What TOA taught me is that gods Do Not have red flags. Apollo could see a pretty dude doing homicide and think “Oh! What a fun little personality quirk” and twirl his hair and giggle. 

He himself commits homicide on the regular. 😓

See, usually I’d say that as a God, Apollo’s red flag dwarfs anyone else’s red flag. Like, you think you’re bad? Try having 4000 years of unresolved familial and romantic issues. But in the case of Commodus, he had the rare and extremely concerning character trait of being able to be the most toxic person in their relationship. Which. 

i feel like there’s so much going on here in this one moment before their final fight in the tyrants tomb. i think apollo choosing to focus on his hands can link back to how apollo used his own hands to kill commodus. i also think that to describe his hands as rough when, for the whole book he’s been described pampering himself, it creates a huge switch. in a way i want to say that commodus is representing like this switch from innocent youth to brutal elder. especially since his appearance is really targeted in the fight itself

and on top of that, i don’t think apollo was actually feeling that lack of love as he kept trying to tell the reader. why remind us he holds no feeling in the few moments before and during battle? it’s not necessary.

i think he’s trying to tell himself that he felt nothing, and that that roar of sound was heartbreak, not rage. not just heartbreak from commodus, but from jason and frank and everything else that happened across tbm and ttt.

and commodus, this last moment makes it so completely clear that his one goal was always to get revenge on apollo. he had no interest in the triumvirate. ‘his eyes glittered with hatred’ as he looked at apollo, right after he gave the signal to destroy new rome? it is all to taunt apollo. none of it was about their plans.

commodus is a character drive by anger and rage and bitterness and heartbreak of his own. i think for those thousands of years he was sitting with the idea that he must have lost apollo’s love along with his blessing. and if the force behind apollo’s shout was indeed heartbreak, which comes from love, you could say commodus literally crumbled underneath proof of apollo’s love. everything his existence hinged on would disappear within in an instant, making it easy for him, as a god, to disappear too.

the reason so many characters who "use humor to mask the pain" or "are assholes with hearts that care DEEP down" are mischaracterized in fan content is because fans would like to explore the more vulnerable side implied but not shown all the time in the source, but in doing so forget the outer layer the character actually acts like most of the time, which then echoes as fans begin to immerse themselves in fan content exclusively without going back to the source for a long time. that is to say that you cant separate the outside self a character presents to others from their inner self and insecurities they are and have inside - they may have issues, but theyre still funny and/or an asshole

I'm back and I bring you ✨️pain✨️

Based on this one scene from Encanto with Mirabel and Abuela

As promised: Leto, Zeus, and parenting

I'M SORRY i know i said i'd get around to this two weeks ago but life got crazy but anyways HERE WE GO

I'm not the first to say this: we know virtually nothing about Leto and her parenting style. She makes a total of one appearance, is mentioned a couple times (mostly in the context of re-explaining Python's relevancy), and is only mentioned by another character besides Apollo once in the entire Riordanverse. For being the mother of one of the main characters, she is frustratingly underutilized as a character.

Yippee.

But, of course, I am going to dredge up every single reference to her parenting and personality as possible and determine just what kind of person and parent she is. Because here's my theory:

Apollo, while he is under expectations to be more like either Zeus or the other gods in terms of his parenting, probably takes more after Leto. So I think that if we can parse out Leto's personality and combine it with what we know of how Apollo parents, it gives us a good clue as to how Apollo and Artemis were raised.

First things first. Leto. Here's a list of things we know about her (aside from what happens in the myths):

There's more to be said on the dichotomy between how Koios and Apollo perceive her, as well as Rick's nonexistent timeline skills, but that's pretty much all we know about her. That, and while she never had a traditional domain before the twins were born, she was later worshipped as a goddess of motherhood due to the large scope of influence her children had.

In summary, Leto:

We've never really met Leto, but based on this limited information, I think we can safely say that her personality probably includes traits such as gentleness, forgiveness, and responsiveness.

So, what does this tell us about how Apollo parents? Nothing, yet. So let's move on to Zeus.

NOBODY is surprised when I say this: Zeus sucks.

According to Apollo, Zeus very heavily utilizes what is called in psychology positive punishment, where a (typically unpleasant) stimulus is introduced in order to decrease a certain behavior that is seen by the punisher as undesirable. This is apparent every time Apollo talks about feeling the pain of Zeus' lightning bolts, or even when he compares Zeus to Nero and his Beast (the Beast being the stimulus that is introduced to keep Meg from rebelling).

Interestingly, the entirety of the ToA series and turning Apollo mortal could fall under the definition of negative punishment, where a stimulus (in this case, Apollo's godhood) is removed to decrease an undesirable behavior. However, turning Apollo mortal is still an introduction of a stimulus: pain.

See the similarities? Tangent aside, this is how Zeus parents. Restriction, then giving pain when the rules are broken, which then creates fear around those restrictions.

Let's give these firm definitions. Traditional psychology gives us four main parenting styles built around variances in how responsive and demanding a parent is. Take the image below:

Zeus is the easy one here: Authoritarian. I feel like we don't even need to discuss any further, he's quite literally a textbook definition. As king of the gods, he can't be responsive to everyone, but must demand much from his all-powerful subjects. The problem is that it bleeds into his parenting too much. He's ruling his children.

Leto is harder. Mostly because we just don't know enough about her, but I like to think she's got a higher level of responsiveness. Those types of parents are usually warmer, which goes along with Apollo's account of her and what we know from the myths about her gentle demeanor. So that narrows it down a bit, but her level of demandingness is harder to pin down. That's the issue when your children are immortal - you don't demand much from a child who is more powerful than you and matures fully within a week. I think Leto may lie somewhere in the middle of authoritative and permissive, but let's give her the benefit of the doubt. If she's the Titaness of motherhood, let's assume she's a great mom and say she's Authoritative.

Don't forget those, we'll come back to that.

The thing about parenting is that it's passed down from generations. We raise our children the way our parents raised us. That's why we call them "cycles" of abuse - because it keeps happening. That being said, I'm fairly confident that Apollo takes after Leto when it comes to parenting, because we see that he's already broken the cycle - even before we spent five books with Apollo, he's never outright harmed one of his own children the way we know Zeus did to him. So if he's not following Zeus' example, he's probably mimicking Leto's. Which then means he probably takes after her personality a bit, too, which was characterized by being gentle, forgiving, and responsive.

I don't know about you, but feels just like the Apollo we know.

Going back to the four parenting styles, you might be ready to call Apollo the Authoritative parent because it's the same as Leto's and call it a day. That's the point I was making, no? Wrong!

Yes, the ideal Apollo would be Authoritative. But, you know, we see him interact with his children, and he's just... not? What I think is that Apollo has gone through (or will go through) all four.

Authoritarian - This would be the first one he tries, because he might feel like he has to be like Zeus. There's one example of this with Koronis (yes, not really an example of parenting, but personality-wise, it's very Zeus-y), where he has Artemis kill her as a punishment for cheating. The story continues, blah blah blah, he fails to heal her but saves Asclepius by performing the first C-section. But I think that this is the moment where he choses to not be that kind of father. He gives Asclepius to Chiron as one of his first students, and from what we know of Apollo and Asclepius' relationship, it's good! Asclepius calls him "Dad" in BoO and wishes him the best - but it's still distant, in a sense. The apple fell pretty far from the tree, because acting like that, especially with the inner knowledge we have of Apollo from five books of content, never indicates Apollo being demanding and simultaneously lacking in any kind of responsiveness. So, in conclusion, Apollo has never consistently been Authoritarian, and being as such is in direct contradiction to his personality.

Uninvolved - This is what the gods (aside from Zeus, as king) are supposed to be, especially with their mortal children. If Apollo cannot be like his father, then he might as well try and be like all the other gods: being neither demanding nor responsive. We get hints of this with the Trophonius story - Trophonius' greed becomes his downfall, and Apollo does not intervene when called upon. Even without knowing what their relationship looked like before Agamethus died, it's pretty obvious that Apollo was absent on most accounts. We also see this example with other gods and their children - Poseidon and Percy, for one. Poseidon is never there, because this is what is expected and enforced by Zeus. Zeus, also, skews towards being Uninvolved with his mortal children - Jason met him once, people. But, again, this is pretty unlike Apollo to be able to maintain - he's simply too naturally responsive and empathetic to conform to this standard, and he confesses to the audience that he feels guilt around Trophonius' fate, indicating that being an Uninvolved parent was not something he found comfort and ease in.

Permissive - I believe that Apollo is most comfortable as a Permissive parent. But this goes along with something that I've always believed: Apollo doesn't necessarily parent his kids. I don't think many gods do (this goes along with another meta I want to do on godly maturity and how it relates to parenting, but I digress). Apollo is lacking in being demanding enough to properly parent his kids, but he makes up for it in overwhelming responsiveness. We know he's highly aware of other's needs, we see this a lot with his relationship with Meg, and this is something that he finds easy. He's sensitive and empathetic towards everyone, especially his own children, and (in the later books) has a great sense of what to say and when in order to get people to open up. But that lack of demanding is still there, and I think this is interesting for several reasons. It makes me wonder if Apollo does not demand from his children because he feels like he has not yet earned the right to. If it were me, and I had the face and body of a person the same age as my children, I would find it difficult to be the more mature person, too. But even at the end of the series, it doesn't look like he's making any moves towards being more demanding: when Rachel gives the prophecy to Will and Nico, he steps back into the Permissive parent role and indulges Will in what ends up being an incredibly dangerous quest to Tartarus (side note: this is one of the several reasons I found TSatS disappointing, because there are so many stones left unturned with how the premise could have allowed both Apollo and Will to realize that Apollo being a Permissive parent is not what Will needs). Yes, Permissive parents aren't bad parents, but especially with demigod kids who lack in proper parental figures that aren't Chiron, they might not necessarily be good parents either.

Authoritative - This is what Apollo has the potential to become, but it's going to take a huge wakeup call. The entirety of the ToA series is about Apollo learning that the way the gods have been doing things is not something he has to adhere to, and that he's allowed to utilize his natural instincts from Leto to be responsive. But being demanding is a whole new can of worms: Zeus is the only one who seems to be allowed to be demanding, but he does it without the responsiveness that makes it healthy. I think Apollo has yet to learn this - that you can demand from your kids and still be a good parent.

I wish there was more I could add. Artemis is a whole new rabbit hole that I'd love to go down, but alas, we know even less about her parenting styles because, well, she doesn't really have kids. Oops.

Alas, that's all I've got. The promised meta about Hermes and Apollo's relationship is coming soon!

Here's a masterlist of my other metas

Oh this is very very good and I completely agree with it... except for a small thing. If I may? I feel like what happened with Trophonius was actually Apollo’s attempt at being, per the above definition, authoritarian. It was a pretty weak attempt, for sure, but I think it’s notable that Apollo was not absent in the moment of Trophonius’ need. He was watching. He tells us himself. He saw the whole thing play out and then against his every instinct he *chose* to ignore his son’s plea. Because, in his own words, he felt that Trophonius “deserved to face the consequences of his actions”. He hated himself for it afterwards, and never tried to discipline his children in this manner again (I think we are on the same page re: Halcyon and how much it wasn’t a free choice on Apollo’s part), but there was a brief time when he... took into consideration the idea that authoritarianism was the way to go. Even if more theoretically than in practice. Re: Artemis, and this might be what you were hinting at, but I feel that we do get an indication of what kind of parent she would likely be, in the way she treats her Hunters, which I would say oscillates between authoritarian and authoritative. Of course this is complicated by the fact that the Hunters themselves are a cross between a family and an actual literal army at her command. But I think the very fact that she choose this weird hybrid rather than picking unequivocally one or the other... it says a lot, doesn’t it?

Oh hey! Fantastic analysis. I would like to add on a little bit- I think you are absolutely right with Permissive being Apollo’s parenting type, but I also think this is somewhat because there’s a degree of understanding in Apollo’s interactions with his kids that the power dynamics are completely skewed in his direction, always. As an Olympian god, Apollo has always had much more power then... any of his offspring, really. And in an effort to minimise this divide, Apollo overcompensates and leans away from other, higher demanding styles of parenting.

Even in ToA, when he is (as you said) a teenager with the same face and age as his kids, and the power balance and has flipped completely for the first time... ever, he still seems overtly aware that the simple fact that he is their father changes their behaviour in his favour. (“It’s okay, Apollo…Dad. We’ll help you.”) With the knowledge that comes from his experiences with the unevenness of his and Zeus’s own power dynamics, I can see Apollo being especially cautious in this area! Then your analysis, with him needing to become more demanding at the end of ToA, makes perfect sense- because it also ties into him realising he isn’t and has never been like Zeus at all, and therefore can, as you said, utilise his natural instincts from Leto and trust himself. 

No other god has taken as many Ls as the twins have in the entirety of the Riordanverse

8:52pm (Artemis)

Do you ever wonder about souls? Surely we too have them. How corrupt they must be, twisted and torn, riddled in pride and dishonesty. Unsent: We do have them. I feel mine, and how it’s twisted and bent into something unrecognizable

9:00pm (Apollo)

You think too much.

2:37 am (Artemis)

I passed someone today; his eyes looked like the moon in shades of blue. Unsent: It made me think of mistakes, and how mistakes become scars. I’d like one, maybe two cut, across my chest. It might help me separate what is real and what is not

2:43 am (Apollo)

I saw a girl who looked like Cassandra. I wished her dead and that she would remember me all in one breath.

2:45 am (Artemis)

I know. Me too.

4:05 am (Artemis)

Do you still fight the future?

2 seconds later (Apollo)

Every day. Every night. With every breath I have. Unsent: Because it terrifies me. The darkness. The death. We will be all that’s left, and we won’t be able to start over again.

4:06 am (Artemis)

I fight the past. Every expectation I failed to meet. Every decision I ever made in vain. All the vows I gave too easily. Youth. Youth makes gods foolish.

4:07 am (Apollo)

Unsent: I’m sorry. I’m sorry for the part I played

10:59 pm (Artemis)

I wished it would end. I wanted the world to burn and to watch it out of spite. Unsent: Then I wanted to save it, quench the fire with the ocean. I wanted to prove I still could.

11:00 pm (Apollo)

I saw it.

11:01 pm (Apollo)

I had a vision today of a world that didn’t burn in fire. I had a vision of a world where we were happy.

5 seconds later (Artemis)

Do we even deserve it?

2 seconds after that (Apollo)

No. But it was nice. It was nice to have hope.

Excerpt from In the Light of the Stars - L.H.Z

Apollo/Hector VS Apollo/Naomi Solace

Propaganda

Apollo/Hector - A man tortured and loved by the God Apollo, patron of his people. A doomed war and a God of Prophecy that fights regardless. The tender protection of the body after death by an immortal who has never known it’s touch. Respect and duty entwined. The city of Troy may have fallen, but the god of poetry and song made sure it’s legacy lived on. - <3 The relationship between Hector and Apollo in the Illiad is basically the only human/god relationship we see that shows a kind of mutal respect between them, despite the very obvious power gap. Hector is a good man, he loves his family and his people. Apollo, fighting against most his family, is envious in a way gods and their supposed perfection aren’t suppose to be. They love each other. They hate each other (for the war and what they both represent.) Troy is doomed and they both know it but they still fight on, living breaths in dead lungs.

Apollo/Naomi Solace - I know we don't know much about them, but what we do know is JUST GOLD! The fact that Lester blushed just from thinking about their relationship. The fact that Naomi has written a song about him. They were definitely head over heels for each other <3 - “To my teenage self, our romance felt like something that I'd watched in a movie a long time ago—a movie my parents wouldn't have allowed me to see.”  Iconic. - Cannon at one point at least. Apollo says Will inherited his good qualities from his mom so there’s def still some love on his part 

More Naomi Propaganda to redeem myself after Hector's prose:

The beauty of a soft romance, one that you know isn’t going to last, one that is characterised by his soft hand on yours and the loud music of bar, neon lights haloing your head. It’s fun, it’s light, it’s freeing in a way that thinking of the past and the history that haunts you never will be. For this one moment, (even if it’s only this one moment) you’re able to be exactly what you need from each other. And it doesn’t need to be anything more than that.

Apollo throughout the ages! Or at least from birth to Rome. I'm going to go ham on explaining the timeline under the cut, but I hope you guys like the designs I made for the different periods of his life!

Anyways EXTREME TIMELINE RAMBLING TIME

Wow. Sometimes fandom amazes me with the love its displays for these characters. This is one of those times. Bravo!

stop discussing how could percy have been born in august if poseidon and sally met in the summer. isn’t it obvious. it happened in the southern hemisphere

continuity problem? nah. rather a subtle nod from ol richardson that latino percy truthers have always been right

Australian Percy. 

I feel like the very confused mortal pizza man that somehow found camp half-blood during the titan war was just a god in disguise who wanted to play a prank on their kids to make them laugh. I’m betting on Apollo, Hermes, or maybe a minor god

There’s actually canon evidence it was Apollo! Hold on let me track down my screenshots. 

From The Hidden Oracle! Although unfortunately he wasn’t in disguise...though that begs the question why Apollo thought ordering pizza for his kids was the best thing to do at the time.

OUR TIME HAS COME. 

WE HAVE BEEN WAITING IN THE SHADOWS FOR TO LONG

A Percy Jackson show. At last, the gods have heard our call and answered

I’ve seen a lot of posts on my dash tonight about users who are threatening suicide, with other Tumblr members posting in effort to try to get ahold of them. I think you all should see this:

IF THERE IS EVER A TUMBLR USER WHO HAS POSTED A GOOD-BYE MESSAGE, SUICIDE NOTE, VIDEO, OR ANYTHING OF THE SORT, PLEASE FOLLOW THIS POST.

1. Scroll to the top of your dashboard.

2. See the circular question mark icon at the top? It’s the third one over from your home symbol. Click on that, and a screen similar to the one in the picture will come up.

3. Where you can type in questions, the box with the magnifying glass at the top, type in the word “suicide.”

4. Click on the first link that shows up. It should say, “Pass the URL of the blog on to us.”

5. Type in the user’s URL and tell Tumblr admin that the user is contemplating suicide and has posted a message indicating that they are going through with it or will be attempting. Hit send! Tumblr administration will perform a number of actions to contact the user and take the necessary steps to prevent the suicide.

TUMBLR: THIS COULD SAVE A USER’S LIFE. PLEASE DO NOT IGNORE SUICIDE THREATS.

Reblog this to keep other users aware. Suicide isn’t a joke, and neither is someone’s life. If you didn’t know this, someone else may not, either. Pass it on.

why on earth doesn’t this have more notes

I actually had to do this once. She lived.

if you scroll past this on your dash you are absolutely heartless.

Reblog this!! This can save somebody’s life!

reblog.

help.

do not scroll down.

I SWEAR TO GOD IF ANYONE SCROLLS PAST THIS WITHOUT REBLOGGING I WILL LITTERALLY FIND THEM AND GIVE THEM A LECTURE

may I just update this?

see the little thing that says help?

Don’t ever scroll past this post. FUCKING NEVER SCROLL PAST!!!

Save a life

Don’t scroll by this! Reblog!!! Save a life!

Reblog please!

You should know how to do this, just in case. 

-FemaleWarrior

reblog for the modern-tumblr update info!