#but how come Sadie can do magic but Carter can’t??

[shuutingstar]

I love how Kane Chronicles is supposed to be Carter and Sadie recording their encounters with everything. But like, there’s dialogue for other characters and I just have this funny image in my head that they try to act like those characters when they talk. Like.

Sadie in a terrible squeaky American accent: “Sadie, Amos said not to go there!”

Sadie: that’s what you sound like.

Carter: do not!

[twomanyfandomshelp]

I SWEAR, I SWEAR THAT I’M A GOOD KID, GUESS I’M GOOD FOR NOTHING AT ALL!!!

This is something that Luke haters just don’t understand. Did he have his faults? Yes, but he was also JUST A KID! Just like Annabeth, and Percy, and Bianca, and Nico, and Zoe, and Charlie, and Selina, and Clarisse, and literally any other demigod we meet. They were all JUST KIDS. There desperately needs to be a god of therapy who can come down to Camp Half Blood and Camp Jupiter and help these kids work through their EXTENSIVE trauma. Luke has, at the very least: PTSD, abandonment issues, survivor’s guilt, daddy issues, mommy issues, child neglect, child abandonment, and parentification (being forced to take up the role of parent as a child, usually occurs in older siblings where the parents work all the time, but in this case it was Luke having to raise Annabeth because she ran away from her toxic home life).

I also think it’s really interesting to think about how Percy might have gone down the same path if it wasn’t for Luke.

Percy resents a lot of the god’s choices, but he realizes that you can’t just repeat the toxic cycle and expect things to get better, you have to break the cycle in order to bring about positive change. By the time Luke came to this revelation, it was already too late for him.

If it wasn’t for Percy seeing the way that Luke responded to the god’s treatment of demigods and realizing that Luke had the right ideas but was going about it the wrong way, I genuinely think he would’ve gone down the same path Luke did. Heck, in the main story he understands why Luke does what he does, why he makes the choices he makes, and he empathizes with him, but he realizes that Luke is using the wrong methodology, falling back on the standards of the old world instead of creating a new, better world for all demigods.

Percy out of all the demigods has the most reasons to hate the gods. And yet he chooses to fight FOR them because he knows that if he has to choose between Kronos and the titans or the gods, or Gaea and the giants or the gods, the Olympians are the lesser of two evils, and he knows he actually has a chance to change things with the Olympians in charge.

Percy is also one of the most influential people in the godly world. He’s saved the world more times than I can count, a lot, and I mean A LOT of the gods and goddess really like him and have gone out of their way to help him, his father would do literally anything he asked of him in a heartbeat (side note, do gods even have hearts? In the literal sense not the psychological/metaphorical), and many gods and goddesses consider him a friend. Not a demigod to be used as a tool or puppet, but a friend. That is so incredibly rare in this world. Both the Greek and Roman camps see him as a leader, someone powerful, someone to follow. Camp Half Blood and Camp Jupiter both see Percy in a godlike way, they see him as an honorary god even though he turned down Zeus’ offer of immortality! He has relationships with both the Egyptian mythological world AND the Norse mythological world through his friends, Sadie and Carter, and his girlfriend’s cousin, Magnus and his rag tag gang of einherjar and valkyries respectively.

If this boy wanted to start a revolution against the gods, they wouldn’t last one fucking day.

NOT TO MENTION HE IS LITERALLY THE MOST POWERFUL DEMIGOD TO EVER EXIST!!! He has control of storms, supposedly Zeus’ domain, he can cause earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, when the earth is supposed to be Hades’ domain, and he can control LITERALLY ANY LIQUID INCLUDING BODILY FLUIDS!!! If he wanted to, he could kill anything or anyone that stands in his way with a single thought.

And his girlfriend? She may not have any magical powers, but she is so smart that she could probably plan an uprising against the gods that they wouldn’t see coming and it would work. That’s why is so scary when Luke tries to win her over to Kronos’ side, at least for me. Because any team that has Annabeth’s intelligence, battle strategy, wisdom, and quick-thinking combined with Percy’s raw power and absolute loyalty and devotion is literally guaranteed to win. Not to mention the countless demigods that would follow them, whether because they were friends or because they looked up to them so much. I don’t think Percy and Annabeth realize the power that they hold. They have so much more power than they realize, they could bring the world to its knees so easily.

Oh my gods, this got so much longer than I intended. I need to post more Percy Jackson stuff, clearly I have a lot of feelings about this than I realized and I need to out them somewhere since my only friend who enjoys the books is only on the Titan’s Curse. It’s gonna be a while til I can talk about all this with her.

luke is such an empathetic character because uncle rick just gives us a boy who's grown up feeling abandoned by his father, who he also deems responsible for essentially losing his mother. he loses one of his best friends because her very birth is seen as a mistake to the gods, and the very best zeus can do for her as she gives her life for her friends is to turn her into a tree. he becomes the best swordsman at camp, he successfully completes his quest, he's good, he's a good kid, and STILL he doesn't get so much as an acknowledgement from his father. he may be 19 during tlt but he has been a KID throughout all of this and he is desperate. of course he made the choices he did. it was ALWAYS going to happen.

[incorrect-riordanverse]

Please do something birthday themed please, and happy Birthday!!

Thank you and for your request I think I’m going to do how I think each protagonist would celebrate their birthdays !!

Magnus Chase– hotel valhalla hosts a little celebratory party with the help of Magnus’s mates (Thomas Jefferson jr, Samirah, halfborn, Mallory, Alex etc.). I don’t even know how, I don’t even think it’s impossible, but somehow Jack finds a way to get drunk, and serenade Magnus with a soap opera version of Happy Birthday. Maybe Funky Town will play and he’ll get emotional because it’s “their song magnussss 🥺” Blitz and Hearthstone also definitely get drunk too, and a literally bawling at how much he’s grown (which is nothing, since he’s dead) like it’s their jobs. After, Magnus, Alex and Samirah will head out to Amir’s falafel place where Amir would legitimately spoil him. Alex teases him relentlessly for nearly shedding a tear at the feast Amir whipped up for him, but he doesn’t quite care. Later on in the day, he’ll probably receive a birthday card from Annabeth. It’s witty and heartfelt, and reminds him about how he still has family he can rely on.

Sadie Kane— She would definitely spend hours on a call with her grandparents, because if it’s anyone that makes her feel like the most special girl in the world, it’s them. Carter would try bake a birthday cake for her, and then Sadie would want to help, and then Carter would refuse and insist he make it since she’s the birthday girl, and she’ll get bossy and the two will fight and their magic would act up and the cake just explodes. Just like the good ol’ days (they get a good laugh out of it at least). She would throw a big party at the Brooklyn House, and her students would go crazy with the decor (especially Felix and Bast). And then she would settle down for the night with FaceTiming Liz and Emma for a few hours so they could just gossip about life.

Carter Kane— I feel like Carter would be more quiet about his birthday. He doesn’t want anything big. Sadie is in charge of arrangements, and though she wants to throw a massive party for him, she knows that’s not what he wants. So she only invites his closest friends (Zia, Walt, Bes etc.) from the House of Life. The residents from the Brooklyn House also surround him with love and support, and Carter gets really embarrassed and flustered. He never really took birthdays so seriously since he and his dad were always travelling and never really settled down to throw a massive party. Normally his dad would just treat him for ice cream or something. So that’s what he and his mates do, they all go out for ice cream and just talk and laugh about life. When it the day gets darker, Carter finds escape with flying on Freak and just admiring the view of the city in content.

Percy Jackson– the first thing that happens when he wakes up is his mother embracing him and smothering him with kisses. He’s a bit embarrassed and groggy, but even as he tells her to get off him he’s grinning like the momma’s boy he is. Of course, Sally and Paul treat him to a breakfast of blue pancakes, and as he’s stuffing himself, Annabeth and Tyson barge in (Tyson tackles him in a bear hug of his own). Percy spends most of the day just talking and chatting with his family, really appreciating feeling like a normal boy for once (he can’t even remember the last time he celebrated his birthday so normally). Then, of course, the demigod friends come. Leo invented the smallest, most indistinguishable woopy cushion known to man, just in case he wants to embarrass people that piss him off (“you never know how brutal college might be”). Thalia gives him a loveably rude birthday card with as much signatures from the Hunters of Artemis as she can (Reyna even wrote a small message for him!). Piper dyes his hair with a streak of green, which doesn’t turn out half as bad as they expected it to. Grover sobs when Percy blows out the birthday candles, and so does Tyson, so the two embrace and just cry. Sally provides the demigods with blue food and cheeseburgers whenever she sees them look hungry in any way. After all is said and done, Percy and Annabeth take a walk at the beach Poseidon and Sally met, and reflect on how far they’ve come together, and how much more their story has left to go on.

Lester Papadopolous— Apollo has been a god for so long, he doesn’t even know when his birthday is anymore. He doesn’t quite mind, except Meg does. She yaps his ear off about how he should celebrate, how important they are. Apollo is quite sure he celebrates himself enough everyday as it is, but Meg won’t hear it. She uses Lester’s fake mortal birthdate to celebrate Apollo. She forces him on hikes, surfing, exploring dense caves as if normal mortals did that. She tries to make cupcakes for him but they taste like literal dirt, which is not surprising since Apollo can basically see Peaches snickering behind her like he sabotaged the whole ordeal. Apollo receives birthday cards from Lavinia, Reyna, a bunch of his children and a card combined with the three girls at the Waystation, all of which are amused in tone. And Apollo knows for a fact that Meg had pestered them into sending cards. At the end of the day, though, when Apollo is worn thin my Meg’s vigilant insistence, he’s starting to think the day was more about her than him. But when she looks at him, open and hopeful, and asks if he had fun, he can’t deny her. He isn’t lying either. He hadn’t felt more full and content in centuries.

[nyxvrse]

Sadie Kane Headcanons

IT’S SADIE KANE’S BIRTHDAY (edit: at least it was when I wrote this)!!! I absolutely ADORE her as a character and there needs to be more Sadie content so here’s some 😌. SPOILER FREE COZ I DON’T REMEMBER MUCH 

She’s bisexual. She never really had a deep realization moment, she just one day looked at Jaz and went ‘I would kill to date her’. She comes out to Carter and Zia when she makes a random bi joke and till this day she regrets it because Carter brings it up any chance he gets

She needs constant ‘me time’. As much of an extrovert she is, it drains her a lot. During these times, she just goes to her room, plays some music, and reads the book Carter gave for her birthday (I can’t remember what it is 😫 I told y’all I have a bad memory)

She and Carter hang out together a lot. To make up for lost sibling time, they just go out and stroll though thee city. They talk about anything and everything but mostly how it was before all the magic and the crazy began. Sadie tells him about life with their grandparents while Carter recounts life with their dad. Sometimes they hope into the Underworld and have some family bonding time with Julius and Ruby.

She used to go to ballet classes when she was around 6 or 7. She knows some of the basic dance moves and compositions. When she gets stressed she practices a little. And also because of this she always stands extra straight (even though she isn’t 😏)

I KNOW @cleofromrio ALREADY SAID THIS BUT! Sadie’s middle name is Ruby and I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL. A) Because it jus fits, B) Coz Ruby is her mom’s name, C) Her initials become SRK and I think that’s hilarious, D) ✨this is a headcanon so I can do whatever the fuck I want✨

She is the absolute BEST with the ankle-biters. She plays dress up with them, she helps them make dolls out of shabathi clay, she reads them stories, and she is just brilliant with them. Usually though, she and the ankle-biters have movie marathons. They start in the evening and watch all through the rest of the day only to fall asleep. 

Sadie is a UNO queen. Liz, Emma and her used to play a LOT of UNO when they used to hang out. Sadie beats them at every round. Very rarely Emma beats them, but Liz always looses. Then she passes her skills onto some of her favorite ankle-biters. Then Carter gets a hold of a pack of UNO Flip and they play a round where Sadie looses. She’s completely shocked and angry and huffy for the rest of the day. Carter can’t stop laughing his ass of.

Her, Carter, Annabeth and Percy constantly meet up. They go to the skate park a lot where Percy skateboards and teaches Sadie how to do so. Annabeth and Carter sit on the side writing or reading. Sometimes Magnus and Alex join them sometimes they don’t. (crossover just ✨ because✨)

Sadie meets Rachel and the best chaotic duo is formed. The both of them absolutely love pranking Carter and Percy. Sometimes they even get Annabeth to join them. Once, the accidentally pranked Zia and all hell broke loose for the next 2hrs as Zia tried to kill them. 

She breaks up with Walt/Anubis after 6 months of dating them/him. After that she stays single for a year or so and then she dates Jaz. And the rest is history. 

Thank yew that is all. WAIT NO! I love Sadie Kane. Now THAT is all. 

[mismashedsocks]

 so riordan made a half assed lame excuse on his lazy/racist writing on piper yesterday and on top of that he made another one on samirah and i’m muslim so i am going to talk about it

damn i’m so sorry these people have been pushing you past your comfort zone about your wildly popular racist caricatures of minorities that have great impact on your young, impressionable target audience. while its fine that if he takes a break for his mental health he still needs to deal with these problems you can’t just take a break and hope they go away.

why does he think everyone is bullying him. if they talked in all caps, cussed at you, or didn’t stop bothering you, i’m sorry they’re just trying to get you to realize how racist your books are, which you keep refusing to believe. i can believe that a few of them were doing it for attention, but it couldn’t be the majority. and my god, god forbid people want you to write your books the way you preferred, without racist stereotypes. 🙈

you can set your boundaries but you keep ignoring the people, you don’t listen. like you put yourself out there as a writer you are open to criticism

why does he keep doing this to seem like the good guy. you give excuses and don’t do anything and just say that its up to you, you can think whatever you want 🥰🥰. like its such an obvious excuse not to take any action.

i’m sorry but no matter how many muslims you’ve interacted with you haven’t gotten the full experience and last time i checked teachers aren’t the kids best friends soo uhm. anyways the rest of it is just him telling his experience with muslimah students so its just there.

so uhm you just said your students ‘unwillingly’ become an ambassador to everyone she knew’. and then you went to talk to them about islam to make sure you were TEACHING THEM YOUR SOURCE MATERIAL CORRECTLY. i’m sorry imagine. these are kids not some scholars you go to consult. there are so many muslims all over the internet and youtube sharing their experiences for you to access on how to ‘represent their experience’ correctly. you’re the teacher here. picture this:as a muslilm, i teach at a public school and while teaching about Christianity in class, no i would double check or some dumb shit with the students. like educate yourself i’m sorry. anyways apparently he blames his mistakes on himself then goes on to deny he ever made any mistakes i can’t.

so this is a blatant lie. 99% of muslims i’ve met have never read all of sahih bukhari and sahih muslim. usually only scholars do that when they are studying islam for YEARS. and FIVE different interpretations of the quran on top of that. ok so sahih bukhari is 9 books that are over 300 pages each and sahih musilm is 7 volumes with also about 300+ pages each. and then the english versions of the quran are 600 pages. and he claims he read five of them. i’m so sorry but no he didn’t. he writes books so fast and he released mcga around the time toa was being released almost one book per year so he did not have a lot of spare time. the rest ig i can let slide. also and if he did do all of that why does he make so many mistakes in writing samirah. and even IF you accept his excuses reading ALL of this source material is great for teaching your class or whatever but not for writing a modern day muslim. you don’t need to lie to us rick ❤️

most of this is just describing what she’s like but his writing did also add in the model minority, smart kid trope. like no they don’t have to be a terrorist or a A+ student who is the best at everything. there is a middle ground to their personality. 

i actually used to love his rep in sam. that’s how i got into the series. i saw a hijabi girl on his website. i got excited and read all of his books. i loved piper, leo, hazel, percy, annabeth, sadie, carter, nico, everyone. now that i look back i was younger and didn’t see anything wrong with it back then. its great that he tried to portray minorities but he did it so badly and now is just denying the faults that his now older readers are trying to tell him.

hey, uhm didn’t you read all of sahih bukhari and muslim? hmm i didn’t think so. anyways the way he dealt with it honestly wasn’t that bad. but the whole ‘whoops’. like why does he keep portraying himself as the innocent old white man just trying his best.

honestly how he wrote samirah as a hijabi was the dumbest thing i’ve ever read. its is totally fine if she wasn’t hijabi, many muslim girls aren’t, and that is their choice. but he decided to make her like a weird middle ground. it was so lazy and inconsistent. in the first book she says she wears it when she needs to, like in situations like going to the masjid. this was fine, since many muslim girls do that. then in the next books she wears it all the time except when she’s in valhalla for some reason. hijabi girls take of their scarves when they’re at home or with family, but making her claim the entirety of vallhalla as her family. that was just demeaning and stupid to me. it takes away its value. and i fucking hated that last sentence. for hijabis, their hijab is important and not a toy or weapon or a MAGIC ITEM. and then on top of that she would have to take it of to hide. he could’ve made it anything else. her hijab isn’t some token item istg.

i love how he admits that they are a big problem and abusive and usually engage with child marriages. i’m relatively he doesn’t understand what the people even meant by it. the practice is a problem that isn’t supposed to be seen in a nice light. the only possible way it could be slightly ok is that if ADULTS agree they 100% do not want to choose who they want to get married to and let their parents choose, and both sides agree. samirah was a child and he decided to make her wedding life decided since the age of 12. and it was ok because amir was conventionally attractive and she loved him. WHAT IF SHE DIDNT. this literally is a dangerous arranged marriage. and arranged marriages are not ok, and mostly perpetuated by victims of it who will end up passing it down their family lines. my parents got an arranged marriage and I HAVE NEVER SEEN THEM DISPLAY ANY SIGNS OF AFFECTION. arranged marriages are not a trope that your can turn around to be a quirky personality trait for your characters.

i’m sorry that’s not how arranged marriages work. most likely if she said something her grandparents would have shut her done and continued with the marriage, as that is what you usually happens. do not portray the small amount of consented, ‘happy’ arranged marriages as the majority. it is a huge problem that many desi/middle eastern cultures are trying to erase. even on top of that he writes situations where she’s going to be in trouble for acting up and ‘jeopardizing the marriage agreement’ and that her grandparents think she’s ‘lucky that she could get the fadlan family to agree to marry their son to her’. these statements are often used in forced and dangerous marriages, so don’t try and justify your actions. if you wanted to show traditional customs in a positive light, there are so many richer parts of samirah’s culture you could’ve focused on and you chose arranged marriage. 😻 all you’ve done is given parents and authority figures a westernized resource to justify arranged and forced marriages, especially with the minimal explanation on how the marriage isn’t forced in the actual books. and yes, your books do condone child marriage samirah is clearly deemed into this marriage ever since the young age of 12. she lived her life knowing she would marry amir. no one has only one crush throughout their life. imagine how she would’ve grown up. sorry you only consider opinions that align with those in you mind.

i’m going to be honest i did like that one scene it was written nicely and accurately but the explanation he gives just ruins the entire thing. the way he just if this strikes you as islamophobic, or samirah as a hurtful, uhm no explanation i just disagree 😽. the way you wrote her is a hurtful stereotype sorry you can’t see it.

oops, you did. too bad you don’t want to do anything about it.

why do you think people are painting you in a negative light, so many of your characters are written on hurtful and negative stereotypes. people aren’t painting it that way, you need to calm down w your ego and listen. dang i’m sorry your best is giving half-assed excuses and not actually doing anything. i’m even more sorry people are mad that a highly privileged author that has a lot of influence is done talking about his racist depictions of minorities in his books. 

dang must be lucky to take a break from the social media, imagine what all the minorities you wrote about have to go with everyday weather they are on social media or not. people aren’t bullying you this is valid criticism you refuse to listen to.

fuck you

obviously these are my opinions do not judge every muslim based on what i’ve said come to me if you have a problem with it

anyways support jewish, muslim, black, brown, asian, hispanic, indigenous, lgbtq+, disabled, and other minority authors and creators.

[happyk44]

“Are we dating?”

It’s an abrupt question, Percy knew that, but Sadie’s influence on him had been kind of subtle and he couldn’t help but hearing her voice whenever he stared at Nico. Carter’s relationship with Zia was beautiful and idealistic but wholly unreachable. It’s the cookie jar on the shelf.

Sadie was dating two boys, one a god, and that still felt more possible than anything Percy could copy from Carter.

Nico squinted at him. He didn’t look caught off-guard, just slightly disgruntled. He’d been in the middle of helping Felix craft a death shroud for one of his penguins. Walt refused to help mummify it so Felix had snippily complained about having to go for a lesser death tradition right before turning to Nico and asking if Greek traditions were cool. Nico said no but offered a death shroud anyway.

It was cute. The painting, the way Felix remarked softly about his penguin, Todd (of all the names, honestly?), and his efforts to have babies on his lonesome and the time he woke up with Todd on his chest squawking at him and how Todd didn’t like to bathe alone.

The question had been burning in his mind for weeks and now he was just watching Nico look utterly adorable, the domesticity, paint smeared under his eye, embroidery thread on the top of his head from where Cleo had placed it before she went off to do something else. He didn’t mean for it to spill out, not while Felix was mourning, but would it really be Percy if timing wasn’t terrible?

“Percy, I am mourning,” Felix sighed. “Your love life can wait until after the cremation.”

Nico grinned, a twitch of his lips, just the bare showing of his teeth. “Yeah, Percy. Don’t be rude.”

Percy wrung his wrists. “Sorry, Felix.”

“I’ll get over it, if you come help.” He patted the spot next to him.

Percy got up and sat down next to Felix, taking the white paint from Nico. He was not artistic by any means but judging from Felix’s work so far, that wasn’t really a problem. Nico pulled the embroidery thread off his head and began rethreading it back throw Cleo’s discarded needle. He moved to lay down on his stomach, picking up where she left off.

The scene of the three of them lasted for about three seconds before Felix sniffled. “I can’t do this!” he wailed and stood up. “I need to go hug my other babies.”

He stormed off before anyone could say anything.

Whether it was a real moment or his way of leaving the two of them alone, was up in the air. He’d seen Felix run off, steal Freak in the middle of an outing to find more magical artifacts just because he had “a feeling” his penguins were in distress. He’d also seen him dramatically proclaim a movie was terrible and drag everyone out of the room so Zia could have alone time with Carter after three weeks of her being at the First Nome.

A strange kid.

Percy loved him.

“Do you want to be dating?”

Percy bit his lip. “Do you?”

Nico looked at him like he was stupid. Maybe he was. Maybe Annabeth was right and his brain was full of kelp, occasionally rubbing together to form one coherent thought. But still. Percy was an entity that took and took and hurt Nico without meaning to.

Who cared what he wanted?

Nico looked down to his work and began pulling the needle in and out of the fabric. “My mother liked to embroider things,” he said. “She used to make her own dresses when she did solo shows.” He paused. “That’s how they met. Did I ever tell you that?”

Percy shook his head.

“My father took Persephone to a show for their anniversary. My mother had been sneaking out of the house for years. She liked to put as many things on her clothes to distract from her face. Politician’s daughter and whatnot.” He titled his head, his hair softly shielding him from Percy’s view. “He said she danced like she was made of air.”

“How did Persephone take that?”

Nico laughed. “Persephone is her father’s daughter, Percy.” He titled his head back. His hair swept back, drifting past his throat. Percy swallowed. “They tried to meet her after her show but she always left so early. He said he recognized her a few months later at some political event he was lurking around. Power, wealth, discussions of murdering enemies.” Nico grinned, teeth bared. “What other place to feel worshipped in silence?”

The breath exhaled from Percy’s lungs like Nico had stolen it right from him. Plunged his hand inside his chest and tugged out, collecting it all for himself.

“She still danced like she was made of air.” His look softened. “He asked her out that evening.”

Percy swallowed thickly, unable to pull away from Nico’s gaze. Dark eyes. Teeth. Dimples. Soft hair.

Lips.

“I can’t dance.”

Nico looked away, fingers pulling out the needle. “I’ll teach you.”

“Annabeth tried,” Percy said and it’s like pulling a rope around his neck and shoving him off the tree. The shock curls around his spine, like a blaring signal that he fucked up, he made a mistake, he was so stupid.

Nico tensed. Then, “I’m not Annabeth.”

“No. You’re not.” Percy stared at the paint on his brush. It’d dried in their talking. “You’re both different people.” He looked at the drips on the fabric. White on blue. Bones. Owls. “I just meant-”

“I know what you meant, Percy.” Nico looked up at him again. “You don’t need to panic every time she comes up. I like Annabeth. She’s nice to Hazel.” He smiled. “That’s all I really care about.”

“You should be more selfish.”

“So should you.” His eyes were dark. They’re always dark.

Percy wanted to drown in them.

“What do you want, Percy?”

“What do you want?”

Nico snorted. “I don’t want a lot of things, Percy. I just want to be alive.”

“I can make you happy to be alive.” It’s too much of a certainty. He couldn’t keep doing that to Nico. He shook his head. “I can try at least. Really hard. To make you keep wanting that.”

Nico’s eyes were too dark. Always so dark. Always so unknowing. Percy needed to know him. It buried into his gut. He smiled though, around his dark eyes and whispered, “I know.”

[lizzexx]

With the winter holidays coming up/over, what are some fun rituals you ocs have? Like do they have movies that they watch every year, do they host partys or go to them, do they wear matching cloths or make fun of the people who do ect.

Hmm, oh so many OCs lol :)

I feel like Proffy would be more of a quite gift exchange, where they both say they won’t get the other something but then they always do :)

Evy would probably enjoy decorating the TARDIS if she had the notion that Christmas was coming at a normal time and not whenever they pop down :)

Angel, of course, they have the dance to the Christmas song and some mistletoe kisses ;)

Mac, I think would force the Doctor to set down on Earth because ‘something ALWAYS happens at Christmas’ and it just sort of becomes their thing to spend Christmas on Earth :)

The Judge, would be a sort of bittersweet tradition, because their children are gone and it’s a reminder of all they lost, so it would be more of a ‘let’s go out and do something for someone else, save a planet, be Father (and Mother) Christmas for someone in need :)

Sadie would probably be the sort to want to make Christmas Cookies with the Doctor and gingerbread houses and slap his hand away each time he tries to sneak a bite ;)

Sigma would have the tradition of getting something to distract the Doctor so she could wrap every single item in his room with wrapping paper, and I mean EVERYTHING in his room, like his socks all individually wrapped and his toothbrush wrapped and just be grinning off to the side :)

Michelle would work on sketches for Sam and Dean every year and Dean would pretend it’s just another gift but he keeps them all in the glovebox of the Impala and Sam keeps them in his wallet until they can’t fit anymore :)

Leena and Sherlock, when they’re not entertaining or with other people, she will literally force him into the ugliest Christmas Sweaters she can find, as an ‘experiment’ for him to gauge whether their appeal to each other diminishes depending on their clothing ;)

Marayna, since they wouldn’t have Christmas the way we see it, probably more Yule, I think she would drag Arthur to a Druid celebration of it, to really show their ties to Camelot and his acceptance of magic, to show him more of the nature of things and to show him her own duties as High Priestess :)

Piper, I feel like her and Snow would have HAD to do something with the first snowfall, like have a snowball fight and it HAS to be the FIRST snowfall. Her and August, would probably watch movies all day and sip hot chocolate with cinnamon. And her and Gold would have probably had a tradition, since it would remind him of losing his son, to pretend the holidays didn’t exist, but would still ‘exchange’ a gift for ‘no reason’ :)

Lyssa and Regina would gather by the fire place and share a small feast after Snow and Leopold went to sleep for the night, giving little gifts to each other as a private celebration :) Lyssa and Hook wouldn’t have been together long enough to have a tradition, but I could see them going out on his ship and just looking up at the stars, sharing a blanket because ‘it’s cold’ out :)

Claire and Sheldon have the tradition of her giving him a handmade ‘comic book’ while he gives her a card that summarizes them for that year.

Cora doesn’t have Christmas on her planet or any Holidays that the Mas’heirs would allow her to partake in, and I don’t think Spock would subscribe to holidays like that so they more just go about their day but are both very sure to wish happiness to the crew as they do :)

Victoria would spend holidays with her father, I could see them both dumping a box of odds and ends on the floor and using whatevers in it to make a Christmas Tree or ornaments out of it, I think she’d continue that tradition with Kirk only she’d probably try to murder him with half the items before they finish lol ;)

Kona, for the holidays, I could see Loki gifting her a new book with raised letters so she can read it, and her reading it to him as their tradition.

Athena and her family would have a very grim tradition of the holidays, it would be a time for them to remember the Dark Days, while everyone else is happy and celebrating family, it would be a reminder of what they tried to take from the humans, it would be a consideration of how far from those feelings they had gone, and a promise to continue into the new years being better than they were before :( With Thor, I think he would respect her need for seclusion during those times, but he would sit outside her door, waiting till she was ready to emerge, and want to be the first thing she saw, so he could remind her of how far she’s come :’)

Amira, I don’t think the Jedi had holidays like that? So I’m not sure she’d have an actual tradition for it. But I could see her researching her home planet, even though she’s never been there, and finding their largest holiday and finding something small that she could do, just to honor where she came from and how it allowed her to become the Jedi she is. Anakin would have no fond memories of his home planet, and so I could see him, the more he gets close to Amira, replicating her tradition to show her how important she is to him.

Menna, I see her tradition being not dressing as a queen but in her normal clothing, going out among the people, and making sure those in need were able to get what they need for their families. Aragorn would go with her because they are his people and maybe if Menna saw them greeting him, in his every day clothing, as ‘King Aragorn’ she’d finally ‘believe’ he was king. She never would ;)

Olivia would spend holidays with the Carters, her and Peggy exchanging books about adventures and then making plans for all they’d do the next year. She would still do so when Peggy is older, bring her a book and read it to her for the holidays. With Steve, they would go to Church, I think, and then volunteer at a shelter or a food bank, they would fill the whole day with helping other people and then, when they get home, there’s mistletoe in the doorway and they’d put on lovely music and just have a sweet moment together to be thankful they still had each other :’)

[firelordizumi]

Dunno if you already talked about this, but why do you hate toa? I'm not a fan either, just wanna know what you think

hi anon i sent your ask to issy and we had a very long rant about it just for you

toa could’ve been a great series had it been executed better. i’m not sure if issy ever posted it on here, but she once mentioned to me how interesting it would be had the plot of toa centered around octavian, in which he wasn’t killed in hoo and apollo is forced to reevaluate his time as a god and the monster he essentially created. rick’s known for being the author that turns weaknesses (such as adhd and dyslexic, a poc, gender fluid, gay) into strengths, but in the trials of apollo, none of that is there. that being said, his apollo/lester and meg aren’t all that interesting. 

when i read toa, i was able to get through it because i thought apollo was an interesting character. his narcissism and confusion about humans was funny, but i later realized it was solely because rick has a knack for first person writing. meg is powerful, but she’s a bare minimum character. neither meg nor apollo can be loved on their own, and they’re not strong enough to carry toa by themselves. thus why rick is relying on nostalgia in order to make his money. rick’s kinda known for his iconic characters. when you mention rick riordan, your mind instantly goes to characters like percy jackson, annabeth chase, grover underwood, piper mclean, jason grace, so on and so forth (i didn’t forget hazel and frank i swear). rick is capitalizing on nostalgia. the trials of apollo is lazy writing. it is series he brought to life not bc he enjoyed it, but because it was giving him so much coin.

this fandom (and i can give you text posts for proof) just want to see percy jackson in a book. people don’t care about rick as a storyteller anymore, and thus the stories he is capable of telling. people are obsessed with percy and percy only. rick knows this. rick wrote the kane chronicles without any mention of the pjo characters, and it was INCREDIBLE, but no one gave a shit about carter and sadie until they appeared in a miniseries with percy and annabeth. 

rick riordan is an idiot when it comes to consistency and timelines and accurate representations of poc (i’m talking about the feathers and the kaleidoscopic eyes, for starters) but he tries. not hard enough, but he goes to those pride parades, he makes an effort to include those characters and though he doesn’t execute it well, he is a good person. but he’s not stupid when it comes to knowing what will make him the most money. he has a marketing team, publishers and he was a teacher, too. the man knows people just want to see percy’s name and don’t actually care for an original story. he’s going to find ways to milk out percy’s story and people will keep eating it up because we can’t put our nostalgia aside long enough to realize that hey, maybe stories that end are beautiful too.

because percy jackson’s story needs to end, man. his name no longer appearing in a rick riordan book does not mean the pjo series magically disappears. hoo will not suddenly vanish. percy will live forever. but his story is not worth telling forever.

plus, rick just did a lot more work by making the roman emperors the antagonists of this series. i have a post around here somewhere, but i just believe that the emperors being roman, and helping fund the titan war would have been a great basis for the roman demigods. it would’ve flowed better, made more sense, etc. overall, toa is just sloppy writing. meg and apollo aren’t characters i care too much for, the plot is too forced, and i just feel like he’s writing it to make money because he can include percy in it.

[jflashandclash]

Traitors of Olympus IV: The Fall of the Sun

Twenty-One: Sadie

 I Go to Press Big Red Button

             For looking as unimposing as Leo did, the bloke was due more credit than I’d originally given him. He threw me over his shoulder and bolted towards Mount Camel Dung faster than a shabti would try to kill its master if it had all its appendages. Maybe those demigod genes gave him a natural, muscular edge. Maybe it was lugging all the metal to build homicidal, giant lizards.

           Either way, I owed the son of Hephaestus an apology for assuming he wasn’t as strong as his friends.

           Lightning exploded behind us. Harsh gusts of wind tore pieces of the iron fence down and threw sand into the air. The path forward was rapidly becoming a cross between a battlefield of inanimate objects and an obstacle course. Sunlight dimmed as clouds quickly spiraled into a net across the sky.

           Set’s gleeful laughter boomed through the cyclone of stuff.

           The rock formation was further away than it originally appeared. That was the problem with deserts: a lack of kilometer posts.

           At the first batch of red rocks jutting out of the ground, Leo took cover. He dropped me rather ungracefully on the sand.

           “Hey!” I protested, shouting over the wind.

           “Sorry, Lady Sadie,” he said. He lifted up one finger and a burst of flames hissed out like a mini blowtorch. “We’re keeping up the tradition of ungraceful landings.”

           If he was about to do what I thought he was about to do, I was about to tell him to shove that finger somewhere not very nice. Sure enough, he tilted that mini-blowtorch toward my bindings.

           “Are you mad?!” I demanded, not quite in the mood to be set ablaze.

           I’m sure there was some irony in my asking that question, as I rather enjoyed doing mad things, but all I could think about was coming out as a toasted Sadie marshmallow.

           “Trust me, I’m an expert in pyromania,” he said, giving me that crazy elf grin. “Now, inhale deep and exhale when I tell you. The Flaming Valdez is gonna set you free.”

           As he had me inhale, then exhale, he squirmed his other hand between the bindings and my skin, so he could use his own hand as a heat shield for my skin. I couldn’t help but feel like he looked nervous. Normally, it took a bit of magical work to undo a binding spell. I remembered the time my wand turned into a Celestial bronze dagger when Annabeth touched it and wondered if Leo’s magical flames acted like the Egyptian words of power for Bollix Your Binding Spell.

           Once he freed my hands, I withdrew my wand to help dispel the rest of the binding.

           In the last moment, the weather went from partially overcast to pitch black.

           My skin shivered. The temperature dropped at least five degrees Celsius.

           You know how you’re not supposed to look directly at the sun? Both Leo and I abandoned that notion to glance up.

           There was no dispersed glow behind the clouds or circular silhouette off in the distance. It was like Apophis had swallowed the sun all over again.

           “Is that a normal power of your Superman?” I asked, feeling a bit queasy.

           “Uh, no. I’m going to put that solidly in the list of NOT-Jason powers,” Leo said comfortingly.

           We peered over the rocks to see how Jason was doing against Set. Probably a good idea before leaving him on his own to fight a god. I knew we had to find Hemera and we were wasting valuable moments, but my mind kept flashing to how far he’d flown when Set first blasted him.

           All we could see was darkness at first. Leo kept a tiny flame alight in his palm so we could dodge debris caught up in the wind. Some tourist must have discarded an empty can of suntan lotion in the desert; the now-projectile almost took Leo’s head off.

           Off in the distance, there was the soft glow of a city—Phoenix.  

           Closer, lightning gave eerie bursts of illumination to the massive dust storm outside of Governor Hunt’s tomb. Each red streak would make the fog look like a dispersing firework before dimming back to the roaring nothingness.

           In the last burst, we could see the outline of a muscular boy on flying horseback. The horse itself seemed to spark and flare with static. The rest of the horse blended into the mass of debris. Jason must have found his gladius—more sparks exploded outward as the golden blade parried a strike from a flaming battle axe that spun around him. The red sand of the desert swirled higher and higher, as though reaching to drag the stallion down. A mass of it—Set’s avatar I presumed—loomed in front of the Roman horseman, cackling with thunder and laughter.

           Jason looked like he was fighting the desert itself.

           “Em, is he going to be alright?” I asked, withdrawing my wand. I had fought Set on more than one occasion and Lapis seemed quite the powerful host for the god.

           “Yea, this is a normal party for our Golden Boy.” Despite his confidence, Leo looked worried. “What I wouldn’t give for a bulldozer or a wrecking ball though. Can you magic those out of your little Do-a locker?”

           I could envision Leo singing that old Miley Cyrus song, “I came in like a wrecking ball,” while actually riding atop a wrecking ball. I’m not sure how it would help us, but the thought was quite entertaining.

           I was about to inform Leo that I didn’t store demolition equipment in my locker, other than some fireworks that Carter doesn’t need to know about, when I saw a blue burst of light from up Camel Dung Mountain.

           My brilliant reflexes saved us. “Drowah!” I shouted into the wind. The hieroglyph for boundary shimmered into a wall of golden light behind us. The blue wave slammed into it before dissipating.

           For that instance, I could see the silhouette of a man in linen robes with a staff and a small shack behind him.

           “Hemera’s shack!” I cried.

           “Hey! No fair—Set can’t add another creepy dude to the mix,” Leo said.

           The image of the shack and man shimmered under some kind of cover.

           “Creepy magician with powers,” Leo corrected.

           Another flare of blue light shot toward us.

           This time, Leo deflected it with a small blast of fire. We dived to the next closest rock, realizing we couldn’t take shelter from both he and Set at the same time. We needed to get up there.

           “He has the higher ground,” I said. “Can you lob a fireball up there?” I didn’t want to kill the other magician; I didn’t know what Nome he was from, if he was possessed by an evil god, or if Set had threatened him with cheese magic, something that inspires great terror in the Egyptian world. Still, I figured a ball of flames would keep him occupied.

           “I might burn the shack. I doubt it would kill Hemera, but we’d have one pissed off goddess on our hands. I guess you can’t toss over some Egyptian voodoo, Lady Sadie?”

           I deflected another wave of blue. I could fly up as a kite, the bird, not the children’s toy, but I would be a sitting duck—well, kite—for any attacks. “I was hoping for a bit more of a distraction so we could make it up the Mount Dung without being under fire.”

           Leo reached into his tool belt. His eyes blazed like those of a maniac, and I couldn’t help but think that I could get used to seeing that expression of pure madness. “Oh, I’ve got an idea that will leave you spinning.”

           A minute later and Leo fashioned a tiny fleet of rubber band-and-paperclip helicopters to drop nails, tacks, balloons filled with motor oil, miniature failed-shabtis, and anything else we could quickly rig from my Duat locker and Leo’s tool belt.  I gave them some honing magic. [Leo later said we’d have to call Coach Gleeson to eat up the mess. I have a different respect for Camp Half-Blood, knowing one of their counselors is loony enough to eat metal.]

           Despite the heavy wind, his tiny contraptions flew brilliantly.

           Our cue to run up Camel Dung Mountain came about ten seconds later, when the enemy magician started screaming.

           The bursts of light and tremble of thunder continued at the base of the rock formation as we climbed. I hoped this Jason fellow was as accomplished as Leo claimed he was. I hadn’t heard Set gleefully giggling about ripping someone’s limbs off or turning Jason’s skeleton into a puppet, so that was a good sign.

           Climbing the mountain wasn’t easy. All we had was my wand and Leo’s flame for light, and the rock formation didn’t seem to like being compared to a camel toilet, as it kept trying to trip us, though from Set’s magic or our clumsiness, I wasn’t certain.

           Once we got close to the top, I shouted, “Sun-ah!”

           The hieroglyph for reveal appeared in the sky, and the shack and magician came back into view.

           “Wow,” Leo said.

           I seconded the notion.

           Leo’s fleet had worked marvelously.

           Two tiny helicopters still sputtered in the air. One dive-bombed the magician, dropping a wad of chewed gum into his eyes. [And Carter says I need to keep my locker cleaner. Imagine if I hadn’t.]

           As the magician was blinded, he shouted a spell to explode the other airborne helicopter. This released Tabasco sauce shrapnel everywhere, something Leo claimed was vital for any dragon workshop.

           The magician had just withdrawn the gum from his eyes when the spicy condiment struck his face.

           He screamed again. I almost felt bad for him.

           Now that we were up close and I had dissolved his invisibility spell, I could see he was roughly in his thirties. (As far as magicians go, that means nothing. The bloke could be 564 for all I cared or knew.) He was tall, with a traditional forked beard, and caramel skin. His white linen robes were edged with blue.

           This magician must have been a bit confused about the colors of Ma’at and chaos.

           One of my failed shabti creations had landed on his shoulder. It was a blobby humanoid shape without legs, something I imagined would crawl up from under my bed one night to take revenge for its creepy existence. It kept bludgeoning the magician with its deformed, flobby arms, shrieking, “die, bipedal swine!”

           As the poor magician frantically conjured milk to wash out his eyes and blast the shabti off his shoulder, something about him seemed familiar. I hoped this wasn’t someone else’s displaced, distant son or nephew of someone Carter and I had once fought.

           Either way, he had to go. He was standing between us and the ten by ten, rickety shack that shuddered violently in Jason and Set’s storm. Quite charming as godly penthouses go.

           “Sadie Kane!” the magician roared.

           Not sure how he detected us, but Leo and I exchanged a glance to claim KO rights. I won, of course.

           “My name is Mel!” the man said.

           “There’s a magician named Mel?” Leo asked, sounding amused.

           Mel continued, ignoring the mockery. “I’m from the First Nome and guarded it for centuries before the Kanes caused the death of Chief Lector Iskandar and Desjardins, put a minion of Set as the new Chief Lector, and turned Zia Rashid traitor. You escaped me once, but this time—“

           “That’s lovely and all. Goodbye, now,” I said.

           I blasted him with a spray of green light. He was so disgruntled, having been both sprayed with Tabasco sauce and milk, he didn’t have the awareness to counter.

           I envisioned Mel as something much more containable: a tiny, green lizard. Within seconds, I had asserted my will over him. The magician shrank in size until he was a cute, confused-looking gecko that slithered out from the linen robes.

           “Dude!” Leo said. Within seconds, he’d created a cage from scattered paperclips and quick finger-welding. He snatched up our transformed friend. He leveled the cage with the trapped lizard to his eyes. “I know you’re saying, ‘I-guana go now,” he said to the trapped lizard. “But we can’t have you escaping. Hey, Lady Sadie, what was that stuff he was talking about?”

           Leo attached the tiny cage to his tool belt and stepped towards the shack.

           We’d have to clear up all those lies later. I was still rather upset about the deaths of the previous Chief Lectors, especially since Iskandar had been nothing but kind to me and Desjardins died to save Carter and me. What he was referencing were lies that Sarah Jacobi had spread to make my family look like rubbish. It was amazing how much damage someone could cause after death, though, after stopping a poorly-dressed ghost from taking over the cosmos, I shouldn’t have been surprised.  

           “Oh, just some gossip our enemies spread to make us look like Big Bad Guys. You know how it goes.”

           Leo nodded sympathetically. “I was possessed by an eidolon once and it made me attack our friends’ camp with a warship. One ballista fire led to another, and then all the Romans are saying Greeks stink. So, uh, yea. I know a thing or two about bad press.”

           Although it sounded like that had happened awhile ago, Leo’s smile lost its brilliance.

           “We should have a chat about that over some ice cream,” I suggested, knowing some solid camaraderie over possession might lift his spirits. My Uncle Amos was an expert in such matters.

           Leo stopped walking towards the shack. He glanced over his shoulder in confusion and disbelief, like he thought I had chatted up one of the tumble weeds, which—with Set and Jason’s storm—were twirling in the air like startled goldfish.

           “Trapped goddess, “I reminded Leo, “Your friend fighting for our lives so Set doesn’t make us into finger puppets?” I dispelled a booby trap around the shack: sloppy and simple ones with easy-to-find hieroglyphs. Really, they don’t make clever, monomaniacal villains like they used to.

           The poor boy’s cheeks roughened. I do have that effect on people sometimes, though usually it’s because I’ve utterly humiliated them with my verbal wit. Although the scene of chaos around us was terrifying—what with the crashing debris, the flashes of lighting, and the dim glow of fire on Leo’s face from his lit hand—Leo looked quite cute.

           [What, Carter? Yes. I said it. Yes, I know Walt and Anubis can listen to this recording. Give me more credit than that.]

           As he ran to catch up, he said, “Careful. I’ve melted the heart of an Ice Goddess once. I’m dangerous around ice cream.”

           “We’ll have ourselves a double date, shall we? We can invite our godly boyfriend and girlfriend,” I suggested. I was going to say “to keep things from getting too hot,” but caught myself before those horrid words came out of my mouth. I really didn’t mean anything by that.

           I blame my embarrassment for almost doing something incorrigibly stupid.

           Leo and I busted our way into the shack door, which, really, we didn’t need to do. The shack almost fell over when we came through the entrance. Inside, the rattle of the ceiling as it strained against the storm was more alarming than the storm itself. Refer back to “don’t make monomaniacal villains like they used to” and add, “don’t make godly traps like they used to.”

           The wall and ceiling boards looked just as rickety and dilapidated inside as they did out. Talk about horror cinema center. There was a rusty, metal control board, like something out an old radio station, with levers and a giant red button that said Release and a giant green one that said Capture.

           A woman lay in the center of the red sand floor. Her dusty blonde hair rippled dimly, like sunlight filtering through a dirty window. The remains of a tattered sundress clung to her body, the color indiscernible in the glow of Leo’s fire. Heavy chains linked her hands and feet to the floor. Red wires ran from the chains to the control board.

           I’ll admit it: I walked right up to the control board to hit the giant red button.

           Obviously a trap? Highly likely.

           Did I care? I might have been a bit too flustered and distracted. Besides, I’d rather press first and handle consequences later.

           Leo grabbed my wrist before I could make contact. “Woah, Ladie Sadie, seriously? The Big Red Release button set up by two gods of chaos?”

           “What’s your plan instead?” I asked.

           The goddess drearily lifted her head at our voices. This Hemera looked downright knackered and I had the queer feeling Set had already started to picnic on her powers. She was lovely, as most goddesses tended to be. (If you can make yourself look like anything, why look any less than gorgeous, like my stupid boyfriend Anubis.) Her eyes appeared black in the darkness.

           “Who goes there?” she asked weakly and quite delayed.

           “Professional heroes. Saving the day and whatnot,” I said.

           “Just make sure you give us a Five Star Rating on RateMyHero, Madam Daylight,” Leo said. He sounded distracted as he looked over her chains. “Huh,” he said and snapped off a piece of the wire connecting the chains to the control panel.

           “What are you doing?!” I demanded. That, supposedly, was the way to unlock those chains.

           He grinned and popped the wire into his mouth and began to chew.

           Any previous attraction I felt for this demigod zapped away. Had he been switched out with a monster without me noticing? Or were all Greeks secretly this loony? Or was magical wiring secretly delicious?

           “It’s pieces of Twizzlers, the kind you can peel apart,” he said. “These chains aren’t actually hooked up.”

           Leo examined the control panel. He withdrew a screwdriver from his belt. With a few quick flicks of the wrist, he’d removed the front, metal covering to reveal a stack of dynamite underneath the Release button. He pointed to the wires connecting the button to the dynamite. “Those,” he said, “are real wires.”

           I blinked at the dynamite. The sight was so foreign, it almost looked cartoony. Despite being around so many ancient weapons and dangerous spells, it suddenly hit me how rarely I had seen modern-day weapons. We didn’t really do the gun thing in Britain and we didn’t have any modern weapons at Brooklyn House.

           “Ah, explosives,” I finally managed, “Well, that’s not very… magical or demigodly.”

           He withdrew the panel beside it to reveal some kind of net-system under the Capture button, something that looked primed to latch around a mammoth.

           “At least they’re honest about their advertising,” Leo said about the names of the buttons. “Eris doesn’t really seem to play on the normal demigod or magical level.”

           “So, if we’re not going to use the Big Red Button to open the chains, how do we open the chains? I don’t see a keyhole or even a break in the metal,” I asked, running through a list of spell words. Without a seam in the metal, the word “open” wouldn’t do anything. I had a few ideas, but, judging from how sturdy the shack was and the dynamite a few feet away, I feared I might blow us all up. I was good at that.

           “You can’t!” Hemera said. Her voice was weak. I had the distinct feeling she would put the back of her hand to her forehead if she had the strength. “The Spartans made these to trap Ares.” When she tried to lift a hand, the chains shimmered with red Greek writing. “He never found a way out. Sparta had to be destroyed to release him!”

           “Yea, well, I have something Ares didn’t,” Leo said. He tapped the work goggles out of his hair and over his eyes.

           Hemera looked Leo up and down skeptically. “The strength of Hercules?” She sounded hopeful.

           I choked on a laugh. As much as I liked the Latino Elf, he definitely didn’t have that.

           Leo reached into his magical tool belt and withdrew a circular saw with a glittering black blade and what appeared to be a massive battery packet. He grinned, snapping the battery packet into the saw, looking like a crazed serial killer. “Power tools.”

           Ah, the grand words of greatness from Admiral Leo. Some people make speeches about freedom. Some about justice. Leo about garage implements.

           [Carter thinks Leo was mental for thinking power tools could work on magical chains, but has Carter given real thought to magical power tools? Besides, Leo said he’d done this before on a different goddess’ cage. Carter just thinks Leo said that to chat me up.]

           As Leo’s saw whined to life, I fished through my supplies to withdraw a minor healing potion that Jazz, our healer, had made me. I popped off the top and offered it to Hemera, partially because she looked like she’d been through three of my brother’s lectures on the importance of dairy in Egyptian mythology, and partially because it kept her from staring in horror at the maniac demigod sawing so close to her skin.

           She was too weak to reach out. I propped her up in my lap to give her the potion and so Leo wouldn’t accidentally decapitate the poor woman in his power tool mania.

           I wasn’t sure how a magician’s potion would heal a goddess, but she seemed to perk up.

           “So, when we’re done releasing you,” I shouted over the whine of the saw and the scream when it touched the metal, “You can god your way over to Nyx and sort this kidnapping nonsense out? And maybe tell your godly mates to help Camp Half-Blood?”

           One of the shackles fell away from Hemera’s wrist. Apparently Ares’ chains were no match for the Valdezinator. Take that as a point towards brains over brawn.

           Hemera’s skin seemed to glow a bit brighter, though her head stayed lolled off to one side. She mouthed something, but her voice was too weak to be heard over the sawing.

           When the second chain fell and Leo went to shove his saw back into his tool belt, I could hear her say, “I can’t, young heroine. I don’t have the energy. Set has been feeding off me for too long. Alas, since I am no longer worshipped, I can’t recover my powers in a timely manner.”

           The last part sounded more like an apology for bollixing a dinner party invitation. I thought about the gods that I had seen at Sunny Acres Assisted Living Community, how their memories would fade with the memories of their worshipers, falling into senility as they were forgotten. I envisioned this pretty goddess in a smock with a walker and I felt a bit nauseous. Watching something immortal dying is nasty business.

           “Let’s get you out of here,” I suggested. I could give her a pep-talk later.

           For now, I slipped one hand under her arm to pull her up. Leo got her other side so we could drag her out of the shack. Not the most efficient way, having two tiny godlings lugging a goddess around, but we managed.

           Just in time too.

           As we exited the sad excuse for a building, a boy-and-horse-wrecking-ball catapulted into the roof of the shack. Instead of stopping there, like a good ball of destruction, it continued through, taking the roof and walls with it. The dynamite-rigged control box and chains were shockingly still intact, sitting out in the open as the rest of the building smashed into the side of Camel Dung Mountain. It exploded up in a poof of dust that got swept away by the storm. Hopefully that puff didn’t also contain scattered Jason particles.

           Dark laughter echoed around the desert.

           The flashes of lightning grew closer, brighter. A massive vortex of sand rose to our level on the mountain, making it look like the mountain itself was crumbling into the sandy floor. Because the light from Leo’s fire only extended a few meters, the storm look like it had encompassed the world.

           “Oh, that was fun, Pretty Boy!” Lapis and Set’s voices combined into one. They twirled the flaming battle axe in an arc around the dust storm. “Tossing you is almost as much fun as tossing Tuft-Ears!”

           Jason groaned out an answer. His horse had dissolved into a burst of lightning and was sparking back into horse shape further up the mountain. It didn’t look excited to be tossed again.

           Jason drearily dragged himself from the wreckage. He was bleeding from his mouth. His shirt sleeve and half his shirt had been burned away, and—in the dim lighting—it looked like the skin under had some nasty blisters. As he fished his gladius out of the debris, his left arm dangled uselessly behind him.

           Tenacious bloke, that one.

           Set’s host didn’t look like he was going to win a beauty pageant anytime soon either. Lapis’s eye was puffy from being hit. Blood soaked his right pant leg. His face had grown ashen and, despite the laugh, he grimaced in pain. Sand stuck to his face with the beaded sweat.

           This reminded me of when Uncle Amos tried to control Set: Lapis was struggling.

           “I’m ready to kill you now, if you don’t mind,” Set said, seeming not to notice his host’s pain.

           Last time I fought Set, I opened a portal to transport us out of the desert and plop us in Washington, D. C. And I had his secret name. However, last time, he hadn’t made an agreement at the start of the fight.

           I crossed my arms like an irritated mother—something I’d learned scarily well from Isis. “That would be a bit fussy, don’t you think?”

           “Killing you? I count on it!”

           “No, going back on a promise,” I said. “I’d say it’s been five minutes.”

           I had no proof, but clamoring up Mount Camel Dung in the dark felt like an eternity.

           A smirk slid onto Set’s face. “And how would you know, Little Sadie?”

           “We timed it,” Leo said.

           I thought he was reaching into his pocket for a watch and wanted to hug the demigod for his forethought. Instead, he withdrew two screws, a silver disk, a chain, some wires, and a small, flashing light from his tool belt, keeping his hands partially inside so only I could see the components. His fingers flashed overtop and, within seconds, he was presenting Set the most garage-style pocket watch ever invented.

           Fortunately, Set was not the god of super vision.

           Leo pointed to the blinking light. “See Ol’ Blinky here? It means the timer went off.”

           I wanted to hug Leo for a trait I valued much more than forethought: quick-thinking.

           “A deal is a deal,” I said.

           Set pouted. “Oh, come now, Sadie. At least let me rend the flesh from one of their bodies.”

           “Nope!” I put one finger up and waved it back and forth. “No flesh rending. Bad Set. Taking us back to our friends? Good Set.”

           He bellowed a laugh. “Assuming your friends are alive. Now, why do you think I picked five minutes?”

           The fire on his Egyptian axe poofed out. The dust storm started to die, lowering him several inches closer. Now that I was able to hear a little better, I could tell Lapis was panting.

           “You wanted enough time for a commercial break?” Leo guessed.

           “Because that’s exactly the amount of time it would take me to burn through Lapis’ life force if I didn’t give her enough extra power,” Set grinned. “Good luck getting to your friends in time.”

           Then his face went slack and his eyes closed.

           The dust storm collapsed.

           Lapis, and our chances of a quick ride out of here, fell out of the sky and plummeted to the bottom of Mount Camel Dung, unconscious.

Sorry for the missed chapters, guys. Admittedly, I’m trying to figure out the end of the series right now and none of my characters (or my own writing) is cooperating, so I lost some steam to get chapters out.

Regardless, i hope you enjoyed!!! I will try to be back to our normal output next week!

(As a quick hint-hint, one of the reasons I’m struggling with the end is because of a new project I started that i think you’ll all really enjoy! :D)

[aknosde]

The devil’s in the details but you’ve got a friend in me is sooooo good. Okay, here’s what I got. I honestly don’t remember my recs from last time, so im putting a lot in just in case of overlap.

1. “Just Practice” - “’So I’m taking you on dates and stuff, but we’re not actually together?’ ‘Yeah, exactly. It’s just practice,’ Annabeth said, nodding. ‘Just practice,’ Percy echoed. ‘Just practice,’ Annabeth confirmed. Percy locked eyes with her silently for a few seconds before he took a long sip of his milkshake. ‘Do we have a deal?’ Annabeth asked. ‘We have a deal,’ Percy said.” Fake dating mortal AU obviously, but the summary doesn’t even come close to how good this fic is, the character depth and the friendships and the environments are all amazing. Fluff and angst, very reflective of Percy and Annabeth’s cannon relationship to and the faults they might find in their romance. 

2. “Good Enough for Someone” - “Paul was quiet for a minute on the other side of the bathroom door. Percy expected him to walk away, but he didn’t.’Percy?’ There was something in his voice that Percy couldn’t identify. Something like concern, mixed with something like fear… something that let Percy know he had truly and royally fucked up. He felt hyper-aware of every sound, from the dripping of the facet to the shifting weight of the person outside the door, his mind spinning as he tried to map Paul’s position like he was in battle. He heard the tiny, barely perceivable sound of fingertips brushing the doorknob, and it made him want to throw himself out the window and flee to the fire escape. Especially at Paul’s next words: ‘Can I open the door?’ Percy bit his already-split lip, not even caring at the pain the action brought. He stared up at the fluorescent light above him. He scrubbed at his eyes, ignoring the dull flare of pain from the bruise there. He didn’t realize he was crying until the salt stung his wounds. ‘Percy?’ Paul called his name again.’Yeah,’ Percy sucked in a deep breath, even as a broken rib made his chest feel tight. ‘I… I guess I could use some help.’” I have reread this one, it’s beautifully written, deals with some of Percy’s non-godly trauma, and just a really sweet interaction between him and Paul.

3. “Seafaring” - “Mornings are rough, sometimes.” I know the summary is short but this is an absolutely amazing fic, it’s about Percy’s burn scars (big shocker there ik /s) and I think I’ve read it twenty times. Whenever I can’t fall asleep I read this. I do highly recommend checking out the authors other works, they’re misskirby here on tumblr, and everything they write is beautiful. Set in a world where HOO didn’t happen.

4. “God Save the Blessed American President Mom” - “[’June stopped by at lunch; she showed me a delightful channel called Hallmark, which repeats the same story every hour after they swap one round of white, straight, small-town conventionally beautiful actors for another. It was entertaining.’ ‘June and I used to play a drinking game with those. Take a shot every time someone goes ice skating, sledding, or leaves the big city for their tiny hometown.’ ‘Good lord, you must’ve been sloshed in the first ten minutes.’]***On December 4, 2021, an attempt is made on President Ellen Claremont's life. Alex gets shot instead.” I can’t remember if I’ve recommended this one before but it is SO GOOD. Angst, fluff, injury, the works. The chapters have a variety of formats from various point of views surrounding this one event and it’s absolutely amazing. The last chapter was posted a few weeks ago.

5. “The Mortal Boyfriend Experience” - “Percy finally has a friend who is completely and entirely normal. Someone around whom he doesn't have to be a demigod hero. Carter Kane is about as mortal as they come, and Percy intends to keep his secret from his new friend for as long as he can.Carter finally has a friend entirely unrelated to the magical side of his life. Someone he doesn't have to share with Sadie or save the world with. Percy Jackson is the furthest thing from a magician, and Carter is determined to keep Percy very separate from any and all mythology.--Or: Two idiots try to protect each other from the dangerous magical aspects of their double-lives without realizing that the other is just as wrapped up in crazy mythological stuff as they are. And maybe they end up falling in love somewhere along the way.” Okay, so this one might not be your speed, but the only non-percabeth ship I like Percy in is him and Carter, and this is so masterfully written. It has a follow up, the interactions are very genuine and sweet, and guess what, it starts in a museum. Ironic huh? I started writing Peanut m&m’s before this. Anywaysssss, I’m cutting myself off now. 

Excuse two asks in a night but could we recommend each other fics again 👉🏽👈🏽🥺 I need some good stuff to read

oh holy shit 1000000%

1. Here Without You - “When Annabeth manages to escape Mount St. Helen's, and out of the labyrinth she is forced to deal with the aftermath of being the only one from her quest to make it back to Camp. - Takes place during the 2 weeks Percy was MIA on Calypso's Island.” so basically a fic on all of Annabeth’s feelings and happenings during percys disappearance in botl

2. “the devil's in the details, but you've got a friend in me” - “BOTL: For the rest of the summer, "Annabeth and I pretty much skirted around each other. I was glad to be with her, but it also kind of hurt, and it hurt when I wasn't with her, too.”- or -As he looks up, he sees the distress that she’s attempting to mask. It strikes him that even though she’s clearly anxious to know what had happened that day, in this moment she is more concerned with comforting him, with making sure he’s alright. He’s reminded of a time when their roles had been reversed—when her world was crumbling, and he had just wanted her to be okay. A bubble at the bottom of the ocean, his arms around her as she had cried for a future she’d never have: a city of marble and gold, a happy family, the boy she had lost to the other side of the war. He pushes the past few weeks out of his mind and remembers that this is Annabeth, his best friend. One of the people he trusts most in the world. “I was burning alive,” he exhales.” my personal fav at the moment it’s a story where annabeth sees percys scars after the explosion of Mt st. helens and they talk ab it. also covers percys trauma about it so prefect for you lol ALSO INSPIRED BY PEACE BY TAYLOR SWIFT LISTEN TO THE SONG ITS SUPER SOFT AND ONE OF MY FAVORITES also it fits this fic perfectly i mena ofc it was based off of it but you get it

3. “Rough on the surface but you cut through like a knife” - “Enemy, annoyance, friend, partners in crime, best friend, crush, lover, fiance, husband. There were many words Annabeth had used to describe Percy Jackson through the years, when she first met him at twelve she knew he was going to be someone important in her life, she just didn't know how much he would change her life. A study of Annabeth’s feelings toward Percy through the years.” pretty much about what the authors note says. i’ve been obsessed with this since it came out and i really think you’ll like it

[firstbook]

Looking to get your kids reading?  Here’s some of our favorite titles.

K-2

Princess Posey and the First Grade Parade by Stephanie Greene

Posey is very nervous about starting first grade and walking into school all by herself. Worst of all, she has to do it without the one thing that always makes her feel brave and special: the tutu that turns her into the Pink Princess. How will Posey face the first day of school without it?

Mamá the Alien / Mamá La Extraterrestre (Bilingual, English/Spanish) by René Colato Laínez

A young girl misunderstands the word alien on her mother's Resident Alien Card and lets her imagination run wild, coming to the conclusion that her mother is from outer space. 

Good Night Owl by Greg Pizzoli

Owl is ready for bed. But as soon as he settles in, he hears a strange noise. He'll never get to sleep unless he can figure out what's going on!

We Are Growing! by Laurie Keller

Walt is not the tallest or the curliest or the pointiest or even the crunchiest. A confounded blade of grass searches for his "est" in this hilarious story about growing up.

The Cookie Fiasco by Dan Santat

Four friends. Three cookies. One problem. Hippo, Croc, and the Squirrels are determined to have equal cookies for all! But how? There are only three cookies … and four of them! They need to act fast before nervous Hippo breaks all the cookies into crumbs!

3-4 

The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies

As the final days of summer heat up, so does a sibling showdown over a high-stakes lemonade stand business. Jessie and Evan Treski compete to see who will make $100 first off of their respective lemonade stands.

Zapato Power: Freddie Ramos Takes Off by Jacqueline Jules

One day Freddie Ramos comes home from school and finds a strange box just for him. What's inside? ZAPATO POWER—shoes that change Freddie's life by giving him super speed!

Pax by Sara Pennypacker

After being forced to give up his pet fox Pax, a young boy named Peter decides to leave home and get his best friend back.

Secret Coders #3: Secrets & Sequences  by Gene Luen Yang

Stately Academy is no ordinary school: it was once home to an elite institute where teachers, students, and robots worked together to unravel the mysteries of coding. Hopper, Eni, and Josh won't rest until they've learned the whole story, but they aren't the only ones interested in the school's past.

Malala: A Hero for All by Shana Corey

Even as a young girl in Pakistan, Malala spoke up about the importance of girls' education, via speeches and a blog. Since the Taliban regime was intent on denying girls an education and silencing anyone who disagreed with their laws, this was very dangerous. Malala was shot, but she survived the attack and it did not silence her. 

5-6

The Kane Chronicles #3: The Serpent’s Shadow by Rick Riordan

He's b-a-a-ack! Despite their best efforts, Carter and Sadie Kane can't seem to keep Apophis, the chaos snake, down. Now Apophis is threatening to plunge the world into eternal darkness, and the Kanes are faced with the impossible task of having to destroy him once and for all.

Hour of the Bees by Lindsay Eagar

What does it mean to be fully alive? Magic blends with reality in a stunning coming-of-age novel about a girl, a grandfather, wanderlust, and reclaiming your roots.

The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier

The Night Gardener follows two abandoned Irish siblings who travel to work as servants at a creepy, crumbling English manor house. But the house and its inhabitants are not quite what they seem. Soon, the children are confronted by a mysterious stranger--and an ancient curse that threatens their very lives.

Booked by Kwame Alexander

Soccer, family, love, and friendship take center stage as twelve-year-old Nick learns the power of words as he wrestles with problems at home, stands up to a bully, and tries to impress the girl of his dreams.

Max’s Lucha Libre Adventures: Maximilian & the Lucha Libre Club (Bilingual, English/Spanish) by Xavier Garza

Max seems like any other kid until he is asked to join the Lucha Libre Club, but because of strict secrecy, he cannot tell anyone of his royal wrestling blood: his uncle is the king of lucha libre, the Guardian Angel.

  7-8

Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo

Raymie Clarke has come to realize that everything, absolutely everything, depends on her. And she has a plan. If Raymie can win the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition, then her father, who left town two days ago with a dental hygienist, will see Raymie's picture in the paper and (maybe) come home. 

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

Eleven-year-old Delphine has it together. Even though her mother, Cecile, abandoned her and her younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, seven years ago. Even though her father and Big Ma will send them from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to stay with Cecile for the summer. And even though Delphine will have to take care of her sisters, as usual, and learn the truth about the missing pieces of the past.

A Well and Wong Mystery #1: Murder is Bad Manners by Robin Stevens

Two friends form a detective agency—and must solve their first murder case—in this first adventure in a brand-new middle grade mystery series set at a 1930s boarding school.

The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin

Twelve-year-old Suzy Swanson wades through her intense grief over the loss of her best friend by investigating the rare jellyfish she is convinced was responsible for her friend's death.

Zack Delacruz: Me and My Big Mouth by Jeff Anderson

Zack Delacruz is unnoticed at his middle school—and that’s just the way he likes it. But a school assembly, a typhoon of spit, and an uncharacteristic moment of bravery are all it takes to change everything. Suddenly Zack is in charge of the class fundraiser. Worse, his partner is the school’s biggest bully! If they don’t sell all the chocolate bars, there will be no dance for the sixth grade. Zack never wanted to be a hero, but with his classmates’ hopes on the line, can he save the day?

High School

A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman

Veda, a classical dance prodigy in India, lives and breathes dance--so when an accident leaves her a below-knee amputee, her dreams are shattered. For a girl who's grown used to receiving applause for her dance prowess and flexibility, adjusting to a prosthetic leg is painful and humbling. But Veda refuses to let her disability rob her of her dreams, and she starts all over again, taking beginner classes with the youngest dancers. 

Remember Dippy by Shirley Reva Vernick

Johnny's plans fly out the window when he finds out his single mother is leaving town for the summer. She has a breakthrough job in upstate New York. He can live with his Aunt Collette but only on the condition that he "help out with" his autistic older cousin, Remember. Yup, you heard it right: Remember Dippy. 

March: Book Three by John Lewis

By the fall of 1963, the Civil Rights Movement has penetrated deep into the American consciousness, and as chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, John Lewis is guiding the tip of the spear. Through relentless direct action, SNCC continues to force the nation to confront its own blatant injustice, but for every step forward, the danger grows more intense: Jim Crow strikes back through legal tricks, intimidation, violence, and death. The only hope for lasting change is to give voice to the millions of Americans silenced by voter suppression: "One Man, One Vote."

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

Fifteen-year-old Lina is a Lithuanian girl living an ordinary life--until Soviet officers invade her home and tear her family apart. Separated from her father and forced onto a crowded train, Lina, her mother, and her young brother make their way to a Siberian work camp, where they are forced to fight for their lives. Lina finds solace in her art, documenting these events by drawing.

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers—young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training.

To explore more great titles, check out Summer Reading section on the First Book Marketplace. 

[galaxyprincx]

Some Fan Theories About Rick Riordan’s Various Mythology Book series

This will be unorganized and have spoilers for basically all the books, including the newest ones and a few of the extra books.

So this mostly started with me and mom talking about the books(because she reads them all with me) and them all being connected. It got me thinking about something, specifically, how their connected.

Starting in the Titan’s Curse(I think, it’s been awhile so forgive me) and/or the Kane Chronicles, we begin learn of the various other gods. Up till this point, we see little proof or effects of these other gods, most likely because Rick hadn’t thought of them just yet. However, even in the other books after the idea of other gods existing all together in this world is hinted at, or even outright said later, they don’t really influence each others narratives very much.

This is especially weird to realize after reading the crossover stories from the book Demigods & Magicians, when it’s stated that the Egyptians Duat and Greek Mist are the same thing, the two cultures just gave it different names.

This says that some fundamental magic, the curtain that hides the worlds from mortals eyes, and possibly more, it shared and doesn’t really change from ‘mythology’ to another(Though that may yet to be wrong. We still don’t know a lot about how it works for the Norse)

And my mom did bring in an interesting point, that makes me very excited for more of the Mangus Series(Besides more Alex): The World Tree,Yggdrasil.

Now, in the original stories, Yggdrasil holds the nine worlds in it’s branches, including Midgard(Earth/Human world). However, what if their are other branches, or offshoots from the Midgard branch, that hold the various realms or worlds of the various gods?

And, on top of that, just as we saw in the Heros of Olympus series, and was somewhat hinted at in the Kane’s as well, it seems that while the mist/duat doesn’t change its effect from myth to myth(There’s a better word for this but I can’t think of it) it does hide them from each other. Sort of.

You see, in demigods in magicians, “..Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase and Carter and Sadie Kane as they do battle with an ancient Egyptian magician determined to become a god...” (Google Books)

The Egyptian magician, Setnes, plans to become a god by mixing Greek and Egyptian magic(And has to be defeated by basically the same thing). At one point, Annabeth is granted the ability to peer in the ‘Duat’ by Sadie, in order to see what Setne is up to with a spell or something. Anyway, she says describes what effect the magic he is preforming has on the duat, how  its been ripped apart.

This reminded me of another thing that happened or was said, in the first PJO series, how Gods need demigods to do stuff for them, to make certain things happen, because humans are the only ones that can really influence things on earth in the long run, or something along that line.

Basically, what if the mist/duat doesn’t just hide monsters and magic from mortals, what if it does the same thing to the various gods and realms, but it just not as thick or solid? Like instead of steady, but thin wooden walls, it’s like rice paper doors? And demigods/other half human beings, or ex humans(Odin’s warriors), are the only ones that can break through those walls? Which is why the gods both need and  hate them.

There’s a lot left to be explored and explained about the world these stories all take place in, and lots of lore to cover still, and I’m very excited about the coming books and stories. There’s even still a few extra books out now that haven’t been able to get my hands on, but SOON!

Anyway, thats what I think and what I came up with, congrats if you made it this far. If you have anything to add or want to comment on, feel free. I love talking about this sort of stuff.

till next time

[lifeofroos]

Bonus part. Thanks to I think AO3 user Nico for getting me to think about writing this.

In short: Nico gets therapy from Dionysus. In this bonus chapter, Nico meets Walt-Anubis Stone, from Brooklyn house. Also on AO3 and FanFiction.net! And in Tumblr tags like Nico di angelo, Solangelo, percy jackson etc. 

This Might Be Crazy: Bonus chapter: Limoon

One moment you and your boyfriend are happily strolling around in New Orleans and the next you are lost. Absolute bollocks. 

I was wandering around the back allies, which was not good for a multitude of reasons. It was potentially dangerous and I would probably have to explain to Dionysus how I got there. Perhaps Will had already called for a search party. In the meantime, I’d just try to get back to the city centre. 

On my left, there was a small, gloomy graveyard. It looked peaceful, for the most part.

I stopped when I saw someone was in it. Someone who didn’t look quite dead, but not entirely alive either. He looked up and saw me.

We stared at each other for a few moments, before I took a few steps to the entrance of the graveyard. ‘May I?’ I asked. The young man, who seemed slightly older than me, nodded, and I stepped in. 

‘Hello.’

‘Hello to you too.’ He studied me for a  moment. ‘You reek of death, but not of Duat,’ he stated. 

I raised my eyebrows. ‘I come from Haides.’

‘Ah-ha!’

‘So… are you Walt Stone, ergo Anubis?’

‘You seem up-to-date. You must be Nico di Angelo, son of Hades.’

‘Indeed.’ 

We shook hands. Why, one moment you are lost, the next you meet a fellow death magician. 

We sat down against an empty headstone. In front of us, there were a few New Orleans ghosts hanging around. They looked like they were from a multitude of cultures. 

Walt-Anubis looked at his fingers. ‘You are a friend of Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase and the like.’ 

I nodded. ‘Yes.’

‘My girlfriend is Sadie Kane, sister of Carter Kane, the two magicians who met those two Greek demigods before.’

‘Yes.’

‘And that is how I heard about you.’

‘Same here.’

‘Glad we are on the same page.’

I nodded, with a smile. ‘Tell me, how are the dead in Duat?’

Walt shrugged. ‘Magic hasn’t been difficult, which usually means things are fine down there. I was here to examine the dead in New Orleans. You probably know it’s a melting pot here, and spirits tend to go everywhere and nowhere.’ I nodded. ‘So that. how’s death going in Haides?’

‘In Haides everything is going as wrong as it always does. It is just too busy. We probably need new infrastructure again.’

Walt-Anubis snickered. ‘Less so in the Egyptian underworld. Not a lot of people are willing to go through all the funeral rites, or they did them wrong.’

‘May I say that I understand that? Sorry.’

Walt-Anubis shrugged. ‘As Walt I understand you. As Anubis, I take it as a huge insult. So it’s fifty-fifty.’ He grinned and I snickered.  

‘Perhaps they should make an overbooking regulation of sorts. Like, too many souls in Haides and Helheim? We’ll send them to Duat. For demigods it would be a disaster, but it wouldn’t cause harm to mortals. They usually don’t know the difference between afterlifes anyway.’

Walt-Anubis slowly shrugged. ‘I think that’s too difficult for Duat, due to all the required rites. But with other afterlifes that could surely be a possibility.’

He saw the possibility. Him being Anubis and all, that meant something. ‘That would then be yet another change in the divine world,’ I mused. 

Walt looked at me for a moment. ‘You noticed it too? There are a lot of those these days.’

‘That’s actually not bad, I think. If everything is changing at once, everything can fall into place at once as well. Then this is just a transit era in the divine world.’

‘Hm.’

‘Hm indeed.’

Walt-Anubis nodded. We looked around the small graveyard and at the ghosts, who were frolicking and dancing.  

‘They look so happy,’ I told Walt-Anubis. ‘I don’t think roaming ghosts would be happy if they were meant for Haides. Those are usually lethargic.’

Walt-Anubis slowly shrugged. ‘There isn’t one way for an Egyptian ghost to be a ghost,’ he explained. ‘Some are happy, others are depressed.’

‘Just like people.’

He nodded. We looked at each other and instantly understood. ‘You are in the gloom too?’ I asked. 

‘Funny way to say it, but yes. My physical ailments got better after Walt merged with Anubis. Have you heard about the curse?’

‘The tutankhamun curse? Where you, eh…’

‘You are slated to die early? That one. Once that was out of the way, on one hand, I felt relieved. On the other hand, there was suddenly all this life before me, and I didn’t really know what to do with it. I never expected to get this far.’ He slowly shook his head. ‘I just don’t know where to start. Luckily, the others at the nome have been helping me. First do high school, then college, follow the path of Anybis on the side, we’ll see. And following the path of Anubis means I at least have a goal.’ 

I nodded. ‘Sounds weird, not knowing what life has in store, because you never thought you’d life that long.’

‘That’s it. Now you explain about your gloom.’ 

‘This is going to sound weird, but my gloom is more... regular. I mean, most mortals would be shocked and have anxiety and PTSD after two wars too, maybe even more so than halfbloods. It just doesn’t help I’ve got an aptitude for depression. I have been working on that, actually.’ I paused for a second. ‘I don’t hear the words for the ailments often. I think my therapist legally can’t use them. That, or he dislikes them. He seems to cure me based on divine talking, or something.’ I had long since stopped questioning Dionysus’ methods. It worked, that was important. Analysing the god of madness would probably just lead to more madness. 

‘...Ah-ha.’

‘He is a god, by the way, my therapist.’

‘...Double ah-ha.’

‘You are a god, what are you ah-ha’ing about?’

Walt-Anubis chuckled. ‘It’s different, really it is.’

‘Yeah, yeah.’ 

One of the souls fell to the ground. Their body turned green and disappeared. Walt-Anubis and I jumped up, but it didn’t seem to bother the other ghosts. 

Walt-Anubis raised his eyebrows. ‘I think I’ll go see what that means.’

‘You do that,’ I said with a nod. ‘Please tell me once you find out, but I won’t disturb your magic. And, eh, can you tell me where the city centre is?’

‘Keep walking in the direction you were going in. Turn left when you start seeing bus stops. That way.’

‘Alright.’ I’d find it, at some point, hopefully

Walt pushed a little card into my hand. ‘Here. Phone number, so that we can talk about life, death and mental health some more.’

I snickered. ‘Will do.’

He turned to his ghosts, before looking over his shoulder. ‘You should try limoons with me. It is a summer drink, I like it.’

‘I will keep you to that promise,’ I answered, while standing in front of the exit. He nodded. I nodded back, before I stepped out. 

The noise of the dead, which you hardly notice until it’s gone, ebbed away as I walked further. Now I would not only have to explain to Dionysus why I was in a side alley in New Orleans, but also why I met a death deity there. You gotta keep it interesting, I guess. 

A/N: I kinda just googled ‘Egyptian drinks’ and went with it. My polite apologies if it is inaccurate.

Also I will be writing another extra chapter with Nico and Thalia, stay tuned.

[inloveandwords]

I’m participating in 2 readathons (Magical Readathon & Fantasyathon) in April as well as the Dragons & Tea Book Club and my Talk Darcy to Me book club, so every book on this list is part of those.

If you’d like to watch the video instead, you can check it out here:

April Reading List

These are all books that I own and want to read this month! Titles link to Goodreads.

A Curse So Dark and Lonely (A Curse So Dark and Lonely #1) by Brigid Kemmerer

Fall in love, break the curse.

It once seemed so easy to Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the end of each autumn, he would turn into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. That was before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.

Nothing has ever been easy for Harper Lacy. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother barely holding their family together while constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, she learned to be tough enough to survive. But when she tries to save someone else on the streets of Washington, DC, she’s instead somehow sucked into Rhen’s cursed world.

Break the curse, save the kingdom.

A prince? A monster? A curse? Harper doesn’t know where she is or what to believe. But as she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what’s at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall . . . and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin.

+++

Because You Love to Hate Me: 13 Tales of Villainy

Leave it to the heroes to save the world–villains just want to rule the world.

In this unique YA anthology, thirteen acclaimed, bestselling authors team up with thirteen influential BookTubers to reimagine fairy tales from the oft-misunderstood villains’ points of view.

These fractured, unconventional spins on classics like “Medusa,” Sherlock Holmes, and “Jack and the Beanstalk” provide a behind-the-curtain look at villains’ acts of vengeance, defiance, and rage–and the pain, heartbreak, and sorrow that spurned them on. No fairy tale will ever seem quite the same again!

+++

Defy the Stars (Constellation #1) by Claudia Gray

She’s a soldier – Noemi Vidal is willing to risk anything to protect her planet, Genesis, including her own life. To their enemies on Earth, she’s a rebel.

He’s a machine – Abandoned in space for years, utterly alone, Abel’s advanced programming has begun to evolve. He wants only to protect his creator, and to be free. To the people of Genesis, he’s an abomination.

Noemi and Abel are enemies in an interstellar war, forced by chance to work together as they embark on a daring journey through the stars. Their efforts would end the fighting for good, but they’re not without sacrifice. The stakes are even higher than either of them first realized, and the more time they spend together, the more they’re forced to question everything they’d been taught was true.

+++

Catwoman: Soulstealer (DC Icons #3) by Sarah J. Maas

When the Bat’s away, the Cat will play. It’s time to see how many lives this cat really has. . . .

Two years after escaping Gotham City’s slums, Selina Kyle returns as the mysterious and wealthy Holly Vanderhees. She quickly discovers that with Batman off on a vital mission, Batwing is left to hold back the tide of notorious criminals. Gotham City is ripe for the taking.

Meanwhile, Luke Fox wants to prove he has what it takes to help people in his role as Batwing. He targets a new thief on the prowl who seems cleverer than most. She has teamed up with Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, and together they are wreaking havoc. This Catwoman may be Batwing’s undoing.

+++

Beautiful Mistake by Vi Keeland

The first time I met Caine West was in a bar. He noticed me looking his way and mistakenly read my scowling as checking him out. When he attempted to talk to me, I set him straight—telling him what I thought of his lying, cheating, egomaniacal ass. You see, the gorgeous jerk had wined and dined my best friend–smooth talking her into his bed, all along failing to mention that he was married. He deserved every bit of my tongue-lashing and more for what he’d done. Especially when that lazy smile graced his perfect face in response to my rant. Only it turned out, the man I’d just told off wasn’t the right guy. Oops. My mistake. Embarrassed, I slunk out without an apology. I was never going to see the handsome stranger again anyway, right? That’s what I thought…until I walked into class the next morning. Well, hello Professor West, I’m your new teaching assistant. I’ll be working under you…figuratively speaking. Although the literal interpretation might not be such a bad thing—working under Professor West. This was going to be interesting…

Reckless by Lex Martin

Reckless features Tori and Ethan and is a standalone companion to the USA Today bestseller Shameless.

Tori… For the record, I’m not going to hook up with my boss.

I’m a lot of things—a screwup, a basket case, a flunky. But when I take a nanny job to be near my pregnant sister, I swear to myself I’ll walk the straight and narrow, which means I cannot fall for my insanely hot boss.

I don’t want to be tempted by that rugged rancher. By his chiseled muscles or southern charm or the way he snuggles his kids at bedtime. Ethan Carter won’t get the key to my heart, no matter how much I want him.

Ethan… Between us, she’s the last thing I need as I finalize my hellish divorce.

What sane man trying to rebuild his life wants a hot nanny with long, sexy hair, curves for miles, and a smart mouth? A perfectly kissable, pouty mouth that I shouldn’t notice.

My focus is on my kids and my ranch, not the insufferable siren who sleeps in the room next to mine. It doesn’t matter that she wins over my kids in a heartbeat or runs my life better than I do. Tori Duran is the one woman I can’t have and shouldn’t want, no matter how much I crave her.

+++

Saga, Vol. 1 (Saga #1) by Brian K. Vaughan (Writer), Fiona Staples (Artist)

When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to bring a fragile new life into a dangerous old universe.

From bestselling writer Brian K. Vaughan, Saga is the sweeping tale of one young family fighting to find their place in the worlds. Fantasy and science fiction are wed like never before in this sexy, subversive drama for adults.

+++

A Study in Charlotte (Charlotte Holmes #1) by Brittany Cavallaro

The last thing Jamie Watson wants is a rugby scholarship to Sherringford, a Connecticut prep school just an hour away from his estranged father. But that’s not the only complication: Sherringford is also home to Charlotte Holmes, the famous detective’s great-great-great-granddaughter, who has inherited not only Sherlock’s genius but also his volatile temperament. From everything Jamie has heard about Charlotte, it seems safer to admire her from afar.

From the moment they meet, there’s a tense energy between them, and they seem more destined to be rivals than anything else. But when a Sherringford student dies under suspicious circumstances, ripped straight from the most terrifying of the Sherlock Holmes stories, Jamie can no longer afford to keep his distance. Jamie and Charlotte are being framed for murder, and only Charlotte can clear their names. But danger is mounting and nowhere is safe—and the only people they can trust are each other.

+++

The Looking Glass Wars (The Looking Glass Wars #1) by Frank Beddor

Alyss of Wonderland? When Alyss Heart, newly orphaned heir to the Wonderland throne, flees through the Pool of Tears to escape her murderous Aunt Redd, she finds herself lost and alone in Victorian London. Befriended by an aspiring author named Lewis Carrol, Alyss tells the violent, heartbreaking story of her young life. Alyss trusts this author to tell the truth so that someone, somewhere will find her and bring her home. But he gets the story all wrong. He even spells her name incorrectly!

Fortunately, Royal Bodyguard Hatter Madigan knows all too well the awful truth of Alyss’ story – and he’s searching every corner of our world to find the lost princess and return her to Wonderland, to battle Redd for her rightful place as the Queen of Hearts.

The Looking Glass Wars unabashedly challenges our Wonderland assumptions of mad tea parties, grinning Cheshire cats, and a curious little blond girl to reveal an epic battle in the endless war for Imagination.

+++

Seeing Redd (The Looking Glass Wars #2) by Frank Beddor

Alyss of Wonderland’s rule has only just begun, and already those who prefer chaos to peace are threatening to destroy everything worth imagining. Trailed by newly appointed royal bodyguard Homburg Molly, Alyss is doing her best to keep pace with the non-stop demands of being queen while attempting to evade Molly for a few private moments with Dodge.

Alyss’ life is a challenging mix of duty, love, and tough decisions, and then a series of phantom sightings set fire to an urban myth of Her Imperial Viciousness’ return and have everyone… seeing Redd.

Has Redd somehow freed herself and her chief assassin, The Cat, from the confines of the Heart Crystal? If not, then who has resurrected Redd’s brutal foot soldiers the Glass Eyes and set them loose to attack Wonderland on all sides?

Battles rage, looking glasses explode, and the Alyssians once again unite to defend White Imagination in this fast-paced follow-up to the New York Times best-selling The Looking Glass Wars.

Sadie by Courtney Summers

A missing girl on a journey of revenge. A Serial―like podcast following the clues she’s left behind. And an ending you won’t be able to stop talking about.

Sadie hasn’t had an easy life. Growing up on her own, she’s been raising her sister Mattie in an isolated small town, trying her best to provide a normal life and keep their heads above water.

But when Mattie is found dead, Sadie’s entire world crumbles. After a somewhat botched police investigation, Sadie is determined to bring her sister’s killer to justice and hits the road following a few meager clues to find him.

When West McCray―a radio personality working on a segment about small, forgotten towns in America―overhears Sadie’s story at a local gas station, he becomes obsessed with finding the missing girl. He starts his own podcast as he tracks Sadie’s journey, trying to figure out what happened, hoping to find her before it’s too late.

Courtney Summers has written the breakout book of her career. Sadie is propulsive and harrowing and will keep you riveted until the last page.

+++

ArchEnemy (The Looking Glass Wars #3) by Frank Beddor

Imagine this… The power of imagination has been lost!

Now it’s all about the artillery as AD52s, crystal shooters, spikejack tumblers, and orb cannons are unleashed in a war of weapons and brute force.

As Alyss searches wildly for the solution to the disaster that has engulfed her queendom, Arch declares himself King of Wonderland. The moment is desperate enough for Alyss to travel back to London for answers, where Arch’s assassins are threatening Alice Liddell and her family. But after coming to the Liddells’ assistance, Alyss discovers herself trapped in a conundrum of evaporating puddles. The shimmering portals that exist to transport her home through the Pool of Tears are disappearing!

What is happening in Wonderland? Deep within the Valley of Mushroom the Caterpillar Oracles issue this prophecy: “Action shall be taken to ensure the safety of the Heart Crystal. For Everqueen.” But who is Everqueen?

As the metamorphosis of Wonderland unfolds, enemies become allies, bitter rivals face off, and Queen Alyss and Redd Heart must both confront their pasts in this thrilling, no-holds-barred conclusion to the New York Times bestselling series.

+++

Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2) by Leigh Bardugo

Welcome to the world of the Grisha.

Kaz Brekker and his crew of deadly outcasts have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn’t think they’d survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they’re right back to fighting for their lives.

Double-crossed and badly weakened, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz’s cunning and test the team’s fragile loyalties.

A war will be waged on the city’s dark and twisting streets – a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of the Grisha world.

+++

The Bone Witch (The Bone Witch #1) by Rin Chupeco

In the captivating start to a new, darkly lyrical fantasy series for readers of Leigh Bardugo and Sabaa Tahir, Tea can raise the dead, but resurrection comes at a price…

Let me be clear: I never intended to raise my brother from his grave, though he may claim otherwise. If there’s anything I’ve learned from him in the years since, it’s that the dead hide truths as well as the living.

When Tea accidentally resurrects her brother from the dead, she learns she is different from the other witches in her family. Her gift for necromancy means that she’s a bone witch, a title that makes her feared and ostracized by her community. But Tea finds solace and guidance with an older, wiser bone witch, who takes Tea and her brother to another land for training.

In her new home, Tea puts all her energy into becoming an asha-one who can wield elemental magic. But dark forces are approaching quickly, and in the face of danger, Tea will have to overcome her obstacles…and make a powerful choice.

+++

When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore

To everyone who knows them, best friends Miel and Sam are as strange as they are inseparable. Roses grow out of Miel’s wrist, and rumors say that she spilled out of a water tower when she was five. Sam is known for the moons he paints and hangs in the trees, and for how little anyone knows about his life before he and his mother moved to town. But as odd as everyone considers Miel and Sam, even they stay away from the Bonner girls, four beautiful sisters rumored to be witches. Now they want the roses that grow from Miel’s skin, convinced that their scent can make anyone fall in love. And they’re willing to use every secret Miel has fought to protect to make sure she gives them up.

What are you reading this month?

April 2019 Reading List I'm participating in 2 readathons (Magical Readathon & Fantasyathon) in April as well as the…