon arrival to the hospital room, a majority of the Gods took a step back. theyd never seen the mother in their lives. the three who remained eyed each other, shaking their heads in disbelief. there was no way they all fell for the same woman. she was sleeping now, so there was no way to ask. scientifically, there was no possible way for one mother to have three separate fathers. unfortunately for them, the rules werent quite the same. Hell, Aphrodite could think of getting someone pregnant and it would happen. no, this was different. each God standing in the hospital room was a father to one of the babies in the room. Hera scoffs at the sight of their mindless mumbling, slapping each of the three on the back of the head. “Idiots. look at the babies and just… pick one. you’ll know.” she nods, looking at the Gods in front of her. 

the first to move is Ares. he strides over to the bassinets at the edge of the bed, eying over each small child. he reaches for the baby in the middle, the connection instantly being clear to him. he nods as he kisses the top of the babies head, looking at the name tag in the plastic looking bed. “Matthew…” he whispers, nodding once more. “yeah this ones mine.” he states, setting the infant down. 

the next to move is Hermes, instantly reaching for the bassinet sitting on the far left. he doesnt even have to pick the baby up to know. “this ones mine… Nicolas…” both Gods– and Hera– look over to the remaining God, eyes widening at the lack of movement. He sighs as he walks over to the remaining newborn, reaching in to grab his tiny hand. Much to his dismay, he nods. that is indeed his child. Hera hums at him, knowing that whether he liked it or not he would have to verbally claim the child. She groans at the silence, staring daggers into his soul. “Dionysus…” she whispers, raising her eyebrows at him.

Dionysus sighs as he nods, still holding tightly onto the baby’s hand. “Christopher… my son.” he whispers, pressing a kiss to the tiny hand gripping onto his thumb. August 1. An eventful day for three gods more than others. 

but that was 20 years ago. From then on it’s been smooth sailing. The Gods— Zeus, specifically— decided it would be best for everybody to separate the triplets in fear that they’d be too dangerous if they were kept together. too easy to get caught. 

Ares managed to pull enough strings to make sure Matthew stayed with his mother. his big argument was that since Hermes was the God of Traveling and Thieves, his son would be fine on his own. Ares still doesn’t know how he won that argument. Matthew Sturniolo always knew home as his mother and (adoptive) father. Every Christmas, every birthday, every big moment, it was all celebrated. he didn’t even know how much luckier he was than his brothers. he didn’t even know they existed. 

crazily enough, Dionysus was the one to keep his son with him. it was a battle won simply by stating “i’m the director of the camp anyway, i can start training young.” from day one, Christopher Sturniolo knew home as Camp Half-Blood. every moment he lived through felt like it was preplanned for him. training, a little bit of free time, more training, then a lecture from his dad about how powerful he could be. he didn’t even know how much safer he was than his brothers. he didn’t even know they existed. 

Hermes is still upset that his son got the short end of the stick. it was unfair that both other triplets got some sort of parental figure and all Nicolas got was foster homes and broken families. Hermes did his best to keep an eye on him and keep his son safe, but it was hard when he was hardly able to communicate with him. Nicolas Sturniolo had never known what a home truly was. every moment felt like another battle that would just get him back on the streets. he didn’t even know how much stronger he was than his brothers. he didn’t even know they existed. 

twenty years changes a lot of things about a lot of people. twenty years into living, Matt was getting ready to go off to college– his dorm room was just one flight of stairs away. twenty years into living, Nick was in a random alleyway, desperately trying to break into the old newspaper box for some spare money. twenty years into living, Chris was sitting in his cabin with one of the prettiest girls he’d ever seen bouncing on his cock. 

three identical triplets living three completely different lives. three identical triplets in three completely different places. and yet…

“do you think that-” the same phrase repeated in three different places. 

“-you have absolutely everything you need? i mean you’re really gonna be okay all on your own?” Marylou asks, her hand making its way to matt’s cheek. she rubs her thumb around his face lovingly, her eyes full of love for the boy. standing at the entrance for his dorm, matt nods, his grip on the box in his arms tightening. “yeah mom i’m okay.” he whispers, pressing a kiss to her head. he wants to keep her with him, but he knows she has to go eventually. the goodbye is bittersweet. home is all he’s ever known. he’s never been on his own. never had the freedom he has now. he’s just kinda… there. but alone this time. Matt thinks he’s gonna be just fine.

“-breaking into that thing is really going to get you enough money to get through the week?” nick jumps at the voice, turning behind him to look at the officer he’s gotten so used to seeing. “officer pete…” he whispers, setting down his bobby pin. lockpicking was the only thing he seemed to be good at. over the years, it got him all the way through highschool when his foster homes wouldnt. “Nicolas youre a good kid… i dont wanna cuff you but sometimes you just… leave me no other choice.” the officer speaks, earning a groan and an eye roll from nick. “if i just leave empty handed we call it a day right?” a nod. Nick hopes he’s gonna be just fine. 

“-im gonna get claimed next summer?” you whisper, hands still sitting on chris’ chest as you continue to move up and down. chris sighs and throws his head back, pushing your hands gently. “you seriously cannot be riding me while thinking of who your parents are.” his cabin was quiet since he was the only camper, the only noises coming from the squelching between your legs. you frown down at him, gripping onto his chin. “we’re not all lucky enough to live with our dad.” you joke. chris chuckles as he switches the position, taking control of the situation. the conversation can be had later. looking down at you, Chris knows he’s gonna be just fine.

with each passing day, the Camp Half-Blood was getting more and more calm. the campers were finally settled in just as they were beginning to leave. there were always people like you and chris who stayed all year round just cause that’s the way it was. you sat with the other campers in the Hermes cabin, eying chris from across the dining pavilion, pushing your food across the plate. there was nothing appetizing about it anyway. an announcement was being made, something you didn’t care enough to listen to. Chris’ eyes mirror yours, widening when you hear your name called. there’s new campers. there’s never new campers this late in the summer. you lick your lips as you make your way to the front of the pavillion, meeting with Chiron and Dionysus himself. it’s evident to everybody in proximity that your voice is filled with confusion when you speak. “new campers? today? but it’s August 1.” 

a/n: new au series! percy jackson was my book series in elementary school so this is what we get. minimal percy jackson knowledge needed really. theres gonna be mentions of characters from the series here and there but you dont need to watch the show or read the books to understand my au. special thanks to @muwapsturniolo and @bernardsbendystraws and @sturnslutz and @zebonos! kiss kiss! -gen

tags(reply or message to be added): @ifwdominicfike @frankoceanfanpage @mattssslutbby @sophand4n4 @matthewsturnsgf @izzylovesmatt @m11rx @chris-hallelujah @sturniolotoast @mattsbrat @wastelandzella @le4hsblog @mattsd0llfac3 @st7rnioioss @isabellewhatt @sturnslutz @ayesha-eroticaa @freshhhloveee @courta13 @sturns-mermaid @ivysturnss @slutformatt17 @emely9274 @princessesgarden @marrykisskilled @cykss @strnilolover @13hoax @oopsiedaisydeer

[carebooks]

to all those new comers to the Percy Jackson world and being off on shipping Percabeth because Poseidon and Athena are uncle and niece, it’s stated in the books (specifically The Lost Hero) that gods don’t have DNA the way humans do.

and if that still doesn’t convince you or you may think it’s not a real or valuable explanation, let’s recall other ways that births happen in both greek myths and the Riordanverse:

- Zeus birthed Athena from his brain

- Athena’s demigod children are born the same way. out of her mind. so Annabeth is already way off from the usual goddess birth route

- Zeus also birthed Dionysus from his thigh

- Hephaestus was born from Hera and Zeus, but in a lot of versions its actually Hera who just had him by herself. she got pregnant and it happened. they’re gods. (then chucked him down a mountain) again, they’re gods.

- Hebe, goddess of youth, was born from Hera and a piece lettuce she ate

- in the Trials of Apollo, we learn that Kayla Knowles, daughter of Apollo, has a human father, Darren. meaning she has two fathers: Darren and Apollo. no mother involved in her creation whatsoever.

- Zeus has impregnated quite a large number of people during his time and in various different forms. one of the weirdest ones by far was when he came to a queen in the form of a swan, embraced her as that swan and nine months later she gave birth to two eggs. they hatched and inside was Helen of Sparta (as in Helen of Troy), Clytemnestra, Castur and Pollox.

- Poseidon and Medusa had a child and that child was born from Perseus cutting off Medusa’s head. that child was Pegasus. (yes, that Pegasus) (also some other dude was born too)

- Aphrodite was born out of sea foam made from the severed genitals of Ouranos that fell to the oceans

have i convinced you already? are we done here?

[cynthiav06]

I have been living with this headcanon/brainrot about Athena (both from Epic the Musical and pjo) for a long while and a warning for the faint of heart, you know what read it anyway cause it haunts me , so everyone else has to be haunted by it too, cause I am petty like that.

Most people might be aware of the myth that Athena sprung from Zeus's head fully formed and in battle armor, but a few might not know the preceding myth, so here's a quick recap:

Zeus married the titaness Metis, who was the titaness of wise counsel, wisdom, and planning. She was also Athena's mother. Metis was his advisor, both an indispensable aid and threat to him, given her power and cunning. But it's no Greek mythology without a son overthrowing the father archetype haunting the narrative. There was a similar prophecy about Metis's second child being so powerful that he would overthrow Zeus. Mind you Metis was pregnant with Athena when the following events transpire:

Zeus being Zeus, paranoid and power hungry, the King of the Gods and the God of "Justice" manipulates Metis into playing a shape-shifting game and when Metis turned into a fly , he swallowed her whole. [I know Greek patriarchs have a thing for eating their children or spouses pregnant with said children. Runs in the family, apparently]

Mind you in Greek myths, swallowed children, or in this case, swallowed wife pregnant with said child stay alive for a good amount of time even inside someone else's organs. So Metis gives birth to Athena inside Zeus's head and raises her there. She teaches her warfare and strategy until Metis herself eventually dies, i.e., her essence fades. Knowing what she must do to not meet the same fate, Athena hammers on Zeus's skull from the inside to escape. Everyone knows the rest of the myth.

But imagine Athena's first lesson being that the man she calls her father is the one who killed her mother and almost killed Athena herself by swallowing Metis so she must do everything in her power to survive and avoid that fate by staying on his good side. To try and fit in this twisted family of immortals, half of who hate her existence and half who are indifferent to him. So she does exactly that.

Think of Athena asking to be a Virgin Goddess from learning of what comes of marriage with gods.

Now, the continuation of Athena's myth is that she goes to Atlantis to train with the sea nymphs. There she makes her first ever friend and someone she comes to dearly love, Pallas. Greek myths being allergic to happy endings, one day when Pallas and Athena are sparring as they do a bit more seriously this time; Zeus being a nosy bastard decides to spy in just when Pallas is about to land a finishing blow on Athena. Thinking she might kill his daughter, he kills Pallas by blasting her with his lightning. Athena, being heartbroken , Zeus gave her Aegis as an apology. The continuation of this is that Athena adopts the namesake Pallas Athena and even carves a statue in likeness of her friend called Palladium and then more.

But think of Athena heartbroken and bitter as the Goddess of Wisdom learns her second lesson, then she must abandon all personal relations and sentiment before her father ends it for her in one way or another. For Pallas was the first true relation in her life after her mother.

Keep in mind that Pallas is Poseidon's granddaughter through his firstborn son and heir Triton. This is the point that sparks eternal enmity between Athena and Poseidon, and all those who come after will suffer in the wake of this tragedy.

So Athena chooses to remain alone and without a friend to avoid such a situation. Imagine Athena being hurt, especially brutally, when Odysseus says: "Since you claim you are so much wiser, why's your life spent all alone? You're alone!"

Because that's exactly it. Athena is wise. She knows the consequence of endearing herself to someone again so she stays alone to avoid such a thing and yet coming from someone who is so close to being her first friend in a long time, hurt and enraged she leaves.

Now, when finally Athena comes to terms with her friendship with Odysseus she finds yet again that her father Zeus struck him and his crew in a similar fashion to Pallas , yet again ripping her only friend away from her .

He is not dead yet, and Athena isn't about to let that happen. This time, she fights against Zeus, risks her life and position of being the favorite, and her survival method all because she can't bear to see Odysseus die.

Think of the agonizing fate of Athena, repeatedly being traumatized by her father yet having to do his bidding and stay on his good side to survive and live not for herself for she lives in misery but for the people who suffered for died for their association with her. In her eyes, she must suffer tenfold for letting this happen thrice, for all eternity under the man who so wretchedly ruined her life.

[greenfiend]

Why I’m confident that El was willed into existence…

In a show that frequently references superheroes, alter egos, clones, “subs”titutes, and swapping places…

Is it truly that far fetched to believe that our main “hero” is actually the boy who likes to hide in disguise all along?

In other words, let me explain the evidence that Will created El and what it means for the ending of the show.

I’ll begin by saying that even back when I was a GA watching the show, I sensed that there has always been a supernatural connection between the two of them.

Think about it. Will vanishes, El first appears then El vanishes and Will re-appears. They “swap places”. Will is “good at hiding” and thus El takes over as the lead.

El is a masculine girl (at least power-wise), while Will is a feminine boy. They are connected but yet within the show they aren’t that close? Sure they’re “siblings” now but the writers made a choice not to focus on building up their relationship/bond. In fact, we see them continuously being separated from each other. This conveys a subtle message to the audience:

They cannot co-exist.

They both take up the same role within the show. Let me explain…

Let’s start with similarities between Will and El

Both are around the same age

Both are quiet

Both have a mother who is loving yet distant and both mothers are implied to have mental health issues and are heavily paralleled.

Both have a complicated and ab*sive relationship with their father/“papa”

Both are associated with powers

Both have been victims of bullies

Both have trauma and struggled with their emotions

Both are associated with repressed memories

Both are romantic love interests for Mike

Both are heavily connected with the supernatural

etc etc…

Let’s talk symbolism…

I’ve mentioned this many times before but the writers have subtly used the explosion of “Little Boy” the atomic bomb as a metaphor for Will’s disappearance.

“Little Boy” is Will Byers himself. The real “Little Boy” bomb caused a nuclear fission reaction. Fission means to “split in two”. We also have the Phineas Gage metaphor that conveys splitting of the brain.

On top of this, in the flashback of El opening the gate for the first time, we see the Demogorgon feasting on an egg. When El sees this, we see cracks appear and the gate opens. The egg cracks. This is further implied with this line:

If the hair is a nest, the egg is the head. The head “split”/cracked open. Like an egg, the head hatched… which implies a birth!

Notice how they chose an “owl” out of all birds? Owls are associated with wisdom, and the Greek Goddess Athena. How was Athena born, you ask?

Zeus had a “splitting” headache and then Athena was born from his head.

”Splitting” is also a term within Dissociative Identity Disorder when a new alter/personality emerges. Alters are often seen as “superheroes” as they often protect the host/the system from experiencing trauma. They take over, and “swap places” with the host/other alters. There are common alters roles within a DID system, and one of them is called “The Gatekeeper”.

“The Gatekeeper” controls access to the gate, and to the memories (sound familiar?)…

To add to the “splitting” analogy, we have multiple references to El being “half” and not “whole”. Notice how she’s “twice” as happy with Will present, after being “half”way happy? Two halves = a whole.

Another planet/different species

We have many references to the UD being another planet. If the UD is another planet, all those who inhabit said planet are a “different species” or rather, aliens.

As we all know, El is heavily inspired by “E.T.”, a famous alien character. When she comes to “Earth”/the right side up, she is, essentially, an alien. She doesn’t fit in because this is not her world.

El was even paralleled to D’Art who, as we know, was a “new species” that literally came from Will’s head!

D'Art is a "new species" and El and Max are a "different species" aka "material girls". This implies that they all were created.

They aren't from Earth but instead they're from "another planet". We are given a hint to this in the shot above on the left. A globe (Earth) near another round sphere (Will's head...)

Relevant Media References Within the Show

Within the show, we have many references to other media- specifically media that contains a character with an alter-ego.

Superman is the simplest one to explain, so I’ll start with that. As we know, Mike said El was “Superman”, and that he was “Lois Lane”, prior to Will expressing his love for Mike using El’s name. The writers chose to reference Superman for a reason and it’s not just because El has powers or that Mike is gay. We are supposed to connect the dots and conclude that:

Will is Superman’s alter-ego: Clark Kent. The seemingly nerdy ordinary guy who loves Lois Lane but who is (secretly) Superman.

(Read the line from Lois above, it is incredibly relevant to Will and El)

Another commonly referenced movie within ST is The Neverending Story.

(Atreyu looks into the mirror and sees Bastian…)

The similarities between Bastian (bullied bowl cut boy) and Will are fairly obvious, as well as the similarities between Atreyu (the hero) and El. Well, it turns out that Atreyu was actually Bastian the whole time.

X-Men has also been referenced within the show.

Will asks Dustin for "X-Man 134" in the very first episode. This comic is significant because it was the first appearance of "Dark Phoenix".

In the book the Dark Phoenix is accidentally unleashed by the Mastermind who is tinkering around in Jean's brain trying to unlock the full potential of her powers. x

I argue that the "Mastermind" is actually Will himself who unleashed El into the world. He cast "fireball" unleashing El, the phoenix.

That's not the only X-Men clue however...

In the original Montauk script, it was X-Men 269 that Will asked Dustin for.

@threemanoperation made an excellent post about that here.

There are clear references to gateways and "splitting" which are incredibly relevant to this theory.

Karen's Novels

In this scene, Karen is reading a book called “Tender is the Storm”. In that book, there’s a surprise twist at the end:

These two "twins" that the main character is torn over end up being the same person.

Now keep in mind, the previous novel Karen reads also has clear relevance/foreshadowing. Credit below goes to @/kaypeace21, her post is here.

Sound familiar?

Hawkins Lab/Tunnels

Tunnels are something that we see a lot of... especially in Will's drawings in ST2. He draws tunnels from his mind... it's his mind map.

So... El came from Hawkins Lab, and escaped through these tunnels.

Hawkins Lab...

There's lots of subtle clues that "Hawkins" is metaphorically Will. Let me explain...

"Hawkins" is still healing from the gate being opened = "Will" is still healing from the gate being opened.

"But some of him is here, too. In me. It's like... it's like he's reaching into Hawkins [me] more and more." - Will

"Hawkins" isn't the same without Will because "Hawkins" *is* Will!

So El came from "Hawkins" lab = El came from "Will's" lab.

A laboratory is a place where things are created.

The mind is a "prison" as Papa states. Then we have Hopper and Henry comparing Hawkins Lab to a "prison"/El being a “prisoner”.

El is a prisoner of the mind…

Thus we can conclude: Hawkins Lab is Will's mind, and that is where El came from.

She was a prisoner of his unpleasant and traumatized mind who managed to escape into the real world.

El's Memories

The biggest question is... if El came from Will's mind, how does she have her own memories?

The answer to this is fairly simple:

El has Will's memories...

A major clue of this is in ST2. In a flashback, we see Hopper teach El Morse Code. Later on within the same season, we see that Will knows Morse Code...

Now I know this sounds like a stretch for some, but the major reason why is because we know so little of Will's past explicitly.

We have never seen Will and his father Lonnie directly interact. But through many many clues we can infer that Lonnie had a profoundly negative effect on Will. Not only was he obviously homophobic and a deadbeat father... but many clues point to him being so much worse. I talk about much more in this post.

"Papa" may not be real, but rather a manifestation/altered version of Will's father.

In one of the comics, we see a clear parallel here between El and Papa and Will and Lonnie. The father shutting out the child and ignoring their cries.

Perhaps the biggest clue of El having Will's memories, however, comes from 4x02.

Lets break this down:

In ST1, Jonathan tells us that his father forced him to kill a rabbit on his birthday and it was traumatic for him.

In ST2, March 22 is established as Will's birthday and we are told by Owens that "The anniversary of an event can bring back traumatic memories."

In ST4, we are told that "our brains protect us from trauma" by repressing memories.

In ST4, Will's birthday (the anniversary) is forgotten (repressed memories).

In ST4, on March 22, El has flashbacks to a massacre... and the song "Wipe Out" plays. "Wipe Out" can mean two things: to kill (a rabbit?) and to eliminate something completely (memories).

So... with all of that knowledge... wouldn't you say that it's interesting that El has traumatic memories on Will's birthday?

I think it's fair to conclude that:

Will experienced something very traumatic related to his father on his birthday (March 22), and he has repressed the memories. El, as the "Gatekeeper Alter"/superhero protecting Will/the system, has access to Will's memories.

Gatekeepers control access to specific memories or protected alters and can, in some cases, prevent unwanted switching. These alters aid in preventing traumatic memories from escaping from the alters who control them, thus throwing up amnesiac walls to protect the whole system. x

Which is why in the NINA plot line, it was all about El retrieving back memories... Will's memories. Or rather, altered versions of his memories.

Just to re-affirm the point that Will does not have his own memories... we were gifted with this subtle clue.

"Larry" is a nickname for Lawrence/Laurence. Lonnie is also a nickname for Lawrence/Laurence. So basically:

Will doesn't remember Lonnie. Or rather, he only vaguely remembers Lonnie.

El has Will's memories of Lonnie, and we see them through her flashbacks with "Papa".

This is exactly why we never see Lonnie or rather rarely have any direct mentions of him within the show. He is a deeply repressed memory.

I could go on about this because there are tons more hidden clues but this post will get FAR too long.

Why did Will create Eleven?

Wherever you go, the number 11 seems to find you - this is an angel number. x (credit to @thestrangestthing89 for pointing this out).

To answer this question very simply: Will created El as a replacement for himself. She was his "guardian angel" to protect him from his trauma, but also to erase him.

We really do not discuss this enough, but Will has crippling self-esteem issues! That's why he's so selfless and that's why he always tries to hide. He doesn't believe he's worthy of... anything.

El is a strong, brave, and socially acceptable version of himself. She has superpowers and she can be with Mike, because she's a girl. It'd be acceptable.

But over time we see that El could never replace Will, nor does she want to! El replacing Will causes everyone to be miserable. Will, Mike, his family, and El herself.

How it may be explained within the show

So, DID itself was not a term that existed within the 1980s, it was called "Multiple Personality Disorder". My guess, however, is that they will not use any specific medical term. They will, instead, use a DnD term:

"Changeling" x

According to folklore, a changeling was a substitute left by a supernatural being when kidnapping a human being. x

After Will vanished, El, a supernatural being, appeared in the same place. This whole time El was a "changeling"/substitute for Will.

El's Ending

El's ending has been a hot topic as of recently, for a good reason. People are scared she'll be killed off and express their discontentment with that. Will she be killed off?

Not exactly. Let me explain.

El is E.T., an alien who ends up returning back to their own world. The same thing will happen to El. As I explained, El came from Will's mind, and she will return to Will's mind! This will be her own choice, because she's not adapting to the real world. It's been a constant loop for her, and she's not happy. She hasn't felt like she belonged.

She's tired of being forced into roles that aren't her own.

El and Will will "combine" via fusion. This is where the "Little Boy" metaphor for Will returns. El came into the world via "fission" (splitting) and will return via "fusion" (combining back into Will).

The important thing to note here is that she will not "die".

As Henry states, she will live on in the mind. Most likely, a much more pleasant version of the UD. My guess is her ending will be similar to Frodo's at the end of Lord of the Rings.

(Notice how she disappears into Will? That's obviously intentional visual foreshadowing).

I have even more to say on this but this post has been long enough!

What are your thoughts?

[aliciavance4228]

Was Athena a Feminist or a Female Misogynist?

Athena is perhaps the one most famous goddesses from Greek Mythology, and was for a very long time considered a good role model for women and a feminist due to the fact that she's a smart woman who can fight in battles. However, there are also a lot of people who claim that she is in fact a female misogynist and consider her to be the original "pick-me girl" or "I'm not like the other girls" girl. And the fact that she's seen besides male heroes most of the time or the myths of Medusa and Arachne doesn’t make this situation any better.

And the very first problem in this equation is that people are using a lot of modern terms (and a modern mentality in general) in order to label a figure that was firstly mentioned thousands of years ago. So there's a LOT to unpack here.

The first mentions of Athena come from mycenaean mythology. Back then the place that later became Athens surpringly had a matriarchal view on society, which would explain why Athena as a female figures isn't depicted in a traditionally feminine way. But years have passed, and things have changed a lot both socially and culturally. Athens, despite of being one of the most developed cities from Ancient Greece, had a very patriarchal view on society, to the point where even the other cities considered it to over exaggerate. In order to understand just how misogynistic athenians were, they believed not only that the woman is a disfigured version of the man, but that men could find a way to reproduce themselves without the help of women and that the female is nothing but a vessel when it comes to reproduction.

The thing is that, while a lot of things changed in the Athens in time, the goddess that was the patron of that city remained the same. So the question that naturally comes is: If women are inferior to men, then why is our patron deity a goddess? And so, the only play which specifically depicts Athena as a female misogynist appeared: Eumenides. This play was obviously written by a male Athenian, and its pure intention is to answer to that question. In the Eumenides, Athena says this thing:

It is my duty to give the final judgment and I shall cast my vote for Orestes. [735] For there was no mother who gave me birth; and in all things, except for marriage, whole-heartedly I am for the male and entirely on the father’s side. Therefore, I will not award greater honor to the death of a woman who killed her husband, the master of the house. [740] Orestes wins, even if the vote comes out equal.

As you can observe from this quote, the dialogue is ment to confirm the ancient athenian perspective about reproduction, as well as their views on women in general. Despite the fact that Metis was supposed to be Athena's mother since she was pregnant with her when Zeus ate her, in this play she is completely erased and Athena has one single parent figure: Zeus.

In other words, Athena was clearly a product of the society that worpshipped her; a society that believed that traits such as high intellect or strenght cannot be attributed to women. It is up to you guys to decide wheter the Eumenides is canon to the rest of Greek Mythology or not.

However, aside from this particular play, Athena shows no ill-will towards women purely for their gender. She had a very close relationship with Pallas to the point where she even takes her name after she killed her by accident (Thank you, Zeus!), and acted as the big sis towards Artemis and Persephone, as it is suggested in Homeric Hymns to Demeter.

Furthermore, if you ever read the Iliad then you would observe that her interactions with mortal women are very different compared to those with Medusa or Arachne from Roman Mythology.

In the Iliad, Athena gifts Penelope in handicrafts, wiles, and storytelling, making Penelope an anti-Arachne due to the fact that she isn't punished by the goddess for her talents, but rather blessed for them.

Athena has endowed her above other women with knowledge of fair handiwork and an understanding heart, and wiles, such as we have never yet heard that any even of the women of old knew, of those who long ago were fair-tressed Achaean women— [120] Tyro and Alcmene and Mycene of the fair crown—of whom not one was like Penelope in shrewd device…

At the same time, we have the story of Cassandra and how Athena avenged her. Cassandra was brutally raped by Ajax the Lesser in her temple. She asked Athena for revenge, telling her what happened to her. Athena was absolutely livid, sent a storm to wreck the Achaeans' boats when they failed to kill Ajax, then destroyed his ship near the Whirling Rocks and left him to die, or lifted him in the sky during a storm and impaled him with her father's thunderbolt. At this point, Cassandra is an anti-Medusa, because she was avenged instead of being punished for being raped. Furthermore, in the original greek myths Athena herself was about to be raped by Hephaestus at some point. She was very aware of the fact that there's a difference between a woman who had sex on her own will and one that didn’t consent to it, so it makes no sense why she wouldn't help a rape victim.

Medusa and Arachne were later additions by Ovid, and their stories were anti-Authority Propaganda.

So instead of quickly coming to any sort of conclusion and deciding wheter or not Athena was a Feminist or a Misogynist, perhaps people should understand the fact that the situation was way more complicated as she was nothing more than a character that was depicted both according to the societal and personal views ancient greeks had on women (which were more or less different depending on the century and the poet), and that the answer is way more complicated than we think.

[audreyscribes]

Ω PJO DEMIGOD HEADCANONS: 👑HERA: QUEEN OF THE GODS, GODDESS OF MARRIAGE, WOMEN, MARTIAL HARMONY, AND THE PROTECTOR OF WOMEN DURING CHILDBIRTH 💒

Author's Note: Hi everyone, so some of you have been expecting this. I wasn't lying that I hadn't give it some thought but I didn't write this earlier since I wasn't sure how I could make it work. It might not be what you guys expected but here it is. This is going to be a stretch and please suspend your expectations for this. This is for the anons who asked if I could do Hera. I tried. This is what I came up with. Thanks for reading, liking, and reblogging! I really appreciate it! [PJO DEMIGOD HEADCANONS MASTERLIST]

*Warning: Immense wall of text below [Keep Reading]

I can only see this happening, given that Hera is very loyal to Zeus, and how a demigod child of Hera is born. 

You’re a child of Zeus when the King of the Gods became mortal (SOMEHOW) temporarily and Hera supported him like the loyal wife she is. 

You’re either born like how Athena births her children, where Hera thought about (a) mortal man, or like Hebe (in some mythological records) where she was born from Hera eating a piece of lettuce, from Hera by herself, but was somehow born half-mortal, instead of immortal. 

You were crafted out of clay by Hera? Maybe???

You were born when Hera had become mortal herself (SOMEHOW????), born with Zeus’s help *COUGH*. 

Regardless, your existence or any other demigod child of Hera is unheard of. Like it was not even a thought of possibility. 

No one is sure how to proceed or wrap their minds around your existence. I don’t think you’re told how you were born, but even if you were told, you’re sworn by the River of Styx not to tell anyone except outside a few very selective approved individuals. This is because out of the listed reasons above, only one doesn’t insinuate anything relating to the King or Queen of Gods being mortal; which would reveal a weakness to the two monarchs of the Gods and the harmony of peace among the gods, or indicate Hera of cheating which would break the foundation of marriage and the law behind it. This unfortunately creates a lot of gossip behind your back about your godly mother and you’re the physical representation of it. Something Hestia herself tells you about, in a disapproving way to your godly parent.  

There are immediate renovations to the Hera cabin, mostly because it is not livable at all. You’re temporarily put in the Big House until things are done to the Hera cabin. Annabeth has been given an official ‘pardon’ by Hera because of this, so there’s that? At least.

Annabeth isn’t sure how to interact with you, given Hera’s clear distaste to her, and how you’re her daughter, but at the same time you’re also innocent. 

Percy is also a bit conflicted given Hera was the one who gave him the amnesia and the whole camp Half-blood and Jupiter thing, but he goes about it a bit easier because he knows all about bearing their godly parents misdeeds and grudges and all that. 

On the other hand, you’re living with the knowledge that by technicality, a lot of people could’ve been married under the Ancient Greek laws. For example, Percy and Annabeth could be or would’ve been married when you heard that they were playing hacky sack with an apple and if Percy threw the apple at Annabeth, and she caught it, it would’ve technically counted as “accepting a marriage proposal”, and they were married-

Your mother’s domain is technically powerful and important but at the same time, it’s not very useful to you; considering there’s a lack of married individuals among the campers and the only one who is married is Mr. D, but you don’t dare to. But it’s not like you can do anything anyway since he is a god and you’re just a demigod…that and he’s been avoiding you.

Mr. D just avoids you and you’re not sure until someone tells you that Hera tricked his mother, Semele, into making Zeus reveal his true form to her to prove he was Zeus, evaporating her. 

If Camp Half-blood has the aura of uncertainty, then Camp Jupiter is the opposite. The treatment towards you is the opposite where they treat you with reverence but because Juno is so revered, being her child makes you feel isolated.

The cabins that are at odds with you are the Aphrodite, Zeus, Athena cabins, while the cabins that are more cordial with you are the Hebe, and surprisingly the Ares and Hephaestus cabins. 

At least there are a bunch of beautiful white lilies at Hera’s cabin, making the cabin more of a place to live than a renovated temple. The lilies are there because it is said they were born from her. 

Argus is also your bodyguard for a reason. He was created by Hera for the sole purpose of being a guard and watchman, and considering you are the daughter of Hera, you fall under his duties. Not long after you were born, when you have grown out of the age protection Hera can protect you from, and Hebe when you’re past 8 years old, the monsters start coming into droves. There are monsters immediately trying to kill you, not just fueled because you’re a powerful demigod, but because of also Lamia, who she personally comes hunting for you. This is because Lamia, when she was a mortal queen and had the eye of Zeus, Hera was responsible for killing all of her children and became what she is now, and is also responsible for monsters hunting demigods to this day. Argus is only able to protect you only for so long so sharpen your skills and fight for your life. 

When you get claimed, the world goes absolutely silent. Everyone stares upon the claim mark floating above your head, a peacock, like its a crown above your head. The spread feathers of the peacock does certainly make it look like one. With a crown above your head and a field of white lilies sprouting beneath your feet like a white carpet, it almost makes you think you’re a child of royalty being announced.  But you don’t let yourself be that deluded much longer. They stare at the mark longer than you like to admit, some blinking and rubbing their eyes as if they are seeing an illusion. You already know who your godly parent is, so you know the claim is just a message to Camp Halfblood. 

That you are the demigod child of Hera. A being that has not been thought of to even possibly exist. An impossible existence. 

Yet here you are. And you knew how. And yet you couldn’t tell any of them because Hera made you swear to not reveal that information to anyone outside of a very selected few confidants. If they knew any of the truths, then it would break the balance of the gods and would bring chaos to them; threatening them and you. 

The claim begins to fade, disappearing into glittering lights and as it falls upon you, so do the campers’ eyes. Thousands and thousands of eyes stare at you, not for you, but what you are. 

Argus stands beside you, standing like a guard and his protective stance only adds to the confirmation.

Mr. D drops his can of diet coke and as it splatters across the floor, Chiron finally breaks out of his stupor. He kneels and bows before you, his limbs shaking a bit as he stutters as he announces. 

“The bloodline is determined. Hera, Queen of the Gods, Goddess of Marriage, Women, Martial harmony, and protector of women during Childbirth. Hail, [y/n] [l/n], child of the queen of the gods.”

There is silence before chaos erupts as everything is turned over their heads.

[reiniesainyo]

IN BETWEEN. charlie bushnell x reader – 01

01 | SPARKS FLY previous | next | masterfile

SYNPOSIS. when a girl's co-star is good to her and now she wants it more than everything in between. (smau)

A/N. this chapter is more like world building (it's where i explain what the fuck i'm doing with the YN okay)

The "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series at Disney+ has added an unexpected pick to its growing cast.

The new live-action series is based on the hugely successful novels from author Rick Riordan of the same title. We will be seeing YN LN join the series as Rina Velasco, one of the supporting characters of the show.

LN's Rina Velasco is referred to as "the offspring of The Muses, goddesses of the sciences and the arts." Unlike most other demigods, she is born out of the artistic and scientific output of the muses. When the moral ingenuity of humans meets the divine musings of The Muses. Her character is described as a unique allrounder who becomes a mentor figure to our main cast as they embark on their journey.

This will be LN's first on-screen role of her career. LN's experience mostly lies in Broadway, she is known for playing Kim in the Miss Saigon revival on Broadway. LN was nominated for a Tony in 2022 for the same role. She is repped by Salonga/Chien Entertainment and B817 Agency.

Riordan posted on the Meta app, Threads, about this update to the casting saying: "YN was one of the actors we didn't expect to see a tape of but when we saw it, we couldn't help but fall in love with her. She embodies the spirit of Rina so well and is such a kind spirit, we can't wait for you to fall in love with her too! Welcome to the cast, YN!"

The live-action show is based on Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson book series. It tells the fantastical tale of the titular 12-year-old modern demigod (Scobell), who's just coming to terms with his newfound supernatural powers when the sky god Zeus accuses him of stealing his master lightning bolt. With help from his friends Grover (Simhadri) and Annabeth (Jeffries), Percy must embark on an adventure of a lifetime to find it and restore order to Olympus.

Production on the show is now underway in Vancouver. Riordan and Jon Steinberg are writing the pilot with James Bobin directing. Steinberg and his producing partner Dan Shotz are overseeing the series and serve as executive producers alongside Bobin, Rick Riordan, Rebecca Riordan, Bert Salke, Monica Owusu-Breen, Jim Rowe, Anders Engström, Jet Wilkinson, and Gotham Group's Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Jeremy Bell, and D.J. Goldberg. 20th Television is the studio. Salke was formerly the president of Touchstone Television and originally put the show into development.

liked by percyseries, iamcharliebushnell, and 37,789 others thelnarchive the child of the muses @percyseries

percyseries OUR MUSE!

user1 this is literally perfect casting who cried i did ↳ user2 she's so rina coded! thank the gods for the casting directors

iamcharliebushnell only muse in my life ↳ thlnarchive only traveler in my life ↳ user3 the way filming hasn't started and they're already like this ↳ user4 their chemistry is chemistry-ing

user5 roman empire. she is my roman empire.

dior.n.goodjohn i LOVE LOVE LOVE women ↳ thelnarchive HELP i love you

user6 this is so fcking random but i NEED her in a taylor swift music video

A/N i truly hope you guys can forgive the horrible editing in the pictures. the article portion is based on (and has some parts that are directly pulled from) this article from variety ! here's some succint information about rina velasco, the PJO character YN LN plays (and is my childhood OC!) - rina velasco, filipino, 18 years old (year younger than luke) - she's an offspring of the muses, not directly a child or daughter, though she may be referred as such - by her being an offspring of the muses, i mean that she was born in the same way athena's children are born. - but in rina's case she's more like a weird conglomeration of each muse. her birth is a rare event, but her mothers are honored as minor goddesses so she stayed in the apollo cabin (connection to music) - rina operates as a guidance figure for the main trio, especially annabeth - she's also luke's love interest, there's a lot of tragicness and doomed romance stuff with those two - and for the sake of everyone, we pretend like the weird i love you from the books didn't happen !

[somepsychopomp]

Ok but omega ody going into labour while with Athena. She brings out an axe to help and then is utterly traumatised because why do mortals birth like that she thought offspring came out of the head?! Also why is the baby a baby not a fully grown adult 😭😭😭

I absolutely think Athena would be way more in touch with mortals than this but yeah sure why not:

For Ody to go into labor with Athena around, I think he'd have to be otherwise alone. So maybe he snuck out of the palace because he was sick of constantly being hounded by the royal physicians. No doubt his mother would also constantly smother him and order the servants to do the same.

Athena joins him and they take a little walk together. Neither of them think anything's wrong until Odysseus stumbles over himself. Athena catches him, but they both smell... something in the air.

Ody looks down and boom, his water broke.

Athena thinks nothing of it. She summons a small axe to one hand and a chisel + mallet in the other, asking Odysseus which he'd prefer.

He looks at her like she's crazy and says he needs to get back to the palace ASAP. Athena is like "Oh of course. Mortals die of childbirth all the time. Well, they do tend to perish when their skulls are cracked open, so that makes sense."

She uses a bit of magic to get them there faster, masking herself from everyone but Odysseus' sight as the servants hurry him to his birthing suite. They get him settled on the provided bed and do all sorts of things to calm him down, like massaging his muscles and rubbing his skin with warm oil. Athena is like "Yup this checks out. Definitely don't want to be stressed when they crack your head open."

She even keeps quiet as a priest prays to Artemis for a safe birth for both the child and the dam despite Athena being right there. Because surely, at any moment now, Odysseus will ask his dear mentor to do the honor of delivering his child. After all, what mortal's hand could possibly be more steady or precise than her own?

Athena is honestly a little excited and a little nervous. She's never delivered a human's offspring before. But she doesn't trust the midwives or physician to do the cutting and/or splitting. What if they accidentally kill Odysseus?

As someone who's vanquished many foes in battle, she's confident that she can get Odysseus' head open just enough for the child to pass w/out killing her mentee. And right now, Odysseus is looking quite stressed and seems to be in a lot of pain. There's some blood coming from his lower area but hey, maybe that happened when Zeus bore her as well. Or maybe it's a human thing.

Athena startles at the first of Odysseus' screams. This isn't a low whine to indicate discomfort. It's not a battle cry, either. It's a sound of pure pain. As soon as he empties his lungs, the midwives & his mother + wife get him off the bed and seated on a strange chair with a large portion of the seat missing.

(Two notes- I think it's insane that it was common practice in ancient Greece for women start labor by laying down and THEN getting moved to a birthing chair because like... idk about you, if I began to experience the worst physical pain of my life I wouldn't want anyone manhandling me.

And two- I HC Odysseus' mother as an omega. So she'd definitely be there to coach her poor son through his labor. Also, despite childbirth being strictly regarded as an omega's ordeal, I do think Odysseus would want Penelope to be present. She's still a woman so there's not too much taboo crossing there. And having her familiar scent nearby is really comforting to him.)

At that point, it finally crosses Athena's mind that humans give birth very differently from how she was created. There is so much blood and other bodily fluids, it's wet and smells terrible, Odysseus is red in the face from his screaming and exhaustion, and it goes on. For. So. Long.

Hours. All night and into the morning, Odysseus is pushing and pushing and Athena is just watching from the corner of the room and wondering which other god cursed her poor mentee with this demon of a delivery. Because surely, this isn't normal, right?

At one point, Penelope put her hand on his shoulder to calm him down and Odysseus physically snapped at her and bit her hand.

Penelope doesn't pull her hand away, she doesn't even flinch, not until Odysseus lets go of his own volition. He seems to have gone downright mad. At another point in the birthing process, he screams at his midwives and even his own family to be quiet, even when no one is speaking. He yells at them not to touch him even when no one is.

Athena is horrified and bewildered by his behavior but literally everyone else in the room acts like it's completely normal. Like this is expected.

"Yes, Odysseus," his mother murmurs, having been on her feet for hours and yet not tired at all, "Let it all out. It'll be alright..."

"Stop telling me that!"

And his mother continues to hush and shush him, no fear or anger on her face. Only love and concern.

Athena wishes childbirth was as easy as making a neat split in Odysseus' skull and pulling the child out. Whatever in Hades this all is... it is beyond even her comprehension.

At long last, a tiny fleshy thing drops out of Odysseus and into a midwife's waiting arms. It's cleaned and dressed in white cloth, with the staff declaring it's a boy!

Odysseus slumps in the chair, at last being able to cradle his son. Penelope leans over his shoulder with a smile and all at once, his sanity seems to have returned to him. Odysseus smiles, exhausted but clearly very happy, as his alpha kisses him on the cheek.

Penelope says, "Well done, my beloved."

She's crying, as is Odysseus' mother. Tears of joy, no doubt. Odysseus seems to have shed every tear he could possibly have as he finally gets to recline and relax.

In all his life, he's never looked so fragile, so mortal.

Odysseus spots Athena in the corner of the room and asks to be left alone for a moment. He wants to pray, he says. It takes a great deal of convincing for his mother & wife to leave his side, Penelope seems intent on being removed only by force, but they don't want to argue with the poor omega who just spent 12+ hours giving birth. Odysseus assures her it'll just be for the shortest moment.

When it's just the three of them, (Ody, Athena, and Telemachus) he asks if she wants to hold the baby. Athena politely but swiftly declines, thinking the little thing in Odysseus' arms must be as soft as clay and just as easy to misshape.

Curious, Odysseus asks her what it was like to watch.

"It was... unlike anything I've ever seen."

Odysseus smiles softly. It seems he has no strength to laugh.

He asks her a question that catches her by surprise, "What was I like?"

"What do you mean?"

Odysseus truly doesn't remember long stretches of his birth. He asks again what he was like. Athena decides he doesn't yet need to know about how he snapped at everyone in the room. Now, she can see it was only a coping mechanism for someone in terrible, terrible pain and all the mortals understood that far before she did.

"Rest, Odysseus. You've fought a great battle," she says, before taking her leave. She flies out of the window in the shape of an owl and heads to her abode on Olympus. Athena sits down at her loom, the pattern for a baby's blanket already fully drafted in her mind.

[cassandrarebornanew]

Redacted thoughts

Spoilers if you haven’t listened to the new Hush/Avior/Starlight vid

I’ve been thinking about this one for a while actually, because there was this thought that was bugging me, and I only just straightened it out.

The whole thing has a lot of similarities to the birth of Athena.

I am an avid fan of Greek mythology (as if you couldn’t somehow already tell) and I am wholeheartedly embracing the opportunity to rant.

First of all, while you have the whole Hush-splitting-from-Avior thing, we need to talk about how he got there in the first place. The Sovereigns deemed in necessary and appropriate for the good of the world and the order that has been established. Athena’s mother, Metis, a nymph, was pregnant with Zeus’ child - one that was prophesied be smarter than him, and he feared it would overthrow him and disrupt the order he had established. See it?

Then you have his actual “birth” situation. We know that Avior was in severe pain before Hush split from him, and that none of his fellow daemons could help. In the mythos, Zeus came down with a splitting headache that none of the gods knew how to cure. Hush pulls away from Avior in a final moment of agony and Zeus literally bashed his own head in to relive the pressure (or Hephaestus split his head open with an axe at Zeus’ request, but the premise is still the same).

Hush springs out fully formed, completely furnished with all the tools (the Sovereigns think) he will need. Athena comes out of Zeus’ brain fully formed and wearing a full set of armour. 

Athena is a master of strategy and calculating the odds. Hush relies solely on the numbers, calculating which route is the most efficient / aligning with his cause.

She experiences flights of anger and passion despite her stoic nature, such as with Arachne; Hush is now struggling to grasp the depth of his newfound emotions, especially with Doc.

She is a goddess of virginity, staying “pure” and some might even say “innocent” (🤮 but stay with me). Hush is… inexperienced in the fields of romance and emotion.

She is the goddess of wisdom and war strategy above all. Hush is a weapon, crafted by the Sovereigns, capable of power no one can match.

Athena is loyal to her father, loyal to the other gods. She prevents the collapse of the Age of the Gods this way, averting a major disaster.

Hush is loyal to his creators, loyal to the Sovereigns. Will it be enough though?

I’m well aware Eric probs didn’t think of all this / do it on purpose, but I couldn’t help myself :)

Anyway I love the Redacedverse. 10/10 would recommend.

[anotheroceanid]

Two things, first, wouldn't it be a punch in the gut to Poseidon that his daughter, his sweet little girl he's happy to finally have back again and when this all ends she's coming back to Atlantis with him, could not drown in any type of water but died drowning in her best friend's blood?

Second, my theory is that in the first timeline Perse was born the way she seemed, an innocent little goddess who felt like she failed at birth bc the Athenians did not wholy accept her (bc she was both the fountain and the olive leaves). Her life goes as normal, she's a very minor goddess with not many worshipers and since she was born not knowing anything she did not claim demigods as a domain(there were barely any at the time after all), until Zeus smites her bc she did not agree with the deadbeat law and since she's very minor that was enough to make her fade until she's reborn to Sally Jackson

Then she dies again, drowning on the blood of her best friend who's the reincarnation of her daughter and goes back to the past but now with the memories of her time as a demigod but not her time as a goddess

In her best friend’s blood who was her daughter in a past life 😭😭😭 imagine him going after her body and finding them clinging to each other even though they're just corpses now. Athena screamed at him that nothing of it would've happened if he hadn't kept their daughter from her 😭😭😭

Yeah, in the first time I think she was what she seemed to be. But maybe she became the demigod’s goddess because she, herself, claimed herself to be only half of a goddess since her birth was due to rejection. So the things she does in that life, she does because she thinks that the best at the moment. While, later, Percy ends up doing the same thing, thinking she’d get to avoid the original outcome.

And I can definitely see Zeus and her starting to fight more and more as he realises the demigods are dangerous (when he decides that gods must keep distance). Even original Perse thought it was absurd, especially since it would seriously affect her own domains.

[sciencegothic]

do you think athena ever resents Zeus for robbing her of the chance of having had a "normal birth" and a mother like everyone else has? does athena ever imagine what being a child would have felt like? what holding her mom's hands and hiding behind her dress would have felt like? i wonder if hera is nice to athena because she knows athena never had a mother. she was born before Zeus and her got married, after all, so Hera has no real reason to hold grudges like she held against Apollo, Artemis and Dionysus (all born out of affairs and not out of a previous union). Hera and Athena are often in the same side, they supported the acheans against troy and seem to generally respect each other.

Am I thinking all this just because of that "Hey, baby" in Hera's level in God Games? YEAH ABSOLUTELY.

ohh you came to the right person because mother-daughter dynamics drive me wild actually

i think there’s something to be said about a girl raised by her father because her father had his will that she would not have a mother. a girl who was born adorned in armour because her mother crafted it for her. athena was born a warrior of the mind (quite literally), and though zeus may shaped her and taught her as she grew, a lot of who she is can be attested to her birth. to her mother. so i think, yes, although athena is loyal to zeus, although she is his favourite, pe4ect daughter - there is still going to be a part of her that grieve for the mother she didn’t get to have, an resents the father who bears the reason.

i do like the idea that hera has a maternal dynamic with athena, then, because i think it would be good for both of them. athena finally gaining a mother-like presence in her life, and hera making a conscious choice of treating her as a daughter, knowing that the decision is hers, the girl is hers, and this isn’t like the other children of zeus. i think the “hey baby��� line is quite telling, i definitely interpreted it as a sort of maternal-inflection, mother greeting daughter (in a sense). also just the whole way that hera interacts with athena in god games is really interesting. specifically her lines:

Try harder

and:

You can do better than that

it’s almost like she wants athena to win. where all the other gods presents their own arguments against odysseus, hera is giving way for athena to presents hers for him. she’s actively encouraging her to persuade her; she knows what athena - goddess of wisdom - is capable of, and she’s waiting to be hit with the wit that she knows athena posses. she knows athena “can do better than that”, she wants her to. she’s by far the most relaxed and causal of the gods throughout the games, i think to her this is just for fun and she sort of just wants to play around with athena for a bit. i like the interpretation that they’re locked in a dance during their conversation, like hers is using this as an excuse to just have some fun. maybe just for her own sake, but also maybe to spend sone time with athena.

headcanon wise, i do like the idea that hera is the one to take athena away after zeus’ wrath, or at least is the first to go to her. like i said, she seems to see the games as a very casual thing and doesn’t show any real contempt towards athena like the other gods do. she probably didn’t expect things to ever actually get dangerous. and of course, she also has her own qualms with zeus, so seeing him do something so heinous to his own daughter - i feel like that would kick in some kind of material instinct within her. she’d want to keep athena safe.

i should preface this all with the fact that this is all based solely in the context of epic. i’m sure the gods and their dynamics are different within wider mythology, but looking solely at the musical, these are some of my takes

[mer-acle]

Another ask now that you mentioned dionysus😌😌😌since hera would be a better stepmom aka the mom that stepped up, does it mean that dio's birth went different or that hera was the one to do the whole leg baby process when his mom got vaporized???

yayyy

Imagine me just sighing at half of Greek mythology cos my fun little "what if Hera was nice" scenario messes with so. many. myths.

For Dio, I know the story like: Zeus has an affair, Hera tells Semele who he is and tells her to ask for Zeus to swear a Styx Oath on giving her what she wants and then to ask him to show himself in his pure divine form, which kills her. I think this can be pretty easily changed by Semele finding out through another gossip source that her lover might be Zeus and then coming up with the idea to have him reveal himself on her own. So the story would largely go the same, and I think Zeus would also do the leg-baby thing himself bc [insert Zeus reason that probably blames Hera in some way bc you bet the whole "jealous" angle was his fabrication bc he was pissed and also needed a scapegoat for his antics]

Dionysus is so interesting to me now I've got some idea what to do with him, cos he's in many ways an antithesis to Athena. She grew up quick, he stays young for a very long time, he's carefree, she's anything but, and his father saved his life where he tried to end hers.

[sisibookthings]

Athena Designs!! :)

Well my brain wouldn't leave me alone about this until i drew it so here's my Athena designs from her birth to Rome!

Inspired by this post by @literallyjusttoa! Go check it out, it's amazing and a lot better than mine because they definitely did more research 🤣 my timeline is just kinda headcanony and i don't know the exact times so sorry about that (also i hope it's ok that i took inspiration from your Apollo drawings!)

Birth

Athena is born and Zeus sends her to go live with Triton and his daughters at Lake Tritonis.

Childhood

Athena (in my head) takes a younger form in her childhood to be closer in age to her adoptive sister and best friend, Pallas. In my head she's pretty cheerful and sometimes seems like she doesn't know what she's doing but is actually really smart (she's the goddess of wisdom what did you expect) and will insult the hades out of anyone who says anything bad about Triton or her sisters

Teen Years

Athena starts training with a spear, learning from Triton and sparring with Pallas every day. The two of them like to goof off and sneak into places that they aren't supposed to go together :)

Return To Olympus

Athena is accepted back to Olympus after she accidentally kills Pallas in a sparring match (WHICH WAS ZEUS'S FAULT AND I HATE HIM SO MUCH) and some of her temples and statues are built.

Founding Of Athens

Athena and Poseidon compete to be the patron god of Athens (and Athena wins >:D), the Parthenon is built, and she meets Nyctimene (her owl.)

Trojan War

Athena is gifted the Aegis and the Trojan War happens. I imagine she'd also have this same design through the Odyssey.

Late Greece/Arachne

The contest with Arachne happens (in my head Athena and Arachne were friends and Zeus forced the weaving contest because having a mortal be better at weaving than Athena was bad for his reputation but anyways) and Athena notices tensions rising with Rome, but when she brings it up to Zeus he's like "I tHiNk YoU'rE oVeRrEaCtInG rOmE iSn'T a PrObLeM" (can you tell i hate him lol)

Fall Of Greece

Athena is one of the most heavily affected by Rome taking over Greece, as she loved Greece and its people, acting generally friendlier to them than most of the other gods. Though she is used to having to hide her emotions, and so doesn't seem too sad on the surface, the other gods can tell she's at least distracted most of the time.

Rome

Eventually, Athena accepts the fall of Greece, taking Rome as a new start, letting her emotions come through more, and wearing a blue toga. (she wore blue as a kid if you noticed :D) She tries to use her powers and status to help the mortals, and is seen as a role model for many of them.

[firinnie]

Simp for Metis at this stage

I think a bit too much about Hesiod's Theogony.

According to this, Zeus had 7 wives: Metis, Themis, Eurynome, Demeter, Mnemosyne, Leto and Hera

Metis is the only wife Zeus was forced to get rid of because she was supposed to give birth to a son who would defeat him. Plus "Zeus placed her down into his belly, so the goddess might advise him on good and evil." kind of changes it a bit, like she was some kind of voice in his head? Interesting.

Themis was basically… a good replacement for Metis. She advised him in the same way and was justice. Then we have Eurynome, who is like Metis but in appearance, a beautiful nymph.

Demeter, who opposed him but was powerful. Recognizing her as a wife is interesting, but it kind of shows us the great sense from Hestia taking a vow of virginity was. Then Mnemosyne was the personification of memories… do I need to add anything when he still couldn't get his first wife out of his head?

The case of Leto and Hera is very interesting because we all know that one was supposed to pursue the other. Hera was jealous of her husband, so it means that Leto got pregnant after the divorce or was replaced when her pregnancy was not yet known.

And now I see one thing (unless I missed something) but if we assume that Leto was actually divorced, maybe because she couldn't / not wanted to get pregnant, which turned out to be only when Hera was already ruling… it turns out that Hera is the only one who gave Zeus a son from a legitimate bed. Each of the other ladies here gave birth to only daughters, and Apollo was born out of wedlock because Hera was jealous of her husband then. Does this mean that Zeus wanted a son and he was only bargaining chip to continue the marriage?

This is already an obsession, but everything revolves around Metis for me. Zeus tried to replace her mind, her looks, her strength and finally that she would give him a son but this time a safe one. Right after that Athena is born so Zeus no longer has a part of Metis to follow in love life, he has it in his daughter.

[disappointed-time-traveller]

Sooo… do you know that story about Athena being arranged to marry Hephaestus?

This was partly inspired by @mer-acle's drawing of the same myth. I wanted to draw something for it to but wasn't sure what and then... inspiration stuck "Ah Ha! I'll redraw the reluctant bride by Auguste Toulmouche, but like, with Athena!" Which makes this probably the nerdiest drawing I've ever done. But I mean how could I not that death glare is iconic!

This is such a fascinating myth, it has such interesting implications for Athena's family relationships, and Athena as a person. Like not only was she married off despite her clearly wanting it, but nobody did anything about it, she had to get out of it herself. Like that hurts but the way she responds is so wonderfully in character for a much younger Athena.

In the original myth Hephaestus asked to marry Athena (by which I of course mean he asked Zeus what kind of hooligan would ask a woman if she wanted to marry him). But i kind of like the idea I've been playing with of Hephaestus not wanting it either, just because this story really highlights the fact that they have so much in common. They were both born in unusual ways, got abandoned at birth because of it, and when they got back to Olympus LIFE STILL FUCKING SUCKED. I also originally started exploring this myth as a way to have the Erichthonius myth because I love him, and keep Athena and Hephaestus's friendship.

bonus original sketch: