#Even before becoming a toa

[shidraoftheworldpillar]

hey remember when I was talking about the toa trio?

Welp I got ocs

Sundu: bo-toa, wears a brown rau, loves talking to rahi, specifically snake rahi.

Tudre: ko-toa with a lavender faxon, has a pet kikanalo

kaperii: vo-toa with a gold zatth, absolutely feral (I mean they all are but shes the most feral)

[aroaceleovaldez]

yknow, I am amused that solangelo fanon was so tunnel-vision in like 2014 that in the midst of crawling through literally every time Will had popped up in the series prior, somehow the ONE singular instance of Will referencing something that the fandom did absolutely nothing with was the thing Rick then decided to draw out into being a major character trait for Will.

Like. Nico eats McDonalds once and it becomes a huge fanon thing, but Will references Star Trek and the fandom doesn't make a peep until Rick explicitly canonizes that he's a huge sci fi nerd. and Rick doesn't even keep it consistent! He changes it so Will is a Star Wars nerd instead of Star Trek. smh 😔 /lh

[m4gp13]

you know what, while we're at it I might as well talk about the tartarus ethan au

The main gist is that Kronos was just really pissed about the betrayal thing and when he opened up that hole in the ground, he wasn't just sending Ethan to go splat on a pavement, he was sending him straight down to Tartarus. Luckily, Ethan landed in the Phlegethon so his body shattered on impact and then immediately got fixed up again. He stays in Tartarus for a full year, during which he survives by masking his scent with war prizes from the monsters he kills and from just sticking close to the Phlegethon so that if he gets too roughed up he can just hop in the water, splash about for a wee bit, and then hop back out right as rain.

He runs into Nico while Nico is looking for the doors of death and is half relieved to see another demigod for the first time in almost a year and the other half of him is horrified at the thought of a tiny squishy kid like Nico wandering Tartarus on his own. Ethan volunteers to be Nico's guide since Ethan knows the place pretty well (and because he's lonely and also because he doesn't want Nico to be on his own). They have a pretty decent time mostly because Ethan quickly clocks Nico as a closeted gay kid and decides to take him under his wing like a wizened queer mentor he is. Anyway, the thing with the giants happens and the two get separated when Nico gets jarred and Ethan is sent floating face-down in the Phlegethon. When he gets back on his feet he has no idea whether or not Nico's even alive which is. concerning.

Luckily for him, just when he thought his hellish Tartarus life is getting back to normal, Percy and Annabeth come dawdling along like a pair of zombies. Ethan can't just leave them so he drags them with him and offers to help with whatever bullshit they've been up to (he also gets the chance to ask about Nico and is very relieved when they let him know he's okay). No one in this situation is having a great time at the start because while Ethan did try to kill Kronos, the three of them still aren't on the best of terms. These terms don't get particularly better when Ethan stands off to the side watching the whole Akhlys thing go down and a significant part of him is wishing he hadn't kept them alive because OH MY GOD these bitches are so high maintenance! After the poison thing Annabeth and Percy are pretty tense with each other and Ethan, to his horror, realises that he needs to be the mediator so he just pulls them aside and tells them as gently as possible to get their shit together until they're not in hell anymore (not in so many words, he tells Percy that Annabeth might be a tad hesitant around guys she's close to suddenly developing a violent anger that causes them to lash out a people all things considered). Anyway, he brings them over to Damasen, who he's been pretty chill with over the past year, and then they get to the doors of death and Ethan finally gets to leave Tartarus (also Nico is very surprised and relieved to see Ethan no longer floating face-down in a river of fire).

[catofadifferentcolor]

Terrible Fic Idea #92: Percy/Apollo, but make it The Trojan War

Into every fandom, a time travel fic must fall - or in this case a second one, because I somehow got to thinking about the delightful PJO trope of Percy being thrown back in time to The Trojan War and realized that doing so misses out on a fantastic opportunity.

Or: What if post-TOA Percy Jackson and Apollo time travel to shortly before The Trojan War?

aka the Tried To Change The Ending fic

Just imagine it:

Everything follows canon through TOA, with one exception: rather than struggle to catch up in the mortal world following the Second Gigantomachy, Percy elects to stay at Camp Half-Blood. There he can homeschool at his own place with programs tailored towards ADHD children and still visit his family on the weekends - and not get into any more ridiculous situations in the mortal world when one of the gods kidnaps him or sends him on a quest to find their sneakers.

This, naturally, stresses his relationship with Annabeth - who, now that she's no longer living at camp full time, calls it the easy way out. But Percy is tired and struggling in mortal high school where everyone thinks he's a delinquent idiot when another option exists seems foolish. Percy and Annabeth break up and drift apart.

Enter Apollo, fresh from his latest stint as a mortal. He's trying to do his best by his children, which includes popping by camp as often as he can get away with - which in turn means spending a lot of time with Percy, who at this point is unofficially running CHB because it's not like Dionysus or even Chiron have done a brilliant job of it in recent times.

(First aid, strategy, and mythology classes are made mandatory. Percy personally ensures every demigod knows enough about self-defense to be able to survive long enough to run away or for help to arrive. Bullying is cracked down on so hard that it's this, not Percy's generally parental nature, that has people calling him Camp Mom.)

Percy and Apollo become friendly. Enough so that some of Apollo's kids assume they're dating and keeping it on the down-low so as not to draw Zeus' ire. Or Poseidon's. Or anyone else's. It's on one of their not-dates that they're yeeted into the past, without warning or explanation.

And so 19-year-old Percy Jackson and post-TOA Apollo find themselves in Ancient Greece c. 1220 BCE, roughly thirty-five years before the destruction of Troy.

The time travel is immediately obvious, as Apollo becomes the closest thing a god might experience to being high the moment they land in the past - being a powerful god in modern times is nothing like being a powerful god at the height of his power in ancient times. It's overwhelming (and somewhat alarming from Percy's POV, but kind of funny in retrospect.)

The specific date is harder to determine, but made clear when Hermes shows up and starts going on about you'll never believe what father's done now: he seduced the Spartan queen as a swan and she's laid an egg. Hera is furious - especially as they're saying the girl that hatched from it is the most beautiful in the world, even though she's only a few days old. It's nuts. By the way, where have you been? You missed the last two council meetings. Do you want Dad to punish you?

Apollo at this stage is very high. He's also been USTing over Percy for quite some time and is worried what the gods of this era might do to Percy without divine protection (smiting or seduction, it's all on the table). But mostly he's very high, and so to keep Percy close and safe he declares he's been off having the dirtiest of dirty weekends with his latest lover and that Hermes' presence is ruining the mood. So if he would kindly leave, please and thank you, he'd really rather get back to it without an audience.

This, naturally, is a surprise to Percy, but he rolls with it because 1) he doesn't have any better ideas on how to get rid of Ancient Greek Hermes so they can figure out what the hades is going on and 2) he's been USTing over Apollo ever since he recovered enough from Tartarus to start feeling attraction again.

Fueled by mutual UST, they put together a cover story that should hold the next time a god with too much prurient interest shows: Percy is now Prince Persē of Gadir - a Phoenician colony that will grow into the future Cadiz - well past the edge of the Greek world at this stage but not beyond belief for Poseidon to have visited, as it's obvious who his father is. They claim his mother is the King of Gadir's youngest sister and as such Persē had a royal upbringing, but was far enough down the line of succession that he was free to chose to sail east and explore his father's homeland. Apollo caught sight of him on his journey, one thing led to another, and here they are.

(Are there easier, more sensible cover stories? Possibly. But the UST refuses to let them consider any of them now that a fake relationship is on the table.)

Deciding what to do about The Trojan War is much harder. On the one hand, it's a lot of senseless death and destruction. On the other, without it we don't get The Iliad and The Odyssey - two of the most influential works of literature in western civilization - and Aeneas doesn't go off to Italy (leading to the founding of Rome, which would change the history of western civilization a lot). In the end, they decide to let the war happen but do their best to mitigate the worst parts of it.

And so Percy goes off and becomes a hero of Ancient Greece while pretending to be in a relationship with Apollo.

This stage of things is filed with angst from both parties, as both Percy and Apollo want a real relationship with each other but think they're abusing the other's trust by eagerly faking their relationship. There's a lot of PDA, a lot of feelings, and limited communication. It goes on for quite a while and would probably exasperate quite a few people if everyone in the know didn't think they were already in a relationship.

It's also filled with modern day Percy being confronted by realties of life in Ancient Greece. It's not just mortals knowing about - and interacting with - the gods: it's everything. It's food and clothes and language and culture and housing and travel. He can play a lot off it as being a traveler from the edge of the known world, but some of it has him asking Apollo if he's being rick rolled.

Apollo, meanwhile, is having troubles of his own. He is not the god he used to be and it's hard pretending otherwise. He tries to walk the line of doing enough to be believable and holding back enough not to despise himself, but it's a fine line, he fails often, and he spends a not insignificant amount of time worried he's backsliding.

And so it goes until 7-year-old Helen of Troy is kidnapped by Theseus to be his wife.

This, naturally, does not fly with Percy, who by this time has built up something of a reputation as a hero. He teams up with the Dioscuri to rescue Helen.

One would think this would earn him Zeus' favor. It doesn't. Instead, Zeus sends monsters to harry him for refusing to let Castor and Pollux take Helen's captors' loved ones captive and raze Aphidna for Theseus' crime. Percy manages to hold his own for quite a while but eventually, exhausted from the near-constant fighting, is gored and left for dead by the reformed Minotaur.

...and when Apollo arrives, frantic, to heal him, Percy ascends instead, becoming the greek version of Saint Sebastian - a minor god of heroes, strength in the face of adversity, and athleticism; sort of halfway between Hercules and Chiron.

Then and only then do Percy and Apollo finally get their act together, confessing to each other how much they care for the other and how much they don't want this to be fake any longer.

History proceeds apace - albeit with Persē being a second immortal trainer of heroes.

24 years after their arrival in the past, 16 years after Percy's ascension, The Trojan War begins. Despite their best efforts, there's only so much they can do - war is war and gods are gods. They are able to stop some of the worst excesses on both sides, but in the end Apollo still sends the plague that causes Agamemnon to take Briseis for his own, which caused Achilles' departure from the field, Patroclus' death, &c - not because Apollo was trying to maintain the timeline, but because in the instant he sent it he was angry and reverted to his old ways.

Troy falls...

...but when Zeus tries to use this as an excuse to ban gods from interacting with their demigod children, Apollo is able to say that's a bit extreme isn't it? with enough backing from the rest of the council that Zeus is forced to amend his ruling so that the gods are only allowed to freely visit their children on the "cross quarter days" that fall between each solstice and equinox (1 February, 1 May, 1 August, and 1 November).

This changes everything and nothing.

Time continues its inevitable march. Greece has its golden age before being conquered by Rome, which splits apart under its own weight and forms several smaller countries, which eventually spread their cultures around the world...

Apollo and Percy are there for it all. Persē is a minor figure in mythology, but never forgotten. He is ever-present in Apollo's temples - though the Church will later try to rewrite their myth so that they were merely sworn fighting partners, rather than lovers who eventually had a quite lovely wedding on Olympus (and then, at Poseidon's insistence, an even bigger ceremony on Atlantis). Percy takes over day-to-day operations of CHB from practically the moment the Trojan War ends.

...and so Persē is there the day Sally Jackson tries to get her son to camp, and is able to intervene when the Minotaur attacks on their border. He's able to meet her and her young son, Perseus ("Mom named me after you and the guy that killed Medusa since you're the only two heroes to have happy endings!"), and guide him through the trials that come with being a child of prophecy.

One day that Percy will hand Luke - who was never happy with the limited attention the gods were allowed to give their children - a cursed dagger so that Kronos can be defeated. That child will be offered godhood, turn it down, and go on to have a happy life with his eventual wife, Annabeth. He will never have his memories erased and be sent to Camp Jupiter. Gaia will not rise until long after that Percy's grandchildren are dead, and Zeus will not be quite so bullheaded when the proof of it is brought before him. That Second Gigantomachy is swift, well-coordinated, and fought without another Greek/Roman war brewing in the background.

And when they finally arrive at the day Apollo and Percy were originally sent back in time, Percy admits that while he is happy some version of him was better prepared for the war he was asked to fight in and allowed his peace afterward, he would change nothing about his own life, for it brought him to Apollo. The sunrise the next morning - on the first morning of the rest of their lives - is particularly spectacular.

Bonuses include:

Gaslighting Poseidon into believing that he's met Percy before the first time they're introduced. ("What do you mean you don't remember me, Father? You were present when I came of age! You gifted me this trident! Have I displeased you in some way?") It's an absolute masterclass that eventually manages to convince Poseidon that, yes, of course he knows Percy - and, maybe, he should check in on all his other demigod children to make sure he's not missed someone. (Two. He lost track of two of the others. Maybe he should be more careful about siring children in the future.) Apollo practically has to stuff his fist in his mouth to keep from laughing.

As much historical accuracy as can be crammed into the Percy trying to make sense of Ancient Greece chapters as possible. Think Of a Linear Circle - Part III by flamethrower levels of historical research. As much as can be shoehorned in without bogging down the plot.

Percy and Dionysus bonding over their mutual dislike of Theseus, though Percy generally gets along with his other half-siblings, especially the ones who come to camp young enough to keep from getting big heads over being the children of Poseidon.

Though Percy adores all the children in Cabin 7 (most of whom are born via blessing this time around), he and Apollo have at least one child of their own - maybe a demigod born before Percy's ascension to sell their fake relationship? Maybe a minor god who's later attributed a different parentage by mortals? Dealer's choice on details.

It never being made clear who, or what, or how, Percy and Apollo were sent into the past. All of Percy's oddities are attributed to him being foreign or formerly mortal, all of Apollo's to the fact that he's in love with someone who didn't die before their first anniversary, and no one ever guesses time travel is responsible for their eccentricities. Or that time travel was ever an option.

And that's all I have. As always, feel free to adopt, just link back if you ever decide to do anything with it.

More PJO Ideas | More Terrible Fic Ideas

[yikesy]

when I'm reading toa fics and someone tells apollo that he's changed: a aaaaaaaaahhh

because I know, I know it's in character

but does the writer believe it?? and in which way???

because the thing about apollo i think, is that he did change in the trials but it was not in becoming a better person (it was about trusting and letting others in and finally giving up on zeus)

because he already was a good person when we meet him

and that's the thing

when we meet him

because he's already changed before

all these things people think his arc was about, all the lessons he supposedly speedran

oh he had that arc alright, he learned those lessons

long long before we ever meet him

like do you really think a god that supposedly narcissistic and shallow (NOT that I think those were ever his vices but that's the narrative they're trying to sell us) would ever act as he did??? change so much in just a year?? change so positively???? (because contrary to popular belief extreme pain and trauma do not generally make you a better person, especially not to a person with such a supposedly negative baseline personality)

he never struggles with or even LEARNS any lessons on morality, the ideas always magically spring fully formed because he already knew them he already has his own ideologies

what he does struggle with and has to learn is SINCERITY because THAT'S WHAT HIS ARC IS SECRETLY ALL ABOUT

and of course he has to vocalize his apologies since, well he never did say them

but make no mistake the apollo of at the very least the past century would have never done the things he's currently apologizing for

[matau-the-228th]

I am told that Dume and his team were the only Toa Team during the Cataclysm who all survived, eventually becoming the ruling council of Tekoa as their Toa power dissipated or was passed on. Whenua held Turaga Taarkus in especially high regard, and that's saying something.

Of course we know what Dume did to the council many, many years later.

It's bizarre to think that even before the six strangers came to our shore, and our own Rahaga, there were far, far more Toa.

Thankfully, Rahaga Nuju delivered an intact Knowledge Crystal to me before he succumbed to one of his fits and destroyed it. It doesn't contain much, but does have an incomplete roster of a few Toa who tried to stop the Cataclysm, and this image, presumably captured from somewhere underwater.

Takua suggested that we should commit their names to the wall of memory in the Great Mausoleum.

I don't foresee Vakama disagreeing, or anyone else for that matter.

-------BEGIN ECHO-------

Matoro's thoughts trailed away as he saw the light dim further within the chamber. Crystalline shapes, holding each other, formed a sort of rising half-circle atop which the Ignika sat, faintly pulsing.

Another quake rocked through his icy dome, fresh fractures having to be sealed rapidly with his elemental powers before the precious air escaped and he drowned.

Something was wrong. Karda Nui didn’t have this much water around the Codrex, and if this stalactite fell, then the others- If Matoro could swim to the surface, he could get the Matoran to safely, and then come back and-

Out of the corner of his eye, the mask pulsed weakly.

Matoro winced, facing the far-away sky and squeezing his eyes shut, as if to wake himself from a bad dream. He had been a Matoran just weeks before.

Don't ask me to make this choice. He pleaded. They need me. If I don't go, I'm letting everyone in Karda Nui die. But... if I leave-

"They all will die anyway," Jaller's words echoed in his mind. “You can’t save anyone if they don’t have a Universe to live in.”

Matoro opened the seal on the Chamber, the air warm and comforting as he stepped inside.

The Mask was a slightly different shape than when Jaller had carried it, and it even seemed to move as Matoro approached it.

He picked up the mask and moved to the other end of the Chamber, sitting down to complete the circle with the vaguely hand-shaped outcroppings set perfectly on his shoulders.

As if they were the whole of the universe resting upon him.

It was just his imagination, but he almost felt them… move, gripping him tighter. Reassuring him.

With a deep breath, Matoro put on the Mask of Life.

Far within the mangled machine-god corpse above, within the cold, flooded chamber of the Codrex, within the Ignition Core, and within the Ignika set upon a light-crystal that was once the body of a Toa of Ice, The Great Spirit breathed life into what remained of the Universe.

And the Great Spirit fell into a deep slumber.

And he dreamt of an Island far above.

Songs: Emil/Sacrifice (NieR:Replicant), Closer to the Truth Dark Ambient (Cryoshell, arrangement by Essenger), Contact Redux (Trocadero & David Levy), Losing Battle V3 (carnelianfoxx)

[princessofghosts-posts]

It's hilarious how gods favor Nico every time he show up somewhere,and characters barely acknowledge it in the books.

In SoN,I remember the Lares calling Percy graecus because he was greek,being basically racist with this,but Nico? He didn't get that. And when the Lares started complaining during the meeting,he made them shut up. When Terminus checked them before they entered the city,he let Nico pass without a problem,but held Percy back because of his sword. But that probably doesn't matter since it was Percy first time ever at Camp Jupiter,while Nico went there already enough times to be an honorary member of whatever political order they have.

Nico was so into his role,he actually become a real ambassador for the romans,and they had no idea it was a coverage till the end. He is smart.

In MoA we had Nemesis and the water deities telling Hazel,Leo (and Frank) to get Nico back because he was important,and once they rescued him from the twin giants and Bacchus appeared to "help" Percy and Jason fight them,he got teleported to his side with Piper. A place where he was safe and out of their reach.

In ToA this pattern continue with Dyonosus favoring him over everyone alse apparently. He is also his therapist too so he probably spend most of the time with him and help him in case something goes wrong. And his stay at CHB actually improved this time around so he can finally be himself without being shunned away (a miracle in its own way).

We don't need to talk about the Underworld because that's his home and everyone loves him there.

He got favored in Tartarus too,by his own heritage,since he could see it for what it really was. Not a very good privilege because he almost went insane but still one unfortunately. A very negative one. And we can't forget about Akhlys traumatizing him and Nyx being obsessive over him.

The same could be said for the Labyrinth in BotL. Nico is the only demigod that didn't ended up insane even tho he was there for weeks. And he had Minos with him,which,shame because it's Minos unfortunately. But he definitely helped him around in there,since Nico was the key for his revenge plan.

And either they favor him or straight up single him out of everyone else: in SoN we got Mars looking at him and addressing him,because he knew Nico had brought Hazel to life,while Gaia was hunting him down the moment he went for the Doors.

In HoH we got mountains gods attacking the Argo II because he and Hazel were part of the crew,and the second he said he was a son of Hades Triptolemus turned him into a plant because he was still petty,and refused to help Hazel,until Frank did something.

In BoO Gaia made Orion and Lycaon hunt them down,and send ghosts covered with earth to him. You can't tell me she wasn't salty at him after what happened.

The second he show up in TLO it was on between him and Kronos,and he was pissed as fuck when Nico interrupted his fight with Percy. He also wanted him. Minos tried to sell Nico to his army not even a year before,and that was before he knew Hades had a son. I just know Kronos was even more pissed when he found out about it. Bro lost him when he almost had him.

And no one,ever,pointed this out.

Gods and enemies are more into Nico than they are into Percy. He is THAT special.

[memysoulandi]

Jason Grace, so much potential...

Actually this goes for the entire lost trio. The AMOUNT of TRAUMA these three had and the potential for character development they had too is UNREAL, yet nothing was done. Let us begin my personal beliefs

Leo:

-Delve into his trauma of his remaining family deciding he was the devil at age EIGHT and refusing to take him in-abandonment issues

-Have his constant feelings of invalid-ness and being the unneeded member of the seven be corrected by giving him CLOSE FRIENDS HE PIPER AND JASON NEED TO BE CLOSER AT THE VERY LEAST and conversations when he realizes he is wanted and needed

-Don't have Calypso storyline in there-he didn't need a girlfriend to solve his problems, if you have it, have it as good friends-another member of his support group

-Make him gay and have valgrace or slowburn/implied valgrace(the two of them pining then like kinda tragic as Leo dies)

Piper:

-Have her lesbian storyline occur in HoO where she's a main character-it's an important storyline for her character that deserves a spotlight and time that ToA couldn't give it

-No Jiper! This relationship was toxic and founded on fake memories-if you're going to do it, do it as a part of her LGBTQIA+ journey and Jason's as well

-Don't have her demonize femininity! She can wear dresses! She can wear makeup! She can present more feminine and still be the same character and her hatred of any and all things feminine is not good representation! Make her a feminist, please! Or at least make her less against femininity as a whole.

-No kaleidoscope eyes! Give her brown eyes and also have her rediscovering her culture storyline as a part of HoO too!

Jason:

-Make him a better fighter than Percy. He has been at Camp Jupiter since the age of three and spent a year with wolves before then. He has spent his entire life in a military setting training, he should be a better swordfighter than Percy 'I show up to summer camp at age 12 to 16 and only really use my sword then' Jackson.

-Give him more powers. Or Percy less. Children of the big three should be equal in potential power, not Percy being OP and the others having lightning or shadows powers some of the time. Percy needs less power and Jason, Thalia, Hazel, and Nico need more. Jason should have more power than Percy as he has had longer to train it.

-Give him a personality. His storyline in HoO should be a journey of self-discovery. He has always been another member of an army, with constant pressure on him to be the best at everything and a strong confident leader who doesn't make mistakes as a son of Jupiter. His entire life has been dictated by those around him. For the first time, he is free of that and he needs to be discovering things like how he likes to dress, his style, his sexuality, his likes and dislikes, and his personality. In my opinion he should be kinda shy with a feral edge, side effect of the wolves, who is always trying to people please. When he stops doing this, he becomes significantly happier and a greater use to the team. Plus valgrace;D.

-Also, make him despise Percy at the beginning. He worked his entire life to be an afterthought that nobody looked for when he went missing for months, while Percy was looked for by everyone after only a few days. Percy achieved everything he wanted in a matter of weeks in New Rome and he was happy and had friends and a life. Percy has everything Jason doesn't. They need to have a moment where they are locked together and Percy goes "why do you hate me" and Jason breaks down because "You have everything I want and you don't even have to try!". This would create a better relationship for them and be the turning point for Jason as Percy hears what he has to say and validates him. Also Jason personality.

-Don't kill him off and continue his self-discovery journey in ToA.

-Make him and Thalia have a closer relationship that in the months between TLH and TSoN, it is implied that they spend time together. He should feel safe with her and they needed more interactions as they are SIBLINGs, god damit.

-Make him and Reyna just friends-she wanted to look for him but couldn't 'cause Octavian(the bitch) and someone needed to be Praetor in his absence.

-Also give him history with Octavian-ex-friends or something give me drama.

[wanderingmind867]

I don't think I hate Nico and Will Solace as a couple, but it's pretty hard to hate a character who you barely know. Oh trust me, I can do it. If I go looking for negative posts, i'm so indecisive that i'd probably enter a temporary hatred phase (before going back to not minding the character, and then having to beg forgiveness). Because I am indecisive, and I can sometimes swing from loving someone to hating them to loving them again.

But legitimately: as someone who pretty much only read PJO and HOO (Skipping the last two books in the TOA series), Will Solace is one of those minor characters I never expect to care much about. Like most of the camp half blood characters who we see very little of, he's just a character I look at without much love in my tone. No offense meant. Please don't take that the wrong way! Let me try to explain.

Will Solace really only shows up twice in the Heroes of Olympus series. Once in the Lost Hero, where he leads Leo to the Hephaestus cabin. And then he suddenly becomes a prominent supporting character for the last 80 pages of the Blood of Olympus. I love Rick Riordan's writing (like 85 percent of the time), but even you can see that this is sort of abrupt. Making a character we barely know become super important just in time for the end of the story makes him feel tacked on at the end. All I really know is that he's blond, reminds nico of jason grace, and he's a healer. Those are the three traits i've picked up on. So now maybe you see my problem?

This is why I prefer Jason and Nico more, I think. Those two at least had some more narratively cohesive bonding. They had their intimate moment when Cupid forcibly outed Nico, and they've been close ever since. Even though they're not in any scenes together in most (if not all) of the Blood of Olympus, they mention each other a lot. There's more of a cohesive build towards romance here.

Will and Nico works (I suppose), but it's abrupt, and it's lacking in any real signs that the two deeply care. I mean… again. Will's only in like the last 80 pages. How do you learn to love someone when they have that little focus? Also, Nico and Jason are outsiders at both Camps. Nico doesn't belong at Camp Half-Blood or Camp Jupiter. Jason doesn't really fit in at either place, too. So they have better parallels to me. Will and Nico don't have as much stuff for me to read into. It's just abrupt and fast and really unexpected.

[demigod-shenanigans]

Jason and Reyna and fatal flaws

(based on a conversation I had with @queenjunothegreat ages ago)

I know Jason’s fatal flaw is generally considered to be indecision. However. Consider conceptually that Jason’s fatal flaw is his sense of duty. That way we’ve got an additional fatal flaw which isn’t a bad trait inherently but becomes a problem when it’s left unchecked and makes you lose sight of other aspects of the situation.

Jason’s sense of duty is what feeds into his indecision. When he’s speaking to Notus, the problem isn’t that he doesn’t fundamentally know what he wants. It’s stated that he’s happiest when he’s with Piper and Leo. He just thinks he’s not allowed to make the choice because it would mean neglecting his duty.

Jason’s sense of duty is also what ultimately gets him killed. The prophecy he got in ToA stated that him or Piper would die if they joined Apollo on his quest, but not once did Jason consider just… walking away. If he had, it would have saved him. But it’s quintessential to his character that he wasn’t able to. That, no matter what, his duty as a demigod hero will always outweigh his personhood.

Now consider what it would mean if Reyna’s fatal flaw was the same. 

I’ve talked about this before, but duty as a character motive makes a lot of sense for Reyna. She’s raised to believe the fate of New Rome lies on her shoulders—to her dad, the fact that New Rome rises and falls with their bloodline (and therefore specifically with Hylla and Reyna) has always mattered more than their personhood.

A lot of Reyna’s actions in the books explicitly link back to her sense of duty—the way she runs herself ragged trying to do a job that’s meant for two people while Jason is missing, the way she chides Lavinia in ToA for leaving her post, etc. A lot of her conflict stems from the fact that what is necessary to protect her home (leaving her post and following Jason) inherently clashes with the rules of that home.

This can be applied even down to powers, which inherently wear her out to strengthen other people.

Of course Jason and Reyna click immediately. It’s inevitable. They’ve got similar mindsets and similar work ethics and both of them see the way they’ve been raised to consider the bigger picture but never themselves reflected back at them when they look at each other.

They understand each other like no one in their lives has ever understood them. They’re drawn to each other like magnets. They love each other in a way they’ve never loved anyone before.

But that love is also fundamentally linked to the most self-destructive part the other person has to offer—the part that has to be productive and heroic at all costs because otherwise they don’t deserve love (Jason) or doom their shared home to a horrible fate (Reyna).

They only ever let the other person see that masked version of them, so now even with the person they’re closest to they can never unmask because they don’t know and might not like that version of them! They actively bond over their sense of duty so now to stay loved and happy in that friendship they’re required to lean into that even harder. They’re heading into a completely disastrous burnout situation together with no signs of stopping.

But then Jason disappears. And when he reappears, their shared fatal flaw—which was a huge part of what brought them together in the first place—is what ends up driving them apart.

It’s not that he’s lost his sense of duty or anything. His fatal flaw is still the same. But the focus of that duty has shifted to encompass more than the home he shared with Reyna. His duty is to both camps now. His duty is to Piper and Leo and the prophecy of the seven.

Reyna’s duty is still to Camp Jupiter. To Bellona’s prophecy that’s bound her to New Rome’s legacy for as long as she’s lived, and will bind her to it forever.

When her home is under attack, Reyna’s duty is obviously to New Rome and her people first and foremost. And the Jason she knew would have agreed. He’d have jumped to New Rome’s protection in a heartbeat.

This Jason doesn’t. This Jason chooses Leo and Piper and the Argo over everything else.

And it unmoors Reyna utterly, in a way even his disappearance didn’t. Reyna knows Jason. She knows how he’ll act in almost all situations, because she’s seen him make tough calls before. She knows their priorities will always align. Except, suddenly, they don’t.

They’ve always been on the same page, and suddenly it seems like they’re not even in the same book anymore, and she has absolutely no idea how to handle that.

[tiredspacedragon]

I love Kanohi so much. I love the concept of a customizable face and thus identity, I love that each mask has its own powers that carry their own significance in addition to its shape, I love that each mask has multiple shapes to show the wearer's identity changing or speak to what aspect of themselves is most prominent.

Have some concepts:

A Matoran with a Great-shaped Kanohi who becomes a Toa. Their new identity is an extension of their old self. They become a Turaga and their Noble-shaped Kanohi is a symbol of how they were fundamentally changed by their time as a hero.

A Matoran with a Noble-shaped Kanohi who becomes a Toa. Their new identity is a departure from their old selves. They become a Turaga and their Noble-shaped Kanohi symbolizes that their trials are over and they have earned peace.

A Matoran who becomes a Toa and wears a different mask than they did as a Matoran. Their new identity is a dramatic break from their old self, one they either chose to take on to distance themselves from their past or to embody their vision of heroism, or one that was forced upon them and to which they must now adapt. They become a Turaga and their Noble-shaped Kanohi is yet another change. A new chapter.

A Matoran or other character whose powerless mask is broken or lost, so they receive a new one. The change has no effect on their abilities, but their new mask signifies their character growth. Though the mask grants them no powers now, the character's potential has changed, a new path and new role is open to them.

A character whose powered mask is broken or lost, so they receive a new one. Or perhaps they willingly trade their old Kanohi for another. Do they choose the same mask they had before, showing their conviction and stability in their identity? Do they choose a mask with a power they think will be more useful, showing practicality or responsibility, and determination to get the job done, including a willingness to sacrifice their identity? Do they choose a mask worn by someone they admire, honouring them by trying to emulate them, but risking subsuming their own unique traits? Or perhaps they choose a new mask whose powers are a better match for them or who they want to be, showing commitment to changing and embracing themselves?

A character who changes their armour and equipment, but keeps the same mask. They adapt to the needs of the situations, but refuse to lose themselves in it.

A character who could use a Great Kanohi, but opts for a Noble one instead, to cultivate the image of a sage. Maybe it's deserved. Maybe it isn't. Perhaps they even wear a Great Kanohi that is merely forged to look like a Noble one, to achieve the image without sacrificing the power.

Two characters whose mask powers work well in tandem, but one or both of them change masks and the new powers conflict or are no longer related at all, marking a breakdown in the characters' relationship.

Or the reverse, two characters whose mask powers don't pair well, but one or both change masks and now they do, signifying a growing bond.

Just to name a few.

I love how this one single aspect of character design can tell so much of their story at just a glance, and again that it's the face, the part we look to the most for expression and understanding.

[amiti-art]

ToA Headcanon

At same point during Apollo's trials (or after them) Hera and Leto reconciled.

I think that best moment for that is after Jason's death.

After Hera saw how her husband did nothing to save his own son, her own chosen one. After she saw how little he cared for his life. How when she cried and grived, he sat at his throne unmoved and unbotherd, annoyed by her tears.

How he did nothing when Apollo, his godly son, his fellow Olympian, tried to kill himself so his friends, demigods, could live.

That was Hera's breaking point. When she finally admitted to herself that her anger was always misplaced. It was not her husband's bastard children she should hate but Zeus himself. She always knew that, deep down in her cold, broken heart. But it was easier to go after weak mortal women, nymphs or minor godesses. It was easier to go after defenseless innocent children who didn't asked to be born.

She was always doing that because she could not go against her husband, her king.

The same way Apollo went after cyclops when it was Zeus who killed Asclepius, Apollo's beloved child, because it was easier, safer.

So Hera, heartbroken after Jason's death, haunted by image of Apollo lying on the floor, bleading to death with an arrow in his chest, went to see Leto.

Because Leto would understand her pain as she was also suffering. Because Leto needed comfort as much as Hera did. Because they were friends once, before the Twins were born. Because Hera after over 4000 years finally understood that she had to apologize.

And maybe Leto wasn't ready to forgive her yet, but when she saw queen's pained face she knew that no one could understand her better right now, so she let her stay by her side for moment. One mother greaving the child that was wasn't even hers and one mother who could lost hers at any moment now, both longing for comfort when the father of both sons sat unbotherd on his throne while his childern were suffering and dying.

Maybe I'm giving Hera to much credit here but those 2 scenes she had in ToN are so heartbreaking to me. Come on, how many gods openly cries and mourns for their children? And Jason wasn't even hers. Nor is Apollo, but she was the one to tell everyone to shut tf up when they started to discuss who could become an Olympian in his place after he dies.

[hyperpotamianarch]

Well, since I've already arrived at the conclusion my PJO posts tend to get more traffic (even though that's very clearly not a hard-and-fast rule - I'm pretty sure my post about Minos stands at 4 notes or something), I've decided to be tricky and write a crossover post. Now, you've already seen my attempt at Reverse dæmorphing (if you've been following things; if you haven't, it's here). This is something I started thinking of a little before writing this post. So, some similar thought processes were applied - though the post you're currently reading is a little more of a "shitpost", as they are called.

So, without further ado: who I think would be the godly parent of every Animorphs member, what I think would be the battle morph of major PJO characters, and possible added bonus of theoretical dæmon forms for the PJO cast. Vague ideas about each direction of the crossover type discussed in said reverse Dæmorphing post (setting and characters of one franchise with overarching elements of the other interwoven in) might appear by the end.

First, godly parents of the Animorphs cast below the cut:

Jake is your standard protagonist, kind of. So it'll be very easy to slate him under one of the Big Three - probably Zeus, if so. He does have something for battle tactics and strategy, so Athena might be fitting - but that might be a problem with Marco later on.

Rachel is mostly well known for her ruthlessness and something of a bloodlust. In that, it's very easy to slate her under Ares and end it here. However, due to having watched an OSP video claiming Aphrodite probably originated from a Middle-Eastern fertility and war goddess, and due to Rachel's tendency to also be kind of a more girly girl, I think it'd be interesting to place her under "daughter of Aphrodite that just always hungs around cabin 5. No one dares question her". Now, one might notice that I kind of completely ignored Jake and Rachel's families - kind of noticeable, considering they're the only Animorphs with living siblings, and the fact said siblings do affect their characters in some ways. So a second reminder: this isn't serious, as of yet. If I ever reach the section of "world of x but implement elements of y" it's going to become an actual problem. A good alternative would be their siblings being mortal, though.

Cassie, now, is a bit of a problem. Possibly because I go too much with surface characterization. Cassie is the animal lover, "tree hugger" as Marco calls her, with the two veterinarian parents. This is, the only greek godess associated with the safety of wild animals I can currently remember is Artemis. The goddess with explicitly no children of her own. Of course, Cassie could be a follower of Artemis, but I don't really think it's a good idea. Beyond the standard point of the virginity oath clashing with her relationship with Jake - which I could ignore like I did with Tom, Jordan and Sarah - I don't actually think it fits her that well. She could be the daughter of Demeter, as this is another nature associated goddess, but Demeter is more concerned with plants, and cultivated ones at that. So I don't really think it's a good idea. A good alternative would be being a Satyr, as they love nature and are not restricted to plants. However... all satyrs are men. That's a hard and fast rule. You'll notice that there's never a mention of a female Satyr - when Coach Hedge talks about his mother, it's clear she's a cloud nymph. No other female relative of a Satyr is ever mentioned. At all. Neither are there female Centaurs, for that matter - and I believe ToA was the first to introduce a male driad, making most nymphs female. Same with Harpies, inasmuch as we've seen them as a species. I could probably research and find out the mythical reason for that. Or I could do the same as everyone inventing a demititan or halfblood children of Echidna/Nix/other beings that only had either divine or monsterous children and make up a female descendant of Pan. Is she a Satyr? shrugs. She's a Thing. That exists. For some unfathomable reason. In theory I could've made her a Poseidon legacy like Frank, but I don't think it's a good idea with how it breaks Morphing. I mean, if Frank's barrier initially was lack of familiarity with the animals he thought of, Cassie... well, Cassie will hack this ability and will be way better than Frank with it, very quickly. Sure, she might be unable to do dragons at first, but any animal that was treated in the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic is an immediate go at the very least. On that note, the interaction between godly powers and the morphing technology needs to be considered... but that's a topic for the end.

Marco always get presumed comic relief. In which case, if we were to go with that shallow a description, he will be the perfect Hermes kid. Sure, being funny isn't their primary function, but it befits a trickster god. Only Marco isn't the crafty guy: he's more of the bright clear line, planning type of guy. So maybe he is Hermes, but I think Athena should also be taken under consideration. Hermes is a catchall for a lot, though, so he might still fit.

I... don't really know about Tobias. Half of his struggle through the books is him not being human anymore. He's always an outcast, bullied unwanted. Plus, he already has a secret father he didn't expect: Elfangor. Which doesn't really cover the definitions, but still probably worth remembering. I thought of putting him down as Apollo - he who shoots far must see far as well. In addition to the god of prophecy angle that may sort of fit if you look at it diagonally? I don't really have much.

Ax is a whole different beast. Literally so, considering he's an alien. Depending on how I do this I could try and fit him with an Olympian - say, Dionysus (very weird idea). So... Umm... Let him just be himself? Maybe the child of some Andalite deity, maybe just a regular ol' Andalite. I'm not going to make him a centaur, though, as that would end up being rather boring and would take away from his character. How do aliens fit within the PJO continuity? That's for that section about the crossover that I'm totally going to write!

So. Um. I have done Olympian parent for each of the Animorphs. I suppose it means it's time for the other side: battle morphs for the cast of Percy Jackson. I'm going to go with the seven for it - not exactly balanced, but I don't really have a good idea for a seventh Animorph at the moment. I would also note: Grover in that scenario is not getting the morphing power. Because I don't want to start going at it with him. He's the most likely to be the team's Cassie (outside of the slightly pacifist tendencies, I suppose) - actually, note for the legendary section-that's-totally-going-to-be-there, if Cassie and Grover meet one of their immediate points is Grover asking animals for permission to acquire them. Because he can do that. Coach Hedge probably can as well, but he's not really the type. Anyway, the seven's battle morphs:

We'll start with Percy. The obvious possibility is to make his battle morph a horse. A shark could also be possible but has some severe limitations, so that's a no-go. Horse is also kind of problematic, because... well, I'm not sure how good it'll be in battle? I just... I don't know. I mean, a horse can definitely kick people, and it can work. Maybe one of Diomedes' carnivorous mares? He never got to touch them, but maybe he could find a way. Plus, using mythical creatures is a great idea! I'd have suggested a pegasus, perhaps, though that one isn't exactly as useful.

If we went with the horse for Percy, an owl would be the obvious one for Annabeth... only it's not really a battle morph. I mean, sure, Tobias fights as a hawk, and an owl would be even more useful than the hawk in the dark, but... with Tobias it's due to the circumstances, and I don't think it's ideal. Works for espionage, but not as the primary attack morph. So instead, I'm going to be boring and call back to a canonical moment: when immune from Circe's magic, Annabeth suggest she turn her into a Jaguar. It was a throwaway line, more or less, and doesn't necessarily holds much interest. But I do think it fits: a very dangrous animal that can lie in wait to strike, and is very dangerous from up close. The last point might be true about many predators - I suppose it might fit Jaguars less than I think, I don't really know enough to tell.

Next is Jason. Which I have no doubt everyone will tell me is a wolf person. He was raised by wolves, after all. Maybe his flying morph will be a golden eagle or something because of his father, but sacred animals can only take you so far. I'm afraid I don't have a better idea than a wolf right now.

Leo is going ape because he would like to keep his opposable thumbs. He's not a one-to-one Marco equivalent, but there are some superficial similarities. So maybe he also goes for a gorrila. A smaller primate might not have enough firepower (heh). I don't really know. A chimpanzee, maybe? Is it apparent that I have no understanding whatsoever in animals? (The Animorphs did acquire chimps at one point. And horses. And I do think Jake acquired a Jaguar during that one Sario Rip effect story? And obviously, wolf is Cassie's battle morph. And yet, I don't really know enough about either to know if it's suitable. I'm currently ignoring that under the flimsy excuse that this is a shitpost.)

Next is Piper. And considering I was pulling all of those from the depths of Tartarus without any aid from the Muses so far, I think I've run dry. Because I'm not sure what would be a suitable morph for her. Maybe I should stick with a mythical creature for her - I'd say Empusa (because charmspeak), but those are kind of too humanlike. Ditto for the Gegeines, who seem to be the Giants' foot soldiers in the same way Scythian Dracaena were for the Titans' - and the latter... Well, would likely never agree to be acquired, but can work. Especially since my next idea for Piper was a snake, because of the Song of Snakes thing. She probably has a dove morph that she never actually acquired - courtesy of her mother. Might be occasionally useful, usually it's just left unused. So, in conclusion - probably snake, be they mundane or mythical.

Frank is the one I could just skip. He doesn't need the morphing technology, and already kind of has a battle morph: an elephant. Can draw parallels between him and Rachel, I don't know, I'm really just speaking rubbish here.

Hazel is going to be the death of me. Do you get it? Because she's the daughter of Pluto? And he's the god of death? nervous laughter followed by dead silence Oh, yeah. I'm doomed. It's important to note, though, that the limits of the battle morphs are actually ones of plausible acquiring and battle capabilities. Which should probably make this task slightly more achievable. Hazel is our horsegirl. Which would've been great if we didn't have Percy already on horse duty. Plus, she likes riding on them. She's the cavalry, by definition. A unicorn could be great, though. Didn't she handle them through controlling the jewelry in their horns once? I don't remember if it was indicated that she gotten along with them or not. Anyway, at this point I'm tired and willing to accept this. Hazel morphs a unicorn.

So, now that I'm done with that part, it's time for crossover thoughts! This is bound to be fun!

Maybe I'll stop here for now, though, and keep the rest for a reblog. It's all bad enough as it is.

[izzysink]

𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐣𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫

𝒋𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒙 𝒅𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒂𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓

𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡: 𝟹𝟸𝟹𝟺 ✎ 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑠: 𝑢𝑛𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑 ✎ 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡

✎ The Morrígan is the irish-celtic shape-shifting goddess of war and fate, she hovers over the battlefield as a crow or raven.

✎ Danu is the matriarch of the Irish Pantheon, yet not much else is known about her or her “realms” - I didn’t do tons of research on these gods + goddesses so if I get something wrong please tell me!!

✎ Lugh is the Celtic god of sun and light.

𝑅𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏 - 𝑦𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑒!

𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔:

✎ Fiadh - 40

✎ Reader - 17

✎ Saoirse - 16

✎ Niamh and Roisin - 10

Set during the end of the giant war and before trials of apollo - if i make a part 2 were just gonna pretend toa doesn’t exist. Jason and Piper don’t have a romantic relationship, we’re keeping it platonic besties. I probably fuck with the timeline a bit so pls don’t bite me. IMPORTANT!! I haven’t finished hoo but i wanna write for Jason and i'm physically incapable of writing modern aus so I'm guessing who is where in the final battle; CHB = Percy, Jason, Piper, Leo, all cabin counselors, Romans, Greeks, ATHENS = Annabeth, Nico, Hazel, Frank, Romans, Greeks.

Please correct me if i am wrong 🌝

Also! The reader is born and raised in Ireland, I don’t really describe her that much but she’s not completely undescribed soooo, no use of Y/N apart from once, I actually gagged when I wrote that I’m so sorry but girlie has to introduce herself yk?

Also we're not gonna mention how I haven’t finished hoo. I don’t wanna hear it okay 😩 I Also made a little bit of the final battle with Gaea up as well, but let's face it I'm only here for the romance 💋 - yes i am ignoring the weird catapult octavian uses bc im not writing that thing, I’m also ignoring him. anyways;

𝑒𝑛𝑗𝑜𝑦!

When you first heard of the possibility of other godly children in America, you weren’t too keen on the idea of revealing yourself and your friends to them. There weren’t any demi-gods in britain, a mystery your mentor and leader of the small camp you call home, Fiadh, a daughter of Danu who took you in along with the twenty something other celtic demi-gods residing in the camp on the east-coast of Ireland. Fiadh, with her wild hair and mother-hen demeanor had become a mother figure over the years, more so than your own godly parent. 

She had tried to find any semblance of a community in Britain or northern Europe, and had even dispatched you to look in eastern Europe - your grandma was a Bulgarian immigrant in the 60’s, and you’d grown up visiting places like Moldova and of course Bulgaria in your early childhood before monsters had started to become an issue - to your behest, you thought that revealing yourselves to another pantheon was too great a risk, and a danger the bubble of protection your camp provided. The only signs of any other pantheons Fiadh had found were whispers of Egyptians and a norse murmur in Scandinavia.

You never knew why Fiadh even wanted to have contact with other demi-gods, was she not content with the community she had spent her life building? The community that had saved so many lives? 

That was before Long Island.

Being a daughter of Morrígan, you have the ability to shift into a raven, though it’s not done easily at will. Morrígan is a triple-goddess, a figure composed of three deities, all three are  Morrígan but are not each other, confusing right? Imagine having three mums all in one. Parent-teacher evening is a nightmare. Badb (part of the Morrígan trio you call mum) is known to have hovered over battlefields as a crow or raven, and even to cause fear and confusion among soldiers and to turn the tides to her favoured side.

It was a balmy august day at camp when you felt a violent tug in your gut. You had been playing tag with the younger girls - Niamh and Roisin, 10 year old twin daughters of Lugh. you had paused in your chasing of the two almost immediately. You had felt this a year before, in August as well. You had changed into a raven instantly and had to be kept in a bird cage to stop you from flying away - you had been sat inside with Fiadh when it happened thankfully, as you were drawn by an unexplainable force to fly away, you had slammed into windows and completely trashed the main cabin before Fiadh had finally put you in the cage. That was awkward. Especially when you felt yourself turning back two days later, and had to squawk like crazy to make Fiadh release you before you were crushed by the cage. 

Two days was a concerningly long time for you to be stuck like that, you had only ever shifted to a raven for a few hours at most, and the longer you stayed in that form, the more you felt your human self slip away, your earthly concerns and memories had floated above you like through a pane of glass, there, but just out of reach, replaced with a purely animal way of thinking and the desperation to fly west. The relief you had felt when the window opened and you felt your little boned body begin to swirl with magic, your human form coming back, was unprecedented.

So it was understandable that you were a little bit panicked when you felt that same sensation begin to bubble in your gut. You hadn’t even tried to shift since last year, fear consuming you whenever you attempted. You tried to run to the main cabin, Fiadh was probably making lunch with a few of the other kids, but it was too late, your body shrank and your hair morphed into feathers, your mouth became a beak. Your senses doubled and tripled, overwhelming you as you flew uncontrollably west. You tried to fight it, flapping in circles as the girls gaped up at you from below. Eventually you relented to your body, the mental struggle of fighting your instincts too much for you to resist.

Later, Fiadh told you of the aftermath, Niamh and Roisin had burst into the main cabin, panicking as they told Fiadh what had happened only minutes prior. The next few days were spent in disarray as efforts were sent out to find you all over Ireland, all coming back empty handed with only a few scratches and monster encounters to make up for it. Your best friend at camp, Saoirse, hadn’t slept at all, spending the most time out on the hills to find you, and had almost died searching the north forests.

You, on the other hand, had flown across the Atlantic ocean to America. Joy.

When you arrived where your instincts had pulled you kicking and screaming, it was a battlefield. literally. Hundreds of kids in purple and orange shirts fought monsters, though they weren’t like the ones you knew. The battle was surrounded by forest, you could see a summer camp a little ways away as well, and the coast was a mile or two from the main battle.

The massive revelation of the existence of other demi-gods, because they had to be, you could feel the godly power from where you perched in a high tree a good ways away, didn’t connect with you until much later, in the moment however, it just felt right, as if you always knew, as if you were meant to be there, to observe and be a part of this place in history. Oh Fiadh would be thrilled. 

You stayed mainly out of the cross-fire, watching without taking it in fully yet astutely aware of what was happening, the demi-gods were losing strength, more and more kids were being injured or killed by the army of monsters every passing hour. Your fluttering heart sank to your feet, well, claws, an agonised screech escaped your throat, grief and desperation for the strangers to win clawed at your heart, you prayed to your mother, begging for a blessing on these children.

That was when you saw it, a massive, bronze, dragon flying up with a goddess in its maw. A boy rode on its back, and shockingly, a blond boy flew up beside him carrying a girl in his arms. You were drawn to the trio in the sky, gliding over to hover above. The girl, whom up close you noticed to be beautiful, with choppy brown hair she pulled off amazingly and who had an almost magnetic aura, spoke to the goddess. You could feel the magic in the words from where you circled the group, she was powerful. Though you were close you couldn’t hear what they were saying very well, though you understood when the goddess, the leader of the monsters, you instinct told you, fell asleep in the dragon's clutches. 

The boy riding on the back of the dragon wore suspenders and a tool belt that looked stuffed full, he had an impish face and you guessed he would usually be a jokester, but his expression was anything but. You could see the tense stares between the trio as they argued for a few moments over something, before the blond boy and the girl flew back down. You stayed with the boy, a silent companion for a boy you didn’t know. Blood pumped in your veins as you circled the duo, something big was coming.

The dragon exploded.

Heat burned your small body as you went limp, falling rapidly through the sky. The boy fell beside you, unconscious and singed, his face twisted in agony as his clothes caught on fire and his arms covered in burns.

Pain flooded your senses as you fell in sync, a tug in your gut alerted you to the magic swirling in your bones. Shit. 

You don’t remember anything after shifting back, only pain and the distant sound of you screaming in panic as you fell. The boy disappeared from beside you, but you didn’t notice. Now that you had shifted back to human form, burns riddled your arms and legs and you felt yourself becoming light headed. You don’t remember touching the ground, because you didn’t. Strong arms wrapped around you as the last wisps of consciousness fall away.

↜✿↝

When Jason saw a girl falling out of the sky right after he saw his best friend explode, he was more than a little confused. Although he hadn’t even had the chance to process Leo’s death, he knew he couldn’t let someone die like that if he had the ability to stop it.

Since the Apollo cabin was already flooded with injured demi-gods, and he didn’t even know who this girl was, he brought her to the main house instead, where the cabin counsellors and the seven were gathering to discuss post-battle. Jason knew she wasn’t Greek or Roman, she wasn’t wearing a camp shirt, and except for a small dagger tied to the belt loop of the denim shorts she wore, there was no indication of her being a demi-god at all.

He held her in a princess carry as he walked across the clearing in the middle of the cabins, most of the monsters had left once Gaea was killed, and now everyone was sat in a post-battle haze, nobody really noticed the son of Jupiter carrying an unknown girl, and he was grateful for it to be honest, he had enough on his plate without people crowding him.

↜✿↝

It was silent around the pool table, nobody had touched the snacks, and even the usually loud and rambunctious Stoll twins sat glumly. Will Solace was with the rest of the Apollo cabin in the med cabin, and Annabeth, Hazel, and Frank were in Athens, but apart from that everyone else was there, including Chiron and Diyonisus. He stubbornly kept his gaze away from the empty Hephestus cabin seat.

Heads turned to him as soon as he walked in the room. Chiron spoke first, “Jason, my boy, it's good to see you well, who is she?”

“I don’t know, she fell from where Festus exploded, she needs medical attention,” Jason said, Piper got up from her seat, “I think there's some nectar in the mini-fridge, are you sure she’s not anyone we know?” 

“I don’t think so,” Jason responds as he sits you down gently on an armchair, you’re still blissfully unconscious, a good thing, for if you were awake you would be screaming in pain. Clairisse spoke up from her seat at the table, “well, this is great, Gaea is dead, prophecy fulfilled, and now we have a mystery girl on our doorstep, were not even sure if she’s a demi-god,” 

“She probably is, there's a dagger on her belt.” Jason said, “the least we can do is heal her, she’s got some nasty burns and she’ll wake up soon anyway, i think she just passed out from stress.”

Clarisse looked at him sideways, “and when did you become a doctor?”

“Calm down, children, Piper, if you could give her some nectar, I would appreciate it,” Chiron leveled his gaze at Jason and Clarisse, “now is not the time for infighting, we have yet to hear from Athens, and we find ourselves with another pantheon’s ward,”

Percy whistled low, “you mean she’s norse or something?”

“Of a sort, yes,” Chiron agreed, “though I’m not sure how she got here of all places.

Jason heard a gasp as he turned his head, you had woken up, you hissed in pain as Piper fussed over you gently, handing you a square of nectar, you looked at it oddly before eating it anyway, not fully awake or lucid to really question it. Blinking rapidly, you came to fully, and stared at the table of demi-gods confusedly before opening your mouth to speak, “Where-where am I?” Jason almost swooned as you spoke, your accent washing over him like a tidal wave. Now that you were awake, he looked at you more closely. You wore denim shorts and a plain t-shirt, as well as white trainers and lacy ankle socks. You had your hair tied up in a half up half down style - though it was messed up and pointing in a couple directions from falling through the sky, with a bow pinned to the back of your head. And you were cute.

Oh.

“Camp Half-Blood, a camp for Greek demi-gods,” Chiron said, calmly wheeling over to you in his chair, “my name is Chiron, who are you?”

You blanched, “Greek? And you’re American- not that it’s a bad thing just, am I in America, right now?” Chiron nodded affirmatively. “Fuck- sorry, just… oh yeah, um, I’m Y/N, daughter of Morrígan, do you know how I could get home?” that brought Jason out of his trance, he had zoned out listening to your voice, not really paying attention to the words, he could listen to you for hours. Chiron spoke again, “more importantly, how did you get here? I’m assuming you’re from Ireland?” he waited for you to agree before continuing, “were you sent here?”

“No,” you shook your head, “I got pulled here by magic and stuff, it’s kinda hard to explain.”

“I’m rather good at understanding things,” Chiron winked at you conspiratorially. The humor made you relax more, tense shoulders loosening and your muscles unwinding. You smiled at him, Jason almost died, was he okay? He shouldn’t be like this so easily. “My mother, Morrígan, is known to have hovered over battlefields as a crow or raven, being her daughter, I can turn into a raven at will, but it’s not very easy and I haven’t done it since last summer since I got stuck as one for a few days, earlier today i shifted without meaning to and i was sorta dagged here by my instincts to watch.”

“You mean to tell us you flew across the Atlantic ocean in a few hours?” 

You shrugged noncommittally, “I guess,”

Piper spoke up from beside you, “do you remember anything from the battle?”

You leant back in you chair as you thought, your brows furrowing, and it was all Jason could do to try and resist the urge to smooth the expression, “not much, i kinda become a bird when i shift, and my mental capacity gets smaller, but i do remember a dragon, and i saw you fly up with the blondie over there.” Jason blushed, and Thalia, who was sitting quietly and observing, gave him a knowing side eye.

Piper's eyes widened, “if you fell when Festus exploded, did you see where Leo went?” she grabbed your hand, imploring you with her eyes. “You mean the boy on the back of the dragon?” Piper nodded furiously as Jason got out of his stupor and paid attention, this may be their only lead to find Leo. “I remember falling with him, but he disappeared after i shifted back, i don't know where he went after that,”

Chiron butted in before Piper could hound you for more information, “I think our guest has had enough questioning, the med cabin is too full to house her, but I think she can stay for a few nights until she can fly home, does anyone volunteer their cabin?” Jason wanted to volunteer, and he almost did before Thalia butted in and saved him from the embarrassment. “The hunters of Artemis would be happy to lend her a bed for a few days, she can join our team for activities and chores while she’s here as well.”

You nodded in thanks as you stifled a yawn, blinking sleep from your eyes to keep yourself awake, “is that bed available now? If it’s not too much to ask,” Gods, why was Jason like this? He didn’t even know this girl and he was already blushing like a schoolgirl with a crush. Thalia nodded, “of course!” and went to help you out of your chair and support you by pulling your arm around her shoulder, heading for the Artemis cabin. Jason found himself oddly jealous of his sister, he wanted to help you to your bed, he saved you so he should- Gods he needed to stop, he’s being so pathetic.

Chatter picked up in the room as soon as you left, and Piper stood next to Jason where he was leant against the wall, arms crossed. She smirked at him knowingly, “she’s cute isn’t she?” 

“What?- no, I mean, yes, she's pretty cut- pretty, um-” Piper burst out laughing at his expense while he turned into a blushing mess, how could she? After all he’s done for her? “You should talk to her when she’s fully awake, I’m sure she’d love to meet her dashing savior,” Piper grinned at him devilishly as he gave her a flat look.

Meanwhile, you were lying in a bunk bed Thalia had lay you down in, and panicking. Did you seriously call that boy blondie? Gods, what were you going to do? Why did he have to be so cute? And embarrassingly your type. Saoirse was gonna have a field day when she found out. Tall, strong, blond, ugh! What’s a girl to do?

↜✿↝

It's been a day or two since the battle, and Camp Half-Blood was slowly fixing itself, the kids in Athens had returned, and the med cabin was clearing out except from a few dire injuries. You had been helping to rebuild a couple of the damaged cabins, and you’d even made a few friends. The Romans and Greeks seemed pretty chill about another pantheon of demi-gods existing, which was a relief, and you’d learnt the story of the seven from multiple other people, which made you even more desperate to find the blonde boy who saved you. Since that day, he had seemingly disappeared. You never saw him at the campfires, and you never caught him during the day either; you still haven't thanked him for his catch, and to be honest you kinda wanted an excuse to talk to him as well. 

Which was why you were grinning ear to ear when you spotted him sitting by himself at the tree line, you had been on a midday walk when you saw him, and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. You made your footsteps louder as you approached to make sure he didn’t spook when you sat down. popping down next to him, you hugged your legs to your chest and put your chin on your knee. “You know, you never mentioned your name,” you said cheekily, looking out into the forest with him. He jumped, perhaps he was less spatially aware than you thought. “Oh. its uh- Jason,” he stumbled over his words as he registered your presence bedside him, tortuously close. “Well then, uh- Jason, thank you for saving my life, I really appreciate it,” that made him relax, the tension melted off his broad shoulders like candle wax, “it's just Jason,” he chuckled, “and you don’t need to thank me, it was just the right thing to do.” you gasped playfully as you replied, “my, so noble my savior, I suppose with that I’ll leave you to your brooding,” you went to get up, but he grabbed your hand desperately, “no! Stay, please?” electricity sparked where your hands joined, magic swirling around the two of you knowingly, a magnetic force of attraction pulling you together like thunder and lightning “of course.”

𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑡𝑤𝑜?

𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑠! 🤍

[catofadifferentcolor]

Terrible Fic Idea #86: Percy Jackson, but make it Time Travel

I was minding my own business at work this morning when a terrible, awful, wonderful idea for a PJO time travel fix-it hit me out of the blue.

Or: What if a deified Percy was sent back to the start of canon?

aka the In Another Life fic

Just imagine it:

Percy wakes screaming, which is immediately disconcerting as he's not slept in nearly 100 years. He summons a storm practically out of reflex, still caught up in the horrors of everything he just left behind, and promptly passes out, his 12 year old body not used to the strain.

-because he is twelve again - mortal again, - in his bed at Yancy Academy again, a week out from the field trip that will change his life.

Not that Percy realizes this straight off, what with the panic and the passing out, though he does pick it up fairly quickly once he wakes up again in the school infirmary. This nearly sends him into another tailspin of panic - (he is small, he is weak, he is alone in his head, one hundred years in the past, and can barely feel any of his domains) - before Percy manages to get himself under control enough to come up with the basics of a plan: get somewhere safe so he can start figuring out what the Hades is going on.

Percy manages to sneak out of the infirmary while everyone else is at dinner, hails the Chariot of Damnation even though he's way out of their normal service area ("We'll put it on your tab, dearie," the seeresses say, "we know you're good for it."), and arrives at Camp Half-Blood just after midnight.

His entrance is much less spectacular than it was originally, but no less startling for all Mr D is the only one awake to see it, for the moment Percy crosses the ward lines the magic begins to recognize him as the future Camp Director - which in turn startles Dionysus just enough that he doesn't immediately smite Percy when he practically throws himself at the god and starts going on about how pleased he is to see him.

The truth comes out in fits and starts, with Percy's exhaustion (and Dionysus' gifts) being the only thing keeping him from another panic attack. His story boils down to this:

Percy has always been a powerful demigod, perhaps the most powerful child of his father ever to be born to a mortal. His actions from his first quest onward only pushed him closer to the brink of immortality. Divinity did not come until several months after the events of ToA, when a camper had jokingly raised a glass to Perseus Jackson, Trainer of Heroes, which was all that was needed to push him over that final precipice.

As Lord Perseus, he was from the onset more powerful than most minor gods, his domains being the eclectic mix of Heroes, Natural Disasters, and Misery - the first earning him the permanent position of Director of Camp Half-Blood and Patron of Camp Jupiter, the second keeping him quite busy in an era of climate change, and the last having been unwittingly stolen years before from Akhlys in Tartarus. It is this power that causes Zeus to become even more paranoid.

-which is saying something, as his paranoia had already skyrocketed to new and greater heights after Apollo returned improved from the events of ToA.

It grows worse over the better part of the next century, with the Titan War, Giant War, Triumvirate, and all that follows eventually disabusing the majority of the gods that Zeus will never be an effective ruler. Apollo leads a rebellion against his father - and would have succeeded, had not Zeus not managed to somehow push Apollo directly into Chaos as Apollo was preparing for his final blow, which has the unfortunate effect of the universe trying to unwrite one of the most important gods from the history of Western Civilization and undoes the fabric of reality in the process. Percy was watching it unravel before his eyes (desperately, desperately trying to weave it back together but it won't hold) when he suddenly found himself screaming 100 years in the past.

It is a fantastical story, but Dionysus has no choice to believe it.

("But why did you come to me? Why not your father?" Percy looks down, running a finger along the grain of of the wooden table, "We became friends in the future. Misery and alcohol, you know? One of the oldest pairings in the book." There's more, Dionysus can tell, but the boy is already flagging, unused to the weaknesses of his childish mortal body. It can wait.)

The events of canon proceed apace - or at least as much as they can when Percy shows up at camp almost two months early knowing more about the Greek and Roman pantheon than anyone who hasn't lived through it, with the attitude of a hero who's been through Tartarus and the power levels of a minor god burning him up from the inside. All while sneaking off in his spare time to 1) plot to stop the end of the world with Dionysus and 2) hang out with Dionysus, because he is one hundred twelve, thank you very much, and needs adult company every now and then, for all he’s missed his long dead friends.

I actually have no idea how the events of the books themselves would play out - Percy has neither the patience or the ability to let everything play out exactly as before, but the major beats of PJO still take place, with Percy doing his best to undermine the arguments that drew so many to Kronos as he can while still mortal. (Advocating for cabins for minor gods and/or undetermined, or combined housing with temples. Gods being forced to claim their children when they arrive at camp, etc.)

Perhaps Kronos tries harder to sway Percy to his side once he sees how strong a demigod he is, showing his hand too soon and causing the Titan War to be an all out war from the start of TTC until the Battle of Manhattan? Percy is more than just a child solider - he is a seasoned teenage general, directing battles, saving many with is experience but still loosing too many; a one-man army who eventually ascends on his sixteenth birthday, Luke's misery as he kills himself being the last push Percy needs to reclaim his divinity and his domains.

Gaining his godhood early allows Percy to temper the events of HOO and TOA (the Giant War still happens, but a generation later with a different set of demigods, and allows Zeus to redeem himself somewhat by being an effective war leader; Apollo never becomes mortal but the Triumvirate is destroyed a generation after that), if not prevent them. Though a part of him will always long for his mortality, it was never in the cards. It was either godhood or an early death, and Percy would rather spend an eternity protecting demigods and giving them the training they need to protect themselves than the alternative.

And so that's what Percy Jackson does, because that's what he's always done: accept as much misery for himself to make the lives of those he loves as misery-free as possible.

Bonuses include:

No hint of Percy/Annabeth in the new timeline, with the pair in the original having broken up shortly before Percy's ascension, having realize their codependency was not healthy, nor was it actually romantic love. From 100 years on, Percy is critical of his first relationship, but still counts Annabeth as one of his best friends, even if they're not as close in this timeline.

Although never widely disseminated, several individuals come to learn of Percy's trip through time and the circumstances that lead to it. (Poseidon, Sally, Thalia). A few others suspect Percy has some level of prophetic gift to go along with his other powers. But for the most part no one has any idea Percy is anything other than a powerful demigod with some really bad luck; and

It eventually coming out that Percy and Dionysus had a thing in the future, with Percy over the course of 100 years coming to like, respect, and eventually love the God of Wine. Percy is absolutely convinced it was entirely one-sided, their thing only adding up to a few drunken fucks between friends (because that's what Dionysus does with his friends), but Dionysus after he learns of it not being so sure (because it's really not what he does with friends and hasn't been for millennia). Whatever the case, it is exceptionally awkward when it comes out, especially as Percy's only physically 14 at the time, and attempting to resolve this awkwardness is how Thalia ends up learning about the time travel.

Extra bonus points if Percy and Ariadne were decent friends in the original timeline, become decent friends again in the new one, and settle into a polyamorous relationship with Dionysus (after Percy is deified and comes of age) that has Hera spitting teeth for decades.

And that is far, far more than I'd ever thought I'd have, but I think this plot bun somehow merged with a thread of an idea for a Dionysus-positive fic that's been tickling at me for years now. As always, feel free to adopt, just link back if you do anything with it.

More PJO Ideas | More Terrible Fic Ideas

[sunflowergraves]

Look, I don't care if you dislike Will Solace. There are plenty of fan favorite characters in PJO that I can't stand. But I'm tired of people mis-characterizing him and using it as a base in their argument to hate him.

If you think a character who has been through untold horrors and severe mental trauma is awful because he breaks down and snaps at people when he is triggered, I have no words for you. I don't know what books you've been reading, but Will has been through two wars, witnessed horrific deaths, and was forced into a leadership role at the ripe age of 13 because his older siblings were murdered in front of his eyes. What angers me more is that the reason everyone is so upset by his anxious and abrasive attitude is that they expected him to remain kind and compassionate and happy no matter what he is experiencing.

Having a character who is defined by kindness and compassion crack under the pressure of being there for everyone is amazing representation to have in a popular series and yet people are angry. Sorry that Will isn't Mr. Sunshine. Sorry that he isn't acting like the sad wet puppy people wrote him out to be.

It's even stated in TOA that his entire calm personality is a façade:

"Will laughed under his breath. 'I'm terrified. But one thing you learn as head counselor: you have to keep it together for everyone else.' "

Will's character was never the "super chill under pressure bi" stereotype that people assumed. He represents the people who hide their emotional needs for the sake of others. The people who had no choice but to be the leader. The people who are shoved into the "happy, down-to-earth" box because that's what others need them to be.

He was never mischaracterized, he was recontextualized. Why is every other PJO character allowed to have their breakdowns and trauma, but the second Will does, it becomes a problem? The reality is that a person can change dramatically because of trauma and pressure. People don't just act sad and depressed, they become angry and abrasive.

Have you never been 15 and angry before? Has your past trauma never affected you so violently? Has the pressure never gotten to you, have you always maintained your cool?

I'm not asking anyone to love Will Solace. I'm not trying to change your mind. But I do want you to understand that there are so many people like this in the world and it's tiring to see people not understand that. Continue hating him or whatever, but at least do it with this in mind.