#apollo looked at commodus abusing lityerses

[fuzzystudios]

yk when I started reading toa I was kinda disappointed at the lack of power that apollo / lester had, bc pjo and hoo had their main characters be basically op, and this is literally a (former) god. apollo in tho made me cringe and reading his perspective was like looking at pills in an orange prescription bottle. but he was the whiny teenager that felt like an out-of-depth teenager more than the actually lived for years-in-teen-numbers, because they were more heroes and soldiers than teens, like they were supposed to be. he is simultaneously whiny child and responsible adult.

the moment I really latched onto him was when he basically dropped everything and tried to dive into the forest to go save his kids. bro wasn’t actually a selfish idiot like he kept making himself look like. bro was an emotionally constipated loving loser (affectionate) and loveable. he would risk the wrath of styx to save these kids. positively skrunkly

oh and his power! look guys the former protagonists always had some power to back them up, some good strength. this guy? first not demigod protagonist and he goes from straight up zero to launching a guy to the clouds with his bare hands. and tfw he uses his voiceTM. BEGONE SNAKE! and he acts so pathetic lol and if you look through whatever sunglasses he’s wearing and you look at the things from 3rd person pov dude what is he doing. he just flew off a road driving a car, and puts himself in front of the gremlin child to face one of those creepy zombie things that scream FOOD!!. bro straight up stabbed himself. bro sings the most heart wrenching song that even giant ants that don’t even understand what he’s saying get the point to the extent that they go catatonic with depression.

and holy cheez-its what kind of pain tolerance does this guy have?? dude??? you fell from the literal sky above the Empire State Building which like literal greek heaven (ouch) straight into a dumpster and then gets beat into unconsciousness by a pair of thugs under Nero like??? and with broken ribs, injured nose, hurt shoulder, etc. he walks up the stairs, runs through the woods insane. dude is literally insane. he gets flayed alive, forgets his other half, trapped in place by molten chains all at once and still trying trying to walk wth like this guy’s pain tolerance is beyond ouranos. idk how he does it I can’t even tolerate a hot summer day.

bro gives advice to a lost gremlin child who betrayed him anyway, helps her defeat her abuser the way he never could. and he grew, like everyone around him, to something better, something hopeful. “you’ve changed” heck yeah!! we love to see it

and humor?? like random mentions of things no one else in pjo would give you like playing the zither at 2am, godly toilet seat, ares roundhouse kick, waking up in Argentina. I love that they’re so offhand but they’re so funny and random

the haiku. they’re hilarious, works of art.

the characters. Chiron. Chiara. Damien. Austin. Kayla. Cecil. will. nico. Rachel. Lavinia. emmie. Josephine. heck even Commodus. lityerses. Abelard. Diana. frank. Jason. piper. the trogs. lu. reyna omg. meg. aaaaaaaaAAAAAAAA I love them so much! just how they fit in with his own journey of self and how they grow with him, like a garden, like an orchestra building its crescendo together, in unity. little things like reading frank’s admiration of apollo first in hoo, and now we get apollo’s side of it, and he’s so cute. Reyna’s whole journey of “finding the one who will heal her heart”. (gods I loved that thank you rick.) and will’s “dad!” and making apollo literally weep and meg: “the beast is dead. I killed it.” and taps her head and I'm just so proud of them.

“YOU ARE NO GOD!” he isn’t the same god who fell to earth in the winter. he likely won’t be ever the same ever again. ‘cause he’s gonna work to being better. he’s saving the world, but he’s also having a journey of his own self, rediscovering himself, building onto himself like everyone else, they’re all gonna be a better version of themselves.

k one problem: not enough content. I am starved for content. please feed pet. ty

#rambles #bad quality posts #essay thing #I think #trials of apollo #lester papadopoulos #apollogists #toa apollo

[hurricanes-art]

“I trust you.”

He laughed bitterly. “I don’t see why.”

“We share common ground—we’re both sons of overbearing fathers, and we’ve been misled and burdened by bad choices, but we’re talented in our chosen ways.”

“And good-looking?” He gave me a twisted smile.

“Naturally that. Yes.”

this scene was gay

#trials of apollo #toa #toa apollo #lester papadopoulos #lityerses #litpollo #pjo #the dark prophecy #my art #me: im not gonna get invested in another crack ship with almost no content im not #my brain: ur so fucking stupid #anyways i support these two idiots #apollo finds his latest boyfriend in a trash fire more at 7 #legit tho #apollo looked at commodus abusing lityerses #said 'is anyone gonna support and care for that?' #then didnt wait for an answer #this is a repost bc it wasnt showing in the tags #and im not having any of that

[oh-things-couldnt-be-worse]

I wrote this about a year ago, but here’s “The Fall of Jason Grace” I wrote about a year ago, that was mentioned in “The Tyrants Tomb”

Fallen from the sky

with a dumpster as my home.

Lester Papadopoulos

is the name I now own.

This all happened because my legacy

was a disgrace to Rome.

I used to be a god,

but now I’m sixteen.

With a face full of acne

and low self esteem.

Now I have a ruler

who’s not even thirteen.

We located the Jackson’s house,

for help & a place to stay.

They gave us 7 layer dip & clothes,

and we were on our way.

Because Perseus, was done

with the gods games.

On Caligula’s ship

for us he took a spear.

Us not getting out alive

was his only fear.

Now we all gather near

to hear

About the fall of Jason Grace.

Because of him

we keep trudging through.

Defeating more emperors,

and killing them, too.

The two of us soon got to camp,

just Meg and me.

I woke up the Apollo cabin,

with my son healing my injuries.

Then entered a race with Meg, where

the number of our legs amounted to three.

Summer camp just became

a lot less fun.

Campers keep disappearing,

going missing one by one.

Apparently the triumvirates

are the ones behind the gun.

We got some useful information

when we ventured towards Rachel’s cove.

She tells us with a shocked look in her eye

Nero’s trying to burn Dodona & her grove.

We finally stopped him, peaches and me,

since Meg left me for Nero, leaving us alone.

The three behind the plan:

Commodus, Caligula, and Nero.

They chased us with giant flying ants,

It made us feel equal to zero.

We then defeated Colussus Neronis

giving it hay fever made us feel like heroes.

On Caligula’s ship

for us he took a spear.

Us not getting out alive

was his only fear.

Now we all gather near

to hear

About the fall of Jason Grace.

Because of him

we keep trudging through.

Defeating more emperors,

and killing them, too.

The Aeithales

was Meg’s original home,

though her and her dad had to leave

when she was five years old.

Her father trying to restore the Meliai

was why the two had to bolt.

Before she had left him

her dad gave her a rose,

and when he died

she lived with our foe.

She was forced to live with Nero,

which had many cons over pros.

Meg thought Nero and the beast were different,

she was told that there was two.

Since she was then young and impressionable,

she thought that this was true.

She lived like that for six more years

Of mental and emotional abuse

On Caligula’s ship

for us he took a spear.

Us not getting out alive

was his only fear.

Now we all gather near

to hear

About the fall of Jason Grace.

Because of him

we keep trudging through.

Defeating more emperors,

and killing them, too.

Commodus was

The next to be overthrown.

We were helped by many friends

that we’d met on the road.

Meg soon joined me once again

leaving behind what she had known.

Soon enough,

I met the emperor again.

Flashes the same old smile,

greeted like an old friend.

Holding Leo, Emmie, and Georgina hostage

Commodus starts the battle with a threat.

Though I’m currently 16 year old Lester,

for my second form wasn’t divine.

This left him screaming

as Commodus was now blind.

He then charged at Lityerses,

and fell out the window when he couldn’t fly

The throne of Memory, or Mnemosyne

that was his final want.

The spirit took form in Meg

and a prophecy she soon would taunt.

We then sought out rest, and for a night

The prophecy would daunt

On Caligula’s ship

for us he took a spear.

Us not getting out alive

was his only fear.

Now we all gather near

to hear

About the fall of Jason Grace.

Because of him

we keep trudging through.

Defeating more emperors,

and killing them, too.

Leo’s now heading for California,

but his friends are who we seek out.

Grover had joined us at the waystation

because he knew what the Labyrinth was about.

Piper Mclean joined as well, who’s charmspeak

would be useful, no doubt.

We find Medea who wants to duel,

creating a snag in the path.

She says that Caligula wants to replace the sun,

since ancient times he wanted to do that.

Then she tries to control my 12 year old overlord,

but luckily Meg’s stubbornness is still intact.

The group then exits the maze

so Jason can help them find Caligula’s shoes.

Though Piper and Jason were told

for Caligula’s life to be taken, one of their’s would, too.

After breaking Jason out of school

we left with a diorama and the truth.

We located the fancy boat with the shoes

with The Bridge of Boats and a submarine on the side.

We would simply steal the boots

Then off we would stride,

but this plan went out of wack

when Jason died.

Unfortunately enough

Caligula survived.

Throughout our journey,

Commodus was the only one to die.

With more emperors still out there,

we still have to try.

Now a heroes story,

has came to an end.

story worth telling again & again.

Which is why we’re all gathered here, to hear,

About the Fall of Jason Grace.

His last words were remember

and remember we will.

He had a vision of temples

of every god on a hill.

No matter how minor,

they’ll all have one built,

because that’s what he wanted,

before he got killed.

He truly was an amazing grace.

#trials of apollo #the tyrant's tomb #the burning maze #jason grace #lester papadopoulos #meg mcaffery #piper mclean #Nero #pjo text post #TOA

[thatonerandomfangirlwhoreads]

Tower Of Nero Spoilers/Rant!! (Part 6)

Okay, so... at the end of the book Apollo (NOT Lester), decides to visit all the demigods of the Great Prophecy + Camp Half Blood. So this is how those visits went (WARNING!! Percabeth, Solangelo and Frazel cuteness overload). Apollo visits all these people in the form of ...you guessed it, Lester Papadopoulos.

Camp Half Blood Reunion

Apollo goes to the big house and has a little chat with Chiron about a “cat” (Bast) and a “severed head” (Mimir) and common problems amongst different pantheons. This may be an opening for a stand-alone book *squeak*!!

Apollo meets Mr. D (whose character was fitfully redeemed, when he decided to give Nico therapy for his PTSD), plays pinochle with Mr. D and loses all the games.

He sits by the campfire with Nico, Will and Rachel. Will and Nico are sitting side-by-side, Will has one arm around Nico, who is twirling a marshmallow on a stick. Rachel informs Apollo that she is going to Paris to study art, while her parents house is being rebuilt. They discuss the voice that has been calling out to Nico and Nico says that it’s a Titan who’s stuck in Tartarus (aka Bob the Titan, aka Iapetus). Rachel has regained her prophetic powers after the defeat of Python and issues them a Prophecy, which only Nico and Will can hear, but not Apollo. That is definitely a set-up for a stand-alone Solangelo adventure in Tartarus. Yippee!!

Waystation Reunion 

The Hunters of Artemis were at the Waystation and their mission to catch the Teumessian Fox. This too may be a set-up for a stand-alone.

We see some great Thalia and Reyna chemistry, where they both playfully compliment each other on being great hunters.

Josephine is teaching little Georgina all about mechanics in her machine shop. Apollo still isn’t clear about whether Georgie is her daughter or not.

Lityerses is overseeing an “elephant visitation program,” where Livia(from Waystation) and Hannibal(from Camp Jupiter) are on some kind of date. Uncle Rick has been reading fanfics and headcanons. It’s official.

Leo, meanwhile, has been indulging in some community service where he teaches homeless kids about shop skills at a local shelter and the kids like him. It’s been hinted that some of the kids are demigods.

Leo calls Josephine “mom,” who just scoffs but looks pleased all the same. She probably thinks Leo is the son she never had and Leo had said in The Dark Prophecy, that Josephine reminds him of his mom.

Calypso is loving regular mortal stuff, and has adjusted to her new life very well. Apollo doesn’t actually get to meet Calypso, because she’s been away all summer to a band camp where she is a counselor. Leo appears to be lovesick for Calypso.

It was also really cute to see Reyna and Leo getting on with each other too (It was surprising because Leo did destroy half of the Senate House when she was Praetor). Reyna was giving him advice on flirting with Calypso and asked him not to call her mamacita, and that he has to have more respect. She explains this strange action to Apollo, saying that Leo grew up without a mom so he never learnt these things, but now he has two great foster moms and a big sister(referring to herself) who isn’t afraid to smack him.

Camp Jupiter Reunion

Apollo visits Camp Jupiter, where he meets Hazel and Frank, who are both praetors after The Tyrant’s Tomb. Apollo says they are the most efficient and respected pair of praetors to ever run the Twelfth Legion.

Hazel and Frank give Apollo a tour of the Camp where they’ve installed more barracks, expanded the thermal baths and are constructing a victory arch on the main road to New Rome to commemorate the defeat of the emperors, Caligula and Commodus.

The victory arch is going to be completely plated with gold, more specifically, Hazel’s gold. As far as they can tell, Hazel’s curse is finally broken and her gold and jewels are finally safe to use or sell, as they please. They did an augury in Pluto’s shrine and it came up favorable. 

Hazel hastened to add that they were not going to abuse this power, but were only going to use it to improve camp and honor the gods.

Hazel says that they won’t spend the money to buy yachts, private airplanes or big gold necklaces with ‘H+F 4Ever’ diamond pendants. Frank pouts in reply to this. This is definitely Frazel cuteness.

 Lavinia Asimov fulfilled her promise to teach the entire Fifth Cohort how to tap-dance. The unit is now feared and respected in the war games for their ability to form a testudo shield wall while doing the three-beat shuffle.

The Jason Grace temple-expansion plan was still moving forward, with new shrines being added every week.

Also...Percy and Annabeth had arrived and taken up residence in New Rome, giving them two months to adjust to their new environs before the fall semester of their freshman year in college.

Annabeth, of course, is going to study architecture and Percy is unsure of his major. Annabeth is taking UC Berkeley’s Environmental design course and dual-enroll in New Rome University.

They reached the touchy subject of Jason’s death. Percy is unable to speak about this topic and Annabeth admits that she cried herself sick.

At the end of this conversation, Apollo uses his godly magic to teleport a plate of Sally Jackson’s blue cookies right into his hands and gives it to Percy.

Piper’s Reunion

When Lester arrives at Piper’s Tahlequah home, he sees two silhouettes on the edge of the roof and one leans over to kiss the other. Apollo gets flustered and switches form to adult Apollo, complete with toga and all. Both of them turn around.

One of the silhouettes, (a girl with short, dark hair and a rhinestone stud on her nose) asks Piper who this dude is and whether her dad has a boyfriend. The girl’s name, we discover, is Shel (Probably short for Shelby, I’m just guessing) and so far is assumed to be fully mortal.

Piper tells Apollo that she’s doing fine and that her dad too, has found some peace. She learns of Jason’s funeral and assures Apollo that he did right by him and will continue to as long as he remembers what it’s like to be human. Then she points at Shel and leaves.

Aeithales Reunion

Apollo was greeted by the Meliai, Meg’s personal troupe of seven super dryads. They took him for an intruder and marched him up to Meg.

Apollo found Meg digging dirt and showing her 11 foster siblings from the Imperial Household, how to transplant cacti. 

Peaches was also in the scene, talking to another young female karpos, who is native to the area.

Meg hugs Apollo and they go for a little walk.

Herophile the Sybil lives in a trailer when she isn’t working in town as a Tarot card reader or crystal healer.

Lugeselwa was in the living room, putting together a rocking chair. She had been fitted with new mechanical arms, compliments of the Hephaestus Cabin.

Apollo offers Meg the reward he had promised to give her when he became a god again. Meg asks for a unicorn, which he conjures out of thin air. They promise to be friends forever and when Meg asks him whether he’ll come back, he replies, “The sun always comes back.”

A/N: Phew!! That was long. Very sorry about that. It took me 3 days to write. If you had the patience to read it, hope you enjoyed it.

#tower of nero #toa spoilers #lester papadopoulos #meg mccaffrey #apollo #luguselw #rachel elizabeth dare #nico di angelo #will solace #solangelo #leo valdez #calypso #caleo #reyna avila ramirez arellano #thalia grace #camp halfblood #camp jupiter #hazel levesque #frank zhang #frazel #percy jackson #annabeth chase #percabeth #piper mclean #jason grace #hoo #percy jackon and the olympians #toa #tower of nero spoilers

[annabethisterrified]

Book Review: THE DARK PROPHECY by Rick Riordan (The Trials of Apollo #2)

There are no spoilers until you press ‘Keep Reading’. 

Apollo’s life as a mortal is a little tough when his closest friend (and unfortunately, his supreme master) has been instructed to kill him. The elusive Meg McCaffrey is on a deadly quest ordained by her brainwashing stepfather and abuser, the risen Roman emperor Nero. Meanwhile, Apollo runs into the danger to find her again, accompanied by Leo Valdez, the now-mortal Calypso, and a faulty bronze dragon. 

When they arrive in the heart of the American midwest, their problems really begin. Invited into the mysterious Waystation, a magical house with rooms as shifty and unpredictable as their creator, the trio finds a new home with Josephine and Emmie, two former Hunters of Artemis. Their daughter became insane and went missing after the rise of the second Roman emperor. A looming, dark cave of prophecy might have the answers they need to save the Waystation and themselves (and might just help Apollo finish up his mortal-time and return to godhood), but that’s only if they don’t go insane first.

And when the second emperor of the evil Triumvirate is Apollo’s ex-boyfriend? Yeah. They’re in quite the unfortunate situation.

Second books have a unique challenge, especially within series as long as five books. (And let’s be real, this is less the second book, and more like the twelfth book of a story that spans three series/parts.) Regardless, Riordan had to build off of the momentum that first books can easily generate with new problems, powers, and characters. Plus, this isn’t the ‘grand finale’. It’s nowhere near close. So how do you keep it interesting and meaningful?

Relationships, relationships, relationships. And I’m not just talking romantic, though he does a good job writing those. To me, the strength of Percy Jackson and the Olympians was its plot; it was elegantly woven, spanned several years, and wound up nicely in an extremely heartfelt finale. The strength of Heroes of Olympus was character; nine protagonists managed to become strongly defined and developed individuals. 

We’re only two books in, but I think I can tell that the strength of The Trials of Apollo will stem from the relationships the story fosters. They’re immensely unique and interesting. The particular situations between characters, and between the characters and their world, are very fascinating.

The two main characters, Apollo and Meg, have a couple thousand years of an age difference, plus they’re constrained by this warring and ironic balance of servitude, betrayal, deeply-rooted love, and selfless devotion. 

The disparities between Apollo’s inner thoughts and the reality surrounding him manage to be either hilarious or bitterly emotional. 

Something that pleasantly surprised me was the more mature and realistic ‘step-back’ that Riordan took in depicting the relationship between Leo and Calypso. They no longer share that sensationalized infatuation from the end of Heroes of Olympus-- the heightened emotions have worn off, and reality has settled back in, and now they realize they have no idea who they are as individuals, much less as a couple.

They fight bitterly and often before realizing they need to slow down and figure things out. No, they don’t officially ‘break up’, but they do explicitly recognize their issues and how they developed, and make a responsible game plan for moving forward, both separately and together. THANK THE GODS. I never hated Calypso/Leo as a couple, but I’m relieved that at least one romantic relationship hasn’t been smooth sailing, so to speak.

Another notable relationship is that between Apollo and the villain of The Dark Prophecy, Commodus. I think it was ridiculously clever and interesting to read how the tragic history the two shared transfers over to their reunion in the present world, with Apollo as a mortal. It was super angst-ridden (in a good way) and really underscored the development we’ve seen from Apollo, and lack thereof. It’s only the second book, after all. 

And as always, the relationship between Nero/The Beast and Meg remains incredibly raw and heartwrenching. I look forward to seeing how this very abusive relationship is eventually recognized and resolved.

Okay, enough about relationships! Onto plot and whatnot.

As I noticed a lot with The Hidden Oracle, the voice is just so real and funny in this series. It reminds me a lot of the first series, but obviously Percy and Apollo are two very different characters. While I do sometimes wish we could read from the other characters’ perspectives, Apollo’s voice is strong and personal enough that it feels engaging throughout.

And on a less positive note, as noticed with every book that came before it, this one follows in the footsteps of ‘remarkable convenience’. It’s not a major complaint or anything, but the ‘quest’ nature of this book called for scenario after scenario of the characters dealing with new mythological figures, and escaping them out of convenience rescues or smart-talk. Not necessarily a bad thing, but the repetition of that trope does diminish some of the danger that these scenes could hold.

That being said, the book does live up to its title-- dark. This book surprised me a lot with just how graphic and intense it dared to get. Commodus-- on page, mind you-- literally instructs Lityerses to behead like three people. And it’s described! And then the aftermath of Meg’s father’s murder from The Beast is also shown in extreme detail, including how Meg is forced to witness the carnage and corpse. Like, damn. I mean, kudos to Riordan for making this demigod world seen as dark as it really is. 

Anyway, the thing I really like about Apollo and Meg is that, even though they’re the protagonists and are seen as sympathetic through the readers’ eyes...they’re both still extremely morally gray. Which makes for very interesting reading! They both have made (and continue to make) bad decisions, sometimes with malevolent intent. They have a long way to go, both as individuals and as friends. But it only makes them feel more real, and also gives them excellent growing space to develop into.

I loved getting the chance to be with Leo and Calypso again. It gave some good closure, and I’m sure we’ll see them again at some point in the series. I like that Leo was able to find a ‘final’ foster home, and found a mother figure that’s reminiscent of Esperanza. As I mentioned previously, I’m so relieved there was ‘trouble in Elysium’ for him and Calypso, but I’m more glad to see how it was handled and have every confidence that this is about the best of endings they both could have been given.

I’m SO MAD that Leo is going on his own to warn Camp Jupiter about the impending battle. Not really. I just wish we would get to see his reunion with Jason, Piper, Hazel, and Frank, and since Apollo/Meg/Grover are going elsewhere first, it seems unlikely we’ll get to witness it. :/ UGH.

Okay, so the ‘final’ battle scenes in the cave and at the Waystation were so freaking well written. I teared up during Meg’s song, and then Apollo was all “I would die for her”...and oh gods. So. GOOD.

It was awesome to check in with Thalia. Her interactions with Apollo were great. I’m definitely excited to see Grover again, and can’t wait to spend tons of time with him in the third book, THE BURNING MAZE!!!!!! (May 1st, 2018).

But most of all, I’m looking forward to seeing the California crew again, and to witness more development on Apollo’s and Meg’s parts. The third installment will mean the ‘midpoint reversal’ of this story, so I’m sure we’ve got lots to look forward to.

The Dark Prophecy did not disappoint, and I am so sososososososoSO excited to see them all again in a little less than one year! 

#review #dark prophecy #toa spoiler #the trials of apollo #the dark prophecy #rick riordan