Found This Exact Random Panel On Pinterest Last Year, Wondered Who These Two Were Since They Looked Sad

So uh, do you guys think Thanatos ever sneaks up (or better, straight up appears) silently behind Zag, muttering Death approaches with a mischievous smile on his face before suddenly hugging him, and Zag would be like "Again? You're getting kind of predictable, Than" or is it just me and my silly little 2am scenarios

Old drawing from when I was practicing anatomy or something

You're next on my to-draw list, diva 🫠😩

oh lordy

(Spoilers and long yaps ahead)

I just finished rereading TSoA for the 3rd time to refresh my memory and bc apparently there's some sort of unwritten rule that I have to read it every other year (lol), so here are some of my thoughts/impressions...

- I really liked the way MM describes feelings and especially places and atmospheres, very detailed and immersive

- Overall, there were some kind of inaccuracies and stuff that sounded a bit weird-worded to me here and there (maybe it's bc I've read a translation but idk), but nothing too serious. Also I had forgotten about the humor, some bits were hilarious

- I LOVED the first part from the beginning up until they're called back from mount Pelion, better than I remembered

- (Also Chiron saying he'll wait for them to come back I was like wait it's not time for crying yet stop)

- You guys weren't joking abt the feet thing omg, I had totally forgotten about it. Like, 30 pages in and I've already heard about Achilles' feet at least 20 times, it wasn't annoying just mildly amusing to me lol

- I get that Thetis has to be overprotective, even unwilling to mingle with mortals, but I wasn't a big fan in general of her being represented as some kind of cold and indifferent "sea witch", or as the antagonist, even though she redeems at the end. At least at the end I managed to feel sorry even for her

- Pat's mom was barely there as a character (since we basically know nothing abt her from the myths) but...her portrayal felt deeply touching to me?

- It kinda bugged me at first that Achilles here is older than Pat, but that's just a detail

- every single scene between the boys felt so inherently sweet and intimate, absolutely loved it

- Pat is supposed to be an unreliable narrator, and that's fine, we get why. But at times, his thoughts get so unnecessarily self-deprecating, and I was like? my boy I get that it's not your fault you feel that way, but you're worth more than that omg? But it kinda makes sense within the story, you can immediately sympathize with him, you genuinely feel what he feels, so I didn't really mind it

- The whole Skyros part was...kinda there? I felt like it somehow broke the immersion for me. The whole thing was so rushed it was hilarious, like, Pat randomly arrives to the king's palace, and then the sequence after that basically goes

"Hello, stranger, I'm your very seducing princess. Wanna see me and my girls dance?"

"Wait, Achilles, you're one of the girls??"

"Pyrrha, what does this mean??"

"Shut up, he's my husband!"

"Wtf no, you're my husband!"

"You useless mortals..."

"Mom, I'm tired, make it stop!"

"But I'm pregnant!!"

"Wtf??"

"Wait, let me explain!"

Like...yeah.

- I think Deidameia has more to her character other than being "the annoying asshole used by Thetis to distract Achilles", like...idk, her relationship with "Pyrrha" could have been explored further other than the "my mom forced me" thing...also yeah, not a fan of what she did to Pat, it felt like an unnecessary addition. I understand that MM had to make significant changes to this part of the myth especially to make it fit in her story, but still...

- My poor, sweet Iphigenia. Again, kinda rushed, but her part read like the terrible tragedy it is. I have nothing else to say.

- Achilles at Troy. We need to talk about him even tho there would be way too much to say. He's still so young and innocent and perfect and beautiful, but with such a heavy burden on his shoulders? And at the same time he wants to be the best bc that's what he was born for, he craves honor, glory and recognition? Like, everyone wants him to be hero, a killer, but my boy was left paralyzed for days after witnessing his first ever death with his own eyes, after which he needed to be comforted and caressed? The way he's fully aware of the fact that his time is so short lived? The way he's so godlike, he literally exudes divinity, yet so incredibly and painfully human? Bye

- The damn FORESHADOWING all the time after they sail to Troy once every ten lines basically. "What has Hector ever done to me" and similar, I mean. Like, I couldn't afford to cry before the end of the book

- I still don't know what to think about Pat being all soft and vulnerable and pacifist in the middle of the war. Like, yes, it makes me want to hug him. He's lovely and lovable, of course. But idk, it's almost as if something didn't feel quite right with it

- Kinda same for Briseis. She's such a beautiful and interesting character, even tho MM's interpretation of her story, especially her relationship with our two mains, differs quite a lot from the original. The dynamics didn't feel to me as rushed or unnecessary as they were in the Skyros part, though

- The whole feel of camaraderie was quite tangible, it felt almost real. As if you were there, knowing each one of them in person, especially the Achaeans ofc (plus Odysseus and Diomedes' banter was awesome. They've truly got some great lines)

- I wasn't too convinced by the interpretation that Achilles felt absolutely nothing, if not just pity, towards Briseis, with Pat being the only one loving her, but again it makes sense within the story as it's told

- Everything after Pat dies felt...rushed, way less explored. Even tho it's the part where most of the important stuff happens (Achilles' death, most notably.)

- which absolutely needs to be talked about. 'He's chasing after himself... He's just a mortal, not a god. Hit him and he'll die... When he fell, he had a smile on his lips'. BYE I have nothing else to say.

- The contrast between young Achilles being utterly horrified by the slaughter of an innocent girl as a sacrifice, and Pyrrhus doing the exact same thing and claiming to be doing it in his father's honor........

- Last but not least, the ending between Thetis and Patroclus' spirit always hits hard...I haven't cried the first two times I've read it, but this time I sobbed like a baby

Like... I've always had sort of mixed feelings abt this book for different reasons. But it has always held a special place in my mind and heart, mainly because both the romance and the war/death part are so heart-wrenching and so well mixed together. And it will surely keep doing so. Now please make me feel less alone and cry along with me😭

Good Riddance Duet - Hades :) (cover by me)

✨

Apollo and Hyacinthus, artwork by me 🪻

If I got a cent for every devastatingly tragic love story (any kind of love) I'm obsessed with where the two are so painfully sweet yet so incredibly doomed by the narrative at the same time and one of them dies leaving the other alone and utterly destroyed by their grief bc they've lost their only reason for living (bonus point if the soul of the died one literally haunts the other, whose only wish is to join them) I'd be filthy rich and it's not even funny. im crying. it's not damn funny at all actually don't even talk to me im going to curl up in my small little corner sobbing. bye

(Long post ahead)

"He's half of my soul, as the poets say" this, "Name one hero who was happy" that...

But like, can we talk about how beautifully tragic and tragically beautiful some of the original quotes from the Iliad are too?? And these are not even all of them!

"Oh, how I wish that neither the Trojans nor the Achaeans could escape death! If only the two of us survived, so that we could bring down the sacred walls of Troy together, the two of us alone..."

"But his mother hadn't told him about the tragic event yet; he wasn't still aware that the most beloved [philtatos] of all his comrades had died."

"As Achilles heard those words [about Patroclus' death], a dark, deadly cloud of anguish engulfed him; with both hands he grabbed plenty of dust from the earth, letting it fall upon his head and smear his marvelous face and clothes. He flopped down onto the ground, disfiguring his body with his hands, tearing the locks of hair out of his head. [...]

Meanwhile, Antilochus sobbed and cried silently, holding tightly still the hands of weeping Achilles, preventing him from grabbing a blade and slicing his own throat.

He let out a heart-wrenching cry, so loud that his mother heard him from the bottom of the ocean."

"What sweetness, what kind of relief is left for me, if my dear Patroclus is no more, him whom I cherished more than all my comrades, whom I valued as my own life, loved as my own soul? I have lost him. [...] And now I shall go find that killer [Hector], the man who deprived me of my dear life."

"She found her beloved son laying down with his arms wrapped around Patroclus' body, crying bitterly. And so did many other companions weep around him."

"You shall all die a bitter death by my hand, each one of you shall pay for what you did to Patroclus, killing him by the ships while I was not there."

"But I will never forget Patroclus, not as long as I live, not as long as I'm steady on my limbs. And even in death, in the realm of Hades where the dead are forgotten, the memory of my beloved comrade will live for all eternity."

[Patroclus' ghost appears to Achilles in a dream]

"You're sleeping, Achilles: have you forgotten about me? You cherished me while I was alive; are you going to neglect me now that I'm dead? [...] Give me your hand, I beg you. For once my body is properly burned, I shall no more come back from the realm of Hades. No more shall we take sweet counsel as we did when I was alive, the two of us alone, away from our comrades. A terrible Fate has caught me, one I was predestined to since birth, and it will soon be your turn to fulfill your destiny, and die by the walls of Troy. So I am asking just one more thing of you, I beg you, grant my wish: don't let my bones be separated from yours, Achilles. Let them rest together, just as we grew up together in your house [...] I would like one single urn to bring together my ashes and yours; the golden urn your mother gave you."

[And Achilles replies]

"Why, my beloved soul, have you come to me, why are you giving me such orders? Of course, I'll obey, I will do everything you wish. But now, come here, come closer to me. Let me hold you: and let us forget about our sorrows by holding each other, at least for a short while.

Thus he spoke, and immediately tried to reach out to him: but he couldn't. The soul slipped away from his grasp, screeching and disappearing back inside the earth, dissolving into smoke. Achilles' hands clasped involuntarily, and he stood up, full of surprise and pain. He felt the urge to cry again."

(I did my best, personally translating the quotes from the original Greek text like the literature noob I am lol. bye I'm going to cry again in peace now)

Things Zagreus and Melinoe have in common:

1. Um...being siblings

2. Having heterocromia

3. Banging Nyx's children

4. Fighting? Idk

5. Accepting messages from Olympus

6. Have I already mentioned Nyx's children

7. Fishing