#i like to think apollo is the only one artemis allows physical contact with

[skepticism105]

More Aphrollomes and other gods as well :-3

[aeithalian]

What even are the ancient laws?

I've been meaning to get around to this one for ages.

Anyways! Good question, guys! Answer: nobody fucking knows. Sure, we have good ideas. The laws are mentioned every now and then as a "oh, no little mortal child I can't help you - that's against the ancient laws. But hey! You can help me."

Let's be honest: the ancient laws, while there might be legitimate reasons for some of them, have transformed into yet another way that the gods hold themselves as the high and mighty overlords of the world, and keep their mortal offspring below them at all costs. But... why? Are the demigods really that dangerous to the gods? The answer: yes, but not to the gods - to Zeus.

Let's start from the beginning and list out everything we know about the laws. I did the hard work, you're welcome:

1. Gods cannot steal each others' symbols of power.

2. A god cannot initiate a fight with a mortal.

3. No direct interference - gods are not allowed to interfere in the lives and ongoings of mortals or monsters.

4. No more than 3 people are allowed on a quest.

5. Harming the sacred animals of a god is forbidden.

And that's it. Those are the only true mentions of the Ancient Laws in the entirety of the Riordanverse (at least, the Greco-Roman books).

And I think we all know what the most important one is. Direct Interference is the only one we see Zeus actively enforcing (or at least attempting to). But why is that? Well, stealing another god's symbol of power and initiating a battle with a mortal are physically impossible for gods, and the ban on harming a sacred animal is very commonly accepted already, as it's a guaranteed way to get your ass whooped. And the rule about having 3 on a quest isn't really something Zeus is going to spare the effort to enforce - starting a quest with more than 3 will typically guarantee that you come home with only 3, if at all.

But Direct Interference is the most interesting law, simply because it's the one that our demigod narrators are affected by the most, either in the ways their godly parents violate it, or refuse to do so.

There's plenty of instances where this law has had quite a bit of impact on the story and relationships. For example, Hermes used this law as a major reason why he could not help Luke or prevent him from raising Kronos. But let's be honest: besides Zeus himself, Hermes might be one of the only gods that actually obey this rule, despite the fact that he wants to break it. Just off the top of my head, I can name an instance in the series where every single Olympian at least toed the line of violating Direct Interference, except for maybe Demeter. And I'm not sure Dionysus counts, since he has contact with his half-blood children because of his position at CHB.

But there's something interesting even about the ways these gods break the law of Direct Interference. In most instances, these interactions with mortals happen when the god is in disguise, or through dreams. And, based on how little it seems like the gods get punished for breaking Direct Interference, we can only assume that Zeus is not aware of when gods talk to demigods via dreams. I mean, he's probably aware that it happens: Apollo, Poseidon, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Hera, Ares (who occasionally follows the rule, but only as an excuse to not help a demigod out), Artemis (although she is subject to exceptions due to her domain), Dionysus, Athena (I think?), and Hades all do it at least once in the RRverse. I mean, you could also argue that dreams are a more indirect means if interference, but I can also see how that's an iffy argument at best.

So, what does this mean? If there is one thing I know about laws and rules in general is that people tend to break laws if the direct consequences of their own actions don't directly apply to them. Gods would probably respect the law of Direct Interference more if there was an immediate negative effect on themselves, aside from just the punishment.

Think of a law or a rule that people break all the time. Littering, for example. People do it all the time, even though it's bad. But why is it bad? A person who doesn't have a lot of forethought will drop a piece of trash and say 'hey, that doesn't affect me. The planet will suffer and this will be a pain in the ass to clean up, but I'm not the one cleaning it up, so why do I care?' If you don't care about the planet or other people cleaning up your trash, the only reason you have to not litter is that you're afraid of the punishment.

I think the attitude towards Direct Interference is similar. The only reason a god would obey is if they're afraid of the punishment, or if they respect Zeus enough to follow his laws (which, clearly, is not the norm in godly society). And even then, what is a punishment to an immortal being? The only way Zeus punishes gods that really matters to them is turning them mortal - and that's a very rare occurrence.

By that logic, we can assume that a violation of Direct Interference does not actually negatively affect gods all that much. To be honest, it doesn't negatively affect mortals either. Maybe monsters have the short end of the stick, but monsters didn't write the law of Direct Interference - Zeus did. So... why? Why does it exist?

My first thought was the Fates and prophecy - if gods can interact in mortal life without recourse, then it might fuck with the way the Fates operate. But gods have been interfering for the entirety of civilization. If they really had a the power to alter the future just by dipping a toe in mortal life, don't you think it would have been obvious? Even in the RRverse, there are plenty of instances, as I've mentioned, that gods have interfered in a quest, and said quest wasn't severely fucked over because of that interference. Take, for instance, Percy's quest to save Artemis - Apollo intervened, but where were the consequences of that? Where were the earth-shattering effects?

So what gives? Also, I'd argue that the gods would actually obey the law more if they knew it had such a negative effect on the proper functioning of the Fates, especially Apollo since that's his domain. So I'm going to say that's not the case.

So we're back to the first question: why does the law against Direct Interference exist if it has no effect on the gods or the Fates? In all references to the law against Direct Interference in the Riordanverse, never once is it explained why this law exists. Why would Zeus create it if violating it doesn't have some major world-ending effect? Gods are gods: what could make this law so important that it's the only one Zeus makes a true effort to enforce?

Well, it makes sense to me that Zeus would create the law if he's the one who has to bear the immediate consequences of it. Which raises the question: what are the immediate consequences? What reason could Zeus possibly have to separate half-blood children from their godly parents? HMmmmmmmMMMM.

Well, there's another interesting thing about the Ancient Laws: some of them don't apply to mortals. Mortals can steal a god's symbol of power, and mortals can initiate battles with gods. Imagine with me a scenario in which your enemy has an army that is not subject to the same laws you are. Gods are (as far as I know) physically incapable of stealing symbols of power and starting battles with mortals, but what does that matter if they have half-blood children that reach the power of minor gods, like Percy, who can do that for you?

It's a terrifying premise, if you're Zeus. And before you start telling me that I'm going down yet another far-fetched rabbit hole (listen - I always make sense in the end), we've seen Zeus go down this line of thought before, all the way back in The Lightning Thief. Remember???

Chiron said that the reason Zeus blamed Percy for stealing the Master Bolt was because the mines the Cyclopes used to forge the bolts is close to Poseidon's domain, and he thinks Poseidon has it out for him. Now, there's a theory running around the TOA fandom that gods can control how much power they hand off to their children (as seen with Apollo's children, who rarely inherit the power of prophecy, which we're willing to bet is something Apollo is controlling from behind the scenes), and if Zeus knew that Poseidon had had a child, it's possible Zeus thought Poseidon was trying to create a super-child just for the sake of overthrowing him. I'm willing to bet that one of his greatest fears is that an über-powerful child of one of his brothers would be used to steal his symbol of power and then overthrow him. He views demigod children like weapons that his enemies can use because they could be inherently dangerous to the standard structure of godly society. His main fear is somebody with the motivation of Luke having the power of Percy. And what do paranoid kings do when presented with the idea of their greatest fears? Make laws against them.

The only way Zeus could be sure that Poseidon would never intentionally have a child like Percy, then bring him under his wing just in time to start a rebellion against him is to ban that kind of interaction at all.

Counterpoint: you could also say that the law against Direct Interference was a way to protect the mortals against the gods who might harm them or do them dirty. Like getting women pregnant while in the form of a swan. Ahem ahem. Do you get my point, though? It's not like Zeus has any real reason to protect the mortals in this way, since he was one of the main perpetrators anyways, but it is a damn good excuse if he also wanted a reason to prevent a potential revolution led by demigods.

Now, if you'll bear with me for a little bit longer, there is one more interesting thing I'd like to point out: In the entirety of Trials of Apollo, Apollo (a god, obviously) only mentions following the Ancient Laws once. Unsurprisingly, at the time he's mentioning the law against Direct Interference, he's also violating it - when he kills Commodus to save lives, Rome, and for his own peace of mind. So, to me this basically means that Apollo doesn't give two single shits about following laws against Direct Interference.

Connect that with everything else we know about Apollo post-trials: he loves his kids, doesn't want to see them hurt, and is trying to distance himself from Zeus and godly society. Even pre-trials, he doesn't have any trouble admitting that Zeus makes his rules and laws difficult to follow - nobody is good enough in Zeus' eyes. I truly believe, if there's any person who, given the proper means and motivation to overthrow at least some aspects of the Direct Interference law, he would.

Just saying. Feel free to add on if anybody else has more thoughts!

[a masterlist of my other metas]

[alatismeni-theitsa]

16 anti LO anon opinions

All under the cut

(1) Fastpassers are also probably mad bc when smythe post fastpass title on twitter(which was heathers musical song ripoff) everyone was so hyped up and excided, they thought this gonna be about "Underqold badass queen Persephone " or something with her trail or something big with her, but no, they got Minthe flashback that didnt change anything in the story

(2) Fastpassers are annoyed bc this episode was flashback of Minthe. Two previous fastpasses got pretty big(and stupid) revals(leto is bad guy,apollo and artemis may be zeus child and last but not least Cronus awakening) so they were hopping for something more not a filler wpisode that changes nothing in to the story bc there were wpisodes that make Minthe more "symphatetic" than this one.

(3) Am i the only one a bit concerned that a Minthe episode made LO fans demand their money back but apparently episodes and a planned redemption over Apollo, who R*PED the main character, was met with fans sympathizing with him and feeling bad for judging him "too soon"?  They can accept a sexual assaulter having mommy issues to excuse his bad actions, but a boring filter episode about Minthe, who we know will be killed by the end anyway, gets outrage? That doesn't sit well with me.

(4) oh my god the LO fans hated the minthe fast pass so much they actually made LO's rating start to go down 😭 most of us here dont even like the comic but none of us would purposely review bomb it over a boring episode over a character we didnt like, thats so entitled!

(5) Adding on to the recent fastpass, it was extremely boring. I get that you can't please everyone but the fact that Minthe is having a backstory now just feels like filler.

This is the main issue I have with Rachel's story, she has so many characters but chooses to develop them at the worst times. If we got this backstory earlier in season 2, this would make sense. However, the fp before this one ended on a cliffhanger. You'd think it'd continue but no, we just get Minthe backstory.

I'd rather see an Apollo backstory, he's an active villain and would be interesting to see his motive.

Minthe doesn't have a compelling motive other than jealousy.

(6) I can't be the only one who thinks the new hairstyle updates for characters like Apollo or Eros look weird right? Eros literally looks like an adult version of one of his siblings Storge (who has curly permed hair and was holding a hamster)

(7) That Lo eros panel ... oof. Wheres his hairline going? He had a damn 7 head. Also at least for awhile the men had a different face from the women, but I guess they’re also women now, facial features wise?

(8) On a side note: why the fuck is Eros so ugly in this episode😭

(9) SMYTHE DOES NOT ONLY HAVE A DD/LG KINK, SHE A L S O HAS A PREGNANCY KINK!!! WHY ELSE HADES WAS SO *SMIRKY* ABOUT THE WHOLE FERTILITY GODDESS THING BACK WHEN HE AND PERSEPHONE WERE AT THE BEACH???? i swear to Allah this shit gets even more and more disgusting.

(10) This is something i see so much but LO especially but why do all of them have boring ancient clothes? It's always white or tan sheets or maybe black if it's someone in the Underworld. I'm going more off ancient images but shouldn't the gods especially have more grand and detailed clothing options? i get it's probably harder to design based off colorful skin tones but it's not impossible. it just seems so much of the comic design feels very flat, so if the story can't hold up then the art should.

(11)  The main problem I had before with lore olympus was its cliffhanger syndrome. Like, why do some many chapters leave on a cliffhanger and for no reason at all? Like when Hera got hit and nothing happened. When I was experiencing the episodes coming out in real time, it drove me mad.

It's gotten better recently but that's probably because the three recent episodes (fastpass) felt more like filler.

That's the main reason why I feel like the plot is being dragged out. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for cute character moments and creators getting money but, LO is slowly becoming less and less interesting. I literally skipped around in most of the fasspasses because it really wasn't interesting. The only thing memorable about all of the fp episodes is the beginning and end, the middle is just kinda there.

(12) Ampelus (psyche)'s eyes used to be golden/yellow but now its coloured purple lmao

(13) Wtf is happening in lore olympus?! Now they want to bring cronus back and do another war?!? Are they crazy nothing like this didnt happen in mythology and obviously not bc of persephone(in comic her pink tree in underwold will give crounus power and life). It supposed to be romance not whatever fuck this is now.

(14) I feel like if I was at Henson Co. or Webtoons with a tv deal on the line, I would make Smythe to hand writing duties to a pro or take a hiatus seriously plan everything out, because all these new plots are distracting from what people signed up for, which is to see HxP get together and the myth. It seems like filter seeing as any TV adaption wouldn't cover most of it anyway, so why even include it? If RS wants it over sooner than later, this isn't how you do it, she's just procrastinating now.

(15) I find Demeter in LO just confusing. If she’s so overbearing and controlling, why would she ever allow Persephone out of their domain to live with Artemis in the city? Even the most liberally easy going parents don’t let their naive children out into the world like that with people they barely know, yet the supposed helicopter parent does. Why not literally literally lock her up? Especially when Persephone can’t control her powers and is desperate to hide that she killed a village of people? Demeter knows she’s a danger to others yet let her out anyway? That doesn’t sounding overbearing to me. It sounds like she’s right to want to hide her away. Persephone is a bigger threat to everyone else than they are to her. More so, actual controlling parents do give their children phones to keep easy tabs on them, yet LO Demeter doesn’t? She could constantly call Persephone or check up on her without physically needing to be there, yet they don’t do that. What modern parent would let their child leave home without a way to contact them? If anything, she’s extremely loose on parenting her and lets Persephone do/have whatever she wants. The controlling helicopter parent premise too is undercut by the fact LO Demeter ends up being right in wanting to hide her daughter away because within a month of leaving home Persephone is drugged, kidnapped, threatened by several people, r*ped, blackmailed, is close to dropping out of school, attacked by shades, and had a mental/emotional breakdown, many of those things being linked to her future “caring” husband. I just don’t buy it. Demeter ends up looking correct by anyone who isn’t blinded by the rose colored glasses of HxP.

(16) If I'll ever bother to read LO I'll do so only to see how horrible exactly it is.

[stormyblue90]

Blessed by the Gods pt. 2

Alexios meets his niece and nephew! Continuation of this oneshot!

Also tagging @alexi-ohs for some soft, post-Deimos Alexios.

Familiar red and white buildings came into view as the sun began to set behind the Taygetos mountain range. Alexios had finally returned to the lands of Sparta after being gone for three months. It was still strange to him, returning and having a growing sense of familiarity. The only reason it started to feel like he could possibly make a home here was his sister and mother. Had it not been for them, he'd still be the Cult's weapon, the monster Deimos.

It had only been two years since that day on Taygetos, Alexios was still gradually finding himself within the shell of Deimos. He still struggled with the occasionally violent outburst when provoked, or nightmares. They had thankfully, lessened as of late, his last nightmare had been just before he left on the Adrestia. He had come to take after his older sister becoming a mercenary. It was the only lifestyle it seemed he could be suited for now. Before, he had travelled together with Kassandra, however this was the first time he had been on his own due to her being a delicate condition. He was thankful for never having an episode while away. He had no intention of hurting his sister's friends onboard the ship.

"So how does it feel to return home?" Barnabas asked, his boisterous voice catching Alexios' attention.

"I'm...not sure." Alexios answered. "It's not something I'm used to."

"Perhaps with time you will." replied the soft voice of Herodotos, also accompanying Alexios' return to Sparta.

Alexios nodded silently, hoping that the old man would be right.

Both of Kassandra's friends had been willing to give her brother a chance, whether at her suggestion or not Alexios wasn't sure, nor did he care. He was thankful someone else outside his immediate family was willing. Slowly he had begun to befriend them as well. It wasn't hard to see why Kassandra enjoyed their company. Barnabas was bombastic, friendly, and his spirits never dampened. A welcome change from the fear, disgust, and coldness he had grown up with in the Cult. Herodotos was quieter, but patient. Alexios knew the man was insatiably curious, but he never asked uncomfortable questions. He would let Alexios open up on his own terms, at his own pace.

"How long has it been? Three months since you left these lands?" Herodotos asked.

"I think so." Alexios answered.

"Ha! By now you should be an uncle!" Barnabas cried.

He was right, when Alexios first left, Kassandra looked as if she was about to burst from her pregnancy. No doubt his niece or nephew had been born while he was away.

"You're right Barnabas. Hm, I wonder if I have a nephew or niece?"

"No matter, I'm sure they will the strongest warrior in all of Hellas!"

Alexios put on a mock face of offense before saying. "Only after ME of course!", causing the older men to chuckle.

Finally the three of them made it to the shared house of Kassandra and Brasidas, his sister carrying a large basket of fruit and vegetables inside.

"Good to see you're not fat anymore!" Alexios called out in a joking manner.

"I was not FAT! I was pregnant- Barnabas! Herodotos!" Kassandra turned and smiled seeing her old friends. "I didn't expect you two to come with Alexios."

"And miss out meeting the new member of the family? HA! Of course not!" Barnabas cried.

"I do hope motherhood has been kind to you Kassandra." Herodotos said.

"Well, it has been...surprising, and my biggest challenge yet. Please, come inside. I do hope you will be staying for dinner."

"Of course Kassandra, of course."

All three men followed her inside, finding Brasidas with the newborn twins, telling them various stories.

"By the Gods! You've had twins!" Barnabas exclaimed.

"How remarkable, congratulations to you both." Herodotos said, seeing the two swaddled bundles with Brasidas.

"Yes, twins. A boy and a girl." Kassandra replied.

"Like Apollo and Artemis!" Barnabas said. "You have truly been blessed!"

"Barnabas, Herodotos! It is good to see you here." Brasidas welcomed.

Kassandra sat the basket on the table in the kitchen before walking towards her husband, taking one of the twins, her daughter Zenais.

"Was Pater telling you exciting stories again little ones?" she asked, cradling her daughter who softly cooed in reply.

"Oh yes, I was telling them the story of how we met and fought in the Monger's burning warehouse." Brasidas said.

"Oooh how exciting!" Kassandra replied as her daughter giggled more.

Both parents brought their children to the older men, offering to let them hold their children.

"This is Zenais, in the red blanket." Kassandra said as she offered Barnabas the wrapped bundle.

"Awww look how small and cute she is!" He said, gently tickling the baby's nose, causing her to giggle and grasp at his finger.

Brasidas allowed Herodotos to hold the second child wrapped in white, "And this one is our little Leonidas. Though we sometimes call him Leon for short."

"Named for his great grandfather I see. Quite the legacy young one."

"Well, he was born with birthmarks resembling the constellation of Leo. It seemed to be fate." Brasidas replied. "And Zenais with an eagle shaped mark."

"Ah fate is a funny thing indeed. Who knows what these little ones will destined for." Barnabas responded.

"They'll be destined for whatever they choose, and a life full of love." Kassandra said.

Alexios stood by, quiet, letting the old man coo and fawn over the babies as if they were their own grandchildren. With how close they were to Kassandra, they might as well be. He felt rather awkward however, while he had been expecting to be an uncle for quite some time, it was still shocking to see. To know it was real, and not some distant dream he'd wake from. Alexios didn't know how to behave around, or approach a baby, leading to his sense of awkwardness. Something so innocent and fragile. He didn't even feel worthy to be in the same room as a newborn, let alone his own niece and nephew.

While the old men were happy to hold the newborns, Alexios made no effort to suggest he might want to. In truth, he was afraid to hold either of them. Afraid he'd hurt them, break them. Even though he had recovered immensely, he still felt unworthy to hold something so pure.

"Alexios?" Kassandra said, walking towards him. "Is something wrong?"

"I-I uh...never seen a baby before." he replied, quite sheepishly, shifting on his feet awkwardly.

Kassandra rolled her eyes, "Of all the things in the world that make you hesitate, it's a baby!" she chided. "It's ok, you won't hurt them by being in the same room. No need to be so anxious. This should be a good experience for you."

"I'm not so sure... But I hope you're right." he replied, cautiously walking over to them. He still dare not hold them.

Within a moment, his face changed from anxious hesitation, to curiosity.

"They're so small. And... pink." he said, looking down at his niece.

"Of course they are! They're BABIES Alexios." Kassandra replied. "Honestly they were much smaller and pinker three months ago when they were born."

Alexios glanced at her, a bit miffed at her tone. He just told her he'd had never seen a baby before, how was he supposed to know? He only knew they'd be small, but not quite how small, let alone pink and squishy looking.

A few hours had passed, dinner and wine was served and eaten, and numerous stories passed between everyone. The people and places Herodotos has seen, how Kassandra and Brasidas were adjusting to parenthood, the jobs Alexios had taken, and several of Barnabas' tall tales. A number of which he told with great enthusiasm to the twins who were both enraptured with his tales of monsters and gods; almost as if they already understood everything he said.

"They do love to be told stories." Brasidas had mentioned earlier. "Certainly helps calm them down when they get upset."

Meanwhile Alexios was still reluctant to make any sort of physical contact with either child. Although there was some sort of tugging in his heart to hold them. He wasn't sure why, but the longer he observed them, the more his curiosity grew, the more he wanted to hold them. However his fear and anxiety kept him from doing so, let alone asking.

As if she could read his mind, Kassandra spoke up.

"You know you CAN hold them, you don't have to just stare."

"No! No I uh...I can't- They're so...small and soft...fragile, I-I'd probably break them or-" he said, mild panic in voice.

Kassandra put her hand on his shoulder. "It's ok Alexios. You won't hurt them." she encouraged. "I know you won't. I trust you."

Those three little words, 'I trust you', meant so much to him in that moment. She trusted him, she trusted him with a NEWBORN. Kassandra never trusted easily, very few truly had her trust and confidence. If she said she trusted him, then she meant it and had every reason to.

He nodded, "Alright, if you say so."

"Alright then. Hmm, I think I've got an idea to help you feel less nervous. Wait here." Kassandra left the room and when she returned, in her arms were as many cushions, blankets, and pillows she could carry.

She placed them in a large pile on the floor, much the way she did so long ago as a child. Once she was satisfied she motioned for Alexios to come over.

"Sit here." she told him, and he did.

Kassandra walked over to the shared cradle the twins lie in, and picked up her son. She brought him over to Alexios.

"When I first held you as a baby, I was just as nervous as you. I thought I'd break you. So I did this." she gestured with a nod to the pile of pillows and blankets

"Oh.." Alexios hesitantly held out his arms, still nervous about holding his nephew.

"Don't worry Leon, your Uncle Alexios isn't as bad as Uncle Stentor." She said to her son and she gently placed him in Alexios' arms. Adjusting him where needed.

Alexios let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. The small, fragile, pink child looked up at him with large eyes. The same color as his father's Alexios noted.

"Chaire...little one." he said awkwardly, his nephew cooing softly in response.

"See? He likes you." Kassandra told him. She looked towards her brother and saw something in his eyes she'd never seen.

Alexios looked softer, his eyes held a touch of wonder, relief, it was as if holding his nephew brought something out in him he'd not been able to bring out beforehand. She has been right, this would be good for him.

As Alexios settled into holding a baby, he surprised his sister by gently stroking his nephew's face with the back of his forefinger. "So...soft" he remarked.

Leon reflexively held onto his uncle's finger when it was in reach, causing a soft smile to emerge on Alexios' face. "You will be a strong one." he whispered.

Kassandra smiled, happy to see her brother growing more confident in his ability to be soft, gentle, to be human again.

"You know," she began, "this was YOUR blanket once."

"What?"

"The baby blanket he's wrapped in. It was yours. Obviously we weren't expecting twins, so I had to improvise. I'd been given your old baby blanket by a priest in Argos."

Alexios felt the fabric between his thumb and index finger. Perhaps he was imagining it, but it somehow felt familiar. Like he was recalling a dream he had a long time ago.

"I see. It does almost feel...familiar."

Leon yawned, clearly growing sleepy in his uncle's arms. "Looks like he's growing tired."

"Well him and his sister have had a big evening. Meeting new members of the family, must be exhausting for a baby. Alright my little warrior, time for bed."

Gently Alexios handed Leonidas to Kassandra as she brought him to his crib, Brasidas following with Zenais.

"I believe it best we took our leave Alexios." Herodotos mentioned. "It was wonderful to see you again Kassandra, and meet your children."

"It was great to see you too." Kassandra replied. "I'd say I'd join you again on the Adrestia soon but..."

"Ah do not worry my friend!" Barnabas said, "You have a family to look after! The Adrestia will always be welcome to you. Perhaps next time your little ones can join us!"

Kassandra laughed, "Maybe in a few years Barnabas."

"You two can head back to the ship." Alexios said. "I think I'll stick around for a while. Still haven't seen Mater after all."

Both men nodded, taking their leave as they hugged Kassandra goodbye. He wasn't sure how, or why, but somehow seeing his niece and nephew made Alexios feel like he could call this place home one day. He actually felt like there was something here he could protect. Alexios WOULD protect them he silently promised. He would make sure what happened to him would NOT happen to the twins. Alexios knew their parents felt the same, and he'd help make sure the pair were protected and loved as well.

[sciencespies]

Dealing with dust: A back-to-the-moon dilemma

https://sciencespies.com/space/dealing-with-dust-a-back-to-the-moon-dilemma/

Dealing with dust: A back-to-the-moon dilemma

If the political, technical and budgetary stars align for NASA and its partners in coming years, the moon could be the go-to place as the century unfolds. Astronauts would again explore Earth’s celestial next-door neighbor, perhaps setting in motion future mining endeavors to extract ices likely lurking in sunlight-shy craters for processing into water, oxygen, and rocket propellant. Humans that “settle in” on the moon could well be a future prospect.

Earth’s moon is a dusty denizen of deep space. View from the International Space Station. Credit: NASA/Jeff Williams

The next chapter in the U.S. human exploration of the moon, the Artemis Project, will dispatch crews there for extended periods of time, building upon Apollo’s heritage. Between 1969 and the end of 1972, a dozen astronauts kicked up the powdery regolith, the topside dirt of the moon. But there’s one flash back message from the Apollo moonwalkers worth heeding: the place is a Disneyland of dust.

During their landings, dust blown up into the thin lunar atmosphere impacted astronaut visibility. Once crews were out and about on the moon, the dust had deleterious effects on their spacesuits, helmets, equipment and instrumentation. Apollo expedition members could not escape tracking lunar material inside their lunar landers. After doffing their helmets and gloves, moonwalkers could feel the abrasive nature of the dust, even experiencing an “Apollo aroma” — a distinctive, odoriferous smell.

As explained by Apollo 17’s moon landing crew:

“I think dust is probably one of our greatest inhibitors to a nominal operation on the moon. I think that we can overcome other physiological or physical or mechanical problems except dust,” said mission commander Eugene Cernan. “One of the most aggravating, restricting facets of lunar surface exploration is the dust and its adherence to everything no matter what kind of material, whether it be skin, suit material, metal, no matter what it be and its restrictive friction-like action to everything it gets on,” said lunar module pilot and geologist, Harrison Schmitt.

AGENCY, INDUSTRY CONCERN

Study groups and technologists are assessing ways to lessen the negative impact of lunar dust on the astronauts, their equipment, and surface operations.

Apollo 17 commander Eugene Cernan prepares to doff dust-covered moonwalking spacesuit. Credit: NASA

Joel Levine, a research professor in applied science at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, was convener and chair of a NASA workshop on lunar dust and its impact on human exploration. The message from that workshop held in February was clear. “Prior to the first Artemis human landing on the moon, we must better understand the particle size distribution, structure, chemical composition, potential toxicity, magnetic and electrical properties and the dynamics and distribution of lunar dust,” he said.

The workshop findings were published Sept. 24 as a NASA Engineering and Safety Center Technical Assessment Report, stating that the dust problem “is an agency and industry concern affecting most mission subsystems and it must be addressed.” The report also said that it is crucial that measurements and experiments be taken and carried out on the lunar surface by precursor landers to find out dust characteristics “that will influence hardware design, and provide toxicology data to safeguard crew health.”

PROTECTING LUNAR GEAR

Future machinery on the moon will be presented challenges, said Gerald Sanders, an expert on in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate at Johnson Space Center in Houston. Unlike other equipment and instruments that operate on the moon, ISRU systems and hardware need to operate continuously and in direct contact with lunar regolith and dust for very long periods of time. It is vital, he said, to develop techniques and technologies to resist abrasion, to safeguard optical coatings, as well as protect rotating mechanisms. In the end, easily replaceable components in lunar-situated gear will be critical.

Apollo 17 helmets and dusty spacesuits stuffed inside a lunar lander following the last human treks on the moon in December 1972. Credit: NASA

“While the Apollo missions and samples returned to Earth have provided a wealth of information, it will not be until the VIPER rover enters a permanently shadowed region that we will get a true sense of what the regolith is like to design future ice mining equipment,” Sanders said. NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, is a mobile robot that will go to the moon’s south pole, perhaps as early as December 2022 under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.

Philip Metzger, a planetary physicist with the Planetary Science faculty at the University of Central Florida, has focused his research on dust transport and its effects due to landing spacecraft on the moon.

“Lunar lander engine exhaust blows dust, soil, gravel, and rocks at high velocity and will damage surrounding hardware such as lunar outposts, mining operations, or historic sites unless the ejecta are properly mitigated,” said Metzger.

Decades of research have developed a consistent picture of the physics of rocket exhaust blowing lunar soil, “but significant gaps exist,” Metzger added. “No currently available modeling method can fully predict the effects. However, the basics are understood well enough to begin designing countermeasures.”

Metzger is principal investigator for the Ejecta Sheet Tracking, Opacity, and Regolith Maturity (STORM) instrument, set to fly on a Masten Space Systems Xodiac vertical takeoff and vertical landing system. The upcoming flight in Mojave, California, will gauge the density and sizes of particles that churn up during terrestrial simulations of lunar landings.

INTEGRATED DUST MITIGATION STRATEGY

NASA wants to place the first woman and next man at the lunar south pole in 2024. That location is advocated as a future base camp given possible access to ice and other mineral resources. However, still unknown are the true physical properties of the lunar dust and regolith in the polar regions.

Dust being displaced by engine exhaust from the Apollo 15 mission’s lunar lander, Falcon. Credit: NASA

Jorge Núñez of the Planetary Exploration Group at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, said a host of questions need to be tackled. “We can approximate and extrapolate based on the data we already have, but we will not really know until we land in those regions,” he said.

“As we learned from the Apollo missions, lunar dust can cause a wide range of issues, including being a hazard to astronaut health, sticking to all kinds of surfaces like spacesuits, visors and windows, solar panels, and radiators,” Núñez said. Lunar dust also degrades seals, fabrics, and mechanisms. Dealing with dust is going to require an “integrated dust mitigation strategy,” he added, such as using slow, methodical movements and allow adequate time for dust cleaning protocols, as well as keeping spacesuits outside of the pressurized habitat or lunar rover, to utilizing an electrodynamic dust shield to repel dust off materials.

Núñez said that NASA’s Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative is accelerating the development of many of these dust mitigation technologies that are important for enabling human missions on the surface of the moon.

MOON SIMULANTS

The reactive nature of lunar dust to humans is another area flagged by APL’s Karl Hibbitts, lead facilitator for the ISRU focus group of the Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium. The lunar dust has been known to be troublesome in this area since the Apollo era. The particles are chemically very reactive, he said, thus the potential health concern (although various passivation techniques to make them less reactive are being explored).

Apollo 11 Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin’s bootprint. Aldrin photographed this bootprint about an hour into their lunar extra-vehicular activity on July 20, 1969, as part of investigations into the soil mechanics of the lunar surface. This photo would later become synonymous with humankind’s venture into space. Credit; NASA

“We have attempted to study the reactivity of lunar soils in the lab,” Hibbitts said, “but the studies I know of have all been on samples already altered by the Earth’s atmosphere. The new studies on carefully curated lunar soils will hopefully shed some new insights.” Furthermore, as far as “simulants” go — concoctions of made-on-Earth material to imitate the properties of the lunar regolith — one has to choose which properties one needs the simulants to mimic. “It’s not possible to create literally tons of lunar soil, or possibly even a small amount. Facilities are just now learning how to make realistic agglutinates,” he added, and yet to be reproduced is the nanophase metallic iron that’s resident in the moon’s regolith.

“We’re getting better at approximating the shape and size distribution function, but the reactivity could only be mimicked by production in a vacuum chamber and will always be limited to tiny quantities,” Hibbitts told SpaceNews.

So far, human contact with tiny, very sharp, glassy lunar dust particles only occurred briefly during the Apollo missions, said Peter Sim, an emergency medicine specialist in Newport News, Virginia. But in returning to the moon and establishing a long-term presence, lunar dust, in sufficient doses, represents a “toxic threat” to human health, he said.

The respiratory system is particularly susceptible, Sim said, but the eyes, skin, and possibly the gastrointestinal tract and other organs may also be affected. Primary prevention of human exposure to lunar dust “should be our number one goal,” he advised.

He added that NASA’s new Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) spacesuit will help keep the dust at bay. It has a group of dust-tolerant features, to prevent inhalation, or contamination of the suit’s life support system. Still, keeping habitats dust-free by minimizing incursions, and using effective atmospheric filtration systems, will be a major challenge. “Monitoring of the dust that is present inside lunar habitats will be crucial, since the hab is the place where astronauts are most likely to be exposed. Because of this, the quantity, size, and potential toxicity of the ‘hab dust’ is of paramount importance,” he said.

SpaceNews contributor Leonard David is the author of “Moon Rush: The New Space Race” published by National Geographic in May 2019.

This article originally appeared in the Dec. 14, 2020 issue of SpaceNews magazine.

#Space

[flightfoot]

Convalescence Ch. 4

Thanks to @garecc for betaing!

Week 0, Day 0

Thalia’s POV

I received the dream the night after the battle on Mount Olympus.

I and the other Hunters had been pretty confused initially when Artemis teleported away, the newly resurrected Meg tagging along with her. That look on Lady Artemis’s face when she rushed over to Meg, as she held the green bundle… I wasn’t able to see exactly what was going on, but I knew that something WONDERFUL had occurred.

With Artemis gone, I couldn’t ponder what had happened for very long. She was counting on me to look after her Hunters in her stead. We all swiftly disembarked from Mt. Olympus, filling up the elevators several times. I did NOT want us to get caught up in the gods’ squabbling as they tried to figure out what to do, with Zeus gone, Apollo… maybe alive? Somehow? I wasn’t clear on the details, but nothing else could have made Artemis so happy after she’d just heard that he had died. I know better than most how painful it is to hear that your little brother, your baby brother, is DEAD. That you failed them. That you WEREN’T THERE.

“Thalia?” one of the Hunters, Camila, asked hesitantly. She was a new addition. We’d found her a few months ago crying in a shed, bruises coloring her skin from where her captor had beaten her. She was only fourteen, yet had endured her family’s death by gang violence, crossing the border into the U.S. to try to find SOME sort of life for herself, some sort of HOPE… only to discover that the people who had brought her over, only wanted to use her and abuse her.

We’d taken down that entire ring of human traffickers. That filth was worse than the most crazed of beasts.

“Are you OK?” she questioned, concerned. I looked down. My hands were trembling slightly, and I could feel my eyes watering and my nose starting to run. I turned away. I needed to be the strong, fearless leader. I couldn’t afford to break down now, not yet. I had to be in control. When I’d first found out that he’d died on Apollo’s quest…

I shoved that memory out of my mind. Regrets would do no good now. Focus on the problem at hand. Many of my Hunters had been injured, but none too badly. They’d be well enough to travel tomorrow.

“I’ve heard reports that poachers are hunting down the few wild Monokerata that are left. It’s our job to protect them. We’ll rest today, and start making our way to the Monokerata habitat at dawn tomorrow.”

Several Hunters murmured angrily at that. Everyone loved the Monokerata - known more commonly these days as Unicorns. To hear that someone would harm them… well, I doubted that they would get out of this alive.

I retired to my tent a few hours later. It had been a long day, and I needed sleep.

Artemis contacted me that night in my dreams.

She was holding a tiny baby with golden curls. My heart constricted. I remembered when mother had brought Jason home from the hospital. This baby looked just like him.

Artemis looked up at me. She spoke psychically, not moving her mouth, presumably so she didn’t wake the infant.

“Thalia, I’m sorry I was unable to talk with you after everything that happened. I wanted to get Apollo out of there as quickly as I could, to a safe place for him, far away from any who might hurt him. And I REALLY didn’t want him to get caught up in the other Olympians’ squabbles.”

“So that’s Apollo?” I asked, waving at the baby. I had suspected as much, but it was another thing to have it confirmed. Gods could appear as anything they wanted, but I’d never seen a god CHOOSE to appear that young. Then again, I was pretty sure it wasn’t a choice…

“What happened to him? Zeus said Apollo died! Did he come back from the dead somehow? Come to think of it, how did Meg come back?”

“Apollo DID die. Fortunately, he and Meg shared a mental bond, similar to the empathy bonds that satyrs sometimes form. Unlike those bonds, when one of them died, instead of the other person dying from the shock, Meg kept his soul alive and together instead. Remember how Kronos possessed Luke? Meg basically enforced a far, FAR milder version of that in order to keep Apollo together and help him heal.”

I tensed at the comparison. Anything that was comparable to what Kronos did to Luke sounded like bad news to me. Artemis noticed my guarded expression.

“Don’t worry, he would never have been able to possess her. Nor would he have been willing to harm her. Truthfully it’s more similar to the partnerships that Egyptian Magicians have with their gods, I just didn’t use that comparison because you haven’t met any Magicians yet. Meg would not have been harmed, even if he had remained inside her. Apollo’s power is far less corrosive than Kronos’s.”

I sighed in relief. I should have known it was okay. Apollo would NEVER have harmed Meg, even unconsciously. I had seen how much he cared for her when I met up with them at Camp Jupiter.

I buried the thought. Concentrate on Artemis. Thinking about Jason would NOT help anything.

“So what happened after that?” I prompted. “I understand why he’s not in the Underworld, but he and Meg should still be dead. And how did Meg make Zeus vanish? Making giant angry asshole gods disappear is NOT a Demeter power.”

Artemis smirked, her eyes glowing silver with mirth. “Meg was always strong - stronger than even I had suspected. After reincarnating the Meliai, an impressive feat in and of itself, she became MORE than a demigod. Her natural power, paired with her small amount of exposure to Apollo’s divine essence, and most importantly, her being worshiped by the nature spirits of Southern California, slowly transformed her into a god, similarly to how Dionysus transformed from demigod to god. Zeus incinerating her physical body completed the process. As Apollo’s essence was connected to her soul, she was able to drag Apollo back with her. His essence is tiny and weak at the moment, however. He’s stable, but we’re not sure how much of his memory and powers he has retained. But at least he’s alive,” she finished off, smiling softly at the sleeping baby Apollo.

Pangs of jealousy shot through my heart. She got her little brother back. She got to hold him safely in her arms. I would NEVER get that experience again, NEVER. I’d had such a short time with Jason before he was ripped away and seemingly killed. Even when I got him back, there was so much going on, I barely got to see him.

When communication went out, I was worried. I asked Apollo to check up on him while he was in the area, since I had to continue the Hunt. But he did more than that. He involved my little brother, my baby brother on his quest.

Apollo survived. Jason didn’t.

Don’t get me wrong, I know now that it wasn’t Apollo’s fault. Jason knew what was going to happen. He made his choice. He’d rather die than allow his friends to be killed, I KNOW that.

But feelings aren’t rational. They don’t quietly go away when reasoned with. Reason just makes them easier to suppress.

And right now, I was trying VERY hard to use reason to tamp down on my jealousy and sorrow. It wasn’t fair that Apollo and Meg got to come back when Jason didn’t. It just WASN’T. It wasn’t fair they survived while Jason was scattered ash. But it wasn’t their fault. It WASN’T.

It wasn’t mine either (I should have protected him. I was his older sister. I should have been there.)

Maybe one day I would even believe that.

“I’m glad that your little brother survived,” I muttered, trying desperately to keep the bitterness out of my voice.

Evidently I hadn’t succeeded. Artemis’s face turned somber.

“Thalia…” she began. She seemed to be desperately searching for words.

She seemed to give up a moment later, her shoulders slumping.

“I… I’ll talk to you later. Once Apollo is slightly less vulnerable. Just… please. Stay safe.”

The vision faded. I woke up with tears stinging at the corner of eyes. Alone, safely in the privacy of my personal tent, I cried for my baby brother.

0 - o - 0

Week 2, Day 0

Thalia’s POV

I received the summons a week after the battle. Artemis didn’t go into much detail. She simply stated that she, Meg, Apollo, and Leto were waiting for us at Camp Half-Blood... and to prepare for a memorial for Jason.

It took an entire week for us to reach Camp. We were on the other side of the country and kept on running into wild beasts to hunt. Truthfully, we could have made better time. I may have slowed us down a little, insisting on longer breaks than were necessary, or hunting beasts that weren’t immediate threats. I think some of the other Hunters noticed, but if so, they said nothing.

I knew that delaying wouldn’t solve anything. I had to go eventually. But every time I thought of Jason, I just wanted to shut down. I had pretended he didn’t exist for half my life, since Hera sent the wolves for Jason, leaving me to believe he was dead. I couldn’t do that this time. I WOULDN’T do that this time. Jason deserved to be remembered. My wonderful, brave, rash little brother deserved this memorial, to be remembered by EVERYONE.

Jason’s memorial wasn’t the ONLY reason for my apprehension. Apollo... he’d be at Camp. Seeing him in a vision while he was sleeping was one thing, but in person...?

My feelings towards Apollo were... complicated. I was bitter that he survived instead of my brother. His appearance was too similar to my brother’s to escape thinking of my baby brother... and how he was gone. But there was also an undercurrent of guilt. I hadn’t exactly been welcoming to Apollo when we met up again.

(some months ago)

We’d finally subdued the Teumessian fox. It had been a hard battle, but we’d chased it into Tartarus eventually. Just because the fox couldn’t be CAUGHT, didn’t mean it couldn’t be NEUTRALIZED. Portals to Tartarus are more common than you’d expect, thankfully.

We headed to Camp Jupiter. Hopefully, the Romans were able to hold off the attack Trophonious’s prophecy had told of. It would have already occurred by now, but perhaps we could help with the aftermath. With the newfound cooperation between Greeks and Romans, Hunters of Artemis were welcome in New Rome. I’d hoped to run into Annabeth and Percy as well since they were going to New Rome for college. At the very least, I’d get to talk to Reyna again. It’s a pity that girl didn’t want to be a Hunter. Anyone who could take me down while restrained was someone I wanted by my side.

We approached the Camp boundaries. Even from a distance, I could tell it had taken a beating. The walls surrounding the camp were burnt and crumbling in places. There were even gaps in the wall - unheard of for Romans. They were great builders and architects. For them to have not repaired the damage yet meant that either whatever had caused it had occurred VERY recently, they had higher priorities than repairing the walls, or that there weren’t enough resources or manpower to do so. Worst of all, it could be a mix of the three.

I attempted to calm myself. No point working myself up until I knew exactly what had happened. Maybe it wasn’t so bad.

I didn’t believe that.

At least Jason wouldn’t be among the casualties. He was many, many miles away at a boarding school. My little brother was safe. Though I still hadn’t heard from him...

I pushed that thought away. Communications were down. Not hearing from him was expected. Apollo would likely have visited Jason, he’d tell me how he was doing and soothe the nagging feeling in the back of my head.

We approached the gates. The sentry tensed. “Who are you?” He called. “State your business!”

This guard didn’t recognize us Hunters, which meant he was probably new. Come to think of it, he seemed rather young... why was an inexperienced recruit on duty when an attack seemed to have just occurred?

Fear curdled in my stomach. How shorthanded were they?

“We are the Hunters of Artemis,” I announced. “I am Artemis’s lieutenant, Thalia Grace. I need to speak with Reyna.”

The boy hesitated for a moment, but then left his post, presumably to retrieve Reyna. That was generally a bad call, leaving the gates unguarded, but it didn’t look like they had much of a choice. Again I wondered: what had happened here?

Reyna appeared on the watchtower a few minutes later. She glanced at us, then climbed down and opened the gates.

Reyna had seen better days. Bruises, cuts, and burns littered her body. She looked unkempt and exhausted, as if she hadn’t had a full night’s sleep in weeks. Her eyes were haunted, but the steely glint of determination still shone within them. Her eyes widened when she saw me, her face turning somber. Something cold trickled down my back. Why would looking at me cause her to become more depressed than she already seemed to be? I’d expect her to be glad to have more help, with the state things were in.

Unless something had happened to my friends. Annabeth. Percy. They were heading to New Rome. Could something have...?

I blurted out quickly, dreading having my suspicions confirmed, but needing to know, “Annabeth, Percy... are they alright?”

She nodded, her face not changing expression. “They arrived just a few hours ago. They’re resting in one of our spare tents right now .”

I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. They were fine. Anything else she had to tell me couldn’t possibly be as bad as their deaths would be... right?

I told myself that, but didn’t ask what WAS wrong. At the time I told myself that Reyna was simply sad about her fellow soldier’s death, that I’d been imagining it when she grew sadder upon seeing me. Now I can admit that I had suspected that something worse was coming. If I didn’t ask, then maybe nothing would be wrong. As soon as I asked, I wouldn’t be able to pretend things were alright. It’s a stupid philosophy, I know, but it got me through Jason’s death the first time. I’d simply pretended he’d never existed. That I’d always been an only child.

She looked at me as if expecting me to ask something. I didn’t. Finally, Reyna sighed. “Come. I have something to tell you. I think it would be best if you reunited with your friends first, before hearing the bad news.”

My dread increased. There was no doubt now; something truly terrible had happened, something that would devastate me personally. But I had no clue what it could be.

She escorted us through camp. Everywhere I looked I saw injured campers and devastation. Many buildings were heavily damaged by cannonballs, walls collapsing, bricks strewn about the ground. It’s a testament to Roman engineering that most of the structures hadn’t completely collapsed.

There were fewer legionnaires around than usual, and those that were up didn’t appear to be in much better shape than Reyna. Several were puffy around the eyes, as if they’d been crying.

Reyna escorted me to a large tent and opened the flap. Percy and Annabeth were sitting on a bed inside, holding each other, their faces streaked with tears.

It took them a minute to notice me. Annabeth saw me first. “Thalia...” she gasped, and collapsed into tears. I hugged her close to me, stroking her hair like I used to, back when it was just me, her, and Luke against the world, when she was a young child running from monsters. She may be older than me now, but I’d always comfort her when she needs it.

Percy looked up at Reyna. “Does she know?” he asked, his voice dead.

She shook her head. “Not yet. I want her to be here, with her friends, to hear the news.”

My heart froze. I could feel the air thicken with tension. The next few words would change my world.

But I couldn’t pretend forever. I had to know. “What happened?” I asked in a low voice. “Why are you crying? What happened that was so terrible, you had to wait until now to tell me?”

Reyna looked straight at me, her eyes swimming with tears, and uttered the words that would shatter my world. “Jason is dead.”

My vision blurred as I collapsed. On some level, I had expected it. That did not lessen the pain. Distantly I could hear Annabeth calling my name, stroking my hair, trying to return some semblance of the comfort I had given her. But all I could think was

Jason is dead.

He’s dead.

My little brother is dead.

He’s dead again.

And this time he’s not coming back.

I screamed. The guttural howl reverberated throughout camp. I was sure that everyone could hear my anguish, but I didn’t care. Nothing mattered. Not then.

I screamed until my throat was hoarse and raw. Choking on my sobs, I gasped out a question. “What happened?”

Reyna hesitated, reluctant. “I wasn’t there. I only know what I was told.”

“Just TELL ME!” I screamed, the air crackling with electricity, wind starting to blow inside the tent.

Reyna spoke slowly and clearly, so she would not have to say any of it twice. “Jason received a prophecy many months ago. It stated that if he and Piper went after the emperor Caligula, one of them would die. He decided that he couldn’t stand aside and let Caligula do what he wanted, nor could he allow Piper to die. He decided that he would be the one to die. When Apollo asked for his help fighting against Caligula, he accepted. He died fighting Caligula, holding him off long enough for Apollo, Meg, and Piper to escape.”

Of course.

Of COURSE, Apollo involved Jason in his quest. OF COURSE, Jason gave his life to save them. That was just the kind of stupid, heroic thing he’d do.

Caligula.

My blood boiled.

Was he still alive?

“Is Caligula dead?” I growled, my voice low and rough.

“Not yet,” Reyna replied, her voice determined and deadly.

“He launched an attack on camp a few hours after Apollo and Meg arrived with... “ Reyna stumbled on her words for a moment, “with Jason’s body. We didn’t even have time for a funeral before Caligula attacked a second time. His body is in the Fifth Cohort’s barracks. Would... would you like to see him?”

“Yes.” I croaked.

Reyna escorted me once again. We didn’t have far to travel, but each step seemed to stretch into eternity.

“I’ll let you have some privacy,” she spoke softly and walked back towards the tent we came from.

I opened the door to the barracks.

There he was.

My little brother. Dead in his bed. I could almost pretend he was sleeping, if not for the pallor to his skin.

Beside him sat a boy with curly brown hair. A young girl sat a few bunks away, fiddling with a belt. They looked up as I entered.

That boy... Apollo.

Apollo.

Apollo was here.

Apollo, who I had asked to check on my brother.

Apollo, who had involved Jason in his quest.

Apollo, who had lived while Jason had died.

Did he even care?

Did it matter to him at all?

The gods watched us die. Sometimes they killed us themselves. They expected us to sacrifice our lives again and again, while they just WATCHED. They would NEVER do what Jason had done.

Except for Artemis, a tiny voice whispered in my head. She trapped herself to save Annabeth.

I ignored it. Artemis was the exception, not the rule. I remembered all those years ago when Luke and I had been on the run together. We had entered a mansion, becoming trapped in it. But we had not been the only occupants. Halcyon Green, one of Apollo’s sons, had been confined there for decades. Apollo had cursed him for the crime of saving a young girl who wasn’t supposed to live. His punishment? Being trapped in his own home for decades, his voice stolen, used to lure in young demigods to die. How many demigods, how many CHILDREN had died before us? Did any of them care?

Apollo had been responsible for it all.

He was the worst of them all.

How DARE he be here?! How dare he even LOOK at Jason, after he’d gotten him killed?!

I let out an animalistic yell as I launched myself at Apollo.

“WHY. IS. MY. BROTHER. DEAD.” I screamed, lifting Apollo into the air and slamming him into the nearby wall. The air crackled with electricity, small bursts running down my arms and into Apollo’s body. He shuddered as he was slammed with wave after wave, convulsing, unable to leave my grasp. He made a soft choking noise as he stared back at me, terrified.

“GET OFF OF HIM!” I heard from my right. Golden scimitars flashed into existence as a small figure clad in green slammed into me, breaking my grasp, freeing Apollo. Meg interposed herself between me and my prey.

She glared up at me, the rhinestones on her glasses blazing. “He TRIED to save Jason! He risked his own life to try to get Jason home safely!”

I scoffed. “Risked his own life? Yeah, right. Gods don’t care about mortals’ lives. They’ve proven that again and again. Jason would be alive otherwise!”

“He did. He stabbed himself through the chest with his OWN ARROW to give Meg, Piper, and Jason a chance to escape!”

I let out a broken laugh. “Really? And how did THAT work out?”

“HE. TRIED.” She screamed.

Apollo spoke up, his voice softly cutting through the air, “If you want to hurt me... please. Just leave Meg out of it. I won’t fight back if you do that.”

“APOLLO!” Meg cried out, twisting around to face Apollo, aghast.

He just continued to look at me, resigned. Accepting whatever I would do to him.

The anger drained out of me. “You mean that,” I whispered. “You really mean that.”

Apollo just continued staring at me determinedly, though his whole body shook. He would accept whatever I would do to him, so long as his young friend wasn’t harmed.

I collapsed on the nearest bed. Hurting Apollo would not help anything. Jason would still be dead.

“Leave,.” I whispered hoarsely. “Leave me with my brother. And don’t come back.”

Apollo looked like he’d been slapped. He left without a word, Meg trailing after him.

I waited a moment, then another. I picked up a pillow and screamed into it.

I cried myself to sleep soon after.

(present)

I’d calmed down after a few days had passed. It wasn’t Apollo’s fault. My brother had made his choice, Apollo hadn’t chosen for him. Caligula was to blame, not him.

I still didn’t want to see Apollo. I felt bad that I’d attacked him, lashed out at him when he didn’t deserve it. But a part of me still blamed him for Jason’s death, even then.

When Reyna had requested the Hunters’ help in the final battle against Python and the Triumvirate, I’d agreed immediately. But I hadn’t approached Apollo when I saw him in the lead up to the fight. I saw him looking at me one time as if wanting to talk to me. I’d purposely turned away. It was safest not to interact with him. I hadn’t been sure how I would react if we started talking again.

When everyone was teleported to Mount Olympus and Zeus declared that Apollo had died, I didn’t know WHAT to think. I was still kinda pissed at him, but felt guilty for feeling pissed. Whatever my feelings, he didn’t deserve to die.

I didn’t have long to stew over my thoughts, since things got VERY hectic VERY quickly.

Now though… now I’d had time to think. I didn’t know exactly what state Apollo would be in when I saw him at Camp Half-blood, whether he’d regained more of his memories, whether he remembered Jason… and whether he remembered our fight. Though, I suppose it couldn’t really be called a fight. The other person has to fight back for that…

I shook off the thought and took a deep breath. We would arrive at camp within the hour. I needed to be ready.

——————————————————————————————————–

We arrived at camp as the sun peeked over the horizon. As we descended Half-Blood Hill to enter camp, I stared at my pine tree. I had held off Hades’ minions to give Luke and Annabeth time to escape and had died as a result. Or I would have, if Zeus hadn’t transformed me into a tree at the last minute.

I had survived my last stand.

Jason hadn’t survived his.

We made our way to Artemis’s cabin. A golden doe was watching a small grey tabby cat run around near the front entrance, climbing trees, jumping, and generally expending energy.

That doe… I took a closer look at her. She turned her head to face me, staring at me with cold silver eyes.

Ah. Artemis had decided to shapeshift into a deer for some reason. But why? And where did the cat come from?

Artemis turned back into her usual form of a twelve-year-old girl. “Thalia!” she greeted me. “I’ve been waiting for you. We need to discuss certain arrangements for your brother.”

Just then the small cat - more of a kitten, really, looking more closely at it - performed some impressive acrobatics off a nearby tree, leaping off a branch that was 15 feet off the ground onto a tree trunk, then jumping off of THAT trunk to ping-pong to a different trunk, just farther down, like a wall jump in a platformer game, except going downwards instead of upwards. On that jump, the kitten catapulted itself towards us, landing at our feet, standing proudly.

Artemis beamed at the kitten. “That was an excellent show of maneuverability, Meg!” she congratulated.

Wait… MEG?

The kitten glowed. A second later a small twelve-year-old girl had taken its place.

I blinked in surprise. I knew intellectually that Meg was a goddess now, but somehow I hadn’t thought about what all that meant. Like that she had shapeshifting powers now.

But why a kitten?

Meg noticed my quizzical look and explained. “Artemis is training me to use my divine powers better. Transformation can be really useful for stealth and moving around, plus it can be harder to hit a small target. I’ve tried other forms, but so far I’ve been most comfortable as a cat, so I’m practicing as that before trying to master other forms. I’ve still TRIED other forms though. Still, haven’t found a bird I’m comfortable with…” she muttered.

I stared for a moment, unsure what to say to that. Artemis broke the silence.

“Meg, could you fetch Apollo, please? I need to update Thalia on the plans for Jason’s memorial.

“Sure,” Meg said, and walked off to the nearby Apollo cabin.

Artemis turned to me. “Apollo wanted a memorial for Jason, something to let campers know who he was and what he did… and, I suspect, as a reminder to himself of what Jason meant to him. He had an idea for what it should be, but I wanted to run it by you first. You’re his sibling, you ought to have a say.”

She turned and stared at Half-blood hill, and at my tree in the distance. Even this far away, I could see the faint glow from the Golden Fleece which had set me free all those years ago.

“Apollo wanted a memorial near your tree. It seemed fitting, to have the two of you together. and he wanted it to have the last word Jason said, the thing that Jason drilled into his head - ‘Remember’“

That seemed like a good idea, but it needed more details. What would Jason want?

And I had it.

“I like that idea,” I spoke slowly, “but there needs to be more. Jason’s not the only one to have died, and he’d have HATED to be the only one remembered when other people deserve it too. Build the memorial. Make a plaque for Jason, telling who he was and why he died. But make it for MORE than just Jason. Surround it with the names of all the others who have died before their time, who died bravely - Greek, Roman, nymph, even machine if they have a soul. Make sure that all their sacrifices are recognized.”

Artemis smiled at me proudly. “That seems like a fine addition, Thalia.”

Meg rounded the corner just then, Apollo following close behind. I nearly gasped. With his blond hair and sky-blue eyes, he could’ve been mistaken for a two-year-old Jason - the age I lost him at the first time.

Apollo flinched when he saw me, retreating slightly. I winced. I’d felt kinda bad about hurting Apollo and yelling at him when he looked sixteen, but now? I felt pretty horrible. This child, who looked so much like my little brother, was scared of me - and for good reason.

Artemis noticed Apollo’s reaction and gave me a hard look. I couldn’t meet her eyes.

She turned to Apollo, shooting me a warning glare, as if saying I don’t know what you did, but if you hurt him, I’ll turn you into a jackalope.

She told Apollo my idea, to have the memorial be for everyone who dies, who deserves to be remembered. Apollo teared up a little at that, making a request, “Can we put Heloise, Money Maker, and Crest on the memorial too?”

I didn’t know who those people were - Money Maker, in particular, seemed like a VERY strange name - but they clearly meant a lot to him.

“They deserve to be remembered,” I announced somberly. “I’m sure Jason would like that.”

Apollo smiled as he started crying, tears running down his cheeks. He stepped towards me, looking like he was about to give me a hug - and then thought better of it, and stopped.

I needed to lay this to rest.

“I’m sorry,” I apologized. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you before, about Jason’s death. And I shouldn’t have hurt you,” at that, I heard a small hiss from Artemis, but I continued onwards. I’d take whatever punishment she deemed fit later. Apollo was my focus right now. “I was furious and wanted to hurt anyone or anything I could. That doesn’t excuse what I did. You were hurting too, I should have seen that. I DID see that but didn’t want to believe it. I needed someone to blame, and you were convenient. You didn’t deserve it. And I was wrong. You do care.”

Apollo stared at me, unbelieving. Then he surged forwards and wrapped his little arms around my leg, which was as high up as he could reach.

Meg escorted Apollo back to his cabin. Artemis waited until they were out of earshot, then confronted me. “You will not hurt Apollo again,” she stated coldly. It was a statement of fact, rather than a threat. She would not allow her little brother to be harmed, not now that she had the power to stop it.

That was fine with me. I had no intention of doing so.

She changed tone. “We’ll have the memorial service in three days time. That will be plenty of time for the Hephaestus cabin to craft the plaques and build the wall to record the fallen’s names on.”

Those three days passed quickly. Apollo no longer appeared nervous around me, though he didn’t seek me out much either.

On the morning of the third day, the entire camp assembled on Half-blood Hill. The Hephaestus cabin had installed the plaques and the memorial wall overnight. Jason Grace, Crest, Heloise, and Money Maker’s names were carved into the wall, as those of us who knew Jason best swapped stories. My rendition of how EXACTLY Jason had gotten that scar on his upper lip was extremely popular.

I heard a new name for the hill, in the snatches of conversation I caught at dinner. “Grace Hill.”

I smiled. I used to despise that last name because it reminded me of my mother, but now it meant something different. It connected me to my brother. It declared proudly that Jason had been my brother, my fantastic little brother.

Smiling, I decided that the name “Grace” wasn’t so bad after all.

[moonstonecockatiel]

(Part Two) PJO Secret Santa- “That’d be Nice” Solangelo Oneshot.

This is the secondary part to my PJO Secret Santa onehsot, as, unfortunately, tumblr only allows you to have 100 blocks of text per post. Firstly, here is the link to the onshot on AO3, if you prefer to read it there- https://archiveofourown.org/works/17129222 . This is a part of the @percyjackson-secretsanta and this is for @the-queerest-of-the-mall

——-

“What do you want, Aphrodite?” Nico turned around to face the goddess. One moment, her hair seemed to be a short cloud of corn-yellow curls, her eyes a deep, orchid blue. Then, suddenly, for a fleeting second, her hair turned to deep, brown, beachy waves, her eyes taking on a more seaglass-green tint. The goddess simply laughed, summoning a prop chair next to her.

“Oh, it's quite simple, actually- Apollo sent me,” she said, sleekly taking a seat in the old chair. Nico’s own words caught in his throat, his whole body going cold. He hardly even noticed the chair next to him.

“It's fine to be nervous in the face of moi, mon chère, but I don't see why you had to run away from that Will Solace boy,” she purred. The chair seemed to lurch forward, catching the back of Nico’s knees and forcing him to sit.

“I had a perfectly good reason to, and I don't see why Apollo would even care,” Nico protested, gesturing with his hands (a very particular habit of his). Aphrodite raised her eyebrows, smiling thinly.

“Are you sure about that, young one?” Aphrodite leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand. “Because I can tell what you're thinking, and let me tell you,” she threw her head back laughing, “That boy is simply hopelessly into you; you nearly gave him a heart attack with that kiss!” Nico uncomfortably scooted his chair back, wanting to just wake up already.

“Why should I believe you?”

Aphrodite’s laughing ceased, her smile gone in an instant. “Are you really challenging the actual Goddess of Love on this, Di Angelo?”

“I'm not challenging you, I'm wondering why I should believe you- I have no reason to believe that Will would ever…” Nico couldn't say the final words, no matter how hard he tried. Aphrodite let out a mix of a sigh and a groan, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Now I see why I never hear about you from Persephone, dear me-” she raised her hand, the scene around them beginning to fade, her voice taking on an even deeper echo.

“Tomorrow, when Annabeth wakes you up, and she tells you to meet up with Will, don't argue, alright? I’ll show you just how right I am.”

*.*.*

“He’s not waking up, do you think-” the voices around him faded in and out of clarity as Nico slowly awoke, groaning as he stretched out his legs.

“Oh, gods above, you're finally up,” a voice said, sounding incredibly relieved.

“Annabeth?” Nico groggily muttered, uneasily trying to stand up. He saw a blurry hand reach out, and he gladly took the help.

“Hey, I'm here too,” another voice said. Goddamnit, Percy, Nico mentally complained.

“Thanks for helping me up, you absolute buffoon,” Nico deadpanned, glaring at Percy directly in the eyes. Percy simply rolled his eyes in response.

“Are you alright, Nico? Will said something happened last night and that he wanted to talk to you about it today, but he couldn't find you and-”

“I'm fine, Annabeth,” Nico said, suddenly startled awake by her words. “Why did Will want to talk to me?”

Annabeth glanced at Percy, nervously chewing on the inside of her lip. “I think it's best if you go talk to him yourself,” she lowered her voice. Percy cocked his head to the side, confused.

“Is there something I'm missing?” Percy asked as Nico started In the direction of the camp. He briefly turned to Percy, walking backwards.

“I’ll tell you later, Perc,” Nico began to rush off, only quietly hearing Annabeth’s voice behind him.

“He’s at the edge of the forest, by the Artemis cabin!” She called out, only receiving a thumbs-up in response.

Nico’s joints were still cramped and sore from his running the night before, along with his uncomfortable sleeping position. It took him awhile to find it, but, finally, at the top of the tallest tree behind the silvery cabin, sat a familiarly handsome face.

“Mind if I join you up there?” Nico asked. Will visibly jumped at the sudden sound, clearly yelping.

“I thought you’d never come, death boy,” Will called down to his friend, a smile stretching across his features. Nico, with some difficulty, climbed his way up to Will’s branch, skeletal butterflies flapping erratically around in his stomach.

“Well, I couldn't pass up the chance,” Nico said, before noticing the pink tinge to Will’s shoulders that clearly wasn't blush. He scoffed. “Nice sunburn, by the way.”

Will ruffled Nico’s hair, secretly admiring how soft it was. “Nice bedhead, dork,” Nico, to Will’s pleasant surprise, seemingly squeaked in faux-offense.

“At least my bedhead is actually admirable- your hair looks like a mess,” Nico joked, ruffling Will’s hair in return. They both chuckled, revelling in the familiarity of the scene. Maybe things weren't ruined.

“So… about last night,” Will nervously confided. Nico shifted uncomfortably, laughing in an attempt to clear the air. Finally, he looked to his right- Will was sitting with his left leg crossed over his right, his hand lightly brushing against Nico’s.

“Look, Will, I'm so sorry about what I did, I-I just-”

“It was good.”

“I don't know what I was thinking, and-” Nico paused, finally realizing what he’d said. “W-What?”

Will couldn't help but laugh at his baffled friend. Nico’s mouth hung open in shock, his stuttering barely discernible.

“I said it was good, Nico. You don't need to apologize,” Will admitted, setting his arm on Nico’s shoulder. Nico leaned away from him, shaking Will’s arm off.

“I just… I thought I ruined our friendship, I really don't know what I was thinking,” Nico rested his head in his other hand, the bandaging somewhat uncomfortable.

“You didn't ruin anything,” Will scooted a bit closer, making eye contact with Nico. A small grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. “I really like you, Nico.”

Nico took a moment to respond, his shaking hands resting on his chest in shock, his heart going a mile a minute. “I-I really like you too, Will.”

“Wow, I never thought I’d see the ‘Ghost King’ himself get so flustered,” Will jested. Nico’s face flushed a slightly darker rosy hue as he finally stopped stammering.

“Y-you just caught me off-guard, that's all,” Nico sputtered. Will cocked his head to one side, his hand casually intertwining with Nico’s.

“Are you sure about that, Neeks?” He commented. Nico couldn't help but almost double-over laughing at his friend trying to be smooth.

“You're such a dork, Will,” Nico lightly said, his blush finally fading.

“Okay, that I’ll admit to,” Will laughed along with his friend. He hardly even noticed the stinging sunburn he had, now. The two joked for a while, the early-morning sky growing ever bluer. Having been up much earlier than intended, both boys slowly fell into a slight haze of sleepiness that was met with half-hearted conversation and heavy eyelids. Nico leaned into Will’s shoulder, surprisingly comfortable, considering his stance on physical contact. Will softly wrapped an arm around Nico’s waist, hoping the other boy didn't push him away. Much to Will’s delight, he didn't. And so, the two lay there, Will in mild shock at the fact that Nico would even make this much physical contact with anyone, and Nico half asleep.

“This feels incredibly cheesy,” Nico muttered into Will’s sleeve, enjoying the warmth of the other boy against the chilly, autumn morning.

“I think I can make it cheesier,” Nico almost opened his mouth to respond when he was caught up in a sudden, light-as-a-feather kiss, Will’s lips brushing against his for a moment. Nico sat up, gently setting his hand on the back of Will’s neck and deepening the kiss. This time, the kiss was expected and had a sort of rhythm to it. Soon, Will’s hand was tangled in the back of Nico’s thick, black, curly hair, with Nico having to rest on Will’s knee in order to balance comfortably. When they had to finally pull away, Nico rested his forehead against Will’s, the two both grinning like idiots.

“So, what does this make us?” Nico asked. Will chuckled.

“Boyfriends, I would assume,” he said. Nico shook his head, grimacing.

“Don't get me wrong, it's cute, but I honestly hate using that word,” he responded, having to help Will untangle his hand from Nico’s messy hair.

“Would you rather me use ‘Special guy’? ‘Significant Other’? ‘Mutually Queer Romantic Partners’?” Will joked. Nico wheezed from laughing, leaning back on his hands.

“More like significant annoyance, in your case,” Nico muttered. Will rolled his eyes, looking out at the camp. The sun was close to being fully up now, a couple wispy clouds stringing around a blue sky, lined with peach light.

“Y’know, I think I actually have an infirmary shift this morning.”

“I can walk you there.”

Will could hardly sputter out a response at first. Usually, Nico didn't even like to be awake so early, much less being seen out of his cabin before eight A.M.

“T-that’d be delightful,” Will stammered as the two began climbing down the tree branches. The two walked on the old, dusty footpath that lead to the infirmary, both enjoying the subtle warmth from the sun, and Nico enjoying the breeze that continually blew hair into Will’s face. Birds began chattering high in the branches above, and the two boys could hear the sounds of the camp slowly coming awake.

“Can I hold your hand?” Because he didn't want to push Nico’s boundaries. Because he didn't know if he was out yet.

For a fleeting second, an uneasy expression crossed Nico’s face, before he loosely and lightly held Will’s hand. “Sure.”

Soon, the two arrived at the infirmary, Will’s breathing hitching as he heard a certain Daughter of Aphrodite shrieking inside. Nico lightly squeezed his partner’s hand.

“She’ll be okay, sunshine,” Nico tried to comfort Will, to little response. Finally, Will turned to him, placing a light kiss on the back of Nico’s hand, before letting go of it.

“I’ll probably see you at dinner,” Will said as he opened the door. Nico began slowly walking backwards a bit to leave.

“Of course- bye, Sunshine,” Will managed to smile.

“Goodbye, Death Boy.”

[regina-del-cielo]

Beauty and the Beast - Half-Blood Camp!AU

I’m not really into the Percy Jackson series, since at the time I read just the first book (and the first half of the second) but still I got Ideas™. Blame me and my knack for Greek mythology. Some random thoughts, anyway.

Belle is a daughter of Athena and basically a genius - her godly-inherited abilities were strongly nurtured by Maurice (who’s still an inventor); they even found a way to waltz around Belle’s dislexia by modifying a Kindle to read her e-books - even school text books. 

She’s ‘discovered’ by Agathe, who’s actually a grown-up Half-Blood, daughter of Hekate (the goddess of magic) that acts as a sort of talent-scout; she travels the world in search of children of the gods to make sure they get recognized (and kept safe). Belle is skeptical at first, but when Maurice confirms her that, indeed, her mother was a goddess, she accepts to go to Half-Blood Camp for the summer.

She doesn’t even get to sleep one night at the House of Hermes - she gets ‘acknowledged’ literally five minutes after setting foot at the Camp. She’s elated of meeting other people who think like her - in terms of strategy and logic, and are as thirsty of knowledge as she is.

Gaston is one of Ares’ sons - and also their unofficial boss; he’s as boorish, self-centered and manipulative as we all remember him, with the plus of being basically worshipped by his half-brothers and sisters. He’s got tons of accomplished missions under his belt, but he’s also very much of a bully, especially with new boys. He’s intrigued by Belle because ‘she’s quite cute for being a child of Athena’ - and can’t comprehend how she could not want him.

Lumiére is the most Extra™ among the sons of Hermes and everybody loves him - he and Belle become friends through Babette, who’s a daughter of Aphrodite and the most precious cinnamon roll of the Camp. Those two are the sappiest couple to ever walk the Camp’s meadows.

Lumiére is also Adam’s best friend, since they arrived together at the Camp and while Adam was Lumiére’s bodyguard when they were younger, he’s the only one who can deal with Adam’s temper. Well, apart from Babette, but that’s because it’s physically impossible to be angry at Babette.

Adam is the Camp’s mystery. He’s been there for years, yet he has never been acknowledged (he stays at the House of Hermes with Lumiére) and there’s a running bet of who he could be son of. He’s heart-stoppingly handsome, so some say he’s a child of Aphrodite. But he’s also strong, with great fighting skills and quite a raging temper, similarly to Ares’ children. Lumiére is convinced that his dry wit is proof of them being brothers (also because they’re both very Extra™).

Adam and Gaston can’t stand each other. Gaston hates Adam’s guts because he’s a fair match for him in battle and also because no matter what he does, he apparently can’t beat Adam’s awesomeness at having discovered his half-god nature by defeating a monster (disguised as a bear) with his bare hands and pure survival instincts kicking in. Adam despises Gaston’s ways since day one, when the black-haired one tried to bully Lumiére.

LeFou is a son of Demeter and the only thing he’s ever done wrong in his life is being friends with Gaston. People may hate Gaston, but have nothing bad to say about LeFou.

Cogsworth is a staff member, and he’s rumoured to be a son of Chronos for his obsession with time, order and punctuality. Fact is, nobody knows where he comes from or how he ended up managing the Camp, the only thing they know is that he’s always there and is allowed to check that Dionysos actually drinks strawberry juice.

Mrs Potts was a former guest of the Camp, as she’s a daughter of Demeter, but after her husband’s death she came back to work there because she knew from experience that many of the children there have a hard life at home and so she wants to be as much as a good parental figure as she can be for them all. 

Chip is her son and lives with her at the Camp. He’s basically the mascot and is shamelessly pampered by the girls.

Madame Garderobe and Cadenza are the music teachers, and former guests of the Camp (Cadenza as son of Apollo, M.me Garderobe as daughter of Aphrodite); they’re married and very much in love - they compete with Lumiére and Babette in sappiness.

Belle and Adam come in contact through Babette and Lumiére. Adam is gruff and a bit rude at first, but Belle isn’t one to be walked over and actually starts arguments with him.

At first he dislikes her for that, but then starts liking the challenge. Also their shared dislike for Gaston certainly helps.

Adam has struggles in concentrating even when reading in Greek, and once grumbles about it in front of Belle. She proceeds to lend him one of her audiobooks and an entire new world opens to him.

He finds out he learns better if he hears things being told to him instead of reading them on a piece of paper. Even better with music.

Belle and Adam end up collaborating during ‘battle games’ and they work so well together that they become a sort of dynamic duo.

After Belle’s first summer at the Camp, she and Adam correspond regularly. He even visits her at her house during winter (at first together with Babette and Lumiére, then by himself).

They go to missions together and bring back one success after another. It’s like they can read each other’s minds and not even need to talk to kick ass like pros.

Gaston doesn’t like his records being beaten. Especially since there’s a girl in the team beating him.

By the third summer together Adam is head over heels in love with Belle.

Lumiére and Babette are Hardcore Shippers™ and try every possible way to get them together as a couple.

Adam is actually Apollo’s son - Belle and him are summoned on Olympus because of their impressive feats; Belle is immediately greeted by Athena, while as soon as the gods set their eyes on Adam they all turn to Apollo and go like “hey he’s your spitting image mate” and Adam is pretty like ‘wtf if it’s so obvious why did he never bother’ and Artemis takes Apollo’s ear “you go around fathering babies and then forget to acknowledge them what’s the matter with you??” 

Adam ‘celebrates’ finally knowing who his godly parent is by kissing Belle squarely on the mouth in front of the entire Pantheon.

Aphrodite pumps her fist at the scene.

Any addition or correction is totally welcome!

[biofunmy]

Get Ready for NASA’s First All-Female Spacewalk

It happened by accident, really. After a rocket launch aborted mid-flight, grounding two astronauts who were supposed to go to the International Space Station, NASA had to shift its schedule. Without thinking much of it, the agency announced that Christina Koch and Anne McClain — two women — would do the spacewalk instead, and just in time for Women’s History Month.

“First All-Woman Spacewalk,” celebratory headlines declared, only to turn critical when it was announced that, actually, the first all-woman spacewalk would not happen as planned, because NASA didn’t have enough spacesuits to fit the two female astronauts. (Both needed a size medium.) “Make another suit,” Hillary Clinton tweeted.

NASA did prepare another suit, and Ms. Koch and Jessica Meir will make history on Friday when they venture outside the International Space Station for a six-and-a-half-hour mission. It is the first all-woman spacewalk in more than five decades of spacewalking.

Jessica Bennett, The Times’ gender editor, and Mary Robinette Kowal, author of the “Lady Astronaut” book series, discussed the walk’s significance — along with spacesuit construction, menstruation in space and who’s really better at dealing with the stress of spaceflight.

Jessica Bennett: So these women are installing lithium-ion batteries to improve the station’s power supply. And then Ms. Koch will remain in orbit for a number of months, so that researchers can observe the effects of long-term spaceflight on a woman’s body. It’s fascinating to think that we just don’t know enough about the effects of spaceflight on a woman’s body.

Mary Robinette Kowal: It’s not surprising, given how few women have been in space. Of the more than 560 people who have been in space around the world, only 65 have been women. There are some things that we’ve learned from the ground, such as the fact that men and women have different sweat patterns. Men sweat more than comparably fit women, and the areas where they sweat the most occur in different parts of the body. On a spacewalk, the astronauts have to wear a cooling and ventilation garment to maintain their body temperature at a safe level, but it was designed for male bodies.

JB: So basically like how office temperatures are set at the temperature for men’s bodies. I’m shivering in my cubicle as I type this.

MRK: Exactly. The fictional “ideal man” is used to set chair heights, temperatures and even ladder rungs. But there are other questions, about things like vision, that can only be tested in space. Male astronauts go through a vision change over extended periods in microgravity. They get nearsighted, essentially. Women haven’t experienced the same change. We don’t know why.

JB: Speaking of bodily differences, I will never forget reading about how, as Sally Ride prepared to become the first American woman in space, in 1983, she was asked by male NASA engineers how many tampons she might need for a week. “Is 100 the right number?” they asked her. “No, that would not be the right number,” she told them. Can we agree that is a lot of tampons? Apparently they strung them together like sausages, tying their strings so they wouldn’t float away.

MRK: Can you imagine the bandolier of tampons floating around the cabin? They ended up cutting the number back to 50. To be fair, the engineers probably did some intelligent math by looking at tables of absorbency and average flow. However, if there had been any women on the team, they might have known to just ask her and then double that for redundancy.

JB: The agency also designed a makeup kit for Sally Ride, right?

MRK: Yup. Because of course a woman would need makeup in space! Sally Ride, in fact, did not want it. “It was about the last thing in the world that I wanted to be spending my time in training on,” she said in a 2002 interview.

JB: What happens when you try to put makeup on in space?

MRK: You can’t include powder, because it would float and become an eye irritant. So, you’ve got mascara, eyeliner, blush, eye shadow, eye-makeup remover and lip gloss.

JB: God forbid you go into space without lip gloss.

MRK: While Ride had no interest, Rhea Seddon was aware of how the media treated women without makeup. “If there would be pictures taken of me from space, I didn’t want to fade into the background,” she said. This time NASA asked the women astronauts to help them develop the kit.

JB: This is so fascinating, because this wasn’t just considered fluff — these were serious conversations happening at the time about whether women could and should be allowed in space. As I understand it, there’s a report from the 1960s that raised concerns about putting “a temperamental psychophysiologic human” (read: a hormonal woman) together with a “complicated machine” (the spacecraft). The authors of that same report also feared that microgravity might increase the incidence of “retrograde menstruation” — i.e., blood might flow the other way.

MRK: I would blame it on the 1960s, but honestly, there are people today who don’t understand how menstruation works. The irony is that the actual science parts of that study demonstrated that, in many ways, women are actually better suited than men for space travel. They are smaller and lighter, on average, and consume fewer resources.

JB: Women astronauts also handle stress better, is that right?

MRK: Yes. We know this because of a series of experiments conducted by Dr. W. Randolph Lovelace II with women who called themselves the “First Lady Astronaut Trainees.” The Air Force started the program, then worried that people might think they were actually going to send a woman into space. So they passed it off to Dr. Lovelace’s clinic. He ran a group of women pilots through the same tests he gave the male Mercury astronauts. Among other things, he found that they handled stress testing significantly better than men.

JB: This happened in 1960, and yet there is a famous 1962 NASA letter written to a young girl who was interested in becoming an astronaut, in which the agency explains that they have “no present plans to employ women on spaceflights” because of the training and “physical characteristics” required.

MRK: Well, by that point, they realized that they wouldn’t need receptionists and secretaries in space. Seriously. That was one of the reasons for the support of the initial testing.

JB: How much better did those women actually handle the stress?

MRK: Let’s compare John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, with Jerrie Cobb, the first of the First Lady Astronaut Trainees. Glenn’s stress testing consisted of sitting in a dark room for three hours. There was a desk with some paper. He wrote poetry. Cobb and the other women went into a sensory deprivation tank. It was thought that six hours in the tank would induce hallucinations. Cobb was in there for 9 hours and 40 minutes when it was finally ended by the staff. But she didn’t write any poetry so … you know. One of the women in the FLATs was a mother of eight, and I always imagine her feeling like this was a vacation.

As a side note: For years, the Air Force thought women could not fly jets, because their ability to tolerate the high-gravity forces of acceleration seemed to be lower. It turns out the G-suits were built for male bodies and didn’t make contact in the right places for women. When they got suits that fit, miraculously, they performed as well.

JB: So that brings us back to spacesuit sizes. The earlier all-woman walk didn’t happen because both women needed a size medium torso. But of course, NASA didn’t have multiple mediums ready, because they simply hadn’t needed the size. Is it safe to say that spacesuits have been designed by and for men?

MRK: Certainly this generation of suit, but it’s important for people to understand how outdated these spacesuits are. The suits we’re talking about were designed in the late 1970s based on Apollo technology. Rhea Seddon, one of the first six astronauts, worked with NASA to create suits that would work for women. So they designed extra-small, small, medium, large, and extra large suits. The extra-smalls were never built. The smalls and extra-larges were cut for budget reasons. Men complained about not being able to fit, so NASA brought the extra-larges back. They never brought back the smalls.

These suits are modular, so you can swap out parts, but it’s a time-consuming process, never designed to be done in zero gravity. So when they decided to restaff the last spacewalk and postpone the all-female walk? That was absolutely the right choice.

JB: So do we think NASA might consider hiring a female spacesuit designer?

MRK: In fact, they have. The lead spacesuit engineers at NASA for the Artemis suits, which we’ll take to the moon, are Amy Ross and Kristine Davis. It’s a truly beautiful piece of engineering, with a back entry, which not only makes donning it easier but also means that the geometry of the shoulders allows for a wider range of motion.

One other thing I want to mention is that this spacewalk won’t truly be an all-woman team. The robotic arm will have to be driven by one of the men on the station. The spacewalk on Oct. 10 was the first time that women outnumbered the men. The coordinator on the ground was Stephanie Wilson, also an astronaut. Jessica Meir operated the robotic arm, and Christina Koch spacewalked with Andrew Morgan. He was the only man involved in the spacewalk.

NASA is working on having gender equity in the program. Currently they have 38 active astronauts and 12 of them are women. But it’s an international station. The other countries have only three active women astronauts.

JB: So in other words, let’s not call this a victory just yet.

Sahred From Source link Health

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