#satyr empathy

[nerdyfangirlmel]

When you suddenly remember a book detail that satyrs can sense emotions which means Grover had to have some kind of warning that Percy was gonna pull that switcharoo stunt.

#he probs felt Percy’s mood switching #like your telling me that with that amount of determination on that boys face #Grover didn’t know something was about to happen? #like you can see when Percy made up his mind about what he was gonna do #percy jackson tv series #percy Jackson episode 4 #i plunge to my death #percy Jackson #Annabeth chase #Grover underwood #percabeth #echidna #st. louis arch scene #percy Jackson being Percy Jackson #satyr empathy

[demigodelsea]

all the old-time campers are being awakened and there are new demigods being brought in by the power of the pjo show or veteran campers/satyrs indoctrinating them

and i don’t know whether to laugh evilly or cry out of empathy because they don’t know what’s gonna hit them

they love luke or they think percabeth comes soon or they don’t like grover like you poor things

#percabeth #percy jackson #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo series #pjo tv show #rick riordan #annabeth chase #leah sava jeffries #pjo fandom #riordanverse #walker scobell

[nerdygalsmustlive]

Things from the books that I need to see in the Percy Jackson show! Warning spoilers if you’ve not read the books.

Disney not canceling this after one season

Iris messages! I just think they are so clever and very immersive.

If Percy doesn’t fight Ares I’ll scream. That was just iconic to me.

More dream stuff. The fact that Demi Gods can always get a glimpse of fate is really important in the books.

Zeus telling Percy he will shoot him out of the sky next time he flies.

Mr. D never getting Percy’s names right.

Dodgeball with the Lastrygonian giants. That was one of my favorite chapters in The Sea of Monsters.

Grover in a dress!

All the sheep 🐏🐑🐏🐑

The empathy link!

PARTY PONIES

The white streaks in Percy and Annabeth hair from holding up the sky.

Thalia being scared of heights.

In the same vein more Percy being scared of drowning.

Ares being whipped by Aphrodite. Seriously her sending him to get Percy then standing outside while she talks to him is so good to me.

Bianca and Percy having a moment before she goes into the automaton. Like a real heart felt one because that is the loss of innocence point for sure.

Rachel - enough said

Dr. Chase - enough said

Nico’s freak out at the end of titans curse because that was just so epic the leave us alone thing ugh I want to see it. Also I can’t wait to see Nico and Bianca in general.

Satyrs hyped up on Coffee!

The labyrinth in general is going to be so good. Like that’s my favorite book so I want to get there more than anything.

The Triple G Ranch and honestly I’d like to see Matthew Mcconaughey play Eurytion.

Percy learning he can use his abilities away from the water.

Mrs. O’Leary my beautiful amazing perfect baby girl.

Calypso because we need the moment where Percy learns that the gods just discard people. Also it helps him humanize Mr. D a little bit more.

Nico apologizing because it shows that Hade’s and his kids aren’t villains and I just think that is so very important.

Beckendorf and Silena are so important to me they deserved better but it’s okay. I think everything that happens with them in Last Olympian has such amazing and perfect impact. I could go on for hours about this.

Hestia because I love her. Before I read the books and knew the basic principle I wanted to be her child. I still do but I really love the way she was treated in this book. So good.

Annabeth saving Percy without knowing!!!

I want a moment similar to Endgame when everyone comes out to stand against Thanos with the Hunters when they come to help in New York.

Sally and Paul fighting!!

The Ares vs Apollo cabin fight. Honestly I think that was so good. Because it gave us a way to feel like Percy was going to fail. And it showed Clarisse’s fatal flaw.

Speaking of that I want more fatal flaw stuff.

Finally I want the moment when Ares shows approval of Clarise. That moment got me. Honestly I am a Clarisse stan.

Over all I’m just ready for more episodes of this show.

#percy jackson #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo tv show #pjo #pjo series

[tarragonthedragon]

even without the low life expectancy for demigods, let alone big three kids, satyrs live far longer than humans.

Grover Underwood was in his twenties when he decided he was going to die young. he decided to put his 13 year old best friend's life on the line along with his own. he decided that a single choice would end his days, too, in three years' time (and that's if they're lucky, if Percy is the prophecy child)

he formed the empathy link to warn the others. obviously he was going to want to be rescued. obviously Percy was going to try to save him. but his first priority, every time he manages to get though to Percy, is getting that message over. the fleece has been luring in searchers for years. decades. centuries. Polyphemus has eaten every one of them.

do you think any of the others tried? do you think a few half bloods over the years would have strange dreams about their satur friend and then drop dead without explanation, or lose their mind and noone ever knows why? do you think Grover wondered that? how long do you think it took him to decide that getting the message home was worth dying for?

#grover underwood #riordanverse #percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson #pjo #percy jackson and the olympians #meta #rick riordan #the sea of monsters

[genericpuff]

hot take ahead but

(tw: mental health, abuse)

when people take my empathy for Minthe and twist it into "WELL YOU'RE JUST EXCUSING HER ABUSIVE BEHAVIOR BECAUSE SHE'S MENTALLY ILL! BEING MENTALLY ILL ISN'T AN EXCUSE FOR ABUSE! SHE'S AN ABUSER, I'LL ALWAYS SIDE WITH THE VICTIM!" as if the victim of the slap wasn't a guy who was just as if not more abusive than she was in that relationship in his own fucked up way

really boils my piss ngl

literally nowhere is anyone saying minthe wasn't abusive when she slapped hades, or that hades deserved to be slapped or compared to Kronos in that scene

but why is it abuse when she does it but not abuse when hecate slapped hades

or when hades rips out a reporter's eyeball

or when persephone verbally attacks a bank worker

or when hera turns a satyr into a duck

or when persephone turns a nymph into a plant

like no shit having mental health struggles isn't an excuse for abuse but we seem to throw it out entirely as a reason when the person with mental health struggles isn't "pretty" enough or when they're not the main character. it's such a symptom of people being an ally for mental health until the symptoms aren't pretty and cute anymore.

flat out, if we're gonna say minthe is an abuser, that means we have to also acknowledge that hades and persephone and hecate and hera and pretty much every other celebrated character in this shitshow of a comic is also abusive. and if you see any of those names and feel yourself ready to go "WELL UM NO ACTUALLY, THEY HAD REASONS AND THEY CAN STILL GROW!!!" then we should be reasonable and also give Minthe the benefit of the doubt for her reasons and want to see her grow.

That's why people empathize with Minthe. It has literally nothing to do with "excusing abuse" and everything to do with the fanbase applying consequences to those they want to see suffer.

#lore olympus critical #anti lore olympus #antiloreolympus #lo critical #tw mental health #tw mental illness

[magickgirl786]

I just reread Sea of Monsters last night so it's all fresh in my head and I decided I am going to very badly plot out the second season of the show so here goes lol:

Episode 1:

Starts off with Percy getting ready for his last day of high school

Maybe have a calendar with Last Day of School! and then the next day Go Back to Camp! on it with x's through the days

Keep shadow Annabeth but make it obvious to the viewer that the shadow is a girl in a baseball cap so they know it's Annabeth

Have Percy's mom give a lot of the exposition about Chiron saying Percy shouldn't come back to camp and whatnot

Percy's mom can also give exposition about Tyson as they pick him up for school

To bring the Grover bridal store dream in, just have Percy fall asleep in class and the dream happens

Do the dodgeball with the monsters and Annabeth saving them

Please keep the line about Annabeth looking into Percy's bedroom window because omg I loved that scene

Keep Annabeth not liking Tyson

End with Annabeth saying "Chiron called me. There's something wrong. We need to get back to camp right now."

Episode 2:

Start off with them trying to figure out how to get to camp and settling on the Grey Sisters Taxi

Keep the entire taxi ride because it was hilarious

They will return to camp and see the huge fight and help them

They find out that Thalia's tree has been poisoned and that Chiron has been fired because of it because Mr. D and some of the campers are scared about Kronos being his father

Have scenes with Tantalus and how he can't eat or drink and doesn't seem to care if camp gets destroyed

Tyson gets claimed by Poseidon which embarrasses Percy

Have the chariot races and have Percy make amends with Tyson

End with the empathy bond between Percy and Grover

Episode 3:

Start off with Percy explaining what he saw to Annabeth, all the backstory about all Satyr's being trapped there and killed and how Grover tricked the Cyclops and whatnot

Have Annabeth realize the Golden Fleece is there and they can use it to save Thalia's tree

They go to Mr. D and Tantalus and say they need a quest as they can save camp

Instead they put Clarisse on the quest - we as viewers can see her visit the Oracle or they can do it as flashbacks in the episode that covers the part of the book where Percy and co. learn about it but it doesn't really matter

Clarisse goes on the quest leaving Annabeth, Percy, and Tyson at camp

End with Hermes giving Percy all the stuff he needs and heavily implying they should sneak off on their own, find Grover/Fleece and also help Luke if they can

Episode 4:

Start with Percy and Annabeth deciding to sneak off on their own and bringing Tyson and they use the Hippocampi and Rainbow to travel where they need to go

Unfortunately, because of the pollution, the Hippocampi can't go any further so they find the cruise ship

They are glad because they can shower, eat, etc. until they realize this is Luke's monster/demon cruise ship and that a coffin with Kronos is on board

They manage to escape the cruise ship

End with Clarisse finding them on her skeleton boat

Episode 5:

Starts off with them telling Clarisse about what they know through Percy's empathy bond with Grover and what they found out about on the cruise ship

They navigate with the soldiers

Ares comes and gets mad at Clarisse

They realize they have to sail through the Sea of Monsters

They all get seperated with Tyson sacrificing himself to save them

End Clarisse being knocked unconscious and being taken by the Cyclops with Grover (in his wedding dress lol) watching, and Percabeth on Circe's island

Episode 6:

The entire episode will be Percabeth on Circe's island so we can get more glimpses of Annabeth at the spa being made over, Percy seeing his makeover self then being turned into a guinea pig, Annabeth saving him and the others with the vitamins, etc.

They steal the pirates ship to get off of Circe's island

The whole scene with the sirens happens with annabeth dreaming of her dad and Athena and Luke and her happy together

Percy saves annabeth by dragging her underwater so she can’t hear their song and creates a water bubble so she can breathe

End with them finding the cave and Cylcops with an unconscious Clarisse and Grover

Episode 7:

Clarisse wakes up and in her disoriented state, she accidentally blows Grover's cover (I’m making it an accident here because in the books it was like jfc Clarisse read the room lol)

They fight Cyclops with Annabeth using her cap and taunting the Cyclops with the "Nobody" shtick and Percy coming to Annabeth's aid

They do the bridge thing but the Cyclops wasn't on the bridge and just when it seems like they are doomed, Tyson comes to their aid

We see a flashback of Rainbow saving Tyson and him finding them

Ends with them seeing the Golden Fleece

Episode 8:

Start with them fighting the Cyclops and getting the fleece

They realize they need to fly to get the Fleece to camp and Percy knows Zeus will shoot down a plane he's on so they give fleece to Clarisse for her to take it on a plane

Luke finds them and tries to get the fleece but is thwarted by Chrion and his centaur fam

Percy tricks Luke into confessing while the whole camp is on an Iris Rainbow message

Chiron gets reinstated and Tantalus gets fired and everyone gets on the back of a centaur to get back to camp

Clarisse makes it back to camp at the same time as them (centaurs move fast I guess?) and they save the tree

It's time for chariot races and fun

But the season ends with a mysterious girl on half blood hill. Thalia (hopefully played by Momona Tamada but any actress will do lol)

What do you all think?

#percy jackson #percy jackson and the olympians #the sea of monsters #sea of monsters

[11queensupreme11]

Hold on is the empathy link with the satyrs thing something Rick made up or is it part of the myths/stories. Imagine Poseidon finding out that his daughter is not only friends with a satyr (who he thinks are rapists), but that she has an EMPATHY LINK that basically links her life to him and vice versa 😭

i tried looking it up and i'm pretty sure it's 100% a rick thing 😭 omg lmaoooo the look on poor poseidon's face when he finds out. gods can't get a heart attack, but he'll definitely be the first one to ever manage it

poseidon: what do you mean you've tied your life to THAT THING?????? i can't even kill him without killing you too?!?!??! STOP MAKING POOR DECISIONS

#👸🏻| asks #👸🏻| arsenic blues

[daisiedizzywords]

This is forever going to be a cheering for Grover Underwood corner ok yeah percy fought the god of war he is awesome as hell but like you know who else is awesome this 20 something satyr who carries the weight of fear of failing at his purpose and the sorrow of the natural world dying and still sat in front of the god of war and manipulating him just by employing his deep sense of empathy towards what this crazy family is doing to these kids

And you know what that is metal as hell too. He knows this is a god who can end him with a snap of his fingers and enjoy it but to hell if he's letting it let him chicken out from saving his friends and setting things right in this Greek heaven conspiracy.

And like he's so smart for understanding nature so well that he kind of convinces Ares he's a fan because nature is not just flowers and berries but actually brutal and well eat or be eaten.

Yeah

#grover underwood #percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson #that's the energy i want 20 something's to have on the screen #crying thinking im gonna fuck up but then step up and just fuck shit up

[alexalessandro]

I’ve been re-reading The Lightning Thief and I just gotta say it somewhere before I explode.

I think the series is going to be 10 times BETTER than the book.

There is so much that is irking me on a re-read that was fixed or better in the TV series.

I hate Grover’s wet cat characterization, it feels trope-y and weird and bad and if TV Grover acted like the book Grover in the first chapters of the lightning thief I’m pretty sure we would effin hate him.

I hate Sally’s characterization in the book, it makes no sense. “I’m sorry Percy I was selfish, I just wanted to keep you with me for as long as possible instead of sending you to camp”

Huh?

Girly this guy spent most of his life in boarding school after boarding school, you rarely see his ass what are we talking about? Also how tf was smelly Gabe supposed to cover him all the way out at Yancy??? Is his smell Bluetooth compatible?

I love the new characterization of Sally AND Gabe, the only reason why Gabe was at all “scary” in the book is because Sally is a wet cat and I hate that characterization of her, it doesn’t solicit any empathy in me especially since her actions don’t make sense. How am I supposed to empathize when I can’t even understand her and when I can poke immediate blaring holes in the stuff the book is selling me?

I also hate Mr.D in the book, I know we’re trying to show that the gods are assholes but I think the way the tv series is doing it by having them be detached distanced assholes that only care about their kids when they can do shit for them is 100% more compelling. I’m sorry but in the first few chapters, Mr. D is even worse than Gabe.

I also hate the exposition in the book about how “the Gods follow the western flame” Oh okay American exceptionalism stfu, I think it’s way better to leave it as a soft unspoken “eh it was written by Americans” than what the books give us.

5 chapters in and I keep thinking “damn I wish I was watching the series instead”, “this is so much better in the tv series”, “damn I hate x character's characterization it’s way better in the TV series”

Another thing that I’m silently grateful for in the TV series is how disability isn’t a smokescreen for great mythological powers anymore.

Grover’s legs are covered by the mist, he’s a healthy satyr so he appears a healthy human (like I’m sorry you’re telling me the mist can erase the existence of an entire person, Mrs. Dodds, from everyone’s minds but satyr's legs are too much?), and Chiron has a brace in his Centaur form as well making him disabled instead of making his wheelchair “a container”.

So yeah, I think the TV series is 100% better than the book so far and all the changes they made make me excited or glad because they made me cringe in the original on a re-read, didn’t make sense to me, or made me care less about characters we’re supposed to care about to drive the story forward.

#pjo #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo tv #pjo disney+ spoilers #pjo spoilers

[booksandschist56]

This is sad so srry, but it's also friendship goals. So like Percy and grover have an empathy link right, but like satyr life spans are way longer than human ones so grover is giving up a lot of his life to help and stay with percy and if that's not friendship goals then friendships are all lies.

#such platonicness #grover underwood #percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson #frienship #friendhip goals #life span drama #either that or grover forgot abt the different life spans #grover and percys friendship is GOATED

[ghost-in-cyberspace]

Percy Jackson and The Olympian's Season 1 vs The Lightning Thief.

Hi everyone,

I'm back again and planning on doing regular blog posts.

Now, since I've read a lot of Rick Riodran's books, I've decided to start my regular blog posting spree again, by doing a comparison to the TV series vs the books, whilst hoping that the books are better than the tripe that they called movies. And the Olympians and Nine Muses must have heard my prayers.

Now beware spoilers and a very long blog posts. In fact I might be finding out if Tumblr has a character limit.

Now I'm not going to go into too big a deal over character looks. This is more about comparing story events and characterization etc.

Series wide there's 3 things.

Percy's knowledge of myths: Now this one isn't too surprising nor is it unwelcome. In the books, Percy wasn't too knowledgeable about the Greek Myths he's end up fighting. Most of the time it's Annabeth or Grover etc, who explains things to him. The most he knew was about Perseus (his name sake).

Grover's abilities to smell monsters, and empathy: This one made less sense to me to cut out. Satyrs are sent out to gather demigods, cos like monsters they can smell them. And Grover seems to be the best out of all the Satyrs at doing just that. Some spoilers for Book 3, but he finds a couple more powerful demigods there. But Satyrs can also smell monsters in the books, unless they're underground (Underground air smells like Monsters). Satyrs are also capable of detecting emotions. In fact their psychic empathy talents play a big role in Book 2 Sea of Monsters.

Demigods understanding Ancient Greek: Again another alteration that doesn't make too much sense to me. But Greek Demigods have dyslexia because their brains are hard wired to understand Ancient Greek, but in the TV series that hasn't been mentioned yet. (Fun fact but the reason Rick Riodran wrote them like that was because his son was diagnosed with the double whammy of ADHD and dyslexia as well. Knowing his son would have a difficult time learning to read, Mr Riodran read to him Classical Myths to help him learn. When he ran out of stories, his son encouraged him to make up his own, and Mr Riodran gave them those 2 learning differences so they'd be like his son).

Now I don't seem to have hit a limit yet, so lets continue on to the episodes:

Episode 1: I Accidently Vaporise My Pre-Algebra Teacher

Chapters adapted:

I accidently Vaporise My Pre-Algebra Teacher Three Old Ladies Knit The Socks of Death. Grover Unexpectedly Loses His Trousers My Mother Teaches Me Bullfighting.

BTW guys I'm British. If I typed Grover Unexpectedly Loses His Pants trust me, that would raise my eyebrows.

So the first episode is based on the first 4 chapters. Which more or less introduces Percy, and therefore you to the whacky magical world he's part of.

Now the sequence of events for both are:

Percy ends up vaporising his teacher, Mrs Dodds, aka the Fury (Or Kindly One) Alecto. He gets kicked out of his latest school, Yancy Academy. He goes back home. Goes to the beach cabin, in Montauk Long Island, NY with his Mum. Where during a storm, Grover shows up in full Satyr form and then the Minotaur shows up and chases the three of them, first in the car, then on foot when a lightning bolt blasts the car causing them to crash. Sally Jackson sacrifices herself trying to distract the Minotaur. And Percy kills it with it's own horn.

Some of the differences are:

Percy playing with Mythomagic cards. Okay I added this for laughs as in the books, Percy never played it. That was the obsession of Nico Di Angelo whose introduced in Book 3: The Titan's Curse. Though I do like that during that scene they kept the fact that Percy hates bullies with how he tried to go after some that messed with Grover. (Percy always was unpopular in schools as he befriends the outcasts).

Percy's other expulsions and odd things in childhood, which I assumed they left out for pacing, but Percy has been kicked out of every school he's ever been in. Yancy was his 6th school in as many years. Usually he got kicked out after something strange happens during a school trip, hence his nerves for the Yancy trip to the museum. Highlights from the books include: Some how blowing up his school bus with a civil war cannon, hitting the wrong lever on a catwalk, so his class got dunked into the shark tank during a visit to an aquarium. Strangling a snake in his cot at nursery, and a cyclops stalking him on a playground.

Also Percy got to keep his sword, Anaklusmos (Ancient Greek for Riptide) a lot sooner, and also isn't named in the TV series. In the TV series he was given the pen after his pencil breaks in the museum. Another side note, I love how they showed his dyslexia there, and he kept it since. But in the books, he was thrown the sword during Mrs Dodd's attack, and Chiron reclaimed it afterwards. He wouldn't give the sword properly and permanently until Percy goes on his quest.

Mrs Dodds attack is a bit different in the show as well, as she just straight up pounces Percy as soon as he accidently uses his hydrokinetic powers to pull a bully, Nancy Bobfit into the nearby fountain after taunting him telepathically (something that monsters seem able to do here). But in the books, after she witnessed it, she lures him into the museum first. Also there's no telepathy, but she just demands that Percy returns what he stolen. Percy, who of course nicked nothing and knows nothings, is confused and then terrified when Mrs Dodds' attacked, and then Chiron throws him the sword.

Also the attack happened during the spring time in the books. And was actually the start of a difficult time for Percy in school, as Chiron had tried to fool him with the Mist, like the other mortals, but Percy had started to awaken to his heritage, and could remember it. He might have accepted the fact he was hallucinating except for the fact that Grover is a terrible liar, and would flinch whenever Mrs Dodds is brought up. So Percy started picking fights and acting out in class in the books, out of the stress and fear of that incident until the headmaster expelled him near the end of term. In the tv series, it was just for shoving Nancy into the fountain, which Grover stitched him up for, so he'd get sent to Camp Half-Blood before the attacks get worse.

So the three old ladies knitting the socks of death straight up don't show up here. They show up in a later episode. But here, that's one of the reasons that Percy ditched Grover in the books. As the two of them, on the bus ride back to Manhatten, spot the Three Fates themselves. Percy, of course, doesn't know what that means, but Grover does and freaks out when Percy witnesses the Fates or Moirai (specifically Atropos) cut the thread of life. The reason for Grover freaking out is because what Percy just witnessed was an omen of death. But Grover's freaking out meant that Percy ditched him at the bus station to go home alone. Which led to the following events.

So coming home, not much difference there, except Smelly Gabe is definitely unemployed and earns through online gambling, instead of being a manager of an electronics store and not going to work. Also Sally Jackson is more explicit in standing up to him. In the books although she's still stubborn (she does keep her maiden name in both) but she charms and persuades Smelly Gabe.

Not much changes about the Minotaur attack. The storm in the books arrives in the night as a freak hurricane, which was mentioned a few times as a series of odd weather phenomena that mortals noticed but was due to the fighting between Zeus and Poseidon. And Sally wasn't planning on sending Percy to Camp Half-Blood just yet, she was considering whether or not to try another boarding school as sending Percy to camp might mean she'll never see him again. In the TV series, she obviously was and Grover's arrival was a surprise to her as he came EARLY. But other than that the chase sequence plays out the same until the crash, as Grover was knocked out in the books. So he got to witness the fight, first between Sally and the Minotaur, and then Percy killing it. But in the books, Percy didn't have a weapon. The storm had boosted his strength so he could break the horn straight off, and use it to stab the monster. In the TV series he uses the sword first, then the horn. Finally in the aftermath in the books, Percy dragged the unconscious Grover to the Big House in camp. In the TV series, the campers came out to find him and Grover collapsed on the ground.

I hope you all enjoyed this Blog Post. I'll cover the other episodes soon.

#the lightning thief #books vs show #percy jackson tv show

[majkemaniiia]

@bachanaliaa || Angelo "Ronno" Spiridakos

Day 4! Ugh, this one was fun but a lil' tricky. I wanted to try a different format, especially once I found this picture! I also wanted to hide the Satyr imagery within it but wasn't sure exactly how to until I figured -- what about at the heart? Here's an Angelo, though!

Page 4.

The Sunshine. Beating down on nature. On the things around. A bright new day. What panic might be brought upon it?

Ecological Empathy. A touch of nature, a touch to nature. Angelo's connection, a natural, mundane Sistine Chapel of its own.

Rings and Tattoos. Angelo wears many. Shining metal and dancing lights.

The Flower. Part of the photo, but half crossed between the human appearance and Angelo's work of nature in the adjacent.

The Satyr. Return to form. Pictured at the heart, in the lungs... Breathe what you are.

The Outline. Honoring the shape of who you are, no matter how that shape moves and changes.

#ch: angelo spiridakos #secret santa 2023

[charlesreeza]

Apollo and Marsyas, oil on canvas, by Jusepe de Ribera, 1637

Apollo and Marsyas, oil on canvas, by Luca Giordano, 1657-1659

Apollo and Marsyas, Meissen porcelain, 1757-1759

Photos by Charles Reeza at the Museo di Capodimonte, Naples

In Greek mythology, the Satyr Marsyas brags about his ability to play the aulos (or Pan flute) and challenges Apollo, the god of music, to a contest. They agree that the winner can punish his opponent in any way he chooses. Apollo plays the cithara (or lyre) vs Marsyas on his pipes. In the first round, Marsyas plays as well as Apollo, so the Muses judge him the winner. Then Apollo proceeds to sing while playing his instrument. Marsyas can’t sing while playing the flute, so Apollo wins. The god punishes Marsyas by flaying him alive.

This gruesome scene has been depicted frequently by artists from ancient times to the present.  Depending on the circumstances and political climate of the day, the flaying has been seen as Apollo’s just punishment of an inferior, insolent figure who disrespects authority, or Marsyas is a heroic representative of the people who speaks truth to power despite the likelihood of his atrocious torture.

I find the Ribera painting to be especially chilling because of the dispassionate expression on Apollo’s face as he tears the skin off Marsyas. Giordano’s Apollo looks more emotionally conflicted.  Are the gods indifferent to suffering or do they care?  Indifference sounds awful, but the torture would be much worse if Apollo has empathy. If the porcelain figure of Apollo is enjoying what he’s doing, that is the most monstrous version.

#fine art #oil painting #ceramic art #Napoli #Italy

[spyridonya]

🤥, 🔪, 📎 and ❤️ for kadira?

OC Emoji Meme

🤥 LYING - are they good liars? do they have tells to show they're lying?

Everyone assumes Kadira doesn't lie due to her genuine nature. In most interpersonal relationships, she's honest as a day in the south is long. However, she's lied to one person profoundly, though they're mostly lies of omission.

She's never told Galfrey that her memories growing up in Kenabras was from 70 years ago. Most of this lying was due to fear that the Inquisition would question her next, not realizing what Galfrey intended - using Kadira as a puppet for the latest Crusade.

Smaller Lies Include:

She's never told Daeran knowing about the Other, though that lie kept both of them alive.

In the Golden Shell AU, she doesn't tell Lann about the Other until the aftermath. Between the fear of letting more than one person know about the Other, Lann has a knee jerk reaction to lean heavily on the Lawful side until after Alushinyrra and there's hardly time to tell him.

Her biggest ticks on lying is when she stutters, her brain pausing to give her a moment to think of a lie and/or her tail is being very twitchy. The earlier can be avoided with a planned lie while the former can be avoided by wrapping her tail around her leg.

🔪 KNIFE - how do they react to injury / misfortune befalling their loved ones (significant other, family, friends)? do they put themselves at blame?

I think Kadira is remarkably mature despite having such a soft core. She becomes incredibly upset if anyone under her watch is hurt, but she has a good head on her shoulders when it comes with the context. She'll care for her injured loved ones, feels empathy for them, and she'll heal them once on the Angel Path. But she rarely blames herself for them getting hurt in battle or things related to the crusade, unless she did something directly or near directly -- or didn't do directly.

For example she's absolutely devastated for several reasons with Cameilla killing several soldiers, and puts the blame on herself since she never liked Cameilla and never socialized with her enough to realize how wrong Cameilla was, and people died because of that mistake.

📎 PAPERCLIP - a random fact.

Kadira has satyr like legs and fur the color of her hair - black. Her hooves and dewclaws are also black. She's not so much embarrassed of the shape of her legs but her fur. However, her fur is very close to rabbit soft and as the Crusade continues, Kadira begins to appreciate every part of herself.

❤️ RED HEART - their love language(s)?

Kadira's love language is praise and physical touch, both doing a number on her as well. Kadira's was rarely praised as a child growing up with her grandparents and later when she was kidnapped by Areelu. Touch has been something she's been denied since her kidnapping and being able to hug people, touch their face, their hair, or holding their hands is comforting to her.

#answered ask #angrygoatwoman #(kadee with lie straight in Galfrey's face for two hours if she has to) #(she learned enough in three days that the Inquisition is bad news) #(and god does it make her sad because they weren't that awful when she was a child!) #(but she got dragged off the scene before the 3rd crusade could begin) #(Thank you so much for your asks!!) #fic reference #character: knight commander kadira

[halothenthehorns]

Chapter 20: THE FLEECE WORKS ITS MAGIC TOO WELL

"At least these things aren't long, no offense Percy," Magnus said as he thumbed through the last few pages and glanced at the still staggering pile.

"None taken," Percy quickly assured. "You think I want more crap happening to me in each book!" He was rubbing his necklace where the second one resided. The silver pine tree painted in detail on the golden clay bead had been obvious at the start, but ominous now.

Magnus nodded agreement to that, silently thinking that whatever happened to Percy inevitably also affected Annabeth and the less of that the better as he theatrically cleared his throat and read the new title.

Percy felt un unpleasant buzzing in the side of his head for definitely being able to figure this one out early. Thankfully it wasn't quite painful, but left him jittery in his seat all the same like he should be waiting for something to go wrong with Thalia now permanently back in the picture, but at least she'd been here all along so it didn't torment him to guess right.

"That would be a real puzzling one if the evidence wasn't right in front of us," Jason chuckled as Thalia lounged out in her chair.

"Something good came out of this misadventure for everybody," Will laughed at the explosive following weeks where Percy and Thalia hadn't exactly blossomed into immediate friends, but he'd never seen Annabeth happier.

That afternoon was one of the happiest I'd ever spent at camp, which maybe goes to show, you never know when your world is about to be rocked to pieces.

"So dramatic, such intrigue, what on earth could be about to happen?" Thalia said with almost a straight face.

"Remind me to enter you into a poker tournament," Percy rolled his eyes.

Grover announced that he'd be able to spend the rest of the summer with us before resuming his quest for Pan.

"Well I would hope so," Jason yelped. "Guy spent long enough and nearly died on the last one."

"Like that's going to stop him," Percy grinned as the happy feelings flowed right back into him now. Grover had been getting cheered by every bush he'd passed for being the first satyr to come back alive, but more importantly, he was safe at home again.

  His bosses at the Council of Cloven Elders were so impressed that he hadn't gotten himself killed and had cleared the way for future searchers, that they granted him a two-month fur-lough and a new set of reed pipes. The only bad news: Grover insisted on playing those pipes all afternoon long, and his musical skills hadn't improved much. He played "YMCA," and the strawberry plants started going crazy, wrapping around our feet like they were trying to strangle us.

"If Polyphemus had just given him some reed pipes, I bet he'd have annulled the marriage himself," Nico chuckled.

I guess I couldn't blame them.

Grover told me he could dissolve the empathy link between us, now that we were face to face,

Percy was already shaking his head as the sentence started and was pressing a stubborn hand to the back of his head like he could hold it into place, nobody needed the following outburst from him saying as much.

but I told him I'd just as soon keep it if that was okay with him. He put down his reed pipes and stared at me. "But, if I get in trouble again, you'll be in danger, Percy! You could die!"

"If you get in trouble again, I want to know about it. And I'll come help you again, G-man. I wouldn't have it any other way."

In the end he agreed not to break the link. He went back to playing "YMCA" for the strawberry plants. I didn't need an empathy link with the plants to know how they felt about it.

"Thrilled enough to murder, that's a real accomplishment on some level," Alex's lip was quivering by the end he tried so hard to say that sincerely.

Later on during archery class, Chiron pulled me aside and told me he'd fixed my problems with Meriwether Prep. The school no longer blamed me for destroying their gymnasium. The police were no longer looking for me.

"How did you manage that?" I asked.

Chiron's eyes twinkled. "I merely suggested that the mortals had seen something different on that day—a furnace explosion that was not your fault."

"You just said that and they bought it?"

"I manipulated the Mist. Some day, when you're ready, I'll show how it's done."

"That's a thing!" Percy burst out. "Why has he not been teaching me that this entire time!"

Thalia had to press her fist against her mouth to stop herself from busting out laughing he still didn't know it to this day.

"You mean, I can go back to Meriwether next year?"

Chiron raised his eyebrows. "Oh, no, they've still expelled you.

Then she and everyone began laughing once more, and Percy sighed but waved it on. "Fine, whatever, I'm worried the apocalypse would come early if I managed to ever leave a school without getting expelled. Surely it's one of the coming signs of doom."

"I still think we should talk to Chiron about implementing some of their school curriculums," Will insisted, "deadly dodgeball would be a hit with the Ares kids, and blowing shit up would be a class the Stoll brothers would ace."

"I'm sure Chiron will squeeze it in between the lava wall, arts and crafts practice, and their roller coaster of doom," Percy agreed as he waved vaguely at the Norse kids.

Your headmaster, Mr. Bonsai, said you had—how did he put it?—un-groovy karma that disrupted the school's educational aura.

Percy made a strange face as he tried to decide if that was insulting or not. Was the principal implying he was too smart to go there?

...that was a first.

But you're not in any legal trouble, which was a relief to your mother.

"Frankly I don't know what she's going to do with all of her free time now she's not worried about that," Percy said with nothing but relief.

Oh, and speaking of your mother ..."

He unclipped his cell phone from his quiver and handed it to me. "It's high time you called her."

Percy expected more snickering laughter on his part for having to check in with his mom, but all he saw were sad smiles and a strained delivery from Magnus. Nobody had forgotten poor Sally had been left in the dark for the entirety of Percy's quest on what was going on with him.

The worst part was the beginning—the "Percy-Jackson-what-were-you-thinking-do-you-have-any-idea-how-worried-I-was-sneaking-off-to-camp-without-permission-going-on-dangerous-quests-and-scaring-me-half-to-death" part.

Alex gave him a slow clap for managing all that in one breath though.

But finally she paused to catch her breath. "Oh, I'm just glad you're safe!"

That's the great thing about my mom. She's no good at staying angry. She tries, but it just isn't in her nature.

Percy was smiling so much it looked painful. A part of him still hated himself for leaving her in Hades's realm for moments like this, how could he ever have hoped to keep going without her there at the end of every crazy summer he had?

"I'm sorry, Mom," I told her. "I won't scare you again."

"Don't make promises you can't keep Percy," Thalia said ruefully.

Percy sighed because he knew she was right. Wishing and regrets didn't get you much, and no action he ever took would hold that promise.

"Don't promise me that, Percy. You know very well it will only get worse." She tried to sound casual about it, but I could tell she was pretty shaken up.

I wanted to say something to make her feel better, but I knew she was right. Being a halfblood, I would always be doing things that scared her. And as I got older, the dangers would just get greater.

"I could come home for a while," I offered.

"That probably was the best thing you could have said to her," Jason nodded diplomatically.

"No, no. Stay at camp. Train. Do what you need to do. But you will come home for the next school year?"

"Yeah, of course. Uh, if there's any school that will take me."

"Oh, we'll find something, dear," my mother sighed. "Some place where they don't know us yet."

"Not Canada, California, New York, and probably St. Louis if they're still holding a grudge against you blowing up their arch," Thalia ticked off on her fingers. "You're not even a teenager yet and you're already racking up a considerable list."

"I chose to take that as a compliment," he rolled his eyes.

As for Tyson, the campers treated him like a hero. I would've been happy to have him as my cabin mate forever, but that evening, as we were sitting on a sand dune overlooking the Long Island Sound, he made an announcement that completely took me by surprise.

"He adopted a cat to help his sphynx fear?" Magnus grinned.

"He and Clarisse teamed up for the next chariot race and you're screwed," Jason chuckled.

"He was secretly Poseidon all along?" Alex snickered.

"This is what you guys have been reduced to?" Percy asked in exasperation. "You can't guess the chapter titles anymore so you drag this out?"

"We've having fun," Jason reminded.

Percy huffed and glared at the stack of books. Surely they couldn't all be about him, and they'd get their dues how 'fun' this was.

"Dream came from Daddy last night," he said. "He wants me to visit."

I wondered if he was kidding, but Tyson really didn't know how to kid.

"True," Will nodded, "Connor tried to teach him a knock-knock joke once and it didn't go well." They'd repaired that whole in the Hermes door with smiles.

"I'll take him as is," Percy reminded with pride.

"Poseidon sent you a dream message?"

Tyson nodded. "Wants me to go underwater for the rest of the summer. Learn to work at Cyclopes' forges. 

"Wait," Magnus went cross-eyed in that now familiar expression of something strange everybody else hadn't looked twice at. "Underwater? Forge? Don't forges require, you know, fire?"

"He's immune to fire," Percy shrugged like that's all the explanation he'd ever thought up for this, a great look of disappointment on his face he clearly hadn't been invited to come obviously bothering him a lot more than normal rules of physics.

He called it an inter—an intern—"

"An internship?"

"If it's anything like that school's charity case, I'd be worried," Alex scoffed. "All work and no pay while being criticized."

"Hope they at least have decent office supplies to steal," Magnus agreed.

"Yes."

I let that sink in. I'll admit, I felt a little jealous. Poseidon had never invited me underwater.

"Go with him!" Jason looked ready to start shaking Percy in hopes the memory of that happening would appear. "I'd call that plenty of training!"

"Now I'm being encouraged around fire huh?" Percy brushed him off, no matter how tempting the idea was. One notorious way to get attention from your parents was to sneak around right? Why not right into his dad's domain, see how long he was ignored then.

Then he remembered he was trapped at the bottom of the ocean without so much as a wave of hello and his scowl only grew.

But then I thought, Tyson was going? Just like that?

"When would you leave?" I asked.

"Now."

"Now. Like ... now now?"

"Now."

"I think he's going now," Magnus added helpfully.

"Perceptive as your cousin," Percy huffed.

I stared out at the waves in the Long Island Sound. The water was glistening red in the sunset.

"I'm happy for you, big guy," I managed. "Seriously."

"Hard to leave my new brother," he said with a tremble in his voice. "But I want to make things. Weapons for the camp. You will need them."

Unfortunately, I knew he was right. The Fleece hadn't solved all the camp's problems. Luke was still out there, gathering an army aboard the Princess Andromeda. Kronos was still reforming in his golden coffin. Eventually, we would have to fight them.

All of the Greek kids grimaced at this, and Magnus sighed as the book dipped in his hands and he looked uneasily around at the others to come. They were only just done with the first two, it would be a miracle to survive all of them.

"You'll make the best weapons ever," I told Tyson. I held up my watch proudly. "I bet they'll tell good time, too."

"I hope he does that exclusively, starts a haberdashery of weapons and watches," Alex beamed.

Hearth smiled to himself maybe Blitz would like a business partner.

Tyson sniffled. "Brothers help each other."

"You're my brother," I said. "No doubt about it."

He patted me on the back so hard he almost knocked me down the sand dune. Then he wiped a tear from his cheek and stood to go. "Use the shield well."

"I will, big guy."

"Save your life some day."

The way he said it, so matter-of-fact, I wondered if that Cyclops eye of his could see into the future.

"Maybe, if it's a one-time-only kind of use," Jason muttered as he hadn't exactly done much of that yet, but he was quickly adapting to the idea he shouldn't assume he knew otherwise.

He headed down to the beach and whistled. Rainbow, the hippocampus, burst out of the waves. I watched the two of them ride off together into the realm of Poseidon.

Once they were gone, I looked down at my new wristwatch. I pressed the button and the shield spiraled out to full size. Hammered into the bronze were pictures in Ancient Greek style, scenes from our adventures this summer. There was Annabeth slaying a Laistrygonian dodgeball player, me fighting the bronze bulls on Half-Blood Hill, Tyson riding Rainbow toward the Princess Andromeda, the CSS Birmingham blasting its cannons at Charybdis. I ran my hand across a picture of Tyson, battling the Hydra as he held aloft a box of Monster Donuts.

"I need whoever's permission I have to get to turn that into a vase!" Alex seemed to demand of the universe as a whole.

"You have my blessing," Percy assured.

I couldn't help feeling sad. I knew Tyson would have an awesome time under the ocean. But I'd miss everything about him—his fascination with horses, the way he could fix chariots or crumple metal with his bare hands, or tie bad guys into knots. I'd even miss him snoring like an earth-quake in the next bunk all night.

"Hey, Percy."

I turned.

Annabeth and Grover were standing at the top of the sand dune. I guess maybe I had some sand in my eyes, because I was blinking a lot.

"Tyson ..." I told them. "He had to ..."

"We know," Annabeth said softly. "Chiron told us."

"Cyclopes forges." Grover shuddered. "I hear the cafeteria food there is terrible! Like, no enchiladas at all."

"Where did he hear that from?" Nico asked, it's not like Grover had ever struck up a conversation with a cyclops before.

"Nymph gossip, maybe a cyclops has even visited camp before," Will shrugged. "Poseidon might have sent one as a blessing to help, or the tree spirits are just full of it. Chiron's never shared a lot of stories about children of his," he reminded with a sad smile at how uniquely troubling Percy was.

Annabeth held out her hand. "Come on, Seaweed Brain. Time for dinner."

We walked back toward the dining pavilion together, just the three of us, like old times.

Percy couldn't hold back a longing sigh. He liked all of the friends he had around him now, but he couldn't shake the feeling of who was missing too.

A storm raged that night, but it parted around Camp Half-Blood as storms usually did.

Lightning flashed against the horizon, waves pounded the shore, but not a drop fell in our valley. We were protected again, thanks to the Fleece, sealed inside our magical borders.

Still, my dreams were restless. I heard Kronos taunting me from the depths of Tartarus: Polyphemus sits blindly in his cave, young hero, believing he has won a great victory.

"Hopefully it keeps him off the dating game for the next few millennia," Percy scowled.

Are you any less deluded? The titan's cold laughter filled the darkness.

Then my dream changed. I was following Tyson to the bottom of the sea, into the court of Poseidon. It was a radiant hall filled with blue light, the floor cobbled with pearls. And there, on a throne of coral, sat my father, dressed like a simple fisherman in khaki shorts and a sunbleached T-shirt. I looked up into his tan weathered face, his deep green eyes, and he spoke two words: Brace yourself.

I woke with a start.

There was a banging on the door. Grover flew inside without waiting for permission. "Percy!" he stammered. "Annabeth ... on the hill ... she ..."

The look in his eyes told me something was terribly wrong. Annabeth had been on guard duty that night, protecting the Fleece. If something had happened—

Thalia closed her eyes for a moment, the sad smile lingering on her face so her eyes could hide the pain. She almost hadn't recognized the girl, nearly a teenager, the same kid now closer to the age Thalia had been when she'd fallen. Absolutely nothing had been the same when she'd opened her eyes again, but here she looked around with as eager a smile as everybody else. Maybe Zeus had even had some inkling of this passage of time would be her best path.

I ripped off the covers, my blood like ice water in my veins. I threw on some clothes while Grover tried to make a complete sentence, but he was too stunned, too out of breath. "She's lying there ... just lying there ..."

Percy sort of wanted to rip one of Grover's horns off for nearly giving him a heart attack, but he was to grateful his best friend had come to tell him at all rather than staying with Annabeth and rousing around the first child of the Big Three he'd found.

I ran outside and raced across the central yard, Grover right behind me. Dawn was just breaking, but the whole camp seemed to be stirring. Word was spreading. Something huge had happened. A few campers were already making their way toward the hill, satyrs and nymphs and heroes in a weird mix of armor and pajamas.

"How the best sleepovers end up," Alex nodded this made perfect sense on every blade of grass at that camp.

I heard the clop of horse hooves, and Chiron galloped up behind us, looking grim.

"Is it true?" he asked Grover.

Grover could only nod, his expression dazed.

I tried to ask what was going on, but Chiron grabbed me by the arm and effortlessly lifted me onto his back. Together we thundered up Half-Blood Hill, where a small crowd had started to gather.

I expected to see the Fleece missing from the pine tree, but it was still there, glittering in the first light of dawn. The storm had broken and the sky was bloodred.

"Curse the titan lord," Chiron said. "He's tricked us again, given himself another chance to control the prophecy."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"The Fleece," he said. "The Fleece did its work too well."

"Ooo, actual chapter title being quoted," Magnus shook his head at how all of this had worked out. The uncomfortable question of how they would ever manage to beat a Titan who was already so many steps ahead of them still sort of made him wish for his ignorance of this world back if they were all doomed.

We galloped forward, everyone moving out of our way. There at the base of the tree, a girl was lying unconscious. Another girl in Greek armor was kneeling next to her.

Blood roared in my ears. I couldn't think straight. Annabeth had been attacked? But why was the Fleece still there?

Percy was looking from Thalia to the book with a heavy sense of forbidding. 'Was Kronos right to play this card,' a nasty voice whispered in his mind. Thalia wouldn't do that to Annabeth, but then, neither should Luke. It suddenly bothered him quite a lot Oceanus had 'accidentally,' not managed to pull in his girlfriend or best friend, just a couple of strangers he got vague impressions about and kids he didn't even know. How did he know what side Oceanus was on? Could this all be some weirdly elaborate trick into trying to convince him to switch sides away from them?

The tree itself looked perfectly fine, whole and healthy, suffused with the essence of the Golden Fleece.

"It healed the tree," Chiron said, his voice ragged. "And poison was not the only thing it purged."

Then I realized Annabeth wasn't the one lying on the ground. She was the one in armor, kneeling next to the unconscious girl. When Annabeth saw us, she ran to Chiron. "It... she ... just suddenly there ..."

Her eyes were streaming with tears, but I still didn't understand. I was too freaked out to make sense of it all. I leaped off Chiron's back and ran toward the unconscious girl. Chiron said: "Percy, wait!"

I knelt by her side. She had short black hair and freckles across her nose. She was built like a long-distance runner, lithe and strong, and she wore clothes that were somewhere between punk and Goth—a black T-shirt, black tattered jeans, and a leather jacket with buttons from a bunch of bands I'd never heard of.

She wasn't a camper. I didn't recognize her from any of the cabins. And yet I had the strangest feeling I'd seen her before...

"It's true," Grover said, panting from his run up the hill. "I can't believe ..."

Nobody else came close to the girl.

I put my hand on her forehead. Her skin was cold, but my fingertips tingled as if they were burning.

"She needs nectar and ambrosia," I said. She was clearly a half-blood, whether she was a camper or not. I could sense that just from one touch. I didn't understand why everyone was acting so scared.

I took her by the shoulders and lifted her into sitting position, resting her head on my shoulder.

"Come on!" I yelled to the others. "What's wrong with you people? Let's get her to the Big House."

No one moved, not even Chiron. They were all too stunned.

Will gave a guilty wince he'd been just as stunned stupid even as he admired Percy stepping in like that. Will had never met Thalia, but her story was legendary, it could have been no other Half-Blood in their leader's arms, and the whole camp seemed to have been holding its breath at the time as they all wondered what was coming next.

Then the girl took a shaky breath. She coughed and opened her eyes.

Her irises were startlingly blue—electric blue.

Jason studied her now the same way he had himself in the mirror. It wasn't just the eyes, it was the same powerful aura Percy gave off. There was something in the air about her nobody could mistake, and yet as he started unconsciously rubbing his tattoo, all he could think was how strange his mind had to be for not ever having found her threatening like he often did Percy.

The girl stared at me in bewilderment, shivering and wild-eyed. "Who—"

"I'm Percy," I said. "You're safe now."

"Strangest dream ..."

"It's okay."

"Dying."

"No," I assured her.

Thalia shivered, just the smallest bit like a cold chill had passed over her, and Percy immediately felt like a jerk for any second guesses he might have as his first impulse was to assure her now. He could now claim same as her to wake up a stranger in a strange land and she'd been nothing but a friend to him, looking out for him the entirety of his stay here. It was no regret then, that no matter the outcome, he'd at least given her the same honor upon first meeting her.

 "You're okay. What's your name?"

That's when I knew. Even before she said it.

The girl's blue eyes stared into mine, and I understood what the Golden Fleece quest had been about. The poisoning of the tree. Everything. Kronos had done it to bring another chess piece into play—another chance to control the prophecy.

Even Chiron, Annabeth, and Grover, who should've been celebrating this moment, were too shocked, thinking about what it might mean for the future. And I was holding someone who was destined to be my best friend, or possibly my worst enemy.

"Dun, dun, dun," Percy chuckled for himself.

"Don't count yourself off either of those lists yet Jackson," Thalia rolled her eyes, not understanding the strange look he gave her. Like he didn't know whether to laugh at that for the joke it was for once.

"I am Thalia," the girl said. "Daughter of Zeus."

"That would have been a lot more dramatic if you hadn't been hanging around with us the past few days," Magnus told her as he finished looking up and around.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she grinned, "next time we all get sucked into a room together, I'll hide behind the couch until my grand arrival."

"Thank you, finally, a woman with some class," Alex nodded.

Perhaps the snickering that circled the room was a little more exhaustion induced than they would have admitted, but it must have been late enough in the day for all of them nobody cared. Percy was first out the door fighting off a yawn, everybody else's conversations lulling easily to a close.

Alex and Magnus lingered around still practicing their signing to each other and Thalia and Hearth were happily adding in, watching the two in an almost paternal way.

When Nico gestured Will out and he gladly jumped to his feet, Jason watched them leave discreetly and debated if he should follow or invest more into learning ASL. Though he'd disclosed his secret, he still wanted to talk to Nico again now that he was more confident his other secret wasn't exactly being held over his head, but he still didn't find Nico the easiest person to talk to either. Not as standoffish as he was that first day, but still giving off the aura of antisocial he had no clue how Will kept bypassing. When Thalia called his name and asked how late he planned on staying up, he found himself getting easily sucked into their group without another thought.

Nico lead him up to the terrace, and Will closed the door and watched him with that same casual, laid-back attitude like there was nothing at all in the world to worry him. At least he didn't seem to be holding a grudge?

"Sorry, for um, snapping your head off before," he fidgeted guiltily in place and couldn't look at Will to long. Ugh, he was so bad at this; but he wasn't taking Will to that other camp, let alone Tartarus with him, it was too dangerous to risk anyone but a solo mission. That stupid prophecy line of Clarisse's mocked him though, and maybe he would go to Camp first, get a useless prophecy and let Jason decide if he wanted to take that risk...He couldn't explain that though and didn't know what else to say. "What do you want from me?" He demanded point blank why Will cared at all, why he'd asked and started all of this!

"Nothing!" Nico still wasn't doing this right, Will looked hurt anew at his accusatory tone as he answered. "Just, I know some people prefer to be alone, and I'm not judging, honestly! I'm sorry for pushing, I just wanted you to know you had a friend, if you wanted one."

Nico kept scrutinizing him for a few moments more with lingering guilt. There was no lie in Will's voice...but that couldn't be it? What reason did Will have for wanting to be friends now? "Well, Jason's going through some crap and I, um, guessed and offered help. It, it's up to him." He found himself suddenly hoping Jason would invite Will along to the other camp, but then, maybe he should pass the buck altogether and just let even Thalia and Will deal with Jason with clear directions and go straight to Tartarus when they got out of here. He was putting it off to much, trying to delay it, and Gaia would not wait. Her plans may already be in motion, and somebody had to stop them.

"Okay," Will said, clearly at peace with this decision left out of his hands, a baffling thing all its own. Nico was the only demigod capable of stopping the Earth Mother in Tartarus, and he'd be the only one who wasn't missed if all he could do was send a dream message for a warning to come.

They stood in awkward silence for a few moments more and Nico wished he could leave now. Will seemed to sense this, he stepped away from the door in invitation but said gently, "I know you're not looking forward to the next book. If I could pay Connor to steal it away and stop this, I would."

Nico found himself hesitating now, but all that came out was the odd comment, "you talk about Connor a lot."

Will shrugged that off like he seemed to everything. "Kind of have a crush on him, and Katie Gardner too, but they're dating each other so sorry if it comes out wrong. I'll try to stop bringing it up." Will bit his sun-chapped lips at the end and gave him a funny look he didn't know what to call.

Nico stared. He'd never imagined a guy could say something like that so casually in his life. He'd seen men displaying affection for each other on the streets during his travels, sometimes with horrible commentary from other passersby on the street, sometimes without a second glance. He had no idea which and when in this culture it would be taken, but it was strangely nice if Will could say it so off-hand, maybe he just hadn't been at camp long enough to find out. "No, um, just, I just noticed."

Will squatted, then lounged out on the crumbling balcony and now looked up at him, an oddly vulnerable position as he gestured back to the stairwell. "Nobody in there is going to judge you for what comes next Nico, we've all got our secrets."

"Not for long," he bitterly reminded. Percy may fling him out of the ocean when he found out he'd been hiding away who his dad was, Jason and those Norse kids might too. Will was just too nice to know better apparently, naïve enough to blindly trust him. He didn't know Thalia's score, maybe pity as she might understand why he wouldn't go parading the fact.

And when he finally heard in vivid detail what had really happened to Bianca, he might wish for it...

"Your sister is a hero," Will whispered gently as if reading his thoughts. "You take after her. You've done nothing wrong, Nico, by not sharing every detail of your life. Nobody held a grudge against Jason or Alex for not sharing their vulnerabilities the second they showed up in here."

"You don't know the half of it," Nico scoffed, but it came out a bit watery, and it had nothing to do with the ocean. Hades had betrayed his trust once and Percy had blamed that on him, Pan hadn't given him a second glance in his last words, Minos had tricked and manipulated him for months. Before, he'd felt the need to do something irrefutably good to maybe someday impress Percy, but even that notion was withering away. He didn't know why he still didn't tell Will about Gaea's rising, maybe because he was afraid the Son of Apollo would try to talk him out of it.

"And I won't if you don't want me to," Will shrugged while Nico did a double take.

"How?" Now studying the blonde and waiting for the trick.

"Oceanus isn't sitting on top of us making us all be there, it just seems a common courtesy," he reminded with a wave of his hand. "I don't even think I was supposed to be brought here, probably an accident like those Norse kids. If you want one person Nico, who doesn't know every single thing you've done printed out and still trusts you, I'll leave the room whenever you ask, no questions."

Something so warm and unfamiliar flooded through Nico, he decided he should sit down too as light-headed as he was. "Thank you," he murmured, his hands felt oddly heavy in his lap, a weight settling on his back that had nothing to do with the responsibility he felt hearing the whispers of the dead and coming horrors, it was a different kind. The pressure seemed less in fact, like he'd only just now noticed it lighten now it was gone.

There were no lights in the gloom below, no passage of time to speak of. They sat together in silence for an untold time until they both mutually got up at once and went off to beds.

PJOPJOPJOPJO

Here I am, being a liar by once again ending dramatically on Nico and Will. I swear I don't try to play favorites on purpose. I'm sure you're all so disappointed.

I'll start the next book around early June, see you all then!

#PJO #Percy Jackson #Thalia Grace #Jason Grace #Hearthstone #Alex Fierro #Magnus Chase #Nico di Angelo #Will Solace #children of the big three #percabeth #fierrochase #solangelo #fanfiction #reading the books #HDYSG #SoM

[citygirlinschool]

Thinking about the fact that Grover Underwood doesn't have a soul (metioned in Tlt) because he is a satyr so when Annabeth and Percy would go to the underworld there would be no Grover following them.

I am sorry.

It gets worse. Imagine if Percy had died in Tartarus. Grover and him hadn't met in almost an year. And they won't ever again. And because of the weak empathy link Grover would know, would feel his bestfriend leave him and there is nothing he can do or say to him.

#percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson #annabeth chase #grover underwood