There is something which makes me violently ill about the fact that Silena helped orchestrate the trap at the beginning of the last Olympian, which was 100% meant to kill Percy, and then, when Beckendorf died instead, it was Percy who tried to comfort her, who stood up for her at the councillors meeting, who defended her as a hero, even after finding out she was the spy and who thought about her like this throughout the last Olympian:
“Her mouth trembled. Ever since Beckendorf died she'd been getting worse, and every time I looked at her, it made me angry about his death all over again. Her expression reminded me of glass—like she might break any minute. I swore to myself that if I ever found the spy who'd cost her boyfriend his life, I would give him to Mrs. O'Leary as a chew toy. (The Last Olympian, Chapter 12)
Their relationship drives me insane when I think about it too much
anon 🍷 is back!!!!! So if you could do a silena reader. as how she dies in such a heroic way in 2nd titan war, and all the bats come to see her funeral but no demigod accepts them. They talk abt how they neglected her, Percy, clarisse, and annabeth try to tell them to go but they don't budge. soon a whole fight breaks out. Then Aphrodite comes in tells them all abt how they kinda neglected reader an don't deserve her. She takes readers soul and makes her a goddess of neglect.
Sure bae idk if this fits but...
Reader died with a smile.
Not because death was gentle. It wasn’t. Her body was broken, lungs gasping for air that wouldn’t come, blood staining the marble under the Empire State Building. She died with a sword in her hand, wounds on her chest, and hope that—maybe—someone from Gotham would finally call.
They didn’t.
But she smiled anyway. Because Clarisse had gotten through the enemy lines, because the war was ending, because the demigods were alive.
So she smiled… and closed her eyes for the last time.
The pyre was quiet.
Even the wind didn’t dare disturb the funeral of a hero.
Her armor was polished, golden and glinting in the sun. Her charm bracelet sat gently on her folded hands. Campers gathered with weapons down and heads bowed. A photo of her was placed at the base of the pyre — one Clarisse had taken mid-laugh, eyes shut, joy uncontained.
That was the version of her they wanted to remember.
And then they came.
The Batfamily.
Bruce stood tall, black coat rippling. Jason flanked him, jaw clenched, silent. Tim and Dick stood just behind, unsure. Damian… couldn’t meet anyone’s eyes.
Clarisse was the first to move. She stepped between them and the pyre like a wall.
“You don’t belong here.”
Bruce didn’t blink. “She was family.”
Clarisse’s laugh was a short, sharp thing. “Was? You weren’t even there when she needed family.”
Dick spoke softly, guilt etched in every line. “We didn’t know she was fighting.”
“She wrote you,” Percy said. “Every week.”
Jason’s voice was a broken rasp. “We were busy.”
“Doing what?” Annabeth asked, voice laced with ice. “Fighting clowns while she bled for Olympus?”
Tim stepped forward, “We didn’t forget her.”
But Clarisse’s eyes blazed. “Name her birthday.”
Silence.
“Name the last time you answered her call.”
Silence.
“She sat on the camp hill for four hours once. Said she was waiting for her brothers to pick her up.” Her voice cracked. “She said, ‘They’re just late. They wouldn’t forget me.’”
The silence broke — not with words, but fists.
Clarisse lunged. Jason caught her, but barely. Percy shoved Tim. Damian swung first. Swords and gadgets and curses clashed under the burning sun.
Then—
A glow.
A hush.
And the scent of roses on the battlefield.
Aphrodite descended — not soft, not coquettish, but resplendent and furious. Her presence brought everyone to their knees — even Bruce.
She looked at the pyre. Then at the Batfamily. Her voice was calm, but beneath it: fire.
“She waited. On holidays. On battlefields. In hospital beds. She waited… and you never came.”
No one answered.
“She was my daughter in spirit — not by birth, but by heart. She embodied love, even when no one gave it to her. She died believing in you, even when you forgot she existed.”
She turned to the pyre.
From it rose a soul — soft, golden, flickering like starlight. Reader stood there, whole again. Beautiful. Powerful. A goddess in bloom.
Aphrodite smiled with pride and sorrow.
“You have been overlooked long enough. Forgotten long enough. Today, I give you a name they will never ignore again.”
The sky rumbled as divinity settled in Reader’s bones.
“You are Neglect’s Daughter. The Goddess of the Forgotten. The voice of every child left behind. The comfort of the unloved. May your name never again be whispered too late.”
Reader turned to the Batfamily — the ones who had taught her this pain. She didn’t speak. She didn’t curse them.
She only looked at them — once.
Then she turned to the wind.
And vanished.
Back at Camp Half-Blood, a new shrine was built. Small. Quiet. A place where anyone who felt invisible could pray.
They came in secret at first. Then openly.
And far away, in Gotham, a single rose bloomed in the Batcave — blooming where no sunlight touched, growing from stone.
"pick a side" is really that song like you've got ruegard bickering, silena threatening to pulverize someone, clarisse hyping her up, and luke telling his dad to get fucked. it's all there.
Except it’s Silena realising she was just being used and Luke never intended to leave her loved ones out of it. He just agreed so she’d stay and keep being his spy. He took advantage of her feelings for him. He took advantage of her kindness. Her innocence. Her feelings. In a way, I think she’s the perfect representation of a child of Aphrodite’s flaws. Their love can sometimes get themselves or other people hurt. She’s such an interesting character to analyse and the more I think about her story, the more I want to sob into a pillow.
Unpopular opinion but I think while Percy is the only demigod in PJO that should've been offered godhood, I think all the demigods that died for the gods should've been offered immortality. Definitely Elysium/rebirth or Isles of the Blest otherwise. But yeah, I think a few of them should've been offered immortality and we see a few of them come back as demigods or something a little less human and a little more... otherworldly greek. they deserve it, having given their lives for Olympus, you know?
honestly all the demigods who fought for the gods in the war should've been given rewards. I like to think that the ones that survived that weren't explicitly mentioned were given gifts/rewards by their parents afterwards, and the nymphs/spirits were given stuff by Mr. D/the coven council.
I’ve been seeing a lot of discussion about Clarisse’s casting in the PJO show that basically boils down to “anyone can be ugly if they have a mean personality.” And like yes, that’s true, but "ugly" people also exist (by ugly, I mean not conventionally attractive). let ugly people be ugly (so long as their ugliness is not a reflection of wider prejudice - ie, if only the evil characters are fat, that’s bad).
This bothers me especially because there is no representation for tall, broad, fat, “ugly” preteen and teenage girls, at least not any that isn’t centered around them becoming beautiful. I don’t think ugliness is a bad word on its own. making a character who rejects femininity and is described as ugly both pretty and feminine isn’t making some kind of statement about how pretty people can be mean too, especially because Clarisse is ultimately redeemed.
For her character to be ugly and mean at the start of the story and end still "ugly" (by conventional standards of femininity) and nice means that her character growth is about her personality - and that her looks were never a reflection of her morality.
It's true that you can be pretty while rejecting femininity, but the way Clarisse is styled in the show (in my opinion) is too feminine. Her appearance is too put together, too subtly feminine, for how she's described in the books. This is no shade to Dior! I actually think she does a great job as Clarisse and I look forward to seeing more of her. But tv and movies have a long history of casting attractive women only to call their characters unattractive, thus reinforcing harmful stereotypes about what is and isn’t beautiful, instead of casting actually *average* looking women.
THAT is the representation my middle school self is aching for. I want a middle schooler who’s taller than all her friends, who’s got a belly, who looks awkward in dresses because of her build, who’s wider than her male friends, who's going through puberty faster than her friends, who has acne and doesn’t wear makeup and doesn’t understand what femininity is and dresses like a Tom boy. These traits aren't ugly. They're normal. They're just not aesthetically attractive, so they are invariably erased from media.
Where is my preteen girl in basketball shorts because the shorts available to girls are too revealing for someone of her size? Where is my teenager who has been told, explicitly or otherwise, that she doesn't conform to beauty standards, so she refuses to wear dresses or skirts? Where is the girl who knows she's "ugly" and doesn't care? Where is the one who never cared until someone told her, and suddenly she wishes to be skinny and slender and not broad-shoulder and not tall and to look like her mom instead of being told she looks like her dad?
I'm all for diversity in casting because people are diverse. But body type - and not just visually appealing or acceptable body types - is part of diversity to. Annabeth’s appearance has virtually no impact on her character, and Leah carries her perfectly. For Clarisse and others like Piper, their appearance is INCREDIBLY relevant to their characters.
Let “ugly” girls be ugly. Combatting fatphobia - which also includes normal sized women and broad shoulders, because the fashion industry has labelled all non-models as fat - in media is not just about showing non-skinny people as attractive. It’s about showing non-skinny people as EXISTING. and being valid for that alone, outside of their moral or aesthetic value.
I can only think of one actress who’s roughly my build. I can think of zero times I watched media aimed for kids and saw a kid my size. Diversity is not just an aesthetic designed to be palatable. Casting characters with ugly personalities as beautiful people when the character in question will go through a redemption isn't the slay some people think because it's still reinforcing the idea that looks have moral value. I rarely see characters without aesthetic attractiveness nowadays, not ones who are on the hero's side; when it comes to children, when I say attractiveness I mean the way a child in a clothing ad looks cute and cheerful, not romantic/sexual attractiveness. For children especially, body positivity is far less important than body neutrality - the idea that their bodies don't have morality or attractive value attached.
What's most important to me is that "ugly" and unfeminine preteen and teenage girls see themselves represented neutrally, in a way I can't recall ever seeing myself.
I don't mean to hate on Dior. I really do think she's excellent as Clarisse. This is just my perspective, as an "ugly," tall, broad-shouldered, chubby former middle school girl who would've loved to see someone who looked like me.
