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Here's the first thing you need to know about being a child of Aphrodite : your mother is Aphrodite.
The one with the trail of lovers, the one who talks of love and lust like they're the same, the one with the world's prettiest face, or something like it.
Yeah, that Aphrodite. (...whoo..!)
Which means that you get to sit on the sidelines and look pretty, preferably lounging and gossiping under the sun.
It means you get to wield a curling iron like other campers wield swords and giggle about hot actors rather than concern yourself with silly little quests.
Don't get any ideas about quests by the way, none of ours ever get to go anyway; after all, you actually need to be strong, smart, or useful for those.
Aphrodite's girls are shallow, haven't you heard?
We have none of the character depth required for long-winded tragedies (Greek or otherwise) and are certainly not interesting enough to deserve glory.
Where was I again?
Oh, right, you get the illustrious privilege of learning the best makeup techniques and serving as the punchline to every joke and making other girls feel better about their own shortcomings.
(well at least I'm not as dumb as the Aphrodite girls-)
You get to be as big of a slut as you want to be because that's what is expected of you.
You're twelve?
Well, that's nice, so is Lacy.
(such a whore-)
Sweet, darling Lacy, who's waiting till marriage in the name of a God that's certainly not Greek.
Styx knows they treat those vows as suggestions more than anything else.
Their vows about not interacting with their progeny, however, they do take to heart. Cheers to that, I guess.
But shush, can't have heretic added to the list of insults thrown poor Lacy's way.
Don't think your age will protect you from the rumors, it won't. Nothing will, your fate was sealed the moment you were claimed.
You're not Silena after all, you're not Piper.
Right, you don't know about that. The first one is a hero (traitor), other campers will tell you Silena wasn't like us.
But well, since we're just between us girls, I'll tell you a secret.
Silena was and always will be as much of an Aphrodite girl as you and me, tragic death or not, twisted love story or not.
Dumb, gorgeous, and everything in between.
Maybe a bit kinder, a bit softer, but never actually different.
They certainly have made a martyr out of her now, but that's not the tune they sang while she was alive (vapid, silly, manipulative-)
Silena is your sister, even if you'll never meet her.
She was ours, not Charlie's, not Clarisse's, and certainly not that son of a bitch Luke's-
Ours.
Piper's a whole other can of worms; she's the only one who's actually kind of different - set apart from the lot.
(or so she and the whole fucking world claims)
With her charmspeak and her oh, Jason, and her soul-searching eyes. It's easy to call us jealous, conniving bitches, to say we hate the girl for nothing.
You see, the thing is that their nothing isn't the same as ours, darling.
Because when we were denied our right to personality and interests, Piper was different - she was better.
You're not, different that is.
Piper is a separate entity from us, Aphrodite girls. Never as vain or empty-headed or slutty or whatever it is they're calling us now.
Piper with her choppy hair and disgust for makeup which rude because my eyeliner application is a masterpiece okay -
Piper, who is so high above us that she cannot see us as anything more than the sparkly dirt beneath her feet. Piper is an Aphrodite (deep, deep down), but she sees us exactly how the rest of the world sees us.
Airheaded, dumb, pretty.
While she gets to be the hero, with her movie-star father and money and her natural beauty, as if we're all made of plastic, cold and unfeeling.
Maybe we are - cold and unfeeling that is, but if there's one thing that Aphrodite kids do get, it's beauty.
And there's nothing fake or plastic about it.
Even underneath layers of makeup and freshly curled hair, we're all still so beautiful.
Piper's still her own person even after being claimed.
(we're not)
Because yes, Aphrodite girls are pretty and vain and break up couples for fun. They're evil boyfriend-snatchers whose biggest problems are what dress they'll wear for the campfire tonight and which next victim they'll sleep with.
Aphrodite boys? What boys?
There's one boy born to Aphrodite for every four girls, beats me why. But the few boys we do have are...well.
If the girls are chalked down to real-life Barbies, the boys aren't even that.
"Vince was nice!"
Yes, Chrissy, Vince was very nice.
Before he ruined my favorite shirt when he slit his wrists open.
Your second official lesson as a daughter of Aphrodite is this : other campers don't care about your daddy/mommy issues; they have their own.
Your daddy dropped you off with a nanny before running away with another woman who's not as pretty as your mommy? That's nice.
Drew is not Drew's real name.
Vince knew how to apply foundation better than anyone here; he needed to hide the bruises after all.
Lacy's bullied, her stepmother hates her (oh, Cinderella, she makes it sound so fucking easy-)
Silena's dead.
Anything else other than dead? Of course, but who cares? She got to die a hero at least.
Valentina's a stripper when she's not at camp. Money is what runs the world, but don't tell the Gods that; their ego is so fragile.
The third thing is that your lips are to show off your lipstick, not talk.
Fourth is to embrace the fact that you may hate your sisters and your mother, but in the end, we're all you have.
Because girls aren't friends with Aphrodite girls and boys will never stay.
Oh, they like staying in your bed long enough, but you're an Aphrodite's. You're easy to leave for a girl with better morals, with an actual personality.
Basically, they leave you for the Pipers of this world, Pipers who have none of the actual Piper's beauty.
Some will give you the eyes, pretend that they feel bad, and that this hurts them.
It doesn't, don't fucking kid yourself.
Don't follow in the steps of some of your more gullible sisters and fall for the lies; when it ends, it ends.
Cut your losses quickly, get under someone to get over another if you have to.
You'll learn not to care at some point, like all Aphrodite girls; whether he was a hookup or the love of your life, it doesn't matter.
You are cold and unfeeling.
You do not feel pain; you do not have the right to be hurt.
(your heart is in pieces, you cried yourself to sleep - just make sure your mascara looks good)
Nobody can ever know except for your sisters and brothers. Don't worry, we'll help you choose what goes best with your hair that day and make sure he sees you flirting with that cute boy.
You're an Aphrodite's, you break hearts, not the other way around.
You're not supposed to have one of those anyway.
Fifth is that you are nothing if not beautiful. So make sure to keep those lashes curled and practice smiling in the mirror.
Sixth-
You don't want to hear more? That's fine, you'll learn on your own. Just like I did, like we all did.
At least let me tell you the last thing you need to know as an Aphrodite girl. Don't worry, this one's not too bad. The sooner you accept it, the better.
Here it is : children of Aphrodite just don't win.
(picture perfect Piper came close though, so there's that)
A sharp intake of breath is taken, the silence stretching for a few moments, "Oh well, I'll leave you to unpack your stuff, I have a hot date in a few!"