#this is at the start of their relationship where frank is insecure and leo is insecure and they both see the worst in each other

[rachiebeee]

someone had a bad take on leo valdez in 4 sentences, so i replied w 4 paragraphs and references. they replied back w 4 paragraphs and a single quote w the worst character analysis i'd ever seen so i gave them 6 long paragraphs to even it out. i am defending frank better than they are and this was over me saying the worst thing frank did was let leo fall after the eidolon was forced out of him and them saying no frank didn't do that. what do you mean he didn't do that it's in the fucking book.

[pumpkinbxtch]

hi!!! I was wondering if you could do hcs for what arguing would be like with the HOO boys

Don't talk me like that! | headcanons

— arguing with the hoO boys

warnings: angst, language, boys being...boys

who's here: jason grace, leo valdez, frank zhang ands percy jackson.

a/n: ohh ohh ohhh, yes. I can. I love drama.

— jason grace:

To get into a real fight with him, you must have come a long way because he's so peaceful and always tries to negotiate calmly, making sure both of you communicate effectively. But at the end of the day, you're like any other couple and sometimes end up having real fights.

The big issue is Jason's nature. He goes silent when he's really upset, his emotions hard to show.

When he’s that mad, you can see it on his face. It’s scary, let’s not lie.

When the ice breaks, he tries to take charge to explain what's wrong, which often makes things worse.

He keeps his distance when you argue, tense and rigid. He’s like a handsome, angry log.

Sometimes he says things reluctantly, like "don't act childish," which is so him.

Yes, he raises his voice and gets frustrated, "no, I said NO, THAT’S NOT HOW IT IS, gods…"

If you're wondering if his powers show, the answer is NEVER, or at least not against you. His mouth might taste like metal or his fingers might spark, but that's just him being really stressed.

His eyes get cloudy and grey.

He takes off his glasses and rubs his temples while muttering.

When things finally start to work out, he breathes better and starts talking more because he knows nothing will work if he doesn’t.

He’s practical, coming up with solutions to problems.

When the fight's over, he hugs you and kisses your forehead, relieved to be out of that situation.

Can he stay mad for days? Depends on the problem, but he’d prefer it doesn't last more than a day.

— leo valdez;

Leo and you usually argue over small things because you have that kind of relationship where you bicker and tease for fun, but when things get serious, the arguments can get heated (get it? heated? laugh, please).

That’s when things get tough. He may seem easy-going, but Leo has a strong temper and is very stubborn when he's mad. Whatever made you really fight doesn't matter because he’ll be stuck on his point.

"No, that's not how it happened." You could be contradicting each other all day until you both turn away and stop talking.

"Well, screw you!" you say, and he growls back, "Yeah, you too," swearing in Spanish. "vale ma-" "me lleva la ch-"

Yes, he switches languages mid-sentence.

"I already told you no! CUANTAS VECES TENGO QUE DECIRLO, carajo!-"

If you know Spanish, you can reply; if not...

"I don’t understand you, idiot. Say it in English or fuck yourself ." (just in case because you’re not sure what he said)

Swearing is common if he's really mad, but it's more his way of dealing with it than being mad at you.

That or sharp sarcasm.

Yes, he might cry if the argument is really bad.

His rigid feelings and insecurity can come up.

Leo is attached, so he’s constantly thinking of ways to fix it because he can’t stand being away from you for too long.

He keeps his distance, terrified of hurting you with his powers, which makes him nervous. "No, DON’T COME NEAR ME." It's for your safety, but it hurts him to see the look in your eyes when he says it.

Can he stay mad for days? Absolutely, but he misses you a lot, though his pride might keep him from showing it.

Don’t worry, he’ll eventually sit down to talk it out, and you’ll both calm down and fix things.

Then he'll give you a big hug and kiss your cheeks.

— frank zhang:

it’s hard to imagine: WHAT DID YOU DO TO FIGHT?

Yes, Frank is Mars’s son, but he’d never choose the battlefield for his lover. He’s very careful and always considerate, but yeah he can be severe when things get bad, and when isn't enough just have a serious talk.

You end up fighting in not-so-quiet whispers, with your faces and gestures being the most expressive.

"Of course not, I already told you, hey!" He raises his hands, and his body tenses up threateningly.

Frank tries to understand your point and make himself heard, always mindful of both your feelings. He knows how to set boundaries.

Sometimes, he just can’t take it anymore and signals a pause. "You know what? This is getting too much, and neither of us is in the best shape. Let’s talk tomorrow or later, please."

Does he raise his voice? Hardly, only when he really needs to make a point.

His eyes are bright, tinged with sadness and anger. The deadliest is his calm face or the way he slightly curls his lip, almost growling.

His eyebrows always seem to be touching, even if he doesn’t want them to.

He keeps a cool head to solve things.

Can he stay mad for days? Yes, while clearing his mind and thinking. He’ll come up to you, and you’ll talk it out, making things work in the end.

He’ll take your hand. You might feel guilty for pushing a guy like Frank to his limit, but he doesn’t mind having relationship problems with you:

"I hope we fight many more times, but about totally different things because it means we’ve really solved the previous issues."

— percy jackson:

wtf did you both do to get into a fight?

Percy won't waste a second, trying to resolve it immediately by asking and reflecting on his own actions. "What did I do wrong?" if it was his fault. "Can you listen to me for a second?" if it was you.

He hates being mad at you, just can’t stand it. But if the fight starts, he wants to start or finish it (or both).

Yes, he might cry.

Yes, he might raise his voice. "No, I didn't do anything. LISTEN TO ME."

Then he apologizes for it because he lost it.

He tries to hold your hands and says, "Babe, babe…"

He makes you both breathe and talk calmly.

He argues, of course, but differently. He’ll stop the conversation. "You know what? I'll think about it." He leaves or makes you leave.

Consequently, he might stay mad for days, or both of you might be mad at each other, but he’s thinking of what to say rather than just calming down. (Nothing wrong with that, everyone handles feelings differently and that's valid.)

Yes, he asks his mom.

Yes, he asks Paul.

You both end up fixing things, and he hugs you tight, giving you kisses all over your face while pouting.

"I missed you, babe."

[poppitron360]

I’d like to dive deeper into my thoughts on Caleo, bc they have been taking up most of my brainpower rn:

I get where Rick was going with it. I really do. They started off hating each other, Calypso thinking Leo was really annoying and just generally being like “why is this tiny human talking to me?”, but then they grew closer, realised they misunderstood each other, and bonded over common ground. It’s sweet. But the thing is, Rick? You’ve already got a character that did all that with Leo in the previous book!

And his name is Frank.

1. You’ve already set up that dynamic! Why not spend more time focusing on fleshing out that existing arc instead of creating a new one?

2. There’s SO MUCH more potential with angst- Frank being afraid of Leo bc of his fire, Leo being afraid of Frank because he’s twice his size and could easily crush his tiny body under his foot. Leo’s had to learn to survive on his brains and quick-wits in order to protect himself from bullies, and instantly gets defensive when he sees Frank. Frank is very insecure and sensitive, so immediately falls victim to Leo’s jokes. It takes a while for both of them to take those walls down, put aside their differences, and learn to trust each other.

3. It’s just hilarious how got-off-on-the-wrong-foot they were. A reminder that when Frank first met Leo, Leo had just destroyed half of New Rome. They both immediately judged each other completely based on looks- like it’s seriously funny how much you could compare these two to “Pride and Prejudice”. Also, the awkward misunderstanding that was the whole Sammy thing-

4. But they also have a lot more in common that Leo and Calypso ever did- similar trauma with losing their moms, and actually Leo is just as afraid of fire as Frank is. Both are incredibly insecure, and they both feel like they don’t belong among the other Seven.

5. You’ve also got that fun opposites-attract thing- Frank is big and muscular, Leo is built like a twig. Frank is big soft pookie bear, Leo is an absolute menace to society. Frank can turn into animals, Leo is a machines guy. Frank is Roman, Leo is Greek. You get the idea. They were written to juxtapose each other beautifully. They are the Yin to each other’s Yang.

6. They get so much more time together to establish a meaningful relationship. Their arc carries over three books, and we get to form connections as a reader to BOTH Leo AND Frank separately beforehand, so the payoff is a lot more satisfying. It takes time for them to open up to each other, and when they do it feels like they earned it. Calypso and Leo got a couple of chapters, that’s it.

It doesn’t have to be romantic! Leo can heal his trauma with friends and found family, learning to love and accept himself, learning that he doesn’t actually need the attention of a hot girl to be valid. He can find his place among his brethren with the help of all his friends, even Frank- the most unlikely of friends.

I wish Rick had put more effort into fleshing out the platonic relationships instead of just conforming to romance-centric ideals of “love fixes everything!” It’s lazy, and boring, and has been done to death. Platonic friendships make up 95% of our relationships, yet they are SERIOUSLY underrepresented in media. I’m calling for more interesting platonic dynamics. Leo and Frank could’ve been so much more, if Rick had actually taken the time to build on their relationship, and focused less on “Leo Needs a Girlfriend”!

So, when I say “Everything Caleo did, Valzhang could do better”- THAT is what I meant.

Also, Jason is so much better for Leo than Calypso, but that’s a whole other post.

[Edit: And I have made that post! You can find it here]

[inthehoneymoonwithconnorrk800]

what if... the jasper family existed?

NOTE: First of all, I wrote the basics of these headcanons in 2018. For some reason, I like Jasper (maybe because I feel Jason had a ton of potential and because I'm woc, specifically mixed native Peruvian). Kinda self-insert.

Piper always wanted a family, her childhood was spent without a mother figure and an absent father. So when she was given the opportunity to live in New Rome, she accepted without hesitation.

Despite knowing of Reyna's animosity about Jason, she decided to break up with him and start a new life, training hard like a Roman, learning and taking missions and breaks to connect with her cherokee heritage. But that didn't mean she was separated from her new friends; on the contrary, she joined Percy and her best friend Annabeth's study meetings, casually talking with Hazel about New Rome and joking with Frank.

When Apollo happened, Jason didn't die. In a magical way the events were altered, and he survived the attack, sure, some died, but who cares, Jason is alive. There they realized, that despite both of their insecurities (Jason because of the pressure of not knowing where he belongs and the position of being the son of Zeus, Piper because she believed her mother was intervening in them and felt some internalized misogyny from years of bullying), they could both try again.

After Apollo's crazy adventures, finally, when all seemed calm, they moved to New Rome completely. Jason decided to train the new novices and Piper studied French at the University of New Rome. In turn, both of them when they were enjoying a quiet, domestic life, Jason told her about the mission he had secretly carried out. To make an altar to every god and goddess forgotten. Piper thought he was joking, but his lightning-like eyes assured her it wasn't a joke. Piper warned him that it might take generations to complete, but stubborn Jason didn't change his mind (he got all stubborn thanks to Leo). However, she supported his idea, they interlaced their hands and stared at each other. Piper loved Jason's electric blue eyes and not to mention what Jason loved about his partner, pretty much everything.

With the help of several Roman and Greek friends, thanks to the influence of being surviving heroes, they started with planning maps and fun ideas of where such a thing should go. Nico suggested ideas that would probably bring the war between Romans and Greeks back, haha.

Finally, after a lot of hard work (Jason has a lot of stamina and motivation) they managed to make thirty-four well-done altars by the time they were twenty-four.

Sadly, Tristan McLean passed away, leaving her daughter devastated. And considering the idea of motherhood, she wanted a family (as I mentioned before), someone to protect from the bad guys and to be the mother figure she almost never had. She was hesitant, right, she had time with Jason, but what if he didn't want to be a father? Piper felt his idea of altars would take him away from her. She'd been secretly crying until Annabeth confronted her. She explained how she felt, it turns out Annabeth had that life plan too. Annabeth got Piper to have the courage to tell Jason her family idea.

Surprise! Jason wanted a family too. True, he had Thalia, but they rarely coincided on missions and not to mention his relationship with his father, maybe that's why he trained the initiates because he saw them paternally.

A few days after their conversation about their future, Piper dreamed of Hera/Juno practically giving her consent to marry and have a family. As if they needed it in the first place.

They declared that they would have a break from the altar project, despite the annoyance of the minor gods. They both married in a celebratory Roman, Greek and with major Cherokee undertones (like the fact that if they had children they would inherit Piper's last name), they both danced to Native American flutes (Hera/Juno and Afordite/Venus were on coladas haha).

It was only a year later when Piper got pregnant. Jason was over the moon, practically having meetings with Leo and Frank to figure out how to be a better father, he certainly didn't want to be Zeus. When he wasn't nervous, he was grinning goofily thinking about a girl like Piper (maybe called by some Roman name), he would set up the cradles with Leo that Hazel took it upon herself to decorate with good luck gemstones. Percy told him not to worry so much and relax (that was before Annabeth confessed to him that she wanted to be a mother too), so both dorks are nervous.

Piper learned to make herself traditional Cherokee drinks for aches and pains, and more than once Jason has been flying in to get his wife's weird cravings in the middle of the night. Jason was always protective, but when Piper showed signs of her pregnancy, Piper literally realized that even the eagles were looking out for her, and if she wanted there to be no lightning she got it.

After Hera/Juno's attachment to Jason, she didn't hesitate to call upon her midwife goddess daughter to facilitate her giving birth. It was the first time Piper felt grateful to the goddess who hated demigods.

They were twins; first a beautiful baby girl was born, blonde like her father and with her mother's inherited sweet blue eyes. Jason didn't hesitate to carry her and when he was about to give it to his wife, Piper gave birth again, this time it was a cinnamon-skinned boy like her, with multicolored eyes and long eyelashes. They both cried with happiness, they finally felt that years and years of martyrdom, torture, mental damage for the mere fact of being demigods was finally worth it.

@demidork @fbfh @half-bloodies @housemartius @hyllaarellano @itsjustoctavianhere @jupiterspraetor @jasonandhisbrick @perachelsource @perachel-heretic @pjo-hoo-toa-freakazoid @jasongrace @jasongraceless @jasongraceappreciation @jasongracedefenseattorney @pipermcleant @pipermcleanthebeautyqueen-blog @jiperlove

[moa-broke-me]

I know that everyone on this site hates Caleo, and I've already written about it in Te Amo, Ti Amo, but I can't get the thoughts out of my head unless I post them. So here's why I, specifically, hate the ship:

Like there's the obvious 'literal thousands-of-years-old goddess/teenage boy' dynamic, which is very squicky to me, personally. But we're gonna let it slide for now because I don't want this to devolve into accusations and harassment. Absolutely no hate to anyone who DOES ship these two btw, I'm sure you're all fine people with just as well thought out reasons for why you like the ships you like.

What I will NOT let slide, however, is that, in my opinion, their specific backstories and personalities have the potential to react with each other in the worst way.

Let's start with Leo:

Leo basically hasn't had a stable person or thing in his life ever since his mom died. So not only is he 'insecure' in the sense that he has low self-esteem, but is also LITERALLY in a constant mindset of insecurity, instability, scarcity and risk. He has MAJOR abandonment issues, is convinced that nobody really cares about him all that much and that they're all eventually gonna leave him, and as such, develops a goofy, overly confident, overly flirtatious persona in order to cope with all his inner strife and his constant feelings of 'not being good enough'. He has a bit of a jealous streak as showcased with how he treated Frank in the beginning. He's also probably not one to walk away from a relationship of any kind (be it romantic or platonic), even if he's being treated badly, because at least that way, he won't be alone.

Now, let's go over to Calypso, who we admittedly don't have a lot of background for, and who a lot of people really dislike. I can see where you're coming from, but she's spent thousands of years in isolation, imprisoned on a desert island, trapped by the same curse that also makes her fall in love and get her heart broken, over and over again. So I think a LITTLE sympathy is in order. And it's only when he comes into the picture, for the second time, that she's able to be free. But... What happens when she gets off that island? When the curse is lifted? My speculation is that she would hate, absolutely loathe, feeling like she's being forced into something. Well, nobody likes it, but for her, it would be an especially horrible feeling. And what of her feelings for Leo? Were those, too, a trick of the light?

So what if she looks over at him, and she realizes she doesn't feel the way she thought she did? Well, she'd think, I can't leave him now. It would break his heart. I owe my freedom to him, the least I can do is play along.

But her disinterest seeps through anyway, and Leo takes notice. He starts to exaggerate his persona, become louder, sillier, more aloof. Trying to drown out the voice in his head telling him she's about to leave, and that if he'd been better, she wouldn't, that once again, he's not good enough for anyone.

She doesn't understand why he's acting this way, and gets increasingly irritated by him because she feels stifled. She feels... Trapped.

And one night, the resentment boils over and she tells him she wants to break up.

He's devastated. He breaks down pleading with her not to go, not to abandon him, but she sticks to her guns. Nobody is ever gonna trap Calypso ever again. Not with magic, not with debt, not with guilt. She storms out, and never looks back.

But Leo looks back. He can't stop looking back.

He still loves her.

[vidimillion]

Okay, so jasico hcs, umm, what about their wedding?

i got very carried away with this, since "wedding" is rather broad. we'll get to the actual wedding part eventually, i swear.

i asked @/ariihen a while ago about who would propose and her answer is 100% accurate to me

nico spent a rather long portion of all his relationships kind of believing that they would one day end

the past few years of his life have done a pretty good job at slowly undoing that mindset, but old habits die hard

nico knows jason had the same problem. for the longest time jason had never been secure in his relationships, from when his mother gave him up to when his family at camp jupiter didn't search for him

nico hated doing the laundry, so jason normally did it with no qualms

on a random, insignificant day, nico noticed jason waking up every morning dead on his feet, either going to do homework for his college course or work on building more temples. being the good boyfriend he is, nico decides to lessen jason's workload by doing their laundry

putting jason's laundry away, he finds the ring box stuffed into a pair of clean socks. months later he'll tell jason it was a pretty good idea on his part— jason's socks have got to be the only thing he owns that nico doesn't steal

nico doesn't even register what it is until he opens it in confusion. later on, he described the sight of the ring as a punch to the fucking face

jason was left behind by his own mother. he was left behind by his sister who believed he was dead. he was left behind by his camp which he had been serving dutifully for his entire life. he was left behind by his two best friends when he was dead for a year

but he was brave enough to buy nico a ring. he still had so much love pouring out of his heart, for people he was never sure would stay. he was brave enough to let himself believe nico would stay. he loved nico enough to brave through his insecurities about himself, to let nico know he wanted this to last forever.

nico doesn't know how long he cried but afterwards, he felt tired enough to fall asleep. he hid the box right where jason had put it, hoping he wouldn't notice something off.

he doesn't know if he should wait for jason, but something tells him he should buy him a ring too. he doesn't see how it would be a bad thing, so he does.

it's a few months later and the whole group is together. the seven + reyna, dakota, the stolls, and a few more. nico was too happy to see them all together to wonder why jason put so much effort into wrangling everyone up.

waterworks started before jason even got on one knee, because he'd already told everyone he was planning to propose. nico knew jason would've told them, so he didn't tell anyone he bought jason a ring too.

the proposal story is one for another day, but let's say everyone had a chance to both cry and laugh.

nico wanted connor and travis to come because they mean a lot to him. they were his first friends at camp back when he was ten, and they were the only people who greeted him when he was going in and out between ages ten to fifteen. they treated him like a brother and never stopped.

will was invited, because he and nico got on amicable terms after their breakup. nico thinks will is always gonna be a good friend to him— they weren't the one for each other, and they didn't need to be. they were best friends, will being one of the first people at camp to be his friend. it's better if it sticks to that.

do i even need to mention reyna? she was one of the first five fuckin people on the guest list

jason and nico tried to keep the guest list small and personal. they did not realize how many people they actually liked and were friends with.

(nico oddly enough became rather good friends with sadie kane and anubis, so the egyptians were invited. he and jason also became friends with magnus, alex and sam— the whole event was very inter-pantheon)

the only gods that were formally invited were hestia, hades and persephone. that didn't stop the wedding being broadcasted to the entire godly world over hephaestus tv, but at least the small and subtle cameras weren't very intrusive.

hades insisted on funding the most beautiful wedding the godly world has ever seen. for once, nico didn't fight him on the money because he wanted everything to be as perfect as possible. all jason cared about was getting married.

nico plans most of it. the color scheme stays classy, with white cream colours, minimal bits of gold. there's a little bit of red too, in the flowers and tiny details— nico says it's because jason looks damn good in red. he's right, of course, but there's another reason.

red was the di angelo family signature color, back in the 1930s. nico remembers most of his life before the casino now, and even if there's nothing he can really do about it, he wants his family there. even just a little bit of them would be enough.

they get married at dusk in the most beautiful park in new rome. they have the ceremony in the grass, tall greek pillars squaring the area off from the rest of the park. billowy white fabrics hang from above but leave the setting sun visible. the only lights are persephone's special flowers, glowing softly in every color of the rainbow and scenting the air with ambrosia.

nico and jason both get to walk down the aisle, but nico goes first. he wears a black three piece suit, complete with a subtle gold collar link and lapel chain. it's a little tight, but that's kind of the reason he picked it. he slicked his hair back for this too.

he couldn't pick a best man for this, so there isn't one. by his side are connor, travis, will, and frank— and hazel and reyna, in red suits.

on the other side of the altar, jason's side, there's percy, leo, dakota, piper and annabeth.

nico's mother was a singer. her music was italy's treasure, almost hidden from the rest of the world. they play one of her most beautiful songs as they walk down the aisle, one nico can faintly remember her singing to him. her voice is like a siren's, like a goddess's— otherworldly, ethereal, elysian.

but the music stops when he sees jason.

he wears a white three piece suit that cinches his small waist and stretches over the broadness of his shoulders. he wears a boutonniere of small, light blue hydrangeas and a gold collar link that matches nico's.

everything about him matches nico. matches him, compliments him, completes you in the perfect way your opposite tends to complete you.

nico thinks "opposite" sounds too aggressive— like they were enemies. jason wasn't his enemy. jason was his soulmate.

[winryofresembool]

Things We Lost in the Fire, ch 19

aka Caleo uni au

Fic summary: Calypso starts studying at a new university, but to her annoyance her new flatmate is a loud mouthed mechanic who also likes to sneak his dog in whenever. But as she learns to know him better, she realizes they might have more in common than what she first thought. Eventually, even the darkest secrets come out…

Chapter summary: Hazel gives Calypso some advice.

A/N:  Keeping things short and sweet this time. Time to bring Hazel back before we finally get to some important 'talks'! As usual, I hope you guys enjoy and please comment because that's the best motivator I can get!!

Characters in this ch: Calypso, Hazel, Frank (mentioned)

Words: 2300+

Genre: romance & hurt/comfort

Warnings: none

previous chapter / next chapter / AO3

…

“Hey,” Hazel gently grabbed Calypso’s sleeve after an art class when they were about to go home. Calypso had been pretty quiet (quieter than usual) during the class and she had been worried that Hazel would notice that. As she turned to look at the speaker, Calypso felt she should have known she wouldn’t get rid of her that easily.

“I’m going to meet my friend Frank in an hour but I don’t have time to go home before that, so I’m going to kill some time somewhere nearby. Would you like to join me?” Hazel asked.

Calypso admitted to herself that she had been dreaming about locking herself into her room and maybe screaming into her pillow just a bit because she had felt very frustrated ever since the ‘Percy incident’ had happened. In the history classes she and Annabeth no longer talked to each other if they could avoid it. One awkward time their professor had ordered them to do their group work together but instead of actually spending time discussing the topic (or other matters) Annabeth had told Calypso to make some notes at home while she’d make her own and send them to her then for her to combine. Calypso had wanted to protest and say the whole situation was ridiculous but she had already learned to know that Annabeth was very strong willed especially when she wanted to be and arguing about it would most likely have caused more harm than good.

Aside from that they hadn’t interacted much, but from Piper, Calypso had heard that she and Percy were having a bit of a rough phase. Calypso herself wasn’t doing much better with her flatmate who had recently been spending more time with his family and friends or working behind the shut doors. Sooner rather than later she knew she would have to deal with both Leo and Annabeth but it was easier said than done. Especially because in her old home the issues had been just brushed under a rug and never talked about again.

Thinking about all that, Calypso had almost forgotten what Hazel had asked in the first place, but when the younger girl cleared her voice to get her attention, she finally responded: “Oh, sure, why not? I don’t have any place where I should be right now…” She tried to convince herself that maybe this would be a good thing, to get something else to think about. “Where do you want to go?” She asked Hazel “There’s a nice coffee shop nearby!” Hazel replied, casting a slightly worried look at Calypso. She could sense the older girl didn’t have her brain fully present. “And they have student friendly prices. Can you believe I once saw a coffee shop where they sold a regular cup of regular coffee for over four dollars?

“Wow, that really is expensive,” Calypso agreed but had nothing else to contribute to that topic.

“Yeah…” Hazel simply nodded and the girls continued walking for a while in a silence.

“Um, listen…” Hazel eventually spoke. “I can’t help but notice that something’s on your mind… If you don’t want to come with me, that’s OK. I understand.”

Calypso felt embarrassed, not wanting her new friend to think that she didn’t care about her company.

“Oh, no, I’m sorry! I do want to join you. You’re right, though, things have been a bit weird in my life lately but I promise I’ll try to push that into the back of my mind for a bit. I think this will be good for me.”

“Alright,” Hazel accepted. “Just so you know, I’ve seen a lot of weird things in my life… so if you do want to talk about it at any point, feel free.”

“Okay, I will.” Calypso promised.

The coffee shop they went into was small but cozy, lots of students either hanging out with their friends or perhaps doing some homework after classes. Hazel and Calypso did still manage to find free seats from a more quiet corner and once they had made their orders (fruit tea for Calypso, latte for Hazel), they discussed the art classes for a bit. Hazel hoped to get more experience with portraits soon while Calypso admitted that she was more interested in painting landscapes. The younger girl also revealed that she was planning to draw something for Frank’s birthday, which made Calypso wonder again what the relationship between those two really was like.

“You and Frank seem really close based on what you’ve told me,” she commented. “I probably sound too curious, but are you two really just friends?”

Hazel chuckled a bit. “Don’t worry, you’re not the first person to ask me that. And the answer is: sadly, yeah. I mean… I’ve told him I’d be ready for a relationship but… Frank seems to be worried about how it might affect our friendship. We’ve been friends for a long while, after all. And recently his grandma hasn’t been feeling well so that’s taken a lot of his time and attention. Frank doesn’t have other close relatives so he’s the one who’s been taking care of her.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Calypso said sympathetically. As weird as it may have sounded, somehow hearing other people’s stories made her feel less alone in her situation. “I hope things will get better for both him and his grandma.”

“I have a feeling they will,” Hazel said mysteriously, not explaining why she felt that way. “And Frank is strong; he just isn’t aware of his strength yet.”

For some reason that comment made Calypso think of Leo, and ironically Hazel’s next question was: “Since I was honest with you, what about you then? Any special someone in your life?” Calypso felt her heated cheeks betray her yet again.

“Um, no, not really…” she replied, pretending to focus on her drink.

“Hey, I can detect a lie pretty easily,” Hazel noted calmly. “You wouldn’t have blushed if there wasn’t someone…”

“Well… it is true that I am not seeing anyone.” Calypso tried to dodge Hazel's comment.

“But…”

“But… the situation is a bit complicated.”

Hazel watched her curiously while tasting her drink. “Oh, how so?”

Suddenly Calypso noticed she was telling her new friend a lot more than she had intended. Something about the girl’s aura just made her feel she could trust her.

“I… There’s this guy called Leo. He’s my flatmate. He can be a bit irritating and immature at times… For example, one time he tried to make me eat a very hot chili pepper even though he knew how hot it was… To be fair, though, I only ate the tip.” Hazel chuckled at that comment. “And he tells a lot of bad jokes and doesn’t seem to have a filter. I think he may be covering some of his insecurities with his jokes. That’s just my guess, though. But either way…”

“You like him,” Hazel finished for her.

“Uh… Like? I don’t know… No? Maybe…” When Hazel raised her eyebrow, Calypso was forced to say: “Okay, there is a small chance that I do like him. Sometimes his jokes are kind of funny. And his stupid grin has grown on me and his fluffy hair makes me want to ruffle it. It’s frustrating! He’s good with his hands - I mean, he can build machines from scratch - and he’s also really smart, like, he can solve problems I couldn’t even imagine trying in a very short time. He loves his dog and his family a lot. He can make pretty great tacos. And he’s trying very hard to get over a fear of his… but…”

“But it’s complicated because he’s your flatmate?” Hazel guessed this time.

“It’s a bit more complicated than that,” Calypso said. “I mean, of course that is something to be considered. If we ever got together and then broke up, it would be really awkward to live in the same flat. But I’m not even sure how he feels about me. There are moments when we have a lot of fun together. But sometimes I feel like we can’t be 100 per cent honest with each other, and recently… he found out that I used to, well, I think ‘date’ is not a correct word to use because we only met once in real life, but I did use to talk a lot with a friend of his online, with a relationship in my mind. It happened over two years ago and we never were serious, but… it seemed to bother Leo and I’m not sure what I should tell him.” In reality, those weren’t the only reasons why Calypso thought the situation was complicated but she had to draw the line somewhere.

“Did you already tell him what you just told me?” Hazel asked while stirring her hot drink.

“I did try to explain it when Percy came to our place to pick his girlfriend… Who is, or was my friend and she’s not talking to me either… but I don’t know. He’s been acting very distant ever since that happened; just talking to me when necessary and even then it isn’t more than a couple of sentences. It’s getting pretty frustrating…”

“I can imagine that,” Hazel nodded. “I’m not a relationship expert by any means but there must be some reason why he reacted like that, right?”

“I guess so.” Calypso shrugged. “But… I don’t know. It could be anything. Maybe he’s worried about his friends.”

“I may be wrong but to me it kind of sounds like he wasn’t happy to hear about you and his friend because he might like you back. If he didn’t care at all, he wouldn’t be giving you silent treatment,” Hazel noted.

“You really think so?” Calypso, a tiny hope rising in her even though she knew she shouldn’t wish too much.

“Hey, why wouldn’t he?” Hazel nudged Calypso’s elbow. “Haven’t you noticed that some of the guys in our art class keep whispering about you? One of them actually asked me if I knew if you are dating anyone. They are all over you. Don’t worry, though, I told him that even if I knew it wasn’t my business to tell.” She smiled at her encouragingly.

“Oh… thanks for taking my side there. I had no idea… But why didn’t they ask me directly?” Calypso asked, a bit flustered.

“I have a couple of guesses,” Hazel replied. “Either they consider you a bit intimidating… because you are pretty and smart and what not… or they think that someone like you possibly couldn’t be single and wanted to make sure before asking you.”

“That… feels weird,” Calypso said quietly. “I am not used to being a center of attention. Or in general being noticed by people who don’t have something to do with my family.”

“But how?” Hazel asked. “You’re exactly the kind of person who the others will notice.”

“It’s a long story… one I don’t like sharing… but the short version is that when I was a teenager I didn’t get to leave my house unless it was something really urgent or necessary. I was basically a…” Calypso couldn’t finish the sentence, the reality of that situation hitting her still very hard whenever she thought about it.

“A hostage,” Hazel said, looking shocked. Calypso nodded as a response. “That’s… that’s awful.”

“It… yeah,” Calypso said sadly. “We had a big house so I did have room to do a lot of things there but… my communication with people other than those who worked or visited there was cut to minimum. But… my father had reasons for doing so… I can only blame myself.”

“What do you mean?” Hazel asked with confusion.

“I did something…” Calypso hesitated. “I’m so sorry, I’m getting tired of saying this but… I can’t tell you. I haven’t told anyone…”

“I see.” Hazel nodded. “I’ve had some difficult experiences as well so I know where the limits go… Don’t worry, I won’t ask more. But if you do ever want to talk, you can trust me.”

“Thank you,” Calypso said, giving Hazel a small smile.

“No problem. Hey,” Hazel decided to change the topic, “you gotta introduce me to this Leo of yours at some point. He sounds like an interesting guy.”

Even though Calypso knew Hazel was just teasing her in a friendly matter, she couldn’t help but say: “He’s not ‘my Leo’! He’s just a flatmate. And sometimes he can be quite a pain in my butt.”

“But you already confessed that you may or may not like him,” Hazel said, sipping her coffee calmly, smiling into her cup.

“Whatever,” Calypso mumbled, without realizing it sounding a whole lot like the young man she was thinking of. “Well, what about this Frank? When will I get to meet him?”

“He will be here soon so if you want to, you can tag along with us for a bit.” Hazel looked at her watch.

“Do you think that’s OK with him? I don’t want to be the third wheel or anything.” Calypso asked.

“No worries, I’m sure Frank will be happy to meet you too.”

“Oh… OK. If you guys don’t mind, then I might come with you. I am not feeling like going home quite yet.” Calypso sighed, thinking about the sulking boy back in her flat.

“Alright! And hey, Frank is a nice guy, I think you guys will get along.”

“OK, I believe you,” Calypso nodded.

The girls continued talking about other things after that until Frank called Hazel that he had gotten out of the work and was waiting for her nearby. He said he was cool with Calypso tagging along and soon she learned that Hazel’s description of a teddy bear in a real bear’s body was quite accurate. He and Calypso had a shared love for animals so they talked a good while about Frank’s internship and other things related to the topic. Hanging out with Hazel and Frank, Calypso thought that it felt good for her to notice that there were people who did seem to like her company despite her background; maybe there was hope that Leo and Annabeth would come around eventually too.

[hellswolfie]

House of Hades review

From the Heroes of Olympus. 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE : 

- Jiper. I never liked this relationship, I don’t even understand their dynamic or why they like eachother so much, sometimes it just feels like it’s because they find eachother pretty and that’s it. Also they tend to bring the worst out of eachother, which could actually be interesting if it was done on purpose but since it’s not it’s just bad. By that mean I mean Piper charming up Jason when he so much as thinks about another girl who happens to have a crush on him. Her tendency to use her charm speak is really worrying at times, how she uses it on her friends and even boyfriend so casually like that’s mind control !!! And he thinks it’s “fair game” which NO it’s not it’s extremely messed up to be that insecure that you feel that you have to brainwash your boyfriend to make sure he doesn’t leave you. Ask Voldemort. Also there is the fact that Jason actually KNEW about Reyna’s feelings for him. I don’t blame him for not outright rejecting her because come on that’s an extremely awkward conversation to have, especially with someone you’re supposed to work with everyday to lead people. But like, I already thought he was an asshole because the first thing he said to Reyna when he came back after months of dissapearing was that he wanted to make his girlfriend visit New Rome. Now it just makes it worse. 

Frank’s physical change. It was just so unnecessary and...kind of send bad messages. What was so interesting about Frank was that he was NOT a stereotypical Ares kid, he even hated the idea of being one at first. Him being all chubby added a lot to his character and it’s really disappointing that now he’s super athletic and I’m so tired of the “he has to physically change and become more of a stereotypical hot dude to complete his arc” . 

Hazel’s magical powers. Look i wouldn’t say I HATE it but I just don’t see the point of it? It doesn’t add anything to her character, only powering up more even tho she was already far enough powered up already imo. I think maybe it would have been more interesting to give this arc to Piper since it’s in line with her Charm Speak. 

The lack of Nico x Leo. Yeah yeah I know it will never happen but at least one conversation between them could have been so interesting? Like this two are so alike in so many ways! They both have extreme self worth issues and see themselves at the outcasts. They both have a tendency to run away (Leo mentionned that in his first chapter in the lost hero) and hiding their feelings. They both lost their only family and have a lot of trauma. Also they both are real sweet boys inside even though they don’t like to show it too much (let’s not forget Nico was the only one who was nice to Hestia and Bob, and Leo really did something so kind for Frank there). So they could understand eachother like no one else could, but also bring eachother something because they have both different ways of coping with that : Leo is desperate to belong, being the joker and doing everything he can to be useful to the point he doesn’t think anyone would like him for him if he wasn’t all that so he kind of has to play a role in his mind, while Nico just withdrawns himself and rejects everyone around him. They could really balance eachother out. Like imagine their relationship development, going from dislike, Leo being creeped out by Nico and Nico finding his jokes annoying, but then they get to talk and realize they’re not so different and...I’m so frustrated we didn’t get that!!! (PS : if you know a fic where that happens during HoH please give me the link!!)

- It was too short to have 7 POV. Well actually, this is more of a compliment because that means I love the characters so much and I wanted to see more of them. But that almost means that each character didn’t have that much screen time in they POV which made their developemnt in there pretty rush. 

Coach Hedge. Look, I really liked him getting more depth with his girlfriend being pregnant and his dead mother but all along the book i couldn’t help but wonder...What is he good for? Why is he even here? I mean he’s supposed to be the protector right? But like, it’s always the kids (the KIDS) who have to take care of him and handle him so he doesn’t do anything stupid. So he’s supposed to be the protector but he never does anything useful, in fact he always finds a way to make the situation worse like when he makes Jason lose his sword because he wanted to beat up a giant turtle so bad. He never helps when it comes to plan because the only thing he says is that he wants to fight even though honestly he’s the weakest of them all. I mean maybe he’ll finally do something useful in the final book, who knows? I still liked knowing he’s the one who brough Clarisse to camp, though, makes so muchs sense...

THINGS I LIKED : 

- The POV characters. I loved seeing more of Frank, finally, when he was in the background in the last book, and I loved seeing his development and him being more and more of a leader. Of course I loved Percy, Annabeth and Leo that’s a given. Even though her new powers annoyed me, I still enjoyed Hazel’s POV because she’s still very interesting to follow and I love the way she thinks, she’s very clever. I also liked Piper’s chapter yeeeeaaaaahh !!! And same for Jason, FINALLY AFTER FOUR BOOKS I ACTUALLY LIKE HIM (because he finally has a personality) !!! This two can become very interesting once they stop being so wrapped up around eachother. Like Jason’s struggle between his Roman side and Greek side was really cool to follow, and Piper showing how badass she can be but always wanting to be more? Yes I like that ^^

- Friendships !!! Friendships !!! Finally !! Yeah I was glad this book focused a bit more on friendships than the last one. I loved the Jason x leo stuff, how Jason really seems to admire Leo and how he was the only who realized how sad Leo were after Calypse. Leo x Hazel finally became a friendship instead of the weird thing they had going on thanks god. Leo confectioning something to protect Frank’s staff was so adorable and kind of him like that’s my sweet boi !! I LOVE the potential of Jason x Nico and also maybe Frank x Nico. Piper crying and hugging Annabeth when they are reunited awwww !! And Piper and Hazel bonding over Hazel learning Piper how to fight and Piper helping her with her magic I really liked that  (even though I would have like it better if Rick would have showed it instead of just telling us about it). Even Frank and Hedge were pretty heartwarming. 

- The Tartarus plot. WOW. It was just...WOW. It was so well written from start to finish, i could feel the horror of this place and how it changed Annabeth and Percy (especially Percy) which was so interesting. Of course the Percabeth moments gave me life. And like...the monsters that give them curses when they die, Nyx, The Nice Titan and The Nice Giant, Tartarus himself...It was just all so good and hurt in the best of way. The “Bob says hello” went straight to my heart. Favorite part of the book. 

Caleo : Do i think they should have had more time to develop if Leo is supposed to be THAT in love? Yes. Do i think Nico x Leo would have been so much better and interesting and had so much more potential especially at a slow burn romance where they both become best friends and fall in love in this book but are to afraid to admit yet (again, please give me a link if you know a fic that does that)? Also yes. But I have to admit, they were hella cute. I liked their dynamic (we’re all sluts for ennemies to lovers, no?), and i get how Calypso can be good for Leo : she also has abandonment issues and they work very well together, she’s not afraid to tell him off and he really seems to have grown up after meeting her (and getting his first kiss, which again : hella cute). And I also see how he can be good for her : he’s not like the other Stereotypical Hero she met on her Island, she actually had to get to know him instead of falling in love instantly, and got more in touch into her more mischevious side which I liked to see. Also if he does come back to her (and I better hope he does because he deserves it), that could be an adorable scene and they could have their shop they talked about and...Yeah I like them. 

NICCOOOOOO : my baby death boy finally got more screen time and damn it was so good. Of course there was the Cupid Scene. I didn’t like how he was basically forced to come out but I still loved the intensity of this scene, and the revelation that he was in love with Percy and he hated himself because of that? My baby needs a hug (and while it hurt, it was also pretty funny in the end how Percy was so confused about Nico’s aptitude towards him, always and forever oblivious to when someone has a crush on him). But also that makes so much sense. His relationship with Jason? Loved it, loved how Jason gave him advice about opening up more to people (and I totally relate to Nico, I’d much rather raise the dead and hide in hell than doing that) while still being kind of scared of him but wanting to be supportive and seeing how this child fucking needs therapy !! I can’t wait for Nico to finally feel like he belongs (which he would have with Leo!!!!). Nico x Hazel has my heart, their dynamic is just so fucking sweet, like even though she doesn’t totally understands him because he still keeps her at arm lenghts, you can see she loves her brother so much and it’s clear it is mutual. Like forehead kiss my heart (forehead kisses are a weakness of mine) !!!! The scene of him and Frank sharing their interest about Mythomagic was so pure and broke my heart at the same time, I mean like Percy said he’s not that little kid insouciant kid anymore :(  (also props to Percy for not being an ass to him which doesn’t really happen often). Anyway I LOVED seeing more of him. He’s such a great and interesting character and i love him so much. Also of course, like always, he was a total badass and I have to asmit, even though I want him to belong, it was kind of amusing how this scrowny, pale and needy of sleep 14 years old terrified the all powerful demi gods on the ship (well ok he is the most powerful of them all but still). His vibe is just that good. But I really want him to have this someone who manages to make him slow down his walls, you know? (even if it’s not Leo snif). 

So that was it. I don’t know it that’s ineresting for anyone but I like to vent so ^^

My reviews for : 

The Lost Hero; Son of Neptune; the Mark of Athena

[alextriestowritestuff]

Blood Of Olympus Read W/ Me

This was the worst book of the series by far. I almost didn’t finish it. I think my thoughts are going to be rather short but they’ll still be below the cut for spoiler reasons. There will also be Trials of Apollo spoilers so I highly suggest not reading this if you haven’t caught up with those books! Let’s get into it.

I’d like the start by saying what I like: Nico/Reyna POV. I loved their relationship (which I didn’t see coming at all) it was very big sis-little bro vibes. I love that Nico finally found a place and his budding relationship with Will. What’s funny is though I knew Will would be his love interest (You can’t avoid them in fanfic at all) I thought he’d be more like super sunshine/super happy and that would contrast with Nico’s emo nature. But he was just chill and was like Nico, stop being a dumbass, we’re friends. I think fanfic gave me a different impression of what he’d be like (Granted I never read the fics, just summaries) and I was surprised that he was not like that. It’s not bad or good, just pointing it out. 

Oh and Nico telling Percy he liked him and Percy just being like ‘say what?’ I didn’t expect Nico to actually fess up to that one but Percy’s reaction was gold. 

The best moment in this book is Reyna taking down Orion by herself. She was that BITCH. Correct me if I’m wrong but the only other person who defeated a giant by themselves was Percy right? In the Battle of Labyrinth when he fights Antaeus? I think Antaeus was a half-giant though because Percy, a demigod, managed to kill him without the help of a god. Anyway, Reyna was everything in that scene. Oh I lied, he took down Polybotes too. They’d be unstoppable together (though I love Percabeth). She was about to sacrifice herself too!! What a queen. I respect the crap out of her. UM Jason you really picked the wrong girl lmao. 

I appreciated the Thalia cameo (because again, I didn’t re-read the Lost Hero so I haven’t seen her since the last time I read the PJO series) and the mention of Zoe. I hope Kenzie didn’t really die though, I liked her. 

And that’s all the good I have to say about it. Now for the bad...so much bad.

So after thinking about it, I realize that what makes HoO so different from its predecessor series is that there’s no consequences. The closest we got to consequences was Annabeth and Percy falling into Tartarus because they weren’t saved in time. No one important (protagonist/good guys side) died. Leo was resurrected (And I looked it up and found out that he came to Camp in the Trials of Apollo series so everyone knows he’s alive). Even for the Tartarus one, we didn’t even get a PTSD arc. It would’ve been helpful to have Percy or Annabeth’s POV in this book to wrap up that subplot. Instead we get two lines about their time in Tartarus and when Percy brings it up, Annabeth tells him not to mention it. So no PTSD arc. Got it. But we can just casually mention that Octavian committed suicide (which I don’t care for that ending at all).  Right.

The HoO books are boring because there’s no consequences. I never felt true fear apart from Percy/Annabeth being in Tartarus. In the Last Olympian, mortals were put to sleep, Annabeth was gravely injured, Silena and Beckendorf died. Luke and Ethan died. There was no magical save for them. Blood of Olympus had NO stakes, coupled with a weak, slightly developed new characters made it a bad series imo. It also doesn’t deliver on the questions posed in the book.

Hazel’s curse is still active, no descendant of Neptune has taken it away. I read the wiki summary for every book of the Trials of Apollo (The last one isn’t out yet) and there’s no mention of her curse being lifted. I think Frank’s stick is resolved imo being that it’s safe in the fireproof pouch but for some readers, they don’t think that’s resolved. Kym told Percy he’d have to face his fatal flaw. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t feel as though he did. Percy also never helped Leo find Calypso but Ig that’s null because he never got the chance to. Also is Black Jack, Frank’s grandmother, Hylla okay? Orion said Hylla got away but I was hoping for another cameo. 

Let’s talk about the villains/the entire quest of the Seven. The quest was boring, Nico/Reyna/Hedge’s quest was 100x more interesting and they were transporting a freaking statue. The quest of the Seven was fight this minor god/villain who is working for Gaea who promised them something (Even Jason has a line where he makes fun of this), outsmart/fight them, get to Athens where all the monsters are. Percy and Annabeth’s blood awakens Gaea. The gods come down which makes me angry because most of them weren’t helpful throughout the series. Poseidon wasn’t in this series at all. He didn’t even send a symbol or talk to his son who went missing. I’m pissed that the battle against Gaea wasn’t even in Athens! I’m pissed that they got slapped to New York, like what? The gods really couldn’t poof them back there, they gave some excuse but it was still bs. But I guess Rick needed Argo II to get back to NY so Leo can turn festus back into a dragon. But anyway, the gods come down, the demigods work with to defeat the giants in less than two pages. The giants that were poised as a massive threat for four books straight. Defeated in mere minutes. We don’t even get a cool battle description, they just hack and slash at them and they’re dead. Huh? 

Percy, Annabeth, Hazel, and Frank were reduced to background characters and I understand they don’t have a POV but I never felt that characters who didn’t have a POV in a certain book were ever forgotten/not utilized. They didn’t really get to do anything. 

We also don’t really see the Roman and Greek gods all that much. I know they’re the same people, different Greek and Roman personalities. But like I thought their Roman side could be seen a bit more but they were having difficulty maintain one persona throughout the whole series. I can tell you what the Greek gods are like and how they interact w/ each other based on the throne room scenes/anytime they help demigods in PJO/HoO. But Roman gods as whole? I can’t tell you how they even interact with each other. 

But wait, it gets worse. There’s not even a formal recognition thing like there was at the end of the Last Olympian (where Percy is offered godhood and Annabeth is given position of architect) there’s a little meeting with the gods and the Seven in which Jason is like give minor gods shrine and the gods aren’t really all that interested in what he has to say. There’s no thank you demigods. No, thanks Annabeth and Percy for literally going through Tartarus and Hazel for sacrificing yourself at 13 back in the 1940s. And the rest of them sacrificed something too. Like damn, no wonder why Luke was always like the gods don’t care about their kids. 

Gaea was built up to be a big bad (honestly not really, she talked trash the entire time/sent people to do her work) and the woman is easily overpowered by the three demigods. She’s not even awake for 20 minutes and she goes down. WHAT?? 

Overall, it was anti-climatic and totally did a 180 on everything else established in this series-the fact that Gaea was such a major foe and turned out not to be (that SEVEN demigods had to take her down, not just 1 like Percy’s prophecy) and the giants were to be feared too but they get taken down. At 200 pages in, I dead ass wanted to DNF, it was so boring. I gave it a one star because although the good I mentioned was really great, it doesn’t save the book. So for me, this series had every book be 3 stars or under except House of Hades. 5 books and I only really was able to like one and get through it easily and it still had issues. Like what?

Lastly, I want to touch on Jason. I still think he’s bland though I appreciated him giving Nico a hug at the end there. Again from ToA/being spoiled over the years, I learned that Jason died and I won’t be reading ToA but I read the summary of the book where he died and um, wow. I don’t feel anything for his death but the fact that he and Piper broke up sent me into a laughing/anger rage. Laughing because they really said ‘I love you’ at the end of BoO and they didn’t even make it a year lmao. And the fact that PIPER, miss always insecure in her relationship with him, McLean broke up with HIM. WOOOOOW. But it made mad because I listened to her complain/fawn over Jason for 4 freaking books (not counting tSoN) for NO REASON cuz they ended up breaking up. Overall, I appreciated what Jason, Hazel, Frank, and Piper did in the HoO series because they were helpful but I couldn’t connect with their characters. I’ll admit that in BoO we got a little bit more bonding between characters which is what I asked for in my last read with me and I like the Percy/Jason scene underwater and Piper/Annabeth scene from the beginning. I do think some relationships were summarized when they could’ve been shown--i.e. Annabeth/Reyna/Piper friendship but they have potential. 

The bonding was good, it was just too late. It should’ve happened in MoA/HoH as well. Random but I also hate how Leo was treated (esp. by Jason and Piper) throughout the series and I’m glad he got out of that mess. He was reduced to a deus ex mechanic and that wasn’t cool. The Seven wouldn’t have been able to do this quest without him. 

Sooo I guess this is it. I don’t think I’m going to read another Rick Riordan book again unless I hear something drastic happens to Percy or Annabeth/Any of the PJO characters and Reyna. I’m strongly reconsidering removing him as my fav author. I still love the PJO series but this one was not it. I don’t know if Rick was on a tight deadline for these HoO books but it was just poorly executed. I don’t regret reading the series, I think reading HoH was worth all the time I spent reading this series. I wish I had just read a summary of tSoN and MoA, especially because I already read them years ago and knew I wasn’t into them from my first read. I wasted my own time by doing that. So if I had done that I would’ve gotten to just read HoH and then only be disappointed by BoO as opposed to three books. It is what it is. It’s nice to be in the loop because I always see these things about HoO characters and spoilers so now I know how it went down. 

But that’s it guys, thank you for reading this entire thread and the ones before it. I have a lot of opinions and I don’t think I’m in the minority by saying I didn’t like this series overall. I will get back to my writeblr content and I will leave you guys with my final ratings for the series (My rating system may seem generous compared to my read with me thoughts but I personally don’t give less than 3 stars to books that plot wise made sense. It may not be the most compelling plot or have the best characters but if it made coherent sense, I have to give it at least a 3.) :

The Lost Hero: This score is based off of my original reading in 2012/2013 and my thoughts on the main characters in that book, I give this a 3/5 stars

The Son of Neptune: 3/5

The Mark of Athena: 2/5

The House of Hades: 4.5/5

The Blood of Olympus: 2/5 

Worst book of the series: Mark of Athena (Blood Olympus is a close tie but the Nico/Reyna really saves it from this spot) and best book- House of Hades. 

[blue-tongue]

Examining the Group Dynamic of the Seven

      I feel like I see a lot of posts complaining about the lack of friendship between the various seven members. Since I have an ungodly about of time on my hands, I’ve taken it upon myself to take a deep dive into all of the friendships between them. 

       Before anything, I should note- there are seven main characters in this series- Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Leo, Frank, and Hazel. That means you have twenty one relationships you have to develop (each of the seven times each of their viewpoint on the other six divided by two to make the relationship go both ways). 

I’m going to breakdown how their relationships develop book by book-

1) The Lost Hero (TLH)- POVs: Jason, Piper, Leo

Percy and Annabeth- well developed from the previous series.

Jason and Piper- complicated as frick. Since Hera just happened to plant fake memories of their relationship in Piper’s head, there’s this awkward one-sided relationship going on while they have crushes on each other. Percabeth started on a clean slate and had four years to slowly come together. Jiper is condensed into one book/quest, meaning that their relationship has less time to develop.

Jason and Leo- Best friends. Similar Percy/Grover in the sense that Jason is supposed to be the HeroTM and Leo doesn’t fit the archetype as much.

Piper and Leo- Sibling-esque friendship.

Piper and Annabeth- Beginning a best friend relationship

Jason and Annabeth/ Leo and Annabeth- Acquaintances I guess? They have to work together? They might call each other friends but only in the vaguest sense of the word? They’re work colleagues?

2) Son of Neptune (SoN)- POVs: Percy, Hazel, Frank

Percy and Hazel- Big brother/ protective friendship. Hazel literally thought Percy was a god when they first met. It should be noted that Percy sees the chemistry between Hazel and Frank and starts ashipping like there’s no frigging tomorrow.

Percy and Frank- Friends. Percy sees Frank’s potential besides his deep insecurities. Percy serves as the older, more experienced (although he can’t remember his experiences) one. Again, Percy is a huge Frazel shipper. 

Hazel and Frank- Everything that is good and pure in this world.

3) Mark of Athena (MoA)- POVs: Annabeth, Percy, Piper, Leo

The group is finally together! Yeehaw!

Things that happened in the time jump between TLH and MoA:

Piper and Annabeth- Best friends

Piper and Jason- Have a stabler relationship. Congrats on that.

Things that happened in the book:

Percy and Annabeth- !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I can’t describe it better than this)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Percy and Jason- BROS. Little bit competitive because they’re both alphas, but BROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOS

Leo and Hazel- Long sigh. Leo is a carbon copy of Hazel’s ex (from seventy years ago) and Leo’s like oh. Hazel’s kinda pretty. I mean she has a boyfriend sure I respect that but still. Pretty. (Turns out she’s his great grandpa’s girlfriend. wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.)

Leo and Frank- They start of great. Frank is paralyzed with fear that Leo’s going to steal his girlfriend and then murder him with fire. Leo spends the entire book teasing Frank without realizing this. Yey.

Annabeth and Frank- The have one scene together where Annabeth’s like “Aw look at this adorable manchild” and that’s pretty much it. 

Leo and Percy- Leo’s kinda disappointed that Percy’s so basic. Percy’s big brother instinct kicks in and he’s like “Listen here lil’ punk *jabs finger into Leo’s chest* if you lay one hand on Hazel and break up this pure relationship I SWEAR TO THE GODS-”

Piper and Percy- Piper’s kinda disappointed that Percy’s so basic. Percy’s like okay. Her. My girlfriend’s friend. We’re work colleagues. She’s okay I guess. 

Also as a side note:

Annabeth thinks Nico has a crush on her 

4) House of Hades (HoH)- POVs: Hazel, Annabeth, Leo, Percy, Frank, Jason (literally everyone except Piper WOW)

Percy and Annabeth- Surviving through Tartarus. There’s So Much Development To Their Relationship. Downside being Dark! Percy. Which isn’t really acknowledged as much as it should be. Like do they ever really talk heart to heart about it? No?

Leo and Hazel- Leo gets a girlfriend so he stops his weird soft pining @ Hazel. 

Leo and Frank- Frank’s not scared of Leo stealing his girlfriend and then murdering him with fire because he now has a ^girlfriend^ and Leo gave him a fire-proof pouch thing for his stick. 

Hazel and Frank- Frank’s hot now so... yeah!

Leo and Percy- .....So we’ve both on Calypso’s Island, huh? 

Piper and Hazel- They... apparently practice sword fighting? I mean, it’s not much but it’s something? Points for that?

Jason and Frank- They bond over being praetor/ roman although WE DON’T GET TO SEE THEM ACTUALLY HAVE THAT CONVERSATION DO WE RICK? 

Bonus relationships:

It should be noted that although I love Nico, he really isn’t one of the seven. I think Rick originally intended him to be a secondary character like he was in the first series, but then he became a main character. This wouldn’t be a problem except Rick is having enough trouble juggling the seven on their own.

Nico and Percy- SO SOMEONE HAS A CRUSH (although honestly wow doesn’t have a crush on Percy at this point). Their relationship is still strained from the last series.

Jason and Nico- Jason is basically Nico’s supportive Straight AllyTM/ Life Coach/ Mom who wants to grab Nico by the Ramones t-shirt, shake him a bit, tell him that there there are millions of queer kids in the world finding love everyday, that he’s his own worst enemy, he needs to get away from the underworld, go outside, make some friends, stop hating Percy, get some hobbies and then who knows maybe he’ll develop a disposition that others find more approachable (yes this is Contrapoints reference thank you for noticing)

5) Blood of Olympus (BoO)- POVs: Jason, Reyna, Leo, Nico, Piper (Note that Percy, Annabeth, Frank, and Hazel are not included >:((((()

Jason and Piper- Their relationship is developed a little bit. They work together the most out of all of the seven to defeat Gaia. They say I love you to each other at the end of the book (*represses all my knowledge of Trials of Apollo for the sake of this post*) Except for Leo’s “death”, everything’s great! 

Percy and Annabeth- Everything’s fine. Percy’s fine. Percy doesn’t have a dark side. Nope. “If I can’t drown neither can my pancakes!” Haha. Ha. Funny. 

Piper and Annabeth-  Let me cup your face, pull you forward until our foreheads are touching, and feel your rapid pulse as I whisper softly, “Fear can’t be reasoned with. Neither can hate. They’re like love. Stop thinking about it. Just feel. Let it scare you. Trust that it’ll be okay anyway”~

Leo and Percy- They address the Calypso thing (in the middle of a battle). So. You know. They’re on okay terms I guess?

Piper and Frank- Frank goes and “Brings the family full circle” offscreen and he’s like ‘yeah they didn’t like me because I’m not white’ and Piper’s like ‘well white people do suck sometimes’

Leo and Hazel/Frank- Oh hi I know we just resolved the awkwardness between us a few seconds ago but can collude with me on this top secret plan in which I’ll die and then maybe (if we play are cards right) come back to life? 

Bonus relationships:

Hazel and Nico: They’re cute siblings and I love them

Reyna and Nico: They’re cute adoptive siblings that have shared trauma and I love them.

Nico and Percy: Nico comes out. Percy’s confused because he doesn’t understand how internalized homophobia works (Wait... but you hated me... but then... you liked me this whole time??? What?????)

Nico and Annabeth: Oh I guess you didn’t have a crush on me then. Well. Good for you anyway *high five*

Nico and Will: SOLANGELO!!!!!  *rainbow flags*

Nico and Jason: Aw Jason’s so proud of him. 

Reyna and Piper: Reyna! Doesn’t! Need! A! Man! To! Be! Happy! She Has Friends! And Two Camps! They can get some sleep now! Wheeeeee!

In Conclusion, the Underdeveloped Relationships Are:

Percy, Piper, & Leo BROTP

Annabeth and Hazel

Piper and Hazel

Annabeth and Jason

Annabeth and Leo

Jason and Frank

Jason and Hazel

Piper and Frank

       All in all of the underdeveloped dynamics, you’re really left to believe that they’re just acquaintances fighting in the same war together. And I honestly believe that Rick just gave himself too many characters to work with. That, and tacking on two major characters in the end of the second to last book made a lot of the developments of Blood of Olympus feel rushed and weak. We call them the Seven, but honestly, it’s really the Nine. Part of what I really enjoy about this fandom is that people fill in the gaps and try to make all the interconnected friendships within the nine main characters really strong.

  In PJO, there was only one POV- Percy’s- and each book consisted of a core group of three or four characters going on one major quest together. The simplicity of both the narrative and group dynamic made developing character relationships more straight forward. Although the alternating POVs in HoO allows for more complex characterization and group dynamics, it’s a hard ship (pun intended) to handle.  The structure of a core group of three characters going on one major quest continues in TLH and SoN, but dissolves when all the characters come together in MoA. The sheer number of main characters mean that characters and character relationships get starved of development. Riordan has himself said that although he loved all his characters, having he regretted having so many. 

[ram-reads]

The seven demigods of the prophecy are finally together! Their arrival at New Rome doesn’t go as planned though, so they head out on their quest with the Roman demigods chasing them. They need to make it to Rome in order to stop the giants who want to destroy the city and save Nico who they’ve captured. Annabeth has a quest of her own though, one she needs to handle herself. If she succeeds she might finally heal the rift between the Roman and Greek camps, a rift that has only gotten worse now that the Roman demigods are after them for revenge. The plot of The Mark of Athena has been the strongest of the three so far. This is probably because there were many subplots that kept the story engaging as the seven made their way to Rome. Each character that we got the perspective of had their own problems to deal with: Leo was wondering what his connection to Hazel was along with having to avoid a tempting “gift” given to him by a goddess, Annabeth had to deal with going on a dangerous quest by herself after being given the Mark of Athena by her mother, Piper had to decipher scary visions of the future along with handling her growing insecurities in her relationship with Jason, and Percy had to confront his new fear of suffocating and learn how to work with others who are his equals. I was interested in the majority of these plots and they all merged well together. That isn’t to say I was constantly invested in the book though. I thought it took a long time for them to leave the states, so the chapters where they’re travelling through America started to drag for me. The journey through the Mediterranean Sea was built up as an impossible voyage full of many dangers and because of this I was looking forward to that section of the book the most. When I finally got to it I was left unimpressed. The dangers of the Mediterranean Sea felt like they were overhyped. I wish Riordan would’ve done more with that section of the story.

The worldbuilding may not be as expansive in this entry to the series, but you still get to learn much more about this universe. It was cool to finally be in Rome and see how some of the well known landmarks came into play. Minor gods and lesser known mythological beings were more of a focus in this book compared to others, which I personally liked because I always learn something new and I think the minor gods are cool. I love seeing what Riordan ends up doing with these gods and mythological beings because it’s never what you might expect. I was surprised about how I felt about the characters in this book compared to how I felt about them before. In The Lost Hero Leo was my favorite character, but in this one I could barely stand him at times. He seemed like a jerk half the time, especially when he was interacting with Frank. Percy continues to intrigue me more than he did in his own series. I have always been neutral toward Annabeth, but now that we finally get her perspective I actually ended up really liking her character. Piper irritated me a lot in The Lost Hero and while she still does at times I would say I no longer dislike her. She’s a nice person who cares about her friends and I can acknowledge that. The other three I didn’t have any strong feelings for except for Frank. He annoyed me just as much as Leo. It was like he was constantly angry. I understand why Frank was frustrated about Leo, but he ended up coming across as an overbearing boyfriend. The reason why I didn’t have strong feelings for Hazel and Jason is because I didn’t get their perspectives. I really wish we would’ve gotten them though. I think it was a missed opportunity on Riordan’s part because many times throughout the book I wanted to know how they were feeling. Seeing all seven work together was one of my favorite parts of the book, especially with Percy and Jason. I enjoyed watching the Romans and Greeks in the group warm up to each other and form new friendships. I’m glad that there were some slow moments between all the adventuring so the characters could actually interact with each other and deepen their relationships. Just like with the characters I was surprised to find that my feelings on all the romances have slightly changed. I have always been indifferent to Percy and Annabeth, but now I find their relationship to be super sweet. Seriously, they both care about each other so much that it’s nice to see. I’ve never minded Hazel and Frank, but with the weird somewhat love triangle Riordan was going for with Leo and Hazel made it one of the worst parts of the story. I still don’t like Piper and Jason because I find their love story both boring and weird, but I don’t absolutely despise it as I used to. I’ve accepted that Piper will always be thinking about her relationship because she’s a child of Aphrodite. On top of wishing that we got all of the character’s perspectives I also wish Riordan would go back to the format he did in the first book in The Heroes of Olympus. This book is like the last one where every character gets four chapters before switching to the next character. I liked it when the perspective changed every chapter so I could see a situation from more than one character’s perspective. With the way it’s being written now it feels like Riordan is back in his monster of the chapter days except now it’s monster of the character perspective. I don’t like how every encounter starts and ends with the same character. This series continues to get better and better with each entry. Now The Mark of Athena is my favorite even though I’ll give it the same rating I gave The Son of Neptune, which is 4.5 stars. The plot and all of the subplots merged together well, but the middle of the book did drag for me. My feelings about all of the characters and their relationships have changed. I like Percy and Annabeth a lot more than I ever did in the Percy Jackson series, and I would even say they’re my favorites of the seven. My biggest disappointment comes in the form of how Riordan is telling the story. I hope he goes back to switching perspectives every chapter. I have a feeling he won’t though. Either way, I want to read the next book right away because. that. cliffhanger! Riordan is great at making cliffhangers, but this is definitely his best one so far. If I didn’t already have two books I was looking forward to reading after this I would definitely read the next one right away. I’ve never been this hyped up to read any other book by Riordan.

[ladylillycrawley]

TMNT “Ghost of a Chance” FF Chapter 24 review

FINALLY!! The essay is done, @suthnmeh is pleased with it, and life feels fantastic again! I loved and enjoyed writing every bit of this, so I hope everyone enjoys reading this review of mine! Have fun!

Credit of story: @suthnmeh & @violette-aner​

Direct link to GoaC chpt. 24: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11258484/24/TMNT-A-Ghost-of-a-Chance

——————————————————————————————-

Oh man, this chapter hit me hard. All in good ways I promise, but still. It was deep, thoughtful, insightful, and brought up many internal conflicts that needed to be addressed. Plus, I’ve actually been wondering when a conversation like this was going to both Leo and Karai. I’m going to shamelessly admit that I was expecting a bit more of an explosion once the insecurities were identified and brought into the limelight. Never mind the fact that Karai nearly choked Leo to death, but I’m glad to see that tough subjects are being discussed rather than tucked further away. To be frank, I was expecting much more verbal explosions, a couple of punches or sword fights, the works. Personally, I would never want anyone to experience an outburst like what Leo and Karai had in this chapter, so I am glad that these two ended on a kinda-sorta good note. Therefore, I am curious to see what their relationship is going to look like post future turtles arrival. That aside, I wanted to write am analysis specifically on Karai, and reflect on what has been happening to her as of late. In short: I like her because she’s a complicated. Of course she’s also awesome, smart, and cunning, she’s still a tough cookie to crack. What I like about her though, is that since I started reading this story, she’s perked my interest due to my noticing a couple common themes in everything she does: do what is morally right vs. what she was duped to believe be right, and choosing between allowing someone else write the chapters of her life vs. writing it all on her own.

Way back in chapter 1, we saw that Karai was present on Sensei’s day (yay for things going in the right direction). She talked to the others off and on, she participated in a burping contest with Mikey, and she seemed to have her usual dark humor and lax self that everyone is familiar with. But when Raph and Mikey both made some comments that left the room to become a bit awkward, I could sense that the airtight walls around her heart were starting to tighten, and for good reason too. In her mind, she’s had to jump from one frame of thinking to another and strip down what she thought she was in a matter of months. Not years, months. That cannot be easy, and I am thankful that the Hamato clan recognizes this too. What I like about this portion of Karai’s personality is that her situation could be easily relatable. Granted, I cannot say that I’ve experienced everything that she’s gone through, but many of the manifestations of why she’s done what she has done and the feelings behind them, that part is definitely applicable to everyone in all walks of life. A great example would be back in chapter 2 when Karai conversed with April about her struggle between doing what she has known her whole life verses what is morally correct. To be more specific, she talks about how her life was “paved out for [her]”, she knew what she was, what she wanted it, it was, in a sense, uniform. And now that she’s out of her mutated state and is living with the turtles and Splinter, she’s scared to live out her own life, and make her own choices. I sense that she feels insanely out of place, out of touch, and unqualified to be a member any other clan. A reoccurring theme that plays out far too often in many lives, my own included.

This plays out again in chapter 3 when Karai shows off her new armor to Donnie when she says, “I just wanted an armor that doesn’t have ‘Shredder’s daughter’ written all over it”. Though this might seem like a harmless comment, it speaks VOLUMES about what she thinks behind doors. Growing up in the toxic environment of the Foot clan where the psychotic dictator pretends to be your father, it is understandable as to why she’d make comments as this. Thankfully, Donnie intervened brilliantly by saying, “It doesn’t. But even if it did, it wouldn’t matter”. Kudos to him for catching her comment and being the good bro he is! And whether she realizes this or not, I do hope that she knows that she’s neither alone, nor would it be wise to give up on her new family before giving them a fighting chance to help her completely.

Which leads me to my feeling as though Karai might be losing hope all together by having a hunger for revenge and calling it justice. Let’s start off with the part where she finds out that the creepy ghost in the Chinese pendent is her deceased mom back in chapter 23. I’m not going to speak for everyone regarding this but as someone who is very close to their parents, I, too, would be appalled if either of my folks were trapped in a tightly packaged, Chinese spell encrypted, box. Therefore, I don’t intend to judge her for wanting integrity for her deceased mother. Quite the contrary actually. But given what has been reveled to us readers about what and how Karai has been feeling thus far I the story, it looks like Karai has dubbed the Lotus as the only form of hope she has due to the clan wanting action now rather than later, unlike Splinter who has suggested otherwise. Even though I do admire her wanting justness to be served, especially for Tang Shen, I do hope that she does take Splinter’s suggestion and meditate on his wisdom before doing anything else.

Whew! Now that I have all of that out of the way, it’s off to the other characters mentioned in this chapter! With Leo, I am glad that he got off his high horse for a bit and saw that Hachisu isn’t as glorious as he though she was. Hopefully he will quit idolizing her and focus on both his mannerism and being a good leader (not a perfect leader, but a good leader). Mikey, as usual, was freaking adorable, and I must say that Raph surprised me with his agreeing with Karai (talk about out of character considering he’s not really fond of her). And Donnie? Well, I could write a book as long as “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” about how much I love & adore him, but I shall save that for another day. As always, I LOVED this chapter, you all should be very proud with how incredible has become, so cheers to each and every one of you!

[lotus-hotel]

I think that a 'thing' Rick does is create characters, add them in and then "save them for later"

Will's first appearance in PJO was in The Last Olympian, where Percy took him away from the battle so he could go heal Annabeth. That allowed Rick to add three new characters: Will as a healer and Kayla and Austin as his siblings, that weren't as skilled as him at healing.

In HoO, there was a clear intention to add new characters and give them more depth. Him using Will to guide Leo around camp and giving him a solid personality (that kept being reflected during the rest of the books) was him adding extra depth to one of his spare characters, probably with the intention of having a minor character ready to use without needing to introduce a completely new character to the series.

I don't think Nico's arc was fully completed, I feel like he would have been originally shipped with Leo. Rick doesn't mix main and minor characters in relationships. Percy and Annabeth, Hazel and Frank (which is a whole other issue in itself, but it proves that Rick ships his main characters no matter what), Jason and Piper. Grover, who was only a MC during the first 5 books, got shipped with Juniper, a minor character. We didn't see a lot of them in HoO, which shows that Grover became a used-to-be-main-but-is-now-minor character and was okay to ship with someone not fully involved in the plot.

This might just be my impression (and feel free to contradict me in this! This is only based on what I remember from the books! I might be wrong or have a foggy memory), but Leo meeting Calypso felt,, odd. Out of place. Like he needed more words for the book and added that in. There's no foreshadowing to Calypso coming back to the series (ie, Percy didn't mention her at all during HoO), and I think she was destined to be a minor character that stayed in PJO.

Adding to that, it would make a lot of sense if Leo wasn't straight. He could be using his "all da ladies love Leo" phrase and flirty personality to hide his own insecurities regarding his sexuality and self-worth.

Basically, I feel like Leo and Calypso weren't originally planned to be together, and neither were Will & Nico. That doesn't mean Caleo and Solangelo aren't good ships, don't get me wrong, but I just feel like they weren't part of the original storyline. That's fine, 5 book long series are bound to deviate from the original plan, but it left some odd bits here and there.

Last thing: Rick was probably thinking of trials of Apollo and he knew he'd need a son of Apollo, so BOOM: Will becomes main character.

[TLDR]

Let's start summing this up because it might get long:

- Will, Drew, Austin & Kayla and a lot of other minor characters that appeared, got a personality and were never spoken of again were, to me, characters that Rick created "just in case" so he could have extra characters to fill the plot if needed. Writing a 5-part book is difficult and having extra characters is useful to fill plot holes :,)

- Rick only ships main characters with main characters. Nico and Leo would have been together if it wasn't for Calypso, or because Rick was already planning TOA and needed a son of Apollo to be a main character for the books to have a link with HoO.

- Will did serve to confirm that Michael died in TLO, but it was just to fill a plot hole.

- He wasn't originally part of the plan, which is why he was kind of forgotten until Trials Of Apollo became a thing in Rick's mind and he realised he'd need a son of Apollo.

Disclaimer, I don't hate solangelo, Will Solace or any of the ships / characters mentioned here, I just wanted to point out why Will Solace was in some of the books, kind of out of nowhere.

chekov's love interest: what was up with will solace in TLH?

So I recently reread HoO, and I was honestly pretty surprised by how... present Will was, in The Lost Hero. Like, he's not a major character by any means - but he gets to tour Leo around CHB and he has a solid if not very in-depth personality. The choice to have it be him was honestly a bit confusing to me, as I feel like fan favorite minor characters from the previous series could have easily filled the role.

I only have two explainations:

A) Given that the fate of Michael Yew was left ambiguous on TLO, maybe Rick wanted to confirm who the new head counselor was? I wasn't in the fandom way back when, so I don't know if that was a topic of discussion.

B) Rick already had Nico's arc planned out, and knew that he was going to make Will his love interest, so he just... placed him in TLH and called it a day? As if that is actually development???????????

baffling.

[jflashandclash]

Attrition of Peace

Thirty One: Ajax

I Bully a Teenager on Fire

 Pax felt like a cheesy villain. If he had a mustache to twirl, now would have been appropriate mustache swirling time. Pax couldn’t grow one, but he heard construction paper and some tape could get the job done. [1]

Atë had been right: children of Eris were designed to be bad guys. “You and I are a lot alike…” he repeated to Leo. Pax removed his helmet, to remind Leo he was talking to another demigod instead of a monster, though the definition might have been blurring beyond a Mist trick and was questionable on the distinction.

A tugging sensation hit Pax’s gut as he said, “I know exactly how much this is going to hurt. So, sorry. I’ll give you an IOU on a burger or something.”

Leo tightened his grip on the sledgehammer and makeshift cage. Contrary to what Kally might have thought, Pax wanted Leo as armed as possible, and not because it would make things good for a photo op.

“You’re not the one who’ll be apologizing!” Leo declared before frowning. “Not that I’ll apologize. Because you’re a jerk. Dude, you have gotta stop twisting words around.” Leo’s hands rekindled.

That was the only thing Pax didn’t want.

Pax put up his empty hand. “Leo, we all know you’re hot enough without the flames. Besides, I’m the one who took Frank’s stick and pretended to be Hazel to make out with him. Do you really wanna flame up around me?”

Leo made a face at the words make out.  

Pax didn’t want to do this. But he and his friends were about to start losing. He could still hear the command in his brother’s tone when he hissed—in Mayan—to get ready. As an information broker, Pax wanted to scream. You don’t mess with the Big Three on equal footing. That’s how you get weapon hurricanes, forecasted only for people who screwed up fighting a child of Poseidon or Hades.

The wind had picked up and spiraled towards Mr. Tempest Tantrum.

By now, Pax couldn’t see or sense Kally in his immediate surroundings. But he could hear the other Calypso muttering something from the trench. He gestured vaguely to her. “I guess she’s been lying to you. About the magic. And the boys. I wonder how much she’s lied to you about Mr. Seaweed Brain. You did just leave her to kill the one person in her way of getting Percy back. The one who took her dream boy from her.”

           Pax remembered all the times he wished he’d been born a child of Apollo, or Athena, or even Dionysus, with the ability to heal, to do underwater basket weaving, or to make people uncontrollably disco. He remembered how sad he was the first time he found out what he could do.

           A tugging in his gut told him his powers were taking effect. He had hated using it on Kally, to make her anguished enough for a solar blast. He hated it here.

“Hey, Snake Dude,” Leo said, “Don’t talk about my Sunshine like that. Else I’ll face-plant you. Hard. Leo-style.”

When Pax had done this to Kally, to make her angry about her mother’s presumed rape, he focused on the past horror he felt when realizing what his father must have done to Aunt Nilley for Axel to be born or Ms. Iwakura for Hiro. There had been no love there.

For Leo, this was much easier. He could feel their shared insecurities, honing in on the jealousy, the self-hate, the rage, the inadequacies, and the guilt. All Pax had to do was think about what would happen after this: how Alabaster would join their group, how Alabaster and Kally would start a painfully awkward romance worthy of their own nerd sitcom, since Alabaster was a hot dork and Kally wouldn’t tease him for being a witch, how Kally would try not to third wheel Pax, and Alabaster wouldn’t care because Pax hurt him too much. How Pax would become more and more alone until his brother murdered him in an act of rage.

Okay, maybe Leo wouldn’t empathize with that last part.

“I wonder if she’s been altering your memories, to avoid having to see him again. Have you had weird gaps or time lapses?” Pax asked. With the whistle of the wind, and the dash of rain, he had to raise his voice. “That’s like lollipop-stealing for a sorceress of her level, even if she’s out of her zone.”

Leo’s mouth twitched. His fire extinguished again.

“Do you think she’ll leave you for Percy whenever Annabeth and Percy break up? I mean, they will eventually break up. They’re a high school couple, and—even with the trauma—statistics aren’t in their favor for a healthy adult relationship. And that whole saved-her-from-forever-alone will eventually wear off of Calypso.”

“Wow. Dude. Ladies dig Commander Leo.” Although the words seemed confident, Pax could feel the anxiety unsettling Leo’s mind. The pull in Pax’s gut deepened, like a howler monkey decided to use his intestines as a getaway rope. “Calypso wouldn’t—”

“It’s okay,” Pax said, “It hurts to know you’re Ogygia’s—ha ha—washed up second. Or, in Calypso’s case, washed up twenty-third.”

“Not cool,” Leo snapped. He had gone pale. His fingers mindlessly fiddled with the leg trap. Before, Leo had been glancing back at his friends, to where the wind had picked up and the explosions were occurring. Now, all his attention was focused on Pax.

Although Percy’s gusts were howling and tiny water droplets dashed into Pax’s cheek with the ferocity of kamikaze mosquitoes, Pax braced into the storm with a sense of belonging. Feeling the watery daggers cut into his skin calmed him. Considering everything that had happened, this is how the world should look.

They were running out of time. Axel wouldn’t be able to stand against this for long.

“It’s hard, when you’re up against someone that you could never beat,” Pax said, feeling the bitterness slip into his voice. “Someone with a full, living family that loves them. A constant place to call home. Someone always accepted to the fanciest schools no matter how much he screwed up in the past. Someone whose ADHD and dyslexia only affects him when it’s convenient for the plot.[2] Someone that all the boys and girls fall for without him even trying. Someone with a future. How long do you think it’ll be before he steals your golden apple?”  

Pax shrugged. The words made him feel numb. Not like a cute panda. “Again, you saved her from Ogygia, but that little party won’t last forever. How long do you think you’ll matter with him here?”

           Leo opened and closed his mouth like he wanted to respond, but either nothing came out or the hurricane drowned the noise.

           Pax clenched his fist. Leo replicated the movement. And Pax could tell, without any satisfaction or happiness, that he’d won and—in a horrifically evil way—he’d be able to save the day.

 Thanks for reading! I hope everyone had a fantastic Halloween!

  [1] Random soundtrack update! This scene was almost entirely written to the Kitchen Cover of Believer. (Admitted, with the AMV for Kakegurui).

[2] Sorry, I had to. :D

[alextriestowritestuff]

Mark of Athena Re-read

Hey guys! If you’ve been keeping up with my last couple of posts, you’ll know I’ve been re-reading the Heroes of Olympus (HoO) series by Rick Riordan, starting with the Son of Neptune. If you want to my thoughts on it (spoilers included) and my background with the series, click here. I made a little bit of rant post about my feelings about the HoO series overall so far and you can find that here! This post will be about the Mark of Athena (MoA) and as always, spoilers abound.

Soooo y’all...I think this book is worse than the Lost Hero. I feel so bad for saying that bc I hated tLH (Like I’d give that book 2 stars) but god, this was so bad. No wonder I forgot what happened when I originally read it. Before I get into it, I will say I’m usually not negative in my ‘reviews’-I’ll give credit where it’s due (I did that in tSoN with Hazel and Frank who weren’t really my fav characters to start with) but this book has very little redeemable aspects imo. So I’ll start with the thing I was most irritated about: Piper.

Piper...Piper...Piper. Gods, none of her chapters ever passed the Bechdel test. I DESPISE her and I hated every single one of her chapters. With characters like Frank, I admitted that sometimes his chapters were a bit boring but I never hated the guy’s narration. Piper, however, is an insecure hypocrite. Let me show you.

So at one point, Annabeth, Piper, and Hazel meet up with Aphrodite. The POV is Annabeth’s and while Aphrodite is talking to them, it seems like Piper is just embarrassed to have her around. 

“Mother!” Piper said. “You’re embarrassing me.” “Well, I don’t see why,” the goddess said. “Just because you don’t appreciate my fashion tips, Piper, doesn’t mean the others won’t. I could do a quick makeover for Annabeth and Hazel, perhaps silk ball gowns like mine—” “Mother!” 

And a few lines later she says again “ ‘Mother, Piper said, “is there a reason you’re here?’” (30). 

Okay so someone tell me why this girl says 10 pages later “But also, Piper was secretly hurt not to have her mother to herself. Aphrodite had barely looked at her. She hadn’t said a word about Jason. She hadn’t bothered explaining her conversation with Reyna at all. It was almost as if Aphrodite no longer found Piper interesting. Piper had gotten her guy. Now it was up to her to make things work, and Aphrodite had moved on to newer gossip as easily as she might toss out an old copy of a tabloid magazine” (40). LIKE GIRL MAKE UP YOUR MIND. Do you want your mom’s attention or not? But I’m highkey interested in what Aphrodite said to Reyna tho.

Let’s talk about Reyna for a second. First off, I feel so bad for her?? Percy turned her down-fine, he has a gf. Then I thought Jason had feelings for her but he says this in MoA, page 19: “It’s just…I never felt that way toward Reyna,” Jason said, “so I didn’t think about its making you uncomfortable. You’ve got nothing to worry about, Pipes”. Like damn can Reyna get any love?? I get that he doesn’t like her anymore since he met Piper but to have never liked her? That’s rough. And notice how this quote is from page 19, but again on p. 40, Piper is still so insecure in their relationship. I don’t she’s listened to a word he said at all. Then towards the end of the book, she says oh I love you but she literally didn’t know the man’s age prior to that. Like what?? Did they even kiss this book? I think like once lmao. Also speaking of the birthday thing, Piper says this while she waits for Jason to blow out his birthday candles.

“Well?” she urged. “Blow out the candles.”

Jason did. Piper wondered if he’d made a wish—hopefully that he and Piper would survive this quest and stay together forever. She decided not to ask him. She didn’t want to jinx that wish, and she definitely didn’t want to find out that he’d wished for something different. 

Me @ Jason: This your girl? Come get her. Because Imma hurt her feelings. What do you mean you want him to wish to stay together forever? He should wish for Gaea to you know die so everyone can be safe. If I ever met Piper in person, I’d fight her. ON SIGHT. 

In a related note, I’ve got nothing to say about Jason. He was fine. He passed out alot during this book, didn’t do much for how hyped his powers are supposed to be. I will say when he and Percy were possessed and they fought each other, Percy totally won that fight. He knocked Jason the hell out and was about to end his whole career until Piper got Blackjack to knock him out. But overall, I think Jason’s rather bland and him and Piper have NO chemistry. But I don’t think he deserves insecure Piper as a girlfriend. She’s a whole ass child of Aphrodite and she’s worried about her relationship...let me move on.

My main issue with the book lies in the structure and plot. The previous two books had 3 narrators and each set of trio had a specific prophecy assigned to them-i.e: Percy, Hazel and Frank had to free death, retrieve the eagle. The prophecies are a catalyst to get them to go on the quest. And then obviously, we have the overarching prophecy of the seven that will come to fruition in small chunks until the last book of the series. That’s fine. So the issue with MoA is that now Rick is handling seven characters + Coach Hedge (like why was he necessary??). He has 4 POVs which threw me the hell off bc we had 3 in the previous two books and honestly, I think we could’ve gone without one of them (Percy’s actually). As a writer, it’s hard to balance multiple characters in the same setting constantly. If they have a conversation, one or two of them will have less lines because other characters have already said them. Therefore to give everyone adequate ‘screen time’, Rick had to separate them by keeping groups of three or two on their own side quest. As a result, however, reading the book felt like I was being brake checked constantly. Ex-We follow Percy, Frank, and Hedge to an Aquarium then we follow Annabeth, Hazel, and Piper to meet Aphrodite, then they encounter the Romans, then Piper and Jason meet Hercules and get the horn and so on. Like they’re constantly shifting and doing stuff but not going as a group so it feels like I’m constantly trying to catch up. There’s too many pit stops for my liking. And I deadass have no idea what most of it had to with the MoA prophecy. 

This disjointed-ness is what makes me rate it lower than tLH. Because while I didn’t like Piper or Jason in that book, it was still cohesive. There was a plot and it was followed. Another reason I might feel this way toward MoA is because Rick has a formula and it’s starting to be predictable. Think about the original Greek myths-there’s one main demigod like Hercules, there’s a quest, there’s godly interference so it makes sense the the PJO/HoO characters have the same thing. But all this talking to gods (esp gods we’ve already met like Aphrodite) is taking up so much space and slowing the plot. It also didn’t help that the minor villians in this book are all unlikeable?? All they did was talk. Otis and Ephialtes. Porchy and Keto. Arachane. All they did was talk. Here’s how to defeat a PJO/HoO villain: con them to help you/let you go or fight them. That’s it. 

This book is where I started to really regret reading the series. Like I was just over it. The plot was somehow slow and all over the place at the same time. The last couple of chapters were good because I was like finally, something relevant to the prophecy is happening. 

Let me leave you guys with some positives about this book though:

1. Annabeth’s POV. What a gal. When she faces Arachane, Annabeth mentions that she doesn’t have an active power like the other Seven but she has her intelligence. And I’m like yes girl, you are brave and everything I want to be. I would read the PJO series from her POV over this series.

2. Percabeth. They kept promising to come back to each other and my heart melted. Percy was so worried about letting her go follow the Mark but he knew it’s what she had to do and he let her go. And ugh, them falling got me all over again. And like just their chemistry is off the charts. Piper and Jason could never. 

3.  Percy’s comments about Luke. Percy realizes that he’s around Luke’s age when Luke went all ‘Gods are bad, their children are pawns’ and like I get chills from reading that passage because you can tell Percy’s tired. He can’t have a life because of these quests, he’s constantly moments away from dying. He never really got a chance to be a teenager. And I get he wants to help people and keep the world from being taken over by bad guys but he’s also human. He’s seen demigods die...he’s traumatized. Like Percy, I really understand Luke better now (right idea, wrong execution) and l see how tired Percy is. 

4. The Leo/Hazel/Frank disaster of a love triangle. Like I’ve mentioned before, I want Hazel, a THIRTEEN YEAR OLD child, to be left the hell alone when it comes to romance. But because Uncle Rick insists on pairing up everyone, I have to oblige. So here I am. The amount of times I cackled at Frank and Leo’s digs at each other is astronomical. Like shots were fired, no one held back. I was like is this even MG/lower end of YA anymore with all this salt?? Over the years I’ve been spoiled about the series so I know that Leo somehow ends up with Calypso so I know nothing will come out of the love triangle (and it seems to be wrapping up bc Leo and Frank complimented each other’s abilities toward the end there) but passive aggressive-ness was peak. 

5. Every single conversation between Reyna and Annabeth. Like two powerhouses talking about wanting to save their camps and the world. I loved it. Hands down. I hope they can be friends when this is all over. 

6. And lastly, the reunion of Percabeth. The Judo flip. The fact that Percy talked about having a future with her. 

Thanks for reading if you made it down here and I’ll see you guys in a couple of days with my House of Hades update. This book and the one after it I’m reading for the first time ever so I’m going in semi blind (like I said, I know some spoilers). I’m currently on chapter 2 or 3 of that and ermm, it was a weak intro but I’ll keep going :) rooting for Percabeth to make it through.