My Dad Is Going To Die. He's Going To Be Taken Off The Ventilator And We're Going To Meet Him And Then

Why leave, did I not give you enough? (Part 2)

Was it because of Oriana? Madoc had not seen much of her interactions with the children, but they might have been apprehensive of new stepmother-Vivienne certainly taunted him about his infidelity to his previous wife. And when she had said at the wedding, in front of everyone, that Oriana certainly hadn't married Madoc because even his first wife didn't want him, he had thought that he might kill her. Certainly his stare had silenced her, but she continued to smirk and many fairies silently laughed. He had not been able to face her after the event. Everyone knew about and questioned (Even silently ridiculed) his two human daughters. Yet he continued, and they had come to be accepted over time. The fairies questioned him no more. He wondered if they had cut off her top ring finger or whether it had really been an accident as she claimed. It had been almost 2 weeks since they had gone-the first few days, he had been too busy to notice, yet at the end of 4 days with none of his daughters running around and yelling, he had begun to worry. And then he had checked on them, and they hadn't been there. And he had searched, and they hadn't been there, and then he had searched more, and they were gone. It was only the next day that they had come back, and when he had seen them there, they had run to him, and he had run to them, and then tear-stricken apologies and half-explanations tumbled from their mouths, and Vivienne had looked at them through her cat eyes, blinking back tears, betrayal and anger and grief blazoned on her face like a painting for the world to see. And he had sunk upon his knees and told them that they would have nothing to fear and that Oriana would not hurt them, and that he would not send them away, and that all four of his children would be safe. And he had been so angry at Vivienne, but Jude and Taryn begged him not to punish her, so he relented. 'Why leave, did I not give you enough?' he had asked. Subconciously, he knew that he had taken what he could not give, and had tried to trade jagged, rusted, useless metal for the most beautiful, rarest diamond in the world.

(PART 2! Sorry if it's a bit underwhelming. Please leave constructive criticism under my writing posts-I'd really like to hear how I can improve!)

Men aren't allowed to express their emotions properly by society, so they channel their feelings into rage and take that rage out, and because society allows men to do it, it enables this from the cradle to the grave.

Solangelo is not Grumpy x Sunshine

One thing that's puzzled me about Solangelo is the grumpy x sunshine dynamic and how everyone thinks it's true.

Excuse me, did we read the same PJO and HOO?

Because in PJO and HOO, Will Solace was never sunshine.

In TLO, we see him heal Annabeth. He smiles and it's exhausted from running around healing everyone. Exhausted and tired and rueful.

And when Connor Stoll says that he's willing to steal, Will glares at him and gives him sharp orders.

In TLH, Will yells at Annabeth for destroying the chariot and scowls at her. Later, when he gives Leo a tour, he looks as if he finds the idea of a sword disturbing. And in the tour scene, he's helpful to Leo (he pats his shoulder too, which is a nice gesture).

In BOO, he calms Clarisse down and prevents a fight, which is good. He tells everyone that his prophetic cabin mates' powers have been affected too. Nico describes him as nonthreatening but brave under fine and Will is insecure about the fact that he's just a healer.

Will helps multiple times by using his taxicab whistle, when defeating soldiers and stopping the Greeks and Romans from fighting. A great example of him being competent on page.

From what we've seen of him so far, he's competent in war and in general and cordial with other people. He's good at diffusing tense situations as well as being insecure about the fact that he's just a healer (though he states that he has a few musical abilities as well, like his piercing taxicab whistle).

This is good enough (especially good material for a future character which was unfortunately botched) but there's nothing to indicate that he's sunshine.

Later, when encountering Nico, Will, who doesn't understand any of Nico's abilities, forcefully orders him not to shadow-travel even when it could possibly save the camp using the phrase 'doctor's orders'.

(This is an example of Will abusing his doctor's authority).

He also says that Nico won't be summoning skeletons again without Nico's permission. You might think that Nico was doing horribly, but even so, Will literally talked for him without his consent. That is not good-it's never good. You shouldn't do anything for someone without their consent, especially not when they're conscious and standing right there.

And then we come to where Nico says that he's leaving both camps.

At this, Will is furious for some unstated reason and then proceeds to victim blame Nico, telling him that he was the one who pushed everyone away. And even if Will was tired and terrified right then, he doesn't apologise later. He just calls Nico dense.

We've literally seen in nearly everyone's POV (Frank, Piper, Leo, Jason and Annabeth-even Percy tells them terrible stories about him that warps their view of him) that Nico is creepy as hell to them. Then how do you expect us to think that the people at CHB actually welcome Nico?

And in TOA he's nice, yes, but by then people were already shipping Solangelo and reducing them to this sunshine x grumpy dynamic.

None of this paints Will as sunshine. Will isn't sunshine just because he's white, blond and a son of Apollo. Stop being so quick to stereotype characters based on their physical traits and parentage.

And Nico isn't grumpy. He's creepy to some people and he has a sarcastic sense of humour. He's quiet, tired and frustrated sometimes, but not grumpy in general.

Stop calling him grumpy just because he's related to death and Will is related to life and healing. This is just flanderisation to fit into stereotypes, and it's sad.

But of course the fandom ruins everything and Rick follows suite.

I feel disappointed that Rick implied that Hazel and Nico were related to the most infamous Nazi and didn't care to address it. Or that Camp Jupiter was allied with the confederates and all Hazel does is go "Not cool".

Did he not want to think about how fucked up that is?

This is a case of Rick intertwining real life history with his fictional world and fucking it up big time.

It's absolutely horrible to make the Greek Gods responsible for World War 2. It's even more digusting to have the Nazis be children of the Greek Gods. It's a huge insult to Greeks, their culture, their history (The Greeks fought AGAINST THE NAZIS!) and their culture.

I don't know much about the fandom history or PJO history, but I think that he retconned it to avoid backlash.

The fact that Camp Jupiter allied with the Confederates is also extremely disgusting. Hazel definitely should have been horrified and more disgusted. And making Hitler's half-siblings the type of people that he hated was even more fucked up, though it could have been interesting if it was talked about.

My best guess is that he didn't want to address the implications of how fucked up that was, which was why he retconned it and didn't talk about it again.

Sometimes I wonder what goes on in his mind. I guess that it's just the infamous American arrogance, especially from an old white Christian man.

One thing I feel that isn't talked about enough is that Athena helps Penelope by giving her sleep.

Some of you probably don't think that that's anything that's worthy of attention, but that's just not true. What Athena did for Penelope was amazing.

Do you know how torturous it is to toss around and constantly worry about something? Especially what Penelope was worried about?

Do you know how relieving it is to just go to sleep and banish these worries from your mind, at least for a short while?

It's absolutely wonderful. Athena was so sweet for giving Penelope sleep when Penelope was extremely distressed. It's a great example of a woman helping another woman that people should use more.

Aphrodite and Mitchell oneshot

Mitchell stared at his mother. Her skin was pale silver, and curly black ringlets framed her face, the rest being pulled back into a high ponytail. Her eyes, however, changed every moment, like a kaleidoscope. 'M-mother,' he stammered. He didn't know what to do-was this really his mother, or was she a hallucination? After losing Capture The Flag, Sherman had taunted him about his parentage. 'Aphrodite's children could never fight as well as the rest of us. Your mom is the goddess of lust and beauty, what's so strong about that?' Mitchell had punched him in the face. In retaliation, Sherman had nearly scratched his eyes out and left him with bruises that might last for a month. And then, in front of the whole camp, Mitchell had burst into tears and ran away, even as Silena called for him and Drew hissed at Sherman. And he had come to the forest, where he really liked to be alone. Thankfully, there were no nymphs or dryads now. Well, there was one, and he had turned to leave, but she called his name and beckoned him over. And then she had told him that she was actually his mother, Aphrodite. He had been told that if, by a rare chance, a god was actually encountered, they must be given the utmost respect and consideration. One's own needs were practically nonexistent, one always agreed with them no matter what. She patted a moss cushioned rock beside her. 'Oh, do sit down! It's been ages since I've talked to one of my children.' He sat down, assuming a respectful posture, hands folded in his lap. 'Ah…………uh, to what do I owe this honour?' 'Oh? Sometimes I secretly visit Camp Half Blood and watch Capture The Flag for fun, and, well, I saw what happened today.' Embarrassment heated his face. Was she going to tell all the other gods? Would he be made a laughingstock among them? Or would she turn him into something for embarrassing her? 'Oh, cheer up.' she patted his cheek and he blinked in surprise. 'I'm not going to humiliate you further. I felt that I ought to tell you how bad my children can have it, especially my sons. The patriarchy negatively affects men as well.' He swallowed. Ah. So……..she was going to comfort him? Would she expect something from him after this? Was she going to send him on a quest to prove himself or something? His throat constricted. He'd heard stories of campers going missing or worse. And there was that horrible tradition of weaving a burial shroud for a quester.

Imagines flashed through his mind, of his siblings weaving with trembling hands, of tears sliding down their cheeks, of the designs that they would struggle to choose from. 'My children are often dismissed and treated as frivolous. The gods are changed by how we are viewed, and people have begun to view me as a silly, fragile little thing who would sooner walk away then get my hands dirty. And the same goes for my children, which I cannot control, though I fervently wish I could.' Does she want to control us? Mitchell thought uncomfortably. Or is she talking about her image? 'My sons bear the brunt of this horribly-misogyny and misandry can be two versions of a terrible, useless coin. Feminine men were often mocked back in the day-well, they still ARE mocked, but you understand me.' And the point of this is? 'The point of this is to assure you that you are not alone. Other feminine men, even ones not my sons, suffer from the same discrimination. And my daughters are also mocked and called useless for the simple crime-' she wrinkled her in nose in distaste, '-of being feminine, even though femininity and fighting are intrinsically intertwined since the dawn of time. Women have silently fought their wars, not the ones with politics and weapons, but the ones with misogyny and violence from both men and women alike-and those battles have dragged on for millennia, and every generation has been witness and victim to them.' A beautiful monologue, worthy of Athena, Mitchell thought, smiling, then he was glad that his mother couldn't read his thoughts. 'And so……….' Aphrodite waved her hand, 'go back and fight, my son. I was once worshipped as a war goddess, and feminine people can still fight. Go and show them that you are a worthy son of mine.'

JASON AND JUNO AND UNREALISTIC WRITING

Ok, listen-

If there is one thing that is unrealistic about Juno and Jason in PJO, it's that she wanted him to be her champion.

That is one of the most unrealistic things about Hera/Juno. In reality, she would most likely kill Jason painlessly if he was lucky, or she'd kill him painfully if not, or she'd turn him into an animal or something.

She would not take him as a champion. It's explicitly stated that Hera sees her husband's mistresses and bastards as embarassments and threats to her status as Queen Consort. She wouldn't just take one and make him her champion and give her glory.

If we were talking about real Hera/Juno-she wouldn't let Jason survive at all.

Heracles was named after Hera to appease her and it did not work. His name literally meant 'Champion of Hera' and she still cursed him pretty badly. Jason being named after Hera's last champion, who was cast out of her good graces because he did not keep his word of marriage to Medea and offended her, was not going to help him. It was never going to help him.

There's nothing wrong with liking PJO Juno and PJO Jason, just wanted to say this.

Holy shit! Are you okay.

I’m so sorry that happened. That Stan is deplorable

Ah, don't worry. I'm completely fine. Thanks for asking, though!

I was surprised, but I didn't really give much thought to it.

REGARDING PJO HADES

Hades might not be a nice guy............

Ok, I'm not going to pretend that Hades is a nice guy.

Sure, he's fair and just. Mostly good. But not nice. Not a laughing, smiling guy. I mean, the Ancient Greeks were scared of him for a reason.

I'm not going to pretend that he's a pleasant guy who's the life of the party. Being the Ruler of the Underworld and so many people dying before they were supposed to-well, that's not fun to deal with. Of course he'd be grim and cold after all that time there!

He's described as cold, pitiless, stern, unyielding and even hateful once. Not the kind of description that conjures up the image of a nice guy.

But he's not Satan

But he wasn't cruel. He was said to be ruthless, but that was because he judged everyone fairly, no matter their status or wealth or position on the hierarchy. No amount of sacrifices could change your judgement in the underworld based on your actions in life.

Hesiod literally says that's why us humans hate him- 'For Hades gives not way, and is pitiless, and therefore he among all the gods is most hateful to mortals.'

He is pitiless, but only in terms of fairness. If you show compassion to real criminals, then you're harming the good public by letting the bad people off with a slap on the wrist. In this way, how is Hades being pitiless, stern, even cruel to literal criminals bad?

And this is where my problem with PJO Hades comes in.

So we all know that Thalia, a child, sacrifices herself to save her friends. She should rightfully go to Elysium-

But instead, it's heavily implied and even confirmed that Hades would send her to The Fields of Punishment or even Tartarus instead, just for being the daughter of a man who angered him (Zeus).

Now, I want to digress and tell you that Hades does not personally judge souls. He leaves that to three judges-Minos, Aeacus and Rhadamanthus, all of whom judged the souls.

Hades can't interefere with their decisions. These judges are a force of nature like the Fates-and we all know how important the latter are.

In PJO, the judges rotate regularly, but Hades still should not be able to interfere with their decision, right? But it's shown that he can interfere with their decisions, which shouldn't be possible.

And even if Hades could interefere with their decisions, why would he send Thalia to the Fields of Punishment? He's a just god. His job is to uphold cosmic order in the Underworld by sending people to where they belong based on their actions in life.

So tell me, why would he send a child, a twelve year old, to be severely punished even if her father had angered him and he couldn't touch Zeus?

It goes against everything Hades stands for. It doesn't make any sense.

Then again, Rick Riordan did ruin most of the gods in his portrayal, so it's not surprising, but it's pretty annoying to read how Hades sent a monster army after a child for no good reason. Hades,

Here's a link to an ask I sent to the wonderful @margaretkart about Hades and her response. You should go check out her blog to learn more and correct misinformation from PJO.

B-but he kidnapped Persephone!

(That was entirely symbolic and not meant to be taken literally. It was an explanation of the changing seasons, a portrayal of cruelly death ripped young children away from their parents' arms, and a comfort story for grieving mothers who could not have a say in their daughters' marriages. MOST of the myths are symbolic and not literal.)

To conclude-I'm just saying, Hades might not be a nice guy, but he'll always be fair and just. Rick's portrayal of him as morally gray was nice, but he messed up in making Hades send monsters after a child for no good reason just because of her father.

Cardan Greenbriar with people other than Jude, please

Ok, people, does ANYONE in the TFOTA fandom want more of Cardan Greenbriar on his own?

Because most of the content I see with him is always linked to Jude somehow, and it's getting frustrating. This guy is his own person outside of Jude, yet no one seems to think about that. They just woobify him and reduce him to this himbo character.

What about his platonic relationships? I mean, I know he had an effed up relationship with Locke and Nicasia, but what about with Valerian (his thoughts on Valerian in general? Valerian lore?)

Or Vivienne? Or Taryn? Or his sisters or father or mother?

Or even Cardan with the court of Shadows. The Ghost, the Bomb and the Roach. Without Jude.

Or just on his own. Seriously, Cardan is an entertaining asshole who can be regal and intimidating-

and no one takes advantage of that. He's always dumbed down and placed with Jude. It's always Jude, Jude Jude with him and there's a certain point where it gets too repetitive.

Please make more of Cardan Greenbriar without Jude. I promise you that it is possible.