#and yes athena is safe and sound

[thisisdes]

*after Odysseus and Athena are reunited*

Athena: oh, one last thing. I promised Ares that you will kill every visitor in your castle

Odysseus: oook? Why though?

Athena: they punched your son and called your wife a tramp while trying to marry her

Odysseus:

Athena:

Odysseus: *deep voice* bring it

[qwordavoider]

I’m bored at work so you get my take on a potential helipad at sunset reunion. This quickly devolved into much more than I anticipated, but who’s surprised.

Buck could feel his heart racing all the way in his throat. He had heard the all clear call through the radio, but wouldn’t believe it until he could see for himself. He was the reason Tommy was wrapped up in this mess in the first place. Buck felt guilty that it had escalated far more than he had anticipated. Especially since they hadn’t talked about their relationship, instead focusing on what they had to do to keep everyone safe.

Athena was standing next to him along with about 20 other assorted government officials and cops. Buck could see her turn to him out of the corner of his eye, but in that moment they heard the sound of the helicopter approaching.

Buck’s entire being narrowed in on that sound. He forced himself to stay where he was, despite every muscle in his body wanting to run out on to the helipad. So he watched the descent, as the sun began to dip below the horizon, staying out of the landing zone.

But then the cockpit door was opening and out came Tommy in his blue flight suit that Buck couldn’t fully appreciate in this moment. Instead he took off toward the pilot, ignoring the shouts from Athena and some of the FBI agents. He didn’t care if there was a chance that Tommy could be contagious, he just needed to feel for himself that Tommy was alive.

Buck’s halfway to him when Tommy realizes he’s approaching. Buck hates that there is surprise in his expression. Once Tommy gets checked out and cleared to go home, Buck promises to make sure that Tommy is never surprised by Buck showing up for him ever again.

“Evan, I’m-”

Buck doesn’t let him finish that sentence before he throws his body into Tommy and pulls him into a bruising kiss. He knows he should keep it professional with everyone watching, but if he hadn’t put his arms around Tommy’s neck he probably would’ve collapsed in relief at seeing the pilot was okay.

He pulls back to take a breath, but doesn’t let Tommy pull away from him. He needs to feel Tommy’s heart beating against his chest to remind Buck that he made it.

Buck watched as Tommy opened his mouth to speak, but he needed to say something first, “I’ve been baking.”

He doesn’t know why that’s the first thing to leave his mouth, and Tommy seems equally confused by the admission.

Buck just goes with it and explains, “After you broke up with me, I wanted to call you every day. But I was convinced that since you broke up with me, you wouldn’t want me to reach out. So I baked and I may have caused a minor flour shortage at my grocery store in the process.”

Tommy is watching him with awe and Buck takes advantage of the silence to explain everything he needs to get out.

“What I said the other morning, about not having feelings for the people I sleep with, it wasn’t about you, Tommy. What I failed spectacularly at explaining was that I know my feelings. I know when it’s just attraction or if it’s a brotherly love, like what I have with Eddie. I can separate those feelings out. So believe me when I say that I love you, Tommy Kinard.”

Buck watches as much as he hears Tommy suck in a breath. So he reiterates his point to make sure Tommy gets it.

“I love you, not Eddie, not some fictional person who you think is going to inevitably steal my heart and I just needed you to know that. I can’t promise that we’re going to make it, we both know that’s not how the world works. Just look at how today went,” he gestures to the helipad and the several agents surrounding them.

“But I promise you, that I will not stop trying to make this work and will not stop loving you… as long as you’ll have me.”

Buck inhales shakily as he waits for Tommy to respond. The pilot’s eyes are glassy and he’s hoping that’s a good sign.

“You love me?” Tommy asks disbelievingly.

“Yes, and I thought I was being obvious about it, but clearly our communication needs work.”

Buck smiles as that pulls a chuckle out of Tommy. But the moment is interrupted by federal agents and medical personnel in hazmat suits swarming them.

“Sir please step away from the pilot, he could be contagious,” one of the women in a hazmat suit says.

Buck steps back to let them work, even though he kissed Tommy. If he is contagious, Buck has already been exposed. Maybe he can use that to his advantage.

They pull Tommy away and strip him down in a makeshift tent with a shower, so he comes out wet wearing papery scrubs. He looks at Buck with a small smile and Buck decides right there that he can’t let him walk away without knowing if Tommy loves him back.

They’re about take Tommy to the ground to load him into an outfitted ambulance when Buck gets an idea.

He goes right up to the hazmat woman and says, “I kissed him so I should probably be checked out too.”

He can’t really see the woman’s face, but based on her body language and the sigh she lets out, he figures she’s probably annoyed. But she directs him over to the decontamination tent to strip and scrub him too. It was a terrible experience and now he’s cold, but can’t complain because he’s in the back of the ambulance with Tommy instead of watching him leave. Again.

They both get hooked up for their vitals to be monitored from the front so as not to expose anyone else. And for a while, that steady beeping is the only sound. Buck is about to break it when Tommy beats him to it.

“You should know I didn’t think that you were in love with Eddie the whole time. I’ve never had someone that close to me, that I wasn’t in love with. So after that night and in the following months when you didn’t reach out, I thought maybe you had figured out that you were in love with him.”

Buck is relieved to hear that he hadn’t been thinking that way for their entire relationship. He had spiraled a bit when Tommy had first accused him of having feelings for Eddie, not wanting to believe there had been something so huge haunting their relationship from the start.

“I did feel a little like I was competing with him for your time while we were together, but the rest of it came from my own insecurities. So I’m sorry,” Tommy finished.

“Thank you. And like you said, Eddie’s clearly not going to monopolize my time, seeing as he lives in another state now,” Buck aims for joking, but it still hurts to think about Eddie not being around anymore.

Tommy sees right through it because he asks, “How are you doing with Eddie being gone?”

And Buck lets out a strangled laugh as he makes eye contact with Tommy, “You know you’re the first person to ask me that?”

He can see the shock in Tommy’s eyes as the admission settles between them. He continues before Tommy can ask him about it.

“I’m doing okay. I mean it sucks, but I know it’s what he and Chris need. Chris will always come first for him, as he should. I just miss him,” Buck sighs, “We FaceTime, but it’s not the same.”

Buck can tell that Tommy is using that question as a deflection to avoid what Buck really wants to know. But Tommy’s studying him for too long and Buck can’t take it anymore, so he blurts, “Do you love me?”

Bucks suddenly glad they’re doing this in the back of an ambulance because he can see the slight fear in Tommy’s eyes. Like he wants to bolt. But then something shifts. Almost like Tommy is talking himself down, because Buck can see the moment he decides to respond.

“Yes. And that terrifies me so much I don’t know what to do with myself,” Tommy breathes.

Buck’s heart is doing flips in his chest at the admission that Tommy loves him, even if he didn’t say it outright. But the part about him being terrified makes Buck nervous.

“Why?” Buck asks before he can think better of it, “Why are you terrified?”

“Because I’ve never let anyone in enough to hold that much power over me. But try as I might, I can’t seem to get rid of you,” Tommy says with a small smile on his face.

“What can I do to convince you I’m serious?” Buck asks, desperate to do something.

“Say it again,” Tommy whispers looking at him with glassy eyes.

Buck doesn’t even have to ask what Tommy wants him to say, “I love you with my whole heart.”

“I love you too. So much. And I can’t promise I won’t want to run again. It’s admittedly a hard habit to break,” Tommy jokes, but Buck can see it for the truth it is.

Buck takes Tommy hand in his and says, “if you ever feel like you want to run again, can you please just tell me? That way we can work through it together. These 6 months without you have been terrible and I never want to experience that again.”

“I promise. I want to make this work,” Tommy agrees.

And consequences be damned, Buck leans in and captures Tommy’s lips with his own. It’s a soft and steady kiss. A promise of a lifetime to come, with plenty of opportunities to address all the other things left unsaid.

When Buck pulls away he asks, “So, what are you doing Saturday?”

And Buck’s heart swells at the way Tommy laughs at his question. He continues to smile as Tommy responds, “Assuming both of us didn’t get infected, I’ll be going out with you. After all, you do still owe me that beer.”

Tagging my fav @moonydanny since I promised to tag you in anything I posted 🥰 (even if this isn’t any of the fics I’m working on right now)

[chaaistained]

hii!¡!¡ am so happy you wanna share more ab your better cr !¡

i was more curious ab your girl trip :)) ITALY TRIPS SOUND SO FUN ?!

girls trip to sicily, italy

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i'm not sure if you've caught on yet, but i'm indian. and as most indian daughters (as well as being the first born) i had a pretty sheltered and, somewhat, overprotected childhood. thankfully, with age came maturity and with that came trust from my parents and the annual girls' trips began the year i turned 18 !!

in 2025, my girlfriends and i (there's four of us) plan a week long trip to the island of sicily in southern italy —

our first stop will be at avola for four days. straight off the plane, we plan to drive down from the regional airport near syracuse to get to avola and reach our airbnb, and then it's just about four days straight of beaches, shopping and relaxing (safe for our one stop for sightseeing at the Chiesa Madre San Nicoló because of course i'd stop by a cathedral, i'm nothing if not the standard textbook cut out of the thought daughter, head between aged papers, questioning everything between the sky and the soil, and doesn't religious imagery just pair so perfectly with that?) anyway..

after that, we venture back up to ortygia for the rest of the week. after multiple days of lounging around, lazing between beach chairs and bedsheets, we’d all be bumping around the house with energy that needs an outlet. and the perfect solution is to go out each and every day for the rest of our trip and explore the wonders of ortygia. overall we plan to go to five prominent places :

the syracuse cathedral aka il Duomo — again . religious imagery goes crazy, especially bcs one of my oc's is someone who battles with it throughout her story and you bet i will use the setting and surroundings and historical stories to inspire me and my writing (bcs yes, even in my better cr, i'm a fanfic writer 😌) and you cannot keep me and my girlies away from that place, okay? it was built on the bones of an old greek temple of Athena??? ofcs we're going

Galleria regionale di Palazzo Bellomo di Siracusa — two of my girlfriends are avid artists and they would really want to see this !! plus, the grounds of this gallery look beautiful as well like i just know i'm gonna get the best pictures >.<

Museo Naturalistico Siracusa-Wunderkammer — I REALLY CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS ONE !!!! there's is something so inherently and unashamedly me?? about the entire concept of this museum i mean; it is a ❝ 'cabinet of curiosities,' showcasing a collection of natural history objects alongside art and artifacts from various periods ❞ and apparently ❝ The museum embraces the concept of "horror vacui," or "fear of empty spaces," filling the space with a rich array of objects and art ❞ .. i mean COME ON ??!!! it is the perfect stop for the chaotic academic neat but messy hoarder maximalist in me

Tempio di Apollo (Apollonion) — THE TEMPLE OF APOLLO !!! there's really not a lot to say about this i mean, it's another temple ruin of a greek god, ofcs we'd go and it leads perfectly into the final destination ...

Giardino di Apollo — my absolute favourite location by far, by a long shot, cannot be beat, bcs LOOK AT IT (just look it up it's worth it i promise). it's so green and lush and the statues and art that's interspersed between the flora ?? my god i cannot wait to take photos, if it wasn't for the unlimited storage that i scripted, i'd be fucked

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there's so much more i could talk about when it comes to this trip, i have other posts planned !! i was gonna put it all on here but it would get way too long T^T anyway ! look forward to a post about the quiet moments i have to myself in italy, the night time adventures and the FOOD ???

cuppa queries; order in — ask responses

2025 © chaaistained

[helenofsparta2]

All of the Seven were in support of saving Nico in Mark of Athena

I have absolutely no idea where the misconception came from that no one on board of the Argo II, except for Hazel, wanted to save, or cared for Nico, but it's starting to really annoy me. So, here’s a little summary of every member of the seven’s and Coach Hedge’s thoughts, feelings and actions when it came to Nico, backed up by exempts from the book

 (Safe for Hazel, because… it’s Hazel. Thankfully, there’s no misconception surrounding her, regarding this subject.)

Coach Hedge:

He Immediately agreed to rescue him when the topic came up

 “The giants are trying to lure us,” Annabeth said. “They’re assuming we’ll try to rescue him.” “Well, they’re right!” Hazel looked around the table, her confidence apparently crumbling. “Won’t we?” “Yes!” Coach Hedge yelled with a mouthful of napkins. “It’ll involve fighting, right?” (Mark of Athena, Chapter 14)

Frank:

He Immediately agreed to rescue him when the topic came up

“Hazel, of course we’ll help him,” Frank said. “But how long do we have before… uh, I mean, how long can Nico hold out?” (Mark of Athena, Chapter 14)

He got angry when Leo and Jason suggested that Nico might not be trustworthy

Jason sat forward, his expression grim. “You’re wondering if we can trust the guy. So am I.” Hazel shot to her feet. “I don’t believe this. He’s my brother. He brought me back from the Underworld, and you don’t want to help him?” Frank put his hand on her shoulder. “Nobody’s saying that.” He glared at Leo. “Nobody had better be saying that.” (Mark of Athena, Chapter 14)

Annabeth:

She reacted with anger and sadness when the topic of Nico’s predicament came up

She shook her head sadly when he described Nico’s imprisonment in the bronze jar. (Mark of Athena, Chapter 13)

“One seed a day,” Hazel said miserably. “That’s if he puts himself in a death trance.” “A death trance?” Annabeth scowled. “That doesn’t sound fun.” (Mark of Athena, Chapter 14)

Hazel also seemed preoccupied. Maybe she was taking in their surroundings, or maybe she was worrying about her brother. In less than four days, unless they found him and freed him, Nico would be dead. Annabeth felt that deadline weighing on her, too.  (Mark of Athena, Chapter 18)

She was in support of rescuing him:

“Fine,” Annabeth muttered. “Hazel, now that we’re in Rome, do you think you can pinpoint Nico’s location?” (Mark of Athena, Chapter 31)

Percy:

He immediately agreed to rescue him in Son of Neptune:

Not the part about Sammy – that was still too painful to say out loud – but she told them about Gaia’s offer of a fake life, and the goddess’s claim that she’d captured her brother, Nico. Hazel didn’t want to keep that to herself. She was afraid the despair would overwhelm her. Percy rubbed his shoulders. His lips were blue. ‘You – you saved me, Hazel. We’ll figure out what happened to Nico, I promise.’ (Son of Neptune, Chapter 41)

I think my dad is turning a blind eye. I think – I think he wants me to find Nico.’ ‘We’ll find your brother,’ Percy promised. ‘As soon as the ship gets here, we’ll sail for Rome.’ (Son of Neptune, Chapter 52)

He never once considered the possibility of not saving Nico in Mark of Athena

“He disappeared.” Hazel moistened her lips. “I’m afraid…I’m not sure, but I think something’s happened to him.” “We’ll look for him,” Percy promised. “We have to find the Doors of Death anyway.” (Mark of Athena, Chapter 3)

Huddled next to it was a dejected looking boy in tattered jeans, a black shirt, and an old aviator jacket. On his right hand, a silver skull ring glittered. “Nico,” Percy called. But the son of Hades couldn’t hear him. The container was completely sealed. The air was turning poisonous. Nico’s eyes were closed, his breathing shallow. He appeared to be meditating. His face was pale, and thinner than Percy remembered (…) “Nico,” Percy said, “where is this place? We’ll save you.…” (Mark of Athena, Chapter 13)

“Nico is the bait,” she murmured. “Gaea’s forces must have captured him somehow. But we don’t know exactly where they’re holding him.” “Somewhere in Rome,” Percy said. “Somewhere underground. They made it sound like Nico still had a few days to live, but I don’t see how he could hold out so long with no oxygen.” (Mark of Athena, Chapter 13)

But most of the time, Nico sided with the good guys. He certainly didn’t deserve slow suffocation in a bronze jar, and Percy couldn’t stand seeing Hazel in pain. “We’ll rescue him,” he promised her. “We have to. The prophecy says he holds the key to endless death.” (Mark of Athena, Chapter 14)

About a hundred yards away, he spotted a raised dais with two empty oversized praetor chairs. Standing between them was a bronze jar big enough to hold a person. “Look.” He pointed it out to his friends. Piper frowned. “That’s too easy.” “Of course,” Percy said. “But we have no choice,” Jason said. “We’ve got to save Nico.” “Yeah.” Percy started across the room, picking his way around conveyor belts and moving platforms. (Mark of Athena, Chapter 45)

He informed Hazel and the rest of the seven of Nico’s predicament the very morning after he found out

But how can Nico survive that long? We should talk to Hazel.” “Now?” She hesitated. “No. It can wait until morning. I don’t want to hit her with this news in the middle of the night.” (Mark of Athena, Chapter 13)

He told them about his dream—the twin giants planning a reception for them in an underground parking lot with rocket launchers; Nico di Angelo trapped in a bronze jar, slowly dying from asphyxiation with pomegranate seeds at his feet. Hazel choked back a sob. (Mark of Athena, Chapter 14)

He insisted on saving Nico immediately, once he met up with Jason and Piper in Rome

Percy pointed at Piper’s dagger. “Tiberinus said you could find Nico’s location…you know, with that.” Piper bit her lip. The last thing she wanted to do was check Katoptris for more terrifying images. “I’ve tried,” she said. “The dagger doesn’t always show what I want to see. In fact, it hardly ever does.” “Please,” Percy said. “Try again.” (Mark of Athena, Chapter 41)

Piper dropped the blade. “What’s wrong?” Jason asked. “It was showing us something.” Piper felt like the boat was back on the ocean, rocking under her feet. “We can’t go there.” Percy frowned. “Piper, Nico is dying. We’ve got to find him. Not to mention, Rome is about to get destroyed.” (Mark of Athena, Chapter 41)

“We should wait for the others,” she said. “Hazel, Frank, and Leo should be back soon.” “We can’t wait,” Percy insisted. (Mark of Athena, Chapter 41)

He felt anxious when thinking about Nico and the possibility of him dying

The vision zoomed in again. Inside the jar, Nico di Angelo was curled in a ball, no longer moving, all the pomegranate seeds eaten. “We’re too late,” Jason said. “No,” Percy said. “No, I can’t believe that. Maybe he’s gone into a deeper trance to buy time. We have to hurry.” (Mark of Athena, Chapter 41)

Otis trudged over to the dais, stopping occasionally to do a plié. He knocked over the jar, the lid popped off, and Nico di Angelo spilled out. The sight of his deathly pale face and too-skinny frame made Percy’s heart stop. Percy couldn’t tell whether he was alive or dead. He wanted to rush over and check, but Ephialtes stood in his way. (Mark of Athena, Chapter 45)

At Otis’s feet, Nico shuddered. Percy felt like a hellhound hamster wheel somewhere in his chest had started moving again. At least Nico was alive. (Mark of Athena, Chapter 45)

He called Nico a friend

Jason and Piper closed ranks on either side of Percy (…)“We’re here,” Percy said, which sounded kind of obvious once he had said it. “Let our friend go.” (Mark of Athena, Chapter 45)

“Okay.” Percy decided not to comment on the Hawaiian shirt. “Now, about our friend…” “Oh, him,” Ephialtes sneered. “We were going to let him finish dying in public, but he has no entertainment value. He’s spent days curled up sleeping. What sort of spectacle is that? Otis, tip over the jar.” (Mark of Athena, Chapter 45)

He was careful to make sure Nico would not get injured while he, Jason and Piper fought the giants:

Percy was ready to slice this giant in half and get out of there, but Otis was standing over Nico. If a battle started, Nico was in no condition to defend himself. Percy needed to buy him some recovery time.  (Mark of Athena, Chapter 45)

Percy glanced over at Nico, who was just starting to move. Percy wanted him to be at least conscious enough to crawl out of the way when the fighting started. (Mark of Athena, Chapter 45)

Piper:

She immediately agreed to rescue him (There’s a pattern here)

“And he has five seeds left,” Percy said. “That’s five days, including today. The giants must have planned it that way, so we’d have to arrive by July first. Assuming Nico is hidden somewhere in Rome—” “That’s not much time,” Piper summed up. She put her hand on Hazel’s shoulder. “We’ll find him. (Mark of Athena, Chapter 14)

“We’ll rescue him,” he promised her. “We have to. The prophecy says he holds the key to endless death.” “That’s right,” Piper said encouragingly. “Hazel, your brother went searching for the Doors of Death in the Underworld, right? He must’ve found them.”  (Mark of Athena, Chapter 14)

She felt anxious when she thought about Nico’s predicament

Piper tried to imagine what Nico di Angelo was feeling, stuck in a jar with only two pomegranate seeds left to sustain him, and no idea whether he would be rescued. It made Piper anxious to reach Rome, even though she had a horrible feeling she was sailing toward her own sort of prison—a dark room filled with water. “Nico must have information about the Doors of Death,” Piper said. “We’ll save him, Hazel. We can make it in time. (Mark of Athena, Chapter 25)

Piper slipped it back into its sheath, trying to keep her hands from shaking. She hoped that Percy was right, and Nico was still alive. (Mark of Athena, Chapter 41)

She protected Nico, once he had escaped from the bronze jar:

Nico stirred. Otis looked down at him. His snaky feet flicked their tongues at Nico’s head. “Plus!” Piper said quickly. “Plus, we could do some dance moves as we’re escaping. Perhaps a ballet number!” Otis forgot all about Nico. He lumbered over and wagged his finger at Ephialtes. (Mark of Athena, Chapter 45)

He caught a brief glimpse of Piper leaping across a hopscotch pattern of fiery pits, making her way toward Nico, who was dazed and weaponless and being stalked by a pair of leopards. (Mark of Athena, Chapter 46)

At the dais, Piper stood guard over Nico as the leopards advanced. She aimed her cornucopia and shot a pot roast over the cats’ heads. It must have smelled pretty good, because the leopards raced after it. (Mark of Athena, Chapter 46)

Across the room, sandbags rained down around Piper and Nico. Piper tried to pull Nico to safety, but one of the bags caught her shoulder and knocked her down. (Mark of Athena, Chapter 46)

Jason & Leo

I’m going to sum Jason and Leo up together, because their perspective is very similar on this subject.  

Now, obviously, both of them had some doubts at the beginning:

Uh…” Leo shifted in his chair. “One thing. The giants are expecting us to do this, right? So we’re walking into a trap?” Hazel looked at Leo like he’d made a rude gesture. “We have no choice!” “Don’t get me wrong, Hazel. It’s just that your brother, Nico… he knew about both camps, right?” “Well, yes,” Hazel said “He’s been going back and forth,” Leo said, “and he didn’t tell either side.” Jason sat forward, his expression grim. “You’re wondering if we can trust the guy. So am I.” Hazel shot to her feet. “I don’t believe this. He’s my brother. He brought me back from the Underworld, and you don’t want to help him?” Frank put his hand on her shoulder. “Nobody’s saying that.” He glared at Leo. “Nobody had better be saying that.” Leo blinked. “Look, guys. All I mean is—” “Hazel,” Jason said. “Leo is raising a fair point. I remember Nico from Camp Jupiter. Now I find out he also visited Camp Half-Blood. That does strike me as… well, a little shady. Do we really know where his loyalties lie? We just have to be careful.” (Mark of Athena, Chapter 14)

If I am being honest, this is actually a completely valid point. The way that both of them phrased it was pretty harsh, especially considering the fact that Hazel was sitting right next to them, but the point in of itself, is not preposterous.

Leo had never even met Nico, and Jason had only seen him a couple of times in Camp Jupiter, before this quest. Finding out that a demigod, neither of them really knew, had known about both camps long before any other half-blood did, and is now being used as part of a trap is suspicious (even if none of that is Nico’s fault).

But ignoring that, this hesitance to saving Nico, only lasted for like one or two chapters. After this conversation, both Leo and Jason were completely in support of saving Nico throughout the entire rest of Mark of Athena:

Instead, we could send out a decoy to trick the eagles. We take the ship on a detour, go the long way to Charleston, and get there tomorrow morning—” Hazel started to protest, but Leo raised his hand. “I know, I know. Nico’s in trouble and we have to hurry.” (Mark of Athena, Chapter 17)

Hazel glanced at the evening sun, which was almost to the horizon. “We need to go fast. We’ve burned another day, and Nico only has three more left.” “We can do it,” Leo promised. (Mark of Athena, Chapter 21)

“She’s right,” Hazel said. “After today, Nico has less than two days. The fish-centaurs said we have to rescue him. He’s essential to the quest somehow.” She looked around defensively, as if waiting for someone to argue. No one did. (Mark of Athena, Chapter 25)

Jason suddenly looked as though his brownie with peach preserves didn’t taste so good. “Which will put us in Rome on the last possible day for Nico. Twenty-four hours to find him—at most.” (Mark of Athena, Chapter 25)

“Good idea,” Percy said. “How about we plan to meet back here at… what?” “Three this afternoon?” Jason suggested. “That’s probably the latest we could rendezvous and still hope to fight the giants and save Nico. (Mark of Athena, Chapter 31)

About a hundred yards away, he spotted a raised dais with two empty oversized praetor chairs. Standing between them was a bronze jar big enough to hold a person. “Look.” He pointed it out to his friends. Piper frowned. “That’s too easy.” “Of course,” Percy said. “But we have no choice,” Jason said. “We’ve got to save Nico.” (Mark of Athena, Chapter 45)

Leo was even prepared to open Nemesis’ fortune cookie to find out where Nico was being kept:

The fortune cookie in his tool belt started to feel heavier. Last night, as they flew from Atlanta, Leo had lain in his cabin and thought about how angry he’d made Hazel. He had thought about ways he could make it right. Soon you will face a problem you cannot solve, Nemesis had said, though I could help you…for a price. Leo had taken the fortune cookie out of his tool belt and turned it in his fingers, wondering what price he would have to pay if he broke it open. Maybe now was the moment. “I’d be willing,” he told Hazel. “I could use the fortune cookie to find your brother.” Hazel looked stunned. (Mark of Athena, Chapter 21)

[sniffle-bird]

actually no i’m not done talking about eurylochus how does nobody understand what he’s getting at in ‘mutiny’.

i’ve seen people call him a hypocrite for being upset at odysseus for sacrificing the crew when he tried to leave the men at circe’s island but that is just. so wrong. giving up on rescuing men from the hands of a very dangerous sorceress and goddess in order to save the rest of the crew is not comparable to odysseus willingly leading six men to their deaths without their knowledge.

that’s not even what he’s upset about. he’s not mad they sacrificed the men (well. he is. but that’s not his main argument) he’s mad because ody picked that route so easily. which is why he brings up all the other things they’ve faced, e.g., the cyclops, (“you were quick to hatch a plan”) and circe, (“it was you who left behind no man”). which is why he literally begs ody to lie to him and tell him he had no idea how going through scylla’s lair would go.

“tell me you did not know that would happen, tell me you didn’t know how that would end.”

“use your wits to tell me that i’m crazy and mad, that this is all a trick the gods have sent.”

“tell me you did not miss home so painfully bad that you gave up the lives of six of our friends.”

and odysseus, who is usually very chatty in all other songs, is dead quiet, which eurylochus comments on in ‘scylla’. eury makes no attempt to usurp him until ody tells him he can’t say that he was clueless or mislead and that he knew exactly what he was doing, which is when he says, “then you have forced my hand.”

eurylochus’s mutiny is not a power hungry act, it’s something he was quite literally forced into in order to keep the crew safe. ody just showed that he was willing to sacrifice members of the crew for the sake of getting home, and eurylochus has to protect them.

to him, he has tried and failed to reel odysseus in time and time again, first with the lotus eaters, trying to discourage them from going/deciding to just raid the place. if they had, they likely wouldn’t have spoken to the lotus eaters and they wouldn’t have gone to the cyclops cave. polites would be alive, athena would still be with them. there are many other examples of this but i’m trying (and failing) to keep this post on the shorter side. ody is a wild card they can’t afford to keep playing when they get into a crisis. the crew specifically sings, “now the time has come to shut you down.” the entirety of mutiny is like a fat intervention for ody’s spiralling into the “monster” he thinks he has to be to get home.

then of course there’s the whole thing with him killing the cows, blah blah, i covered it in my other long ass eurylochus defence post, but i’ve seen so many people give eury shit for calling odysseus “captain” again after they get into trouble and it’s just so. shallow. their view of eurylochus is so shallow.

i’ve spoken about this before but there’s a very interesting manner in which eurylochus refers to odysseus. he calls him “captain,” but also “ody,” and his brother/his friend. it’s not like polites, where he switches from calling odysseus the captain and also his friend when they’re alone. eurylochus switches almost sporadically. times where it would be appropriate to call odysseus his captain, he calls him ody/brother/friend. times where it would be appropriate for a less formal title like his nickname/something more affectionate like his brother or his friend, he calls him captain. it’s like he doesn’t know where he and odysseus stand. his view of him is constantly shifting and changing.

so obviously, when odysseus sounds so distressed after he kills the cow and suddenly leaps back into his leadership role eurylochus would also subconsciously slip back into his role as his second? his ‘captain’ doesn’t really sound that scared to me, either, more… confused? concerned? slowly realising he’s fucked, yes, but more in a ‘regretting jumping off a building the second you step off’ way. not in a ‘omg how could this happen pls save us captain’ way.

he doesn’t know wtf is going on. he was expecting to kill the cow, get a good meal for his remaining crew, and then get smited. instead he has his captain screaming at him, thunder clouds rolling in immediately, all this shit happening, of course he would call for his friend. it’s not even a call for him!! it’s a response!!! to ody screaming that they’re doomed! “you’ve doomed us all!!” “captain?” like omfg

eurylochus is NOT looking for odysseus to save him or pull him out of his mess. he was just confused and obviously kind of spooked. and the title is a whole other issue that i could honestly write an essay about (or a fic. it’ll probably be the fic.)

[bakasara]

I have so many gripes with this two-parter, lol. For those who were in the spn trenches-- I'm having bucklemming flashbacks: everything is a one-liner and nothing makes sense from a structure or writing viewpoint.

Let's break it down into the 3 main problems that imo take this Big Event from an amazing, high-stakes premise to a lackluster ass execution. (And yes, for Eddie go to point 3.)

1. Suspension of disbelief is a bell curve, ok?

If you are obsessively concerned with realism, your story is going to miss out on a lot of emotional moments that just cannot be crammed into a 40 minute episode format otherwise. The reverse is also true, though. If you handwave every single realistic thing because you deem it an obstacle to an emotional story, it's going to be harder and harder for people to stay immersed.

The whole team was made to spend two episode acting like they straight up don't care and/or don't understand the level of threat they're dealing with just so that the plot could happen, which is absurd and out of character, for one.

... And it's also counterproductive.

The OoC issue could've easily been solved by shifting the "Rescue the team (118 argument) VS Not rescue the team (government argument)" to "Keep looking for solutions beyond what seems possible (118 argument) VS Be conveniently quick to give up (government argument)".

It's a minor tweak that would show up mostly through changes to the characterization of the military and FBI guy to make them more square and unfeeling, clearly having lost focus of the human aspect and become too quick to pull the trigger. It's one of the more ubiquitous underdog tropes: there is still an element of the 118 playing it less safe, because the red tape is supposedly there for a reason, but what may seem as morally dark grey on the surface because of the risk posed by an outbreak is recontextualized by the fact that there is a bigger and worse guy on the other side – the suits – who's lost track of what he's really supposed to be working at. The actions of the 118 now make sense for the situation and the 118 remain the good/better guys.

TL;DR: We didn't need the 118 consistently acting like they don't understand the severity of a deadly supervirus getting out of containment with no cure. Framing them more starkly as the underdog in the situation and having them go against big government players who've lost sight of their mission to help people is infinitely more compelling, and would have reinforced the real emotional pull to the episode: y'know that quote, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"? They are all mildly insane when it comes to each other, and will look for solutions to the very end even when from the outside it looks like they're going against impossible odds – just continuing to tape and plug up little holes everywhere to keep each other alive, if you will, even where most people may argue the sane thing is to accept defeat.

2. Not trusting your audience to have basic reading abilities never pays back.

Buck being used as an audience proxy to explain to us that Athena wants to go behind the suits' backs? And what an SD card is? FUCKING REALLY?

This may sound like it's just about Buck – which, hey, that would be fair – but it's not. Take the tsunami arc. A major aspect that made it compelling was the way it showed how the lives of complete strangers, who would've never touched otherwise, came to intertwine because of this tragedy that swept over the city. The premise to Sick Day/Lab Rats is kind of the reverse: it's ALL about our team of main characters, most of whom are locked away in a bunker. The episode hinges entirely on the strength of their bonds with each other against the outer world, which outside the lab is embodied by the government and inside the lab is embodied by this larger-than-life virus that completely overpowers them in theory. From a writing standpoint, it's all about how cleverly their affective dynamics with each other are used to stir emotional reactions in the viewer.

Fanfiction writers wrote the playbook on this; when I think of original fiction mastering this I think of something like Bioware for videogames. Troperrific is the name of the game.

So if you pair up Athena and Buck... you'd better fucking show me a fucking action couple. The have their team-slash-family in danger, and none more than them understand what it means to have Bobby trapped inside as a wife and a honorary son. The intention for this to be the force behind their team-up was clearly there. And having Buck be that dumb was the perfect way to ruin it.

I can see a remake of that scene perfectly: Buck panicking initially when he hears Bobby say him and Athena should leave the rest of the 118 to die, because he's Buck and of course he would panic. Bobby switching to talking only to Athena same way he did in the actual scene; Buck catching up now that he's had the time to focus and ultimately agreeing to leave it to the army and the FBI to handle. Cut to Buck and Athena powerwalking outside, side-bumping fists now that they're out of sight and getting each in their own seat of the car without the need to say a single word.

And maybe don't have Buck ask what an SD card is. It's fucking fine. COME ON. Show, don't tell, and all that. Athena Sneakily Grabbed A Plot-Relevant Thingy from a crime scene and Showed It Triumphantly To The Camera, and in two minutes we're going to plug it into Karen's computer and we can mention it's pictures from the crime scene just for extra clarity. I think the viewers may just be able to follow along.

TL;DR: Sorry, I just don't believe Buck is that dumb, he's not. Having Athena explain the plot to Buck like we're all two year olds is insufferable, and more importantly it's taking away from what really matters: if you make your whole two-parter hinge on team dynamics and then pair up Buck and Athena, I had better see the two baddest bitches to ever walk the earth in fucking synced action. They HAVE to be Understanding Each Other Implicitly because the real treasure was their shared love of Bobby all along.

3. Ok. Three three three. You CANNOT. You simply CANNOT. You fool. Leave a main character COMPLETELY FUCKING OUT of a Big Event two-parter that's all about the fucking CORE TEAM GOING TO SUPERMAX FOR EACH OTHER.

Come the fuck on.

Listen, assuming the best faith I can: this could be a case of Real Life having happened. Say, scheduling conflict. It literally doesn't matter. If one of your mains can't be there, you still find a way to mention the character in-story and you bring him into the story like that. I'll do you one better: a really simple way to do it wrote itself within the second ep. When Hen gives Ravi her pep talk about calling your loved ones, that was the planting of an idea into the viewer's mind. There really is no one-size-fits-all answer to that dilemma, which speaks to the emotional complexity of these tragedies.

You then have Chim deciding to talk to Maddie, because this may really be their last chance. (In the good version of this two-parter everyone's phone calls are come-and-go/keep breaking up, btw. Because they're sealed in a secure lab underground and it raises the stakes to have them struggle to communicate with each other. Obviously. Fucking hell). But you have Buck, safe on the outside, wanting to call Eddie and then deciding not to, because he realizes it's more for himself than anything and it's just making Eddie agonize over it 12 hours away where he can't do anything. It's as simple as showing Buck's finger hovering over Eddie's contact on his phone at a moment of distress, then opting not to call. But with different characters deciding to act in different ways based on their circumstances, you're now Exploring A Theme and it's a coherent way to include the character with no better options.

however you do it, it'll never be ideal to have a main missing from these kinds of pivotal episodes, but you HAVE to find a way to tie them into the story in some meaningful way.

That said, if Ryan/Eddie could've been there, and the writing simply didn't include him, then it's SO SO much fucking worse lmaoooo.

First off, it was really important that Eddie be shown to come back to LA because that's where the people who matter to him are, not because of Bobby's fucking funeral. As he (re)learns to choose joy for himself and to stand up to his parents/regrow his confidence in his own parenting instincts, it's crucial that he recognizes LA is where he wants to be because that's where Eddie's family and Chris's life are. The motivation to go back should be internal and advance his emotional arc.

Personally, I have ideas for how I would've tied him in for the most meaningful impact in the least time (considering the constraints of these kinds of episodes!) And these ideas definitely involve a big entrance making up for an early absence. Any team member who happened to be missing could get that same big entrance treatment, just tweaked to fit the character – we're fundamentally talking about the 118 being a family, where the team isn't complete without everyone in it playing their unique role, and the missing piece of the puzzle arriving at a moment of despair will always have you feel like you were just given another fighting chance.

Personally, I'd have had it revealed in 8x15 that when Chris and Eddie left, they actually left for LA, both too eager to go back home and with Eddie willing to make a second trip later to take care of the loose ends (job, house, etc.) in El Paso. They mean to surprise Buck + the team so they let them believe they're still in Texas. Chris finds out about the lab incident through his phone on the way, leaving Eddie conveniently only a short time away from LA and only missing for the initial part of the emergency. When Buck doesn't pick up his phone (via literally ANY excuse for why he'd miss the call), and no-one form the team does either (bad signal, which again should've been a thing), it now makes the most sense that Eddie would call Athena and it's HER who introduces her guy on the inside (or I guess, technically, on the outside) whom the suits don't have on their radar. He pulls up not in a helicopter but, necessarily, in the most unassuming car ever, making it not about showy stunt money but about the idea that Eddie's worth is about who he is (as in how he behaves, tying into his emotional arc) + what counts is showing up and everyone's contributions count (tying into the two-parter themes).

Also great 'cause Buck can be relieved af to finally have His Guy there for support, but there's no time for hugs. Oops! Just casually slipped in some friendly (🤔) yearning while Impeding Outside Events are unfolding! No! Don't use your precious screen time so well!

Anyway, Buck and Eddie are then either NOT paired up (the ideal version imo, we keep this about Buck and Athena as we're centering their connection to Bobby) or they ARE paired up (if you absolutely need to take advantage of the wider themes of the episode to advance any kind of dialogue between them and can't do it next episode). And the rest is pretty much Eddie occupying his rightful place in the episode instead of Tommy. Because. Lol. Lmao even. (I totally think we can still use Tommy, btw! to make Eddie mega jelly. if u even care :) And not during the supervirus whatever whatever where he's the epitome of thematically out of place. But I digress.)

And OF COURSE when everybody is getting their camera shot breaking down over Bobby's death it's. EDDIE. On the outside. Having his quiet breakdown along with the rest of the. Y'know. THE REST OF HIS TEAM. Because he actually knows who Bobby is and cares about him and yeah ok literally what was the point of fucking Tim Tam looking like the 🙁 emoji on my fucking screen while everyone was bawling. I. ... WHAT.

Either way. The point is. They really left Eddie out of the two-parter without mentioning him once say fucking SIKE.

TL;DR: Leaving a main character out of a two-parter Big Event centered around the familial bonds between your main cast is a capital sin punishable by death. There is no version of reality where it's acceptable. If Eddie/Ryan simply could not be there for real life reasons it was imperative to find an emotionally and thematically significant way to mention the character. If Eddie/Ryan could be there, it was imperative he BE there in a meaningful and unique way that contributed to saving the team, much like the other mains all were. There is NO EXCUSE.

There, I said my piece. I hate when I can see how little it would take to fix a poorly executed narrative.

P.S.: I have a personal love of Hozier/Work Song and I think it fit perfectly with Bobby's death but. HOLY SHIT. Do not break the momentum by having a character Make An Observation AFTER you showed Bobby dying ("dying". whatever). Chim can have his survivor complex next episode. OH MY GOD. They had already showed the body bag so we knew he was supposed to be dead-dead. They had that AMAZING shot of Bobby's cap to cut to and then cut to black on the last clap. NO DIALOGUE EXPLAINING HOW CHIM FEELS. PLEASE. THE MOMENTUM. COME ON. SHOT OF THE CAP THEN CUT TO BLACK. TO THE BEAT OF THE SONG. COME ON. HOW DO YOU FUCK UP THE EDITING/WRITING THAT BADLY.

[harmonic-intervention]

Tell me where the good men go

“You can see me!”

“Yes, I can see you because you’re in my head!”

“I’m not."

Welcome to the dumbest thing I have ever written. Bobby death fix-it based off on Just Like Heaven with a sprinkle of bucktommy fix it. Because who gives a shit.

Word count: 19,023 - canon divergence, ghosts, mcd, major character come back to life, getting back together

Excerpt:

The first time Buck saw him, he wasn’t surprised in the slightest. He should have expected it, sort of did expect it. He’d never had to deal with this sort of grief, but he’d heard from others that they dreamed of or hallucinated their lost loved ones. So, why not?

Bobby was in the kitchen of the station next to Buck, still in his messed up turnouts. He was looking over his shoulder, watching him make food for the others. Captain Gerrard was out with a stomach bug or something, Buck would be honest and admit that he didn’t really care. The atmosphere in the firehouse was heavy and bleak these days, but it seemed just a little lighter without Gerrard around.

Buck found Bobby standing by the counter when he came up the stairs to start cooking. The others were spread out over the couches, downtrodden. Buck was trying his best to keep them going, keep them fed and safe. They were going through the motions, all of them were, but life went on. He couldn’t lose his mind now, so he refused to look in the direction of the apparition of the man who might very well be his father. It’d be there, and it’d be gone soon, too. It was just Buck’s brain coping with it.

The hallucination didn’t speak, thank God, but when Buck set the table for the others and called them to eat, it sat down at the head of the table, the place Buck still set for Bobby, and watched them eat. Which was a little bit creepy. Whenever Buck looked at the head of the table, he made sure to keep his eyes down, looking at the plate instead of the apparition. He wasn’t doing this.

He had things to do. People to protect and hold up. He checked in with Chim, Hen, and Ravi. With Eddie. With Athena, May, and Harry. He spoke with Maddie, he helped with the kids, he on and off texted with Tommy with whom things were at a shaky sort of truce for the moment. He didn’t have time to waste on hallucinations.

Thankfully, it did not follow him home. Buck did look at it at shift change when he noticed out of the corner of his eye that its back was turned to him. He looked, saw it watch them leave, looking forlorn and lost. He set his eyes forward, shouldered his bag, and left, hoping that when he came back for his next shift, it’d be gone. Hoped that he wouldn’t find it in his house.

He didn’t find it in his house. And it wasn’t gone when he came back to the station. Every time he came back to the firehouse for the next two weeks, the figure of Bobby Nash was there. In the kitchen, on the couch, in the rig, on calls. At first, it just observed them. Walked with them, hovered over them.

Then, a couple of days ago, it started talking. The first time it did, it was just a soft encouragement to Chimney who was working on a patient, but Buck felt like he’d gotten struck by lightning again. His head was a cruel place. He’d heard of people who lost loved ones talking about forgetting, about not remembering what their voices sounded like, but at this rate, Buck would never be able to forget.

Bobby’s apparition became more vocal by the day, jumping in on conversations at the station, commenting on Buck’s recipes and Buck tried his best to ignore the tips it gave. He knew what he was doing. Bobby had taught him. He didn’t need some shadow trying to tell him what to do.

Then, it started berating Gerrard and Buck accepted that it probably was just a manifestation of his inner voice, like back in his coma dream when he’d come face to face with his own evil doctor self. It made sense. Well, the way this sort of thing could even make sense.

And then-

Well, then things changed. They were out on a call. A routine one when it came down to it, a house fire, probably electrical or something. They were doing a headcount – father, mother, grandparents, the baby, and the oldest child. The middle one was missing.

Gerrard was refusing to send someone back in to find the kid, even though there was still time and the structure was sound enough. He wasn’t listening to anything they had to say, bulldozing over them, reasoning that they had no clue where the child could be.

Buck couldn’t believe he was back. And they were all so crippled with grief that Hen was having trouble even thinking of stepping up and taking over. This was supposed to be her station now. But Buck couldn’t blame her one bit. Bobby was supposed to be there when she took over.

“Don’t turn your back on that house!” the apparition was currently yelling at Gerrard. “The child is in the bathroom by the front door which you would know if you took a moment to listen!”

What a strange thing for a hallucination to say. Buck felt electrified. He stopped, almost holding his breath, and did what it had said – listen. And- there! A cough, coming from the open window next to the front door which was probably the bathroom.

[continue on ao3]

[sarnai4]

At the Amusement Park

This is actually the headcanon topic I wanted to make a while ago and just never did. So, here goes nothing.

Athena: She's torn. On one hand, it's completely illogical to spend a day on machinery which might break or cause someone to barf on you AFTER standing in line for an unreasonable amount of time. On the other hand...that one coaster looks cool and she's confident that she can compete with Ares on who gets to the best rides the fastest. (You don't want to see them on any rollercoaster that races the other. Can they control who wins? No. Will the loser make everyone suffer? Yes.)

Ares: He's excited about this. He already scoped out the biggest ones, homing in on the sounds of screams like it was a battlefield. His focus right now is unmatched. As soon as the timer starts, he's darting for the biggest ride he sees. He wants it all, the height, the loops, the sharp turns. Forget avoiding messes. If no one almost dies on this thing, he's going to be disappointed. (And yes, he was the one who kept jabbing Athena in the side until she gave in. He's going to probably break the rules of seating arrangements and see if Dite can sit on his lap too.)

Demeter: She's enjoying the rides with her war niece and nephew. Admittedly, she's doing it with less zeal, but it's still fun. She'll probably get on the Ferris wheel and take a bunch of pictures for Persephone from up there. She's also enjoying the snacks in between rides. This is good because when the war sibling competition inevitably gets out of hand, she'll break it up by bopping them with some cotton candy. That'll teach them.

Aphrodite: She's hoping there's a kissing booth. If there isn't because this is an amusement park and not a carnival or fair, she's going to make one. You can either find her there, upon Ares's lap on a ride, or fussing at a poor employee who told her that it's not safe to sit like that. She is immortal after all. What's she going to do? Die???

Hades: He's going to check out the little horror rides where they try to freak you out. He's remarkably unfazed. In fact, his suggestions about improvements are enough to give the people working in this part nightmares. Mostly, he's just trying to avoid the crowds, though.

Artemis: Forget the rides. She's focused on the games. She's trying all the shooting games, hogging them from anyone else (besides Apollo) who might want to play. If she does get on a ride, she screams from genuine fear but will never admit it.

Apollo: He's trying to start one of those guessing games. Since he's got foresight, instead of guessing weights, he can guess what people are going to do. (He's not allowed to start his own stands and after this gets shut down, he returns to shooting targets with Artemis. She gets him a stuffed animal prize as a consolation.)

Zeus: He is trying to make his way to the kissing booth in various disguises. It doesn't work. He gets on one coaster and causes the whole thing to have an electrical malfunction. It was toootally an accident. He didn't freak out at all when he got to the top. He's a lightning god! The sky is his element! Albeit a lightning god who's not used to being trapped inside a little box as it prepares to launch him to the ground.

Hera: She's standing guard by the kissing booth. If anyone Zeusy appears, she yanks him away by the ear. She ends up getting on two rides. One with the war siblings, which is fun, and the other with Zeus, which ends abruptly as you saw. She will not ride with him again.

Hermes: He wants to live dangerously. He's gorging himself on park fries and nachos, then getting on the biggest rides he can find. He's just daring his stomach to not do flips like a gymnast...it doesn't appreciate being dared. He gets sick as Cerberus and Zeus "stays behind to help" after the whole coaster fiasco.

Poseidon: He wanted to go to a water park. He's not even sure if he can get on these rides without there being some issue with water getting everywhere and causing him to get electrocuted. When he's finally convinced that he'll probably be fine, Zeus secretly zaps him. He spends the rest of the day, pouting and flirting with people.

Hephaestus: He wonders why his family even wanted to go to this place. If they wanted rides, he could build them. He's already planning out new designs. He just needs someone to test them out on...hopefully, there'll be a volunteer.

Hestia: She's been on snack duty the whole time. She doesn't really want to get on the big rides. She likes the smaller ones that kids could also go on. Those are pretty fun and whenever someone needs a lemonade to cool down, she has it covered. She also inexplicably has fresh fries at the ready at all times. It's a little scary.

Dionysus: He found where the REAL drinks were. Unlike Hermes, he doesn't feel like throwing up all over the place, so he gets on one impressive coaster, then does the smaller ones with Hestia. Being drunk makes the little turns and bumps seem much more exciting. The people don't know if he's okay and he might not be.

[newobsessionweekly]

Things take time

Main masterlist | 9-1-1 masterlist

Dreams series

Part 1

Part 2

Evan “Buck” Buckley x fem!reader

Fandom: 911

Summary: You and Buck try for a baby, but life is not always fair and easy.

Angst | Fluff

A/N: I know, I KNOW it's been ages since part 1, but hey, i'm back! Hope u enjoy it and stay put for the next parts. Maybe life isn't really fair and easy! Thank you for your support and kindness. Have a wonderful day, bubs! Lots of love ✨

@krokietino i thought maybe you'll like the second part of what u requested ❤️

Requested: yes

Words: 2.2k

Requests currently closed!

GIF not mine, credits to the owner!

In the hushed quiet of your home, you and Buck found yourselves enveloped in the soft glow of morning. Buck was quietly pulling up his uniform, taking a few sips of his coffee. You on the other hand had a long morning today, lingering a bit longer in your pijama.

You watched your fiancé with a dump smile and a heavy heart as he buckled his shoes, preparing for a new day as a firefighter. Every shift you couldn't help but feel the whole world's pressure on your shoulders, worrying a little too much about his safety, despite he came home safe and sound every time.

As you sat on the edge of the bed, your fingers were trembling as you held yet another negative test in your hands, a heavy sigh escaped your lips. For months, you've been trying for a baby, thinking "how hard it must be", your hearts brimming with hope with each pregnancy test, only to be met with disappointment time and time again.

Buck's expression etched with concern, wrapped his arms around you in a comforting embrace, trying to give you a bit of his hope, his heart aching at the sight of your crestfallen face.

"I'm sorry, babe," you murmured, your voice thick with unshed tears. "I thought... I thought this might be it."

Buck's heart twisted with love as he gently wiped away your tears, his own emotions swirling with a mixture of frustration and longing. "It's okay, sweetheart," he whispered, pressing a tender kiss to your forehead. "We'll keep trying."

As much as he wanted a family with you, in this moment if possible, he knew this things take time. You can't rush life, every little thing has its own moment. He could understand your frustration, motherhood is something almost every woman look forward and being this close to fulfil your dream, it's painful to see weeks turn into months, each day holding a negative pregnancy test between your fingers.

"Be safe out there and don't be a stranger!" you shouted after Buck placed the sweetest kisses all over your face and told you how much he loved you over and over before leaving for work that morning.

Buck tried to man up himself and wash away negative thoughts. He told himself it's not something he can control, it's out of your hands and there's nothing more you can do. Or at least he's trying to do that.

You, on the other hand, can't help but feel like you're letting Buck down. You know how much he wants a family with you, something he can feel like he belongs to, an anchor to keep him floating at the surface in this chaos.

For yourself, bringing a life in this world is a step in your relationship with Buck that seems about right and it's the perfect time to meet your dreams come true. Only that your dreams are not in a hurry to take part of this conversation just yet.

It's been six months since that last barbecue at Bobby and Athena's house, months you've spent daydreaming of a small version of Buck playing around, filling your silent home with laughter, irradiating joy and love, lightning your lives.

Days passed the same: work, home, Buck and repeat. Monotony installing into your bones and mind, you started to lose hope little by little with every negative test you threw away every morning. Your characteristic smile started to be missed by your family and friends, even people from work started questioning you every shift.

You ok, hun?

Something happened?

You know, if you need to talk...

The disappointment was so strong planted in yourself that one morning you didn't even notice the glow you irradiated and the small smile being brought back to your lips. You somehow felt the world differently, you didn't even realise you stepped out of monotony. Instead of having lunch break at your workplace, your footsteps surprised you in front of the fire station, unknowingly missing Buck and the joy of the 118.

"Y/N!" everyone cheered happily at the sight of you, rushing down the stairs to greet you and hug you. It's been months since your last lunch at the station and since you last saw your friends.

Bobby took your purse as you and Hen walked to the dining area, the smile growing beautifully as you were catching up with everyone's lives. You were so focused on one thing that could change your life that you forgot how happy you were before. You thought you needed that change to be happening as soon as possible, thinking it will make you happy and fulfilled, that you missed the part where your life was perfect as it was.

"Hey stranger!" Eddie greeted you before you could take a sit at the table, giving you a big, tight hug. "It's so nice to have you around! We missed you!"

"Ah, you know, busy life!" you tried to laugh the world's weight off of your shoulders, hugging Eddie back.

As the lunch unfolded without any surprises, sitting right next to Buck at the table, holding his hand, laughing from the bottom of your heart at the last incidents Chim and Hen detailed, you could feel the hope installing in your bones again.

"Well isn't that a beautiful face I didn't have the pleasure to see at this table for a long time now!" Athena made her way up the stairs, greeting you. "Nice to see you, child!"

Since you left home, Athena and Bobby were the closest thing to the parental figures you missed in the last years. You greeted her with the biggest smile, and after you all finished the delicious lunch Bobby had made, you checked the time. You still had a half an hour before you needed to be back for work.

You enjoyed your time spent with Buck and your friends at the station before the alarm started to replace your laughter. You kissed your fiancé goodbye, reminding him to be safe.

As you gathered your things, ready to return to your work place, Athena placed a hand on your shoulder "You ready? Imma give you a ride."

As you quietly sat in the police car, listening to the dispatch calling out for different situations, assigning cars, Athena broke the silence.

"I can see that look in your eyes. You're carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders, aren't you?"

"Oh-uh, I just—" you stopped, weighting the words before giving life to your thoughts. "I feel like I'm letting Buck down."

Those words surprised you too, as you didn't realised you really meant that before it came out of your mouth. Your voice barely above a whisper, you continued "He wants this so badly, and I can't give it to him. I don't know what to do."

Athena's hand found yours, a gesture of solidarity amidst the turmoil of your emotions. "You're not letting him down, honey," she reassured, her voice filled with unwavering conviction. "Sometimes, these things take time. But you're not alone in this. There are specialists who can help, if you're willing to take that step."

Few days passed, the untouched pregnancy tests surprising both you and Buck. "I thought maybe worrying less and going with the flow might help." you giggled, as you and Buck cuddled a bit more before getting the day started. It wasn't necessarily a lie, not a bad one at least.

It felt nice, not having to worry about every single thing in your life for a few days, but as Athena's words echoed in your mind, you couldn't help it.

You found yourself standing outside the office of a specialist, your heart fluttering with a mixture of hope and trepidation. But as you stepped inside and faced the prospect of yet another round of tests and examinations, a glimmer of hope flickered within your soul. You had to make sure nothing is wrong. If the specialist would tell you everything is fine, that there's nothing you should worry about, then indeed you'd be ready to worry less and leave the life do the things at its own pace.

Weeks passed as usual, happier and tender than before. Each night Buck loved you more and more, some more intense, showering you with his sincere passion and affection, some gentle and romantic. Your love for each other grew stronger than ever and you were at the point where you didn't even think you could love Buck more.

But today felt different. It was something inside that guided you to that specific bathroom drawer you didn't open for weeks, trying to keep under control the obsession you've developed. Today you felt the need to open it.

In the quiet stillness of the morning, as the first light of dawn cast its golden rays upon your home, you found yourself clutching a pregnancy test in trembling hands once more. As the seconds ticked by with agonizing slowness, your heart pounded in your chest, your breath catching in your throat.

Something felt different, you couldn't explain it. As the two pink lines appeared in a silent testament to your hopes and dreams, a wave of overwhelming joy washed over you, tears streaming down your cheeks, tears filled with happiness, hope, and the purest form of love.

Buck noticed something has changed lately, as if the very air was charged with an electric energy. He put it on the fact that you finally got the power to turn off the worrying shadows that's been darkening your mind this past few months.

You checked your phone, rereading Buck's message over and over again, fidgeting with your fingers nervously. Doctor confirmed your pregnancy and today is the day. You knew Buck will be so excited to hear the news but... maybe, just maybe, you thought after all this months of trying, he would've changed his mind.

Sabotaging yourself with this kind of thoughts, your body shuddered at the sound of your fiancé's voice.

"It was a stupid, boring day!" Buck placed his bag on the floor with frustration. Boring is something Buck hates more than anything. He likes action, fire, running around like crazy from one call to another. He might've changed over time, but deep down he's still the reckless boy that once opened for the first time the station's doors.

"Well hello my favourite man! My fearless firefighter. My love. My world." you giggled as you kissed him, placing your lips on his skin after every word.

"Stop lying to me." he laughed, hugging you so tight, spinning around with you on his arms. Secretly he thanked the heavens for that boring day, keeping him safe, in one piece so that he could come back home to you. The most beautiful and precious woman in his life. "What smells so good?"

"Dinner. Got off early today and thought maybe I should do something special. Your favourite." you lied to him again, but it was for his own good. Today was your doctor's appointment so you took the day off.

"Oh, I missed your dinners!" he smiled, placing a kiss on your cheek.

"Go wash your hands and you can tell me how much you love me after!" you joke, motioning Buck to the bathroom.

As you arranged the table, serving Buck with his favourite meal, you laughed at his frustration with the stupid kids pulling pranks and getting stuck in weird places.

"How was your day?" your fiancé asked, mouth full of the magic food, as he couldn't help but name it every time.

"Oh, you know. Same thing every day, nothing special there." you caressed his hand. "That reminds me..." you left the words hanging in the air as you rushed to your bedroom, grabbing a box. A mischievous glint in your eye and a mysterious package cradled in your arms. Buck's curiosity piqued, he watched with bated breath as you approached, your smile radiant and infectious.You placed it next to Buck, excitedly waiting for him to open it.

"What's this?" he asked, whipping his hands. You didn't respond, as if you didn't hear a word he said.

His fingers trembling as he unwrapped it with care. And then, as the contents were revealed, his breath caught in his throat, his eyes widening in disbelief. Nestled within the confines of the package was a uniform, its tiny size a stark contrast to the enormity of the moment it represented. But it was the words emblazoned upon the fabric that stole Buck's breath away: "Daddy's Little Firefighter."

Tears welled in Buck's eyes as he looked up at you, his heart overflowing with emotion. "Are you... Are we...?" he stammered, his voice choked with emotion.

In that moment, beneath the canopy of stars, amidst the quiet stillness of the night, your hearts were soaring with the promise of a future filled with love and laughter.

You nodded, your eyes shining with unshed tears of joy. "Yeah, Buck," you whispered, "You're going to be a dad!" your voice trembling with emotion. "We're going to be parents."

[sassatoru]

GODS AND GOTHAM

pairing. luke castellan x fem!wayne!reader

summary. in a universe where the daughter of athena is the dark knight and the son of hermes is a cat burglar. Just a couple random moments in your lives.

warnings. typical batman-y violence, reader’s skin tone is described as bronzer

a/n. based of a this random headcanon i had

wc. ?.0k not proofread

“Put it back, Luke.” Your voice echoes through the rainy night on Gotham’s rooftops. A soft laugh coming in response, you watch the man in front of you turn around to face you, his hands pulling his mask off revealing his face to you. “Aw, darling. You came,” his voice teases as he steps closer, his free hand reaching for your mask.

“Don’t,” you sigh, catching his wrist before his hand can reach your face, instead of saying anything else he merely pouts at you before handing over the small pouch of stolen jewels.

“So darling, where did you go?” He purrs, his fingers tracing along your jaw. “You left your little bird to keep the streets safe, i have to say it wasn’t as fun being chased as it is when it’s just you and me.”

He grins cheekily as you roll your eyes, “don’t be like that.” He mutters.

He steps closer, leaving no room between the two of you. “Cmon darling, you know you missed me.” He whispers, head dipping down to meet you eyes, “kiss me?” He asks and you scoff, though you make no move to stop him as his lips press against yours.

Quick and messy, your fingers gripped the strands of his curled hair and he groans as you pull back, moving closer in desperation for more but you deny him by turning away from him.

“I have to return these,” you mutter and he watches as you dive off the rooftop onto the neighbouring one with ease.

He sighs once you’re out of range, “always running.”

—

“Got your eyes set?” Your voice calls out, smooth and sultry. He doesn’t realise it’s you though, not without the mask. Right now you’re just another billionaire in a room of riches. So when he turns and he’s met with the sight of the richest person in Gotham he smirks.

“Ms Wayne,” Luke grins, moving subtly to make room for you beside him. “And yes, don’t you think it’s just eye catching?” He asks.

“It is, though I do hear things tend to go missing around you Mr Castellan.” Your reply is smooth, well calculated and the sound of your voice tints his cheeks pink under the weight of your gaze.

“Just pretty things. You’ll have to be careful then, you might go missing too.”

“Sounds fun, I’m always up for a little adventure.” You say, eyes moving the pearl set of rings on display behind the glass. The conversation went quiet after that, just the two of you standing beside each other, his eyes on the pearls, your eyes on him.

“Why don’t i buy you dinner sometime?” You offer out of the blue, eyes drinking in the sight of him shamelessly. His head tilts to look your way, “I’d like that.”

“How’s Friday night?” You asks, grabbing a card from your pocket and scribbling your personal number on it. “I’ll send someone to pick you up.”

“You’re a doll,” he smirks, slipping the card into his pocket before moving away and into the crowd, away from you.

—

“What do you want?” You question, arms crossed clearly unamused under the mask.

“Can’t i just want to see my favourite bat?” He retorted, and you merely hummed, he had a feeling that was all he’d be getting from you. It was infuriating, how little you gave to him, always leaving him needing more.

“Fine, i need your help.”

“With?”

“Roman Sionis.”

He senses the way your eyes narrow behind the white lenses in your mask, a soft growl of annoyance leaving your throat. “What did he do?”

“He’s got my brother.. and a lot of other kids. Child trafficking ring.”

“Ad you’re telling me only because he’s got your brother?” You ask irritated by his selfishness.

He has the decency to look ashamed, “what else are you not telling me?” You ask, stepping forward.

“That’s all i know.”

You let out a noise, something between a scoff and that signature hum you always let out when you’re thinking. “Fine, take me to him.”

—

“I’m starting to think you’re avoiding me, pretty bat.” He called out, sitting on the ledge of Wayne enterprises building.

You stay silent, not bothering to answer. He still had no idea who you were, he’d given you his identity before you could inevitably figure it out on your own. Luke Castellan, practically a nobody.

He’d never been caught by cops, which you were glad about otherwise he’d most likely be locked up somewhere far away from you. But you wouldn’t admit that. Never.

“Oh come on, what did i do this time?” He questioned, turning to face you before he froze, seeing your face for the first time since he met you.

You with the prettiest pair of eyes, and the bronze of your skin not given justice due to the darkness of Gotham city. You’d look so much better in the sun, but the dark suited you so much.

“Ms Wayne…? now this is a surprise.” He murmured, eyes dropping to the bat emblem on your chest, as if to reassure himself the you were indeed the bat that prowled the city every night.

You stepped closer, sitting down my the ledge next to him. “What do you wanna know?” You asked, voice low in a deep feminine way, it made butterflies erupt in his tummy.

So he asked the first question, the sun rising by the time you were gone.

© e-nonsense. do no copy/steal/translate. do it and I’ll bite your toes off

[thatgayunoriginalbastard]

would love to hear more about the doomed teleneo yaoi with telestratus at the end ?! 👀👉👈

(Context)

Alrighty so I know I called it a list of oneshot ideas, but not all of them are strictly one chapter. I only give things their own document if they have 6 or more chapters (don't ask why, I don't know either).

ANYWAYS

So the doomed Teleneo yaoi will be four chapters long and covering a period of about a year. I got the idea from this animatic of the two of them because idk I guess I had just never thought of giving them doomed romance before despite the fact that their equal and opposite opposing daddy issues make it work really well?

To give the gist of the plot without getting too detailed (yes, I know this is a lot of bullet points, just think of what that says about how much I'm not including):

Tele and Neo meet at a celebration for Odysseus' return and Tele notices Neo avoiding Ody and him

He later sees Neo sneaking off and later finds him hidden away in the kitchen drinking, Neo convincing Tele to join him

They get into an argument about Ody and their daddy issues until Neo decides to make out with him and Tele, caught off guard and tipsy, just goes with it because Neo is quite hot and what else is he supposed to do?

Tele takes Neo to his bedroom so they can actually have privacy and they fuck, Neo not exactly being the nicest but Tele being able to tell that he's just projecting his own self-worth issues and doesn't take it too seriously

After they finish Tele doesn't want him to leave and Neo figures out that that was Tele's first time having sex, something that catches him WILDLY off guard and he kinda hates himself for being Tele's first time but doesn't hate himself enough to stay, telling him to make sure to not fall in love with him

He leaves and Tele kinda feels like shit but he tries to not think about it since that's what Neo wanted

A while later and Tele is travelling with Athena but due to a sudden storm he has to dock his ship at the nearest place he can find which turns out to be right by Skyros and Athena (who knows about the hookup) tells him to get over any awkwardness he feels and request shelter until it's safe to travel

He goes, Neo lets him stay, and as the storm lasts for days, Neo is avoiding him the whole time

When Tele finally figures out where Neo is he grabs some wine, tracks him down, and they drink and talk

Tele starts to get a little seductive, Neo gets uneasy, but Tele assures him that he's just proving to himself that he won't fall in love with Neo by having sex without feelings

Neo decides to go with the logic but reminds Tele that they're never going to have a relationship and Tele says he knows but he might as well just have some fun which actually seems to hurt Neo for a second before getting back into things

They fuck and afterwards Tele starts to try and get Neo to stay but stops himself, Neo says that that was fun and thanks him before leaving, and Tele is left feeling empty and having no idea if his plan worked or not and deciding that he really needs to talk to his mother (because he knows Athena probably won't be able to help since it's about sex and his father also won't be able to help since it's about Neo)

A while later and Tele is at home when he hears about a visiting prince, assumes it's Peisistratus, then goes to the throne room to see his friend, but ends up overhearing the sounds of arguing, though he can't make anything out

Turns out it's Neo who is staying as he's requesting aid and Ody is showing hospitality but isn't thrilled about it and when he had a maid take Neo to his room he brings Tele into the throne room and is basically all like "I'm not saying I know the two of you have slept together at least twice but if you hypothetically did then don't do it again and especially don't start a relationship with him"

Ody and Tele argue, Ody tells Tele about all of Neo's war crimes, Tele reminds Ody of Neo's daddy issues, Penelope calms them down but is also on the side of don't do anything with Neo which Tele says that he won't do, knowing that he did in some way love Neo but with everything Neo has made clear he's gotten over those feelings as best he can

A few days later and, at Penelope's suggestion, the four go on a little hunting trip together, Neo and Ody actually getting along through their shared competitiveness

Tele ends up splitting off from the group only to have Neo accidentally shoot an arrow at him that cuts his arm, having though Tele was an animal, and instantly rushes over to help patch him up

They talk, things get more intense, Tele reminds Neo of what he said, Neo says that he doesn't care and just wants Telemachus

Neo gives Tele a blowjob and says a few things that makes Tele really concerned about what it was like to be a teenager at war surrounded by a bunch of angry, tired, and desperate older men

Neo fucks Tele's thighs and afterwards Tele tries to leave so Neo won't be able to leave first but Neo pulls him back down and asks him to stay which makes Tele really confused and conflicted but he agrees, Neo ending up falling asleep on him

Just before Tele can fall asleep an arrow is shot in the tree he's laying against, striking just above his head, and he sees that Ody found him looking disappointed, angry, and also concerned, signaling for Tele to come with him

Tele is able to get over there without waking Neo, the two talk and Ody is actually able to be pretty empathetic, at least until he says that he thinks they should head back and telling Tele not to wake Neo, and they leave, as they do Ody looking slightly pained as he asks Tele how much he knows about Diomedes

A while later and Tele is visiting Peisistratus in Pylos and it's great and a little flirty until it turns out that Neo is staying, there being immediate tension that Peisi can sense and he lets them be alone together to talk

They argue, Neo says that he loves Tele, and Tele goes off on Neo for having the audacity to do that after everything he's said and done to him before

They agree to have sex one last time, going to Neo's room and actually going a lot slower and gentler than the previous times, especially compared to their first time

Afterwards Neo repeats that he loves him, Tele says he knows, pauses, then repeats that that was their last time together and Neo says that he knows

Tele agrees to spend the night with him in his room, leaving in the morning before Neo wakes up and instantly being found by Peisistratus who puts together what happened and Tele apologizes, saying that he was just trying to tie up loose ends and when Peisi asks if he thinks he succeeded, Tele smiles and says that he did

Peisi seems happy with that answer, asks if he's too sore for some morning sparring, Tele says no, and the two go off together

So um...I hope this counts as letting you "hear more" about the Teleneo doomed yaoi with Telestratus crumbs at the end lol. Like I said, this is just the gist of the plot and I'm leaving out some smaller details. Before anyone asks, I have no idea when I'll get this done. Due to the length I'll probably want to get all 4 chapters written before I start posting. But, as always, I'll be talking about it on here when I do start posting it. So yeah!

[angsthology]

Pay Attention to Things That Most People Ignore ☆ LS2

logan sargeant is most definitely not most people. it was time he started learning how

characters/pairings; daughter of poseidon!reader, chiron, mr. d, son of apollo!logan, theo (oc), son of athena!oscar.

warnings; monsters, typical pjo-type violence, logan is hopeless but that’s okay! some chb innacurracy sorry i havent read the books in a while, err very rushed writing im sorry, LAWD this is a mess i tell u 😭 perhaps i hate it — 3k words.

a/n; is the title... an all-american bitch lyric? yes. why? im not good and titles and i went to that song in instinct... for no reason. also this was based on a request — though i do admit its a little bit different as i would (hopefully) be making a part 2 hehe. by now im realizing how this title prob has nothin to do with the story

Over the years, she’s come to accept her life. Did it hurt when it felt like her entire life ended? Of course. Does it still hurt when she turns on the television to see them basically rubbing it on her face? —Whatever.

In theory, she probably could’ve gotten away with it had she not been a daughter of one of the big three—thanks a lot, dad. —but it was proven one too many times that it was not safe for her or any of the other kids. If it didn’t put anyone else’s life at risk, she would’ve disobeyed her mother, she really would (she was a child, she really hasn’t grasped the full concept of what other people would feel).

But, you know, oh well.

It’s sixteen years later and she still has that lingering grudge in the back of her head as the screen plays another Grand Prix — another Grand Prix she could’ve probably been a part of.

She tried, she really tried so hard to forget about it, to let go of it, but again, it was proven to be way too hard to let go of something she had an actual chance of, an actual good chance.

Though it might be hard to let go, she couldn’t really complain much about the life she actually had now.

Sure, it gets pretty lonely sometimes being a forbidden child, there weren’t exactly much of them (that are known and living at camp). But she had everyone else, despite practically being an only child at camp, to her everyone else there were her little siblings—of course, that probably has something to do with the fact that she was the oldest camper and the one who has been there longest.

When she heard a set of the all-too-familiar clops her heart dropped from its current fast-paced beating.

She quickly closed your laptop shut, cringing when you heard how loud of a sound it had made. That was it. She didn’t even try hiding her disappointment in herself. She slowly emerged from under the blanket with her lips tightly-wound shut, bracing herself with whatever the Centaur will have to say, her mind playing a quick telepathic farewell to her laptop.

“Hello, Y/N.”

She sighed, “Chiron.”

“Where and how?”

She swallowed the pre-existing nerves in her throat, “Mr. D.”

He hummed in response, so she continued.

“A pack of Heineken and two bottles of Jack Daniels.”

“Hm, good picks.” She responded lowly under her breath with a small ‘yeah’ as Chiron walked closer to the head of her bed near the bed-side table—his hooves making clopping noises each step.

The silence was taking too long to her liking so she just went to get it over with, “So, you’re gonna take it away from me?” she paused, then mumbling under her breath for herself, “—it’s probably another Red Bull win, anyway.”

Apparently, it was loud enough for the Centaur to hear, making him chuckle.

Surprisingly, he didn’t mention anything else about the laptop, “Who do you support?”

Hearing the question quickly made her look up from her fidgeting hands to see the smile on his face, she screwed her brows in confusion as she continues to look at Chiron for—something. Then, realizing that he was still waiting for an answer, she shook her head.

“Uhm—well, uh—”

“You think that Lando will ever get a win?”

That seemed to loosen her up, “Ugh, Gods, I hope. I’m getting exhausted over here—you know, sometimes I really wish I could ask the Oracle about it.”

He chuckled then which made her crack a smile.

When it died down, Chiron looked at her smiling face. He couldn’t help but frown a little, he knew how she felt about racing, he knew how she still feels about it.

“Y/N.”

She looks up at him, “Yeah?”

“So, I am aware that your birthday is nearing…”

“I mean… why wouldn’t you be? I’m here all-year-round.”

Chiron cleared his throat at her interruption, giving her a look.

“Sorry.”

He acknowledged and continued, “I am also aware that it lines up with a certain event…”

She raised an eyebrow it that, almost guessing what that said ‘event’ was.

“So,” he stopped, initially had her thinking he was just pausing but when he left out the door of her cabin she raised her hands as if saying ‘what gives?’

Seconds passed and it seemed like Chiron wasn’t going to come back any time soon so instead she stumbled off of her bed to quickly catch up to the Centaur that was headed to a building—the girl almost caught up to him, almost following him into the building but he was already back out in a good few seconds, stopping her right in front of the set of stairs, raising both her hands in question once more, “You just left. ‘So’, what?”

“I have it arranged that you will be attending the Miami Grand Prix.” He smiled as he handed her a lanyard.

She swore her eyes looked like it could’ve popped out of their sockets in a matter of seconds. She couldn’t believe what she was holding; a paddock pass. She couldn’t believe Chiron had done this for her considering how careful of a man (well, half-man) he is especially with her being a forbidden child. This was about to turn into the best birthday yet.

When she looked up to the smiling Chiron, her mouth still hung open in shock but her arms immediately wrapped around the man’s body in a bone-crushing hug.

She didn’t know how many ‘thank you’s that spilled out of her mouth but next thing she knew he was hugging her back with a chuckle escaping his lips.

After a few more ‘thank you’s from her, she pulled away smiling at him, “I thought you’d rather keep me here forever, why now?”

He cleared his throat, “Well, you are turning twenty-one, not many of you reach that kind of age—don’t tell them I said that—so I’d like to make it a bit more special.”

Still smiling, she looked at the paddock pass in her hand again, “You don’t know how much I appreciate this, Chi. Thank you, again.”

Being there felt… odd… unnatural.

She always thought if she were ever walking through the paddocks she would be walking as a driver.

What was even more odd was she felt her senses tingling, like she was being watched.

It was a bustling crowded place with many more interesting people compared to her, so it was weird to her that she felt like she was being watched of all people.

But alas, she brushed it off. It didn’t feel like anything bad—if it were, she would know—so she’s just going to have to save that thought for later.

She had to remind herself why she’s here; daydream in real-time of what could’ve been.

Yeah, she weren’t really keen on letting that go.

That is, until she was into her head she failed to notice the person—and group of people that came with said person—she was running into.

Before she knew it, a strong arm was holding her back with too much force for her liking, the action itself almost kicking in her self defense instinct until the person she did bump into pushed the hand away.

He was now talking to her, she assumed, but she was too focused on the person who had pushed her away.

Something about him felt… off. He was what she would count as freakishly huge for a normal human being, her eyes couldn’t help but recalculate the large man over and over until eventually the person that has been trying to get her attention snaps her out of it.

“Sorry, that’s Theo, he’s like that. I swear he doesn’t mean any harm.”

The scowl she hadn’t realized that made it’s way to her face slowly dropped as she slowly move her gaze to the person that was talking to her.

When their eyes met, she swore she saw a flash of something pass by his expression.

“Yeah,” she finally let go of this ‘Theo’ person and found her words, “Sorry I bumped into you.”

“That’s fine.” There was a brief silence across them until he cleared his throat, “I’m Logan, by the way.”

“Yeah, I know. You drive for Williams.” She replied flatly.

He cleared his throat again, scanning her for the shortest moment, “Do I know you?”

She looked to his eyes again with a small squint. “Most likely not. Good luck, bye.”

Before he could say anything else she was already speed-walking away. And for some odd reason, Logan found himself watching her walk away before getting pulled away himself just in the same time as the girl turned around to give a watchful eye.

It was getting annoying. This was supposed to be a weekend to enjoy but she could not help but feel that uneasiness creeping up on her. Over the years she had somewhat mastered the ability—well more the ability mastering her—of sensing bad things, whether that was events or creatures alike.

So, to simply put that together, that’s how she found herself sneaking around the Williams garage. Not hospitality, garage.

From years of quests here and there, many hours of weapons training, and not to mention capture the flag schemings with other campers, she had mastered the skill of being sneaky. It really did work well in her favor.

What she didn’t expect was to be completely entranced the moment she got into the busy garage; it was the first time she was seeing a real life-size F1 car in real-time.

Everything was so enchanting to her, it felt like she was reliving her childhood dreams all over again. When she had gone through with her plan, she didn’t really register the fact that she was going to go face to face with an actual working Formula One garage.

She really tried to stay focused on the task at hand but it really was in her blood to be unfocused.

“Hey!”

Somehow, just somehow, she had heard his voice over the loud noises around her and just somehow, she knew he was addressing her.

Immediately, she tried to hide or duck behind something—anything just so she didn’t have to face him.

Before she knew it a hand was gripping her upper arm and pulling her somewhere quieter and she was met with green eyes that looked at her with suspicion.

“Are you like a fan or something?”

She was taken aback by his words.

“…what?”

“Are you following me?”

“What—no. I mean not you specifically—why did I say that.” she whispered the last part to herself. If she was being honest, she hasn’t really been brushing up her skills in socializing with anyone else that weren’t the campers.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing! I—”

Their conversation—if you could’ve called it that anyway—was interrupted by the same man she had been suspecting from earlier.

“There you are.” It was the first time she was hearing his voice and just by that she already knew that they were going to be in big trouble. His voice was low and unnerving, saying the words as if he’s been searching for them not for worried purposes rather unfortunate ones.

Logan didn’t seem to have the same feeling as her as he looked more relieved among other things to see the man. “Theo!” he greeted while throwing his hands in the air, “What’s up, man?”

Fortunately for Logan, Theo wasn’t exactly paying attention to him instead looking at the girl in front of him instead.

When he noticed he tried to interfere, “Oh, no, don’t worry about her, she’s not harmful.” He then realized he didn’t exactly know this girl so he looked at her with questioning eyes, “You aren’t, right?”

Except her focus didn’t waver from the big man that looked at her with a stare that tried to kill.

Logan, still clueless, looked between the two back and forth in confusion until Theo said something that really caught his attention.

“Daughter of Poseidon.” Theo growled.

Logan’s head couldn’t snap towards her faster.

“Shit.” She mumbled under her breath.

Before they knew it, she had grabbed a hold of his hand and running away with it, Logan still very much in shock at this new information he attained.

Through empty places and crowded ones, the girl forgot that the man she had ahold of weren’t just anyone but a very real and hard-to-miss Formula One driver. Sure, he was a rookie but a driver nonetheless.

But she couldn’t care less about the attention she was gaining; she was far too busy running for her life than think about cameras and the public.

“What the hell was he talking about? Poseidon?!” she didn’t answer his panicked question so he continued instead, “Are you a half-blood too?”

The ‘too’ in his question was what finally caught her attention but still, she didn’t answer him, only cursing herself for not noticing one when she saw one.

Just when she thought they had lost them, the monster once disguised as Theo was standing there at the end of the opening, she and Logan had slipped in.

Next thing she knew she was fumbling around trying to fight off the apparent Giant that was Theo.

“What the hell are you doing there, mind a little help over here?” she yelled over at Logan who was pretty much… useless in the corner.

He continued to panic, looking for anything he could use to get the Giant off of her.

Suddenly, while she was struggling to get the Giant’s grip off of her, the force stopped as a cloud of mist poofed where the monster was once before. She quickly scrambled herself up and was met with a figure in McLaren clothing holding a gold-dust colored weapon pointing at her.

“Oscar Piastri?!”

He didn’t answer her, dagger still pointing at her direction, “Who are you?”

Putting her hands out in defense she explained herself, “I respect that.” she commented, “I’m Y/N L/N, I am the daughter of Poseidon,” then she cautiously pointed at the Australian, “I’m assuming you’re a half-blood too.” she nodded at him, “Who do you belong to?”

Oscar then slowly lowered his weapon, his trust building by the minute, “Athena.”

Then both of them turn to Logan simultaneously.

“No!” he got defensive immediately, “I want to know what just happened!” he pointed accusingly.

All of a sudden, it just finally hit Oscar, “Poseidon?!”

The sea god’s daughter made a face and ignored the Australian, “What do you mean what just happened? Typical demigod stuff!”

The look on his face made her double-take, “You… do have occasional encounters with monsters here and there… right?”

When Logan’s expression doesn’t change, she turns to Oscar.

“I have this for a reason.” He said slowly, showing her the dagger. “—and, well, if I’m being honest, that has never happened before.”

“Shit.” she shakes her head in disappointment then pulling out her phone, “I need to make a phone call.”

She left the two men by themselves and went ahead as the line rings a couple of times before getting an answer.

After a brief conversation—that will continue later for details—the girl locked her phone and walked towards the two drivers.

“You’re coming with me this summer. It will not be up for debate and don’t worry about your… duties, I have it covered.”

Logan was quick to stop her explanations, “Wait—what—no! At least explain what the hell that phone call was about. You can’t just drop all that on us and expect us to be okay with it.

She rolls her eyes, “I’ll explain later, right now, you two have a job to do.” They didn’t object to that, the three of them walking out the pretty-hidden space the Giant had decided to corner them before.

Oscar stopped just outside, “I can take care of myself if anything else decide to come out and attack me, you should probably go with him. And uh, I actually need to talk to you,” he pointed at her, “—later. Not exactly letting you off the hook that easily.”

She didn’t complain.

The two walked in silence, every once in a while getting stopped for a picture and such, until Logan speaks up.

��Apollo.”

She turned to him, eyebrow raised.

“My dad.”

“Oh.” She paused then comments, “Fitting.”

He didn’t know what it was in her voice, it didn’t sound exactly like a compliment but he wasn’t sure if it was an insult.

Whatever, he shrugged it off.

After that, they both went into their own train of thoughts.

Without noticing, they both sucked in a breath in unison.

“I’m sorry for—”

“I think you should—”

The two quickly stepped back from whatever it was they were going to say, heat rushing up their necks. They kept walking on the awkward silence that fell upon them until Logan re-focused his attention and remembering what she had said—well, what she almost said earlier.

“Wait—‘sorry’? What were you apologizing for?” he turned to her who was now ducking away from his eyes, her own focus stayed on her fidgeting hands.

She made a noise before finally finding her words, “It’s just—this always happens, you know. I’m a forbidden kid, I attract the worst kind of trouble there is for half-bloods. And earlier; I had brought it to you and Oscar.” he was going to say something to ease her guilt but she beat him to it, “I’m just glad that monster didn’t hurt any of you.” She threw her hands in the air, “I mean, it’s qualifying day for Gods sake! —maybe I shouldn’t go to the race tomorrow.” She mumbled the last part to herself, though not quietly enough that the driver didn’t hear.

Logan was taken aback by her statement, giving him an opening on his almost-offer.

“What—no! Why not?” he asked.

“Look, it’s bad enough that there’s two demigods in one place; adding a forbidden kid in the mix won’t really make it any better. I still want everyone to have a safe race. Who knows what kind of other monsters I could attract.”

From every point of view Logan could gather, it was simply a fact that this girl knows about their world far more than he did, far more than Oscar did, so he couldn’t really be the voice of judgement in whatever she had to say. But… he wanted her to stay.

It calmed him down for some reason, knowing someone shares the same—if not, worse—fate as you.

So, he tried to find a reason, a good reason to make her stay. Of course, he wasn’t a pro at this half-blood thing so he offered something that he was familiar with. He gave her a more… human reason.

“I think you should stay.” He blurted.

“Logan—”

“Dude—is it alright if I called you that?”

“Uh, go nuts.”

“You deserve to have some fun, watch a race! I’ll even have you as an official Williams guest!”

She hummed with a smile creeping up.

“And if you’re worried about trouble, that’s fine. We can always handle trouble! We are all trouble-bound any way, better face them now than later! Plus, I think it’d be good if you could teach us the basics early.”

She felt the warmth spread through her chest. It’s been a while since she felt someone so welcoming that wasn’t anyone within Camp Half-blood. It was nice. He was nice. Almost made her forget that she was in the place she was meant to be in.

Her heart felt wholesome, but didn’t make it show, her mouth couldn’t stop the comment from escaping her mouth instead.

“You really want me to stay, huh?”

[originalcrime]

Also for the kiss ask, eddiejosh and 8 please

on the flip side from my last fill, here’s something happier and fluffier for the evening (and longer! it ran away from me a little bit)

8. … in secret

Josh wasn’t sure what he was doing at the Grant-Nash Christmas party.

“You’re my date!” Maddie said.

“You have a husband,” Josh pointed out.

Maddie raised her eyebrows. “I’ll have a husband again after he sleeps off the peppermint schnapps. Until then, he belongs to Karen.”

“How modern of you,” Josh said with a grin. Maddie hummed in agreement. Her eyes were glittering with levity, or maybe just the reflections of the Christmas lights. Athena and Bobby had really gone all out. They were everywhere.

“Oh, Athena just put out more canapés!” Maddie said, already moving back towards the kitchen.

“What about being my date?” Josh called, but she was already gone.

“Can’t keep a good woman, huh?” somebody said from behind him.

Josh turned toward Eddie Diaz. “Did you think that one through? Pretty sure I could lob a devastating comeback at you of all people pretty easily.”

“But you didn’t,” Eddie replied mischievously, his eyes dancing with mirth. It was a good look on him. “Must be a Christmas miracle.”

“You look good,” Josh said. Eddie flushed. “I mean—you look happy. Unless it’s just that you’re finally able to smile without the weight of that mustache.”

“I am, uh, really happy,” Eddie said. “I don’t know if you heard but—Chris is back. For good. Got on last week. He’s here tonight, actually. He helped Bobby and Athena decorate. You can blame all the lights on him. He’s always loved stretching the limit of how many are safe to plug in.”

“That’s great!” Josh said. “I mean, not his apparent disregard for electrical fires. Him being home. I’m really happy for you.”

“Thanks,” Eddie said. “You know, uh, Josh, you look good tonight, too.” The tips of his ears were bright pink.

Josh felt frozen and hot all over. “Eddie,” he chuckled, “you’re not flirting with me, are you?”

Eddie had a stubborn sort of set to his brow. “Maybe I’m tired of trying to keep a good woman,” he said.

Josh laughed delightedly. “You know, I’m not a very good man.”

“I don’t think that’s true,” Eddie said, entirely too genuinely. Shit, Josh was going to have to kiss him about it, wasn’t he?

Above the general noise of party chatter, Chimney’s voice broke out. “Time for Christmas carols!” he cheered, and then he and Karen launched into God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman and Carol of the Bells simultaneously and not a particularly in tune.

“While everyone’s distracted by that,” Josh said, “you want to get out of here?”

“I can’t go far,” Eddie said. “My son’s here.” It came out of him all giddy. Josh definitely had to kiss him about that.

“Bathroom work?” he said.

Eddie tasted like canapés and gingerbread and joy. Josh couldn’t get enough, so he pushed Eddie up against Athena’s hand towels and groaned into Eddie’s mouth as Eddie cupped his ass. Faintly, he could hear Chim and Karen switching into Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!, but it couldn’t quite permeate their blissful little bubble.

Josh pressed a kiss into Eddie’s upper lip. Eddie nipped along Josh’s jawline. Someone knocked on the bathroom door.

“Dad, are you in there?” It was Chris. Eddie went stiff under Josh’s hands. “Denny and I are gonna take the kids around the block to look at the lights, okay? Maddie and Hen said it was okay.”

Eddie’s mouth moved for a bit without anything coming out. Josh backed up to give him some space. “Sounds good, Chris!” he finally managed. “You watch out for them, okay?”

“I will,” Chris said. “Hey, don’t spend to long in there. You’ll miss the party.”

Neither Eddie nor Josh said anything as they listened to him walk away from the door.

“He’s a good kid,” Josh said, finally.

“I know,” Eddie said.

“I don’t want you to miss the party,” Josh said, leaning in.

“I don’t want to miss this,” Eddie said, leaning in closer.

Their lips met in another heated kiss that went down warmer than Chimney’s peppermint schnapps. It was an excellent Christmas party. Josh was so glad to have been invited.

Send me a ship and a kiss!

Accepting buddie, eddietommy, and eddiejosh

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

max for 🔍 because this story is designed in a lab to cause the maximum amount of pain for every single character and I *love* it

Thank you!!!! and yes haha it is.

500:

---

“Everything okay?” Buck asks. 

“Yeah,” Eddie mumbles. “This whole no out of state connection thing is just getting to me. I sent Christopher a message last night when we were in Maryland, but I hate not knowing if he’s trying to get in contact with me now.”

Buck feels a pang of guilt. Eddie should go home and be with his kid. Wasn’t his big fear not being able to be with him? He knows Buck is safe. He should prioritize his son now. 

“I’m sorry,” Buck says. “How old is he again?”

“Fifteen,” Eddie says. 

“Wow,” Buck says. “Fun age, or?”

“It has its moments,” Eddie replies. “Sometimes it’s easier, because he’s like a little man, and he doesn’t need me as much. And sometimes it’s harder for the exact same reason.”

Buck nods. That makes sense. 

“It sounded like he and I were close, in the voicemails,” Buck whispers.

Eddie looks sad. “Yeah. You were. Before I screwed up and he left for Texas anyway. I guess I sort of ruined that for you.”

Buck imagines he wouldn’t have held that against him. Though, hard to say. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about when he says he screwed up. 

“Hey, I’m sure it would have been okay,” Buck says. “Uh, if I hadn’t…”

“Yeah,” Eddie mumbles. “Yeah, probably.”

Buck can’t be much more help here, so he decides to move on.

“Should we call Maddie?” He asks. “We should talk and uh… I mean, you’re probably getting hungry.”

“Yeah,” Eddie nods. “That sounds good. I could eat.”

“We’ll probably have to go out somewhere,” Buck says. “I’m not much of a cook.” 

Sounds like he might have forgotten a few breakfast recipes, though.

Eddie’s face drops. Like Buck has kicked a puppy right in front of him. 

“What’s wrong?” Buck asks. 

“Nothing,” Eddie says eventually. 

But he’s obviously lying. Buck just doesn’t know why. 

🔍

“I’ve already looked up short term rentals in the area,” Bobby says when they sit down to dinner. “It’s not so bad.”

Buck feels a twist in his stomach. He still wants to fix this before it comes to that. He doesn’t know who between them is more stubborn, him or Bobby, and he hopes he doesn’t have to find out. 

“I’m still hoping we can avoid that outcome,” Athena says, seemingly reading Buck’s thoughts. 

“Me too,” Maddie says. “If we can get everyone home, that’s the best case scenario.”

Eddie nods. “I agree.”

“Well, ideally speaking,” Bobby says, mouth twitching with frustration. Why does Buck feel like he’s had this conversation in circles already?

[helenofsparta2]

kind of related to your post about zoe just now but: what do you think of the hunters in general? I've got a lot of thoughts on them myself.. most of them not that positive lmao lots of "could have been good, but very poor execution" and "sounds cool on the surface, but very questionable when thought about more"

First of all, thank you for the question :)))

Oh god, this might become a slightly longer post, because I have a lot to say about the hunters of Artemis.

From what you’ve written, it sounds like we might have a very similar opinion. I personally think they are one of the worst-written parts of the original Percy Jackson books. I love their idea, I love their basic concept, but their execution was pretty atrocious.

There are four main points regarding them that I want to talk about.

The portrayal of Artemis (though this one is by far not as bad as the others)

2. The behaviour of the huntresses

3. Bianca

4. Lacking Development

Artemis

Now, I know that the gods and goddesses of the Riordan verse, are sanitized caricatures, and shouldn’t be compared to their actual myth versions. I think everyone in this fandom has at least heard some well-founded criticisms regarding the portrayal of Ares, Athena, Aphrodite, Apollo or any of the other gods.  

I even understand why Rick Riordan made most of the decisions that he did. Obviously, the gods had to be sanitized for a book series primarily aimed at children, and, to be fair to him, even if their characterizations are a far-cry from their myths and sometimes overly stereotypical (Aphrodite), they are fulfilling the roles they have in this story as deeply flawed, but powerful individuals, because of whose careless mistakes and pride demigods, and other ‘lesser’ beings have to suffer.  

And I actually do not hate Artemis’ portrayal that much, if we exclude the behavior of her hunt, and the initiation of Bianca. Her taking Annabeth’s place in holding the sky and her loudly arguing against killing Percy and Thalia at the winter solstice was a great portrayal of her being a patron goddess of children, and the idea of including the hunters of Artemis as a group of girls, both from mortal and immortal parents, who have been hurt by the world, and found a safe place with one another is actually really great. Generally, whenever she appears in the books, I have the feeling she is handled with far more graze and respect than a lot of other godly beings.  

However, as someone who very much loves Greek mythology, I just want to point out some small parts, which are not entirely accurate, though, again,  I understand Rick’s reason for omitting them in the context of what he wanted to do with her character and the hunt , and I acknowledge that even in ancient times, there existed a variety of different interpretations of the gods.

(Please note, that while I read original sources like the works of Diodor, Apollodorus, Hesiod, and Euripides, I am not a classicist, and that my knowledge of the greek gods primarily stems from personal research and my own interest. If anyone knows more about Artemis, please feel free to correct me if necessary)  

While Artemis is primarily the goddess of the hunt, and in later interpretations of the moon, she is not only the protector of girls, but the patron goddess of children in general and a goddess closely linked to childbirth.

Yes, she expects her followers to remain chaste, but to say that she is completely against men would be a grave mistake. Male followers of Artemis did exist in mythology, most famously Orion, who later became a constellation, and Hippolytus, the son of Theseus and the Amazon Hippolyta.

So, her cold behavior towards Nico and her degrading words towards boys in general is an attribute primarily added by Rick Riordan.

Though, like I said, I understand making certain changes to gods and goddesses, or rather choosing different interpretations of them to have them fulfill a certain role in a book series, so Artemis portrayal itself doesn’t bother me that much.

But if we’re talking about the hunters themselves, things easily take a turn for the worse.  

The behavior of the hunters

Now, I understand the hunters point in the story.

A huge theme of Titan’s curse is to explore the difference between old ideals of what heroism entails and the modern take on it, represented through Theseus and Herakles on one side, and Percy on the other. The hunters, and especially Zöe, represent a group, who have suffered through the actions of those old, primarily male heroes, and have developed a strong bias against all boys and men as a result. A bias, Percy is supposed to break in this book.

This, in itself, is a pretty awesome concept. But, like I said, the execution mostly failed.

Most of the Hunters of Artemis in Titan’s curse were written without any nuance, without development and without any sense of self reflection.

To express it plainly, they completely suck. And that hurts to say, especially as someone who is asexual-sex-repulsed and aromantic, because, like I said, they could have been an absolutely amazing part of the overarching story and theme of the book series, but with the way Rick Riordan wrote them, they suck. They’re insufferable.  They’re a group of immortal teenagers with a superiority complex, who act the way right-wing republicans and trump supporters think feminists act like.

They’re completely antagonistic towards the campers at camp half-blood for absolutely no good reason, act really childish and immature, and their overwhelming bias against every male character, especially Percy and Nico, is just plain annoying and goes to a point, where it makes them act like absolute idiots and assholes.

Zöe’s behavior at the meeting to decide who should go on the quest to save Artemis is a pretty good representation of everything I dislike about the hunters.  

She doesn’t want to take campers with her on the quest, even though the oracle plainly stated that them working together was the only way for them to succeed:

“You’re missing something as usual,” Thalia said. “Campers and Hunters combined prevail. We’re supposed to do this together.”

“No!”, Zoe said. “The Hunters do not need thy help.”

Immediately afterwards, she makes fun of Silena Beauregard (who is around 14 or 15 at the time, might I add.):

“Percy is right,” Silena Beauregard said. “Two campers should go.”

“Oh, I see,” Zoe said sarcastically. “And I suppose you wish to volunteer?”

Silena blushed. “I’m not going anywhere with the hunters. Don’t look at me!”

“A daughter of Aphrodite does not wish to be looked at,” Zoe scoffed. “What would thy mother say?”

And then, she decisively refuses Percy’s help for the quest, even though he is objectively the best person for the job. I really can’t reiterate enough that Percy is the most accomplished hero present at that meeting. He has successfully led two quests, one to stop a civil war between the gods, the second to recover the golden fleece. Even in comparison to Thalia, Percy is more accomplished and has gained more respect within the mythological world.

As I walked back through the city of the gods, conversations stopped. The muses paused their concert. People and satyrs and naiads all turned towards me, their faces filled with respect and gratitude, and as I passed, they knelt, as if I were some kind of hero. (The lightning thief)

Yet Zoe refuses his help to save the goddess she serves and increases so the risk of failure, simply because he is a boy.

“Oh,” Grover said, suddenly aware of the problem. “Whoa, yeah. I forgot! Percy has to go. I didn’t mean… I’ll stay. Percy should go in my place.”

“He cannot,” Zoe said. “He’s a boy. I won’t have Hunters travelling with a boy.”

Another huge problem in their characterization is their immortality. Here I want to focus again on their ongoing beef with camp half-blood, because, yes, while the campers also act pretty antagonistic in return, I think it’s important to note that most kids at camp half blood are between the ages of 10 and I’d say maybe 17 years old, while the huntresses are immortal.

Now, it’s obviously possible that most of them are still teenagers and haven’t been part of the hunt for that long, but considering the fact that Zoe is over 3000 years old, and could very well be older than most Olympians, the chance of most hunters being older than at least 30, is pretty high, which makes their behavior seem even more ridiculous.

And obviously the whole situation with Bianca paints the hunters in the worst light possible.

Bianca

There are already some pretty good and detailed posts on tumblr regarding the subject of Bianca and the hunters, so I don’t want to dig into this subject too deeply, because this post is already way too long, but you can’t possibly write about the hunters without mentioning her.

The hunters, especially Zoe and Artemis convinced Bianca to join them in a moment of huge distress. Bianca was a twelve-year-old, vulnerable girl, who just found out she was a demigod, almost got kidnapped by the manticore, and watched a girl fall down a cliff, yet they expect her to swear allegiance to them after only a couple of minutes of knowing them.

They paint her this beautiful picture of having no responsibility and a new family, telling her exactly, what she wanted to hear without giving her even a moment to breathe or give her time to talk to her brother or fully think this through.

I want to point out that at this point in time, Artemis had already decided that she needed to go after the monster alone, and knew, that her hunters would spend some time at camp half-blood. But instead of giving Bianca these couple days/ weeks to accept this new reality of the mythological world and get to know both camp half-blood and the hunters, she wants an answer at this very moment,

Yes, Bianca’s answer was rash, and yes, I do think it’s rather cold that she didn’t first talk to Nico about it, but it’s pretty plain to see that she was overwhelmed and pretty much manipulated during this entire conversation.

Later, Zoe decides to take her with her on the quest, even though Bianca is completely unprepared for it. She is probably, aside from Nico, the most unprepared person in the entirety of camp half-blood to go on a quest.  

I don’t think I have to explain how terrible of a decision that was.

The hunters are objectively the worst thing that could have ever happened to Bianca and the main reason why she died.

Lacking Development:

Now, all of this, every single flaw I just pointed out, could have actually worked out, if there would have been some sort of change in the hunters’ way of thinking and an acknowledgement that their opinions on boys and males in general are misguided and lead to more harm than good during the course of the books.

Especially after their actions led to Bianca’s death.

Them seeing how much love Nico had for his sister and how much he suffered from her death could have been a great moment for some character development.

But nothing happened.

Camp half blood and the hunters grieving together at the end of Titan’s curse for both Zoe and Bianca could have resulted in a genuine moment of friendship between the two groups, leading to understanding and change.  

But nothing happened.

The only person who took responsibility for Bianca’s death at the end of Titan’s curse was fourteen-year-old Percy. The only person who cared enough about Nico to search for him and make sure he was safe, was Percy. The hunters didn’t care at all. Took no responsibility whatsoever.

All that happened at the end of that book was that Thalia became a huntress, and that Zoe and Artemis acknowledged Percy as a hero.

This, while admittedly, a great moment for Percy’s characterization and also somewhat for the character development of Zoe, had very little effect otherwise.  

Because, in the end, Zoe and Artemis treated Percy as if he was the exception. As if they had been only wrong about him, and not boys in general. They didn’t revisit their line of thinking, they didn’t self-reflect and they didn’t acknowledge that their bias was utterly flawed, and that they should treat male demigods generally better.

She (Zöe) grasped it contently. “You spoke the truth, Percy Jackson. You are nothing like… like Hercules. I am honored that you carry this sword.”

Then, she (Artemis) turned to me. “You did well,” she said. “For a man.”

Percy Jackson is fundamentally a story about the circle of abuse, and, Percy specifically, breaking that circle, but nothing of note happened with the hunters.

Because even if Zoe had confronted her own bias, (and there is admittedly an argument to be made that she did) she would have been the only hunter to do so. And she died.

Thalia becoming the lieutenant of the hunters as someone who is best friends with Percy and Grover, and who misses Jason more than anything, could have confronted this distorted line of thinking, but the other hunters remain pretty much unchanged in the last Olympian and The Lost Hero.

There were hugs and greetings al around- or at least Thalia was friendly. The other hunters didn’t like being around campers, especially boys, but they didn’t shoot any of us, which for them was a pretty warm welcome. (The last Olympian, chapter 10)

“Oh, no way,” Leo said. “We’ve been sitting in a cave and you get a luxury tent? Somebody give me hypothermia. I want hot chocolate and a parka!”

Phoebe sniffed. “Boys,” she said, like it was the worst insult she could think of. (XXXVI Leo, the lost hero.)

Conclusion:

So, yeah. They had huge potential, both as individual characters and as part of the overarching plot and theme of Percy Jackson, but their execution was absolutely abysmal.

The only possible positive thing I could say about them is that they are at least better than the Amazons (though that is not particularly hard)

I hope my rambling was understandable, it's already pretty late:')

[nyxirrationalstories]

Hello it's me again since your request is open ( correct me if i wrong ) , may i've a request for saint Seiya. Seiya,hyoga,Shun, Ikki,shiryu ( classic saint Seiya ) .... With model fem s/o, please...S/o who thought their boyfriend was cosplaying when they accidentally passed by/were at the scene after their fight and screamed in Joy.

This is gonna be so funny.

Btw, how are you?! Where have you been

Yes, the ask is still open. I'm fine, I had my bad days, but I'm still me after all.

I've been busy with college, I had an emergency surgery last year, I got this tumblr "hacked" (I got in a fight with a friend, I took advantage of giving her the password and she deleted ask and drafts), I got a cat that I love very much and a few days ago I taught a literature class at a chemistry school.

So between good and bad, thanks for asking. I appreciate the courtesy.

I misunderstood the ask, but I recover with the last 2 knights. Sorry, I hope you like it.

Actually, the scenario sounds pretty funny and I can already imagine every single situation.

- Seiya

Let's imagine for a moment that the poor boy forgot to tell his S/o about his fight on behalf of Athena.

So when S/o walked into the room and saw him in his armor... she got a "Lois Lane". Her boyfriend a zodiac knight? Naaaah, impossible. Must be a pretty good cosplay.

She couldn't help but be thrilled at how well done, I mean, literally wearing armor to emulate a knight? Now that's love of art, the passion in this work... she couldn't help but express it to him.

Seiya was quite confused and embarrassed. I mean, he loved that his girlfriend showed so much passion in "looking for the details of the cosplay" but at the same time he felt that not only did he owe her the truth but he didn't deserve those compliments because he hadn't even made the armor.

Unfortunately, every time he tried, the redder his face felt. He couldn't take that joy away from her, not yet.

- Hyoga

Here the reason I didn't say he was a zodiac knight is because he is too reserved and aloof about some things.

And Camus, especially Camus. Moreover, you just knew that Hyoga trained to be stronger alone. Camus only knew that Hyoga went to nearby villages to "read and train his mind". You both suspected certain lies, but Hyoga was living up to "expectations" so there was no problem?

So when you saw him in his armor in the dead of winter... you couldn't help but put several blankets and a coat on him. Hyoga was quite surprised and touched, it had been a long time since anyone had taken care of him like that.

As a cosplayer model, you told him that you were proud of his dedication and success in his costume, as his girlfriend "what were you thinking? It's so cold, you might get hypothermia".

Hyoga didn't correct you, it was better that you thought (for now) that this was just a costume and that he was a "handsome fool" who wanted to surprise you.

With you by your side, winter felt like spring.

- Shun

I think Shun never said anything because of the danger you might be in, I mean, look what happened to Ikki's girlfriend.

However, unlike the others, Shun might even go so far as to play along: photos, short videos, even do a little roleplaying to make your moment of joy turn into fun and euphoria.

It was quite an interesting afternoon until he took you by the hands and had to tell you the truth. And well, as the meme goes, "at first Ego thought it was a joke, but as Lingüini explained to him Ego's smile disappeared".

Next thing Shun knew, your next cosplay would be "The Knight of Andromeda" and that you would always support him no matter what.

Bonus: In the Hades saga, even though you were worried after everything that happened, Shun gave you the clothes that Hades used so you could cosplay.

- Ikki

I think Ikki needs no explanation as to why he didn't tell you he is a zodiac knight.

So after a successful fight and with all his buddies safe... he never thought he would stumble upon one of your photo shoots.

On the one hand, he was quite happy that you were fine and having fun. On the other hand, he had to put up with the teasing from his classmates and brother. Either with comments or Shun and Seiya posing for your photos. They even forced him to take a group photo for one of your stories.

For more "fun" the fools commented on the story, "praising" the cosplay. And you were responding with immense joy at how your boyfriend was "quite skilled at cosplay, just like his friends and brother".

Ikki vowed revenge, each of them would pay for their crime. Except for you and Shun, you guys were okay.

- Shiryu

I think Shiryu was honest from the beginning, but maybe you didn't believe him from the start. The other is that there was so much work that the detail completely slipped your mind.

So when you praised his cosplay, Shiryu mito you confused, but he appreciated the praise to his uniform. That's when reality hit you again and you could only feel your cheeks burning, hiding your face in your hands and whispering a "sorry".

Shiryu just smiled and stroked your head, telling you it was okay. Until Seiya said that his costume was better for cosplay, to which Ikki told him it was "simple and insipid". Thus starting a fight of "Which armor was better for cosplaying?"

Bonus:

Saori watched happily as you tried on the ancient robes of the Goddess Athena. She didn't have the heart to tell you that it wasn't a cosplay, nor to refuse to let you try them on.

She even put on the ornaments she herself would wear. You were her goddess of love, just as Ares had Aphrodite, she had you.

Saori was happy that you didn't know she was Athena, because you loved Saori Kido, who she really was. There was no duty, no quest for power, not that you liked the "Saori, the rich girl" part either. She was very grateful that Jabu had forgiven her for her mistreatment. Although now he kept teasing her about her "next cosplay".