You know, there is a line between optimism and delusion…
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There is with that attitude 
Once we have the Essence, we can make everyone sue for peace and live quietly, yes? 
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Well we first have to make it there. And I think here lies somwhat the problem considering how many things want to kill the MC.
Realistically, even with the appearance upgrade we’d never be able to beat Aeson, that boy is so cute and adorable he brings his own sparkling glitters.
At best we’d draw with Adonis for second place by my reckoning.
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…accidents can happen. He could mistake his shower gel with poison ivy essence.
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Not necessarily. When you have the Essence, you could potentially up your pheromones to the point where you become incredibly attractive to most everyone. Add some aesthetic upgrades (if you deem your cheekbones not sharp enough) and voila. Most beautiful being in the Universe.
And if that doesn’t work, you,could just make everyone else ugly. But that seems like more of a trump card than anything else.
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This being the operative part, we have barely any access to or control over the essence until that damned 18th birthday.
We only have access to a tiny sliver of the essence thus far and we can barely do anything with it, at least consciously.
The smart, mage player character can use it as a rather weak shield or to blow open a lock thus far, if we try to use to try to deliberately enhance our appearance at this time I expect a spectacular backfire due to the mc’s chronic lack of training or experimentation when it comes to harnessing the essence.
I’m pretty sure setting Aeson’s hair on fire won’t take that much training 
Eh, less than a year of ugliness compared to an eternity of incomprehensible beauty? Sounds like a fair trade-off.
We can’t use it now, of course; but the Bearer has had lots of time to get used to how they look currently. Even if it’s the first thing they’re planning to do with eternal power, you pretty much just accept the way you look when you hit 18, barring outside circumstances.
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Except that after our 18th birthday nothing we do will matter in slightest anymore, that’s why absolute power is frigging boring.
True, but well my mc’s main issues with his new appearance, which would otherwise be a nice upgrade from what it was previously mind you, is that it’s inextricably linked to “daddy” Hades and that it’s still not as good as Aeson’s.
Even when doling out looks to his “sons” it’s rather obvious the mc came second to “daddy”.
Again when we hit 18 it all won’t matter anymore.
True, however in Aphrodite’s trial I assume that would be a disqualifying offense, not to mention that at the moment Aeson is far stronger than we are and could do much worse to us in return.
In the wise words of Jamie Foxx:
Blame it on the vodka
Blame it on the Henny
Blame it on the blue top
Gotcha feeling dizzy
We can also burn all the other participants’ hair besides our own. Then it would look hella rigged if we still don’t win.
And even then, at least we’re taking everyone down.
(Sorry, I’m in a very Cersei mood right now 
)
…so we also take out his hands?
I do hope Aphrodite’s trial isn’t a simple Allure check though…
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Well. We’ve heard from Dr. Fun.
Then change it again. Switch it up so you look incredible without a resemblance to daddy dearest. And again, just up the pheromones a bit and you’re the model of Olympus rather than Aeson.
And in regards to the power, my MC is probably going to lock away some of her power so that she’s extremely powerful, but only by human standards so it’s still interesting. Spend her days like Captain America rather than Doctor Manhattan.
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You know, I went back to see the conversation when The Bearer learns who their father is and reread some Zeus’ lines in particular, seeing as some kinda see him as not the best father.
Zeus tells the Bearer verbally that he expects ‘everything and more’ from them, despite them just learning that they’re his child. Yet, Zeus’ follow up reaction and words to a Bearer who tells him that they want to try and give him a chance to be their father, makes it seem like he honestly wasn’t really expecting too much to begin with. I think, like Poseidon, he felt that he really had no right to ask that much of the Bearer, but probably wasn’t willing to show any sense of weakness in front of his own kid (or have the other Gods catch wind of such a vulnerable moment from the King of the Gods). In a sense, he may have been displaying a bravado out of a need to keep appearance up as a neutral King of the Gods. Kinda links a bit with the fact that only a Bearer with high Allure will get him as a father (a stat which lets a Bearer appear confident in their actions/words, even when it’s not always the case). 
Now I get the feeling that his care for the Bearer is actually not that different from Poseidon and Hades. Not as knowing as Hades’ bond or as honest as Poseidon’s, but there really is a good chance he cares for his Bearer child as much as the other two. He’s a lot more aloof about it, but I can actually now see him possibly caring for the Bearer as much as he did for their mother Priscilla.
Oh, believe my mc would want to, but I don’t think the powers he’s got now are up to the task without making him horribly deformed in the process.
Basically I think there’s no way that will succeed with the sliver of the essence we’ve got access to now and can barely control.
I have the sneaking suspicion that will be one of the very few things we cannot do. The only obstacle to our effectiveness and power after our 18th birthday I can see is that our mc’s have barely any inkling of how to begin to even harness the essence.
No it probably wouldn’t, but I’m suggesting waiting for the 18th birthday when you could easily do all of this with brilliant efficiency. And in regards to this…
I’m almost entirely sure we will be trained as best we can in how to harness and utilise the Essence; the alternative is likely the destruction of the Universe through misuse of it, and I’m pretty sure the Gods wouldn’t want that to go down. Even if we’re only able to be taught to harness the bare minimum we can control, that will be enough for intuition to take over alongside extensive training. I get the image of the Bearer retreating to an indeterminable location for years on end so that they can control it and aren’t a danger to everyone.
Yes, but by then looks won’t really matter much anymore, I mean we could make ourselves look like mr. Poo (a talking turd in essence) from South Park and still have everyone believe we’re the best smelling and most gorgeous creature in existence.
None of this will help us any though if Aphrodite’s trial is really some kind of beauty contest as all the trials are before that birthday.
Ugh, I guess my mc will have to settle for looking far too much like the “dad” he hates and punching the mirror a couple of times, for the time being at least.
I agree, provided we win those trials first of course.
I fail to see how just because you could circumvent it that way, it’s suddenly pointless. My MC would probably do it mainly for her own peace of mind and self esteem rather than a compulsion for everyone to see her as beautiful, assuming she even does it at all. She’s nowhere near that shallow. It makes me uncomfortable to even think of her as ultimately shallow and superficial.
With the Essence, you don’t ever need to settle. Even if you don’t want to look like dad, that’s a viable enough reason to do it if you want. The pheromones are optional, you know; if it’s just to distance yourself from daddy dearest, you could do that on its own.
And in terms of Aphrodites trial provided she actually has one…Aeson isn’t competing. The MC’s competing for the both of them. In the inexplicable situation that Aeson’s looks would actually count, since you’re a team that can probably do nothing but help you.
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Again true, though it would depress my mc a bit in that case, still it’s better that than losing the trials I suppose, to which. Realistically I think that if Aeson doesn’t count and one of the trials is a beauty contest, Adonis would win it, if only because my mc isn’t comfortable enough with his “new” body to confidently compete in something like that as it would require flaunting a body my mc feels lukewarm about at best.
I don’t think Aphrodite would have a beauty contest as her trial; given that Adonis is competing, I can’t think of many things that would scream ‘unfair bias’ more than a beauty contest on her part. It’s likely to do with Aphrodite’s command over such things, but I doubt it’s something as blatant as a beauty contest.
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well there’s a thought: why not give up the Essence once you get it? break the cycle? I’m sure there’s a way how…
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