#demigodly

[caliburn-the-sword]

when i first read ToA and like apollo took out his student ID, i WILDLY misunderstood what was going on so for a solid one and a half books i was just like “okay when do i get to meet the REAL 16 year old lester papadopoulos who inexplicably woke up one day as the literal god of the sun” like imagine being promoted from teenage mortal to one of the 12 of the greek pantheon just because zeus was throwing a hissy fit

[percicosoftcore]

now i’ve read TWO (2) fics where percy and nico suddenly slap each other’s faces during a massive fight (sue me, they’re big three kids and i live for the DRAMA!) and the second time has just caught me off guard from how unexpected and fucking GOOD it was! like, i was audibly shrieking in my bed at 6AM because 1. i wasn’t expecting to wake up to a new fic, 2. the fic got better and better at each paragraph to the point it took me almost one hour and a half to finish it ‘cause my heart was racing and 3. THE TENSION WAS SO FUCKING INSANE I DON’T EVEN HAVE THE WORDS TO DESCRIBE IT. NICO DI ANGELO ISN’T FUCKING AROUND

[carnival-core]

With a lot of birds you can definitely tell how they evolved from dinosaurs . The exception to this is kiwis, who at some angles look like someone got really mad at an echidna and decided to turn it into a bird like it'd teach it a lesson

[pjotvshownews]

"Nice to see my friend Walker Scobell (Percy Jackson) on the poster, looking very heroic and demigodly!" -Rick Riordan (x)

[haladriel]

Devourer of Light: How did Sauron regain his power in the Second Age?

So @cassey-fitzcassey and I have been doing some musing.

Since the end of the first season of Rings of Power, we’ve known that Sauron has been hiding under the guise of human Halbrand. 

Since the beginning of the second, we’ve known this isn’t by choice: that Sauron slid straight from powerful would-be ruler to powerless goop, festering in darkness before absorbing his way up the food chain, the passing of an unfortunate rat the true catalyst in this story.

‘Sauron lives because of you!'

When Sauron finally hijacks a body with functional hands, face and legs, the relief on his stolen face is clear. He is free from his squid ink spaghetti prison. And, for better or for worse, from his former life.

But Sauron has been debased: a great Maia, heir to Morgoth, forced into the body of a mortal man? Oof. If he had the power to do so, I have no doubt he would have changed his shape immediately, from the humiliation alone. 

But he doesn’t. Which means he can’t. 

When we see him having to warm his pitiful human body in the Northern Waste, he is dispirited. Resentful of his debasement. Rueing his sworn enemy who he’s had hundreds of years to bitterly, goopily hate.

When he meets the Southlanders, they’re heading away from the orcs: chances are he’s on his way to encounter Adar.

To what end, we don’t know. I’m not sure he does either. He’s almost visibly single-minded on this task, using the trail of humans as a wayfinder. When the Southlander with the sigil shares his wisdom, Sauron is surprised to be approached. He is apathetic towards the conversation, but his curiosity — or opportunism — is piqued enough to turn, and follow. Sauron’s opportunity weather-vane in action.

When the sea-wyrm (hi Ossë) attacks the Southlanders’ ship, once again, we do not see Sauron shapeshift into something more useful. Implication, he still can’t. Or, he’s committed to giving this good human life thing a go. Coin toss, but let's be honest, in such a situation, with no one watching me, I'd probably scrap that plan and disappear stealthily into the depths.

So when does Sauron regain enough power to do all of his usual shapeshifting and other demigodly shenanigans?

Well, by the second season, Sauron is able to put on The Jesus Show™ for Celebrimbor.

At this stage, he can do pretty light displays, give himself a booming voice, change his clothing and physical appearance (to an extent; presumably a vampiric bat is still beyond him) and perhaps (as some have suggested) even control the weather to make Brimby feel bad for him. So when did he regain power? And more importantly, how? 

Theory #0 Horror movie Sauron

It’s true that we have seen Sauron regain shape and form by devouring other beings.

But, presumably, this isn’t how he continues to regain his former strength, which continues to grow throughout Season 1 and into Season 2 — otherwise Rings of Power is at risk of becoming something a lot more sinister than it already is.

This gruesome mechanism seems more of a primitive way for a discorporated Maia to regain a physical form, not to reclaim all that Maia energy that burst from his body — something akin to morsels versus the feast, or long-term nourishment. All in all, while this might be how Sauron starts the process of regaining his strength, it feels unlikely it's how he continues, as any power from everyday creatures and humans simply wouldn’t be enough to restore him to his former self. But the possibility’s still, technically, on the table.

Given this is a high fantasy show, and (mostly) not a cosmic horror one… at this point, it’s worth consulting the source texts. What do we already know from Tolkien about Light and power in Aman and Middle-earth?

Elrond's Lore Interlude: Light and Darkness as interchangeable power sources

Anyone who’s read The Silmarillion remember Ungoliant, ancestor to Shelob? When telling her story in The Silmarillion, Tolkien has some interesting things to say about Light and Darkness: 

There … the shadows were deepest and thickest in the world … secret and unknown, Ungoliant had made her abode … She had crept towards the light of the Blessed Realm; for she hungered for light and hated it.  In a ravine she lived, and took shape as a spider of monstrous form, weaving her black webs in a cleft of the mountains. There she sucked up all light that she could find, and spun it forth again in dark nets of strangling gloom, until no light more could come to her abode; and she was famished. A cloak of darkness she wove about them when Melkor and Ungoliant set forth: an Unlight, in which things seemed to be no more, and which eyes could not pierce, for it was void. — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion, 'Of the Darkening of Valinor'

In brief summary of What Goes Down, Morgoth promises Ungoliant all her desires in exchange for her service, and they temporarily ally to launch an attack on the Two Trees Laurelin and Telperion...

...causing the Darkening of Valinor:

…when both Trees were shining, and the silent city of Valmar was filled with a radiance of silver and gold … in that very hour Melkor and Ungoliant came hastening over the fields of Valinor, as the shadow of a black cloud upon the wind fleets over the sunlit earth… Then the Unlight of Ungoliant rose up even to the roots of the Trees, and Melkor sprang upon the mound; and with his black spear he smote each Tree to its core, wounded them deep, and their sap poured forth as it were their blood, and was spilled upon the ground. But Ungoliant sucked it up, and going then from Tree to Tree she set her black beak to their wounds, till they were drained … And still she thirsted, and going to the Wells of Varda she drank them dry; but Ungoliant belched forth black vapours as she drank, and swelled to a shape so vast and hideous that Melkor was afraid. So the great darkness fell upon Valinor.

Why is this relevant? Ungoliant shows that Light can be converted into Unlight, or Darkness. (Side note: Anyone read the Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson? Yeah. That’s where he got it from.) Tolkien makes this relationship even more explicit in the next paragraph:

The Light failed; but the Darkness that followed was more than loss of light. In that hour was made a Darkness that seemed not lack but a thing with being of its own: for it was indeed made by malice out of Light, and it had power to pierce the eye, and to enter heart and mind, and strangle the very will.

And, importantly, Ungoliant grows more powerful by consuming Light.

So, back to Sauron. How might he regain his lost power?

Sauron, Devourer of Light

If Ungoliant’s example is anything to go by, it could be: simply, from encountering things that have Light in them. And devouring it. But what things, and when?

Theory #1 From the Mithril

So, @cassey-fitzcassey had the idea that Sauron might have regained his power when he touched the Mithril during the making of the rings.

Timeline-wise, this is certainly possible, as Sauron does not demonstrate any significant unseen-worldly powers until after meeting Celebrimbor (The Raft: Reprise). But given Sauron wants the rings to be as powerful as possible, there was only a small amount of Mithril available to he and Celebrimbor to work with (hence why it must be magnified using the ring shape), it’s less plausible he would take too much Light power from the Mithril, lest he weaken the end result. Still, however, a possibility.

Theory #2  From Middle-earth, including Lindon's tree

In his time spent as human Halbrand, as part of ‘the residue of evil’ that Morgoth had left behind, Sauron could have been slowly siphoning power off the land and its peoples.

At the beginning of the events in the Rings of Power, the whole of Middle-earth is at peace — the Light of the Eldar is the Light of Valinor, responsible for sustaining their immortality — and it follows that there would be Light both metaphorically and, in the Tolkien universe, literally saturating the lands and its people.

But that light is fading, and there is a blight upon the Great Tree of Lindon.

Darkness is seen elsewhere in Middle-earth, too. In the first scenes in the Southlands, Arondir examines a cow oozing black goop; she has been grazing in lands where there is Darkness, triggered — or, if Sauron himself spent this whole time quietly radiating Darkness from under his icy fortress, exacerbated — by the presence of the orcs.

The implication made clear here is that Light and Darkness can exist inside beings, and that the levels can vary. But, like trying to drink from a trickling creek, Sauron supping Light in this way enough to regain his former powers couldn’t happen quickly. So, given he shows no signs of using those powers in the Prologue, why the apparent acceleration after the shipwreck?

Theory #3  From the Lady of Light herself

You can see where this is going.

Galadriel is the Lady of Light, and lore goes the gold of her hair ‘was touched by some memory of the starlike silver of her mother, and the Eldar said that the light of the Two Trees had been snared in her tresses' (Unfinished Tales, 'The History of Galadriel and Celeborn'). 

In Tolkien’s world, where Light can be a source of power for a creature of Darkness to grow stronger, the Light in Galadriel is unlikely merely metaphorical.

The Eldar contain the Light of Valinor and bring this Light to Middle-earth: Galadriel, as one of those who basked in the Light of the Two Trees themselves, will contain more than most.

So when Sauron encounters her, with all her irresistible Light, he’s discovered a deep well of convertible power. Even a bit of her Light might have sped up the process. And, well, while she’s busy touching the darkness, she’s not going to notice a bit of it going missing, is she?

Bonus Theory: Reverse conversion

This has little bearing on where Sauron regains his power from, but as a thought: does Light replace Unlight, or Darkness? Or can it be internally converted?

As his discorporated form shows, Sauron is — spiritually speaking — made of Darkness. He is black ooze personified. Or Maia-ified. Maybe, just maybe, in a world where Light and Dark aren’t only metaphors for morality, Galadriel and Sauron spark a conversion reaction inside one another. Their internal battles become metachemical, with a little of Galadriel’s Light turning to Darkness, and Sauron’s Darkness… turning to Light. 

That may be stretching the bounds a little. But, either way, Sauron lives and regains his power because of Galadriel. And the rat.  ________________________________

Disclaimer: I haven’t read all of Tolkien’s legendarium yet. He wrote a lot of stuff. If there’s anything that’s been missed, I’d love to hear about it.

[readriordan]

Happy Halloween!

It's that time of year once again, and with the release of The Wrath Of The Triple Goddess, it seems only appropriate to take a look at some of Hecate's spoooooky~ children! Let's take a dive into the night and hang out with our favorite demigodly magic users!

1.) Lou Ellen Blackstone

You know her, you love her! Master of turning campers into pigs and prestidigitation, Lou Ellen is an extremely skilled daughter of H̵ecate. It's no wonder she's counselor of the brand new Cabin 2̷0̷! Lou Ellen is first during a counselor meeting in The Lost Hero, having literally stolen Miranda Gardiner's nose, and later is seen alongside her friends Will Solace and Cecil Markowitz in The Blood of Olympus. In interesting trivia (which also happens to be Hecate's oman name!) - Lou Ellen is technically the first human character in the franchise to use multiple sets of pronouns, due to being referred to with ħɘ/him̷ in the Polish translation of The Lost Hero.

2.) Josephine

Josephine, also known as Jo, is another daughter of Hecate and a former Hunter of Artemis. One of the few adult demigods we meet, Jo lives with her wife Hemithea, or Emmie, and their daughter Georgina. Together Jo and Emmie run the Waystation - a magic ever-shifting safehouse for demigods owned by the goddess Britomartis. Perhaps that's a bit of Hecate magic? Jo grew up in the 1920s, disguised as a man and working with mobsters until eventually joining the Hunt, where she met Hemithea. The two remained in the Hunt for several decades until deciding to leave so that they could continue to pursue their relationship. From there they became the stewardesses of the Waystation. In The Dark Prophecy, they meet our protagonist Apollo, alongside our old friends Leo Valdez and Calypso and offer them refuge throughout their quest.

3.) Lami҉༙྇ⱥ

One of Hecate's immortal children, Lamia was once a mortal woman. In some myths, she went insane after the abduction and murder of her children by the gods. In retaliation, Lamia began ki̴l̸l̵ing and devouring the children of others. For this, she was transformed into a monster, eternally hunting in retribution for her children. .̴̺̿.̴̩̾.̷̳̏ᴴᴱᴸᴸᴼ?.̶̹͠.̸͖͛.̴̧̄ And hunt she does! Lamia has quite the accomplishment among monsters, having̵ ̸c̸r̵e̴a̷t̶̫͝ē̴͎d̷̝̋ ̵̪͐a̷̯̐ s̷̘͖͛̚p̶̨̆̓é̵̛̪l̶̰̽̇l̶̥͛̑- HELLO? CAN YOU HEAR ME? -t̶̮̔h̷̜̐ȃ̷̗t̵͚́ makes it easier for monsters to track down demigods. Perhaps she's to blame for demigods not being able to use technology? Regardless, we meet her in T̷h̵e Dem̴i̸god D̷̝̋i̷̠͑ar̸i̷e̸s̶, where she's hunting dơ̷̻w̴̖̒n̷̤̽.̴̠̅.̵͉͒.̶̘͗ actually, ẉ̷͗h̸̹̔ô̸̪ ̴̼́ is s̴h̴e̶ ̵hunting down? Ǐ̷͍ can't s̴͕͗ȇ̵̞e̸̯͑m to recal̸l̵... .̸͖͛.̴̧̄ ᴾᴸᴱᴬᔆᴱ⸴ ᴸᴵᔆᵀᴱᴺ⁻ ᶜᴬᴺ ʸᴼᵁ ᴴᴱᴬᴿ ᴹᴱ? .̸͖͛.̴̧̄ Regardless, you can witness her terror for yourself in... oh, what was ţ̶̓ḧ̵̳a̴̯͒ť̷̝ short sto̷͙͐r̸̨͒y̸͖͗ called...? In... in... Ah, that's right! .Ɔ̷̱̄I̴̬̒Ә̸̯̽A̴̞̽M̶̱̆ ꟻO И̵͓̍Ö̶͉́Ƨ̸̭̒ ƎHT

4.) Hylla's Amazon Assistants

Perhaps the most obscure of Hecate's mortal children, we were nevertheless delighted to meet these two daughters of Hecate in The Blood of Olympus. Though nameless, these two are seen alongside Hylla as members of the Amazons. They assist her by shadow-travelling and fight Orion alongside her. Besides the̸s̶e̵ ̵t̵i̷n̷y̶ ̸g̶l̷i̷m̸p̴s̴e̶s̸,̴ ̷w̵e̶ d̶͔͑ȯ̷͜n̷͌ͅ'̷͕̎t̸͕͌ ̶̪̓s̵̝̕ē̷̗e̴͕̋ ̴̹̽m̷̫̊u̶͚̇c̶̡͑h̵̪͝ ̴̹̍o̶͕͗f̷̮͛ ̸͚͐t̸̳̕h̷̜̓e̴̠̒s̴̲͆e̶͇̿ t̴̤̓̄w̵̛̰̪o̷̩͊̚.̶͇́ ̶̝̦̆̃Ẃ̷̘̉e̶͚̔̆r̴̮̈́e̵̛͇ ̷̈́͆͜t̸̺̠̂̔h̶̘͂̈è̸̙͕y̶̟͗ ̷͌̄ͅs̸͈͉̈̑o̷̤̊r̷̠̭̋̃c̴̱̳͗͋e̴̛̟͇̽ṙ̴͔̕ë̵͉̝́̎s̵̻̺̒s̸̫͂͑e̵̝̅͛s̴̡͎̊̕ ̸̟̦̋ụ̸̈́͊n̷̨͎̊̈́d̷̪͑e̷̻͓̓́r̷̥̱̈́̊ ̶̨̗̈̏C̶̳͊͠i̵̤̫̎r̵͖͝c̵̠̗͑e̶̳̦͊ ̵͚͔͆ă̴̟̫̈l̵̨̗̐o̵̠̽̀ͅn̸̮͑́g̷̠͌s̷̥̻̽́i̷̻̍d̶̛̮͗e̴̲̓͋ ̸͈̫̎̕H̶̗̾ẏ̶̹͍l̷̲̺͋̅l̷̩͗͝ả̶̼͔͝ ̶̘͊a̸̢̎̓n̵͚͊ď̶̻̠ ̵̻̞̔Ř̶́ͅè̴͉͒y̸̬͋̚n̸̘̱͘͝a̵̯̘̕?̸͖̣́̌ ̵͇̬̓̉Ŵ̸̙̙͝ë̷̠̺̍r̶̠͇̂̏ȩ̵̳͝ ̶̟̀̈́ẗ̵́ͅḫ̸̈́ë̷̦́͜͝y̵̳̘̅ ̵̪͍́̊ă̵͇͠l̶̲͕͒ŕ̶̻̟e̶̗͆͘a̶͚̽̚d̶̡̆̅y̴̨͕̎ ̷̤̄p̸̞͝͝ą̵̝̍r̴͚̲͌t̸̤̺͌ ̴̨̀o̵͓͓͐f̶̲̍̑ ̸̱͇͋suozɐɯⱯ ǝɥʇ? 𝕎𝕙𝕠 ̵́𝓀ⲛⲟⲱ𝓼!̸̘͐ ̸̢͇̏̂𝕒𝓛𝓛 ̵̭̀͝t̸̤̓̕h̸̡̚e̶̹̒ ̷̥̼͝𝓂𝖔𝓇𝖊 ̵̠͕̑ŗ̸̿͒ỏ̴̞̖ȏ̴̭̉ḿ̶̹͉̀ ̶͎̃f̸̛̱̲̾ȏ̸̲̲͝r̷̠̔ ̵̳̏̌h̷͔͍͈̔͒͝ē̶̢͈̈̈́̈́ã̶̝̦͍̥̽͘d̷̛̺̤͙̅͋̈̑c̸̭̽̓̾̊͌â̴̤̤ň̸͎͉͙͂̓̕ŏ̷͎̫̣̬̇̽̏̇n̸̜͙͍̓̋ͅs̴͙̻̲̄!̴̨̣̬̱̅̍

5̸͋́̈́͜.̴̘͖̬̯̱̒͋̾͝)̵̢̝͒̀̐̕ Ɐl҉༙྇ꅔƀä͓̰́ͫꕷt̖̪͈̽̂ͤ͡ēⓡ Ć̷͇. ₮ꝋʁɍiꞥꞡⱦ_̓o🅝

S̶p̷e̵a̷k̵i̸n̸g̴ ̶o̵f̸ ̶d̸e̶m̴i̴g̸o̷d̶s̸ ̶w̵e̸ ̸d̸o̵n̸'̴t̸ ̸k̶n̶o̴w̴ ̴m̷u̸c̵h̷ ̴a̴b̸o̵u̶t̶ ̵-̵ ̷h̸e̶y̸,̴ ̸w̸̢̙̐��̶̙̫̂ḣ̴̸̷̠̺̯̣̓̄õ̷̵̷͔̼̝̓̎͠ ̶i̴s̶ ̴t̶h̵i̵s̸ ̷g̵u̵y̵?̷ L̵i̴t̷t̷l̷e̴ ̴i̸s̷ ̸k̶n̷o̶w̸n̴ ̴a̴b̷o̶u̴t̸ ̶t̷h̷i̴s̵ ̶m̶y̵s̵t̷e̸r̶i̶o̶u̸s̷ ̸s̴o̷n̷ ̸o̵f̶ ̷H̷e̵c̴a̷t̴e̶.̵ ̸I̵n̶ ̸f̸a̷c̶t̶,̷ ̴I̶ ̴c̵a̸n̶'̸t̸ ̵s̸e̵e̷m̶ ̵t̸o̷ ̵̴̪͠ṙ̴̠é̵̼c̵͉͗â̸̤l̶͖̎l̴̻͂ ̷̬̏ä̵̗́n̵͍̈́y̶͈͗t̶̛̠h̸̩̎i̷̮̇n̴̥͝g̴͔̈́ ̴̤̈a̶̿͜t̴͔̉ ̴̈ͅa̴̾͜l̷̨̊ļ̷̛.̸̭͂.̵̧̈́͊̈́.̴̻̩̼̎.̸̟̹͓̎͊?̵̯̲̓̈́

-̶̟̂Ḣ̸͖e̶̛̜ḻ̴̏l̵͉̈́ỏ̷̬?̷̺̏ H̷e̸l̵lo? I think I've got this working. Please, listen, I don't have much time.

My name is Alabaster Torrington. I'm the son of Hecate, I was exiled from the demigod camps, and my half-sister is hunting me down as we speak.

My siblings were killed for following our mother in the Titan War, and I nearly was as well. The gods decided to prolong my suffering, exiling me so I couldn't "corrupt" my siblings who were forced to join Camp Half-Blood. My monstrous half-sister was tasked to hunt me down and kill me, and so far has successfully killed a mortal working with me. I nearly succeeded in trapping her to prevent her from reforming, but unfortunately our mother wishes for neither of us to die, so I was prevented from doing so.

In my search for ways to defeat her, I am on the brink of a breakthrough that I believe may change the lives of all demigods. I just need time.

I am extremely close to finding a way to break my sister's curse upon demigods that aids monsters in tracking us. But so long as I'm being hunted I'm not able to work on it. I-

D̸a̴m̵m̴i̶t̸!̶ I'm out of time. I'll contact you again̴ ̵a̷s̴ ̶s̵o̸o̷n̴ ̵a̶s̴ ̴I̴'̶m̵ ̵a̴b̸l̵e̷.̸ ̸ ̸̸̸̣̩̐̽ ̷̲̚U̶̩͋n̷̠̿t̸̫̅ȉ̵̺ļ̶̇ ̷̲̈́t̶̫̀ḩ̴͗ȇ̶̡ñ̷̦-̷͙͘!̴͓̈́

[̷C̴R̷A̷S̷H̴]̵

-̴̬̖͠ ̵̟̙̎Y̶̘̲̊͠o̷̢͑u̶̹̿ ̷c̵a̵n̸ ̶s̴e̸e̷ ̴Ⓜ̙𝑜𝑟e of Alabaster in The Son of Magic, a short story written er, ahem, an "interview," "transcribed" by Haley Riordan - since of course, Camp Half-Blood's own resident transcriber was not able to get close enough to speak with a wary former Titan Army member - that can be found in The Demigod Diaries.

Regardless, you can see more of Hecate herself in The Wrath Of The Triple Goddess. Perhaps we'll be seeing more of Hecate's children soon as well?

[elvishdemigod]

I headcanon that Leo invents phones that are actually just portable Iris-Messaging boxes. The IM-Phone.

I'm sorry, but that kid is too creative and smart to just make a basic phone with the addition of no monsters being attracted. He'd make a creative one just for demigods, but isn't too weird for regular people to take notice of.

I think it would have a similar mechanism to that of the phones from Trollz

Like this, but a touchscreen phone that can turn into a flat square instead, and the screen has water in it.

Because with a basic phone, there's still going to be some kind of demigodly bad luck with those. At least an IM-Phone, it might be easier to make and therefore faster to produce for others. Worst that could happen is losing or breaking it.

Here, a quick doodle of what it could look like:

It would work for them, losing it wouldn't be the worst thing ever, it's convenient, it's quick to make.

[hmshermitcraft]

Etho was tasked with building the labyrinth for the bull of minos.

So he did.

What?? Don't look at him like that! He was getting paid!! You would do the same!

Now, of course, he is the only one who knows how to get through the labyrinth, which is just unforgivable, so he's set to be put in prison in a big ol tower in the sea, like a loser.

He caught wind of this! And since he is the only one who knows the labyrinth (and is not a loser), he flees into it.

It only takes a few days for the bull to track him down, and Etho is respectable at hand to hand combat but against a literal Minotaur he's pretty useless. Luckily the bull, who insists on being called Beef even though it makes Etho feel weird, is more than happy to stop trying to ram him with his big horns and instead have a nice conversation about how shitty the king is.

Etho takes beef out of the maze one night, because let's be real here, the whole eating human flesh thing isn't really all that good for a bovine like Beef and a human (?) like Etho. They run into a centaur who calls himself Doc even though everyone is very sure that he does not have his license, and a forest nymph called bdubs, who's name has such a long line of explanations and reasoning that they all agreed to never ask again.

Etho doesn't really know why he went from "inventor respected by the gods" to "domestic wife of three mythical, maybe divine, maybe demigodly men" but he's having a good time being pampered so who really cares anyway.

-carrie, who only kinda half knows about daedalus and the minotaur and the labyrinth

They still refer to him as an inventor respected by the gods, but mostly to tease him. After all, the gods must like him to bring him to them!

His intentions are more mundane nowadays, though. He thinks his spinning bucket for washing clothes is great, though. And his chair with a lever so they can recline it!

[rey-diem]

Genuinely, I would feel like Mars and Athena’s children would have a bigger rivalry than Athena and Ares. Because Mars’ kids don’t have the displeasure of sharing a demigodly domain with Minerva because Minerva doesn’t have a war aspect, but still their main beliefs are still different than Athena’s. There shouldn’t be war without reason, endless carnage is bad, the people matter the most and have a plan in mind. Of course there are common aspects of Mars and Athena being that they are wiser beings in the battlefield than Ares but Athena views the soldiers as pawns and sometimes even the heroes if they aren’t smart enough. Which would cause a rivalry between Mars and Athena, because they’re both strategical war gods, but still have different approaches to war.

“You and I, we’re likeminded.. perhaps I underestimated you..”

“Don’t think we’re on the same level, Athena-spawn. You would never write yourself in on the plans unless absolute victory. You’re a pathetic use of a war general.”

“And you still fight yourself. Thought you were smarter than that.”

“It’s called honor and selflessness. Heard of those words?”

[cursed-40k-thoughts]

The Lion and Leman regarded each other cooly across the ancient oak table. There was no measure of hostility in their eyes, but they seemed to radiate silent animosity. Any mortal observer would have quailed at their demigodly presence, despite no word being spoken.

Finally, it was the Wolf King who broke the silence.

"You are sus, Lion," he said, and his voice carried all the mournful gravity of creaking ice on the Fenrisian sea. He did not speak with anger, but a hatred crystallized to ice.

Lion, for his part, was not roused. He crossed armored arms across his great chest, and made reply. "Tell me how you come to this, Leman. I take any words you speak without reason as nothing. Why do you vote to eject me, then?"

Leman planted one hand on the table- it strained and creaked under his mass -and pushed himself up. He paced the room in mighty strides as he spoke. "You claim you were doing tasks in Ultramar, but what alibi is that?"

"Guilliman is my witness. Sanguinius would be, were he here. Or Curze, if you would believe him," Lion replied, his lip turning up in wry remembrance.

"I do not ask about your witnesses, Lion, I am questioning your motives. Any impostor could have smuggled himself among the crewmates. A sleeper cell, to activate if the main sabotage did not carry through. A time-bomb buried in the largest sector of completed tasks yet!" Leman rapped the table for emphasis. His cool was melting as passion broiled beneath.

Lion set his jaw but remained seated. "You invent mad schemes and pin them on me, Leman. Give me concrete proof and I will debate with you, but until then I will waste no effort to parry these bladeless blows."

"Very well," Leman replied promptly. "Then tell me, why did those tasks in Ultramar take so long? They had no call to. Unless, among that stalwart host which was doing- what, exactly? -there was an impostor. A millstone grinding the work to a halt…a highly-placed commander sabotaging the tasks?"

Lion leaned forward in his seat, his face intent, his brow furrowed with thought. "Yet, the tasks were completed, were they not? And we arrived at Terra to aid here as well. We broke the sabotage, Leman. The Impostormaster would have overcome you if we had not."

"Hah!" barked Leman, scornful. "Precisely. You waited to see if your fellow Impostors would triumph, and only when it became clear we outvoted them did you throw your lot in."

"But were I an impostor," Lion carried on earnestly, "why do you stand before me, brother? I could have killed Guilliman while we were doing tasks in Ultramar. Were I an impostor, I could have allied with Curze, slain both Guilliman and Sanguinius. A double blow, and none to witness it."

"Precisely, brother. And that would square the blame on you, because not a one of us would believe that Curze could have killed either of them. So you played the crewmate and allowed them to complete their tasks there, hoping to shepherd them to destruction at Terra. A fifth column, tagging along in their midst. Precisely like the Drop Site Body Report!"

Lion arose tectonically, and drew Fealty from her sheath. His eyes burned with resolve. "I have heard enough of this, Leman. Draw your vote, then. Eject me. Go on."

Leman loosed Mjalnar, bringing her to bear with a flourish. "As you say, brother. I vote to eject."

Once more my inbox is graced by art given written form. Incredible. Stunning. Flawless. Thank you.

[chbnews]

hey, percy? did u know that u have more uh... demigodly siblings??

(hi yes, it's me, i'm the sibling. sorry king </3)

-by max, your new sibling ig??? (they/them, but u can use any other if u want)

Hello Max!! Yes I know I have other demigod siblings. There’s a handful of them around the world that haven’t been located or would rather not come to camp every summer/year. -Percy Jackson 🌊

[rosemarysdragon]

no bc if i was a half-blood i would be SO pissed that i couldn’t take flights, like the fuck do you MEAN i can’t use the quickest form of long-distance transportation?????? how am i supposed to travel to other countries and learn about new cultures????????? all because some lightning boy has a GRUDGE against me for being in his realm like bitch do you think i have a CHOICE. do you think i’m gonna shell out thousands of dollars for slow sea travel??? i can’t even think of alternatives to flying for international travel like please reply to this telling me what travel options there are for demigods who want to live outside of the US, like hermes you’re the god of travelers right get ON this shit there is a market for demigodly travel make some sort of agency or something

[bugwolfsstuff]

Wip of a Semele x Sally shot

This started off as a crackfic but now i'm shipping it @thel1ghtningthief shall I make this a full fledged crack treated seriously AU?

[let's pretend Paul doesnt exist here]

I opened the door to my mom’s apartment, “Hey mom! I’m home!” I yelled. 

“Hi, Percy!” My mom called back from the kitchen; something was cooking from the smell.  “We have a visitor!” 

I dropped my bag on the floor, “A visitor?” I asked. My mom usually didn't have visitors. I did, mostly of the godly and demigodly kind, which meant I was probably about to be sucked into another quest. 

I could see the visitor from the hallway. It was a woman, her back to me, sitting at the dining table, talking to my mom about — the weather? 

Her hair was a honey color slightly lighter than Annabeth’s. It was curly too. She was wearing a big white winter coat which was weird, the weather was pretty warm, she wore white gloves too. 

My hand went to Riptide as I stepped into the kitchen, ready to pull it out of my pocket just in case she really was a monster. Call me paranoid, she did look human enough, but that could’ve been the mist messing with my head, and I really didn’t want to go on another quest. 

The woman turned around. She was definitely not a mortal. For starters, she had pink eyes — not like the disease —like literally, her eyes were the same color as a blobfish. 

She also had uncomfortably sharp teeth. 

“Hello,” The woman said. Her voice gave me Déjà vu from Circe’s spa resort; just listening to her talk made me want to drop all my weapons and start singing kumbaya. Which ruled out monsters because usually I feel the opposite around them. So that left sorceress or goddess, neither of which were good. 

I forced myself to keep my hand on Riptide, but I didn’t pull it out, not yet. “Who are you?” I asked, trying to sound as casual as possible. 

The woman smiled at me, baring her sharp teeth, “I’m Thyone, though my friends and your mother call me Semele”. 

“Semele?” I said, it sounded familiar, maybe she was some minor goddess of peace? 

[andthekitchensinkao3]

Loose Ends chapter 2

3,780 words and counting on chapter 2 of Loose Ends. Expect an update tomorrow!

Oh, and

Loki having a chat with Sylvie (chaotic besties)

Mobius being a supportive partner/lover

Mobius freaking out when Loki says the ol' parental units can't know anything about their relationship

Loki sampling Idunn's apples/fruit because he can't say no to his not-yet-dead mother

Mobius NOT ready for it. Any of it. Including Thor glaring daggers at him for No Obvious Reason(tm)

Why no, Loki's not stressed the fcuk out of his demigodly mind, whatever makes you say that?!?!?!?11+11!!?!?!?1

Stay tuned! :D

[tsarisfanfiction]

Adult Supervision

Fandom: Trials of Apollo Rating: Gen Genre: Hurt/Comfort Characters: Gracie, Will, Nereids Chiron and Dionysus aren't the only adult supervision at camp, but they tend to be the only ones that make themselves known to the kids. TOApril day 16 - Nymphs and Negligence. Figured this prompt was as good a time as any to explore whether the adults in charge of the camp are actually any good at it. Sources suggest the answer may not be yes.

Camp was different.

Gracie hadn’t really registered it, her first summer, but then her first summer had been full of mortal Apollo and threat of destruction and other rather distracting things, to say nothing of the whole experience of discovering she was a demigod.  Her first summer had been a dramatic mix of fun and trauma, all bundled up into a single, demigodly package, and she figured she could be forgiven for not paying attention to the details, then.

Well, she had paid attention to details, like daughter of Apollo, and archery lessons, and how not to die.  She just hadn’t paid attention to other things.  Mundane things, her mom would call them.  Things like who did the laundry, and the cooking.  Who did all the things that Mom did while she was home.

It was difficult to miss the satyrs, especially as one of them had escorted her to camp personally, a strange look on their face when the golden lyre burst into existence above her head (she had discovered, later, that that had been weird, because Apollo couldn’t have claimed her, or Yan, or Jerry, but they’d all been claimed just the same.  Not even Apollo had ever explained how that had happened, when asked).  With their goat legs and funny gait and little horns poking up through thick curly hair, they were rather obvious, and rather obviously different to demigods even if they wore the same orange t-shirts.

It was difficult to miss the harpies, too, especially when Will went out of his way to introduce her to the main trio, explaining the curfew rule and how it worked when there were medical emergencies in the middle of the night – not, he’d stressed, that she was likely to get involved in that for several years at least, but it was useful to know from the start.  Gracie liked the harpies, even if their eyes were sharp and their fingers were razor talons and they were all in all a little bit scary to look at.

No, it was the nymphs that Gracie had barely noticed, the first time around.  Will had waved in the direction of a bundle of nereids in the lake on her welcome tour, and given her strict instructions not to climb trees without permission unless she wanted several furious dryads after her blood, but he’d never really introduced her to them, and unlike the satyrs and harpies, the nymphs didn’t actually interact with the campers all that much.

Her first summer, it had never even occurred to Gracie that, perhaps, the nymphs were also supposed to be supervision – after all, Chiron was amazing, but he was only one centaur, and Mr D certainly didn’t care enough about them to make sure they were behaving on a day to day basis.  The satyrs had their own roles to deal with – Protectors, mostly, constantly coming and going as they searched for more demigods to escort to camp, preferably in one piece.

It took two summers and a capsized kayak for Gracie to really register the nymphs.

There hadn’t been any particular reason why she’d been in the kayak.  She liked them, liked sitting on top of the water (but not in it, not getting soaked although there was inevitably some water at the bottom of each one that got into her pant legs and travelled up, up, up) as the lake bobbed gently underneath her.  There were other campers dotted around in kayaks, too – not a full camp-wide activity, but enough that she wasn’t alone, even if she was the only one in her kayak.

They were just messing around, splashing each other by slapping their paddles on the surface of the water and laughing as it erupted upwards into their target’s face.  Nothing dangerous – certainly nothing as dangerous as her previous summer, when the risks had involved a high chance of death – but fun and a little exhilarating, as her kayak rocked around her.

It was probably an accident.  No, she knew it was an accident, because she didn’t have any real enemies amongst the campers – in fact she liked to think most people liked her well enough – but it didn’t stop a paddle getting tangled with hers, and in the attempts to separate them, the water moved (someone else slapping it, probably not noticing the danger) and Gracie found herself under the water, still trapped in her kayak but barely any air in her lungs (she was a drummer, not a woodwind or brass player.  Her lung capacity was barely a fraction of Austin or Alice’s!) and a stream of bubbles in front of her face.

Gracie wouldn’t say that she panicked, but she certainly didn’t enjoy being suddenly upside down with no air and no quick way to get air.  Her paddle was gone, as was the one that had been snagged with it, and Gracie didn’t even know how to get out of the kayak while it was upside down, not with the cover supposedly keeping her lap dryish, let alone how to un-capsize herself.

Okay, maybe she panicked a little.

A lot.

She thrashed against the fabric pinning her inside the kayak, feeling her lungs burning as they realised they weren’t getting any more water in and were filling with old air they’d stripped of anything useful and wanted to send back out of her body with some waste elements attached.  She needed to get out, needed to breathe-

Slender arms with webbed hands passed in front of her vision, pushing against her kayak, and there were hands she couldn’t see pushing and pulling at her body, too.  A sudden jerk had her kayak flipping right side up again, with her still successfully inside it, and she gasped, trying not to let water drip from her hair into her face and open mouth as she panted.

“Gracie!”  The cry came from the shoreline, and she turned her head to see Will making exaggerated come here gestures, which meant he was worried by her dip in the lake.

If she was honest, after that, Gracie kind of wanted to get out of the kayak and onto solid, dry land, anyway.  She jumped out of her skin when her kayak started moving without her input, but it made a beeline straight for Will, so she didn’t question it too hard.

He was there the moment her kayak ran firmly aground on the beach, far too firmly to be a result of just the light waves lapping around, yanking away whatever was keeping her pinned inside it until she could scramble out and gratefully accept the towel he draped over her head – and inflict a soaking wet hug on him, because okay she had been scared, and Will was her big brother.

It was only when she asked, much later, how her kayak had righted itself, that she remembered the nereids in the lake.  Will had shrugged about them.  “They exist,” he said, “and they make sure no-one drowns in the lake.  I don’t know much more about them than that, honestly.”

Given how long Will had been at camp, that was a little alarming, if Gracie thought about it enough.  She decided not to.

[call-me-nor]

I love, love the idea of wings! Di Angelo implications aside (and that's a lot of squealing to put aside, I know) I'm just thinking about the parallels with canon Nico. What if Hephaestus doesn't just give Nico the wings?

What if he gives Nico a quest and has him earn + learn the wings?

What if he has Nico enter + raid the Labyrinth for Daedalus' lab?

What if Nico makes them his own?

I dunno, I'm just a tiny bit obsessed with people making their prosthetics their own iykwim

More on my Son of Zeus Nico concept, right now. Nico is born with a rather weak constitution, so even though he totally has got the power and the ability to fly, he doesn't really have the capacity for it.

So, whenever he tries he winds up either passing out and crashing, or just directly crashing, at first, Hera forces him to try time and time again, until she realizes Nico just can't do it.

This is all happening up in Olympus, so she's about to pull a real Hera move out of frustration, but before she can actually do it, Hephaestus stops her.

Instead, in the blink of an eye really, Hephaestus builds Nico his own set of wings, and from then onwards, he's completely capable of flying just fine, he just needed the extra aid to do it.

Later on, quietly, Hera thanks her son like she very rarely does, and Hephaestus can tell, she even means it, but he just shakes his head, points at his own disability, and reminds his mother that "Hey, is not the boy's fault you picked him" before leaving back to his studio.

Hephaestus very quickly becomes Nico's favorite brother up on Olympus, which in turn, has Dyonisus and Ares completely fuming.