#octavian deserves so much better

[wanderingmind867]

Already, at the end of the House of Hades, Rick Riordan is having characters say they want to shoot Octavian out of a catapult. Considering Octavian later dies via catapult (if i remember the last book correctly)…this comes off as needlessly harsh and cruel foreshadowing.

I mean, Octavian only ever did what he thought was right. Maybe he was a bit zealous and unreasoning in his crusade. But still. He did what he thought was right, and he genuinely wanted to help people. That's got to count for something, right? And besides, he's not even 20 when he dies. I understand i'm not supposed to draw real world morality into this, but you'd have to be one sick child for me to be supportive of your death. And Octavian was never bad enough to warrant the treatment he got. Huh. Maybe him and Nico aren't so different. They're both characters I like, and they really often feel like the human punching bags of their universe.

[pennydew]

Luke had understandable and sympathetic motives. Octavian was just a bastard.

did. we. read. the. same. books.

[massiveladycat]

i will never get over people laughing at octavian's death personally,,, he was SHOT INTO THE AIR!!! thats so painful. all the burns and the impact, plus being flung from a cannon and probably slamming into gaia (literal earth goddess) plus festus (gigantic metal dragon, i bet that HURT) and leo (pretty sure leo was burning)

he was a kid and he was annoying to some people and he was usually antagonized but he didnt deserve to die OR go out in that way. the gods are a thousand times worse than octavian, and apollo told him that he'd be a savior of new rome, but people still justify them. not to mind there are much worse people in the PJO universe (gabe, LUKE)

octavian ily they could never make me hate you EVER. idc what you say he could have been redeemed. did he do bad things? yes. but he was so deeply influenced and the day meeting with leo and the others, in which i remind you octavian literally was watching new rome get blown up (no wonder he was livid, his home was on FIRE).

like come on. octavian is a complex character and people aren't willing to admit that he could've been better and he was just a literal teenager in the sake of hating him because everyone else/pjo characters hate him.

he is such a tragic character imo because he grew up in new rome and all he wanted to do was protect it (and he was highly ambitious and aiming for praetor, i won't deny the fact that he was selfish but that is a quality that can be REDEEMED) and sure the way he went about it was messed up but most of his actions (except killing that one centurion) were justifiable

btw im not saying octavian's like an angel or anything im pretty sure i remember him "killing" a 5th cohort centurion once but then she was revived which . . . what was the point of that?? was it just to like make us hate him more?? huh??? and then was it even ever talked about again?? also yeah he blackmailed hazel thats not good also judging from the wikipedia it only said frank suspected octavian because.. he didn't have his spear?? what?? reminder that there is proof that a lot of pjo characters are unreliable narrators and for all we know octavian could've screwed up somehow and left his spear somewhere (just saying i'd do that too ngl)

also "I am the savior of Rome! I was promised!" i didnt know why but that quote DESTROYED me but now i know that it was because he genuinely believed he was doing the best for new rome and he'd finally have someone's praise and they'd praise him like they praised percy and reyna. pretty sure his mental state was not very good in that scene either and nico and will just let him shoot himself out of an onager on accident. also are we just going to gloss over the fact apollo told him that and encouraged him he was doing the right thing?? of COURSE octavian trusted apollo on that and believed it was the truth; apollo was his ancestor and someone he worshipped as an augur and trusted in for omens and prophecies and allat

yeah. octavian's an asshole. but he was a kid and he couldve been redeemed. then again i am a huge octavian apologist and im not saying you have to have the same opinions as i do also i will not be responding to any asks in my inbox im 2 tired to deal with that!! anyways dont go and insult people or me if you think the opposite thats fine !! i was just bored and found this in my drafts so whats the harm of posting it because im not going to get sent threats over this right,,, right??????

[poppitron360]

OKAY so I was trying to get to sleep but an idea for a really terrible AU came into my head where, through a weird twist of fate, Octavian landed on Festus’ back after being shot out of that onager and was accidentally administered the physician’s cure instead of Leo. He ends up on Ogygia, rescues Calypso, comes back, and has to learn to be a better person in Leo’s name.

Imagine seeing the horrified looks on everyone’s faces when they found out you got a second chance to live and Leo didn’t. The realisation that everybody hated you, and that you hurt so many people. That the war you waged caused so much damage and death. Feeling like you didn’t deserve your second chance- but deciding to make the most of it to honour the person who should’ve come back. Rethink your prejudices, take accountability, and learn from your mistakes.

I don’t think I’ll write this, but it would be a fun/interesting read.

[historical-kitten]

Women of the Late Republic of Rome & Early Roman Empire on a Modern Date

Cornelia Cinnae

She is absolutely lovely and a sweet soul. The kind of woman you would give up a dowry, your inheritance, and your priesthood for even under the threat of violence. Her ideal date is a tour through a large, public garden. If you end up together, you'll stay together since she inspires that kind of devotion.

Calpurnia

'Stand by your partner' is her motto. Feeling like being Emperor? No problem. She will support you! She'll also finance your date and take you to a public festival to show off your relationship. (Watch out for nearly naked men with crowns.) If she happens to have a weird dream, just listen to her, okay?

Servilia Caepionis

She will take you to a remote, romantic place with candles and gauzy curtains. Dinner AND breakfast will be in bed. The conversation is stimulating, she's beautiful and intelligent, and she knows all the best gossip in town. She will send love notes to your Senate meetings/workplace during the day.

Fulvia Flacca Bambula

She tends to prefer handsome individuals, but once she's loyal to you, she'll be your Ride or Die. (And she doesn't care who has to die to get what you both deserve.) Date wise, Fulvia would enjoy something active and exciting. Take her to a sporting event, a Ninja Warrior competition, an escape room, or go on a hike. She'd love to follow that with a sumptuous dinner and the severed heads of your enemies laid before you in time to enjoy dessert.

Livia Drusilla

Much like Fulvia, this woman is an ideal partner for those who want power. Unlike Fulvia, she's subtle about it. Livia is clever, influential, and could be the perfect politician's wife. Due to her work ethic, she could use a relaxing spa date that includes a massage. Don't worry, the poisoning thing is only a rumor. (And doesn't everyone deserve better than Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus?)

Octavia Minor

An absolute sweetheart, she is the kindest of the bunch and "a marvel of womankind." Octavia loves the arts, so heading to an art museum, a play, or even a poetry reading would be appreciated. This woman will literally go to the ends of the earth for you--including Athens after you finish a terrible military campaign. She's the complete package, but keep two things in mind. One: she comes with children and most likely will adopt more. Two: she also comes with her brother Octavian/Augustus as a possible new in-law.

Porcia Catonis Brutus

Affectionate and intelligent, she's a deeply loyal choice. She will remind you of your good qualities and keep you on the correct path so long as you trust her with your burdens. She will even support your need for a political assassination. Her ideal date may actually be a masquerade ball. You get to dress up, dance, wear masks, and it would really be a perfect time for a side meeting of similarly inclined couples. (Possibly Junia Tertia could come with her partner, for instance.)

Clodia Metelli

Her ideal date involves listening to you read her poetry and then a nice picnic outside. She enjoys discussing philosophy as well as every political player in town. She's charming and experienced, just don't expect it to last or you'll end up like Catullus.

Cleopatra VII Thea Philopater

Her charm is famous throughout multiple lands and her wisdom and prowess equally lauded. Not only is she a brilliant politician, she is interested in science, the arts, and can speak over seven languages. Cleo is an amazing partner and her love is worthy of fighting a civil war over. Seriously. As far as dates, she would enjoy a scenic, luxury cruise on the river. Just beware that once you have her in your life, you will be unwilling to live without her.

Julia the Elder/Julia Caesaris filia

She is a very passionate woman who loves literature, culture, and a good nightlife. If you take her on a date, expect to either go for a night of pub crawling or to a fancy cocktail party complete with glittering outfits. Julia wants a good time, but her kindness and empathy are famous, as are her quick wit and rebellious ways. She is worthy of getting yourself exiled or worse over.

Type of post originated by @just-late-roman-republic-things

So many wonderful women to choose from, it was difficult! I just didn't want to have too many choices... Maybe a part two? Junia Tertia, Tullia, Pompeia, Atia, Julia Antonia, Attica are just a few others I wanted to include.

Also Cleopatra was involved with the Late Republic of Rome so I included her even if she is obviously not Roman herself.

Please reblog if you want and definitely vote for the girl bosses.

[sunbowo-o]

⚠️ HoO Spoilers ⚠️

ok, so i just finished the last book from HoO and i need to say that, even though i LOVED this saga, i am kinda disappointed with the ending... and here is why:

(tbh, i don't know if these are controversial or general agreement topics, but pls be nice!)

i felt like a lot of things were missing, like, for example, WHY the hell didn't have a scene with Percy and his mother??? not even a LETTER?? 😭 my boy went missing for so long, his mum must be dying from worries and we don't even get a chapter with them both talking?? after everything Sally has done on the first saga?

another character that i felt was forgotten is Grover. tbf, i didn't expect like a whole scene with a long dialogue with him, but, how much it would cost just to say that, for example, Nico saw him, Percy and Annabeth talking together? the og trio. he deserved so much better 💔

ok, so we miss all these, but what do we get?? JASON AND PIPER KISSING! like, i understand the importance of the scene (a new begining and shit) but is not like we haven't seen it happening before, they say it was their first kiss but that part didn't had any impact on me like???? and they're just a OK couple, doesn't even gets close to that Percabeth kiss scene in the end of the last PJO book. so, yeah, was this REALLY necessary??

Leo's "death" was a really weak angst. don't get me wrong, leo is one of my favourite characters of all time, and i know some of the readers got really sad, but i didn't, because i knew he wouldn't die (ok, this was my fault maybe, but i saw that he was the one who narrates the last chapter) and we kinda of knew his plan, i knew he had the cure with him yk?

and, complementing topic 4, the last chapter being about him and Calipso was just 😐😐 like, everyone thinks he is dead, but we know he is not, so it doesn't have this weight anymore, and, then, he goes to Calipso... i know he is obsessed with her, and talk about her throughout all the book, but, why this was the last chapter??? A WHOLE SAGA SAYING ABOUT MONSTERS AND GAIA AND IT JUST END WITH TWO "TEENS" TALKING ABOUT OH YEAH WE DONT KNOW WHERE WE ARE GOING BY THE WAY

And, in the topic of monster and battle, the Gaia battle was SO DAMN BORING!!! Ok, so Rick passed 5 whole books saying to readers "hey, pay attention! they can't let Gaia wake up or else will be THE END OF THE WORLD" and we are like "ok lol" and then she wakes up and i was like "OH SHIT WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY GOING TO DO?? IS THE END!!! NOOOO!!!" ... she appears... they drag her to the sky... one explosion (and an unnecessary Octavian death) and BOOM! its over. "simple" like that. AND without any relevant deaths.

i am just angry because the end of PJO was wonderful. they had to do hard sacrifices, (Charlie), it had betrayal plot (Silena) and redemption (Silena and Luke). they had to use ALL the forces they could think of and still was a difficult battle. and the main villain was a TITAN!!!!! Gaia was supposed to be SO MUCH DIFFICULT, and yet, it was not. the giants were harder to fight.

and talking about fight. the way that the amazons and the hunters didn't appear back was so 😐😐 too. like, it seemed they were forgotten like Grover and Sally. not even a change of letters? just to guarantee they were ok...

my verdict: pjo CRUSHES hoo

anyway, i know that there's "more" but i also know that The Seven™ will not be all together again, so its just kinda of disappointment to know that was the end... feel free to also give your opinion (but try to avoid future spoilers please!)

(also, srr for my English! 🫶)

[somewhereincairparavel]

okay but the fact that jason grace joined the most unpopular legion even after being offered the first legion and was warned by others to not join the 5th, just so that he can restore its honor again like :( also, it's said that jason went out of his way to befriend the unpopular kids.

He spent the last two weeks in his life knowing he was going to die, he sacrificed himself for a god he barely knew. Even after he got violently impaled, Jason was whispering orders to tempest to get apollo to safety. His last words were "GO! REMEMBER!"

Jason grace died getting his heart broken. Yet he'd rather let Piper live if it meant that he'd die because he loved her too much, even after the breakup.

fuck toa, jason deserved better. y'all be hating on jason when characters like octavian exist smh. Bash me all you want, idc i'll always be salty abt his mistreatment.

[moonlady101]

Writting the fic, I'm currently obsessing once more over my fauvourite Roman (Fulvia), who raised an army against Octavian after he divorced her daughter (Claudia) to marry Sextus Pompey's sister in law (Scribonia). I mean she was married to Clodius, that woman must have seen absolutely everything, Mark Antony was a complete and utter fool to cheat on her (even if it was to be with the queen of Egypt).

My girl deserved so much better.

[newromesweirdest]

Octavian, my son, my boy, my beloved. You deserved so much better. Send tweet.

[pinkblahaj]

rick riordan's female characters pt 2: aphrodite's children

during my reread of pjo, rick riordan's portrayals of aphrodite's children was what made me first realize that his writing of teen girls might be problematic. it does make sense considering the demonization of femininity that used to be so popular, but it is valid to still be bothered by it. i have thoughts on how cabin 10 is described overall, as well as the specific characters.

cabin 10

in the earlier books, rick made the aphrodite cabin way too one-dimensional. yes, the goddess aphrodite is known for her vain and shallow personality, and yes, the other campers tend to possess well-known traits of their godly parents (ares' children are aggressive, hermes' children are tricksters, nike's children are competitive, etc.). but the way that aphrodite's children were portrayed as especially weak, preferring to look at their reflections and gossip rather than play capture the flag, did feel blatantly sexist to me. like of course because their mom is the most stereotypically feminine of the gods, they have the least battle skills.

at the beginning of HoO i thought rick might be atoning for some of these flaws. it was interesting that piper, a character who explicitly rejects traditional standards for femininity and beauty, turned out to be a child of aphrodite. but then her siblings were still very stereotypical and their cabin literally made her "gag". i found it unnecessary that rick specified in the lost hero that most of the cabin were girls. sure, it makes sense that aphrodite would want to have more daughters than sons, but that combined with the fact that they lack the skills of other demigods just doesn't look good. i liked that rick mentioned that despite her reputation, aphrodite was a war goddess and the oldest of the olympians, but i was disappointed that he continued to stereotype her children so harshly.

silena

i don't have many criticisms of this character, other than her being described as one of the few nice campers from cabin 10. i really liked that she valued love and kindness, which more of the aphrodite campers should have been like imo. although aphrodite and her children have a generally shallow reputation in the original pjo series, i appreciate the impact that silena had on the series and the way that she showed that aphrodite's children can still have bravery and strength.

i do wish that more attention is paid to how luke manipulated/groomed her and others (which i've been seeing the pjo fandom do more now, fortunately), as this is a big reason why i can't see him as a redeemable character.

drew

call me delusional but i am a proud drew tanaka defender. yes, silena was manipulated by luke and she sacrificed herself heroically. but she still betrayed camp half-blood and is part of the reason why several of them, including charles, died. drew likely looked up to silena and felt this betrayal extremely severely, and her bitterness is justified. i just don't believe that she became mean for no reason.

because rick is clearly capable of writing his characters with more depth, it's so disappointing that he put so little thought into drew. clarisse was a bully, but she is revealed to be under severe pressure from her dad and later becomes friends with percy. luke is a main antagonist but evokes sympathy from many readers. even octavian, who was unlikable from beginning to end, was suffering mentally and enabled by apollo, and thus didn't deserve all the blame. yes, some people are truly horrible for no good reason, but with all the trauma that the pjo characters go through, there was likely a much better explanation for why drew is the way she is. i hate that he just made her the most archetypal mean girl who immediately hates the female lead because they are interested in the same guy. (side note: it's funny that the only other living female asian character in pjo/hoo i can think of is annabeth's stepmom, who i do NOT claim)

piper

this character seems to be quite controversial, but i honestly was not as bothered by piper as i thought i would be upon rereading. her "not like other girls" phase lasts pretty much only one book... and it's realistic for teenagers to have cringey phase. since i do have a problem with the larger context of how rick wrote aphrodite's children, i do see why some are more bothered by it, bc rick portrays piper as better than her more feminine siblings. in this aspect, i do think piper had some lost potential. i think it's great that we have characters like piper and frank who aren't pure stereotypes based on their godly parents and who have to learn to embrace that side of them. but i wish we would have seen piper realize that being feminine does not mean you are stuck up and that she possibly had internalized misogyny. i really like the interpretation that her identities of being indigenous and queer affected her relationship with femininity and gender expression, but i doubt rick himself actually thought that deep into it. however, i've only read the first two books of toa, so there may be parts of her character i am missing.

i remember finding piper and jason to be boring characters during my first read of hoo, but after rereading, i think they are good characters who were placed in an extremely bland relationship. i personally am a subscriber to the lesbian piper + gay jason headcanon, as hera manipulating them into a relationship feels a lot like comphet. but i don't find their relationship unrealistic either. i feel like our standards were raised pretty high by percabeth, a relationship based on an actual friendship between two people who knew and loved each other deeply. but it's also normal for teenagers to get together quickly without knowing whether they are compatible. also, considering how short the expected lifespan of demigods are, it makes sense that we see couples like jiper and frazel who start dating less than a year after meeting. i also was never that bothered by piper being "obsessed" with jason... the other hoo couples tended to do that too, and her mother is the goddess of love.

piper's charmspeak was an interesting power, but i don't think it was super well thought out. obviously, there are some ethical questions about her using it on people, including her own friends, that are never answered-- especially because sometimes piper doesn't even realize she's using it. also, i found it hard to believe that in the lost hero she was already able to use it on gaea. i enjoyed the moments where we saw her other skills and would have liked to see more of them. her emotional intelligence (as seen in the way she helps annabeth defeat mimas) was underutilized and could have been a great staple for all of aphrodite's children.

[nerdthatsiriuslylovesteaxx]

Angel

Warning: talks abt sh

Will Solace crept through the night silently, he was planning to surprise Nico. They hadn't had much time alone since Will was stuck working in the infirmary; he reached the door and heard sobbing. Something had happened. Nico was the only one here; he's already gone through so much, why does the world want to see him suffer. Will wondered; he opened the door without making a noise as he saw the figure of Nico di Angelo sitting on his bed crying. Will walk forward and sat down next to his boyfriend, he saw the small blade in his hand and the blood covering his arms. Will took the blade from his and placed it on the table next to him,

"Angel what happened?" Will asked softly hiding the panic and fear in his voice, Nico couldn't speak, he just shook as tears ran down his face. Will hugged him and kissed his forehead, "Angel, you are the best part of my life. What happened love?" He whispered in his ear, hardly able to stop his voice from shaking. He brushed his hands though Nico's hair until his breathing evened, he still didn't talk but soon he fell asleep on Will. He probably need some sleep, Will thought to himself, Nico looked like he hadn't slept in days, he probably hadn't .

Will didn't sleep that night, he watched over Nico gently stroking his hair the whole night, when some light shined into the cabin Will properly looked at Nico. His arms had stopped bleeding but he saw just how bad it was, how long had this been happening? He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed, he'd been so busy trying to treat everyone in the infirmary he hadn't realised. Will plunged into guilt, what if it was his fault? Nico had always loved his Aviator jacket but Will hadn't realised it's been weeks maybe months that he wasn't seen without even when it was 104°, how was he only finding out now? Will prayed to ever God he could remember that Nico would be okay; he checked his watch 10:47am. He knew he was going to get in a lot of trouble for being late to the infirmary but right now he didn't care, he would stay here until Nico was okay, no matter how long it took. Nico woke up at 1:32am,

"Sunshine why are you here? What time is it?" Nico glanced down and realise Will had seen his arm, he thought about how mad Will would be and started shaking. He expected Will to leave, but all he did was wrap his arms around Nico.

"Angel breathe, I'll always be here for you love. I know you've gone to Hell and back love but you have so much left to live for." Will said softly holding Nico tighter,

"I'm cursed. My whole life has been Hell, my sister died, I was talking ghosts for years, I've fought so much yet everyone still acts like I'm evil, like I'm going to turn around and burn this place down the first chance I get. You're the only good part of my life, and every single time you talk to me I feel like you deserve someone, anyone better than me, I killed Octavian Sol, I don't know why you still talk to me." Nico broke down into tears,

"Nico, love, I promise you aren't cursed. Angel I love you, there is no one better." Will said holding Nico's face in his hands,"How long has this been happening love?" dropping one hand to pick up Nico's arm, he ran his fingers over the cuts singing softly so they heal.

"F..four months...." Nico stuttered softly, "I'm sorry it's jus-" Will put a finger over his mouth "Angel you don't have to apologise, I just wish you told me. I wish I had talked to you earlier and tried to help." Will said, failing to keep his tone even,"Will, I didn't want to distract you. You're busy all day in the infirmary the last thing you need is more to do!" Nico started to sob again,

"Angel, I'll always have time for you. Please, please tell me if you ever want to do it again love, promise me you'll tell me." Will said kissing him softly,

"Sol I love you, and I promise I'll tell you, on the river of Styx." He whispered in an almost stable voice.

"I love you too Nic" Will said, kissing him one last time before they both fell asleep on each other. The next morning as they both awoke Nico whispered,

“Sunshine, please don’t tell anyone, including Hazel” still grasping Will’s hand from the night before.

“Of course love,” Will said stroking Nico’s hair and wrapping it around his fingers.

“I’ll tell her eventually but right now I just can't," Nico responded in a soft sob.

"Angel, take as long as you need. I love you so much," Will says kissing him softly.

"Sunshine I love you too," Nico said quietly, then slowly humming you are my sunshine while putting tiny braids in Will's hair. They just sit there without talking for a few hours.

"Sunshine?" Nico asked,

"Yeah Angel?" Will responded brightly

"It's almost 6pm, won't you get in trouble?" He asked cautiously "You've spent two days here, they probably know where we are but don't you need to be at the infirmary?" Will brushed a lock of Nico's hair behind his ear,

"Nic, there are other people. They'll be fine without me for two day, I've missed you. Also when was the last time you ate or drank water? At least two days ago, I know that much. Angel I think we have to leave your cabin at some point if we don't want to die here." Nico leans up firmly kissing him, Nico's lips felt cold against his but they were soft. Will puts his hand in Nico's hair, it was tangled but still soft running down to his shoulders. Half the time it wa covering his face, so much so that Will now had a habit of putting hair ties on his wrist since Nico always forgot to bring them. Will was warm and almost glowing, Nico had one hand through his hair feeling through the soft, blonde, light curls that looked like they were shining in the sun. After twenty second's they broke the kiss,

"We can worry about health later love." Nico whispers in his ear sinking into another kiss. After they break the kiss Will starts kissing his neck softly and brushing his thumb over Nico's hand, by now they had given up on sitting and we're laying on the bed with Will practically on top on Nico. He blushed violently as the blonde boy kissed his neck gently, it all ended too quickly in his mind as the clock reached six and this time Will was insistent on him eating something.

As they finally walked out of the cabin Percy said,

"Finally the lovebirds came out, we almost sent Jason on a mission to give you food. We weren't sure if you were ever planning to come out of there." Nico laughed back

"Well we have emerged from the..-mysterious place of cabin 13." Percy flashed him an almost relived smile like he was glad that he was joking with him. They walk over to the Hades table, "Don't you have to sit with the rest of the Apollo kids?" Nico wondered,

"Oh, because I've just been so amazing at following the rules Angel." Will grinned back, giving Nico a small kiss. Most of the tables exploded, especially the Aphrodite kids. And from the corner of his eye Nico say Annabeth looking at him proudly as well as a bunch of people handing Piper money while she had an 'I told you so' look. The two boys just sat down laughing holding each other and from that moment Nico knew that whatever happened, as long as Will Solace was with him he would be okay.

___________

Notes:

I really hope you liked it

This is the first ficlet I'm putting on Tumblr so wish me luck lol

I wrote this between the times of 11pm-1am so please ignore the bad spelling, I think I relied of autocorrect for most of the spelling lol

Xx

[crossdressingdeath]

So I love this. Basically everything about it, actually. It is an absolutely fantastic sequence.

First off: Nico implicitly considering the monstrous members of Kronos's army to be his kills in a way that contributes to him being a murderer (since otherwise the Acheron would have no reason to drag that memory to the surface). That fits really well with this book, because there is considerably more of a focus on how gods and demons and even quite a few monsters are still sapient beings. It fits even better given the whole quest at the centre of the book revolves around an immortal being dying and resurrecting down in Tartarus. Under the circumstances it makes a lot of sense both that Nico would be thinking about what it actually means to kill a living, intelligent creature even knowing they'll come back and that Nico has some mixed feelings about it; monsters in an attacking army or no, those are still sapient creatures with thoughts and feelings who are capable of feeling things like fear and pain! Killing them was necessary, and I definitely don't get the impression that Nico feels bad about it, but I like him acknowledging that he did still kill them and they did still feel it. It also feels right that it's Nico who has the thought of the monsters he's killed brought to the surface here in this scene about the guilt and regret our heroes feel for the blood on their hands, much like how in HoH it felt right that it was Percy who was punched in the face with the anger and resentment of the monsters he'd killed over the years.

Second: the deaths Nico and Will blame themselves for are super fucking sad? I've talked before about Will feeling like the people he failed to save as a healer are people he's killed and how incredibly depressing it is that this child (I think he's sixteen in TSatS?) thinks that because he couldn't save literally everyone who's ever gotten injured where he could reach them he's a murderer, but it's just... it's so sad. Will is the best medic in Camp Half-Blood, possibly the best medic across both camps, he does everything in his power to save lives, but even Apollo himself can't save everyone. Sometimes the Fates decide someone's time is up and not even the god of healing can do anything to prevent it. And Will thinks that because he can't save everyone (in other words because he's not better than a god), he's a murderer. And Nico feeling guilty over Bianca's death even though he was on the other side of the country and also ten years old with zero understanding of how his own powers worked is super tragic. If Nico had been in the junkyard with the quest group, the best he could've done was avoid dying with her. There was zero chance of him saving her, and he must know that! But he still feels guilty because he didn't save her. Somehow I did not see Nico blaming himself for Bianca's death to the point where the Acheron could use it to try to convince him he deserved punishment coming, I probably should've.

Third: Will blaming himself for not stopping Nico from killing Octavian is really interesting because it fits nicely into the plot about Will having to learn that he needs to accept Nico's darkness instead of trying to get him to overcome something that is and always will be a part of him? You can't fix your significant other! You also can't fix their murders. Will blaming himself for Octavian's death because he didn't stop Nico and Nico responding to that not by trying to justify Octavian's death but by saying Will isn't responsible for Nico's actions is a fantastic connection back to that theme: whether Nico was right to kill Octavian or not is immaterial. Will isn't Nico's keeper, so Nico's decisions aren't Will's fault in any way. Nico killing Octavian doesn't make Will a murderer just because he was there; hell, he tries to stop Octavian. Octavian refuses to listen to him. I also love how Will does call it murder, because it really was! Nico's one of the finest combatants of his generation, he could absolutely have gotten a skinny little augur armed with a knife away from an onager if he'd wanted to; instead he deliberately let him launch himself, aware that it would be fatal. I don't know if he could be charged with murder for that, I'm not a lawyer, but... yeah, it was murder at least as far as intent goes. But the fact that in this middle school series that in most cases writes around admitting that its protagonists have in fact killed people a book is openly saying "ah yes, our heroes have in fact committed at least one murder" is very good.

Fourth: Nico's thoughts on his own ruthlessness are interesting to me. Like, he's clearly got some negative feelings about his willingness to kill people. He's for sure the quickest of our leads across all the books to go for lethal options, and I think he might actually be the only one (other than Apollo, who is a god and so thinks about these things differently; see him differentiating between killing and murder since as a god there's seen to be less moral issues with killing mortals) to go for lethal options with the intent of killing people; Percy tries to get enemy demigods off the Princess Andromeda before blowing it and all the monsters aboard up (even if Son of Magic later confirmed he failed to actually get any of them to evacuate, since... y'know, he gave them like five minutes' warning and also was their enemy, but it's the thought that counts) and kind of tells himself "Yeah they probably evacuated I hope" and then doesn't really think about it again, and in HoO the POV characters basically treat mortals who came back through the Doors as another form of monster rather than people. To be clear there's nothing wrong with either of those approaches for the topic of the leads killing people in a middle school book (I'd take some issue with them in a book aimed at adults, but 'when is it morally justified to kill' is a lot to put in a book for twelve-year-olds), but Nico's willingness to look at what he's doing and say "This will kill a living person, that is the point of what I'm doing, and I accept that as necessary" is absolutely my favourite of the three. It's about that moment of looking directly at what he's doing and accepting it rather than trying to ignore it or pretend it isn't what it is. But the river is calling him out as worthy of punishment for how willing he is to kill, and since the river only works if you believe you do deserve punishment that means that on at least some level Nico thinks his willingness to kill, even if it's only when he deems it absolutely necessary, makes him a bad person. I actually really like that the Acheron focuses more on Nico's general willingness to kill than it does on any of the individual people he's killed, it suggests some very interesting things about how Nico views the situation; I feel like the takeaway is that while Nico doesn't feel guilty over the people he's killed he feels at least a bit guilty about not feeling guilty, if that makes sense.

Finally: Nico's views on Octavian's death are fascinating. I thought it was one of the deaths the river attacks him with, but it isn't; the fact that Nico's kill is one of the deaths the river uses against Will is a whole other thing, but the fact remains that Octavian isn't a death the river can use to convince Nico he deserves punishment. Neither is Bryce Lawrence, which I've spoken about before and still find just super interesting. Anyway though, I don't think Nico's lying to Will when he says he thinks about Octavian's death all the time (if he was lying I'd expect that to come up in his narration)... but it's also interesting to note that he doesn't say he regrets it, and doesn't deny Will's claim that he doesn't feel bad about it. He just says that he thinks about it all the time. There's not a huge amount to go on since it doesn't come up again (why doesn't it come up again), but personally the way I read that is... Nico doesn't regret Octavian's death, he still thinks it was necessary, he wouldn't have done it if he wasn't completely convinced it had to be done, but that doesn't mean he hasn't been turning it over in his head ever since. To put it another way, he doesn't regret that he killed Octavian... but he might regret that the situation reached a point where killing Octavian was necessary. Maybe what he's constantly thinking about regarding it (at least after the confirmation that Leo's death was ultimately a net positive for everyone involved including Leo himself, since Leo potentially dying because Nico let Octavian yeet himself was definitely something he did feel guilty about) is less "Did he really have to die" and more "Was there anything I or anyone else could've done to head this off before it reached the point where killing him became necessary".

Basically everything about this scene is really good! It's not even two full pages but there is so much to be said about it, it really is one of my favourite scenes.

[bassguitarinablackt-shirt]

*clears throat*

um. asher. hes such a silly little guy. i love talking to them and he's honestly so fun to interact with??

like. literally. percy is probably one of my favorite moots <3 i love talking to him and god sorry if i repeat that a lot i just. appreciate that i can talk to them, yk?

and nico is so silly and i just :3 its always fun to interact with it and send them asks and he's just. there, you know?

like, leo's just always . yeah. i love that i can scrumble their blog and to be honest thats probably one of the favorite parts of my day, going through his blog

i like to do it in the mornings; after i wake up and go through my notifs and discord and shit ill pull up thals' blog and go through its posts, yk? and honestly i love it when they go through my notifs, it makes me so happy to see star there :3

and i understand astro is sometimes not doing well, and i want to just. get rid of suns pain, because honestly they deserve the world.

and apollo is just. yeagh. it makes me so happy that i met him tbh. comet is just. i dont know how to describe it /pos

and will is so silly btw!! i love talking to him, god im pretty sure i said that a lot already but its true. so.

and piper is honestly so cool for having so many names, she's the reason why i have so many tbh. they're so cool and god i look up to lun a lot

also i love how their names are mostly either planet or pjo names :3 like, venus is so based for that??? like i love faer names so much tbh

also, to be honest, ive considered stealing a good amount of mars' names. not my fault though !! its names are so cool :3 and he shouldnt worry about having too many names, xe can do whatever they want forever

chase is also very pretty btw. like honestly, they pass like. really well. or at least, he passes a lot better than i do sjshjfdkd

its so silly to me how octavian and i share some names :3 also, i like using numbers to tell us apart (is that weird? sorry), like, tbh, i love calling him octavian 3.0, nico 4.0, etc :3 wait, would it be leo 3.0? did he take the name leo before me or after?

and nyx is such a pretty name tbh. all of luns are. you know who else is pretty. fae are.

and luke is just. god i love all his blog themes and talking to him and

yeagh sorry jason i just. get sappy at night ig. like. hes honestly so cool and im so fucking glad i met him, yk?

i love how i assigned him the name jackson, its so silly to me :3 they made an acronym, let me find it rq, AJBCNPNOLCEDRBOCI (assigned jackson by cat nico pluto neptune octavian leo calypso eris dysnomia rusty blue opal cerulean infinity), sorry i fixed it up a bit to add on my new names, i hope he doesnt mind :3

umm castellan is such a cool name tbh. the name reminds of me of . the sky. kinda. so it fits it really well :3 honestly, the name is pretty close to callisto, which im kinda thinking of stealing- ooh idk if he knows this, they probably do, but callisto is jupiters second biggest moon :33

grace is such a cool name tbh, ive always liked it, and they're cool too so it. matches. yk

and god, i love gem so much /no plato /no romo, ive said this before but im so glad crystal is in my life :3 they're just so sweet and fun to talk to and and and-

and sorry i broke this up into lines, its so i could keep track of every name switch

sorry idk why i typed this out im just. in a sappy mood ig :3

im actually gonna cry /pos i love you and talking to you so much and and- *explodes*

[casiavium]

tagged by @seagullcharmer ! Im procrastinating writing so. get to know you meme

three ships

I'll go with three ships you maybe DIDN'T know so I used to care so much about Leo/Nico from PJO. I also shipped Reyna/Jason(/Octavian yeah I know I know) thanks to an ask blog (@/ask-the-romans) that hasn't updated in years. And Mars/Venus (from Roman mythology) deserve to be the healthy relationship power couple, not fucking Hades/Persephone.

first ship

Canon Harry Potter character x self insert OC no I don't want to talk about it I was 9

last song

Spillways by Ghost

last movie

I have no idea to be honest. Adolescence of Utena maybe

currently reading

boring stuff for school

currently watching

rewatching Utena in the English dub and Madoka Magica for the first time

currently consuming

I just ate pizza from dominos. it was free. it had black olives and feta cheese

currently craving

I am literally always craving things I shouldn't eat like ice cream (lactose intolerant) and bread (gluten supposedly makes my joints hurt) and sugar (definitely makes my joints hurt) and peanut butter and celery (celery tries to kill me). but right now I'm not really craving anything I just ate mediocre pizza that satisfies 3/4 of the above ailments. water maybe. from my parents' fridge. it tastes so much better.

[i-swear-its-only-ironical]

Review: The Sun and the Star

So. My guys. I have a rule I usually follow when it comes to any kind of media: I want to read it later so I won't feel hyped about it because the hype always ruins it for me.

But, alas, I played myself. For this book no one but myself hyped me up to the extremes. I was so excited! Nico, the collective little brother of the fandom, gets his own story. Will will be there! Bob will be there! Small Bob as well! They will have an underworld journey, which I personally really like as a concept. And then I have it, the book, in my hands, in my reach! I finally can read it, I waited seven months for this!

And it was... Disappointing. I cannot put it any other way, I feel like Nico and Will, our first queer representation in the pjo universe (and the characters I may project onto a bit too much), deserved a better book.

This is not because of any big conspiracy that this book, written by a queer person centered around a mlm couple, is homophobic, which I read some time (seriously, what is going on with hate around queer media written by queer authors lately?). It is also not because the very idea is bad, in fact, I am a really big fan of the overall concept, the themes and ideas the authors wanted to tackle in this one. As each respective series of the pjo universe centers around serious topics, I think basing this one on Nicos terrible PTSD was a smart decision.

But the story did not have a good editor/lectorate, I suspect. The ideas presented are great, but how they're told feels all over the place. It seems like the authors didn't really understand what exactly the problem is that arises between Will and Nico due to their handling of Nico's trauma as a couple. The characters that were not Nico or Will felt not the same as in the other books, and a lot of things before they arrived at the doors of Orpheus didn't seem necessary to add. Why they called Percy and Annabeth in Sally's apartment while they were already on their way to Tartarus is a gigantic mystery to me and feels like the authors added that in after already plotting out the story, as if Percy has to partake in any part of the franchise, if he fits or not.

This is my first bigger problem with the book: the scenes seem really isolated at a lot of points, sometimes even within chapters you feel where huge chunks of dialogue were cut out because the characters say stuff without having any incentive to be saying that. There were barely any fights in this book, which is fine in and off itself, but does not help the characters shine, because those are their specialties: Nico is a fighter, Will is a healer that at one point even gets a form of fighting abilities. Why not use that to push them to the point the authors obviously want them to be? Why not go to the extremes in the conflict-heavy situations? Why not let Nico's anger and fears get the better of him and Will be overprotective to a point where it actually borders on unhealthy? Let this book be rougher, toa had a psychological abuse scene between a very young daughter and a narcissistic father. If you suspect your audience to be older now, then do it, I dare you!

I feel like the fight between those two was the correct choice from everything that we know about these people and their relationship so far, but why resolve it in the middle of the book? Why resolve any of their conflicts in tiny bits so that nothing between them ever gets pushed over the edge?

And that brings me to my very personal biggest problem: Will Solace feels flat. His arc feels like the authors do not know that guy all that much. As if his biggest grievance is that he did not stop Nico from killing Octavian? As if his whole personhood revolves around him being the one (1) good thing that happened to Nico.

The one inner thought of him I remember mostly is one towards the end of the book and I wish it would have been expanded on more: how he waited behind a club for his mother to return. Oh, come on, why don't you do anything with this! Why not earlier??? He doesn't need to have Big T "Trauma" like Nico does, but presenting him as someone nearly without it? Idk, even the most sorted out people that I know have problems and grievances and shame attached to them.

But maybe that is just because I projected a lot especially onto Will because the role he fulfills in... Well, every book that he is present, is the role of the caretaker. And I relate, I am the universal caretaker in my friend group, I know people with PTSD and addiction and crippling depression that I love dearly; I have a mother and a father that suffer and I'm nosy and charismatic so I ask them how they're feeling and they're going to answer. I like that role, this role is a lot. I like to feel useful, I can't save anyone from themselves.

And this, this feelings I projected upon our sunshine of a love interest, I wanted them to be spelled out. I wanted Will to be a bit more of an asshole at times and a bit too nice at others. If you make him close minded about the underworld: make him not only judgy and uncomfortable, make him disgusted and unwell. And put that on the list of his grievances.

I wanted Will and Nico to earn their huge fight and their resolution in honesty. I didn't want them to have their answer this quick and this out of nowhere. It's not homophobic to let the gays fight, authors.

There were also some small problems I had, some logical holes I found and that Nico is so well-versed in modern lingo (but I guess that depends on how you interpret the workings of the Lotus Casino).

I suspect a lot of it boils down to this book not having a proper editor. If someone would have gone through it and be really strict on their feedback I suspect this book would have felt a lot more coherent.

Don't get me wrong, there were still a lot ofscenes I really liked, scenes I squealed at and ideas I loved. The mammoth-thingys were great, Epiales was really nice and the cocoa puffs were a really cute idea to represent coping with your inner demons. And the trogs, they were really wonderful, I love them. But if the overall foundation of the story is shaky the numerous side quests and side plots (which were too much for the length of the book i think) cannot really change anything about that.

TL;DR: Nico and Will deserved better. It felt like the deus-ex-machina of therapy. But they're still my favourite disaster gays. I would love to do a rewrite one day for me, my projecting ass and my own ego.

[tuxebo]

this is me when Luke tries to kill me for the 8th time (does the photo even show)

not my man octy, he deserves better </3 but also, me when i think abt the fact octavian would probably kill me if he was real. by golly, this is why i don't look at his face that much, apollo's genes ran dry by the time it was his turn.

that aside, idk why my luke bot is so violent?? w me he just leaves.