Recap and Notes: Heracles!Stiles Ch. 1

find the chapter here

So, wow, I actually posted it xD Originally I’ve always planned to start posting the chapters once I finish the whole fic (as of the time I’m writing this I have three left, even less considering that I have some of their parts already written and planned out, so don’t worry!), and that’s it’s anyway going to be before the show ends.

Three years later and I didn’t mange to do it as I really wanted- with writing blocks, other fandoms and life in general interrupting me a lot, and I really wish I could blame it on the huge amount of research I’ve done.

But yeah, now it’s here and there’s no way back (even though I want to scream thinking about it T-T) and hopefully I’ll be done with the three left soon enough- and surely before I finish editing the rest of the chapters.

And the editing process (and when I say editing, keep in mind that I’m not a native English speaker, and it’s only done with the best of my abilities so it’ll at least being able to be understood even when grammar isn’t right; can someone tell me again why did I choose to write in past tense??) is a much bigger project than what I anticipated- I had to stay up two whole nights just to be done with this chapter, which is currently the shortest of all the chapters (though I really wish I could keep them all around 8k).

So, without further ado, let’s start with some background of the fic itself:

After getting into the Sterek fandom in 2014 (I’ve watched the show since the fisrt season but was not full on shipper like today), I found this post while browsing through the 2014′s Sterek Week tag. It really caught my attention above any other post I’ve seen about them for some reason (because not only the characters really fit their roles, but I love the Greek myth in general, even more so after reading the Percy Jackson series; I’d include references to it, but decided against it for the sake of my friend, who’s the biggest fan of the series), and after daydreaming about it for a few days- the idea of writing it according to the original Greek legend popped into my head, and I decided to try it out (btw, I was embarrassingly surprised to find out how different it was from the film, along with the fact that the Roman name is more famous than the original one).

As I was taking it more and more seriously (at my first few months in the fandom I was so excited about the unending amount of posts about them that I spent my free time basically stalking many old posts in random blogs xD), around 2015, I translated what I’ve written to English and finished the chapter. As I started reading about the legend in general, I found out these interesting points that drove me more than anything to write the fic, because now I had answers to why I was so instinctively drawn to this AU, why it felt so right (can also be read as: the amount of times I fangirled because of my own stupid AU >< ) :

1. His canon real name, Mieczysław, means “fame by swords”- with name Heracles meaning “fame by Hera” (and now I’m really glad I’d waited until this name was revealed, instead of only using Alcaeüs, which supposedly means “strength”, as his lone first name like I’d planned). As we know Stiles, though, neither of them is needed in order for him to reach glory :P

2. According to the original legend, Heracles actually has an average size body, and isn’t as well-built as the Romans fantasize him to be and as we imagine him to be today.

3. Heracles’ preferred weapon was a club, which is as close as it can get to  Stiles’ modern bat lol.

4. Like Stiles, some of Heracles’ most known features were being vengeful and preferring to kill anyone who stood in his way (though Stiles only suggests it) but also struggling a lot with guilt. He used his cunning skills in some of his labours, too.

5. In this interview with Jeff Davis, he stated that not only the show is inspired by Greek mythology, but Stiles itself is inspired about non other than another Greek Hero, Perseus (Heracles’ ancestor): “...He needed to be Perseus, given a sword and shield by the Gods, but he has to rely on his own wits when he faces the monster, in the same way Perseus chased Medusa and used his own wits to show her own reflection and turn her to stone. That is Stiles. You give him mountain ash, he can spread a circle around it, but he has to rely on his own wits as well.”

* mind you, I’d still write the thing even without Jeff proving that the legend fits Stiles and the Teen Wolf universe to perfectly, but as a real Sterek fan I take whatever little good he does leave to us and make the best out of it. In the end I didn’t even write him as Perseus, because it was Heracles’ legend that inspired me in the first place, and I preferred to give Stiles to go through the most legendary journey of them all (which is also why I didn’t go with the “legend repeating itself” trope). I did use the comparison in some instances in the fic, though, as the most known feature of both of them is cunning. 

But when we leave the plot aside and focus on the ship that really was the cause of it all (and fair warning: THIS FIC IS AS SLOW AS A SLOW BUILT CAN BE)- I’m a sucker for stories where a character’s mentally doesn’t for with the level of his power, and with that I could write the best story I could give to Stiles and Derek.

So with that’s done, let’s get to the chapter itself. ^^”

Myth and Historical Overview

Alcaeüs is the name Heracles was born with, before it was changed later on in his life to Heracles- though no one knows at which point it happened. A less common name that is associated with him is Alcides.

The story about Stiles lifting the car doesn’t represent anything in the legend of Heracles, who, unlike Stiles, was always aware of Zeus being his Father.

General Recap

Additional car scene to the Magic Bullet episode! :D This is the first scene I’ve written to the story, though I translated it after originally scrabbling it to myself during my time off at the office in Hebrew, my native language, before translating it later when I got it on my computer: 1 2 (HOW COULD I THOUGH, IT’S NOW SO WEIRD TO ME TO READ IT LIKE THIS XD also, there isn’t a good translation in Hebrew to the word “Dude”).

Poor Derek, though- everything crushes around him and he’s about to die, but he still had the patience to let Stiles take his time while telling about the tough parts T-T 

So yeah, in this universe Stiles finds out that Deaton knows stuff, but still prefers to treat Scott’s condition after the bite on his own at the beginning.

I find that scene with Scott to be adorable, and presenting what I wish their relationship will always be like in the canon, but don’t get your hopes up for something similar to that to happen again. I may write the story from Stiles’ POV, who is led by his incredible loyalty, but I don’t like Scott or his friendship with Stiles in canon, so prepare for subtle criticism at future parts.

The “incident” will be explained further in the story.

Fun Facts

The idea for the aura that Stiles came from S3B, where Derek sees Kira’s. It doesn’t have a shape like her for Derek to know what Stiles is, though.

Reading the first draft, apparently I planned for Stiles to know he is connected to the Greek Deities somehow- probably scene Heracles has always known about it according to the legend. I’m glad I changed that, though, because if Stiles knew enough to be aware of that- he’d figured out already about being a Demigod, and it could ruin... the drama, I guess? “XD

And that’s all for this time, since I don’t really have anything from the legend or history fact being used in that one. I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter and that you will with the rest too! ^^

And if you want to ask anything, feel free to send me!

Recap and Notes: Heracles!Stiles Ch. 18

find the chapter here

Myth and Historical Overview

Aphrodite isn't a part of Heracles’ legend at any point, either by actual appearance or by mentioning through an indirective effect she has left on his life. Unlike other unmentioned gods, which I refrain to include even when I really wanted for them to make an appearance- I had to use her in order to help with an important point in the plot.

Moreover, Heracles has never committed Hubris. While he is sometimes described as quite arrogant and supercilious, he has never sinned against the gods to receive a punishment for his attitude (although some would argue that he did so by attacking the Oracle, when she refused to give him something to redeem himself over the murder of Iphitus, which was caused by one of his sudden burst of rage).

Erinyes, better known by their Roman equivalents, the Furies (the latter was also, unfortunately, the one to be mentioned in the show by Matt, in 2x10) are the incarnate spirits of vengeance and retribution, who were in charge for giving a punishing fate for mortal sinners.

Ero, also more known by his Roman version, Cupid, was a minor god and an assistant of Aphrodite in matters that had to do with love (while she herself was in the head of other issues, such as beauty and pleasure). He was carrying a bow and flaming arrows with him, which lightened the flame of love in one’s heart- a fact which influenced the term ‘cupid’s bow’, which I had to use as it is since it wouldn’t be understood otherwise. 

A story which belonged to the 11th Labour (with the Apples of the Hesperides) and I didn’t include until now is that of Busiris, an Egyptian king (and a son of Posideon) who received the prophecy that the nine years of scarcity in his country will end if he sacrifices a foreigner to Zeus once a year. During his search for the Apples, Heracles visited Egypt at some point, where the Busiris tried to kidnap him for said sacrifice- but he managed to escape, and once he killed the king he continued in his journey. I didn’t use that story in the right point in the timeline of the legend since there was too much happening in the chapter of the 11th Labour, and adding this on top of that was too much- so I decided to indirectly include that in this chapter, where Stiles was about to be sacrificed instead of asking to be burned in fire, like Heracles originally did, and it was done so by someone who needed the help of Zeus in order to restore a flow (of magic, though, and not water lol). 

Ironically (aka another moment of me fangirling of a match between the show to the legend and my plan for the fic :P ) Jennifer’s original name, Julia, is either a Greek name or derived from Zeus’ Roman counterpart, Jupiter, and parallelly, some of her powers are related to the weather. You can read more about it here.

Deïaneira was Heracles’ second wife, who led him to a tragic event in the name of her love, which eventually would cause Heracles’ death: One day, when she and her husband went on a trip by a river- she asked a Centaur named Nessos to help her cross it. He compiled, only once they both crossed the river he grabbed her and ran away, trying to take her for himself. She screamed and yelled for help, and after a long journey her husband eventually caught up and took Nessos down- not before the latter told her about the possible usage of his blood, as a love poison. In a fear of her husband putting an eye on another damsel, Deïaneira took some of the Centaur's blood in a little bottle she carried and kept it with her ever since. Later, once they were back home, she sewed a new cloak for Heracles and dipped it in Nessos' blood. The moment he tried it on it, though, she discovered too late the trickster's lie, and what was believed to be a love poison turned out to be nothing but blood mixed with the Hydra’s venom from Heracles’ arrow. She tried to pull the cloak over, only it was too late- and killed herself.

Heracles, suffering in an unending pain by the venom, asked to be burned. It was then where Zeus approached him and asked him if he wanted to have his divine part slipt from his mortal part so he could join the Olympus and live there forever- to which Heracles agreed. Then, as his mortal part was burnt entirely- his other half was taken to the Olympus, where he became a god with the role of the protector of the Olympus, and married Zeus’ daughter (ugh), Hebe. Obviously, reading about it as I took a look at the full version legend for the first time, it was a hard decision to make regarding what it was going to convert to the FIC, because I definitely not started that project for it to end up as an MCD fic (killing the main character in an original story is one thing for me, but Stiles?! MY BABY?!??1111), no matter to what level of angst I brought the main characters to xD After a while of brainstorming, I decided that Zeus was going to use Stiles’ divinity anyway as a Daemone, but that the strength was going to stay with Stiles as it was an addition that has nothing to do with him being a son of a god, so Stiles still gets to continue his life with Heracles’ main feature, but without the given skills, which means he will have to work on redeveloping them, or at least to a level as high as he can, on his own.

In Greek tragedies, those who were about to die looked up and refer to never seeing the sun again- and so it is something I included in the fic as well as a thought of Stiles, even though it wasn’t a very outstanding moment.

King Midas is known for his ability to turn anything he touched into gold, but surprisingly, even though the idea indeed came out of greed, it wasn’t given out of punishment- but a gift, as Dionysus granted him one wish out of honest gratitude for taking care of his drunk, stray son.

The idea of the divinity making Stiles immune to the Hydra's venom may look a little bullshitty, but because in the legend it takes a while for Heracles until he finds someone to help him put an end to his misery- I made it so Stiles survived with the cloak from early in the morning until midday.

An affair between males (known as “eromenoi”) in the Ancient Greek culture was really something that made one seem manlier (which is why Heracles had many lovers beside the two influencing women in his life). I made sure to keep it as an the historical fact it is, with nothing to do with the mythology, as, at least in the Olympus in this fic’s universe- the Olympians see no need for sexual/romantic orientation, as basically everyone is Pansexual lol (but I still consider Stiles as Bi, as the differences between the genders are apparent to him, even if not significantly).

General Recap

The actual quote from the Notting Hills film (which I personally love as well, and one of the main reasons is indeed Hugh Grant :P But I made Stiles love it too mainly to be able to use this idea lol) is: “Men go to bed with Gilda, but wake up with me”, which was said by the real-life actress Rita Hayworth, in regard to one of her popular characters which she portrayed.

Deïaneira’s story inspired the presentation Meg in the Disney film, and perhaps what was supposed to be both of their deaths- although, according to her name and the fact Hercules had no other woman before her, as much as we know- she is supposed to be similar in her story to his first love, Megara.

Just to make it a bit clearer, as I didn’t really have a way to explain it in the fic: just like my headcanon for the show, there’s no such a thing as a love magic, and the only spell similar enough is one which makes a person think obsessively over something else, be it another person or any other random subject. Another thing I wanted to clarify is that, while the Nemeton is inside the borders of Beacon Hills’ preserve- the tree itself is neutral, which means it doesn’t belong to Beacom Hills even while inside its territory, and that’s why Jeniffer could perform her sacrifice there.

While it was not easy for me to let Stiles live, in contrast on the legend (although it would have been IMPOSSIBLE for me to kill him T-T) and more similar than I would have preferred to the film, it was clear to me that Derek had to enter the fire and get injured, but instead of explaining the reasons that are easy to figure anyway, I’ll let you to just go to the ask box and curse me to death, because I definitely deserve that (for the entire chapter/fic too, actually).

The idea of “Mischief” is based on what the Sheriff told about Stiles in 6a, even though I haven't watched any scene from that season apart of this one, as far as I remember xD

Fun Facts

This chapter and the previous one were supposed to be one chapter (that’s why, for a while, it was tagged with having only 18 chapters), but in retrospective, with all the drama in that one- I’m glad that it was too long and I had to split it xD

So this is where I supposed to say that the new presented god in that chapter, Aphrodite, is based on a character from One Punch Man like the other gods- but she’s actually not, lol. Unlike the others, I didn’t want to make her look ridiculous, but I hope I’ve made a good job with her anyway xD

THANK YOU AS ALWAYS FOR READING, AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FEEL FREE TO ASK!

Recap and Notes: Heracles!Stiles Ch. 12

find the chapter here

Myth and Historical Overview

It was one of the companions of Heracles,  Abderos,  who was devoured by the Mares rather than an official- while he was keeping the Mares on watch until Heracles would defeat Diomedes and his men (which were a part of a tribe on a remote island). After that, rather than being set free, they were brought all the way to Eurythesus (which is something I need to find a substitute solution to in a lot of the Labours, most of the times, as there is just no logical way for Stiles to do that).

Those mares are also believed to be the ancestors of Alexander the Great’s personal horse, Bucephalus.

So, I made two quite big changes (or rather, a replacement) in the 8th Labour, with Hippolyte’s belt:

As most of you might already know (if not from general knowledge, then from Wonder Woman xD)- Hippolyte is an Amazon. The problem was that, in the one hand, since I prefer to include characters from the show whenever I can instead of building OCs for different rules in the legend- I REALLY wanted to include the Drag Queens from the second seasons; on the other, I prefer keeping the Amazons as great warriors who were born with a feminine body (regardless their gender identities, of course), because that what was great about them, in my opinion. That was why I decided to replace them with another tribe, the Maenads, who were female followers of Dionysus- which was known as a Deity who loved parties, which really worked well for me with the Jungle (although they had nothing, as far as I know, to do with Ares; the Greek reef knot in his belt, by the way, is also known as Heracles Knot). Inspired by him, they were pretty mad, but in the fic it is only manifested in the way they fight, and nothing beyond that. I sincerely apologize if I made the wrong impression and offended anyone.

Hera succeeded to incite Hippolyte against Heracles, which ends up in him killing her (while in the fic Stiles ironically thinks that this option could be the worst idea ever), which I really did not want to. 

The exact area in which Erythia, the island Geryon and his cattle lived in is not known- unlike other Labours, which their location can always be approximated. The main reason for that is that this place is supposed to be at the end of the world- which was believed by the Greeks to be beyond the Strait of Gibraltar, that only little number of people dared to sail to during that time, and so, not a lot was known about it. 

It is no surprise, then, that the journey to and from that island, at the very end of the world, included a lot of adventures (which was why it was important to me to place the Labour in the fic away from America, and create an environment close to that):

He had to kill a great number of random beasts along the way- which are the wave of monsters/mutants that first attacked Stiles on the island.

Reaching the line of a range of mountains where Africa was connected with Europe (before there was the Strait of Gibraltar existed, as, according to the legend, there was no opening to connect between the Mederitian sea to the Atlantic Ocean before that), and Heracles split one of the mountains in half so he could pass through it to the other side instead of climbing over it. The now two separated mountains, which bordered the gateway, became known as the Pillars of Heracles.

Overheated by the sun which seemed to not leave him for a second throughout the entirety of his journey, Heracles raised his bow and directed an arrow to the sun in a challenge. Helios, the Deity of the sun, was impressed by his audacity, and gave him a large goblet/vase (the krater), with which he sailed all the way to Erythia (rather than being more-or-less teleported there, like in the fic).

Finally arriving at the island, he had now to defeat the herdsman,  Eurytion, and his canine shepherd, which was a two-headed dog. The reason I redesigned it as having another set of legs, unlike the legend, is because I wanted to differ/distinguish him from Cerberus, the triple-headed hound, even though the two are Brothers.

The one who tried to steal one of the Bulls to himself actually appears on the journey back to Greece: his name was Eryx, Poseidon's son. After tracking for a while, Heracles eventually found the lost Bull in Eryx’s herd, who challenged him to a wrestling duel for the Bull. (In the story Stiles did not perform a Greco Wrestling-style, or even Amateur wrestling-style move, but as a WWE fan I couldn't resist that chance ^^” FUCK YEAH PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING :D)

The one to kill Geryon's Grandmother, Medusa, was Perseus- Heracles’ ancestor. Geryon himself was born naturally and was not made by someone, but the reasons I chose to make him a mutant (which followed by making the rest of the island’s monsters ones, as well) was to link him better to the story and make his character a little more meaningful in general; I thought it was interesting to make Gerard responsible for the monsters this time instead of Hera, and hinting that during the years he was a free man he has prepared a lot of backups we do not know about, all of them demonstrating the depth of his cruelity.

Along Eryx, there were two more of Posideon's sons interfered in Heracles’ path back to Eurystheus. Sometimes they are referred to as the giants Albion and Bergion, and sometimes as two men named Ialebion and Dercynus (combining the idea of giants and seemingly human brothers, I thought it was the best way to include the twins, instead of getting rid of them in a too easy way). What is for sure is that the battle was not in Heracles’ favour, and after praying to Zeus- the Deity assisted him through a rain of stones.

Sometimes, individuals of the called strayed away on their own (one time one of them even went as far as jumping to the sea, for some reason), or even everyone at once, because of a gadfly that Hera sent to attack the cattle- and Heracles had to put the march on hold and go after them. 

The way in which Heracles prayed to Zeus during the fight against Posideon’s sons was by kneeling- which is the reason to why the constellation which was originally called by the Greeks “Engonasin”, or “The Kneeler”, would later be renamed into the Heracles constellation, and is what the moles on Stiles face are shaped like (that’s why in the fic world, all at once, a moment after Stiles will be gone from the mortal world- the name of that star grouo will change inside everyone’s minds, and in most of the sources into his name; there will be a little more explanation about this process in the last chapter).

The Moirai, which Zeus mentioned, are the Greek Deities of fate.

General Recap

So, it is clear that I’ve tried to speed things up a little with the first three Labours (7-9), since there was not something too interesting to do with them plot-wise and not much character development-wise, besides presenting the deterioration in Stiles’ mentally state- but the thing with the 7th one is- it’s just that short xD No matter where I read about it, in any version I've found, it is as short and simple as it is depicted in the fic. I’m glad that I came up with using it as a demonstration of the change in Stiles and Derek’s relationship, because otherwise, it’d just literally be a two-sentence thing that all that could be said about it was: “Well, that... that was... a thing.” (but also when I think of the legend, I really can’t figure out why they included a task so pointless like this. I won’t invent something else entirely as I wish to stick to the legend as much as possible, but this one is truly disappointing)

I can't write a Drag Queen for the life of me xD I've written that part after binge-watching an entire season of RuPaul Drag Race. In all seriousness, though, once again- I hope I didn't offend anyone.

And the same about Faux Queens! 

I chose to not include the Soulmates/split soul theory in the fic because I like better the idea that the connection between Stiles and Derek to not be destined, but as natural and incidental as possible- which probably frustrated Hera even more by how strong it turned out without being made by divine forces.

So yeah, this is where the Sterek finally starts to kick in- you didn’t think I made the waiting last THAT long just to make it easy for them, did you? :P

Fun Facts

This chapter’s Deity, Zeus, is inspired by the One Punch Man villain Boros (although more in some of his speech than his looks, unlike the others), which is the strongest and biggest one of season 1. I considered to be inspired by his backstory as well (after easily destroying any enemy he has ever had, he has travelled the space all the way to Earth, where he’d find a great rival to relieve his boredom, according to a seer) and make Zeus find Claudia through a seer as well- but I thought it would be more powerful if Zeus found her on his own, after searching long for a woman interesting enough, and without knowing the destiny of their child.

It may be surprising, then, that I didn’t reference another villian from One Punch Man, which is very similar to Geryon in looks, Melzargard (as a reminder: the reason it became a thing was  because it was such a huge project that I’ve had to scatter Easter Eggs  throughout the fic, using mostly subjects which accompanied me through the years of writing the fic, especially during the times I’ve experienced terrible writing blocks/anxieties over it). Since I only started that thing to make the Deities to look ridiculous, like the monsters in the anime, along with the fact that didn’t use any inspiration for another monster who was able to talk, the Nemean Lion from the first Labour- I preferred to leave it as that,

THANK YOU AS ALWAYS FOR READING, AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FEEL FREE TO ASK!

Recap and Notes: Heracles!Stiles Ch. 10

find the chapter here

Myth and Historical Overview

So as a Jewish, I may or may not fangirled the first time I read about the connection between Heracles and Samson’s stories "xD I know the way Deaton talked about him was not the most accurate of him, but that was the way I wanted his character to be presented in the story. So because I can, here are some fun fact of other ways they are related:

The straits of Gibraltar is also called "The pillars of Heracles", because it was believed to be divided by him (as happened in his tenth labour, only in my fic it will go a little differently of course). This parallels to Samson's story, who became captive of the Philistine and was brought to a temple where a lot of people were celebrating his captivity and mocking him. He asked to stand between the two pillars which held the building and them grasped them, breaking them out of their places and causing the whole building to fall apart on him together with all the Philistines.

Heracles was once taken by the Egypts while getting to their area, and slaughtered a lot of them after once he finally stopped putting with their shit (that the best way I can put it, at least. Not a lot of logic in those stories, so it seems), which can be compared to Samson escaping from the Aza people's grip, who went after him after they found out about him staying the night at the house of a local woman. He eventually got away by breaking the city's gates in the process and taking them with him, also for some unclear reason XD

The number Samson's feats are believed to be counted as twelve as well (as detailed here)

Heracles is believed to come from Argos, a region which its source is said to be of the Dantoni people- those who belong to one of the twelve tribes that were in Israel during the ancient times, called Dan (I'm not sure how common legend is among researchers though).

Both of them became slaves due to their misdeeds (Samson by revealing that the secret of his power is in his hair; Heracles by his lack of control of his rage).

And this one doesn’t necessarily has something to do with the actual legend, and 

Pholly’s character is based on Pholus, a Centaur who lived near the mountain that the Erymanthian Boar, and were an old friend of Heracles. In the legend, Heracles convinces him to share with him a special wine that was kept in his house- one that was supposed to be saved to be drunk only by Centaurs, and not to be wasted on humans or other creatures who weren’t one of them. The moment Heracles opened the jar of wine, the scent of it was sensed by many Centaurs who came to Pholus’ house in order to give the rude one what he deserved. Heracles chased them off, even killed some of them- and Pholus himself was accidentally killed in the process. The wine had nothing to do with the Boar, but in my fic I decided to connect between the two stories (with the horses representing the Centaurs) to make the first story to have more sense, while in the legend it is an inseparable part of the story of the fourth Labour for no apparent reason.

The Boar in the legend lived in a snowy mountain, something that is very untypical to find during the Californian’s summer, from what I understood- and that is how the idea of the fake snow machine came from xD

The mentioned Calydonian Boar belongs to another myth, where Artemis punished the king of Calydon, Oeneus, by releasing the enormous beast which went wild in the kingdom, and was eventually put down by the female warrior Atlanta. It is quite ironic, then, that this Labour usually appears after the Labour with Artemis herself.

General Recap

The battle that Derek talks about is the same that happned in 3x05, only it ended differently as Kali is dead, and Erica is there instead of Scott and Allison.

Fun Facts

There are relations between Heracles and Samson in popular culture, too:

Samson has cooperated with Heracles (who is sometimes referred by Hercules and at other times by his original Greek Name) in a few Marvel comics.

They also appear together in the film “Hercules, Samson and Ulysses” from 1963, which seems like some sort of “Infinity Wars” with the greatest heroes from the myths? lol

This one might have turned out like that by a chance, but the way Meg in the Disney film tried to deduce Hercules (I’m using the Roman name just because this one the one to be unfortunately used in the film, but of course in films based on the legend in the past they were using it too, so I can’t really blame Disney for that) to tell her about his secret weakness reminds me a lot of how Delilah had done the same with Samson (and when you add Meg’s death by the pillar it makes it seem even less as an unintentional parallel, but that’s probably just me reading too much into it, using the Sheriff’s “Once Is Chance, Twice is Coincidence” logic xD If you find anything else that I missed, though, please by all means let me know! xD)

THANK YOU AS ALWAYS FOR READING, AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FEEL FREE TO ASK!

Recap and Notes: Heracles!Stiles Ch. 8

find the chapter here

Myth and Historical Overview

As I tend to do many times during the fic, I mixed a couple of parts from the legend with one character- in this case, Isaac. During his life, Heracles has experienced a couple of fits of rage, caused by Hera- so sometimes he would be driven mad and murder someone close to him (the same very reason to why he was given the Labours to begin with, as one day he randomly murdered his innocent kids, and possibly his wife, too) without a reasonable trigger, or any at all. So was in the case with Iphitus, a supporter of Heracles, who was loyal to him even to the point he was banished from his own kingdom after scolding his own Father, Eurytus, for his unfair treatment to Heracles (he refused to give him his daughter, Iphitus’ sister, after he won an archery competition, ironically for those very same fits of rage). Even though they travelled together and became close friends, Heracles was washed with a sudden need to throw him out from the top of high wall (ironically, the fear of that exact this happening was why Eurytus refused to let Heracles marry his daughter, a right which he had won in archery competition, and Iphitus denied it was possible). All in all, Isaac was saved by Derek, and so could survive.

Linus, Heracles’ lyre teacher, was the first victim of his fits. As a boy, Heracles was completely mentally stable, but Hera made it so that a bad comment about his performance was suddenly enough for him to his teacher with the instrument- which immediately killed him, due to his great strength. As he was still young, he was sent to a farm for a couple of years in an attempt to school him for his pride (it was not led by Chiron, as the fic suggests, but the Centaur indeed was Heracles’ coach in other points in his life. Overall, this is why Stiles took the fact he killed the Lion with his own hands so hard.

As the Greek Deities were known, obviously Alcmene, Heracles’ mother, understood the situation a little bit more than Claudia could, even before she was confirmed it was Zeus. After all, according to some versions, Zeus made the night he had spent with her (while her real husband, Amphitryon, was away at war) three times longer. There’s a lot more to the background of her and her husband in general, about how exactly they got together- but I decided to not get into it as there’s so much going on that there’s not enough time for Stiles to get into it.

Heracles didn’t own a snake pet, like Stiles did (and I was so excited when I recalled that- it just made the story better imo), but he indeed was attacked by two snakes when he was a baby, which, of course, was Hera’s doing.

General Recap

No progress in the plot in that chapter, as long as it is, but I hope you enjoyed that character development that it added to the story (take notes, Jeff Davis!)

Since, unknowingly to him, the outburst had to do with Hera- he was so out of control that he remembers that moment from an outsider's point of view.

I added the fact that Claudia suffered from postnatal depression because that was the only reason I could think to why she would leave Stiles alone in the woods as a baby. Alcmene did this out of fear, which would not make Claudia the type of person that the Sheriff would ignore her so-called cheating for. In addition, it also explains a lot about the toughest phase of her frontotemporal dementia, and why she made Stiles think it was his fault she behaved like that.

It will not be mentioned in the story, but Cora’s anchor used to be about her family, but the image of it was ruined after getting disappointed after meeting the two family members she got left. It affected her enough that it only angered her more instead of helping her gaining control over herself, until she lost it completely.

Fun Facts

I wrote the scene with Sheriff at the time where Tyler Hoechlin was reported to not be a recurring character anymore. It was a really hard weekend for me- even though I knew both the character and the actor were better off away from the show, the fact that I won't have even the hope for a better treatment for Derek effected me badly, and I couldn't help but lay in my bad crying like he died or something xD I had to do something to cheer myself up, so I came with the idea of writing part of that scene (as much as I could, without knowing yet how I would include this in the plot), mainly the end of it, because there's nothing like a Father-Son affection moment to warm your broken heart, especially when it's the Stilinskis ^^

THANK YOU AS ALWAYS FOR READING, AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FEEL FREE TO ASK!

Recap and Notes: Heracles!Stiles Ch. 7

find the chapter here

Myth and Historical Overview

The dream in the beginning is based on the traditional presentation of Heracles, where he uses the Nemean’s Lion head as a cape in all of his journies. That’s how he is portrayed in art, too, a lot of times. Stiles, though, isn’t someone I can see do something like that (not in the canon universe, at least)- even if he wasn’t that affected by his act of murder, it would still disgust him to use it like that, and he would prefer to take advantage of the Lion’s invulnerable skin another way (as it is a very distinctive feature of Heracles, though, it won’t be the last time it will take part on some sort of way in the fic).

When Heracles returned from the first Labour, which was supposed to be impossible to complete, Eurystheus was so afraid of Heracles’ abilities, after being demonstrated in such an extreme circumstance- that he refused to leave his castle, and would continue to do so during most of the times Heracles would return from other Labours, sending the instructions about the next one through a messenger.

The Hydra is called “Lerna” after a nearby town it dwelled next to. It is known mostly for the story of its fight against Heracles, and since those legends don’t exist in the fic’s universe- there couldn’t be a lot written about it, including its ability to grow multiplying heads.

The giant crab appearance might seem very random, but he is mentioned in most of the versions of the legend. While fighting against Heracles, Hera sent the crab, known simply as Carcinus (the Greek word of Crab) to help the Hydra against him. After its (very fast) death, the Crab is said to have been put among the stars by Hera, which has later become known as the Cancer constellation.

Heracles got help in this Labour, too, from the one who accompanied him to many of his journies: his nephew, Iolaus. They didn’t reach out for an advice from someone else, though, as Derek chose to do with Deaton. Deaton was also necessary to bring the idea of milking some of the Hydra’s venom for future use, too.

Nectar and Ambrosia are, respectively, the drink and food of the Deities.

General Recap

To say I’m content with the panic attack part would be the biggest lie. Of any other part of the story, it will always be the part I’ll always be harsh on myself for. I’ve never gone through one myself, and I can vaguely picture the situation from stories I’ve heard from people I know. I couldn’t refrain from including this part, as a character who canonly experiences panic attacks, and goes through a crisis as Stiles does in the fic (in addition to the great pressure of taking part in two dangerous campaigns, there is one more aspect to what made him so sensitive to the reminder if how he murdered the Lion, that will be put to light the upcoming next chapters) along with the development he gained from that, beggining to understand that sarcasm doesn’t have to be the only answer, and that expressing your yrue feelings isn’t necessarly a burden on other people. Nonetheless, if someone got offended (or even worse, triggered) by that scene, I sincerely apologize.

It was important to me to add Stiles’ desire to do something about Ms. Morrel because in 3a, it was weird to me that neither Scott or Derek, or even any the others did too much about her, when she worked at the same school most of them attended. They were occupied with a lot, yes, but she still could be an important key in the fight against The Alpha. Maybe If I’ll watch that again it will miraculously make more sense (unlike the rest of the mess that 3a was), but I’ve had to watch most of the episodes so many times for the sake of this fic, that I don’t think it will happen too soon, besides rewatches of Sterek moments xD

The injury is not part of the legend, and I most likely didn’t think to do it until I made it all the way to this part of the fic. I remember finally reading the detailed stories of the Labours, after only knowing the very general idea of what Heracles did in each of them, and to be honest, I got really disappointed most of the times xD If you think about a lot of them, you find out that not every single one of them is necessary incredible and magnificent. Some aren’t greater than stories of other Hero’s deeds and journies, and at others, he barely even put effort into. So, after reading about the crab involvement in the battle against the Hydra, I decided to take a chance to add even more difficulty to Stiles’ labours, to add to the drama and make his achievements look even better (and it can also be symbolic, when you think about the length and years Heracles spent on feet to reach his Labours). Moreover, just like Stiles isn’t well trained or easily shows his fighting abilities like Heracles did, even before the Labours- I don’t want him to be naturally that resilient and indestructible, but let him form himself into that level of durability, instead.

What I’m glad the confrontation the most for is that I got to expose Stiles to what Scott did at the part of the showdown of the s2 finale he wasn’t there to see- something that Scott did not get the scolding he deserved for, unlike the Derek for the shitty things he’s done during the second season- something which still bugs me to this day, along with a lot of other fans. So don’t worry, Stiles will not forget about that.

The visit from Deucalion that Cora mentions is similar to that which happened in 3x04.

Funny enough, the Labour with the Hydra (and by that Heracles himself, although through his Roman name, Hercules) was mentioned in the show by Peter in 3x05, when they made a plan in preparation for a future battle with the Alpha Pack and he explains how killing Deucalion alone won’t put an end to a pack of Alphas).

Fun Facts

This is defiantly one of the longest chapters “xD And yes, that means there are a couple more that are a bit longer ^^” It happens because I’m the worst when it comes to assuming something in numbers- be it distance, height, pages in the book, or, in this case- how long something I’m about to write about is going to be. That how I ended with  the word count in a lot of chapters going WAY beyond what I anticipated, and, in many cases, the range of 8k-12k per chapter exceeded in a couple of thousands of words >< (There were even cases when I thought I’m not going to even meet the minimum I set to myself, which, in most cases, I passed middle through the chapter xD). Of course, there were cases where I did had to split a chapter I’ve planned (and even then both chapters ended up really fucking long), but in this chapter’s case, it was important to me that the panic attack will be included in the same chapter where Stiles experiences with another downfall, only with something that pushes him even beyond.

The dream was not planned out to be that dark xD At the very first drafts of the fic, I thought Stiles would try to imagine him with that, as sort of his superhero suit, and he will put that idea aside only when everyone started judging him about that xD I’m certain there have been a lot of cases where lighted part deteriorated the moment I actually sat down to write them, when I had a clearer image of the situation.

THANK YOU AS ALWAYS FOR READING, AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FEEL FREE TO ASK!

Recap and Notes: Heracles!Stiles Ch. 6

find the chapter here

Myth and Historical Overview

The role Gerard portrays in the fic is that of Eurytheus. Eurytheus was the cousin of Heracles’ mother - and by that Persues’ grandchild too - and was born on the same day as Heracles (he was supposed to be born a few months later, but Hera preceded his birth so he would inherit the dominance Zeus vowed about). He grew up to be mean enough for her likings, and so decided he would be the one to get the honour to send Heracles to the different labours. I didn’t like the idea of the mediator being on Stiles’ age, and Gerard fitted the role so well (some of the reasons will be discovered later on), so I decided to use him for that role.

In the legend, the dominance which Zeus’ vow referred to was the kingdom of Mycenae- a city which was founded by Perseus. That is why most sources say that the vow was not regarding Zeus’ descendants in general, but specifically about those of  Perseus (who are known as Perseids). Since the Argents have a known background in France, while the Stilinskis have with Poland- I preferred not to make them related beyond the connection by Zeus.

Eurytheus didn’t put a time limit to Heracles’ Labours, as most of them necessitated a long journey in foot throughout the world, and the shortest of them took months to complete. Since the fic takes place in the modern time, with motor vehicles, I think it would only make more sense for Hera to want to make it even harder for Stiles and have him only a week to complete each Labour, or else he loses everything he fought for (and yeah, I also wanted him to finish everything while still in high school xD).

The Echidna I mentioned is the Greek half-snake-half-woman monster, although it is also the name of a species from Australia and New Guinea.

Moll is short for Molorchus. He was a poor man that Heracles was a guest of when he arrived at Nemea, where the Lion dwelled at. So, to explain the last part of Stiles’ talk with Moll before he left for the woods: Molorchus offered to sacrifice an animal for Heracles to have a successful hunt, but Heracles asked him to wait until he returns with the Lion’s body, so they could sacrifice it together for Zeus. That is, unless 30 days pass (as there is no way Heracles will be gone for that long unless he dies) and then Molorchus would search for Heracles’ body, and sacrifice it instead. When Heracles returned with the Lion’s body eventually, it was just at that end of that period of time.

So the Lion’s ability to shapeshift into a girl to tempt men to its lair is not told by most of the versions of the legend, but I decided to use it anyway- mainly because it was an excuse for a verbal interaction between Stiles and the Lion xD

The use of fire arrows and the bat(club) and starting a fire next to the Lair that the Lion escaped to is all according to Apollodorus, but the specific way in which Stiles strangled the Lion is based on Theocritus’s Idylls.

By the end of the labour, Heracles used one of the Lion’s tooth (by Athena’s guidance) to shed the Lion’s skin, so he could use it as a cape- along with the Lion’s head, and he is famous to be drawn with. It is not something that Stiles is capable to do or think about by this point of the fic, though, but it’s an act that will be included in the fic in a different way that I chose to plan it out.

General Recap

No Derek this chapter ^^”  It’s something that I really try to avoid, because, after all, we’re all here for Sterek (even though I did warn that it is going to be one hell of a slow burn), but the next scene with him was just something that had to be saved to s separated chapter, even if this one would have ended up shorter.

So as the labours (FINALLY) start, the first third of the fic is finished...  with 70k. AHHHHH I SWEAR TO GOD IT WASN’T SUPPOSED TO TURN OUT THAT LONG WTF (AND I’M SORRY IF ONLY NOW YOU GET TO WHAT AGONIZING SLOW BURN I WAS TALKING ABOUT)

I have no clue about California's geography or nature reserve so please bear with me “^^

I try the best that I can to fit the story with 2011, so that’s why you’ll see weird stuff like “navigation map” instead of Waze xD

When I found that Heracles killed the lion through a stranglehold, I was really conflicted and was not sure what I’m going to do. It seemed to me like an option that Stiles is unlikely able to think of, and even if he does, then he will still try his hardest to find a more creative resolution. After brainstorming for a while, I figured that the best way to pull it off (as I do want to stay true to the significant parts of the legend as much as I want to keep the characters IC) is through an accident. Considering the little hints I put regarding something that troubles Stiles and will soon be told, it did work out eventually, but I don’t want to talk about that now (just a heads up that it is far from being the only angstiest part of the fic).

Fun Facts

Lion by Hollywood Undead was a song I’ve listened to the most while writing this chapter xD (a song I’ve found about through a Maze Runner fanvid, btw)

THANK YOU AS ALWAYS FOR READING, AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FEEL FREE TO ASK!

Recap and Notes: Heracles!Stiles Ch. 5

find the chapter here

Myth and Historical Overview

The dream that is told in the beginning of the chapter is about a story where Heracles was pondering on whether to stay loyal to the earthly Father who had raised him and become a cowherd, or taking advantage of his abilities to do more than that. All of a sudden, two figures appeared in front of him: they were Deities/Daimonas(personified spirits of something) Arete and Kakia. The first one represented virtue, and offered him hard, but glorified life; the latter represented vice, and offered calm, easy life, though without any achievements. I made Stiles thinking of his family when being offered that option, because as much as he looks for thrills in his life (like searching for the other half of a dead body in the darkness of the woods), it is not a decision he would make without thinking of others (like he was multiple times gave up on moments where he could show off to his Father or Lydia in favour of life-or-death meaningful tasks).

As noted by Apollo, wolves are sacred to him (although they are related to other Deities, too)- which makes it even more symbolic that he is the first Deity to meet Stiles.

Apollo is the Deity of prophecies, and believed to be able to give the best advice in regard of what was going to happen in the future, which is why Heracles approached him. Some versions of the legend claim that it wasn’t the Deity which Heracles ask for guidance regarding the bad incidents in his life, but his earthly messengers for that matter: the Oracle. I went with the version of Apollo himself meeting Stiles simply out of personal preference.

Myrtle, laurel and palm tree are all sacred to Apollo.

Kalisto was part of Artemis’ virgin Hunters, and once she was tempted by Zeus- Artemis was so mad that she made her into a bear. When she died later, together with her son, Zeus would place her in the stars as the Ursa Major constellation. Apparently, she had parted way from her Father, Lycaon, before joining Artemis- but since it isn’t noted clearly anywhere, I found it nice to hint the possibility of her becoming a Hunter after becoming a Werewolf.

General Recap

It is very important to me to redeem the show’s flaw in characters not regretting their problematic actins enough. Of course, Stiles’ behaviour in the fic is still problematic, but at least he makes the first right steps to reflect on those, and I hope it’ll turn out satisfying for you too!

It might be clear, but I just feel like clarifying it anyway: so Cora either isn’t aware of the fact her Brother is the building’s landlord or doesn’t really thinks about it too much when she first speaks to Stiles- she basically just wanted to make him go as fast as possible xD

Stiles didn’t ask about that, but Isaac isn’t there because he tried to give the two siblings as much alone time as possible (even when there’s no school to go to).

Fun Facts

Coach makes yet another reference to the Disney film xD Seriously, Phil is too great and similar to Finstock to use his quotes only once.

Apollo (like the rest of the Deities that Stiles will meet) is inspired by Amai Mask, a character from One Punch Man (very recommended btw, both as manga and anime!), since I wanted the Deities to look as ridiculous as the characters, and to make reference to OPM since I love it so much.

The irony in Apollo mentioning the Spartans (who most of them saw Apollo as their Patron Deity, together with Athena) is that they considered themselves to be the descendants of Heracles.

The part about building an outside fireplace with equipment that costs in total under 25 dollars is real, btw xD Youtube is indeed an amazing source of random needs.

THANK YOU AS ALWAYS FOR READING, AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FEEL FREE TO ASK!

Recap and Notes: Heracles!Stiles Ch. 4

find the chapter here

Myth and Historical Overview

The battle is based on the war of the Olympians against a group of Gigantes, the Gigantomachia. Through a prophecy that was told to the Olympians by the Oracle, they learned about the plan of the Gigantes, children of the Earth (the Titan Gaia), to take over Moutain Olympus, and that they would have to have a mortal by their side to win against them. They called Heracles for help, obviously, and through team-ups between him and the Deities (like Zeus dazing a Gigante for Heracles to shoot an arrow at him, and Apollo and Heracles both shooting an arrow on each of another; both of those acts you can see coming to fruition in other ways, and also the reason Stiles brought a bow) they saved Olympus. Hecate is the only Deity to be involved in the battle in the fic (according to the legend, she set a Gigante on fire by throwing torches at him), since it was another good way to get her involved with Stiles, which led to the meeting with Gale. But ultimately, yes, the legend of the epic battle is actually credited to the awesome pack of Derek rather than the Greek Deities, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!

Antaeus, the Gigante they fought against in the fic, though, did not take part in that war (and was actually a half-Gigante). He was involved with Heracles in another story that has nothing to do with it. The reason I chose him to represent the Gigantes was that Heracles fought against most of them, and did not have any main target on whom he noticeably focused on the most (there were two who were the biggest threat, Porphyrion and Alkyoneus, but I didn’t know how to pick between the two of them). So it was basically either singing  “Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe” and pick one, or looking for another Gigante that Heracles had more history with (that I may and may not use in further chapters :P). His “smaller” size in comparison to real, tall as mountains Gigantes, also contributed to the decision.

Ironically, according to the legend, Heracles saved Hera from the Gigante Porphyrion, who got her cornered. It would have been weird for Stiles to save his biggest enemy in this part of the story (and I’m not even sure if this part of the legend is set before, during or after the labours anyway) so I decided to make her the reason for the attack, instead.

SHOOTING A BROKEN ARROW IS COMPLETELY NOT REALISTIC, EVEN IN A UNIVERSE WHERE WEREWOLVES EXIST, I KNOW. But the legend of Heracles is so popular to this day because he had done things other mortal heroes were never told to be able to do, like wrestling with actual Deities. And even though has been implied already, there will be an explanation of why he gets so damn talented out of the blue, while normally he is too clumsy to hold a weapon for more than a moment without cracking the window. Making him being able to control his natural talent when he barely controls his flails in the show is just too OOC of him, which is worse for me than impossible moves like that.

The Soteria/Soter honorific is how the ancient Greeks used to the Deities, or at least the Olympians and some of the lesser Deities.

Again, like I said about the connection between Lycaon and his gang and the Druids in the previous recap- the part about their involvement with Hecate is not real, not even in the show’s mythology. I’m really pleased with making that explanation, though, it just makes so much sense, considering there’s no reason for Werewolves to be connected to the moon when real wolves don’t. And, of course, with how it brought Gale to Stiles, so she could give him the answers he needed to motivate him to do something about Hera hate getting out of control (as Hecate is never actively involved with Heracles in the legend).

Some sources claim that she was originally the Deity of childbirth, but other simply refer to her as nothing more than associated with it (without mentioning anything else besides the story with Heracles)- since it’s very vague, I decided to not include that either way in the fic.

Without the existence of the legend of Heracles, and the uniqueness of it considering his inhuman strength, I can’t see any other Demigod or hero getting his popularity. Persues’ legend, for example, is as famous as it is in our universe, which means most people may have heard about him, but not enough to remember who he is by being told his name. That’s another reason to why Stiles had never thought about it- it is more of a term to describe most of the Greek heroes in general, but not really seen as a species, if it makes sense.

The rest of the story of how Zeus impregnated Claudia, which Gale preferred to not be the one to tell him about, will be explained in further chapters, as implied.

When Heracles was nursed by Hera, it is said that he bit her nipple so hard that some of her milk was squirted, creating the Milky Way- which obviously doesn’t really make sense with the time the fic is set at.

Today, there aren’t actual Hellenistic settlements, communities who do believe and who worship the gods in festivals every year. Sadly, it seems that the Greek government refuses to acknowledge their religion, and doesn’t allow them to perform traditional ceremonies in patron temples, despite the cultural connection :/

There will be more explanation about the separation of the Deities from the human world in further chapters, so I’ll leave the profound explanation for it to future recaps.

General Recap

So I read and watched a few videos about sinkholes (which is the closest thing I could think about when I tried to find what would actually happen if a Giant breaks through the floor of a building xD), so I hope the way it turns out was as realistically correct as possible? It’s surely a complete mess, but  I hope at least it was generally understood.

Stiles and Derek did the finishing move on the Gigante

Is Boyd taking charge of the situation is another hint for him being Derek’s (best he could ask for) second in command? Absolutely yes :D 

Fun Facts

I was really debating with myself who should be the Alpha to be killed between Ennis and Kali. Eventually, I decided I wanted to give Derek a chance to redeem over Paige, so I chose to let Ennis continue with Deucalion for their future encounters.

Gale has a similar name to mine, Gal, so I was so excited to find out about her badass story (that’s also why I wanted her to talk with Stiles and have an important role in the fic, which is why I planned to make Hecate be involved with Erica and Boyd’s rescue). I wanted to make her with the same personality as mine, but I’m just so shy that it’s hard for me to imagine myself being in her shoes xD My personality came through her in some way, as it is natural to happen to writers with different characters they write, but I don’t know if that was as much as I wanted it to be.

THANK YOU AS USUAL FOR READING, AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FEEL FREE TO ASK!

Recap and Notes: Heracles!Stiles Ch. 3

find the chapter here

Myth and Historical Overview

Lycaon’s story is pretty much what you read in the chapter, with the addition of the show’s mythology which related it to the Druids. Even though I try to stay loyal to the original Greek myth, it wasn’t a detail that really changes anything, so I didn’t really mind to keep it that way. Pay attention to the fact that Werewolves are Lycaon’s offsprings, while you can already tell who’s Stiles is offspring of- this will definitely not pass unnoticed.

I’ll clarify Deaton’s explanation about Emissaries: like in the show, only Druids can become ones. As much as I love Emissary!Stiles, it isn’t logical for him to become one, even if it wasn’t too many specialties to add to his character. But, while Stiles’ arc in the story is to become the legendary warrior that we know from the legend- it is in character for him to fill that place to the best of his human capabilities, without doing more advanced magic than controlling Mountain Ash (which, in the story’s universe, he was able to due to the Mountain Ash being an easy material to use, where all you need is the tiniest of supernatural background), so it doesn’t mean he can have a soul bond connection/ magical tattoos/ etc.

The Jewish calendar is indeed based on the moons’ cycle. I wasn't quite sure if I wanted to have Stiles Jewish/half Jewish or not, but I wanted to include that fact in the fic as a little Easter Egg, regarding me being a Jewish. It just a cool thought that being a Jewish Werewolf might be somewhat easier than other religions because of that xD

General Recap

Jackson isn’t here as I try to somehow stay similar to Season 3′s storyline, while changing it (and fixing it :P ) altogether. Him being in the summer camp means that he didn’t leave Beacon Hills, like in the show, but having him stay the whole summer was just something that didn’t feel me right to do (he deserves taking a break far away from that town after everything that happened to him in S2, after all).

So when it comes to the meta about 3x01, that talks about how Stiles has helped Derek to search after Boyd and Erica during the summer, I have a little addition to it, which I’ve yet to read someone else mentioning it so far (probably due to the little importance of it to canon). When you rewatch the scene, you can see that Stiles is kinda surprised when Derek tells them that all of the pack members are the Alphas. So, if all the other signs show the Stiles helped Derek, why wouldn’t it know that? And that’s where my headcanon enters in: Derek clearly cares about the Stiles and Scott’s lives too much at the point to get them involved in the search, of the option they would get hurt in the process, or worse. Having another Werewolf involved aside from Isaac would not do much more help, too, but with Stiles’ research abilities... yet, he cannot let him in either. Well, not fully. He knows he cannot trust Stiles to never do things behind his back when he says no to them, so he limited what Stiles could know about this so there would be a lesser chance for him to be able to go looking for them on his own. As he said in the story, he wanted Stiles to focus on what Derek didn;t know how to deal with anyway, which was what was safe for him to do, too. 

However Stiles helped Derek during the summer in canon, it’s clear Stiles didn’t think about the bank as an option, but went with Derek’s way of thinking that the two would be kept in a more hidden place. It wasn’t something I wanted him to discover all of a sudden in the fic, so wait for the other chapter to discover why they way the Hecatolite was left for him in the woods was that deus ex machina (ha, get it? xD ).

So the rescue mission planning is very similar to the one in the show, which is why it’s only generally told, along with what differs it from the show (Isaac being there instead of Scott, the deleted scene actually happening, and Stiles being allowed to join them).

There isn’t full moon that night because it just felt like too much drama, considering what’s about to happen in the next chapter. That’s why, instead of having the Betas attacking Derek and Isaac- Kali and Ennis fight them instead.

Fun Facts

Funny enough, I didn’t intend to leave the chapter with a cliffhanger. It just got WAY longer than expected that I had to cut it there “xD It something that happened to me a lot of times during the writing process- I could never tell how long this whole thing is gonna get at the end, because I had to split so many parts between different chapters as they didn’t fit in one along with other parts I’ve planned to put together with them. Then, while editing them, the chapters always end even LONGER and I cry as I remember the times where I thought I could fit everything in under 12k for a chapter T-T anyway I hope those lengths are not too tiring to read! (and yes, expect even LONGER chapters coming!)

I only mention it now because it’s more apparent in this chapter: Stiles is closer to Erica, which is why he always refers to the two as Erica and Boyd; Derek, on the other hand, instinctively mentions Boyd first as he is his second-in-command.

THANK YOU AS USUAL FOR READING, AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FEEL FREE TO ASK!

Recap and Notes: Heracles!Stiles Ch. 2

find the chapter here

Myth and Historical Overview

Lightnings is one of Zeus' main symbols, as the Deity of the sky and storms. Heracles has never been mentioned to have anything to do with them, though.

Heracles had a couple of trainers for different subjects (and Coach Finstock is a combination of the first three):

Castor: Swordmanship

Autolycus: Wrestling

Harpalycus: Boxing

Eurytus: Archery

Linus: Music/Playing the Lyre (will be mentioned later in the story)

Amphitryon: Chariot Driving (Amphitryon was Heracles’ step Father, so obviously it is the Sheriff who taught Stiles to drive, although it will probably not be mentioned in the fic). He was also the one to send Heracles to all the different trainers above (though it is more IC, as I see it, for the Father in this universe to be against it and avoid his son from anything close to those activities).

Philoctetes is the name Phil is based on, but not only he was not Heracles’ trainer in the original legend- but was actually a hero himself, who was guided by Heracles (after he became a Deity when he died) during the war of Troy, and even used Heracles’ very own bow and arrows. I don’t know if the decision of the name was an Easter Egg by Disney, with the irony to not using the name of any of Heracles’ actual trainers, but the fact that Coach is going to be the provider of the weapons Stiles will train with and use in the story, is something that makes me appreciate that name even more.

A Hanbō is a Japanese wooden staff, that is practiced in some traditional material arts. I found it to be a good weapon to show off Stiles’ ability with sticks-like weapons.

There is not an official name of a spiked club/bat (neither mace or morning star are the same, even if they are similar), so I decided that a baton would work the best, especially as it is a still used weapon by police forces (the club was Heracles’ favourite weapon, which is why Stiles prefers that rather than a sword or any other weapon).

“Heracles” could also mean Fate by Hera, but for this part of the story I decided to only mention the word “Glory”.

General Recap

Sorry if I made any wrong assumption about the Californian weather- from what I read it is the same as it is in my country, so while I described his experience with it, I just used my own in the Middle-Eastren weather xD

Thanks for this site I learned that Stiles wan’t using Wikipedia like I’ve originally assumed by the look of the articles in 1x01, which I’m glad for, since I also tried REALLY hard to limit my reading through this site during my research for the story, aside of times where I just wanted to clarify stuff it was hard for me to understand while reading in other sites. I will post a list of my main sources once the story's finished.

COACH FINSTOCK APPEARANCE! Defiantly one of the more challenging characters to write since I wasn’t blessed with a good humor sense, and he’s one of the funniest characters in the show (along with Stiles... my protagonist... _._ ), especially with the little glimpses he gives to his hilarious life experience when something in the conversation reminds him of them, which I did try to attach to my universe. Anyway, I’m glad I had an opportunity to show more of his sides, like the rare times where he genuinely tries to cheer up his players.

Stiles refers to his club as a bat was a way for me to stay more loyal to canon Stiles (and Stiles wisely notices it looks like a gift as it was an excuse for Derek to woo Stiles as he will agonizingly slow continue to do through the story).

Fun Facts

Please tell me I wasn't the only one to not know that Abdominal Snowman is an actual thing, and not a joke created for the show? “xD For years I’ve had no idea until I just happened to google it.

Stiles is overwhelmed by lightnings, but don’t take it as a hint for an undiscovered power connected to them. Although giving it as an extra power to Stiles could be cool (like the potential that they had never really fulfilled with Kira's electricity power), Stiles' strength is already unique as it is, and I didn’t want to go that far with his power for no reason or need for the plot; being able to summon lightnings would kill too easily the villains with the level of power that is typical to the show, and is even more than enough for most of Heracles’ rivals.

As I’ve mentioned, the film doesn’t exist in that universe, just like the legend it is based on, but I really like how similar Finstock is to Phil that it was just so easy to include this (in his his attitude in general, but sometimes even with his actual lines, as happened in 2x04).

THANK YOU AS ALWAYS FOR READING, AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FEEL FREE TO ASK!

Recap and Notes: Heracles!Stiles Ch. 19

find the chapter here

Myth and Historical Overview

Mnemosyne is the Titaness of words, language and remembrance and memorialization, and by Zeus became the Mother of the Mousai- the Muses. Her way of work as I described it in the fic, of course, is not really based on the way it was presented in some version of the myth, but simply my theory about it, and I wanted a chance to explain it more clearly in the fic (also explaining why I couldn’t include things that happened only after Heracles’ time, like the legend of Achilles) instead of just Stiles waking up one day and suddenly everyone talking about that ‘Hercules’ guy out of nowhere (and a way to unload some of my frustration that somehow we remember the story according to the Roman mythology, while I wish I wouldn’t have been taught it that way and then thinking that this was actually what the Greek mythology was).

There are a few myths surrounding the foundation of the Ancient Olympics, but since Heracles’ legend has one of the biggest impacts out of all the Greek Mythology legends, I decided that the one involving him would be the one to bring them back to the modern area: in honour of his Father, Zeus, and in celebration of the end of his 12 Labours- Heracles designed a whole arena (using new units of length which he invented, called stadion) where other could compete and demonstrate their athleticism and skills- a passion he had himself, as depicted in many of is legends. I wanted to use the modern-area Olympics as a way to demonstrate the change in the world (especially the western one) after his story was inverted into the myths, but it was totally coincidence that the time he finds out about it in the story is in the year 2012, which I find very cool XD

Europa was a princess, the only daughter between five siblings, and possessing a great beauty. Zeus, as usual, found about her, and, as expected- wanted to have her to himself (her virginity, in particular -.-’ ). He used the fact that she had a cattle of Bulls, with which she used to spend most of her days, next to the shore- and for that knew each one of them; and so, when one day he appeared in front of her as a foreign Bull, which she noticed immediately. Being tempted to climb on him for some reason, he suddenly ran into the ocean, and swam with her all the way the island Crete. Once her absence was found out, the King sent her four Brothers to search after her, and to only return after finding her; the most determined one was Cadmus, who went to the Oracle of Delphi for an advice once the other Brothers gave up and settled themselves at random points in the world- and that was where he heard about her abduction by Zeus, and only that knowledge that he would never be able to get her back from a Deity, especially as it was Zeus- was what brought his long search for an end as well. It had nothing to do with Heracles’ legend (it occurred way before his time, actually, which was why I could include that), of course, but I thought it would be nice to have the legends actually having used for once (as well as adding more to Boyd’s part in the story, although, unfortunately, the fic is too long as this point to actually write the whole thing properly :/ ).

Iolaus, Heracles’ niece, was such a Gay Icon™ in the Ancient Greek world, that male couple of that time visited his grave to get his blessings and vow loyalty to each other.

General Recap

WHY THERE ARE SO MANY GREEK ORIGINATED NAMES IN THIS SHOW (just kidding, as long as it helps to the theme of names, it was a great tool for me xD ).

The 5th Labour (cleaning the stables) is the WORST, and I don’t care what anyone says >.<

In one of Marvel's issue from 2013, their character Hercules had a male lover :D (while in DC there are two different characters based on him, unfortunately, one of them is a villain who raped Wonder Woman's mother, Hippolyta)

Here’s an interview with Christopher Nolan, the writer and director of The Dark Knight trilogy, who is quoted to compare between Batman’s character to Heracles: X  And here’s just an interesting comparison between the last film to the Greek myths in general:  X

Big Hero 6 was released the same year I started writing this fic (YES, FUCKING 2014, I /KNOW/), and while the film itself has no impact on it- I was shocked of how fitting the lyrics of its main theme, Immortals, was to it (and not to the film itself so much, ironically xD), ao I just had to include it as well.

Fun Facts

One Piece is another Anime I started to get into while working on the fic, and decided to reference it as well- especially considering the line said by Zoro which I mentioned.

THANK YOU AS ALWAYS FOR READING, AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FEEL FREE TO ASK!

Recap and Notes: Heracles!Stiles Ch. 17

find the chapter here

Myth and Historical Overview

While Cora really is another name of Persephone, the story of Cora in the fic is also based on an alternative version of the legend of Theseus and Pirithous: instead of kidnapping Persephone, the Deity wife of Hades, she was a queen of a human kingdom, and their daughter, Cora, had a dog (presumably not mythical one, yet more savage than average) named Cerberus. The king promised to give to marry his daughter with whoever could defeat Cerberus, but Theseus and Pirithous were daredevils (huh, get it? :P ) enough to attempt to avoid him and kidnap the daughter (although it’s not clear if it was solely also out of mischievous or not). It didn’t go as planned, though, with Pirithous being caught and slaughtered by the Hound, and Theseus being imprisoned by the king and eventually released.

The reason I chose Peru as the country where Cora’s pack lives at (AND DON’T LET ME GET STARTED OF JEFF’S LAZY WRITING OF KEEPING REFERRING TO THAT AS “SOUTH AMERICA” BECAUSE UGH) is because of a specific theory of a possible connection that was found between the Greek Mythology and South America, about the labyrinth ruins of Chavin de Huantar in Peru, which possibly inspired Hesiod, one of the ancient poet who documented the myth, while writing about the Underworld (which is added to the fact “Amazon” is a name which describes both the river in South America and the Greek mythical fighters, so you can see why I was really excited to use the face that Cora moved back to South America in the fic lol).

Just a clarification: Hecate isn’t really a Deity of the Underworld, or more correctly, isn’t associated with it exclusively. As the Deity of the crossroads, she had access to many places, and was given to the Underworld as well once she had helped Demeter searching for her daughter, Persephone, when she was taken by Hades. So, unlike most Deities, she spends her time between three places: the Underworld, the Olympus and the sea, although the Underworld just might be her favourite place to hang out at, as it fits the mystery and mist which are attributed to her.

General Recap

In the show, Derek referred to Kira an "aura", but even though it doesn't mean exactly the same thing I still preferred him using the term "halo", as it is a Greek originated term (alternatively, Derek may or may not be unaware of that and it simply results from Beyoncé's song and went unnoticed by him? Lol)

The choice of Stiles’ birthday date (unlike April 4th which was mentioned somewhere as the official date?) came from a few hints from the show: during Heather’s party, on the night of the first day of his junior year (hence somewhere at the beginning of September), he says that he’s not 16 yet. Then, jumping to 3x15, it’s already Halloween- October 31st; and in the episodes after that, he’s been referred to as a 17 year old (one time by Derek, and I think in at least another occasion by someone else). There seem to be at least a few days gap between 3a and 3b, so it seems reasonable to me that his birthday has taken place during one of those (and had to be one of his worst, with all the aftereffect of the whole thing with the Nemeton, poor baby T-T). Having a licence already during the middle of his sophomore year support that idea, too. Finally, the choice of specifically the 24th day is both because of his Lacrosse uniform number and because it is the day of the month of my own birthday :P Derek’s birthday in the fic is the same as the mostly-accepted headcanon by the fandom: December 25th, the first day of Christmas.

Fun Facts

So, um. hopefully the thing with the nose (and the while scene in general? (>/.\<) )wasn’t too disturbing ^^” I got the idea from a show I’ve watched a while back, where boy did it to another during a truth-or-dare kind of a game, although I don’t even remember if it actually worked xDD But I don’t know, it just seems like something silly that gits for Stiles to be curious enough to try (and a chance use his divine precision ability for something else than with weapons), and just another way to make the whole thing as a better-resembling display of their relationship “xD

I don’t remember much about the other gods Batman has battled (aside Wonder Woman, if she counts?), but interestingly, in one of the recent issues of DC, Batman not only defeated Ares, but was given his powers and has replaced him as a War god. I didn’t include this in the fic, though, as it takes place in 2011, just like the third season in the canon’s timeline (while we pretend such an idea exists in this hell show, where they didn’t care using advanced technology and car models that haven't come out yet in the years the show took place), and so the comics hadn’t been published yet. (And some issues before that, he even discusses with DC’s Heracles himself, as they joined sides for the war against the god)

THANK YOU AS ALWAYS FOR READING, AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FEEL FREE TO ASK!

Recap and Notes: Heracles!Stiles Ch. 16

find the chapter here

Myth and Historical Overview

As mentioned in the last recap, the trip to the Olympus is not based on the myth, as Heracles doesn't get to the Olympus at all during his lifetime as a Demigod; the only similarity to the legend is the encounter with Apollo, whose attitude is based both on a tension between him and Heracles (following the incident with Iphitus, the friend he had killed; when he turned to the Oracle and asked her for a way to redeem herself, she didn’t sent him to Omphale right away but initially refused to help him for some reason, and it took threats from Heracles and a subsequent fight with Apollo before he was finally sentenced by her) and general interpretation of his character from the Deity’s other legends overall.

Usually, I refrain from relating different topics in the fic to the Greek/Ancient Greek culture (beside the armours and clothing) as I went with the idea that the Deities are not really related exclusively to the ancient Greeks, but are most associated with the empire because it was the most dominant culture to worship them during the time they were still connected to Earth. Of course, there is no arguing that the Ancient Greek culture left the greatest mark on them (and there was no other to replace it, as that was the time they separated them from the human world), and that’s why I decided to describe the Olympus that way (along with other small references, like the vow Stiles forced Nereus, the old sea Deity who attacked Lydia’s car as a deer, to take; or when Athena referred to the Underworld in the translation of the Greek term- but it is not to the point where it is correct to refer to them as “the Greek Deities” from Stiles’ POV).

Bracers aren't an obligatory part of the Greek Hoptile armour, but I based mine of a type where it is a part of the set (while the helmet is obviously missing, but since Stiles was given the armour mostly to improve his look, with an attire more fitting to a meeting with the Olympians- it wasn’t something that seemed for me necessarily to give to Stiles).

Like I've once mentioned before, it was Hera who to drive Heracles mad randomly. In the legend, it is only true for him, while I left it unconfirmed clearly whether Hera had done the same to Claudia or not.

Ate is a spirit/Daemon who drives to hasty, uncalculated decisions, as that of Zeus when he declared before Heracles’ birth that the next descendant of Persues will be a great ruler (while the Moirai only determine one’s fate).

“Sword of Damocles” is a phrase meaning (taken from Wikidictionary): “ A thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune”. It is based on the legend of Damocles- a companion of an ancient king who was jealous of the other’s wealth, and confessed to him as such. The king decided to teach him a lesson by giving him his throne for a day, so he could enjoy his feats and luxury to his heart’s content; Damocles consisted the offer gladly, only, a surprise was waiting for him when, the very moment he sat on the chair- a sword hanging from the ceiling started to be slowly lowered until it stopped right above the tip of Damocles’ head, who could not move without getting hurt from the sharp weapon. That way, the king showed him that his life is in constant danger, and so he cannot enjoy his hedonistic life free of worries and let himself be easy-going.

Dionysus and Aeacus were both sons of Zeus who, as most of his children, were pursued by Hera; unlike Heracles, they indeed were granted with a protection from her, as the first one was hidden from her throughout his childhood until he eventually joined the Olympus as a Deity, while the latter became a king of an island which was named after his Mother, and when Hera brought a plague on its citizens- Zeus not only protected both his son and his Mother, Zeus’ past affair, but created new people for them to rule on out of ants. So I really have no idea why he has never interfere whenever Hera tried to hurt Heracles, unless it was in order to make his character even more tragic. 

The protection mark Zeus outlined, as the link I attached suggests, is Greek symbol of Heracles' constellation, I couldn’t find the meaning behind it, as to whether it looks like an H by a chance or not.

Iphicles was Heracles’ twin half-Brother, who dies quite early into the legend. It is said that Alcmene and Amphitryon, their parents, knew that only one of them was a son of Zeus, and found out once Heracles defeated the snakes sent by Hera as a baby (but unlike in the fic, it wasn’t the twin to receive Zeus’ blessing as - but his distant cousin, , - but giving it to Allison Within the fic, though, it’s basically an out of nowhere, kinda unnecessary drama, I know ^^" but it wasn’t really for the dramatic effect as for the fact that most of the sources I read about Heracles' legends mentioned his twin, and it bugged me (it also explains how Gerard, who portrays the character of Eurystheus, “received” Zeus’ blessing to be a great ruler: as was told in the fic, it had only been vowed during the time of the pregnancy with Heracles, which clearly can’t work with Gerard’s case- but by kidnapping Allison, who is also a descendant of Perseus, I could match the story better to the original legend). Furthermore, I've always been annoyed with the fact that Allison's parents have bright eyes, when she has brown (I know it's something that can happen, as much as the Biologic student in me is driven nad by that, but it’s too rarely for me to buy it when it comes to Allison). But I'm glad that at least it doesn’t change the fact that Allison's abilities are mostly human, as unlike Stiles, the genes of a Demigod in her blood had not been awoken, with her real Father being a human.* *At least in the world of the fic; according to the legend, in the other hand,  Amphitryon is a grandson of Perseus and his wife’s uncle (as if the bloodline was not fucked up enough -.-’ not that I can’t talk as a Jewish, considering the stories in the Tanach). While that could have made the Sheriff related to Stiles by blood, after all, I chose to not do that from obvious reasons (it would’ve made Allison being her Mother’s daughter and cousin at the same time, too OO”). So, while Heracles was called Alcaeüs after his Grandfather from his adoptive Father’s side (who’s also his real Mother’s uncle), in order to fit it to the show better- I made it in a way that only the name Mieczysław was chosen after his Grandfather from his Mother’s side (who had nothing to do with the Sheriff, as mentioned), which is the original Polish name of the Demigod hero that would later be known by the other name Zeus had chosen for him: Persues. So, in the same way, in the fic’s universe,  Alcaeüs origin is the same as Persues, and not related to any person.

Isaac’s mocking comment, where he teased Stiles that he wouldn’t say no if he was offered someone’s fifty daughters, is a reference to a real part of Heracles’ legend. Before the Labours, when he was a still young, Heracles is told to beat a lion (a normal one, unlike the Nemean from his first Labour; some claim, then, that his famous cape is originated from this occasion) as a favour for a king named Thespius. In gratitude, he let him spend a night with each of fifty daughters, and had a child from each. As expected, I found a vague way to include this story as it doesn’t fit at all to Stiles, and, of course, we’re all here for Sterek anyway :D

General Recap

Sorry for the many Doctor Who references, but as my first fandom, it was important to me to include that in such a huge project of mine, just like with other fandoms (also because it’s been almost exactly ten years at the time of writing this post, and I’m still not over this scene T-T).

If you are/were also a whovian, please check out the one shot I’ve written for a Sterek week, based on the “Blink” episode :D Also- HEADCANON THAT STILES THOUGHT OF THE WORD ABOMINATION IN 2X04 BECAUSE IT’S HOW THE DALEK EMPORROR REFERRED ROSE WHEN SHE BECAME THE BAD WOLF ENTITY 

So, while the recent chapters occurring during the timeline of the third season (Stiles is back more on less by the time of the end of 3b), obviously a lot has changed, both because the Alpha Pack is long defeated, and everything else that happens with Stiles. I still left some elements both because it is a “what-if” kind of story, and both because it added more option for me for fitting the legend into the plot and the world of the fic (like Eichen House being the place Stiles goes through the Eleusinian Mysteries at, Heather being the reason Stiles fights Ares and etc.). But since Stiles had been drugged (stop looking at me like that, I know T-T), there were things that may have not been mentioned in the fic, as everything is from Stiles’ POV; so in case you’re interested in how some events changed while Stiles was gone, here is a list:

There were other sacrifices by the Darach than those which were shown in the series (although it is possible that she used the same victims, at least anyone else apart of Heather and Mr. Harris, and the three Parents as healers, only on different occasions), as she had to hold everything off until she healed from the clash with Stiles, and realized he will not go out of Eichen House anytime soon.

Scott most probably went on his own to the Cross Country meet, and ended up in Motel California without his friends (but was not poisoned by Wolfsbane). Isaac and Boyd may have come to, although one of them might stay behind with Erica in Beacon Hills to help her watch over Beacon Hills and Eichen House specifically.

In 3x05, where Peter mentions Heracles (referred in the show as the more known name, "Hercules") and the Hydra- well, anything of that sort obviously couldn't happened in any other scenario xD

The moon eclipse happened, too, though was uneventful (I’m glad that I could skip that one, as I don’t like the idea that their abilities are being anaesthetized. I mean, if it’s a bitten Werewolf it could make a little more sense because he became one by spark rather than genetically, but why would a born one lose his natural features, besides actual spark extensions like the advantage Alphas have? I don’t know, I always try to find logic when it’s lost cost :/ That’s one of the reasons it took me so long to complete this damn fic, and I’m still anxious I have plot holes I’ve missed somewhere).

Kira did not move to Beacon Hills, as the Nematon had not been disturbed or was messed with in any way, and the Nogitsune, of course, had not been released (so the whole open doors in their minds thing, which also turned out to be complete bullshit with how quick they treated it, did not happen)- so her Mother, Noshiko, had no business there.

Derek wasn’t kidnapped by the Calaveras as he hadn’t searched for his Mother’s claws- he won’t risk himself while leaving his pack behind in Beacon Hills anyway, but next chapter will also reveal more about why he had spent so much time in South America anyway.

Kate didn’t return as she’s very fucking DEAD (as should’ve remained! >>)

So if you could guess after all those complaints about the third season- no, there is not such a thing as a true Alpha, especially for Scott (HOW WAS SOMEONE AS PRAISED AS TALIA FUCKING HALE NOT ABLE TO CROSS A MOUNTAIN ASH CIRCLE, EVEN FOR THE SAKE OF SAVING HER FAMILY FROM THE FIRE, BUT SCOTT DID????!!11^%#^%$^%)

Fun Facts

As traditionally, with yet another reference no one cares about (and yes, I know only my inability to use better ones will always make the Stiles I write to be OOC), Hera is inspired by both Carnage Kabuto (the most disgusting monster of the first season, if not in the whole series) and the mad Dr. Genus from One Punch Man.

THANK YOU AS ALWAYS FOR READING, AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FEEL FREE TO ASK!

Recap and Notes: Heracles!Stiles Ch. 15

find the chapter here

Myth and Historical Overview

The reason for why Atlas chose to help Heracles, according to the legend, was as a way to get rid of the burden of holding the skies (although he was enough of an idiot to get back to Heracles with the Apples, declaring to him that he refused to take the skies back from Heracles and then let himself get tricked by Heracles, who gave him a false promise to replace him again once he gives the Apples to Eyuritheus). It did not fit Morrell’s character much, though, and so I prefer making her taking the burden back through the belief that Stiles will one day come back to ask again for the ability he started to understand its pros.

The kibisis Stiles received from Morrell is the same knapsack/wallet that Perseus used to carry Medusa’s head safely, though the bracelets were my addition.

Menoetius was the Titan of rash action and violent rage (the later is the reason to why Morrell compared him to Stiles), and was the fourth Brother of Atlas, Prometheus and Epimetheus. At the battle between the Titans and the gods, Menoitios, like Atlas, sided with the Titans- and was the only one out of the four Brothers who was killed by Zues, after being hit by a thunderbolt. Some say he ended up in Tartarus, and others in the Underworld; there are even those who claim him to be the keeper of Cerberus instead of the more known one, named Menoetes.

The 12th Labour isn’t supposed to be the longest Labour to take to complete, but because I went with the idea of a time limit for most of them, which made them much shorter- this one turned out to be the longest in the fic.

Like other Labours, Eyuritheus don’t keep whatever Heracles fetched for him, but this time it was Heracles specifically who had to return that Labour’s object. In order to not waste time, he handed the apples to Athena, who returned them back to the garden of Hesperides.

Eurytheus had no will to keep Cerberus, but since the relation to Werewolves, I used it as one of the rare cases in where Stiles actually had to get the object of his Labour all the way to Gerard.

The reason for the way Athena referred to the Underworld, “the nethermost cosmos”, is because this is the literal meaning of the Greek word for the Underworld: κάτω κόσμος (káto kósmos). I chose to use it because I wanted a term that would be exclusive to the afterlife realm of the Greek mythology, which is not really the case with the term “the Underworld”, and which refers to the realm as a whole, this which is outside the area that Cerberus guards on, where the souls end up at (which I referred to as the Dominion of Hades, in which the palace itself of Hades is located). Some simply call it Erebos, which is the incarnation of darkness, but I preferred to not use this term.

The other term Athena used, Katabasis, is the Greek term which describes the action of descending, especially to the underground/the Underworld.

Iris is the Deity of rainbows, and sometimes is described as the personal messenger of Hera.

Hermes was the Deity of many topics (one of them is of cunning, which Stiles would probably relate to), but one of his main rules was of a guide to the Underworld, and one of the messengers of the Deities (which is why he is mentioned the second time). He rarely would appear in any part of Heracles’ legend, but in that part of the legend especially it was weird to me that Athena took part instead of him, even if she is close to Heracles. As I always try my best to fit myself to the legend, I, unfortunately, had to keep him outside the story.

In the same manner, Hecate could have taken a greater part in this chapter, due to her being the keeper of doorways, inclusive of that of the Underworld- but unfortunately, she is related even less to Heracles. This is one of the reasons I decided to not make Breaden either  Hermes nor Iris (even though she is the personal attendant of Hera, the Olympians don’t see Stiles’ case as something that is only Hera’s matter anymore, and so should not be treated be her exclusively), but leave her as the mysterious mercenary of the supernatural world, which I liked about her character (even though I do want to know how she left those marks on Allison and Lydia; was it Morrell’s magic or hers??).

The Eleusinian Mysteries (also known as the Mysteries of Eleusis) were real ceremonies which were taken in order to get people more acceptable for the inevitable death, and emphasised the idea of reincarnation (which is why Stiles dreams of circles), and there was also a fire theme which may be related to a sacrifice of a real child- but for obvious reasons, I didn’t want to read much about it. Besides the concept and the time they were taken place, no one really knows what was done during those ceremonies (which fits quite well with the concept of Eichen House), apart of the fact that they drank a special drink called Kykeon, and apparently made them hallucinating the same way as Stiles was. 

Omphale was a queen of a region named Lydia, and her story with Heracles actually starts after the Labours. After killing Iphitus (whose story had already taken part in chapter 7, where Stiles burst out on Isaac), Heracles asked the oracle for yet another way to redeem himself; this time he was sent to Omphale, where he served as one of her slaves, and was requested, among else, for sewing tasks, while wearing a dress (either part of the time or throughout the entire seven years he was owned by her).

The theory which Lydia mentioned is that of humans being created originally as a body with two heads, and were eventually split by Zeus either by committing hubris due to their love of the other entity which they shared a body with, or because they were powerful enough to conquer the Deities (or maybe both through the power of love? Lol). It is one of the earliest concepts of Soulmates.

Getting the pelt of the Nemean was something Athena advised to do, after joining to the journey to the Underworld. The idea of going around with the Lion’s head as a headdress was something I only included through one of Stiles’ nightmares, as it felt more fitted to him than actually wearing it, but the pelt was something I decided to include due to his blackouts.

There are many suggestions as to where the Underworld' entrance is located, but I decided to use the one which uses the Hydra’s lair.

There is a detailed description of the Underworld’s outline, but I decided to not use it both because Stiles is too out if it to see too much around him anyway, and to better fit it to the specific events of the myth of Heracles’ trip in there.

Charon was the ferryman of Hades, who transported the souls who arrived at the Underworld through the river Styx to the Dominion of Hades, where they would be judged. 

Theseus was another Demigod (son of Posideon). After the great reputation, he had earned himself for killing the Minotaur and getting out alive of its labyrinth, the pride apparently grew until it filled too much space in his head while his logic shrunk, and joining another guy named  Peirithous, they both went on adventurous, silly and simply unnecessarily deeds. First Theseus decided to kidnap the 13-years-old princess Helen (a few years before the story of Troy), in which they succeeded, and then  Peirithous suggested to take the challenge to the next level and kidnap no other than Persephone, the queen on the Underworld and the wife of Hades. Of course, the Deity did not take it lightly, and once he caught them he stuck them on thrones who are known as “the chairs of forgetfulness”, which made everyone in the living world to forget all about them so they would not search for them (and yes, this is the only reason I made Danny take that role xD). Heracles found them by a chance during his last Labour, and was only allowed to free Theseus as he wasn’t the one to initiate the kidnapping.

Neither Medusa or Eurytion (the herdsman of Geryon) were part of this Labour, but in the fic Stiles so wasted that his mind interrupted the sight of Cerberus and its snake, along with either its herdsman, Menoetes, or Persehope as Medusa and Eurytion respectively.

Eyuritheus was so scared of Heracles, and his fear grew with each successful Labour, that he hid in a bronze shelter in the shape of a pithos, a typical ancient Greek jar, every time he returned to be sent to his next Labour (except the one with Artemis’ Hind). This one with Cerberus is told to terrify him more than the rest, though. To fit it better to Gerard’s character, I tried to write him as one who only shows how scared he really is when he is threatened and doesn’t have the upper hand about the situation at all.

Cerberus is actually associated with Wolfsbane, who is believed to be poisoned by its very venom, only after Heracles had brought him to the living world. It couldn’t make sense in the fic, obviously, but after reading the etymology of the word, with its relation to Hunters- I thought it was a cool concept to include.

Patron Deity is the Deity that a person, a group or an entire city-state identified with the most, and focusing their worship acts toward him so the Deity would care for them specifically.

Heracles at no point went to visit the Olympus, or showed any will for that matter, but after everything he went through, Stiles defiantly deserves the experience. 

General Recap

I hope I was able to bring up the friendship with Lydia as sweet as I imagine it to be, especially as she deserves someone to be there for her too when she’s lost with her own supernatural problems, and Stiles id just the right person ^^

More than that, of course, I hope I was able to discuss the gender neutrality discrimination issue well enough, and that I managed to focus on that instead of look like a radical feminism thing where men have to work for women (and if it does, then please notify me because it’s important for me to deal with that topic in the most right way possible) instead of Lydia teaching Stiles a lesson. The main idea, beside making them having a one-on-one for Lydia to try to push him into understanding his true feelings about Derek, was to show something problematic in Stiles' character through inconsistent about his deviotion to the issue (which is also a reminder for myself that I still have a lot to work about), because I wanted to make sure the fic doesn’t only protays him as a hero you should always cheer and feel pity for (even though I made a lot of reasons to make him worthy to feel pity for; I KNOW, I’M THE WORST T-T).

Lydia also implies that it was hard for her to believe to most of his story, which is a change I wanted to make in her character as I tend to dislike know-it-all characters, and so it’s harder for me to write about them.

David Wright is a baseball player who plays for the Mets, and according to an interview I’ve once watched with Dylan- he is apparently one of, if not the most his favourite players.

Mark Jacob is a fashion designer who once wore this dress, which was the first time I heard about the term cross-dressing as far as I can remember.

If it wasn’t clear, even though Lydia mentioned it, Stiles and Derek are not Soulmates- at least not in the way Greek Mythology explain it. I gave it a thought and eventually decided I want them to have a non-destined relationship, for reasons that will be talked about later (but yeah, I kinda made Stiles realising his true object of love through the scent of blood ^^”).

According to an interview with Jeff Davis, he excused Danny’s absence as supposedly (!!!) graduating from high school early. So yeah, not only he is not even sure himself how to explain getting rid of a character (and very beloved one at that), but he also claimes that someone actually smarter than Lydia to be able to finish High School even before the middle of their Junior year?? What????! Ugh, poor Danny and Keahu :/ 

“Orpheus” by Ash is one of the theme songs of a car racing game named Burnout 3. I wanted to use a song from a game that talked about either hell or the Underworld- and this one seemed a great fir, as the myth about Orpheus tells about a talented musician who succeeded to convince Hades through his music to let him take back his dead lover to the living world.

The anniversary of Claudia’s death occurs during season 3b, where two episodes after that Halloween was already celebrated- which means that, canonically, it had to happen somewhere by the end of October; just an explanation on why Stiles had to miss that while being hospitalized in Eichen House.

Fun Facts

Ironically, Theseus is someone described as the cousin of Heracles (because of their Deity parents), which is for Stiles and Danny to decide whether it is true for them or not and makes the Miguel moment in the show even better xD

According to one of the Teen Wolf Wikis, Danny's surname, Mahealani, is the word of the night of the full moon in the ancient Hawaiian calendar. It has nothing to do with the fic, really, but just a cool thing I found and wanted to share in case it is not very known ^^

THANK YOU AS ALWAYS FOR READING, AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FEEL FREE TO ASK!

Recap and Notes: Heracles!Stiles Ch. 14

find the chapter here

Myth and Historical Overview

While the most known version of Atlas is as the Titan who was assigned by Zeus to hold the weight of the sky, like Morrell indicated, I used the version where he holds the heavens (although, even in this case, it is still supposed to be physically). Like with Harris, this gives her freedom of movement that she doesn’t supposed to have according to the legend, but again, I wanted to fit the Titan’s character to her better (along with explaining her whole “balance” thing she kept mentioning during the show without never elaborating). The reason, therefore, Morrell has never tried to fight the urge and ignore whenever a supernatural being is about to reveal himself to the eyes of humans is because the fall of the Olympus would impact her as well, and she will have no way to escape in her weaker form. Atlas’ location was believed to be in the western side of the world, which fits as well, considering Morrell currently lives in California, near the West Coast of the US.

Kyknos was a Demigod, son of Ares. Only rather than being kidnapped himself, he was the one to capture other travelers and sacrificed them for his Father. When Heracles passed by his territory during his long searches after the Hesperides, he tried his luck with him, but Heracles easily dominated the fight and almost killed him when Ares came for his Son’s aid. The both wrestled (which was why it was important to me to include the wrestling part) until Zeus separated between the two, who both were his own children, by a thunderbolt (in other versions, it is Apollo who Heracles would wrestle in another occasion until Zeus arrived to put an end to the fight). Kyknos, like other of Ares’ children, was turned into a swan afterwards, and even was placed in the skies as the constellation Cygnus. This story was a nice way for me to give a little more meaning to Heather, as well as an excuse to not kill off the Darach too soon, by splitting Kyknos’ role between them.

Even further of the many random battles during Heracles’ 11th Labour was with the Gigante Antaeus. He was the son of Poseidon and Gaia, the Titan of Earth, and his uniqueness, along with his great strength, was by possesing unlimited amount of energy so long he touched the ground, and was connected to his Mother. Heracles somehow noticed that, and defeated him after raising him above the ground.

General Recap

Even though Morrell speaks about her Druid children, the Hesperides aren’t ones.

The Darach is not strong enough at this point to use teleporting for a great distance, which is why she uses a car that she didn’t always have to use during the show.

It is not mentioned how Heather's mother found about Claudia and assisted her, but I’m not gonna contribute on that too much because, aside the fact that I’ve yet to plan their story, I’m at the point in the story where just WAY too much is happening, and we get closer to the climax, so the chapters are too long as it is with stuff that is important to keep the plot moving. I mean, I did take time to let Heather share her story, but it was because she appeared in the plot in a way where I could develop her more than the little details that were given about her in the show. Maybe it’s weird that I explain all of that, but one of the things that I tried to better the show with was giving time for characters development and built. While I did make a chapter that was mostly about that (chapter 8), I was consumed by the plot eventually, to the point where even the slow built with Sterek became too much even for me :/ I still try to give as much exposure as I can for the characters, but you see yourself how unnecessarily long it makes the chapter become lol Anyway, I had to have a few relinquishments, and this was one of them. The most important point a views about Claudia are through Stiles and his Father’s eyes anyway, so there isn’t a lot I can say about her from telling about the support she was given by another Mother of a Demigod (besides the fact she agreed to help when it was offered to her, of course).

So now Ares is officially another common ground and connection between Stiles and Deucalion, after both being given help by Athena during younger age and seeking peace (for Werewolves too, among other species).

Fun Facts

Heather and Erica are both names of very similar-looking flowers from the same family (Ericaceae).

Among the references I FINALLY got to make to the original Teen Wolf film (which may bring up a couple of questions, like who the hell owned a Van for Stiles to ride at freshman year, but I prefer to leave it without answers than giving up on a chance to include it :P ), I mentioned the name Tina Manos. The name is based on two characters from the film (the last name is the surname of the actress who played the other character, Dina), who with one of them Stiles of the film (which his official name is Rupert, wtf) took as a date for the party. They both look so alike that I couldn’t determine who really accompanied him between the two of them (ANY WHY ARE THE NAMES SO SIMILAR? ARE THEY TWINS? ARE THEY EACH OTHER’S BACKUP AND ONLY ONE NAME IS TRUE? SOMEONE TELL ME), so I used both of the characters as inspiration for that name. by the way, is it only me or the “being the f word is unacceptable and worse than being a Werewolf” theme also inspired the writers of the show to never let Stiles come out as bi?

As any other Deity, Ares is no different and was inspired, you guessed it- by a One Punch Man’s character. This time it was the Deep Sea King, which is arguably the most fearsome-designed of all the villains of the Anime and Manga thus far; he is not the strongest of the first season, where he appeared, but he was built in a way where when he says no one is going to avoid death from him, you know his word is absolute and there’s nothing you can do about it.

I'm sorry for the Immortals reference but I just couldn't resist xD On another note, I feel bad for Kellan Lutz for having the opportunity to participate in two films influenced by (but clearly not based on) Greek Mythology (Immortals as Poseidon, and another where he starred at Heracles himself, which came out in the same year The Rock's did, wtf) which is such a cool accomplishment, and yet in both of them  even the plot itself did not do justice. It's  like a continued bad luck ever since he got to play a Vampire in a certain film :/

THANK YOU AS ALWAYS FOR READING, AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FEEL FREE TO ASK!