#anyways tower of nero who??
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read some posts abt the new pjo book which ofc got me thinking abt smth completely different ahshdjdj
say what u want abt uncle rick but he’s never written the same romance twice. like think abt it:
slow burn rivals to friends to lovers who kinda go crazy when the other is taken / goes missing and it develops to the point where the boy would rather fall into the deepest pit of hell (and do quests to ask gods for rec letters for college) than be without her (iconic, showstopping, never the same, absolutely one of a kind)
guy falls in love with girl only to find out he fell in love with an enchanted pottery version of her, which promptly is destroyed. upon finding the real her, she hates him before she begrudgingly begins to like him and then they get tgt at the end of the series.
girl likes guy, except due to his bloodline he’s cursed to die within a few months but she kinda wants to be tgt anyways. but wait! at the same time she also has a crush on this 4000 year old egyptian god bc his human form is cute (a form only she can see btw). she’s torn between them until in the last book they merge into one person??? and she starts dating him/them/idek???
amnesiac boy wakes up on a bus next to his girlfriend, only to find out later that a goddess implanted memories of them dating into both of their heads and they actually don’t know each other at all. over the course of a quest they develop some real feelings and decide to keep their relationship going. i think they break up later but i stopped reading the books before then so
boy and genderfluid person meet in the afterlife and trade snarky banter until eventually he accidentally confesses by using the power of his crush to shrink a god to the size of a perfume bottle
boy develops crush on girl who everyone else is wary of / doesn’t like bc she is the daughter of the god of the underworld. eventually he finds out that she died like 80 years ago and her brother brought her back to life bc the god of death was chained but he accepts her past and likes her no matter what.
boy is magically transported to the cursed island of a millennia old titaness who was promised freedom and is bitter that she never received it (although it’s theorized that she was granted it but all the gods forgot to tell her) and while he’s trying to get off the island they fall in love and he gets back to her by faking his death and using a magic compass to get him back to the island and gets her off of it. i think they also break up at one point but i again i stopped reading the books by then so
sunshine healer boy encounters emo death boy being all emo and pushing people away and goes fuck that and gets close to him and all the while the emo boy is like “a person likes me ??? for who i am??? sounds fake” and then they eventually start dating
#percy jackson and the olympians#the kane chronicles#magnus chase and the gods of asgard#percabeth#caleo#frazel#fierrochase#if the other ships have ship names i’ve forgotten / don’t know them absbdndn#jason grace x piper mclean#will solace x nico di angelo#carter kane x zia rashid#sadie kane x walt x anubis lmao#writing that last one made me die a little inside#but seriously considering he’s written so many books its amazing that none of his romances have similar dynamics to each other at all#probably bc like half of them are kinda wacked out but STILL#oh yeah btw i stopped reading after the first trials of apollo book#or maybe the second one idk#anyways tower of nero who??
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Nobody crucify me for this but I really don’t get why people are so mad about the “Percy is still 17 thing” because like… Rick’s explanation made sense enough to me? In a book series that’s spanned almost 20 years now and takes place in “our world” but not “real world time” (and where there’s schist like literal gods and monsters), people are fuming that the timeline doesn’t make sense with all the references to pop culture? Like, we already know the actual plot timeline within the books is a little screwy and not perfect, but why are we all big mad out here trying to fight the author in a Denny’s parking lot? Just because Percy isn’t canonically 18 yet? (Or 30 something). I don’t blame him for keeping Percy on the cusp of legal adulthood with the way some of you guys have been acting lately.
There’s no year ever given in the books to date the exact time of Percy’s adventures (or his birth year) because, like Rick said, his adventure is happening whenever you pick up the book and read it. Yes, there’s a wide range of pop culture references and jokes from over the years in the series but like… so what? He writes jokes that the current audiences and year will understand, that’s all. The series has been going for, what, 17 years now? And new fans of varying ages are always joining. The series and the jokes are ever evolving to reach these newer fans (many of whom are elementary and middle school aged, remember). As far as I know he never claimed for there to be a strictly linear timeline based in our real world time. He’s kept stuff vague on purpose to avoid giving exact years.
I think we all forget that The Lightning Thief started out as a bedtime story for Rick’s son, and that it took some time to even be accepted and published as a book. He didn’t initially set out to create a whole series with 15+ books spanning almost 20 years. I’m sure he didn’t know how large and expansive the series would become, and so that’s why there’s no set in stone timeline. Some authors give their series set years and stick with it throughout (Cassandra Clare, for example, has a whole intricate timeline going for her Shadowhunter books and sticks to it like glue), and some don’t. It’s just how it is. And most characters don’t tend to age outside their books… so yes, Percy is still 17 because, as of The Tower of Nero (which came out 2 years ago now, btw), his last canonical book appearance, he had yet to celebrate his 18th birthday or even officially start college. Just because we’re out here “celebrating” his birthday in the real world doesn’t mean he’s actually aging. It’s just a little goofy thing because he’s a popular character.
Are people just mad because this character we grew up with who kept aging in the books is now frozen at 17 (because his story is done) and we keep aging? We do need to remember that it’s a kids/young adult series, ergo, the characters are all still teens and pre-teens. Not yet adults.
Anyway I’ve just been thinking about that sorry
#please don’t rip my head off for this#I’m just really confused as to why some fans are frothing at the mouth about this#you can be mad about him not aging#free country and all that#but some people really went off the deep end over this#percy jackson and the olympians#heroes of olympus#trials of apollo#pjo hoo toa#percy jackson#pjo fandom#pjo#rick riordan#rrverse#riordanverse#my stuff
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When Percy and Annabeth fall into Tartarus. There's this line that Annabeth thinks while falling down that Heloise had speculated it would take 9 days to fall to tartarus.
In Tower of Nero when Apollo falls he too thinks the exact same thing as Annabeth while fallling. Only he isnt falling with a trusted loving friend like her but an extra large scary horrifying reptile who wants to kill him.
Yay Apollo got the worst deal he always does. sad.
Now
Lets see When Percy Annabeth fall its actually cause of Arachne, Athena's arch enemy longing for revenge for years, and Annabeth is daughter of Athena anyways Arachne falls and drags Annabeth with her just so she can take Annabeth dowm with her for revenge.
Then there's Python who has been longing to take his revenge on Apollo too... Apollo is his arch enemy who defeated him. He comes back when doors of death are open retakes his old cave of Delphi blocks Apollo's source of power and is longing for revenge on Apollo. Then Apollo takes drags him into tartarus with him. That if he gonna fall he's gonna take python with him.
In both cases Archane and Python they die or whatever while Apollo and percy with annabeth make it back up.
I feel like there's definitely something to be said here but i cant place my finger on it. and u all not ready for that conversation yet.
#trials of apollo#heroes of olympus#tartarus#python#arachne#percy jackson#annabeth chase#apollo#lester papadopoulos#athena#mark of athena#the tower of nero#pjo
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Okay so since those infection au’s are spreading online (pun intended), I’ve been thinking of an au for PJO, specifically post-TOA. Uh idk how dark this will get so read at your discretion.
So basically it’s after Tower of Nero events, Apollo is a god once more, god of disease and all so he just casually sends out some disease like he does without thinking to much of it. It’s literal days until Apollo realizes something is severely wrong because when he’s flying over cities in his chariots, they aren’t as busy or crowded as they usually are.
Even when the other Gods return to Olympus from mingling with humans and whatnot, they look oddly terrible, as if they caught a flu or cold which should be impossible.
Obviously, Apollo being the god of healing is the one who’s checking up on the other Gods but he has no clue how a disease can spread to even them.
The only one with full immunity is Apollo, he made the disease so it does not affect him. His descendants and demigod kids are somewhat immune to the point they can catch it but it won’t be nearly as bad/might heal/not contagious.
Everyone else? Can get it, spread it. It’s like a zombie-apocalypse, if zombies did not want to eat brains.
The first god to bring it back to Olympus is Hermes, which Apollo was basically ordered to do a check up on him because ‘gods don’t get sick so why is he sick?’ Still undecided if the other gods have any immunity or if they’re just as susceptible like mortals are, same with various monsters.
Anyway, it is *rough* to deal with, especially since Apollo is single-handedly watching over the gods who got infected and the demigods. Surely he can just make an antidote but it doesn’t seem like the antidote can reverse or fully stop the spread, just maybe slow it down a little bit which is obviously not good.
At some point, probably after most of his family is infected, Apollo just shows up at Meg’s place in his Lester form like ‘hey so I may have messed up and need your help to make some kind of medicine-‘ Meg is just in disbelief that even now Apollo still needs her help but she helps reluctantly.
If I could draw I would draw out various characters with infection rates, sanity, immunity, and whatnot but alas, I can not draw. Basically Apollo and mortals related to him are immune/semi-immune while everyone else is fair game. Apollo has no idea how it got so bad so quickly to the point of spreading to the gods but if he doesn’t fix it soon, there’s going to be massive consequences, probably worst than losing the Oracles.
#percy jackon and the olympians#percy jackson#trials of apollo#pjo hoo toa#pjo#toa#lester papadopoulos#infection au
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We need to normalize criticizing our favorite works, pointing out shortcomings in representation while simultaneously celebrating how far that representation has come. I’ll go first.
The Riordanverse (Percy Jackson and its spin-offs) is hands-down one of the best examples of mainstream queer representation for kids. It was probably the biggest formative element of my early queer journey, and I am so grateful for everything Rick Riordan has done for the community. I will continue to support him and his works with all of my heart.
That being said, he has a problem with squeezing his representation into the very last pages of the book, confirmed but not explored. We have three confirmed queer relationships involving demigods:
Nico and Will, confirmed in the last chapter of the series
Piper and Shel, confirmed on the very last page of The Burning Maze.
Magnus and Alex, confirmed in the last chapter of the series (they did kiss a bit earlier)
P.S. I forgot about Lavinia until just before posting, but her entire lesbianism also is introduced and concluded in the span of about a page.
As you can see, it’s extremely consistent. Like I said, these are the only three examples of queer teenage relationships over Riordan’s five series, and they all happen right at the end. We also find that most of the straight pairings (Percy/Annabeth, Frank/Hazel, Jason/Piper, Tyson/Ella, and even things like Hedge/Mellie are confirmed in the middle of the series and given room to grow our at least be referenced back to.
It’s unclear whether this was a conscious or unconscious decision. Perhaps Riordan felt constrained by his publisher. Perhaps he was afraid that he didn’t have the proper background knowledge to accurately write the details of a queer relationship. Both of these are understandable and valid, if a bit disappointing, and I would much rather that he wrote them as he did than not at all.
However…
The good news is that it seems like he’s trying to fix it! He sprinkled in enough of Will and Nico in the first book of the sequel series Trials of Apollo for me to forgive him for their lackluster confirmation in Heroes of Olympus. But then he surprised us all by making Nico and Will two of the five main characters on the Trials of Apollo’s finale (The Tower of Nero), and I can tell you that the fandom ate it up!
But in case that wasn’t enough, soon after the release of The Tower of Nero, Riordan announced The Sun and the Star, now set for release this May! In this book, Nico and Will are the protagonist and deuteragonist, meaning the story will be entirely focused around them! And just to make sure Riordan absolutely knows what he’s doing, he’s decided to co-write it with a gay author Mark Oshiro to make sure they can represent the characters accurately!
And… and the best part… Riordan has done his fair share of novellas and short stories, and ever since the announcement I had assumed that that’s what this was, but no! It’s a full-length book with 480 pages! To compare, that’s strangely enough the exact same page count as The Tower of Nero! I’m so blown away by how much Riordan has gone above and beyond with this book, and I’m insanely excited for it. Sorry this turned into The Sun and the Star propoganda, I didn’t know that the publication date was so close or how long it was until just now.
Anyway, where I’m going with this is that I have extreme respect for a creator who’s willing to listen to feedback from the kinds of people he is writing about and constantly grow from those mistakes! He’s still by far my favorite author of all time. Love you, Uncle Rick!
#lgbtq#rick riordan#solangelo#nico do angelo#will solace#magnus chase#alex fierro#piper mclean#percy jackon and the olympians#trials of apollo#heroes of olympus#magnus chase and the gods of asgard#the sun and the star
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Crawling Back to Me
Jiraiya x NarutoMotherFigure!Reader x ???
Synopsis: You had broken things off with the Sannin, but when he arrived back in Konoha 2 years later - you were feeling things you wished you didn't.
Song: Guilt by Nero (Link: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=r1ATFedwjnk&feature=share)
He angered you, angered you more than you'd like to admit. "You could go talk to him... You know?" Kakashi muttered, annoyed with the way you were ignoring him. You let out a huff, arms crossing as you looked at the white-haired man beside you. "I can't just go talk to him, Kashi... I broke it off remember"
Kakashi let out a hum, he knew quite well how that convo went down two years ago. There was a lot of screaming, crying, and throwing of shoes. You two were toxic for each other, so he wasn't sure why you wanted to talk to the idiot across the field. You turned back to watch Jiraiya as he walked Naruto through a couple of moves. "I just wish he would just, I don't know-"
"Beg for you back?"
"Yes! Exactly!! That's exactly how I-"
Your mouth slammed shut as you turned to face a disappointed Kakashi. He didn't have to say anything, the look in his eyes alone told you that what you were wishing for was not okay. "What did he do to you again?"
His question didn't mean to come out condescending, but it did anyway. You pursed your lips before facing forward. Your eyes dropped to the gravel below your feet, what did you break up with him for? He didn't cheat, never hurt you in any way... There had to have been a reason though.
Kakashi's glare softened as he took in the way your face crinkled in pain. "Why don't you go talk to him..." his hand went to your back, rubbing at it in the hopes it would alleviate some of the angst coursing through your bloodstream. "He won't listen to me, I don't think I deserve the chance to talk to him-"
"Hey"
Both you and Kakashi looked up in shock. You were so focused on trying to remember why you broke it off and Kakashi was so focused on you that neither one of you saw or heard the man walking towards you. "Jiraiya" you breathed out, eyes sparkling hopefully as he towered over you. "Naruto needs some supplies for our next trip. Can you get them for him before we leave?"
Kakashi bit back a snarl as he watched your face fall into a deeper pain, a pain that you felt throughout your entire body, one he knew all too well. "Ya." You whispered as your eyes drifted to Kakashi. The disbelief and agony written all over your face had him fighting the urge to pummel the man before him for making you feel this way.
"Thanks" he stated simply before turning to leave. "That's it? You aren't even going to ask her how she's been?"
"Kashi" you whimpered out, hand flying to his wrist as he took off after the older man. Jiraiya stopped in his tracks, head-turning just enough so you both could see his glare. "I have nothing to do with her. Not anymore" the snarl that flew from his lips had you shaking in both anger and fear. You understood that he probably didn't want to see you ever again, but to this extent?
"You're a fucking asshole-"
"Kakashi" you warned again as passerby's started looking your way. Jiraiya turned finally to face the other white-haired man. Kakashi broke free from your grip and stepped forward, both sizing the other up as if threatening the other to back down.
"I don't think you deserved her from the start" Kakashi snapped out, finally having enough of the asshole before him. "What, and you did?" Jiraiya bit back, "I know you had a pathetic little crush on her, yet you weren't the one who got in her pants. I was"
Your eyes widened in shock at the way Jiraiya spoke about you, it was disgusting. If this is how he talked about you in front of you, "Jiraiya" you stated firmly, the way you spit his name out was venomous, as if it left a bad taste in your mouth. "If you speak about me like that, or any woman for that matter, in front of Naruto... And he picks up that language... I will pull him from your training and ensure he will never see you again, do you understand me?"
Jiraiya's eyebrow shot up in surprise, he wasn't used to this side of you. But, deciding to let it go, he backed down from Kakashi. He turned once more to leave, and this time Kakashi let him.
Kakashi's eyes met yours, softening at the once again sad look in your eyes. He was hoping the anger you just had would persist, but it would seem that the only thing you were feeling was angst. "Let's go home Kakashi..." you whispered, chancing a glance towards the field once more to see Naruto waving at you. You didn't know if your threat was real or not, but it didn't matter.
"Naruto won't be like him" Kakashi seemed to always know where your mind was heading, and he knew what to do to stop the train of thoughts. You nodded at him, it was true, and you knew that but the urge to pull him from the older man was stronger than ever.
"I just wish I was strong enough to train him myself"
Kakashi nodded at that, you had felt that way for a long time, even before meeting Jiraiya. Deciding that enough was enough, you raised your hand and waved back to Naruto who you could hear let out a happy squeal at the wave. A smile formed on your lips as you shook your head - "That kid is nothing and will be nothing like him because you're the one raising him."
You smiled sweetly at Kakashi, before remembering something that Jiraiya had said.
"I know you had a pathetic little crush on her"
You didn't know if it was true, you were silently hoping it was though. "Hey" you breathed out finally, ignoring your brain as it screamed for you to stop. But you couldn't, you had to get the words out because you had been dreaming of a chance like this. "I feel like we need to talk about what he said..."
Kakashi's eyebrows furrowed, but the confusion on his face was quickly replaced by understanding. His cheeks grew red, eyes looking everywhere but at you as he tried to fight off the panic rising in him.
"So it is true" you beamed, fingers playing with one another as you stepped towards him. This was it, for years you had loved him but pushed it down for fear of him not loving you back. "Can I be honest with you?"
He finally met your e/c eyes, and the way you were looking at him made his stomach flip. Grabbing his hands, you leaned in closer to his face. The tension was thick and it had him mentally begging and pleading for you to say anything at all. He expected a rejection, but he wasn't expecting the four words about to fly from your mouth. The four words he didn't know he needed to hear. You took a deep, shaky breath, dreamy smile plastered onto your face as your lips hovered by his ear.
"I feel the same"
#jiraiya imagine#jiraiya x reader#jiraiya imagines#jiraiya#kakashi imagine#kakashi x reader#kakashi hatake imagine#kakashi imagines#kakashi hatake x reader#naruto imagines#naruto imagine#naruto
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Tagged by the lovely @keldae. (I didn't forget about this I swear…)
Thing of note, I am an unashamed Canon x OC/Reader fan soooo take that for what you will. lol
3 Ships
Joshua Rosfield/Suraya Murdoch (Final Fantasy 16)
These two have lived rent-free in my head and my soul since Final Fantasy 16 game out. Still waiting for it to come to PC so I can actually play it but I digress. Hasn't stopped my brain from coming up with something. Somehow their story ended up being childhood friends to lovers to boot. Normally I go for an older man, younger woman vibe. But for these two? It's reversed and it's wild and I adore it. Joshua being the inheritor of the Rosarian Duchy and Suraya being the adopted daughter of Rodney and Hanna Murdoch. So, the two of them inadvertently got pushed together during the early years since her father wanted her to get the most out of her upbringing, self-defense being a top priority along with her studies. Suraya was and still is incredibly protective of Joshua's happiness and hated his mother with a burning passion for how she treated all of them, even to her own detriment. That said, Joshua formed feelings first when they were children, but never had a chance to speak of them before the fall of Phoenix Gate. So it was years before anything could happen. Suraya on the other hand, never had a chance to even think about it until they were reunited, and she had to come to terms with the fact that her ten-year-old friend was no longer a boy, but was actually a young man determined to bring her the happiness and joy she gave him, should she wish it.
Vergil/Alya (Devil May Cry)
These two shitheads have also been living rent-free in my head since 2019 and have given me at least five different massive fanfic reworks since then. And it continues to morph and change so I just keep flipping my desk over at this point. Anyway, for these two it was never an overt thing. They pretty much fell together without ever explicitly talking about it as neither was looking for a relationship. Behind the scenes Dante was over Vergil's bullshit, Trish and Lady were over Alya's bullshit, and Nero was like: fuck that I'm not getting involved, and watched from the sidelines with Nico who had a betting pool that everyone was in on much to the pair's annoyance after the fact. Either way, Alya wanted answers after her father was murdered and Devil May Cry is who ended up coming to her aid. To that end, it opens up a massive can of demons and angels. But those angels aren't your traditional light and loving kind. Having the upbringing Vergil had, or lack thereof after his mother's death, he was always wary about opening up again, and in many ways still is, but Alya takes it in stride. And for that, Vergil is silently grateful. In turn, he is her protector and rock, and a good listening ear. What he can't say in verbal words, he will say in written poetry. This is more of my status quo, older man, younger woman vibe, but with the added bonus of magic, demons, and a slow-burn romance.
Graha Tia/Khulan Noykin (Final Fantasy 14)
Listen, when I got into Final Fantasy 14 back during ARR, me and my Warrior of Light didn't think too much of the Allagan cat boy. He was a friend, nothing more to her at the time, and while she did mourn for him when he locked himself in the Crystal Tower, she also understood. Plus, she was dealing with her own feelings for a certain rogue bard soon-to-be gunbreaker. It wasn't until Shadowbringers that Graha Tia came in dropkicking Khulan in the face, and Thancred being a complete ass didn't help. Khulan during this time saw much of herself in Graha Tia's willingness to die for a cause and hated it. Not him of course, but seeing a mirror of some of your faults is never a fun thing. As their friendship developed after defeating Emet Selch, it eventually became a dance around the subject of feelings. Graha never feeling like he was good enough for her and Khulan feeling the exact same way but of herself towards him. Everyone else saw it as it was blatantly obvious, but the events of Endwalker came before anything could become of it. Khulan ends up in a dark place during this time, almost robotic like her ARR self, but a lot more deadly than her early days of being just an arcanist. It's when she begins losing her friends that the walls around her heart begin to break, and Graha's sacrifice was the breaking point. When all of it was over and they were back home, the two of them start to explore something more as Khulan recovered from her fight with Zenos. Now, going into the events of Dawntrail, me nor Khulan know where this is going to go. But hey! it's a new adventure!
First Ship
We're going back to when I was but a small eight/nine year old child and loved Ash and Misty as a pairing. During this time I didn't know what fandom was or that people wrote fanfic and created art. So it was mostly me creating terrible drawings. Did I self insert into pokemon as well? Of course I did! lol
Last Song
"The Phoenix" from Fall Out Boy. I just discovered it after find a GMV for Final Fantasy 16. It was so good I had to find it in my Apple Music and is now on repeat. I regret nothing regarding my hyperfixation.
Currently Reading
"A Court of Thorns and Roses" by Sarah J. Maas. Yes I'm late to the game, but hey! I made it! Am I only on chapter 3? Also yes, but hey, I'll get throgh it eventually.
Last Film
I think it was Mission Impossible 3? It was on at work so it was just background noise.
Currently Craving
A vacation. A true, real, good vacation.
Tagging anyone who wants to do it
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Hi, I recently read your post about the Tri/Nero kids and it was very interesting and I was wondering if it would be okay if I asked you about you headcanons/aus/lore about the Tri/Nero: Poseidon kid, Hephaestus kid and Cassius?? If that's not too much to ask about, no problem if it is.
[Post being referenced]
Of course! I'm hoping to eventually feature all these guys on @deadangelos, but it'd definitely be a ways away (cause there's gonna be like, at least 4 more major arcs before we get to Tower of Nero stuff there) and I don't know how much detail I'll be able to get into with these guys when I do get to start featuring them.
Anyways, just going in order:
The one labeled Poseidon I imagine is a particularly powerful son of Thetis, cause Nero probably wouldn't be able to get his hands on an actual Poseidon kid. He's probably like 10 or 11 or something - one of the younger Nero kids. As a Thetis kid he as mild hydrokinesis powers - probably not nearly as much as someone like Percy, but definitely enough to be impressive. He also might have the Curse of Achilles, just cause I think it's fun if that's a super common thing for Thetis kids. It's just Thetis' default - dunk your newborns in the Styx for extra security. Out of the Nero kids, he's probably closest to the one labeled Artemis (cause moon & tides) and is like, one of two of the Nero kids who is able to calm her down at all or that she's willing to hang out with much (the other being the Apollo kid). That's his big sis and she would probably kill and maim for him lots and lots.
Hephaestus kid is probably an actual Hephaestus kid, and one of the oldest Nero kids. He's definitely bffs with the Aphrodite kid and Nero just goes "Thematically appropriate! Continue as you were." I imagine Nero mostly leaves him alone/very intentionally pays him little mind and just kind of holes him up in his own little section of the building and the Heph kid is A-Okay With That. The less attention from Nero, the better. He probably narrowly avoided Nero considering throwing him off a building for mythological accuracy. Because he has a bit more freedom than some of the other Nero kids he definitely uses that to prepare machinations and is only like, one or two steps away from staging a coup at any moment (which is also definitely at least a little mythologically inspired - he dreams of getting Nero ensnared in his own throne and convincing all the kids to beat him up). He cares a lot about the other Nero kids and wants to help keep them safe.
Cassius i find very interesting cause I have two different directions I'll go with him - the first is that he's an actual son of Zeus and kind of marks the beginning of Big 3 kids being a semi-regular occurrence again, and no one knows who is mortal parent was. The second concept is that he's not only an actual son of Zeus, but also actually a third Grace sibling, because the entire thing with the Nero kids is that Nero stages their mortal parent(s)' deaths as accidents, which is perfectly in line with how we know Beryl Grace died (and it chronologically works with when we know Beryl Grace died). Plus, Apollo very consistently compares Cassius visually to Jason. Thalia and the quest of "wait how many long lost brothers do I actually have?" Anyways Cassius is just a little guy. Babey. I like to base him thematically around myths of infant/adolescent Zeus, cause that's severely underutilized territory. He's close to Meg and I think he also wants to be friends with the kid labeled Hera but she hates his guts cause Nero keeps trying to encourage them to be a duo but she just wants to do her own thing. He's probably also just generally on good terms with most of the Nero kids (he is babey how can you hate babey. Hera kid only hates babey because she is equally babey), particularly the other "Kronos kids" (besides Hera kid) (Hestia kid, Meg, Poseidon kid).
#pjo#riordanverse#headcanon#headcanons#cassius pjo#uhh i need a tag for the tri/nero kids#nero kids pjo#< yeah sure#Anonymous#ask#pjo ocs#i really need to come up with names for these guys cause referring to them as ''[god] kid'' is misleading for half of them#some are not actually the child of that god they're just thematically supposed to represent/raised to usurp them
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ffxiv villains
Nael Van Darnus is the english localization team's greatest adversary apparently the unhinged garlean legatus responsible for slam dunking the moon into the ground. she's a big fan of bahamut, sephiroth, and majora's mask, among other things, you see, and decided to incorporate her interests into her work. she dies but doesnt.
Gaius "such devastation" Baelsar is a verbose fantasy nazi who's favorite color is social darwinism. he dies but doesnt, after getting epically pranked by a kingdom hearts cosplayer. later, his many adopted lizard children die. this all causes him to suddenly realize that fascism is not very poggers. it's all very cool and makes sense, you see. gaius "garlean man's burden" baelsar was already slightly less racist than his peers anyway so he's basically a hero.
Nero's not a villain, he's just based.
lol Lahabrea 🍞🔑🗡
Thordan is catholic.
Nidhogg was totally valid actually, but he needed to speak to a dragon grief counselor or something.
Zenos is megatron but sad is a sadistic bishonen who based his whole personality on "the most dangerous game." he's a twisted fuckin cycle path, less a person and more a weapon for the emperor to wield (at least until late stormblood). he's mostly just doing what he was born and raised to do, yeah, but it's not like that makes it fine. he dies but doesn't, as overstaying one's welcome simply runs in his family. he then spends most of his time in early endwalker trying to invite the wol to a nice, romantic, candlelit fistfight in the wendy's parking lot, by pissing on the moon (of course). that, and doing a whole lot of napping, apparently (way to beat the boring allegations, zenos). he helped cause the apocalypse because he's depressed (and very, very battle horny), but it's not like depression makes it all fine.
lol Varis 🗡😱🪦
Emet-Selch is the ceo of fascism, and was a funny and extremely likeable villain who stole the show everytime he showed up, until he wasnt. he stalled in the grieving process and decided to make that everyone else's problem by comitting mass genocide (he kins nidhogg you see) across multiple worlds for thousands of years in an attempt to bring his people back. but he's depressed (about his own ppl, he didnt seem to feel too bad about the everything else), so it's fine. genocide is his coping mechanism you see (very relatable). he dies but still has a ton of screentime and importance even after death because overstaying one's welcome simply runs in his family.
Elidibus more like elidibitch, ayo! was the convocation's little pogchamp who was sacrificed to become zodiark's heart, instead of any of the older members of the convocation who could have made that sacrifice (no, no, by all means, let the lil guy do it). he keeps desperately fighting for reasons he doesnt even know anymore, all while donning his best ff1 warrior of light cosplay (you're doing great, sweetie!). he can also apparently help you travel back in time, even though that's not how that worked when they sent the crystal tower through time initially but yeah okay sure (i kinda already did the twinning broski, cid's funky time robot is gone, how are you doing any of this? dont answer that).
lol Valens 🥛🐄💪
Fandaniel is become zodiark amon hermes a mentally ill funky little jester who is fought three goddamn times, one of those times being in the afterlife after you've already killed him once. one might assume that he may be related in some way to emet and his family based on how he, too, overstays his welcome. but no, he's just one of emet's annoying coworkers. yet another twisted fuckin cycle path, he helped cause the apocalypse (twice technically), but he was depressed, so it's fine. one of two characters whose existence slightly detracts from the whole hope vs despair theme of endwalker (imo).
Meteion is Necron a sad space bird, there to act as an homage to other final fantasy games that also have some random last minute bullshit as the final boss, not acknowledging of course that that is usually one of the worst parts of all the games that do that (i like ff4 but zeromus mcpalpatine-reference is lame). she's trying to destroy all life, yes, but she's mostly just doing what she was born and raised to do, so it's fine. she's also there to connect to the hope vs despair theme, but that is slightly undercut by the player charitably helping a violently mentally ill man die his preferred death (but like in a fun way) right after the big hope overcomes despair moment.
#ffxiv spoilers#nael van darnus#gaius van baelsar#nero tol scaeva#lahabrea#thordan#nidhogg#zenos yae galvus#varis zos galvus#emet selch#elidibus#valens van varro#fandaniel#meteion#long post#a realm reborn#heavensward#stormblood#shadowbringers#endwalker
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Hey My English is pretty bad but i have a questions for You, on the dark profecy Calypso said that leo isnt her saviour but leo think he is, i don't understand why she thinks he doesnt do You have any throughts of it?
First, don't worry about your English! I'm a non native English speaker myself :)
Second: you know what? That is a valid question. A disclaimer before I get into it: It's been a few years since I've read The Dark Prophecy so my memories of the exact context of that scene are (more than a little) hazy. I don't have the book in my hands so I could check it right now. But I do remember that that exact line made me kind of cringe too when I was reading it.
Anyway, from what I can remember, Calypso was having some difficulties in adjusting into her new life. Living in the modern USA is so different from the life she was used to, and even though Ogygia was also her prison, I believe she was occasionally feeling some homesickness and she also missed having her powers. Well, all of that and the fact Leo and Calypso didn't really manage to talk about their issues (=lack of communication) caused her to snap. Leo is absolutely one of my favorites in HoO, but he isn't perfect either: he didn't always respect or listen to Calypso's wishes, such as when she told him to not call her Mamacita (there were more examples but I can't remember the details right now).
So, from there we get to the question: was Calypso's snapping justified? Not really, not in my opinion at least. It is a fact that she can't/shouldn't deny that without Leo she /would/ still be in Ogygia and would likely never get out of there on her own, because the gods didn't want to release her. In other words, Leo /was/ her savior in that sense.
But was her snapping surprising? Again, not really, not for the reasons I explained earlier. The girl has a lot to deal with and sometimes we say things we don't really mean when we are frustrated. What these two need in order for their relationship to work is to talk about what's bothering them. In TDP it seemed both were bottling up things inside them and then waiting till things were at boiling point, which caused them to fight. (Tower of Nero spoilers ahead if you haven't read that book!) I think the break that was mentioned in ToN is probably a good thing in the long run bc that way they both can process what they want and what they should do differently. Honestly, I feel that at that point Rick had just read so much Caleo hate on the internet that he was like 'screw it'.
Why do I think Rick wrote Calypso that way? He was likely afraid of presenting her as a damsel in distress. These days the books targeted for younger audiences are all about having badass female characters, and Rick is someone who doesn't take criticism well (see f. ex. the way he wrote a whole essay about why he presented Piper the way he did when he got criticism for it) so he was probably worried that Calypso admitting that Leo did save her would probably paint her in the wrong kind of light. Well, if that was his reasoning, he was wrong there. Admitting the facts doesn't make someone weaker. (To be honest I disliked TDP so much that I prefer to just ignore the whole book, I don't understand why he ruined good characters that way.)
This became way too long and rambly, I'm sorry. I hope you still got something out of this answer! TLDR: I don't think Calypso actually meant what she said about Leo not being her savior, she was just so frustrated with her whole situation that it caused her to snap.
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Book recs!! ✨
Hi! So a bit ago, I met a lovely amazing anon on ao3 (who is a BLESSING compared to the other mean anons commenting out there, thanks Kat, you make mine and im pretty sure other author's days too). So we got into talking about books and I offered to make a list for her and post it on tumblr so other people too can scrounge through so here we are lmao.
I gathered this list from the personal notes I had made to myself to add these books to my bookshelf when i move out and also from another list i made for my little siblings because no way are they gonna not read the good stuff I found. It's like a rite of passage now.
Just a note: I don't read romance. But since books don't have the very convenient tags we get on ao3, I end up getting to romance-y parts. The only romance books I have read are middle school level romance lmao XD Nothing except kisses and stuff lol.
Let's go!
The Maze Runner series
Maze Runner
I love this book. This series. Ngl, one of the first books where I felt that heart-clenching feeling of hurt. Love the characters, the world-building was in the fandom for a brief while and I love the plot too. Better than the movie plot anyway XD
Mare Runner: Scorch Trials
Second book in the series, also very good. Literally an adventure. So many twists and turns. Once more, the characterization is also amazing!
Maze Runner: Death Cure
Third and last book in the series as a main. Heartbreaking. Did shed tears. Page 250 still kills me. O u ch.
The Fever Code
Also in the same series and OUCH. It's the characters before the whole drama happened and they're kids and higehrfwb 😭 No kidding I was squealing and nearly threw the book multiple times out of excitement. It solved a couple plotlines too. I adored it. Plus, it gave me some closure from the many many (inevitable) deaths.
Crank Palace
It's a novella, but clears the mysterious gap that was in the third book. Plus, it gives much much more closure but I'm still crying so do what you will with that information. I love the new "OC"s here too.
Trials of Apollo
The Hidden Oracle
The Dark Prophecy
The Burning Maze
The Tyrant's Tomb
The Tower of Nero
Listen- listen- I know this is kinda obvious and you might be asking "where's the rest of the pjo series?" but that's a given. My personal favorites are the pjo, hoo and toa series, but toa somehow spoke to me more because the main relationship wasn't a romantic one like all the other teen books I read. I also adore Apollo/Lester's character development? Like, at first he was this carefree god, then at the end of the series, he transformed into a person who cared so much and so deeply and was willing to die for others. That is peak character development and if I hadn't read toa, I would still be blundering around and confused with my multi-chap fics as to how characters actually develop. Because you can see that journey so clearly in toa.
Jinx series
Jinx: The Wizard's Apprentice
Jinx's Magic
Jinx's Fire
I love this series so much??? I am a sucker for fantasy novels and this was so so good. I love the storyline and-
AND I ESPECIALLY LOVE THE FOUND FAMILY ASPECT HERE. THIS. IS LITERALLY RELUCTANT MENTOR-FATHER AND HYPER AND KEEN MENTEE-SON. AHHH.
Anyway, this was my first found family novel. I loved the whole storyline too, this was also the series where I was first introduced to the concept of whump (without knowing what whump actually was).
The Mapmaker Chronicles
Race To The End Of The World
Prisoner Of The Black Hawk
Breath Of The Dragon
These were also some of the first whump books I read. And I especially loved this because the plot was it. A smartass scrawny boy who accidentally turned into a hero? Hmmm, I wonder who that reminds me of. (Tim Drake. It reminds of Tim Drake)
But the characters are also special to my heart. There is minimal romance in here. Any romance is to move the plot forward.
Also a mentor-mentee relationship here. Not so much found family to the heart seeing as the main character already has family back home, but the whole crew definitely is a family of their own. I especially adore Ash! Ahhh! She's lovely and amazing. Oh and Zain- *sighs* he is the perfect mentor figure to scrawny li'l Quinn. And the hateable characters are so perfectly hateable!! The author truly is talented at stories.
Although the second book could do with more whump
Nevermoor series
Nevermoor
This book was described in the reviews as "Harry Potter meets Alice in Wonderland" and it stayed true to its description. It had beautiful and amazing characters, and an evil-mentor & reluctant hero-mentee relationship (though not at first) and I am a sucker for that. Also, I just love the character herself. Morrigan is a very good and fleshed out character and I will love her forever.
Wundersmith
We explore more of the evil-mentor & reluctant hero-mentee relationship. But Jupiter, Morrigan's actual caretaker, is the PERFECT uncle/caretaker for her and he's so protective of her and i just-
*sobs* I stan.
Hollowpox
Here we discover some of that delicious power upgrades. I also love all the friends! HAWTHORNE IS MY FAVORITE AND WILL ALWAYS BE I LOVE HIM. Stunning characters here 💫 Also some wise comparison of the different isms and phobias (as in homophobia, racism etc.) here in terms of fantasy.
The Mysterious Benedict Society series
The Mysterious Benedict Society
The Mysterious Benedict Society and The Perilous Journey
The Mysterious Benedict Society and The Prisoner's Dilemma
The Mysterious Benedict Society and The Riddle of Ages
This... was one of the first mystery books I had ever read (my actual first was Sherlock Holmes cuz I found it on my grandparents' bookshelf and read it cuz I had read every other book they owned which wasn't a lot). I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline. It was calm and just- a bunch of kids going on a perilous journey to solve a mystery to save the city. Those kind of vibes. But the vibes were so good. So enjoyable. Every time I hear about this series, I just sigh in contempt.
There are very, very interesting characters here too. The characters are what made the story so good. All of them have unique quirks which they use to crack clues and form conclusions and dive into actions. Such good characters. 10/10, honestly.
The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict
This is part of the Benedict society universe, but it takes place years before the main events. It has adventures of the leader of the group in the main series as a kid. This book has a special mention because the storyline was different to the style of the main series and it had tropes. Just- the friend and the character itself and- dnfhbevbiluw
Okay, I admit, Benedict here does remind me of Tim (my fav character in DC). Like y'know smol Tim with the camera? Those kind of vibes. Very strong vibes. I read this way before I discovered Tim even existed so maybe this book plays a part in my favorites?
Jessica Brody books
The fact that I put the actual author's name here should tell you something.
Addie Bell's Shortcut To Growing Up
This book... brought me to tears. This was the second book that prompted salt water to slip out of my tear ducts. It was a strange feeling. Cuz I was not used to crying for books and movies and shows.
The plot just hit hard. A 12-year-old Addie magically time-travels to when she's 16 and experiences life as a teenager. The plot gives more than you expect. There are boys, yes, but that is a side plot, not a main plot. Which is why I love the book so much. Addie wants to be one of the "girly" girls who talks about boys and stuff and goes to parties like her older sister, but then as she lives the life of a teenager more and more, she realizes just how much she lost. Friendships, family, her personality, her interests, herself.
The part that made me cry was her missing her sister. Cuz, well, I'm an older sister. And my sister who is the oldest after me has the same age difference as Addie and her older sister. It wasn't just her missing her sister in that scene, it was everything crashing down on her that moved me to tears. Amazing book. If anything, I recommend you either read this or 'Better You Than Me' if nothing in this list goes towards your liking.
Better You Than Me
This was the first book that made me cry. It has two characters, one in middle school, the other who is an actress, swap bodies. So the typical middle school kid gets to live as a famous actress, and the famous actress gets to live as a typical middle school kid. Of course, neither of them end up liking their new life very much, but that only teaches them two important messages: appreciation and communication. God, I learnt so much from this book. I was like 13 or something when I read it and it resonated within me enough to make me cry. I adore this. SO much.
I Speak Boy
I actually have a library-borrowed copy with me right now XD It's about a middle school girl, Emmy, being very confused with the opposite gender. (Very much hetero, no homo despite it being published in 2021). But, once again, the reason I love this book isn't cuz of the romance (though it is kinda satisfactory but also a bit cliché). It's how the main character realizes that boys aren't everything. Just like in 'Addie Bell's Shortcut To Growing Up'. It's a lot about friendship.
The reason why I like these books by Jessica Brody (I haven't read the others yet) is because of the Bechdel Test factor in it.
S. K. Ali books
Again you have another author's name. This time, it's Muslim fiction!
Love From A To Z
The first Muslim fiction book I've ever read. And yes, it is a romance book. But it does not have any touchy-touchy stuff (except in the Epilogue and a couple dream scenes, very vague though and only kissing). As in, the main characters follow mainstream Sunni procedures and do not touch each other as they're not married. Which just leaves room for a ton of emotional romance.
I adore this simply because I'm a Muslim Hijabi myself and I am very much biased.
It deals with so many aspects of romance though, like personality first, lust last, and whether they are the right fit or not and whether they actually like each other or the idea of each other and how families play into this and online hate and emotion control and of course, the marvels and oddities of life. It is packed with so much. And when I finished the book, I had a good long cry. This is the first book that made me cry the longest. Because- because I was starved for representation! And this book did it so well! I just- love this so much.
The author has published a sequel, Love from Mecca to Medina, I have yet to read it because I'm waiting for it to be in a library. I prefer physical copy books.
Once Upon An Eid
Okay, this is very Muslim-based, but if you treat it like Muslim Christmas, everything becomes clear XD Also, Ali wrote only one story here. This book is actually a collection of stories by different Muslim authors. And each story is so special. Many people don't really know how Muslims celebrate Eid or why it's so special (besides spiritual reasons) and what it looks like. This paints an accurate picture. And it contains most, if not all, types of Muslims celebrating Eid. Sunni, Shia, refugee, African, American, revert/convert, South Asian etc. So really diverse.
Saints and Misfits
Misfit In Love
Very much love-centred, but also has very vague mentions of sexual assault/rape/non-con. Yes, in a Muslim community. It exists. A lot actually. But it's hidden and hushed down. Disgustingly.
But the first book addresses it and how a Muslim girl battles it. She's in love with a white boy, yes, but she doesn't give in to her white boy desires. Neither does she fall to a non-white boy, at least not fully.
Which is why I recommend that if you're reading the first book, you definitely, definitely read the second one along with it. Because I felt even though the ending of the first book was satisfactory, it wasn't satisfactory to me. But the second book was! Because at the end of the second book, Janna (the main character), comes to the conclusion that boys aren't everything. And even though there is a very perfect boy that fancies her and she fancies him too, she takes a breath and says that she isn't too focused on that. And I adore that. But she only comes to that conclusion after falling in love with many, many, many boys. I did get a bit uncomfy cuz romance just in general makes me uncomfy, its a personal thing, but I kept reading it cuz... Muslim fiction! Anyway, good book series. But I like Love From A To Z better.
Now, those are... a lot of books. And a lot of me talking. And there are still so many more. So I'm just gonna go through some quick filtering and put the titles and authors of the other books here in dot points.
London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd (my first novel, Kat knows about this lol)
Skyfire series by Michael Adams
NERDS series by Michael Buckley (it's an acronym that stands for National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society. It's weird but I laughed a lot so)
Murder Most Unladylike series by Robin Stevens
Mallory Towers series by Enid Blyton
Naughtiest Girl In The School series by Enid Blyton
Scarlet and Ivy series by Sophie Cleverly (fuck- I forgot to add this to the main list, but this book is hella hella good and I recommend it very much)
Bounce by Megan Shull (life lessons in here)
Sick Bay by Nova Weetman
The Adventurer's Guild series by Zack Loran Clark and Nick Eliopulos
Luck Uglies series by Paul Durham ("DADDY ISSUES!" screams Quo. "I love this book because I have daddy issues among other issues and that is all.")
Time Hunters by Chris Blake (it is very much a children's book, not even middle school, but I read it because it has an intriguing storyline and interesting historical facts that had me raising my hand in every history lesson)
There are no classic books here because that will need its own separate post.
And that's it! Thank you very much!
#book recs#book recommendations#booklr#bookworm#books#fiction book#fantasy books#mystery books#booknerd#new books#book review#books and reading#reading#quotidian convos#quotidian reads#but not so much now#cuz of fuckin. SCHOOL#i havent read a proper book in so long :'(#i am surviving solely on fanfiction#I MEAN that is great too truly#but im a bookworm and books are my escape#they are me#so im kinda missing books#fortunately#i have borrowed some old favorites#so i might get back into reading again#hopefully#muslim fiction#muslim fiction books#muslim books
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AHAHAHAHA!
Okay, but seriously. If this familiar can truly help with the stagnation of the Light's victims' incorporeal aether that's a fantastic thing.
Ah, but the real thing is cute like normal. I don't know if I'm disappointed that fucked-up-Angelo didn't become real or happy for Alisaie that regular-porxie-Angelo did.
The moment of truth!
It worked!
...but it didn't last.
Oh? So it did work! He just needs multiple treatments? That's wonderful news.
Oh! Oh! The little kobold kid! Ga Bu! OMG omg, this could be the start of a cure for tempering! I mean, there's a lot of difference between Ga Bu's tempering and normal tempering, but this is hope!
Huh. Does that imply that sin eaters are essentially tempered towards Light itself? Is that why it can be contagious? Powerful sin eaters and Lightwardens were filling the same role that primals fill? ...and the primordial light that was everywhere was causing the contamination to spread. Which is why we don't see primal tempering spreading like that in the Source; there isn't an overwhelming presence of primordial aether of any aspect?
Hmm. That reminds me of the Void, and how, very long ago during the Crystal Tower raids, Nero was being "corrupted" by it after becoming injured while trapped in it? If the Void is a realm fallen to primordial dark... would anyone who spent significant time in there become a voidsent, as the residents of that shard once did? The voidsent are essentially the "dark" counterparts to sin eaters, after all.
But anyway, off to Eulmore!
#ffxiv liveblog#rhesh'a tag#alisaie leveilleur#beq lugg#kai-shirr#baseless speculation#thoughts on lore
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systemic change vs. the status quo
the last olympian // the lost hero // the titan’s curse // the blood of olympus // the tower of nero // shaun’s video essay on harry potter
insp.
[begin ID: a series of screenshots from various books written by Rick Riordan (books listed above), interspersed with transcripted quotes from a video essay about Harry Potter, by video essayist, Shaun, on Youtube. Certain passages are highlighted. The screenshots read as follows.
“No more undetermined children,” I said. “I want you to promise to claim your children—all your demigod children—by the time they turn thirteen. They won’t be left out in the world on their own at the mercy of monsters. I want them claimed and brought to camp so they can be trained right, and survive.”
Will scowled at his broken chariot. Then he sized up Piper, Leo, and Jason. “These are the ones? Way older than thirteen. Why haven’t they been claimed already?”
because obviously if your story is about a systemic injustice and you want your heroes to triumph and have a happy ending then that injustice needs a systemic correction. -shaun 💀.
He gripped my sleeve, and I could feel the heat of his skin like a fire. “Ethan. Me. All the unclaimed. Don’t let it . . . Don’t let it happen again.”
His eyes were angry, but pleading too.
“I won’t,” I said. “I promise.”
Luke nodded, and his hand went slack.
Then the darkness above Luke began to crumble, like a cavern roof in an earthquake. Huge chunks of black rock began falling. Annabeth rushed in just as a crack appeared, and the whole ceiling dropped. She held it somehow—tons of rock. She kept it from collapsing on her and Luke just with her own strength. It was impossible. She shouldn’t have been able to do that.
Luke rolled free, gasping. “Thanks,” he managed.
“Help me hold it,” Annabeth groaned.
[begin highlight] Luke caught his breath. His face was covered in grime and sweat. He rose unsteadily.
“I knew I could count on you.” He began to walk away as the trembling blackness threatened to crush Annabeth.
“HELP ME!” she pleaded.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Luke said. “Your help is on the way. It’s all part of the plan. In the meantime, try not to die.” [end highlight]
The ceiling of darkness began to crumble again, pushing Annabeth against the ground.
harry potter’s anti-change problem is, by no means, unique. [begin highlight] think of all the hollywood blockbusters in which the good side are those seeking to preserve the status quo and the antagonists are people with legitimate grievances about the world, and the desire to change it, and then they pull a cheap trick and have the antagonists just murder a baby or something, so the audience knows they’re the bad guys. [end highlight] this is art produced by the rich; people who have done very well under capitalism, thank you very much, and therefore see all systemic change as inherently evil, no matter how reasonable it might seem on the surface. -shaun 💀.
“Hey,” Percy said, “if we don’t make it out of this—”
“Shut up, man. We’re going to make it.”
“If we don’t, I want you to know—I feel bad about Calypso. I failed her.”
Leo stared at him, dumbfounded. ‘You know about me and—”
“The Argo II is a small ship.” Percy grimaced. “Word got around. I just . . . well, when I was in Tartarus, I was reminded that I hadn’t followed through on my promise to Calypso. [begin highlight] I asked the gods to free her and then . . . I just assumed they would. [end highlight] With me getting amnesia and getting sent to Camp Jupiter and all, I didn’t think about Calypso much after that. I’m not making excuses. I should have made sure the gods kept their promise. Anyway, I’m glad you found her. You promised to find a way back to her, and I just wanted to say, if we do survive all this, I’ll do anything I can to help you. That’s a promise I will keep.”
I suppose I could have raged at him and called him bad names. We were alone. He probably expected it. Given his awkward self-consciousness at the moment, he might have even let me get away with it unpunished.
But it would not have changed him. I would not have made anything different between us.
You cannot change a tyrant by trying to out-ugly him. Meg could never have changed Nero, any more than I could change Zeus. [begin highlight] I could only try to be different than him. Better. More . . . human. [end highlight] And to limit the time I spent around him as little as possible.
I nodded. “I understand, Father.”
Zeus seemed to understand that what I understood was not perhaps the same thing he understood, but he accepted the gesture, I suppose because he had little choice.
“Very well. So . . . welcome home.”
I rose from my throne. “Thank you. Now, if you’ll excuse me . . .”
I dissolved into golden light. There were several other places I’d rather be, and I intended to visit them all.
now i’m not saying stories with social problems necessarily have to fully resolve the social problems by the end because they don’t. but if you’re trying to tell a societal story then your society should be a living thing; it should be at least potentially flexible, contain at least the possibility for change. both good and bad. but rowling’s worlds are set in stone; they’re dead. the good in rowling’s stories seeks only to cancel out evil; to undo evil’s changes. [begin highlight] the solution to systemic problems is never to seek systemic change but to be individually nicer. [end highlight] to have nicer bank managers. to have nicer slave owners. -shaun 💀.
end ID]
#web weaving#pjo#hoo#toa#god i hope ppl get what i mean here#esp with the middle passage ;laksdjf#yes i know the titans are actually unequivocally not good#but the whole thing with luke is abt him wanting better for demigods and going about it the wrong way#i've just been listening to shaun's video and these quotes in particular stuck out to me#esp after reading toa#before you get mad at the very least listen to like the last couple minutes of the video when the patreon names are scrolling
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anyway here’s how i would have written the finale and final chapters of tower of nero and by all accounts was going to write it in the toa fic i had started. no one steal this im so serious you will find me standing over your bed
apollo returns to new york and immediately recruits the help of annabeth and percy who are waiting for him after hearing the news about jason. they visit rachel. she shows apollo her blurry visions and one deeply resonates him but he doesn’t like it.
they get to camp. they prepare the camp for war. apollo meets rhea. she too gives him cryptic messages but for all intents and purposes looks settled and calm. he doesn’t like this.
annabeth gets them into the tower hashtag architecture queen. there is battle, there are mega fights. we’re only about halfway through the book. apollo is sent down to defeat python.
he gets his godly power back as he is fighting python and as he is defeating this snake all the unsettling feelings he’s been having come to a climax as his destiny actualizes itself in the realization he must kill his father zeus. there’s this image in my head if apollo fully a god in a golden torn chiton throwing python over a ledge, watching him descend into darkness and then falling to his knees in desperation and screaming into the darkness.
the descent. and now the rise. he comes up to the world changed. the main demigods immediately clock him but are confused. he explains his plan and his reasoning and goes on this whole tangent. they agree. he has a meeting with his siblings. only a few of them. not everyone can be trusted. i kind of have this idea that he bursts under pressure and starts crying in front of ares asking him to do it like paris does with hector in troy 2004 but im not sure if i want to do that.
there’s more but ok final chapters
apollo finally returns to olympus. in the throne room. half the olympian council are in on his plan the other half are clueless. zeus and him have a few lines of dialogue exchanged than there is an eerie silence. something feels very very off.
before anything can be done, zeus’ on throne comes apart. he is trapped in a golden net hashtag my net goddess queen from book 2 i can’t remember her name. he is trapped and he is livid and we love drama so yes poseidon gets really defensive because he was not included this time AND hades materializes in the throne room like listen they’ve been through a lot no one’s ready to get overthrown.
it is so tense like there’s shouting and yelling and weapons drawn there’s no possible way a fight isn’t going to break out but a huge shout makes everyone pauses. it’s rhea. yes u heard me right
she walks into the throne room full regalia eyes glowing. no one has seen her like this in centuries. she gives concerning news, she drags zeus across the coals tbh, she explains how he got to this point and how she is disappointed etc etc
but she has also come to offer a solution because—big shocker—apollo can’t do it. apollo cannot kill him.
rhea suggests that he take over as the director of camp half blood for the next 150 years. there are gasps there are protests dionysus literally is grinning like a madman. zeus protests, who will watch over olympus. before anyone can say anything, rhea appoints hera. pin drop silence
it is the only solution. zeus agrees, considering he is suspended and with literally no other options. his agreement is said with the most malicious intent you could ever imagine
epilogue at camp. it’s been a few months now. apollo visits. percy and annabeth have been helping out. lots of happy go lucky-ness. apollo and zeus have a conversation. zeus humbly admits his errors, but in a not subtle way threatens apollo and anyone that helped him.
apollo takes it as is.
this ending ending im not sure if it but here:
zeus gestures apollo to follow him. for the main demigods to follow him. they are led into the forest where thanatos waits with a shimmering but very real jason who is solid enough to hug. there are tears and hugs and a picnic and conversation.
apollo and zeus stand side by side, watching. things are different this time. things will heal. the cycle is finally broken.
rachel finishes her first painting since her oracle sight was restored and titles it a new age.
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I saw your response about ships and decided to see what you thought about some of the rare ones I like! I thiiiink you encountered these at one point on the book club but perhaps not.
Nero/Solus(rehydrated)
Nero/Exarch
Nero/m!wol
Varis/wol
Emet/Exarch/Nero
The Chais/wol
The Chais/Innocence (these here and below literally just occurred to me, but...)
The Chais/Exarch
The Chais/Emet
Innocence/Exarch
I'm actually not in the bookclub! But I have heard mention of some of these pairs!!
There's a lot here so I'll do a cut :3
Nero/Solus
When you say rehydrated I'm assuming you mean like, the more youthful Solus? I think if anything Nero would be way too fascinated by the allagan cloning and it was just irritate Solus gjdsgjds I could see them as like fwb but without the friends part lol colleagues with benefits I guess?? I get the sense Nero has a really hard time being emotionally vulnerable but likes to have fun physically at least
Nero/Exarch
Okay omg... I have to tell you... I had this like cracked AU idea before that like, Nero ended up as the exarch instead?? Like since he was really trying to stay inside the tower at the end of the CT quests I was like hey what if he did... So I don't think it's a stretch to imagine they both ended up in there! Hundreds of years of isolation with just the two of them, I think they'd spend a lot of time deep in their research and work but would eventually develop some sort of codependency. I think that would be interesting to see! :D
Nero/m!wol
I think it would depend on the wol's backstory but I think it could be interesting! Wol/npc stuff is always tricky to navigate because I think where it's great with one wol it doesn't work with another, so I think it's a bit hard to answer since one half of the ship is always going to be up to interpretation since it's an OC. But I think just looking at it from Nero's perspective, I could see it starting as another competitive sort of thing with Cid-- feeling like he's stealing the wol away from him, whether or not Cid had romantic interest in the wol or not, but just wanting to claim something against him in their neverending rivalry. I do like that you specified m!wol too because I can't imagine Nero with a woman personally
Varis/wol
So I actually do ship Varis with an OC! Not the wol though, the OC is Zenos' mom although I know technically she does have a name in canon now but I pretend I do not see it lol. It's a really tragic ship the way I do it because it leans into azemet kind of, where she wasn't Azem but was an ancient who was with Emet and is now sundered and married to Varis. To kind of compound their already bad family dynamic and make Emet sadder lol (affectionate).
But speaking of Varis specifically with the wol, I think that could be really interesting too! I think back to that scene in the stormblood patches where he absolutely owns the whole alliance and they're all scrambling like oh shit we actually know next to nothing about this guy what the fuck dsgjsdj iconic scene and one of my favorite parts of the game, but I would want to think that's where there's a turning point for the wol. They're like fascinated with him and feel so conflicted about everything. I think it would be a really good launching point for an AU where the wol switches sides and I would love to see it :D
Emet/Exarch/Nero
Well I love Emet/Exarch already so I think adding Nero into the mix would be interesting as well! I feel like it would be a combination of my answers above for Nero/Solus and Nero/Exarch. Possibly brings out the vindictive shitty side of Nero if he was already getting codependent with the Exarch (I could see him acting that way toward the wol as well) and I think it would be a really destructive relationship for the three of them. But that's sort of the appeal of Emet/Exarch anyway imo, that they make each other worse and I think adding Nero to that would just compound it
The Chais/others
I will combine these all into one answer because it is going to be the same (possibly disappointing) one: I love the Chais but I really don't see them having an open relationship. I feel this way about the Leveilleurs too, and I know it's popular with both of them to have it be an open relationship. I am just really passionate about being a monogamous wifeguy and so I absolutely project that onto m/f ships gdsjgjds Extremely weak for the devoted husband who is kind of insufferable otherwise but he's just a gooey sweetheart with his wife 🥺 it's too relatable for me so I can't bring myself to ship it as poly due to it having that personal sort of connection for me. I'm sorry!! 😭
Innocence/Exarch
I hadn't thought of this before but it's an interesting thought 👀 Sort of like a bad end scenario, I feel like? The Exarch was ready to throw himself away in that moment so why not let himself be corrupted? Or consumed? My brain immediately goes to body horror type of stuff for them and it's a lovely thought, I will need to ponder this one more ☺
I hope you found my thoughts on these interesting! Thanks for the ask! I definitely hadn't considered a lot of these before!!
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A very rough piece of when Graha left the 8th Calamity Timeline and brought himself and the Tower to the First and a chance meeting between worlds. I've taken some liberties and this is just a first draft.
Lost in the Sea
2427 words
G'raha x WoL references, Azemet references
G'raha, Hydaelyn, referenced named WoL, referenced Hades(Emet-Selch)
CW: Black Rose death, grief, threats of harm
It had worked, in a sense. G'raha Tia couldn't deny that the Tower and him had left the Source, the world he had been born in. The Tycoon had been a superb creation, the last invention of Cid and Nero before their passing, and realised by Bigg’s descendant. The Tower had also been fantastic, he was fairly certain that the fact he and it hadn't been completely destroyed was because it had formed a stasis around itself again.
The royal lineage and the Tower just survive above all. There were no more heirs.
Just G'raha, and the Tower, and they were both trapped horribly in the Aetherial Sea.
It should have worked, there shouldn't have been this stop, the Rift and the Sea were so entwined, to go through one was to risk the other.
And so, he sat at the door, horribly locked against everyone (and him) once more. Only this time he hadn't done it.
He slammed his fist against his leg, cursing himself. It was too much, he was the thinnest of Allag's bloodline left, and while the Tower listened to him, he didn't have the power to supplement it. He had been the weak point in this whole affair, centuries of work and effort, and he had failed before even starting.
There was a knock at the door and he frowned, believing it his imagination.
Another. “What in the world?”
He stood and laid his hand against the door, ordering it to open with a force of incredible will. If he was going mad, then let the Sea take him, he wouldn't be able to do the job anyway.
The doors slowly slid open and revealed a tall pale woman clothed in brilliant white robes. He stared up at her in disbelief, having to crane his head up considerably to meet her gaze. Had he ever seen anyone this tall before? She towered over even the tallest people he had known, making Biggs and Nero look like they were his height and he looked absolutely tiny compared to her.
What did one say to what must be an avatar of death or the delusion of his failing mind? Hello? What did it matter, he had clearly lost his mind and the Sea would claim him soon.
“Hello, I'd offer to let you in, but it's rather a mess inside.” Her face shifts from placid peacefulness to full mirth, laughing boisterously as though he had said the most clever of jests. He stared at her, utterly perplexed at whatever his mind had conjured in these final moments. “If you don't mind, you're welcome inside, I guess?”
Her laughter quieted down into a giggle before she collected herself and stepped within the Tower’s bounds. She looked around as though she was someone who had been here before and was reacquainting herself with it. He supposed if she was some sort of guide to the afterlife it was possible she had, many people had died in the Tower when Allag fell.
“I hope you don't find me terribly rude.” He began, trying to catch her attention. “But can I ask what you're doing here? I know what I'm doing here, but I don't know how anyone else can survive out there. And who are you?”
She stood there as though she hadn't heard him and then gave herself a little shake before turning back to him. “Forgive me, I was remembering someone I once knew. She lived in this Tower and died here, but I was here to catch her before she was lost, thankfully.”
“Uh…” This was a bizarre conversation and he felt completely out of sorts, as though he was supposed to know what she talked about but didn't. “I don't think anyone has died here since we opened the Tower the first time, and before that it would have been millenia. I'm sorry for your loss?”
She smiled sadly. “It was, but that was then, and she has been lost for good this time.” Her face hardened as she looked at him and then knelt down so her face was on his level. He started at the irritation and anger on her face and the glowing prismatic blue eyes she had. He had seen those twice before, different colours, but so similar. He became very afraid, this woman had to be an Ascian. “And I have you to thank for that, G'raha Tia, heir of Allag.”
He swallowed heavily, not sure what to say. Had they learned of their plan to save the Warrior of Light? To stop the Calamity before it started? To undo the tragedy written in the Star? Would she destroy him and the Tower?
“Now tell me, little one, why I shouldn't throw you out of this Tower and condemn your soul to the deepest pits of the Underworld for your transgressions?” She seemed to grow bigger in front of him, or he grew smaller, a child being chastened. He knew who she spoke of, Azemya preserve him, she was talking about the very person he was trying to save, to unwrite her death and subsequent fall from Light from history's uncaring pages.
He briefly saw a flash of the last moment he saw her, horrible gurgles in her chest as she coughed up dark congealed blood and poisonous gas. The death she had been denied two centuries before by the man she had called Hades catching up with her in his darkest moment.
The moment he had failed Hades’ test, when he had looked back when he was told not to. He was told to not look until they had both left the city. He should have trusted her to tell him when she was safe, but he had been so excited, so relieved to have righted this wrong that he had believed whoever had tapped him on the shoulder and said she was there.
He had looked behind him.
She was still within the old gate of Garlemald city, the last barrier to cross.
And she had died
Horribly.
He knelt down before her, pressing his head down against the cold stone flooring of the Tower.
“I don't deserve your mercy, only that I am trying to fix what I broke.” His voice is small, cracking with grief as he watched her die over and over in his mind. The guilt that had eaten him for two full years since that day, since he had buried himself in his work with Biggs and readied himself for his own sacrifice. “Please, I deserve to die, but I need to continue.”
The woman's face peers at him for horrible long seconds before it softens and she pats his head gently. “She told me she trusted you and what you planned, and so will I.”
“How do you…? How did she…?” He didn't know what to say, Mina had died in the ruins of Garlemald that Hades had made his own well before G'raha had returned to the Tower and learned of the time travel plan from Biggs. “But she's dead, she can't have known. I didn't know.”
She tilts her head curiously. “Is she? Lost, certainly, but none of us ever truly die. Even your own soul, were you to rejoin the Sea now, it would merely rest and remake itself in preparation of rebirth. But our souls, those who are beyond the cycle of death, we do not end so easily. There are certain souls who do not return to the Sea if they do not wish them to, and now, hers is likewise removed from the cycle of life and death.”
His heart sank. What he had done has irrevocably destroyed her chances of rebirth?
“I'm trying to prevent it from happening.” He whispered, his heart being ground into even finer shards as he imagined the torment her soul must be in. “I couldn't stop it there, but I can try and stop it from ever happening in any world, in any timeline.”
“Of course you are, she told me you would, so I waited and watched, wondering if it would be this time or next time. Normally by now I would have given up on a timeline but this time…” she paused, looking him over thoughtfully. “This time, I'm glad I waited. The pieces were right, the Eighth Calamity had occurred, the Crystal Tower was occupied, Hades had captured her soul. I knew it had to be this time, it had to be the timeline she told me of.” She shook her head. “I would that I could have reached out to her, but Hades was too thorough in trapping her and breaking our bond.”
“Your bond?” His mind raced, trying to remember who she had a bond with. A horrible idea crossed his mind, but surely not. She didn't look like a Goddess, like he had always imagined one to look, or like the artwork of all Gods and Goddesses he had ever seen.
The corner of her lips twitch in amusement and he peers closer at her. He cannot deny she appears as a woman, a very, very tall woman, but a woman nonetheless, as though someone had taken the template or a hyur and made it very, very large.
But she had the same kind of eyes as Hades did and as Mina’s eyes had been turning into.
What did it mean? Why did she have the same features as the Ascians he had come to know?
“Do you know who I am yet?” She asked gently.
“I don't know how it's possible.”
Her form flickered, the woman turning into something larger and more impressive. He had the hazy vision of flowing lines of fabric, hair and crystalline wings before she resumed the form she had first appeared as.
“This is really quite ingenious, the others don't give you enough credit. They never did, for all you carry the spark of what we were, and the ability to grow beyond us, but they only see you as broken and dull.” She looks around, shaking her head sadly. “I'll say that Hades did create something beautiful, he was always good at making such things. A shame that he turned it to such destructive purposes. If he had only worked with you mortals for good…”
She turned back to him. “I am Hydaelyn, G'raha Tia, though I come to you as I once was.” She laid a hand on his head and he felt healing warmth and light spread through him, imbuing him with hope and purpose. “I said I wouldn't interfere, but it is imperative you complete your task, and I wished to meet you, to help you, to guide you to the First Reflection where the fate of your world will be determined. If you can succeed there, I will know mankind is ready, and in being ready, the Star will be saved.”
“It seems so hopeless here. I'm trapped, I failed to bring the Tower through the Rift to the First.”
She laughs again, mirthful once more. “Only because I asked the Tower to wait.”
“You did what?” It had worked? He hadn’t failed, Hydaelyn herself had reached out from the Aetherial Sea and plucked him and it from their travels. “But why?”
“I wanted to know the one she spoke of.” She smiled. “I recognized your soul, you know, I may not have Hades’ eyes, but after so many long eons in the Sea, I have come to recognize those who resonate most with hers in every lifetime.”
His eyes widened in shock. “Then the scholars are right, we reincarnate?”
“In a sense. Whatever form you wear, you are as you were once, but that is a story for another day.” She peered back out the open door and gave a soft sigh. “My time is nearing, I will need to abandon this timeline now, and I will follow you to the next.”
“What?”
She smiled and patted his head soothingly. “Worry not, the people here are not abandoned, I have left contingency plans in every one I have left. The next one must succeed, G’raha Tia, or else there will be no more.”
“I don’t even know where to start.” The task had been daunting enough, but to know this might be the last time he could ever try? The weight of responsibility was crushing. If he failed here, would it mean the end to those he had left behind? “She may not even know me in this one, how can I get her to trust me?”
“The only certainty I can give is that you will know what to do, even bereft of the memories of this meeting.” A gentle warmth began to spread through him and he felt as though he was slowly drifting off to sleep. “I’m sorry, I cannot risk Hades knowing that I have a hand in this. You will have a very long century ahead of you sweet boy, in which you will fight with everything you have.” A pause as he slumped to the ground, eyes struggling to remain open. “You will believe you passed out during the spell but it will be successful and you will be on the First where you will gather the survivors. Do not give up, no matter how terrible it seems.”
When he woke he hissed as pervasive light struck his eyes from the open door of the Tower. He had the feeling he was forgetting something but he couldn’t remember what as he stood, stumbling towards the foreign world outside of the Tower. He shaded his eyes as he gazed outwards, marvelling at the strange scene before him.
“Purple trees aren't what I expected.” He chuckled, laying a hand against the Tower. “Thank you, we made it.” There was a gathering crowd of people outside the Tower who stared at him and it in apprehension. “Hello! I’ve come from far away, can anyone tell me what has happened?”
And so began his journey as what the people came to call the Crystal Exarch. A long, lonely journey of a hundred years in which he and the Tower fought to survive in the barren aether of this Reflection. He met friends and companions over the years, withdrawing further and further into himself as he bound his body and soul closer to the Tower.
Until finally, it was almost time, the two worlds slowly coming together to match once more, when the conditions were right for the Reflection to rejoin… or heal.
And he intended to heal it.
#Hydaelyn#g'raha tia#i have a hadestownxff14 crossover because graha makes the perfect orpheus#ff14#ffxiv#G'raha#the crystal tower#Shadowbringers prequel#Hydaelyn knows about all the timelines and hops around looking for the WoL that came to her in Elpis#just having fun and angst
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