Untitled

Vultures are holy creatures.

Tending the dead.

Bowing low.

Bared head.

Whispers to cold flesh,

“Your old name is not your king.

if the story is actually told through the eyes of one particular viewpoint character even though it’s in the third person, and in their voice, as is very often the case, then you shouldn’t refer to the characters in ways that character wouldn’t.

In other words, if the third-person narrator is Harry Potter, when Dumbledore appears, it says “Dumbledore appears”, not “Albus appears”. Bucky Barnes would think of Steve Rogers as “Steve”, where another character might think of him as “Cap”. Chekov might think of Kirk as “the captain”, but Bones thinks of him as “Jim”. 

The Jedi never once invalidated Anakin's pain, but taking out your pain on others is not okay. Anakin is so strong with the Force that he was able to bring two gods to their knees. No one else has that kind of power. It's the kind of power that the Jedi were trying to teach Anakin to use responsibly. It's the kind of power that the Sith preyed upon and craved because they wanted to use those powers to oppress and dominate others by any means necessary.

It takes a lot of strength to resist the dark side. A lot more strength to restrain yourself when you know the kind of damage that you're capable of doing if you decide to take your anger out on everyone else.

The Jedi were not using Anakin for his powers. Darth Sidious was using Anakin for his powers and accusing the Jedi of doing the things that Darth Sidious himself was guilty of doing. He was the one who had been hiding things from Anakin. It took Anakin 13 years to learn that Palpatine, a man he looked up to, was secretly a Sith Lord. Palpatine did not give one single shit about Anakin. He only cared about using Anakin's power to oppress people instead of helping them, and he manipulated the shit out of Anakin in the process.

Everyone in the Jedi Order knew who Anakin Skywalker was. The Jedi trusted him. Many of them died having absolutely zero idea that Anakin Skywalker betrayed them. Many died by Anakin's hand. Many of them were defenseless children who were not even old enough to wield their own lightsabers yet. Many of those children ran to Anakin during Order 66 because they believed he was there to help them.

Anakin's future had always been clouded and the Jedi were fully aware of just how strong he was. It's why they were so hesitant to train him initially, but they also understood it was why they needed to train him.

The Jedi Council had started to become distrustful of Anakin the more that Palpatine tried to force his way into their innermost circle through his connection to Anakin. The Jedi Council was absolutely right to be alarmed by Anakin's reaction to being denied the rank of master. The Jedi don't hand out participation trophies. Palpatine was appointing a Jedi Knight to a position on the Jedi Council that Anakin did not earn and did not deserve. In order to be on the council, you have to be a Jedi master. Anakin doesn't get to fast track his way to Jedi master by virtue of being appointed to the council by someone who wasn't even a Jedi. Palpatine appointed Anakin to the council for obvious nefarious purposes.

If Anakin had chosen to listen to Yoda's advice ("train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose") rather than buying into Palpatine's lies about being able to prevent people he loved from dying, Padme might not have even died. It wasn't wrong for Anakin to love Padme (it wasn't love that drove his actions but rather possessiveness), but he sacrificed thousands of lives just to save hers, and she still ended up dying anyway. The Jedi were executed for crimes they did not commit because Anakin allowed his fears to guide his choices, knowing the devastation he was about to cause.

The patience of the Sith is what paid off in the end. Palpatine spent 13 years grooming Anakin for this very moment. Anakin made the choice to sacrifice the Jedi, knowing what the right choice would have been, but his refusal to let go of Padme caused him to make the most selfish choice possible and the entire Jedi Order paid the price.

He chose to follow Palpatine's teachings and immediately chose to obey Palpatine's orders to kill all the Jedi at the Jedi temple. He proved he was willing to sacrifice countless lives to save one. In his mind it was completely rational to want the power to prevent others from dying while also actively taking the lives of innocents in order to learn how to achieve that power. He let his anger control his actions so much that he Force choked the woman he sacrificed the Jedi Order for because she rejected his power (which he tells her he did all for her) and told him she could no longer be with him. He accused her of betraying him even though she was trying to save him from the path he was headed down.

It's never too late to do the right thing as long as you are still alive to do the right thing. Redemption starts with a choice and has nothing to do with whether or not someone deserves it. Anakin accepting all sides of himself is what set him free. He was in a prison of his own making, tried to separate Darth Vader from Anakin Skywalker by claiming he killed Anakin. Viewed Anakin's compassion as a weakness to be ashamed of rather than a strength to be proud of.

The Jedi were not saints. There were regular people with extraordinary abilities making the choice to be the best version of themselves that they could. They learned how to achieve emotional balance, which is what made them good peacekeepers. They combat aggression through diplomacy, and the only reason diplomacy didn't work during the Clone Wars was because the Sith (Palpatine and Dooku) were never going to negotiate. They wanted to spread chaos and fear, to make people lose hope, to make people too scared to fight back, and it worked. They wanted to consolidate power. The Jedi had been turned into scapegoats, eventually labeled as terrorists, and found their very existences criminalized after the vast majority of them were massacred. Compassion became a crime while blind obedience and conformity became the law.

I adore these scenes on so many different levels.

There are two senate scenes in son of Neptune, and I am obsessed with both of them, partly because they really highlight some of my favourite aspects of Percy’s characters: His intelligence, his social awareness, his leadership abilities and his ability to easily understand the emotions of others.

He doesn't have any flaws. He chose to take the prophecy from Nico, but he was always going to be the prophecy child.

He's good at the start and good at the end with no development unless you count being traumatised and depressed from a war as development, which it's not.

Not trying to be rude, sorry if I seem rude.

Worry not. It's a perfectly reasonable question and should usually be applied to most character studies. Also, buckle up. This is going to be long. Very long. It took me a while to get the time to post this and even more time to actually get my thoughts together. Like a lot of time. (To anyone who doesn't want to read the horrid mess of a post this is there's a partition at the end, after which all the most important points are summarized. ) Just skip to that, but hopefully, someone reads this whole thing because it took me eons to write.

I can see why you think that way, and it is contributed more so by Rick's absolute incapability of not recycling the dead horse that is the original pjo dynamics. He has inhibited character growth from almost every single character where all their epiphanies and character change in the end amounts to nothing, and they regress back to how they used to be, and any and all deviations their personality had are either dismissed or suppressed.

Percy is the victim of the latter. In the first book, he was a child, not particularly concerned with saving the world or being a halfblood. His life had been worse enough, and the halfblood situation had made it abysmal. Percy was living goal by goal. He wanted to get through the field trip, then through the semester, then through the Gabe interactions all so he could finally see his Mom, the one good thing about his life. Then that upends completely, and his only reprieve, the trip to Montauk, his safe place becomes the start of a series of grand tragedies in his life.

Sure, he stayed at the Camp, not willingly but for safety. He had nowhere to go, his life had been turned upside down, his mother was dead, and he wanted to go home, to have his mother back. He couldn't have cared less about the Gods and the world ending, but as soon as Chiron mentions Underworld, Percy is back on solid ground. He has a goal again. Get Sally back. He does everything to reach that goal. He fights monsters, prays to a godly father he refused to acknowledge beforehand, manipulate the press and the Gabe situation, bargain with immortal deities and such, and negotiate his way out of most of those bargains. All the while keeping in mind that he has a traitor to deal with, but Percy is the definition of "deal with one thing at a time. If it's not an immediate concern, it can wait." He does all that and is rewarded for it by being able to live, getting his mother back, and a taste of the life he has doomed himself to, and he almost seems to accept it. He even wonders if Camp Half Blood could be his home.

We see Percy do this throughout all the books. He is constantly changing his intentions, his goals, and his opinions on everything. He is also caught in his internal conflict of being with or against the Gods. The thing is, Percy has very little time for reflection as he is jumping from one existential threat to another, and yet he still manages to grow in the small ways. You need to see it individually book wise rather than over the whole series as Rick messes up terribly with character arcs and developments of literally every other character.

He begins by not caring about Poseidon's existence or his proximity, but in the end, he, too, is beholden to the intrinsic need of having a father. He, too, wants Poseidon to care for him like a father and is therefore hurt by being called a mistake. He knows Poseidon claimed him as a weapon against Zeus so he could rectify someone else's mistakes and restore Poseidon's reputation; who if not Percy would understand this manipulation the best? But the best lies are the ones you want to believe in, and so Percy keeps his silence because, of course, he wants to believe his father genuinely cares for him and loves him. Who doesn't?

He didn't want to be the hero, but by the end of the first book, when he is called one, he doesn't dislike the feeling. He accepts if only a little that this is to be his life now, and as the series progresses, he adds to the pros and cons.

In the Sea of Monsters he is very happy that Gabe is gone and it's just him and his mother again but by the end of it he has gained a new family member in Tyson and is very happy of the fact. He even manages to get over his initial hostility of Clarisse somewhat when he understands her situation.

Titan's Curse is all about Percy learning about the number of forces at play in the world of demigods. He tries to get along with the Hunters and Thalia; it doesn't work. He ends up almost losing Annabeth, someone who he considers a close friend by now. And so we see Percy spiral a little, show more of his anger issues as he interacts with Thalia or even Young Nico just after Annabeth falls from the cliff. Angry and impatient, he goes on his own quest.

I know most readers remember it as Percy, Annabeth, and Grover or the main cast always working together, but it's almost never like that. Somewhere along the way, Percy always ends up doing his own thing, which works because he best works on improvisations. It's Percy's plans that always end up working the most more so than Annabeth's. Just putting it out there.

Then it's just Percy having the worst month of his life. Annabeth is in mortal danger. No one seems to be hearing his opinions between Thalia and the Hunters. Then Bianca dies and Percy because he is Percy is completely and utterly guilty over it.

Note that Percy says he will do his best to keep Biancs safe and not outright promise to keep Bianca safe. But his non-existent self-esteem and other factors withstanding he blamed himself for it completely. Then Zoe dies, and Percy has lost yet another person he thought he needed to keep safe.

Percy is angry at the gods, but he is not surprised by their actions. But he is Percy, and he is determined to change the ways of Olympus, so he pressures the Council and his father to keep the Ophiptaurus, the very creature that threatens to topple their rule. It's his small was of rebelling, and Percy is always rebelling against the gods in his own way, almost never playing into their hands because as much as he despises Luke, he agrees with Luke too and unless he finds a better way to deal with the situation than what Luke is employing he too would have to one day follow in Luke's footsteps.

Now Percy, who trusts Chiron, even thinks of him as a secondary father figure realizes that Chiron for all his compassion for mortals and demigods will always in the end do the bidding of the Gods'. So he makes the snap decision to hide Nico's parentage from Chiron and from everyone else because Percy realizes no matter how much he loves or cares for certain people in his life, they are beholden to answer to a higher power he cannot gainsay, so he will have to take some secrets to the grave. He learns that in the end, some things he needs to shoulder himself.

And of course, the guilt of Bianca's death is no lesser, so he does the only thing he thinks can give him some relief from it. He takes the prophecy for himself, saving Nico and hoping it's enough to alleviate himself of this bile inducing sensation in his gut called guilt that is swallowing him whole.

Now, the Battle of Labyrinth is the most crucial. This is the book with maximum stress on Percy from all ends. From Sally dating Paul and Percy having to prove he is worth Paul's confidence in him in Goode, from Annabeth who is quite literally snippy and passive aggressive through the whole book either due to Rachel or due to her own prophecy even though Rachel and Percy are the two people who got them all out. Then there's the Nico situation. He knows Nico is spiraling, which is making Percy spiral and further strengthening his own guilt. And on top of all this, the Luke situation. Percy is literally caught between an enclosed space, with all four sides closing in on him rapidly while he is fending off mortal danger.

All this repressed tension is fully let loose when he explodes Mt. Helen's. And this is the tipping point. Percy wants to take the choice of Calypso's Island if only briefly and not because he loves her or anything of the sort but because it's his one escape. From everything from his own doomed prophecy. Yet again, Percy is trapped by his own fatal flaw. Personal Loyalty. So he chooses to carry out his responsibility because he has given himself no other choice.

If that wasn't enough of self-realization, he is faced with the horrifying realization of the devastation his power has wrought. His loss of control has single handedly released the greatest threat to Olympus. Hephaestus tells Percy he doesn't know the limits of his own, and by the gods, does that terrify Percy. Up until now, Percy knew his powers were dangerous, but now he knows that he is also dangerous; that he is the real danger. And it's not a reality he wants to ever confront, so he coils his power and holds it tight in a leash. (It's why Percy's burts of power always begin with an unraveling sensation in his gut or something breaking inside himself)

He is somewhat soothed by Poseidon's reassurance because not only does Poseidon not blame him, he also solidifies Percy's faith that he is doing the right thing. And if Poseidon sprinkles in the fact that Percy is the favorite child then who is he to deny himself the comfort of such sweet lies because, of course, Percy thinks it's a lie and of course Percy basks in it. He knows better than to trust gods, he knows better than to trust even his own allies because at the times like this, they will do and say anything to appease him, after all the fate of Olympus depends on him, does it not? And neither the Gods nor the demigods will risk a falling out with him at times like this.

He asks his father if he can help but is denied because he is needed here. Then he does his job as told, and Charlie dies. It's on him. He is struck with twice as much guilt. Over Beckendorf, and then over the state of Atlantis. He asks again if he can help his father and is denied again yet scorned by his father's family, for he can't even help them with the mess he started (or so he believes).

This is why Percy goes with Nico's plan of using the Styx. Because he assumes Nico of all people who already hated him has no reason to curry for his favor. But he makes a mistake. After all, Nico needs his father's favor, and Hades needs Percy gone. Percy can't really blame the kid, but he does anyway because why not? He is angry, he is furious, and everything is slipping from his fingers. He is going to die. Everyone is going to die, and it's all on him. It's all his fault, AGAIN. So he rages at Nico because for at least one single moment, he wishes this were someone else's burden, especially Nico's, but Percy's taken it for himself, and it's too late to back out now.

So he fights and manipulates and negotiates. Titans, River gods, his own demigods. Because don't forget Percy knows there's a mole and that's also his problem. Everything is his problem. All that work and so many dead. Silena, Michael, Ethan, and many more on both sides, and he is trying everything he can to make it better to fix things because, again, he thinks it's his fault. Imagine doing all that, and Rachel tells him he is not the hero, and Percy bristles because no, he doesn't want to be a hero, but of course, it offends him. Because, if he's not the hero, then it's not his burden, and then what the hell is he doing all this for if, in the end, he is not the hero that can save Olympus? Does that mean he read the prophecy wrong, and now he is going to get everyone killed because he wrongly assumed he isn't the hero. He is angry and impulsive, and he snaps at even Hermes. Because now HE is spiraling.

And somehow, it's all over with Luke killing himself, and it dawns on Percy, the truth. So despite all the hate because why wouldn't there be hate, Luke has singlehandedly tried to kill Percy more than Percy can count, and he calls Luke the Hero. Makes the choice because he believes in Annabeth's faith and Hermes's faith in Luke. It pays off and that's all that matters.

Finally finally it is all over. the Gods owe him, and finally, he has an answer on the path he wants to take to change the gods. He denies immortality because he is Percy Jackson, he is Sally Jackson's son and he knows better than to let others dictate the flow of his life, because he has better plans than wasting away inside for eternity, dancing on someone else's tune. He fights for the demigods, the non-Olympian gods and their children who Olympus has failed to do justice to, for Nico, and in some way for himself.

Then it's not over at all because Rachel has taken Blackjack and Percy knows the truth of the Oracle and he loves Rachel far too much to let her even try. But it works and she is okay; he can't be with her but she is alive and she is okay and Percy is extremely grateful for that.

But then there's a new prophecy, and even though he tries to find some peace with Annabeth, he knows it's not over. It's never over for him. But he can forget about it until he can no longer afford to ignore it.

___________________________________________

Of course, Percy repressed his trauma. The last time he let it out, he released the literal bane of the gods out. Do you think Percy could live with something like that happening again? What choice does he have? There's no one who can understand him. NO ONE. Not even Annabeth.

You can see him accept his role as a leader and grow more into it. In son of Sobek or even in Son of Neptune. He is more serious and more authoritative because he has so many people depending on him, so many expectations hanging on him. We can also see Percy's anger issues get out of hand. He is spiraling, the readers know he is spiraling, and Percy knows, but he can't do ANYTHING. HE IS LITETALLY DYING OR BEING ATTACKED, HE CAN'T, HE JUST CAN'T.

BUT WE KNOW IT'S THERE BECAUSE WE CAN SEE HOW MUCH PERCY HAS GROWN INTO SUICIDAL TENDENCIES. AND HE CAN'T ACT ON THEM MOST OF THE TIME BECAUSE OTHER PEOPLE ARE DEPENDENT ON HIM AND HIS FATAL FLAW WON'T ALLOW HIM TO PUT HIMSELF OUT OF HIS MISERY.

BUT WHEN HE HAS DONE EVERYTHING HE POSSIBLY COULD, AFTER HOUSE OF HADES, HE LETS POLYBOTES'S POISON CHOKE HIM, ALMOST KILLING HIM IF JASON HADN'T INTERVENED. THANK GOD FOR JASON GRACE.

Percy was this sassy, heavily independent, "I do my own thing" kid and now he is someone with more responsibilities than anyone with most of his free will stripped and most of his hopes ruined or deemed impossible. IT'S TRAGIC AND IT'S EXCRUCIATING AND HE CAN'T DO ANYTHING BECAUSE HE THINKS IT'S MAKING OTHERS HAPPY. IT'S SUCH A HORRIBLE SITUATION. IMAGINE BOOK 1 PERCY? HE WOULD HAVE LET IT BLOW UP IN EVERYONE ELSE'S FACE BEFORE HE EVER LET HIMSELF BE SO BROKEN.

I have seen so many people say how Percy is the standard hero who is always good and never makes bad choices, and I wonder which books they read. Percy always makes the supposed "right" choices at the cost of himself. His fatal flaw enabling his moral compass and the sheer guilt of the lives lost. He can't escape. He hates the gods, he hates the quests but he loves his family and friends so dearly, there's nothing he wouldn't do for them which means Percy is suffocating, drowning, choking in his own misery, his repressed trauma,his self loathing and being crushed to death by the weight of lives, responsibilities and expectations only he can hope to fulfil.

And one day Percy won't be able to take it. His lapses of control will increase in magnitudes so great, his inner rage will level the world. Destroyer, like Athena predicted, Destroyer like Kronos wanted and Destroyer like his name means.

Not every hero needs a villain arc. Percy is inspiring because after all this shit and all these horrors. He is still good, but WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE TOLL OF IT. PERCY IS STILL GOOD BUT AT WHAT COST? LOOK WHAT IT'S DONE TO HIM.

Speedrunning getting kicked off the council

Gonna try not to be all over the place.

As mentioned in the first post, Apollo is a jack of all trades.

Many believe he's a far-distant fighter because he's an archer. Yes, he's an archer. The archer. However, from what I'm seeing, I'd say he's an all-rounder.

For those who don't know, an all-rounder, aka all-around, is a person, particularly in fighting and sports, skilled in many areas. They're pretty versatile and have many features/skills.

As stated, Apollo fights not only from a distance but also up close.

He's skilled in pankration, which is a mix of boxing and wrestling in ancient Greece. He was so good that he defeated Ares in boxing and tied Hercules in tug-of-war at the Olympic Games. The god's the real deal. I mean, Ares is known for battle and combat. You'd expect the god of fighting and brutality to win. But nope! Golden boy takes the cake.

A savage king named Phorbas was a skilled boxer. He targeted travelers and pilgrims who wanted to visit the Oracle of Delphi. Apollo heard of this and challenged him to a boxing match to free the road for travelers and pilgrims. The king accepted.

This ended horribly.

Yes, the king was brutal and very skilled, but Apollo destroyed him to the point of killing him.

And it makes sense because Apollo's supposedly the god of boxing. According to myths, the Pythian Games were held every four years in Apollo's honor after Apollo killed Python. At first, the god committed a crime according to the laws of Mt. Olympus. So Zeus purified Apollo, and Apollo participated in the Pythian Games at Delphi. From then on, the games were held in Apollo's honor.

Anyways, Apollo invented boxing. Hermes invented wrestling. Apollo is quite good at wrestling, but he's even better at boxing.

I'm surprised no one has talked or written about these things.

Anyway, what does this have to do with the post?

To show close combat is definitely not an issue for Apollo.

Archery is his domain and specialty, but if you were to take away his archery skills, he'll still be dangerous in combat, even without weapons. Although it's only said he's a god in boxing, I'm certain he can expand his range. He's adaptable, and since he's the god of knowledge, too, he can expand his knowledge and expertise into other combat sports.

Hell, why stop at boxing? Karate, Taekwondo, MMA, Muay Thai, Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Sambo, kickboxing, and wrestling. He'll be good at all of those, but boxing he'll be best at.

Don't get me started on sword fighting. That's for another post.

So, the idea that he wouldn't win a fistfight is easily refutable. I say he's one god you shouldn't want to provoke or box with, but the PJO series doesn't show that. The books would rather you believe he's a Playboy dumb archer who's only good at archery and will freeze up on a mortal, and UGHHHH I HATE THIS SO MUCH!!!! 😒

GOSH, I HATE HOW RICK WROTE HIM! Archery isn't his only method of combat. He's literally a beast on the battlefield and a great warrior. Plus, the Apollo cabin can inherit these traits, not just the Ares cabin, but that's another post for another day too.

Point of post: Apollo got hands and isn't afraid to use them. Don't catch them if you want to live.

Sooooooooo if we're talking about sparring, I believe he'd be a great sparring buddy, trainer, or coach.

And let's add some perpollo to the mix (cause why not??) Percy and Apollo sparring or Apollo teaching Percy some boxing moves? OR OR! They box each other?! They become a boxing couple!!!!! Goodness, that sounds exciting and HAWTTTT.

I can imagine Percy is stunned by how good Apollo is at boxing and martial arts.

Percy: Whoa, dude?! I thought you only did archery?

Apollo: Darling, who do you think defeated Ares in boxing?

Percy: YOU BEAT ARES IN WHAT?!

Ares, nose twitches: Fucking show-off.

I just know Percy finds that hot, and I don't blame him. ☺️👌

Okay. That's all I've got for now. Comment below if you want to add anything. If I get something wrong, let me know in the comments.

"The world government is behind the Navy"

Oda confirms you cannot separate the Marines from the WG because the Marines exists because & for the WG!

DUH!

I'm not sure why a very loud group in this fandom thinks the fucking military is its own independent group separate from the government. The entire point of a formal military is to be armed forces for the governmental body which creates it!

BTW these corrupt cops were literally buying drugs from the gangs they're literally hunting down. Oda is making the real-world parallels extremely loud rn asdfghjkl 💀

Anyone who thinks this interaction is inappropriate either 1) has never been around kids before or 2) needs to go to therapy to unpack deep seeded issues because nothing about this scene was sinister.

Kids don't understand the difference between romantic & platonic love. She's literally only 7 years old! She's a BABY!

When a child that young says they want to "marry you", it just means they really like you & want to be friends with you & hang out with you forever. They don't know that marriage is more than best friendism.

So Brook playing along & "rejecting" her is just about humoring a child. Her father getting "jealous" is about his daughter preferring the company of another adult rather than himself. HE wants to be her best friend.

Guys. Let's be fr rn. Please.

Bert: Bert and I

Ernie: Bert and I, we've been best friends forever, but we're also something else too!

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