On ToA: Octavian Was Roman. He Died When A Strategy Of His Failed, And Apollo Was Punished. Did I Get

On ToA: Octavian was Roman. He died when a strategy of his failed, and Apollo was punished. Did I get it right? So, the pjo! gods have both a "Greek" and "Roman" self , "they prefer to keep separate from each other". Now, we see time and time again how that custom / "law" creates a loophole usually working in the pjo! gods favor, but why didn't "Lester" end up in Camp Jupiter? Ok, in English, both of his names may not differ. However, irl, they'd be spelled like this: Apollon (Greek), Apollo (Latin). Even after Octavian's death, there were still "enough" children and legacies to "make suffer for godly mistakes". Why it's CHB that must watch Olympus' raging? I repeat: What does CHB have to do with CJs "hybris"? Can you help me understand ToA (better)? I like the series very much and don't want to criticize something that may not need improvement.

This ask was very interesting.

On ToA: Octavian was Roman. He died when a strategy of his failed, and Apollo was punished. Did I get it right? So, the pjo! gods have both a "Greek" and "Roman" self , "they prefer to keep separate from each other". Now, we see time and time again how that custom / "law" creates a loophole usually working in the pjo! gods favor, but why didn't "Lester" end up in Camp Jupiter? Even after Octavian's death, there were still "enough" children and legacies to "make suffer for godly mistakes". Why it's CHB that must watch Olympus' raging? I repeat: What does CHB have to do with CJs "hybris"?

It seems to me that Rick prefers the Greeks over the Romans, CHB over Camp Jupiter. I'm not sure if he even did that much worldbuilding when plotting out Camp Jupiter-in any case, he definitely knows CHB better than CJ, so that was where Apollo was going to go.

That's the best explanation that I can give-though it would be very interesting to see Apollo at Camp Jupiter and have a Roman daughter of Ceres. Being Roman (with all their strictness and discipline) would also contrast with Meg's wild, free nature which would have been extremely interesting to read about.

Can you help me understand ToA (better)? I like the series very much and don't want to criticize something that may not need improvement.

Oh, trust me, Trials of Apollo could definitely have been improved on and you absolutely should allow yourself to criticise things because everything should be subject to criticism (which is not hate, by the way. Criticism does not equal hate).

Two Hunters of Artemis were kicked out just because they were lesbians, and no, this is not ok. Ace lesbians do exist and love does not equal sex.

Its theme of abuse are amazing and well done, but the ending of it just defeats the entire point of the first series, which was to break the system of abuse.

Also, the way Rick portrays the troglodytes and the pandai is......definitely a choice. Not a good one either.

The way he sexualised Piper (her body was softly curved in all the right places) was extremely disgusting.

You should search up TOA crit on tumblr to get more information. Fair warning that some criticism is really just what the posters wish would have happened or their personal thoughts, not actual criticism of the story, so watch out for that.

Also, if you want to criticise or hate on TOA, then tag it under 'toa crit' or 'anti toa' because people want to look at things that they like about TOA.

More Posts from Bassiascoparia and Others

4 months ago

Have you listened to epic the musical bcs if you have I might want to ask your opinion on a little project I did🥺

I'd definitely be willing to look at your project! :D

It's an honour that you'd ask me :D :D :D I'm pleasantly surprised

I listened to some sagas of Epic the Musical, but I didn't listen to all of them-I'll do it today and let you know when I finish them


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5 months ago

A potential reason for why Rick didn't make Ares love his children, and an explanation for why he should have

So, in the PJO series, Rick makes Ares hate his children. Or, if not hate, at the very least ignore them and be abusive to them like all the other gods.

And I've always found this an odd choice, because in the myths, Ares really loved his children more than the other gods. He killed his daughter's rapist, who was a son of Poseidon, whom we also know loved his children, and so of course Ares probably knew that Poseidon would retaliate, right? And Poseidon is more powerful than Ares and he could definitely hurt him if he wanted to.

And Ares still kills Poseidon's son anyway, because he raped his daughter Alcippe, knowing that he would most likely be punished for this and he still does it. That just speaks volumes of love when he could've ignored his daughter for his own safety.

He also gives Hippolyta a magical belt that makes her stronger because she's the best out of all the Amazons, implying his pride about it.

He tries to avenge his son Cycnus when Heracles slays him-and Cycnus DESERVES IT, he literally stole Apollo's sacred grove and his offerings, and Ares still tries to avenge his death (they were even riding chariots together when Heracles encountered them, do what you will with that).

And a lot of people say that Rick made Ares neglect his children for the sake of the plot, but here's my counter argument-

Rick should've made Ares love his children TO STRENGTHEN PERCY'S BELIEF IN FIGHTING FOR THE GODS.

Imagine not knowing if you're even fighting on the right side. Imagine wondering if Kronos really was right, does your godly parent care about you?

And then imagine seeing Ares come down and talk to his children and encourage them.

And you're envious that they get to see their parent and you don't, but you also feel that fighting spirit come into you. This man, right here, he's showing that the gods can change, that they're not all bad, that there's something worth fighting for on their side.

(Also cue the angst and comedy of Ares and Percy hating each other and Ares being a good parent to his kids and actually being there for them while the whole Poseidon and Percy shebang goes on).


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4 months ago

Jude and Fand

Ok, so one thing that I really want to talk about is Fand from TFOTA and her relationship with Jude.

Many of you probably don't remember who she is, and I don't blame you for that, but we should definitely remember her.

Fand was a faerie who, while not friends with Jude, was friendly to Jude. She let Jude compete on her team in the Summer Tournament, too, and was made head of Jude's personal guard when Jude was High Queen, when it was very dangerous for Jude to trust any faerie.

Do you know how big this is? All of it? For a human in Faerie, especially in Jude's position, both when she was Madoc's ward and then High Queen?

It's a literal message that Jude and Taryn are struggling to fit in with a world that doesn't want them, that everyone hates them. We see so many instances of them being abused. Not one faerie is nice to them-

Except Fand.

For the only faerie to be nice to Jude, (apart from Madoc, and he's not the type of nice I'm talking about here) Fand is barely mentioned, which is a little surprising.

And it's sad, because Fand could be a part of why Jude wanted to stay on in Faerie-she could be used to tell us how not all faeries are bad (Cardan does not count here).

I just really hope that we see more of Jude and Fand's relationship in Holly Black's upcoming novel.


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7 months ago

Why leave, did I not give you enough?

Madoc was standing in the house once again, reliving his worst memories-Eva and Justin's deaths. The house where Vivienne had vowed to hate him. The house where Jude had screamed at him and hit him. The house where Taryn had sobbed, shaking her mother's dead body, though Eva would never get up again. It was empty. No one had bought it even after 3 years-the deaths still haunted them. It looked normal-a red plastic FOR SALE was mounted on the lawn and the wind chimes jingled in the comforting breeze. He wondered if ghosts existed. Would Eva and Justin be staring at him with contempt in their eyes? He hesitated, just as he had 3 years ago on that fateful day. Oh, how he wished he had grabbed Vivienne and Eva and ran. Would Justin come after him? Perhaps. But maybe he would take care of his daughters first. Madoc didn't know-Justin had been such a strange man. He didn't want to go inside. He didn't want to relive the bloodstained carpet and smell of wet blood.

He swallowed. He was a redcap. He was brave, and he slept at night knowing that he had killed thousands of soldiers. He could go inside and endure the ghosts of the past. He inhaled, curled his hands into fists and stepped inside. Nothing. It was empty, scrubbed clean, like no one had lived inside it at all. There were ornamental decorations and a pleasant perfume permeated the air. All dressed up to make it look flashy and attractive. Nothing could ever attract Madoc to the house, except for the fact that his daughters had run away. Just like Eva. Just when he had thought that they had begun to like him-they had sat on his lap, eating out of his plate, and played Nine Men's Morris with him. Taryn had stopped flinching every time she saw him, and Jude had smiled at him, even coming to have a somewhat twisted affection for him. Vivienne, of course, had not stopped. The weight of her vow would never leave her, and she had been so angry that she could not speak to them for days. Had she guilt tripped them into leaving? Most probably. Though they loved him somewhat, they would never be able to forget their real parents. The ones that he had murdered right in front of their eyes. Blood on the kitchen floor and the heavy smell of blood. He forced his feet to move, up, down, up, down. Into the kitchen where Eva once lay. Into the backyard where Justin's forge once stood. Into the bedrooms- He stopped, inhaling sharply. The beds were clearly made with gray and yellow covers. The room was airy and sunlit, dust motes dancing in the sunlight. A peaceful, drowsy afternoon. Was this where his daughters had slept? Where they had played with each other? Where they had watched, what did humans call it, TV? Television? Eva had told him of it and he had watched the strange pictures dance across the screen. They had watched it together, she laughing, he not understanding but smiling and playing along. He closed his eyes. He opened them again. Any question of them being here was gone, though they might have come for a brief visit. Were memories too painful for them as well? Footsteps made him spin around. Standing there was a woman, wearing a suit that hinted that she might be a-what had Eva called it-a 'real estate agent', someone who sold property. 'Sir,' she said. 'I don't know what you're doing here, but you need to leave, unless you're a potential buyer. How did you get in here?' He hit her on the side of the head and she crumpled. His heart wildly richocheted and suddenly she was Eva. He had killed another person. He stepped back and fell against the wall, screaming into his bundled cloak. Was she dead? His eyes were wild, his heart pounded as he scrambled to find out. No, Eva, please don't be dead- She had a pulse. She was bleeding, but she would be all right. He couldn't stay here. He had to leave-he barely had a few minutes to go back before he would have to attend a meeting. He took her phone, called the police (911, was it?) gave them directions and then stepped out. Suddenly, he didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay here and drink in the memories of a family, torn apart by him, that he had so desperately tried to put back together. And now that they had run away, he might never be able to. He took the silky black horse back to Elfhame. His memories took the form of knives, stabbing into him as he recalled their painful shapes and colors. They took the form of needles, slowly sliding into him as he silently screamed, feeling the cold, sharp pain of memories upon him.


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2 months ago

I think that Rick should have written Annabeth tackling Percy to the ground in a hug and sob-laughing into him and both of them just rolling around and laughing instead of the judo flip. That would have been way better.


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2 months ago

Completely random, but I just skipped through RR's Greek gods book and OH MY GODS. I already knew that he has a hate boner for Athena, but this? I regret having eyes. Is it weird that the ending of that fucking chapter infuriated me the most, like a cherry on top? "Well, just like that she can have kids, don't come at me with that virgin goddess bs lol" I will strangle you in your kitchen ricky you jackass

No need to worry about random posts, I'll answer all of them.

Yeah........I wonder how knowledgeable he is about the Greek Gods. Did he get a degree in Classical Studies or did he just read the myths and go 'Yeah I can do that'. It seems more likely that he did the second one.

Rick Riordan's PJO book on Greek Gods is the last thing I would recommend to anyone who wanted to read about them-actually, I wouldn't recommend it at gunpoint.

It's not about the literal sense of having kids through brain magic-it's about the symbolism, the fact that Athena cannot fall in love and have kids because that is directly contradictory to her domain as a goddess of wisdom and war. If she fell in love and had children with men, then she would no longer be able to stop love from clouding her head and she'd no longer have her wits about her head and she would no longer be able to call those domains her own.


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7 months ago

Was Vivienne ever aggressive like Madoc? That her redcap nature, though somewhat tempered by her human nature, played a role in her pre-Elfhame childhood? Was that why their parents and the other adults were so worried, apart from the cat eyes and fairy ears? Do you think that Eva saw Madoc in Vivienne's eyes and shrank from her? What about Justin? Do you think that they homeschooled her to keep themselves safer? Do you think that she was angry and ferocious at Madoc, then saw that he liked it, then tried to calm down and be nicer and go against her fiery nature and not learn battle strategies and swordplay in order to displease him?


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4 months ago

THE TRAVESTY OF THE VIRGIN GODDESS ATHENA

Note: red highlighted parts are important and must be read.

This is a link to a post that beautifully talks about Rick Riordan's horrendous portrayal of Athena and the other goddesses down below-

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One thing I find so interesting about the PJO fandom is how they actually accepted how Rick fucked up 90% of the goddesses. Even when he us

It's a must-read. Please read it.

ATHENA SHOULD NEVER HAVE HAD CHILDREN IN THE FIRST PLACE

Rick has made many, many egregious writing decisions. I can't say which one is the most horrible, but a leading candidate is the fact that he chose to make Athena, a virgin goddess, have children.

For the shocked Pikachus who have had the utter bliss of not having to know how Rick Riordan ruined Athena, yes, Rick made Athena have children.

She doesn't lose her virginity though-she has brain children formed from the thoughts of her and her lover, which she considers the purest form of love.

And this is terrible, because the Ancient Greeks equated virginity to not bearing children and not marrying. If Athena bears children, then how can she be a virgin?

Yes, Athena's children ARE HER CHILDREN. They are explicitly called her children. And she's said to be their mother. That means that she's not a virgin anymore.

And Athena's virgin goddess status and refusal to marry reinforced her role as a powerful goddess who was independent. Marriage symbolized subordination to a husband, so by not marrying, Athena's autonomy and power were shown very clearly.

Athena's key qualities-wisdom, strategy and war-are associated with rationality and independence, which were not associated with love in Ancient Greece. If she loved men, then she would be unable to retain her identity as goddess of wisdom and war.

Virginity oaths for goddesses were taken very seriously. When Artemis came close to loving Orion and breaking her oath, Apollo decided to kill Orion and risk the long lasting wrath of his sister rather than having her break her oath. That's how serious they were.

And this is already so terrible, but you know what the worst part is?

She doesn't tell her lovers that she's going to give them a baby. She just forms the baby and then DUMPS it on them, which is horrible, because-

ATHENA IS THE GREEK GODDESS OF WISDOM!

NO GODDESS OF WISDOM WOULD DUMP A CHILD ON AN UNPREPARED MORTAL'S DOORSTEP AND FORCE HIM TO RAISE THE CHILD WHEN HE DIDN'T WANT TO!

IF RICK HAD TO MAKE HER HAVE CHILDREN, WHICH IS ALREADY SO HORRIBLE, THEN HE ABSOLUTELY SHOULD HAVE MADE ALL THE MORTALS WHOM SHE HAD CHILDREN WITH REQUEST HER TO AND GIVE THEIR CONSENT TO THE PROCESS!

And Athena did not even have to have children in the first place.

ATHENA SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN A BAD MOTHER

Also, even if Rick was inexplicably desirous of going through the terrible process of making a virgin goddess have children, did he really make ATHENA, goddess of WISDOM, think that Annabeth would be well-treated and cared for with a single father who was unprepared and did not even want her in the first place?

Athena was a bad mother to Annabeth simply by creating her without her father's permission and placing her with a father who did not want her, thus leading to Annabeth being neglected and abused. Athena knew that Frederick didn't want a child and still created one and made him raise her-she didn't even give Annabeth away to an adoptive family who would most likely have raised her better.

On some level, she knew that Annabeth would be traumatised-even Frederick would be traumatized by her actions. That makes PJO Athena a horrible person and a bad mother.

She did claim Annabeth, but she also let her wander the streets even if she guided her to help-and that help was two other traumatised children.

And to say that she let her children fight their own battles-a seven year old shouldn't have to fight their own battles when their battles are monsters and living on the streets. Gods have been shown to break laws multiple times, so why didn't Athena do this? Zeus wasn't watching all the time and he's pretty much the only one who enforces these rules.

And when she deems one of her children worthy, she gives them a Mark and sends them to find her statue, despite knowing that it's fruitless and that all of her other children have died.

Just read this post-it explains a lot.

Let me digress here and tell you a little something about Myth! Athena.

Athena had an adopted child in the myths. His name was Erichthonius, and even though he was a product of an attempted rape on Athena, she adopted him as her own, wishing to make him immortal, and frequently protected him. He, in return, honored her by founding a festival for her (Panathenaic Festival) and setting up a wooden statue of her on the Acropolis. Their relationship was a very good one-

So tell me, why would Athena conceive a child without asking the father for permission and then force him to raise a child despite knowing that he did not want to?

Exactly. Real Athena would never do this. Rick's Athena would. Note the difference, please.

Of course, this is just another frustrating portrayal of a Greek God as a bad parent which continues throughout the PJO series-then again, that is its core foundation. Still, thought I'd write this section just to set things straight.

HOW SHE'S INCORRECTLY PORTRAYED

Athena is quite vilified in the original PJO series and all throughout the franchise.

First of all, she disapproves of Percy's relationship with her daughter. This is at first understandable, because he's a son of Poseidon, her archnemesis, and at first glance she might not like him.

But something annoying here is that she always gets bad moments with Percy, threatening him if he dared cross her, while POSEIDON NEVER GETS ANY BAD MOMENTS WITH ANNABETH.

In fact, Real Poseidon is more likely to be the person who hates Percabeth given his mythological characterisation, though he would lay off Annabeth for the sake of Percy, because he loves his children very much.

Setting that aside, my real concern here is how Myth! Athena would not do this.

Real Athena, would judge Percy based on his merits and not his parentage.

Of course, she might threaten him if he crossed her or her daughter, as befitting of a goddess, but she wouldn't continue to judge him based on his parentage. Once he proved himself, she would help him and not threaten him.

In fact, in some versions of Theseus' myth, including the one used in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, he is a son of Poseidon, so Athena actually helped a son of Poseidon, that too in the PJOverse, so it makes no sense for her not to help Percy when it's for the good of all of them.

She also helps Bellerophon, a son of Poseidon, in the myths. In fact, she does this in the Riordanverse too, so why she would hate Percy after helping Bellerophon and Theseus?

PJO Athena also tells Percy to stay away from her daughter during a war, when romance should be the last thing on her mind.

I mean, if Athena told Percy not to get distracted by Annabeth and focus on the bigger picture which would be beneficial to everyone, I'd understand, because she's the goddess of war tactics and wisdom.

But no-her message explicitly tells Percy to stay away from her daughter because she didn't like both of them together.

And yes, she doesn't like Percy because he's too loyal and he was apparently supposed to choose a dear friend over something more important when she thinks that he should choose the big picture but his loyalty never causes any serious consequences and everyone is fine in the end, so this is absolute nonsense and it's not a good reason for her anymore.

Let me digress and tell you a little about real Athena here.

The REAL Athena would help Percy commit war crimes if it helped their side win. Hell, she'd play matchmaker for him and her daughter if it somehow helped them win (well, Aphrodite could do that, but you know what I mean.)

Real Athena was a patron of Odysseus who was a literal war criminal. Actually, she was considered to be one of the most important gods in the Odyssey. She even helps Diomedes by blessing him and directing him to wound the god Ares as well as the goddess Aphrodite (Who caused the Trojan war).

Also, Real Athena is considered a patron of heroes. Not only that, she helped tons of heroes. Odysseus, Hercules, Perseus, Jason, Bellerophon, the Argonauts, Achilles, Cadmus, Tydeus and Theseus.

She also aided several women such as Penelope, Eurynome, the Danaids, Menippe and Metioche and Nyctimene the last of whom she turned into her sacred symbol, the owl.

Athena was also believed to have invented every kind of work that women in Ancient Greece did.

The only time Athena abandoned a hero (Tydeus) was when he committed cannibalism-before that, she planned to make him immortal, in fact, but left him in disgust when she learned what he had done.

There was so much that Rick could have done with her status as a patron of heroes-have her help and advise Percy and Annabeth on their quests (indirectly so as not to risk her father's wrath). Helping Annabeth get over her prejudices and chastising her for letting her jealousy of Rachel almost ruin her chance for a successful quest.

Not.........whatever the mess that PJO Athena is.

And yes, I know that she's thought to have helped Percy in The Titan's Curse-but she just gave him a useless platitude. That was barely help at all. The only time she really helped was when she sent Hermes back to inform Annabeth about Plan 23. For a wisdom goddess of war tactics, she is surprisingly little help in the war.

And in Heroes of Olympus, a lot of people blame Athena for her cruel treatment of Annabeth while it was in fact Minerva who gave Annabeth the Mark. Athena was severely split between her Roman and Greek form and was unable to properly think at the time.

THE SUBTLE YET CONTINUOUS WAY RICK TURNS US AGAINST ATHENA

And it's clear that Rick continues to denigrate Athena-not just by using which myths he wants (Medusa being turned into a demon by Athens after willingly doing it with Poseidon in her temple in TLT, and now Ovid's myth in the PJO show) which he's allowed to do-

but he also actively takes the myths and twists them to form his own version.

Confused? I'll elaborate.

In case you didn't know, there's a Percy Jackson book called Percy Jackson's Greek Gods and Heroes, where Percy rewrites a lot of myths from the Greek Mythology.

I'll give you some advice-just skip it. It tells you about the myths, yes, but it's quite biased, and if you don't know the real myths, please read the real ones first and then read these if you really want to.

You see, if you think that it's just a book, you're wrong.

This is written in a biased fashion and subtle comments like these turn you against certain gods and goddesses that Rick doesn't like.

When Aphrodite arrives at Olympus, Rick writes all the women as immediately thinking, 'Oh, I hate her because she's the most beautiful of us all.' Not the goddesses. Just the women.

This is also shown with Ares, where Percy calls him a bully, loser and a jerk. He also says that he wanted Poseidon to beat Ares up when Ares was defending his daughter from being raped by Poseidon's son because apparently it would have been awesome to watch.

This is shown with Aphrodite as well when Percy outright states that he hates her and twists the stories about her by rewriting the narrative and adding subtle comments to make us dislike her.

It uses terrible sarcasm which is concerningly childish for a grown writer. I don't know what Rick has against Ares or Aphrodite. He definitely has a hate boner for Ares.

Sorry, I digressed a little bit there. Returning to the subject of this essay-

Athena is featured in some of the stories in this book. In one, Athena and Poseidon compete to be the patron of Attica. When Athena says that she has an idea as to how they can settle this peacefully, Rick writes- 'Typical. Athena always had some sneaky idea.'

................Really?

This wasn't a sneaky idea. Athena literally said that she had a fair idea for a competition-both of them would create gifts and the mortals would decide which one was better. How is that sneaky?

In Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, he writes her as a romance-hater (242-243 page no). While there's no evidence to indicate that she likes romance, making a virgin goddess who's heavily implied to be aroace hate romance is very aphobic. Not everyone aroace hates romance-that is a negative stereotype.

Of course, Rick promotes these stereotypes, so what can I expect from him. *Sigh*

Rick subtly makes Athena seem unlikeable like this. It's one of my biggest frustrations-that he makes gods that he doesn't like evil in one way or another through blatantly incorrect misinformation or subtle denigration like this.

All right, so moving on to the more serious story in which Athena is deprecated yet again. It's called 'Athena adopts a handkerchief'.

Brace yourself.

So in the original myth, after Hephaestus catches Aphrodite cheating on him with Ares, he's pretty depressed.

So when Athena comes to him to comfort him or ask him for weapons, Hephaestus literally tried to climb on her and RAPE HER, and she DEFENDED HERSELF from him. A woman defending herself from a man trying to rape her-that's what it was.

But Rick specifically writes Hephaestus begging and pleading and oh so miserable, even when Athena clearly walks away and yells at him to stop. And then Hephaestus cries into her bare leg, and she kicks him away in disgust.

We're supposed to root for Hephaestus here, and even if we aren't, he's still portrayed in a sympathetic light, which is completely fucked up.

Let me tell you something. If a person is crying and begging for your attention and walking after you and grabs you, whining, even after you clearly and firmly tell them not to-

You can defend yourself from, even physically. Doesn't matter if you're a girl or boy or if they're a girl or boy. You have every right to kick them away. Now matter how pathetic they seem, they are still knowingly coming after and harassing you.

But there a lot of people that don't think like this. They feel bad for men who seem 'pathetic' and often denounce women who reject men like this, even though the women have every right not to want to be with men, even if the man seems pathetic and lonely.

Rick wrote Hephaestus to seem pathetic (he literally called Hephaestus poor guy WHEN HEPHAESTUS WAS TRYING TO RAPE ATHENA) and Athena to be cold and bitchy for not acquiescing to Hephaestus' wants, thus flipping the script to make us feel bad for Hephaestus and disdain Athena.

And yes, even if Athena was ultimately written to be the one in the right here, most people will favour Hephaestus and disdain Athena in this narrative simply because of the way their behaviour is written.

It's ingrained in our brains and psychology-let men off, blame the women. Nearly everyone thinks like this-it's practically the default way for society.

I'm not saying that everyone thinks like this. There are very good people who don't think like this or are working on their behaviour and thoughts...........

But they're a minority. There are too many people who default to the 'men good women bad blame women automatically' mindset, even the supposedly progressive ones.

Rick knew the original myth and instead, he chose to twist and write it like this, having us root for Hephaestus instead. That HAS to tell you that the guy has some form of misogyny about Greek Goddesses.

Red flags for Rick Riordan? Hell yes. This was published in 2014, so we can only hope that he's improved on his behavior a decade later, but considering the recent changes in the show, I don't think it's happening.

ATHENA ISN'T ALWAYS WRITTEN BADLY IN PJO

Now, I'm not saying that Athena is always demonized when she shows up. She has a few good moments in PJO and there are some good parts to her.

She realises that Typhon was a distraction and convinces Zeus to send Hermes back, thus greatly helping the demigods.

(But this is overlooked because Rick made her tell Percy to stay away from Annabeth for no good reason. He didn't have to do this at all-but as a very wise person once said, this was another way of trying to distance Percy and Annabeth but not knowing how to properly do so, and of course, Athena becomes the scapegoat who must take on the blame here even though Poseidon could have also said this, thus giving him an actual moment that shows that hey, he's not all-good, Percy and readers!)

She does love Annabeth, as seen when she guides her on the streets to help, immediately claims her at camp, gives her the invisibility cap, appoints her the architect of Olympus itself and compliments her in front of the entire Godly council and many demigods too.

When Annabeth is in Tartarus, she speaks to her and tells her that she did well and gives her a message to send, indicating a gesture of trust, honour and respect from mother to daughter.

(But she was also a bad mother to Annabeth for reasons I've stated before in this essay. She neglected her, forced her to stay with an abusive father, did not bother to find an adoptive family for her, etc)

In Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, she instructs Cadmus on what to do with the dragon's teeth. She rightfully blinds Tiresias for staring at her while naked and not immediately looking away and covering his eyes, but then gives him a walking stick and lets him understand the language of birds so that they can direct him when she learns that it was an accident.

She also helps Percy on his quest in Chalice of the Gods by sending Ganymede and the cart that Percy's hiding in back to the kitchens to save Percy.

It's just that...........her portrayal in PJO had some serious problems. It was hideous, horrendous, ghastly, frightful, atrocious, shocking, appalling, grievous, gross and a whole of lot of other synonyms to match. And she is more often than not criticised and hated on for her bad moments than she is noticed for her good moments in Percy Jackson.

CONCLUSION

I know that Rick is free to use whichever version of the myths he wants, but I just want you to see that he denigrates her and portrays her in an appalling manner. Making her have children without the father's permission and forcing the children onto them and making her neglect her children was absolutely unnecessary and Athena did not need to have brain children.

Now, I'm not saying that Athena isn't portrayed in a positive light. She does have good moments in Percy Jackson, but what I want to say is that a lot about her characterization in Percy Jackson is absolutely egregious for the most part considering her actual mythological counterpart.

Athena is the only virgin goddess who has children, and she's also the only virgin goddess who's portrayed as an adult. Coincidence? I think not. In fact, if Rick hadn't made Athena have children, he would have made her a child too.

He turned Hestia into a child for no reason at all, so it's not entirely implausible to think that he would make Athena a child too-probably use the stupid excuse of 'children learn better and their brains are more flexible than adults' brains!'

(I don't want to give him any ideas.)

To conclude, Athena more often than not demeaned in PJO and her overall portrayal is absolutely ghastly when compared to her mythological counterpart. There are a few good parts to her, but not many, and her portrayal in such a famous pop culture series that has impacted so many people will be an eternal tragedy.

@superkooku

@cynthiav06

@fandomloverangel


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7 months ago

Sally shouldn't have gotten pregnant

Am I the only one that thinks that Sally Jackson shouldn't have gotten pregnant? Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Estelle or Paul or Sally, but it just feels like the woman gets to be 'happy' with a new husband and child to look after-just a generic happy ending. She could've been writing and publishing a book, and while I have nothing against her getting into a new marriage and finding someone who makes her happy, I just wonder why she had to have a baby directly after-she's 41 years old, and she's going to be raising yet ANOTHER child, which isn't as nice as it sounds, and it's not clear if Percy is going to help, as he has a lot of demigod-related challenges going on.

Just an opinion of mine-it's perfectly fine if you think that her ending was happy.


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1 month ago

I keep thinking about Piper and Hazel, the girls, being the ones who have unique eye colors and not Frank and Leo, the boys, who are allowed to have normal eye colours.

It's intersectionality-they're girls of color, so they have to be prettier, but the boys of color don't have to be as good-looking because they'e boys.


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