to: all, with apologies to nico di angelo

[areou]

( the message is deliberately written in ancient greek. for most summoned, the network will auto-translate, but she's hoping there might be others who recognize the original text. )

WILL SOLACE COME RETRIEVE YOUR EMOTIONAL SUPPORT GOTH I'M NOT HIS BABYSITTER

( helpfully, she adds an illustration that no one asked for: )



( then, because nico seriously needs more friends and it's her duty as former head counselor of the ares cabin to embarrass any and all younger campers: )

↖  BTW THIS IS NICO
HE LOVES LONG WALKS THROUGH THE UNDERWORLD AND BROODING IN GRAVEYARDS
HE'S SPOKEN FOR BUT I'M SURE HE'LL BE THE AFTERLIFE OF YOUR NEXT PARTY
CHALLENGE HIM TO A GAME OF MYTHOMAGIC TODAY!!!

ALSO IF ANYONE OUT THERE HAS SEEN THESE DEMIGODS CONTACT ME ASAP
LOOKS LIKE ZEUS IS SUPER FUCKING PISSED AGAIN AND WE NEED A GAMEPLAN

( more shitty doodles follow, this time vaguely resembling percy and annabeth, although this time she labels them: )



— CLARISSE LA RUE, DRAKON-SLAYER, DAUGHTER OF ARES

( she figures she may as well cover all her bases here since all of this feels like a ren faire on steroids anyway.

ooc | threadjacking is more than welcome and, frankly, encouraged. let's all go hog boar wild. 🫡 )

Comments

private forever

[divasmio]

[ Oh gods oh gods he's not cut out for this, is he? What the hell was he thinking trying to step up and be a parental figure Clarisse? How does he respond to the rage of an Ares daughter without sounding condescending?

Okay. Okay. Focus. What would Athena say?

What was that one thing she said to Ares? You don't have to attend every fight you're invited to?

Gods, she got that from a book, didn't she?

Besides, even if Clarisse doesn't have to attend this fight, it seems like she really wants to. He's got to approach this from a different angle. ]

I'm not going to pretend I'm not upset. I am. I'm upset and I'm worried.

[ Read: Terrified. ]

But we only have so much of ourselves that we can give. If Will's being threatened and the choice is between getting into a fight or staying by Will's side when he needs me, I think I can do more good by supporting him instead of tearing down someone else.

I think

[ There's a pause. What is he even saying? ]

I know lashing out full force is how you solve problems. That's how you slayed the Drakon at the Battle of Manhattan. Ares is the same way, especially when he's trying to protect people who can't protect themselves.

[ Bringing up her dad in this context is good, right? Comparing her to him positively? Apollo doesn't have a high opinion of Ares, but... maybe he should rethink that. After all, Clarisse is doing what her dad would do, and it's out of passion, not malice or stupidity.

Something to think about later. Right now, focus on Clarisse. ]

But he knows how to meter it out. He looks at the bigger situation and knows when to pull back.

[ does he, though? ]

He knows that he can't protect people if he uses up all this energy and resources getting into fights with everyone who has beef with him. If he accepted challenges from every asshole that called him out, he'd never get anything done. Even if they really deserve to get punched in the face.

private forever

[areou]

( apollo is nowhere near as bad as his other sons, she'll admit that much. but there's a resentment that rears its ugly head for a brief moment, her cheeks fuming with a decade of bullshit and disrespect she's had to endure from apollo's kids. it's a kneejerk reaction, she knows. michael never bothered to listen to her point of view, never even bothered to consider the chariot wasn't actually the point. but when she reaches for the trigger, she finds it isn't there, the rapidly burning fuse of her anger fizzling out seconds before the bomb in her chest explodes.

she has every reason to be furious, even apollo can see that, but for the first time in her whole life, she might actually agree with him. or, at least enough that she can set her jaw and refrain from tearing into him just for the sake of argument. she hadn't believed him when he said he wanted to try this whole responsible adult thing, but ... she's not so blind she can't see this is a fairly valiant first effort. even chiron hadn't been on her side when she'd needed it the most (no, it's always clarisse who's throwing a temper tantrum; it's always ares cabin's fault when fights break out, regardless of who fucking started it; it's always her job to calm down, to apologize, to rein herself in even when she's completely fucking justified). still, it's strange to feel validated like this by someone in a position of power. by a god, no less. what the hell is she supposed to say to all this crap? )

Would've been a lot faster to say "wrong fight, wrong time"

( she's being flippant but it's the only way she knows how to save face here. she's not equipped or prepared to discuss her dad right now. her relationship with ares is complicated and messy, but of course there's no way for apollo to know the full extent of just how messy it is. the gods are distant, that's a given. but it's different when you've spent your whole life trying to prove your existence wasn't a mistake, fighting an uphill battle against the idea that you'd be better off, more worthy if you were a boy.

she wants to shout why didn't he protect me, then? who was there to protect me from him? — but it feels like there's a giant fist squeezing her heart, like her head is full of bees.

no, she's a big girl now. there's no crying in baseball. get it the fuck together. )

Not gonna lie, I never thought I'd hear you say anything nice about Ares

[divasmio]

[ Though Apollo had been a little predisposed in the lead-up to the Battle of Manhattan, the animosity between the two cabins was well-established. Though he would be aghast to admit it now, at the time, Apollo would laugh and cheer his kids on as he watched them antagonize the Ares kids. Much like their father, they had a certain knack for dodging consequences in most situations.

Another thing to apologize for, when the time came for them to discuss it. ]

Alas, you're stuck with the God of Long Winded Speeches. I appreciate you trimming the fat from my essay.

[ He doesn't know he gritty details how Ares treated Clarisse. Perhaps he suspects — Apollo knows the Olympians are no strangers to abuse — But it's not something he's given much thought to. Even though he really should have. ]

You know, I didn't think I would, either. But watching you interact with the other demigods, especially now that we're stuck here together, is shining a new light on the traits he passes down to his kids.

[areou]

I guess it's not so bad as long as you don't try to turn any of this into a reenacted training video for parents with troubled teens

( she's heard the Stories about the camp half-blood orientation film. she prays she never has to actually watch it. )

"Shining a new light"? Really, Apollo 🙄

( it's easier to point that out than to acknowledge the rest of it. she's never been very good at accepting any kind of praise, despite how desperately she's sought after it her whole life. she might spontaneously combust if apollo actually says something nice about her. )

[divasmio]

Things once familiar
From a diff'rent perspective
Become something new

[areou]

( blocked. reported. banned. )

Never speak to me again