#i loved the fact that the thing got the actual leader of the camp and almost got away...then fumbled by accident lol

[arolesbianism]

Thinks oh so hard abt the spiraling upwards clan founders, especially the birchclan founders. Silly lil kitties who's pasts are drenched in blood with the primary regret of not drawing it sooner

[roach-works]

So no pressure to answer whatsoever! You're the first person I've ever seen express they don't think Jesus actually existed ever in any form? (if I read that right, admittedly) Given I thought the furthest camp was "I believe there was a historical person who existed who the figure of Jesus is based on, and that he was a figure of importance of his time, but I also know there was a lot of deliberate rewriting of history where he is concerned, so it is difficult to find the kernels of historical truth between the mythologized figure" I am curious how you arrived at "not a real guy who ever actually happened"

-we have no archaeological evidence of the guy. no artifacts or surviving contemporary records.

-all firsthand attestations that he existed are written well after his death, in some cases by people who couldn't have overlapped his life

-there were a lot of guys named yeshua in nazareth around that time.

-crucifixion was a common punishment for criminals such as anti-authoritarian cult leaders

-rome annexed judea. we do have proof of this. a LOT of jews were mad as hell about what happened to their homeland and their religion and were exploring alternatives. and getting killed for it.

-it's entirely likely that a century later a singular Miracles Josh was syncretized out of the various young revolutionaries that stood up and denounced the religious and secular authorities of the day and then got crucified.

-i don't think any single one of them was the true messiah who actually did miracles and had the mandate of heaven any more than i think a greek guy named heracles was really born of zeus and did all that superhero stuff.

-christian sources love misquoting atheist and jewish scholars when they give very cautious answers along the lines of 'its very likely there was a yeshua of nazareth around that time who had some friends and said some antiauthoritarian stuff. because lots of people did. it would be statistically unlikely if every josh in town was nice about the roman occupation for like two hundred years.'

-was that josh back then our big boy jesus christ the son of god who actually existed? if he didn't, the church invented him anyway. if he did, it wouldn't matter. the stated position of the christian faith is that he definitely for sure existed and absolutely as a fact did all that stuff, and you have to believe it no matter what.

-but there's no proof and im not christian. so no. i think you guys made the whole thing up.

[unstoppableobjects]

some of my headcanons for the pitt:

- Robby is really outdoorsy and loves hiking. In fact, one of his favorite parts about living in Pittsburgh is all the trails in and around the city. He’s been to most of the national parks and used to really love to camp, but now in his “old age” prefers a cabin over a tent (much to the delight of Heather, who’s more of a Turks and Caicos than Yosemite kind of gal).

- Santos loves reality TV and there’s not a show on Bravo that she hasn’t seen or won’t watch. When she moved to Pittsburgh, she was most excited to go see the Abby Lee Dance Company from Dance Moms.

- Mel loves the rush of emergency medicine and the exciting variety of procedures she gets to perform, but her time in the ER teaches her how much she truly loves working with kids and getting to form lasting connections with patients. This ultimately leads her to become an obstetrician - and really damn good one!

(I love my princess pookie bear diva icon legend Dr. Mel and I want her to be on the show forever, but you can’t tell me that she wouldn’t just love and be the absolute best at delivering babies and being a compassionate advocate for expecting and postpartum moms)

- Frank is short for Fitzgerald.

- Mateo convinces Javadi to take a gap year after the end of this year to take some time off and have all the young dumb fun of early adulthood that she’s missed out on being the medical prodigy of overbearing doctor parents (of course, he’s right there with her as often as he can be, helping her make the most of her time off).

- Heather LOVES fashion. She’s got a Nordstrom credit card and reads British Vogue instead of American Vogue because she knows it’s better. Samira says her style is “quiet luxury” - Khaite, The Row, Celine. Sure, her time in finance practically necessitated that she have a familiarity with all the finer things in life (we see that Cartier necklace girl!), but she really loves the art and the craftsmanship behind luxury fashion. Once she went into medicine, her time spent out of scrubs became precious and she doesn’t want to spend a moment of it not as comfortable and pampered as she can possibly be.

- Heather is a major mentor and advocate for Samira, as she knows just how desperately important it is for a doctor to be thorough and stand up for marginalized patients in the way that Samira does. She hates how Robby takes his frustrations with Gloria and the hospital administration out on a doctor as competent as Samira, finding it especially hypocritical knowing how much he detests the way they view patients as numbers instead of people.

- In fact, addressing his internalized biases as a doctor becomes a major point of both tension as well as growth professionally (and personally!) for Robby and Heather, especially as she becomes an attending. She pushes him to confront and correct the blind spots he has around gender and race that can affect how he does his job. It’s not easy, but it makes them both become better leaders, physicians, and people.

- Princess was a travel nurse for a decade and has some absolutely unhinged stories from those years. Even Perlah, more often than not the only one who actually wants to hear them, has yet to get the full breadth of the Princess Lore™️.

- Whitaker was in the 4-H club for most of his life growing up. Santos finds out and teases him relentlessly for it.

- Both Dana and McKay have been with women before. Neither one ever brings it up, but they do sexual tension about it.

(I have more of these and honestly like a million headcanons for robbycollins alone, but lmk what you think. Maybe I’ll post more!)

[demigod-shenanigans]

Re: Reyna joining the Hunters and why I think it’s actually really depressing

So for a variety of reasons I’m not a huge fan of Reyna’s arc ending with her joining the Hunters of Artemis. Part of that is rrverse characters should be allowed to be single without joining the eternal celibacy club, but that’s not a problem exclusive to Reyna. I also think handling asexuality in the context of celibacy by choice is… messy by default, especially if it’s your one confirmed ace character.

Beyond that, though, there’s a bunch of context surrounding Reyna’s life and personality that just make that choice seem really sad to me?

I’ll split this into three thematic subsections and put the second and third one under the cut because this got pretty long

Reyna and her sense of duty:

I highly suspect Reyna’s fatal flaw is her sense of duty. This is never explicitly confirmed (because no one except Percy and Annabeth has confirmed fatal flaws), but duty is the theme her entire character revolves around. Basically from birth she’s raised to believe the fate of New Rome lies on her shoulders. A lot of her actions in the books explicitly link back to her sense of duty.

She runs herself ragged trying to find Jason and trying to manage a job made for two people on her own before Son of Neptune.

A lot of her conflict stems from the fact that what is necessary to protect her home (leaving her post and following Jason) inherently clashes with the rules of that home.

Reyna also actively chides others (like Lavinia in ToA) for leaving their posts and not sharing that same sense of duty.

Because of this, like Jason, Reyna is never really able to be a kid.

Joining the Hunters sort of does a good thing in that it allows Reyna to gain some distance specifically from New Rome, which her fate and also a lot of her trauma regarding her upbringing revolves around.

But it doesn’t allow her to be a kid any more than being a praetor at Camp Jupiter did. Potentially less so, actually, seeing as the Hunters are basically always on the move doing something important while at Camp Jupiter you probably have regular days off and a city to visit and relax in always right around the corner.

Reyna lays down one duty and immediately commits herself to the next one. She doesn’t grow and learn that she doesn’t have to carry the fate of the world on her shoulders. She just trades one burden for another.

—————————

Reyna and her emotions:

The timing of Reyna’s choice to join the Hunters seems really off. New Rome is mostly destroyed and just suffered a catastrophic amount of losses. Reyna absolutely has a right to step down as a leader, but this seems like an odd time for her to do it, especially considering she just completely up and leaves instead of at least sticking around to help rebuild her home and then join the Hunters after. As someone so fundamentally defined by her duties and her loyalty to New Rome, why does she spend half a day off-screen and then suddenly decide actually she’ll leave her destroyed home and all those grieving people for someone else to deal with? It just seems really out of character for her.

This begs the question: is Reyna really making that choice because she figured out it’s what she wants, or is it because she can’t deal with what happened? Because looking at all the destruction and attending all the funerals—deaths that happened while she was technically in charge but unable to be present, people she was supposed to protect—reminds her of every way she’s failed her home?

Also, Jason just died.

Jason was Reyna’s best friend for years. He was the first person she allowed herself to grow close to after her sister left her, and very possibly the first person she ever fell in love with. She never properly got to make up with Jason. Very likely they were both afraid to be hurt again. They both thought there’d be time for it later. But there wasn’t. There isn’t. She only got her best friend back in a coffin, and even in death, returning to New Rome (to her) wasn’t Jason’s choice.

Reyna leaves the place where they grew up together, the duties they used to share and all the memories—memories that were just hers, no longer his, since he never properly got them back—two days after she watched his pyre burn.

How much of that is her leaving because she wants to, and how much of it is the fact that she can’t keep her walls up and keep herself going in the place that used to be theirs, where Jason’s ghost is staring back at her at every corner? How much of her leaving is her unwillingness to deal with her grief?

Reyna running away from her feelings is an ongoing theme. It makes sense from a lot of different angles why she’d do it.

She was raised by an abusive father who often turned his feelings (what child Reyna would have seen as “love”, but was primarily paranoia/anger) against her and Hylla.

It’s also addressed directly that Reyna worries if she feels nervous or scared, her emotions will cause the camp to worry as well—her power is quite literally to project her own emotions outward, so if she does that with negative emotions (intentionally or unintentionally), it would cause problems. Suppressing them feels safer. On top of that, in her role as a leader, she has to provide a certain sense of confidence and assurance even when she herself doesn’t feel it.

Joining the Hunters instead of facing those feelings is not exactly a great way to heal in that regard.

————————

Reyna and the weight of Bellona’s prophecy:

As far as we’re aware, Camp Jupiter has faced more threats in the few years Reyna was in charge than it has in centuries. First the Titan war (which Reyna must have arrived partway through, depending on how early the Romans even knew about and were involved in what was happening there), then the war with Gaia, then the Emperors.

And obviously that’s not actually Reyna’s fault—Reyna is, in fact, a huge contributing factor to why these disasters weren’t a lot worse and didn’t claim even more lives. But this is all put on the shoulders of a girl who knows her fate is intricately linked to the legacy of Rome.

A girl who is already convinced that her love is fundamentally destructive and keeps other people from being happy. Her father spent her entire childhood suspicious of Reyna potentially betraying him—and, because she ended up killing him in self-defense, it’s very easy for a traumatized ten year old to internalize that maybe that suspicion was totally warranted. Then Circe’s Island gets destroyed. Then Hylla finds her happiness with the Amazons by leaving Reyna. Then Jason leaves her, seeming so much happier with Piper and Leo than he ever was with her.

Everyone she loves always seems to be happier without her.

So maybe the best thing she can do for New Rome—a home that she loves and that has faced so much destruction in the short time she’s spent there—is to leave.

Maybe the best way to keep New Rome safe (because New Rome’s survival is linked to Hylla and Reyna’s bloodline continuing to exist) is to make herself immortal and preserve it that way. Because, unless Reyna dies in battle, she could live centuries—potentially thousands of years—as a Hunter. She can’t ever properly go back to the home she loved, because that’s not how the Hunters work. But she’s still bound to her fate by her blood. She’s still doing her duty to New Rome by living as long as she can.

It’s not something she can ever be free of.

The worst thing about this is I think Reyna choosing to find a fate for herself outside of New Rome could have actually been a great way to conclude her arc, but god do I wish it was executed differently and actually given proper exploration/space to breathe instead of just resolved by taking her off-screen for a few hours and then sticking her with the group of female warriors that barely gets to have any plot relevance outside of conveniently coming to people’s rescue.

[its-not-a-pen]

[餘智傳] The 2nd Century Warlord (Part 2)

based on the story by @romanceyourdemons

Read part 1

ninth day as a second century warlord i try to tactfully ask my fake liege lord if he sent the assassin to kill my loser liege lord and it turns out the idea of using assassins never occurred to him, but now that i’ve suggested it he’s really into it. in order to save my loser liege lord i volunteer to be the one to kill him

tenth day as a second century warlord on my way back to my loser liege lord’s city i realize i won’t be able to collect my men from my fake liege lord until i bring back my loser liege lord’s head. this would have been a great thing to think of before i got myself in this situation. i go back to my loser liege lord and ask him to rescue my men, and he tells me that if he could sack my fake liege lord’s camp he already would have. that doesn’t change the fact that my men are still trapped. they’re prisoners, even. i go back to my room to sulk

eleventh day as a second century warlord i find a little caged pigeon in the rafters of my loser liege lord’s room and deduce it belonged to the assassin. without asking permission or telling my loser liege lord goodbye i let the pigeon loose and follow it north. don’t ask what i was doing in my loser liege lord’s room. it’s not important

twelfth day as a second century warlord i disguise myself as a wizard and enter the camp of the coalition leader the pigeon led me to. in the middle of my little sleight of hand performance i make eye contact with the coalition leader’s second-in-command. IT’S THE WIZARD THAT STOLE MY LOSER LIEGE LORD’S WIFE. after the banquet i corner the fake wizard and ask him what the fuck is going on and he just says “wouldn’t you like to know” and leaves. i don’t know what to say to that so i just let him go

thirteenth day as a second century warlord i’m honestly so sick of not knowing what’s going on, so i adjust my wizard costume to passably disguise myself as a woman and break into the women’s area of the camp, where sure enough my loser liege lord’s wife is. i ask her what she’s doing here and she tells me the fake wizard overheard her singing a poem she overheard on the street, not knowing it contains the coalition leader’s formation’s weaknesses. the fake wizard kidnapped her and assigned an assassin to kill her husband before they figured out the poem’s significance. she shares the first couplet with me but i’m discovered and thrown out before she can share any more. she doesn’t need to. through a bizarre coincidence of homophones, it’s the poop version of my misinformation nursery rhyme

fourteenth day as a second century warlord i go back to my loser liege lord and tell him everything, urging him to join with my fake liege lord to attack the coalition leader according to the weaknesses in the nursery rhyme. he tells me frankly that he doesn’t trust me anymore. i ask him to execute me if that’s really true, because i can’t bear to live if i can’t protect him and i can’t protect my men. he agrees to attack the coalition leader

fifteenth day as a second century warlord. due to the information in the nursery rhyme, and thanks to my loser liege lord reminding me of the weather conditions multiple times while planning our battle strategy, our alliance carries the day. my loser liege lord gets his wife back. my men tell me that our fake liege lord actually treated them really well and they’d like to stay with him if i don’t mind. i do mind, now that neither the men i love nor the man i love have any use for me, but i don’t tell them that

sixteenth day as a second century warlord i’m preparing to leave to i don’t know where, maybe to try to become a wizard for real, when my loser liege lord stops me and asks me where i’m going. he says he had hoped i would continue to work as his advisor. i was unaware i was his advisor in the first place. i agree, and he tells me he’s truly honored to have me in his service at last. he has known i am a rare and talented man with a strategic intelligence far above his ever since the day he witnessed me tying branches to my horses’ tails in six inches of mud, and could not for the life of him figure out why

The end.

Thanks for reading! Notes under the cut

CORRECTION#1: the warlord's courtesy name was incorrectly written as Yú zhī 餘知 [plentiful knowledge]. my dumbass did not realise zhī 知 [to know] is a GOD DAMN VERB. It should be zhì 智 [wisdom].

CORRECTION#2: the clothes from part one are from the WRONG DYNASTY!!! BY 1200 YEARS!!!! it's meant to be HAN not MING.

#9 Misreading the standards: Loser Liege's name is Yue, so I decided to go with Lè/Yuè 樂 [optimistic/music]. I made the Chad Liege's name Cháo 巢 [nest] which is pronounced identically to Cáo 曹, the infamous IRL warlord. Just like his IRL counterpart, he is the affable, lawful-evil boss who is kind to his employees. I went ALL OUT designing Lord Chad Chao's outfit. He's got so much drip the yangtze river is about to break its banks. Now THAT'S a main character!

#10 Wardrobe Malfunction: the soldiers are now wearing clothes from the correct dynasty. i even gave them grass sandals! I really wanted to show how utterly outclassed they are, this is the difference between a peasant militia and a professional army. (They're in the exact same poses as part 1, except more terrified).

#11 mountain-water art: man i love doing traditional style backgrounds, the white space is very pleasing. Does it make sense to camp your coalition out in the mountains? No. Is it cool? Hella.

#12 you're a wizard, hairy: my favourite detail is the pigeon from day 11 sitting on the warlord's hat. I had to cut SO MUCH from this scene because there wasn't room. There was going to be musicians, jesters and strongmen. (Based of funerary figures)

I wanted to make it clear that the Coalition Liege is the richest guy of all, but he is all style and no substance. He's got an army of dancing girls and drunk officers. You get the feeling that his Chief Strategist aka Fake Wizard aka Zhuge Liang Knockoff, disproves.

#13 Hua Mulan: RIP the Warlord's beautiful beard ;n; He's wearing one of the dancing girl's outfits and I like to think the ladies helped him do his makeup too. I wanted to add a little character moment for the Wife and Warlord. They're holding hands which is not strictly proper, but I wanted to show the intensity of the emotions.

#14 the supplicant: I really like the framing here, I wanted both faces to be visible so we can see what they're thinking.

#15 enemy of my enemy: the Warlord is finally in command and flying his standard Huáng 黃 [yellow]. He is wearing a wu guan with two pheasant feathers, for a high ranking military official.

#16 the romantic subplot: the Warlord and his Loser are tenderly holding hands while the Wife and Noble Steed looks on with approval. I wanted the handholding to be slightly awkward and kinda spontaneous, like they were both aiming for a manly, platonic hand-clasp but veered wildly off-course into homoeroticism. In the background, an oblivious Lord Chad is showing off the little wooden horse one of his new soldiers gave him (that guy's been carving it since part 1, it's high time we acknowledged his hard work).

Want to learn more about the (mostly) true story that inspired this post? Check out Romance of the Three Kingdoms! TV show, the book and the movie Red Cliff,

[pain-is-too-tired]

Thinking about the fact that Luke was Hermes favorite.

That even with everything he did and the fact he hated his father, he was still Hermes pride and joy.

That instead of immediately trying to make sure what happened to Luke didn't happen to his other children, he was so attached to righting the wrong to Luke that he neglected them.

Thinking about the fact that he didn't even acknowledge them on Olympus in TLO. Not just the Stolls, but all of them(except Chris for obvious reasons-) were up there.

I wished we gotten to see him actually change in some way after Luke's death.

I remember there's one story where he gives the Stolls tongs(?) for something. And of course we know he at least had given info about one of his kids to bring to camp after the meeting in tlo(which- haven't heard it mentioned but do ya'll think that was for Cecil? Or I'm just looking to deep into it hegd)

But yeah. There's just not much evidence he's change. Honestly with how he's presented somewhat in ToA it doesn't feel like he truly has.

I 100% think lot of his other kids were aware that Luke was the favorite too, and are still bitter in some way over it.

The Stolls had to pick up as leaders at like 12-13 years old,maybe 13-14. They had to lead the biggest cabin why struggling with being in the shadow Luke left behind.

Chris wasn't claimed for years, it took him being in the worst state of his life, to have been inches away from deaths door, for Hermes to claim him.

How many others in that cabin were unclaimed by Hermes?

How many in that cabin died in the war before they were ever claimed? How many shrouds did the Stolls have to burn?

Hermes and Luke have a similar problem, tunnel vision.

Be so obsessed with one aspect, one thing in your past, whether how you were wronged or how you wronged others, that you ignore everything else around you.

Luke was so obsessed with getting revenge on Hermes and the gods that he ignore the suffering of the demigods under him.

Hermes was so obsessed with trying to make up for falling Luke and May that he neglected his other children.

Think it's something I especially love to play around with for Chris, as he was smack dab in the middle of both of those.

He was abandoned in the Labyrinth after going in for Luke. Likely wanting to prove himself more to him. And it left him in such a broken state that if Mr.D had been anymore late, he's likely wouldn't starved/dehydrated himself to death.

He had been in the Hermes cabin unclaimed likely for years, only getting claimed after or during the worst time of his life? And likely never hearing anything else from Hermes after.

I wished we gotten more with them then just.. him sending tongs???

Honestly, love the fun idea of both Apollo and Hermes being turn human in ToA. Hermes interacting with Connor. Hermes having a heart to heart with Chris at some point, realizing that Chris couldn't died never knowing he was his son. We could've got more about Stolls mother(I mean he went to her twice. That's huge), about Chris'.

Heck, where is Chris' mother. Cause she's either dead, thinks Chris is dead, or doesn't care. Cause he's gone for years. I have a feeling the Titan Army didn't really care if you went him to your mortal family or not. Considering how they treat mortals.

Ntm he's gone for over a year due to the Labyrinth and his insanity.

Would been so intriguing to learn about her and the Stolls mother like we learned a bit about Will, Austin and Kayla's parents.

Anyway dbdh sorry for ramble just...man.

Think it definitely sticks in their mind that Luke was the favorite, dispite the grief he put them through. Stolls and/or Chris being bitter over that just had my brain rn dhdb

[11queensupreme11]

How would Cu Chulainn feel about pjo demigods?

cú chulainn seeing how pjo demigods live: damn, your lives suck ASS 🤮

no seriously LMAO 😭😭😭😭😭😭

a lot of the greek demigods (the modern ones especially) either come from broken homes, poor single-parents, abusive parents, or just straight up HOMELESS and stay in camp year-round, etc.

some don't even KNOW that their kids are demigods so they're completely clueless about that part of their life; they might get frustrated by their kids adhd and dyslexia, the fact that they keep getting kicked out of school, getting into legal trouble (the mist made it look like they attacked someone when it was actually a monster trying to kill them, etc). it honestly just seems so frustrating for those poor demigods to deal with, especially during wartimes so imagine being depressed cuz you have half-siblings that defected or you're afraid that u and ur loved ones might die in the war, and you got a clueless parent being all "why are you moping all the time? 🤨 get ur ass back in school and get those grades up!" 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀

i haven't found much yet about cú chulainn's childhood in the myths and how he was raised before he.... you know, started terrorizing ppl, but his mother, deichtine, was a princess. he's the nephew of conchobar mac nessa, king of ulster. so he was part of the ROYAL family. and that's just the mortal side. then he drank lugh's blood (again, my fic only) and became a demigod, and lugh is a supreme god of the celtic pantheon and the leader of the tuatha dé danann. when cú chulainn got adopted and blessed by him, he became part of that royal family too.

not only that, but back in ancient times people knew the gods were real so they absolutely knew that cú chulainn was a demigod and treated him as such (even though he was crazy and sucked ass 💀). and then there's the pjo demigods, constantly treated like shit, sometimes even by their own mortal families. they're seen as criminals, liars, troubled kids, stupid kids, kids beyond help, disappointments, mentally disturbed, weirdos who see things that don't exist, etc.

pjo demigods are treated like shit from both sides too, from the mortal side AND the godly side. though the latter may depend on who their godly parents are, but if PERCY JACKSON, poseidon's most favorite child ever, is still being treated like a toy soldier by the gods then what sort of hope do the other kids have? 💀 percy is literally the one kid that is so purely loved by her godly parent and yet her life still sucks. poseidon's love isn't enough to protect her from a hero's fate; in fact, it's what DOOMED her 💔 because percy, like all greek demigods, are destined to live and die as heroes, a greek tragedy just like all the others before them 😭💔💔💔💔

those poor kids are tools for the gods. pjo gods cannot act freely, so they use their children to do things that they can't. cú chulainn NEVER has to worry about that. yes, he had a few gods meddle in his life (morrigan being one), but they definitely aren't as bad as the way the pjo gods meddle. there's no oppressive system in the ror verse that requires the gods to use demigods to do their bidding. cú chulainn was free to live his life as he wishes; he is not shackled the same way pjo demigods are and his gods aren't shackled the way pjo gods are either.

he didn't have to live his life being told "you're never gonna make it to adulthood because ur a demigod and we always die as a tragic hero because that's the fate we've been given 🤗", was never used as a toy soldier, he has freedom. no suicide quests, no prophecies, no divine intervention constantly uprooting his life for the worse, there were wars and battles, but those were mortal ones that he willingly joined, not godly ones that the gods made him fight in.

pjo demigods' lives just genuinely SUCK. they have tragedy in their veins that they can never remove and the way their world works is just so heavily built against them 💔

cú chulainn is going to be so very very VERY grateful that he was not born as a demigod in that universe 💀💀💀💀💀 he's gonna gently grab percy by the shoulders, give her a good shake, and tell her very seriously, "your life is miserable 😐 (marry me and i'll give you a better one 💖)"

also, seeing how they live would be an eye-opener because a lot of stuff about percy makes SOOOO much sense to him now. no wonder she seemed aghast as to why he lives so selfishly, why he chooses to fight in the apocalypse despite it meaning he'd fight for the destruction of humanity should he win.

percy grew up amongst demigods who lived tragic lives but died heroic fates, she even WITNESSED it herself. the idea of a demigod consciously choosing to destroy humanity and being fully aware of his actions is so unlike what she's used to. luke at least had a good and noble reason for his revolution and he killed himself in the end to stop kronos, ethan's betrayal was understandable and just and he tried to stop kronos and died for it, but cú chulainn lives selfishly without a care for other people's lives and she's not used to that from a demigod.

(omg i rambled too much but i cannot wait to write more about them ashahfvh bahsgdhb i'm loving the whole "hero vs warrior" thing between them too much sorry guys! 💖💖💖)

[juchily]

Yellowjackets official trailer thoughts

The SOS message was crossed out to be changed to "SOS going *deeper*" so caves??

Mari's in danger lol

theyre putting together the feast thing I can see at least Nat and Van are I can't tell who the others are

they saved one of the seats from the airplane to turn into a seat at their new camp, just thought that was a cool detail

Lottie gets bloody, probably eating something (think that's her? Looks like her coat too)

second winter hunt outfits so we'll get some sort of look at the second winter

when the girls are jumping (Misty, Akilah, etc) they're chanting "Burn"

Tai shoots someone, probably Ben

Misty is sowing the seeds of deceit into the group, we can see it looks like she's telling Shauna that Nat might know where coach Ben is but just isn't telling them and might not deserve to be the leader. It's really interesting because she's selling out Nat here for supposedly lieing about knowing where Ben is. Maybe she acts the way she does in the adult timeline, being buddy-buddy with Nat because she regrets it

this is what probably leads to Shauna doing her coup thing

Natalie goes back to the plane wreck, she seems shocked? I wouldn't image Ben's actually hiding there so I wonder what that's about

Nat gets beat/hit, guess it's a trial against her (WHHHYYYYY)

and then they go to hunt Ben down I'm guessing to "give the wilderness what it wants"

they let out lanterns, five specifically with Lottie being the head of whatever ceremony this is supposed to be. They're dressed in the same robes as during the new feast

Shauna gets to bury wilderness baby now that the ground is soft again, maybe Nat going back to the plane wreck is to finally bury Jackie's bones

What *did* they tell people when they got rescued? We know Lottie went nonverbal, a good few of them if not all of them probably did at least immediately after. We know they stayed low besides Taissa with her senator stuff but that was even longer after the initial rescue by two decades. They "prayed/preyed" but what else did they tell officials? Will we get a look at an interview scene either for a live show or by the cops maybe?

Shauna is *not* chill this season and I love it but also nat deserves so much better right now

Lottie bites into a piece of meat during the festival thing I think?? The girls are all screaming

Shauna gets a letter with the symbol on it. Note that before this scene we see someone with a letter/file thing in their hands, they're light skinned wearing a gray hoodie, Shauna in the second scene is wearing something different + Shauna also gets a cassette tape (I believe that's what it is)

Someone is picking up a Queen card from the ground, a road (Hilary Swanks new character?)

Tai and Van are out in public, looks like they're talking, they're dressed in all black clothes it looks, idk what's going on anymore

Shauna goes to Misty it looks like about the letter she got and Misty is on the case (dressed in what's probably adult Nat's jacket)

it looks like there's a person in a bag or covered in some sort of sheet?? I have absolutely no clue what this scene is but it's interesting for them to add

Callie and Misty... The duo I never knew I needed. Callie does not believe any of Misty's shit

Ben screaming, like hes definitely being eaten alive i just can't get if he isn't

Lottie gets out of the ward?? Maybe it's a scene of adult Lottie getting out of the ward after she was first put in it after the rescue

misty's cute bright green watch I can't, and really?? Is that underwear as a mask she's a carpet muncher your honour

looks like adult tai eating sea food?

That odd scene of Misty looking to stab Shauna again

Hillary Swanks character running (the only thing I can think of with the focus on Melissa in the trailer and it seeming that she gets more screentime this season is that its adult Melissa)

Tai and Van are running?

we see an arrow hit a tree, which is dod because they don't have a bow and arrow and I know for a fact they don't know how to make a bow and arrow, so unless this is in the adult timeline, very interesting

a very gory scene?? I really can't make it out it might be Tai? It also might be a hand coming down to cover the person's mouth??

infighting during the second winter

weird fire supernatural shit

ghost jackie <3

Nat is horrified

Tai is crying hysterical horrified in adult timeline (lord if something happened to Van... It could be something about Simone and Sammy—was that the kids name?— too)

shauna crashing out adult timeline too

Lottie screaming, like normal

close up of either Melissa or Shauna's eyes, tweaking out or something

Van like falls or something?? Like she's had a heart attacked

Akilah is not having a fun time... what

Travis with the gun

misty + Shauna rode trip? It looks like they're driving into a group of gravestones

Mari sprays something?

Tai suffocating an old man in a hospital with a pillow with Misty in the doorway... I don't even know what life is anymore. Sleepy Tai? Misty having a drug trip or nightmare??

Shauna pulls a knife on Melissa (we get to see them interact a fair share in this trailer so I'm interested in that dynamic. New Shauna ship just dropped everyone)

we see a shot of a see through phone in a drawer, very reminiscent of those old phones that you would see back in the teen timeline

Shauna in the lake being pulled down, the water is red

looks like someone breaks the shit out of their leg or dislocates it

mari gets pushed into the ground

I literally have it on the slowest playback and I can't tell what's going on

Travis is in pain, Lottie is smiling. I'm intrigued.

Hillary Swanks character says to a person above her "you really are insane)

We see someone biting another person who's probably alive (maybe the person above hillary's character was Shauna and then Shauna bites her)

young Van falling into a white duvet? After rescue maybe

van tai adult timeline kiss

a door opening, looks very wilderness like

We see a shot of a rabbit

Misty is exploring somewhere it looks like it's underground

other tai smiling holy shit that freaks me the hell out

The man with no eyes... Also freaky I recommend not going through the trailer on slowest speed and pausing alot because the freaky music mixed with the freaky shots is overall, quite freaky

Lottie looks to be getting choked

So uh... Yeah.

Anyways, I hope we get to see more of Simone and Sammy, the no eyed man, I'm really interested in what this season has to show us with Nat and Misty's dynamics as well as Shauna with everyone overall. Nat definitely deserves a lot better. I wonder if Lottie stands up for her at all, doesn't look like Travis likes Nat too much in the scene with Nat on the ground bleeding...

The song choice was great, can't wait to see the rest of the soundtrack! The overall vibes and cinematics of this season looks awesome and it's probably going to be way more traumatic and gorey than the others if the writers have anything to say about it

And most of all... WE BETTER SEE THE VAN TAN!

Edit:

To add to things I want to see—

the acknowledgement of Doomscoming in some capacity

+ Javi's death...

Jane Widdop please come back to play ghost Laura Lee 🙏

more Callie

it'd be cool to see Lisa again (Nat's funeral 👀)

PRE CRASH SCENEEEEEESSSS

[mariailoveyou-guerin]

I was wondering why Perrin had this deep connection to Faile so fast but then I remembered 2 things 1 Jacob with his imprinting thing what if he has that and 2 ofc they cb each time and are in love with the same person in every lifetime so she’s his soulmate

in each turn of the wheel why their connection felt so natural and easy almost no work bc it’s always them in every lifetime bitch now I’m actually crying! I wasn’t sure if they have same parents each turn of the wheel but this just sealed it for me why they are so THEM

he was already worried about her, didn’t want her joining in the camp and fact he didnt even flinch that this random girl he’s know for like 3days had a knife to his throat and her ready to go fight next to him! Yeah they really that IT couple in the books and the show

How are they outdoing nynaeve and lan just like that as the best ship on this show and books! lan nyn get off the floor please you embarrassing me and the kids! Joking but it’s crazy they are already on nyn/lan level of superior ships in this show this is day2 on the job too

she didn’t flinch either his hand flew past her face and she got tiny face too and his hand is so big! I can’t with them! also love how mr im no leader they don’t follow just have the most powerful warriors Aiel woman and aes sedai follow his every word sir i thought you said

you wasn’t a leader then what is this the commands coming so easily and why are they following without hesitation? to save your family people that they’ve never met? gonna need this giant himbo (he’s very smart strategic guess simbo is better fit for him)to be fr!

last time I checked he wasn’t the dragon so they have no obligation to him or risk their own lives to him alanna maksim just met him Faile too! Loial and Aiel girls that’s their bestie they know he’ll do it fit them without a second thought so they respect him an people like that

Alanna was so bada88 here #TheWheelOfTimeSeason3 exactly girly tell him damn you prime won’t let me show the picture so it’s just black not that it’s much different from the actual scene! but here’s the words! still equal badass she really becoming my fav always loved her but now

the enemies to lovers excellence they could’ve had if his soulmate was right there and if dain didn’t do that to mats mom😔! A shame cuz this actually real fantasy enemies to lovers the whole trying to k1ll each other thing is where its at PEAK the angst spanding years continents

Faile the woman you are, (I love you what who said that?) so badass your fighting skills on pair with Aiel woman beating 4 men all by your tiny self and knives 🔪 marry me leave Perrin #TheWheelOfTime he’s just a man (the finest of them all but still nonetheless less a man) so…

Maksim Faile seeing the people they love almost getting ended and jumping in to save them and k1ll them all exactly we love a good duo!

Perrin making his axe with his boo and not her becoming a blacksmith before me that’s crazy cuz I’ve been googling trying to learn what that is and what they do so I could be one me literally a or so week back! Searching if we have one here #TheWheelOfTime how she already one?😭

Poor Perrin he gonna k1ll himself for what happened to Natti after he said no one was getting hurt (I just know now he won’t take the leadership position even more bc of what happened one time he did)😔hasn’t he suffered enough and has to tell Mat it’ll k1ll them both!

Perrin always saving and getting people out of cages oh the man he is! #wheeloftime and hope Mat stays safe but I doubt it (poor guy thinking he’s safe with nyn for sh*t to hit him on top of his mom being) why it gotta be them 😔 how is gonna be able to tell him trough a letter

It’s still taking me out how Faile screamed No they are soulmates damn! Probably look for each other in every lifetime! cuz if a giantic man with such eyes was in my face and his hand went by me I would’ve at least flinched (granted hes gorgeous man those are so pretty but still)

[anotheroceanid]

hi! okay this is insanely long but i had a lot of thoughts so bear with me pls.

i was scrolling through the jercy tag bc i'm starved and saw ur posts abt rhea/kronos & percy/jason and have to say i love them sm!! it's such an interesting concept and i've got a lot of cool thoughts abt them now thanks to you, buttt,, may i also offer metis/zeus & percy/jason parallels? it's a little stretch but hey idc it's fun

metis is the daughter of oceanus, percy is the son of poseidon (at both times, they're a child of the ruler of the seas) zeus is the son of kronos, jason is the son of zeus (at both times, they're a child of the ruler of the universe) metis & zeus met and fought a war to end kronos together...percy & jason unknowingly fought together during the titan war to end kronos and they do meet and work together during the giant war! and they make a great team, like in the twin giants fight

metis was a goddess of wisdom i'm pretty sure? and was zeus' advisor. i am a firm hater of the "percy is stupid" train because honestly it's percy who makes most of the battle strategies in pjo.

in fact here's some unwarranted examples: realizing what the lotus casino was, tricking crusty, figuring out the whole lightning thief debacle, giving clarisse the fleece, clearing chiron's name, figuring out he needs to take the sky, finding the nemean lion's weak spot, figuring out rachel is their guide for the labyrinth, all of his actions in the battle of manhattan tbh like he was crazy for doing all that at age 16!!, scaring chrysaor’s crew, making the combination of demigods to get nike, etc etc- i could go on and on!

so, i feel he can be related to metis in that he would be a pretty great advisor and obviously he'd be a fantastic leader. athena herself says the requests (read: demands) percy makes at the end of the second titan war are wise!

also think it could be interesting if poseidon delibrately chose to have percy look like metis. they'd probably look similar anyway but if poseidon wanted zeus to have some hesitation in killing percy, creating him to look like someone zeus greatly wronged in the style of kronos (aka eating someone) could do it?

anyway, moving onto jason! who, like zeus, is the youngest son and has a lunatic father that treats him like shit,, and at first zeus served kronos! just as jason did, but hey, if jason hadn't died when he did,, how long would he have continued to serve zeus?

rhea took zeus from kronos to be raised in crete by nymphs, like hera took jason from zeus to be raised in camp jupiter by wolves. and like rhea, hera is always on jason's side and honestly based on her toa reaction to his death, likely loved him like a son. and we know hera fucking hates zeus like rhea hated kronos.

jason is also strong as fuck, and ik rick knocked him out in every book because he didn't actually want his forced-percy-rival to actually showcase his powers but from what we know and seen he's like insane as well. PLUS he's been training since he was like 3 ik he's strong asf and zeus is sweating.

parallels😁!! uh let's hope jason doesn't eat percy though /j

i know zeus would've recognized these parallels and got insanely paranoid bc yk him. ik zeus was exhaling in relief when jason died, and there's a reason he was always trying to kill percy. he saw his sins in him! everytime he looks at percy he sees the woman he tricked and treated like shit and more-or-less killed. but he also knows metis was smart and very capable, n that's scary to him. everytime he looks at jason he sees his younger self, and that's a horrible thing to see if you're zeus lmao

of course jason is much better than zeus and percy is fairly different from metis, but it's the small parallels and zeus' paranoia that makes everything bigger.

the act we know metis most for is supplying the poison for kronos to regurgitate his kids,, and percy has a pretty close connection to poison now after his fight with akhlys :)

but yeah!! fun parallels :') sorry if this was a lot to read/hard to read

bonus: metis & zeus r cousins just like percy & jason /j

Now!!! Hear me out!!! I loooove the Metis X Percy parallels, I never talked about it here because some things I keep for the fics 🗣️🗣️🗣️ but I totally GET YOU!!!

The thing about Rhea is that they prob look a loooot alike, so people (mostly the big six and, maybe, Kronos) attribute her whole persona to Percy’s even tho many things make zero sense. Because they want him to impersonate their mother somehow to feel their void. Others might think of him more of a Perseis kinda of person, just for the destruction thing. But Metis? She was gone before most Olympians were alive, so it’s not like they have a truthful idea of what she was like, and those who remember might not have been as close to her as Zeus.

Metis was the Titaness of good counsel, planning, cunning and wisdom. Which makes us think that Athena would be a lot like her, but I personally think Athena is more a Zeus mini me. Metis being an ocean’s kid and a titaness made me believe she was a lot wilder and not exactly the usual embodiment of these concepts. Which would make her much more of a wild card, so Zeus got rid of her when the prophecy about their son showed up. So like, I can see Percy embodying Metis’ aspect of these domains (while Annabeth would be more Athena-like), and Zeus being like…

In terms of looks, she and Percy might’ve not looked the most similar, but hey, Metis would question Zeus’ authority in front of the whole council and would call out his shit whenever she felt like it.

Jason, however, is a much tamed version of his father. In a good sense. He’s not cruel, and when he’s forced to make a choice that he feels bad about it haunts him. He’s not overly confident and proud. Beyond all, he was taught loyalty to Rome and the gods from a young age, contrary to Zeus who was taught rebellion and how he was supposed to be this great saviour. For a while, this probably made Zeus more comfortable about him than he probably was about Thalia, for example, or even Percy.

But romans and Greeks learn about each other and now Jason and Percy meet and turns out Jason is SMITTEN with his cousin? Yeah, that’s a problem. Zeus would seethe, and Hera would be 100% smug about it.

Suddenly, there is something that Jason cares more than Rome or the gods. That is dangerous.

Also, something about Percy being somehow paralleled with TWO titan queens is just…

[sizzy-is-my-otp]

I got three likes which means ANALYSIS TIME For those who are unaware, Disney released a Z-O-M-B-I-E-S 4 Dawn of the Vampires Teaser Trailer today which you can view here in reference for the rest of this post:

Analysis/Ramblings under the cut :)

First, we know that this is set after their first year in college so I'm curious to know where they decided to vacation to? I'm not sure about Zed's finacial situation (I'm assuming the exceptional student application was some sort of scholarship) but hopefully now that zombies have integrated more with society, Zevon is making a much more reasonable wage.

Next up we HAVE to talk about Addison's hair. It's beautiful, I'm obsessed with how she has it styled, and it looks very similar to her Re-animated design. The blue is a slightly darker shade than in the cartoon but I think it's gorgeous. I don't have the mental capacity to figure out a reasoning as for why her hair can be a blend between the colors so I'm just gonna go with the "she's half human and now that her alien powers have been awaken she can change her white hair" because we love retcon and it's a DCOM Camp Rayburn is an INSANE name btw. Like if you have both daywalkers and vampires, the fact that "ray" as in sunlight ray and "burn" as in oh my god these guys are gonna literally catch on fire in the sun clearly shows who's favorited at the camp. However, if this was created how I think it was (aka Meg said 'what about Camp Rock' and the director said 'YES') then it's possible it will be two separate camps. Just leaves the question if Rayburn is for the vamps or the daywalkers. Probably the name for both but always a possibility.

THE FACT THAT THEY'RE CAMP COUNSELORS IS SO INSANE TO ME IDK. I never watched later seasons of Bunk'd so I'm unaware how much focus on camp counselors there actually was (in comparison to campers) but I'll be so interesting to see this dynamic. As someone who went to sleepaway camp, has been a camp counselor, and had parents who met each other while being camp counselors, this dynamic holds a really special place in my heart. That being said, Eliza and Willa do NOT strike me as the counelor types. I can see Willa more than Eliza as she's the leader of her pack so she has to have some sort of nurturing aspect to her. Eliza however does not give counselor vibes to me, but maybe since they're clearly working with older and not younger kids, it will be okay. I could probably type up a whole thing about how I think Eliza's character would be an interesting fit for this though so I'm cutting myself off here. Speaking of Willa, who is looking after the pack in her absence? Is that the explained away detail for why Pierce (Wyatt) isn't in the movie? Going back to my Camp Rock theory, the "prepare for battle" that's seen in the trailer really makes me hope its a dance battle and that it will be to some epic song. I cannot wait for this soundtrack. We do get a little snippet of one of the new songs which is fun, and I'm so glad this is going to be released in July before my tickets to the Worlds Collide tour! That way I'll be able to listen to the soundtrack a bunch and learn the songs before I see them performed. Don't hate me for this, but Freya's character in this shot is giving Jojo Siwa

Like it's for sure the hair but I can't see anything else.

MY BABY IS SCARED ITS OKAY HE'LL BE OKAY <3333 Next:

Is this a vampire version of the moonstone? It looks different enough from the wolves' stone that I can assume it isn't, but I was hoping the vampires would have a different origin story. This kind of makes it seem like they're just recycling old ideas to fit a new narrative and I don't love that. I'll have to rewatch Vanna's arc in Moonstone Mystery to see if they retconned anything from that but idk, this to me just feels kinda cheap.

The neon signs are giving nightlife to me which is super fun and a great choice on the designer's part. I'm so intersted in seeing everything plays out if the vampires can't be in the sun, especially due to the fact that in the trailer we see them in the sun multiple times. So what sets them apart from the daylighters? Can they walk in the sun if they have their version of the moonstone? (I just realized it's probably called the sunstone. I take back what I said earlier, if there's a moonstone, there's probably also a sunstone. This makes sense.)

Firstly, the set looks very similar to the one in Bunk'd or maybe even S3 of HSMTMTS (which Meg was also a couneslor for). I'd be curious to know if any of them were filmed on the same set. I do really enjoy that the vampires and daywalkers have the same central color (red) with black and white being what separates them. Although it looks like the daywalkers also have yellow in their design which is very cool (we love when the sun is reflected into characters who can walk in the sun). I need to go in and analyze Victor and Nova's designs further to see if they have any other elements to them. Speaking of which, I think Nova is one of the first live-action characters who's name doesnt fit into the conventional Zombies naming scheme. If you didn't know Zombies all have Z's in their name, Alien's A, Werewolves W, etc. Vampires, like Victor and Vanna, have a V. Nova is a celestial word which could make sense as she can walk in the sun, but I do miss the simplistic fact of the names and I kinda wish her name started with a D for Daywalker.

Wondering too if this is their first meeting or if they're longtime enemies. Freya and Malachai seem to be the unoffical replacements for Zeddison (sad :( ) but if this is their first meeting it's very similar to Zeddison's in the Zombie saferoom with the punches. Maybe their gag will be pulling out daggers instead lmao.

Overall, I'm very excited for this movie and I thought the teaser trailer was just enough to get me back into that Zombies mood without spoiling too much. Leaves me with so many questions but also a bunch of excitement.

[lonelywolfinthemiddleofnowhere]

Reading TLH again #4 - the tragedy of Jason/Piper

So we shall begin Piper McLean's character arc!

We had 2 chapters of Jason and in the third, Piper takes the reels of the narrative and we get to know her more inwardly.

I would like to begin this meta stating how Piper, from the three new demigods, are the most calm one.

While Jason is sort of used to this magical world, he feels confused and, because he is a logical person, feels the need to question everything, even if, deeply inside, he already knows the answers to his questions.

Leo is, apparently, excited by the new world he got into. He is curious and not afraid of new things, so he seems happy and satisfied in securing a place for himself in that strange magical camp.

So: Jason is still confused (this phrase is getting repetitive, but this is basically Jason's mental state through the whole book), Leo is excited and Piper is...feeling dreadful, but weirdly accepting.

It made me remember how Piper is actually a really cool-headed character. She doesn't freak out much. From what I remember, she usually keeps her worries and fears for herself, which makes a lot of room for misunderstandings and omission (one of the things that annoyed me about her in my first read).

Interesting observation #1: Piper is in love with Jason

She seems to be deeply in love with him, which is really sad since we already know he was an illusion. Their relationship starts pretty badly because of these manufactured feelings she has for an idea of him.

She is disturbed by the fact that he acts like he doesn't know her. It is, in her view, the most worrying thing that happened in the day.

This is sick u guys, I feel bad for them.

Another thing that made me think about their situation: Piper was the one actively seeking Jason's attention before they met.

Even in her fantasy, she is the one doing the groundwork. It makes Jason appear as a dense boy lol (spoiler: he kinda of is).

And then she tells us that their "relationship" is new. She spent a whole semester working on it before they got together. For her, they were best friends before being lovers. She has been hallucinating with Jason for at least 6 months now.

She can already feel Jason slipping through her fingers like sand. He is escaping her, going far away, somewhere she can't follow. Except she never really had him. He was never hers for her to lose, so what, exactly, is she losing then? Or rather, who?

Their beginning is a tragedy (and so is their ending), but is so much more sad reading their circumstance through Piper's emotional point of view. She feels like she owns him something, and that he owns her something in return. They were supposed to be a pair.

Another thing I would like to comment: Jason has a powerful aura, but if you look closer, he also gives sad vibes. He is a sad character. If Percy is anger, Jason is sadness. (I will make a post especially analyzing the seven's dynamics later)

Interesting observation #2: Annabeth's suspicious already

Annabeth's first feeling towards Jason is ressentiment, like we saw previously.

Here, her ressentiment turns into outright distrust. She is suspicious of him and his entire demeanor is not helping. Annabeth is smart, she is the kind of character that usually doesn't have difficult into look past beyond the Gods schemes.

She knows, she feels, that Jason has something to do with Percy disappearing. The fact he screams NOT GREEK is not helping too.

Jason always has answers he is not aware and Annabeth sees he has history.

Their dynamic is super cool in MoA, seeing them in the beginning is very amusing. They are similar in a lot of things, both are great leaders for the rest of the crew in the Argo II, but here they are getting under each other's skin. Annabeth because of distrust and Jason because of wariness.

Interesting observation #3: The late claim of Leo and Piper

Does anyone else thinks about this weird timing surrounding Leo and Piper's claim?

We know Leo has history with Hera. She has been in his life since he was a kid, so I kind of buy the idea of her shielding his existence until the right time for her plan.

But Piper? From what I remember, the gods didn't meddle with her life until now, in the Wilderness School. I don't understand why Aphrodite took so long to claim her. After the war, every kid should have been brought to camp at 13, and those older should have been there already.

They both don't describe weird encounters with random monster like Percy do in TLT too, so I assume nothing out of ordinary happened in their life up till now (except the whole Leo fiasco, but that wasn't a monster, so I'm not counting).

Coach also says that they are powerful, and their scents are quite strong (not big three strong, but still), so why this timing is so off?

Anyway, I don't have an absolute answer to this, but is something that makes me wonder about things, so I brought it here. Any theories?

Interesting observation #4: Percy's disappearance being a huge thing

The entire camp feels his absence. Percy had rough years at camp, and fought a war to protect it. Everyone there recognizes him as a leader and look up to him for guidance and inspiration (like they did with Luke). This is so satisfying to see, how loved he is!

Percy is not in the book physically, but he is still everywhere. Literally haunts the narrative, I love it (i miss him)!

Interesting observation #5: Piper is fast to judge

From the very first time she lays her eyes upon Drew, she knows they aren't going to be buddies.

Drew also traces fast judgment towards Piper, so maybe is an Aphrodite kid thing, analyzing and defining people in seconds.

Right after we have a lil leader!Jason moment, where he starts asking the important questions for the three of them:

And Piper starting her betrayal arc being sketchy:

Interesting observation #5: Piper can be violent

We had already seen her ready to knock storm spirits without prompt, and now we have her ready to smack Drew's face because she said Piper's hair looked like a dead badger (this is such an Aphrodite kid thing lol)

Bonus points for Piper's quick people judgment (also a very Aphrodite kid thing to me), cause she knows right away to not mess with Annabeth:

Interesting observation #6: Leo is the first being claimed

Jason doesn't count to me cause he already is claimed, he just doesn't remember (and Zeus doesn't acknowledge him). I assume Piper is claimed later because Aphrodite loves to put up a show.

But Hephaestus is pretty efficient in claiming Leo right away. He is a very straightforward god after all, so it makes sense.

Interesting observation #7: Will is Leo's assorted tour guide, and possibly his first Camp Friend

Their interaction is so small and in the beginning of the first book of a series of 5 books that we tend to forget that, before his brothers and sister, Leo's first camp friend/acquaintance was Will Solace. Odd friendship, I know, but it was there for a chapter at least.

Interesting observation #8: Piper is still thinking of Jason as her boyfriend

Piper is getting a whiplash next chapter when Annabeth explains what is happening with Jason to her, because right now, in her head, she still has a boyfriend. A boyfriend who is acting very weirdly, but still her boyfriend.

In the next hours, she is losing him for real. Poor Piper.

And Annabeth is still finding Jason's existence unnerving. His mere presence is rising lots of questions in her head. I love how Annabeth is zero chill, the girl is always plotting or trying to dissected the plot.

Interesting observation #9: Jason has 12 years of military service. He is 15.

Man, Camp Jupiter go all out on the claiming of their kids uh? They literally burn the tattoo on your skin, marking you one of their own.

Jason has been in the legion for twelve years. At this point in the timeline he is 15 y.o. Make the calc guys, this boy has been in active duty since he was THREE YEARS OLD. Unbelievable.

No wonder why Jason has almost none rebel cells in his body. They indoctrinated him with military mentality since, like, forever. All he has always known was duty and honor. Never questioning, always serving. That is part of the reason why he is The Order and Percy is The Chaos. They are foils.

Here we have a lil moment of Jason being tired of people asking questions he doesn't know the answer to. Let ma boy rest, he is amnesic:

Kudos to Annabeth being the unquestionable Camp Leader, ultimately respected by her peers:

With this, I rest my case. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

If you like my insights follow for more!

Jason I

Jason II - Part 1

Jason II - Part 2

[ecargmura]

Pokemon Horizons Episode 46 Review - Terastal Debut

What I like most about this episode is that so much is given out and it’s explained so thoroughly. Instead of having the kids go on a Treasure Hunt like in the game, Liko, Roy and Dot enroll in Naranja Academy’s Terastal Course. It turns out that the school allows students from all over the world to enroll in the course to learn more about Terastal as permitted by Director Clavell and Chairwoman Geeta.

Dendra gives an explanation of how the course works. To study Terastal, students must defeat Gym Leaders according to their aptitude. There’s also a condition as students can only have two chances to challenge a Gym Leader and if they acknowledge their skills, they pass. Also, students cannot terastalize outside of battles not revolving around the Terastal Course; this means that regular trainer battles do not permit Terastalizing. Liko gets paired up with Katy, Roy gets paired up with Brassius and Dot gets paired up with Iono. The kids get camping equipment as they have to camp out for the course. Dot is definitely not amused that she has to touch grass for a while now.

There are so many characters introduced here that it’s insane. Alex and Lucca, Liko’s parents, return and are actually seen together. It’s sweet that she has loving parents. Given that Lucca is a teacher, she doesn’t seem to work at Naranja Academy and probably works elsewhere. That’s an interesting detail. Then we have Clavell who wears the Scarlet version of his outfit. Then there’s the Pokemon League members with Geeta and the Elite Four showing up. It’s crazy how they all just show up at the school like it’s normal business to patrol the school or something. There’s also the debut of Penny who has no lines. I guess she’s forced to work for the League in this iteration, but it’ll be cool if Team Star gets implemented into the story. Jacq and Dendra make their debuts as teachers. They still teach their respective subjects of Biology and Battle Studies. Dendra is the one who explains the course to the kids while Jacq tells them that he wants reports from them as they are still students at the end of the day. Nemona makes her reappearance with a newly evolved Pawmot. In her first appearance, her Pawmo was the butt of a recurring joke where it got sprayed by Brassius’s Doliv’s oil twice. Here, Nemona is now the butt of the recurring joke as her desire to battle Roy gets interrupted by staff and the school bell.

The biggest surprise in terms of character returns is Ann who has transferred to Naranja Academy to partake in the Terestal Course with her newly evolved Dewott. The battle between her and Liko was really well-animated. Liko and Ann were very strategic and used various tactics to one-up each other. My favorite part of the battle was when Dewott used Aerial Ace and its fists glowed up and tried to punch Floragato. I hope Ann battles more in this arc because it’d be a waste to not let her battle when she’s very capable.

Another surprise is the Explorers coming in to partake in the course too. Sidian and Coral arrive late, and use very terrible pseudonyms in order to pass as students. Fortunately, they were able to get in because Chalce is disguised as a teacher and was able to hack them into the database. The Explorers are doing this because they were tasked to keep an eye on Liko. There were two things I liked about the Explorers segment. The first is Coral laughing her head off when Sidian introduces them as Onigiri and Sandwich, which she then accepts. The second is the fact that Liko, Roy and Dot recognize them and isn’t suffering from face blindness that Ash and his friend suffered through for 25 years when it came to Team Rocket’s disguises.

Last but not least, the Rising Volt Tacklers are doing their own thing right now. Orla is in charge of the Brave Olivine repairs. Mollie and Ludlow are caring for Pokemon. Murdock is working at what seems to be Patisserie Soapberry as his outfit looks similar to Katy’s. Friede is going to research the Six Heroes as he has the Ancient Pokeballs and Lucius’s belt in his possession as Liko goes to take the Terastal Course. It’ll be cool to see what the other RVTs will be doing in future episodes.

As a whole, the entire episode was a very good introduction to the third chapter. The pacing was great in terms of squeezing in everything that was needed. The new opening and ending songs were great too! I think it’s amazing how they managed to get IVE, a K-POP girl group, to sing in Japanese for Horizons. Since K-POP is rather popular in Japan and they have been using KPOP groups for different anime openings for various animes, it was about time that Pokemon would do the same. It shows that this arc will be one to remember with the new changes! It does feel like the quality has stepped up here. I’m honestly hyped up for what’s to come. What about you?

[tenderhungering]

I thought the grove and the cult were the same thing? Now I'm confused by the fact that they may not be? Then how did Jack find out about the cult in the first place, it had to have been before Minnie passed, because I believe it's hinted at that the deal he made with the devil is what killed her, and that he just put her out of her suffering by her own command. So how did he find the cult? And then why would the grove have such importance (I also thought that the grove was what was being shown during the photo sequence during Jack's hallucination near the end) if you can explain please do! /Nf

hi, anon! i'll explain a bit of the different groups and my thoughts on where they overlap!

the grove is something that actually exists in real life! it's a private gentleman's club that is made up of some of the most powerful men. some of these include past presidents, executives, high ranking officials, business leaders, artists & musicians. they do a two week encampment together during july in this very large land they have (called bohemian grove!). they have different camps and I suspect the owl in the film was supposed to let us know that we were in Owl's Nest (one of the camps!) since the founding of the club, the bohemian grove's mascot has been an owl, symbolizing wisdom. a 30-foot hollow owl statue made of concrete over steel supports stands at the head of the lake in the grove. it designed by sculptor and two-time club president Haig Patigian (wonder if this is why carmichael's ;ast name is haig, hah). the owl shrine has served as the backdrop of the yearly cremation of care ceremony. imagine the grove as some place where the rich and powerful men can basically say "this is for boy's only !!!!" and pretend as though they are the most hedonistic men ever without any care for the world. they do have some suspicion of it having to do with the occult but they basically get to roleplay pseduo-pagan spookiness. they're what is shown in the beginning of the film in those black and white images.

as for the cult, they worship a demon named abraxas! they're the ones that are confirmed to have done human sacrifices and where lilly came from. this is a "real" cult in the film. i tried to research a bit more on abraxas and i have seen some different things but i think carl jung describing abraxas as the "god of all gods" perfectly encapsulates what the cult is for. they are the ones that jack seemingly sacrificed minnie for as she was killed using their dagger.

i've got a few ideas of how jack stumbled upon the cult here and here ! however, i have no doubt in mind that there is an overlap between grove members and some of the cult ! they love powerful people and it seems as though they think being in the cult will lead them to said power. really, even the network in of itself is a cult of some sort that you have to sacrifice everything for and in front of the camera in order to show everyone just how bad you want something.

i think both were something jack ran to in desperation and he has been damned by both hence him seeing both of these at the end. he kneels before the owl (kneels before power!) and drinks what i assume is blood to demonstrate what he is willing to do for the cult - an initiation of some sort.

i hope this cleared some things up or made sense ! wrote this a bit rushed so my apologies !

[valeriefauxnom]

One thing I always loved about taking things at face value instead of thinking of the more logical, meta reason why this is the case is that it leads to situations like this:

How do we get here?

The answer is art. Well, that, and trying to fit in multiple characters into a single frame coupled with Ranzal being too short to allow the rest of them normal-er heights.

It all starts at this early dragalia life comic, and this panel specifically:

So, apparently somebody (whether the artist actually asked anyone else or just winged it, I don't know!) decided Ranzal was 6'1. Fair, a pretty tall height for such a big dude, right? Well, it's not tall enough when we then put this in mind with pretty much every art with him in the picture and can't be explained by perspective (ie, everyone is likely on a relatively flat surface)

(Yes I know Euden's kneeling in that one but still, don't think standing is going to help him much in this case! He's still got more in common with Daikokuten the Mouse Dragon in that picture than any human or sylvan...)

And yes, these are some of the more egregious examples, but just the fact there's more than one makes this so funny trying to re-contextualize everyone else's height around Ranzal when we look at art like this. Because, as the very first image suggests, Euden is at best 5'1 in some of these arts if Ranzal is 6'1. And since Dragalia seemed to go with a vague 'comparison heights' to keep in line that Euden is taller than Zethia, but not Luca, etc, means quite a few people are absolutely tiny with the only fact that they're shorter than Euden as evidence needed.

Now, of course you can easily ruin this by logical, unfun recognition that Euden is also one of the most egregious size-shifters in Dragalia over the years (which by itself might make for some funny headcanons that he doesn't know/can't remember his own height and just guesstimates if there's some sort of conscious mental influence in trying to return to human form after shifting...Like if he's feeling on top the world, powerful when he's shifting back everyone is suddenly wondering why he looks so much taller, etc), as evidenced by even just these dragalia life panels:

(This would put him at about 5'9/152 cm)

...Whereas this likely only cracks 4' something or another. You get the picture: heights aren't exactly stable in comics or art. And I get it, it'd be a pain to try and keep everything consistent 24/7 over so many comics and artworks.

But oh, is it funny to imagine that everyone in Grastea is falling into one of two camps: huge-normal and very small. There is almost no in-between. You are either 6'+ or you are 4'8. Like...

A party approaches, two taller figures and three small ones. One of them looks like a the leader of this group, a bulky frame and commanding, harsh presence that signals not to play games with him. Surely that's the most dangerous member of the party, right? He looks like he eats whole horses for breakfast and it all turns straight into muscle.

...And then the one 5'1 kid randomly multiplies in size several times over and is now a huge freakin' dragon and setting you on fire/sending a tidal wave at you/kicking up a tornado/electrifying you/breathing poison/etc...

Appearances....can be deceiving?

So yeah, there we have the hilarious and unintentional effects by that one damning comic so long ago provides, if you so choose to take it at face value instead of introducing silly things like facts and logic and an understanding of the difficulties of being an artist!

Bonus round (ie, edit)

Also, judging by this exact one (1) piece of art, Emile very well is taller than Phares. Emile looks like he's hunching over somewhat and is still about even with Phares:

So yeah. Figured I should share that Emile might be way taller than I thought, at least.

[pain-is-too-tired]

Personally think Michael has lot more patience then lot of people assume at time.

Not being disrespected(or,worse, his siblings being disrespected) He won't stand for. But even then if it's something serious going on he'll more easily let it sly.

Ex: that interaction on the bridge where poor Michael had to deal with Percy flirting mid battle.

This scene is so funny to me, cause Percy too busy looking at Annabeth and Michael's probably trying keep his cool cause literally his siblings are fighting for his life around him csgdg

Also,after everything with the chariot he's just like "whatever I got more important things to worry over." Why Clarisse is still in camp pouting. Though calling her names before going is kinda funny ngl hdgd

Dude's got attitude still of course but he still seems much chiller in battle than when he's arguing with Clarisse.

Probably one reasons he's one my favorite characters cause man for all his attitude he keeps his head in battle and honestly pretty good leader during it.

He had Kayla and Austin (likely the youngest) away from the fight setting up traps.

He was already having his siblings pull mortals out of the way.

He was already prepared to retreat when Percy got there,so he's definitely aware of when they're in over their head(not to mention being pretty quick to call for reinforcements and letting Percy and Annabeth take charge. So his pride seems to be more about his cabin and focused on keeping them safe but not disrespected.)

I think one the reasons he got so mad at Clarisse was *because* she was pretty much acting like a spoiled brat over something everyone agreed she didn't earn.

I've seen someone mention Michael's fatal flow is protectiveness not pride and I fully agree.

Obviously he has pride in his cabin, but lot of it is protective of them and not willing to let someone just walk over them.

At the same time he puts his pride behind him, but he still gets upset at Clarisse before he leaves. Not because of the chariot anymore, but because she still refuses to fight. When things are getting serious she refuses just because of her own pride.

I think one of the reasons he's so chill about the chariot at the end was because why he defended the fact they did have rightful ownership of it, when it became clear his cabin was going be in actual danger in a fight and could care less about it. Thier safety came first.

I think Michael has lot of loyalty similar to Percy. Reason I love the idea of them being friends.

The idea that Clarisse cared more about her pride than her camp mates frustrated him the most. It was one thing going back and forth when they weren't in active call to duty, but refusing to set back your pride for your peers was a line.

Michael's pride was always his siblings. He do anything to protect them to the end.