Running the Extra Mile @aphpandamagic - Tumblr Blog

today is August 15th, which means that today is finally the day everyone!! ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡ in around ~5 hours (double-check the time in your timezone), the official release date trailer (a new trailer!) for Dragon Age: The Veilguard premieres [here]. according to the new roadmap, August 15th is described as "Release date trailer and announcement". also happening today is that pre-orders of DA:TV will open!!

[image source]

lilislegacy

did anyone else ever find it odd how easily zeus offered percy godhood? and how it almost seemed like he secretly wanted percy to accept? well i did, and after thinking long and hard about it…

i don’t think percy understood what turning down godhood really meant

demigods do tasks for the gods because they don’t have to follow any rules. they aren’t controlled by anyone or anything. demigods are a strange hybrid - not god, not human. they are in between the laws of immortal and mortal. they are not supposed to exist. yet they do, which is what makes them so extraordinary.

percy is crazy powerful. of course, there’s the aspect of raw power. he has domain over air (storms/hurricanes), land (earthquakes and volcanic eruptions), and sea (monster waves, tsunamis, floods, basically anything that involves water.) he can control bodily fluids. he has super strength (with one hand, he held up an unconscious annabeth who was being pulled down by both arachne AND the forces of tartarus). he has super speed (he moves faster than bullets in TTC). no matter how badly you hurt him, he automatically heals and regenerates the second he touches water (an ability no other demigod has). he’s an extraordinary swordsman. very skilled in combat and warfare. he’s smart, and thinks of plans quickly. but he also has a great deal of social/poltcial power… i mean, he’s a leader and hero to both the greek and roman camps. if he says “attack,” all demigods, greek or roman, attack. no question. do you have any idea how threatening that is to the olympians? he’s also best friends and has an empathy link with the lord of the wild, which basically means all of nature is by his side too, including all land creatures. he’s also prince of horses, which means pegasi too (both of which are extremely useful in battle). and of course all sea creatures, including the mythical ones like krakens and leviathans. not to mention many of the gods really like him. hermes, hephaestus, athena, aphrodite, and dionysis have all gone out of their way to help him. artemis holds him in high regard, especially since he saved her. apollo literally considers him his friend! and poseidon - his dad, the god who is the biggest threat to zeus - is fiercely protective of him and cares about him a great deal. many minor gods also like him because he demanded them to be given more respect and for their kids to be welcomed at the camps.

percy unknowingly has more power, both physical and social/political, than anyone should ever have. he may have absolutely no idea, but it must scare the living daylights out of zeus. by accepting zeus’s offer to become a god, percy would have submitted himself to the control of zeus. zeus would be his king and ruler. zeus would then have complete control over him.

but percy said no. therefore, percy remains out of zeus’s control.

percy had no idea what he was doing. but thank the gods he made that choice. thank the gods he’s an incredible person. thank the gods percy jackson has no desire for power, because he has more of it than anyone should ever be able to have.

apollosgiftofprophecy

Like all things, made me think of Apollo and how he and the other gods are all stuck in the cycle of succession permeating throughout mythology and the cycle of abuse in the RRverse.

Athena plays the Golden Child act to fly under Zeus's radar. She supports and backs him up at every opportunity to appeal to him, to appease him. She meticulously plans out each move before she makes it, taking every factor into consideration to determine if it is beneficial (mostly to herself, but to Olympus as a whole).

Yet, she also takes chances. She is the only one to bet on Apollo's survival, on his success. She has unwavering faith in him, and in their father's gregarious mistake to swing in her favor.

She has been waiting for this moment. For the revolution to begin.

All that's left is to tip that domino and watch it fall even if it means loosing a few pawns along the way.

Ares has given up entirely on being anything but the bloodlusted bully of a disappointment in the family. He has been the failure since day one, and if the majority treat him like one, then why not be what they want? Easier to not care when others don't either.

Easier to be the bad guy and create steel-covered armor than to let the hurtful words lodge into your head. But they still do, anyway. The armor's only covered in steel. The inside is not.

Hephaestus has closed himself off from Olympus, hiding away in his forges and attempting to create companions that will fill the void in his heart left by Zeus and the ragged one left by Hera. He doesn't know how humans, let alone gods, work, and he's too afraid to reach out, too afraid to try.

He wants things to change. He cares. But Hephaestus has never been one to sound the horn, let alone stir the pot.

Aphrodite has been reduced to a caricature of herself and what she stands for. Her war domain has long since been left behind in Sparta and Cythera, but the power that remains is often forgotten, derided and mocked.

Rule #1 of love gods: Never underestimate them. One day, Olympus will find and remember what they have forgotten about Aphrodite, one thing that should never be disregarded at risk of your own life.

Aphrodite is a force of nature. She cannot be controlled, tamed, or played. She is a hurricane of power that will defend what she sees as hers. If you are hers, you will be afraid. But if you are not...you should be even more so.

Artemis is arguably the most sheltered of the Olympians, despite her presence in the mortal world. Then again, is she even that knowledgeable on it when she only sticks to her group of girls, who she has swear eternal loyalty to her? She is also arguably the most spoiled by Zeus, since she is the only Olympian with essentially an army under her command - and Zeus lets her have it. And can easily take it away.

And it's because of this sheltered/spoiled experience, Artemis is blind to the toxicity of Olympus. She helps girls escape abusive homes, but has no idea she's in one herself.

She has no idea her brother is on the receiving end of it the majority of the time. Even after Trials of Apollo...she's happy Apollo's back, but she also believes it means he's on Zeus's good side again.

When...that's not true.

Apollo...oh, Apollo, you sweet, summer child. He puts on a facade, an act, a mask to protect himself and others from the reality he lives in. He becomes airheaded, arrogant, and vain to convince his father he is still his 'perfect' son, that he has nothing to worry about when it comes to him. He makes himself young in the presence of Zeus as if to say I'm nothing but an innocent child, totally loyal to you and you alone.

And yet...this does nothing to quell Zeus's paranoia - a paranoia with roots in the actual mythology, for Apollo is widely regarded to be the son who could overthrow Zeus and continue the cycle of succession.

But the things is...would that continue the cycle of abuse, as well? Or would it finally end, with Apollo breaking from the cycle as he did in ToA, when he finally acknowledges the truth that Zeus won't change and doesn't want to.

it will because Apollo is a changed god and brings change wherever he goes

Hermes has been run ragged throughout the centuries as modern media exploded. He totally has Middle Child Syndrome, which contributes to his status as Zeus's lapdog, his guy who gets his hands dirty is the hopes of being given a scrap of attention/conditional affection Apollo does.

He has lost any hope of free will, of change. He thinks Fate is set in stone like Zeus and that there's nothing he can do about it.

Which makes an interesting dynamic with Apollo returning a changed god.

Dionysus is away from Olympus, yet still under its thumb. He's banned from his creation, from what gives him power, and forced to watch as again and again, demigods die over and over again - and he is not allowed to interfere, as per the Ancient Laws.

Despite this, he still finds a way to rebel. He takes on the form of a drunkard, an alcoholic, the most ungodly form the god of wine can imagine as a form of protest, a You don't own me, you don't get to decide who I am.

They've all adapted and adjusted to survive in the cutthroat world of Olympus. Sometimes, they do the cut-throating.

But even if the perpetuate the cycle...they are still victims of it themselves. All's that's needed is for someone to open that door, extend a empathetic hand and go I know. I get it. I was there to.

Good thing Apollo's here, then. Because that's one way to light the spark of a revolution.

waterdeepweave

thinking thoughts about gale bringing his and tav's baby to work when tav has to be away

he straps the baby to his back in a purple sling while he teaches

he introduces them to the class as their "guest pupil"

"and also the only participant i would thank to fall asleep in class."

if the baby coos or gurgles when he asks a question he'll accept it as answer

literally "excellent, young mx dekarios! now, to elaborate on that-"

but mostly the baby just falls asleep tucked in the small of his back, soothed by the timbre of his voice

tara keeps a watchful eye on the baby perched on a lecture podium or a bookshelf

gale marking his students' papers with baby strapped to his chest, occasionally reading it out loud and asking for their opinion

"hm, this student appears to believe that cantrips and spells are the same thing. what do you think?" baby blows a raspberry and gale is like "mmm. i agree"

gale practicing his lectures on the baby but they just fall asleep and he's like "oh come now, it can't possibly be that boring"

(he smiles and melts and tucks them in their crib with their favourite teddy and a kiss on their forehead)

gale reading his books in a rocking chair but now he reads it aloud so baby can listen to it as well

gale sharing his opinions about said book as if baby is another fellow academic (they are)

Idk it's like 4am for me just. Gale and baby

vvagoley

So who's gonna be the first for a kiss under the mistletoe? 😘

yakittydraws

I love passing items between my party and then I had a thought... Custom gifts! Listen, strangers gotta know that my Tav cares. (Friend joked that Gale might eat it, but jokes on him it's made with Love--which I suppose is its own kind of magic...Oh no...)