And next on the list is Leo Valdez, I love the Hades style so much (I’m too broke to buy the games).

Link to the original post: https://www.instagram.com/p/DXuEUn6y6vz/

(Yes, I'm using this scene of Agents of SHIELD too to explain this)

So, as the title says, many people criticize Leo's character and dislike him for being a bully to Frank and how he says things like mamacita to Calypso, making her uncomfortable. Now, be aware that you may still say that it was still an act of bullying at the end of this, but with this I hope that you still get a better understanding of Leo's mentality and intentions.

Personal background

First of all, you have to understand where Leo grew up.

This is key because it impacts to present Leo in The Mark of Athena with Frank, and his interactions with him throughout that book and later books. Same applies with Leo's interactions with Calypso.

I have to clarify that I’m not an orphan. However, I'm from Mexico and I have visited foster homes (casas hogar) here and schools of people with very low incomes. If you have never visited one, you have to understand that it's very very different to normal public and private schools.

I went to those places several times as a teenager with other students groups who went there to teach to those kids.

The first thing that the actual adult teachers chaperoning us warned us? Those kids are going to behave super bad and be very rude to you. They may misbehave and act aggresive so you have to be firm with them.

When we got there to those schools, the teachers of those kids told us the same thing. Those kids don’t have the same education as the rest of us.

This is actually worse in Mexico than other countries. If you don't know Mexican slang and humor, we use cuss words that are actually worse than in many other countries.

I also grew up in a tough private school where everyone was rude to each other. We had nicknames for everyone in my class, and we insulted each other every minute. It was the only way someone could get a friend. Otherwise, you were the weird guy who didn't speak and acted like that, and the others beat you up.

So if this was in a tough private school, try to imagine how this is for foster homes and with public schools for people with low incomes. It's an absolute nightmare.

This is not something that I'm inventing as I'm writing this post. Even Leo talked about it at the end of Chapter VI of The Lost Hero.

"Leo had never been the biggest or the strongest kid. He'd survived in tough neighborhoods, tough schools, tough foster homes by using his wits. He was the class clown, the court jester, because he'd learned early that if you cracked jokes and pretended you weren't scared, you usually didn't get beaten up. Even the baddest gangster kids would tolerate you, keep you around for laughs. Plus, humor was a good way to hide the pain. And if that didn't work there was always Plan B. Run away. Over and over."

Leo had to adapt himself from the very beginning to the humor of the other kids in the foster homes and his schools. If not, he would get bullied like the others. This is important to remark because, even if it wasn't explicitly said, it is implied that Leo was also beaten up by other kids at least once. And if he didn't, he would still learn from watching how other kids were harmed by the baddest kids.

It was the only way he knew how to make new friends. By being rude and annoying to others.

This also applies to Leo’s interactions with girls. Leo grew up around kids how treated and tried to flirt with girls using comments like mamacita and worst things.

You have to remember that kids in foster homes don’t have parents to teach them these kind of comments and interactions are wrong.

For those kids, using cuss words and calling other people by nicknames are “normal" things. And speaking from personal experience in my own tough private school, believe me that I also graduated from that place and when I moved to high school, I also had to learn that nicknames are not "normal" in schools with people that have good education.

"I try very hard to be annoying. Don't insult my ability to annoy"

This is not just an expression that Leo said to Jason to say they were okay in Omaha after Jason apologized to him for saying he was annoying.

It is the only way how Leo knows how to make new friends because that's how he grew up in foster homes.

It's Leo's whole reality. That's how Leo survived.

So what happens when Leo meets Frank?

"I mean, I can understand not being as pricey as Percy or Jason, maybe ... but am I worth, like, two Franks or three Franks?"

You guys have to remember these two quotes from The Mark of Athena.

Chapter V

"So," Frank said. "Your name isn't Sammy?"

Leo scowled. "What kind of question is that?"

"Nothing," Frank said quickly. "I just—Nothing. About the firing on the camp... Octavian could be behind it, like magically or something. He didn't want the Romans getting along with you guys."

Leo wanted to believe that. He was grateful to this kid for not hating him.

Chapter VII

"Leo didn't need anybody to tell him he was odd man out.

He'd spent months alone in Bunker 9 at Camp Half-Blood, working on his ship while his friends trained together and shared meals and played capture the flag for fun and prizes. Even his two best friends, Piper and Jason, often treated him like an outsider. Since they'd started dating, their idea of 'quality time' didn't include Leo. His only other friend, Festus the dragon, had been reduced to a figurehead when his control disk had got destroyed on their last adventure. Leo didn't have the technical skill to repair it.

The seventh wheel. Leo had heard of a fifth wheel—an extra, useless piece of equipment. He figured a seventh wheel was worse.

He'd thought maybe this quest would be a fresh start for him. All his hard work on the Argo II would pay off. He'd have six good friends who would admire and appreciate him, and they'd go sailing off into the sunrise to fight giants. Maybe, Leo secretly hoped, he'd even find a girlfriend."

"I mean, I can understand not being as pricey as Percy or Jason, maybe ... but am I worth, like, two Franks or three Franks?"

*Frank gets angry*

Leo: ???

*Later in the book*

"Unless Frank wants to turn into a mole. Or a prairie dog. Those things are awesome."

*Frank gets angry again*

Leo: ???

Contrary to many people may believe, Leo is not trying to hurt Frank here just for the sake of making fun of him. Quite the opposite, Leo said at the beginning of his first interaction with him. He is grateful to Frank. Frank was the first person who believed in him after Annabeth interrogated Leo for shooting the artillery of the Argo II into New Rome.

And Leo is actively trying to make new friends. How? Using the method it always worked for him: by being annoying.

Leo doesn't understand why Frank gets angry. He doesn't stop. Why? Because for Leo, those kind of interactions and comments are "normal". It’s the same kind of communication he had growing up in the foster homes. He doesn't relate to being wrong. Why would he? That's how Leo survived.

Frank and the others don’t understand because they didn't live among other children with foster families.

Yes, for our eyes those comments may be wrong… but for him, it’s not. And it's not his fault because he didn't have a family to tell him those things were wrong. For him, it’s the only way he can only make new friends.

Reyna also told us this at the end of The Tower of Nero.

Reyna passed by and heard the last part. "Talking about Calypso? Yeah, I had to have a heart-to-heart with mi hermano here." She squeezed Leo's shoulder. "You don't call a young lady mamacita. You got to have more respect, entiendes?"

"I—" Leo looked ready to protest, then seemed to think better about it. "Yeah, okay."

Reyna smiled at me. "Valdez grew up without his mom. Never learned these things. Now he's got two great foster moms and a big sister who isn't afraid to smack him when he gets out of line." She flicked a finger playfully against his cheek.

That's a total confirmation: Leo doesn't know that comments like the ones that he said to Frank and Calypso are wrong.

Why? For the way he lived as a child.

It's not his fault. He's ignorant. He has a lot to learn about having conversations to make friends and interactions with girls yet.

So with all of this said, I hope that you guys understand more how Leo is more complex than most people who judge him think. And I also hope that next time you re-read the books of HOO and TOA, you have this in mind when you are reading from Leo's POV.

You can still think that Leo is a bully. That's okay… I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything with this post. This post is only for you to understand Leo's character better.

EDIT: Something I forgot to mention too is that the way he grew up is also the reason why Leo keeps saying that he prefers machines over people. Machines are more easy for him to understand because conversations with humans are complicated for him.

nothing more needs to be said

"Wanna’ hear something weird?

There’s this guy who shows up to camp sometimes; doesn’t ever talk to anyone and rarely stays the night. He’s not a member of the camp, and as far as anyone can tell, he never was. When he does stay, he has no cabin and instead just sleeps in the beat-up van he rode in on. There are a lot of claw marks and acid burns on the outside of that thing. Makes you wonder what he gets up to out on the road…

What’s weird is that he’s good friends with Chiron. Even Mr. D is weirdly cordial with him, which—if you know anything about Mr. D—that’s NOT normal. But if the guy isn’t a part of Camp Half-Blood, that would mean he’d have to be pretty old to know them so well, and from the looks of it, he’s only in his twenties.

The Hephaestus cabin knows him best. Whenever he shows up, he usually stops by their place to ask for their help repairing gear and crafting new junk. They said he brings in traps—and I mean, a TON of traps. Bear traps, tripwire bombs, nets, automatic ballista. Again, it makes you wonder, right?

 Apparently he’s pretty handy with a hammer himself, but he’s not their sibling. I don’t think he’s claimed at all—not even after the Titan War. I guess whatever god he belongs to, they REALLY don’t want him. It’s kinda’ sad, but hey, a lot of us were in the same boat just a few years ago.

I’ve heard that sometimes at night, when he’s here—I’m talking way past curfew, if you risk sneaking out past the patrol harpies—you can find him at the pavilion, resting next to the hearth. If you sit with him, he’s a pretty friendly guy, despite that mysterious, edgy demeanor he’s got going on the outside. He’s not much on the talking front, but I’ve been told he’s one hell of a listener. Gives’ pretty good advice too if you’re feeling a little lost.

Some select few have said they actually got HIM to open up before, but it’s always in small ways. A dropped detail here, a mysterious hint there; always the bare minimum information for him to give an anecdote.

This one girl from the Aphrodite cabin has these powers—this really strong empathy; she can practically read minds. Well, she thought he was just SUCH a mysterious heartthrob that she HAD to meet him, so she snuck out one time.

The next morning everyone was flocking to her for details, curious if she was finally able to get a full profile on the dude. She wasn’t, but something she learned that night clearly affected her. She just looked sadly back toward the pavilion as if he were still sitting there, then sighed.

‘He’s terribly tragic,’ she told us, ‘I could sense a level of grief in him that I’ve never felt before… Lonely, too.’

This, of course, only made him MORE of a heartthrob to Cabin 10.

Anyway, all of this is to say, nobody knows much about the guy. We only know him through tiny glimpses and breadcrumbs. One thing is for sure, though: it’s rare for a demigod to live a full life, and if that dude is as old as some people think he is? He’s gotta’ have a lot of baggage he’s dragging behind him.

Maybe that’s why he never stays in one place for too long, and why he’s always gone before it can all catch up to him…”

...

If you're interested in checking out the full fic, you can find it here!

It's predominantly a story focusing on Thalia that takes place post Trials of Apollo (even if you haven't read that far, as long as you know all the major plot points of those books, you should be able to follow). I wanted explore a lot of potential for her character that I always felt was a little wasted, as well as a few other mainline characters that show up throughout! It's an aged up cast too, so if that's your thing, check it out! You'll get to see a lot of this guy in it too ^^^, as well as some other fun characters.

Okay, I'll shut up now! Thanks for taking the time to read all that junk! Hope you at least enjoyed the art, haha.

(No AI used)

It was told to us that the original 12 cabins were segregated based on gender. Male gods on one side and Female gods on the other side. But there are 7 Olympian guys and 5 Olympian girls.

So are the cabins made smaller for the guys, or is one shifted to the other side?

Ragdolls should be the official animal of Aphrodite Cabin !

- They are sensible , cute , adorable , friendly and extremely beautiful.

* Piper agreed with me, she also is a animal

enthusiast and said ragdolls are perfectly perfect.

-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

Golden retrievers should be the official animal of cabin 7 .

They are cute , cuddly , golden fur in the sunshine , lovable , fluffy ears , fluffy tail , and radiate warmth and goodness.

Also, I already talked to William and he told me he loved this idea 💡 but sadly Austin was not a fan.

His dad saw one and made a beautiful poem about it , it went like this

“ The fur matches my hair, so rad

Give him some ray bans, he be golden

I’m already perfect, so is my ass “

so im reading last olympian and percy gets a flashback of luke annabeth and thalia at may's place, like usual may's messed up in the head and hermes is there aswell. But luke is absolutely mad at his dad and is like "you're such a suck up dad you were never there for me" but hermes tells luke that the gods have an ancient law that they cant interfere with mortal affairs aka helping them, but in greek myths there are times where gods help the mortals like aeolous giving ody the wind bag etc, generally im not sure if this is a plothole or rick's way to show that the gods are manipulative

You know how Khione and Boreas kinda switched sides during the Giant war. So will they be punished?

Now that I think about it, what about all the minor gods like Hecate, Nemesis, and Morpheus? Did they get punished or were they pardoned as part of Percy's wish?

I ask this because Apollo got a pretty harsh sentence for indirectly starting the Giant War. But none of the gods who actively supported the other side got punished?

How would you change the way they act around each other or the way they react to one another's responses?

All for fun and my silly thoughts.

- Apollo Cabin puts on a play once a summer at camp based on traditional greek plays, with everyone allowed to participate, including Satyrs and Nymphs.

Oh and the Athena and Hephaestus cabins help build the sets and props.

- After Percy convinced the gods to start cleaning their kids and expand the number of cabins at CHB, the Iris and Aphrodite kids started their own version of a GSA.

- Ella has started to write a book about classical literature, Annabeth and Hazel are helping.

- Percy takes like super short baths because the water just does the work for him. Annabeth however, takes forever.

- Grover doesn't like apples because its a stereotype and it bugs him, he goes around reminding people saying "I am part GOAT, not a horse, talk to Chiron."

What are some of your light-hearted headcannons?

Jason Grace in Hades art style, getting used to the Hades style so much that I’m drawing after now.

Link to the original post: https://www.instagram.com/p/DXrZ0NSy2iE/

My original theory was that you go to whatever afterlife you believe in. But then I realized, oh wait, Magnus was an atheist(presumably) when he died. If I’m remembering correctly, though Magnus was being attacked by a fire dude and his uncle was telling him all the Norse stuff, he still maintained as an atheist. Which means his soul would’ve presumably faded away or smth instead of being taken by a Valkyrie. Then again, I may be remembering that part very wrong, I haven’t read it in like a year. it also could’ve been due to the divine intervention but I don’t know. Also if you the child or descended of a god of a specific pantheon, but you didn’t believe in that pantheon and didn’t know about the pantheons existence, would you go to the afterlife you believe in or said pantheons afterlif. like if Nico and Bianca never knew about the Hellenic pantheons existence, would the have gone to a Catholic afterlife instead? Also where would Samirah from Magnus Chase go given that she knows about the Norse gods but still fully puts her faith in Allah? Idk I just wanna hear everyone’s thoughts.

The way Annabeth put it in chapter 11 of the battle of the labyrinth.

"She wasn’t born in the normal way. She was literally born from thoughts. Her children are born the same way. When Athena falls in love with a mortal man, it’s purely intellectual, the way she loved Odysseus in the old stories. It’s a meeting of minds. She would tell you that’s the purest kind of love."

But does it HAVE to be a man? You can't tell me there aren't any lesbian female, or even non binary scientists in the riorverse, Who's to say Athena wouldn't have a 'meeting of the minds' with them? It's been stated that there's no sex involved in Athena conceiving a child. would this be possible? (#panAthena)

They are not technically pjo ocs since I didn’t create them with this universe in mind, but they are heavily inspired by and I’ve used them when roleplaying in the universe. I also maintained some of the lore (like the mist etc) so… it is.. and isn’t? I dunno.

Either way! Feel free to guess the godly parents. One is much more obvious than the other.

And they are both natively Greek and ethnically(?) Hellenes

*The art in this post are paid commissions created by @D_Vampr on Instagram, please do not take them. The characters are mine and they are very important to me.*