Greek Times for a Future Girl

Facts! (Not a Chapter)

This project has been around since I was in seventh grade, which has now been almost ten years now. It's been quite the crazy ride, and I'm happy to know that a lot of people really enjoy my story and writing style. But a great work of art isn't one without its origin. Much like the process of any Disney film, this story has faced several ideas that were scrapped or fixed up before it became finalized and perfected. And here's the information on the creation process:

Ariadne "Aria" Michelle Plousios: Much like any of my OCs and self-inserts, Aria went through a lot of development before becoming who she is today. Her Aria's names were originally going to be either Mona Flynn or Ashley Smith but when I settled on Aria/Ariadne, her original names were then given to Damien's girlfriend and side-chick. The reason why I settled on Aria/Ariadne was to not only make her feel like she really belongs in the Hercules world, being a direct reference to the Greek Mythology figure Ariadne, who was the one who helped Thessus out of the labyrinth and later married the god Dionysus, but it was also used to help shape her character.

"Mona Flynn" was the very first version of Aria. She had a whole confusing storyline of her receiving a magical medallion that gave her the ability to time travel to any time period, which is how she would've ended up in the Hercules world. Mona would've later gone on many adventures into many other worlds in Disney, but I felt that that would be too much for one character, so that idea and Mona were scrapped.

"Ashley Smith" was the second attempt at Aria's character. She would've been an orphan who got sucked into the Hercules world by accident, and her story would've been similar to what Aria's now is. But her story would've ended much quicker with her getting eventually adopted by Hades and would've been given powers and immortality from him. I scrapped that idea because it sounded too cheesy, even for a fanfiction idea.

Aria's nickname means "a noble and independent person" (or lioness in Greek or melody or air in Italian, depending on where you search). While Aria doesn't show her more noble side through this first part of her adventure, she is extremely independent. Coming up with plans and thinking ahead without the aid of others, and usually taking care of her own fights, as seen in Chapter 17 and Chapter 20 especially. Aria's a spitfire, and she doesn't let things hold her back.

However, despite her independence, she gets severe guilt and self-hate in some of the later chapters. More specifically after Hercules finds out about her deceit. Those mental problems of her adds into her character as well, showing that even these "strong independent female characters" can have these certain emotions, but much like Aria, they can get through these problems

Aria's character was also inspired by me, but instead of being an exact copy of me like most OCs or self-inserts tend to be, Aria's the me I wish I was: Bold, brave, cynical, clever, and willing to make friends with people she met. I am too shy and have too much social anxiety to do any of those things. Some things we have in common are our love of Greek Mythology and the movie Hercules (especially with the characters of Pain and Panic) and our hatred and fear of frogs and toads.

Aria's Family: Originally, both of Aria's parents would've died in a car crash during a thunderstorm. In addition to this, she would've been an orphan who got transported into the Hercules world by accident. No prophecy or visit from the Fates to transport her there. It then was changed to only her father disappearing while her mother raised her. It was changed to her receiving a prophecy from the Fates because I found the original idea too cliché and predictable.

With this, Aria's mother Sirena (which actually does mean siren in Greek), has some character changes as well. Her character was originally named Celeste, and she would've been the woman who ran the orphanage Aria was in. After Aria's backstory was changed, so was Sirena's character and her role in the story. Her original name was then somewhat reused as Aria's alter ego, Celestia, which is a reference to the My Little Pony character.

The married name Sirena uses instead of her maiden name, Plousios, is actually a reference to her lover and Aria's biological father. Only super hardcore Greek Mythology fans might figure out his identity, but to those who aren't as hardcore or don't really know much, you'll have to keep guessing until the big reveal in Part 2.

Aria and Sirena live in Salem, Oregon, and I had to do a lot of research on Oregon to try to get a decent portrayal of Aria's homestate when writing. I say this because I'm from Indiana and wanted to expand on my character being from another state instead of mine because I didn't want her to be an exact copy of me. If any of you readers are from Oregon, let me know in the comments on what I did right and wrong or how I could fix that up in Part 2.

The Prophecy: The prophecy was sort of a last minute addition to the story. I didn't want Aria to just randomly pop into the Hercules world, without reason, so I added her meeting the Fates in the basement of the museum where they were to give her the prophecy of her going into the Hercules world. Making it a little more believable than just her getting sent there. However, the prophecy is not quite what it appears to be, as seen in Chapter 29, and it's real motive will be revealed in Part 2.

References: The dragon Aria shapeshifted into in Chapter 18 is supposed to be a RainWing from the Wings of Fire franchise, and I did have to take some creative liberties when describing her size. In the Wings of Fire, a 5-year-old dragonet is described to be about the same size as a whale and about fifteen-years-old in human terms, since one main character of the Wings of Fire is a 5-year-old dragonet, this fits in well with Aria's dragon form.

Aria shouting "Hey, you guys" in Chapter 27 is a reference to an iconic line from The Goonies, a movie that was set in Aria's homestate, Oregon.

Love stories: Aria, though asexual, sometimes fantasizes about having a strong and healthy committed relationship with a man (she's not a lesbian, she's tested herself on that), but she's mortified about her man getting her pregnant and then leaving her to raise her baby by herself similar to what happened to her mother, which is why she's so hesitant to fall in love or doesn't like the type of guys who are known for getting girlfriends and then dumping them for prettier girls. This was referenced in various chapters, particularly in Chapter 22. However, she will eventually get a love interest in a later story. I'm not saying who, but I'm letting y'all try to theorize who it will be.

For Hades and Sirena's love story, they were originally never supposed to meet in the original draft, but when I realized that I needed to eventually have some sort of interaction with the two, I decided to include the fact that Sirena had sold her soul to Hades to save her father's life when she was 17-years-old, which then lead to a love story between the two. After Aria was born, Hades relieved Sirena of her servitude and sent her back to her world. Despite being worlds apart and haven't seen each other in 15 years, they still love each other. However, the truth that Hades and Sirena used to date was only partially true. The real truth of their past relationship will be revealed in Part 2.

Panic and Cassandra might become a couple in Part 2. I couldn't resist not making them a couple. It sounds a little weird, but with the right writing and knowing the characters' personalities, they could make a great couple.