#hekatonchires

[ofspvrta]

θ::|| @dimensionalspades | leon s. kennedy has encountered the keeper

Something about the Racoon City incident had seemed very familiar to her, something she didn't care for one bit. And then later what she had found about that unfortunate rural village in Spain. Monsters made of what used to be men. Somehow it just reeked of Aita all over again. The monstrosities he created with his Pieces of Eden. Creatures now considered myth, werewolves, the Hekatonchires in particular came to mind. A mass of flesh and limbs with shambling corpse abominations that dropped from its body. How could she not be reminded of such horrors when she was researching these events?

Strange activity was always the first thing she looked for when trying to locate lost Isu technology. Her research also uncovered a particular name had popped up in both those events. One Leon S. Kennedy. Somehow she had managed to find a way to reach out to him. Not bad for a supposed Luddite. Another outbreak event was hitting a region in Eastern Europe. The idea was to meet there. She had no reason to suspect him of being the cause of these outbreaks, they seemed to be on the same side.

Especially since she had reason to believe Abstergo may have gotten involved in some of the more recent incidents, their activity leaning into stranger things than usual. The streetlights had just kicked on while she waited outside the airport for the man to arrive. Maybe she could put her suspicions about these outbreaks to rest once and for all and ensure another of Aita's sages wasn't involved.

#λ::|| the keeper | kassandra #τ::|| leon s. kennedy #τ::|| assassin's creed misc timeline #τ::|| eastern europe | 2008 ce #τ::|| starter #dimensionalspades #lmk if this works

[princess-of-the-corner]

Oh wow I'm dumb.

Sato could be an alchemist. Maybe not a FMA alchemist but an alchemist nonetheless. And I need to find monster for him hmmmmmmm... maybe an Oni? Or half-giant? Something big in stature for sure.

And Uraraka is a child of an Earth and Air elemental. Ugh easy in hindsight.

And I think I found a solution to Shouji. You've read the Percy Jackson series right? He could be distantly related to one of the Hekatonchires. Hundred arms, fifty headed giant?

Honestly the Hekatonchires is my best option so far. My other option was lean into his octopus theming and make him a Merfolk but like the Ursula type? Ya know what I mean?

The trouble there is that my best option for Tsu so far is also merfolk. (while the Kappa was suggested, that's more turtle than frog. Merfolk I can at least keep aquatic and fuck around with.)

#bnha monster au

[teecupangel]

What pokémon would the Isu have!

This is most certainly connected to our ongoing “Pokemon AU” where… we mostly just focused on Desmond’s Pokemon team because it’s clear who our favorite is. XD

So… this won’t be complete teams and I’m just going for the Pokemons I kinda know (disclaimer: I’ve only finished 1 Pokemon in my entire life: Red and I used to remember the Pokemon rap for Gen 1 but not anymore XD)

A few of these picks are from the Pokemon AU reblog thread with @thewolfprince

Also a few legendaries here because the Isus are an ancient powerful race and they’re self-centered and arrogant enough to have legendaries.

Let’s start with the Capitoline Triad we know:

Minerva:

Because they’re the main Isus we know from the Desmond saga games, they will have the first legendaries, the Kanto legendary birds. For Minerva: Articuno, mainly because of Articuno’s Galarian form becomes Psychic type (which can be a reference to how she used Ezio to contact Desmond)

Absol: @saberamane mentioned in our discussion of which Pokemon Desmond could have that Absol has the whole 'sensing disasters' thing and tries to warn people which Minerva did try to do by leaving a message to Desmond via Ezio.

Gothitelle because it can predict the future and, apparently, can see the lifeline of its trainer (more reference to Minerva’s part in Desmond's life)

From @zero-saito: Zygarde since they are observers of nature and calamity

One of Athena’s most known symbols is the shield so… maybe Zamazenta or, if you don’t want her to have another legendary, Shieldon

Noctowl: Another symbol usually associated with Athena is the owl

Tinia:

Legendary Kanto Bird: Zapdos, Tinia is also known as Jupiter and Zeus, so he gets the thunder type legendary bird.

Aegislash (Aegis is the name of Zeus’ shield BUT Aegis is also usually associated with Athena/Minerva as well but Minerva already has a lot of Pokemons so yeah. Aegislash can be either Minerva’s or Tinia’s)

These Pokemons are related to the animals Zeus turned himself into for… sexy times: Tauros (bull) and Swanna (swan)

Juno:

Legendary Kanto Bird: Moltres because the Galarain form becomes Dark type which does have a Pokedex entry of “Victims become burned-out shadows of themselves.” which can be applied to Clay.

Quaquaval: Apparently peacock is a sacred animal of Hera

Okay, so these next ones are based on Juno and Aita’s Olympos Project so these Pokemons can be Juno’s and/or Aita’s:

Dusknoir (Cyclops)

Tangela (Gorgon)

Tauros??? (Minotaur)

Shinx… maayybbee??? (Sphinx)

Dugtrio or Dodrio (Cerberus… look, there’s no three-headed canine-like Pokemon XD)

Lycanroc (Midnight Form) or Lycanroc (Dusk Form) (Werewolf)

Machamp (Hekatonchires… it’s the closest I could find XD)

Any Pokemons belonging to Aita will also be Pokemons his Sages will have.

For the Valhalla Isus, I’m just gonna focus on Odin and Loki:

Odin:

Legendary Beast: Raikou

Corvisquire for his ravens (evolves as a Corvknight when Eivor gets it)

Loki (Aletheia too for Fenrir, Midgarsormen and Hel):

Legendary Beast: Suicune

Rapidash (Sleipner)

Poochyena for baby Fenrir… keep him as Poochyena. Possible alternative: non-Midnight version of Lycanroc

Serperior or Seviper (Midgardsormen) or, if you want to go Legendary, Rayquaza

Froslass for Hel, as a reference to her ruling over Niflheim (also dual type ice and ghost - Hel rules over those who died of sickness or old age)

Sidenote: Tyr gets Entei

#pokemon au #pokemon for isus #ask and answer #assassin's creed #minerva assassin's creed #juno assassin's creed #tinia #aita assassin's creed #loki assassin's creed #odin assassin's creed

[mimbotomy]

VG: 2, 20, 21!

I got an ask this is this best day of my life 😁

2: Game(s) you’re currently playing

A lot? I currently have three separate play through of AC Odyssey going: a new game plus where I’m playing the Atlantis DLC, another play through I started as research for my fic the Children of Kephallonia, and a play through I just started as Alexios. I’m also playing Hades, God of War Ragnarok, the Last of Us, AC Valhalla, Ghost of Tsushima, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Rise of the Tomb Raider.

20: A boss you think is really cool

The introduction of the Minotaur is Odyssey is the greatest boss intro in any game I’ve ever played and the fight is just incredible. I also really loved the fight with Baldur at the end of God of War - as cool as the fights in Ragnarok are, I don’t think any of them can beat that.

21: A boss that was disappointing

Maybe it was because I was so overpowered by that point, but I thought the Hekatonchires at the end of the Fate of Atlantis DLC wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be.

Ask me more!

[fabiansociety]

the thing about reading pulp sci fi is that pretty frequently you’ll have an author describe the most outlandish monstrosity her can think of, and how deserving of compassion and love it is, no matter how repellantly alien its culture is… and then in the next sentence drop the suggestion that all non-white humans were exterminated and good riddance

more sympathy for a race of hekatonchires than for black people, that’s the golden age of scifi for you

[onbearfeet]

In case you needed it, my brain is currently looping the following:

"Hekatonchires? More like HekaCHONKires!"

#why am i this way #two am thoughts #greek mythology #incorrect mythology #why brain why

[thesteintist]

#ac:o #ac: odyssey #alexios #hekatonchires #atlantis #spoilers

[leofrith]

finally finished the atlantis dlc

#hekatonchires my beloathed #juno my beloathed #aita my beloathed #yeah i dont blame kass one bit if i fought that fucking thing i would go on indefinite vacation too #ky posts text #kyra plays ac odyssey

[twitchesandstitches]

Stubbornness, Arms

Tia didn’t know how to quit.

‘Stubborn’ was probably a word people would use to describe her, except that somehow the point never came it. Perhaps it felt wrong... too harsh, too firm a word for sweet, amiable Miss Tia. Even when she dominated someone or had sex with someone so hard that the weight of her dominance bent their minds into a mass of adoring pleading for her to love them and take care of them, it was curiously loving.

She was too soft to be stubborn. So it was strange that she just never stopped trying to advance. If you pushed her, she didn’t swat you out of the way, she just kept going and ignored all opposition.

People thought she was too lazy to put the effort into thinking things over and maybe calling it quits. But the opposite held more true: giving up was an effort. It was easier, more natural, to never ever stop doing what she felt to be the appropriate thing.

So. Pound her into the ground, hit her directly with a meteorite, drop her a thousand miles in the air and wait for her to land, and she’s just pop back up, bouncy like a balloon, that dark look inher eyes. She wouldn’t stay down.

Giving in was too much work.

So see her, here and now, and see her plain. In her hands, around her hands, is the weapon Hekatonchire, transformed from a great pillar staff into a pair of massive gauntlets. And as she powers them, its own power melds with her own, trading consumption and transfiguration for raw strength, and the physical symbolism of many arms.

For now she has fists, and the strength to use them. Her clumsy, soft arms, reinforced in metal. It shores up her nature, makes it easier to want to fight. To rip and to tear. To want to feel her enemies crushed beneath her hands, to revel in the joy of violce and surging limbs crushing forward.

She raises her fists. Pink energy, so vibrant and bright it is nearly red, gushes out from between the cracks. Don’t touch it; its not exactly hot, but it’ll make you pass out before the surge of violent rush lets you actually do anything.,

And the arms triple in size, almost bigger than she is, and she launches herself towards the foe, her new arms burning bright, and thus does her new power activate:

Six pairs of arms, forged of solidified magical energy and whirling about her, floating so close you might think they were a part of her, materialize out of the air around her.

And they strike! she punches and slams and swats, with greater ferocity and power than one might think. The arms break under the strain, and she summons new ones, ferociously punching so fast and hard that the punches make a storm, buffeting wind away: more arms appear to keep fighting, holding down the enemy or catching the blows that come their way.

Dozens of arms. Hundreds. Truly this is the weapon Hekatonchire, the Hundred-Handed Giant.

And these many arms erupt forward with many beams, their punches casting massive blasts of energy, approaching the foe so thickly it seems to be a single massive wave energy attack.

She does not know how to give up, and with these arms to pull herself forward, it is easier to not need to.

#twitchy!ocs #twitchy!tiashar #got some sweet visuals for tia's multi arm power

[snowy-meowl]

I forget sometimes that I’m replaying through origins and not odyssey. Ngl the pharaohs are terrifying but the fights are cool and I like it better than the hekatonchires

#owl.txt #assassin's creed origins #assassins creed odyssey

[demigodkass]

Opinion of Judgement of Atlantis

Yes, this is super super late and I’ve been mostly inactive, I’m truly sorry - I’ve been busy. BUT regardless, here are my honest opinions of Judgement of Atlantis, and for the most part Fate of Atlantis as a whole. Naturally spoilers ahead.

So I’ve found since I’ve finished it that the most interesting scene was the very first one where we officially get introduced to Atlantis / Poseidon. And that’s not me being snarky, perhaps it was the hype or what have you but I found I was ravished by the opener but it got progressively more emotionless as time went on.

And with that comes the fact that: Judgement of Atlantis was emotionless. Sure there’s the kid whose parents we helped save but we didn’t get to know him, no cute scenes, nothing really. Just me laughing that this kid loved my speech about banging as many girls as Queen Kass could. I mean I’ll give it to Ubisoft, they did a good job at portraying how tired Kass was, BUT JESUS Ubisoft she has another two thousand years to go and then you went and TOOK AWAY ATLANTIS FROM HER. Okay back track.

The war that was brewing between Isu and humans were nothing more than a half developed plot. We had quests on it, it was a huge human traffiking story, all of that. But nothing at all came out of it. It felt like a completely unfinished story. It would’ve been 1000x more satisfying if a truly brewing WAR was the reason Atlantis had to be destroyed forever OR you had to make the massive decision of choosing between humans or isu and fighting with or against isu / Poseidon, and by also having to choose wether Atlantis goes into another cycle (without you) or get destroyed (naturally without you) both climatic ends would’ve resulted in the same ending of Kass being spit back out into the throne room. If you wanted to keep up the appearance that Atlantis was destroy you could’ve made it on the insight pieces that choosing another cycle just delays the inevitable, which truthfully *does* leave some loose ends, I understand. I still stand by my opinion that we should’ve been able to choose a side of war to pick and our war waging and fighting degraded Atlantis to the point where regardless of if you took Atlantis from Poseidon by force or if you joined him you would have to destroy Atlantis.

I also think the Juno and Aita’s storyline was rushed and they were like mosquitos okay. They were less than a threat, and you knew it all along. The Hekatonchires should’ve appeared in the big war if anything, as a rogue isu experiment that Kass had to kill to save all of Atlantis, when she saw the hekatonchires that’s when she decides “yep Atlantis is getting destroyed, I’ve had enough”. But the big point of making is that it should’ve appeared in the middle of the crazy Atlantic human vs isu war instead of just running down into a room. I want a story of Kass leading 300 humans like she’s truly Leonidas reincarnate and THATS a part of her human mortal history. And she wields that spear like it’s fate itself she’s slicing around. But nah. We get mosquitos.

If we couldn’t pick sides I would’ve liked Kass to lead her 300 humans against the isu, destroy the Hekatonchires, Poseidon either surrenders or you fight him depending on dialogue choices, you destroy Atlantis while the humans run, and when you meet Aletheia - and Kass is initially hostile for a second before collecting herself - Aletheia then explains her part in all of this and why Atlantis had to be destroyed. It would’ve fallen in line with the fact Aletheia sympathized with humans and in theory might’ve fought for them, just as she said that the simulations were a part of her memories. Kass then officially is granted full powers of the staff as she has proved that she can handle tremendous burden and makes the right decisions that Aletheia approves of.

ALSO UBI WHY ON EARTH DID WE NOT GET A POST ODYSSEY TIMELINE OF KASS’S HISTORICAL ADVENTURES OVER 2000 YEARS. I wanted a damn voiceover like in lotfb.

Atlantis was beautiful, the people we met were nice and the developing the isu persona was cool. But Judgement of Atlantis left me feeling empty, not only because the whole story is “over” but because it was left brutally unfinished, with so many loose ends and half developed stories.

Elysium was beautiful and developed with rich rebellion dynamic and interpersonal relationship. The underworld hit you right in the gut from all its serious themes (the suicide forest and the cradle of the underworld anyone?), and meeting those who have died throughout the story. The first two episodes were heavy with content and world building but I feel Atlantis was underdeveloped and rushed. It was superficial and unsatisfying. We were made to believe Kass would make it her home but it never really felt like home. I love JOA for the first scene and the first walk down from the palace (as such) but once I got into the game I was disappointed by extremely undeveloped plots, side stories, and characters. I’d say the most developed story / character was the werewolf girl, and even that I would’ve liked a bit more on.

Right, so I’m very sorry that this came out so negative, but I really do believe that Ubisoft could’ve developed the final episode waaaay more than what they did, the story needed more time than what it got, what we are left with from the rush is a sadly ambiguous story and a ridiculously vague ending for Kass ):

But hopefully you guys agree with some of my points! I’d love to hear your opinions too!

#assassins creed #assassins creed odyssey #kassandra #kassandra of sparta #fate of atlantis #fields of elysium #ac odyssey #dlc opinion #atlantis dlc #the torment of hades #ubisoft #underworld #atlantis

[hexquestt]

It must've sucked to rule the underworld before humans were around

Like, Hades got given the underworld to rule way before humans existed, you know, that big depressing place people go when they die

Except there were no people, he had a pointless jobs, the gods couldn't die so what was he looking over? Yeah Kronos is down there (I think I can't remember) but other than that ur on ur own since before Zeus got in charge he released the Hekatonchires and Cyclops from the underworld

[spartan-officer-brasidas]

Things I hope to see in the third chapter of the Atlantis dlc:

more deities. I’m thinking behind Poseidon, gods like Aphrodite, Apollo, Artemis, etc. Atlantis is often cited as a city of gods, so this would be a great place for more gods

the amazons (I’m going to make a post detailing this more)

lots of technological advancements. Once again, this is Atlantis—a known advanced civilization

more mythology based quests and references

I would love for this Atlantis to be relatively true to Plato’s Atlantis!!!

Now I’m going to go into story specific stuff that may contain spoilers from the leaks and stuff, so be warned

I really would love to see the Hekatonchires in a set of three, each with 100 hands (as in their myth) but I doubt this will happen

I’m hoping they’ll really capitalize on Altas and Poseidon’s connection to the city

Maybe we’ll see Zeus because he’s the one who decided the fate of Atlantis in Plato’s Critias even though it wasn’t elaborated after. I know I want to see Zeus’ involvement in this

It’d be pretty cool if they tie Hephaistos in via the volcanic eruption on Thera! Though idk how they’d handle it actually happening unless they portray it as slowly erupting and never fully reaching decimation for the sake of the dlc

What if we get to try to either save Atlantis from itself or put an end to it all together with the help of Hephaistos/whoever

I honestly just want good Atlas content. There’s a lot of potential here lol

In terms of modern day, I’d love to see Juno here and NOT in Atlantis really. I think with Aletheia, it would be much easier to include her in the modern day

It’d be nice to see Juno and Aletheia butt heads with Layla maybe having to make a choice with regards to the state of Atlantis

Or maybe Aletheia betrays Layla for her mother? The options are endless tbh

I still want more deities. I could go on about the implications Atlantis has that gods would’ve been common there

I might add to this later, but this is a good start. I’m extremely excited and have high hopes for this episode!!!

#ac odyssey #fate of atlantis dlc #spoilers #i have so many ideas #that i didn't have time to sort this into a cohesive well supported post #so its a list #sorry #I'm just so excited #me talking

[newrulesnewlife]

I’m not yet finished Odyssey; I have one final bit of DLC and then the usual tidying up that you always get in open world games.

But I’ve got to That Bit. That Bit that I heard rumblings about, but didn’t look into at the time because I hadn’t reached it.

Look at Kassandra wrinkling her nose at this daft shit and his stupid old bastard of a dad.

Every time his dad says “Wouldn’t it be nice to just settle down” I say “No, I’m a misthios and I have drachmae to make and adventures to have.” (aside. And if I did settle down, it wouldn’t be with a man who hangs out with his dad all the time.)

Just having a totally normal one and spying on his son flirting with a woman who could kill him without flinching.

They’re so bad, the game even makes you go to the harbour to make sure that they actually fuck off and don’t come back. 

Peace, quiet, and a nice amphorae of wine. Nothing could ruin this perfect moment. 

...

Shit.

Now, neither of these two malakas have met my crew of female athletes, female mercenaries and old one-eyed Barnabas and a carpenter I can’t shift as the token man. But somehow, after killing a Medusa, a Minotaur, a bunch of Cyclops, a Cerberos and a Hekatonchires, Kassandra can’t withstand the power of heteronormativity.

Legacy of the First Blade even gives you a more suitable companion for Kassandra

Somehow in the game of Odyssey Shag/Marry/Kill they mixed up the Tempest and Nakatas.

Even without the whole “my Kassandra is not interested in guys” play that I was doing I’m miffed because a) it’s a massive, irrevocable change in the character and b) it was forced on me. The game asked me what I wanted and then decided for me what to do.

I’m still going to complete it, but the Legacy of the First Blade is a bit mediocre.

#new games for a new life #assassin's creed odyssey #assassin's creed

[greensunprincess]

Triumphs as a Storyteller

I wanna talk about exalted a bit here, just because I had a surge of pride in our campaign:

First off, this campaign, which is nameless, mostly due to it being so hard to quantify, we seldom stay in one place long enough to name it after a place, the party is divisive enough to have naming it after a goal to be a little too complicated. . . so it’s just called Exalted. It should be noted there are multiple exalted campaigns being run, which everyone defines by their difference from MY Exalted (i.e. Scrub Exalted, Side Exalted, Bros-night Exalted). When we say “we’re running exalted” they mean my game, which I like.

Secondly, this one story has been running for FIVE YEARS. and I don’t mean that in game time. I mean in real time. In fact, only one of the players present at the beginning of the campaign is still in it (not counting me) and NONE of the starting party of Solars are still alive (One of them became part of Gaia, and so he continues to exist as a spirit but. . . he doesn’t count) The same circle is still together, however, tied together by a city they once saved and their past life memories.

Thirdly: In game time, enough time has passed for the newest Solar addition to be of age with one of the original Solar’s kids (the two of them started dating) The Solar who became part of Gaia has two daughters, who are old enough to be Queens of a different nation in their own right, and have kids of their own. There’s a lot of family based RP in it, and a lot of interesting coming of age stories, both of the characters and eventually their kids, allowing in game parallels which I love.

In terms of more blatant bragging, I’ve managed to tempt three seprate players into accepting an Akuma deal through honeyed tongue alone, even with them knowing that I’m mean and more than likely to compel them/ take control of their characters as Yozi can do. I’ve brought the entire table to tears at least a dozen times, and individual players to extreme emotional responses more than I can count(read: not just rage due to shitty gameplay, but character bleed), which is perhaps what I am most proud of.

In terms of pure events: We’ve had several people nearly sleep with Luna, someone HAS slept with Lilith, we once had our archer Night try and punch a Hekatonchire in the face. That same night then got bucked and thrown twenty miles, and survive. We had an airship crash into a manse the Solar’s had conquered, nearly destroying it. We had a battle against a giant river squid, and then a desperate attempt to detach a city from a underworld copy of itself, before the two merge and plummet into the void together.  The Brave Archer Night caste saves a simple country doctor from an Infernal Trap. (Remember this, it will be important later! Date: early 2012) The Solars survive getting all their intimacies reversed, prompting them to turn on everyone and each other, and then having the city they were in tossed into the deep wyld. Our Twilight got so mad that someone stole his gun that he created a wagon that moved faster than sound to pursue them. Our token Lunar both impregnated someone and got pregnant in the same session. She then traveled across the world to acquire an artifact that controlled reincarnation so that a kind and sad ghost could reincarnate into the baby in her belly. The party accidentally summons Mercury into an Infernal trap, and both the Twilight and the Lunar bonded to him die in her defense. (And everyone was terrified of Shredderkin forevermore) Our dawn surfs on his sword on a wave of Lava, punches a tower out of the sky, and uses the Sun’s own laser to kill an Infernal. The party confronts Juggernaught and the mask of winters at the gates of Fallen Lookshy, and, with the brave and true sacrifice of the oldest remaining Solar (the same twilight who punched the Hekatonchire), manage to break the Mask’s mask, kill him, and team up with Lookshyan rangers, the Elemental Dragon of Air, and an Infernal Princess to destroy the walking fortress just before it turns Lookshy and half the scavenger lands into a Shadowland. During that same fight, our Dawn learns that he accidentally impregnated his shape-shifting dragon-horse mount, and she gives birth to a daughter literally ON Juggernaught’s back, whose mint-new soul is the perfect place for shards from the Mask’s broken soul to nestle. That same girl is kidnapped and tortured to death at age 10, and becomes a hideous Abyssal. Dawn swears by all that is holy that he will cure her. (this is also important date: late 2014 i think) The new Night Caste starts hate-dating the leader of all the Infernals, Hell’s top general, the leader of the Reclaimation. They get way too close, and actively avoid killing each other even though their armies are diametrically opposed. Party joins a war, helps the Brides of Ahlat overthrow their husband, and then they kill him. HIs manor is declared a cursed place after a party member dies horribly there. (And everyone is afraid of Ahlat’s manor forevermore, second only to shredderkin) Party raids a Realm Embassy, barely survives a battle against nearly two dozen dragon blooded, ends up fighting Anys Syn herself, escaping only because the dead Night caste’s mother is equally attached to the new night caste, and she happens to be a millennia old Sideral. Party escapes to Hell, where they adjudicate a domestic dispute between three Yozi. Dawn is given a carbon copy of his Abyssal daughter, but this one became a Solar instead. Everyone suspects the Ebon Dragon. Dawn adopts the spare daughter anyway, dares anyone to tell him she’s not his. Night’s hate date tells party she’s going to steal the US’s spear. Party rallies an entire nation to stop her, starts a war with the bull, fights a hundred battles only to lose horribly against her in the final moment. Turns out she only wanted it for one brief task, which she traded to Adorjan in exchange for curing her daughter of something horrible (Shredderkin is no longer insane! Still very scary) Less than a day later, Party fights a full circle of Abyssals lead by another Deathlord. Somehow wins, thanks to both strength of arms and the friends they made along the way. Turns out the simple country doctor was actually a third circle demon who fell in love with both Night Castes (Date of reveal: early 2017 - a four year con~!) Dawn redeems his daughter at the tail end of this fight. (Motivation achieved, only took three-ish years!)

. . . So yeah. I’m quite proud of this. I love exalted. Things have kind of ground to a halt recently, since we’ve been making the swap to 3rd ed, or rather, my own homebrew of 3rd ed. I’ve put more work and effort into this campaign then I have into the rest of my life combined (my transition not included)

#exalted #loooooooooooooong post #nobody is gonna read this #but #i needed to put this down in writing #So much has happened #It's like I've been running a vast world simulation in my head for years #it doesn't feel liek writing to me #it feels like just tuning into the sim and watching to see what other people are doing #and then telling the players about it #it writes itself #i wish my one talent was actually useful to making money #instead it's just #damn girl #you can write a roleplay like nobody's buisiness

[mikaey43]

#14 Percy Jackson & the Olympians:

The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

Rating: 4/5

Pages: 361 (with a brief excerpt from the final book: The Last Olympian)

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion Books (an imprint of Disney Book Group)

It's a new year and I'm reviewing a book I finished at the end of December 2016. (And let's face it, by the time I crank out this  review it'll be New Year's Day again...) I will preface this review by stating that while I do have reading goals, I don't necessarily have a numerical goal. I don't really like to place numerical goals on reading since, for me, it deters from the reason I read—absorbing the story—(basically: quality over quantity). But I do like to review books and I completed my goal of posting five book reviews. I did read way more than five books in 2016 but I didn’t review them because of reasons (mostly life). This year I upped my goal to six books reviews. It does seem like a tiny goal but because of life, if I do more than six I will be very happy. My other reading goal would be to post a review at least within a week after I've finished reading a book that (in my opinion) is worthy of a review. (UPDATE: I’ve already failed hard in that resolution.) Other goals this year include: finishing posting a month's worth of  pictures on Instagram as part of a monthly challenge. (UPDATE: perhaps every other month, beginning with February!) My last goal for this year is to organize myself better. (UPDATE: although this last resolution is vague, it's the one that has worked out the best so far. Weird.) Anyway, Happy New Year!

During the last week of December I was taken on such a great adventure! I actually don't have any anecdotes about this book. It’s completely brand new in the sense that nothing eventful happened prior to reading it nor do I have any news on a new Percy Jackson film, or reboot. Not even rumors on a television series. (In my opinion, it would make such a great series—if done right.) In a way this fourth book is in keeping with the theme of this post of a new year, new feelings, and new experiences and it is, of course, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan.

(WARNING: Reader discretion is advised. Spoilers up ahead of PJO.)

In this story, we're back in the summer months, and just two seasons after the events of The Titan's Curse. We open as Percy attends his ninth grade orientation at Goode High School. (They grow up so fast.) As always, ancient monsters show up and try to destroy him. But we come to learn that Camp Half-Blood is in danger of being invaded by Kronos's army. The war with the titan king is drawing to a head and the only way to stop the attack on the campus is to journey into the belly of the earth through the mythical labyrinth. And unfortunately, things aren't looking too good for Grover and his search for Lord Pan.

Although there were a few new characters in this book I actually want to talk about a a few that have already been established and introduced to us. As promised, we have Nico di Angelo, Bianca’s younger brother. Unfortunately, he's still angry at Percy after the events of The Titan's Curse. We found out that he and Bianca are Hades' children, who were born before the World War II pact. I can’t see the impact—if there is any—on the overall picture of this story line. Then there's Rachel Dare. She was introduced to us during the pit stop at the Hoover Dam. She rescued Percy from an army of skeletons. The surprise came when we learned that she is a mortal who can see through the “Mist.” We get to know her a little bit more this time since she'll be attending the same high school as Percy. I couldn’t be happier. I like her. This brings me to the character I've wanted to discuss for a while: Sally Jackson. She was the first mortal we know who can see through the “Mist.” Aside from that, she is always there for her son, does her best to both protect him and support his destiny. I'm sure that as his mother Sally is worried about Percy. I'm glad to see that she's growing as a character and living her own life. She sets and reaches her goals. We only see Sally's development in bits and pieces through Percy but she has come a long way.

This book, for me, is a series of cinematic proportions. It has the slow buildup of plot, story and character arcs that span these four books but everything appears on a grander scale (case in point: defeat the titan king … but apparently save Luke whom Kronos has now possessed). The actions is amplified; the stakes—already high to begin—just becomes intense. I'd like to think that I have that good of an imagination; however, I like to know that it's Riordan who has done a wonderful job of having this story streaming through my mind with each word I read. I know that as a “good reader” you are supposed to be able to have this type of visualization in your mind, but it's the job of the author to help you construct the scenery, speak through the dialogue and react through the action.

Another thing about this book is the running theme about heroes and their fans (that “heroes rarely live up to our own expectations”). There were three characters who failed to live up to the expectations of our three main characters: Tyson with the hekatonchires, Briares, Annabeth with Daedalus, and Grover with Lord Pan. This disillusion had our main cast becoming their own heroes and ironically inspires Briares and Daedalus (Lord Pan is another story.) It was a very nice message to the readers revealing that you are more than enough as heroes. While it's nice to look up to others, “heroes” make mistakes, fail, and fall apart. Begin a hero doesn’t just mean triumphs and battle stories but having the courage to try again, having compassion for others, and doing the right thing. That is why heroes never fade.

After reading That Titan's Curse, I honestly thought that there wouldn’t be any other competition against The Sea of Monsters and that the story line would be a straight shot through without much climax or dip. But I was wrong. This adventure resembles the second book in the series insomuch that while there is a specific goal in mind, the route to this mythological place doesn’t have a set location on the surface of the contiguous United States. Therefore this makes the journey grander. There were occasions where they did pop back in different cities across the country but quickly returned to the labyrinth. Time also travels differently above and below the earth. It runs slower in the tunnels and faster on the surface. This helps the story move further away from reality making it more magical, mystical, and mythical without really leaving the present time.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. This series has definitely been a roller coaster. It has many ups and downs, loop-de-loops and steep drops. This pattern through the series (book 1: 3.5 stars, book 2: 4 stars, book 3: 3.5 stars, and now book 4: 4 stars) leads me to believe that while the ending will be satisfying it won't bee anything extraordinarily great, which is fine with me. As long as things have been constructed logically toward the endgame I don’t think it'll let me down. I am very pleased with Riordan's weaving of intricate detail into plot and his great use of characters and their roles (both gods and mortals). He does not forget them. I am very curious to see how he finishes this tale and ultimately Percy's fate. Until next time (hopefully very soon with the final book review).

Happy New Year!

Thanks for reading.

#Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Battle of the Labyrinth #Rick Riordan #Percy Jackson #Tyson #Grover Underwood #Annabeth Chase #Rachel Dare #Kronos #Luke #Daedalus #Mrs. O'Leary #scythe #labyrinth #wings #Ripetide #Kronos's Army #freshman