#Tragic irony

[coquette2004]

The whole irony of the Monmouth Rebellion is that James was deposed a few years later.

Honestly, if Monmouth had just waited, he could've been made King.

[spectre79]

[look-at-that-right-there]

I'm obsessed with Robin Hood, severely nearsighted, and also allergic to most trees. Doomed by the narrative, as the youth say.

[bobauthorman]

History

Funny how things get muddled as the years go by, ain’t it?

[fuckthisshitimin]

I'm starting to put my finger on why The Boy Who Cried Wolf always bothered me but still can't put it in a single sentence. I hate the moral of the story, cause it rings wrong, or - so incomplete it's wrong. Because yes, the Boy is a serial liar and the village has every reason to distrust him. Also he's a kid and if they had just checked what he was saying he wouldn't have died. Yeah - if you keep lying over and over again, you will lose other's trust. Also - every liar is gonna tell the truth once, and maybe if the liar is your kid you'll want to 'waste' your energy checking every. single. time. "You'll die if you don't wear your seat belt" is a lie until it isn't.

As a kid the story scared me, because, yeah, I lied, not that much but some, and what if I need help and my mom doesn't come? Do I deserve to be abandoned by my mom if I'm a little bad? So I do wish we'd at least take it as a story with two morals, one for kids maybe, and one for the parents/adults and guardians reading it.

Still can't put that thought down concisely enough, so if anyone who's good with sentences could help that'd be awesome.

[fuckyeahisawthat]

Really digging the subtle little arc that Paul goes on from when he and Jessica arrive at Sietch Tabr and he says "I must sway the non-believers" (I don't think he means convert them to the prophecy; I think he means convince them to follow his lead politically; but still seeing the Fremen as a tool to be used in his personal revenge quest), to when they're talking before Jessica leaves for the south and he says he's staying in the north to fight but that "they deserve to be led by one of their own" (ie. I'm in this fight because I believe in it but I don't expect to gain anything for myself and actually I probably shouldn't).

The fact that Paul is only becoming more convinced that he is nothing special at the same time that people are starting to worship him. The fact that his own mother is doing everything possible to accelerate that process and the two of them keep moving further and further apart (literally, he is going north and she is going south). The fact that people keep telling him he should just reach out and take the power that's available to him (Jessica with the prophecy, Gurney with the nukes), it's so simple, look, it's right there waiting for you, it's your birthright, wouldn't this makes things easier? The fact that he resists all of these arguments right up until the attack on Sietch Tabr, and that it's his best, most human impulses (grief over watching his home be destroyed again and guilt that he should have seen it coming; if he'd just seen more clearly or understood the visions better--) that make him finally decide to step onto the path that dooms him and everyone else.

[queermasculine]

speak your truth. they also hated jesus when he said that he wanted to be dyke pounded gayboy style

they beat jesus with a wallet chain

[swordoffrivolousthings]

Thoughts about Heroes of Olympus and how it could have been better.

Sometimes I think about what would have made HOO a better series. And I'm not talking about the obvious 'too much focus on romantic relationships' and the lack of usage of certain characters or the dumb ending.

I mean the little things that would change so much (mainly character dynamics but also worldbuilding i.e. Camp Jupiter and Gaia's reasoning)

Some of the points are inspired by @crisisreading and their posts. They are the first I saw raise some of my own points so! part 2

Make the ages vary more in the main cast, trust me

Let Percy, Annabeth and Grover get older by 4-5 years. Let them become adults and find themselves outside the godly war. Let them even finish college, I wouldn't get mad. Let them do anything beside being teenagers.

I promise this would make the dynamics more interesting. Percy and Annabeth will be more mentor figures, than fellow comrades. This would create some distance between some of the them, but ultimately create something fun. Piper would come to see some aspiring female figure in Annabeth (I think this would ether be positive or negative, depending how Annabeth changed as a character over the years, but I tend towards negative). Leo would potentially have someone older to exchange ideas with. Jason would possibly feel intimidated by Percy's vastly superior age, prowess and experience, instead of being able to clash heads with him.

Hazel would have not one, but two that people that would play parent to the others' reckless behavior. (go snort your harmful stereotypes up your ass, Riordan.) Frank, when telling Percy and Hazel about his stick, would possibly find in Percy a kind hand (not that he wasn't kind already, let me explain) and Percy would probably share with him this feeling of vulnerability - not dump it on Frank - about having your life tied to a specific thing. I mean his Achilles heel, with which he would have lived for far longer.

And a whole lot more.

2. Add Grover into the series as a perspective character

You have a new trio dynamic introduced in the first book of the series. Let the original trio interact as main characters and let us see how their relationship has changed.

Grover's opinion on the conflict between the gods and Gaia would be important. He is the Lord of the Wild, and Gaia is the literal personification of the Earth. Let us see his struggle between the loyalty he has to the gods and his friends and his powerful feelings towards protecting nature.

Also, he would act as a protector for the demigods. Because while I enjoy Hedge, he is not enough to keep them safe.

3. Throw the bullshit about Gaia getting revenge for Kronos' defeat out of the way

Gaia, as mentioned before, if the personification of the Earth. One of the first gods to emerge from Chaos.

Gaia can, of course, keep her resentment for the gods defeating the son that freed her from her pain (caused by Ouranos initially). But she is a mother goddess. She should want obliterate humanity because humans are slowly killing her. Painfully. She wants to survive and the only way she sees how if by killing all the humans. She wants to save her children, aka animals, insects, nature, and the only way she sees is bloodshed. Gods are not rational in their anger, no one is. So let her be angry and vengeful and out for human blood.

DO NOT MAKE HER A FUCKING VILLAIN, MAN! Make her an antagonist, but someone's whose ideals are worth taking in and adapting. Kinda like Luke about the demigod and minor god recognition. Where have the themes of the original series gone? Remember, an important theme in BOTL was protecting the environment. It was one of the most important moments when Pan faded. Do not let that go to fucking waste. Especially not now, in the world we live in.

4. Show the effects the war had on Camp Half-Blood. Hint it at Camp Jupiter, when Percy does not have the memories to corelate it with

We've had years since the end of the Second Titan War. How did the gods change the course of events ? (the victors write the histories) How much of Luke's reasoning for starting the war was erased. (hint, all of it.) Show us how much the perspectives were shifted and how much the people that fought in it were made into martyrs and villain, basically becoming caricatures.

Let us feel how much this hurts Percy, Grover and Annabeth. How it had impacted and impacts their trauma, grief and utter horror. The younger, newer campers see them as wonderful, all-just and loyal heroes of the gods. The way they hate it.

Good moment to implement the new cabins for the gods and let the new ones forget that it wasn't always this way. Let Percy's demand to the gods be forgotten, shoved under the rug. The tragedy unfolds, use it.

Since in Camp Jupiter none of the main characters have fought, let us see the subtility. Let the older legionnaires be ragged, scarred. Older and weary, with eyes glassy and suspicious. Have younger recruits have this heavy air around them. They know what happened, what killed most of the older people in the legion.

Have Jason, Hazel and Frank see these things in Annabeth, Grover and Percy too. They realise that oh. oh. these three have fought in the war, of course they would. Show them gain respect for the trio. The same kind of respect they have for the veterans back home.

5. Cut one of the Seven from the prophecy.

I know this seems radical, but it is a symbolism thing, which I think would be more interesting in a world based on Greek mythology.

It is established in PJO that three (3) is an important number: 3 Olympian sisters (Hera, Demeter, Hestia), 3 Olympian brothers (Hades, Poseidon, Zeus), 3 Fates, 3 quest members, 3 Furies, 3 godly realms (the Underworld, Olympus + the sky, the seas). Use this.

Give us six (6) prophesized heroes. It is, after all, the second most used number in the series and a multiple of 3.

I suggest Annabeth. Why? because she has her quest from Athena. Let that be her top priority, while hanging out on the Argo II to get to Rome. Let her bond with the younger demigods and have her possible death be always on her mind. Bring her hubris into play and she would think herself the chosen one, the one demigod child of Athena to survive. This would make her falling into Tartarus with Percy not letting her go more taxing on her psyche.

Show us how she hates herself because she took one of the principal quest members to certain death. She feels like she'd jeopardized the whole saving the world thing.

Cut the Seven to Six and let Annabeth die in Tartarus. Show us why a single-man quest is a death sentence. Why three (3) is such a valuable number.

6. CONSEQUENCES!!!

Jumping straight off the last point.

Change why Annabeth would end up in Tartarus. Make her ignore the string around her ankle because she thing that nothing bad can happen to her now. After all, Arachne is gone, right.

Let this be her undoing. I do not care how she dies, but make her choices, her hubris, be her undoing. Do not let her death up to a chance, a mistake or miscalculation. Show how toxic Tartarus is, because we do not see it enough, but make it Annabeth's idea, the plan by which she dies.

Do not make it Percy's fault. Let him try to do everything to keep her alive, but still failing. Attack his sense of loyalty, his self-esteem. Show how the experiences and her death affect him.

Bring the trauma from the last war back in those chapters, in a place where demigods leave something behind.

To less drastic things - let the others get hurt. Permanently. Show how this life affects and damages people physically, too.

Have one lose an eye, another get horrific scars. Lose a limb, a part of themselves. Do not make it seem like any other could have gotten the same wound.

Tailor them to their character, their pride and their skill. Hit them where it hurts most and let us see how it changes them.

Also, about Leo. Kill him too. The fact that he ended up alive is a deux ex machina. He should have suffered the consequences.

Also also, bring back the fatal flaws. They are missing from the series. Play with them, show why they are important parts of their characters. Bring back ancient Greek fatal flaws, and new ones that make sense in a modern world.

Hurt them because what hurts them is part of who they are. Show us why the Greeks invented tragedy.

7. Age up the target age. Go more young/new adult

I understand that PJO was made for middle schoolers. But the target audience had grown up alongside the characters, and as such they have matured.

This is why I said to age Percy, Grover and Annabeth up further. Leave some distance for the old and new readers to get up and personal with the new main characters. Have them find common ground with the new demigods but have their anchor in the old ones.

Make the readers work to understand and refamiliarize themselves wit the older demigods. Because they've changed.

Targeting a more mature audience allows exploring n. 6. The realistic consequences of living with the fear that something will come and eat you. How just a little mishap could change you for life. (or what has been left of it)

Please do not go grim dark. Show that despite this all, their purpose has not stopped existing. A life exists outside of your appearance or disability still exist, and while it would be hard, do not lose hope.

8. Hope, or lack of its importance in the Heroes of Olympus series

Alongside other callbacks and reinforcements of PJO's lore, where is Elpis (hope)? Why doesn't she appear as a larger theme in the books? I don't know.

Elpis is still in the jar, having been used as a threat of defeat. But now Kronos is gone. Have Gaia use it as s symbol for her own cause.

Make hope Gaia's argument. The most important part of why her cause stands. Gaia is waking now because there is no hope for the betterment of the planet while in human - and therefore godly - grasp. She wants to save the planet, but they, the destroyers, are opposing her.

Hope is what she wants to bring back. The hope that death will not be the end of life, but further evolvement and betterment of all species.

This argument is what the counterargument should unravel. All species? Why are humans considered irredeemable, unworthy of becoming something greater?

Why can't they not coexist and why can't humans learn how to care about the world surrounding them.

Make hope for humanity and for the environment not a question of if they are capable to coexist, but how we can manage that. Humanity and nature are not mutually exclusive, but two halves of the same whole that need each other to sustain their longevity. Yes, nature can exist without humans, but humans can't.

This does not mean that the best way forward is to kill all humans.

There is no need for hope in HOO because there are no greater questions being asked about topics that require hope, because otherwise we would descend into nihilism and fatalism.

9. Give the gods reason to act the way they act, or a look at a greater narrative problem in the series

I may be generalizing, but the gods act erratically and make choices convenient for the plot, as it is, to happen.

Hera: how, specifically, does she know that Gaia is rising and what her plans are. Why is she against Gaia, when the older goddess has a track record of helping the Olympians on different occasions in the myths. Why does she decide to act when she does, how she knows that the king of the giants (whatever his name may be) is coming after her right then.

We don't know.

Athena: we understand why she wants the Athena Parthenos back. Why not force the Romans to give it back. After all, she is a goddess, even if the Romans don't respect her as the Greeks did, she has power and sway over them. Why send her children, a supposedly important part of what brings her glory, to a near-certain death. Is it misguided vengeance, an obsession to get the statue back at all cost, or simple cruelty. These reasons could apply very well to sending the Romans, yet she doesn't.

Zeus: why lock down Olympus? Paranoia, which fair, but you are a King, why wouldn't you look after your subjects? (bc Riordan chose to ignore part of his characterization in the myths and part of his godly domain) (I know kings aren't perfect, but after the last war, one would think he would do everything in his power to stop another one before it begins) Why not seek justice for Octavian's lies, that affect their ability to win the war, and kill/imprison him? Justice is part of his domain, as Zeus Nomius.

I know that we wouldn't necessarily need these answers, but without some of them, some choices left hanging seem to be there only to add to the drama and danger of it all.

All in all, I have many problems with the 'Heroes of Olympus' series. Some of them are nitpicks and personal preference as a high fantasy reader in my free time. Some of them would really add to the story and continue the themes of PJO.

Please ask me if something wasn't clear to you. I'll happily explain further.

If you find something you don't agree with, let's discuss. I'm open to changing my opinions.

[awerzo]

Do you know the ancient way to identify a witch? If she drowns, she's innocent. If she survives, she must be a witch – off to the stake with her. And our town's residents have taken to testing people with the plague. They call it "sandboxing." What charming folk.

[b0tsbby]

More Trigun Racing AU!!! Wow!!!

Please give no welcome at all for your own safety to the elusive Racer Number 999.

The Pale White Horse. The Silver Angel. The Last Racer. Triple Nine. Maybe even Nines if you’re suicidal. This formidable legend of many names has only ever been seen once on the track 70 years ago. Was it mass hysteria? No one truly knows if he’s real. But something cleared that track in record time, and the unfortunate racers on it never lived to tell the tale…

Talking and Design Notes Under Cut as Usual

Since this is a Stampede au I! Didn’t have a lot to work with from the original content! But it’s okay cause I read Max❤️.

That said I wanted Knives to appear somewhat more uniform then Vash. It is essentially still SEEDS uniform, but I wanted it to feel somewhat at home in a racer setting, a bit more uniform to contrast everyone else who is a little wackier. So designing it close to astronaut attire felt like the way to go. A weird mix of general pro racer attire and something that feels a bit alien and unapproachable. The Onesie situation was also non negotiable. It’s in black now because I read Max❤️.

A lot my inspiration came from Knives’ edgy black Griffith suit he just fucking wore that one time (points to his helmet and the three eyes) as well as the abstract sci fi work of Range Murata.

I love the name 999 for the wordplay on Knives and Nai and Nines and Nine. It is also the last racer number. And the angel number 999 is so perfectly oxymoronic to his whole character and situation I guess it was perfect. Something about the end of everything too.

Knives in this au, like Stampede, still has an obsession with the idea of belonging and home. Where No Mans Land here is a purgatory, a criminal’s playground, Knives has a strong affinity for and desire to reach the stars. But he needs the power within both him and his brother to do that.

His car is dubbed the Ark too, it’s an extension of himself, made out of the material remains of his sisters and his own gate. It can drive on its ‘own’, but doesn’t for the purpose of winning, but rather to enact some form of judgement in one big swoop.

Not actually interested in this game Zazie has orchestrated, but the two are more so on equal footing in this setting, so Knives compromises. His car only appears twice, and he only actually races once. That one time being against his brother…for drama’s sake…

Oh also, glasses are reference to when he really fucked shit up that one time. Crazy swagger (among other things) radiating off this…

[hurlumerlu]

Tattoo that is sooooo Alan-a-Dale-(from 2006 BBC show Robin Hood)-coded of you.

[serasarascreams]

Quick Mouthwashing drawings right after I finished the game. I have so many emotions and feelings about this game that I feel like I am going to explode. Individual character close-ups beneath the cut.

[biopanik]

The only universe in which Vi's family lives on is the one where she's not with them,

and the only universe in which Vi is alive, not only does she mourns Powder and Vander twice, but she loses them forever.

[jerreeeeeee]

tragic actual play siblings…

[ghost-bxrd]

Hi, I was just wondering how Talon Dick would react to Jason getting tagged by either fear toxin or cuddle pollen? 🦉

Ah yes! We already had cuddle pollen in “language of birds”, so let’s go with fear toxin!

Okay so I think we can all agree it’s no surprise that what Dick would see if he got tagged… would be Jason either being turned into a talon like him or dying in a gruesome way (maybe even at Dick’s own hands).

But Jason? Well, it’s no secret that they’re… very codependent. But his fears would manifest as Dick leaving him. Abandoning him (for someone better).

Consequently he’d be a mess of begging Dick not to leave, that he’ll do better. Be better.

Dick would be panicking, trying to reassure Jason that he would never, ever leave him, aggressively cuddling and cooing at him.

Of course, none of it works. Jason isn’t actually seeing him, so at one point the image of Dick holding him would switch to someone else taking him away and Jason would turn downright feral trying to get away.

Dick is hurt, of course. But he knows Jason doesn’t mean it (right?) and so he would stay and allow every single hit to land (“it’s fine, talons heal fast”) until Bruce physically pulls him away to administer the antidote.

After many, many tears and hugs Jason would try to make Dick promise never to let him hit Dick again, even if it’s because of fear toxin. Dick neither agrees nor disagrees, which, in Dick language, is an adamant refusal.

[sugarpasteltmnt]

AAAAAAAAAA I love the fact that once he realizes that his brothers know who he is, that everything becomes 100% more personal now!!!!

He's no longer holding up the facad of "The Neon Void" he's now just Leo to them, despite the fact that he's struggling to keep that part of him intact because of the parasite. The Leo part of him LOVES his brothers, he adores them to bits, he copes with humorous bad jokes and craves familiarity of family and home.

The Krang parasite is an apathetic well... parasite! It has one goal, which find the key, free the orange. Which was his goal too? But he wanted to destroy the key, only using the Parasite to keep him alive (barely), make him stronger, and lead him to the key.

Which is why I was so easy being Neon Void!! Because he's no longer the Leo his brothers knew, so it was easy, they wouldn't have to know how far he's strayed from being Leo! Every aspect that is so agonizingly him has been twisted and broken into something manged that resembles who he used to be and is.

But now they know, and they see Leo, but they also see how unsettlingly different he is, how not Leo he is, but he's still Leo right?

This is no longer some stupidly powerfully psycotic maniac who knows more than he should, shrouded in mystery. That's their brother, who's been stuck in a hellscape for five years to rot. That grief was what he was trying to avoid, and yet he still opened that door up in the end anyways as their greatest fear and deepest hope come true.

(sorry if this is slightly incoherent I've been thinking about this an awful lot lately RAAHHH)

you nailed it on the head my friend