my four favourite rr-verse books (bc I couldn’t pick a top three): The Tyrant’s Tomb, The Last Olympian, The Burning Maze, (the second half of) The Tower of Nero
byf/dni
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The Power of Children's Stories: Why "Kid's Book" Should Not Be Considered an Insult
I do this thing when I'm walking, I listen to Kids from the Stranger Things Soundtrack and I imagine Apollo fighting Python, but then I imagine all the heroes that came after him because in a way--Apollo is the archetype of the hero. He's a child, a baby god, four days old in some stories and he's not stealing cows, he's killing a serpent. Then I imagine all the demigods that came after him, and I'm stunned because there's a reason we give children the ability to slay monsters in media when they normally are not expected to do so in real life.
I read a post by @apollosgiftofprophecy, which is a valuable critique of derogatorily labeling something "kid's book". This post I'm writing in no way disregards that, but rather highlights something similar, but different. Rick Riordan's books are powerful (recent discussion about his characterization and stories aside), and just because they are targeted at a younger audience doesn't mean they aren't powerful for everyone. I'm guilty, I called them Kid's books in this post, but to me, Kid's Books are a powerful medium and not a lower one or even a derogatory one. To me, Percy Jackson is a one million times better character than Jon Snow in Game of Thrones because GOT takes its source material so, oh so seriously that it never explores the themes of his childhood in any meaningful way. Percy Jackson on the other hand as well as Apollo because I adore those books too--they use a narration style that is clear, entertaining, and bright and humorous to express very harsh realities of life. I identified with Apollo more as an adult because he uses humor to mask his darkness, which is very much something I do (and honestly anyone in healthcare or who deals with death daily does that), but I adored Apollo because he was hiding.
Clearly, I don't write for middle grade level when I write, I write adult content, but I wanted to validate "kid's books" --not "Just kid's books." Kid's books are powerful.
Examples:
Responsible for combatting Racist views! Absolutely one of the most powerful books ever written, and it teaches CHILDREN and ADULTS to turn around and save someone even when its not the "right" thing to do, but it absolutely is. It challenges conscience. It does this while telling joke after joke after joke.
Another Example:
Another "Kid's books" but not "just kid's books"-- gosh, I could go on and on about LOTR and its themes about power. This book is important for all ages. I still analyze the hell out of it, and so do my friends. Its hopeful, not because its less of a book than its counterpart "its all quiet on the western front," but because its illustrating powerful lessons without despair. Everyone makes it home, everything is beautiful, they rebuild, the Shire endures through the darkness. The Ring is destroyed even though it still very much exists in our world.
What about the Giving Tree, or Dr. Seuss books like Yertle the Turtle or the Sneetches, Artemis Fowl, and all those "kid's books." Star Wars is for "kids," but talking about Cycles of Abuse! Luke means Hope, and he breaks his families cycle of abuse. That's powerful, and its for kids!
I would argue that Kid's books are powerful BECAUSE they are targeted for kids, not in spite of it. Stories are how we TEACH. Grimm's Fairytale's existed because storytelling was a medium through which kid's learned vital truths--they have to be dark, kid's understand darkness, they understand monsters, and while our society sanitizes death away, kid's very much should learn how to understand death too.
I read an article about how a tribe, I think perhaps one of the Inuit, uses stories instead of physical discipline and how they find that this is the superior way of teaching children and adults. Everyone listens to the stories, not just the kids. When someone makes a mistake, they develop a story to show what happens if that mistake is oft repeated. I think about our ancestors gathered around fires and they told stories, and the kids were front and center, but the adults were there too, listening, learning, remembering.
On a completely different note: when a book is "targeted" towards an audience, that's marketing. It has nothing to do with content or value. We need to separate the concept of marketed, and marketing, from the whole value of a book as a means through which to tell a story that discusses important themes.
I very much use my story as a means through which to express truths about personal issues, and I think it resonates. But, those themes and truths are universal in their basic nature, a child can understand what it means to be hurt as much as an adult. A child can understand what it means to be free as much as an adult.
Annabeth’s perspective of the Lester situation is comical to me because of how completely out of the loop she is for the entire thing.
Percy probably gave her a brief update earlier in the year along the lines of “yeah, apollo was a bit of a pain at first but it seems like he’s getting better. i think he’ll be a bit more sympathetic to us demigods in the future, and hopefully we won’t have as much godly meddling in our lives :)”
And then she woke up one morning and found out that said god (whom she has had a maximum of two conversations with previously) had systematically infiltrated her friend group within the span of six months.
No tech CEO or NYT bestselling novelist will ever match the creativity of a humble French postman who decided on a whim to spend thirty-three years building a surreal, majestic palace with the bricks and mortar of his dreams.
Apollo occasionally sniffing/smelling people is one of those random character quirks that kills me.
If its true that memories are strongly paired with scents, could it be that Apollo is just building a mental portfolio of how all of his loved ones smell so he’ll remember them more vividly two centuries from now? Possibly.
Could he also just be sniffing people because he’s a weird little freak? Mayhaps.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: the CHB orientation film actually did an extremely thorough job of communicating to the kids 2 crucial pieces of info:
1) the gods are pompous fools who don’t care about you
Okay long post, because this is interesting. I’m gonna link the sites I referred so that you can have more details if you want.
By explicitly stated, if you mean “Apollo is the successor of Zeus and will overthrow Zeus” - then no. There are no records like that. Zagreus is the only God stated as Zeus’ successor. (But He is killed later.)
But, Apollo is the most important and favorite child of Zeus, like Athena. I think this likeness comes from the fact that both are connected to Zeus’ mind - Athena is born from it, and Apollo can read it. I know a lot of people do tie Athena to the throne of Zeus based on the prophecy Metis gets. But it was Athena’s brother who was destined to defeat Zeus.
There are hymns that strongly indicate about Apollo being the next Zeus. There are many modern authors who also think this way (which…kinda is unfair to Ares who is the legitimate son of Zeus :P). I’ll continue the discussion pointwise.
1) Prophecy: There is a prophecy (curse by Kronos) that Zeus’ will be overthrown by his child. Along with that, when Leto gets pregnant, Hera gets another prophecy:
(Callimachus)
(Wikipedia)
So Apollo, even though an illegitimate son, is more important to Zeus than His lawful son Ares and with the birth of the Olympian twins, there is going to be the establishment of a “new order”. Now I don’t know what new order means, but I’m guessing that Hera’s control over the thrones would be flipped. All these are also reasons why Hera persecutes Leto.
2) Apollo’s strength: The way poets write about Apollo and His powers/influence.
(Fritz Graf)
• Homer’s hymn tells how Apollo is next only to Zeus.
• Apollo has parallels with Typhon, who tries to defeat Zeus.
• Callimachus shares similar views on Apollo. In his hymn to Apollo, he says that Apollo sits on the right of Zeus.
• Callimachus Hymn to Delos
• Plato on Apollo as the son of Zeus
In all these texts, it’s clearly indicated that Apollo has the potential to overcome Zeus and fulfill the prophecy.
• There is also this take that Apollo’s arrows are similar to Zeus’ thunderbolts in terms of their functions in the mortal world.
• Apart from these, Apollo is simply powerful. He has His hands in almost everything. He is a sky deity, an earth deity, a marine deity, and to some extent, even a chthonic deity. He is intelligent and wise too.
• Apollo is the only other God along with Zeus to be called Moiragetes - Guide of the Fates. He is also the only one other than Athena who wields the Aegis of Zeus.
• The title ‘Anax’, which means ‘A true king’ is given only to Apollo and Zeus.
• When it comes to the worship in the mortal world, Apollo has already won the match. He was the most feared, but also most loved and worshipped among the ancients.
3) Apollo and the throne: Now the question is, whether Apollo wants the throne or not. If the old pattern of succession is to be followed, where the son defeats the father after unfair treatment, then Apollo would definitely give it a try. Zeus has banished Him more than once. They don’t have a smooth relationship between Them. But, Apollo has immense family values. Even after all the rocky moments He had with Zeus, He is loyal and obedient. He is, even though reckless sometimes, on His Father’s side. Apollo doesn’t seem to have any desire for the throne or to fight His father.
(This book is a really good one)
Moreover, Zeus is nowhere as bad as Kronos was. Apollo and Zeus have their bonding moments, so it’s not like Apollo will try to dethrone Zeus (although He did that once. But that was the last time :P). So yeah, even though Apollo is the most eligible and can be seen as a threat to Zeus’ reign, I don’t think that will happen. Zeus will keep ruling forever.
i hear you are 🤡clowning🤡 over Commodus coming to his senses so I have slid into your inbox to 🤡clown🤡 with you about it
What 🤡clown🤡 thoughts have you been harboring about this👀
for science.
🤡<-me and you
SOMEONE WILLING TO CLOWN WITH ME A BIT okay uhm. I was mostly having thoughts about the reasons for his behaviour, actually, and in the end I came to the conclusion that he's not entirely unredeemable, or at least he wasn't up until the fight at the Waystation in TDP, where he became a serious threat to the lives of the people who lived there (and actually got Heloise killed)
Like, if you ignore for a moment his past deeds and historical background (because if we accepted the atrocities as quirky parts of Apollo's personality we can do the same for him /j) and look at what he actually did for the first two thirds of the book, you'll notice that he wasn't as cruel as, say, Caligula or Nero. For example, he didn't kill all the prisoners he was holding captive, like Caligula would've done, even if Georgina (and maybe Hunter, since she's one of Artemis' hunters) was the only one that was actually useful in luring Apollo in, and at the end of the book he was still agreeing to let everyone go as long as Apollo and Meg went with him.
This shows that he is capable of some kind of restraint and not totally incapable to be reasoned with, which makes for some solid villain redemption arc material; the only problems, other than his small bloodlust problem that, again, we'll skip over for now and deal with some other day, are
a) the behavioural issues his relationship with his father led to (that could've been actually dealt with if only someone told him that therapists are an option today),
b) his ugly, horrid desire of revenge against Apollo,
and c) his narcissistic tendencies, which resulted in him not acknowledging the whole concept of. You know. Other people's feelings and how his actions might affect them.
They're all intrinsically tied together, and as a whole they're the main reason why, in the past as well as after his death and deification, Commodus was unwilling to accept any sort of help or suggestion coming from the people around him, and Apollo specifically. Before his death, he didn't acknowledge that there was a problem with his behaviour at all; to him, his actions were always right, and the people around him were vilifying him when he didn't deserve it, all while trying to suffocate his desires and needs. The lack of his father's support throughout his adolescence only intensified those feelings, and at the same time rendered him all the more vulnerable, making him latch strongly onto anyone he felt like would always support him—Apollo, in this case. Inevitably, the betrayal of the only person he trusted unconditionally (which was done for Rome and its citizens' own good, but was still a betrayal) had an explosive result, leading to Commodus' attitude worsening, him becoming effectively deaf to the guidance of anyone who didn't agree with him (when in the past there was a chance that maybe he would have listened to Apollo, at least, had he intervened sooner) and, finally, him making his life's goal destroying Apollo's life.
Despite the fact that any last bit of love Commodus had for him turned into blinding hatred, though, there were still some feelings in his heart that weren't rage. He didn't show them; on the contrary, he tried to hide them, and that's because they were a sign that there was still some vulnerability left in him—that he cared, to a degree. Had Commodus' revenge been the two dimensional kind, where he didn't give any sign of care about what happened two thousand years before and operated solely on the train of thought of "kill, maim, destroy" even when he barely thought about Apollo being the reason he died, I wouldn't have thought of there being a chance of him coming to his senses. But instead, with these feelings, Commodus demonstrated that he didn't forget, and that as much as he hid himself behind his glitter and his spectacles and his luxurious palaces, what Apollo did ultimately affected him. He still cared about what Apollo did in the past, and about what he was doing in the present too. In a way (and this is purely my personal perception, as everything I've written above is) it seemed that, consciously or subconsciously, he was even waiting for some sort of feedback, for a response that Apollo didn't give.
Why else would he insist so much? For what other purpose would he throw back his death in Apollo's face again and again, if not to get a reaction out of him?
I don't actually know how, exactly, it would be possible to fix all these issues, as well as their relationship. I have thought a lot about a scenario where Commodus realizes he's in the wrong, where Apollo manages to bring him to the good side just like he did with Lityerses, and this behaviour of his is exactly the reason why I never figured out how it would happen. How do you help someone who doesn't want to be helped? Apollo tried and failed, didn't he?
Maybe not enough.
It's true that Commodus was a selfish, arrogant man, as it is true that Apollo tried to help him, only giving up on his insistence when the man he loved went down a path of no return. It's also true that he didn't reprimand him for what he did once, trying to get to him through good humour and support, being too permissive when Commodus didn't need permissiveness, but some strength of character from someone he trusted. It's also true that Apollo never apologized.
I don't remember much about TDP and TTT, but didn't Apollo never mention once to Commodus the reasons for what he did? He cried about that day on his own, never with him, never showing Commodus that he has suffered for that murder just as much as he did.
Maybe the apology wouldn't have changed anything, maybe Commodus would've stayed the same ruthless man he's been for the whole series. But I like to think that it could've potentially stirred something inside him anyway.
these two never really actually talked/yelled it out (although Commodus did some yelling) and I don't think Apollo ever actually brought the drowning situation up himself??? At all in the series??? Except to Jo in TDP, and he was in a slump then after having those flashbacks.
I'm half-tempted to shove them into a room where neither of them can hurt the other so they'd actually talk. Maybe with a therapist too.
Honestly same ^^^ actually wait. Wait I just had a vision. Imagine that they're fighting and being petty as per usual and then somehow, for whatever reason, they actually get locked together somewhere with no one to help them
Apollo's like "My friends will come rescue me!" and Commodus is like "My minions are on their way here! They're gonna free me and then they'll kill you!" but no one actually comes (maybe because the location is too secluded or because no one knows they're trapped in the first place idk)
So they figure out that they have to work together to get out, after bickering and trying to harm each other for a bit ofc
As they work and plan and look for supplies to make something that will get them out, Commodus starts making some bitter remarks and saying things like "Well, when have you ever been of help to anyone" and Apollo just gets angrier and Commodus gets angrier too until Apollo explodes and actually tells him everything that's on his mind. Everything everything
He goes "Oh, woe you!" and recounts each reason why he had to drown him (EVEN including the "they would've killed you anyway, I couldn't let them touch you" argument) and the effects it had on him, how he never wanted to take back his blessings but he had to for Rome's wellbeing, how he never lost faith in him but Commodus just became worse and worse until he had no other choice but to put an end to everything
Something about his words hits the mark. They stay silent for the rest of their time together, and then some magic happens and they're out thanks to Apollo
They part ways, Commodus doesn't bother him and his friends anymore, the raid at the Waystation doesn't happen and Apollo doesn't go supernova on him. At some point, though, he gets captured, and Commodus is there again. Apollo is convinced he'll kill him, but he doesn't. Instead, he hears a click, the door to his cell opens, and Commodus is smirking at him. "I don't want any debt with you."
AND THEN THEY TAKE DOWN THE TRIUMVIRATE TOGETHER or at least Commodus doesn't meddle and stands aside. Which is as good as saying that he had a part in it
YESSSS OMG YOU'RE SO RIGHT HE WOULD DO THAT it's so fun to imagine how it would go. And it's also funnier to imagine where he would actually find Commodus
Like, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't stay at Camp. Maybe at the Waystation? In a little cottage in the middle of nowhere like Thanos at the beginning of Endgame? At the Bahamas, assuming the campers didn't somehow hack into the Triumvirate's bank accounts and drain all the money? The possibilities are endless and so is the comedic potential of their meeting
On a serious note, with the amount of things that they didn't have time to say they'd have to chat for a veeeery long time. So many issues to solve! So many bridges to mend! So many bridges that could potentially not be mended
Them choosing not to talk to each other after that conversation could very much be a possibility, as much as I dread it
And there's the subject of immortality to tackle too. I doubt that his fasces would be left intact (as they were tied to Caligula's), so he'd be fully mortal again
Hehe, I think Commodus would be somehow outside the US for sure - cover his tracks enough that he can keep a low-profile :3
but not enough for Apollo to find him 👀
It would definitely be a very awkward and tense talk. tbh i'm half-tempted to write something for it because it'll be fascinating...
looks at my other 3 wips screaming at me to focus on them
also oooooo choosing not the speak to the other afterwards...oooooffff you're right it could very well happen and honestly that's one of the best, realistic ways it could go.
even if it hurts....sobs
And Commodus's immortality!!! I literally had that thought hit me last night at work after my last reblog and I was like DAMN IT FORGOT ABOUT THAT
but yes. yes. Commodus doesn't have his immortality anymore (however, I find the possibility of how he attained his godhood to be very interesting because out of the Triumvirate, he's the only one who was historically deified by the Senate - 3 years after his death. very very interesting)
The fact that he's been actually deified is very interesting indeed, because it could potentially have some fun consequences on his mortality status! Maybe that's the reason why he doesn't fully disintegrate after the fasces get destroyed, like Nero did, or he's not fully mortal because of it, idk
Either way, he's still alive and that's the important part <3 the nefarious Copollo plans can still happen
btw LOOKING AT THE TAGS INTENSELY 👁️👁️ I'm so excited at the thought of reading a fic about this, let me know if you ever actually write it!!
NEEEED to know how this even went down. girl how do you miss an entire DECADE by staring at a desk toy. homeboy went MIA for TEN YEARS and nobody questioned it???? did zeus send hermes like every year to check whether he got up yet or like???? was Hephaestus like 'Ah yes hello apollo here for your bow are you? let me get some refreshments rq' and then he comes back to the room and sees this guy staring at a newton's cradle and he was like hm. lets see where this goes. what happened here guys how did we get here
I just want you all to know, that if and when this site does experience a real exodus and/or get sunsetted for good, even if we don't keep in touch I'll remember you so fondly. You're the online equivalent of the other kid on the beach where we built sandcastles together; the girl at the campsite where we explored the trees. You're the drunk person who shared kind words in the bathroom at the club, you're the talented artists at the life drawing class or the poetry night in a city where I don't live anymore. It makes me sad that maybe in the future our paths won't cross so easily, but even when we leave this little shared piece of cyberspace, carried away on our briefly intersecting trajectories, just know I still love you
Fun fact, on top of being staunchly against genAI, ellipsus literally has an Export To AO3 button. I do the majority of my writing in LibreOffice, but I've been moving all my GDocs over to ellipsus for a bit and I really love the interface. If you're looking for an alternative to GDocs, this is The One.
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