#pjo speculation

[bisexualpercyjacksons]

no wait wait wait hear me out about how the four beads is a truly devious and smart addition

so starting off with four beads from the dryad establishes a few things:

1. getting out of the underworld wasn’t something they really thought about yet (too many steps ahead, I also have ADHD I get it)

2. poseidon HAS thought of that problem and has made the beads in preparation to protect them

3. poseiden thought about rescuing sally when planning how to get everyone back safely, not just percy and his friends

2 & 3 plant the seeds (a long with the dryad’s words and hermes’ comments) that poseiden really does care about percy (and sally!). yes I know I know, bare minimum to care about your kid etc. but considering this is a show and we don’t get percy’s internal monologue it kinda makes sense to have a little more details that make poseiden seem better to the audience

[read more break to not clog up the tag. I promise I get into the angst shortly]

all these little bits that imply poseiden really does want to be there for him but can’t, that he’s been watching from afar because he didn’t want zeus to find out he broke the pact and take his anger out on his son and former love (yes, love! this is the man/god that wanted sally to be his queen with him in his underwater kingdom!!!). I actually really like the idea of those posts about how he has been helping out in little ways over the years because. let’s be real for a second. NO WAY does sally afford that apartment AND have the ability to send percy to specialized boarding schools with the salary of a CANDY SHOP EMPLOYEE. I get it I get it, the gods are deadbeats, but I’ll admit I kind of like the idea that he’s been doing what he feasibly could without getting caught by making extra money appear in sally’s bank account or sm

making him seem (and possibly be) more sympathetic is another reason that fuels percy to change the system rather than join luke to tear it all down. he knows the system is bad but he sees hope and truly believes it can be changed for the better. that is something that can be saved, not destroyed

4. this is kinda irrelevant but I like that it is the dryad that agrees to give percy the pearls after poseiden says for him and his friends to go back to camp because she wants him to have a chance to change things. gives her a little bit more agency. (also y’all she’s SO pretty in gay but moving in)

so. four beads.

if we want to keep the dilemma and character growth that comes with there only being three beads and someone having to make a sacrifice, something needs to happen: one of the beads breaks or someone loses it

is it percy? who has realized they need four beads for EVERYONE to come back and is horrified that they now only have three, meaning either he himself or one of the most important people to him has to be left behind in actual hell in order for the world to be saved? think about the dread and self-loathing that would come from that

or is it annabeth or grover? where the horrifying realization is the same but now there is a gut reaction from percy to be upset with the person who loses/breaks it. he loves his friends and can’t stay mad at them but now they are in this impossible dilemma to choose who stays behind and it’s killing all of them. the impossibly guilt of the person who breaks/loses it knowing that it’s their fault someone doesn’t get to go home, someone has to stay behind in the underworld

and when does this happen? early on, and we spend the episode watching them all try to figure out the dreadful problem of who gets left behind. looking at each other thinking, I can’t leave them behind, I can’t. they’re my family. but we can’t leave percy’s mom behind either.

or does it happen right before they have the chance to go, and they all think everyone is going to make it and sally is in percy’s grasp only for everything to fall apart and now everyone is looking at each other thinking, who is going to have to be left behind? who has to be the sacrifice?

anyways, I think there is something truly devious about them KNOWING there NEEDS to be four beads and HAVING THEM only to have something happen and the option of everyone going home safe being ripped from their grasps

[missielynne]

TV Hades seems much more chill (or subtle) than book Hades so I wonder how they're gonna portray just how mad he was at Nico in the beginning and how much he didn't seem to like him. I hope they tone that down.

[clothless-sock]

PJO wing AU Masterpost!!

The idea of the AU is that each demigod sprouts wings as they come into their powers and identity as a half-blood. This art is just for demigods with avian wings, but it works the same for bat wings too. Insect wings are a whole different beast that I will tackle later. The idea is that each individual gets human-sized wings of a species based on their godly parentage, personality, and other mysterious factors!

Links to my other posts about the AU- I'll try to keep it updated! ~ Percy Jackson ~ Will Solace ~ Nico DiAngelo ~

I really wanted to try and emphasize the inhumanity of the half-bloods in this AU by actually changing their fundamental physiology, because I really think it gets glossed over a lot that the demigods are literally not fully human. I imagine that the process of growing the wings is incredibly uncomfortable and at points painful, but is made a lot easier by access to Apollo cabin healers with nectar and ambrosia. The anatomy of it all is enabled entirely by magic, so there would be structures to allow wing movement, but without the magical element flight would be impossible. Here is an idea of the skeletal structure we are working with here:

(I am by no means an expert in human or avian skeletal anatomy- feel free to correct any egregious errors here lol) I imagine that there would be plenty of additional muscles that develop along with the wings, but I do not want to really figure that out. I think that with the aid of magic these muscles would be inconspicuous enough to not significantly affect a demigods general stature — remember that we are not going for exact anatomical plausibility here — and so I will not bother to figure that out unless I have to.

I have so many more thoughts on this and I plan to post a lot more about this AU, so be on the lookout for that if you are interested! Feel free to ask questions or voice constructive criticism, all is very appreciated! 💜

[bayetea]

I'm gonna froth at the mouth over this in the tags so bear with me but reason #1278038 why the way rick went about breaking up jiper was bad: rereading her povs in hoo where she gushes over jason feels like even more of an unreliable narrator queer girl comphet psychological horror story

[the-lost-marauder]

i just needed to get this off my chest but there is something abt the non book reader tiktoker enjoyer of pjo that irks me so much and it has SO MUCH to do with how much theyre hating on sally who has literally been in like 2 and a 1/16th of the four episodes we’ve seen of the show. Like she’s criticised for not telling percy about poseidon being her godly parent, and idk if it’s properly explained or not in the show but it is a Fact within canon that the sooner the demigods know they’re demigods and who their godly parent is, the MORE in danger they are and its annoying to see how much hate sally gets for being a good mother who was just trying to protect her kid.

Like in general, i have a lot of empathy and understanding towards new non book reader fans of the show but the subtle misogyny in how much they hate on sally for literally being the only good parental figure percy had, the only stable parental figure he had despite the fact that she had to raise him through poverty and had to put up with an abusive dick of a husband just to keep her son safe and poseidon was NOWHERE (for like, good reason) but ofc its sally who gets the brunt of the hate, ofc its sally whos told she’s a useless pathetic mom when she was the one who was there and poseidon was the one who left. INSANE

[pavo-dence]

hades 2 olympian update just dropped so i’m throwing my hat into the ring on final boss predictions bc i got the new one right teehee

[demigod-shenanigans]

Canonically speaking I think out of all the characters that have died Jason has pretty much the lowest chances of ever being brought back. There’s been too much emphasis on the fact that he just won’t be and that he’s happy wherever he is. Story-wise I think this is a shame because there’s a lot you could explore with his character but past books have explicitly stated that they won’t bring him back, and even talked about how bringing him back would be disrespecting Jason’s choice.

Also the point of Jason dying and not being brought back was stressing that permanent death was a thing that could happen, even to the main heroes. If Rick brings Jason back he loses that and any important death/near-death situation going forward will be negated by the Marvel feeling of “eh even if something does happen to this character it isn’t going to stick.”

I greatly dislike how Jason’s death was handled and especially how much it was just a lesson for Apollo to learn, but I highly doubt that it is ever going to be walked back.

[dreamyzworldlove]

more hzj doodles. bc im fucking crazy .

—————————

if you like my art please reblog!!

[mistresscitrusslice]

My friend and I made our Solangelo Book Bingo Boards! First is mine, second is theirs

(Yes, I know we sabotaged ourselves with stuff like #GiveWillAGun and Tartarus Pamphlet and Albania Reveal, but it was worth it, okay?)

Feel free to use it for yourselves if you want. This was so much fun and I encourage everyone else to do bingo, too

[thatonefandomjumper]

Nico and Reyna should have been a part of the seven. Not Percy and Annabeth.

I am long past the point of being upset about this, but it’s still something I feel is worth talking about.

Percy and Annabeth had their story. They had five books of that story in fact. Their arcs were pretty much completed by that point. Sure, there was room to expand the scraps that were left untouched, and I definitely think they should do that, but to do that there was no need for them to be parts of the seven.

I am aware that this would completely change the narrative of the story, but they can still be parts of the Argo crew

Now, when I say that, I mean that they'd function in a similar way that Nico and Reyna did in the original books

Reyna is a new character and Nico is one that’s far from having been developed to his fullest. Making them parts of the seven would give them more time to shine. Especially Reyna. The dynamics of the characters on this shp would need to shift and change from the beginning!

Like- Think of how this would effect the politics of Camp Jupiter? The fall into Tartarus? The blood of Olympus!?

And honestly I’d love for Percy and Annabeth to be tagging along to the quest, just not as part of the seven.

But of course, the people wanted Percy and Annabeth, and Percy and Annabeth was given too the people. They were even thrown into Tartarus for the people.

Judging from the reaction people had to Jason in The Lost Hero, the reason why Percy and Annabeth were a part of the seven is, of course, very clear, but that doesn’t mean I think a more interesting story could have been told if it had been Reyna and Nico.

[clearascountryair]

Okay so I still can't get over how perfect "We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium" was and I have a lot of thoughts. I just can't get over how perfectly they're blending together character exploration and plot. It's all so perfect and cohesive and I want to talk a little about how they're dealing with the relationships between the characters.

Percy and Grover

I think at first we’re supposed to think Percy wants Grover on the quest because he is his only friend, so therefore has to be the traitor, but then at the end, we get that it’s just because Percy fully trusts that Grover won’t betray him because he is used to the world where he and Grover are each other’s only friends.  But that completely breaks for him when he finds out that Grover was Annabeth’s (and Luke and Thalia’s) protector first because he’s realizing that, while Grover would never betray him in malice, he, like Luke, might betray him if that’s what Annabeth needed (for safety, for the quest, for anything).  And it also speaks so loudly to Percy’s views of friendship and loyalty:  I don’t think Percy thinks he will be betrayed in some big malicious way.  I think that he believes it is tied to failing to save what matters most—he won’t be betrayed by a fake friend who actually hates him, but by a real friend who will try to stop him from saving his mom if it interferes with the quest.  He trusted that Grover will help him save his mom, even if that means risking the quest, but made that decision not knowing that Grover has an even longer history with Annabeth and might choose her not because he doesn’t love Percy, but because he loves Annabeth, too.

2. Annabeth and Percy

She’s so freaking determined to be the best.  And as must as I love that post going around on here and Twitter and TikTok about how Annabeth was struggling with the candy because, in addition to never having gone to a store before, she wanted to do something nice for Percy (and Grover), I don’t think it was just about friendship.  Percy was doubting her authority.  I don’t think she gives a crap (at least, she won’t admit to it) about whether or not he likes her.  I just don’t think she’s above buying his respect.  The way she refers to him is so mean?  Like, constantly referring to him as Grover’s friend, but in a way that feels like a pet.  She says “Grover, control your friend,” but might as well be saying “Control you dog.”  I could easily believe that she was effectively buying dog treats. But I also think both can be true.  Because she clearly was so hurt by what he said about them not being friends, so she must want to be friends. ***Very minor spoilers for the rest of the books here, so skip to the third section if you've never read them*** And the ONLY time Annabeth talks about something positive from the first seven years of her life in ALL ELEVEN BOOKS IN WHICH SHE PROMINENTLY FEATURES is when she talks about her dog.  For seven years, the only thing that loved her (and the only thing she loved) was her dog.  Obviously, she is 12 and knows that dogs aren’t people and people aren’t dogs,  but the only time she has probably ever had to work for someone’s affection and has been successful in that effort was probably with her dog.

(And yes, I know: Grover and Thalia and Luke.  But those friendships are all different because all three of them were in an inherent place of authority and protection over her.  I think we all tend to forget that while Grover and Annabeth appear the same age now, they probably didn’t when they met.  Thalia was the closest in age to her, and she’s still five years older.  And Annabeth doesn’t seem to have any other close friends).

I also love that it’s Percy who’s reluctant to the friendship here.  Annabeth is just too traumatized and un-socialized to do it on her own.  They’re not not friends because Annabeth is hung up on the Poseidon v Athena rivalry like she is in the books, they’re not friends because Annabeth (from Percy’s perspective) is a jerk.

3. Annabeth and Athena

The way Grover looks at her when Percy suggests leaving her hat with Medusa and she just says “Okay”!!!!  Like, you cannot tell me that that conversation went down the way it did with no relation to the earlier conversation with Medusa.  Despite her adamant defense of Athena, Annabeth was just told that her mother is a monster and a monster creator, straight from the mouth of one of her victims.  For the first time in her life, the pedestal Annabeth has put her mom on is deteriorating and, before Annabeth gets the chance to pry further, they kill Medusa.  And sure, this confirms to Annabeth that she was right.  But she can’t stop the nagging in her head that, even if Medusa is a monster, she’s a monster that Athena created and how can that mean Athena is anything other than a monster?  Especially when Medusa loved Athena just as Annabeth does.  Even if she doesn’t totally believe her, she doesn’t not believe her, either.  How can there not be a part of her brain that wonders, “will my mom turn on me one day, too?”  So when Percy suggests leaving her hat behind, that broken, doubting part of herself says, “Okay.”  Because, yes, it’s a gift from her mom.  But what does that mean when her mom is a monster?

(And so maybe we will get an Annabeth-driven emphasis on the Athena v Poseidon rivalry not because of Annabeth’s blind loyalty to her mother, but because she has seen what happens when favorites of Athena appear too loyal to Poseidon.)

[awesome-shoes-with-wings]

Strange little nerd fact - I love drawing Poseidon with red hair so much, and there's a reason! When you're diving deep under the sea, the first colour that you lose the ability to see is red. This is closely followed by orange and yellow.

The deeper in the ocean he goes, the darker his hair becomes. By the time he's at Atlantis (or whatever his underwater kingdom is called), then he could have book-Poseidon's black hair.

Or, of course, Poseidon needs the entire red spectrum for his hair to not turn grey every time Percy almost dies-

[wildlyfreemoon]

LMAO I JUST SAW SOMEONE ON TIKTOK SAY THAT ANNABETH TURNED THALIA INTO A TREE

[raayllum]

hello what are your thoughts on a rayllum situation a la percy and annabeth in which either or both give up a great power/opportunity to be with each other?

while I’m not really sure we’d ever see this in canon I love the idea of it

So Rayllum has had PJO / Percabeth energy to me for a long time

And I am deeply intrigued by what lengths Rayla and Callum will be willing to go to save each other, as keeping one another safe has always been one of their biggest priorities and brought out their most batshit sides. We already know what Test of Love Rayla is going to have (leaning towards next season but could also see S6) in terms of her being willing to risk the world when Callum is possessed again ("You let him live but you killed us all / You have two choices: you all die, or just the evil wretched human dies") in favour of fighting to break him free and save him. It's already been textually confirmed, symbolically, as well that she will successfully save him.

“Wow. So they look identical, but they might kill you or they might save you,” Callum said.

“Exactly. Just like me…” Rayla smiled. (Book One novelization)

This will of course play a big hand in restoring their relationship, as well as herself, to what they/she used to be. A complete inverse of her "We can't save everyone, there's too much at stake" dismissal in 4x05 that shows how jaded her time alone had made her, traumatizing her to a point nothing else she'd ever been through (almost losing her hand, losing her family, her village, etc) had pushed her to. But of course to Callum, "Rayla is a hero" and that's what makes her who she is, and it's the positive side of her self sacrificial / selfless nature (as the self sacrifice is still alive and kicking in S4 with going after Viren, being the first to give Rex a gift, etc etc as well as the self loathing). Her saving him is the perfect "wrap it up in a bow" of setup and pay off for all of it, and her arc in general from a S1-S5 type deal.

I think there's a lot of layers to Percy's choice to give up immortality in the books (not only for Annabeth, although yes, definitely for her) but also taking into account for what he asks for in its stead: for the gods to be accountable, to pay their dues, in the ways heroes and mortals too often have instead. It shows his maturity, his series long disgust at injustice and unfairness, his beloved impertinence to say what he thinks regardless of the consequences. To honour Luke and all the other fallen demigods, but also himself.

On that level TDP doesn't have quite the same set up (although we'll see about holding humans and Xadia more accountable for the deep history / the Startouch elves as gods) but if Rayla is going to risk the world to save him, then he also has to accordingly risk the world to save her. This is particularly true as Rayla's heroic nature ad deep love for Callum is emphasized in all prior seasons, as well as the latter majorly in S4. We'll have an easy time believing she'd made that kind of decision for him. With S4, it throws a little bit of a wrench into Callum's side of things, but that's all the more reason for him to do it; to reaffirm his massive, life altering, world changing love for her (she, who desperately needs to know she is loved, too, after all this time). After all on his side of things, her absence has to affect him more than shutting down and more than just being obsessed with magic; a "I lost her once, I won't lose her again" justification if he does something batshit for her would give retroactive narrative reasoning on his end, and it'd be very earned, I think (since we see how messed up he is over her absence in 4x01, even after all that time). And again, Rayla cannot only save him - she also has to mess up, to need to be bailed out - in order for her to actually learn her lesson about self worth and sacrifice and why she needs to fucking stay or at the very least, fully accept that Callum will always be coming with her.

After all, they both need the opportunity to choose each other, to save one another, and as always, I think Callum giving up the Key of Aaravos to the villains (whether the Key is just for the prison, or Aaravos' heart, or whatever) if Rayla had gotten captured and her life was on the line makes a lot of sense. Big tag about it here, & masterposts (pre s4 and post s4). So I'd say that's my big percabeth "giving something up majorly for the one you love" schtick.

Either way I can't wait for S5 to make me cry

[luxuriant-starlight]

fools. all of you. “Percy would be a fireman!” “Percy would be a sahd!” “Percy is a marine biologist!”

Think for a second. Who is the one adult in Percy’s life (aside from his mom) who he respects above all others? What career has Percy actually talked about with passion? When he has shown admiration in the stories for the way an adult’s work either touched him or someone else directly?

The adult Percy admired more than anyone is none other than Chiron. More specifically, Mr. Brunner. Think back to the first book- how Percy talked about how much he HATED school and how he felt like every teacher gave up on him until he took Mr. Brunner/Chiron’s class, and how much that motivated him to want to be better (and how much it hurt him to think Chiron didn’t believe him/was disappointed in him). Think about the ways he enjoyed Chiron’s lectures and Latin bowls and the way he tried to reach out to his students.

And think about Quintus (aka: Daedalus in botl). Percy immediately admired and looked up to him. Why? Because he was a demigod who lived to reach adulthood and came to camp to teach other demigods and help them.

And as much as Percy comes off as a delinquent or a “bad student,” all of it always just came down to his bad luck in being a demigod or his ADHD/dyslexia. When he could learn, he DID. And enjoyed it! And humbled himself before his teachers- Chiron, Luke, Quintus, Annabeth. Took what they said to heart.

And after the main quests were over, Percy pushed himself to become a model student. He wanted to go to college with Annabeth, so poured his all into studying and SAT prep and college applications. And has seemingly done well!

And his loyalty. The way he gave up immortality (not only for a girl he wasn’t even dating yet), but also so he could give a selfless gift to the younger demigods, the next generation of demigods. How he excels with children. He thrives at being a leader, at comforting people, at giving advice, at listening, at speaking before a crowd.

He would be great at all those other jobs. But his passion isn’t scientific research or laying down his life or even being a dad (though he would be amazing at it and definitely will be a great one one day, I’m SURE). It’s being the mentor he always wanted. Being the one to believe in and push the kid who’s always had a bad run, just like he did.

I’m 100% confident that Percy will grow up to become a teacher. And not just any teacher, but a teacher and mentor of the demigods at camp.

Also imo, he and Annabeth decide they don’t love living at New Rome, return to New York, and decide to turn camp into “New Athens” (obvi at least one salt water spring must be included tho). Annabeth makes it her architectural magnum opus (even more so than Olympus, in terms of her sentimental attachment to the project), and Percy creates a better curriculum for the students at camp, and teaches them sword-fighting, Latin, Ancient Greek, mythology, quest survival 101, canoeing, etc and maybe even some more practical classes, like English. Annabeth builds their dream home, in the same style as the big house but more homey (and eventually also builds a little getaway cabin on Montauk for them), and they raise their kids there.

And THAT is canon.

[citrusreadstoa]

Reading The Hidden Oracle: Chapter 36 (SPOILERS)

"Sherman Yang's chariot, which was still circling the statue's legs in a vain attempt to electrocute its kneecaps." Is this the same flying chariot that the Apollo and Ares cabins were bickering over during The Last Olympian and that the Lost Hero trio were picked up by at the start of Heroes of Olympus? I have a headcanon that the Ares cabin felt bad about their lack of participation after the Second Titanomachy and gave it back to the Apollo cabin and that's why it's stated as belonging to the Apollo cabin in The Lost Hero. Now with Sherman using what I assume is the same chariot 'cause there's no way the camp has multiple flying chariots laying around, that means they share it sometimes! Awww I love this background storytelling.

"Hades used to love sneaking up on me that way and yelling, 'HI!' just as I shot an arrow of death." The way Apollo knows Hades is very, very different to the characterization of Hades we're familiar with. To Apollo, he sounds like the weird uncle who shows up every winter solstice and encourages the kids to participate in dangerous activities that their parents would never let them do.

"A plague arrow" That thing is a giant metal statue. It does not have organs, nor an immune system, nor any flesh whatsoever. A plague arrow is possibly the least effective weapon that could possibly be used against it other than maybe a feather on a stick. "disease to kill the Colossus's animating power" Mmm still dubious but okay.

"And... if you fail?" "I won't have the strength to try twice. You'll have to . . . Find an arrow, try to summon some sickness, make the shot" Y'ALL CONNED ME. We've all been going "give Will plague powers" WHEN IT'S IMPLIED THAT ALL CHILDREN OF APOLLO NATURALLY HAVE HAD PLAGUE POWERS ALL ALONG. Or at least it's common enough that Apollo has faith Kayla and Austin can pull it off if he fails! So all, most, or some children of Apollo can conjure up sickness, but they either don't know or simply choose not to. Maybe Will stands a chance in Tartarus after all. After all, Annabeth made it through and all she had was superpowered weaving and the ability to bruise any immortal deity's ego.

"Sherman Yang's chariot, minus Sherman Yang." Uhh, Canoe Duo, what did you do? Tell me Sherman Yang isn't dead. All y'all had to do was tell him you have a plan and you need to borrow the chariot. "Nico convinced them to disembark." You threw them off the chariot when it was dozens of feet in the sky because talking would have taken too long? Will, you're the medic! You know you're gonna have to get them fixed up and yet you deliberately cause them bodily harm!

"after that shadow travel, Nico is going to pass out any second." "'No, I'm not,' Nico complained, then passed out." First of all, funny. Second of all, Nico got seriously nerfed. There's no way he's still recovering from fading halfway out of existence. Even with the inconsistency of demigods' powers throughout this series, Nico could open a passage to Asphodel and drag someone (Bryce Lawrence) into it without even touching them. Now he tries shadow traveling within seeing distance and passes out. Yeah, he took Will with him, but that should be easy as pie after taking three people and a forty foot tall statue overseas. And it was within seeing distance. How's he gonna survive Tartarus again, let alone save one or more people from down there? With this new revelation, I seriously have more faith in Will making it through than Nico.

"Another time, in a Stockholm tavern, I met this god who was smoking hot, except his talking sword just would not shut up." My friend tells me this is Magnus Chase reference. I think. Or it might've been Kane Chronicles. I don't remember, but I'm pretty sure they said Magnus Chase. Neither of us have read either of those series.

"The arrow quivered." Do not apologize for that pun. Lol. Apollogize

"PRITHEE, SHOOTING IS NOT MY PURPOSE." PRITHEE (exclamation): please (used to convey a polite request)

"'FORSOOTH,' said the arrow." FORSOOTH (adv.): indeed (often used ironically or to express surprise or indignation)

Why does this arrow talk so loudly. Such a small thing, yet such large bellows.

"In a flash of silver light, the camp's magical barriers collapsed." Fuck.

"'You can't hear this arrow talking?' Judging from her wide eyes, I guessed the answer was, No, and does hallucinating run in the family?" This made me laugh. She really must've thought he'd gone mad. Too much time in the Grove of Dodona and whatnot.

"'I'm fine!' Kayla yelped . . . splattering drops of red all over the chariot's floor." This just about sums up the demigods' attitude toward injury.

"Only one of the missiles was unbroken, and its shaft was warped." But he's gonna make the shot anyway, 'cause he's awesome. Odd how he keeps calling them missiles, though. It never occurred to me that the word for missiles might have existed long before the missiles we know today were invented.

"STARTEST THOU: PLAGUEY, PLAGUEY, PLAGUEY." That friend I was talking about earlier: This was the line that took her out. THIS line. Can you believe...? Of all the jokes.

"My plan would take much too long, if I could even remember how to make a plague arrow. This was my punishment for breaking an oath on the River Styx." How does he know? Does he just... know? This is for using the whole anthill as a giant instrument and shooting arrows at the ants, right? So we know the geyser oath to save Meg doesn't supersede the oath on the Styx against using arrows or instrumental music and this is the punishment for it. I don't like how the Styx oath is just an excuse to do certain plot points. This plan not working could easily just be blamed on Apollo's faulty memory or human error (which is possible now that Apollo is human and really even if he weren't). Anyway, I wonder if he's ever gonna break a Styx oath and then, like it was said that Styx oaths could take a lifetime to wear you down and ruin you, the punishment doesn't take effect so soon after and he lives in fear of that coming back to bite him.

"Hey, Bronze Butt!" Classic weak Percy insult. "Over the Colossus's head" Shadow travel can't make new shadows. The volcano thing was a one-time incident and that was because the mountain gods working for Gaea interfered. Unless hellhounds have more advanced shadow travel than Underworld demigods.

"The weekend was here." I like that introduction for Percy. He's like "I got time on the weekend. Might drop by." And then the weekend comes and he shows up for this epic battle instead of relaxing weekend-related activities. Story of his life.

This post was way longer than it ought'a have been. I've written an essay. Not sorry.