#this is after toa btw

[rachiebeee]

they are best friends and siblings and i love them both so dearly. featuring piercings bc i stand strong in my belief that they would

[somewhereincairparavel]

The funniest thing about Jason slander, for me, is that it's so fucking contradictory, people would hate on Jason for being "too perfect" "too flawless" "too gary stu-esque" and that he's too boringly good and then will proceed to hate on him by nitpicking his already existing flaws that they claimed he never had (like being mistrustful towards Nico, "leading Reyna on by dating Piper", being too "serious and cold" )

Like mf, didn't you just say you wished Jason was flawed?? So now why r you yapping about what a "terrible sadistic egomaniac" person he is for thinking he can defeat Percy in a silly duel??? Lmao

[fuckimrowan]

dark jason grace but he practically cannot die after being blessed by so many minor gods and is about to dethrone his father. also red eyes. do you see my vision

[thestarstoasun]

Do you ever think about how many people Nico had to give Will that threatening talk friends and family give your significant other when you first start dating someone? Not to mention how powerful his people were, too. Nico had Hazel, Jason, Percy, Annabeth, Reyna, and it's up to you whether or not to interpret the rest of the Seven. When it comes to siblings, Nico had Hazel, and found family in Reyna.

Will had lost all of his older siblings in the 2nd Titan War. Austin and Kayla were hardly intimidating, but I believe they did their best at it. Lou Ellen would go with them. Clarisse would go later after everyone else because she had to be the one to look after Will now. She didn't care about how mighty or powerful any of Nico's family or friends were. She would fight them all. Clarisse would never tell Will, and Will would never ask because things would never be the same as before the Battle of Manhattan.

[kastalani123]

Trials of Ares: TTC

(Mortal Ares in SoM)

Ares spends the time between SoM and TTC throwing himself into way too much training, trying to compensate for his weak body and newfound limits. Everyone, including those not too fond of him, keeps trying to get him to stop because it just lands him in the infirmary over and over again and they honestly think it's pathetic to see him constantly sporting bandages and bruises (he can't even get ambrosia/nectar-powered super-healing) in an attempt to regain his godly prowess, unattainable by a mortal. He does not comply with doctor's orders, because he has to be able to protect himself and his allies, you know? Or at least be capable of putting up a fight. It doesn't matter how beaten he gets so long as he stands back up until he is physically incapable of moving again.

Annabeth has gotten over her initial inklings of pity and now just feels pissed every time Lee comes to get her because Ares will not stop even though he's about to cause serious permanent damage to himself and she's the only one who can force him to stop without further harming him.

His kids are conflicted. On one hand, they get the need to constantly train and fight, the need to push as far beyond the limits of their bodies as they can manage. On the other... there's a crazed, glazed look in his eyes when blood and sweat pour down his face, as if he's not really seeing what's in front of him, and his battle screams seem tinged with hysteria. It's a little like he's unravelling at the seams, each forgotten memory and unfamiliar softness of his body sending him further and further into a frenzy.

He always seems normal enough when he cheers them on, though. Not any worse with his threats than any of his children. It's odd. They're not sure how to deal with their father, always shaking with rage, seemingly never aiming the brunt of that rage on them.

Anyways.

He goes to Westover Hall because, again, tied to Annabeth. Also, Chiron thinks it's a good idea to get him away from the arena. He doesn't think Ares's young, mortal fingers can handle being split any longer, they need a moment to build up calluses. So, off he goes. Sally worries over him, as moms do. He doesn't know what to do with it, because he wouldn't dare blow up at a mother, but he hardly knows how else to react to concern. He just. Freezes for most of the ride. Annabeth probably told him not to say anything stupid, anyways.

He tries to attack Thorn the moment he realizes he's a monster. He gets in a decent hit, but is quickly tossed aside and breaks a rib or two (and doesn't tell anyone; no revealing weaknesses here!).

His feelings about Annabeth's kidnapping are... odd. Externally he is, obviously, enraged, though seemingly because he lost the fight with Thorn more than anything else. He even laughs a bit, about how no one can boss him around anymore! But he's a bit more jumbled up inside; he's gotten annoyingly attached to the brat, and not being able to piss her off a bit because she's not there grates on him more than he expected.

Artemis's presence is met with mutual insults. Artemis digs at his weakness, probably roughs him up a bit in a small fight, but ultimately pays him little mind; Ares pulls out insults he doesn't particularly mean, just trying to piss her off despite not having his rage-bait-aura because he wants a fight, damn it, he needs to release all his rage despite his body aching, and who better to do it on than a direct connection to their Father? Suffice it to say, the Hunters really don't like him within like. Two minutes.

When Nico realizes that he's the Ares, he bombards him with questions; Ares blows up a bit, essentially telling the kid to back off, then goes to sulk and try and figure out his ribs. Bianca tries to follow him, because his fall really didn't look good, but he blows her off too. Both the Hunters and Percy tell the siblings to try and avoid him because he's not worth the effort. Bianca... decides to take this as a little challenge, later.

Apollo makes fun of Ares, commenting on his appearance and powerlessness and how mortality isn't all that bad, Apollo's gone through this punishment twice before, can Ares really not handle it? He probably also talks about sending Ares on some errands, now that he's mortal and has to listen to him. Thalia's too stressed to care, the Hunters laugh along, Percy feels complicated because it's essentially bullying but also he still doesn't like Ares all that much, and Grover and the di Angelo's feel bad for him because do you really need to beat down a kid who's already bruised and bloodied and fuming enough?

Ares is essentially considered an extension of Annabeth, and therefore brought along on the quest as a sixth at Chiron's request, despite Zoë's hatred of the idea. Maybe there's a mention of him in the prophecy, I'm not sure, but regardless, he's on the quest legitimately because he needs to help his master. On one hand, he despises this, because he hates being told what to do. On the other, it's once again a fight and a chance to regain his divinity. Though, honestly, a major reason for how determined he is about the quest is that his sister got taken and he does not take that well. It only get worse when he gets the same dream Percy did about Artemis holding up the sky because damn it, no one's allowed to touch his family. He has learned that trying to rush the quest doesn't end well for him, but he's definitely on edge, though he won't let anyone know why.

Bianca is very determined to find out, though. She's got that sibling need to dig into others' business, and though she's trying to distance herself from "babysitting" others, it's a bit hard when there's a brooding kid her age around. She decides it's still a form of rebellion, since everyone keeps telling her not to talk to him. She gets snappy at him, because he is uniquely talented at pissing people off, and they're both surprised when she fires back at him. They both like it, though, and start exchanging barbs; Ares likes having someone to fight who doesn't back down or get too annoyed/bored to continue, and Bianca is giddy with glee that she's being mean. Zoë is. Not supportive of this newfound friendship, but Bianca says she's keeping Ares in check and Ares will be damned if he lets go of his newest little sister-kid.

Bianca is kind of the start of Ares's character development. Most others will either refuse to engage with him or make him shut up/walk away before he gets to anything concrete. Bianca, filled with the pent-up rage of a parentified older sister, refuses, because this is something she's choosing to do for herself, in spite of what those around her say; even her joining the Hunt was prompted by others, but this is entirely her own. She drags genuine emotions from Ares's mouth like she's pulling teeth, gets him to admit that he's worried for Artemis, and repays it with her own concerns about Nico. They bond over being the self-designated "protectors" of the family and being determined to be eternally strong. Ares has already signed the gods damned adoption papers.

And then she dies.

Ares. Does not take this well. He decimates Talos with a godly power-up, desperate to find her; the others cannot pull him away until he does, crushed in metal and burned with electricity. He begs her to wake up but, of course, she doesn't, so he curses out Zeus and Thanatos: Zeus because he's the reason Ares is mortal and got attached; Thanatos because she should have gotten to be picked up by him and not his sisters, the Keres, and can Thanatos not repay his debt to Ares for the Sisyphus thing by being the one to take Bianca, at least?

This is the first time Percy sees through Ares's rage. He has no idea what to do with this, because he is a child and grieving Bianca himself; he decides to process Ares being an actual, multi-faceted person later, when they're not on a quest to save Annabeth and Artemis.

(Also! In his encounter with Aphrodite, he's caught off-guard by her expressing what seems to be genuine concern and feeling for Ares, especially when she tells him to pass on her love and that she misses him, along with a dog tag and a Polaroid picture of her with four young men. He does not, initially, caught up in the quest and digesting their conversation. He will backtrack and correct this later)

Grover also finally manages to get through the stench of rage constantly surrounding Ares and finds the softer grief and worry. He tries to take Bianca's spot of trying to get Ares to talk things through, but after his teeth are almost knocked out, he decides Ares needs a bit of space first. It can wait at least until they get back to the safety of Camp. He's not letting up after the quest is done, though, he vows.

Hoover Dam calms him a little, when they start exchanging little facts about it. He complains about Annabeth ranting about it so much that even he absorbed the knowledge, but is actually grateful for the distraction. He's pissed in a jealous way that Zeus answers Thalia's prayer, though. He doubts he'd ever get that much attention from their Father, and it's fine, really. He doesn't care. Why would he care about familial validation? He hasn't had it in millennia, there's nothing to it. He's fine.

He absolutely freaks out about Bessie. He's also baffled Percy isn't smitten on the spot. He almost kills Bessie himself, in fear of anyone else getting to him first, but lets him be taken to Camp instead.

He totally has a panic attack about the lightning that strikes their car. Thalia realizes something is off, but they don't have the time to deal with it at the moment, so she brushes it off.

Percy and Thalia have to physically hold Ares back from attacking Atlas when he sees Artemis holding the sky and Annabeth gagged. Atlas orders Annabeth to command Ares to not attack him; he's not too concerned about Ares attacking him, especially as a mortal, but it's always one less pest to deal with. She complies.

So he goes for the sky.

I know Percabeth's shared grey streaks are iconic, but Ares is the one who takes the sky from Artemis here. She tries to refuse, because he's mortal, he will die, and regardless of his hated status, she does not want to watch him die, in the end. Ares yells at her, that just because he's mortal doesn't mean he can't handle this, he's still the god of war and her older brother whether she likes it or not. Begrudgingly, he adds that they both know he can't currently rival Atlas in power, but she can, with her trickery. She defeated the Aloadae when he couldn't, so she better give him the sky right now and go fight.

She does.

It is like the pain of all the soldiers he has ever led to war has decided to explode across his body.

(And yes, he is still dealing with previous injuries he has not gotten treated. It's very fun for him. He totally develops chronic pain and adjacent ailments throughout the books, if he wasn't sent down to Earth already with them)

He collapses almost the moment Atlas takes the sky back. The demigods have to help him get up and over to Artemis and Zoë, and Artemis has a bit of panic over who to be more worried about, but Ares makes her shift her focus to Zoë because he's fine, really.

He's not dying, at least.

She does turn her attention on him after Zoë's turned into stars, and finally someone realizes he's been injured for a bit. She yells at him about knowing his limits and not hiding his weak spots from allies because they need to know about them so they can cover for them, then does what she can to heal him up a bit before heading to Olympus. This is the first time in the story that she calls him "brother" in a genuine way, though. It takes away from the worried rage that's been keeping him from passing out and he just. Deflates and drops from exhaustion and pain.

He sleeps through the winter solstice meeting. Maybe Zeus keeps him as such, to keep the other Olympians from thinking of him too much; he doesn't want him returned yet, and if Ares shows up in front of everyone right then, the others might argue. So, he sleeps; Apollo probably squirrelled him away to his infirmary or something along those lines.

Once they're back at Camp, Ares finally taking a bit of a break to heal up, Percy passes on the message from Aphrodite, and the dog tag and photo. Ares immediately puts the dog tag chain on and tucks it beneath his shirt; it's the most precious one of his collection, with a curly Harmonia engraved on it, atypical as the format is. The photo, he almost crushes in his grip as he stares at it, before pocketing it with a gruff thank you. After this quest, the TLT trio grows a bit more patience with him, and he ever-so-slowly softens his aggression; there's still a long journey ahead of them, but the trio can now admit some fondness for him, and he stops arguing about everything they say and do.

Ares goes with Percy to talk to Nico but it doesn't change much; honestly, it might make it worse, because, mortal as he is, Ares is a god, he is meant to be powerful enough to protect those around him if he wishes to, so clearly he didn't want to save Bianca. Ares is kind of devastated by Nico running away, because he was hoping he could look after him for Bianca, similar to Percy, but Nico wants absolutely nothing to do with him. He swears he will find him, though, and make up for Bianca's death.

[moodyseal]

Apollo TOA as a lawyer to me is likw, Saul Goodman in legal practice and shamelessness but Phoenix Wright in morality. Apollo Celebrity Lawyer Arc when!

I had to look up Saul Goodman because admittedly I'm not familiar with the man but I get it. So true and real. He'd crush it in court while honestly trying to get to the bottom of each case, even at the cost of losing (he's the god of truth after all!!) but he'd def be annoying about it. And also too direct and a bit of an ass, unless the case involves children

Though maybe that'd be more appropriate for the image he held up before his trials...? Afterwards he'd be pretty much the same with the exception that he's less bold and more... mindful, somehow

[alcoholicweiwuxian]

Bring back those “3 days in the infirmary” fics. I miss them. I don’t care that everyone was writing them !! idc that it’s been years and years since they were relevant !!! I’ve read them all and I want more pls and ty !!!!!!!

[literallyjusttoa]

One more doodle based on part of one of my fics. And cue shameless plug:

No, listen, you don’t understand, this line haunts me. Why is this never picked back up?? Did anyone actually tell Apollo that his son said this???? Apollo met with all three people who were in this room, did any of them pass the message on??? If so, why don’t we see it???? Actually, why is Asclepius barely mentioned AT ALL in ToA???????? WHAT IS GOING ON WITH ASCLEPIUS???????

[ego-sun-deus-fractus]

Btw If another person who hasn't read TOA tells you that Jason died for Apollo's selfishness, then just tell them that Jason himself said that his death wasn't his fault.

Also if we followed that logic then Bianca died for Nico's development but of course nobody thinks that.

(The above paragraphs are from TON after Lu is captured, specifically, in chapter 21)

[the-primordial-archivist]

Proving that no one really hates TOA Apollo

When Apollo came back to CHB after becoming a god again, literally everyone rushed to hug him and he was definitely not the only one crying from the reunion

Piper eventually did forgive him for the whole Jason thing, which I highly doubt she would have done with someone she hated. She actually seemed pretty chill with him

Hazel tried to cheer Apollo up while he was dying, actually, she never really hated him

Reyna decided that she had hope in Apollo changing for the better, and he didn't let her down

SALLY JACKSON likes him, stating as well that he has changed and telling him she is proud of him

Grover and Apollo are on good, but not the best terms, but that's still not hate

Percy has taken almost everything bad he said about Lester, albeit he was bribed with cookies, but idgaf

He won over Meg and she finally deemed him a somewhat worthy servant (the unicorn did it), which I count as a win

There are so many other people, such as Lit, Nico, and his children, who do genuinely like him, but I'm in a bit of a hurry rn

This was just a list to make me feel better btw about all the hate Apollo gets, and I hope this makes you feel a bit better too :)

[apollosgiftofprophecy]

ToA Theory 1 - Apollo's Waking Visions

First official theory post, here we go! :D

Alright. So. After rereading The Dark Prophecy, I started wondering about something. In TDP, Apollo experiences waking visions, where he conks out for a bit and has prophetic visions.

I found this interesting because, well...isn't Apollo supposed to be cut off from prophecy? With Python back in control of Delphi?

Because think about it. Python controls Delphi, the root of all earthly prophecy. This would include Dodona, Trophonius, Herophile, and Sibyl - sure, they aren't strictly connected to Delphi, but it's pretty heavily stated that Delphi just straight-up Makes The Future. It's prophecies are The Big Deal and you Should Listen.

Meanwhile the other Oracles seem more guiding and "beware!" instead of "this is how it's gonna be".

(sidenote: found out there are MORE oracles and I wanna know WHERE THEY ARE IN RRVERSE CANON because I want my boy Branchus okay??? Okay. Branchus's oracle was second only to Delphi let's give Apollo's first boyfriend the attention he deserves!)

So of course, like all great members of this fandom, I started thinking.

Let's do a little family history first. ;)

Buckle up. We go down a deep rabbit hole 😎

Apollo and Artemis are twins, born to Leto and Zeus. Zeus's parents are Kronos and Rhea. Leto's are Koios and Phoebe.

Rhea has connections to Dodona, as we learn in-series, but she doesn't really seem to be all that involved with prophecy.

Her siblings, meanwhile...ho ho ho, they are a WHOLE NOTHER STORY!

Let's start with Phoebe. Phoebe, like all first generation Titans, is the daughter of Gaea and Ouranos. She married her brother Koios. Her children consist of Asteria, Lelantos, and Leto. As well as Artemis and Apollo, her other two grandchildren are Hecate (Asteria) and Aura (Lelantos).

Her name means "bright" and is the root of Apollo's most famous epithet - Phoebus. She is often described as "golden-crowned" and is the Titan of bright intellect, the overseer of Earthly Prophecies, and is the second guardian of Delphi, after her sister Themis. She gifted Delphi to Apollo for his birthday after he defeated Python.

Classic grandmother move.

Anyway. There's a bit of Phoebe lore. Time for her elusive husband :3

Koios. His names means "question" or "questioning", probably because he's the Titan of inquiring intellect. He's also the overseer of Heavenly Prophecies, and has an oracle up in the North Pole guarded by an earth-dragon - you'd know this serpent by the name of Draco, the constellation btw. Additionally, Hyperborea (where Apollo goes in the winter times) is part of his domain.

eyes

Unfortunately, we have very little mythological lore on these two, and even less in the RRverse (I cling to that one (1) Koios scene) which sucks because I love them already BUT it does give me lots of legroom to mess around with canon >:)

Back to the theory now. As you may have guessed, I'll be taking us in a direction concerning Apollo's mysterious grandparents. But what does this have to do with Apollo's visions?

Well. Remember when I mentioned that Delphi is the root of all earthly prophecies?

...look at Phoebe's paragraphs. She's the overseer of Earthly Prophecies, right? So it makes sense she's been affected by Python's takeover too.

(if you've read my fics you'd know this already lmao)

Asteria, Apollo's aunt, is a little trickier. She, too, has a hand in divination, but mainly through the night/stars and dreams. <-will come back to that later.

Koios, again, is overseer of Heavenly Prophecies, and is heavily implied to be able to commune with Ouranos's spirit. This is, apparently, a Big Deal because nobody else is mentioned to be able to do this.

...Except...remember this throwaway line in The Hidden Oracle?

^Apollo can see Ouranos too.

Within this theory is a sub-theory, so to speak - that immortals with the gift of prophecy can see Ouranos, since they can see what cannot be seen. This would include Phoebe, Asteria, Koios, and Apollo.

And it'll make sense why they'd keep it to themselves. Kronos wouldn't have been happy to hear his dad was still around. Neither would Zeus, for that matter.

So here I was. Contemplating. Wrote a few fics based around this idea. And one in particular got me thinking (fic in question being When The Stars Align), and a little ways down the road I realized something.

If Phoebe, the overseer of Earthly Prophecies, would have been affected by Python's takeover...was Koios? Could he even be affected?

Because here's the deal: Koios is the overseer of Heavenly Prophecies. Prophecies from the Sky.

Phoebe's are of the Earth - the Earth that Python has taken control of. And Delphi is the root of Earthly Prophecies - not Heavenly.

That would be Koios's oracle, up in the North Pole with Draco.

...So that means Heavenly Prophecy must have still been in business during ToA.

But then comes the question: If it was still within the gods' control, why didn't they use it?

Well...Draco's there, for one. He's probably the Python-equivalent of the North, and clearly he's still there since no myth has spoken of his death (that I know of).

If you ask me, I just think the gods are too nervous/afraid to try Koios's oracle. They were too scared to face Python, after all, until Apollo arrived. I think they'd be scared of a serpent who comes and goes from the stars as he pleases.

And as for why Apollo hasn't done anything about it...well, I think his fight with Python left him rather scarred, don't you think? He probably went "yeah grandma's oracle is enough" and the only time he ever got close to Koios's was during his time in Hyperborea.

So getting back to the main theory now. (So many rabbit holes to dive into with this post. The ADHD Urge is real)

Since Heavenly Prophecies is still active, but Earthly is in Python's control, I conclude Apollo's visions come from the Heavenly source.

Could they have come from the now-working Dodona? Maybe. But Dodona's all about those windchimes and trees. It doesn't have the Vibe, so to speak, for granting visions.

And remember. Trophonius, Herophile, and Sibyl aren't destroyed/freed yet. They have Zero connection to Apollo at this point because Python cut him off from them.

...but he didn't from the North. From Koios's divine power.

Because remember. Apollo is the god of prophecy.

Not of Earthly Prophecies, like Phoebe.

Not of Heavenly Prophecies, like Koios.

Not of nighttime divination and dreams like Asteria.

Of. Prophecy.

Prophecy as a whole. The entirety. The whole enchilada.

Every part of prophecy he's the god of, be it tarot cards to the Oracle of Delphi itself.

In my opinion, I think whatever Koios's Oracle is, it has just as must power as Delphi. The only problem was that...everybody just left it be. Nobody considered it because:

1) scary dragon

2) scary titan ruled the place

3) honestly at this point I think it's just straight-up forgotten about. Like Branchus's Oracle. I think at one point Apollo himself mentions there are other Oracles besides the ones in-series, but there's so many that his mortal brain cannot comprehend how many.

If the Grove of Dodona nearly faded into obscurity, then I think it's entirely possible Koios's Oracle was forgotten about (or so we think...I'm gonna be chewing on this for a while.)

Coming back round to TDP...I think this is a reasonable explanation about Apollo's visions. To summarize:

Apollo is cut off from Earthly Prophecy, his usual source of foresight that he gets from Phoebe

The unused, near-forgotten-about Heavenly Prophecy side of Apollo ignites to steer him on the right path

This is possible because Apollo is the god of prophecy itself, and not a single subset of prophecy, so he's not limited in the same way Phoebe is

Koios's Oracle is still out there and kicking and I will die on this hill

One problem. What about Asteria? She can interpret the future from the stars...aka the Sky. Like Koios. So couldn't she provide some insight to the future, since she, too, is connected to Heavenly Prophecy?

This is where things get a lil' tricky. And where I really slap on my tinfoil hat and start headcanoning my way through lmao

Basically, I think that since Asteria became the island of Delos (long story) a good chunk of her power is ingrained there. She's not as strong as she used to be, so her foresight isn't as strong.

This, in turn, I think could also serve as a reason why Koios's Oracle is "asleep" so to speak and nearly lost to memory in the RRverse - in fact, I think Asteria and Phoebe are the only ones who bother to remember its existence.

And Leto, of course. But I don't think she wants her son to know of another Oracle with a giant snake guarding it. She's had enough heart-attacks, thank you.

(Same with Lelantos, tbh.)

Canon is my sandbox and I am making some sweet sandcastles out of it XD

TL;DR

Apollo's visions in TDP stem from Koios's source of Heaven Prophecy because Phoebe's source of Earthly Prophecy (Delphi) has been taken over by Python. Koios's source firmly knocks on Apollo's mental doors and decides to kick back into gear to help its titular patron's grandson out. Because Apollo is the god of prophecy itself - every bit of it.

Extras:

I find it fascinating how magic and prophecy are both part of the same family tree (Hecate & Apollo).

and yes. You should expect a fic concerning Koios's Oracle at some point. but no promises on when :3

Thank you for coming to Insane Theory Time With Alder. I hope there will be more lmao

Websites you can look into:

Koios (Theoi)

Phoebe (Theoi)

Hyperborea (Theoi)

[the-star-rigel]

Rick was so sick for what he did to Jason and Piper. Like wdym Piper held a dying Jason in her arms (House of Wolves with Hera, Rome with the nymphs, Ogygia with the whole born a Roman die a Roman) three times before he actually was gone?

Also about Rome: the whole point of that was to give everything they had to the nymphs and to accept that they were already dead, like the dog in the Cherokee story. Then Jason drowned (which btw he fell in the water after dying in TOA so for Piper I bet it must’ve felt a lot like Rome since his hair/clothes were all wet). In TOA, Jason tells Apollo that either he or Piper are meant to die if they face the emperor, and resigns himself to it being him. There’s something there about Jason ‘dying’ both times.

[13leaguestories]

Playing TOA is such a funny experience because after playing Ruben which was sooo good and surprisingly wholesome (btw absolutely obsessed with how touch-averse/SA-ed phoenix was handled, it was a very comforting run :’) thank you for making it <3), I went in for Nour and what.

I DIDNT EXPECT THIS AGSHSHDH??/?/!!: Honestly when I first playing, I was chilling but the twist… no comment, I’m enjoying it but Xeno had a point I fear cause Nour is worrying me since how is Zarik more chill than Nour right now even tho he and my phoenix beat each other up??? (peak romance cause they annoy each other)

Also it’s so funny making an impulsive phoenix in Zarik’s path who also happens to be smart and nice, just not to him but also to him because the hand/waist grabbing when we get out of the boat? had me hehehehehehheheheheh and the dialogue is so good too (the part for a warm phoenix where it goes “your warmth is not meant for people like him” as if they’re not going to bite back their words as the story progresses)

Had a question about Nour tho, with every path there’s a dynamic like Ruben with fiery and mindful but what is the opposite of protective for Nour? I couldn’t be distant to them so I wanted to know if that’s okay <3

Lmfao, Zarik is more chill than Nour because Zarik is only in his Ch3. But I couldn't just let Nour be nothing but classic "I haven't seen you in forever" angst. Naw, I had to put some meat on their story lmfao.

Nour's other disposition is reserved.

Thank you for reading the story!

[islandtarochips]

Bestieeeeee!!!!

What if one day Alicia and Kanoa are on a mission and when they have the objective captured, the person says something about Tiala? Like, for some reason, the person knows about Tiala's kidnapping and threatens to do it to her again. Can we see Kanoa's reaction 👀?

(Alicia simply turn off comms without a word as soon as the person says that, btw)

Well I'll be damn...*cracked my knuckles* Let's put it in a short one shot shall we?

⚠️TW: Might mention something SEXUAL, THREATS , KIDNAPPING and PHYSICAL VIOLENCE⚠️

Words: 2109

It was a hot afternoon, the two Captains were on a mission with their team. But in different areas. These two had already captured the objectives of the drug trafficking. And they’re trying to make him TALK.

“Alright, we don’t want to get this messy but you need to tell us where the NEXT location of your stash is.” Kanoa demanded as he was standing in front of the man.

This enemy that they have caught had gotten his hands tied on the arms of the metal chair. The three of them are in a small abandoned shack. Hardly anyone came in there so Alicia had suggested that this will be the best place to be a safehouse for them.

The man just glared at the male Captain and scoffed. “You will NEVER get the info out of me you pendejo.”

Alicia glared at this Mexican man as she took a step forward. “WATCH it or I’ll cut your tongue out.”

Kanoa signaled Alicia for her to stop before hearing this man laugh.

“DO it. I would LOVE to see you TRY.” He started to grin at the two captains.

“Noa? Is everything alright?” It was Tiala calling through the comms. Checking up on her brother and Alicia.

The Samoan Captain started to press his comms. “Leai. Na te le o tau mai ia i tatou.” He could hear his younger sister sigh as they both talked about trying to find something to make him spill the intel.

While Kanoa and Tiala were talking in their native language. It suddenly got this enemy’s attention.

“Ah. You must be SAMOAN, no?”

Kanoa looked at the man on the chair. He was silenced at first. Which gives Alicia a very bad feeling when she gazes between him and the man.

“......yes.”

The man slowly grinned as he leaned forward a bit. “And I’m guessing you must be Captain Kanoa Toa. Am I right?”

Now THIS is getting more suspiciously scary.

Alicia took a few steps forward to the man as she grabbed his shirt. “HOW did you know? Did your boss tell you?”

“Woah woah woah. Take it easy, chica. Like I said, I’m not gonna tell you ANYTHING.”

Before Alicia could try to do something to him, Kanoa had stopped her and told her to calm down. Which she groaned and let go of him.

“Noa? What’s going on?” Tiala had called once again after hearing a commotion.

“E leai se mea sis, na o le tagata lea e iloa poʻo ai aʻu.”

“E ā? E FAAPEFEA?”

“I don’t know. But we still need time to find out where these drugs are. How is your end?”

Tiala sighed as it went to show she had bad news. “Not good. Luke and I are on the dead end with another empty building. Blast, Nigel and Alexander had found nothing as well. It’s like they’re moving it somewhere FAR away.”

Kanoa was starting to get puzzled at this. “That’s why we’re TRYING to get him to talk.”

“Ha! Good luck with that, amigo.”

“Shut up you.” Alicia had warned him as she gave him a death glare. Oh how much she wanted to PUNCH this guy.

But this Mexican man just kept on grinning at the two Captains. Doing their hardest to make him talk. “You can try making me talk all you like. But it will NEVER take you anywhere. Who knows, they might even have to kidnap your sister again after all of this.”

Alicia’s eyes went wide after hearing this as she turned her head to see Kanoa was just standing there. Seeing him frozen as he was facing his back from them. 

“Hello? Noa? Are you there? Alicia, what’s going-“

Alicia quickly turned off her coms since she doesn’t want ANYONE to hear this. She was silenced for a few seconds before walking over to Kanoa. “Noa?” She then saw her friend had ripped his earpiece off and threw it on the ground.

Kanoa was just staring at this man. Ignoring Alicia’s existence. “What did you say?”

The man just smirked at the Captain as he continued to talk. “You heard what I said. And you might wanna rethink your decision, amigo.”

“Or WHAT?” Kanoa said as he took a few steps forward.

The enemy had smirked widely with Kanoa stepping forward. “Or else your little hermana will go through that SAME fate. I even heard that she’s very FUN to play with.”

Alicia was starting to feel her blood getting cold after hearing this. Then she witnessed Kanoa grabbing the man’s shirt as tight as he can grip on. Almost lifting the chair with him off the ground. “Noa-”

“What the FUCK did you just say you MOFO?”

“What? You’re deaf already? HA! Okay. Let me say this ONE more time.” This Mexican man started to look into the Captain’s eyes. “Once my boss’ men start looking for your team. And find your pretty sister in that area. I’m sure that she’ll have a GOOD time with us while you and your team are DROP dead-”

Before that man could finish his sentence, Kanoa had already punched the man in the face. While Alicia was just standing there. Of course, she wasn’t surprised at how Kanoa can punch. But seeing him knocked out that man and made him fall down with the chair he’s being tied on. It’s unexpected.

Kanoa tightened his fist as he glared at the man who was laying on the floor. He walked over and knelt down on one knee while grabbing a full fist of the enemy’s hair. Pulling his head backward to see his face with a bloody nose. “HOW do you know about this huh? Was it your BOSS?” He punched his face again causing his lips to bleed. “TELL ME!”

The man groaned as he spat the blood on Kanoa’s face. “V-Vete a la mierda…”

Kanoa had turned him away a bit as he got spat on with blood. He closes his eyes, getting annoyed before looking at him again. He pushed his head down before getting up and started to untie him.

Alicia started to question what Kanoa is doing. “Kanoa, what are you doing?” She watched him untying their objective before seeing him dragging the man away from the chair and took him outside. “Noa?” She quickly followed him outside.

Kanoa had kept dragging this man before dropping him on the ground. Almost 3 feet away from the house. As he continues to walk further down to where the sticks are at.

Alicia followed outside as she stopped to see Kanoa picking something off the ground. “Kanoa, what are you doing?”

He didn’t answer.

Soon both the man and Alicia saw him pick up a long big stick. As he was examining it and walked back to the enemy.

She doesn’t know what he was doing but she did see that the end of the stick has its sharp edges. She started to feel her guts telling her something. Something BAD is going to happen. “Noa…?”

Kanoa didn’t say anything but just kept walking up to the man. He kicked him upward to face him.

The man groaned as he looked to see Kanoa with the stick. “T-Tch…what are you gonna do with that huh? BEAT me with it? Hehehe…”

Kanoa didn’t respond. But instead he lifted the big stick up as he pointed the sharp edge down.

And with that sight in front of the enemy’s eyes he started to feel his vein run cold. “W-Wait…WAIT!”

He started to scream in pain, feeling that sharp pain from the weapon on his leg that the Captain had used.

“GAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”

Kanoa had pulled it out before piercing it down on his other leg. Causing another painful scream from the enemy.

Alicia was just standing there in shock to see Kanoa like this. Seeing him piercing over and over again. From the enemy’s legs to up to his waist. Kanoa had also pierced his knees without hesitating. Seeing him stabbing the man with brute force and faster pace. As if he was killing an animal.

While Kanoa is stabbing the enemy. His mind started to flash into the image of his sister. Has bruises and scratches on her.

Remembering the cry from her when he tried to hold her. Remembering her crying voice of her telling him to not touch her or even come near her.

Everything that had happened to her…is all because of men like THIS one.

“GAAAAHHHH! STOP! PLEASE!” The man started to beg.

But Kanoa did not listen. He kept stabbing his legs and waist

Alicia had started to feel Kanoa was no longer there and she knew she needed to stop him. “Kanoa…Kanoa stop it. He had enough.”

The Captain didn’t hear her as he was still stabbing the man. Hearing his screams is the only thing he COULD and CAN hear.

She took a step forward and was slowly reaching out to him. “That’s enough Kanoa.” She started to feel like she’s losing him. “Kanoa ENOUGH. KANOA!” Then she started to quickly stop him by grabbing his arm and pulled him away. “KANOA THAT’S ENOUGH!”

Kanoa snapped his neck at her before pushing her off. Alicia had stumbled back and was giving him a shocking expression. Not only because of him pushing her away but seeing his face. His eyes. His body motion.

For a second there, she could see that Kanoa is no longer there. Physically he is but…the soul in his eyes is not. Only the ANGER she could see. Alicia put her hand out to him and tried to talk to him.

“Kanoa…listen to me. We need him ALIVE. We need the INTEL. I know you’re upset that he triggered you but you need to STOP. Right now. He suffered enough.”

Kanoa was just staring at Alicia with his eyes soullessly but he turned back to the man. Seeing him shaking in pain and mostly in fear.

“P-Por favor…” His words started to shake when he spoke and seeing his tears flowing down from his red eyes.

Kanoa was just staring at this man emotionlessly. Before raising the stick up again.

“NO! PLEASE!” The man begged as he closed his eyes embracing another stabbing pain. But…he felt nothing. As soon he opened his eyes and saw Alicia had gotten ahold of the stick.

She tried to get Kanoa’s attention. “Kanoa! LOOK at me!” She saw he was still glaring at the man as she felt a bit hopeless at this. But she’s not giving up. “Noa…please…”

As Kanoa is still holding onto the stick to KILL this man. He slowly turned his gaze at her. Seeing her soft eyes as she stayed calm. Still gripping onto this weapon.

“Kanoa. I PROMISE you that your sister will NOT go through the same fate as the last time. I would never let that happen again. You will not face this alone. So please, put it down.”

When Alicia had said those words, she could see his eyes slowly to light up before he looked at what he was doing. He quickly backed away while dropping the stick.

“K-Kefe…I-I…I’m…”

Alicia then quickly walked up to him and hugged him. “I’m so glad that you’re back, Noa…”

Kanoa was still in shock but once he felt his friend’s touch. He started to remember why he snapped. He was shaken and slowly hugged her back tightly. “L-Licia…I-”

“Sssh. I got you.” She said in a whisper. Then she slowly leaned back and smiled at him. “You just go ahead and wash your face to clear your head. I’ll deal with him.”

Kanoa just slowly nodded and left the area as he went down to the river.

When Alicia saw him out of sight. She turned her attention back to the enemy with a glare.

The man was shaken seeing her glare. “I-I’ll tell you….I’ll tell where they’re taking the drugs…”

“Wise choice, amigo. And also.” Alicia slowly took a few steps before pressing her foot onto the man’s injured leg. Seeing him flinched and groaned. “Make that kind of threat again about my friend’s sister. I would be the one who will END you instead. UNDERSTAND?”

The man quickly nodded before getting carried away by Alicia. Who put him over her shoulder as she walked back to the house. Before she went inside, she looked over her shoulder to see where Kanoa had gone. Still hadn’t gotten over what she had seen.

Never have she seen him THIS upset. I guess she understands about Kanoa and his sister’s bond.

NEVER mess with their family.

I hope this...doesn't scare ya, Witch. I'm starting to have a habit of showing violent in the story. But gotta be honest, that IS the reality of someone showing violence like that. Anyway, I hope you like this one and hopefully you're not too scared of Kanoa...and if you're wondering about the comms. Alicia had called back and apologize to Tiala for worrying her. She told them the intel but NEVER she mention about of what her older brother had done to the poor man.

[ruegarding]

Hey, quick question if you don't mind me asking, what were your thoughts on Chalice of the Gods?

overall, i wish rick stopped at toa like he said he was going to. the more rick adds, the more the world-building suffers as a result. that being said, i didn't completely hate cotg like i thought i would. there's a few good moments, but, in general, it reads like a cash-grab.

let's start with the good. percy has some of the most in-character moments he's had in the universe since pjo.

percy's confrontation w geras was so good that i actually wish this was part of percy's character arc in hoo. percy spent almost all of pjo knowing he was going to die—he saw the fates cut the string in tlt and in som he put together what the prophecy meant: he was going to die either at or before 16. and this is exactly why this confrontation works and why i think it's better than new rome. new rome can protect a demigod from monsters, not from fate. percy wasn't scared of monsters. if he was, he would've stayed at chb year-round.

and i really like that geras was willing to entertain percy bc he had turned down godhood. like the first time percy ever thinks abt immortality seriously (in botl) this is what he has to say:

so immortality is fundamentally at odds w percy's character bc he defines himself so thoroughly w the ppl he loves. and this is exactly what allows him to get through to geras! it's such a good exploration of percy's character and the future he's now able to consider.

similarly, this section

is more in-character than almost all of hoo. this is a prime example of how percy's loyalty works and addresses how it's misconstrued in fandom. percy has a desire for freedom, and that desire informs how he respects ppl. percy's loyalty isn't a possessive "i won't let you do this" bc he will, he will always let someone make their own choice at the end of the day bc it's what he would want. and this was actually established in tlt, when sally says "you're enough like me to understand" and asks percy to let her save herself. so percy lets bianca fight talus, he lets nico walk away, he gives luke the knife, he lets ganymede choose his own story, even when he disagrees w it. and this is why percy's arc in hoo sucked! rick tried to give percy the typical hero complex, but it's contradictory w percy's character. so when i saw this passage i was so relieved. i thought this part of percy died w pjo.

also, to talk abt someone other than percy, this moment

is good. i love this abt annabeth.

and grover saying the hardest thing is sitting by and not being able to do anything. bc grover is usually in a support role and he wasn't there at all in hoo. i also like that percy is confronted w the fact that he's not expendable. thumbs up from me.

the bad...i'm just going to keep short bullet points.

what even is this plot

it doesn't work as part of pjo and yet it's marketed as the sixth book in the series

why is zeus a disney villain. i hate everything abt it

the inconsistencies...annabeth's cap...why are we continuing to treat percy like he's disinterested in learning??? also. what do you mean you're not allowed at camp after you turn 18? WHAT DO YOU MEAN????? this was not a thing. and wasn't rhea in hiding or something?? now she's casually having brunch?

there's too much "percy is the stupid bf and annabeth is the competent gf who takes care of him." i hated every second of this. also annabeth is disabled. her being intelligent does not remove her disability. she struggles.

i rbed that post abt disaster cook annabeth and good cook percy and i stand by that.

the power monologue makes no damn sense (and another addition by op in the tags)

no seriously i'm begging someone to have a real conversation and understand percy is terrified of how powerful he is. i've been waiting for this since botl. WHICH WAS PUBLISHED IN 2008 BTW

i'm not a huge estelle or paul fan. like they're fine they're just not compelling.

the only time i feel sally and percy have the same connection as they had in tlt is when they're alone. this is a problem i've had for a while, but cotg does not fix it. when paul and annabeth are in the equation, it feels like percy is the outsider.

in summary, cotg is like a fanfic i would leave kudos for being a good percy character study despite having questionable moments. except it's canon. and these questionable things affect the world-building.

[rayssion]

Let's chat about Magnus Chase and the gods of Asgard!!

So not me saying 'tomorrow' then proceed to delay that tomorrow for as long as possible, not my fault though! Each time I decide to write the review people just be like "oh, look at her, she seems at peace, let me just go.... Annoy her" that's my family summarised btw.

But yeah, we're finally here!

First off, the general rating for me is 4.5 for the entire series.

Now let's talk about somethings:

As a matter of fact, there's nothing I hate in this books like wth why dose it have to be this good??? Which translates to: I'm just going to fangirl, that's it, just FANGIRL.

I also want to establish that I didn't know not even a single thing about Norse mythology before reading these books. I didn't even know what Norse meant guys, I'm hopless like that. And even after they explained them a little my brain is still stuck at the "they're fancy vikings" setting lol I'm sorry.

So my whole Norse "knowledge" comes from, you guessed it, how to train your dragon🤡. It's bad, I know I know, yet it's still a start right? Like dude I never watched any Thor movie before (in my defense, it's not horror, and I enjoy horror) so just to put it simply, I don't know shit about Norse mythology.

Which is good btw!! Me not knowing anything about the mythology is actually good to measure how much Rick is good at explaining things that are totally new.

The first book took me two days to finish because it's like an introduction, so there were many new words and terms that my small brain couldn't keep track with, so I suppose you can really enjoy the series as a reread more than first time reading. Guys, it took me days to learn how to pronounce ginunngagap. So unless you already have a background on Norse mythology (not jumping into the books like stupid me) I feel like one's can't see the books true potential.

Alright, so we laid the ground about me being an uncultured swine, now we have the writing: we got the classic Rick's first person pov writing style that he went for in the original series pjo. But I got to note that it clearly improved, I can see that he was trying to step out of narrator Percy's shadow as he wrote mcga and toa, seeing that he wrote Magnus as an oblivious kid who's trying to stay out of everyone's business as much as he can, and he wrote Lester with no heroism in him whatsoever at the start. So clearly he wanted something to add contrast and volume to his universe and that's quite good. He achieved his goal with toa much more than in mcga in my opinion. Magnus, as lovely as he is, still finds time to roast people the good old Percy Jackson way, in other words you can see the resemblance between the two characters at some points. (I didn't include tkc because for me, Sadie and Carter are like Percy devided into two people, the fierce rushy personality went with Sadie, and the trying-to-pretend-to-be-calm-so-as-to-improvise-a-plan personality went with Carter, yet the two of them can be be snarky at their times).

To be Frank with you guys, not much of a character development happens during the books, I mean yes, Sam stands against her dad, and we get Amir into the picture, but yeah that's it. I guess the character who got the most change was Randolph, we love a little remedy arc at the end.

Oh other thing I like to point, Muslims don't call mosques you know "mosques" we call them Masjids (Masjid, sing.) I see it's a little slip but I prefer if it never happened, because mosque actually means "house of mosquito" so, yeah.

We also have the matter of Sam's hijab, I'd like to say that's not how being a hijabi works but I don't want to start a religious war here. Let's just say, you don't just wear your hijab when you want and not wear it when you don't want. What's the point then, if I can easily just go with my head uncovered? But we're not having this conversation, most of you won't be interested in this anyways.

And another thing! I've seen all these fanarts of Alex in the wedding dress (because I'm a sucker for Alex) and I wanted to point out, Alex was disguised as Samirah, Samirah is Muslima so her wedding dress would be, you know, Muslim friendly? Idk. But yeah, it should at least be ancle lengthed with high neck and long sleeves and the veil must be thick to cover her hair, like a hijab. Also it should be wide/big a little not clenching to her body. Just a little advice for artists there :).

Now that we spoke about Sam, can we talk about Alex? Tbh I like, knew nothing about genderfluidism(?) before this book (I read it on some blogs here on Tumblr and I imagined something totally different so I'll spear you my pathetic story) so it was nice learning new things with Rick. Like bro, in my head Alex is mostly a boy yet when I rant to my aunt I mostly use she/her. It confused the heck out of me during the first chapters actually. But I'm proud to say that I FIGURED OUT THAT LOKI WAS HER/HIS MOM LIKE BY MYSELF WAY BEFORE THE BIG REVEAL SO YEAH I'M HELLA PROUD.

I love Alex. Nothing else to say, I'm infatuated.

And yet if I'm infatuated with Alex then I'm fucking ready to die for Magnus at any given time! The boy is just so adorable!! He's so sweet even if he's being sarcastic like I just want to kidnap him and keep him in my pocket forever! I wanna hug him and pat his back, ruffle his hair and kiss his forehead because he deserves it! I just love him guys! Everything about him is just so endearing even if he was being a coward he's still lovely! I know I'm not making any sense here I just want you to know that I'm head over heels for him. Also I wanted to say that one of the things I really admired about his character is that he's never the fighter, I love how everyone else would be plunging into the battle and he'd just stand there waiting for either a chance to bargain with the enemy or an injury that he must heal. I love how Rick went out of the line this time and chose a god that, tbh, we'd never hear about him on regular basis. Like in pjo we had our protagonist Percy, son of Poseidon who's one of the big three, tkc we have Carter and Sadie channelling the power of Hores and Isis, major gods and Hores is the king or the gods, hoo's heroes are kids of the Olympians and Apollo is like, an Olympian god himself. So it was a nice turn to have Frey a neutral god who's concern is to live in peace, having our protagonist's main power to be healing or like disarming people, nothing big or fancy, yet it fits so much! Like my boy just wants to live a simple quite life (with a transgender genderfluid partner if possible and practically canon gay parents) even when there's an enemy he's like "can't I just go stand there and then a miracle happens and I don't need to fight them anymore?" Gosh I love him.

Magnus and Lester are just so relatable and so average-human-coded that you can't help but love them!

And I liked how most of the characters are also lovable, like the whole floor 19? They're just the best family and I'd be so delighted to spend eternity with them (till Ragnarok at least) I really love their dynamics. And then we have Blitz and Hearth and oh boy how much do I love hearth! I was like that's my soulmate out there pretty much since he was introduced. I'm not joking guys, these people out there have one of the best found families ever.

I also wanted to note that I'm kind of a sucker for villains like especially those who are antihero much. So, confession time, I kinda liked Luke back in pjo, I liked Set in tkc, and like Apollo himself I might simped once or twice for the emprors. The thing I wanted to say is! First book I like liked liked Loki, ngl till the end I found him fancy. Like if he wasn't so much interested in Ragnarok and world ending and whatever I might even put him with my favourite characters. Like, why do villains have to be hot?? If you don't want me to simp then don't make them hot! (What am I doing guys, I must seek help wtf)

Another topic, people would be oohhh percabeth omg omg and I'd be awww big sister Annabeth is the best! Like have you seen those Annabeth and Magnus scenes??? Bro let me tell you I'm fucking dead, like they're the best cousins out there, like that's so cuttee!!

This's a p.s actually but I wanted to say another thing, about the ending of the ship of the dead, yes it was emotional, yes I teared up. But don't you guys feel like there's much more to it? Like I'm sorry but how could we not return to the fact that Magnus can talk to birds now (Disney Princess™)? Or how in the first place can he talk to them, hearth himself doesn't know if his father had the ability. Speaking about fathers, the visions that Magnus saw about Alex's father, are we just going to pass them like they never happened? Guys idk I feel like there are some plot holes that might be left intentionally (hopefully for a next book sometime) and I also feel like there's something wrong with the gods, like the last scenes we had with them, I might be paranoid but I really feel like Frey was hiding something. Anyways yeah, that's what I wanted to add.

So this barely covers anything from the feelings I had reading this series (because I'm a sensitive bitch who visibly tremble and scream while reading fluff) but yeah, I must hurry up a little, so next thing we have is a couple of screenshots I took cuz why not? Some of them might even be out of context but I like it.

So I was going to post them in different posts and tag them here and Tumblr just said NO ") so yeah ig.

Hope you guys enjoyed this review (which is me basically simping as always) I'm like 100 pages into tsats now, hopefully I'll come back to talk about it soon.

Have a nice day/night♡!!