#kronos island is also good

[thecoolertails]

sonic frontiers jukebox is really good, i wasn't actually expecting to care abt it much but the added collectibles of the songs (some being in obscure places that i made the effort to get to before just for fun, so having a collectible there is nice) + the whole feature of you being able to replace the background music whenever you want easily with the d-pad is great and gives the game a whole different energy depending on the song. makes me really excited for future games with a more typical go-get-em sonic atmosphere. i love frontiers soundtrack and i think it's one of the best in the series but playing it with the more upbeat music from other games is like WEEEEEEE!! yk

[jontaro-kun]

Memory

"I love ruins. They remind us that our stories will stand the test of time; Gone, but never forgotten. That no matter what happens, life will go on. They give the gift of memories." ~ Lore Knight

[alwaysahiccupandastrid]

Pixar did not have to go as hard as they did with the Kronos Unveiled scene in The Incredibles (2004), yet they did anyway and gave us one of the best scenes in modern cinema. Literally cannot stop thinking about how good this scene is, from the animation to the build up to the soundtrack.

I don’t think I truly understood how dark this scene - and this film - was a child: Syndrome is systematically and strategically luring in superheroes and killing them off in order to test and improve his Omnidroid design… these people were not only supers but they also had family and loved ones too, just like Bob, and one day they would have just disappeared because chances are they weren’t telling people where they were going because it was "top secret" and against the law. They thought they were doing something good, like helping the people in the island, while also getting to relive their glory days, perhaps even paving the way for superheroes to make a proper comeback… only for Syndrome to kill them in cold blood.

Most of these people can actually be seen at Bob and Helen’s wedding in the beginning of the film - they weren’t just random supers, they were their friends, people they worked alongside and cared about. It’s even worse when you realise that Bob probably blames himself because, after all, Buddy/Syndrome was his biggest fan and he dismissed him by not letting him help.

The relief on Bob’s face when he realises Syndrome doesn’t know where Helen is - meaning he also doesn’t know where their children are because he didn’t realise they were married at this point - is so realistic and gut wrenching to see. The relief contrasting with the anguish of knowing how much danger they and their entire family could have been in the entire time without even knowing...it's so well-done, you can literally feel it.

It’s also worth noting that originally the next target wasn’t Mr Incredible but Frozone - that was who Mirage was trailing, hence why his location is “known”. Imagine if she/Syndrome hadn’t realised that Mr Incredible was with him and they’d lured Frozone in instead as planned; he would have gone to the island to fight the Omnidroid 8 in a volcano setting. We saw how being in the burning building dehydrated Frozone and made it impossible to use his ice powers - presumably it would have been the same in the middle of a lava filled volcano, and he’d have been slaughtered just like the other superheroes before him.

This scene shows an entire generation of superheroes - Bob, Helen and Lucius’ generation - wiped out all because Syndrome felt slighted by his hero as a child, because he internalised that slight and let it drive him to revenge. And, if we take into account the deleted alternate opening scene, it’s mentioned that superheroes "aren't supposed to breed” - meaning there’s a likelihood that Violet, Dash and Jack-Jack are among the very few supers of the next generation. I know that it's deleted and so not really canon, but it's definitely a concept to consider, I think.

Then there's the fact Syndrome named the project "Kronos" - Kronos was a God who overthrew his own father in order to take over his rule, and then he ate his own children to prevent them doing the same thing to him. It feels like it reflects Syndrome once looking up to Mr Incredible and even saying "I could be your ward!", meaning Mr Incredible adopting or fostering him - the project name is a metaphor for Syndrome destroying the Supers, especially Mr Incredible, who he viewed as a father figure. The Omnidroids he built killed two birds with one stone: not only was he able to acquire the data to upgrade the robot to its final design, but it also eliminated the real super heroes and so left him as the last remaining "superhero", even though his powers are man-made, not something he was born with.

Not only did he want to become the only remaining superhero by killing the real ones in revenge, he also planned to sell his inventions at some point so everyone can be super - because "when everyone is super, nobody is". It's like a final blow to the memory of the superheroes he had killed.

I've talked too much about this scene but God... I love it so much more as an adult because it's just so chilling to think about. I'm sure other people can put it much more articulately than I just tried to, but I just really wanted to appreciate this scene.

[kamaluhkhan]

LONG HOT SUMMER NIGHT

pairing: luke castellan x fem!poseidon!reader word count: 8.4k chapter summary: it's the summer solstice and olympus is throwing a party! thalia notices the tension between you and luke, poseidon gives you some relationship advice and you punch the god of desire in the face. warnings: angst! jealous reader. lots of drinking. complicated relationships. reader dealing with ptsd + survivor's guilt (post-titan war). mention of injuries + blood. creepy guy pushing reader to hook up. ending is a bit steamy but no actual smut. spoilers for the entire pjo (book) series. no betrayal (au where chris was the one who sided w kronos and led the titan army) so slightly ooc luke <3 also reader is in a band called the midnight sirens and is born on the summer solstice! author's note: thank you so much for all the love for part 1!! summer is almost over and this is very much a summer series BUT summer's not over yet !!! hope y'all enjoy this one too and thanks 4 reading 💙

part 1 | series masterlist

♪: long hot summer night by jimi hendrix

mail to: 

Luke Castellan Camp Half-Blood, Half-Blood Hill 3.141 Farm Road Long Island, New York 11954

LUKE! 

I’m sitting in my kitchen right now, watching Percy make us blue blueberry pancakes and hoping he doesn’t burn down my kitchen while doing so. I caved and agreed to take him to Disneyland while he’s here and breakfast was part of the deal, but I think I might regret it later. 

We went surfing yesterday. It was Percy’s first time, but he was (unsurprisingly) amazing at it. I still can’t get over how beautiful the beaches are and the waves — gods, the waves are unreal. You’d seriously love it here. It’s like every day is summer. You have to come visit. PLEASE come visit!!!!

- [your initial]

P.S. The band and I are working on some new music, which means I won’t make it to camp again this summer. I’m sorry ;( Fingers crossed I’ll make it next year. 

P.P.S. hi luke! happy to report that i did not burn down my sister’s kitchen. anyways, can’t wait to kick your ass in sword-fighting this summer. xoxo, percy

THREE YEARS LATER 

the first time you visited olympus, you had been sent on a quest to retrieve zeus’ stolen lightning bolt, bringing luke and charles beckendorf along with you. you had missed the summer solstice deadline, but still tried to reason with the king of the gods when presenting the symbol of power, maybe calling him out once or twice along the way. before zeus could strike you down for your boldness, poseidon stepped in. the war between them was averted in fear of a much larger, looming threat; an ominous introduction for what was to come in the next chapter of your life.

another time, the gods debated whether or not they should kill you, some seeing you as a threat to their future. that was the day you accepted your destiny, not wanting your brother percy or your cousin nico to deal with the weight of the great prophecy. 

your last visit to olympus was on your 18th birthday, after helping to defeat kronos and his army. you made the gods swear to stop neglecting their kids and to allow all demigods, regardless of whether their parent was an olympian or not, to have a home at camp half-blood; to treat their children as children rather than heroes as pawns in their twisted games.

needless to say, it’s quite strange, being back here under very, very different circumstances, where the gods invited camp half-blood’s senior counsellors and staff to join in their summer solstice festivities.

it’s not every day you’ll be invited to a party on olympus; you’re determined to have a good time, to have fun. there’s already an abundance of music, dancing, food, or alcohol, and the night is just getting started.

you’re happy to be there with new and old friends, but you’re ecstatic when you see that thalia grace is there, too. 

“immortality looks good on you, t!” you compliment, raising your voice slightly over the music.

thalia preens, and you bask in her silver glow. 

“bet you wish you took the gods up on their offer, huh,” she teases. then, her eyes widen. “oh - shit! it’s your birthday! happy birthday!” 

thalia tackles you with another hug; even after all these years, she still smells like pine trees. she grabs two goblets of honeyed wine and hands one to you as you catch up. you eagerly gulp the sweet drink, until you’re reaching for another while listening to her stories about adventures she’d been on with the hunters of artemis. 

about halfway through her story about fighting off a manticore during a snow storm, a nymph appears with a platter of the ripest of fruit – sweet plums and fresh figs, tantalising pomegranates, succulent grapes and crisp apples. 

“oh my gods, this is the best apple i’ve had in my entire life!” thalia exclaims after indulging in a taste, herself giddy from a few goblets of wine. “where’s luke? he’s gotta try this — he’s always reminding us to eat more fruit. luke!” 

you hadn’t kept track of luke, at least not on purpose. you assumed he’d been off partying with van or his siblings, and, probably, avoiding you. wherever he was, thalia calls his name twice more and, like a ghost, luke appears. 

“i’m here, t.” luke’s voice is a deep, steady rumble floating above the music. his cheeks are slightly flushed, either from the heat or the drinks. likely both. “what’s up?”

“you need to try this.” thalia shoves the apple in his mouth before luke can respond. 

luke takes a bite, and some juice drips down his chin. you, in a honey-soaked haze, think about running your tongue over to catch it, but he beats you to it, wiping it away with the back of his hand. 

probably for the best.

“holy shit. yeah, it’s good.”

thalia, a sparkle in her eyes, urges you to try it as well. from across the makeshift triangle the three of you had formed, luke tosses the apple your way. you catch it effortlessly, and sink your teeth into it. 

you’ve almost overwhelmed by the burst of flavor. the fruit is just the right amount of tart to balance out the sweetness, and it’s damn near the best crunch you’ve ever experienced.

“good is an understatement,” you say after another bite. a distant memory crosses your mind. “i wonder if these are the same ones we almost got killed by a hellhound for.” 

thalia shakes her head, laughing in disbelief. “all because luke said we needed more vitamin c.”

“i was just looking out for us!” luke guffaws. “how was i supposed to know that persephone owned an apple orchard in connecticut?”

you pat his shoulder, the three of you smiling at the memory. “let’s call it an honest mistake.”

“well if annabeth had been with us by then, i’m sure that she wouldn’t have made that same honest mistake.” 

“okay, but she’s the daughter of athena —”

you let luke and thalia slip back into their playful bickering as if no time has passed. you listen and continue eating that glorious apple, enjoying how the golden glow of your shared past fills whatever distance might have grown between the three of you. 

somewhere down memory lane, luke’s amber eyes flick towards you.

“hey, you’ve got some….” without another word, luke suddenly reaches over to brush away a trail of juice with his thumb before sticking the finger in his mouth to savour the taste. he holds your gaze as he does so, and you feel a familiar kind of heat rush through your body — not from alcohol or summer sun, but from luke. 

it’s such an intimate gesture that you almost forget that you’re at some extravagant party on mount olympus, where gods and half-bloods and a whole bunch of other mythological creatures are celebrating the start of summer by essentially getting drunk together, until thalia clears her throat. 

“okay, well, seems like the two of you might want some alone time.”

luke’s cheeks grow more flushed than before, and his eyes widen as if realizing what he’d done.

“oh, we don’t need —”

“we’re not —”

you and luke both stumble over your words; thalia just smiles knowingly. 

“i’m gonna go flirt with that nymph,” she announces, pointing across the grand marble pavilion.

“i thought — doesn’t artemis sort of frown upon that sort of thing?” you ask.

“she makes exceptions on holidays. besides, i’m her favourite. you guys have fun.” thalia winks at you and walks away.

you glance at luke and, gods, there’s so much history between you. 

the time you jumped into an ocean full of sirens to save luke from drowning? you have a scar running down your forearm where one of them scratched you as you struggled to get luke towards the surface. 

or when you took turns holding up the sky while on a quest to save lady artemis and defeat the titan atlas? it’s evident in the matching streaks of grey that you each have running through your hair. whenever you see your reflection in the mirror, you remember how you couldn’t save your cousin bianca di angelo earlier that day, and how nico has had to grow up without a sister because of a promise you broke.

how about when you, luke, and one of your best friends were sent on a mission to destroy the princess andromeda, the headquarters of kronos’ army? only the two of you survived, and sometimes you can still feel luke squeezing your hand pike he did during charles beckendorf’s burial shroud ceremony while you both cried.

or when luke took a sword between the ribs for you because he, somehow, knew the one spot the curse of achilles left you vulnerable? he can only slouch for so long before the bones there start to ache.

so, yeah. there’s way too much history, and so many tangled threads, and now really isn’t an ideal time to unravel it all. 

“i’m gonna go find my dad,” you blurt out and disappear into the crowd with no real intention of finding your father. 

the once sweet apple now tastes rotten on your tongue; you rid yourself of it in exchange for some more wine. you’re determined to have fun — no pain or heartache or grief. 

you’ve all had enough of that for three lifetimes. 

summer — age 14

“sorry your birthday was ruined.” 

luke exhaled sharply when you pressed a disinfectant-soaked cloth to the wound on his leg.

“hold still,” was all you mumbled in response, brows knitted together as you wrapped the cut in gauze. 

once you were done with his leg, you moved on to luke’s hands, burned by poisonous acid. the four of you had run into a hydra earlier that night. you managed to wound it enough so you could all get away, but not before a few injuries were sustained. 

you were uncharacteristically quiet as you worked. you only met luke’s gaze to warn him before pouring some nectar on his wounds. you let luke hold your hand, tightly, as the liquid dripped through his fingers and down to yours, first right, then left. the pain was instant, seering almost as much as the hydra acid, but it was over quickly. the last thing you did was bandage each hand before getting up. 

“i’m…i’m gonna check on thalia and annabeth. i’ll take first watch.”

luke caught your hand before you got away.

“wait. you’re bleeding.” he pointed to the cut on your brow. you had been so preoccupied in making sure everyone else was safe that you let crimson liquid drip down your face. it probably stung, too, based on your grimace.

luke wiped away the blood with his sleeve, used nectar to disinfect the wound, and dressed it with a fresh bandage, working silently as you did.

“it’s still your birthday,” luke finally said once he was done. “you get some rest; i’ll take first watch.”

you gave him a small, strained smile before checking on the others. 

later that night, you stayed up with luke anyways. 

seemingly out of nowhere, you handed him your portable cassette player. luke stared at it for a moment, unwilling to comprehend just what you were offering and, more importantly, why. 

you and luke had grown accustomed to sharing things: flannels, socks, makeshift beds and scavenged food. but this —

it was your aunt’s. 

you never met your mother, who’d left you as a baby, and of course, poseidon was too busy tending to his underwater kingdom to step in as a parent. your aunt raised you as her own. and then you lost her, too. 

you kept her cassette player buried deep in your bag with some mixtapes she had made and ones you’d stolen throughout the years. when it wasn’t your turn to keep watch, luke would sometimes catch you with headphones on, looking up at the stars. 

luke liked to think he knew you well; all those subtle elements that made you — the crack of your knuckles, the cadence of your voice, the slope of your nose, the dreams of your childhood. engraved in his own personhood. bones and all. 

and, still: he didn’t know you, not entirely. 

you’d only allowed luke to listen with you once, maybe twice. he’d never forget what it was like: knees pressed together and heads just as close to keep the wires from stretching too far; you gushing about the magic of jimi hendrix, recounting memories that echoed through gentle guitar riffs; luke yearning for one more song to play, for another a wistful smile of yours to appear. luke, wishing to linger in your private oasis a beat longer before you pushed him out again and closed the door behind him. 

the one lock luke couldn’t crack: your grief, and how you carried on so buoyantly despite its weight.

well, there you were, presenting the key to luke as an offering. a sacrifice for something luke would never ask of you. 

“this….” luke swallowed the lump in his throat, refusing to look at you. he turned the device over in his bandaged hands, the metal smooth, though well-worn. “you can’t just —”

leave. you can’t just leave. you can’t just —

“hey.” 

your hand over his, forcing him to stop spiralling and look at you. 

right away, luke regretted it. a small sliver of him, however delusional, had hoped that you were joking. 

you weren’t. behind you, there was an empty space where you had previously wedged your sleeping bag. your backpack was already strapped around your shoulders, fully packed. 

“i need to leave, luke. we can’t stay together. it’s too dangerous.”

“you don’t need to —”

“there’s more of us, now,” you interrupted, pulling your hand away to rest on your thigh. “four demigods together isn’t ideal. we’ve been attracting more monsters. more deadly monsters.”

“that would happen, anyways. it always has whether it’s the four of us, the two of us, or….” 

luke stopped his sentence short, not even wanting to give you the idea to go out on your own, even though you’d probably been thinking about leaving for some time. 

you made reckless decisions sometimes, but this didn’t seem to be one of them.

“well, it’s happening more.” your voice was steady, too steady. luke imagined you rehearsing just what to say to counter the inevitable backlash. 

luke shook his head. “i’d be dead if it weren’t for you.”

“you almost died because of me,” you clipped. you lifted a hand to touch the bruise on luke’s jaw, but let it drop just as quickly. “you know that children of the big three cause more trouble. maybe we managed it when it was the two of us, but now, there’s more to consider. a child of poseidon and a child of zeus, travelling together. it’s like we’re asking to be killed. it’s too dangerous.”

“that’s our life,” luke snapped. “you can’t just run from it.” from us.

you faltered, looking back to where annabeth and thalia were sleeping peacefully. 

oh. he must have said that last part out loud, too. 

“you know i’m right,” is all you said.

luke could only shake his head again. because, fine, you weren’t entirely wrong. it was more dangerous — but it was danger luke hoped you’d all face, together. 

“i’ve made up my mind,” you added, an anchor in the sand.

“don’t leave.” luke’s words came out as a prayer. if he offered something, maybe you’d stay.

you paused to take a shaky breath. “this isn’t goodbye, luke. i swear to poseidon…fuck, i swear to all the gods that this isn’t goodbye.”

luke couldn’t speak. there were tears bubbling in his throat, threatening to spill. 

“so, keep this for me,” you whispered, once again placing your hand on top of luke’s. his fingers gripped your cassette player tightly, like it was the only piece of driftwood leftover from a shipwreck, keeping him from sinking into the cold, dark nothing. “you’ll give it back when we see each other again.”

a promise. 

“fine,” luke conceded, though he wanted to scream at you. he wanted to argue like little kids — petty, loud, meaningless, back and forth until tears streamed down cheeks and throats were raw. 

but, you were leaving, one way or another. luke didn’t want this shared memory to be tainted if it might be your last.

“you have to take this, then. give it back when we see each other again.”

luke removed the chain from around his neck, the one that held the key to his childhood home. he placed it around yours, instead.

he didn’t need the key now, but his mother had given it to him when he was six. before he knew what it meant to be the son of hermes, god of thieves. 

call him sentimental, but luke had kept it. just in case he ever got lost. 

“if you’re ever back in connecticut, you have a home.”

“yeah, okay.” you smiled softly. 

it fell just as quickly. 

“take care of them,” you told him. “of yourself, too. i’ll see you again when it’s safe.”

luke didn’t ask when it would be safe, because the truth is that it might never be.

“because you want your cassette player back?” luke joked, instead trying to lighten the mood, to capture one last moment of brightness.

you laughed softly to not wake the others. 

“yeah. that too.”

you pressed your forehead to his, something you hadn’t done since you were kids. 

“i’ll see you again,” you repeated.

without another word, you got up and jogged away. luke shut his eyes, refusing to see you become nothing but a shadow. 

(you looked back several times, but he couldn’t see through the darkness.)

now

call the gods out on their bullshit (you encourage it), but if they have one thing going for them, it’s that the olympians know how to throw a party. 

the night grows darker, yet somehow becomes more lively. demeter and persephone had supplied a generous amount of fresh, decadent fruit, and dionysus an even more generous amount of wine. apollo starts a karaoke corner and you’re just tipsy enough to agree to sing a duet with him in order to break the ice. apparently, he’s a big midnight sirens fan and had seen your band when you headlined at glastonbury festival. you smile to yourself, imagining your bandmates’ faces if you told them that the god of music had watched you perform.

as you hand the microphone to a giggling dryad, the sound of your name washes over like gentle waves on a shore.

“if it isn’t my sweet, summer child!” your father brings you in for a hug and an ocean breeze engulfs you — salt and sand and sun. 

“hi dad,” you exhale as you pull away. 

you hadn’t seen each other in a while, but poseidon looks the same. he’s dressed in a turquoise hawaiian shirt and birkenstocks with a crown of seashells on his head. there’s a cocktail umbrella in his glass, a slice of pineapple wedged onto the rim. you’re about to ask him how he managed to secure a pina colada and where you might find one, too.

“that was quite the performance!” poseidon takes an eager sip of his drink, green eyes sparkling like sea glass in the sun. “i must tell you: your newest album is all the rage in atlantis. the nereids and merpeople can’t seem to get enough of it and, truthfully, i find myself playing it on repeat as well. you’re quite talented.” 

you try not to let your shock slip through, instead smiling and asking how things are in his underwater kingdom, but you’re….touched at your father’s unexpected praise.

the gods aren’t perfect, and your father is no exception. they’re divine beings who have time to conceive children, but not to raise them. there’s a long history of them abandoning, mistreating, and manipulating their own offspring. of course, being the prophecy child, it became practically impossible for your father to ignore you; you’re sure that being dubbed the saviour of olympus gives him bragging rights with his immortal family. even with their sworn promise to change, it’s impossible not to resent the gods in some ways. 

still, you feel comforted by your father's presence at times — when you catch the perfect wave on your surfboard, for example, or when you sit on your fire escape during a storm after a bad day. it’s been like that pretty much all your life: poseidon there in spirit, not in practice. despite everything, he’s watched over you, and percy, throughout the years.

and here poseidon is now, grinning at you like you’re his pride and joy. 

“enough about aquatic politics.” he pats your shoulder enthusiastically after telling you about the struggles of keeping humans from overfishing. “i came over to wish you a happy birthday. and to give you this.” 

poseidon reaches into the pocket of his shirt and hands you something you’d long thought gone: a leather cord with several clay beads and a silver key.

“i found it off the california coast,” he explains. “i kept meaning to get it to you, but i suppose time has a way of getting away from us, immortal or not.”

a warmth grows in your chest as you run your thumb over your old camp necklace, bright and full. it had fallen off one day when you’d gone surfing, and you assumed it was lost to the ocean. you'd been given a fresh leather cord when you arrived at camp earlier this summer, but it felt empty. hollow.

“thanks, dad.” 

you smile at him as you put on the necklace; it feels like coming home. your father then asks you about your summer so far.

you tell him all about your life as of late, until you catch a glimpse of luke with van on a marble bench at the other end of the pavilion. van is sitting in luke’s lap, and they lean over to whisper something in his ear before kissing his cheek. 

you freeze mid-way through your sentence.

sensing the shift in mood, poseidon frowns. he turns his head to follow your gaze.

“ah.” poseidon turns back to you and clears his throat. “now, i don’t mean to pry, but i saw you earlier with the castellan boy.”

you flush at the fact that your moment with luke was witnessed by your own father. “dad —”

“did you know in ancient greece, throwing someone an apple and having them catch it is considered a marriage proposal?”

“i’m pretty sure that was disproven,” you scoff.

poseidon raises an eyebrow at you, clearly amused. “which one of us was actually there, hm?” and though you roll your eyes, you can’t argue with that. “i just wanted to know if there was a wedding happening in the near future.”

you almost choke on the last remnants of your wine. “dad.”

“i’m kidding. i’m kidding! mr. castellan seems otherwise occupied.” 

“yeah, it does seem that way,” you grumble.

poseidon puts a hand on your shoulder, firm but reassuring. “regardless: if you find someone who would go to tartarus and back with you, someone who would fight alongside you every step of the way, you hold on to them. there’s only so much time you mortals have on this earth.”

you sigh — easier said than done — but your father is trying, so you manage a nod.

“i’ll keep that in mind.”

“now, i better go — ” poseidon looks over your shoulder, where the air behind you starts to feel staticky. “it seems a disagreement is brewing between zeus and hades. they always get into it whenever dionysus makes the wine a bit too strong. brother, put away the lightning bolt —” and he rushes away to prevent another divine conflict from arising.

left to your own devices, you venture over to the food table, finding an array of fresh and dried fruit, breads, cured meat, fresh oysters and, of course, more wine. you grab a goblet and a few dried figs.

“careful, i heard dionysus made the wine extra strong tonight,” someone warns, creeping up beside you. the voice is soft and alluring, and you feel something tug at your heart. 

you do a double take when you turn to them; the person is devilishly handsome, a golden aura paired with a golden smile. 

(you will soon find out that the god flirting with you is the son of ares and aphrodite, the latter of which takes the appearance of whoever the onlooker loves. as it turns out, her son appears in the same way. 

all this to say: it doesn’t mean anything that this god looks like luke castellan to you. 

it doesn’t mean anything at all.)

“i’m eros.”

“hey. i’m —”

“i know who you are, savior of olympus.” eros winks at you. “i just never realized you were so beautiful.”

your cheeks heat up as you take a sip of your drink.

oh, shit. 

okay. the literal god of desire and pleasure is flirting with you. 

you’re flattered, really, and maybe the wine has gotten to your head, but you’re not eager to turn him away.

“well, i’ve definitely heard about you, and the rumors do not do you justice,” you quip, painting on a flirtatious smile.

eros puffs out his chest, clearly pleased. 

over the next few minutes, you decide that eros can hold a decent conversation, asking you the classic first date questions about your likes and dislikes, and he’s cute enough that you wouldn’t mind things going further. 

(he might be a god, but he’s no luke. you push that thought away, and force yourself to flirt with helios. eros. right, eros.)

eros leans in close, pretends to listen to you, lets his gaze drop every so often to the deep v-neck of your shirt.  

“no way! 13 going on 30 is a classic,” you argue. you nudge your shoulder into eros’s playfully, and let the contact between you linger. eros, the inspiration for cupid himself, has angel wings, and you feel them brush softly against your burning skin. 

“it’s totally overrated!” eros exclaims. “also, the childhood friends to lovers trope gives people false hope.”

“it’s not false hope. it’s about the buildup to their happily ever after,” you reason, swallowing some wine to dislodge the lump in your throat.

eros shakes his head. “trust me, baby, it’s all about the instant attraction. that’s where the excitement is.” 

he’s so close now, you can smell the sharp alcohol on his breath. not wine, but something stronger.

“oh? what do you mean by that?” you lean impossibly closer, trailing a finger down his chest.

eros smirks, placing a hand on your thigh. “want me to demonstrate?” 

not even a second after you whisper a yes, eros crashes his lips onto yours, and you will yourself to kiss back. he slides his tongue in your mouth, runs his hands over your body. 

you’re making out with the god of desire and passion, so, objectively, it’s a good first kiss: soft around the edges and firm where it needs to be.

sure — you feel nothing, no real spark, but it’s almost enough to fill the hole in your heart in the shape of a certain son of hermes. 

the son of hermes who has moved on and is in a loving relationship with a perfect emotionally available partner. 

so, it’s fine. 

this, this thing with eros, is fine. 

you’re fine.

eros pulls away first, but keeps a hand on your cheek.

“let's get out of here.” 

he grabs your wrist before you have a chance to answer. you stand up, let him weave you through the crowd towards the stairs of the pavilion. apparently, his room is just through the garden. 

as he tugs you along, he looks back at you, smiling. under the glow of the stars, eros looks just like luke, except it’s becoming harder to ignore that he isn’t luke and that makes you feel all sorts of nauseous. your camp necklace weighs on your chest and, in particular, the silver key that you’d kept for all those years burns through your skin. 

lightheaded, you pull away from eros’ grip just as you reach the top of the stairs and place a hand on the column next to you to steady yourself.

eros turns around sharply. “what is it?”

“i changed my mind, actually. let’s just…keep talking here.”

eros grabs your wrist again, his grip tighter than before. “don’t be a tease.” his tone is ever-so-gentle, but there’s an edge behind his words. 

this time, your voice comes out more assertive. “i just changed my mind. that doesn’t make me a tease.”

“come on, baby, don’t you wanna experience what real passion is? this is a once in a lifetime opportunity that a million girls would kill for. you’d be an idiot to pass it up.” he brags, and you’re this close to breaking this guy’s nose, god or not. 

“i don’t care,” you snap, struggling to break free from his grip. “and i’m not your baby.”

“okay, whatever,” eros rolls his eyes, but quickly plasters on an arrogant grin. “we’ll go somewhere private and i’ll call you whatever you want.”

he manages to drag you down two steps as you strain against his iron grip, now almost cutting off your circulation. your heartbeat quickens and you feel dizzy. finally, you grab onto the railing for leverage and use your strength to rip out of his grip, forcing eros to stop in his tracks.

“what is it now?” he snaps, whipping his head around once more. 

he looks nothing like luke, now.

“just stop, eros.”

“listen,” he starts, speaking to you almost mockingly, like you’re a naive little kid. so much for being the savior of olympus. “trust me, i know what people want, so you don’t have to be shy. i promise to be the best you’ve ever had —”

“eros, is it?” the rest of the party is in full motion, but here’s percy, giving eros one of the most intense death stares you’ve ever seen. percy, your little brother who talks to lonely fish at the aquarium; who, if you cut open, would bleed blue m&m’s; who would never let anyone, god or otherwise, hurt someone he loves. “i’m gonna have to ask you to let go of my sister.”

“mind your own business, kid,” eros hisses. “we’re kinda in the middle of something.” he tries to move you down another step, but you stand your ground.

annabeth, no longer the scared little seven year old you, luke, and thalia found behind a dumpster, is also glaring at liam from the top of the stairs. one of her hands rests firmly on her belt, where she keeps her dagger. 

“i’d back off, if i were you,” she warns. “wouldn’t want to cause a scene.”

“just mind your own business,” eros snarls.

“they said leave her alone,” thalia asserts, walking over once she sees what’s happening. “and you don’t wanna mess with us, trust me.” she clenches her hand into a fist.

“who the fuck are you? her bodyguards?” 

“just let her go,” percy orders. “my sister can do a lot better than a minor god with a major god complex.” 

eros growls, baring his teeth at percy. “you impertinent little shit.”

as soon as eros lunges for your brother, you tug one of his wings towards you, hard. he whips around and you take the opportunity to punch him in the face. he doubles over, golden ichor gushing from his nose.

“i’d be careful if i were you, baby,” you seethe. “you wouldn’t want to go up against the demigods who led an army against kronos and won. unless, of course, humiliation is a kink of yours.” you laugh humorlessly at the way eros scowls at your words. “to each their own,” you continue. “but i’m not in the mood to fuck an entitled creep with angel wings to compensate for his tiny dick. you better fucking respect that, and leave us alone while you’re at it.”

eros’ flirtatious smile is long gone, replaced with the kind of anger only entitled, self-important jerks have when they don’t get what they want and they’ve taken a few blows to their ego. 

call it stupidity or arrogance, but his only response is a punch delivered right back to your face. 

you hear a crack upon impact, and pain radiates from your nose. you stumble, but percy manages to reach out and catch you before you fall down the stairs. he holds you as thalia and annabeth create a barrier between you and eros. you hear them shouting at eros over the music, but their exact words don’t register.

you lick your lips, tasting blood. your ears are ringing, and everything is suddenly all fuzzy. percy tries his best, but you slump your body weight into his and he almost topples over.

“i’ve got her.” luke’s calm and measured voice cuts through the chaos. you feel a strong, familiar arm wrap around your waist to steady you. “from what i remember, you were too much of a coward to even step foot on the battlefield, so i’d listen to her if you know what’s good for you.” in a haze, you guess that luke is directing his sharp words towards eros, before turning to the others and instructing: “you guys take care of this — find clarisse if you need back up.”

somehow, you find yourself over in a small secluded temple, sitting on a window bench overlooking the clouds as luke sits next to you.

like most of olympus, the building is made of marble with gold accents; this one has roses engraved on the walls, and the space smells like flowery perfume. it’s much quieter than the pavilion, though you can hear laughter and music in the distance. it’s cooler, too, but not by much; even without all the body heat, you're left with sticky summer air, and luke’s breath on yours, sweet with wine and ripe fruit, as he carefully examines your injury.

you feel your head spinning all over again. maybe it’s the alcohol, or the adrenaline, or the fact that the two of you haven’t been this close in a while — probably a dangerous mix of all three. 

you know (from trying not to but ultimately not being able to pull your attention away from him after all) that he’s had a few drinks as well; it seems like the two of you ignore each other best when you’re sober.

“thought the curse of achilles would protect you from nosebleeds.”

“guess it doesn’t protect against —” what did percy call eros? “ — minor gods who have major god complexes,” you recite.

luke looks slightly amused. “that’s a shame,” he hums. “would have been nice to get one birthday without being injured.”

a smile creeps onto your face, despite the dull ache from your nose.

“you remembered.”

“of course i remember,” luke almost scoffs like the mere suggestion of forgetting what day you were born is an insult to his very character. he meets your gaze, and you could melt when he offers you that lopsided smile of his, painfully familiar. “happy birthday, aquagirl,” and it’s the softest he’s spoken to you in a while. just like old times.

he remembers. 

somewhere within him, luke holds on to fragments of you.

he wipes the blood off your face, the sleeve of his silk white button-down now stained crimson. “how’s your hand?” he asks. 

you flex your fingers. “it’s been better,” you answer, your knuckles slightly aching. “totally worth it.”

“i guess all those years away didn’t change anything. still willing to put a god in their place, huh?”

all those years away. 

the reminder feels like a stab to the heart, and you’re worried that it might burst the comfortable bubble you and luke had drunkenly stumbled into. 

thankfully, luke continues:

“the kids really take after you.”

he says as a joke, mostly, but there’s a sincerity in those deep brown eyes of his, too. something you also hadn’t seen from him in a while. 

the kids, who you’d in some ways raised together when monsters were trying to kill you and the gods didn’t care enough to stop it. 

the family you and luke had built together despite being born into the world of greek tragedies. 

“as if annabeth wasn’t threatening to pull the dagger you gave her, skywalker,” the nickname rolling off your tongue with ease. “besides, they’re not kids anymore.”

“yeah.” he pauses. “neither are we.” 

luke’s fingers trace your camp necklace, brush against your collarbone. the breath hitches in your throat.

here you are again, at the edge of something real and very scary, and you fear luke is going to push the two of you over. 

but he doesn’t. instead, luke suggests, jokingly: “maybe we should start a fight club at camp.” 

you take that as a good sign: like you, he’s hoping to preserve the playfulness between you before everything else seeps in and ruins it. before you’re brought back to the present, where you’re practically ignoring each other.

where you’re fine, but really. 

you snort. “chiron and mr. d would love that.”

“like they’d ever find out!” luke explains. “you know the first rule of fight club —”

“don’t talk about fight club,” you finish together. 

luke laughs, even though it’s not that funny. you laugh, too. 

and that’s the thing that really, truly gets you. 

try as you might to ignore it, some days it’s hard to forget the pain and heartache and grief. 

you still feel like your life is a battlefield; you still see the ghosts of everyone you couldn’t save even though people call you a savior; you still have those scars, inside and out, that seemed healed but ache every once and a while. 

but that isn’t all. 

sometimes it hurts more thinking back to the good times and knowing, deep down, you can never go back.

summer — age 13

“ugh — you think with all their power, the gods could help stop global warming,” you groaned, swatting away a mosquito that tried to land on you. “do you think they have air conditioning on olympus?”

“oh, for sure,” luke quipped. he gave you a lopsided smile, his curls sticking to his forehead, drenched in sweat. 

it was the summer solstice, the longest and the hottest day of the year so far. the two of you had found a perfectly good hideout, but luke insisted that this place would be worth the move. 

he’d been leading you down side streets for what felt like forever. the sun had already set, and you were very close to passing out from the heat, until luke finally stopped at a door behind an alley, with a sign reading CLOSED FOR RENOVATIONS. 

luke knelt down to do whatever son-of-hermes lock magic he had to do to get the door open. he flipped a switch, and you winced at the sudden overwhelming brightness. 

the destination was different than the hideouts you usually sprung for: those small, hole-in-the-wall type places. instead, this space was big and bright, filled with arcade games and fun posters and neon colours. the type of place a kid might have a party or where a group of normal teenagers might spend their friday night. 

“what…what is this?”

“you thought i forgot, didn’t you?” luke smirked at you. he sat down on the colourful carpet, taking out some snacks, a small plastic bag with coins, a wrapped box, and a plastic blue crown, and gestured for you to join.

you did, in fact, think that luke had forgotten your birthday. 

birthdays were bittersweet for children of gods, who were constantly reminded that any year could be their last, their youth cut short by monsters or prophecies or a fatal flaw. all the two of you usually did on either birthday was split any sweet treat you could get your hands on. 

it wasn’t a big deal, really, to skip that tradition of yours. there were much more urgent things to worry about, like finding food and water and shelter, and not being devoured by monsters. 

you did think it was strange that luke hadn’t so much as said happy birthday to you all day, but you knew that he loved you.

(like a friend loves a friend. nothing else, no matter how much your stomach fluttered at the thought of him.) 

“i wanted to surprise you,” luke explained once you claimed your spot next to him. he reached over to place the crown on your head. “i found this place a few days ago during a food run. it reminds me of where we had your —”

“eighth birthday party, yeah.” you smiled at the memory of running around and feeding quarters to every machine and trying every game, of your classmates singing happy birthday to you off-key before you all stuffed your faces with sickly sweet confetti cake. 

truthfully, you never thought about having another celebration like that again.

but, it was five years from that faded childhood memory, and luke was presenting you with something you didn’t even realize you had needed: the chance to be a kid again.

“so,” luke got up, a wide smile on his face. he held the plastic bag in one hand, extending the other to you. “which do you wanna play first?”

you started with space invaders, then moved on to dragon’s lair and pac-man. you took a break before street fighter ii so that luke could ceremoniously light a candle and present a cupcake that had been tossed around in his bag (but you were still very, very grateful for), along with fresh batteries for your portable cassette player. he had made you a mixtape too, though you couldn’t figure out how. 

your last stop was a photobooth. you vowed to keep those pictures — a collection of you and luke together, smiling bright and colourful, goofing off and laughing — for the rest of your life.

now

those moments from past summers are like popsicles melting in the sun: tangible for a limited time before leaving you with a sickly sweet mess of what once was. 

you think about what happened earlier, how percy, annabeth, and thalia stepped in to protect you, still the brave kids you had once known so well. how luke is here with you now, taking care of you so tenderly even after you’ve silently agreed to give each other the cold shoulder. 

maybe luke is right. maybe all those years away didn’t change anything. 

except — once you leave this temple and the alcohol leaves your system, it won’t be the same. 

none of you are kids anymore, if you ever even were. 

“why’d you go for eros, anyway?” luke asks, breaking you away from your thoughts. he removes his sleeve from your nose since the bleeding seems to have finally stopped.

“you really wanna know?”

“yeah. most gods are assholes. and you’re…” luke places a hand close to your leg, pinky finger brushing your thigh. “you.”

“i went for eros because….well, honestly, i don’t think i cared who it was, as long as they made me forget you,” you admit, because what did you have to lose. you probably have a broken nose, you definitely have blood on your shirt, and your time with luke is running out. 

luke’s eyes darken. his fingers start to play with the hem of your shorts. 

“did it work?” his voice is a whisper, but he’s close enough that he’s crystal clear.

“no.”

it’s hard to determine who leans in first, but soon enough your lips are on luke’s — messy and urgent. noses bumping together, teeth clacking against each other. he cradles your face in his hands, and you move to straddle his waist. you taste wine on his tongue, and maybe a hint of sweet pears, but it’s overwhelmed by the salty, metallic taste of blood stained on your lips. when you run out of air, you pull away. it’s clearer now: you’re not dizzy from the alcohol or adrenaline, but dizzy from him. luke’s gaze is heavy on yours as he traces your top lip with his thumb.

“luke,” you whimper, itching to kiss him again. 

“you’re still bleeding.”

luke wipes away the blood with his thumb. before either of you can do or say anything more, there’s an echo of footsteps on the marble floor. a flower nymph, there to leave an offering and let you know that, while aphrodite encourages acts of love, she prefers it doesn’t happen in her place of worship. 

you realize that aphrodite also might not look so fondly at you kissing someone else in her place of worship after publicly rebuking her own son.

luke untangles himself from you, and you know that he’s been jolted back to reality, too. 

and, just like that, another moment has melted away.

your father was right. time has a way of slipping away for us, immortal or not.

summer — age 18

“hey, you awake?”  

“yeah,” you replied softly. sleep hadn’t been easy, in the days and weeks and months leading up to that final battle with kronos and his army. 

and once it was all over? 

you rested your head on luke’s shoulder, sword discarded at your feet and armour half-removed, as argus, the hundred-eyed security guard of olympus, drove a school bus with a dozen or so demigods back to camp.

“why’d you turn down their offer?” luke whispered.

oh.

"why...why do you ask?"

"i don't know." luke paused. "just curious, i guess."

you closed your eyes and replayed that moment on olympus when you refused the gift of immortality. the look of shock written on the gods’ faces. and on luke’s.

“i don’t care about living forever,” you told him bluntly.

forever seemed too long, especially for someone who was prophesied to die at 18.

you tilted your head up to meet luke’s gaze, and his messy curls brushed against your forehead. evidence of the battle was clear on his face: caked-on dirt and blossoming bruises and dried blood. 

behind him, outside the bus window, the world was flying by. a child who had fallen off their bike being comforted by a friend. two people sharing an mp3 player and a pair of earbuds. an elderly couple walking their dog.

“you once told me that this was our life,” you continued, gesturing towards the weapons and battle-worn kids, some quiet, others crying, many injured. “what if it didn’t have to be?” 

luke furrowed his brow. “do you mean….are you talking about leaving?”

you shrugged. running from monsters for your entire childhood then being the child of the great prophecy was a lot.

a break might be nice.

there was so much about the world, the one you’d fought and bled to protect, that you wanted to experience. 

maybe something closer to a normal life.

“would you ever leave camp?” you wondered, not really answering luke's question. 

“no,” luke replied instantly. his fingers started fiddling with the beads on his necklace. “i can’t just walk away, not after everything.”

“yeah, i get that.” and you did; you really, truly, did. the guilt of wanting to leave camp curled in your stomach like a venomous snake. you took a shaky breath. “let’s talk about this later, yeah? i’m tired, and we have the rest of — ”

the rest of the summer slipped away in the blink of an eye. gone, before you even had a real chance to say goodbye.

you closed your eyes and held on to luke, as if gripping his arm would anchor you to something you weren't ready to let go of, but in some ways needed to move on from.

it was no use, though. 

by the end of august, you’d be gone too. 

now 

you learned early on that the curse of achilles doesn’t protect you from hangovers.

you wake up the morning after the celebration on olympus with a deep, throbbing pain lodged in your temple and an uncomfortable swirling in your gut. parties and late nights at bars are common on tour, which means migraines are, too, so you have a routine to make sure you’re not out of commission for too long.

except this time, the aspirin and blue gatorade and dry toast don’t work. the sting in your brain and uneasiness in your stomach doesn’t go away, even after a few days. you haven’t been able to sleep, either.

desperate for a cure, you consult lou ellen, head counsellor of the hecate cabin, who you’d unexpectedly grown close to in the past few weeks. she mixes something for you, while asking if there’s something that’s been weighing on you.

you couldn't keep it in anymore; you tell her about the summer solstice and luke.  

later, with nothing but your thoughts and percy’s snoring occupying your time post-curfew, you grab your phone and flip it open, deciding to finally reach out to luke, when you get a text from him.

luke is already on the beach when you arrive, looking out onto the water. 

“hey,” you greet as you sit next to him on the sand, but not too close. “i was actually about to text you —”

“did you tell anyone that we kissed?” he interrupts. you can’t quite read his expression as he waits for you to answer.

“no, i didn’t,” you lie. “would it matter if i did?”

“well, i mean, word travels fast around camp, and i don’t want van finding out. it’s not like it meant anything.”

the throbbing in your brain becomes a sharper sting, the uneasiness in your stomach a tidal wave of nausea.

“it didn’t?” you hate how fragile your voice sounds, compared to luke’s stoic demeanor.

luke shrugs. “i mean, we were both drunk and the thing with eros happened…we just got caught up in the heat of the moment.” 

“you’re saying there’s nothing between us, then? nothing?” the word tastes bitter in your mouth.

luke turns away before he answers. “no. nothing.”

“then what about last summer?” you demand. you force yourself to keep it together, your tone firmer than before. “i guess that didn’t mean anything, either.”

“y/n…” he sighs. “i don’t know what you want me to say. we’re barely even friends anymore. you come back here, after all this time, after so much shit happened, and expect us all to drop everything to fit you back into our lives. but, you don't. whatever you came here for, it's not here for you. there's nothing to go back to. we moved on. i moved on, and i can’t deal with you —" 

“got it,” you snap, already turning to walk away. “loud and fucking clear, luke.” 

it’s not like it meant anything. we’re barely even friends anymore.

you replay luke’s words as you crawl into bed, holding back tears so as to not disturb percy. finally, you swallow a generous amount of whatever concoction lou ellen had brewed up for you.

drifting off into your own sleep, you decide that you don’t love luke anymore. not as a friend, not as a.....

nope. 

according to luke, there's not even anything to go back to.

nothing.

nothing.

[knightofthenewrepublic]

The Battle of Manhattan didn’t go the way the Fandom thinks it did; we need to address the “massacre” of the Titan Army!

The Battle of Manhattan is the most pivotal event of the first series. And we see the entire thing exclusively from Percy’s point of view. He takes us through the thickest of the fight from one end of Manhattan Island to the next, and shows us a desperate fight of good against evil.

But we have another point of view for the battle, one that comes from the demigods of the Titan army, and one that informs us of a far different, darker side to the conflict. One where an entire army of children is massacred by the victorious Olympians, without a thought or even a care. It’s a shocking, confronting side of the struggle that most fans don’t seem to be aware of. 

But it’s also completely inaccurate. 

Now I love Alabaster; he’s one of my favorite characters, and I want nothing but the best for him. But he’s a demonstrably unreliable narrator. I don’t even mean that he’s intentionally dishonest; but he’s very badly misinformed about what actually happened. And that gives the fandom three major misconceptions that need to be cleared up. 

Alabaster gets the casualty ratio for the battle wrong (the Olympians had more than he thinks).

The Titan army has far fewer demigods than most fans think (not much more than 50 at the most).

Alabaster does say that there was a “massacre” at the end of the battle, but most of the TA demigods had deserted before that!

Part 1) The Olympians Have High Casualties

“It was a massacre. If I remember right, my mother told me that Camp Half-Blood and its allies had sixteen casualties total. We had hundreds.” (pg 219)

This is the only time we get a specific number for Olympian casualties, but it just doesn’t match up with what actually happens in the books. Looking back at all the deaths we do see:

Charlie Beckendorf -1

one [Hellhound] got hold of an Apollo camper and dragged him away. I didn’t see what happened to him next. I didn’t want to know. (pg 182) -1

Michael Yew -1

A young dragon had appeared in Harlem, and a dozen wood nymphs died before the monster was finally defeated. (pg 203) -12

“We lost twenty satyrs against some giants at Fort Washington,” [Grover] said, his voice trembling. (pg 203) -20 Giants smashed through trees, and naiads faded as their life sources were destroyed. (pg 243) -1< Enemy archers returned fire, and a Hunter fell from a high branch. (pg 244) -1  Too many of our friends lay wounded in the streets. Too many were missing. (pg 257) -1< The flagpoles were hung with horrible trophies –helmets and armor pieces from defeated campers. (pg 282) -1< The Drakon lashed out, swallowing three californian centaurs in one gulp before I could even get close. (pg 288) -3 Poison spewed everywhere, melting centaurs into dust along with quite a few monsters, (pg 288) -1< The Drakon snapped up one Ares camper in a gulp. (pg 291) -1

Silena Beauregard -1

Leneus -1

a body covered in the golden burial shroud of Apollo’s cabin. I didn’t know who was underneath. I don't want to find out. (pg 303) -1

Oddly enough, we actually miss the moment that was probably the worst for the Olympians, the final push by Kronos that breaks through their line. After Clarisse slays the drakon and the monsters are driven back again, Percy and co. take the opportunity to go up to Olympus. Percy gives Pandora’s Pithos to Hestia, and then contacts Poseidon via his throne. It’s just as he finishes that Thalia comes up and tells them that Kronos is coming again, but they miss the fighting.

By the time we got to the street, it was too late. Campers and Hunters lay wounded on the ground. Clarisse must have lost a fight with a Hyperborean giant, because she and her chariot were frozen in a block of ice. The centaurs were nowhere to be seen. Either they’d panicked and ran, or they’d been disintegrated. (pg 312) -<500

And finally, Kronos does kill some people on Olympus itself.

A few minor gods and nature spirits had tried to stop Kronos. What remained of them was strewn about the road: shattered armor, ripped clothing, swords and spears broken in half. (pg 322) -1<

The specific deaths we have mentioned during the battle amount to 48 at the very least; and that is an extremely conservative estimate that only includes the deaths Percy has the time and presence of mind to witness in all the carnage. Considering how many others must have happened, factoring the sudden disappearance of the 500 centaurs in particular, it was likely in the hundreds. And most of the centaurs probably ran at the end, but even that would have involved heavy casualties.

It’s true that actual demigods were a smaller fraction of Olympian forces, and so would have made up just a fraction of losses. The number 16 might actually make sense if it were just the number of campers lost, but that’s not what Hecate said, she said total.

It might be significant that Hecate is the actual source of this misinformation. Would she have reason to lie to her own son, or might she herself be out of the loop. Right now, we just can’t know. 

And she might be underestimating Titan Army losses too. Considering how many times a wave of several hundred monsters tear into Manhattan, and get thrown back by the Olympians only to return later with no discernable drop in numbers, until the army is finally routed entirely, it wouldn’t surprise me if the TA actually took a thousand or more casualties. But those would be overwhelmingly monsters, because:

Part 2) Less Than Fifty Demigods Were Even In The Titan Army

To prove that there could not possibly have been hundreds of TA demigods killed at Manhattan, we need look no farther than Alabaster's own account.

“There was a war between the gods and titans last summer and most half-bloods–demigods like me–fought for the Olympians.” (pg 218)

So the TA could not have had more demigods than the Olympians; and they had about a hundred. There are forty campers to start with, who are quickly joined by the Hunters, who now have thirty members. Then, in the last hours of the fight, they are finally joined by the Ares cabin, which brings another thirty (jeez Ares, you animal!). So Olympus has an even hundred demigods. (The Hunters aren’t necessarily all demigods by birth, but I don’t think Alabaster would make a distinction based on that.)

So the TA has less than a hundred demigods, significantly less. I would argue they probably had no more than fifty because that lines up with the only solid numbers we ever get for them. And every time the TA is described, demigods are a clear minority. First, look at the foes Percy encounters when he infiltrates the Princess Andromeda:

I saw monsters patrolling the upper decks of the ship–dracaenae snake-women, hellhounds, giants, and the humanoid seal-demons known as telkhines . . . . . “I don’t care what your nose says!” snarled a half-human half-dog voice—a telkhine. “The last time you smelled half-blood, it turned out to be a meatloaf sandwich!” “Meatloaf sandwiches are good!” a second voice snarled . . . . . a telkhine was hunched over a console . . . . . a half dozen telkhines were tromping down the stairs . . . . . past another telkhine . . . . . And in the fountain squatted a giant crab . . . . . a couple of dracaenae slithered across my path . . . . . As I was running up the stairwell, a kid charged down . . . . . Laistrygonian giants filed in on either side of the swimming pool . . . . . demigod archers appeared on the roof . . . . . two hellhounds leapt down . . . . . The crowed of monsters parted . . . . . Giants jeered. Dracaenae hissed with laughter . . . . . throwing monsters off their feet . . . . .I knew him, of course: Ethan Nakamura . . . . . two giants lumbered forward . . . . . Panicked monsters surged backward . . . . . one of the dracaenae hissed . . . . . I pushed through a crowd of monsters . . . . . Monsters yelled at me from  above.

That was a quick summary of all the enemies Percy and Charlie encounter on the Princess Andromeda, I’m not crazy enough to try and write the whole chapter. But it’s pretty clear there are only a few demigods amid dozens of monsters. We hear the same thing from Poseidon later, that “there were only a few demigod warriors aboard that ship”; we might question whether or not Poseidon is a trustworthy source, but the evidence does back him up.

When we finally get to the battle, the disparity of demigod numbers in the TA is again evident:

The bronze image showed Long Island Sound near La Guardia. A fleet of a dozen speed boats raced through the dark water toward Manhattan. Each boat was packed with demigods in full Greek armor. At the back of the lead boat, a purple banner emblazoned with a black scythe flapped in the night wind. I’d never seen that design before, but it wasn’t hard to figure out: the battle flag of Kronos. “Scan the perimeter of the island,” I said. “Quick.” Annabeth shifted the scene south to the harbor. A Staten Island Ferry was plowing through the waves near Ellis Island. The deck was crowded with dracaenae and a whole pack of hellhounds. Swimming in front of the ship was a pod of marine mammals. At first I thought they were dolphins. Then I saw their doglike faces and swords strapped to their waists, and I realized they were telkhines—sea demons. The scene shifted again: the Jersey shore, right at the entrance of the Lincoln Tunnel. A hundred assorted monsters were marching past the lanes of stopped traffic: giants with clubs, rogue Cyclopes, a few fire-spitting dragons, and just to rub it in, a World War II-era Sherman tank, pushing cars out of the way as it rumbled into the tunnel. (pg 167)

Here we see the first wave of the Titan Army as a three pronged attack (which Percy says on the next page collectively numbered at least 300) and only one of the units has demigods. It’s the one that Kronos leads, so it’s probably meant to be a more elite unit, at least at first. 

We don’t know for sure how many there are. Speedboats are usually made to carry 4-6 people so a dozen would be possible 48 to 72. Considering Alabaster says there were significantly less demigods in the TA than the Olympians, I would guess it’s on the lower end; and that does match another number we see in a moment.

This fleet never reaches Manhattan, since Percy bribes the East River to swamp their boats. Those who say many TA demigods were killed in the battle might point to this as Percy causing a bunch of kids to drown; but Alabaster never mentions a mass drowning in his narrative of the battle, and he would have been on one of those boats, so it’s safe to say they just went for a swim.

(And Kronos was with them, which means that a very angry titan lord was suddenly pitched into the river and had to swim with the rest of them. That’s not really relevant, I just want everyone to know that.)

Percy is then immediately told that “Another army is marching over the Williamsburg bridge.” This fourth prong of the attack, led by the Minotaur, also has no demigods in it.

An entire phalanx of dracaenae marched in the lead . . . About a hundred more monsters marched behind them. (pg 182) More monsters surged forward —snakes and giants and telkines—but the Minotaur roared at them, and they backed off. (pg 186)

But more monsters keep advancing because by the time Percy kills the minotaur and the demigods charge and rout the whole group, it had grown to 200

Finally, the monsters turned and fled—about twenty left alive out of two hundred. (pg 188)

So the grand total for the first TA attack was 500 soldiers or more, with only 40-70 of them demigods. And after the monsters on the Williamsburg bridge retreat, those demigods show back up.

Then I saw the crowd at the base of the bridge. The retreating monsters were running straight toward their reinforcements. It was a small group, maybe thirty or forty demigods in battle armor, mounted on skeletal horses. One of them held a purple banner with the black scythe design.  The lead horseman trotted forward. He took off his helm, and I recognized Kronos himself, his eyes like molten gold. (pg1 188)

This is the only time we get anywhere close to a specific number when TA demigods are concerned. It would have been the same group that was sunk in the East River, who then had to swim for Brooklynn; which is where they are now trying to take the Williamsburg bridge. This reinforces the idea that the number of demigods in the boats was only a little more than forty, since they would not have suffered more than a few injuries in the sinkings.

I’m going to come back to this moment later to demonstrate how Percy refrains from killing other demigods, even in his Achilles state, but the other important thing to note is that this is the last time Kronos organizes his demigods into a unit that he leads personally. After they fail to break through here, Kronos just has them take on a secondary role, and puts his faith in bigger and bigger monsters to lead the charge instead.

The Titan Army units on Long Island then spend the evening marching the long way around Manhattan (for some reason) because they make camp for the night in New Jersey, at Medusa’s old lair. Percy again describes demigods as the small minority.

Hundreds of tents and fires surrounded the property. Mostly I saw monsters, but there were some human mercenaries in combat fatigues and demigods in armor too. A purple-and-black banner hung outside the emporium, guarded by two huge blue Hyperboreans.

And this is only part of the Titan army, because there are more troops north of Manhattan. 

“Tell my brother Hyperion to move our main force south into Central Park. The halfbloods will be in such disarray they will not be able to defend themselves.” (pg 237)

The army that marches into central park is bigger than the one camped in New Jersey. And it is made up exclusively of monsters. 

At the north end of the reservoir, the enemy vanguard broke through the woods—a warrior in golden armor leading a battalion of Laistrygonian giants with huge bronze axes. Hundreds of other monsters poured out behind them. (pg 243)

There is not a single mention of a demigod. However they’re already joining the fight in other places. 

When it flew above the rooftops, I could see fires here and there around the city. It looked like my friends were having a rough time. Kronos was attacking on several fronts. (pg 251)  

After Percy kills the Clazmonian Sow, the momentum of the battle shifts. With his main force failing to deliver a knockout punch, Kronos has his remaining armies spread out to put equal pressure on the entire defensive line, and catch it in a massive envelopment.

Midtown was a war zone. We flew over little skirmishes everywhere. A giant was ripping up trees in Bryant Park while dryads pelted him with nuts. Outside the Waldorf Astoria, a bronze statue of Benjamin Franklin was whacking a hellhound with a rolled-up newspaper. A trio of Hephaestus campers fought a squad of dracaenae in the middle of Rockefeller Center . . . . . The hunters had set up a defensive line on 37th, just three blocks north of Olympus. To the east on Park Avenue, Jake Mason and some other Hephaestus campers were leading an army of statues against the enemy. To the west, the Demeter cabin and Grover’s nature spirits had turned Sixth Avenue into a jungle that was hampering a  squadron of Kronos’s demigods . . . . . I spotted a familiar silver owl banner in the southeast corner of the fight, 33rd at the Park Avenue tunnel. Annabeth and two of her siblings were holding back a Hyperborean giant . . . . . The next hour was a blur. I fought like I’d never fought before—wading into legions of dracaenae, taking out dozens of telkines with every strike, destroying empousai and knocking out enemy demigods . . . . . At one point Grover was next to me, bonking snake women over the head with his cudgel. Then he disappeared in the crowd, and it was Thalia at my side, driving monsters back with the power of her magic shield. Mrs. O’Leary bounded out of nowhere, picked up a Laistrygonian giant in her mouth and flung him like a Frisbee. Annabeth used her invisibility cap to sneak behind enemy lines. Whenever a monster disintegrated for no apparent reason with a surprised look on his face, I knew Annabeth had been there . . . . . Kronos was riding towards us on a golden chariot. A dozen Laistrygonian giants bore torches before him. Two Hyperboreans carried his black-and-purple banners . . .

“THEN THE WINGED HUSSAARSSS AARRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVVVVVVED” SABATON BLASTS ON ELECTRIC GUITAR

 Sorry, sorry, I mean then Chiron and the 500 centaurs arrived!

Kronos’s forces looked as confused as we were. Giants lowered their clubs. Dracaenae hissed. Even Kronos’s honor guard looked uneasy. Then, to our left, a hundred monsters cried out at once. Kronos’s entire northern flank surged forward. I thought we were doomed, but they didn’t attack. They ran straight past us and crashed into their southern allies . . . a shower of arrows arced over our heads and slammed into the enemy, vaporizing hundreds of demons. (pg 258)

This is how the second phase of the battle ends. And during the entire night, out of a sea of monsters (hehe) we only see one unit of TA demigods. And it’s the last time we get any reference to them participating in the battle.

After being driven south, the TA apparently did another long march, because they make camp northeast of Manhattan.

The Titan army had set up camp all around the U.N. complex. The flagpoles were hung with horrible trophies—helmets and armor from defeated campers. All along First Avenue, giants sharpened their axes. Telkines repaired armor at makeshift forges. (pg 282)

Ethan is the only demigod mentioned this time. And he doesn’t appear to take part in the next attack, aside from releasing the drakon. We get less of a description of the enemy army this time, but it’s all monsters.

The rest of the battle wasn’t going well. The centaurs had panicked under the onslaught of giants and demons. An occasional orange camp T-shirt appeared in the sea of fighting, but quickly disappeared.  (pg 289)

Of course the Ares cabin arrives, the drakon kills Silena, and Clarisse kills it. It’s another rout for the TA.

The monsters retreated toward 35th Street. (pg 298) There was no answer from the enemy. Slowly, they began to fall back behind a dracaenae shield wall, while Clarisse drove in circles around Fifth Avenue, daring anyone to cross her path. (pg 299)

After that we have the final phase of the battle, when the Titan Army finally breaks through the Olympian lines. But once again, we have no reference to demigods other than Ethan.

The Titan Army ringed the building, standing maybe twenty feet from the doors. Kronos’s vanguard was in the lead: Ethan Nakamura, the dracaenae queen in her green armor, and two Hyperboreans. I didn’t see Prometheus. (pg 312) “ROWWF!” Mrs. O’Leary bounded toward me, ignoring the growling monsters on either side. (pg 315) There were thousands of [skeletan soldiers], and as they emerged, the titan’s monsters got jumpy and started to back up. (pg 315)     The armies of the dead clashed with the Titan’s monsters. Fifth Avenue exploded into absolute chaos. Mortals screamed and ran for cover. Demeter waved her hand and an entire column of giants turned into a wheat field. Persephone changed the dracaenae spears into sunflowers. Nico slashed and hacked his way through the enemy, trying to protect pedestrians as best as he could. My parents ran toward me , dodging monsters and zombies, but there was nothing I could do to help them. (pg 318).

The fight continues like this, until Typhon is destroyed, and the defenders are joined by the gods, and Poseidon’s army of cyclopes. It’s then that the Titan army is “massacred.” Most of the fandom thinks that the demigods were killed too, but that’s not the case.

PART 3: The TA Demigods Deserted Before The Final Battle

As Alabaster remembers it:

the war didn’t go our way. I fought on the battlefield against the enemy, but most of our allies ran. Kronos himself marched on Olympus, only to be killed by a son of Poseidon. After Kronos’s death, the Olympian gods smashed any remaining resistance. It was a massacre. “We weren’t all destroyed,” Alabaster said. “Most of the remaining half-bloods fled or were captured. They were so demoralized they joined the enemy. (pg 219)

When you look at this narrative, and compare it to The Last Olympian, it’s actually more complicated than the TA demigods simply getting massacred.

Al says that while he was fighting, most of his allies ran. That’s odd, because we don’t see the relative numbers of monsters go down at any point. What we do see, is the number of demigods go down.

As I illustrated in Part 2, the Battle of Manhattan has four distinct phases. Phase one, that ends when the Williamsburg Bridge is destroyed. The second phase, that starts when Hyperion attacks Central Park, and ends when the Party Ponies arrive. The third phase, which is all about the attack of the drakon. And the final phase, when Kronos breaks through.

We only see TA demigods in the first two phases; they attack the Williamsburg Bridge in the first phase as part of the Kronos’s main force, then in the second phase they’re relegated to a supporting role by hitting the defenders western flank. And that’s the last we see of them. After that, Etahn is the only demigod left standing in the TA. Alabaster must be somewhere in the background, as a retcon, but there’s no one beyond the two of them.

You might think that they’ve just already been killed by this point. After all, Percy blows up the Princess Andromeda, then goes into an Achilles Curse fueled berserker mode several times in the first two phases of the battle. Surely he must have killed hundreds of kids, right?

No, not even close.

Maybe not any at all.

On the Princess Andromeda Percy finds lots of monsters, but the number of demigods he finds could be counted on one hand. And the first one he meets; Percy spares him and tells him to get his friends and evacuate. We can’t prove whether or not any demigods were killed in the blast; we just know that the two we can confirm were still on board, Ethan and Alabaster, both survived. And when Alabaster recounts it, he doesn’t mention any bad losses at this point.

As for the Curse of Achilles, it doesn’t send Percy into anything like the berserker state some people think of it as. It might seem like that when Percy lets loose on the Williamsburg Bridge:

You’re going to ask how the whole “invincible” thing worked: if I magically dodged every weapon, or if the weapon hit me and just didn’t harm me. Honestly, I don’t remember. All I knew was that I wasn’t going to let these monsters invade my hometown. I sliced through armor like it was made of paper. Snake women exploded. Hellhounds melted to shadow. I slashed and stabbed and whirled, and I might have even laughed once or twice—a crazy laugh that scared me as much as it did my enemies. (pg 188)

But when push comes to shove, Percy can control the Curse, and what he does during it. That last moment was when he was fighting nothing but monsters. But when the TA demigods arrived, Percy pulled his punches like he always does.

I tried to wound his men, not kill. That slowed me down, but these weren’t monsters. They were demigods who’d fallen under Kronos’s spell. I couldn’t see faces under their helmets, but some of them had probably been my friends. I slashed the legs off their horses and made the skeletal mounts disintegrate. After the first few demigods took a spill, the rest figured out they’d better dismount and fight me on foot. (pg 189)

Percy is still in complete control of what he’s doing; even when the worst happens.

“Annabeth!” I turned in time to see her fall, clutching her arm. A demigod with a bloody knife stood over her . . . . . I locked eyes with the enemy demigod. He wore an eye patch under his helmet: Ethan Nakamura, the son of Nemesis. Somehow he’d survived the explosion on the Princess Andromeda. I slammed him in the face with my sword hilt so hard I dented his helm. (pg 190)

Percy really has all the reason to hate Ethan at this point; after Percy spared his life in Antaeus’ arena, Ethan still joined the side that had been ready to write off his death, and deliberately helped Kronos achieve his physical resurrection. Because of that Percy’s friends and even-Riordan-doesn’t-know how many mortals are going to die in the next few days; and on top of all that, Ethan just stabbed the love of his life.

And all Percy does is knock him out, maybe a little harder than necessary. He makes no effort to kill him. Those aren’t the actions of a berserker with no control.

In fact, the knife turns out to be poisonsed. And Ethan now has an idea where Percy’s Achilles Spot is, and might tell Kronos. And even after all of that, Percy doesn’t seriously think about killing him as an option.

“I’ll bonk him on the head harder next time.” (pg 241)

But more on topic, there is no reason to think the TA demigods have particularly high casualties in this phase of the battle, though they have a few:

Our archers shot a volley, bringing down several of the enemy, but they just kept riding. (pg 189)

Though it’s vague if they are hitting the riders or the horses. In fact, it might actually be Kronos who’s responsible for more of their losses.

[Kronos] struck the bridge with the butt of his scythe, and a wave of pure force blasted me backward. Cars went careening. Demigods—even Luke’s own men—were blown off the edge of the bridge. (pg 192)

I will die on the hill that between this, Ethan, and other implied moments, Kronos killed more of his own demigods than Percy did.

In the second phase of the battle, when we see the TA demigods attack again, they’re in a very different situation.

To the west, the Demeter cabin and Grover’s nature spirits had turned Sixth Avenue into a jungle that was hampering a  squadron of Kronos’s demigods. (pg 255)

This is the only thing we see the TA demigods do as a group in this phase; and they’re fighting people who are using very defensive tactics, more hampering than harmful. They’re not likely to lose many fighters. A few of them do cross Percy’s path in the chaos, but even at his most Achilles fueled chaos he never loses control.

The next hour was a blur. I fought like I’d never fought before—wading into legions of dracaenae, taking out dozens of telkines with every strike, destroying empousai and knocking out enemy demigods. (pg 257)

He talks about killing monsters, but always “knocking out” demigods. Finally, that phase of the battle ends when the centaurs show up. Did the centaurs kill any demigods? After all, Percy said they “trampled everything in their path.”

Well the only report we get on the TA demigods puts them to the west. When the centaurs attack, they come out of the north east and drive the enemy south, and start off a wave of panic that ripples down the enemy lines ahead of them. The demigods were probably running before any centaur reached them, and might have had better chances of being trampled by their own monsters.

So if the TA demigods aren’t taking many losses, where do they all go in the third and fourth phases, when we don’t see any except Ethan?

They desert. 

Alabaster: “I fought on the battlefield against the enemy, but most of our allies ran.”

I think the demigods of the TA signed up with no real idea of what would happen when they fought the Olympians. They thought they were going to have a sure victory. 

Chris Rodriguez said it in SOM:

“I hear they got two more [drakon] coming,” [Chris] said. “They keep arriving at this rate, oh, man—no contest!” (pg 122)

Alabaster C. Torrington said it in SOM:

“Kronos wasn’t supposed to lose! You said the odds of winning were in the Titan’s favor! You told me Camp Half-Blood would be destroyed!” (pg 196)

And they probably weren’t well prepared for the war either. At one point Luke says they will fight well because he has been training the army. But most of them join because they are the children of minor gods who swear for Kronos, and that doesn’t happen until the end of BOTL, after Luke has been possessed. Most of the TA demigods never got training from him; including their two highest ranking members, Ethan and Alabaster. It’s no wonder most of them weren’t prepared.

As I was running up the stairwell, a kid charged down. He looked like he had just woken up from a nap. His armor was half on. He drew his sword and yelled, “Kronos!” but he sounded more scared than angry . . . . No way was I going to hurt him. I didn’t need a weapon for this. I stepped inside his strike and grabbed his wrist, slamming it against the wall. His sword clattered out of his hand. (pg 18)

And the demigods might not hold much loyalty to Kronos, a violent and temperamental eldritch horror!

Ethan moistened his lips. “He’s still fighting you, isn’t he? Luke—” “Nonesense,” Kronos spat. “Repeat that lie, and I will cut out your tongue. The boy’s soul has been crushed.” (pg 236) “But, my lord,” Ethan said. “Your regeneration.” Kronos pointed at Ethan, and the demigod froze. “Does it seem,” Kronos hissed. “that I need to regenerate?” Ethan didn’t respond. Kind of hard to do when you’re immobilized in time. Kronos snapped his fingers and Ethan collapsed. (pg 284)

And the demigods might have witnessed a darker side to his army that we didn’t.

Back on my first visit to the Princess Andromeda, my old enemy Luke had kept dazed tourists on board for show, shrouded in Mist so they didn’t realize they were on a monster infested ship. Now i didn’t see any sign of tourists. I hated to think what had happened to them, but I kind of doubted they’d been allowed to go home with their bingo winnings. (pg 15)

So, the demigods deserted. After the second phase of the battle we don’t see any at the Titan camp at the U.N., or taking any part in the last phases of the battle. They had been fed false promises, were treated badly, and were being sent against enemies out of their league.

“Most of the remaining half-bloods fled or were captured. They were so demoralized they joined the enemy.”

All except two, Alabaster and Ethan. The son of Nemesis, who has already given so much and is so desperate to see something good and fair come out of it; and the son of Hecate, who was promised victory, and is desperate to avenge the death of his siblings. Ironically, the two demigods who stayed loyal to Kronos the longest, did so because they had faith in their godly parents.

So if there was no “massacre” of TA demigods at the end of the Battle of Manhattan, why is Alabaster so insistent that there was one? 

“Yes,” Alabaster said bitterly. “Camp Half-Blood decided that they would accept any children of the minor gods. They would build us cabins at camp and pretend that they didn’t just blindly massacre us for resisting. (pg 220) “But I’ll never bow to the Olympian gods after the atrocities they committed. Their followers are blind. I’d never set foot in their camp, and if I did, it would only be to give that son of Poseidon what he deserves.” (pg 221)

Well, it’s because the children of Hecate suffered the most in the war. She didn’t have as many children as other gods, and Alabaster was the only one to fight in it and survive. He claims he convinced “most” of his siblings to join; but if Hecate does not have many children, and he is the only survivor of the battle, how are there still enough of his siblings to decently fill a cabin, it’s likely “most” was only slightly more than half. The sad irony is that the fact that the smaller group of demigods had more casualties than the larger ones (and it sounds like not just more proportionately, but more in actual numbers), also kind of disproves that there could have been a large massacre that affected them all.

Alabaster was a scared, frustrated, exhausted kid; who convinced his siblings to fight in a destructive war, and was the only one of them to survive. To him, that is probably always going to feel like a brutal massacre.

[keerysfreckles]

omg i just rewatched mamma mia. what about luke as sam and the reader (child of apollo) as donna. like luke doesn’t turn to kronos but him and the reader break up so she disappears off the face of the earth (aka she runs off to greece). thalia’s tree somehow gets poisoned and the oracle sends luke, percy, and annabeth to go look for the camp’s former best healer. they reach a remote greek island and find the reader there, working as the local nurse/healer (and if you want, they also find out she has a little baby girl, sophia aka sophie 🤭 lmao luke and reader as teen parents). so much angst lol

the name of the game — luke castellan

pairing: luke castellan x apollo fem!reader

warnings: use of y/n and she/her pronouns, HEAVILY based on mamma mia (my fav movie ever), angst angst angst!!!!!!

a/n: i literally watched mamma mia here we go again today i love both movies with all my heart ALSO THE PJO SZN FINALE???????? HELLO?????????????

masterlist !

꒰�� ☆ ໒꒱

y/n l/n didn't plan on leaving camp half-blood.

she didn't plan on leaving her siblings and close friends, and her boyfriend. well, now ex boyfriend.

that was too complicated for her to even understand. one moment luke wanted everything to do with her. he wanted to be around her 24/7, and show how much he appreciated her. but recently he got distant, and wouldn't explain why.

y/n hated confrontation, so she decided to just ditch camp all together after the couple officially split less than 24 hours ago. she doubted anyone would go looking for her.

oh how wrong she was.

annabeth chase and percy jackson were on a hunt for luke castellan.

they were given direct orders from chiron to find the child of hermes. neither of them dared to question the centaur, making them search for luke as quick as they could.

annabeth's shoudlers dropped in relief once they came across luke. he was practicing his sword work against a dummy made out of hay and old fabric.

"do you have any idea why chiron would send us looking for you?" annabeth was straight to the point. percy was standing beside her, just as determined to get answers.

luke shrugs, "is there another new camper?"

percy shakes his head, "he seemed pretty urgent about it. you might want to follow us back to the big house."

the trio walked in silence back through the woods and through the cabins until they got to the big house. chiron was waiting for them anxiously at the end of the steps.

"thank you percy, annabeth," chiron thanks them for finding luke. "i'm not sure if you three are aware, the camp may be in danger. thalia's tree has been poisened. we aren't sure how or why, but all we need is the solution. a healer."

chiron looked towards luke when he finished his statement.

"again, i'm not sure if you're aware that y/n of apollo cabin has been missing since late last night."

all three have different expressions of shock on their face. luke however is mostly hurt. he couldn't believe y/n would just run off like that. he wondered if it was from the argument they had.

"i'm sending you three to go find her, and bring her back safely in order for her to save the tree and the camp," chiron instructs.

"we don't even know where she went," luke points out.

"yeah, she could be anywhere in the world," percy adds.

annabeth looks between the two boys, "wasn't she saying how if she could get away for the weekend she'd go to greece?" she ends her observation while looking at luke.

the boy quickly nods, "yes. she always loved the idea of," he pauses and his voice gets quieter, "running away to greece together."

after a moment, chiron speaks again. "so it's settled. you three will go search for y/n, daughter of apollo, and bring her back to camp to heal thalia's tree and save the camp. good luck to you all."

—

"we've been in this boat for hours," percy groans.

annabeth stops steering the large boat as luke stops tying a rope. they both turn to him.

"we've been on the water for maybe twenty minutes seaweed brain," annabeth teases.

"wait," luke walks closer to the younger campers, "if your dad's poseidon, why can't you just push us all under water through like an air bubble?"

"it would look a little suspicious if three teenagers showed up to an island with no boat and dry clothes," annabeth mentions, making luke's idea sink to the bottom of the ocean.

luke speaks up again, "what if y/n doesn't come back to camp with us?"

annabeth and percy don't have an exact answer for luke. that only makes him worried this quest won't work out in their favor.

"we'll cross that bridge when we get there," annabeth responds. "right now we just have to get to greece."

—

after docking their own boat at the port of athens, the trio was quick to buy three tickets for the local ferry. annabeth grabbed a map as luke and percy were trying to figure out the best method for finding y/n.

they agreed to search all the islands as quick as humanly possible. they'd ask locals if they knew of a strong healer, and if any of them were given an answer that resembled the idea of y/n living there, they'd know to check that island.

after searching through three and a half different islands, getting on and off multiple ferries, and still with no luck of finding the apollo girl, the trio was debating on giving up. until annabeth looked at the map again. she mentioned to luke and percy about one more island where y/n might be. it was much smaller so they could search more thoroughly.

it was almost sunset once they reach the island, meaning they had maybe an hour or two to find y/n in the daylight.

the trio split up as soon as they stepped foot onto the dock. percy searched the perimeter near the edges of the water. annabeth searched through the bundles of shops and hotels. while luke searched through abandoned looking buildings.

as all hope was feeling lost, luke noticed a building of to the side of the commotion. there was a dirt path leading up to it, with no shops or houses surrounding it.

he could only hope and pray that y/n would be inside.

the inside of the building did not match its exterior. the outside looked as if it was going to fall apart at any gust of wind. however the inside was much more lively than luke expected it to be. there were people inside rushing to get past one another. it seemed as if they were all rushing to get to the same person.

luke pushed through the small crowd, and all the air left his lungs when he saw y/n. she was helping someone from the island, who seemed to have a deep cut on his leg. luke could finally guess this was the hospital on the island.

"y/n," luke spoke up, making the commotion in the room subside.

y/n and luke's eyes locked. neither of them were sure what to do.

y/n excuses herself and drags luke outside by his wrist.

"what on earth do you think you're doing here?"

"i had to come and find you," luke tried to explain but y/n only cut him off.

"so you just followed me? i seriously don't want to be around you luke. i thought running away from you and camp would've gotten that through your head."

"y/n i didn't chase after you to try and fix this," he gestures between the two of them, "there's a serious problem at camp."

y/n chuckles, "what? did peter fall off the climbing wall and scrape his elbow again? or did sophie run into a tree for the fifth time this week?"

"y/n this is serious," luke tries to tell her.

"you can't be serious. you dragged annabeth and percy with you?" y/n gestures to the pair walking towards them with urge in their steps.

"i didn't drag them here, please you have to come back to camp," luke tries again.

"is he telling the truth?" she asks percy.

he nods, "thalia's tree is in danger, and so is the camp."

"why didn't you start with that idiot," y/n hits luke's arm before running back inside. she was quick to grab her things. she kind of threw everything into one bag that she might need at camp. most of her healing equipment and a change of clothes.

—

the boat ride back to long island was awkward, to say the least. percy and annabeth were both asleep in the downstairs area of the boat, while luke and y/n were dealing with directing the boat back to camp.

luke was steering, while y/n was sitting beside him. an awkward silence filled the air.

"what made you go to greece?" luke asks, not expecting the girl to answer.

"i just needed to get away," she busies herself with her rings on her fingers.

"from me?"

"from all of it. i just needed a break."

silence falls upon the two again. y/n only moves over to lean her head against luke's shoulder, instantly catching him off gaurd.

"i'm sorry i left," y/n admits, her voice as quiet as a mouse.

"you had your reasons. it just caught us off gaurd, that's all."

another beat of silence passes.

"that night, of our argument, i found something out. about us," y/n turns to face luke. he does the same to her, not caring about steering the boat at this very moment.

"i don't even know how to tell you," y/n rubs her hands over her face. luke simply takes her shaking hands into his, and runs his thumbs over her knuckles.

"i'm pregnant."

luke's world stopped. maybe he thought he was just hearing things. the waves probably distorted y/n's words.

after luke still didn't respond, y/n started explaining herself.

"i was worried you wouldn't react too well to it. so i figured not telling you would be the easiest thing to do. and coming here, to greece, was the best bet."

y/n's heart broke as she watched luke stand. he silently put the steering wheel in it's locked position, before going down the stairs where the four twin beds were.

y/n knew she fucked up. she didn't know how to fix it. or if it could even be fixed.

[superemeralds]

ATLAS OF IAPETOS

Iapetos is the titan of the west, where the sun kisses the earth good night. In greek myth, ATLAS is his son. ATLAS is a titan that is burdened with seperating earth and sky, eternally carrying the sky on his shoulders.

This Titan looks a little... different. There‘s a top and bottom side to it. It‘s somewhat twofaced. There‘s also an oceatic theme to the design, covering the seas (Okeanos, the strongest Titan, who actually stayed neutral in the mythos). Now land, sky and sea have been represented by a titan.

There‘s obviously also the theme of Atlas, though in the second phase the burden is not on the back anymore... also did the hind legs really transform into laser guns!?

Giant of Koios <> Wyvern of Hyperion <> Aries of Kreios

wanna see more about this project, but way before i post it? literally while im working on this stuff?

more info below the cut, as always!

IAPETOS ISLAND:

The island is covered by autumnal trees. it almost seems like the islands have their own seasons... There‘s a big temple of ATLAS in the middle, where the titan is locked away. (on the same scope as with the big structure with the pinball machine in the actual game)

4 of the emeralds are hidden in the area, but 3 of them are near or on the Titan itself.

Once you get the first emerald near the Titan, it activates and starts attacking. This is the first phase, where you need to play as normal Sonic and use parkur and parry to climb and stun the Titan, so you have more time to get to the two emeralds that are on opposite ends of the titan. The challenge of this phase is the hostile environment on the Titan itself and the fact you're not Super Sonic yet. You couldn't beat the previous Titans as normal Sonic, so getting the last emerald is a desperate need. Additionally, Sonic is at this point visibly corrupted. There is a dire urgency to this fight.

Once you turn super sonic the fight takes to the sky as the titan breaks out of its confinements. I was really disappointed with how Supreme got wings in a cutscene and then they just? were gone? what? I incorporated them in this version of Supreme, which i think is... supreme...............

anyways moving on.

The orb it‘s holding is its weakspot, but little does sonic know this is the physical place that uranos (the end) is sealed away. Shortly before defeating the titan the orb breaks and reveals a black hole.

Sonic succumbs to the corruption after defeating ATLAS. He absorbs all of it and carries the entire burden of the corruption alone, becoming the new ATLAS. Meanwhile the black hole from in its hands takes to the sky, floating above KRONOS ISLAND, slowly growing as it reforms.

This means Sonic‘s friends, now free of the Cyber-Limbo, have to go on to KRONOS ISLAND to find the emeralds to restore him to normal before URANOS (The End) can reform completely. ((Uranos is the sky god, being eternally seperated from his wife gaia, whom he raped on the regular which is why his children, the titans (in particular Kronos, who was the one to castrate his father) fought him in the first place))

[im-goofball]

Hello !! I was wondering what kind of relationship the gorosei have in your lore (good, bad, professional, friendly..)and does it change after they joined the WG ? Thank you so much in advance your work on their lore is amazing 🥰

Aaw, thank you so much! That really warmed my heart! 🥺💗

Pre-WG creation

Mars:

Peter—His son and future heir to both Aurelion and Themisto Isles as Mars wrote it. Despite not sharing a drop of blood with him, he loves the boy as any father could love his son, you may even call him protective when it comes to Peter's safety and well being (so beware on which end of his sword you are standing at)

Saturn—A fellow monarch and respectable man, enough to get well with him. Thanks to his and Tethys' inventions and discoveries the world's technology grew rapidly fast, even in his kingdom. +He is a father of two kids, so Mars relates to most things that go in his head, especially when it conserns his younger daughter, Rhea.

Ethan—Respects his loyality and skill with sword which is very incredible, since Mars himself uses sword in battle.

Warcury—He views Warcury as a very just man, who seemingly despises nobility and monarchs in his kingdom, but can get along with others (as long as they are not pompous pricks that is)

Peter:

Mars—His dad and role model. Unlike with Krono, his biological father, the relationship he has with Mars is much more warmer and they show affection to each other even in public, which is nice.

Saturn—Doesn't like very much, thinking he is neglecting Dione and Rhea in order to pursue his ambition of making a "better world"

Ethan—A very cool uncle-figure (Poor Ethan has no idea Mars views him as a competition. Marcus "No one takes my son away from me" Mars being protective 24/7) and good swordsman. Wants to get lessons from him by their fighting styles seem too different

+Ethan is not very good with kids

Warcury—Very stern and philosophical man. Peter views him wity respect and awe, because it seems that nothing can budge with this man once his judgement has been told.

Saturn:

Peter—Doesn't view him as a king, bur rather a child that still needs to be taught proper manners and ways in politics and ruling kingdoms. Won't stop his friendship with Dione though, because it is the happiest he has seen tue boy since Tethys died

Mars—Fellow monarch and father, so he understands most of Mars' worries when it comes to Peter. Doesn't like how he treats the young boy as a king of his own kingdom, however. He should be the one ruling Themisto Islands until Peter reaches his eighteenth nameday

Ethan—Although a memember of Shogun's family, he doesn't view him as royality due to his blood statusm Still a respectable swordsman and potential teacher for Dione and Rhea

Warcury—Won't believe that this man's pursue of justice is pure as everyone think so. Saturn believes that everyone can be corrupted, and there must be something Warcury would do to keep his mouth shut. After realizing his grave mistake, he came to a conclusion that no, Warcury wouldn't do that because that would taint his honour. (Saturn became rather fond of the Supreme Judge after that discovery)

Ethan:

Mars—Good king and father. Kinda envies the relationship he has with Peter, sibce he never got that amount of love from either of his parents

Peter—Unlike Saturn, he already views him as a righteous ruler of his kingdom and is quite proud of how capable the boy is as a king

Saturn—Thinks of him as a very similiar person to Shogun. A father that tries his best, but still puts the wellbeing of his country above his loved ones. Although for Saturn it is also the whole world.

Warcury—Respects him a lot, ewpcially his cold resolve and willingness to put kings and queens down onto their heels if he doesn't view them just enough

Warcury:

Mars—A capable ruler and very honourable in his opinion. Too protective of his adopted son however, and that protectivness hinders his oublic image

Peter—Like Saturn, he doesn't view Peter as a king due to his very young age and fiery personality.

+That boy could be taught some manners. His sass can get on his nerves sometimes

Ethan—Highly respects his loyality and sense of justice. Someone like him could be needed in the Royal Court of Slaviugia

Saturn—After tha accusation and questioning of his resolve, Warcury decided that Saturn is just as high-nosed as the Tsar and nobility in his kingdom and not even his inovations and discoveries will change his mind. Surprisingly enough, the man started apologizing with bouquets of black lilies, (Warcury's favourite flowers which only grew in western side of Slaviugia), expensive dinners and gods know what else (the fact that he started thinking of Saturn more then a simple acquaintance is another story)

Post-WG creation

Mars, Warcury and Ethan have purely professional relationahip, and more on the good side of it I suppose

Mars and Saturn have strong rivalry like Sanji and Zoro, but there is so much resentment between eachother and some sort of hate as well (Neither Mars or Peter ever forgave for what Saturn did to Dione and Rhea)

Saturn and Warcury have definitely, surely purely professional relationship (very married old men yaoi vibes)

Everyone and Peter have a "never wanted a child but a got a child anyway" relationship. Except Mars. He loves Peter and after 900 years his protectivness grew only stronger

[lettersfromverabookreview]

The Percy Jackson Saga

What a saga! I´ve still yet to finish it (while writing this, but i´ll post it when I finish it), but it´s SO fun, such a light read.

My history with Percy Jackson series has MANY comes and goes and it intercepts with many characters of my life that definitely not align with the Percy Jackson books at ALL. Seriously, If by any chance you´re a pre-teen reading this and you seem to be a bully who reads percy jackson, why do you think percy has SUCH a bad time in the school?? Anyway, getting over the personal comment….

I was mainly attracted to it because the series has come out (watch it !! its definitely interesting) but the nostalgia has come back with a kick and I definitely relate to little Percy, Annabeth and Grover (none of them would love me calling them little, but they are kids!!! Give them a SECOND of peace please), a little misunderstood, a little lost, not only when I was a teenager, but now on my 20s I can def relate (in a sense) to this lost feeling.

I doubt it ever goes away, Hell (or Hades?), Its difficult even to the gods what is happening in the books!! Everyone has to make tough decisions every once in a while, sometimes is whether to have the literal sky to help the goddess Artemis to fight Atlas, sometimes is leaving a job!

And I definitely relate to the strand of white hair after going trough the stress. And yes, everyone has a difficult choice and sometimes some are tougher than others, (like cmon… my job change example its what Ive been going through but Im guessing that maybe having the sky on your back may be a lil more difficult) but difficult choices are difficult choices, and these books have helped me, at least, to get anxious over whether Percy was going to be able to save his mom, instead of me getting anxious of my life choices.

I´m sure that anybody reading this may be going through a tough time (I mean, not to wish that upon you, and if you say “nah thanks i´m good, having the best time of my life” great for you!!) and i definitely believe that these books may seem focused for children, and yes, the repetition of what happened the last books that appears in every book after the first one, it sure is annoying, but overall its a huge break for the brain! Its a nice reading, a nostalgic one, and a hug to the heart.

A good reminder that good friends are worth lifting the sky and more, that families may not be what we always expect, that blue food is DOPE, that what we see may not always be what it truly is, that friends are not always what they seem to be, and that enemies (or people who we are taught are “enemies”) may not always be enemies.

[Finally, as a last comment since I´ve finished reading now] Sometimes it is not only good but necessary to go back to your child-self. To embrace new experiences with the forgiveness of a mother, the strength of an adult, but also for the inner ability of a kid that's learning how to walk, to stand immediately back up and continue trying. Embrace your strength but also your weaknesses, continue always learning, get around people you would sacrifice yourself for. Remember that its good and also essential to rest (sometimes on a lost island surrounded by the daughter of Kronos that's actually good and leaves you with a bunch of questions), and never forget to get back home (or at give out a sign when you're well so that everyone around you knows that you´re fine, turning the light blue of the Empire State can be an example).

If you´re going through high school, read this.

If you´re a lil lost, read this.

If you´re pretty sure you may be a lost child to a Greek god, yeah sure, but also read this.

If you wanna learn more about greek myths! I mean they are not super explained sometimes, but they sure deserve a good google search afterwards, which is good brain food!

If you really like sloooooow burn romances, yeah maybe you may like this (super far from the actual trama of the story but its so TRUE how long Percy takes to realize y´know…the thing)

If you like cute Cyclops, who are NOT murder machines, read this!!

And you must definitely read this if you like the water!! -Vera

[mossy-green-aka-ferrythem]

You know.

As much as I absolutely adore Shadow Generations.

I really hope they get back to making more original stuff for Sonic, you know, for a series that has prided itself on originality for quite a while.

Like I don't give a fuck if it's "Cringe" or whatever make Sonic do more goofy wild shit.

Making Frontiers a weird pseudo-open world game was a great idea, more of that please and less Cyberspace. Much less Cyberspace even I want original level layouts and original visual design again, and by and large, Cyberspace doesn't feel that fun to be honest.

The gimmick ideas that Shadow Gens had were truly fantastic, and I would love to see more original levels. Some adaptations of levels are my favorite ever, and the 2D sections in Shadow Gens feel amazing. Kingdom Valley is a blast and so is Chaos Island, especially Chaos Island even, I think that one is my favorite!

Also, as much as I absolutely love the tonal shift and the way Radical Highway has been turned into Black Doom's weird, warped dimensional zone, the more I replay levels, the more I can't help but find the levels that stay within their area the entire time my favorites, as seen with Kingdom Valley and Chaos Island.

Idk, I absolutely love this game, but I feel like when I replay Shadow Gens, I can get burnt out on it so quickly since there is so little of it, and also, while the game looks fantastic, if I am going to be a little bitch about one thing, it's that lighting and shading on some models look a bit weird. Which I think is a totally valid criticism. Lighting effects a lot, and it makes some things in the game contrast slightly too heavily with the surrounding environment, but with that being said, it's mostly a non-issue, just something that I think games with brighter, flatter color palettes handled better, to a certain extent. It's hard to articulate this point lol.

Anyways...

A big thing that concerns me, is that when I think about the concept of there being "Alternate Picks" for stages to end up being included in Generations, the old games have tons of options, even if they're not all the best picks, but after Colors? Can't think of much of anything for Forces, and while Frontiers did an excellent job putting a creative and original spin on things, it doesn't have too much that's distinct, I feel like they should have done more wild, cool shit like Chaos Island being an "Island above the clouds", and even Ares Island stands out as being an open space, it can't help but make Kronos, Rhea, and Ouranos look quite weak in comparison, especially with how similar Ouranos looks to Kronos Island, despite having some somewhat interesting locations and ideas sprinkled here and there.

My god I fucking love Sonic so much, I can just keep talking about it lmao

My main point being is that I love Sonic for it's originality, even the game that played it safe at the time, Sonic Colors, which is on the more childish side, even for a series already made for kids, had truly stunning visual designs for levels, all so distinct, and so many fun level layouts and ideas. I feel like Lost World, from what I have seen, kinda dropped the ball, because most of the ideas in that game feel like they've just been done before. Forces is worse though, because it's just not interesting to talk about. Hell, at least the train-wreck of 06 has P06 to back it up, while Forces? It has a mod called "Overclocked", which introduces a new plot and new level layouts, and even though Overclocked does a lot of good things from what I have seen, the sheer amount of things it does differently says a lot about Sonic Forces.

Frontiers is still a major step in the right direction though, even though it has some rather annoying hangups with Cyberspace.

Damn I really can just keep talking about Sonic forever lol

My big thing is I hope they come up with more original ideas. Even fans of the series seem to have caught themselves into a sort of thought pattern where they're kind of stuck. It's easier for someone to imagine something being cool in a Generations styled game, rather than making something new entirely, and while I love Generations, the entire point of this rant is that I crave new flavors.

So please Sonic, keep running forward, and strive to move onto new Frontiers.

[spruzu]

Sonic frontiers chat

Before i start i don’t have the game and as much as i want it i definitely have to wait because it’s expensive as heck.

Over the past couple days i’ve been watching the vods on Snapcubes second channel from about a year back and oh my GOD i’m enjoying it so much. What does make it so much better is the way Penny plays the game, she makes the game seem so fun and i hope that when i do play it, it’s as fun as she’s made it seem. I’m on the last part now and if i’m honest this seems like an incredible game. It’s made me really really want to buy it and of course there probably some negative parts with the controls that i obviously can’t say anything about because i literally haven’t played it myself but the story line is amazing and the game play looks so fun.

An open world sonic game is so fun to watch, there are some parts where i can just have it on in the background while i’m drawing or doing drum practise but there’s also some parts where it’s like a movie and i’m hyperfixes on watching it. Yesterday all i did. was watch the third part because it was so good and the story just made me want to keep watching. It hurt to see sonic in his whole glitching thingy form and tails worry about him made me want to curl up in a ball and cry it was so sweet. Also the chat that sonic and tails have about tails feeling as though he’s not as good as sonic and he just “stands on the sidelines” honestly made me feel so bad for tails. He deserves so much better and i kind of want a tails game now where you just play as him, that would be amazing.

I would say though, i haven’t finished that last part so i can’t say too much but it does feel like sega skipped the edges with some parts of the game and story line especially with the islands. The last two islands look like Kronos island which is slightly disappointing. Don’t get me wrong i adore the vibe of the islands but it would be so much cooler if we had a new island with a different style specifically with the last island.

I want to say that these ‘memory tokens’ could have been so much more relevant if they fully kept in the “My name… My name is?” lines that sonic does. There was an open socket for sega to do the shadow the hedgehog move and pull out the amnesia on sonic but i get they probably didn’t have enough time and had to focus more one other part of the game but i would love to see it i a different game at some point… maybe sonic x shadow generations :^

Over all though this game seems amazing and the only parts that i can SEE are bad are some cyberspace levels and parts of the controls that Penny has pointed out. Until i manage to play the game i will be able to say my full opinion on what’s good and what’s bad about the game.

Also i really like the flower fields, i want to be in one.

[the-sky-queen]

During the Soul Search AU, everyone would face a different type of Sonic as they try to restore him.

Amy would be greeted at first with a completely silent ghost who merely watched her around Kronos Island. As she uses the tokens, Sonic slowly begins to feel true emotions, and their relationship is very heartfelt as Sonic reconnects with her through her kindness.

Knuckles would be given the hassle of dealing with a relaxed Sonic, one unburdened by responsibilities without a moral duty to protect others and go on adventures. His interactions with him would also let Knuckles see that these types of experiences and moments are important to someone's life. In the end, the two decide they should go explore the world together and see what else is out there.

And Tails is the final person to see Sonic, almost restored... But he's missing an important facet to him: His trauma that gave him insight in life and the one thing to make him whole again. And who couldn't do that besides the one who's been with Sonic for almost as long as he's been facing Eggman? Tails', over the course of Chaos island, talks with Sonic through his issues and the two come to an understanding and grow closer as brothers.

But at this point, the cyber corruption has overwhelmed the three, letting them succumb to Rhea Island and finally enter Cyberspace... Releasing Sonic in the process.

Sonic, now fully restored, must climb the towers and diminish the cyber corruption from his friends to bring them out of Cyberspace. However in doing this, it frees "The End".

Now, with the four reunited, they gather the Chaos emeralds one last time and go super, facing "The End" in space to destroy it forever.

ESTELLE YOU ARE VERY GOOD WITH WORDS. I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!!!!

No notes. Perfect. :D

But AHG the bit with how Sonic is just a blank slate in the beginning. No personality, no memories, just a wandering ghost. Maybe he feels a vague connection to Amy, but it's not much more than that.

This entire thing gets me in my HEART. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

[beevean]

are you going to buy sxsg and do you think it'll play better than frontiers?

I don't think my laptop can handle it and I don't have any modern console :(

I think it will play better than Frontiers, yes. Frontiers' gameplay issues were due to inexperience with the new "open zone" style and also a clearly troubled development that lead the game to be rushed (the 5-meter pop in, the last two islands being cut from Kronos, etc.). SXSG will return to the much more solid Boost formula - it's only a matter of nailing the physics and level design, and from what I've seen, they look pretty good.

[kingaidoneus]

BASICS

FULL NAME: HADES

» MEANING: Hades [ Greek Aïdes (“the Unseen”), also called Pluto or Pluton (“the Wealthy One” or “the Giver of Wealth”), in ancient Greek religion, god of the underworld. Hades was a son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, and brother of the deities Zeus, Poseidon, Demeter, Hera, and Hestia. ]

VERSE: How To Kill A King.

OTHER NAMES: Hades uses the name AIDONEUS KING/AIDAN KING whenever he visits the human realm. Aidoneus, Aides (meaning, like Hades, the unseen), Pluto (the rich one), Ditis Pater, Dis Pater, Dis(all meaning the rich one), Orcus (killer), Polydectes (the receiver of many), Clymenus (the Illustrious), Eubulus (the giver of good counsel), etc. He is the "one of many names". As a Turkish Lord, Hades is simply known as Kara.

AGE: Undetermined; it varies in human form, he appears to be in his late 20'a, late 40's.

DATE OF BIRTH: The exact age of Hades is never given. However, in Greek mythology, he is older than the Greek nation. He was born not long after the creation of the world. He is the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, and he is younger than his three sisters, Hera, Hestia, and Demeter.

PLACE OF BIRTH: The most common story is that Hades was born to the Great Mother goddess Rhea and Kronos (Father Time) on the island of Crete, along with his brothers Zeus and Poseidon.

SPECIES: God.

POWERS: Invisibility, Riches, Power over the dead. Hades is the lord of the dead and ruler of the nether world, Hades sits on a throne made of ebony, and carries a scepter. He also has a helmet, given to him by the Cyclopes, which can make him invisible. Hades rules the dead, assisted by various helpers, such as Thanatos and Hypnos, the ferryman Charon, and the hound Cerberus. strengths include his wealth of the earth, especially precious metals; persistence; and determinedness. His weaknesses include his passion for Persephone.

OCCUPATION: God of the Dead and King of the Underworld.

GENDER: Cisgender Male.

PERSONALITY

Hades was depicted as stern and pitiless, unmoved by prayer or sacrifice (like death itself). Forbidding and aloof, he never quite emerges as a distinct personality from the shadowy darkness of his realm, not even in the myth of his abduction of Persephone.

POSITIVE: Passion, Loyal, Protective, Just, Fair.

NEGATIVE: Stubborn, Stern, Pitiless, Greedy, Deceitful.

APPEARANCE

FACE CLAIM: Barış Baktaş[ in other forms as Richard Armitage. ]

HEIGHT: 6'2 [187.96 cm.]

WEIGHT: 205 lbs. [93 kg.]

BUILD: Athletic, muscular.

GAIT: He's a bit tense sometimes...

HAIR COLOR: Very black.

EYE COLOR: Hazel.

BIRTHMARK: Some.

OVERVIEW: » SCARS: »

TATTOOS: YES. To be added.

BACKGROUND

HOMETOWN: The Underworld.

RESIDENCE: The Underworld.

NATIONALITY: N/A.

ETHNICITY: N/A.

FINANCIAL STATUS: Very freakin' rich.

EDUCATION LEVEL: Bad-assery.

DEGREES: BAD-ASSERY and Great Husband Every Year.

SPOKEN LANGUAGES: Name any language, I mean, I'm sure he can speak it.

RELATIONSHIPS

PARENTS: Chronus and Rhea.

SIBLINGS: Heista, Demeter, Hera, Poseidon, and Zeus

CHILDREN: In most stories, none. Occasionally the father of Zaegrus-Dionysius.

PETS: Cerberus, three-headed hound.

SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIPS: » Persephone.

HISTORY: As Pluto, Hades is the God of Wealth (as plants and metal come from the underworld) and is hence highly regarded. Otherwise, as God of the Dead, he is feared, and Hades is not a good thing to speak. He will not help people if they give him sacrifices, though will occasionally answer people's curses. To pray to him, one must pound on the ground with rods or their hands. He was only worshiped as the God of the Underworld on Elis, though, as Pluto, he was more widly venerated, often with Dionysius, Demeter, and, of course, Persephone.

He is often referred to as the "Dark Zeus" or "Zeus of the Underworld", and is usually portrayed in a similar way as Zeus, except with dark hair, and a rather depressing look on his face. He, like the other male first generation Olympians, is seen as strong, muscular, and bearded. When the male Gods drew lots for the Universe, Hades drew the Underworld. He never seems especially unhappy with his lot (it's Poseidon who rebels...not Hades, contrary to popular modern literature), and rarely appears on the surface. In fact, he was only seen to have appeared to flirt with Mintha, abduct Persephone, and be cured of an arrow wound inflicted by Hercules. However, if he did wish to appear, he has a helmet of invisibility, so no one would know. He is often one of the Olympains, but is rarely on Olympus (which, like the earth he shares jointly with his brothers). In many stories, even, he looses his chair to Demeter as he is so rarely there.

Hades is seen as very faithful to his wife (especially when considering Zeus and Poseidon), and is only known to have flirted with two nymphs, Leuce and Mintha, both of whom were swiftly changed into plants by Persephone. (In some stories, Leuce dies of a natural cause and Hades changes her, after her death, into a poplar.)

Above all, though, Hades is a just, terrifying, and inexorable God. He is childless, and his wife often does not love him. (Even if she does, she is gone for half the year) He is "grim" and "fearsome", but he is neither evil, nor unjust. In fact, he may be the one just Greek God.

ROMANTIC HISTORY: Though the attempted consort of Mintha (changed into a mint plant before he had the chance) and sometimes the attempted, or successful, consort of Leuce (changed into a popular), he is usually seen as being very faithful to Persephone.

CURRENT STATUS: The Disappearance of Persephone

PLATONIC RELATIONSHIPS: Everyone is shit to him right now.

THOUGHTS ON LOVE: "I will love you, even when all the mortals have forgotten about us and we are nothing but stardust."

HEALTH

PHOBIA(S): None.

HANDICAP(S): None.

MENTAL DISEASE(S): Depression...

PHYSICAL DISEASE(S): None.

PREDISPOSITION(S): None.

[irisviel101]

Question for Beyblade Metal: if you could have given the Star Fragments to previous characters instead making new characters, who would it been and why?

Hi!

Good question. I've never considered this before but it's a really neat idea. Thanks for the ask!

Edit: This ended up being a loooong since I decided that some of the story beats didn't work with the character changed so I basically rewrote Metal Fury. Sorry for the long response and for straying so much from the topic, but I felt that it was relevant sicne I can't just change the major characters without it affecting the plot at least a little.

I would keep Gingka, Kyoya and Ryuuga/Kenta's Star Fragments the same since their arcs played out well enough that I can't imagine anyone taking their places.

For the winter Star Fragment, the two main candidates I can think of are Masamune and Benkei (Monoceros and Taurus). I am tempted to say Masamune but I think it would be great for Benkei's arc too, and Masamune will be the red herring just like he was in canon. It would give Benkei a way to compete with the main crew of Metal Fury and show how far he's come since his introduction in the first season.

Another reason is that all the seasonal bladers have their constellations best seen in the second months of their respective seasons, except for Kenta which is third. This symbolizes that they are the second generation of legendary bladers — the first being the ones from history — and Kenta is a third generation since he received his Star Fragment from Ryuuga. Similarly, Taurus is also best seen in January, same as Orion, while Monoceros is best seen in Februrary. Masamune would be a better pick from a meta perspective if there was a third generation of legendary bladers.

Anyway, it would be the last Star Fragment to be awakened in the season; I would play up Benkei's insecurities starting from the Tag Team Tournament arc and that would be the thing to hold him back for the majority of the season, despite all his efforts, until the Better Island Tournament. I dunno who I would choose to be his opponent in the finals — maybe Kenta for old times' sake or Masamune since either would boil down to who is the legendary blader amongst them. The one I'm leaning towards the most, though, is Kyoya. It would be so thematically appropriate, since Benkei has always been Kyoya's number one supporter and he's the one Benkei feels the need to prove himself to the most. I don't remember if Kyoya is there in canon or not, but if he isn't, I would just place his return earlier. But more on that later.

Regardless, this would be the time for Benkei to overcome his feelings of having fallen behind the rest of the group and that would help him awaken the Star Fragment.

Since King won't exist in this AU, Masakune can have his breakdown moment with someone from Team Dungeon or Gingka.

As for the solar system bladers, well, that's a less obvious choice. Also, most of the new characters have a reference to their planet in their beys. Jupiter and Saturn are the Roman names of Zeus and Kronos in mythology which are also the names of Dynamis and Aguma's beys respectively. Mars is the Roman name of the Greek god of war, Ares, and King's Bey is called Variares and is also called the "Sword of the Gods" in canon myths. Not to mention their personalities but I'll talk about them separately.

Since Yuki wouldn't exist in this AU, there needs to be a different way for everyone to learn about Johannes, but honestly, the start isn't that much different. Pegasus and Leone evolve the same way, Madoka and Benkei recall the night they got their Start Fragments and Gingka and Ryo make the connection to the Koma Village legend. At first, they don't really take any action on it but they do keep an eye out for any strange occurrences in the news and tell everyone they know to do the same.

(Because of this delay, Yuu and Tsubasa are able to leave on their training journey together with only words of caution from Ryo and Hikaru)

Then, Johannes attacks Gingka to try and steal Pegasus. He fails but manages to escape, and the gang decide that he could be a danger to other people as well so they search for him. They eventually find him and overhead him talking to Pluto and discover the Nemesis cult through that instead.

Then they discover the island where they find Ryuuga and things play out similar to canon except there's no Yuuki, so they only discover one legendary instead of two. Kenta begins to consider leaving the group but he stops because he isn't sure if following Ryuuga is a wise option since he could probably leave him to die somewhere and succeed.

Fast forward to the Tag Team tournament and since Yuuki isn't here to be Gingka's partner, Kenta gets to do that instead. Except Gingka does pretty much all the work with his new bey, further reinforcing Kenya's feeling of uselessness, much like Benkei. Their first battle is Da Shan and Chi Yun instead of Chao Xin and Mei Mei.

Instead of the Beylin Fist not existing at all, I decided to make them antagonists for this one arc. So Aguma still exists and is still insanely powerful, so he eventually gets to the semifinals where he has to fight Chao Xin and Mei Mei. This battle helps Chao Xin awaken his Star Fragment and become the legendary blader of Saturn.

The reason I chose Chao Xin is because in astrology Saturn is associated with obligation, structure, rules and ambition to name a few (according to Google, correct me if I'm wrong). These values define Aguma's character in Metal Fury but in Chao Xin's case, it would be less about him learning these things and more about reinforcing the lessons he has learned in the previous season and showing how much he has grown since them.

Because Aguma wouldn't have a Star Fragment, the Beylin Fist would lose, but Chao Xin would extend an olive branch to dissolve this centuries long feud anyway, saying that they aren't their ancestors and they don't deserve to be ostracized for something they personally didn't do, to show how much he has grown and matured since his introduction in Metal Masters.

Virgo would becomes Scythe Virgo since, you know, Saturn is the Roman name of Kronos and Kronos usually has a scythe. (Totally not me being lazy with the bey designs, definitely not.)

Moving on to the Destroyer Dome arc. Since there's no King, the legend of Variares would be just used to explain Destroyer's origins since it was modeled after Variares. Also, in this version, Julian would also be participating in the Destoryer Dome as he would be among the people who aided financially for the stadium's construction. And instead of first going to Italy or wherever else they went, and they go straight to America.

(Sadly for Gingka, they still don't get to participate).

So we get to re-meet Team Dungeon, Tsubasa and Yuu — who is sulking because he didn't get a last minute free pass from the WBBA since he's not their employee and using him to find a legendary blader would technically be child exploitation and why would they bother with that when Tsubasa is right there with his already great past record as their special agent? — the Eonis guy still exists, King does not (I feel the worst for this one) and Team Lovushka and Team Garcia are there too.

The first round goes pretty much the same, except Julian is there to contrast how the Garcias didn't change from the second season, although it is acknowledged that their poverty is an actual issue and they're not being evil for the sake of being evil. They're trying to survive; it's just that they're trying to screw everyone else over in the process. Maybe Julian even decides to take a chance on them and gives Argo a job — the only Garcia he can legally hire since the rest are below 18 imo. I chose Julian for this since they worked together in the past so Julian should know why they do what they do and after he almost lost all his wealth, he should be able to at least sympathise with them. Anyway, the Garcias need a better conclusion than canon.

Onto rounds two. Since King doesn't exist and Jigsaw is not interested in fighting at all, Masamune and Lera throw hands instead since they missed their chance to battle in the World Championships in Metal Masters (also so that the tiny rivalry they were beginning to form actually goes somewhere, even if it isn't in this season). Julian realizes that they're not just competing but also trying to find the Star Fragment, so he remains neutral for a whole, further spurring on Lera and Masamune's fight since they just want something done already. That is, until they decide that Jigsaw is being way too smug and decide to team up to take him down a peg. Similar to canon, Jigsaw obliterates everyone except Julian and Masamune.

The final round is where it gets interesting. Jigsaw eliminates Zeo and Toby, and goes into hiding. This annoys Julian since he believes that a battle needs to be fought valiantly with one's full strength, regardless of who your opponent is. We get a few flashbacks to Julian's battle with Da Shan in Metal Masters to show that this is where those feelings originate from. These strong feelings awaken his Star Fragment and Julian pretty much destroys Jigsaw easily.

Sicne Variares is modeled after the mythology Ares, with, you know, attack and defense modes symbolizing a sword and shield, Destroyer's new design would be similar to Variares. The Fusion Wheel would have a different name though, idk, maybe something like Paladin Destroyer or Knight Destroyer to fit with Julian's emperor theme.

Then, Tsubasa, Masamune and Julian have a battle royale. Masamune gets defeated, the stadium breaks and we get the hamster wheel scene with Tsubasa ans Julian instead. Instead of an exposition about Julian's past, we get a flashback to their first meeting aka the Dark Power shenanigans, and they talk about how far they've come since then and that they finally got to battle all out in a tournament after all, bringing closure to that arc as well.

The reason I chose Julian this time is because the planet Mars is associated with strength, passion, valor, energy, etc which are qualities Julian shows as well even if they aren't always apparent. His arc, much like Chao Xin, is more about reinforcing his previous growth than changing anything about him now.

Planet Jupiter is associated with protection (I'm saying this based on Google, correct me if I'm wrong). In Roman Mythology, Jupiter was considered a protective deity as well. We see this with Dynamis being the guardian of his temple and I think it parallels Hyoma being the guardian of Koma Village. In my version, Koma Village would play an important role in the protagonists learning what the hell is even going on since that's considered to be the origin of beyblade itself. Not to mention, it would help flesh out the location a bit more, since we only saw the areas surround the village in Metal Fusion but not the actual village itself.

I picture it starting with Mist Mountain, even though there is no Dynamis. Similar to canon, there would be various traps in the mountain to prevent intruders from reaching the temple at the top and it would essentially be a race between the protagonists and the antagonists to reach the top. Once they do get to the top, they find ancient scripts in a language so archaic that it's almost impossible to decipher. Johannes's group steal the tablet and get away with it, but Madoka manages to snap a picture of it before. Gingka finds the script a bit familiar and makes the connection to Koma Village, so the gang heads there while giving Hyoma and Hokuto a heads up to start looking for clues.

Once they gets there, we get a brief reintroduction to Hyoma since it's been ages, and then the characters would start searching for clues in Koma Village's library. We would also see the village more populated since the people decided that it's safe to return now that Ryuuga and Doji have been defeated and a whole year has passed without any similar incidence.

Meanwhile, Doji — without showing his face on-screen — would make the connection to Koma Village sicne he invaded that place twice and probably did extensive research beforehand. So Johannes, Pluto and Cygnus would make their way to the village as well and start attacking the place, demanding that they give him the information or he would destroy the place. The gang tries to stop him while Hokuto continues to search for information, but they aren't powerful enoguh to defeat Pluto just yet.

Eventually, seeing the place he's worked so hard to protect being threatened and attacked like this again makes Hyoma snap and his desire to protect everyone makes the Star Fragment awaken and he manages to defeat Pluto with his newly evolved Aries.

I decided to just give Aries Jupiter's Fusion Wheel since the four metal balls in the Jade Fusion Wheel are supposed to represent the rings of planet Jupiter, which have four components. So Rock Aries turns into Jade Aries.

After this, Hyoma decides that they need more information on how the legend went down to see if they can learn anything else, but Hokuto tells Hyoma to leave that to him and to train with his new bey instead sicne he believes that the enemy will only get stronger and stronger from here on out.

(Alos, since there's no magical vision of their ancestors, they have no clue what the planetary legendary bladers are supposed to look like.)

For the next one, the candidate I have in mind is a bit out of the way, but hear me out. Mercury is associated with communication, rationality, adaptability, variability and thinking. It's no wonder that Yuki is the legendary blader of Mercury in canon, even without considering that Mercury in Roman mythology is the messenger of the gods and guess what is Yuki's main role in Metal Fury?

Anyway, the person I chose to replace Yuki with is Sora. I imagine that he would appear in Beyster Island as a competitor. He would eventually get to fight Kenta in the tournament and we would see flashbacks of Kenta teaching Sora way back in Meral Fusion. Sora would defeat Kenta, showing how far he has come since then.

While preparing to leave, Kenta would run into Gingka and they would have a conversation about why Kenta left, similar to canon. I feel bad about removing the Gingka vs Kenta fight sicne it was such a good battle, but I think they're close enough friends that they can come to an understanding even without that. Besides, it's been a long time since we've seen Sora so this fight would serve to not only show his growth but also to reintroduce him as a character.

Then, Sora would fight Gingka. Finally, after all this time, he would get to fight his role model. Sora would way more analytical and adaptable now, having built up on the foundation Kenta gave him in Metal Fusion. So, while it wouldn't be as apparent as Yuki, he would still fit the values mentioned above.

I think Gingka would win this fight since showing up out of nowhere and defeating Kenta and Gingka would be a bit much. Not to mention, it would show Sora that no matter how far he has come, he still has something higher to strive towards. However, he would awaken his Star Fragment during this fight.

Since Anubis's Fusion Wheel is modeled after Vulcan, which was a planet proposed to exist in Mercury and the Sun but was later disproved, I would make Sora's Pegasus evolve into Mercury Pegasus. I would get rid of the stripes in the design since they remind me of Anubis, and I would make the shape less like a feather give it a bit more rounder and flowy design as a nod to the element mercury which is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature.

Lastly, for Venus, I would choose Yuu. Venus is often associated with love (platonic or romantic) , relationships, harmony, beauty and the urge to sympathize with and unite with others. In canon, the themes of friendships and relationships were explored with Tithi well enough, but I feel like they could just as easily be explored with Yuu. Not only is he someone who sees something wonderful in almost anything but he is also able to easily sympathize with and befriend others, even managing to befriend Doji to a certain extent.

I have no clue how he would awaken his Star Fragment though. I think that Doji would take a more proactive role this time around, mostly because it's Yuu and he wants to mess with his head almost as much as he wants to mess with Ryuuga. Doji would probably be searching for the last fragment too, since they have literally only one and that is the one Nemesis got, so finding that last fragment is doubly important. He would run into Yuu and Tsubasa by chance and decide to mess with Yuu a bit because Fiji's thw actual worst. Tsubasa tries to fight him off while Yuu recovers from the whiplash of seeing him alive, but Doji's gotten much stronger since then and Tsubasa is struggling. I think Doji mocking what little understanding they used to have back in Metal Fusion would be enough to snap the Star Fragment into action. Flame Libra becomes Death Libra, because I think the complicated bey design suits Yuu since we all know how tactical he can be when he wants. (Seriously, just look at the wiki page. That Fusion Wheel is way more complex than I thought.)

Doji would eventually retreat once Yuu becaomes the legendary blader of Venus, because he knows that he has ruined aby chances he might have had of recruiting Yuu to their side, not that Yuu is stupid enough to fall for that a second time nor would he just abandon his friends for a guy like Doji.

I imagine that, since none of the legendary bladers side with the Nemesis cult this time, they would have some time to actually plan things since the cult wouldn't have the other Star Fragments to accelerate Nemesis's revival. They would, however, make the legendary balders fight the fodder enemies to gather energy for Nemesis once the protagonists do decide to attack their fortress. There would only be one battle since they would have had the time to actually plan stuff instead of speed running the preparation phase of the invasion. Ryuuga dies, Kenta gets the Star Fragment and they all play a role in the final battle instead of it being just Gingka eith the power of the whole world on his side.

Damn, this turned out longer than I thought it would. Sorry for basically writing out a fanfiction, but I figured that I should go forward with how things would change if I did change the main characters. Sorry!

[pandhora]

Premise of Sonic Mars was recycled for Sonic Frontiers.

I discovered that the game's story: Sonic Mars had its premise idea recycled by someone at Sega.

(Photo Official of The Sonic Fronteirs)

• Sonic Mars = Sonic Frontiers: Sonic has to save his friends from being trapped in a virtual world.

Sonic Frontiers Story: Following the trails of the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic, Tails and Amy fly in the Tornado towards the Starfall Islands, an archipelago of islands forgotten by everyone. As they approach the islands, a wormhole suddenly appears in the sky, sucking Sonic in and separating him from his friends. Upon waking up, Sonic finds himself trapped in Cyber Space, a digital space that resembles places from his memories. He escapes and finds himself on Kronos Island, one of the Starfall Islands. Guided by a mysterious voice, Sonic must now gather the Chaos Emeralds.

When Sonic tries to save his friends, he gains Cyber Corruption. This corruption causes him great pain, but also gives him new powers that he uses to defeat the gigantic Titans that protect the emeralds. Sonic encounters a holographic girl named Sage who wants him to leave the islands. She was created by Dr. Eggman, who is also trapped in Cyberspace after tampering with the Ancients' technology. On Ares Island, Sonic encounters his friendly rival Knuckles, who was teleported here from Angel Island. The mysterious voice that guided Sonic through the islands is released from cyberspace on Rhea Island. This monster is a planet killer that the Ancients tried to stop long ago by sealing it away. Eggman reluctantly teams up with Sonic to stop him and save the world.

What was Sonic Mars?

(Image edited by me imagining what Sonic Mars would be like)

(Real photo from the Official Sonic Mars game)

The game's proposal was prepared on May 17, 1994 by then-lead designer Michael Kosaka with assistance from Chris Senn and Don Goddard. Opting to frame the game in the Saturday morning show that was still on the air at the time, the hope was to make the first fully 3D game about Sonic and his world. Presented to the management of Sega of America, they gave the green light for the Sega Technical Institute to move forward with the project. When shown what the American side of STI was coming up with for the next chapter of the Sonic the Hedgehog series, Yuji Naka, one of the character's creators, could only shake his head and say "good luck", not being very impressed with what was shown and knowing firsthand the difficulties involved in making a Sonic game.

Shortly after the proposal was accepted, Michael Kosaka left Sega due to problems between him and Dean Lester, the producer of Comix Zone. Without a lead designer, Chris Senn was thrust into the role, with Don Goddard reworking the Sonic Mars script. Eventually, the Saturday Morning premise was abandoned due to disinterest, and the game was completely reworked once it changed systems, becoming the more familiar Sonic X-treme.

The game was to be a tie-in to the TV series Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM), but the idea was scrapped as the TV show was never released in Japan. The game had several playable characters that would have Sonic as the default for Player 1 , while Player 2 would choose from five other characters, such as Sally Acorn, Bunnie Rabbot, Tails, Knuckles, and Tiara. There would be several endings where Sonic would have to choose between Sally and Tiara. Some special stages were designed as minigames, like the one where Sonic plays air hockey with Robotnik.

In this game, Sonic would save his friends from a virtual world of Dr. Robotnik.

Summary by Michael Kosaka (1994):

While Sonic checks a security alarm in a remote corner of the Great Forest, his friends Sally Acorn, Bunnie Rabbot, Tails, Tiara and Knuckles discovers a strange message from one of Dr. O.mad scientist is trying to take control of Micro Mobius, a virtual world, and the message is a cry for help from your peaceful inhabitants. The hedgehog returns to Knothole and discovers that Eggman captured his friends and took them to the virtual world. Sonic sets out to save his friends and stop Eggman from reformatting Micro Mobius.

(The information where I found that the premise of Sonic Mars was reused in Sonic Frontiers was through the "Tv Tropes" website where you have all the curiosities about the franchise: Sonic The Hedgehog.)

(If you saw that Sonic Frontiers has references to Sonic SatAm, it's because the premise was reused and also because Ian Flynn wrote both Sonic Archie and IDW.😊)