#but I stan Apollo

[astraeajackson]

he has immense beef with the god of war and he's distantly related to a flying sheep!

annabeth: where?!

he's every brick's dream boyfriend and he was literally raised by wolves!

leo: where?!

he's physically incapable of any swearing beyond 'dang it' and his fate lies in the hands of a highly flammable stick!

hazel: WHERE?!

[gingermintpepper]

I would love to hear you talk about Kassandra???

So, what can I say about Kassandra.

Well, firstly, I've been thinking about how I want to answer this question since I got it however many months ago and I figured I wanted to speak about my own interpretation of things rather than formal stuff - half because I don't want to cite anything since going through Iliad based papers brings me little joy and half because I figure I could treat it a bit more casually this way. So here's like, a very brief selection of thoughts I have about Kassandra, Saintess of Troy.

I view her tale as a microcosm of the wider tale of the Fall of Troy from Apollo's perspective. A human is given a choice and, of their own free-will, they make the most destructive decision ignorant of the way they're sealing their own fate and no matter how much their patron will want to save and help them, they will be unable to so much as lift a meaningful finger because the choice made is one that is sealed in Fate and powers far beyond any one god. The themes of doomed love are also shared; Kassandra loved Apollo just as Apollo loved her but she couldn't be what he wanted of her. She couldn't accept what it was he was offering, no matter how much power, honour and love he tried to tempt her with and in a lot of ways, I think of her devastating visions of doom and death(tm) as a physical parallel to the feelings Helen must be tormented with knowing that she will be cited as the reason of such mass death, destruction and violence. Likewise, I see Apollo's inability to save Kassandra up until the end as representative of his wider inability to save Troy. All his love and blessing were not enough, even though all she had to do was take his hand, it simply wasn't meant to be and so I imagine that must be a fresh hurt for him with each beloved mortal he loses during the campaign.

Kassandra is genuinely so interesting? Both as a character and as a narrative idea; she sits almost in the center of so many fascinating parallels and foils that it gets me so excited whenever she comes up in conversation! I've mentioned it briefly before but she forms a very neat triad with Iphigenia and Troilus which runs parallel to the three dominant male powers in Iliad - Agamemnon, Achilles and Apollo. They're what I somewhat refer to as the sacrifice trio, innocents who must ultimately be abandoned and stripped away for the sake of the desire of their sacrificer, in turn revealing something intrinsic about the nature of the man. For Iphigenia, she reveals that Agamemnon truly values his ambition over all, that his image and status as a leader is more meaningful to him than the love of his family (which, of course, dooms him in the end). Likewise, for Achilles, Troilus' sacrifice reveals that no matter the glamour or glory that crowns Achilles' head, his rage is ultimately his most powerful feeling and it burns bright and hot no matter the circumstance, opponent or arena. For Apollo, Kassandra's sacrifice (which is much more symbolic as he is a god and therefore need not actually physically kill her) reveals his position as the 'loser', one who will be scorned and reviled and lose all the things he loves no matter how closely he cherishes or adorns them. He can't protect the mortals he's blessed, he can't protect his children - he can't even save one woman. She also has that aforementioned triad with Helen and Andromache - the sequestered women; doomed to wait and pray but each, in their own ways working to save and support their own in the conflict. They're all haunted by the promise of what awaits them - Andromache's hopes and future lies with Hector and with her son yet she is the embodiment of a war-wife, solid and stoic in her support when Hector returns but suffering deeply knowing each fight could be his last. Helen, of course, carries with her both the suffering of the greek women and the hatred of their men - if Andromache fears death taking the breath from her beloved fighters then Helen bears the weight of death upon her shoulders, all grief and scorn is bore like a crown upon her head and she must bear it. It is her duty to bear it. Kassandra then becomes the suffering of the young women - they who are surrounding on all sides by throngs of death and do not know why it has come, they whose screams intermix with that of the dead upon them. There is no avatar for Kassandra to experience the war through, no reason for her to be stoic or strong or upright. She tears her hair, hysterical at the suffering that is poured into her mind day in and day out, wild and unrestrained where her elders must hold their grief and tame it. In this way, she gives voice to the voiceless, she screams for those who cannot and is reviled for it - a young woman surrounded by death yet ordered not to speak a word of its stench or horror. There's many more things I can talk about too such as the whole Kassandra as Apollo's living Palladium thing or the Kassandra-Electra-Clytemnestra trio or even Chryseis as a reflection of Kassandra and how the taking of a priest's daughter could be seen as tantamount to trying to steal away Kassandra (and how this eventually wraps back around to the actual incident of Kassandra being stolen away and ending up right back under Agamemnon's care just as Chryseis before her) but like, we would be here all day.

Y'all maybe this is a hot take but scorned woman Kassandra is like, the most boring interpretation of her ever. She has so much life and passion in her, so much joy, so much despair, so much love - making her jaded and cynical towards both her fate and her god is such a slap in the face to me of what her character could and generally does seem to stand for. Kassandra never stopped loving Apollo - likewise, Apollo (at least to me) never abandoned her. All in Troy suffer heavy, cursed fates - Kassandra is one of the few who at least had some awareness of how hers would turn out. I like that she's a fighter. I like that she screams and cries and spits and is expressive and ugly in her torment and grief when so many of the women around her cannot afford to be. I like that she said no and despite how much she suffered for it, she never begged for her yolk to be taken from her because she knew that the choice she made was the right one for her. She's raw, she's vivid, she's human and more than anything, that's what I love so much about her.

[abisatyadierja]

Trials of apollo is my roman empire fr fr.

[iwannascreameurekaa]

Sigh... I wanna make a valgrace x wings of fire au

[starii-void]

methinks the difference between the two main satyrs we have in the serieses (series’??) is hilarious

grover: guided two of the big 3 kids by the time he was the equivalent of a 12 year old, became the LORD OF THE WILD, famous (well deserved) searcher, extremely powerful, first satyr to find PAN, channeled him to use Panic

coach hedge: old man on a constant sugar high, loves his wife super duper much, is a father, we stan him in this household ,honorable member of the argo II

[curseofdelos]

Notes:

The first two options are different! The first is a catch-all tag for all RRverse books; the second is for the PJO series specifically.

I didn't include the show/musical/movie tags because I am specifically interested in what book fans are doing.

This is a survey, not a popularity contest, so please answer honestly. Don't just pick whatever's your favourite series.

Elaboration in the tags or replies are highly encouraged!

[yonemurishiroku]

Never forget that time Travis Stoll calls Nico “the sweetest princess in the kingdom”

[i-want-chicken-nuggies]

i have a friend reading trials of apollo and she has no idea what happens in the burning maze. NO idea whatsoever. she’s in for a real doozy 😋

this is going to be refreshing(ly painful).

[derrypubliclibrary]

quite literally the only thing stopping me from writinf the super epic amazing awesome losers club pjo au i have in my head is that i simply CANNOT decide on godly parents

[cutesilyo]

i dont think the current pjo fandom knows how big thalico was as a ship back then

[astraeajackson]

i don't know WHAT to feel about some of the opinions on the chalice of the gods and the wrath of the triple goddess that i've seen on here, but personally, i absolutely LOVE our new books. why? because ANNABETH CHASE.

iin the earlier books, annabeth didn't have the chance to goof off at ALL. she was head counsellor of the athena cabin at TWELVE years old, she'd gone through unspeakable trauma, the people she loved were dying around her, and on top of all THAT, she was EXPECTED to hold herself together, because she was THE daughter of athena. the one that had to have all the plans.

which is why, in the chalice of the gods, i'm just so happy that she finally found her happy place.

because now, she has PLANS, this time not for others, but for HERSELF. plans for what SHE wants to do with HER future. she's at a great school doing something she's incredibly passionate about, she FINALLY has her boyfriend all to herself, and she's completely free of any worry that some sneaky goddess will swipe him away from her again, because the worst is OVER now.

now, we can watch annabeth blossom in the arms of FREEDOM from such responsibility, and SEE her goof around to her heart's content: dueting on 'shallow' with percy, hosting her very FIRST halloween party, sneaking into percy's bedroom just for the FUN of it, and just generally being the sweet goof she never got to be as a kid.

because annabeth chase is NOT boring and she is NOT a killjoy, and people need to STOP portraying her as such because she is the sweetest and most AMAZING character in the whole series.

[gingermintpepper]

Meet-Cute

Days that pass like sand,  blowing idly by  in the summer wind

he dreams of snakes,  long-fanged, like vexed bees, stinging at his scalp “Purify yourself,”  but he has not sinned

…he does not protest

The river is green-blue. Alive. He feels its heart beating beneath the slick rock of its banks.  Old river. Gorgeous thing. Bent into the shape of a shepherd’s crook, flowing but tame A nursery for fresh-born nymphs too young to stand the ocean’s tide-pulls  or maybe a reprieve from rough Summer’s overbearing heat 

He slips his robe from his shoulders. Unbinds the curls of his hair.  There is almost regret in his heart. Almost tragedy. Almost pain.  Each ritual bath is a spectre of the first, blood sinking deep into his flesh,  poison that will never stop burning. He empties his lungs of air and steps

Light-footed, like air down the forest path she goes a-walking

she’s dreamt of violets since summer’s first dawn a maiden possess’d

“Purify yourself,” that’s what father said

...This is how they meet

(Gold  like sun slicing through the clouds  like full-grown barley begging to be picked  She’s gold and slim and gorgeous  bathing in the river

The nymph is new  like speckled flowers blooming on a rose bush  she calls to be admired  and Evadne cannot resist her allure)

-Extracts from 'The Greenhouse Floor'.

[teawiththegods]

Every time I hear this song I can’t help but think of Apollo!

[dexterisnthometoday]

shading practice with my sp pjo au ☀️🐢💜

[potato-an0n]

I just started last olympian but I saw this post on insta and learned tht apparently, nico likes pirates and i saw a twt from rick tht nico listens to techno pop and bts is mentioned in future books……

So, hear me out…… if you’re a kpop stan…… atiny (or staytiny + reveluv) nico 👀👀

Also, jk and solar being children of apollo along w/ hwasa, yeosang, seonghwa, tae and jimin being children of Aphrodite.

(Bonus: wy prbly the son of hermes or Poseidon and rm son of athena)

[saintianthe]

It’s such a stupid thing to complain about lolz

I KNOW κamigami ηο αsobi is an otome game so obviously x readers are the main priority BUT LIKE COME ON MAN WDYM ME AND NESS WERE THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO DECIDED THAT LOKI AND BALDR SHOULD BE A THING SJSJSJSJSJNSSNJSNS (this is expressed with joke anger btw) like sure ao3 provides and I love reading the fics i read in 2015 but there used to be more content idk also how are we the only ones who got the Tsukito/Takeru galaxy brain idea is beyond me but oh well rip 50 shades of gray mpreg au where Artemis the sister of Apollo who was dating Amaterasu caught them fucking 🚬😔