#at least that's how Octavian definitely sees it

[2nd2ndalto]

You Deserve a Break Today

I started this months ago and finally hauled it out to finish it this week. Inspired by this post from @coldbasementruins:

~~~~~

Will is halfway up a ladder in the storeroom when he hears raised voices from the front of the restaurant. He sighs, frustrated. This is usually a quiet point in the day, and he'd been hoping to get some work done. As he climbs down and makes his way to the front counter, Will notes that the raised voice is Octavian's. Not a complete surprise.

Octavian's not a bad employee, exactly. But he tends to get too caught up in minutiae, often at the expense of getting along with his colleagues. And sometimes the customers.

On one level, Will get it. Customer service can be a bitch. But while Will doesn't want to manage this McDonalds for the rest of his life, that's no reason to be a dick about it while he's here.

"Hey Octavian," Will says mildly, sidling up to the murderous-looking young man at the front counter. "What's up?"

"This customer," (Octavian says the word as one might say pedophile, and Will restrains himself from rolling his eyes) "wants to order a Happy Meal."

"Yeah, and?" Will says tiredly.

"Just look at him," Octavian hisses.

Will does, and... wow, he's really pretty. Like, breathtaking. All dark wide eyes and delicate features and glossy dark hair falling into his face. Will realizes he’s staring and quickly wrenches his gaze back to Octavian.

"Well?" Octavian asks.

"Well, uh... well what?" Will stammers, trying to collect himself. He's pretty sure Octavian didn't just want him to see how hot this guy is. But he's having trouble remembering the other reason. Because, like, Will's heard people described as breathtaking before. But he's never experienced it quite so... immersively. He feels lightheaded.

"Happy Meals are for children. He’s not a child," Octavian seethes.

"He's - you..." Will squeezes the bridge of his nose. "Octavian, look. Why don't you head into the back and help Kayla with the shipment?" Will says, keeping his tone as even as he can manage. "I'll take over up here."

Octavian shoots one more dark look at the poor (gorgeous, flawless) boy standing on the other side of the counter, but he complies.

Will sighs, turning back to the dark-haired boy. God, those eyes are incredibly distracting. What was he going to say again?

Will clears his throat. "You will have a Happy Meal," Will announces, too loud, too bossy.

The boy looks startled, and two customers seated at a nearby table turn their heads in surprise.

Shit.

"Um. I mean. Would you like a Happy Meal?" Will cringes. He can feel his ears burning, and fervently hopes he can finish this interaction before the flush spreads to his entire face.

"Um, yeah. If that's okay," the boy says tentatively. "Cheeseburger?"

"Yeah, of course," Will shakes his head, punching in the order. "I'm sorry about..." he waves his hand vaguely in the direction that Octavian disappeared. "I'm sorry about Octavian. Just between you and me, he’s... well, he might not be cut out for customer service," Will admits.

The boy lets out a small laugh, the corner of his mouth quirking up and Jesus he's even prettier when he smiles. This really isn’t fair. Will has a restaurant to run, for god's sake.

“Book or toy?” Will asks weakly.

“Um. Toy,” the boy answers, sounding a little embarrassed. “I’m uh… I’m trying to get Squirtle.” He nods towards the display of miniature Pokemon stuffies.

Will grins. “I’ll see what I can do.”

The boy ducks his head, looking shy. “Thanks.” He pulls out his wallet.

“Oh, no,” Will waves him off. “It’s on the house. Don’t worry about it.”

It’s the least he can do after this poor guy had to deal with Octavian, right? That’s definitely the only reason.

The boy glances back up, surprised. “Thank you,” he says. His gaze lingers on Will a moment longer. It’s magnetic, mesmerizing. Will realizes he’s not breathing.

“I’ll uh - I’ll bring it out to you,” Will manages. “Go… make yourself at home.” He gestures to the seating area.

Make yourself at home, Will’s brain helpfully echoes as he walks back to the kitchen. What a stupid fucking thing to say.

It’s Austin who catches him with his forehead pressed to the cool tile wall next to the walk-in cooler.

Austin chuckles. “Octavian getting to you?”

Will turns, a little desperate. “Yeah. I mean, always. But there’s… there’s this really cute guy,” he chokes, waving vaguely towards the front of the restaurant.

Austin shrugs. “So ask for his number.”

“But he’s a customer. Isn’t that like… it seems… unethical,” Will protests.

“Will.” Austin grabs him by the shoulders. “This is a McDonalds. It’s not like you’re his doctor.”

But after a brief and intense internal battle, Will finds he just… can’t.

He does find the Squirtle, though, after a panicked search through the storeroom. He throws in an apple pie for good measure. Hovering surreptitiously behind the coffee machines, Will delights in the smile that blooms on the boy’s face as he opens the Happy Meal box.

Will’s just kicking himself for the dozenth time for being a chicken and an idiot as he grabs a cloth and spray bottle and heads out to wipe tables. Mostly to get further away from the growing tension between Octavian and Kayla.

He scans the restaurant, his heart sinking a little when he realizes it’s empty. Not that he likely would have worked up the nerve to ask the boy for his number this time, either.

But then a hand catches his arm, gentle. Will whirls, nearly losing his balance.

Dark eyes widen in dismay and the boy tightens his grip as Will rights himself.

“Shit, I’m so sorry,” he says.

Will’s already shaking his head, his face heating. “No, it’s fine. I’m… a little twitchy.”

And there’s that heartstopping smile again. Jesus Christ.

Will swallows. “Is um - is everything okay? “Was there a problem with your meal?”

“No, it was great,” the boy says. “Um...” He holds Will’s gaze again, all dark liquid eyes and long lashes. It feels like falling. Like flying.

The boy’s nose scrunches adorably. “This might sound stupid,” he says, “but I was having a really shitty day - I failed a chem exam and my roommate nearly burnt down our apartment last night. And then with your co-worker there –” he continues, and Will interrupts.

“Fuck. I’m so sorry about that –”

“No,” the boy shakes his head, smiling. “I just wanted to say - I thought that was going to be the last straw and I was going to burst into tears in the middle of a McDonalds. But then you - you were just…” He swallows, his brow furrowed. “Thanks for being nice to me,” he finishes softly. “It might not seem like much, but… it meant a lot.”

“Oh.” Will smiles. “Sure. Of course. I’m glad I could help.”

Now that they’re standing without a counter between them, Will realizes that the other boy is almost a head shorter than him. He’s slight-shouldered and slim, and though he’s a little intimidating in his leather jacket and combat boots, there’s something undeniably soft about him. Will kind of wants to pull him into his arms and smell his hair. Or maybe shove him up against the muffin display and kiss him senseless. But that would be really unprofessional. Probably.

The boy takes a deep breath, shifting nervously. “This might sound stupid too, and please don’t feel bad about saying no, but um. Would you maybe want to go out sometime? With me?”

Will can feel himself grinning like an absolute idiot. “Yeah,” he says. “I would.”

“Okay, cool,” the other boy breathes, looking relieved.

“I’m Nico, by the way,” he says as they exchange numbers.

“Nico.” Will repeats, smiling. Nico. He likes the way the name feels on his tongue. Nico. He’d like to say it a lot, he thinks.

“I’m Will,” Will says, tapping his nametag.

Nico smiles shyly. “Yeah. I noticed.” He sticks out his hand, like he’s suddenly remembered to do it. “Nice to meet you.”

Nico’s hand is warm. A bit smaller than Will’s. It’s stupid to think so, but it feels as if they fit perfectly together.

“Um…” Will begins, gazing again into those dark eyes. But then there’s a crash and a shout from the back, and Will sighs, not really sure what he was going to say anyway.

Nico grimaces. “I should let you go.”

“Yeah,” Will says reluctantly. He glances at his watch. “Ninety-two more minutes.”

Nico laughs. “You could text me when you’re done. Like, if you wanted to.”

Will beams.

As he makes his way towards the sound of raised voices in the back of the restaurant, he muses that shifts with Octavian are almost always eventful. But he doesn’t mind how this one has turned out in the least.

~~~~~

Notes:

Thank you @coldbasementruins for the prompt!

I've never worked at a McDonalds. I do eat there too often.

This was supposed to be 1000 words! It is not.

Thanks for reading!

#mcdonalds au #solangelo #nico di angelo #will solace #my writing #rated g #fluff #octavian #brief kayla & austin #pjo #riordanverse #hoo

[kayakischaotic]

PJO/HOO/TOA HEADCANONSSSS 🎉🎉🎉

WHOS READY TO RUMBLEE

also I haven’t read the books in awhile + I have terrible memory so o7

clears my throat

PERCY JACKSON:

—>all my faves had a emo phase. including Peter Johnson

—>he owns a BUNCH of different earrings, nothing too big or extravagant, but like a little fish, maybe an arrow, etc

—>dyes part of his hair blue because he’s Percy

—>Sally TOTALLY knew he was bi when he was little

—>has a bi flag necklace (I’m jealous)

—>once dyed his hair blonde while he was at camp and after everyone called him a dumb blonde he decided to never dye it blonde again

—>he totally loves having his hair played with cause Sally used to always play with his hair when he was a kid

—>his eyes change from blue to green depending on the lighting

—>he’s been the little mermaid for Halloween at LEAST once

—>has an extensive collection of Hawaiian shirts

ANNABETH CHASE:

—>she sticks a bunch of little pins on her Yankees hat

—>doesn’t know how to drive (at least not very well)

—>if she could she’d have road rage so much

—>probably owns at least 5 different pairs of earbuds/headphones that she uses on her iPod and/or Daedalus’s laptop

—>building a campus place similar to New Rome at CHB

—>instead of a box of chocolates for Valentines day, she once gave Percy a bag of M&M’s. but only the blue ones

—>drinks at least 3 cups of coffee most days

—>bi-curious/questioning

—>also questioning her gender a bit

—>read Harry Potter and couldn’t tell if she wanted to BE Hermione or be WITH Hermione (still can’t tell)

GROVER UNDERWOOD:

—>pan, ace

—>will eat anything if he’s stressed

—>has little rings he can put around his horns for added style

—>tism

—>he/they KING!!

—>will just snack on a head of lettuce

—>has to wear reading glasses (what a nerd /pos)

—>has an extensive knowledge of which plants around CHB taste good, and which taste bad (has definitely been taken to the medics once or twice for eating poisonous plants)

JASON GRACE:

—>everyone makes fun of him because of The Brick™️.

—>THEATER KID

—>will ramble to you about wolves for as long as you will let him

—>frequently dyes small strips of his hair with hair chalk

—>him and Annabeth are like best friends. please.

—>questioning

PIPER MCLEAN:

—>she ate the rest of the non-blue M&M’s for Annabeth

—>genderfluid she/her lesbian.

—>helps Hazel, Annabeth, and the other girls do their hair (and sometimes Percy)

—>sees Jason and Leo as her brothers

—>wears suits to fancy events

—>usually uses her charmspeak to win at board games

—>girl in red’s biggest fan

—>EVERYONES WINGMAN

LEO VALDEZ:

—>makes everyone friendship bracelets

—>will totally light candles just to watch them burn

—>pretends he’s Festus’s vet whenever he has to fix him

—>calls the Argo II his child

—>doesn’t have a proper sleep schedule in the slightest…

—>gay, demiboy

—>totally introduced everyone else to neo/xeno pronouns

—>he/they/it mainly, but also uses a bunch of neos and xenos

—>has a dragon stuffed animal he calls Festus Jr. that he struggles to sleep without

—>he is the autism creature /j

—>will call anyone in sight bro or dude

—>scared of heights

—>keeps calling himself “the rizzler”

REYNA AVILA RAMIREZ-ARELLANO:

—>therapist friend

—they/she

—demiromantic asexual

—>astrology lover

—>straight A student without trying or studying

HAZEL LEVESQUE:

—>the only person on the Argo II that can keep a plant alive (somehow)

—>unlabeled

—>her and Nico help paint everyone’s nails

—>is always wearing either a skirt or overalls. (better yet: overalls skirt)

—>lactose intolerant

—>totally holds a dance at Camp Jupiter that is similar to a school dance at least once a year

FRANK ZHANG:

—>token straight friend

—>has a fairly large stuffed animal collection (only to be rivaled by Octavian’s)

—>if he ever visits CHB he purposely avoids being near the fire

—>makes the rest of the 7 watch superhero movies with him

—>owns lots of comics

—>him and Percy ramble about superheroes and comics together

NICO DI ANGELO:

—>certified DJ of the 7

—>his favorite restaurant isn’t even McDonald’s.. (it’s Olive Garden /j)

—>if demigods could use technology, he would totally be a tumblr user. (happy (late) Ides of March)

—>THEATER KID

—>he keeps saying “gaslight gatekeep girlboss” and everyone is kinda confused

—>loves listening to 70s/80s/90s rock

—>is (attempting) to learn the drums

—>survives off of energy drinks and coffee

—>has a nightlight in his cabin for when Will visits

—>also listens to Crywank

WILL SOLACE:

—>definitely has dressed up as a lamp for Halloween

—>HE/THEY!!!

—> trying to convince Nico to be in a band with him, playing guitar, Austin, playing sax, and Apollo, playing flute (Nico’s not having it)

—>favorite color is “all of them”

—>attempts to grow plants (fails)

—>he would totally be addicted to Tiktok if he had it

—>if anyone asks what time it is he will respond one of three ways: “it’s time for lunch” “its game time” or “it’s time for you to get a WATCH”

—>he’s really bad at reading clocks

—>totally cried during Frozen

APOLLO/LESTER PAPADOPOULOS:

—>he/they bi icon

—>motto is “fake it til you make it”

—>adhd, probably

—>always looses board games

—>chronically online…

—>will purposely sing the wrong words to popular songs so half of CHB thinks they’ve been singing these songs wrong the entire time

—>him and Nico bond over saying things like “gaslight gatekeep girlboss”

—>scared of the dark

—>quotes Mean Girls at least once a day

—>trying to make a theater class at CHB (Chiron agrees, Dionysus is… not quite there yet)

—>surprisingly good at lying (fake it til you make it!)

—>some Aphrodite kids told him their skincare secrets while he was mortal and gave them a few products

—>wears eyeliner on a daily basis

—>when he was a mortal the Aphrodite cabin and his cabin played dress-up on him and made him wear a bunch of weird outfits

THATS ALL FOR NOW!!!!!

I bet you totally can’t tell who my favorites are by how much they have put down…. /s

TELL ME SOME OF YOUR HEADCANONS SO I CAN ADD THEM TO MY HOARD

#pjo #hoo #toa #pjo hoo toa #riordanverse #percy jackson #annabeth chase #grover underwood #jason grace #piper mclean #leo valdez #reyna avila ramirez arellano #hazel levesque #frank zhang #nico di angelo #will solace #apollo #lester papadopoulos

[11queensupreme11]

honestly like going through your asks i agree sm how underwhelming heroes of olympus was. like in the og series there was so much death, betrayal, and character development and in hoo we see percy and annabeth in tartarus (which i felt like their disappearance should have had waayy more of an affect on the rest of crew but without annbeth as their leader and percy as their glue how are they serving) and Nico's forced coming out ceremony (poor boy was tamazatized by cupid and ric didn't even delve into much more after that?).

gaea was so underwhleming and i don't belive at all that she could have been beaten after she was fully formed. like there was no actual counter against a primordial and percy and annabeth only defeated luke bcuz he killed himselves. like i don't think celestial bronze can actually do enough damage to kill a god, yet alone the earth! (divine weapons be looking a little enticing here) and at least with kronos their was a personal connection. like i get that she tried to kill the people in the prophecy like with leo but i felt like it was so long ago leo had already comes terms with his mom's death. there was no emotional charge that should have been there and the romans vs greeks was so disappointing. i didn;t like at all that the greeks were good and the romans were evil and i felt like jason was to easily accepting within greek ranks. like yeah i get it, greep camp is more chill but their was no promised internal hostility and it just felt like their big battle wasn;t that big of a mutal battle, just greeks tryan stop another invasion. and don;t get me started on the athena statue. that was written SO weird and it definitely should have been established way earlier in the series. and poor nico and reyna tryna haul it across the world when they could have contributed much more. their perspectives was such a snooze-fest and i was just like what the hell is this side-quest?

like the second series was more mature and professional writing wise so i expected much more blood and gore. every demigod was a tragedy is the og series so it was so weird to see everyone live happily ever after after. and like i felt like he forgot how to create chemistry after percbeth. like japer??? was lacking like any flavor and hazel and leo had more chemistry than frank. like frank and hazel could have been such a good sable couple if they were written better. and the foced interactions with the mini-quests in the books were so awkward. rick should have created so much more interactions with each other or killed them off if he couldn't manage that many characters.

YES 👏 YOU 👏 GET 👏 IT

heroes of olympus honestly seemed so... poorly planned to me? like with pjo, a lot of plot points connected so well together whereas hoo was a mess and i genuinely think the amount of main characters was what rick had a lot of trouble with.

the first two books, the lost hero and the son of neptune were actually pretty good and that's because both books strictly focused on just three characters and three povs each. but then when the seven finally joined, things went downhill 😭

the last book was super disappointing. the seven + gods vs the gigantes went by really quickly and most of the "fighting" was just a paragraph or two of each battle. as for the gaea battle.... yeah 💀 i think it would've been cooler if the demigods (roman and greek) worked alongside the gods to take gaea down since, like it was mentioned many times before, that gaea would've been hard af to beat once she formed 💀

A DETAILED TEAM UP OF THE DEMIGODS FIGHTING ALONGSIDE THEIR GODLY PARENT??? POSEIDON AND PERCY SQUARING UP??? ZEUS AND JASON????? ANNABETH AND ATHENA???? I WOULD'VE LOVED THAT!!! 😩 (i definitely believe athena would be nagging her daughter throughout the whole fight about how she still doesn't approve of her boyfriend and annabeth is just "omg moooom 🙄 focus on the battle!!!)

octavian could've been better written too! it was clear that he was supposed to be the "luke" of the second series with gaea as "kronos", but his death was meh to me unlike with luke who i genuinely felt bad for especially since his reasons made sense. octavian... i didn't feel any sympathy for.

rick's favoritism for piper was also an issue for me too, especially as i grew older and out of my 'not like other girls' phase 😭

pls im just hoping that if hoo gets made into a tv show too, that there's MAJOR changes to it 🙏

#👸🏻| asks #👸🏻| arsenic blues

[navree]

How do you think Augustus felt about Livia?

It's a bit hard to parse out how the man felt about anyone, just because he controlled his image so tightly that nobody ever publicly saw anything he didn't want them to see, save for some very rare exceptions (ex: Augustus is recorded as having become publicly emotional three times in his entire public life, and two out of those three were very likely deliberate performances meant to engender a specific response, though one of them was definitely just spontaneous emotion). And with the added caveat that trying to ascribe feelings to historical figures can be very tough because those involve private thoughts that we are just not historically privy to, especially during the Antiquity where we're just missing so many records, I think it's fair to say that there was some kind of love there.

There's a lot of misconceptions around their relationship because Augustus and Livia just have very negative public reputations (Augustus just due to the popularity of Antony and Cleopatra as a couple, which means that most stories of this time are about them, slotting him into the role of antagonist or even outright villain in contrast to them as protagonists; Livia due to the popularity of stories like I, Claudius, which painted her as a scheming manipulator and burgeoned outward from there) that sees them both as people who didn't care about anyone, let alone possibly each other, and were in this relationship purely for opportunism and power. That's not to say that they didn't care about the power or opportunities the match would have afforded both of them, they clearly did; I've never bought into the legend that Octavian fell in love with Livia at first sight because nothing I've read about the guy, Mr. "hasten slowly" himself, shows someone who made snap judgments without thought. Octavian had prestige from his relationship to Caesar, and his family was influential in their Roman suburb, but he didn't have the patrician family roots that Livia did, and marrying her would have given him additional prestige to really solidify power. For Livia's part, her family was on the downward spiral after having repeatedly been on the wrong side in recent wars (her father fought for Brutus and Cassius, her first husband routinely was opposed to Augustus not just at Philippi but also during Fulvia's War and my beloved Siege of Perusia as well as siding with Sextus Pompey when he opposed Octavian), and allying herself instead with someone who was shoring up massive amounts of power and influence in his own right would have been hugely beneficial for her and her children. There was absolutely a calculus that went into this relationship and in figuring out what both parties could bring to the table to make the marriage viable against some not great optics, like Livia already being pregnant by her first husband and Octavian getting ready to break his alliance to Sextus by divorcing Scribonia (literally on the day she gave birth to Julia, my man you couldn't have waited a day?).

But I don't think that means that there wasn't any feeling there. For one, again, there were some bad optics involved as well as changes in alliances, and Livia definitely needed Octavian more than he needed her; he could have absolutely found some other patrician woman to boost up his pedigree by association rather than one from a family that had constantly opposed him. I wouldn't be shocked if there had been some emotion behind choosing Livia specifically, that when they met (sources say she was personally introduced to him before they decided to get married, so they had at least one chance for rapport) they formed a connection of some kind and an appreciation for each other. We also know that Octavian, as he grew in power and especially once things steadied in Rome and he got his name changed to Augustus, still relied on her as a source of advice and listened to her as a counselor, in spite of her gender and the extreme patriarchal nature of Rome. Augustus, when it comes to Livia's role as an advisor to him, actually had Livia occupying a space very similar to the one he had originally occupied for Julius Caesar: not just being an advisor and a trusted someone at their side, but also someone you could ask to intercede for you with The Great Man either on your behalf or on the behalf of someone you cared about. That Augustus allowed this at all shows a care for her, because he was big on the rigid societal structures and propriety of Ancient Rome, what with all his family laws and his strong stance on morality. But I do think the strongest indicator of love between them, since I do believe there was a love between them, is in the fact that they stayed married.

Livia and Augustus were married for 51 years, from 39 BC until he died in AD 14. And it is honestly wild that, in all that time, they never got divorced. Divorce in Ancient Roman times was exceptionally easy. Literally all was required was that one of the parties move out of the house and that's it, you're considered divorced legally and religiously in all ways that mattered. That's why, when you read about these people, you see how often they're just getting divorced right and left at the slightest provocation, Augustus included, divorcing Claudia and Scribonia with relative ease. But not Livia, even though the marriage wasn't doing the one thing most political marriages really need to be doing: bringing in children. Livia and Augustus never had any children, and only ever one pregnancy, which ended in a stillbirth. Given that Augustus specifically really needed an acceptable heir, as he was trying to build a hereditary autocracy that relied on power being passed down from father to son, rather than the semi-democracy Rome had at the time, this is a big deal. We know that Augustus struggled with heirs, mostly because everyone he ever wanted as an heir kept dying before him (which has to suck, just on a personal level, given that a lot of these were family members that he'd been close to and viewed as his own children, sorry man), and he probably would have very much liked to have a natural son to prepare to succeed him, rather than bouncing around. And given how quickly it became apparent that his marriage to Livia was not going to give him any children at all, let alone any sons, he could have easily divorced her with just a few words and found someone else, especially after he cemented his power following Actium and patrician prestige was no longer as important as his own personal presence. But he didn't do that. For a man who always thought ahead and always made decisions based on how they would advance the goals he felt he needed to have, irregardless of personal feeling (the existence of the Second Triumvirate is basically proof that Augustus, very quickly in his political career, developed a habit of shunting his own personal feelings to the side for the sake of doing what needed to be done), choosing to stay in a marriage that wasn't really offering him anything beyond the companionship of a woman he loved is very weird. It speaks to the amount and the depth of feeling there, that he decided to remove political calculation and opportunism from his thought process and decide to stay in a marriage that wasn't necessarily advantageous, because he wanted to, because he cared about and loved the person he was married to.

All in all, I think he cared about her, probably did love her, and even if there was some opportunism in the match, it seems to have been a marriage between two people who enjoyed being together and liked each other.

#personal #answered #anonymous #roman history #octavian #livia drusilla #i'm generally quite wary about ascribing specific emotions to specific historical dynamics #just cuz again we don't Know and here specifically there's a lot of missing information #but i'm at least comfortable in saying that they liked each other #'oh but amelie you don't have a problem saying agrippa and octavian loved each other-' because i have eyes #because a lot of their relationship in stark contrast to the marriage with livia was done VERY publicly #and we have a lot more info on it and how reciprocal it was #but yeah i'd say there's at least A kind of love between augustus adn livia

[newromesweirdest]

Octavian’s Death: Analysis Pt 1

Earlier tonight I pulled out my copies of the Heroes of Olympus because I wanted to write some Octavian analysis posts, and I’ve been rereading some of his scenes from The Blood of Olympus. I reached his death scene, and I just wanted to hop on here and talk about it for a second.

Firstly, this scene honestly breaks my heart. Was Octavian misguided? Sure. Were some of his actions definitely questionable? Yes. But did he deserve to die like that? No, absolutely not.

Up until this point in the series, Nico had always been one of my favorites as a younger reader. But even when I was a kid and I disliked Octavian (solely because the narration tells us that we as readers should dislike him, and I was too young to really think of it any deeper than that), I still couldn’t believe the fact that Nico wouldn’t allow Will to attempt to save Octavian. “Some deaths cannot be prevented” is the excuse that Nico gives us as to why he doesn’t attempt to save Octavian. To me, it just feels like Nico is trying to justify this action to himself. We know that he dislikes Octavian and even considers assassinating him via shadow travel a few pages prior, and just before the battle itself Nico once again considers murdering Octavian in front of the First Cohort. Immediately after Octavian launches the onager, we’re told this:

“Nico could have even lived with Octavian’s end. He might have even said good riddance. But his heart sank as the comet kept gaining altitude. It disappeared into the storm clouds, and the sky exploded in a dome of fire.”

- Blood of Olympus, page 470

Despite the fact that Nico’s “heart sank”, it still feels to me as if he only half cares. Even with his feelings of guilt, at least part of himself still wants to say “good riddance.”

Octavian, whatever his faults may have been, did not deserve that end.

Something that struck me on my rereading of this scene is the fact that Michael Kahale just doesn’t seem to care at all. Now, we are told that Michael had been previously knocked unconscious by Tyson, and “he had a large red knot on his forehead.” It’s reasonable to assume that he probably also had a concussion, or at least some sort of mild head trauma. One of the main symptoms of a concussion is a loss of consciousness after a blow to the head, as well as a loss of coordination and confusion. Rick tells us this:

“He stumbled as he walked. But somehow he had found his way here from the shore, and along the way, he’d picked up a sword and shield.”

- Blood of Olympus, page 468

So far, Michael exhibits 2 “warning signs” of a concussion. 

At first glance, it seems like this scene is simply showing a blatant betrayal of Octavian by Michael, but I do wonder if there is something more under the surface.

Michael takes in the scene of Octavian with his robes tangled in the onager’s trigger rope, he looks to the sky and sees Festus, and he scowls at Nico. He asks Octavian twice if he is certain about firing the onager and killing the Greeks, and then he tells Octavian to do as he must.

In a way, it definitely reads like a betrayal scene. And on the surface, that’s exactly what it is, but if Michael did have a severe concussion, it could explain why he seemingly failed to register the severity of the situation. He shows no reaction to the smoke rising from Octavian’s jewelry, and he doesn’t seem to react to the toga wrapped around the tripper rope either. Remember, we’re seeing this through Nico’s POV. Nico tells us that Michael “took in the scene”, but we don’t actually know how much of it he actually processed or truly understood, especially after such a hard blow and a loss of consciousness.

It’s hard for me to decide if Michael knowingly allowed Octavian to die. On one hand, it feels like an obvious and blatant betrayal, but on the other hand, I do wonder if Michael was even fully aware of the situation at hand.

It’s a tough thing to call, and I think a lot of it comes down to what you personally believe. I just found the concussion possibility interesting, because from a medical standpoint it’s very likely that Michael did suffer some form of head trauma from Tyson’s blow, and it could explain his actions during this scene, at least in part.

Another thing that struck me during my rereading was the fact that it almost looks like Octavian knows that he is going to die. Mainly, his final words to Michael:

“A good friend to the last.”

That isn’t something that you just say out of the blue. Yes, both Octavian and Michael are on a battlefield in the midst of a battle as this line is spoken, and yet neither of them (at least as far as Octavian is seemingly aware of) are in imminent danger. So why then would you claim that someone is a “friend to the last?”

Furthermore, Octavian reiterates throughout The Blood of Olympus that he will be remembered as the savior of Rome or of the Romans. This is also one of the final things that he says.

Octavian seems thoroughly adamant that he will be remembered as a hero and a savior.

I could write a lot more about this (and I will very soon!!), but for tonight I’ll leave you all with this:

I believe that Octavian knew full well that he was going to die, and I believe that he knew that he was tangled in the onager, either through prophecies or through a quick observation that Nico missed.

#octavian pjo #octavian hoo #percy jackson and the olympians #the heroes of olympus #the blood of olympus #michael kahale #nico di angelo

[zazzander]

Octavian's Morality

I've always felt that Octavian's moral code was simply different, rather than absent, in comparison to the other characters. Most of the main characters of the series were raised in the USA, and of course the author himself is American. Therefore while Octavian acts very Roman, that runs contrary to the morality presented by the series.

This is not to say Octavian is good, but simply that Octavian does have a code that he follows.

So I wanted to discuss with Roman virtues we could ascribe to him.

Ambition

The first and most obvious one, in New Rome we learn that ambition is a virtue. Octavian doesn't lack for ambition in the series.

“A man who turns down power?” she said. “That’s not very Roman of you.” (Son of Neptune 182)

Octavian climbs the ranks during the series and before. We know he was given the post of centurion at some point. He is also the camp's augur. He later tries to get elected praetor. He seems to either have been made or made himself Pontifex Maximus (exactly how this goes down is hard to determine). However this isn't inherently bad, nor is the war with Camp Half-blood.

Reyna is often shown as an ideal Roman in the series, as opposed to the doubting Jason or the evil Octavian. Yet she sees that war and expansion as good, recruiting "friends" (read: sponsees not lovers) is part of that.

The praetorship will be yours for the taking. Together, you and I could expand the power of Rome. We could raise an army and find the Doors or Death, crush Gaia’s forces once and for all. You would find me a very helpful… friend.”

Obviously Reyna has a different target in mind than Octavian, but Octavian believed that Gaea was working with the Greeks, so ultimately - not that different. Octavian is ambitious, but that's not necessarily a flaw where he's from!

Firmitas "Tenacity"

One thing Octavian doesn't lack is tenacity. While Octavian doesn't have a lot of physical strength (at least, that's what Riordan intended though there's some evidence to the contrary) he does have strength of mind. Yeah, he has a lot of emotions and he was also certainly experiences psychosis at the end of BOO, however, he still manages to lead an army and eventually helps take down Gaea.

Octavian is determined. He sticks to his purpose. He can endure set back after set back without losing sight of his goals. Hell, he was covered in melting gold and still managed to keep going.

Honestas "Respectibility"

Definition: The image that one presents as a respectable member of society.

Okay, so this isn't something most modern folks necessarily see as a virtue. People don't walk around in suits anymore for example, but that doesn't mean Octavian wasn't raised with that expectation. Throughout the series we see Octavian wearing his toga or his armour even when others are not. His image as a proper Roman is just as important as his actions. This isn't necessarily something that Octavian likes doing, I think he prefers more casual clothing - as seen through his baggy shirts and pants. But he knows that isn't respectable.

Humanitas "Humanity"

Definition: refinement, civilization, learning, and being cultured

Octavian is knowledgeable about history, myths, and legends (as seen with his research on the Sibylline books). He's also a good orator, a good speaker.

Pietas

I would argue that his most tightly held virtue is his pietas. This Roman virtue has many levels and ways it can be expressed. It's deference to one's parents and ancestors. Which Octavian definitely had going on. It's also about fulfilling his duties to the gods and following their will in all aspects of life. Octavian acted with the guidance of the gods. We know that many of his gods were supportive of the war: Mars, Victoria, and Apollo to name a few. It's recognising your place in the community. As the augur, Octavian has set duties that I personally believe he was trying his best to fulfil. After all, the previous augur screwed up royally back in the 00s with Varus, so Octavian has that added pressure regarding his role.

Octavian smiled. “Already decided I’m your enemy? That’s a rash choice, Percy. I’m a loyal Roman.”

When Octavian says "I am a loyal Roman" I think this is what he's meaning. Technically pietas doesn't mean loyalty, but the way Octavian uses the word fits best. This virtue includes ideas like patriotism. I feel the concept of pietas fits better than the nationalism some have argued.

And this is something he values, outside of those who seek a second chance (and redemption) he's critical of all who lack pietas.

“Good!” Octavian yelled. “They’re traitors. All traitors!”

And I think Octavian's pietas is also one of the things that makes him seem so odd to the POV characters. It's not something they see as important, most don't really respect the gods at all (who are also their parents). So when Octavian talks about his loyalty to Rome, when he follows orders he doesn't like, or when he acts within the expectations of his rank - they see it as inherently wrong when Octavian would see it as honourable.

#octavian hoo #octavian pjo #octavian analysis #heroes of olympus #pjo hoo toa #new rome

[willsimpforanyone]

Hello! I would like to request a PJO headcanon of a Reyna x daughter of Apollo reader! Thanks!

thank you for your patience, i can absolutely do that!

-----------------------------

reyna is, first and foremost, a leader

she has a stern quality about her, as if she were carved from marble and brought to life

she's also gorgeous like the marble statues of ancient rome

the apollo lot definitely have a more relaxed attitude and when you first met her you didn't quite know what to do

the roman camp were more organised, highly regimented thanks to reyna's strict but fair exercises

she was also unsure of how to act around you, seeing as octavian was mostly her exposure to apollo

the pair of you got more used to each other as you rose in the ranks and she found herself going to you more and more for advice

she would lie awake wondering why on earth she felt the need to talk to you more than anyone else, why she wanted to be near you, why this seemingly ordinary daughter of apollo had captured her thoughts so completely

it was you who kicked her into realisation

it was a small thing

just a simple thing that happened every day

you saved her a seat and set an orange on her plate

it took her aback when she realised you did this everyday

she sometimes forgot to eat, too wrapped up in her duties but you always made sure she had at least something

she slid into the seat next to you and stared at the fruit on her plate

"you do this every day. you want to sit next to me, you care about me, why?"

you could only laugh lightly at her

"why? i want to sit next to you because i like you, i like being around you and i like making sure you're taking care of yourself even if i have to force it on you."

'twas the start of an adorably awkward (reyna) and incredibly sweet (you) relationship

she is still a professional so no pda is a big thing, especially when she's being commanding and in charge

she needs to focus

outside of those hours? she adores holding you

your forehead is her favourite place to kiss you

the first time you heard her giggle you swore you were in love with her, there was no other way that the room could suddenly seem so bright and full of colour

what had happened was your sudden rush of affection had quite literally brightened all the lights in the room

which was slightly embarrassing but reyna found it hilarious so it was worth i

-------------------------------

i hope you enjoyed, thank you for requesting!

#reyna ramirez avila arellano #reyna x reader #reyna imagine #reyna fluff #pjo

[takaraphoenix]

Alabaster Torrington for the character ask post?

MY BOY. Oooh, I've been having a severe case of Missing Alabaster Torrington for like the past two weeks, how did you mindread that?

Thanks for playing and asking about him!

Favorite romantic ship(s): PERCY!!!, Ethan, Nico, preferably I'll take them in an OT4 too :D

Favorite platonic dynamic(s): also Ethan, but I actually made up this whole alt-reality dynamic for him and Bianca, I love the idea of those two becoming really good friends, plus also the obvious of Lou Ellen because I love her and I have that brother-sister dynamic made up in my head too and it means A Lot to me

LGBT+ headcanon(s): gay, so gay, definitely 100% gay. I see him as the "I do not understand heterosexuals they bewilder me" kind of gay

Job headcanon (in an AU/or future): Mh. Trying to remember if I ever had him have a job in a mortal AU beyond a "necessary cast" (like a fire fighter AU where they're, duh, fire fighters, or a mob boss AU where he's, duh, a member of the di Angelo Family). Generally, I like to lean into his magic nature and I'd love to see him actually have like a... magic shop? Selling crystals and giving tarot card readings and such

Animal shifter headcanon: Long-haired, dark-brown haired cat, potentially a Norwegian because these are my favorite kitties

Favorite canon thing about them: ...that he lived? I'm sorry that sounds lame, but also Riordan Senior famously killed off literally every single "traitor" or "bad guy" demigod who was a named character with story - Luke, Ethan, Silena, Octavian (Chris lived but I'm not entirely counting him since he 1. deserted early, 2. spent like months severely mentally fucked up which felt like "penance" or "punishment" for his choices on a meta level, like, he avoided actual social or even juridical consequences because "hasn't he suffered enough?" coupled with "dating a main character from the good side" which is generally seen as a 'gets out of jail free' card) - to avoid having consequences happen, so I'm deeply in love with the fact that Alabaster was on the rebel side but lived and we got to see what the consequences for the demigods who chose to rebel actually are in the now-time. I love this story. I think Haley Riordan should actually write more about Alabaster, first and foremost, but also generally in the Riordanverse? Like, I would love him to write about the Titan War but from the rebel side, even if it's just one standalone book. I would devour that

Least favorite canon thing about them: That he hasn't returned to me yet ;-; I am REALLY hoping the PJO tv show will feature him, because... obviously wasn't he in the PJO book series since he was created after the fact and not by Riordan Senior, but since he exists now, and since Riordan is involved in the show, I really hope that Alabaster will be featured among the rebels in the tv show. Since they definitely will need more than three and a half rebels? Literally just for visual reasons and if you cast em, give em names (so I am generally hoping for the creation of more rebel demigods due to the tv show but it'd be a real missed opportunity to not feature Alabaster in it)

Character Ask Game

#Alabaster C. Torrington #Alabaster Torrington #PJOverse #Character Ask Game #send me asks

[seulgishaku]

Jason's first time flying was probably a disaster. Mostly because it definitely wasn't expected. Like how many children of Jupiter just waltzed into camp? And how many of them historically could fly? And how many of them were like, 10? The Centurions and Praetors were out of their element on this one.

I'd have to assume it happened sometime at least before the battle with Krios. The legion was already wary of him cause son of Jupiter, duh but also, he was literally a child. They couldn't afford to let him out of their sights cause one, they didn't know what he could do and two, he didn't know what he could do.

So I can just imagine one of the centurions being his designated babysitter, or even Octavian or someone else he was close to in the legion, turning their back for one second and they turn around again and...

They don't see him. They don't see him anywhere and they're like "how could he possibly have gotten away that fast? His legs are so short..", and then they look up and he's literally floating away. He's gotten so far up now that they can't pull him down and they just silently freak out for awhile like "This kid, this literal child is floating away and I can't reach him. If he runs out of energy and falls he's actually going to die." So they run as fast as they can to go get help.

And little Jason's just up in the sky giggling and laughing like a madman having the time of his life, probably wondering why everyone else doesn't try this, not even realizing he's got like ten people shuffling around under him waiting to catch him when he falls down.

#also i know Jason's powers #are more him controlling the winds #than actually flying #but its cute ill allow it #hoo #pjo #jason grace #roman prequel #percy jackson

[insecuregodcomplex]

tsats theories before i actually read it

this is solely for me to put all my thoughts in one place (kind of like a bingo board), feel free to interact with it though if you’d like

disclaimer: i've read the leaked preview and seen the video of rick showing the book off

i'm planning on:

trogs are definitely coming back, nico mentions their help because hades has forbidden him going to the voice in ToN and also there's this from the preview (x)

nico will at least have to acknowledge his solo tartarus trip which will make me yell and scream i hope he gets to share details of how fuckin horrible it was alone and without the mist ok (x)

general theories

maybe it's not Bob who wants out, maybe it's someone else (Michael Yew?) (x)

helm of darkness appearance (x)

parallels to HoH scene (i have read the first five so like i do know about the cupid reference but i also mean the other parts included in the reblog here x)

because we know we're getting information about will and nico getting together, could the marked flashback chapter(s?) have something to do with that?? (x)

Mark and that character they said deserved more attention (? I’m butchering the quote probably) — Michael Yew and Ethan Nakamura are my top candidates for that but much moreso expecting and hoping for Michael Yew

the idea of Nico telling the truth to will makes me excited and nervous…just had a thought about what if it’s like. the truth of how deep his self hatred goes/how scared he was/etc?? ouch (continuation of the HoH post)

so when I read the leaked preview I had this idea — Nico dreaming in shadows maybe is Styx, and then his mom would be his lifeline. Her calling to him would be her going to tell him to let go/move on/move forward and leave his past behind him...which would be something of equal/important value as Bob the Titan. Like Nico’s whole backstory/life/who he was. — and leaving Nico’s memories has definitely been tossed around at least, and I’d be curious if my first theory for this book was realized at all

i'm hoping for

acknowledgement of will losing siblings, other campers too but will siblings <3 Michael Yew love u (river acheron post)

Nico (and Will) and Small Bob (comic of this)

will not keeping his shit together (x)

partially prompted by Percy saying this in SOH I hope there’s a Melinoe feature especially to explore both Will and Nico’s ghosts

some sort of nod/s to will and Nico knowing of each other before they got together (like the Apollo cabin fighting with the Ares cabin in TLO, callbacks and their POVs on stuff like that)

Solangelo/Hades interaction (would also love any apollo feature and can't decide if TOA makes me think it's more or less likely to happen)

i'm excited by the idea of:

will getting injured and talking nico through how to save him (from this post)

similarly -- "character seeing their SO being fatally wounded and reacting" (see: "will's grip was very weak") (tagged this post as TSATS)

michael yew dream sequence!!!! (x) (as i tagged in that post...maybe what nico has to tell will the truth for?)

reverse octavian situation, where will says someone can't be saved type of thing (x)

learning more about will's tattoo and maybe the reason(s) for getting it (x)

"let me see Nico cross the border of life and death only to emerge then as the most stunning, gorgeous existence this universe has to offer...Or Will. The sun is a star anyway. I'm not picky about it." from this post

will being afraid of snakes (this post)

simply characters talking about being queer!!! would love piper to be in this <3

potentially bianca didn’t go for rebirth and was just hiding from Nico trying to bring her back (in TSON he says that’s what he was doing when he found Hazel)

i wonder if...

Rachel says the prophecy has repeated itself twelve times and how twelve is an important number for Olympus and the Doors of Death (mine)

georgina parentage confirmed at all? (x)

also seeing as we're going to learn about how they got together...if anyone wants to read either of my two fics about it lmk lol they’re on ao3

#tsats takes #tsats ideas #tsats potential spoilers #tsats spoilers #tsats #the sun and the star potential spoilers

[eldritch-hall-asylum]

If you ever do post that fantastical Windroe family AU, please make them vampires. I’ve been plagued with the thought of rebellious! vampire! Octavian ripping open a blood bag with him sharp teeth

(Nah, he'd drink it like a Capri sun)

See, here's the thing: the idea I have for the fantasy au is something that is so far removed from Creepypasta/Eldritch Hall that it could be its own original project.

I actually have plans for it to become something, if I can get the motivation to so so.

...anyway, the idea is basically that their family (more specifically, Elspeth's side) has a blood blessing/curse that gives everyone born into the family magical powers.

But, these powers come at a cost:

In every generation, at least one member of the family is assured to die incredibly young.

It is a sacrifice made unintentionally in order to keep the magic flowing.

And in how I have written the Windroe Family so far, you can definitely see how this comes into play.

Anyway, with how many in Elspeth's generation died, that definitely led to an increase in the powers of her children.

What are these powers? Well, starting from the youngest, I'll go back.

Starting with the babies ❤❤❤❤

Ollie: can talk to animals; can make plants grow.

Bentley: metaokinesis (control of metals).

Christopher (Kit): night vision; shadow manipulation.

Jack K, Jane: none. :(

Then, the Parental Gen 💙❤💛💚

Favio: Crystal manipulation; precious metal manipulation; shape-shifting.

Ciero: super speed; can increase frequency of molecules in other objects as well; increased flexibility.

Patrick: none. :(

Lydia: she never got to know.

Octavian: super strength; enhanced reflexes; super healing.

Jack G: none. :(

Jill: none. :(

Zephyr: telekinesis; telepathy; super agility.

Next, the elder gen! Elspeth and her brothers (and Frankie)! 🤍💜💖❤💙

Frankie: none. :(

Elliot: emotional detection (aura sensing); hypnotic singing voice.

Richard: none! >:)

Elspeth: hypnotic singing voice; telepathy.

Steven: increased strength.

Ezekiel: can make people believe his every word (charisma?)

And then, their parents (Hartwig, Linore) and Elspeth's aunt, Casseia. 🖤💖❤

Hartwig: none! >:)

Linore: hypnotic voice; shape-shifting.

Casseia: can talk to animals.

And the start of this family magic: Linore's parents.

Elderia: magic/witchcraft.

Damon: none. :(

...anyway, yeah. That's all I've got.

#un eldritch posts #non noodle related #mod speaks #work by mod #mod post

[rynnaaurelius]

I posted 2,612 times in 2022

That's 277 more posts than 2021!

57 posts created (2%)

2,555 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@phoenixyfriend

@zagreuses-toast

@darthlordcommie

@zoanzon

@vaspider

I tagged 2,609 of my posts in 2022

#pjo - 92 posts

#nature of the hellsite - 87 posts

#star wars - 71 posts

#art - 62 posts

#ofmd - 58 posts

#cats - 56 posts

#heroes of olympus - 55 posts

#gender things - 49 posts

#long post - 49 posts

#laugh rule - 47 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#just god. give me the unspoken pain. give me the mistrust of 'you lied to me for them' and 'i of course place my life in your hands' at onc

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Once again thinking about how Jason and Reyna are Obscenely Young to be praetors of an entire legion--Luke was nineteen and head counselor! Clarisse and Beckendorf and Silena were all at least a year older than Jason/Reyna when they were head counselors!--and yeah, there's a whole Child Soldier thing being done with New Rome right there, to combine with it.

But the more I think about it, the proximity to Othrys plus the fact that Luke definitely took one look at New Rome and Had Feelings about it, there's, uh, something to be said for theorizing that the only reason Jason and Reyna are praetors instead of over-achieving centurions is that literally everyone else who would be ahead of them is Fucking Dead (Or Octavian, depending on how you headcanon it)

132 notes - Posted April 13, 2022

#4

Anyway, as long as we're all here, my hottest take about Heroes of Olympus is that Luke's ghost should've been it.

And I don't even mean him him (Though, Gaea resurrecting those who died fighting for Kronos to fight in turn for her would be. . .ugh. Give it to me). Just. . .his legacy.

Percy struggling as he starts to come closer to the age that Luke was when he first decided to steal the Master Bolt and start the war all those years ago.

Annabeth trying to figure out how to come terms with her relationship with Luke, how he hurt her but did all this so that she could live to adulthood, how he let her take the sky but never stopped trying to save her life.

He should've been echoing throughout every book. Everyone from the Titan War, who died in it, should've haunted the narrative as the survivors struggle to define what it's like to live in the aftermath, especially with yet another apocalypse bearing down on them and they're manipulated by the gods.

389 notes - Posted March 1, 2022

#3

Every time I see a "Luke Castellan was a bad person" take cross my dash, I get closer to writing a five thousand word meta about how the entire point of The Last Olympian and, arguably, the entire original series, is that Luke Was Right, Actually, and that Percy should've been radicalized in Heroes of Olympus

967 notes - Posted February 28, 2022

#2

I normally keep the MCU off this blog for reasons of It Pisses Me Off, but MCU!Wanda Maximoff is once again doing the rounds, so I'm not-so-kindly reminding you all that turning the Jewish-Romani daughter of a Holocaust survivor, who is often horrifically villainized in the comics, into a Christian white woman who joins up with the superpowered neo-Nazis and becomes the Girlboss Joker For MCU Stans sucks shit and I'll thank you all to keep it off my dash

992 notes - Posted May 8, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Twitter has done exactly one thing right

1,059 notes - Posted September 8, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #warning to the wise do not do this on your phone #mine just about had a seizure before i switched to desktop #glad my number one post is taking the piss out of the queen

[ecoamerica]

Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc

The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!

#ACLA24 #ACLA24HighSchoolStudents #youtube #youtube video #climate leaders #climate solutions #climate action #climate and environment #climate #climate change #climate and health #climate blog #climate justice #climate news #weather and climate #environmental news #environment #environmental awareness #environment and health #environmental #environmental issues #environmental education #environmental justice #environmental protection #environmental health #high school students #high school #youth #youth of america #school

[brother-emperors]

Cool! Will you ever post them, I mean your Agrippa and Octavian drawings because I absolutely fell in love with the one where Octavian is ill! Anyways, I love how you write and I hope to see you post a fic about our imperial trio someday

I can definitely post some of them, for sure! here’s something from twitter since most of the other stuff with them [+maecenas] I have is mostly sketches

octavian: we’re trying to get along with antony, for now at least

agrippa: maybe YOU are

#its my carnival of nonsense so i can make the agrippa-antony antagonism as ridiculous as i want it to be #also thank you!!! 💞💓 maybe someday i'll wrangle all the scenes i have written for them into some sort of coherent fic #drawing tag #roman empire tag

[newromesweirdest]

Octavian the Augur.....or is he a haruspex?

TLDR: Octavian is both a haruspex and an augur (2 different ancient roman religious positions) but Rick’s writing was lazy and didn’t elaborate on his abilities and settled for the label of “augur” even though it isn’t accurate to what we see in the books.

(For those of you who don’t know, in Ancient Rome the Augur was an ancient Roman priest who studied omens and signs to determine if the gods were in favor of a motion or idea, and then he would relay these findings to the Senate. We see this a bit throughout the books. However, a haruspex was a person who was trained to read the entrails of sacrificed animals, especially the livers. Augurs and haruspex were not the same thing, and their duties were not usually performed by the same person historically).

Octavian is the ONLY haruspex we see in the series, so it’s safe to assume that within the confines of canon, Octavian is the sole haruspex. His role as haruspex is confirmed in canon through his sacrifice of stuffed animals and the signs he reads from their stuffing, and yet he is continuously referred to as an “augur.” If I remember correctly, Octavian even refers to the sacrificed “entrails” as “auspices,” which is incorrect. “Taking the auspices” is the name for the practice of studying birds and their omens, and not for the reading of the sacrificed “entrails.” Now, this is most likely just due to Rick’s writing style and the way he chose to develop New Rome and Octavian’s character. I think most of us can agree that Octavian is not the most well developed character, nor is his characterization entirely consistent or logical as the books progress. Unfortunately, a lot of it comes down to the fact that Rick rehashed and redesigning a large portion of Ancient Roman society and customs to fit within the confines of the story that he had already created. A lot of New Rome’s word building just....doesn’t make sense, and that also applies to how it functions in conjunction with the “real” world (the college, for example. How in the world would those degrees transfer in any logical way to mortal life, even with the assistance of the mist?). But, the part where New Rome falls flat the most is it’s “continuation” of Roman “tradition” (aka it’s lack thereof). 

However, I do understand why Rick wrote New Rome the way that he did. Most preteens and teens are not going to know the ins and outs of Ancient Roman religion, and most people wouldn’t exactly know how to pronounce the word “haruspex”, much less know the definition of it. 

Keeping this in mind, I believe that Octavian is intended to be both an Augur and a Haruspex. In my own world building and head canon, Augurs aren’t terribly common. I believe that this is somewhat hinted at in canon, but I don’t have my books here at the moment to reference. Octavian is a legacy of Apollo, and it’s implied that he has divination abilities because of it. Considering this, that means that the ability to become an augur or haruspex is essentially genetic (at least until the bloodline is so diluted that the legacy “blood” no longer has any affect over the mortal blood). Legacies don’t seem to be terribly common in canon, let alone legacies of Apollo. Furthermore, regular children of Apollo don’t ever seem to have this ability. Therefore, while the natural inclination is largely genetic, I believe that a legacy or child must also be specifically chosen or blessed by Apollo, similarly to how Rachel is chosen to become the Oracle for CHB. In terms of Roman augurs/haruspices, I would imagine that Apollo at one point or another chose one family line (at a time when he had more legacies and descendants than he does in modern times) and then “stuck” with that family line as his augurs and diviners. I head canon this because Ancient Rome itself was very focused on lineage and family bloodlines, and that seems to resonate with Octavian’s character. Octavian himself is largely a reference to Octavian Augustus, the first Emperor of Rome and the founder of one of Rome’s iconic dynasties/bloodlines. Family names and bloodlines are most likely just as important in New Roman politics as they were in Ancient Rome, but we don’t see it much in canon with the main focus being on the 7 and not on New Rome.

Because Apollo has most likely chosen Octavian’s family to represent his prophecies, one could assume that there are no other candidates for augur or haruspex. This could explain why Octavian has the position despite the fact that a good portion of the legion doesn’t particularly like him. In Ancient Rome, augurs were priests that were officially appointed as a sort of “head of the church.” If that was still the case in New Rome, then why doesn’t the legion just vote him out of office??

Because they can’t. Octavian’s family has essentially been divinely appointed, for better or for worse.

In summary, Octavian is both an augur and a haruspex due to lazy writing and the confines of canon, but I believe that there is much more beneath the surface regarding his powers, abilities, and family situation.

#octavian hoo #octavian pjo #new rome #camp jupiter #heroes of olympus #percy jackson #percy jackson and the olympians

[zazzander]

Octavian is Commander and a General.

For more about Octavian's character see this post.

A huge issue with how Octavian is written is "show" vs "tell". We are told Octavian is a talker, that he is a schemer, but the evidence in the text indicts he's more than that.

If we look pass the rumours, the slander, and recognise that many of the characters who talk about Octavian have a vested interest in shutting Octavian down - the picture is very different.

What We Are Told

“He won’t really get elected praetor, will he?” Percy asked.

“I wish I could be certain. Octavian has a lot of friends, most of them bought. The rest of the campers are afraid of him.” - Son of Neptune

See the Dining Room breakdown to why that’s not true

Octavian & the Senate

1st Senate Meeting

Reyna scowled. “I hate senate meetings. When Octavian gets talking…”

“You’re a warrior. Octavian is a talker. Put him in front of the senate and suddenly he becomes the powerful one.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You’re smarter than you look.”

“Gee, thanks. I hear Octavian might get elected praetor assuming the camp survives that long.” - Son of Neptune, page 179

Except, Octavian doesn’t really get what he wants. The quest is still on. Frank is still a centurion.

(Admittedly, we don’t know what Octavain wants in this scene. It is perhaps jealousy, since his own quest has been denied for months and it had the potential to be just as helpful).

2nd Senate Meeting

“The camp is safe,” Octavian continued. “I’ll be the first to congratulate our heroes for bringing back the legion’s eagle and so much Imperial gold! Truly we have been blessed with good fortune. But why do more? Why tempt fate?”

“I’m glad you asked.” Percy stood, taking the question as an opening.

Octavian stammered, “I wasn’t -

“- part of the quest,” Percy said. “Yes. I know. And you’re wise to let me explain, since I was.”

Some of the senators snickered. Octavian had no choice but to sit down and try not to look embarrassed. - Page 508, Son of Neptune

Here, once more Octavian fails to sway the senate. So two for two, Octavian isn’t actually that much of a talker nor does he have that much influence. Even in his domain, where he can command an audience. Where he can use his practices speeches.

Hints at Octavian's Military Capabilities

“Hazel tried to avoid eye contact, but she caught Octavian at the head of the First Cohort smirking at her, looking smug in his plumed centurion helmet with a dozen medals pinned to his chest.” - Son of Neptune, page 85

The medals, to me, are actual evidence that Octavian is more than just a “schemer” and a “talker”. Instead, I see Octavian is a commander. A general. And you don’t put your general on the front lines, especially if they are likely to faint from overexertion. But he’s always close enough to the battle to command, to lead, to react to changes and make decisions. That’s more than can be said for Reyna.

Of course, there’s his rank too. Octavian is the senior centurion of the skilled and prestigious Cohort. This is the cohort only the best get into - and they prove they are the best by dominating the wargames. And Camp Jupiter seems like a pretty ableist place all in all. Physical excellence is a requirement. Recall, a lot of demigods have superhuman strength, speed and reaction times. Octavian (arguably) has none of those things. Yet, he’s their commander.

The Battle at the End of Son of Neptune

At the base of the aqueduct, the First and Second Cohorts were trying to encircle Polybotes, but they were taking a pounding. The remaining Earthborn threw barrage after barrage of stone and mud. Karpoi grain spirits - those horrible little piranha Cupids - were rushing through the tall grass abducting campers at random, pulling them away from the line. The giant himself kept shaking basilisks out of his hair. Every time one landed, the Romans panicked and ran. Judging from their corroded shields and smoking plumes on their helmets, they’d already learned about the basilisks’ poison and fire.

Reyna soared above the giant, diving in with her javelin whenever he turned his attention to the ground troops.

So this is arguably really bad leadership on Reyna’s part. She’s their sole commander, yet she’s up in the air as a solo fighter. Meanwhile, her legion had been shattered. The Third, Fourth and Fifth Cohorts, prior to Percy’s return, had been surrounded and had no hope of rescue. That would have cost them a lot of lives.

When the lightning stopped, the First and Second Cohorts were facing one surprised-looking giant and several hundred smoking piles of ash. The enemy’s centre line had been charred to oblivion.

The look on Octavian’s face was priceless. The centurion stared at Percy with shock, then outrage. Then, when his own troops started to cheer, he had no choice except to join their shouting: “Rome! Rome!”

Okay, this moment. Octavian has been fighting against this army for hours despite his anaemia. (Plus the minimum of four days spent in prep). Octavian is the only on the ground commander, but only the First and Second actively chose to work with him and accept his commands. Because he isn’t the praetor. If he had been, Reyna would have been free to fight Polybotes in the air while Octavian continued the ground troops.

It’s reasonable to assume that Octavian has given up on the team coming back at this point as well. Even Hazel thinks they have arrived too late.

Octavian is shocked - probably to see them alive. Then angry. Still, he accepts the cheer. He accepts that with Percy’s arrival they could actually win the fight.

Octavian is actually one of the only named characters in the thick of the battle. Despite not being a warrior, as Reyna says, he’s there - commanding. He’s risking life and limb for his people.

And that's only from Son of Neptune.

#because Riordan actively mischaracterised Octavian #and Reyna is a fool to think Octavian isn't worth her time #and that they wouldn't save New Rome together #no #instead she trusts a traitor and a spy! #at least that's how Octavian definitely sees it #octavian #heroes of olympus #pjo hoo toa #octavian analysis #octavian hoo #octavian pjo #camp jupiter #reyna ramirez arellano

[deafeningwizardsquare]

An iconic duo sharing a moment while people IT'S TIME TO TALK ABOUT SEASON 3.

As many of you may assume, this is definitely a Quidditch stan account. I adore the storyline, the characters are liveable and funny, Orion & Murphy & Skye are the true definition of "iconic", the dialogues are catchy, definatly my gallery is going to kill me one of these days for that and even if it's not free from the infamous plot holes and (in)famous presence of questionable people inside I'm fine with the final product.

So fine that I decided to restart again just for the Quidditch.

Lies, I have four account. Felix won't kill me if I spend most of my time with the Slyterin route in a Quidditch camp instead of, you know, earning house points.

The first two seasons had their strong sides (such as the characters's structure, a genuine good plot and an impressive mature way to talk about really huge things) such as their weaks (Ethan Parkin, Ethan Parkin, Ethan Parkin, way too much drama, SKYE, Rath'a logic that sometimes went on a vacation on the Maldives, Murphy and the zoom, Orion and his murderous Orionism and of course Penny that is everywhere at anytime) but season 3 is a big interrogative.

Is it good or bad?

Well, let me tell you: well but not so well?

Starting from the fact that this was supposed to be the season in which it is essential to test yourself to achieve a purpose and how SKYE HAS STOPPED BEING THE MANIAC OF THE VILLAGE(SCREAM!)

There are some weird stuff (no sense could just be a good synonymous but it fits better "boring") and honestly they are making me turn up my nose.

A lot.

The premises were objectively excellent and I will tell you, although they recycled the mechanics of "atomic bombs did much less damage than Erika Rath's bludgers" it must be said that the plot pretext was used well (hitting the captain it surely is a best plot twist than Skye's rips, it gave me a better impact and surely is a practical way to showing at the player what you are going to focus this year) because when the poor Orion made a presumably fatal fall (but it's the magical world of Hogwarts Mystery so let's avoid serious considerations) we could see that yes, Skye's development was a little bit too fast (with that genre of father with a certain mentality clarly the matter deserved a more concrete action on the material level of events but Skye remains human and the way of managing all that emotional tangle that the dear daddy had kindly offered her is justifiable since the method with which things are lived changes from individual to individual. Whatsoever if we consider that a conversation like the same that MC had with both father in daughter it's the deus ex machina of the TLSQ, show must go on, staying another second hearing Skye's existentialism's crisis could have ruined the mental stability of the palyers and we needed to move on for delevelopments it's fine. Rushed but fine. For who is Skye it can work) but effective thus allowing a relaxation on his part both towards Erika (best girl since forever) and towards Orion (some of their interactions are pure GOLD, the scene of the infirmary is one of these).

Above all seeing the team falter was a touch of class.

Funny how for Orion's sake everyone was ready to murder someone from the Rath's team and dying for the motherland while when the same thing happened to Skye nobody cared.

AT LEAST WE KNOW WHO IS THE TEAM'S FAVOURITE.

Good also the disciplinary measure from Madame Hooch (GO AND DO THE RESPONSIBLE ADULT THAT IS MISSING IN THIS GAME YES), nice to see Erika and Skye in the Great Hall doing the chores for detention "cinderella's style", good the secret-not-secret (as everything in this game DUH) and good that MC has embarked in his journey to obtain the leadership with your favourite partner in crime.

They give me "Mark Antony & Octavian" vibes.

Speaking of Skye and MC and since only now Murphy is remembering having a spoken role, let's not forget the former absolute protagonist of the scenes!

ORION AMARI.

Although the season had started in tragedy Orion in the lower chapters was the same good looking guy with an Italian surname, the most piercing of eyes and an enigmatic aura.

But since "enigmatic" perfectly rhymes with "problematic" it's been 7/8 chapters yet he disappeared with his superpowers and comes back just for doing screen time and for the fandom with all of his mysteries.

What happened to him?

Now, THAT was sa good point to start. Because you know everything about Skye, Murphy isn't exactly a closed book and Erika speaks for herself, but Orion?

What we know about him expect the old "I'm parent free?".

The fact that he lost hus spark and that maybe this could be a new opportunity to discover something else it's intriguing. He was never an authoritarian leader BUT aware and responsible of his position. And this made him perfectly functional to his role. Because he was the original guide of a team that needed someone who would put some limit on Skye and managed well all the dynamics that have happened in the span of 2/3 years.

Guys, he faced Ethan Parkin (a little parenthesis but IS ALWAYS AT HOGWARTS? That is, sooner or later he will start to work or do they get stuck in the air and bludgers in the ribs?) he and Rath had had babysitting Skye for the whole second season while MC was there like "MIND MY OWN BUSINESS, MIND MY OWN BUSINESS, MIND MY OW- OH DAMMIT!" and now things are getting complicated because we don't have many chances to talk to him and his rather arcanic tone does not help to clarify.

How MC will arrive at the objective (presumably to be a captain) is important. It's personal grow and characters NEED this. But Orion too is growing in a completely new direction. Don't overshadow him for ANOTHER Skye' drama prototype please.

What happened to him is not up to us mortals but we can do some hypothesis.

Orion, dear, WHAT HAPPENED?

You have a crush for Skye and you're thinking to visit a doctor? Did Snape attacked you? Ethan Parkin is (sadly) real? They served you some pineapple pizza? Italy won the Euro 2020 but you cheered for England?

DID YOU NOT RECEIVE THE SALARY?

Hopefully the triology of "yeah let's make a deja-vu and let's show to the players that we remember the whole 'heart/mind' stuff and that we are COHERENT' will end soon and we'll move on. Again.

Sigh, for now they were two pretty boring chapters.

Or should I say, the training with Andre, MC under the guide of coach Erika that singed "I'L MAKE A MAN OUT OF YOUUU" between a near death from fatigue (as if we were in The Sims), Skye doing what Skye usually do so screaming at people for (YOU HEARD THIS SCOMING) reasons and MC trying the hero pose as he/she was in Miraculous Ladybug were nice sketches.

BUT.

IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ORION'S CENTRIC.

Give me a joy JC, and I'll may forgive you about all the messes that YOU crated in ALMOST four years.

:'l

#hogwarts mystery #andre egwu #erika rath #orion amari #skye parkin #murphy mcnully #hphm

[ecoamerica]

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