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“this writer writes like ai” usually just means the writing is generic, surface-level, emotionless and uninspired bc AI aggregates things and its output is very corpo-speak. if someone says your writing is like chatgpt, then it's time to try and put more personality and emotion into your work, that's all
re: this post
maybe try saying this off anon? if you believe you're right, there's no reason to hide.
whether or not you like it, ai is getting better and it can get into emotions — because it mimics that from how humans write emotions, and it's being developed more and more every day. saying "it's shallow, it never gets better" is like underestimating a threat. so your point is invalid.
and even if you think a fanfic "doesn't have enough depth", quietly ask yourself why you think it's okay and not rude/a dick move to tell the writer that when fanfic is a fun little hobby. not a job.
I've also seen works accused of being ai-generated just because they have perfect grammar.
you people will find anything and everything to try and justify being rude to fanfic writers and fan artists. and then you wonder why more and more writers stop sharing their works. it's sad.
I also want to share my own experience that I have read a fanfic that is very beautifully written, with depth, emotions, angst, everything... only to later check a tag and see that it's "ai-generated".
(granted, this one is on me because I didn't check the tags first)
my point, yes, ai can and does get terrifyingly good at depth, emotions and characterization.
saying "ai-generated work is emotionless" is like denying a problem. and the thing about denying a problem is that it doesn't make the problem go away.
that's all.
ok what does a fatal injury look like on Frank if his firewood is intact
I've been trying to find an alternative plot for BOO that would have been narratively satisfying for the buildup of the series since the day I read it. Now, I do find some inherent problems in the setup of HOO as a series and I think this is one of the major problems with BOO (it was never going to be able to deliver on its premise bc its premise was flawed from inception). But if we do accept everything from TLH thru HOH at face value, I think there is an ending that could have been phenomenal.
Walk with me.
IMO these are the biggest unresolved plot points: Hazel's curse, Frank's curse, Frank's destiny and bringing his family full circle (it's in there, technically, but it happens OFF PAGE and is written to be a disappointment!), Percy's sacrifice that he is unable to make requiring Frank to intervene (also technically in there, just bad), the oath to keep with final breath (bc Leo's promise to Calypso does not work as fulfillment).
So in SON, Percy and Hazel and Frank latch onto each other and form an extremely tight bond despite the imminent threat of death hanging over all three of them. Frank is the leader of this quest, he knows all three of their lives are at risk, he has already lost his mother, and his grandmother is also dying. But Mars tells him:
“Self-pity isn’t helpful, kid. It isn’t worthy of you. Even without the family gift, your mom gave you your most important traits—bravery, loyalty, brains." “Life is only precious because it ends, kid. Take it from a god. You mortals don’t know how lucky you are.” "Duty. Sacrifice. They mean something."
Now initially, Frank is disgusted by his father, and he resents his mother's sacrifice because it left him alone. And Frank will tell Percy, about Hazel:
“She’s my best friend,” Frank said. “I lost my mom, my grandmother…I can’t lose her, too.”
But as the story unfolds he will come to grips with what Mars is telling him:
Frank understood what he had to do to break those chains. Mars had warned him. He’d explained why he loved Emily Zhang so much: She always put her duty first, ahead of everything. Even her life. Now it was Frank’s turn. His mother’s sacrifice medal felt warm in his pocket. He finally understood his mother’s choice, saving her comrades at the cost of her own life. He got what Mars had been trying to tell him—Duty. Sacrifice. They mean something. In Frank’s chest, a hard knot of anger and resentment—a lump of grief he’d been carrying since the funeral—finally began to dissolve. He understood why his mother never came home. Some things were worth dying for.
So in this narrative, it is Frank's turn to be in his mother's position. He's directly risking his own life. He's also putting Hazel's life at risk. But he ALSO makes peace with his mother's sacrifice, the loved one that he has been grieving for the whole narrative. (doesn't mean he isn't still going to grieve, of course - but that he can make peace with her choices).
Ok. So that's Frank's arc in SON. He also gets a prediction from Mars about Percy (in the same convo, mind you) that has THREE different components:
Percy Jackson? He’s too loyal to his friends. He can’t give them up, not for anything. He was told that, years ago. And someday soon, he’s going to face a sacrifice he can’t make. Without you, Frank—without your sense of duty—he’s going to fail. The whole war will go sideways, and Gaea will destroy our world.”
SO. 1. Percy will refuse to make the sacrifice 2. Frank's sense of duty - the sense of duty that accepts people making sacrifices for the sense of duty, even if it's your own mother - is the only thing that can prevent Percy from making this mistake and 3. The stakes of this moment are world-ending. Ok.
For this reason, Mars tells Frank that Gaea is more worried about him than Percy or Jason or the rest of the seven - Gaea thinks she can control Percy, and, in line with the prediction, she's right; she can control him.
You get a delicious little taste of this when Percy bets his life, relying on Gaea to save him over Phineas. Gaea wants Percy alive, not just because she wants his blood to wake, but because she's waiting to exploit his flaw and when she does she knows he's going to fail and she knows that it will come at the exact time when it matters the most. Ok.
Meanwhile, Hazel is on this quest with Percy and Frank knowing that freeing Thanatos means he will take her back to the Underworld and she does not want to go. Percy knows that Hazel does not want to go and he tells her - he promises her, in fact - that he will not allow this to happen:
“You’ll make it back, too, Hazel,” he insisted. “We’re not going to let anything happen to you. You’re too valuable to me, to the camp, and especially to Frank.” Hazel picked up an old valentine. The lacy white paper fell apart in her hands. “I don’t belong in this century. Nico only brought me back so I could correct my mistakes, maybe get into Elysium.” “There’s more to your destiny than that,” he said. “We’re supposed to fight Gaea together. I’m going to need you at my side way longer than just today. And Frank—you can see the guy is crazy about you. This life is worth fighting for, Hazel.” She closed her eyes. “Please, don’t get my hopes up. I can’t—”
It is absolutely critical that Hazel does not conceal to Percy that she does not want to die again.
Percy will repeat the sentiment to Frank:
“I’m not going to lose either of you,” he promised. “I’m not going to let that happen. And, Frank, you are a leader. Hazel would say the same thing. We need you.”
So here's Percy, inadvertently affirming everything Mars said about him - telling Frank point blank that he cannot lose Hazel or Frank and he WILL NOT let that happen and then saying he needs Frank. Truer than he realizes.
All this to say:
Frank comes to grips with duty in a way that is so powerful that I believe he could allow Hazel to sacrifice her life again. But Percy doesn't. And while Percy's fatal flaw has a loophole that allows him to make peace with sacrifices, again, Percy knows that Hazel does not want to die again - so the loophole won't work this time. He would fight Frank tooth and nail. Frank would hate himself, but if Hazel needed to die to prevent Gaea from rising, again - I think the most logical conclusion and resolution for both Frank and Percy's arcs as set up here is that Frank would let her, and Percy wouldn't.
And like I'm gonna be so real when I say that for the record that I hate this and I don't want Hazel to die and it would have been absolutely gutting in the worst way possible. It's so beautiful that Hazel's story is that she was forced to be a protector to her mother too soon and too young but these boys adore her and they take her and they will fight Death to keep her. And so I'm not going to let her sacrifice herself again, but I think we need to feel the fear of it, because it makes the most sense narratively for Hazel to die:
She is currently cheating death - her dad decides to let her get away with it. But for how long? We're not told. She herself doesn't know. Thanatos is released, but the Doors of Death are still open at the end of SON. So while she escaped this time, the threat of going back to the Underworld should still be Very Very Real for her.
Her powers were exploited by Gaea to make possible Gaea's rise to power in the first place. She is the first demigod contact, Gaea’s first appearance in our story timeline is to Hazel (by a long shot). This was set in motion before any of our other heroes were born, before Kronos woke. In a very real way Gaea is Hazel’s nemesis, Hazel’s unfinished business. I think it would only make sense that Hazel views it as her responsibility (although I don’t think it is - it makes sense for her to take ownership of the conflict). This war is uniquely personal to Hazel.
But the good news is that there's something beautiful that was set up in MOA: the Hazel/Sammy/Leo connection. And I think we could use this to save her.
“Thanks for being there, Sammy.” “Miss Lamarr, I will always be there for you!” he said brightly.
“That lady, Doña Callida, she warned me.” Sammy shook his head sadly. “She said Hazel’s great danger would not happen in my lifetime. But I promised I would be there for her. You will have to tell her I’m sorry, Leo. Help her if you can.”
So Hera appears to Sammy and tells him about Hazel’s destiny, Sammy doubles down on his oath to Hazel to be there for her and passes it down to Leo.
okay do you see it yet do you see it yet…… do you see where all this could have been going….
What's really interesting about this connection is that it seems that because Gaea made contact with Hazel, Hera made contact with Sammy, and because Hera made contact with Sammy, Gaea made contact with Leo. Because Gaea made contact with Leo, Esperanza Valdez dies in a fire. Leo feels responsible for this fire, knowing that he lost control of his powers. This links Hazel and Leo even more, because both of their mothers are killed by Gaea indirectly - the direct cause of their mothers' deaths is actually Hazel's powers and Leo's powers.
Meanwhile, back to Frank!
While Hera is putting Leo in fireplaces to sleep, Hera is coming out of fireplaces to give Frank's mother a piece of firewood that his life is bound to. Frank is told that "as long as it is safe, you are safe."
To free Thanatos, Frank sets it on fire himself and quite literally comes to terms with his own mortality:
He thought he understood his powers at last. Something about watching the firewood burn, smelling the acrid smoke of his own life, had made him feel strangely confident. Is it fair your life burns so short and bright? Death had asked. “No such thing as fair,” Frank told himself. “If I’m going to burn, it might as well be bright.”
but he doesn't die. But then he gets told by Thanatos:
“As for you, Frank Zhang, it isn’t your time, either. You’ve got a little fuel left to burn. But don’t think I’m doing either of you a favor. We will meet again under less pleasant circumstances.”
(IGNORE toa it's irrelevant to this conversation! We don't write new series to retcon unsatisfying character endings around here!!!!!!!!!)
So two things: Hazel is included in Thanatos' next meeting. Thanatos is gonna see Frank AND Hazel under less pleasant circumstances. Less pleasant than army of the undead, Death being chained, unkillable giant, btw. Fun.
Ok and then in Mark of Athena we get Leo reflecting on a possible explanation for what Thanatos could have meant:
Leo thought about his least favorite line in the Prophecy of Seven: To storm or fire the world must fall. For a long time, he’d figured that Jason or Percy stood for storm—maybe both of them together. Leo was the fire guy. Nobody said that, but it was pretty clear. Leo was one of the wild cards. If he did the wrong thing, the world could fall. No… it must fall. Leo wondered if Frank and his firewood had something to do with that line. Leo had already made some epic mistakes. It would be so easy for him to accidentally send Frank Zhang up in flames.
Also consider that Frank gave his stick to Hazel for safekeeping in SON and MOA, but then he takes it back from her in HOH, deciding he wants to be responsible for his own destiny:
“I’ll keep it,” Frank said. Hazel pursed her lips. She looked down, maybe so Frank wouldn’t see the hurt in her eyes. She’d protected that firewood for him through a lot of hard battles. It was a sign of trust between them, a symbol of their relationship. “Hazel, it’s not about you,” Frank said, as gently as he could. “I can’t explain, but I—I have a feeling I’m going to need to step up when we’re in the House of Hades. I need to carry my own burden.” Hazel’s golden eyes were full of concern. “I understand. I just…I worry.”
Frank feels in HOH that because Leo gave him a fireproof pouch he doesn't need to fear fire anymore. The dumbest resolution I've ever heard of, btw.
So. Anyways. Moving onto BOO with all that foreshadowing in place -
We're going to axe the physician's cure completely because the quest for it was incredibly boring and it's a deus ex machina type solution that removes all stakes from the final conflict.
We're going to remove Reyna and Nico's POVS and have the Seven each get one in this book.
We learn from Hazel's POV that now that the Doors of Death have been closed her days are numbered and she has like 30 of them left, and she doesn't tell anyone about this deadline. Bonus points if Hecate told Hazel this was going to happen before she went to close them and she went anyway for Percy and Annabeth. We're going to explore her feelings of unfinished business and responsibility. We're going to include her very complicated feelings about going back to the Underworld and knowing so many dead people and feeling like a ghost herself some days. We also need to hear more about Sammy, and she needs to talk to Leo about Sammy, and I think she should even tell Leo that she thinks it would be nice to see him again, and Leo's antenna goes up and he's like "you're not thinking about doing something stupid, are you, Hazel?" And of course she will deflect, but Leo is going to be the only one who sees through her facade for what it really is. And I think it should be horrifying like I think she should be having nightmares about standing in Asphodel that feel endless and I think when she sees her dad again she should get a very private breakdown moment with him and I think she should want and try to blame him for all of this but then see the sorrow in his eyes and realize that all of his demigod children are children plucked out of time and he's been trying to play the prophecy game to keep them alive and he doesn't have any cards left to play. And I think he would try to comfort her that "it won't be like the last time. You'll see Elysium" and perhaps he'll even hint at rebirth for her. And Hazel, who is so, so tired, of running, of fighting, of not being safe, of too much being asked of her - tries to make herself believe that this is okay, that this will be enough. And I also think we should get a bunch of absolutely devastating lines in Hazel's last couple chapters as she's saying goodbye to her friends one by one but she's not telling them that's what she's doing and she reflects that "it really was a nice life. A short life - even shorter than the first. But a good life." Wow I'm making myself so emo just thinking about it
We learn from Frank's POV that the ancestor who has been waiting for him is the Argonaut he is descended from, whose life was also tied to a piece of firewood (yes so the one he's descended from is a different guy than the firewood guy but these are pretty obscure stories anyway and Rick does retcon myths a lot so we're just gonna roll them into one guy). The Argonaut gets to tell us the story of his life - he was in a boar hunt competition, the heroine Atalanta wins the competition bc she draws first blood on the boar. His uncles are enraged that a woman won the contest and so the Argonaut kills them both, his mom is so mad at him for doing this that she chucks his firewood on the fire and he dies. I actually think this convo could have some humor to it, where Frank is like ".....and you're telling me this, because?" and the Argonaut laughs and tells him that he's too Roman, not every story has a neat little moral. Sometimes the moral is that life sucks and then you die. But then he gives us like a little teaser that's going to come back later, like "or maybe the moral is, some things are worth dying for." Frank will immediately note this as something his dad said to him in Son of Neptune, and perhaps he'll have some reflection on Greeks and Romans not being so different after all and maybe we even get like an emotional moment where Mars and Ares stop shouting at each other in his head. I think this would work well bc it would give the reader an easy explanation for why this scene is in the book without making us necessarily think that Frank's plot is headed towards sacrifice. Also important to me tho that Frank is super disturbed by this conversation bc he was really hoping for a solution to his firewood problem and he thought that was the point of being called back to his ancestors, but then he realizes that he doesn't have a solution and the only precedent is that the guy died. Ok.
Ok. Now, Leo and Jason and even Piper's plot and role to play can be essentially the same, like it does make sense actually to separate Gaea from the earth and cut her into tiny pieces bc of the precedent set by Ouranous. I just think that every demigod in the Seven should be included in the plot and all of them need to be involved in the planning on How to do it. And they concoct a plan for all their different positions, we get a nice callback to Kronos and his three brothers holding Ouranous down and we deal out a different responsibility to each one of the Seven. Like Percy's supposed to be at one corner helping Jason maintain the storm, Jason using his storm powers to separate Gaea from the earth, Hazel using her earth powers to hold the earth DOWN so it doesn't reach up to Gaea once she's held up, I think Frank should be supposed to turn into a dragon again or something to help Jason fly Gaea up, Piper can be still using charmspeak trying to weaken Gaea, I think Annabeth should take point on covering all of them so they can do their jobs (and I think this would be a good plot for Hubris Girl, needing to come to terms with this role being the least flashy, but no less necessary, and choosing it without shame. I also think that she should reunite w/ her mom and get some such resolution there but then realize that she doesn't actually need it because she has nothing to prove to Athena anymore and she gets to be freed from her unyielding desire to be Exceptional, at least a little. And I also think she should get a cool moment where she gets an army to direct bc she certainly has the chops to do it).
Anyways. They're going to talk about this plan in a LOT of detail so that the reader knows the precise moment when everything goes completely off the rails.
For one, Hazel's deadline is coming up, so her plan is to take Gaea down with her and spare the lives of her friends. I think we can even get a moment of Hazel telling Gaea in a dream that she vows to take her down with her last breath. And again we should really FEEL how much Hazel hates Gaea, for everything she did to her mother and put Hazel through. It should feel Personal. Hazel plans to do this the same way she killed Alcyoneus, using her powers to like rip Gaea's heart right out of her chest or some other such extremely metal and crazy thing. But unfortunately she made the mistake of threatening Gaea with this bc she is SO ANGRY at her.
For two, Leo is also planning to blow Gaea up the same way that he does in canon, as revenge for his own mom and refusing to let Gaea take another loved one from him. But his plot is significantly less subtle bc he needs to be like collecting explosives lol so that's how Gaea knows about it. I think we should also get Leo telling Gaea that he's going to take her down 'if it's the last thing i do' so again now we're terrified for Leo and know his death is coming.
So anyway when Gaea finally wakes she's going to be infinitely more terrifying than we ever could have conceived of and we should get immense feelings of powerlessness from the demigods, I think this should perhaps come from Jason or Piper's perspectives. But they have to Try, right? What other option is there?
Except that Gaea is going to tell everyone about Hazel's plan and Leo's plan and then it's going to dissolve into complete pandemonium.
For one, Gaea is going to direct this at Percy specifically bc, as we know, she thought she could control him and she was right. She'll give him a choice about whether or not he wants to proceed with The Plan still and Percy will give up his territory and let Gaea have it. And she'll start cackling like she's already victorious. Should be an extremely dramatic and huge moment. Percy is going to completely lose it - like fracturing the ground storm winds pushing Hazel away from Gaea kind of lose it. And Hazel will be sobbing trying to explain that it's the best way, can't he see that it's the best way, Frank is going to have to like full bodily tackle Percy to the ground otherwise the rest of the six of them will be literally incapable of Going Ahead With The Plan. Bc Frank still thinks this plan is going to happen and it's going to work, lol.
But it's very important to me that in the Chaos of all of this happening, Leo's explosive devices get taken beyond his reach of them so he has no firepower. And this is in Leo's perspective so you feel like horrible horrible despair. But then he locks eyes with Hazel across the battlefield and he realizes that no problem doesn't have a solution - if the two of them work together, Hazel can hold the earth apart & Leo can generate enough explosive power on his own to vaporize Gaea. But he kind of knows it's a long shot, it's not going to work, but he has to Try. They just need to find each other and get to the middle of the battlefield where Gaea is.
Simultaneously Jason and Piper and Annabeth are busy trying to keep Gaea at bay and forge ahead with The Plan lol but obviously it's not working and everything is falling to pieces and the Despair is setting in.
Meanwhile Percy and Frank are having a Family Dispute and Percy is so absolutely livid with Frank that he cannot see what has become clear to everyone else, that The Plan was never going to work, Gaea always knew that someone was going to need to die, and how dare Frank how DARE he let that person be Hazel, like I'm so serious it should be like Percy is screaming "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO HER" at the top of his lungs and Frank is sobbing as he's fighting him. Ok.
But then Frank gets this sense of battle calmness. And even though Percy is like going completely unhinged, Frank can hear the truth in what he's saying. He's going to assess everyone as their fighting and realize that the effort is futile, that they don't have enough firepower to stop her, and he's going to realize his entire life has been leading to this, since the day Juno came out of the fireplace and handed the stupid stick. And he also knows that Percy is right - he cannot let Hazel die for this cause again. And he also knows that some things are worth dying for.
So Frank Zhang, "good old Frank, who always seemed to show up when needed," who does not have the strength to transform anymore to fly across the battlefield, notches an arrow (he always was good with a bow), attaches his fireproof pouch to it, and sends it across the chaos to Leo Valdez. And Leo Valdez, who knows exactly what this means, uses every ounce of strength that he has ever possessed and sets that stick ablaze, right in Gaea's face.
Screaming, Chaos, Tragedy, Heartbreak, Earthquakes, and then silence - just silence. Leo is gone, but Frank's body hits the ground with a thud. Somehow, even with his ears ringing from the explosion, it's the loudest noise Percy has ever heard.
Ok.
So anyway the falling action from this sequence is going to have to be like at least a quarter of the book lol bc it's so traumatic. I don't think there's ever going to be any way that Percy is like ever again okay in his life lol but Mayhaps he and Ares can agree to bury the hatchet and Percy can find like some sense of peace that in Frank's final moments he did what he wanted to do. And at least he gets like some comfort from being reunited with Sally and Grover and Rachel and getting to visit home again. But I think the only person who is really going to be able to get through to Percy is Hazel and they can have a sweet moment where Hazel gets to refute all the things that Percy like Will Never be able to forgive himself for.
And Hazel Levesque, dear Hazel gets to live a second time, not just because she 'got thru the deadline' but bc Frank gave his life for hers. I think Thanatos himself comes to collect Frank's body and he explains his to her. And she also has the realization that Leo kept Sammy's oath to be there for her with his final breath.
Juno explains to someone probably Jason that it was always going to end this way. And I think we get the sentiment repeated yet again that death is not fair. Duty, honor, sacrifice - they mean something. No such thing as fair.
Anyways I think they should have a huge co-Greek Roman memorial service and the peace treaty should be named after Frank and Leo somehow.
This is the Best that I am capable of with the plot threads that we are given. I would have been sobbing if it ended this way lol
I've been trying to find an alternative plot for BOO that would have been narratively satisfying for the buildup of the series since the day I read it. Now, I do find some inherent problems in the setup of HOO as a series and I think this is one of the major problems with BOO (it was never going to be able to deliver on its premise bc its premise was flawed from inception). But if we do accept everything from TLH thru HOH at face value, I think there is an ending that could have been phenomenal.
Walk with me.
IMO these are the biggest unresolved plot points: Hazel's curse, Frank's curse, Frank's destiny and bringing his family full circle (it's in there, technically, but it happens OFF PAGE and is written to be a disappointment!), Percy's sacrifice that he is unable to make requiring Frank to intervene (also technically in there, just bad), the oath to keep with final breath (bc Leo's promise to Calypso does not work as fulfillment).
So in SON, Percy and Hazel and Frank latch onto each other and form an extremely tight bond despite the imminent threat of death hanging over all three of them. Frank is the leader of this quest, he knows all three of their lives are at risk, he has already lost his mother, and his grandmother is also dying. But Mars tells him:
“Self-pity isn’t helpful, kid. It isn’t worthy of you. Even without the family gift, your mom gave you your most important traits—bravery, loyalty, brains." “Life is only precious because it ends, kid. Take it from a god. You mortals don’t know how lucky you are.” "Duty. Sacrifice. They mean something."
Now initially, Frank is disgusted by his father, and he resents his mother's sacrifice because it left him alone. And Frank will tell Percy, about Hazel:
“She’s my best friend,” Frank said. “I lost my mom, my grandmother…I can’t lose her, too.”
But as the story unfolds he will come to grips with what Mars is telling him:
Frank understood what he had to do to break those chains. Mars had warned him. He’d explained why he loved Emily Zhang so much: She always put her duty first, ahead of everything. Even her life. Now it was Frank’s turn. His mother’s sacrifice medal felt warm in his pocket. He finally understood his mother’s choice, saving her comrades at the cost of her own life. He got what Mars had been trying to tell him—Duty. Sacrifice. They mean something. In Frank’s chest, a hard knot of anger and resentment—a lump of grief he’d been carrying since the funeral—finally began to dissolve. He understood why his mother never came home. Some things were worth dying for.
So in this narrative, it is Frank's turn to be in his mother's position. He's directly risking his own life. He's also putting Hazel's life at risk. But he ALSO makes peace with his mother's sacrifice, the loved one that he has been grieving for the whole narrative. (doesn't mean he isn't still going to grieve, of course - but that he can make peace with her choices).
Ok. So that's Frank's arc in SON. He also gets a prediction from Mars about Percy (in the same convo, mind you) that has THREE different components:
Percy Jackson? He’s too loyal to his friends. He can’t give them up, not for anything. He was told that, years ago. And someday soon, he’s going to face a sacrifice he can’t make. Without you, Frank—without your sense of duty—he’s going to fail. The whole war will go sideways, and Gaea will destroy our world.”
SO. 1. Percy will refuse to make the sacrifice 2. Frank's sense of duty - the sense of duty that accepts people making sacrifices for the sense of duty, even if it's your own mother - is the only thing that can prevent Percy from making this mistake and 3. The stakes of this moment are world-ending. Ok.
For this reason, Mars tells Frank that Gaea is more worried about him than Percy or Jason or the rest of the seven - Gaea thinks she can control Percy, and, in line with the prediction, she's right; she can control him.
You get a delicious little taste of this when Percy bets his life, relying on Gaea to save him over Phineas. Gaea wants Percy alive, not just because she wants his blood to wake, but because she's waiting to exploit his flaw and when she does she knows he's going to fail and she knows that it will come at the exact time when it matters the most. Ok.
Meanwhile, Hazel is on this quest with Percy and Frank knowing that freeing Thanatos means he will take her back to the Underworld and she does not want to go. Percy knows that Hazel does not want to go and he tells her - he promises her, in fact - that he will not allow this to happen:
“You’ll make it back, too, Hazel,” he insisted. “We’re not going to let anything happen to you. You’re too valuable to me, to the camp, and especially to Frank.” Hazel picked up an old valentine. The lacy white paper fell apart in her hands. “I don’t belong in this century. Nico only brought me back so I could correct my mistakes, maybe get into Elysium.” “There’s more to your destiny than that,” he said. “We’re supposed to fight Gaea together. I’m going to need you at my side way longer than just today. And Frank—you can see the guy is crazy about you. This life is worth fighting for, Hazel.” She closed her eyes. “Please, don’t get my hopes up. I can’t—”
It is absolutely critical that Hazel does not conceal to Percy that she does not want to die again.
Percy will repeat the sentiment to Frank:
“I’m not going to lose either of you,” he promised. “I’m not going to let that happen. And, Frank, you are a leader. Hazel would say the same thing. We need you.”
So here's Percy, inadvertently affirming everything Mars said about him - telling Frank point blank that he cannot lose Hazel or Frank and he WILL NOT let that happen and then saying he needs Frank. Truer than he realizes.
All this to say:
Frank comes to grips with duty in a way that is so powerful that I believe he could allow Hazel to sacrifice her life again. But Percy doesn't. And while Percy's fatal flaw has a loophole that allows him to make peace with sacrifices, again, Percy knows that Hazel does not want to die again - so the loophole won't work this time. He would fight Frank tooth and nail. Frank would hate himself, but if Hazel needed to die to prevent Gaea from rising, again - I think the most logical conclusion and resolution for both Frank and Percy's arcs as set up here is that Frank would let her, and Percy wouldn't.
And like I'm gonna be so real when I say that for the record that I hate this and I don't want Hazel to die and it would have been absolutely gutting in the worst way possible. It's so beautiful that Hazel's story is that she was forced to be a protector to her mother too soon and too young but these boys adore her and they take her and they will fight Death to keep her. And so I'm not going to let her sacrifice herself again, but I think we need to feel the fear of it, because it makes the most sense narratively for Hazel to die:
She is currently cheating death - her dad decides to let her get away with it. But for how long? We're not told. She herself doesn't know. Thanatos is released, but the Doors of Death are still open at the end of SON. So while she escaped this time, the threat of going back to the Underworld should still be Very Very Real for her.
Her powers were exploited by Gaea to make possible Gaea's rise to power in the first place. She is the first demigod contact, Gaea’s first appearance in our story timeline is to Hazel (by a long shot). This was set in motion before any of our other heroes were born, before Kronos woke. In a very real way Gaea is Hazel’s nemesis, Hazel’s unfinished business. I think it would only make sense that Hazel views it as her responsibility (although I don’t think it is - it makes sense for her to take ownership of the conflict). This war is uniquely personal to Hazel.
But the good news is that there's something beautiful that was set up in MOA: the Hazel/Sammy/Leo connection. And I think we could use this to save her.
“Thanks for being there, Sammy.” “Miss Lamarr, I will always be there for you!” he said brightly.
“That lady, Doña Callida, she warned me.” Sammy shook his head sadly. “She said Hazel’s great danger would not happen in my lifetime. But I promised I would be there for her. You will have to tell her I’m sorry, Leo. Help her if you can.”
So Hera appears to Sammy and tells him about Hazel’s destiny, Sammy doubles down on his oath to Hazel to be there for her and passes it down to Leo.
okay do you see it yet do you see it yet…… do you see where all this could have been going….
What's really interesting about this connection is that it seems that because Gaea made contact with Hazel, Hera made contact with Sammy, and because Hera made contact with Sammy, Gaea made contact with Leo. Because Gaea made contact with Leo, Esperanza Valdez dies in a fire. Leo feels responsible for this fire, knowing that he lost control of his powers. This links Hazel and Leo even more, because both of their mothers are killed by Gaea indirectly - the direct cause of their mothers' deaths is actually Hazel's powers and Leo's powers.
Meanwhile, back to Frank!
While Hera is putting Leo in fireplaces to sleep, Hera is coming out of fireplaces to give Frank's mother a piece of firewood that his life is bound to. Frank is told that "as long as it is safe, you are safe."
To free Thanatos, Frank sets it on fire himself and quite literally comes to terms with his own mortality:
He thought he understood his powers at last. Something about watching the firewood burn, smelling the acrid smoke of his own life, had made him feel strangely confident. Is it fair your life burns so short and bright? Death had asked. “No such thing as fair,” Frank told himself. “If I’m going to burn, it might as well be bright.”
but he doesn't die. But then he gets told by Thanatos:
“As for you, Frank Zhang, it isn’t your time, either. You’ve got a little fuel left to burn. But don’t think I’m doing either of you a favor. We will meet again under less pleasant circumstances.”
(IGNORE toa it's irrelevant to this conversation! We don't write new series to retcon unsatisfying character endings around here!!!!!!!!!)
So two things: Hazel is included in Thanatos' next meeting. Thanatos is gonna see Frank AND Hazel under less pleasant circumstances. Less pleasant than army of the undead, Death being chained, unkillable giant, btw. Fun.
Ok and then in Mark of Athena we get Leo reflecting on a possible explanation for what Thanatos could have meant:
Leo thought about his least favorite line in the Prophecy of Seven: To storm or fire the world must fall. For a long time, he’d figured that Jason or Percy stood for storm—maybe both of them together. Leo was the fire guy. Nobody said that, but it was pretty clear. Leo was one of the wild cards. If he did the wrong thing, the world could fall. No… it must fall. Leo wondered if Frank and his firewood had something to do with that line. Leo had already made some epic mistakes. It would be so easy for him to accidentally send Frank Zhang up in flames.
Also consider that Frank gave his stick to Hazel for safekeeping in SON and MOA, but then he takes it back from her in HOH, deciding he wants to be responsible for his own destiny:
“I’ll keep it,” Frank said. Hazel pursed her lips. She looked down, maybe so Frank wouldn’t see the hurt in her eyes. She’d protected that firewood for him through a lot of hard battles. It was a sign of trust between them, a symbol of their relationship. “Hazel, it’s not about you,” Frank said, as gently as he could. “I can’t explain, but I—I have a feeling I’m going to need to step up when we’re in the House of Hades. I need to carry my own burden.” Hazel’s golden eyes were full of concern. “I understand. I just…I worry.”
Frank feels in HOH that because Leo gave him a fireproof pouch he doesn't need to fear fire anymore. The dumbest resolution I've ever heard of, btw.
So. Anyways. Moving onto BOO with all that foreshadowing in place -
We're going to axe the physician's cure completely because the quest for it was incredibly boring and it's a deus ex machina type solution that removes all stakes from the final conflict.
We're going to remove Reyna and Nico's POVS and have the Seven each get one in this book.
We learn from Hazel's POV that now that the Doors of Death have been closed her days are numbered and she has like 30 of them left, and she doesn't tell anyone about this deadline. Bonus points if Hecate told Hazel this was going to happen before she went to close them and she went anyway for Percy and Annabeth. We're going to explore her feelings of unfinished business and responsibility. We're going to include her very complicated feelings about going back to the Underworld and knowing so many dead people and feeling like a ghost herself some days. We also need to hear more about Sammy, and she needs to talk to Leo about Sammy, and I think she should even tell Leo that she thinks it would be nice to see him again, and Leo's antenna goes up and he's like "you're not thinking about doing something stupid, are you, Hazel?" And of course she will deflect, but Leo is going to be the only one who sees through her facade for what it really is. And I think it should be horrifying like I think she should be having nightmares about standing in Asphodel that feel endless and I think when she sees her dad again she should get a very private breakdown moment with him and I think she should want and try to blame him for all of this but then see the sorrow in his eyes and realize that all of his demigod children are children plucked out of time and he's been trying to play the prophecy game to keep them alive and he doesn't have any cards left to play. And I think he would try to comfort her that "it won't be like the last time. You'll see Elysium" and perhaps he'll even hint at rebirth for her. And Hazel, who is so, so tired, of running, of fighting, of not being safe, of too much being asked of her - tries to make herself believe that this is okay, that this will be enough. And I also think we should get a bunch of absolutely devastating lines in Hazel's last couple chapters as she's saying goodbye to her friends one by one but she's not telling them that's what she's doing and she reflects that "it really was a nice life. A short life - even shorter than the first. But a good life." Wow I'm making myself so emo just thinking about it
We learn from Frank's POV that the ancestor who has been waiting for him is the Argonaut he is descended from, whose life was also tied to a piece of firewood (yes so the one he's descended from is a different guy than the firewood guy but these are pretty obscure stories anyway and Rick does retcon myths a lot so we're just gonna roll them into one guy). The Argonaut gets to tell us the story of his life - he was in a boar hunt competition, the heroine Atalanta wins the competition bc she draws first blood on the boar. His uncles are enraged that a woman won the contest and so the Argonaut kills them both, his mom is so mad at him for doing this that she chucks his firewood on the fire and he dies. I actually think this convo could have some humor to it, where Frank is like ".....and you're telling me this, because?" and the Argonaut laughs and tells him that he's too Roman, not every story has a neat little moral. Sometimes the moral is that life sucks and then you die. But then he gives us like a little teaser that's going to come back later, like "or maybe the moral is, some things are worth dying for." Frank will immediately note this as something his dad said to him in Son of Neptune, and perhaps he'll have some reflection on Greeks and Romans not being so different after all and maybe we even get like an emotional moment where Mars and Ares stop shouting at each other in his head. I think this would work well bc it would give the reader an easy explanation for why this scene is in the book without making us necessarily think that Frank's plot is headed towards sacrifice. Also important to me tho that Frank is super disturbed by this conversation bc he was really hoping for a solution to his firewood problem and he thought that was the point of being called back to his ancestors, but then he realizes that he doesn't have a solution and the only precedent is that the guy died. Ok.
Ok. Now, Leo and Jason and even Piper's plot and role to play can be essentially the same, like it does make sense actually to separate Gaea from the earth and cut her into tiny pieces bc of the precedent set by Ouranous. I just think that every demigod in the Seven should be included in the plot and all of them need to be involved in the planning on How to do it. And they concoct a plan for all their different positions, we get a nice callback to Kronos and his three brothers holding Ouranous down and we deal out a different responsibility to each one of the Seven. Like Percy's supposed to be at one corner helping Jason maintain the storm, Jason using his storm powers to separate Gaea from the earth, Hazel using her earth powers to hold the earth DOWN so it doesn't reach up to Gaea once she's held up, I think Frank should be supposed to turn into a dragon again or something to help Jason fly Gaea up, Piper can be still using charmspeak trying to weaken Gaea, I think Annabeth should take point on covering all of them so they can do their jobs (and I think this would be a good plot for Hubris Girl, needing to come to terms with this role being the least flashy, but no less necessary, and choosing it without shame. I also think that she should reunite w/ her mom and get some such resolution there but then realize that she doesn't actually need it because she has nothing to prove to Athena anymore and she gets to be freed from her unyielding desire to be Exceptional, at least a little. And I also think she should get a cool moment where she gets an army to direct bc she certainly has the chops to do it).
Anyways. They're going to talk about this plan in a LOT of detail so that the reader knows the precise moment when everything goes completely off the rails.
For one, Hazel's deadline is coming up, so her plan is to take Gaea down with her and spare the lives of her friends. I think we can even get a moment of Hazel telling Gaea in a dream that she vows to take her down with her last breath. And again we should really FEEL how much Hazel hates Gaea, for everything she did to her mother and put Hazel through. It should feel Personal. Hazel plans to do this the same way she killed Alcyoneus, using her powers to like rip Gaea's heart right out of her chest or some other such extremely metal and crazy thing. But unfortunately she made the mistake of threatening Gaea with this bc she is SO ANGRY at her.
For two, Leo is also planning to blow Gaea up the same way that he does in canon, as revenge for his own mom and refusing to let Gaea take another loved one from him. But his plot is significantly less subtle bc he needs to be like collecting explosives lol so that's how Gaea knows about it. I think we should also get Leo telling Gaea that he's going to take her down 'if it's the last thing i do' so again now we're terrified for Leo and know his death is coming.
So anyway when Gaea finally wakes she's going to be infinitely more terrifying than we ever could have conceived of and we should get immense feelings of powerlessness from the demigods, I think this should perhaps come from Jason or Piper's perspectives. But they have to Try, right? What other option is there?
Except that Gaea is going to tell everyone about Hazel's plan and Leo's plan and then it's going to dissolve into complete pandemonium.
For one, Gaea is going to direct this at Percy specifically bc, as we know, she thought she could control him and she was right. She'll give him a choice about whether or not he wants to proceed with The Plan still and Percy will give up his territory and let Gaea have it. And she'll start cackling like she's already victorious. Should be an extremely dramatic and huge moment. Percy is going to completely lose it - like fracturing the ground storm winds pushing Hazel away from Gaea kind of lose it. And Hazel will be sobbing trying to explain that it's the best way, can't he see that it's the best way, Frank is going to have to like full bodily tackle Percy to the ground otherwise the rest of the six of them will be literally incapable of Going Ahead With The Plan. Bc Frank still thinks this plan is going to happen and it's going to work, lol.
But it's very important to me that in the Chaos of all of this happening, Leo's explosive devices get taken beyond his reach of them so he has no firepower. And this is in Leo's perspective so you feel like horrible horrible despair. But then he locks eyes with Hazel across the battlefield and he realizes that no problem doesn't have a solution - if the two of them work together, Hazel can hold the earth apart & Leo can generate enough explosive power on his own to vaporize Gaea. But he kind of knows it's a long shot, it's not going to work, but he has to Try. They just need to find each other and get to the middle of the battlefield where Gaea is.
Simultaneously Jason and Piper and Annabeth are busy trying to keep Gaea at bay and forge ahead with The Plan lol but obviously it's not working and everything is falling to pieces and the Despair is setting in.
Meanwhile Percy and Frank are having a Family Dispute and Percy is so absolutely livid with Frank that he cannot see what has become clear to everyone else, that The Plan was never going to work, Gaea always knew that someone was going to need to die, and how dare Frank how DARE he let that person be Hazel, like I'm so serious it should be like Percy is screaming "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO HER" at the top of his lungs and Frank is sobbing as he's fighting him. Ok.
But then Frank gets this sense of battle calmness. And even though Percy is like going completely unhinged, Frank can hear the truth in what he's saying. He's going to assess everyone as their fighting and realize that the effort is futile, that they don't have enough firepower to stop her, and he's going to realize his entire life has been leading to this, since the day Juno came out of the fireplace and handed the stupid stick. And he also knows that Percy is right - he cannot let Hazel die for this cause again. And he also knows that some things are worth dying for.
So Frank Zhang, "good old Frank, who always seemed to show up when needed," who does not have the strength to transform anymore to fly across the battlefield, notches an arrow (he always was good with a bow), attaches his fireproof pouch to it, and sends it across the chaos to Leo Valdez. And Leo Valdez, who knows exactly what this means, uses every ounce of strength that he has ever possessed and sets that stick ablaze, right in Gaea's face.
Screaming, Chaos, Tragedy, Heartbreak, Earthquakes, and then silence - just silence. Leo is gone, but Frank's body hits the ground with a thud. Somehow, even with his ears ringing from the explosion, it's the loudest noise Percy has ever heard.
Ok.
So anyway the falling action from this sequence is going to have to be like at least a quarter of the book lol bc it's so traumatic. I don't think there's ever going to be any way that Percy is like ever again okay in his life lol but Mayhaps he and Ares can agree to bury the hatchet and Percy can find like some sense of peace that in Frank's final moments he did what he wanted to do. And at least he gets like some comfort from being reunited with Sally and Grover and Rachel and getting to visit home again. But I think the only person who is really going to be able to get through to Percy is Hazel and they can have a sweet moment where Hazel gets to refute all the things that Percy like Will Never be able to forgive himself for.
And Hazel Levesque, dear Hazel gets to live a second time, not just because she 'got thru the deadline' but bc Frank gave his life for hers. I think Thanatos himself comes to collect Frank's body and he explains his to her. And she also has the realization that Leo kept Sammy's oath to be there for her with his final breath.
Juno explains to someone probably Jason that it was always going to end this way. And I think we get the sentiment repeated yet again that death is not fair. Duty, honor, sacrifice - they mean something. No such thing as fair.
Anyways I think they should have a huge co-Greek Roman memorial service and the peace treaty should be named after Frank and Leo somehow.
This is the Best that I am capable of with the plot threads that we are given. I would have been sobbing if it ended this way lol

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I've been trying to find an alternative plot for BOO that would have been narratively satisfying for the buildup of the series since the day I read it. Now, I do find some inherent problems in the setup of HOO as a series and I think this is one of the major problems with BOO (it was never going to be able to deliver on its premise bc its premise was flawed from inception). But if we do accept everything from TLH thru HOH at face value, I think there is an ending that could have been phenomenal.
Walk with me.
IMO these are the biggest unresolved plot points: Hazel's curse, Frank's curse, Frank's destiny and bringing his family full circle (it's in there, technically, but it happens OFF PAGE and is written to be a disappointment!), Percy's sacrifice that he is unable to make requiring Frank to intervene (also technically in there, just bad), the oath to keep with final breath (bc Leo's promise to Calypso does not work as fulfillment).
So in SON, Percy and Hazel and Frank latch onto each other and form an extremely tight bond despite the imminent threat of death hanging over all three of them. Frank is the leader of this quest, he knows all three of their lives are at risk, he has already lost his mother, and his grandmother is also dying. But Mars tells him:
“Self-pity isn’t helpful, kid. It isn’t worthy of you. Even without the family gift, your mom gave you your most important traits—bravery, loyalty, brains." “Life is only precious because it ends, kid. Take it from a god. You mortals don’t know how lucky you are.” "Duty. Sacrifice. They mean something."
Now initially, Frank is disgusted by his father, and he resents his mother's sacrifice because it left him alone. And Frank will tell Percy, about Hazel:
“She’s my best friend,” Frank said. “I lost my mom, my grandmother…I can’t lose her, too.”
But as the story unfolds he will come to grips with what Mars is telling him:
Frank understood what he had to do to break those chains. Mars had warned him. He’d explained why he loved Emily Zhang so much: She always put her duty first, ahead of everything. Even her life. Now it was Frank’s turn. His mother’s sacrifice medal felt warm in his pocket. He finally understood his mother’s choice, saving her comrades at the cost of her own life. He got what Mars had been trying to tell him—Duty. Sacrifice. They mean something. In Frank’s chest, a hard knot of anger and resentment—a lump of grief he’d been carrying since the funeral—finally began to dissolve. He understood why his mother never came home. Some things were worth dying for.
So in this narrative, it is Frank's turn to be in his mother's position. He's directly risking his own life. He's also putting Hazel's life at risk. But he ALSO makes peace with his mother's sacrifice, the loved one that he has been grieving for the whole narrative. (doesn't mean he isn't still going to grieve, of course - but that he can make peace with her choices).
Ok. So that's Frank's arc in SON. He also gets a prediction from Mars about Percy (in the same convo, mind you) that has THREE different components:
Percy Jackson? He’s too loyal to his friends. He can’t give them up, not for anything. He was told that, years ago. And someday soon, he’s going to face a sacrifice he can’t make. Without you, Frank—without your sense of duty—he’s going to fail. The whole war will go sideways, and Gaea will destroy our world.”
SO. 1. Percy will refuse to make the sacrifice 2. Frank's sense of duty - the sense of duty that accepts people making sacrifices for the sense of duty, even if it's your own mother - is the only thing that can prevent Percy from making this mistake and 3. The stakes of this moment are world-ending. Ok.
For this reason, Mars tells Frank that Gaea is more worried about him than Percy or Jason or the rest of the seven - Gaea thinks she can control Percy, and, in line with the prediction, she's right; she can control him.
You get a delicious little taste of this when Percy bets his life, relying on Gaea to save him over Phineas. Gaea wants Percy alive, not just because she wants his blood to wake, but because she's waiting to exploit his flaw and when she does she knows he's going to fail and she knows that it will come at the exact time when it matters the most. Ok.
Meanwhile, Hazel is on this quest with Percy and Frank knowing that freeing Thanatos means he will take her back to the Underworld and she does not want to go. Percy knows that Hazel does not want to go and he tells her - he promises her, in fact - that he will not allow this to happen:
“You’ll make it back, too, Hazel,” he insisted. “We’re not going to let anything happen to you. You’re too valuable to me, to the camp, and especially to Frank.” Hazel picked up an old valentine. The lacy white paper fell apart in her hands. “I don’t belong in this century. Nico only brought me back so I could correct my mistakes, maybe get into Elysium.” “There’s more to your destiny than that,” he said. “We’re supposed to fight Gaea together. I’m going to need you at my side way longer than just today. And Frank—you can see the guy is crazy about you. This life is worth fighting for, Hazel.” She closed her eyes. “Please, don’t get my hopes up. I can’t—”
It is absolutely critical that Hazel does not conceal to Percy that she does not want to die again.
Percy will repeat the sentiment to Frank:
“I’m not going to lose either of you,” he promised. “I’m not going to let that happen. And, Frank, you are a leader. Hazel would say the same thing. We need you.”
So here's Percy, inadvertently affirming everything Mars said about him - telling Frank point blank that he cannot lose Hazel or Frank and he WILL NOT let that happen and then saying he needs Frank. Truer than he realizes.
All this to say:
Frank comes to grips with duty in a way that is so powerful that I believe he could allow Hazel to sacrifice her life again. But Percy doesn't. And while Percy's fatal flaw has a loophole that allows him to make peace with sacrifices, again, Percy knows that Hazel does not want to die again - so the loophole won't work this time. He would fight Frank tooth and nail. Frank would hate himself, but if Hazel needed to die to prevent Gaea from rising, again - I think the most logical conclusion and resolution for both Frank and Percy's arcs as set up here is that Frank would let her, and Percy wouldn't.
And like I'm gonna be so real when I say that for the record that I hate this and I don't want Hazel to die and it would have been absolutely gutting in the worst way possible. It's so beautiful that Hazel's story is that she was forced to be a protector to her mother too soon and too young but these boys adore her and they take her and they will fight Death to keep her. And so I'm not going to let her sacrifice herself again, but I think we need to feel the fear of it, because it makes the most sense narratively for Hazel to die:
She is currently cheating death - her dad decides to let her get away with it. But for how long? We're not told. She herself doesn't know. Thanatos is released, but the Doors of Death are still open at the end of SON. So while she escaped this time, the threat of going back to the Underworld should still be Very Very Real for her.
Her powers were exploited by Gaea to make possible Gaea's rise to power in the first place. She is the first demigod contact, Gaea’s first appearance in our story timeline is to Hazel (by a long shot). This was set in motion before any of our other heroes were born, before Kronos woke. In a very real way Gaea is Hazel’s nemesis, Hazel’s unfinished business. I think it would only make sense that Hazel views it as her responsibility (although I don’t think it is - it makes sense for her to take ownership of the conflict). This war is uniquely personal to Hazel.
But the good news is that there's something beautiful that was set up in MOA: the Hazel/Sammy/Leo connection. And I think we could use this to save her.
“Thanks for being there, Sammy.” “Miss Lamarr, I will always be there for you!” he said brightly.
“That lady, Doña Callida, she warned me.” Sammy shook his head sadly. “She said Hazel’s great danger would not happen in my lifetime. But I promised I would be there for her. You will have to tell her I’m sorry, Leo. Help her if you can.”
So Hera appears to Sammy and tells him about Hazel’s destiny, Sammy doubles down on his oath to Hazel to be there for her and passes it down to Leo.
okay do you see it yet do you see it yet…… do you see where all this could have been going….
What's really interesting about this connection is that it seems that because Gaea made contact with Hazel, Hera made contact with Sammy, and because Hera made contact with Sammy, Gaea made contact with Leo. Because Gaea made contact with Leo, Esperanza Valdez dies in a fire. Leo feels responsible for this fire, knowing that he lost control of his powers. This links Hazel and Leo even more, because both of their mothers are killed by Gaea indirectly - the direct cause of their mothers' deaths is actually Hazel's powers and Leo's powers.
Meanwhile, back to Frank!
While Hera is putting Leo in fireplaces to sleep, Hera is coming out of fireplaces to give Frank's mother a piece of firewood that his life is bound to. Frank is told that "as long as it is safe, you are safe."
To free Thanatos, Frank sets it on fire himself and quite literally comes to terms with his own mortality:
He thought he understood his powers at last. Something about watching the firewood burn, smelling the acrid smoke of his own life, had made him feel strangely confident. Is it fair your life burns so short and bright? Death had asked. “No such thing as fair,” Frank told himself. “If I’m going to burn, it might as well be bright.”
but he doesn't die. But then he gets told by Thanatos:
“As for you, Frank Zhang, it isn’t your time, either. You’ve got a little fuel left to burn. But don’t think I’m doing either of you a favor. We will meet again under less pleasant circumstances.”
(IGNORE toa it's irrelevant to this conversation! We don't write new series to retcon unsatisfying character endings around here!!!!!!!!!)
So two things: Hazel is included in Thanatos' next meeting. Thanatos is gonna see Frank AND Hazel under less pleasant circumstances. Less pleasant than army of the undead, Death being chained, unkillable giant, btw. Fun.
Ok and then in Mark of Athena we get Leo reflecting on a possible explanation for what Thanatos could have meant:
Leo thought about his least favorite line in the Prophecy of Seven: To storm or fire the world must fall. For a long time, he’d figured that Jason or Percy stood for storm—maybe both of them together. Leo was the fire guy. Nobody said that, but it was pretty clear. Leo was one of the wild cards. If he did the wrong thing, the world could fall. No… it must fall. Leo wondered if Frank and his firewood had something to do with that line. Leo had already made some epic mistakes. It would be so easy for him to accidentally send Frank Zhang up in flames.
Also consider that Frank gave his stick to Hazel for safekeeping in SON and MOA, but then he takes it back from her in HOH, deciding he wants to be responsible for his own destiny:
“I’ll keep it,” Frank said. Hazel pursed her lips. She looked down, maybe so Frank wouldn’t see the hurt in her eyes. She’d protected that firewood for him through a lot of hard battles. It was a sign of trust between them, a symbol of their relationship. “Hazel, it’s not about you,” Frank said, as gently as he could. “I can’t explain, but I—I have a feeling I’m going to need to step up when we’re in the House of Hades. I need to carry my own burden.” Hazel’s golden eyes were full of concern. “I understand. I just…I worry.”
Frank feels in HOH that because Leo gave him a fireproof pouch he doesn't need to fear fire anymore. The dumbest resolution I've ever heard of, btw.
So. Anyways. Moving onto BOO with all that foreshadowing in place -
We're going to axe the physician's cure completely because the quest for it was incredibly boring and it's a deus ex machina type solution that removes all stakes from the final conflict.
We're going to remove Reyna and Nico's POVS and have the Seven each get one in this book.
We learn from Hazel's POV that now that the Doors of Death have been closed her days are numbered and she has like 30 of them left, and she doesn't tell anyone about this deadline. Bonus points if Hecate told Hazel this was going to happen before she went to close them and she went anyway for Percy and Annabeth. We're going to explore her feelings of unfinished business and responsibility. We're going to include her very complicated feelings about going back to the Underworld and knowing so many dead people and feeling like a ghost herself some days. We also need to hear more about Sammy, and she needs to talk to Leo about Sammy, and I think she should even tell Leo that she thinks it would be nice to see him again, and Leo's antenna goes up and he's like "you're not thinking about doing something stupid, are you, Hazel?" And of course she will deflect, but Leo is going to be the only one who sees through her facade for what it really is. And I think it should be horrifying like I think she should be having nightmares about standing in Asphodel that feel endless and I think when she sees her dad again she should get a very private breakdown moment with him and I think she should want and try to blame him for all of this but then see the sorrow in his eyes and realize that all of his demigod children are children plucked out of time and he's been trying to play the prophecy game to keep them alive and he doesn't have any cards left to play. And I think he would try to comfort her that "it won't be like the last time. You'll see Elysium" and perhaps he'll even hint at rebirth for her. And Hazel, who is so, so tired, of running, of fighting, of not being safe, of too much being asked of her - tries to make herself believe that this is okay, that this will be enough. And I also think we should get a bunch of absolutely devastating lines in Hazel's last couple chapters as she's saying goodbye to her friends one by one but she's not telling them that's what she's doing and she reflects that "it really was a nice life. A short life - even shorter than the first. But a good life." Wow I'm making myself so emo just thinking about it
We learn from Frank's POV that the ancestor who has been waiting for him is the Argonaut he is descended from, whose life was also tied to a piece of firewood (yes so the one he's descended from is a different guy than the firewood guy but these are pretty obscure stories anyway and Rick does retcon myths a lot so we're just gonna roll them into one guy). The Argonaut gets to tell us the story of his life - he was in a boar hunt competition, the heroine Atalanta wins the competition bc she draws first blood on the boar. His uncles are enraged that a woman won the contest and so the Argonaut kills them both, his mom is so mad at him for doing this that she chucks his firewood on the fire and he dies. I actually think this convo could have some humor to it, where Frank is like ".....and you're telling me this, because?" and the Argonaut laughs and tells him that he's too Roman, not every story has a neat little moral. Sometimes the moral is that life sucks and then you die. But then he gives us like a little teaser that's going to come back later, like "or maybe the moral is, some things are worth dying for." Frank will immediately note this as something his dad said to him in Son of Neptune, and perhaps he'll have some reflection on Greeks and Romans not being so different after all and maybe we even get like an emotional moment where Mars and Ares stop shouting at each other in his head. I think this would work well bc it would give the reader an easy explanation for why this scene is in the book without making us necessarily think that Frank's plot is headed towards sacrifice. Also important to me tho that Frank is super disturbed by this conversation bc he was really hoping for a solution to his firewood problem and he thought that was the point of being called back to his ancestors, but then he realizes that he doesn't have a solution and the only precedent is that the guy died. Ok.
Ok. Now, Leo and Jason and even Piper's plot and role to play can be essentially the same, like it does make sense actually to separate Gaea from the earth and cut her into tiny pieces bc of the precedent set by Ouranous. I just think that every demigod in the Seven should be included in the plot and all of them need to be involved in the planning on How to do it. And they concoct a plan for all their different positions, we get a nice callback to Kronos and his three brothers holding Ouranous down and we deal out a different responsibility to each one of the Seven. Like Percy's supposed to be at one corner helping Jason maintain the storm, Jason using his storm powers to separate Gaea from the earth, Hazel using her earth powers to hold the earth DOWN so it doesn't reach up to Gaea once she's held up, I think Frank should be supposed to turn into a dragon again or something to help Jason fly Gaea up, Piper can be still using charmspeak trying to weaken Gaea, I think Annabeth should take point on covering all of them so they can do their jobs (and I think this would be a good plot for Hubris Girl, needing to come to terms with this role being the least flashy, but no less necessary, and choosing it without shame. I also think that she should reunite w/ her mom and get some such resolution there but then realize that she doesn't actually need it because she has nothing to prove to Athena anymore and she gets to be freed from her unyielding desire to be Exceptional, at least a little. And I also think she should get a cool moment where she gets an army to direct bc she certainly has the chops to do it).
Anyways. They're going to talk about this plan in a LOT of detail so that the reader knows the precise moment when everything goes completely off the rails.
For one, Hazel's deadline is coming up, so her plan is to take Gaea down with her and spare the lives of her friends. I think we can even get a moment of Hazel telling Gaea in a dream that she vows to take her down with her last breath. And again we should really FEEL how much Hazel hates Gaea, for everything she did to her mother and put Hazel through. It should feel Personal. Hazel plans to do this the same way she killed Alcyoneus, using her powers to like rip Gaea's heart right out of her chest or some other such extremely metal and crazy thing. But unfortunately she made the mistake of threatening Gaea with this bc she is SO ANGRY at her.
For two, Leo is also planning to blow Gaea up the same way that he does in canon, as revenge for his own mom and refusing to let Gaea take another loved one from him. But his plot is significantly less subtle bc he needs to be like collecting explosives lol so that's how Gaea knows about it. I think we should also get Leo telling Gaea that he's going to take her down 'if it's the last thing i do' so again now we're terrified for Leo and know his death is coming.
So anyway when Gaea finally wakes she's going to be infinitely more terrifying than we ever could have conceived of and we should get immense feelings of powerlessness from the demigods, I think this should perhaps come from Jason or Piper's perspectives. But they have to Try, right? What other option is there?
Except that Gaea is going to tell everyone about Hazel's plan and Leo's plan and then it's going to dissolve into complete pandemonium.
For one, Gaea is going to direct this at Percy specifically bc, as we know, she thought she could control him and she was right. She'll give him a choice about whether or not he wants to proceed with The Plan still and Percy will give up his territory and let Gaea have it. And she'll start cackling like she's already victorious. Should be an extremely dramatic and huge moment. Percy is going to completely lose it - like fracturing the ground storm winds pushing Hazel away from Gaea kind of lose it. And Hazel will be sobbing trying to explain that it's the best way, can't he see that it's the best way, Frank is going to have to like full bodily tackle Percy to the ground otherwise the rest of the six of them will be literally incapable of Going Ahead With The Plan. Bc Frank still thinks this plan is going to happen and it's going to work, lol.
But it's very important to me that in the Chaos of all of this happening, Leo's explosive devices get taken beyond his reach of them so he has no firepower. And this is in Leo's perspective so you feel like horrible horrible despair. But then he locks eyes with Hazel across the battlefield and he realizes that no problem doesn't have a solution - if the two of them work together, Hazel can hold the earth apart & Leo can generate enough explosive power on his own to vaporize Gaea. But he kind of knows it's a long shot, it's not going to work, but he has to Try. They just need to find each other and get to the middle of the battlefield where Gaea is.
Simultaneously Jason and Piper and Annabeth are busy trying to keep Gaea at bay and forge ahead with The Plan lol but obviously it's not working and everything is falling to pieces and the Despair is setting in.
Meanwhile Percy and Frank are having a Family Dispute and Percy is so absolutely livid with Frank that he cannot see what has become clear to everyone else, that The Plan was never going to work, Gaea always knew that someone was going to need to die, and how dare Frank how DARE he let that person be Hazel, like I'm so serious it should be like Percy is screaming "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO HER" at the top of his lungs and Frank is sobbing as he's fighting him. Ok.
But then Frank gets this sense of battle calmness. And even though Percy is like going completely unhinged, Frank can hear the truth in what he's saying. He's going to assess everyone as their fighting and realize that the effort is futile, that they don't have enough firepower to stop her, and he's going to realize his entire life has been leading to this, since the day Juno came out of the fireplace and handed the stupid stick. And he also knows that Percy is right - he cannot let Hazel die for this cause again. And he also knows that some things are worth dying for.
So Frank Zhang, "good old Frank, who always seemed to show up when needed," who does not have the strength to transform anymore to fly across the battlefield, notches an arrow (he always was good with a bow), attaches his fireproof pouch to it, and sends it across the chaos to Leo Valdez. And Leo Valdez, who knows exactly what this means, uses every ounce of strength that he has ever possessed and sets that stick ablaze, right in Gaea's face.
Screaming, Chaos, Tragedy, Heartbreak, Earthquakes, and then silence - just silence. Leo is gone, but Frank's body hits the ground with a thud. Somehow, even with his ears ringing from the explosion, it's the loudest noise Percy has ever heard.
Ok.
So anyway the falling action from this sequence is going to have to be like at least a quarter of the book lol bc it's so traumatic. I don't think there's ever going to be any way that Percy is like ever again okay in his life lol but Mayhaps he and Ares can agree to bury the hatchet and Percy can find like some sense of peace that in Frank's final moments he did what he wanted to do. And at least he gets like some comfort from being reunited with Sally and Grover and Rachel and getting to visit home again. But I think the only person who is really going to be able to get through to Percy is Hazel and they can have a sweet moment where Hazel gets to refute all the things that Percy like Will Never be able to forgive himself for.
And Hazel Levesque, dear Hazel gets to live a second time, not just because she 'got thru the deadline' but bc Frank gave his life for hers. I think Thanatos himself comes to collect Frank's body and he explains his to her. And she also has the realization that Leo kept Sammy's oath to be there for her with his final breath.
Juno explains to someone probably Jason that it was always going to end this way. And I think we get the sentiment repeated yet again that death is not fair. Duty, honor, sacrifice - they mean something. No such thing as fair.
Anyways I think they should have a huge co-Greek Roman memorial service and the peace treaty should be named after Frank and Leo somehow.
This is the Best that I am capable of with the plot threads that we are given. I would have been sobbing if it ended this way lol
"do it scared" "do it alone" "do it bored" what about MY strategy. do it later
fetishizing normalizing romanticizing sexualizing carmelizing that old man in my mind this morning
꩜ ◞ how fandom accidentally englishes names
preface ꩜ good evening this is different from my usual stuff (actual fanfiction, larping, and schizoposting) but i really wanted to explore something that's been bothering me for quite some time and thought this would serve useful especially fanfic writers. so um i hope you don't mind this small yap. tldr is down below if too lazy 2 read
಄ ⋆ PRELIMINARIES / ABSTRACT
this post examines the tendency of English-speaking fandom to reinterpret Japanese naming conventions through English-speaking linguistic frameworks. i will be using several different forms of Eastern media, such as Jujutsu Kaisen for case study. i'll be exploring why epithets are frequently mistaken for personal names, how Japanese naming works, how translation contributes to this misaligned phenomenon, and why these reinterpretations become normalized through fandom. while truthfully, triggered by one particularly frustrating fanfiction, i'll be arguing that the issue reflects a broader linguistic pattern rather than isolated author error.
಄ ⋆ BACKGROUND
to bring to light why i wrote this, while reading an otherwise enjoyable fanfiction, i encountered a line in which Heian-era sukuna was addressed by "ryomen" as though it were his given name, and this had been a repeated trend i've seen in Jujutsu Kaisen sukuna fanfiction. this tiny detail—which objectively should not have occupied my thoughts for as long as it did—sent me down an unfortunate rabbit hole regarding naming conventions in Japanese media, translation practices, and the tendency for English-speaking fandom to reconstruct unfamiliar linguistic systems into something more recognizable. names are rarely "just names," even within simplistic language systems. across different cultures, they carry distinct systems, conventions, and social functions that determine not only what a person is called, but why they are called that in the first place. English-speaking fan communities frequently interpret foreign naming systems through familiar Western frameworks.
಄ ⋆ SIGNIFICANCE
i believe it is well known that fanfiction often rewards emotional accuracy over linguistic accuracy (not saying disparagingly). however, repeated reinterpretations of foreign naming systems can gradually become accepted as "common knowledge" within fandom. examining why this occurs reveals less about individual writers and more about how language shapes the way audiences understand unfamiliar cultures.
಄ ⋆ CHAPTER 1. WHAT DOES A NAME DO?
to start, i must quote unnecessarily, "i think therefore i am." this does not mean anything, i just really wanted to use it because it's funny. before discussing why fandom repeatedly misinterprets foreign names, we first have to answer a surprisingly difficult question. what exactly is a name? a name, linguistically, is a term used for identification by an external observer and it can identify a class, a category of things, a single thing (people, places, objects) either uniquely, or within a given context. the entity identified by a name is called its referent. a naming convention is a set of agreed, stipulated, or generally accepted standards, norms, social norms, or criteria for naming things. it is important to note that names have rules. at first glance, a name looks like a label. a chair is a "chair," a table is called a "table," it's a very simple concept. but people are not objects, human names do not just classify, they distinguish. when i say "dog," i've identified a category; when i say "hachiko," i've identified one specific individual. so therefore, names are referential rather than descriptive. their primary purpose is to let which person is being talked about, not what kind of person they are. that's why names can be completely arbitrary, because it's simply a pointer. names also don't just identify people. they also encode relationships, telling you by who calls you what something about your relationship hence, the difference of someone calling you Jonathan, John, Johnny, Dad, Mr. Sherlock, Big John. They are all referring to the same person but every choice communicates something different; familiarity, hierarchy, affection, respect, distance, and intimacy. and i'm sure a bunch of other things. English-speakers often unconsciously assume that [First Name, denoting who they are] [Middle Name, denoting a specifier] [Last Name, denoting from where they came] is the default and universal human format. it isn't obviously, different cultures answer completely different questions. some emphasize family, ancestry, then some emphasize birthplace or achievements. some religion, some ranks. that's why some cultures have patronymics, some don't have surnames, some have courtesy names, some names change throughout their life.
಄ ⋆ CHAPTER 2. NAMES HAVE JOBS, NOT ALL JOBS ARE NAMES
there are several different categories in which names fall in (sources i'm using are very broad, but i'll link them below), that are often unused, unheard, or underutilized in the English language. having established that names are social tools rather than arbitrary labels, we now encounter another problem: English frequently treats every identifier attached to a person as though it were simply "their name." linguistically, however, many of these identifiers perform entirely different functions. They may indicate family lineage, social status, profession, achievement, respect, or reputation rather than personal identity itself. the most important question isn't "what is this called?" when talking about names, but instead "what job is this word doing?" so consider the sentence, "Professor Smith spoke to John." both "Professor" and "John" identify the same individual in different contexts, but they do not perform the same linguistic function.one indicates institutional status, while the other functions as a personal identifier. so? words attached to people aren't interchangeable.
⋆ personal identifiers a given name is a name that identifies the individual within their family or community, it's typically a name assigned to an individual at birth or later in life. in English, this is often the first name. it primarily serves toto distinguish them from other members of the same family. examples are John, Satoru (悟), Yor, Leon. a family name (surname) is a name that identifies a person's family lineage and is shared among relatives. depending on the culture, it may appear before or after the given name (while stylistic choices are of course welcomed, standard practices adopt the original culture's naming order). examples are Gojo (五条), Smith, Liu (劉). a middle name is an additional personal name placed between the given and family name. its purpose varies widely between cultures and may commemorate relatives, saints, or simply provide another identifier. examples include John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Leon Scott Kennedy. a patronymic is a name derived from one's father (or sometimes a male ancestor). it indicates parentage rather than functioning as a hereditary surname. the female version, a matronymic, is derived from one's mother rather than father. it is less common globally but exists in several naming traditions. examples: Ivan Ivanonich ("son of Ivan"). a clan name identifies membership in a larger kinship group rather than an immediate family. multiple unrelated households may share the same clan. examples are Gojo (術師家) and the Uchiha (うちは一族).
⋆ social identifiers a title is a name that denotes rank, occupation, office, or status rather than identity. titles answer the question of "what are you?" rather than "who are you?" examples include: King, Doctor, Professor, Lord, Captain. an honorific is a word or title or grammatical form that conveys respect, familiarity, or social hierarchy between speakers. unlike titles, honorifics describe the relationship between people rather than the identity of the individual. examples include: in Japanese, -san (used to convey respect used between any age), -sama (used for individuals with a higher rank than oneself, -kun (used to refer to people of junior status or men in general), in English, Mr., Mrs., Sir, in Indonesian kak, mas, mbak. a house name denotes the membership in a noble or dynastic house. example: House Stark, House Windsor. a courtesy name is an additional name adopted upon reaching adulthood or entering society. It is often used by peers instead of the person's birth name. this is historically common in Chinese naming traditions. example is Confucius' (Kongzi) courtesy name Zhongni (仲尼). a temple name is a name bestowed after death upon monarchs in several East Asian traditions and is primarily used in historical or religious contexts. a posthumous name is a name granted after death and often reflects the person's achievements or character. unlike a birth name, it was never used by the individual during life. a regnal name is a name adopted when someone ascends to a throne or other high office. example: Pope Francis, Queen Elizabeth II. a religious name/dharma name is a name adopted upon entering a religious order or undergoing initiation. Ii often symbolizes spiritual rebirth or new identity.
⋆ descriptive identifiers an epithet is a descriptive word or phrase attached to a person's name that highlights a characteristic, reputation, or distinguishing feature. unlike a given name, an epithet describes rather than identifies. examples: Alexander the Great, Ivan the Terrible, Richard the Lionheart, Ryōmen ("two-faced") Sukuna. a sobriquet is an informal descriptive nickname earned through reputation, personality, or achievement. unlike a legal name, it develops through public use. a byname is an additional identifier attached to distinguish someone from others with the same personal name. it often describes appearance, occupation, birthplace, or family. many historical epithets function as bynames.
⋆ chosen identifiers a nickname is an informal alternative used by friends, family, or acquaintances. nicknames often shorten, modify, or replace a person's given name. examples: Jonathan → Jon, Katherine → Kate. meanwhile an alias is an assumed name used instead of one's legal identity, often for privacy, disguise, or professional reasons. an art name is a name adopted by artists, scholars, or writers as part of their creative identity. this is a also called a pseudonym or moniker. examples are Su Shi also known as Dongpo Jushi, Takashi Murakami, KAWS. a pen name (nom de plume) is a pseudonym adopted by an author for publication. a stage name is a professional identity used by performers instead of their legal name. a username identifies an individual within a digital environment. unlike legal names, usernames are chosen, platform-specific, and need not correspond to real-world identity.
notice that every category above identifies a person in some capacity, yet none performs exactly the same job. English often collapses these distinctions under the broad concept of a "name," whereas many other naming systems preserve functional differences between personal names, titles, honorifics, and descriptive epithets. while all of these may appear beside a person's identity, they are not interchangeable. some identify the individual, some identify their family, some describe their reputation, and others communicate social relationships. referring to all of them simply as "names" obscures the distinct roles they perform within their respective cultures. if these distinctions are so common across cultures, why do English-speaking readers so frequently flatten them into a single naming system?
಄ ⋆ CHAPTER 3. WHY ENGLISH SPEAKERS MISREAD FOREIGN NAMES
having established that names perform different social functions across cultures, we arrive at another question: if these distinctions exist, why are they so frequently overlooked in English-speaking fandom? the answer is surprisingly mundane. it is not usually a failure of research (though it's the second most common reason), nor a lack of intelligence. rather, it is a consequence of how humans process unfamiliar information. the first reason is that our brains simply do this because of pattern recognition or schema activation, something i spend much time on in thinking. we as humans are extraordinarily good at categorization. we don't read every unfamiliar thing from scratch—we compare it to something we already know. linguists call these mental shortcuts schemas but for this, i simply call it 'already knowing enough' (larping). when English speakers encounter "Ryomen Sukuna," our brains don't consciously ask what naming convention is being used. they see two capitalized words and immediately retrieve the closest familiar template. a lot of what contributes to the reason of why people mistake foreign names so badly, especially names with their own alphabet, and especially with vastly different scripts, is due to once transliterated into the Latin alphabet, these names become visually familiar to English-speaking audiences. they appear to follow the same structure as English names—two capitalized words separated by a space—despite often operating according to entirely different cultural conventions. this visual familiarity encourages readers to unconsciously apply English naming expectations where they may not belong. humans also do chunking. you don't read Tanjiro as T-a-n-j-i-r-o, but Tan-Ji-Ro. you don't read my username as kayuekou but it gets mentally segmented as kay-ue-kou. or if you come from a more East Asian linguistic background, ka-yue-kou. and this isn't ...nearly all your fault. after being immersed in English naming conventions, ie. Jane Doe, Peter Parker John B. Smith, our brains automatically shove Ryomen Sukuna, Kuroki Tomoko, Kamado Tanjiro into the same system. Ryomen Sukuna is chunked into Ryomen (first name) - Sukuna (last name).
಄ ⋆ CHAPTER 4. EVERYTHING GETS ENGLISH'D
so now, having established why English-speaking readers naturally reinterpret unfamiliar naming systems, it becomes apparent that this phenomenon extends far beyond Japanese media, my original grievance. whenever a naming system differs significantly from English conventions, readers often simplify, reorganize, or reinterpret it into something more immediately recognizable. in practice, what does this look like?
first, mistaking family names as first names because of the Eastern name order (family name first, given name second), obviously this is most commonly seen in East Asian names. my examples will primarily derive from Japanese, mostly due to its almost uniquely similar structure to English when transliterated. this is often seen in Japanese fan media, which i found most prominent in fanfiction made pre-2021, such as mistaking Gojo for Satoru's given name. specifically in Japanese, starting from the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the Western name order was primarily used among the Japanese nobility when identifying themselves to non-Asians with their romanized names. as a result, in popular Western publications, the order became increasingly used for Japanese names the following decades (Shinzo Abe, Osamu Dazai, Satoru Gojo). however! in 2020, the Government of Japan reverted the Westernized name order back to the Eastern name order in official documents, and has recommended that the same format be used amongst general Japanese public; they also requested Western publications to change this. this is a big reason why Japanese becomes quite confusing when you dip your foot in and understand what the Eastern naming order looks like, because sometimes you don't know if they're using the Western or Eastern order. unlike the Chinese and the Koreans who have never used Western name order (Chinese leader Xi Jinping not being referred to as Jinping Xi, Moon Jae-in is not Jae-in Moon).
second, names getting split strangely. i recently saw in a fanfiction (that i've put on hold simply because of this) that the author named the fanon interpretation of the Gojo twins as Sato and Toru. this is most likely because they assume those are natural halves of "Satoru." Except Japanese morphology doesn't work that way. likewise, my name has been mistakenly used quite a lot, my nickname from my moniker kayuekou sometimes become kay because "Kay" already exists in English. but this is especially frustrating once you understand that the kanji system, derived from hanzi, uses a logographical system. meaning, the Japanese writing for a name, almost always has a set meaning. "五条悟" or Gojo Satoru is split into "Gojo" or "五条" meaning 五 five, 条 an article or clauses, and 悟 meaningly enlightenment or to understand. the second you strip away Satoru and become Sato, that has become a completely. new name. in some dictionaries, maybe Sato as 悟 could happen, and i've checked myself on jisho that there is a given name called Sato with that exact kanji, but now it's a matter of logic and accuracy. Sato is almost alway used as a surname; Sato as 葛巻, Sato as 郡, Sato as 慧. there are rules to what a kanji can or cannot do in a name, but i will not deep dive into that in this essay.
third, in Russian, and a classic example, Ivan Ivanovich Petrov is often frequently read by English-speakers as Ivan, Middle name Ivanoich, Last name Petrov when the "middle name" is actually just telling you whose son he is. fourth, a fascinating one because it almost flips the problem, are Thai names. Thai people commonly have long legal names (due to surnames needing to be legally unique, therefore combining many words and subsequently creating incredibly long surnames) and short nicknames, sometimes ones that don't have any relation to their legal name. many foreigners sometimes assume the nickname isn't their "real" name, when culturally, it's often the primary everyday identifier.
although each example arises from a different language, the underlying mechanism remains remarkably consistent. readers encounter an unfamiliar naming system, identify superficial similarities to English, and unconsciously reorganize it according to English expectations. the details differ; the cognitive process does not. a worthwhile minor topic to touch is things that English speaking writers accidentally normalize. such as the tendency of first-name basis immediately, honorific inconsistencies, modern Western flirting in Eastern historical settings, school culture assumptions, legal names vs epithets. i would touch the topic but i'm no fiddler.
಄ ⋆ CHAPTER 5. NOT EVERYTHING IS A GIVEN (NAME)
by this point, we have established three things. firstly, names are not merely arbitrary labels, but social tools that identify individuals within a cultural system. secondly, not every identifier attached to a person performs the same function. lastly, English-speaking readers naturally interpret unfamiliar naming systems through frameworks they already recognize. we now arrive at one of the most common consequences of this process: assuming that every identifier attached to a person is a given name. not every word attached to a person is attempting to answer the same question. like we discussed in the previous chapters, a given name answers, "who are you?" a family name answers, "which family do you belong to?" a patronymic answers, "whose child are you?" a title answers, "what is your rank, occupation, or position?" an honorific answers, "how should I address you?" an epithet answers, "what are you known for?" these may all appear beside one another when referring to a single person, yet they are not interchangeable. they perform different linguistic and social functions despite identifying the same referent. epithets are probably the clearest example of this distinction. an epithet is not another personal name, but a descriptive identifier attached to an individual because of a notable characteristic, achievement, reputation, or physical trait. history is full of them. Alexander the Great, Richard the Lionheart, Ivan the Terrible, Erik the Red, and William the Conqueror are all remembered through epithets. English speakers immediately recognize that "the Great" is not Alexander's surname, nor is "Lionheart" Richard's given name. these descriptors tell us something about the individual rather than functioning as the individual's personal identity. the interesting part is that this intuition often disappears when the epithet originates from another language. once romanized into the Latin alphabet, foreign epithets lose many of the visual and cultural cues that distinguish them from ordinary names. rather than seeing a descriptive title, English-speaking readers often see another capitalized word occupying the same position as a conventional first name. without consciously realizing it, the epithet is reassigned a new job. it is no longer interpreted as a description, but as a personal identifier. this distinction matters because misunderstanding an identifier is not simply a matter of pronunciation or terminology. it changes the role that identifier plays within the naming system itself. an epithet interpreted as a given name no longer functions as a description; it becomes an identity. a title mistaken for a surname no longer indicates social position; it becomes ancestry. in other words, the word has not changed—but the job we assign to it has. so anyway. this brings us to another important question. if these distinctions are meaningful, why do official translations, subtitles, and fan translations so rarely communicate them? more importantly, are translators responsible for preserving these naming systems, or are readers simply encountering the unavoidable limitations of translation itself?
಄ ⋆ CHAPTER 6. TRANSLATION FUELS THESE MISTAKES
so now that we've established that identifiers perform different linguistic functions and that English-speaking readers naturally interpret unfamiliar naming systems through familiar frameworks, another question inevitably follows: if these distinctions are important, why do translations so rarely preserve them? the answer is not that translators are careless. rather, translation itself is an exercise in compromise. contrary to popular belief, translation is not simply the process of replacing one word with another. every translator must constantly decide what should be preserved. should priority be given to literal meaning, readability, cultural context, historical accuracy, emotional impact, or natural dialogue? more often than not, preserving one inevitably sacrifices another. names are particularly difficult because they rarely carry meaning in isolation. instead, they exist within larger cultural systems that are often invisible to those who already understand them. a Japanese reader generally does not require a footnote explaining the function of an honorific, the order of family and given names, or whether an identifier is an epithet rather than a personal name. these conventions are already understood. an English-speaking audience, however, approaches the same text without that shared cultural framework. romanization further complicates this process. when Japanese is written in its native scripts, it is immediately recognizable as a different writing system. readers instinctively understand that they are encountering another language. once those same names are transliterated into the Latin alphabet, however, they become visually familiar. two capitalized words separated by a space resemble countless English names, despite following entirely different cultural conventions. the alphabet remains familiar even when the language does not. this creates what i consider one of romanization's greatest paradoxes: it increases accessibility while simultaneously creating an illusion of familiarity. readers correctly recognize the letters, but unconsciously assume they also recognize the system behind them. translation, therefore, often preserves the words while inevitably losing parts of the framework that gives those words meaning. again, this is not unique to Japanese. consider honorifics such as -san, -kun, or -sama. many English translations omit them entirely because there is rarely a natural English equivalent that carries identical social nuance. likewise, patronymics in Russian are frequently interpreted as middle names, while Chinese family names are often mistaken for given names simply because the translated text cannot pause to explain an entirely different naming convention every time a character is introduced. doing so would be impractical. imagine a subtitle interrupting every conversation with a linguistic lecture explaining why a particular identifier is functioning as an epithet rather than a personal name. accurate? perhaps. readable? absolutely not. translation, after all, is intended to communicate a story—not to teach an entire course in comparative linguistics. this is where fandom enters the equation. readers naturally fill in the missing pieces using the only framework they possess: their own. one fanfiction assigns an English role to an unfamiliar identifier. another writer adopts the same convention. a hundred readers encounter it repeatedly. eventually, what began as an unconscious interpretation slowly transforms into accepted fanon. the reinterpretation is no longer questioned because, through repetition, it begins to feel canonical. translation does not create these misunderstandings on its own. it merely provides the conditions under which they become possible. the actual reinterpretation occurs in the minds of readers, where unfamiliar linguistic systems are quietly reorganized into something that feels comfortably familiar.
಄ ⋆ CHAPTER 7. CASE STUDY
which leads to a minor footnote, and the inciting example on why i made this post. one of my favorite little linguistic quirks in JJK is that "Ryomen Sukuna" isn't really a given name in the way a lot of English-speaking fans read it. the historical figure that inspired Jujutsu Kaisen's Sukuna is traditionally known as Ryōmen Sukuna. the term Ryōmen (両面) literally means "two-faced" or "two-sided," referring to the figure's unusual appearance. rather than functioning as an ordinary personal name, it is widely understood as a descriptive epithet attached to Sukuna. as discussed in chapter 2, epithets perform a fundamentally different function from given names. they describe rather than identify. however, once romanized into the Latin alphabet, "Ryōmen Sukuna" visually resembles a conventional English first name–surname pairing. the epithet is therefore reassigned a familiar role: first name. this interpretation is further reinforced through repetition. once a sufficient number of fanworks address Sukuna as "Ryomen," subsequent writers encounter the convention repeatedly and naturally assume it reflects canon. over time, the reinterpretation becomes self-perpetuating, not because readers consciously reject the original naming system, but because the English framework has already become normalized within the community. modern AUs present a somewhat different situation. since these settings intentionally remove characters from their historical and cultural contexts, writers are free to assign entirely new naming conventions if they wish. someone may choose to reinterpret "Ryomen" as a legal first name simply because it functions conveniently within the world of their story (but still, when you take into account kanji, and you should, it becomes messy). fanfiction is, after all, transformative by nature. admittedly, none of this prevents me from visibly twitching every time Heian-era Uraume solemnly addresses Sukuna as "Ryomen" with the energy of someone calling Alexander the Great "Great." that, however, is a personal problem rather than a linguistic one. not everyone is a nitpicker. ultimately, the question is not whether fanfiction is "allowed" to call Sukuna "Ryomen." fanfiction has never depended upon strict historical or linguistic accuracy. rather, this example demonstrates how easily unfamiliar naming systems become reorganized according to the expectations of another language. what appears to be a single naming choice is, in reality, the product of translation, cognition, and community convention acting together.
಄ ⋆ CHAPTER 8: WHAT CAN YOU DO?
if this essay has accomplished anything, i hope it has not convinced you that your fanfiction is "wrong." rather, i hope it has convinced you that naming conventions are often far more culturally complex than they first appear. the purpose of this essay has never been to argue that every writer should become a historian, a linguist, or a professional translator before opening Google Docs. fanfiction is transformative by design. writers are free to alter names, settings, relationships, and entire worlds if doing so serves the story they wish to tell. the distinction lies in intentionality. there is a meaningful difference between deliberately changing a naming convention because it better suits your story and unconsciously changing it because you assumed it worked like English. the former is a creative decision. the latter is simply a assumption. fortunately, assumptions are surprisingly easy to challenge. when writing characters from another culture—particularly historical settings—it is often worth asking a few simple questions before assigning an unfamiliar identifier a familiar role. is this actually the person's given name? could this instead be a title, epithet, clan name, patronymic, courtesy name, or honorific? am I following a convention because the source material suggests it, or because other fanfiction does? if i removed my English expectations, would i still interpret this name the same way? the answer, of course, may still be "I'm going to write it this way anyway." and that is perfectly acceptable. the goal is not perfect authenticity. absolute historical accuracy has never been the defining characteristic of fanfiction, nor should it be. creative writing thrives on reinterpretation. what matters is understanding what you are reinterpreting. once you recognize that names are cultural systems rather than isolated words, small details begin to reveal themselves everywhere. family names stop looking like first names. patronymics stop looking like middle names. epithets stop looking like legal names. romanized words stop feeling automatically familiar simply because they share the same alphabet. most importantly, you become aware of your own assumptions. language is remarkably good at making itself invisible. we rarely notice the frameworks through which we interpret the world until we encounter one that functions differently. by then, our brains have often already attempted to reorganize the unfamiliar into something comfortably recognizable. that tendency is not a personal failing. it is simply how humans make sense of the world. the challenge—and, perhaps, the fun—is learning to recognize when our own language is quietly filling in gaps that another culture never intended to leave. and if nothing else, perhaps the next time you encounter an unfamiliar name in a piece of media, you'll pause for just a moment before asking the question that inspired this entire essay: "is that actually their name... or have i simply given it an English job?" oh and start using dictionaries.
಄ ⋆ CONCLUSION / TL;DR
this essay began because one (1) line in one (1) fanfiction annoyed me far more than any reasonable person should probably admit. human beings are exceptionally good at recognizing patterns, therefore English speaking consumers and writers interprets foreign naming systems through a framework they're already familiar with. the result is not usually malice, laziness, or ignorance—it is simply the remarkably human tendency to organize unfamiliar things into familiar categories. this essay therefore is not an argument for linguistic perfection, nor is it a declaration that fanfiction must adhere to strict historical authenticity. rather, it is an invitation to become more conscious of the assumptions we bring into the media we consume and create. understanding that names have different jobs, that translation cannot preserve every cultural nuance, and that fandom often reinforces its own conventions allows us to appreciate foreign naming systems on their own terms. and if, after reading all of this, you still decide to call Heian-era Sukuna "Ryomen" anyway... well, i cannot stop you. i can, however, quietly sigh, open another tab, and begin drafting the sequel to this essay.
಄ ⋆ BIBLIOGRAPHY (IT"S JUST WIKIPEDIA)
English honorifics (Wikipedia) given names (Wikipedia) honorifics (Wikipedia) Japanese honorifics (Wikipedia) names (Wikipedia) personal names (Wikipedia) surnames (Wikipedia)
◟ ㅤ© kayuekou, 2026 𖥻 do not copy, reconstruct, or upload on other platforms nor feed my works into generative AI.
note ꩜ hi edit. it’s 1am i forgot to link my sources. i’ll add it to the bibliography in like a couple hours after i sleep. sorry everyone. oh and also, deleted the second paragraph of my background because apparently it got duplicated
wait perachel as nightwing and starfire for halloween…chat do you see the vision
I know which way you meant it, but Percy would rock the purple miniskirt.

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I mean, phobias *are* disabilities. They are not directly fatal like seizures can be but they *are* disabilities. Phobias aren’t just getting a little nervous or grossed out about something. They are clinically debilitating.
"Omg (insert character's) would be so disgusted if they knew who fans were shipping them with." Well it's a good thing they don't FUCKING exist!
Can we please stop pretending fictional characters have thoughts and opinions. They aren't real. They have no feelings.
this feels offensively accurate
… i don’t know what I expected, but while it wasn’t this, this seems to fit
The amount of people getting this one is impressive and concerning, are yall okay?
I wanted to use what ‘reach’ I may have here to share the Carolina Wildlife Center’s urgent plea for donations. If they are unable to raise $75,000 to cover ongoing and future care of their wildlife patients, the center will have to close July 20th, 2026. The services provided by CWC to the community are incredibly valuable, and without them, many wild animals will suffer without the care they need.
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It's Saturday night and I'm sitting here blasting Wrath of the Heavens and shaking my head over how much wasted potential PJO Prometheus has.
Imagine if they met Prometheus in Tartarus instead of Bob and he's like "No I've always been on your side! I stole fire to help humanity, but also so that Zeus would punish me and Kronos would have a reason to trust me when he inevitably returned because he thought I wanted revenge. So I used my Foresight domain to feed him lots of insignificant victories and a few critical but plausibly deniable defeats. And it worked! Kronos lost and Zeus cast me down here to be in position to help you!"
And Percy gets to be split between "there's no way he doesn't have an ulterior motive here" and "we really need the help." And you can have some bonus emotional damage at the end with Prometheus saying he always knew he wouldn't be able to leave Tartarus with them.
Reblogging this because I brought up the idea again and people liked it.
Looking at it again, a parallel between this version of Prometheus and Percy is the self-sacrificing plans. Percy being fully on board with dying for the prophecy in tLO and the gorgon blood gambit in SoN, and Prometheus planning to get tortured for stealing fire and then get cast into Tartarus. And both of them would be like "it was the best way" while Annabeth rolls her eyes.
Also, Prometheus fighting the Arai because he knows his curses and 99.99% of them are just "bird to the liver" which sucks but he's used to.
Also 2, Prometheus being extremely vulnerable to Akhyles because he has a ton of misery leftover from bird jail.

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We're at the "JK Rowling is personally funding litigation to try and destroy AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL" stage of rabid UK terf brain.
Screenshot via Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net on bluesky
Tldr Amnesty International, global human rights organisation, published a report called 'A growing threat: the anti-rights movement in the UK'. In it is detailed, amongst others, a whole bunch of transphobic groups and organisations, including Beira's Place, JK Rowling's trans exclusionary sexual violence support service. JK Rowling threw a shit fit and got Amnesty to take the report down by threatening libel. This was obviously not enough, because you can't appease a fascist, so now she's going to bankroll a bunch of lawsuits anyway through the JK Rowling Women's Fund.*
You can read an archived version of the report here, please save it and share it.
*Not so friendly reminder there is no way to engage in the wizard books without enabling this shit.
PSA to fic readers, it is so hard to freak a fic writer out with your comments. we are just as crazy about the fic as you are.
tell me you love it. tell me it made you slam your laptop shut. tell me you brought it up at your college lecture about kink. key smash in all caps. quote the passage that made you think. i promise, we’ll love it.
we spend hours thinking about it, writing it, editing it. there is no such thing as over enthusiasm when you’re talking about our fics to us. we are sooooo weird about them, i assure you. you are just matching my freak. the freak bar is already set so high. feel no anxiety about enjoying something and letting the creator know.

