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libraryofgage · 5 months

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PJO Steddie Five

One | Two | Three | Four

Here it is! We learn El's parent in this one, and there's a wonderfully healthy dose of Steddie throughout the whole part.

There's a meme on this one, too lol

If you see any typos, no you didn't ^_^

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It should not have taken five days to drive from Athens, Tennessee, to Camp Half-Blood in Long Island. Eddie wouldn't be surprised if Chrissy and his bandmates thought he'd died some horrible death while on this retrieval. But Eddie would love to meet the person who can tell Steve and a gaggle of demigod children to hurry up and get to camp already. They spent two days at Hearth and Home just for the pool, and various stops along the way followed that same pattern.

It was, in all honesty, the most relaxed retrieval mission Eddie has ever fucking experienced. Only one monster ever gave them trouble (another harpy--go figure--that Steve dispatched with ease and no injury) while the rest would sniff around and eventually have their eyes glaze over like they'd lost interest or encountered something familiar. They'd then move on, leaving the group to continue their meal in relative peace.

But for as relaxed as Eddie and the kids are, Steve is ramped to the absolute limit. His shoulders remain tense, his leg bounces whenever he sits still too long, his eyes constantly survey their surroundings, and he seems to have placed a distance between himself and Eddie. It hurts to see, especially considering the literal spark between them, but Eddie tells himself it's just until they get to camp and Steve sees for himself that they're safe.

And that moment is getting closer as they hike up Half-Blood Hill, Steve's car left at the foot until Eddie can convince Chiron and Mr. D to let him park it in the camp itself. "That big tree there is where the protective barrier starts," Eddie explains, pointing at Thalia's tree. "It used to be a girl, but there was a whole thing with the Golden Fleece, and long story short, she's running around with Artemis now."

"Can I run around with Artemis?" Max asks, her voice eager as she falls back to keep pace with Steve and Eddie.

Steve snorts, and Eddie notices the way his hand tightens on his bat. His knuckles turn white and the muscles in his forearm straining slightly and Eddie has to look away before his mouth gets too dry. "Maybe when you're older," Steve says, "After you can beat me in a spar."

Max groans, stomping her way back to Lucas with hunched shoulders and a quiet mutter that she won't be winning anytime soon.

They reach the top of the hill then, and Eddie watches as the group slows down. El in particular falls back until she's next to Steve and can grip his hand tightly. Her beanie seems to be squirming, but the movement is so subtle that Eddie thinks he's probably seeing the air ripples from the heat. He hurries to the front of the group and grins at them. "Okay! You ready to enter Camp Half-Blood, AKA the best place ever?" he asks.

"Just get on with it already," Mike says, crossing his arms as Erica nods in agreement.

Eddie, in an incredibly mature move, sticks out his tongue, and he's rewarded with a quiet laugh from Steve. "As I was saying, once you pass by the tree, I'll introduce you to Chiron, the activities director here. After that, we'll get cabin arrangements, measure you for armor and swords, and give a full tour. Of course, I'll be the one showing you around, which means you'll be getting the best possible version of the tour."

He waits for applause, but it never comes, and Eddie pouts at them. "Can't you be more excited? This is, like, the first time I've managed to bring back kids who aren't terrified."

"Oh boy," Dustin says, his voice high and fake, "I can't wait for Eddie to show us around Camp Half-Blood."

"Joke all you like, Henderson, I'm taking it as a compliment," Eddie says, darting forward and pushing down the bill of Dustin's cap. He moves back easily and claps his hands. "Okay! Step on through, please."

The kids all glance back at Steve, and he smiles encouragingly. As a group, they move past the perimeter of the tree until only Steve and El are left standing on the edge. Eddie flashes a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, it's gonna be great. El and the kids can meet more demigods their age, and you, Stevie, can relax since you won't have any monsters coming after you."

Steve nods and looks at El. "You ready?" he asks. She holds his hand even tighter--and Eddie is starting to worry about Steve's bones here--but nods.

Together, they step over the threshold.

Or, well, Steve does. El is stuck on the other side, Steve's hand still in hers but unable to pull her through. Her shoulders drop, and despite Steve's best efforts, she can't get an inch over the barrier that ripples between them. Resigned, she looks down at their hands, her grip starting to loosen some.

Eddie stares at this scene with wide eyes, and a few things suddenly make sense. No wonder Steve wouldn't say who El's godly parent is. She technically doesn't have one. The odd protectiveness makes a lot of sense now, too. And so does the way monsters would apparently move on like the gaggle of demigods was uninteresting.

"Well," Steve says, breaking Eddie out of his epiphany, "we gave it a shot."

With that, he steps back through the barrier, the rest of the kids quickly follow suit, and Eddie can feel them slipping through his fingers. "Wait!" he shouts, relieved when Steve looks up at him.

He's about to give El permission, to say everything is gonna be fine, to beg on his fucking knees if that will keep Steve--and the kids, of course--from walking away.

This is, of course, when the fucking armored and armed barrier patrol (a tradition that never really faded despite the camp's renewed safety) decides to show up.

Eddie just can't get a fucking break, huh?

-------

The moment arrows, swords, and spears (among other weapons) are aimed at them, Steve shoves the kids behind him. El sticks the closest, practically hugging his back, but he knows she'll pull away if it comes down to a fight. Steve twirls his bat, his eyes narrowed as he takes stock of his potential opponents.

The barrier shimmers between the two groups, a slight haze in his vision, and Eddie stands in the middle, one foot on each side of the barrier, looking a little frazzled. That's when a girl comes forward, her blonde hair pulled in a ponytail, a bow in hand, and her quiver slung over her shoulder. She smiles at Eddie, bright like the sun, and Steve feels a familiar-but-not kind of buzzing under his skin.

"Eddie! You're okay!" she shouts, dashing forward and hugging him tightly.

Steve's throat feels tight as Eddie hugs her back, his grip on the bat straining until he hears the reinforced wood groan and forces himself to loosen up. "Eddie," he says, a huge part of him relieved when Eddie immediately looks at him.

The girl looks between the two of them, and her eyes widen, and she smiles excitedly, and Steve suddenly feels a little better.

"Hello, I'm Chrissy," she says, walking over to stand across the barrier from Steve. "We got an alert that a monster was trying to cross, so we came to offer help. Everything looks fine, though, so come on through."

Steve feels El tug on the back of his shirt as the kids shift nervously. "We're good, actually," Lucas blurts out, unable to handle the silence.

Chrissy blinks, her smile still present but her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "You're...good?" she asks.

"Yeah," Steve says, licking his lips nervously, "I'm sure Camp Half-Blood is fun and all, but we can't stay."

"Why not? You'll be safer here."

Steve doesn't know how to answer that question, and El spares him the effort of trying to by saying, "I can't get through." He wants to spin around and grab her shoulders and ask what she's thinking, but it's El's choice to tell people, no matter how much Steve might disagree with her.

"Oh," Chrissy says, her smile dimming some before she brightens again. "Are you mortal? That's okay, we can just give you permission."

It's the perfect excuse, and Steve is ready to fucking run with it, but El shakes her head. "I'm not mortal," she says.

A heavy silence falls over the group on the other side of the barrier as the demigods understand what she means. "What kind of monster are you?" a boy asks, his hand twitching as though ready to reach for an arrow.

"Look, it doesn't matter," Steve says, a bad feeling forming in his gut. His nerves start buzzing on instinct, crackling and pulling at the clouds just a tiny bit. "We'll leave you alone and go our separate ways. You'll....you'll never see us again." And Steve can't help his voice softening, glancing at Eddie as he says that last part.

Because he wants to see Eddie again. He wants to learn about the literal spark they shared. He wants to know if Eddie's lips are soft or rough. But Steve always puts the kids first. Their safety comes before everything else, even himself.

"Wait! There's no need to go," Eddie says, holding his hands out to both sides but looking at Steve. "El isn't dangerous. We can still give her permission."

"Like Hades we are!" the same boy shouts.

"Jason!" Chrissy says, her tone hard as she whirls around.

Jason looks insulted and confused. "What are you yelling at me for? I'm not the one trying to bring a fucking monster into camp."

"She's not a monster! Stop saying that," Mike shouts, trying to push forward only for Steve to push him right back.

"Oh? Then what is she?" Jason asks.

"Her name is El," Steve says, his voice hard and unforgiving, "and she is my sister."

Several of the campers' eyes widen, and suddenly their bows are loaded and ready to shoot. "You brought two monsters to camp!" a girl shouts, glaring at Eddie.

Steve frowns, trying to control the building anger and wariness. Based on the slowly gathering clouds overhead, it's not working.

"Those things are dangerous," Jason says, his eyes narrowed. "I bet the rest are monsters in disguise, too."

"No!" Eddie shouts, "they got through the barrier."

"Oh? Prove it. Walk through right now."

The kids don't move an inch and neither does Steve. Chrissy turns back to them, an uncomfortable grimace tugging at her lips. "It would really help to diffuse things if you could just step over," she says softly.

"Not without El," Max says, glaring at the group.

"Or Steve," Lucas adds.

Despite everything, Steve can't help a wry smile and a joking, "Gee, thanks for thinking of me," thrown over his shoulder.

"Well, isn't that convenient," Jason sneers, "None of the monsters want to cross."

He pulls his bowstring back a little farther, and the clouds above them start to gather faster, tiny sparks jumping under Steve's hand on the bat. He grits his teeth, trying desperately to not get lost in anger, and takes a deep breath. "Listen, this obviously isn't going to work," he says, looking at Eddie. He smiles apologetically. "Thank you for trying, though. It was...a nice thought."

And then several things happen all at once.

Eddie's eyes widen, desperation seeps into them, and he shouts, "I give El permission to cross the barrier!"

El starts to move around Steve like she wants to talk to Chrissy herself, her beanie squirming obviously.

The rest of the kids behind Steve get caught up in El's movements and try to follow, pushing Steve forward a step and bumping El slightly to the side.

His annoyance flares, and dark clouds stretch above them with a quiet, nearly inaudible rumble of thunder.

Finally, an arrow is loosed from the group of demigods, and its path would have been true if not for the kids pushing Steve. Instead, it shoots El's beanie clear off her head and lands in the grass behind the kids, just barely missing Dustin and Will in the process.

Really, Steve can't be blamed for what happened next. Between El's snakes freaking out and the kids shouting and the arrow in the grass overpowering his vision, he really can't be blamed.

It's only understandable that he loses it, that his tenuous control fucking snaps.

A bellowing crack of thunder above them is the only warning the demigods get before a bolt of lightning strikes the ground right next to them. The sheer force of it creates a whole nearly two feet deep, knocking the demigods back a few feet as more bolts follow in its wake. Each one burns the ground where it strikes, and tiny fires feed on the grass.

Little arches of lightning jump across Steve's arms, his hair fluffing out slightly from the static. His chest is heaving from anger and electricity and the aftermath of so much tension finally breaking free as bolts corral the demigods into a tiny circle, striking all around them to prevent escape.

"Steve," El says, the sound of her grabbing his attention more than her words. But when Steve looks at her and sees the snakes on her head rubbing against each other and tasting the air and trying to stay as close to her scalp as possible, his anger flares again at the reminder of the arrow that could have killed his kids. Not only the arrow, but El's snakes could have hurt them, too. If not for the kids immediately squeezing their eyes shut, a few might be statues right now. Sure, it would wear off in a bit, and Steve is immune anyway since he's related to El, but it's fucking inconvenient and dangerous given the situation.

"Stay back," he growls, his words crackling with the lightning as he turns back to the demigods. They look scared shitless, and Steve hasn't even done anything yet. The only ones who haven't been corralled are Chrissy and Eddie, since neither of them actually did anything.

He steps forward, an arch of lightning stretching between his heel and the ground when he lifts his foot. The nails on his bat spark and glow red, looking nearly as angry as Steve feels. Steve crosses the barrier, feels it wash over him, and stops just on the other side. He smiles at the demigods, feral and unrestrained as a storm, and raises his hand to the sky.

Or he starts to only for his view to be blocked by brown hair in desperate need of a good shampoo and big brown eyes. Steve blinks, a tiny portion of his anger calming if only because he's looking at Eddie. "Move, Eds," he says.

"Stevie," Eddie whispers, his voice nearly drowned out by the rumbling thunder. So Steve pulls it back, forces it to quiet down so he can hear. "C’mon, sweetheart, there's no need to smite them. They've already peed themselves."

"They almost killed my kids," Steve says, his eyes narrowing slightly. "What would you do if you were me?"

"Well, I wouldn't look nearly as hot, for one," Eddie jokes, flashing a shaky smile.

"You're already plenty hot," Steve blurts, the shock of the words calming him down a tiny bit more. And, when he hears Lucas and Erica behind him complain as El thanks Will for retrieving her beanie, his anger finally soothes enough for lightning to stop striking the ground. The clouds are still hanging over them, though, and sparks still arch across his arms and through his hair.

Eddie's smile becomes a bit wider. "Seriously, sweetheart, there's no need," he promises. "I already gave El permission to enter. She can cross the barrier. Word will spread in camp that nobody can mess with her without getting their shit rocked by a very powerful son of Zeus. Don't you want to relax? Don't you want the kids to meet others like them? Don't you...don't you want to, you know, spend time together?"

Steve does want all of that. Especially that last one, because he's never been talked down from an unbridled, anger-fueled, lighting strike marathon this easily. Usually, the kids have to let him work through the anger and vent it all before he's back to normal.

He takes a deep breath, closing his eyes to focus on calming down. When Eddie hesitantly takes his hand, Steve calms down even faster, and the sparks that pass between their palms are harmless. "That's it, Stevie," Eddie whispers as Steve's shoulders relax. "Besides, you can always beat Jason's ass at capture the flag later."

Steve can't help laughing at that, and he opens his eyes to see Eddie's smile. "Looking forward to it," he says, squeezing Eddie's hand. Then he looks over his shoulder at the kids. "Is everyone okay?" he asks.

The kids are all gathered around El, who has secured her beanie over her head. Unfortunately, the arrow made a larger hole than expected, and two of her snakes are poking their heads out, tongues flicking as they taste the air. They aren't strong enough on their own to actually turn anyone to stone, so none of the kids avoid looking at them.

"We are fine," El says with a tiny smile as she steps forward. Steve is about to tell her to be careful when she walks through the barrier without a problem.

The other kids follow, sticking close to El and then orbiting toward Steve and Eddie. "That was awesome!" Dustin shouts, his eyes bright as he looks at the scorch marks that create a circle around the demigods that haven't moved an inch.

"Yes, it was awesome," a voice says, old and wise and belonging to a centaur that has trotted over from the camp gates and comes to a stop before them. "Though, probably not in the way you mean, young one."

"Chiron, hey, how's it going?" Eddie asks, rubbing the back of his neck as he shifts to stand in front of Steve. "This, uh, was all a misunderstanding, really."

Chiron raises an eyebrow at Eddie, but Steve can see the twinkle of amusement in his eyes. "I see. Is that so, Chrissy?" he asks.

"Yeah, it is," Chrissy says, nodding once as she glances at Jason, "because Jason was trigger-happy and wouldn't let anyone talk."

"I see," Chiron says again, looking back at Steve and the kids behind him. "Well, I look forward to hearing all about it and getting to know our potential campers at the Big House. Over some snacks, perhaps?"

He seems nice enough, and something about Chiron just makes Steve feel confident that nothing will happen to the kids. At least, not for the next hour or so, and that's good enough. Still, he can't help pushing just to see the extent of Chiron's patience. "Even if my sister's mother is a gorgon?" he asks, watching Chiron closely.

"Am I correct in assuming her mother is Medusa?" Chiron asks.

"Yes," El says, answering for Steve as the two snakes poking through rub their heads on Steve's arm. "She's very nice."

Chiron seems to be holding back an amused smile at that, and he nods. "I'm sure," he says, nodding once. "Yes, you are still welcome, my dear. After all, our very own Eddie Munson has vouched for you."

Steve can feel the kids behind him relaxing, and he glances at Eddie to see the relieved smile on his face. "Okay then," he says, looking back at Chiron, "lead the way."

----

Tag List

@mugloversonly, @mentallyundone, @hairdryerducks-blog, @carriethesaint, @lunabyrd, @weekend-dreamer7, @farfaras, @littlelady03, @my-tears-are-becoming-a-sea20, @mogami13, @a-little-unsteddie, @itsall-taken, @queenie-ofthe-void, @tinyplanet95, @littlebluejane, @hangoversandhandgrenades, @rabbitwhoeatsstars, @bisexualdisastersworld, @steddieinthesun,

@paintgonewrong, @sadcanadianwinter, @deehellcat, @blanketlicker, @angrydonutdestiny, @booksareportal, @fallingchemicaldiscos, @am-i-obssed-probably, @anne-bennett-cosplayer

@estrellami-1, @fandomcartographer, @steddie-as-they-go, @cris-wants-a-word, @potato-of-the-lord, @plasticcrotches, @enigmahaze, @melodymeddler

And now, the quality meme you've all been waiting for

#steddie #steddie fic #semi divine steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #my writing

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thegrapeandthefig · 1 year

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Hair offerings: historical context, purpose and uses

Offerings of hair, locks of hair or ritual hair-cutting is quite a regular occurrence in ancient sources and textbooks discussing various religious customs of the ancient Greek world. It also seems to be a fairly forgotten offering in a modern context, which is why I wanted to delve back in and write this post. I will be focusing on laying out the historical contexts in which we find this specific offering in order to understand the core logic behind what it means to offer a lock of hair to a deity.

Rites of passage

It is impossible to mention offerings of hair without touching on the topic of “rites of passage”. However, this is an umbrella term that encompasses different kinds of rites or life events depending on the environment and stage of life of the participants.

Kourotrophic hair-cutting

Arguably the most common example of offerings of hair is the one done by boys, typically when entering adulthood (typically referred to as paides or ephêboi), but there are important variations depending on the era and local customs, with the youngest example known being the one of a 4-year-old boy in the 3rd century BC.

Kourotrophic deities typically refer to Apollo, Artemis and the plentitude of local river gods. However, this is far from being the only gods considered kourotrophoric since we also have evidence that includes Poseidon, the Nymphs, Asklepios and Hygieia in that group.

There were several occasions for which young boys would offer their hair. In Athens, later sources mention that the 3rd day of the Apatouria festival included the ritual cutting and offering to Artemis of the hair of the young men who officially entered their phratries after having made an offering of wine to Herakles.

In a wider context, kourotrophoric deities are concerned with the growth and well-being of children and adolescents. It seems common that offerings were made pursuant to a vow, often done by a parent while the adolescent is still a child (or even just born). Their purpose is to help assure successful maturation, but they seem to work by establishing a positive relationship with the kourotrophic deity. These rites unfold over a long period of time: there is a vow, a period of hair growth that might last for many years, and then, a ceremonial cutting.

Pausanias gives us an example of ritual growing of the hair for the river god Alpheios in his story about Leukippos, stating he “wove the hair he was growing for the river Alpheios in the same way that maidens do.” (Pausanias 8.20.3)

The organization of the final cutting seems to have been a familial event that included the participation of the parents, if they didn’t even make the offering themselves on behalf of the son. Three inscriptions from the island of Paros in the 3rd century AD describe the offering of “childhood” or “ephebic” hair done by a parent to Asklepios and Hygeia, instead of being performed by the boy himself.

A noteworthy example from Thebes shows the participation of a brother instead of the parents (see image below). In this case, the dedication of the hair, shown braided, is made to Poseidon by Philombrotos and Aphthonetos, sons of Deinomachos. David Leitao rules out the possibility of this inscription being about a votive, in favour of it being a rite of passage for two reasons: firstly, the locks that are sculpted in relief on the stele are long and carefully braided, and reminiscent of the braids frequently seen elsewhere on the heads of boys and adolescents in Greek sculpture. Secondly, Poseidon seems to play an important role in the growth of children in Thessaly in particular.

Further reading for this section:

→ Closterman, Wendy E., A. Avramidou, and D. Demetriou. "Women as gift givers and gift producers in ancient Athenian funerary ritual." Approaching the Ancient Artifact: Representation, Narrative, and Function. A Festschrift in Honor of H. Alan Shapiro (2014): 161-174.

→ Barbanera, Marcello. "Dressing to Hunt: Some Remarks on the Calyx Krater from the So-Called House of C. Julius Polybius in Pompeii." Approaching the Ancient Artifact: Representation, Narrative and Function. A Festschrift in Honor of H. Alan Shapiro (2014): 91-104.

→ Ochs, Donovan J. Consolatory rhetoric: Grief, symbol, and ritual in the Greco-Roman era. Univ of South Carolina Press, 1993.

Votives

Last but not least, now that the heavier ritual uses have been covered, is the topic of hair offerings as a way to say “thank you”. Similarly to how the offering of hair from young boys to river gods came as a petition for safety, we find locks of hair being used as thanks to surviving dangerous situations like illnesses or an escape from a disaster.

A Hellenistic epigram names the rescue from distress at sea as reason for a ritual hair-cutting, where a man named Lukillios shaves off his hair for Glaukos, the Nereids, Melikertes, Poseidon and the Samothracian gods as thanks for surviving the incident.

Another example is one told to us by Pausanias concerning the cult of Asklepios and Hygieia in the city of Titane:

“Of the image [of Asclepius] can be seen only the face, hands, and feet, for it has about it a tunic of white wool and a cloak. There is a similar image of Hygieia; this, too, one cannot see easily because it is so surrounded with the locks of women, who cut them off and offer them to the goddess, and with strips of Babylonian raiment. With whichever of these a votary here is willing to propitiate heaven, the same instructions have been given to him, to worship this image which they are pleased to call Health.” (Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.11.6–7)

While it is impossible to know the exact reasons why each of the women offered their hair to Hygieia, the idea that it was in return for health sounds the most logical.

In the sanctuary of Zeus at Panamara in Caria hair was either enclosed in a small stone coffer in the form of a stele and set up in the precinct with an inscription placed upon it, or placed in a hole in the wall or hung upon the wall with a small label placed upon it. The former was probably for the wealthiest citizens, while the latter reserved for those with less means. In the case of the former, the hair itself was no longer visible, but the stele and inscription were. In the case of the latter the hair remained visible in conjunction with a label that named the dedicant. The care put into storing the locks in these examples is telling of an offering that is symbolically charged and likely lasted a lifetime, due to the durability of hair.

Similarly, an epigram in the Palatine Anthology, attributed to Antipater of Thessalonica poetically tells of the hair offering of a young man to Apollo:

“Having shaved the down that flowered in its season under his temples, [he dedicated] his cheeks’ messengers of manhood, a first offering, and prayed that he might so shave gray hairs from his whitened temples. Grant him these, and even as you made him earlier, so make him hereafter, with the snows of old age upon him.”

While this epigram is clearly related to the idea of hair-cutting for young boys, as it refers to the growth of the first facial hair, it also begs the question of the quality of the appearance of the first white hair. Aside from being a poetic call to the blessing of living a long life — long enough to know old age — we might want to wonder about what it would mean to offer one’s white hair within the logic of transition from adulthood to seniority.

Further reading for this section: → Draycott, Jane. "Hair today, gone tomorrow: The use of real, false and artificial hair as votive offerings." Bodies of Evidence. Routledge, 2017. 77-94.

Final thoughts

If there is something to take away from the historical uses of hair in the religious setting of the Ancient Greeks, it is the idea of transition. From the entrance into adulthood to death, hair offerings come up at key moments in one's life, or at least, in answer to brushes with death, placing hair in a very important position. It is a highly personal, intimate and symbolic offering.

While this post isn't the place to discuss modern reinterpretations, I think the key to integrating hair offerings in reconstructionist practice comes down to asking yourself the question of what the milestones in our modern lives are and what they mean, alongside other life-changing events.

#hellenic pagan #hellenic worship #hellenic revivalism #hellenic reconstructionism #hellenismos #hellenic paganism #hellenic polytheism #hellenic gods #offerings

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apollosgiftofprophecy · 3 months

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I saw on discord that you might be interested to know that Artemis and Persephone’s friendship is mentioned in multiple accounts of “the Abduction of Persephone”, Artemis, Persephone, and Athena too, holding hands and picking flowers.

This one has the most explanation: Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 5. 2. 3 (trans. Oldfather) (Greek historian C1st B.C.) :

"And both Athene and Artemis, the myth goes on to say, who had made the same choice of maidenhood as had Kore and were reared together with her [on the island of Sicily], joined with her in gathering the flowers, and all of them together wove the robe for their father Zeus. And because of the time they had spent together and their intimacy they all loved this island above any other, and each one of them received for her portion a territory, Athene receiving hers in the region of Himera . . . Artemis received from the gods the island of Syrakouse."

^In plain English, they were raised together on the island of Sicily and were such besties that they split the island amongst themselves. (Another version mentions Persephone is taller, which maybe implies that she was the older sister.)

I digress, Anyway I thought this might add an interesting layer to your AU where Apollo and Athena bond and leave Artemis behind. These are BOTH people who were, at one point, Artemis’s best friends. Both people she likely cares for deeply. So much Angst potential.

Persephone being the older sister is Canon to me :D

no really I have it like that on my timeline 👀

ANYWAY.

the angst. no words. 10/10. go break some hearts with this ;')

#the oracle speaks #the trials of apollo #persephone #artemis #apollo #athena #pjo persephone #pjo apollo #pjo artemis #pjo athena

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orangerosebush · 9 months

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hi there! I was wondering if I could pick your brain re: accents in the fowlverse because I adore reading your analyses and thoughts so I’m curious to see what you think! Artemis 1 and 2 I’m assuming have a Dublin accent (forgive me Irish fans I’m not familiar with Irish accents!), but what about butler and Juliet for example? And holly and opal and other fairies, while of course they can speak any language they’d like, do you think they adopt an accent that fits their language of choice, or is there a “fairy” accent they have?

Hi there! I have a few thoughts on this, though I will ask that you take them with a grain of salt due to being an American, lol.

The Irishness of the books is a subject on which people have written much more intelligently than I ever could. The first AF book was published in 2001, which I note here due to economic context. The "Celtic Tiger" refers to the rapid economic growth in Ireland from the mid-1990s to the late 2000s.

O’Leary, Eoin. “Reflecting on the ‘Celtic Tiger’: Before, during and After.” Irish Economic and Social History, vol. 38, 2011, pp. 73–88. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24338906. Accessed 2 Aug. 2023.

During this period of economic growth (which one must note was characterized by high technology exports), there was a boom in internationally successful Irish children's and young adult fiction. These books usually harkened back to pre-colonial mythology while incorporating high-tech themes connected to economic optimism for Ireland's future.

The 2011 essay collection edited by Keith O'Sullivan and Valerie Coghlan, Irish Children’s Literature and Culture: New Perspectives on Contemporary Writing, analyzes the historical context behind these trends in youth fiction.

O’Sullivan, Keith, and Valerie Coghlan. Irish Children’s Literature and Culture: New Perspectives on Contemporary Writing. 2011. Routledge.

‌Of the Irish children's fiction and YA published from 1995-2005, Colfer's Artemis Fowl series remains one of the most internationally popular. In looking at these books' success, Patricia Kennon interrogates the particular Irishness of AF in her essay, "Contemplating Otherness Imagining the Future in Speculative Fiction".

O’Sullivan, Keith, and Valerie Coghlan. Irish Children’s Literature and Culture: New Perspectives on Contemporary Writing. 2011. Routledge.

The first book establishes some interesting elements of the Fowls' class. When describing the relationship between the Butlers and the Fowls, we learn, “The first record of this unusual arrangement was when Virgil Butler had been contracted as servant, bodyguard, and cook to Lord Hugo de Folé for one of the first great Norman crusades"; the Fowls and Butlers arrive in Ireland as Anglo-Norman conquerors.

One other note we have about the Butlers and Fowls is that: “The original Fowl castle had been built by Aodhán Fowl in the fifteenth century overlooking low-lying country on all sides.” The fifteenth century saw the reconquest of Ireland under Henry VIII; Ireland was changed from a lordship (where the island was ruled by the King of England and controlled by loyal Anglo-Norman lords between 1171-1542) to a full Kingdom. Furthermore, with this excerpt about Aodhán Fowl, we must note that the Manor was built in Dublin. During the 15th century, Dublin was located in the Pale.

From Wikimedia

The Pale was located around and in Dublin, and it was the base of English rule in Ireland following the reconquest. By the Tudor period, there was intermarriage between the Gaelic Irish aristocracy and the Anglo-Norman lords, and many of the Anglo-Normans had become "Gaelicized"; descendants of the Anglo-Norman colonists were seen as assimilated into Irish culture and increasingly less "English" by the end of the Middle Ages. These descendants were seen as the "Old English" of Ireland, in contrast to the "New English" of Ireland of the Tudor invasion. One should note that in the case of the Pale, it remained subject to the English king during the 15th century when other parts of Ireland were predominantly under the rule of native Irish lords or Anglo-Irish lords (who, in theory, answered to the king). One should also note that the Pale was comprised of Old English merchants who were loyal to England. Thus, there is a specificity to the time in which Aodhán Fowl lived and built the Manor.

Based on the aforementioned bits of lore and historical context, we have to understand the Fowls as having their wealth and power tied to the class position they enjoyed historically due to being descendants of Anglo-Norman invaders, as well as being "Old English" during the reconquest. The Fowls are undoubtedly Irish -- Colfer positions Artemis and his family as nothing but -- yet they hold the power they do as a result of having at one point been Anglo-Norman (whose descendants "Gaelicized").

As such, IMO the Fowls wouldn't have a location-based accent per se, but rather an education-based accent that is posh, RP-style with a tinge of Dublin. FWIW, some Dublin accents already are received as posh, like the D4 accent. With the Butlers, I think that they'd have a similar accent to the Fowls due to being of a similar class. However, their training would likely lend them the ability to affect an accent that is "local" to wherever they are stationed.

Honestly, I have no idea on accents for the People! I would assume that there is a "Haven" accent, though when it comes to the gift of tongues, I am open to ideas as to how that would affect speech.

Also, I would love to hear any thoughts/additions you may have :)!

#artemis fowl

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alteredsilicone · 4 months

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Hey! I hope you don't mind the ask but I was curious how you came up with the lore for your Operator/Drifter separate from the game's story stuff. Like, how did you decide x did y outside of what the story provides us? A lot of my struggle is deciding what mine did without breaking canon/deviating too much?

Hi, I don't mind this type of ask at all, in fact this gives me an opportunity to ramble. :D Obviously, this will be my own personal approach to the story so feel free to take inspiration or try to change things in your favor.

My solution to the canon problem is this - I have 3 "main" Tenno OCs, and I designated one of them to be the "canon" Tenno so that their lore mirrors the main questline (Second Dream up to The New War), and that is also a philosophy I use for my other Tenno OCs. Basically, I have an idea of a character and what they do and then I apply quests and story lines that would be fit for that particular character.

Artemis is my "main" Tenno, she also doesn't have any strong allegiances (maybe except the Lotus), which in turn makes her more plastic so I can change and adjust her story as fits, while still keeping basics like her personality (she is brash, she is a fighter, she likes to let her emotions take hold of her and rush into situations, guns blazing). She does have a backstory that is unique to her, but all of that happened pre-current timeline so regardless of what DE throws at us her backstory can stay the same (unless we get a flashback type quest of the Orokin era/Old War but I'll cross that bridge if it appears before me).

Eir is the creator of Duviri, but I also allowed myself to bend the canon that there is more than one Drifter and that Duviri may have more islands that we just never saw (and since Conceptual Embodiment is a thing, technically anyone exposed to the Void long enough could dream up world, people, anything really). That way Artemis can be the "main" character who is hunted by Dominus Thrax, whereas Eir is somewhere to the side as a sort of secret protagonist.

This leaves Virgo completely independent of the main plot, so she can be a "gag character" who fits into all sorts of situations. She also has her unique story and background but other OCs take the burden of being part of the "main" story.

I hope this explains. I tried not to get too much into the details of each character, just give an overview of how to develop OCs for a live-service game.

I am also of the opinion that you can just ignore canon or pretend there is a mysterious Tenno doing heroic deeds while your Tenno is doing their own thing - maybe they're pals with the Solaris, maybe they're working at a Grineer junkyard, maybe they JUST woke up and think the Old War is still going. Warframe is very sandbox-y even if some of the quests try to give us a definitive "lore" for us.

#ask #avengersorbust #answered #wf tag #i hope this was a halfway decent answer

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lichfucker · 1 year

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OKAY I got tagged by @narastories and @hms-tardimpala and @ginnie-darling and @scififantasies so I'm finally doing the g-ddamn meme. thank u I love u all

3 ships:

ingot/z'ress. sorry but if you think the little guys from my own dnd game don't take up 85% of my available brain space at any given moment... I mean. have you MET me. I think abt z'ringot more than I think about my actual brother

silverflint. we are in the shit of it, lads

and I think if I didn't say trent/ted I'd be accused of perjury. sorry women 😔

First ever ship: I think the last time I did this I said it was artemis and holly from artemis fowl but actually I DIDN'T want them to get together I thought it was too obvious. so. g-d it was probably smth from hp. NO. WAIT. ohhh my g-d no I think my first real ship that I really cared about was a couple of my and ven's ocs when I was eleven. scream. I've always been Like This huh

Last song: eros and apollo by studio killers

Last movie: music and lyrics (2007) w the sunder server 🥰🥰 lowkey been listening to the soundtrack on repeat lmao

Currently reading: I just finished treasure island last night!!

Currently watching: great question. what AM I watching. dimension 20: neverafter and some "how to play pathfinder" videos

Currently consuming: raspberries, though I'm sure this question is intended to ask after media that doesn't fall under the categories of "reading" or "watching," which at the moment for me is nothing? I'm super behind on dndads and I've kind of fallen off naddpod entirely

Currently craving: anything that doesn't make me sick dear g-d please let me have something that doesn't make my body feel fucking atrocious. I'm craving my top surgery (less than two weeks!!). I'm craving a new tattoo. I'm craving the spoons to id all the posts in my drafts. I'm craving someone I can swallow whole and who will chew me up in kind.

uhhh people to tag. okay. how abt @gendercents @puckgoodfaggot @army-of-bee-assassins @paladinbaby and @grasslandgirl

#bluh bluh #gpoy #it me #thanks nara #thanks sloan #thanks ginnie #g-d I had really blocked heart and spade out of my memory huh #ven

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halothenthehorns · 10 months

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Chapter 16: WE MEET THE DRAGON OF ETERNAL BAD BREATH

"So you will not be detecting a hint of minty freshness?" Magnus grinned. He didn't even freak out this time there was going to be a dragon.

"I'll give Grover mad props if he tries to seduce the dragon," Alex nodded along, scrutinizing the book in her hands and wondering how detailed this thing was going to be if the dragon ate someone, or fell for the goats sweat talk. Either way, she was excited to find out.

"I swear you two are certifiable," Percy said in exasperation, mildly concerned why Alex was trying to set his best friend up after his last disastrous date with Polyphemus.

"Hopefully its rank breath is its main attack, which means it can't breathe fire?" Jason offered. Thalia thought it was adorable how optimistic that was but decided not to tell him that.

"We will never make it," Zoe said. "We are moving too slow. But we cannot leave the Ophiotaurus."

"Mooo," Bessie said.

"He was probably agreeing he didn't want to get left behind again," Will nodded for the poor thing. "I bet he's been mad offended this whole trip Percy never traveled with him before this."

"Do I want to know where he'd take me?" Percy asked wearily. Was Bessie going to drag him off to the alter where he was supposed to be sacrificed for his big choice?

He swam next to me as we jogged along the waterfront. We'd left the shopping center pier far behind. We were heading toward the Golden Gate Bridge, but it was a lot farther than I'd realized. The sun was already dipping in the west.

"I don't get it," I said. "Why do we have to get there at sunset?"

"The Hesperides are the nymphs of the sunset," Zoe said. "We can only enter their garden as day changes to night."

"I wish more doors had physical limits like that," Alex grinned. "Reinforced business hours."

"The rush would be mad though," Magnus imagined actual murder going on rather than the occasional trampling to get to those sales. Alex, of course, didn't seem very concerned about that part.

"What happens if we miss it?"

Thalia gave Percy the concerned and very confused stare she hadn't managed at the time while running. Like he didn't know the answer to that?

Percy grimaced. "I was hoping she'd say something nice for once, like oh, we can sneak in through the backdoor."

"The girl who has never once started a sentence with the good news?" Thalia confirmed.

"I was being optimistic for her," Percy sighed.

"Tomorrow is winter solstice. If we miss sunset tonight, we would have to wait until tomorrow evening. And by then, the Olympian Council will be over. We must free Lady Artemis tonight."

Or Annabeth will be dead, I thought, but I didn't say that.

He didn't have to. The painful squirming number he did in his seat said it for him. It was quite possible he was being attacked by an invisible assailant and just wasn't screaming out loud.

"We need a car," Thalia said.

"But what about Bessie?" I asked.

"Would he shrink to fit in a cat carrier?" Alex asked seriously.

"I vote we don't bring the world destroying cow-serpent to their front door," Jason frowned.

"I think he goes wherever he wants," Magnus uneasily reminded.

Grover stopped in his tracks. "I've got an idea! The Ophiotaurus can appear in different bodies of water, right?"

"Well, yeah," I said. "I mean, he was in Long Island Sound. Then he just popped into the water at Hoover Dam. And now he's here."

"Could he just pop you over to where the entrance is?" Magnus asked with a frown. "Isn't it a little dangerous to be taking him to where Luke is going to be? I'm assuming it's not just a child of the big three that can use his entrails."

"We don't even attempt to try that," Thalia promised.

"So maybe we could coax him back to Long Island Sound," Grover said. "Then Chiron could help us get him to Olympus."

Jason studied the book with unease. "Is it really a good idea to send Bessie to Olympus?" He didn't think it was entirely his instinctive distrust of these gods that made that sound like a bad idea.

"Do you have any other ideas?" Percy asked, clearly frazzled and still stuck on the other major time limit. "I don't think my mom can keep him in the bathtub for long!" His dad would know what to do with Bessie, he was sure of that.

Jason let it go, for now, with more pressing matters on the horizon, but he he was worried what would happen about this later.

"But he was following me." I said. "If I'm not there, would he know where he's going?"

"Moo," Bessie said forlornly.

"I... I can show him," Grover said. "I'll go with him."

I stared at him. Grover was no fan of the water. He'd almost drowned last summer in the Sea of Monsters, and he couldn't swim very well with his goat hooves.

"Goats can swim just fine," Alex said with a weird amount of confidence, as if she spent a lot of time at the Y in more kinds of kid swimming classes than they had.

"Maybe it's his different anatomy that makes it a tad difficult," Percy suggested. He'd offered to chill with him in the Long Island Sound a few times to get his confidence back last summer and Grover had barely wanted to get his hooves in the sand, let alone near the water, so Percy had quickly let it go.

"I'm the only one who can talk to him," Grover said. "It makes sense."

"Technically we can all talk to him," Will grinned, "we just can't tell what Bessie's saying back."

"And here I thought ASL could be a good universal language," Jason looked legitimately like he was pouting over there he'd never get a chance to talk to the cow.

He bent down and said something in Bessie's ear. Bessie shivered, then made a contented, lowing sound.

"The blessing of the Wild," Grover said.

"So he can use that on himself!" Jason blurted, before breaking out into snickers.

"He's a wild animal at parties only," Percy grinned along.

"Grover's going to shove his reed pipes through your ears," Thalia promised the two idiots.

"That should help with safe passage. Percy, pray to your dad, too. See if he will grant us safe passage through the seas."

I didn't understand how they could possibly swim back to Long Island from California. Then again, monsters didn't travel the same way as humans. I'd seen plenty evidence of that.

Nico winced and was now very glad Percy didn't know about his ability to shadow travel. Just one more thing Percy could associate with him being creepy and weird.

I tried to concentrate on the waves, the smell of the ocean, the sound of the tide.

"Dad," I said. "Help us. Get the Ophiotaurus and Grover safely to camp. Protect them at sea."

"A prayer like that needs a sacrifice," Thalia said. "Something big."

I thought for a second. Then I took off my coat.

Thalia couldn't help an uneasy feeling at him using the Nemon Lion fur, even though she knew it all worked out. It had already saved Percy's life once, it was very valuable indeed to pass muster for this prayer, but she was more selfish than him and wished he'd kept it to keep her friend safe.

"Percy," Grover said. "Are you sure? That lion skin... that's really helpful. Hercules used it!"

As soon as he said that, I realized something.

I glanced at Zoe, who was watching me carefully. I realized I did know who Zoe's hero had been—the one who'd ruined her life, gotten her kicked out of her family, and never even mentioned how she'd helped him: Hercules, a hero I'd admired all my life.

"Because his life is crappier than yours," Nico recalled with a smile. "Never his attire."

"Or his personality," Percy agreed with a sharp look at the book. He hoped if he ever ruined someone's life like that Thalia wouldn't hesitate to jab him with a bow and arrow to remind him.

Nico sighed to himself even when he said something Percy agreed with he couldn't get a smile out of him.

"If I'm going to survive," I said, "it won't be because I've got a lion-skin cloak. I'm not Hercules."

"Oh that was obvious from the start," Alex grinned in a way that didn't make Percy feel better. "You'd never be enough of a lady's man to convince Zoe to betray her family for you."

"Thanks, it's what I've always strived for," Percy sighed.

I threw the coat into the bay. It turned back into a golden lion skin, flashing in the light. Then, as it began to sink beneath the waves, it seemed to dissolve into sunlight on the water.

"What would happen if Poseidon didn't accept the sacrifice?" Magnus asked. "Would he spit it back at you covered in algae?"

Hopefully, the answer wasn't drown Grover, Percy kept to himself as the awkward silence hung. Nobody really wanted to know the real answer.

The sea breeze picked up.

Grover took a deep breath. "Well, no time to lose."

He jumped in the water and immediately began to sink. Bessie glided next to him and let Grover take hold of his neck.

"Be careful," I told them.

"We will," Grover said. "Okay, um... Bessie? We're going to Long Island. It's east. Over that way."

"Moooo?" Bessie said.

"Yes," Grover answered. "Long Island. It's this island. And... it's long.

"Who needs a map when you have a satyr," Percy said proudly.

"You two officially share everything, an empathy link, a brain cell," Jason chuckled.

Oh, let's just start."

"Mooo!"

Bessie lurched forward. He started to submerge and Grover said, "I can't breathe underwater! Just thought I'd mention—" Glub!

"Not the final words anyone should have," Nico muttered. He liked the memory he had of Grover introducing himself at Westover. It was real, and those cheese enchiladas weren't bad.

Under they went, and I hoped my father's protection would extend to little things, like breathing.

"Hopefully that wasn't a bonus sacrifice we had to give extra for or something," Percy muttered. "I'm all out of bull intestines."

"I'm sure he will, he made those pearls airproof through the ocean," Jason reminded.

"If Oceanus can remember I've got faith in your dad," Thalia agreed reluctantly.

"Well, that is one problem addressed," Zoe said. "But how can we get to my sisters' garden?"

"Thalia's right," I said. "We need a car. But there's nobody to help us here. Unless we, uh, borrowed one."

I didn't like that option. I mean, sure this was a life-or-death situation, but still, it was stealing, and it was bound to get us noticed.

"I bet Hermes is so disappointed in you," Will snickered. "He's probably restraining himself from throwing Travis and Connor through the nearest hotel door to teleport them beside you and help move this along."

"Can he do that?" Percy said in awe.

"I don't know, but I'd believe it," Will shrugged.

"Wait," Thalia said. She started rifling through her backpack. "There is somebody in San Francisco who can help us. I've got the address here somewhere."

"Who?" I asked.

Thalia pulled out a crumpled piece of notebook paper and held it up. "Professor Chase. Annabeth's dad."

"He already moved there!" Magnus somehow sounded more outraged the more times he heard it. "Does he even know Annabeth's missing?!" Or care...

Percy didn't know. It's not like he could have called up and told. If he'd even thought of that himself he would have thought Chiron could somehow send a message, but he'd been a little more preoccupied with getting her back after the go-ahead from his mom.

The awkward silence lingered so long, Alex wasn't sure how to break it. She found herself wanting to hug a stranger she knew quite well by now, promise there were plenty of people who cared. Even Will got a moment of unease on his face before he shook it off, he couldn't imagine a single moment in camp without crossing her.

Thalia finally cleared her throat and offered, "um, no, I don't think he did know." She sounded almost confident about that at least. "He's used to going long bouts of silence from her, and last I heard she was waiting to send him a message if she'd be joining him there, or, err, other options available." Her Huntress threads glimmered as if she carried the moonlight around with her. Percy fidgeted with his camp beads and a grimace.

After hearing Annabeth gripe about her dad for two years, I was expecting him to have devil horns and fangs.

"I think I would have remembered that," Magnus muttered as he ran a hand through his hair.

"I thought Athena had a type for blondes," Alex snorted.

I was not expecting him to be wearing an old-fashioned aviator's cap and goggles. He looked so weird, with his eyes bugging out through the glasses, that we all took a step back on the front porch.

"Gods, I hope he didn't wear that when she was little," Nico muttered. No wonder she was always so confident in the face of monsters, if she'd grown up seeing that every day she probably was the bravest person ever.

"I bet Annabeth used to steal it to try and wear," Will grinned, causing the dopiest smile ever on Percy's face. Nico studied Percy for several moments and grew a bit concerned with himself why he'd never felt something like that. He even tried to picture Percy in such a stupid hat for a moment and still nothing.

"Hello," he said in a friendly voice, "Are you delivering my airplanes?"

"Of course, there's an app for that," Magnus muttered.

"Why is he ordering airplanes and where do I get one!" Jason grinned.

"I'm sure if you ask Annabeth nicely she'll help arrange a ride," Percy tried to say like it was no big deal, never mind the fact he wasn't even sure if she was alive or they were on speaking terms, let alone giving out such favors.

Thalia, Zoe, and I looked at each other warily.

"Um, no, sir," I said.

"Drat," he said. "I need three more Sopwith Camels."

"Right," I said, though I had no clue what he was talking about.

"It's a biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917," Jason cited like he was reading from a dictionary.

"So you're telling me they're not the desert, spitting kind?" Percy asked blankly. "I'm begging of you to get a new hobby than just knowing everything," Percy sighed.

Jason wouldn't mind that either, considering he still went crosseyed with no clue why he remembered stupid trivia and that same vague feeling of a library he couldn't begin to understand.

"We're friends of Annabeth."

"Annabeth?" He straightened as if I'd just given him an electric shock.

"Thalia, we talked about this," Percy gave a long exaggerated look.

She smacked him with a hardy zap for good measure, smirking as his hair stood on end and he rubbed the spot.

"Is she all right? Has something happened?"

"How do you even answer that?" Alex mock whispered.

"I think you've already said enough to get the keys and be on your way," Magnus muttered, his foot twitching uneasily like he'd be as good as his word if he had half a chance. It seemed an official good thing he'd never tried to find Uncle Fredrick even if he could bear to leave Boston.

None of us answered, but our faces must've told him that something was very wrong.

He took off his cap and goggles. He had sandy-colored hair like Annabeth and intense brown eyes. He was handsome, I guess, for an older guy, but it looked like he hadn't shaved in a couple of days, and his shirt was buttoned wrong, so one side of his collar stuck up higher than the other side.

"You'd better come in," he said.

It didn't look like a house they'd just moved into. There were LEGO robots on the stairs and two cats sleeping on the sofa in the living room. The coffee table was stacked with magazines, and a little kid's winter coat was spread on the floor. The whole house smelled like fresh-baked chocolate-chip cookies. There was jazz music coming from the kitchen. It seemed like a messy, happy kind of home—the kind of place that had been lived in forever.

It was what a home was supposed to feel like. It was no wonder to Thalia he instantly recognized such a thing, having always had one with his mom. She on the other hand had noticed the way one could trip over the wooden floor turning to carpet, which LEGO robot was closest and could be used for the best projectile, how many exits there were and which direction the kitchen was that would have the best knives and maybe a snack to steal for the road.

"Dad!" a little boy screamed. "He's taking apart my robots!"

"Bobby," Dr. Chase called absently, "don't take apart your brother's robots."

"I'm Bobby," the little boy protested. "He's Matthew!"

Percy tapped his pen against his knee as he considered why that bothered him for a moment. It took a second to realize, there was no feeling of a memory returning like he got every few paragraphs. He'd never learned this.

Not once in the two years he'd known Annabeth had she mentioned her half-brother's names. She didn't talk about her step-mom at all, he didn't even know her name, and might have pictured her as Lady Tremaine. The only reason he knew her dad's name was because she'd get angry and say the whole thing when she talked about the time he'd left her dog at the dog park or her at the store.

"Matthew," Dr. Chase called, "don't take apart your brother's robots!"

"Okay, Dad!"

Dr. Chase turned to us. "We'll go upstairs to my study. This way."

"Honey?" a woman called. Annabeth's stepmom appeared in the living room, wiping her hands on a dish towel. She was a pretty Asian woman with red highlighted hair tied in a bun. "Who are our guests?" she asked.

"Oh," Dr. Chase said. "This is..."

He stared at us blankly.

"Frederick," she chided. "You forgot to ask them their names?"

"I'm guessing you hadn't sent any pictures to Annabeth," Alex tried at a teasing tone, but it came across more sad. Sally would probably recognize Annabeth on sight without a picture.

"I get the feeling he'd forget our names even if we told him unless camels were involved," Percy shrugged off.

We introduced ourselves a little uneasily, but Mrs. Chase seemed really nice. She asked if we were hungry. We admitted we were, and she told us she'd bring us some cookies and sandwiches and sodas.

"Dear," Dr. Chase said. "They came about Annabeth."

I half expected Mrs. Chase to turn into a raving lunatic at the mention of her stepdaughter, but she just pursed her lips and looked concerned. "All right. Go on up to the study and I'll bring you some food." She smiled at me. "Nice meeting you, Percy. I've heard a lot about you."

Percy had woken up in here with such a deep-seated sense of longing, he knew in that moment as he looked blearily around it must have been there long before he'd lost all memory of Annabeth. He was slowly getting them back now, and this most confusing of all.

Just a glimpse, a small piece into her life he'd never have seen if she hadn't been taken.

Had she ever introduced her dad to him? He still didn't even have proof he'd gotten her back, that she was truly safe somewhere while he was trapped here. Was this a part of her life she'd never want him involved in, the mortal family who would never understand her?

Yet in these small, brief moments, they were welcoming and concerned. She'd talked about him to her stepmom, like an actual parental conversation had gone on at some point, at the very minimum a friendly enough one. He desperately wanted her beside him, as much now as ever. To turn and look to see how she thought of all this.

Magnus's surprise and unease was blatant enough, and that made him feel all the more concerned. What the heck kind of family was she always trying to escape? What would Annabeth say to them now for turning to these mortals for help in their desperate hour?

Other than calling him a seaweed brain anyways.

Upstairs, we walked into Dr. Chase's study and I said, "Whoa!"

"Never a good sign," Magnus gave a long suffering sigh. "Who's got the stopwatch until something explodes?"

"Hey," Percy wanted to protest, but his record really was against him.

The room was wall-to-wall books, but what really caught my attention were the war toys. There was a huge table with miniature tanks and soldiers fighting along a blue painted river, with hills and fake trees and stuff. Old-fashioned biplanes hung on strings from the ceiling, tilted at crazy angles like they were in the middle of a dogfight.

"Cool," everybody in the room muttered at once. Jason looked like he'd murder someone to get his hands on the idea of that, and Alex was clearly contemplating the passage to decide how much time she'd have before Dr. Chase caught her messing with that.

"I'll bet none of you could count the number of times Annabeth was told off for wanting to play with those," Magnus said with a hint of pride.

"I'm proud it was just once," Thalia smirked.

Dr. Chase smiled. "Yes. The Third Battle of Ypres. I'm writing a paper, you see, on the use of Sopwith Camels to strafe enemy lines. I believe they played a much greater role than they've been given credit for."

He plucked a biplane from its string and swept it across the battlefield, making airplane engine noises as he knocked down little German soldiers.

"Oh, right," I said. I knew Annabeth's dad was a professor of military history. She'd never mentioned he played with toy soldiers.

"It kind of makes him a lot cooler," Percy said uneasily, like he expected his girlfriend to appear beside him now of all times to smack him upside the head.

"At least you won't picture him with fangs anymore," Thalia snorted.

Zoe came over and studied the battlefield. "The German lines were farther from the river."

Dr. Chase stared at her. "How do you know that?"

"I was there," she said matter-of-factly.

Magnus made a pained grimace like somebody had just sucker punched his brain. Again. Of all the battles in history...

"Artemis wanted to show us how horrible war was, the way mortal men fight each other. And how foolish, too. The battle was a complete waste."

"Aren't they all," Magnus said with a shake of his head. He'd only been a dreg of humanity for a few years, but long enough to be familiar with the idea humans would fight over the stupidest things that shouldn't matter in the grand scheme.

Dr. Chase opened his mouth in shock. "You—"

"She's a Hunter, sir," Thalia said. "But that's not why we're here. We need—"

"You saw the Sopwith Camels?" Dr. Chase said.

"Your help about Annabeth," Thalia finished her rudely interrupted sentence with a scrunched up nose. It was hysterically easy to recall her little sister telling her about how easily distracted her dad could be all of a sudden, and how that could be useful when avoiding getting grounded, and very disappointing when he forgot to pick her up from preschool. Again.

"How many were there? What formations did they fly?"

"Sir," Thalia broke in again. "Annabeth is in danger."

That got his attention. He set the biplane down.

"Now we're on to something," Magnus huffed.

"Of course," he said. "Tell me everything."

It wasn't easy, but we tried. Meanwhile, the afternoon light was fading outside. We were running out of time.

When we'd finished, Dr. Chase collapsed in his leather recliner. He laced his hands. "My poor brave Annabeth. We must hurry."

"We," Alex repeated with reluctant surprise. She'd been hoping he'd at best hand over the keys when he realized what was going on, at worse they'd get a live play of why Annabeth kept running away from this place.

Magnus was smiling though for this exact same wordage. Mortals still had the makings of heroes in them. He finally realized why his mom had always said that with such a secretive glint in her eyes.

"Sir, we need transportation to Mount Tamalpais," Zoe said.

Jason shivered like his brain was trying to crawl out of his skin through every orifice. He knew, without a doubt, that would be his place to start looking for answers when he got out of here.

It troubled him greatly Percy had woken up knowing the name Annabeth and nowhere to start looking for her, and he had a place with no face attached.

"And we need it immediately."

"I'll drive you. Hmm. It would be faster to fly in my Camel, but it only seats two."

Percy winced a bit at the thought of that, hoping Zoe would be first to volunteer to be strapped to a wing...and it's not like he'd make Thalia do it, gods that was going to suck-

"Whoa, you have an actual biplane?" I said.

"Down at Crissy Field," Dr. Chase said proudly. "That's the reason I had to move here. My sponsor is a private collector with some of the finest World War I relics in the world. He let me restore the Sopwith Camel—"

"I'm starting to wonder how Minerva kept his attention long enough for Annabeth to exist," Jason muttered for himself. This guy was something else. Sally would have put her book down in an instant and had full attention. It was probably unfair of him to be weighing mortal parents, but since he had less clue about his own than even his godly parent, he was certainly riveted by the comparison.

"Sir," Thalia said. "Just a car would be great. And it might be better if we went without you. It's too dangerous."

Dr. Chase frowned uncomfortably. "Now wait a minute, young lady. Annabeth is my daughter. Dangerous or not, I... I can't just—"

"Snacks," Mrs. Chase announced.

Thalia winced and released a very tired sigh. Annabeth hadn't eaten in days by the time they'd found her, and then it had taken a very delicate process for her and Luke to convince her to eat at the start. Mrs. Chase had the bad habit of trying to soothe fears and never let anybody get a word in, constantly cutting off Annabeth's attempts to talk or warn of a monster coming by offering snacks. Like she'd been taught playtime was over and food would make it all better, when that had never happened for her.

She pushed through the door with a tray full of peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches and Cokes and cookies fresh out of the oven, the chocolate chips still gooey. Thalia and I inhaled a few cookies while Zoe said, "I can drive, sir. I'm not as young as I look. I promise not to destroy your car."

Percy choked on his imaginary cookie he wished he could have been eating, dragged away from nice flashbacks of his mom and plunked into an uneasy feeling of when that promise had been made to Gabe. He swallowed a suddenly dry mouth and hoped history wasn't about to repeat itself.

Mrs. Chase knit her eyebrows. "What's this about?"

"Annabeth is in danger," Dr. Chase said. "On Mount Tam. I would drive them, but... apparently it's no place for mortals."

It sounded like it was really hard for him to get that last part out.

"Then maybe he's using the wrong word," Alex said slowly. There might not be a right word Magnus's uncle would ever feel comfortable using, but she'd heard and lived through worse parent relationships than she was seeing on the surface right here. Maybe Annabeth was just having a disconnect and could mend this fence.

She kept watching Magnus's troubled face though and sighed uneasily for her suspicion he was homeless just like her, and clearly, this hadn't been a considered option. Not all fences could be mended, and tolerance couldn't make a family.

I waited for Mrs. Chase to say no. I mean, what mortal parent would allow three underage teenagers to borrow their car? To my surprise, Mrs. Chase nodded. "Then they'd better get going."

The relieved exhale that passed around the room gave them all a queasy feeling. They were a bit ashamed, that they were surprised it had gone so easily. Could whatever troubles that had caused Annabeth to run away been exaggerated by the kid? Were they still not hearing something major that Percy obviously couldn't pick up on after being there five minutes? Or was it just little things, that kept building over time Annabeth kept going back and forth on?

Will still sort of wished he could erase this exchange from his mind, getting this private glimpse into Annabeth's house without her permission, he certainly wouldn't be pleased if she was sitting around camp reading a book about how his relationship with his mom had gone.

"Right!" Dr. Chase jumped up and started patting his pockets. "My keys..."

His wife sighed. "Frederick, honestly. You'd lose your head if it weren't wrapped inside your aviator hat. The keys are hanging on the peg by the front door."

"Right!" Dr. Chase said.

Zoe grabbed a sandwich. "Thank you both. We should go. Now."

We hustled out the door and down the stairs, the Chases right behind us.

"Percy," Mrs. Chase called as I was leaving, "tell Annabeth... Tell her she still has a home here, will you? Remind her of that."

Percy's hand went up to fiddle with his necklace, his mind on a college ring that wasn't there but still resided on hers. Annabeth had never needed Percy to tell her anything, it was usually the other way around. He had a feeling she'd always known that.

He'd always associated her with Camp Half-Blood, where they'd met and spent so much time together. He tried to imagine if Annabeth had got a peek inside that disgusting old apartment with Gabe around and if she'd think he had it made with a roof over his head while she'd run away from this family. Or if she'd look at Smelly Gabe and understand how it felt to have a step-parent that made everything worse despite their parent's best efforts.

Regardless, he knew he'd always follow her lead on what she wanted.

I took one last look at the messy living room, Annabeth's half brothers spilling LEGOs and arguing, the smell of cookies filling the air. Not a bad place, I thought.

"I'll tell her," I promised.

We ran out to the yellow VW convertible parked in the driveway. The sun was going down. I figured we had less than an hour to save Annabeth.

He shivered at the worst time restraint of his life. If he'd even get a chance to open his stupid mouth around her again.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Thalia demanded. Zoe glared at her. "I cannot control traffic."

"You both sound like my mother," I said. "Shut up!" they said in unison.

"Way to make me feel home away from home," Percy chuckled.

"Next time I'll even drive you off the road to get all the warm and fuzzies," Thalia rolled her eyes.

Zoe weaved in and out of traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. The sun was sinking on the horizon when we finally got into Marin County and exited the highway.

The roads were insanely narrow, winding through forests and up the sides of hills and around the edges of steep ravines. Zoe didn't slow down at all.

"I really hope that's those Huntress reflexes, and not, you know, her vague immortality forgetting we would die on impact," Percy muttered.

Thalia didn't have an answer, but she did feel a tad more smug when she remembered Percy clutching his seat, fingers digging into the cushion like a lifeline just like she was.

"Why does everything smell like cough drops?" I asked.

"Eucalyptus." Zoe pointed to the huge trees all around us.

"The stuff koala bears eat?"

"And monsters," she said. "They love chewing the leaves. Especially dragons."

"Why?" Magnus drew out the word with painful and familiar concern if he wanted to know the answer to that.

"I'm assuming it's not for their high water content and more for the added bonus of being poisonous," Alex shrugged without concern.

"It also explains the bad breath," Will nodded like that was the biggest concern, not how they were going to get past it!

"Dragons chew eucalyptus leaves?"

"Believe me," Zoe said, "if you had dragon breath, you would chew eucalyptus too."

I didn't question her,

"You have a really bad habit of doing that," Jason pouted. It was obvious to anyone he'd be interrogating Zoe any given chance if he could.

"The less I have to pretend to remember the better," Percy shrugged.

but I did keep my eyes peeled more closely as we drove. Ahead of us loomed Mount Tamalpais.

Thalia was still watching Jason twitch every time that was mentioned and clenching her jaw against blurting out asking if he remembered something. The place obviously bothered him, but he was two when he vanished, how could he possibly have memories of it...

I guess, in terms of mountains, it was a small one, but it looked plenty huge as we were driving toward it.

"Are you literally making a mountain out of a molehill right now?" Alex asked.

"In what world is driving up to face the guy who kidnapped a goddess a molehill?" Percy yelped.

"I mean the mountain itself," Alex sighed.

"I think in this case he's making a molehill into a mountain," Magnus offered.

"I want this stupid metaphor to end," Percy groaned, and Alex obliged purely to get to the dragon.

"So that's the Mountain of Despair?" I asked.

"Yes," Zoe said tightly.

"Why do they call it that?"

"Because it causes despair," Thalia said grimly.

"Probably a translation issue," Will said brightly, "that's how a lot of things got named way back when."

Percy didn't find either answer very comforting. Couldn't one person just pretend it was misnamed and really it should be called the Fluffy Bunny Mountain of Happiness Where Annabeth Was?

She was silent for almost a mile before answering. "After the war between the Titans and the gods, many of the Titans were punished and imprisoned. Kronos was sliced to pieces and thrown into Tartarus. Kronos's right-hand man, the general of his forces, was imprisoned up there, on the summit, just beyond the Garden of the Hesperides."

"Why was he put in a garden with sunset spirits?" Magnus asked. "Sounds like he got a great lawyer to get him on community service or something."

"Remember everything you've yet heard in this Magnus," Thalia reminded. "Just because it sounds nice doesn't mean it's going to be." Her face could have been a Mist colored version of the Mountain of Despair to give them all a visual.

"The General," I said. Clouds seemed to be swirling around its peak, as though the mountain was drawing them in, spinning them like a top. "What's going on up there? A storm?"

Zoe didn't answer. I got the feeing she knew exactly what the clouds meant, and she didn't like it.

"Storm can't be worse than a dragon, right?" Magnus whispered just for Alex this time.

He didn't know why he'd been expecting a better answer. She scoffed and said, "knowing Percy's luck, the dragon's bad breath causes tsunamis."

"We have to concentrate," Thalia said. "The Mist is really strong here."

"The magical kind or the natural kind?" I asked.

"Both."

The gray clouds swirled even thicker over the mountain, and we kept driving straight toward them. We were out of the forest now, into wide open spaces of cliffs and grass and rocks and fog.

I happened to glance down at the ocean as we passed a scenic curve, and I saw something that made me jump out of my seat.

"Your dad sunbathing?" Will asked innocently.

"Godly backup?" Jason asked without hope.

"Beach party full of drunk teenagers," Alex said confidently.

"None of the above," Thalia sighed, which was probably a relief. Any of their three things just would have added to the horror movie cliche of what was waiting at the top.

"Look!" But we turned a corner and the ocean disappeared behind the hills.

Percy rubbed the side of his face where he'd smacked into the window from that sharp turn. Zoe was a true maniac with that wheel.

"What?" Thalia asked.

"A big white ship," I said. "Docked near the beach. It looked like a cruise ship."

"Only in your world have I ever considered a cruise ship a bad thing," Alex told him.

"Huzzah for being memorable," Percy sighed.

Her eyes widened. "Luke's ship?"

I wanted to say I wasn't sure. It might be a coincidence.

"The biggest honking coincidence I've ever heard," Will frowned, no matter he wished that too.

But I knew better. The Princess Andromeda, Luke's demon cruise ship, was docked at that beach. That's why he'd sent his ship all the way down to the Panama Canal. It was the only way to sail it from the East Coast to California.

"I'm just going to pause and be grateful he can't make it fly," Magnus groaned.

"I, for one, hope those monsters at least enjoyed such a scenic route. Those trips aren't cheap," Alex sniffed.

Nico resisted the reminder those monsters had probably been to busy picking their teeth with human bones to take in the view.

"We will have company, then," Zoe said grimly. "Kronos's army."

"Why can't we ever have good company come over," Percy sighed. "It's always, monsters are attacking the camp, or, monsters are invading our rescue! I want a battalion of backup to be our company!"

"What I'm hearing is that you want to make more fwiends," Will said in a disgustingly gooey voice.

"You can be the pawn," Percy rolled his eyes.

Thalia was snickering at them, but as was usual now her eyes flickered to Jason who had a constipated look on his face. She didn't see how Percy's usual sarcastic commentary could have caused that, but she was resisting the urge more every moment to rush through this already and find out what he either couldn't, or wouldn't say out loud.

I was about to answer, when suddenly the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Thalia shouted, "Stop the car. NOW!"

Zoe must've sensed something was wrong, because she slammed on the brakes without question.

She used those with the same lead foot she had the gas. Percy clutched the seatbelt in memory only, if he hadn't been wearing one then, he probably would have sailed out the front window and gotten out first.

The yellow VW spun twice before coming to a stop at the edge of the cliff.

"Out!" Thalia opened the door and pushed me hard.

She'd reached past him with such speed he'd almost cut her hand off if he'd been able to get Riptide up in time. A pin from her jacket had clocked the edge of his eye and he'd only felt the dull throb of pain long after as he sat there rubbing it now.

We both rolled onto the pavement.

The next second: BOOOM!

Lightning flashed, and Dr. Chase's Volkswagen erupted like a canary-yellow grenade.

Percy rubbed his neck in the awkward silence that followed and asked, "think this'll make Dr. Chase ban me from dating Annabeth?"

"If he doesn't I might," Magnus muttered without actually meaning it, but it was sort of distressing he'd already lost count of how many near-death experiences Percy had been in.

"You are never allowed near any motor vehicles around me," Alex informed him.

"I don't explode them by proximity!" But Percy's protest was useless to his own ears.

I probably would've been killed by shrapnel except for Thalia's shield, which appeared over me. I heard a sound like metal rain, and when I opened my eyes, we were surrounded by wreckage. Part of the VW's fender had impaled itself in the street. The smoking hood was spinning in circles. Pieces of yellow metal were strewn across the road.

"It looked like somebody had finally exploded the wrong Barney friend," Percy admitted.

"Little to specific Perce," Thalia told him in concern. "Especially because everybody in here already thinks you're a self-proclaimed pyro."

Percy thought about it for a moment before he said, "looked like I exploded another bus?"

"Vaguely better," she sighed while Alex huffed and muttered some more she'd never even gotten to see one.

"That's what you have to say after a car exploded around you?!" Magnus asked like they were insane. "Not, what the hell!?"

"Oh, err, right," Percy turned back to the book attentively like Mrs. Dodds had just snapped at him, but it still wasn't really that convincing.

I swallowed the taste of smoke out of my mouth, and looked at Thalia. "You saved my life."

"I do that from time to time," she agreed casually.

"Now I know I should never go on another quest without you," Percy grinned.

"You'd have to kidnap me to work with you again after this," she lied just as casually.

"One shall perish by a parent's hand," she muttered. "Curse him. He would destroy me? Me?"

Percy didn't think that explosion was such a run-of-the-mill thing in his life now as he turned sharply back to Thalia. He wanted to protest, promise Zeus wouldn't do that to her. He'd saved her life on the dam, and Mr. D just had at the pier. Not to mention Apollo and Athena! They'd had more help on this quest from the gods than his past two put together. None of them were exactly acting like the end of the world was upon them, but clearly Artemis going missing had gotten all of their notice!

He wanted to believe that, he could almost delude himself for a moment it was true, but the troubled look on her face left him breathless with doubt again. Why had it taken the worst possible outcome for a goddess and Annabeth to be taken to get their attention? Where was his dad's help outside of two stupid words?

The unsettled look on Thalia's face wasn't helping to discourage these thoughts. That wasn't a line of the prophecy easily talked out of.

It hadn't worked though, Thalia was still here, very unperished. He had to hope that, like all those other prophecy's, he was missing something.

It took me a second to realize she was talking about her dad. "Oh, hey, that couldn't have been Zeus's lightning bolt. No way."

"Wasn't exactly the nuclear explosion I was promised," Percy insisted.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, next time somebody tries to kill us you can give them an exact radius," Thalia rolled her eyes good naturedly enough. He hoped that meant she was past this little snafu of thinking her dad had tried to kill her.

"Whose, then?" Thalia demanded.

"I don't know. Zoe said Kronos's name.

"She did?" Alex muttered, kicking herself as she skimmed back a few paragraphs to check. Damn, she had. They'd been saying all of the god's names so casually in here, she'd forgotten that was a warning. She twitched with stress and glared about the walls for a moment, wondering how complacent this place was starting to make her.

Maybe he—"

Thalia shook her head, looking angry and stunned. "No. That wasn't it."

"Wait," I said. "Where's Zoe? Zoe!"

Percy nearly startled out of his seat. "She has better reflexes than us! She got out right? Right!"

Thalia didn't want to lie to him again and say Zoe made it out of this. Her silence felt just as damning. She couldn't disrespect a fellow hunter by brushing it off as a joke. She was frozen, and hated herself for that indecision. "Zoe's reflexes are better than both of us put together," she finally managed. It certainly hadn't been a lack of skill to get her killed...but she still hated how it felt like lying to him. No answer at all. At least it wasn't a disservice of the old lieutenant.

We both got up and ran around the blasted VW. Nothing inside. Nothing either direction down the road. I looked down the cliff. No sign of her.

It was like Bianca all over again, Percy shivered. Were all of his friends going to vanish without a trace, one by one until the gods had taken everyone away from him and still expect him to not care!

"Zoe!" I shouted.

Then she was standing right next to me, pulling me by my arm. "Silence, fool!

Alex let out a blasting sigh of relief and shook the green hair from her face. "You could learn a lesson or two from her Thalia. How to jump out at just the right moment." Right on the edge of really feeling like another death had arisen, but before the cliché she was alive all along come-back could have happened.

"Oh, I'm aware," Thalia said, an old smile of regret that had been on her face since Zoe appeared on that cliff when Annabeth fell over.

Do you want to wake Ladon?"

"Depends on if he's a morning person," Alex shrugged.

"Nobody's a morning person," Will shook his head.

"Really? Not even a child of the sun?" Magnus asked in surprise.

"That's a stereotype," Will said tragically. "I drink coffee and smother it better than some of my siblings, but I assure you, morning people are an even more rare myth than seeing Pegasus himself."

Nico started chuckling quietly beside him, and Will felt such an immense glow he checked his arm real quick to make sure he wasn't. Thankfully not, but even that embarrassment would have been worth it to make Nico laugh, even softly like that.

"You mean we're here?"

"Very close," she said. "Follow me."

Sheets of fog were drifting right across the road. Zoe stepped into one of them, and when the fog passed, she was no longer there. Thalia and I looked at each other.

"Concentrate on Zoe," Thalia advised. "We are following her. Go straight into the fog and keep that in mind."

"The clearest instructions I've ever gotten in my life," Percy said gratefully. And he still wasn't confident he'd pulled it off without screwing up somehow. He'd blame it on the foggy outlook.

"Wait, Thalia. About what happened back on the pier... I mean, with the manticore and the sacrifice—"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"You wouldn't actually have... you know?"

Alex scowled and muttered a bit Percy never actually shut his mouth when his friends asked him to. Thalia looked plenty annoyed at him, but was clearly resisting the urge to throw an arc of electricity directly into his brain through his ear so she obviously wasn't that annoyed.

She hesitated. "I was just shocked. That's all."

"And you're usually the one doing the shocking," Jason tried and failed at a grin as the unease lingered in him too. Thalia came across as a cool, confident badass. If she was having doubts, he found his own worry about the kind of parentage he could go back to rising. He rubbed his tattoo without realizing he was doing it again as he lost focus on the room, searching in vain as always in himself for some sort of clear-cut answer about anything. Why would Thalia's dad trying to kill her, of all things, leave a sort of annoying impression? What on earth kind of life had he led that would make him think murdery attention was better than nothing?

"Zeus didn't send that lighting bolt at the car. It was Kronos.

"Whom you're still casually using the name of," Nico muttered. "Yes, invite more trouble."

"I think that's Percy's middle name," Will snorted.

Perseus Inviting-Trouble Jackson. Has a nice ring to it, Nico smirked.

He's trying to manipulate you, make you angry at your dad."

It had worked. Thalia was still pretty pissed at herself for that. They probably hadn't even needed Luke's insights for the best way to get under her skin, but it still infuriated her to no end how easily she'd been manipulated into feeling exactly what they'd wanted going into this fight.

She took a deep breath. "Percy, I know you're trying to make me feel better. Thanks. But come on. We need to go."

"Do I at least get credit for trying?" Percy asked as he still watched her with troubled eyes. He hoped it was just pessimism making him worried she'd hesitate again. He trusted her to see this quest through, surely that would be enough for her to trust herself, if not her dad, then at least Annabeth.

She stepped into the fog, into the Mist, and I followed.

Magnus felt mildly more prepared for whatever they were about to come across in this place. Couldn't be any worse than a whole sea of unknown Mist, right?

When the fog cleared, I was still on the side of the mountain, but the road was dirt. The grass was thicker. The sunset made a bloodred slash across the sea. The summit of the mountain seemed closer now, swirling with storm clouds and raw power. There was only one path to the top, directly in front of us. And it led through a lush meadow of shadows and flowers: the garden of twilight, just like I'd seen in my dream.

If it hadn't been for the enormous dragon, the garden would've been the most beautiful place I'd ever seen.

"I can't believe Grover missed out on the second paradise you came across." Jason would feel a lot worse for him though if he hadn't been held hostage on that first one, and the whole dragon thing slipped into there.

A point that Magnus was looking very uncertain about as he gripped his seat to try sinking even further into it. He wasn't screaming and freaking out about the dragon though, so, you know, progress.

The grass shimmered with silvery evening light, and the flowers were such brilliant colors they almost glowed in the dark. Stepping stones of polished black marble led around either side of a five-story-tall apple tree, every bough glittering with golden apples, and I don't mean yellow golden apples like in the grocery store. I mean real golden apples. I can't describe why they were so appealing, but as soon as I smelled their fragrance, I knew that one bite would be the most delicious thing I'd ever tasted.

"Could you eat one?" Magnus asked. "Or are they just there to tempt the foolish?"

"I bet Grover could eat one," Alex offered.

"Wasn't Luke sent to fetch one of these?" Jason leaned forward in his seat. "Something about a dragon?" His eagerness clearly wasn't abated at the idea of getting details over that.

"The apples of immortality," Thalia said. "Hera's wedding gift from Zeus."

"Why would Zeus give Hera a gift to make her immortal? Wasn't she, already?" Magnus interrupted again.

"It's the principle of the thing?" Thalia answered with no enthusiasm. "Their love was supposed to be immortal or something." Her existence proved how well that lasted.

I wanted to step right up and pluck one, except for the dragon coiled around the tree.

Now, I don't know what you think of when I say dragon.

"Mountain-sized four-legged scaley snake thing on a pile of gold," Magnus offered.

"Rattlesnake bird mix eating someone who deserves it. With any luck you meet a real one," Alex grinned.

Jason opened his mouth as if to continue the insanity.

"I'm sorry it said anything, that wasn't meant to be an invite," Percy sighed, the last thing he needed was more ideas in his head of other dragons he could meet.

"Peleaus," Will grinned. If you scratched him in just the right spot, his scales ruffled up.

"With the exception of Will," Percy agreed while glancing over.

'Will's the exception to everything,' Nico silently agreed.

Whatever it is, it's not scary enough. The serpent's body was as thick as a booster rocket, glinting with coppery scales. He had more heads than I could count, as if a hundred deadly pythons had been fused together.

Jason's mouth was still open in shock and awe and Magnus looked like he wanted to vomit his guts.

"Cooool," Alex was all but drooling at such a pristine monster she could spend ages looking at.

"Luke survived that?" Jason got his jaw working enough to cobble that together. "He came away with just one scar?"

Nobody had actually warned Thalia about that story. The first time she'd seen his scar was this day, when she'd finally seen him in person months after she'd awoken. She'd wanted to perversely know that story from then on, and yet nobody could ever tell it except the person she'd tried to kill.

He appeared to be asleep.

"No it did not make him look cute Alex," Percy said before Alex could finish looking around.

"I was going to ask if he snored?" Alex scoffed.

"No," Thalia said, "which made him all the more dangerous. Means he has great sinuses, the better to kill us with."

"So, even cooler," Alex nodded, obviously satisfied.

The heads lay curled in a big spaghetti-like mound on the grass, all the eyes closed.

"Only Percy could make spaghetti a terrifying comparison," Nico chuckled.

"I bet his mom tried to slip broccoli into it and he's holding a grudge," Will nodded.

Then the shadows in front of us began to move. There was a beautiful, eerie singing, like voices from the bottom of a well. I reached for Riptide, but Zoe stopped my hand.

"After the sirens, I'm surprised your first instinct isn't to reach for ear wax," Jason said.

"Why is your first instinct to always reach for your sword? You cannot stab all of your problems Percy," Magnus seemed to agree.

"Hasn't failed me yet," he shrugged.

Four figures shimmered into existence, four young women who looked very much like Zoe. They all wore white Greek chitons. Their skin was like caramel. Silky black hair tumbled loose around their shoulders. It was strange, but I'd never realized how beautiful Zoe was until I saw her siblings, the Hesperides. They looked just like Zoe—gorgeous, and probably very dangerous.

"I feel like Zoe would not punch you for that description," Thalia nodded in approval.

"Annabeth might not either," Magnus chuckled.

"That's how you know you won the prize," Alex snorted.

"Sisters," Zoe said.

"We do not see any sister," one of the girls said coldly. "We see two half-bloods and a Hunter. All of whom shall soon die."

Whatever humor Percy had, as always, infused was blasted away by those icy words. Magnus in particular was pretty uncomfortable with how easily they dismissed their would be sister and how passive her death would be to them.

Thalia looked like she was trying to swallow dragon breath at those words. Jason was starting to get a really bad feeling about why that would bother her so much. That most damning line of the prophecy still on the forefront of his mind, and his earlier suspicions and clearly wrong assumptions about how Zoe might know so much about the general. She'd been kicked out of her home for loving somebody she shouldn't, a hero.

"You've got it wrong." I stepped forward. "Nobody is going to die."

The girls studied me. They had eyes like volcanic rock, glassy and completely black.

"Perseus Jackson," one of them said.

"Yes," mused another. "I do not see why he is a threat."

"Thanks," Percy said sincerely. He didn't want people to take one look at him and think that anyways...wait.

"Who said I was a threat?"

The first Hesperid glanced behind her, toward the top of the mountain. "They fear thee. They are unhappy that this one has not yet killed thee."

She pointed at Thalia.

"Tempting sometimes," Thalia admitted. "But no, thanks. He's my friend."

"Thanks Thals, feel the exact same way," Percy and she fist bumped. Their friendship was so casual it honestly made the others a bit jealous, especially Nico. It wasn't hard at all to imagine his dad becoming bitter after centuries watching Poseidon and Zeus hack each other off at all hours but always quickly forgive each other while either outright ignoring, or fearing Hades.

"There are no friends here, daughter of Zeus," the girl said. "Only enemies. Go back."

"Nice to know there's no delusion of a spa treatment this time," Percy scowled. He wasn't leaving that mountain without Annabeth.

"Not without Annabeth," Thalia said.

Thalia and Percy didn't need to high-five again. The exact same look on their face spoke that action.

"And Artemis," Zoe said. "We must approach the mountain."

"You know he will kill thee," the girl said. "You are no match for him."

"Artemis must be freed," Zoe insisted. "Let us pass."

The girl shook her head. "You have no rights here anymore. We have only to raise our voices and Ladon will wake."

"He will not hurt me," Zoe said.

"No? And what about thy so-called friends?"

Then Zoe did the last thing I expected. She shouted, "Ladon! Wake!"

"Wow, tell me how she really feels about me again?" Percy asked nervously.

"Confident," Thalia shrugged. If she hadn't trusted Percy, she likely would have just thrown him at Ladon to wake him.

The dragon stirred, glittering like a mountain of pennies. The Hesperides yelped and scattered.

"Well at least now we know Zoe was the best of them anyways," Jason grinned.

The idea of this place sat like a festering wound in his mind he wanted to pick at. At least these girls didn't contribute, he'd swear he never came across them period. Which didn't track with the very solid knowledge he swore he'd been here. This could not get any more confusing.

The lead girl said to Zoe, "Are you mad?"

"Angry, yes. Delusional? Nah," Alex shrugged.

"You never had any courage, sister," Zoe said. "That is thy problem."

"I feel like there's a lot of problems going on here actually," Will waved his hand at nothing in here as he gestured at the book. "I can't think of someone in Greek mythology who doesn't need counseling in some way or another though."

"Group therapy doesn't fix everything, especially when dragons are involved," Thalia rolled her eyes.

The dragon Ladon was writhing now, a hundred heads whipping around, tongues flickering and tasting the air. Zoe took a step forward, her arms raised.

"I don't think he wants a hug," Magnus mock whispered.

"I bet he'd love one," Alex sniffed, "and nobody's ever tried."

"You'd need a hundred arms to do it fairly," Will snickered.

Percy got a strange feeling in the back of his mind and tapped his skull to make sure it was still working properly. No way did he have a memory of something about that.

"Zoe, don't," Thalia said. "You're not a Hesperid anymore. He'll kill you."

"Ladon is trained to protect the tree," Zoe said. "Skirt around the edges of the garden. Go up the mountain. As long as I am a bigger threat, he should ignore thee."

"Should," I said. "Not exactly reassuring."

"The first reassurance she's ever given though, baby steps," Will offered.

"It is the only way," she said. "Even the three of us together cannot fight him."

Ladon opened his mouths. The sound of a hundred heads hissing at once sent a shiver down my back, and that was before his breath hit me. The smell was like acid. It made my eyes burn, my skin crawl, and my hair stand on end. I remembered the time a rat had died inside our apartment wall in New York in the middle of the summer. This stench was like that, except a hundred times stronger, and mixed with the smell of chewed eucalyptus. I promised myself right then that I would never ask a school nurse for another cough drop.

Thalia was mock waving her hand in her face, but her tone was very serious. "Seconded, and I don't even attend school anymore."

Jason whistled in awe. "Must be one powerful stench to never give an excuse to leave class again."

I wanted to draw my sword. But then I remembered my dream of Zoe and Hercules, and how Hercules had failed in a head-on assault. I decided to trust Zoe's judgment.

"Hercules would eat his sandal before he'd admit the same," Will grinned.

"Grover would eat a sandal too and he's not a jerk, I don't think that's a good measure," Percy said.

Will thought about it for a moment before he refined, "Hercules would give up his lion skin coat before he'd admit the same."

"Yeah, that I believe," Percy sighed.

Thalia went left. I went right. Zoe walked straight toward the monster.

Percy felt strange. For once it wasn't him charging down to confront death. The last time he'd let a friend go in his place, Bianca hadn't come back. He wasn't used to skirting the sidelines around the monster. Annabeth's hat had still been in his pocket, but he hadn't felt the need to put it on. A cap of invisibility wouldn't have fooled this dragon for long, he'd smell Percy who would have no chance and way less experience than Zoe. Percy trusted her without question to do this, but it didn't erase the sick feeling in him something was wrong.

"It's me, my little dragon," Zoe said. "Zoe has come back."

Ladon shifted forward, then back. Some of the mouths closed. Some kept hissing. Dragon confusion.

"You say that like it's a thing," Jason smiled, clearly fixing to ask for a book on that.

Magnus frowned. "I'm more concerned you've been around enough dragons for it to be a thing."

Meanwhile, the Hesperides shimmered and turned into shadows. The voice of the eldest whispered, "Fool."

"I'm starting to think fool is a compliment," Percy smirked. "None of us ever call our enemies fool."

"I can call you a fool if you like," Thalia smirked.

"You've complimented me enough for one day," he waved off.

"And Percy's also implying he doesn't dish out the sickest burns to his enemies, so I don't see his point," Alex grinned.

"I used to feed thee by hand," Zoe continued, speaking in a soothing voice as she stepped toward the golden tree. "Do you still like lamb's meat?"

The dragon's eyes glinted.

"She doesn't smell like lamb's meat does she?" Percy muttered.

"Not unless you two stopped for gyro's without me," Thalia resisted the urge to whack him upside the head.

Magnus sighed and wished he could have a gyro now. It was probably rude or something to excuse himself for some falafel before a fight though.

Thalia and I were about halfway around the garden. Ahead, I could see a single rocky trail leading up to the black peak of the mountain. The storm swirled above it, spinning on the summit like it was the axis for the whole world.

'About that,' Nico resisted the urge to say, but his nervous laugh still made it through. He'd heard the story a thousand times about how Percy had gotten that faint grey streak in his hair. During those epic retellings of god like proportions he was sure now might have been exaggerated slightly, he'd always felt less like a freak for his crush because of the awe on the Stolls faces when telling it over the campfire.

We'd almost made it out of the meadow when something went wrong. I felt the dragon's mood shift. Maybe Zoe got too close. Maybe the dragon realized he was hungry. Whatever the reason, he lunged at Zoe.

"That girl deserves to cuss so much right now," Thalia said with full sympathy. "It's a true shame she missed out on our modern lingo just for that moment."

"I was thinking it for her," Percy swallowed.

Two thousand years of training kept her alive. She dodged one set of slashing fangs and tumbled under another, weaving through the dragon's heads as she ran in our direction, gagging from the monster's horrible breath.

I drew Riptide to help.

"No!" Zoe panted. "Run!"

The dragon snapped at her side, and Zoe cried out. Thalia uncovered Aegis, and the dragon hissed. In his moment of indecision, Zoe sprinted past us up the mountain, and we followed.

Alex was starting to feel a little twitchy. That was twice in rapid succession Zoe had almost died or she would have been presumed dead in the following sentence at minimum. She really hoped that was her pessimism talking.

The dragon didn't try to pursue. He hissed and stomped the ground, but I guess he was well trained to guard that tree.

"I hope he and Peleus have a playdate," Will said. "They deserve to get some time to stretch their legs away from their jobs."

"Only you Will," Percy told him in exasperation. Nico once again found himself agreeing with Percy, only Will would think the monsters needed more play time after nearly eating someone, but he found it kind of sweet the guy was obviously so considerate about everything he came across.

He wasn't going to be lured off even by the tasty prospect of eating some heroes.

We ran up the mountain as the Hesperides resumed their song in the shadows behind us.

The music didn't sound so beautiful to me now—more like the sound track for a funeral.

Percy tried to tell himself that wasn't ominous going forward. That Thalia and Zoe were now besties off in Huntress lala land bad-mouthing boys and shooting arrows at life-sized mannequins of him or something when he annoyed his friends. Maybe Thalia had that prophecy all wrong and the line had even referred to Bianca...but the burn of having a Di Angelo kid back on his mind hurt to bad to keep trying to pathetically convince himself.

At the top of mountain were ruins, blocks of black granite and marble as big as houses. Broken columns. Statues of bronze that looked as though they'd been half melted.

Jason's mouth went dry, he got chills the moment the first word was said. A ghostly whisper, a memory slipping through the fog of his brain. More powerful than even hearing Hylla's name had been, but so much less...meaningful. He sat quivering in his seat, his blue eyes nowhere they could follow as he strained against nothing to understand. He'd been here, this was supposed to be an important place to him, so why did it feel like another moment he'd passively earmark in a book of his life?

"Jason?" Thalia gently touched his shoulder. She expected to get shocked again, but that didn't happen. He just looked tired, and confused. She wanted to put a blanket over his shoulders and offer to get him a snack. He looked like that lost kid she'd always wanted to find.

Her heart skipped a beat when he didn't shake her off or push her away. Instead, he leaned into her touch, just shaking his head and waving at the book.

"The ruins of Mount Othrys," Thalia whispered in awe.

"Yes," Zoe said. "It was not here before. This is bad."

"What's Mount Othrys?" I asked, feeling like a fool as usual.

"You ruined my moment Percy," Thalia huffed, her hand still tight on Jason's shoulder as she addressed him. "Now how can I call you a fool when you're doing it yourself? People will think I'm copying you."

"Gotta be faster Thals, I'll call myself everything under the sun while you're busy laughing at me," Percy tried to keep his smile as light as usual, but the feeling of standing amongst black death radiating from those ruins was leaving him a twitching mess in here. Annabeth had been trapped there for days, and he didn't see her yet. It didn't help the white marble of the walls, floor, and ceiling in here had so many cracks in them by now it looked like he'd be creating more here soon if they didn't get out.

"The mountain fortress of the Titans," Zoe said. "In the first war, Olympus and Othrys were the two rival capitals of the world. Othrys was—" She winced and held her side.

It wasn't just a scratch. Will didn't have to be there to know that. Adrenaline and skill could only last one so long, even a warrior like her. His hands twitched, he came up with a bag he'd have to have a Hephaestus kid help him make that had a pocket for everything he'd need. A moment that he should have been there, and yet he'd probably been sitting around camp having a snowball fight.

Nico watched that frustration, the self-inflicted uselessness rush over and linger all on Will's face. Will wasn't alone in feeling that of course, they'd all probably felt it at least once by now. It just hit him differently to realize when Percy felt like that he could do something about it, he reacted and kept moving. Will was still going to be thinking about this for a while.

"You're hurt," I said. "Let me see."

"No! It is nothing. I was saying... in the first war, Othrys was blasted to pieces."

"But... how is it here?"

Thalia looked around cautiously as we picked our way through the rubble, past blocks of marble and broken archways. "It moves in the same way that Olympus moves. It always exists on the edges of civilization. But the fact that it is here, on this mountain, is not good."

"At least it didn't show up in New Jersey?" Percy offered. "Then we'd know we were screwed."

"Why can't anything show up in West Virginia? Nothing interesting ever happens there," Alex nodded sagely.

"Why?"

"This is Atlas's mountain," Zoe said. "Where he holds—" She froze. Her voice was ragged with despair. "Where he used to hold up the sky."

"The sky? As in," Magnus pointed uselessly up.

"That's the one," Thalia nodded.

"Uh, huh," Magnus finally seemed to decide that was to much. He was done. His brain had shut off and somebody would have to come back around later and make sure he hadn't turned into a vegetable.

We had reached the summit. A few yards ahead of us, gray clouds swirled in a heavy vortex, making a funnel cloud that almost touched the mountaintop, but instead rested on the shoulders of a twelve-year-old girl with auburn hair and a tattered silvery dress: Artemis, her legs bound to the rock with celestial bronze chains. This is what I had seen in my dream. It hadn't been a cavern roof that Artemis was forced to hold. It was the roof of the world.

"Annabeth." Her dusty, strained, terrified face had been on his mind so long he felt like it was ingrained in the back of his eyelids. She'd done what a goddess was straining to do for who knew how long? How had she even survived?

And it was all Luke's fault.

"My lady!" Zoe rushed forward, but Artemis said, "Stop! It is a trap. You must leave now."

Her voice was strained. She was drenched in sweat. I had never seen a goddess in pain before, but the weight of the sky was clearly too much for Artemis.

Zoe was crying. She ran forward despite Artemis's protests, and tugged at the chains.

Thalia's mouth was as tight as it could go, she looked like she was holding in a world-shattering scream. Holding the sky up felt like too good a punishment for Atlas after all he'd done, he deserved the nothingness of Tartarus while Luke was forced to hold this for the rest of eternity.

A booming voice spoke behind us: "Ah, how touching."

We turned. The General was standing there in his brown silk suit. At his side were Luke and half a dozen dracaenae bearing the golden sarcophagus of Kronos. Annabeth stood at Luke's side. She had her hands cuffed behind her back, a gag in her mouth, and Luke was holding the point of his sword to her throat.

The water blasted around them in a scalding burn, so hot it took a moment as Percy gasped in a breath to figure out why everybody looked like they got a bad sunburn for a moment. He tried to unclench his hands, but they shook uselessly as if fighting him.

I met her eyes, trying to ask her a thousand questions. There was just one message she was sending me, though: RUN.

Percy tried to, in here, but the effect was ruined by having nowhere to go. He just found himself in the middle of the room once more with no clue how to run to her side.

"Percy," Thalia tried to put an arm around him, but he shrugged her off with a wild look.

"I can't just sit here anymore! I have to get back to her, I have to do something!"

Thalia understood. Of course she did. The only thing that had been in her mind's eye since she found him down here was giving him just that, if the two of them could have drawn up some battle strategy to get out of here that had no chance of succeeding they'd still rather be doing that.

All she could do now was squeeze his arm and plead with Alex to finish while Percy fought against nothing. Not trying to pull away from her again, but her's wasn't the touch he needed right now.

"Luke," Thalia snarled. "Let her go."

Luke's smile was weak and pale. He looked even worse than he had three days ago in D.C. "That is the General's decision, Thalia. But it's good to see you again."

Thalia spat at him.

The surprise that had been on his face had somehow stung her more than she'd done to him. That he'd deluded himself, even for a second, she'd run to his side without intending to gut him for all he'd done. That Luke had actually looked hurt, confused even why she'd do such a thing. They didn't know each other anymore. Nothing could have ever been the same since she died.

The General chuckled. "So much for old friends. And you, Zoe. It's been a long time. How is my little traitor? I will enjoy killing you."

"Do not respond," Artemis groaned. "Do not challenge him."

"Wait a second," I said. "You're Atlas?"

The General glanced at me. "So, even the stupidest of heroes can finally figure something out. Yes, I am Atlas, the general of the Titans and terror of the gods. Congratulations. I will kill you presently, as soon as I deal with this wretched girl."

"You're not going to hurt Zoe," I said. "I won't let you."

The General sneered. "You have no right to interfere, little hero. This is a family matter."

I frowned. "A family matter?"

"Yes," Zoe said bleakly. "Atlas is my father."

Not the something Percy had been hoping he was missing. He winced like a punch to the gut. Had Zoe known all along they were headed towards another parent's hand who would happily perish her? "These books have got to stop dramatically ending on somebody's parentage," Percy scowled. "All Greeks are sort of related and none of us like talking about it!"

"That's the spirit Percy," Thalia gave him a fond clap on the shoulder just like always. Trying to hide her trembling hand just a few moments more.

#pjo #Percy Jackson #Thalia Grace #Jason Grace #percabeth #alex fierro #magnus chase #hoo #nico di angelo #will solace #solangelo #fierrochase #titan's curse

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dogboycvnt · 2 years

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Fave comfort movies/books/whatever?

forgive how devoid of thematic similarity this list is.

books:

the magickers series, moonknight comics, artemis fowl, the ghost and the goth, calvin and hobbes, septimus heap

movies:

chasing amy, the care bears movie, the judge, the way way back, less than zero, scott pilgrim vs the world, nightmare before christmas, cars (all of them), monsters inc, good kids, sky high, tuff turf, young guns (1&2), american outlaws, mighty ducks (all), dr strange, literally any movie in which iron man appears, how do you know, clueless, the open house, my secret obsession, the lovely bones, truth or dare, would you rather, and other d list horror i can’t remember the names of.

the lovely bones isn’t d list horror, it’s actually really good but i’ve watched it with my roomie too many times and now i think it’s a comedy

tv:

supernatural, criminal minds, house md, the night shift, reaper, psych, tru calling, dollhouse, izombie, care bears, young ones, snorks, scooby doo (pretty much any iteration but mostly what’s new scooby doo, mystery inc, and the classic), speed buggy, jabberjaw, wacky races, captain caveman and the teen angels, perils of penelope pitstop, total drama island, big mouth

i think that covers a lot of my comfort stuff :)

#asked n answered

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all-my-love-for-harry · 4 years

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You should write about Harry or Artemis talking to the baby in her belly.

+ a little bit of quarantining with artemis and we find out the gender!!

you can find more of my shy little boy here

it wasn't like Harry hated technology or something. Although he didn't like to use it a lot, he had to admit it comes in handy sometimes, especially in times like these where entertaining a six-year-old was becoming a hard task lately, and Y/n and Harry were feeling like they were running out of ideas to keep him happy.

Now, he would never admit it, but he actually didn't feel like the worst parent ever when he handed Artemis an iPad or his phone whenever he started to get cranky. It was a quick, easy solution rather than playing a six hours long monopoly game where his son would be in a bad mood because he was losing. The more time they spent at home, the more Artemis would feel like he was losing his mind. He missed the park, school, his grandmas. He hated his change of routine and in all honesty, so did Y/n and Harry.

Back in December of last year, Anne had given little Artemis a Nintendo Switch for his birthday. Now, the boy loved the gift and, according to him, the best he got out of all the other gifts people gave him for his birthday. But despite how much he loved it, Artemis' screen time was very little since he already had eye problems at six-years-old, his parents wouldn't risk making it worse.

But ever since the pandemic started, they had allowed him a little more time playing with electronics since there wasn't a lot he could do. Lately, he's been obsessed with Animal Crossing and he could play for hours. Plus, the game has forced him to practice his reading with the instructions and stuff the game had and that was the only way he'd accept doing the task.

Harry made the decision of buying one for himself to play with his son and he had to admit, that game was sucking the life out of him.

"You have to complete the commissions to get the gifts." Harry said, sitting on the couch next to Artemis while watching him play. He was currently at uncle Michal's island just because.

"Harry, did you call Gemma? The doctor's appointment is tomorrow."

"I'll text her in a moment."

As the eighteenth week of the pregnancy rolled in, Y/n started to grow anxious to know whether they were expecting a girl or a boy, not because she had a preference or anything, she was just excited to start choosing potential names for their baby. She hopes this appointment would be the one and their little one would finally be in the right position since the last time they went, the genitals of the baby weren't visible.

So for tomorrow's appointment, they needed to know if Gemma could babysit Artemis for a couple of hours while they were out. They had mentioned to her in one of their facetime calls, but Y/n's doctor had to change the date and so they had to confirm Harry's sister.

"Will I go to Auntie Gemma's tomorrow?" Artemis looked up at his mum.

"Yeah, only for a little bit while we're out."

"We're going to the doctor, remember?" Artemis nodded at Harry. "We'll know the gender of your sibling."

"Can it be a girl?" Artemis repeated the same question he's been asking ever since he found out about the pregnancy. Harry chuckled, running a hand through his blonde curls.

"I've told you that's not how it works, buddy. We can't pick whether if it's a girl or a boy."

"Yes, we can." Artemis rolled his eyes as he hopped off the couch, walking towards his mum. He placed his small hands on Y/n's tummy making her smile. "Please, please be a girl. Girls are better, plus you'll look like mummy."

The two adults in the room looked at each other with wide smiles on their faces.

"I'm sure you've convinced them, mate."

Y/n held Harry's hand nervously as they walked inside of the building. They were wearing hoodies and their masks covered most of their faces but they still wouldn't risk getting recognized. They've been doing so well keeping it a secret it almost feels surreal. Although they knew they couldn't hide it forever, both of them made the decision of going through the pregnancy as privately as possible, and the pandemic helped a little bit with that since they could stay at home and while Y/n still had to give online classes via zoom or whatever, she wasn't really showing at that time so no one noticed.

For safety reasons, the clinic only offered a few appointments per day and each of them had a certain amount of time in between so they just had to wait a few minutes before a nurse called them in. Harry let his girlfriend enter first and took a seat on one of the chairs after she did. Y/n was still playing with Harry's hand that she kept on her lap, the feeling of excitement becoming too big to hide.

"We'll love them regardless." Harry remained her.

"We'll love them regardless." She repeated, giving his hand one last squeeze before the doctor walked in. The middle-aged woman was wearing a mask, but Y/n could bet she was smiling behind it.

"Hello. We got the results of the tests we did on you last week, sorry we took so long but things are kind of chaotic in here." She said, sitting down on the chair behind her desk. "It appears that everything is fine so far. We checked your blood but also your sensitivities to food so I've made an advice plan for you." She handed them a folder. "You're well on the vitamins, so nothing to worry there. Now, your vitamin D is a little low so we'll get you a supplement." Y/n glazed at Harry quickly, noticing how he was containing a giggle. "Unfortunately, in the food department, chicken eggs are very high so I recommend you stay away from those for a year." The doctor pointed at the space that said 'food'. "As you can see, the line is red which means the level is pretty high."

She kept explaining some other things before she guided the couple to where they were going to do the ultrasound. Y/n laid down on the bed with Harry's help and winced a little when the cold gel hit her exposed skin. Soon enough, an image of their baby appeared on the screen along with a heartbeat, making them gasp.

"Looks like we're in the right position. Do we want to know what are we having?" The doctor looked back at them.

"Please." Y/n choked a sob, squeezing Harry's hand a little tighter.

"Congratulations, you're having a baby girl."

Who would have thought Artemis' persuasion tactics would actually work?

☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁

taglist!

@myfavfanficsever @odetostep @la-cey @cock-a-doodely-doo @awkwardbullfrog @mellamolayla @moorgannn @bagtan-serendipity @awesomebooklover17 @finelineribs @sunnybusiness @beanholland @sweetenerstyle @cronias13 @vhsharry @maisley @seasidecrowbar @stylesfics-xx @autumnpauley20 @fineline-hs @stephaniemalvie @immajustreadwritereblog @jadert15 @iguessweallcrazyithinktho @abundanceofsoph @megaprincesscakes @daylightqueenxx @sonofabitchstyles

#harry styles #harry styles imagine #harry styles imagines #harry styles one shot #harry styles x reader #harry styles x y/n #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fic #harry styles fluff #harry styles fluff fic #stepdad!harry #harry styles x you #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles blurbs #harry styles blurb #harry styles fluffy imagine

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transannabeth · 4 years

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i understand i am currently talking to you in another tab as well but what about trans annabeth !!!!

just Everything about her but also. i have some headcanons that i would like to share

she realizes she’s a girl when she’s really young!

i go back and forth on if it’s a contributing factor to her running away from home or not and i’m still not sure

for now let’s go with on Top of the monster attacks, her dad and stepmom don’t entirely understand, which doesn’t help

after almost murdering luke with a hammer, the first thing she tells him and thalia is that she’s a girl

when they ask her what her name is she’s kind of like ‘i didn’t think i would get this far’

thalia and luke help her pick out her name!!

chb is the first time she’s gotten Real Support from adults (mr. d is a lot more helpful and understanding than he lets on)

also chb has a very loving and supportive group of lgbt+ campers that immediately take her under their collective wing

every year the whole group goes into the city for nyc pride!

silena is the one who pierces annabeth’s ears!! clarisse holds annabeth’s hand the whole time and annabeth squeezes it so hard that it lowkey feels like she’s going to break it, but neither of them say a word

sometimes on bad days, silena helps annabeth with her dysphoria and they do face masks and braid each other’s hair and just chill

(this is a silena and annabeth friendship appreciation blog)

‘wise girl’ as a nickname isn’t very creative, but annabeth enjoys that Validation even if clarisse is trash-talking her

she’s not a big fan of the lake or swimming

(swimsuits give her dysphoria)

and then there’s percy, who sometimes jumps into the lake fully clothed and she doesn’t mind doing that

midnight lake swims (this is off topic)

annabeth is up late working, percy shows up with two cokes and is like ‘let’s go swimming!!!’ and annabeth’s just like ‘how much caffeine have you had’

annabeth logically: shorter hair would be easier for battle annabeth actually: Must Be Long To Be A Real Girl

she works hard to break this mentality, because she doesn’t want to care about if she passes or not, but she also just loves keeping her hair long

one time in battle it does get cut short and she freaks out more than she’s proud of and percy and grover help her calm down

when her and sally “i adopt every one of percy’s friends” jackson meet, sally hugs her and says “i’ve always wanted a daughter!” and annabeth almost cries

she’s very secure in her gender, but there’s always this fear of rejection, so whenever monsters call her the daughter of athena part of her is always like ‘hell yeah i am!’

medusa: daughter of athena annabeth, softly: good. grover: SHE’S ABOUT TO TURN US TO STONE

when she’s made over on circe’s island and she sees herself in the mirror it’s not how she wants to look forever, but there’s something about it that’s really overwhelming to be made over like that and have gold in her hair and wow

(and they didn’t turn her into a guinea pig which was super validating)

the siren song hits even harder than you thought it did because luke was one of the first people to accept her completely

she cries when she’s asked to join the hunters of artemis

during their first quest, percy asks her what people do during quests if they get their period and she’s just like “idk i’m trans”

lowkey, one of her favorite things percy’s ever told her is how he thought she looked like a princess the first time he saw her

athena doesn’t ever talk about it with annabeth, but early on at camp, annabeth finds a woven bracelet in the trans flag colors in her bunk and Knows its from her mom

#long post #ask to tag #annabeth chase #answered #i have No Clue where we first talked about this #but i looked through discord and i think it may have been tumblr dms #which sUCKS cause those Thoughts are lost to time #but here are some others and ones ive Compiled from our previous discussions #uhhh #menstruation mention #dysphoria mention #sarah #sunlitshowers #Thanks from the Argo!#EDIT: IM SORRY FOR THE UGLY FORMATTING I CANT FIX IT #headcanons #100

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depressedhatakekakashi · 3 years

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I know you like mythology but do you have any favourites? Oh, and do you like Greek myths or Norse (if you don't read it then any other you like to read about) better?

I like all mythology. Seriously, if it's the stories of an ancient society and how they viewed the world around them, I adore it. I'm trying to read Japanese mythology right now but it's hard with baby XD

As for favourites that is a hard one because I do really love them all.

The birth of Apollo and Artemis is a favorite, because you have their mother running around the world trying to find safe haven for giving birth and every place denying her because they don't want to face Hera's wrath (cuz she was pissed zeu cheated on her, again, but she could never punish Zeus so she always punished his lovers). She finally found a place to give birth in Delphi, which ended up being where Apollo created his temple. How Apollo showed such gift for Music that He was given the lyre which became associated with him.

I also love the story of Cyprus being where Aphrodite first came out of the water where she was born (often from Uranous' (chaos) c*m when his d*CK fell into the ocean after being chopped off by his son chronos (time).) And becoming her Island because of that. .

In Norse mythology I adore the tale of the death of balder and the progression of Loki disguising themselves to be the one person who refused to not harm balder, and then hiding away a plant/finding a plant that Frigga never spoke to that could still harm the sun god and favorite child of Odin and Frigga. Convincing the blind god to toss this item at balder to partake in the gods fun of tossing anything they can at him to prove he can no longer die, subsequently killing him and starting the long forseen road to Ragnaroke.

I also love the tale of Loki turning into a mare to destract the builders incredable horse so that he could not complete the wall around asguard in time and gain the prizes he was promised by the gods when he did complete it. Leading to the birth of slepnier who is the only child to call Loki 'mother'

As well as Loki's time with a giant woman which led to the birth of fenrir, the midgardian snake and Hela. All of whom were punish by Odin for the crime of *looks at book* being big and scary (Fenrir), being terrifying and growing too much (the midgardian snake aka Thor's arch nemesis) and being too ugly to look at (hela)

Oh but I'm not done cuz I also love

Egyptian mythology: The murder of Osiri' god of the earth, but his brother Seth (set). Where set chopped his body up into a million pieces and scattered it across the earth, and Isis (osiris' wife/sister (cuz mythology be like that yuck) combed all of the earth and found every piece of her husband to put him back together and bring him back. If course when this was accomplished, Osiris could no longer be the god of earth because he was dead, so he became the god of the dead. Horus (son of Osiris and Isis) exacted revenge for his father by slaying his uncle and losing an eye in the battle (hence the eye of Horus)

#mythology #i might have spelt bames wring #cuz i'm bad for that #but these are some of my fava

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yourdeepestfathoms · 3 years

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Medusa’s Child Stuff

I got two (2) people who reblogged the story with comments and now I think everyone loves the concept so here’s some of the ideas I have for the book

The child’s name is Theodora. Medusa calls her Teddi.

She is adopted when she is ten, spends three years with Medusa before Medusa is killed, and is fourteen when she finally gets her revenge on Perseus.

Medusa was not transformed into a Gorgon by Athena. This is based on the actual real story of Medusa, and that’s that she was born a Gorgon.

Medusa cannot turn women to stone, which is why Teddi survives their first encounter. Teddi was going to be blind, but that would hinder a lot of the necessary things that needed to happen in the story, like all the visuals and stuff.

Imagine Medusa’s conflict when she can’t feed her human child live rats.

Medusa’s tail makes the BEST blanket.

Medusa was simply trying to protect Teddi when Perseus came to their island. Nobody outside the island knew about Teddi, so Perseus had no idea Medusa had a daughter. And when he does finally realize, it was too late.

When Medusa was decapitated, Chrysaor and Pegasus were born from her spilled blood, technically making them the brothers of Teddi. And when I tell you Teddi freaked the hell out when this winged horse and winged boar formed from the gore of her dead mother—

Teddi goes into a deep state of mourning after Medusa was killed. Chrysoar and Pegasus watch her worriedly as she buries Medusa’s corpse, barely strong enough to even drag it to the grave site, weakened by all her crying. Pegasus steps in and helps pull the body the rest of the way, even though he didn’t know his mother like Teddi did.

It’s strange to call a winged horse and winged boar her brothers, but Teddi is just happy to not be alone.

After two weeks of being miserable, Teddi finally decides to do something. She gets Pegasus to fly her to the mainland so she can track down Perseus and get her revenge.

“Let’s go, brothers.” “🐴👄🐴” “🐗👄🐗”

The bad news is that Perseus is a demigod. She could kill him, but it would be extremely difficult in her current state. So she enlists the help of the gods.

She tries calling out to them first, then tries praying to them, and then she goes to Olympus because she’s tired of being ignored.

Except she can’t fucking get to Olympus because Zeus sent a bug to bite Pegasus while she was flying up on his back and she nearly fell to her death.

And every time she tries again, he always finds a way to stop her.

So Teddi becomes depressed all over again and screams for HOURS at the gods at the base of Mount Olympus, calling them cruel and evil and unhelpful and awful and a bunch of other stuff.

She finally decides to just kill Perseus without their help, but while she’s walking through the woods, she meets a mysterious woman who seems very interested in her.

This woman turns out to be Artemis!! And after explaining what happened, Artemis agrees to bless Teddi for a short amount of time so she can go beat up Perseus.

Hera and Leto also decide to help, too. For fun :)

Teddi literally beats the shit out of Perseus. She is BRUTAL.

And then she has to go find Athena and get her mom’s head back, which is VERY awkward mind you.

And then she’s on her way to the Underworld!

But the blessings of the goddesses are beginning to run out and she feels the full extent of her wounds. She was stabbed, cut, gashed, bruised, and has several fractured bones. Infections were starting to set in, too.

It gets harder and harder to get up every morning, but she pushes through the agony and illness.

But she eventually makes it to the Underworld!! After sitting on a fucking boat ride and passing by a giant three-headed dog, she finally sees Hades.

And so the bargaining begins.

Teddie is so hungry and thirsty and sleep deprived and marred from the fight with Perseus, but she manages to gather the energy to beg Hades for her mother back. She just wants to see her one more time.

“Your mother...is a snake” “Yeah, and your father ate your siblings, but you don’t see me judging”

Lol jk she’d start crying

Just imagine Persephone comes in, sees the child crying, and is like, “AGAIN? Oh, hey, is that Medusa’s d—” *child cries louder*

*Hades voice* “nice”

Cerberus gives Teddi all the licks to help comfort her

Hades agrees to revive Medusa and it’s such a touching moment when mother and daughter reunite 🥺

However, Teddi was so badly wounded that she ends up bleeding out in Medusa’s arms. But Hades very subtlety revives her into a little Gorgon (or contacts someone who can do that idk I don’t know Greek mythology) because he’s not about to let this reunion be ruined by another damn death. Not on his watch.

Orpheus, watching this child talk to Hades and get her mom back without any strings attached or any walking out of he Underworld without looking at her necessary: 👁👄👁

#medusa's child #writing things #yes I think I’m famous now lmao #greek stories #greek myth retellings #greek myth #ancient greek #greek mythology #medusa #artemis #hades #persephone

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somuchfuckingsalt · 4 years

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Percy Earned his leadership

Okay, the thing is I get almost personally offended when the fandom tries to write off Percy’s leadership because that boy earned the right to be CHB’s leader.

First off, the way that RR wrote the first five books was in a way where when you combine them together, you can track one cohesive story the same way you’d do with a single story.

TLT is Act 1. It establishes the setting, the characters, and the story. While there aren’t a lot of leadership moments for Percy, because it’s the first act Percy has a lot of moments where you can see his various skills that will lead him to becoming a good leader coming through. This includes his ability to think on his feet (how he dealt with the love ride), manipulate (Crusty), and make the necessary calls needed for the good of the world (sacrificing Sally to return to the surface and stop the war).

There isn’t a lot that happens in this book that happens that changes Percy’s internally and turns him into more of a leader. Aside from the decision to leave his mom behind, every moment of ‘leadership’ that he has are small, baby step versions of leadership. This book is mainly just getting Percy accustomed to being in the situations where a leader is needed while not necessarily pushing him into a leadership position (while Percy was technically the leader of the quest he relied heavily on Grover, Annabeth, and Chiron since he was so new to the world).

SoM is Act 2. Since we know who Percy is and we don’t need to be coaxed into loving him like the first book, this book is the one where Percy probably receives the most help. This is also the ‘training montage’ portion of the story and likely the reason that the Sea of Monsters was chosen as the setting.

There are a few moments in the book where Percy takes the necessary steps to become a leader but most notably are.

Making the decision to send Clarisse on ahead.

Stepping up and confronting Luke on behalf of all four of them.

The beginning of the book where the campers poorly treat him and Tyson is also important for two reasons. The first being that Percy sticking by Tyson despite the poor treatment shows what a good person he is, even though we know he’s resentful of the situation and Tyson. The second is that part of the reason Percy is so resentful is because the last time he was at camp he was Hot Shit. Everyone thought he was the bees knees because he had completed a quest and prevented a war. By having Percy be ostracized for his association with a “monster” Rick not only prevented Percy from developing an ego but it also teaches him something all leaders need to know - which is that public opinion is extremely fickle.

This is also the book where we first hear that Percy is an ‘unreliable weapon’. Kronos specifically does not want Percy to be the prophecy child because he knows that Percy is difficult to predict, manipulate, and control. The gods themselves would be way less scared about how powerful Percy is if he was easier to control. By Percy being difficult to manipulate, that means he’s not going to wind up pulling all the people he’s leading in the wrong direction because someone else is pulling his strings.

TTC is Act 3 and the mid-story low-point. This is the book where Percy fucks up the most.

He lets his jealousy of Thalia cloud his judgement, which directly leads to Annabeth getting captured.

He again lets his jealousy and pride cloud his judgement which causes the campers to lose to the Hunters.

A tiny moment but he’s so upset over Annabeth possibly becoming a hunter that he nearly kills an Ares camper with a javelin.

He’s so pissed at Mr. D he almost lets his anger prevent them from getting help, which would have led to all of them dying.

All of Percy’s fuck ups teach him that he needs to not let his emotions cloud his judgement and clearly see in BotL and TLO that Percy has learned his lesson. Even when his parents are in danger or he has his own personal drama with Annabeth and Rachel, he’s able to focus on the task at hand.

(The one time that Percy lets his emotions take control is when he takes off in the Labyrinth alone because he thinks Nico is nearby and he’s extremely worried about Nico because he cares a lot about him despite what Rick and his ghost writers say).

They also serve as a humbling experience to keep his ego in check, because at the beginning of the book we’re told that Percy had become accustomed to campers looking to him and up to him after having completed two dangerous quests. His issue with Thalia is that he feels she gets all the attention because Zeus is her father (whether that’s a justified feeling or not). This shows us that not only does Percy have some sort of expectation of leadership but also that as someone who spent his whole life either in the corner or in bad light, he has enjoyed being in the spotlight even if only a little bit, and now he’s missing it.

This is also the book where Percy accepts the prophecy and basically puts himself in a leadership position for the sake of protecting Nico. However, for me, this isn’t the most meaningful leadership moment.

Percy’s big leadership moment in this book for me is when he takes the sky from Artemis and this is the big moment for many reasons.

For one, it shows that he has learned from his past mistakes of wanting to be the one to turn to. He acknowledges he’s not going to defeat Atlas and takes himself out of the fight so Artemis can fight instead. This is a great juxtaposition to the beginning of the story when he wanted to be on the front lines during capture the flag and have Thalia instead guard the flag (even though Thalia was right about the river).

For two, it shows his ability to make sacrifices because he knows very well that he can die.

And for three, it is his idea, his decision, and he has to convince Artemis it’s also a good idea.

BotL is Act IV, the rising action. The stakes are higher, the situation is more dangerous than ever, and our protagonist is digging himself out from under his mistakes of the previous act.

This is the book that while Percy has learned most of what he needs to in order to become a leader and has even chosen a leadership role, he’s not the one in charge. Annabeth is.

This book is literally Percy being Annabeth’s second-in-command because before you can lead, you need to learn how to follow. This is important to happen here because in the previous three books Percy either didn’t want to be a leader and/or he was fucking it up and had a lot to learn.

This is the book that shows us two things: 1) Percy's ability to sacrifice his personal wants and desires for the greater good and 2) why he is the best option to lead.

He does #1 first at Mt. St. Helens when he sends Annabeth away, because in the situation she’s the one that needs to get back for the greater good. Then the second time was when he sacrificed a peaceful eternity with Calypso for the greater good (not Annabeth, which the fandom, Rick, and his ghost writers seem to have forgotten).

Everyone is going to hate me for what I’m about to say next but bear with me. The BotL is showing us why Annabeth, the daughter of war and battle strategy, is not going to be the leader of their army in the series climax. To be clear, Annabeth is not a bad leader, in fact she is a good one, my point for the next bit here is why she’s not the best option. Throughout the book we see Annabeth repeatedly making the same mistakes that Percy made in the previous book; she lets her emotions get the better of her and cloud her judgement.

The Sphynx moment is her letting her pride overtake her better judgement and she puts everyone at risk by refusing to answer the questions over an insult to her intelligence.

Absolutely everything with Rachel is an issue. From the first moment Annabeth sees Rachel and Percy together she is jealous and she treats Rachel terribly. First off, this is poor behaviour in general (and it should have been addressed in series and apologized for) but as a leader it’s poor for a few reasons.

Firstly, that as a leader she needs to know how to put her emotions aside in order to work with everyone, regardless of her personal feelings towards them. By not being able to be at least polite to Rachel, she risked Rachel saying fuck this, I’m out (probably the only reason Rachel didn’t is because she’s chill and she knew it was a world ending problem they were dealing with).

Secondly, it shows a certain amount of immaturity. The thing with jealousy is that although it’s not a reasonable emotion, how you handle it shows how mature you are. The fact that when Annabeth becomes petty and vindictive when she’s jealous shows a lot of emotional immaturity.

Thirdly, she doesn’t fucking learn anything as we see her behaving the same way towards Rachel in TLO, made worse by the fact that she’s also attacking Percy. This isn’t entirely her fault because these actions don’t have any consequences that make her want to change her behaviour. Leaders need to be able to learn and adapt and check their own behaviour.

(honestly, the fact that Annabeth ended the series without at least trying to get over her pride and abandonment issues makes me feel like her character arc is incomplete).

TLO is Act V and the grand finale. It’s the book where Percy is 100% the Boss. It is the culmination of everything that he’s learned and shows off all the things he has that makes him a good leader.

Leaders need to know when to make sacrifices, evident by when he leaves Beckendorf and when he takes a million-to-one chance by dipping in the Styx in order to gain a chance at winning this war.

He’s cunning and manipulative, shown when he bribes the river gods into playing for his team.

He’s incredibly good at battle strategy, shown when he manages to make a plan that allows 70ish campers/hunters to defend the entire island of Manhattan from hundreds, if not thousands of soldiers from Kronos’s army.

He’s well spoken, shown when he’s able to get the campers pumped before the first battle.

He cares about the people that he’s leading. In the previous book he didn’t know Castor’s name before he died and he felt bad about that, so in this book every time he mentions a demigod it’s by name.

He’s clever, shown when he’s able to figure out literally on the fly how to kill the pig and that the hero that dies in the prophecy is Luke. He also figures out that Typhon won’t be defeated without Poseidon and knows what to say in order to get Poseidon to abandon the ocean battle and help the rest of the gods.

(Lowkey-highkey Percy is the reason that Typhon was defeated at all, because without him Poseidon would have never joined the fight and the gods would have failed, which would have meant that regardless of Kronos dying they would have been fucked)

He’s able to focus on the task at hand despite his emotional problems. This includes the times that his parents are put in the line of fire, both when they’re asleep and awake and when the Annabeth/Rachel drama is making him all kinds of angry and upset. In all those situations he’s able to carry on and largely ignore them in order to focus on the war.

To me, his deference to Chiron before the war officially begins is Percy a) being so used to following Chiron in everything and respecting the centaur as a leader and b) not entirely confident in himself and needing that confirmation that he’s in charge. While it’s never stated in the books that Percy enjoys being a leader, we never really see Percy lamenting that he wishes someone else was in charge even when he was neck deep in danger and death and stress.

No one ever questions the fact that Percy’s in charge. There isn’t ever a power struggle. Even with Thalia and Annabeth - both of whom have their own merits to make them leaders and the ambition/pride to make them chafe under the leadership of someone else. Everyone easily accepts and looks to Percy to be their leader.

I’m sorry if this comes off as rant-y and I’m likely going to piss a bunch of people off with my opinion on Annabeth’s faults, but Percy literally went through so much shit and learned and changed in order to be a good leader that it honestly makes me angry when people write him off for the sake of uplifting someone else.

#percy jackson is a leader #percy jackson #pjo #if you've noticed i have entirely ignored everything that happens in hoo

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elisexdelaserre · 3 years

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What god are you a reincarnation of ?

ARTEMIS/DIANA

Artemis is the Greek goddess of the moon, the wild, and the hunt. When she was born, she could see that her mother was in pain, now giving birth to Artemis' twin brother, Apollo (the god of the sun, medicine and music). She soothed her mother (Leto) and helped her to a meadow area on the island of Delos. When Apollo was born, the floating island gained roots and has been anchored to the ground since, and Artemis earned the titles 'Guardian of Children' and Supporter of Childbirth'. Despite this, she is one of the three virgin goddesses, alongside Hestia and Athena, and wishes to remain that way. When she was a child, she gave Zeus six wishes, which he happily granted... 1.) To be allowed to live without being distracted by romance. 2.) For a bow and arrow like Apollo's. 3.) A hunting costume that freed her from having to dress like a lady (she wore a tunic). 4.) The ability to bring light into the world. 5.) Sixty young nymphs (female) to be her companions and help care for her hunting dogs and 6.) All the mountains on the earth to live on. She has a great gift with animals, yet doesn't mind shooting them down when it is required. She is beautiful, often portrayed with ginger hair and hazel eyes as bright as the moon, as is the daughter of the king of the gods, Zeus. She shares the symbol of the moon with two gods, Selene (who has the upper lip of the moon, symbolising the heavens), and Hecate (the goddess of magic who has the ring of the moon). Although Artemis is a virgin, she briefly had a lover, Orion, but was tricked into shooting him by Apollo. She then put a constellation of Orion into the sky, which is another of her abilities. Although she is one of the friendliest Greek gods, she can also be quite savage, such as when a mortal man was gawking at her bathing at the river, she transformed him into a stag and fed him to her wild dogs.

Tagged by: @deanadh, thanks love ♥♥ Tagging: @ofimaginarybeings (Arno) @amcred @prctectedlegacy @fourmarksmage @dragonoflegend & YOU ;D

#tagging stuff

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fulcrumahsokaamidala · 4 years

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Saturday Spectacular #19

Happy Saturday!!! So this is me thanking awesome fanfic writers for their amazing work and all the time they put into their fics. ♥️ I want to recommend spectacular fanfic stories I read this week! ♥️ All posts will be tagged #saturday spectacular fic rec

Hello friends, it’s been a while since I’ve done one of these. It’s been a crazy few months. This semester I started college and am getting an associate's degree in one year that means I’m taking 23 credits this fall term. It’s been a bit crazy but I’ve still been read fic so this what I’ve read since September 21. It’s not going to be in order.

light upon darkened dreams by @alexiablackbriar13 | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: After the events of 8x04, Oliver remains awake long into the night, getting lost in his thoughts about his children and Felicity. It's a good thing he isn't asleep, because he catches Mia suffering from a horrific nightmare. How can a father comfort his daughter from the future from a bad dream when they're still practical strangers to each other?

Artemis by @laxit21 | Arrow | WIP

Summary: When the Queen’s Gambit sank, two people were stranded on Lian Yu. Five years later, four came back.

Daughter of the Demon by @laxit21 | Arrow | WIP

Summary: What if in 1988 while traveling through Las Vegas Ra’s al Ghul bumps into a nice waitress named Donna Smoak and they have one-night stand together? A little bundle of joy named Felicity Smoak is the result. In 2014, the Demon Head becomes aware of his youngest daughter’s existence.

The Ravager by @laxit21 | Arrow | WIP

Summary: Slade Wilson’s plan for revenge against Oliver took time, money and no shortage of lives to pull together. His plan didn’t anticipate Felicity Smoak. How will his plan change now that his lost-lost daughter is working with the very man he’s trying to destroy?

Felicity of Themiscyra by @laxit21 | Arrow | WIP

Summary: Years ago, Donna Smoak left the island of Themiscyra and her sister Queen Hippolyta behind to live in man’s world. She never told Felicity the truth about where she came from. As a result of the Undertaking, Felicity discovers some of her Amazonian abilities and makes an interesting new friend: Diana Prince.

The Daughter That Was Left by @laxit21 | Arrow | WIP

Summary: Before the Gambit, Oliver Queen met QC intern Felicity Smoak. When he boarded the Gambit, he left something behind. Now, five long years later someone is waiting for him.

I Scream But No Sound Comes out by @laxit21 | Arrow | WIP

Summary: When Oliver returns from Lian Yu after five years, he comes back different. What happened there damaged more than just his body. How will his friends and family deal with this new Oliver?

The Point of No Return by @oneofthosecrazygirls-fics | Arrow | Completed

Summary Oliver and Felicity prepare for their first date. This fic is part of the What Should’ve Been ‘verse, but can be read as a stand-alone fic.

Can’t Help Falling in Love by @smoaking-greenarrow | Arrow | WIP

Summary: Collection of fluff fics based on Tumblr prompts! Some are angsty, but most of this is fluffy. Enjoy!

Let the Light Shine Through by @griever11 | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Your heart starts healing and it’s a slow process. After all, it’s been in shambles; sharp, cruel pieces of rubble lying on the bottom of your rib cage for so long. Wounds heal, as they say. They’ll scar, and they hurt, but they heal.

Baby Daddy by more0rLessJess | Arrow | WIP

Summary: Bartender Oliver Queen was living his twenties to the fullest, he lived with his best friend John Diggle, and his brother in everything but blood, Tommy Merlyn just moved into their apartment as he started his professional baseball career for the Starling City Rockets. On top of that, his childhood best friend Felicity Smoak, who was no longer goth and instead blonde and beautiful, was back in town and they were hanging out again. Oliver thought his days were going to be filled with partying, one night stands, and boys weekends while also spending quality time with the girl everyone kept telling him he was in love with. Until his ex girlfriend dropped a baby on his doorstep who turned out to be his son. After a lot of thought and Felicity Smoak peptalks, Oliver decides to keep and raise his son with the help of his friends. Or the Freeform sitcom Baby Daddy AU that no one asked for but I needed to write. Aka Oliver and Felicity are childhood friends and are hopelessly in love with eachother and everyone knows but them, oh and now they're raising a baby. What could go wrong?

call me my love, day or night by @alexiablackbriar13 | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: As Mia and William are enjoying their Monte Cristos, Oliver receives a phone call from somebody who is not Curtis. Somebody who is far, far more important.

and you'll blow us all away by inlovewithimpossibility | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Oliver desperately tries to connect with his daughter but it seems all he needed was a photograph and the memory of a woman both of them love more than anything. [Post-8x04 Oliver & Mia moment]

Fight To Live by CSM | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Post 803. Oliver's conversation with adult William and Mia does not go as planned and there is only one person that can help him. Takes places directly after the episode.

New York's Finest (Supernatural) Detectives by BillCipherpines | Brooklyn Nine-Nine & Shadowhunters | Completed

Summary: Jake Peralta is 100%, without a doubt, definitely sure that his friend Simon Lewis is a vampire. But when he sets out to prove it to his friends they get sucked into the world of Shadowhunters and realize that petty drug dealers are the least of New York's problems. But not to worry, New York's finest Shadowhunters are on the case

The Unlikeliest Places by @griever11 | Arrow | Completed

Summary: 'It all starts on an unassuming Friday evening. Or rather, if she’s being honest with herself, everything else in her life ends on that Friday.'

An AU meeting fic where Felicity Smoak accidentally-on-purpose stumbles upon some shady activity as an IT tech for Queen Consolidated and realises that she really isn't being paid enough for any of this.

In Another Life (I could be your man) by angelicmisskitty | Arrow | WIP

Summary: Their lives couldn't be more different - and yet Oliver can't take his eyes off the beautiful blonde woman that leaves the subway every morning at 7.43am. There is something about her that makes him look up every morning - something that also makes him aware he'll never be good enough for her, or that she'd even notice him.

He had no idea how much his life would change the day he rushed over to help her...

Olicity AU - no Lian Yu, no saving the city (at least not in the way we know from Arrow :D )

Here At Last by thecomebackkids99 | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: A 8x04 spec fic of what happens right after Mia, William, and Connor are transported to the bunker.

Against All Odds by CSM | Arrow | Completed

Summary: Post 3x14. Time Travel. Going back in time. Changing the future is not an exact science but he knows if anyone can do it, it’s her. If there is one thing Eleanor Queen can do, is be a hero. After all she has heroes’ blood pumping through her veins.

Lucas' Adventures by CSM | Arrow | WIP

Summary: Post 2x07. One late night in the foundry Oliver finds an abandoned baby, who he later finds out is his biological son, the only thing is the baby seems to think Felicity is his mother, which is impossible. Or is it? aka, Mia Smoak gets tired of her baby brother and sends him to 2013 where their unsuspecting parents find him. Companion piece to Impeccable Genetics.My contribution for the Olicity Summer Sizzle

“Time for a story” Drabble Series by @smkkbert | Arrow | WIP

Summary: This fic shows Olicity and their life as a (married) couple with family. Although Olicity (and their kids) are the protagonists, other characters of Arrow and Flash make appearances. It started as a drabble series, but developed more and more into a full domectic AU. Although some chapters are still drabble-like, there are longer storylines by now.

With You by @griever11 | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Post 8x03 Leap of Faith. Oliver, William and Mia have a lot of feelings and in classic Queen fashion, have somewhat of a hard time expressing them. Oliver learns about the future and his kids try to make sense of the past.

in the here and now by @alexiablackbriar13 | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Set immediately post-8x03. “Dad?” Oliver stares in utter disbelief at the trio who have appeared on the bunker platform along with him in a blinding flash of light. For a good couple of seconds, his brain just… stops functioning. He’s so astonished that he can’t think, he can’t breathe, he can’t feel anything but shock.

The Blame Game by inlovewithimpossibility | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: After they recover from their sudden appearance in the past, what's left of FTA still need to deal with what happened before they left. Mia and Connor both seek a moment of peace and Mia's brother and father are the guiding hand she needs as she feels like she's drowning.

There Are Two Sides to Every Story by @oneofthosecrazygirls-fics | Arrow | WIP

Summary: Susan Williams and Bethany Snow are two of Starling City’s most prominent journalists...but their styles are very different.This is a series of articles written by these two journalists from the time of the sinking of the Queen’s Gambit to the present day.**set in the What Should’ve Been ‘verse**

Campfire Stories by @realityisoverrated-fic | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Samantha has finally agreed to allow William to spend a month of his summer vacation with Oliver, Tommy, and Felicity. William asks to spend his first weekend with Oliver camping - alone. Oliver is more than a little nervous to spend time alone with his son when he still feels like a stranger.

The First Time by @realityisoverrated-fic | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Every love story has a beginning, theirs started with a death.

Home Is Where You Are by @realityisoverrated-fic | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Felicity is away on business and missing home. Tommy surprises her with an unexpected visit.

The Italian Restaurant by @realityisoverrated-fic | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Felicity, Oliver and Tommy go on their first date which leads to other firsts.

Cobble Hill by @realityisoverrated-fic | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Tommy surprises Oliver and Felicity with a proposal that will mark a milestone in their relationship.

Up All Night by @realityisoverrated-fic | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: After a close call in the field, Oliver and Felicity reconnect.

Will You Still Love Me, Tomorrow? by @realityisoverrated-fic | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Donna arrives for an unexpected visit and Felicity must decide if she is going to reveal the truth about her relationship with Oliver and Tommy.

Wherever You Are, There I Am by @realityisoverrated-fic | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: The history of Oliver Queen and Tommy Merlyn's relationship.

Burgers & Lies by @realityisoverrated-fic | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Tommy confronts Felicity about a secret she has been keeping.

Welcome Home by @realityisoverrated-fic | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Felicity has been away for two weeks and missing her guys. Oliver and Tommy are very happy when she returns from her trip early.

Twenty Questions Over Brunch by @realityisoverrated-fic | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Thea has a few questions for Felicity about her relationship with Oliver and Tommy.

Look Me In The Eye And Make Me Feel The Truth by @realityisoverrated-fic | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: A night out in the public eye might be more than their relationship can take.

Three by @realityisoverrated-fic | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Felicity hasn't been acting herself all week. Tommy and Oliver finally confront her and they aren't prepared for what she tells them.

Practical Jokes and Other Misunderstandings by @realityisoverrated-fic | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Oliver and Tommy tell Thea about their relationship.

House Warming by @realityisoverrated-fic | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Oliver, Felicity and Tommy celebrate their first night together in their new home.

Perfect by @realityisoverrated-fic | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Felicity receives a call in the middle of the night from a distraught Tommy.

Nine to Five by @griever11 | Arrow | Completed

Summary: The new receptionist at Oliver's office is weird, quirky and really cute but totally not his type. At all. Or so he tells himself. An Arrow/The Office AU.

keep this love in a photograph by @alexiablackbriar13 | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: An alternate 8x01 scene.Moira suspects that there is more to her son than meets the eye when Oliver returns home from the island after twelve years.When she catches him with the photo he's carrying around of him with Felicity Smoak and a baby, a confrontation and an emotional conversation ensue.

Mothers know best by @smkkbert | Arrow | Completed

Summary: Since they have been kids, they have been best friends. Since they have been friends, their mothers wanted them to be together.After coming back from the east coast, Felicity takes over a position at Queen Consolidated, the company her best friend will soon take over from his father. Their mothers still push for them to be together, and they seem closer to that goal than ever because wedding bells are ringing. The only problem is that they both plan to get married to someone else.

The Legacy of a Queen by inlovewithimpossibility | Arrow | WIP

Summary: Series of one-shots from a future AU where Oliver and Felicity are able to raise their children after they defeat the Ninth Circle and Oliver hangs up the hood

A Brother in Arms by inlovewithimpossibility | Arrow | WIP

Summary: “I just… she really found me and sent you here?” He asks quietly and John’s face morphs from concern into a sad smile as he nods.“Oliver, you know she’d be here herself if it weren’t for Mia.”“I… it’s been a week. She said she’d find me but I didn’t expect…” Missing moment from 8x01 where John and Oliver discuss Felicity finding Oliver and sending John to Earth-2 to help his brother.

Providence by @so-caffeinated | Arrow | WIP

Summary: Will Queen has struggled in silence in the year since he was shot. But when a shadowy crime lord known as Domino targets the only woman Will’s ever truly loved, fate forces him to confront his demons in ways he never could have imagined… Whether he wants to or not. Amelia Prescott has fought to take control of her life since learning two years ago that her personal and professional worlds were manipulated by others. But nothing can prepare her for just how hard she’ll have to fight to set her own course, especially when her heart belongs to a damaged man and a crime lord threatens her every professional move… And her life. Destiny brings them together, but as chaos reigns and personal demons haunt Will and Amelia both, it may also threaten to tear them apart.

What Are You Doing Here, Miss Queen? by inlovewithimpossibility | Arrow | WIP

Summary Sara Lance prides herself on knowing people, she gets them in a way a lot of others struggle with. So when a mysterious blonde shows up to help with the fight of their lives, Sara is surprised when there's something about her that she just can't put her finger on. That is until she figures out that this supposed 'Green Arrow from another earth' is actually Oliver's time-displaced daughter. [Sara sees straight through Mia's Crisis disguise, confronts her about what she's doing in the past, and forces father and daughter into a conversation that is clear they needed to have]

the true meaning of sacrifice by inlovewithimpossibility | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Around five years after Crisis, Felicity is surprised and angry when a group of three heroes show up at her door demanding help from her.

i will find you again by inlovewithimpossibility | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: a short-introspective on oliver in s8 inspired by the scene in the trailer as he takes a moment to remember the reason he's fighting. his wife, his children... they give him the strength he needs to be the hero the universe requires

Paging Dr. Smoak by @laxit21 | Arrow | WIP

Summary: When Oliver Queen gets into a car accident, he meets Dr. Felicity Smoak. He had no idea how much a chance meeting would change his life.

little wonders (twists and turns of fate) by @alexiablackbriar13 | Arrow | Completed Summary: Oliver and Felicity's drunken mistake of a hook-up in the bunker comes with unexpected consequences in the form of a... souvenir.Deciding to remain romantically uninvolved, the two of them will have to battle all the trials and tribulations of maintaining a platonic relationship while Felicity is pregnant and the two of them are living together, coping with all the emotional baggage that they both bring to the table - and dealing with the fact that they are still very much in love with each other, but scarred by the events that broke them apart in the first place.

time falls away (in these small hours) by @alexiablackbriar13 | Arrow | Completed

Summary: Missing scene and side-story oneshots and drabbles set within my S5 post-bunker sex AU little wonders (twists and turns of fate). (Will contain spoilers) Summary for little wonders: Oliver and Felicity's drunken mistake of a hook-up in the bunker comes with unexpected consequences in the form of a... souvenir.

Must be what I need by Nerdofmanytalents | Arrow | One-shot

Summary: Thea gets to meet the reason for her brother's preoccupation of late. Its both exciting and terrifying.

Hawkins: The Upside by allonsysilvertongue | Stranger Things | WIP

Summary: A collection of one shots featuring Joyce Byers and Jim Hopper.Recent Update: "I think you're beautiful."

Welcome to Starling Prep Elementary by inlovewithimpossibility | Arrow | Completed

Summary: When William Clayton and Adalyn Smoak bond over being the two new kids in Starling Prep Elementary's first-grade class, their parents are not prepared for what comes of their children's friendship. Plus, it doesn't hurt that both Oliver and Felicity are single.

Our Version of Events by @machawicket & @geneeste | Arrow | WIP

Summary: Action star Ollie Queen is trying to clean up his image and land parts that require him to do more than appear shirtless while fighting stuntmen. Pop star Felicity Smoak wants to be seen as an adult in time for the release of her new, grittier album. And talent manager John Diggle’s got an idea about what coverage of Oliver and Felicity’s brand new (and totally fake) romance could do for them both.

Workouts and Babbles by @elasticmonk | Arrow | WIP

Summary: Oliver comes to the rescue of one cute blonde at his gym just as Felicity stumbles upon one handsome mayor at her gym. They both have something in common, but will it bring them happiness?

Bodyguard by originalhybridlover | Arrow | WIP

Summary: Felicity needs a new bodyguard and Diggle referred her to an old friend, Oliver Queen. Unknowingly she meets the man she would one day marry.

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