#lo critic

[moony-2001]

“Are you ready to rage?”

*proceeds to not rage*

Rachel once again back with emotionless characters. You’d think hearing that your only daughter was r@ped would cause a more… something reaction. Unfortunately Demeter just kinda looks bored.

Also idk why Ares is there. It should’ve been Artemis.

[misandristsonic]

tried my hand at redrawing this panel to look more like LO S1 🫶 (credits to usedbandaid for og)

[apollomes-supremacy]

Lore Olympus Apollo redesign and his outfit for his coronation as an Olympian 👑

Still not over how Rachel robbed us of what could have been the best Apollo design ever due to her beautiful art style, but instead she decided to be "subversive" and gave us... that thing

[3typical3]

My thoughts on Lore Olympus after a 2 day binge of the whole story

Very new to this fandom and obviously I don’t know the full history of it or of the author, so if you disagree with me feel free to share why, I’m welcome to hearing dif povs. Idk I was a little surprised to see so many antis after going online and seeing what different people thought of the series, majority positive but a lot of dedicated hate pages. This is just some of my thoughts in an unorganized shit post at 1 am so you can like or not like the series at the end of the day it’s rlly not that deep

I just finished Lore Olympus after binging it non stop for two days and I quite honestly loved it, ig what I didn’t know is that there was so many antis lmao. As always with any work there are valid critics. But I’m mainly going to talk abt what are arguments I disagree with. Obviously, everyone is entitled to their own opinions and I agree with the comments about better size inclusivity and the occasional sloppy / cringe dialogue and the lack of LBTQ+ characters/ poor writing of them.

One main argument I’ve seen people be pressed about that I honestly don’t get is that people are mad that Rachel didn’t follow the exact stories or characterizations of the god based on their original stories in mythology. Honestly I thought it was pretty clear that myths are the main source of inspiration for the characters, Greek mythology and the Greek pantheon as a whole is more a vessel or inspiration from which is used to tell the story through a modernish lens that can resonate more with the audience of today. For example Thor in marvel isn’t Thor in mythology. Same goes for the character Apollo. He SUCKS in LO, but the character of Apollo in PJO is great. You can hate one and love the other because they are separate entities and characters, you can also love Apollo from mythology because guess what he isn’t Apollo from LO. They’re all separate and different characters and you’re welcome to think differently about all of them..

Another argument I’ve seen is cultural appropriation. Quite honestly, and I am not Greek or from Greece, but a. I think that argument is kinda ludicrous and b. Greek culture is no longer defined by myths told over a millennia ago. That’s like saying the culture in Egypt is defined by the pantheon they had over a millennia ago, it’s no all mummies and Pharohs. I get the story has a more western lense and doesn’t use much Greek culture. But idk take PJO as an example of using Greek myths and putting them in a western perspective, like Olympus is on top of the fucking Empire State Building and everything most of the time takes place in the US. Would usage of more Greek culture be enriching in both LO and PHO? Yes. But there are many instance of people taking stories from different cultures, stories that have been around for centuries, and adapting them to tell their own stories and putting their own creative spin to address what ever they want. Because at the end of the fucking day LO is just a webcomic inspired by Greek mythology and its pantheon.

Lastly and I won’t dedicate too much time to this argument because I’m just writing this as my brain goes with it but like why the fuck are people Minthe apologists. Like she’s complex and Hades was not perfect in that relationship either but y’all she verbally berated that man bringing up every insecurity and slapped him, both of them in general brought out the worst in each other, BUT IMAGINE if the roles were reversed. There’s a bunch of context prior to that event where it’s valid for her to be pressed at Hades but that the actions she took are not ok in any circumstances. I get that she was suffering herself and needed help but it’s still not ok to use other people as an outlet for your pain and to then try and Sabotage and destroy their lives post breakup.

At then end of the day you are all entitled to your opinions, I don’t have the inherently “right” one and reminder I read this series in two days so I’m new to the discussions and critics and am open to hearing others thoughts on why they disagree. This is a comic that to my understanding started as Rachel’s passion project and spiraled into something bigger and I honestly think that’s very impressive. There are plenty of critics of it and there always will be of not just LO but any body of work. I think the themes of sexual agency, mental health, navigating new, complicated and changing relationships with yourself, a partner, and your parents were honestly executed well, again nothing is perfect but from an amateur story teller I found it Ernest, human, and relatable.

But yeah this is just my 1 am brain rot thoughts bc LO is all I’ve been thinking about for the past 2-3 days lol. Sound off share your opinions I’m welcome hearing a different perspective as I just joined this fandom.

[moony-2001]

Freud- I mean Rachel strikes again

[moony-2001]

The real-world impact of Lore Olympus

i.e. do your research Rachel

Trigger warning: racism, fetishization, appropriation, mentions of SA

Long post ahead

A while ago, someone told me that Lore Olympus was just a silly little comic written out of boredom. That it was made to be "funny". They told me that "[I] can't hope [for] an extremely [well-written] story when it was just made with the intention to make something goofy" and that if Rachel actually wanted to make something serious like I had, she would write a book and not a comic.

At the time of this exchange, it was past 1 a.m. and I was exhausted. I did not want to argue with this person and it simply wasn't worth my time or energy in the moment.

But looking back at that (mostly one-sided) interaction, I can't help but think that there is so much wrong with that point of view. Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion about Lore Olympus, whether good or bad. But Lore Olympus isn't just some silly little nothing comic about nothing important. It is a comic that actively appropriates and erases Greek Culture. It is a comic that has no respect for the actual stories that have been passed down over thousands of years whether by word of mouth or written text. It is a comic that perpetuates a false narrative and harmful stereotypes about characters or certain groups of people. So, no, it's not just a silly little comic.

Incorrect information

Here’s an example of what I mean:

When I was doing research for my post about the 10 year time skip, I looked up Leuce to reconfirm the little information I knew about her. Wanna guess the first thing that popped up about her?

A Lore Olympus Wiki article.

Okay. How about Minthe? Hundreds of pictures of her from Lore Olympus and a LO Wiki article as one of the top 3 results. Both character are horribly represented in LO and unfortunately there isn’t really any documented stories or records that can refute how LO paints them. Because of this, other characters in Greek Mythology like Leuce and Minthe, whose stories have little to no documentation, stand to suffer the most harm from deliberate misrepresentation on Rachel’s part.

Of course well-known and better documented figures in Greek mythology face slander as well. What about Thetis or Leto? How about Apollo? All of their portrayals in LO are HORRIBLE. I have seen people online absolutely drag them to filth not because they're upset about how the character is portrayed compared to their mythological counterpart, but because they have no knowledge of how they are actually portrayed outside of LO. They just assume that's how the characters are. Similarly, people who have either very little or no prior knowledge of Greek Mythology and Culture would look at the comic and go "Yep, sounds legit. It must be true." and go about thinking that what is portrayed in LO is accurate to what was transcribed thousands of years ago.

Creative interpretations and racism/fetishization within LO

Don’t get me wrong. Creative interpretations and artistic liberties can be great. When they’re done tastefully. I personally think if done correctly, a Greek myth spun in a modern way has the potential be very good. But that's not what we were given.

Characters like Minthe, Leuce, and Thetis (all nymphs btw) are portrayed as trashy tramps who put out and are used as a foil sabotage Persephone and/or her relationship with Hades. Compare that to Greek Mythology where in the Iliad, Thetis is very well-respected by the gods, particularly Hera. Unfortunately, other similar characters like satrys (and basically any character that isn’t a god) are usually portrayed as a low-class POC that can be easily exploited, manipulated, or used as a temporary villain/lover/pawn to “get back” at Persephone, our white-coded protagonist who can do no wrong.

Additionally, there is a clear race/class bias against characters like nymphs in LO. We see many cases scattered throughout the comic of gods like Hera or Aphrodite referring to nymphs as "trash" or "low class" or the idea that nymphs do not belong with gods being heavily implied if not outright said. I cannot tell you how often I've seen Minthe be called some variant of "cheap" by the readers of LO. Even Persephone (who created the flower nymphs) treats them with such disrespect. She frequently calls them some variant of "stupid" or "simple" like saying how they're not the sharpest crayons in the box even though she's the one WHO MADE THEM. However, it's so odd not really to note that nymphs like Echo, Amphitrite, or Psyche (who was previously disguised as a nymph) are not discriminated against. This is because they are liked or trusted by the gods they are around and ergo are often portrayed as the "good ones", which is a disgusting mindset to have.

We also see the fetishization of nymphs in the comic that is disturbingly similar to the fetishization of women who are Black, Asian, or Latina. It is a known fact that Hades has a flower nymph fetish. Not only is this implied in the comic, but Rachel stated it outright in an old Patreon post. Nymphs are also generally treated as sex-symbols, disposable, and as a lesser-than. Zeus frequently displays this behavior by abandoning nymphs he knocked up in the mortal realm.

For example, when Persephone finds out Apollo is dating Daphne, she isn't upset he's dating her friend. She's upset he's dating a flower nymph, beings that are generally considered to be "rare", "dumb", and objects of sexual desire. Ew.

Even on the Lore Olympus website (loreolympians.com) nymphs are regarded as "beautiful", "desirable", and "very exotic". And when they're not described in a sexual manner they're say it with me now regarded as "low class" or "workers" for some kind of god/goddess.

Final thoughts

So not only is the characterization of characters like Minthe or Thetis harmful to Greek culture and the stories that are so ingrained in their society, but it is also perpetuating harmful stereotypes about people of color and women who are confident in their sexuality.

Of course, the characters within Greek Mythology had their own issues. Zeus was a serial rapist, many of the goddesses deemed to be "feminist" by today's standards were actually horribly misogynistic looking at you Athena. But 1. that's just how things were back then (but that does not make it right) and 2. all of the good, the bad, and the ugly is still there in Greek Mythology. They're not denying how fucked up it is, but they're also not changing their history to better fit their own narrative or the narrative of the modern world. It exists, it happened, but now it is studied and called out by historians.

Rachel, on the other hand, is doing exactly that. She is actively changing the Greek's cultural history to better fit her fic's narrative. She is constantly sweeping things under the rug or going "No this is how it ACTUALLY happened". Lore Olympus is marketed as a "feminist retelling" yet somehow, it takes allllll the ugly parts from Greek Mythology (rape, incest, problematic age gaps, dubious consent, etc.), mixes it with a majority of the issues we have in the modern world (white feminism, rape-apologists/rape culture, grooming, fetishization of certain minority groups, etc.) and then amplifies the concoction to 20. Lore Olympus cannot be a "progressive, feminist, retelling" and also have characters that are morally apprehensive/come straight from the ancient myths. It does not work. In fact, IMO it makes all the problems from both eras worse.

News flash: actual cultures that are still thriving today are not your toys. They are not "made up". They matter. Do better.

[moony-2001]

Is it possible for her to hate you even more?

[moony-2001]

Surprised but not disappointed @genericpuff you were totally right