#100% jason's got more skills than percy

[cynthiav06]

Percy is a dude from the category of screaming "what the hell did you do!" and solve all the problems in 5 minutes. Everyone would have been dead a long time ago if it wasn't for him.

I have mixed opinions on this. On one hand, Percy is the type of person to wait about for the problem to disappear by itself just so he doesn't have to deal with it. Cause even before he found out he was a demigod, he was 100% done with everyone's shit.

But I do agree that he would be able to solve all problems because through so many books we have seen that no matter how much prior planning Annabeth or the Seven or anyone else does, Percy always does his own thing at the end. And it works out mostly for the better than whatever initial situation anyone else had in mind because Percy thinks almost too well on his feet. Every time.

But Percy has such low self esteem that he sees the fact that he has to make so many improvisations more so as his plans never working as less so as an exceptional ability to adapt. Especially when at times he can easily sense that some titan/giant is too powerful so he maneuvers around a direct fight and ends up defeating them by pure strategy and still ends up thinking of himself as "Oh shit I seriously had no plans. I am so reckless and stupid".

His whole character arc could have been evolving into a more confident and self assured but still the usual sarcastic laid back version of himself who no longer doubts his own abilities and becomes the great leader he showed many signs of being. But no, Rick had to ruin it all because, for some reason, 10+ books later and almost all the characters are still the same, just decorated with even more trauma. Rick being Rick, and instead of showing characters working out their traumas and insecurities, he just slaps a relationship on them, and lo and behold, all is better again somehow.

I am kind of disappointed that we never got to see Percy or any other members of the Seven do any solo missions(aside from Annabeth in MoA) . She almost had the very quintessential realization about she needs others and how her hubris will ruin everything if she doesn't keep it in check only for whatever she was doing in the later parts House of Hades and all of Chalice of the Gods to take away even that little bit of character development.

And cause solo missions working out perfectly well for Percy while most other demigods struggle a bit to make it work might finally make him realize that his plans don't suck and he is actually a really really good strategist and somehow an even better manipulator. (Though more on that and his observational skills later).

Or make characters like Frank and Leo whose unique abilities and perspectives on combat could have been shown off more, making them all become more self-reliant.

And even so we could finally get proper idea of limits of certain characters like Piper (cause charmspeak isn't going to get her everywhere) or Hazel (we so need more scenes of her surprising demigods and monsters with not only her unique jewel abilities and her magic.) Plus Nico's combat limits, Jason's stamina limits (no I am not considering that part of canon, you can't tell me it's true, I refuse to stand by it), Thalia's character development as well as her honing her powers and combat abilities more.

So yeah, we really should have gotten a few solo missions instead of so many short stories and all. And a bit more cross-over highlighting the power levels between the Norse, Greek, Roman, and Egyptian demigods/magicians/Valhalla residents/Valkyrie and so on.

To sum it up, tons of missed opportunities by Riordan and even more tragic and terrible progression of previously great characters who just needed a well-made character arc or even some favoritism. (I am looking at Grover and Rachel, who both could have done so so much if Rick had only realized the awesome potential they had).

I have said it many times that it's #percy jackson supremacy. So hell yes everyone would be dead without him, and he is arguably the best protagonist out of any other fantasy action book series. All hail Percy Jackson, the master of sass, and the most beloved but somehow still the most misinterpreted character in the fandom. Really liked this ask, would love more of these regarding Percy or any other characters.

[chiistarri]

i love you merging interests ,, anyway genshin pjo au

annabeth : pyro – passionate, dedicated their lives to something they like. her passion/interest/etc would be architecture, obviously. even tho she's a child of athena, it's not that her biggest trait is searching for any and all knowledge about whatever. it's that, even removing her godly heritage, she would still have a burning passion for architecture that she would 100% put into use regardless of whatever world or au she's in

percy : hydro – strong dedication/desire to help people (or their movement). percy's fatal flaw is literally loyalty. even removing the fact that he's the son of the sea god, the fact that he is overly loyal to those he adores is just really hydro of him. and yeah, other characters can be loyal asw, but it's the forefront of who he is, and defines him, just like his element

grover : dendro – wanting to know things/skills that are hard/forbidden/that they like. for years, he and his ancestors searched for pan. he and his uncle and other satyrs dedicated their lives to it, which was clearly a hard skill-esque thing to do. it's only fair that in teyvat that he'd get a similar story of finding the knowledge and completing what's been lost. even as a human, he'd find something nature-focused to dedicate his life around

jason : electro – seeing the world uniquely and are considered weird/in their own world. the whole camp half-blood vs. camp jupiter arc he had would make you think he would be cryo (stuck between two things) but really, even at either camps, it'd still be off for him. from his parentage to how he was raised and who he is as a person, it just makes sense for him to be considered hugely different from his peers. and if you want to keep in the raised by wolves things, think razor

piper : geo – hardworking in general, does anything to achieve their goal(s). she was a struggle to decide, honestly. but her goal in pjo was to just live a normal life. from having normal attention from her celebrity father to eventually seemingly abandoning the mytho world in toa in favor of living a much more normal, mortal life, she does anything she can to get there. she dates jason to have a normal, loving relationship in the middle of a time where nothing was close to her normal (the war) and leaves him and the others for the mortal side of her life, and achieves what she always wanted

leo : cryo – contridictory life, stuck between two worlds/the past and present. it's his mom's death. even well-past her dying, he's haunted by it, and constantly thinks he's the cause because of his powers. no matter what he does, it always somehow links back to his mother, in one way or another. his life is so interlinked with her death that he's just stuck on it, and has been ever since it happened, and will always be

frank : geo – hardworking in general, does anything to achieve their goal(s). he was hard, like piper. unlike her, i don't think he'd really have one gigantic goal. in pjo, he did, which was to survive, and he managed it, and got rid of his life being tied to a woodstick. i think he'd be hardworking to prove himself, also like in the books. he proved himself to be useful to the seven despite his whole life-stick thing, to the camp despite being in the worst cohort

hazel : cryo – contridictory life, stuck between two worlds/the past and present. it's kind of self explanatory? from the whole sammy-leo plot to her having been literally dead for a while (think qiqi too), it's the most fitting. you can maybe add the whole dead mom thing like leo, although it would weigh more on her of how her mom was the cause of her death due to her being manipulated by a higher-being rather than leo's whole haunted by the memory of his mother plot

nico : cryo – contridictory life, stuck between two worlds/the past and present. like hazel, he's from the past. like leo, the death his mom (and sister) weigh on him heavily. bianca's affected him for four straight years, with him being completely on his own when he ran and had to face her death. he even tried to bring her back. i think that's reason enough for cryo

reyna : anemo – desire for/chasing after a form of freedom. she, although not being forced into it, had been a foundational role for camp jupiter for a long while at a young age, and eventually took her chance with the hunters to find herself. her freedom is her ability to now discover who she wants to be without feeling like she needs to step up into a heavly burdening role

only vaguely describing the reasons based off their pjo stuff rn, plus only main characters BUT i have more, cred to @wherefore-art-thine and @starrykanon for doing this with me

[lilislegacy]

honestly..I think annabeth kinda became what luke once was to the other campers in a way one of the oldest campers with massive skill and experience got a quest and survived a big sister and a protector who would do anything to improve their lives the only thing was she did it without betraying them

thanks for the ask!

oh absolutely. 100%. in the lost hero, jason said everyone there looks to annabeth as their leader. she loves that camp more than anyone. it’s her home. she carried that camp on her back. in addition to the sky. and… the argo II quest. and the mission to find the athena parthenos. you know, that woman must have serious back issues

but yeah. i would argue that annabeth is the leader of the camp and percy is the heart of the camp. those two would do anything for that place and the people there. and annabeth has spent more time there than anyone. she’s like a sister to everyone there. she’s everything to camp half-blood.

and unlike luke, no amount of anger or resentment could make her betray it.

[f0xgl0v3]

Powers in Camp Jupiter

Wow I’ve posted a lot today lol-

Finally! Another long, ‘Camp Jupiter general Hc’ post. I’ve just been thinking a lot on powers the more I’ve been dipping my toes into learning about Rome and its culture and how I want to incorporate that into New Rome and Camp (literally I mention it once so don’t get any hopes up for like in depth Ancient Rome stuff and it just affected my thought process for how the Romans might think similarly to powers as they did other things). Also this is another post going, ‘this is a weird thing in camp that is never explained but doesn’t make sense to me so this is how I’d go about explaining it’ post, enjoy :]

But first things first; I think Camp puts a heavy importance on physical skill, that powers are somewhat frowned upon. That Camp Jupiter would put a higher importance on someone’s capabilities without the powers, and that power usage is something that generally the Camp doesn’t like acknowledging- I’ll go more in depth on what I mean but first I wanna talk about how I got to this conclusion making sense in my mind,

This did make sense in my brain because it fills the little gap where we don’t see a lot of Camp Jupiter power embracing or whatever. We get Hazel being worried over her powers because of the like cursed aspect? Which is a whole other can of worms that I don’t like the plot point on- but whatever. Hazel’s thing feels weird that she wouldn’t explain it, now I am obviously not a Hazel analyzer- but I do have a pretty solid characterization of Camp in my head and I feel that is something that they would 100% want to and need to know. Along with the apparent lack of notable power usage in Camp Jupiter- we don’t see it in the same way that we see over at Half-Blood, now this could be because Camp has like 0 important characters. But I feel like during the war games there would be more people taking advantage of powers, where it’s specifically called out when Percy is doing it because it’s odd in the setting- it stands out (yes it probably was called out for Rick to be like “Look at how cool and powerful Percy is guys!” But whatever-) but that bleeds into the first gorgon chase scene, where it’s notable that again; it’s only Percy using his powers openly, it’s the legionnaires that are looking on in bewilderment, confusion.

Of course there are the 4 main outliers I think of about this power thing; Reyna, Jason, Octavian, and Bryce Lawrence. But I’ll talk about what I think their situations are.

Anyway, I believe this seeming power-aversion in camp Jupiter (was probably not planned and Rick just kind of forgot about Demigods and how probable it would be that they’d display them more often for the general quality of life improvements they’d give-) could be caused by a couple factors,

The abundance of Legacy’s at camp and at New Rome; we aren’t sure how legacies work (because they are all over the place and we never get set power levels on them) but it would make logical sense that powers became more niche or less potent through generations (this obviously has outliers, and its own holes but I’ll justify this take in another post probably just about legacies-) and this would lead to less and less importance on powers- because why would a community see them as important when the majority of them don’t have very potent ones, or very general ones and it’s more simple to just not use them than hone either a very weak skill or a very niche skill.

The importance of Strength in New Rome and Camp Jupiter’s community; based partially on Ancient Romes importance on Masculinity (which I will not be mentioning much because I am just a silly black cat on the internet and I don’t have the knowledge about Romes masculinity thing) and just what we see from the very concept of Camp Jupiter’s go through Lupa’s training and survive or die, Camp Jupiter’s no magic barrier of protection, the military camp. Conquer or Die. It all places a very big importance on one’s personal strength- their strategic mind, physical prowess, ability to work together as a unit in the army. That the powers could possibly be seen almost as a cheat- that why would you use your powers when you have your training, are you weak? Do you not trust in what you’ve been taught? The Societal idea were given for the Romans is strength- and why use your powers if you are physically capable enough. And everyone is physically capable enough to be a Roman, to Conquer or Die.

Okay on a probably lighter note (idk I was reading the upper passage and that sounded pretty intense-) but also the fact that powers just feel like they wouldn’t be a good thing in Camp’s military settings. Camp Jupiter puts its importance on their military and fighting prowess, their form, the discipline. It’s much harder to fight in coordination if everyone is doing anything that isn’t related to other skills. The fact that the Cohorts aren’t godly ancestor-specific adds to that. So it just doesn’t seem reasonable knowing Camps whole thing.

Okay those three all are my ideas on the surrounding factors that make powers less used and more taboo in Camp/New Rome. This could explain why camp doesn’t display their powers. While it gives more reason for the reactions to Percy other than everyone being suprised at how cool and powerful he is or something idk, it gives Hazel more reason to hide her precious riches power thing.

Now the Outliers, people in camp that comfortably and openly use and display their powers (not including Percy, maybe idk- we’ll see)

First Reyna; we know that Reyna openly used her Bellona strength, warrior spirit and bravery sharing powers that also take away pain? Idk how they explain it but we get that in BoO the knowledge that when leading the Romans into battle Reyna would use her powers. I think this can be explained away by 1st off it’s not that noticeable so might be likely that the legion doesn’t even know she did that, secondly it could be considered that they considered her ability a outlier to the notion- it directly helps them win so I guess they don’t mind, sure they’ll be upset about it but they won’t openly object to it.

Secondly Jason and his wild skill set; he’s Jupiter’s son, pretty much Lupa’s adopted kid and Camp’s prince. They’d let him do whatever, he’s Jupite’rs son! I think they’d be super hypocritical and think him and the powers make him stronger and cooler and whatever because he’s Jupiter’s son and canonically we know they put him on a pedestal and thought he pretty much could do no wrong when he was younger so I think it’s reasonable to assume legionnaires would go along with Jason pulling lightning bolts from thin air and just going, “That’s so cool Jason!!! Yeaaah you go man!” And then turning around and ostracizing someone that used like their water-bending because like- why not just use your actual skill, no need to be a show off, y’know Dave from the 3rd cohort could’ve done that just with his Pugio and a bendy straw.

Octavian; it’s his job. I think Augur’s generally get a pass because it’s their job to be all mysterious and otherworldly and do all the cool retelling prophecies and omens. And he needs the powers to do that so of course he gets a pass.

Bryce Lawerence; he’s a freak (nicely, I love him) but he gives 0 crap if people don’t like it. They can just go to the fields of punishment for all he cares. He literally murdered someone and lit a cat on fire. There is no way in Hades that this man cares about some power taboo. If he wants to do it he’ll do it and if anyone wants to say anything they can suck his spear handle.

Overall; Camp Jupiter are Hypocrites when it comes to powers (obviously, I feel like for many reasons they are hypocrites in many other fields-) and this gives better reason that Octavian and Micheal didn’t immediately drag Percy into the 1st cohort. Because like- you know they would’ve and I think that would’ve been more interesting than the 5th cohort underdog story (like, Hazel and Frank could’ve been the main pushers of that plot and I feel that would’ve been cooler-)

But if we want to stay with Percy being put in the 5th (which if anyone wants to know for my re-imagining he is totally put in the 1st because that gives us an opening to actually characterize notable characters a lot more-) this powers thing gives a reason. All the legion knows about this kid is that he’s got a mouth on him, attracts monsters like a neon billboard with a giant arrow on it, and relies on his powers constantly. And in Camp Jupiter where obedience and discipline are cherished, they don’t need to deal with any more monsters their hands are already full, and that everyone like collectively hates their powers from societal norms. It makes more sense that none of the more notable cohorts would want to tarnish their names or reputation by bringing him on board- so of course the 5th is forced to take him.

Okay that’s my rant on how the community of Romans don’t like their powers unless they can serve a purpose of aiding the army, your the child of Jupiter, or it’s your job.

I am sleepy and therefore I bid you all a good night.

[happyk44]

what if Neptune had two types of children — light children personifying the father as the god of the earth and fresh water and dark children personifying the father as the god of the merciless sea and earthquake?

The idea doesn't belong to me! here is this post from anonymous. —https://www.tumblr.com/goblinwithartsupplies/729000820113276928/children-of-neptune-with-dead-eyes-the-color-of?source=share

I just became interested in your opinion.

Note: I wrote way more than I thought I did so apologies for the length and related deviations from the Neptune part 😂 but summarized version is basically, yes, I think that's a great concept. The kinder fresh water kids are likely infrequently born compared to their more destructive siblings because of the way PJO canon has the modern day Romans think of Neptune as this eldritch terror. So the fresh water aspect is not as appreiated and thus not as prevalent when a kid is born.

Because demigods are basically representatives of their parents for the mortal plane, you know? So, yes, they will represent the various aspects their parent has. They will be able to control the aspects that they don't favour. So the fresh water kids will be able to control salt water and create hurricanes, but these things are little bit more difficult for them than it is for their siblings who favour the destructive side.

The destructive ocean kids can make rain, can find fresh water in the earth or pull it out of other liquids. But it's more difficult for them.

But anyway, rambling aside, yes, I agree 100%. See the read more for my initial babblings.

I think that's a really good take - especially since we already have a split in Hazel taking the brunt of jewels and gems and earth versus Nico's much more prolific hold on death. Arguably we could say Jason is more law and order, justice and judgement, and Thalia is more the expanse of the sky, lightning and thunder and clouds. But we don't know much about Thalia's skills or proficiency with powers. And the way she's represented when we do see her, indicates that she more favours the leadership king of the gods aspect of her dad.

I remember so little of TTC other than the general facts of events, but I do remember that she argued with Percy and Zoe about certain decisions, and then immediately got elected as Artemis's right hand man even though she's still fresh from the tree and only just joined the group. Lmao, imagine someone joining the army but instead of coming in as a Private or whatever the starting rank is, they immediately go to General.

But anyway yeah, that's why I would argue Thalia favours that aspect of her father, where Jason has stated that he never wanted to be a leader so that is definitely not an aspect of his dad that he favours instinctually.

And yes - these are more of a Roman/Greek split 😂 but look I'm working with what I got, okay?

For kids in the same pantheon, I think in PJO canon, probably in the Apollo books or Nico's book, it's stated that the Apollo kids often have different strengths (because the man has ADHD and could not settle on one thing, should be elected the god of hobbies) - certain kids are more medical, others are more artistic, the rest are best at archery. So there's that too!

In my headcanons, I envision Bianca being much more proficient at shadows and darkness and inflicting nightmares (ala Melinoe 🙌 but also Hades 👍) compared to Nico's proficiency with death and ghosts and traveling through dreams. He can't force anything the way Bianca can, but she is also much less sensitive to death and souls than he is. Shadowtravel takes a lot more effort for him than for her, but he can touch a person and have them shrivel up into ash and empty clothes without the effort killing him. She wouldn't have recovered as well from ghostifying Bryce.

People see their worst nightmares when Bianca pins them with a look. They see their death when it's Nico. With Hazel, they probably see themselves being crushed by the earth or something, idk, but she also has the spooky Underworld child stare!

So yes! I think in PJO canon, it starts off with the life-giving children as Neptune starts off as god of fresh water. Then the destructive kids come in as he becomes conflated with Poseidon and the (PJO canon) Romans develop a dislike and distrust of the sea. As that distrust continues to grow into what we have in modern day PJO canon, most of the kids come out cruel and dark-hearted as Neptune himself shifts more to settle with popular belief.

I have a similar thought process with Zeus' children! Yes, he is the god of law and order as well as the sky and king of the gods, but most people these days remember him as the god of sky, lightning and thunder, king of the gods! The law and order, divine justice part kind of gets ignored or forgotten. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, but it means the kids who represent that aspect of him become much smaller in number until there's maybe one every few decades rather than consisting of maybe... 25% of the current generation as they used to.

My thought process on that is, yeah, I imagine the ancient Greeks were much more aware of Zeus being the god of law and order considering he was a major part of their belief system, but there is also Themis who was the god of divine justice, and Dike, their daughter, who took charge of human justice, and in a time of mostly rural and somewhat scattered living control over nature is much more desirable.

Of course, I'm not a history buff, so this is all just general mental mutterings, but likely in larger towns or cities, having him as the forefront of law and order would be a bigger deal than with farmers who just want rain for their crops and the birds to stop eating their plants.

So in the beginning the split was probably something like 75-25 with more proficiency in the elements. And then as populations grew and cities developed, maybe it moved to a 65-35? Or a little higher. I don't think the law and order, justice and judgement favoured kiddos were ever very populous compared to their more elemental counterparts.

Then Rome was established and Jupiter's resulting demigods were much more focused on the whole leadership, maintaining order and erecting laws/rules to follow, enacting justice where they saw fit and punishing rulebreakers.

I figure the kids of the Roman version of Nemesis (quick search says her name is Invidia) were helpful in this area as well. Nemesis is revenge, yes, she was also divine retribution. Her kids, at least in the past before people focused only on the revenge aspect, ideally would prefer retributive justice - aka proportionate to the act.

This aspect makes them more focused on "real" laws, essentially laws approved by authority versus personal rules established by individuals. This makes them somewhat less biased on method of punishment/justice to be distributed compared to Zeus/Jupiter's kids who I headcanon to be focused on their own internal rules versus the general rules established by society.

Like a rule in school is to share the toys available. But if the kid has a personal rule that says "This specific toy does not have to be shared because it is the best toy/my favourite" then the overall sharing rule goes out the door. BUT also if someone else tries not to share something other than that specific toy, then they will jump to action in maintaining that rule.

I have thought about this a lot because my original story (which. I so badly need to keep working on, I think about it all the time 😩) based around this concept of intense sense of justice combined with autistic routine and internalized structure. But I've also thought about it a lot in general surrounded Jason because I use him to project my OC for attention bc lmao no one cares about my oc shitposting otherwise 😂

And yes, this means when I'm in charge of the character the law and order justice and judgement babies are typically autistic. Or at least carry way more in autistic traits than their more elemental counterparts. Because. That's what I'm working with lmao.

Also keeping with the example - the Nemesis/Invidia kids would look at someone breaking the sharing rule and establish a proportionate or previously established measure, like timeout or banning them from playing with the toy for a period of time.

Whereas, depending on how important the rule was to them or whether the rule clashed with a personal rule (such as "this toy is mine" or "my friends are allowed to play with whatever toy they want"), the Zeus/Jupiter kids might think justice needs to be more intense, like extending the period of time they can't play with the toy, or significantly more extreme, like spanking or expelling them from the school.

Each kid will have a varying level of extremes when it comes to justice, depending on the importance they give any law, whether societal or personal. This makes them really annoying to deal with sometimes, but luckily these days there's only one Zeus kid at a time and Roman gods appear to have less kids than their Greek counterparts (possibly because Greek gods are more popular in modern society so they don't exist in Roman form very often, hence the much higher quantity of legacy demigods inside Camp Jupiter) so they don't have to deal with it as much either.

But given Jupiter's much higher status in Rome compared to Zeus in Greece, the campers are probably much more willing to deal with whatever the Jupiter kids come up, even if it's the nuclear option over something innocuous. The Greek campers would probably give them drugs and make them go to sleep 😂. Like they respect Zeus's kids much more than they respect the others, but Zeus is still apart of a counsel of 12, thereby somewhat equal to them regardless of his king status, but Jupiter is the head of Rome. So his opinion, and his kids' opinions, are much more valued and respected. At least by most of the campers. His siblings and his niblings are probably just like "bro stop talking" lmao.

At least in reality that's how it should be. In PJO canon, maybe the Jupiter kids get drugged and sent to bed for their nuclear decisions too 🤷‍♂️ who knows lmao

So 😂😂 yes all that rambling aside, I think that Neptune having a split of life-giving and destructive kids due to his own split nature - salty killer ocean versus life-giving refreshing fresh water. But as modern perception changes - at least in PJO canon but probably IRL too since I'm pretty sure most people connect Neptune direct to Poseidon and are not aware of the fresh water origin - the destructive kids appear more and more with the calmer kinder kids crumbling down in number, until, like Zeus' law and order babes, there's only one every so often.

And due to the pre-established concept that Neptune is not a form that Poseidon takes often because Greek gods are more popular, that means he probably only has a fresh water favoured kid every few hundred years. So the fresh water kids are like a myth to the other demigods. A pipe dream, lost to time.

But also - just because the kids favour a specific aspect doesn't mean that they can't use the other aspects. It's just harder and requires more effort for them than it would be the kids who favoured the aspect they're trying to hit. So the vicious ocean kids can make fresh water out of salt water. They can create rain to water plants. But it requires more effort than like. Creating a huge wave to knock everyone over because they're bored.

The fresh water kids are likely more skilled with oceanic, giant waves that aren't technically tsunamis, hurricane, typhoon and, yes, also tsunami type powers as well because, even if they do favour fresh water, it's not like they're born knowing that. So like everyone else they will probably assume destructive ocean energy, especially if there's another Neptune baby teaching them. But they will go to bed each night, haunted by these intense feeling that they're missing a core aspect of who they are.

The ocean is part of them, yes, it's their father. But the fresh water wells deep below the earth pull at their gut even if they don't know that's what they're feeling, and when it rains they feel more rejuvenated than their sibling(s) do. Their skyborn cousins can control the rain and sky, but sometimes they think that's wrong. The rain belongs to them, doesn't it? They should be the masters of it, the givers of it. They should be handling it far better than their eaglet cousins.

Also - the rain thing. Neptunalia was a summer festival in honor of Neptune, held in the hopes that he would bless them with rain because of the heat and drought. So yeah, rainstorms, sun showers, etc, are things they can do. Percy, as a child of Poseidon, can't do that. He can make hurricanes but that's not really the same as a sun shower, or putting a raincloud over your head to wash off all the mud on you from this monster lmao.

But since the CJ Romans fear and detest Neptune, it's likely that they don't celebrate this festival - although I wrote a little thing a couple years ago about Jason trying to get Percy to help him set up his modern replacements for the festival when I was in my "Jason is an intense follower of Religio Romana" (the Roman version of Hellenstic paganism)" kick 😂. But reality is that in PJO canon it's unlikely they celebrate it - and that was the only festival Neptune had.

Also additional side note: Neptune is not a god of the earth. He was the god of all fresh water on earth - rivers, streams, underground wells of fresh water, rain (which is soaked into the earth). But yeah that's where the earth thing came from.

It would be cool if, as a result, his kids were able to manipulate the earth a little bit other than earthquakes. Like the earth would have to be super saturated with water, so a desert wouldn't work even if they created a rainstorm to flood it. Also the earth does not really soak up water in a flood either so trying to make wet soil to manipulate through rainstorms is not very possible for them and they hate that so much, lmao.

Imagine a little kid standing in one spot slowly watering a planter filled with dirt, stopping every few seconds to mix up the dirt before they go back to watering. They're there for like fifteen minutes before they stop water and then they're trying to raise the dirt into a misshapen ball and they're sweating so hard from the effort before it just collapses back into the planter and they have to sit down because, ooof.

Yeah, earth is a very small thing for them manipulation-wise and only under specific circumstances. I think the most they could do is maybe move it a bit, which could be useful when trying to trip up enemies, but otherwise it's not the most beneficial power 😂 but there were likely one or two kids who were obsessed with mastering it over the centuries.

Anyway, in what is definitely not gonna be a brief summation, yes, yes, yes. I do love heartless cruel child of Neptune in PJO, representing what Percy could turn into if he lost everyone he ever cared about, the people who keep him moral and ethical. But gentle kids who like to help other people because they favour the fresh water aspect of their father. The aspect that gives fresh water for people drink to survive, to water their crops. The aspect that provides rain during the drought, so they can collect it and survive.

A lot of the gods have various aspects to them, so their kids will favour different aspects. Thalia favours the leadership of Zeus, Nico favours death, Hazel favours wealth, etc, etc.

The only kids who are likely very consistent amongst themselves are the children of gods who have one specific purpose that's never wavered, even if their history isn't very consistent because of parentage changes or origin differences - like Nemesis or Dike or Moros. Set gods, you know? The ones who don't have an "and" in their "god of" statements.

But other gods, even minor gods because some of them do have more than one purpose like Persephone and Eros, will have kids that instinctually favour different aspects of themselves. Modern day perception may shift how many kids born favour certain aspects, like Neptune having more oceanic kids and Zeus having more elemental kids.

Feel like I need to wrap this up in a fancier way than the above ending sentence but lmao I got nothing so we're gonna go with the classic: The End.

[introspectivememories]

i firmly believe that jason would've beaten percy in that mark of athena fight

[love-has-a-way-ofgrowingbackward]

First of all - thank you for your Solangelo post you’ve posted recently. I feel like these days it’s hard to defend it without being called ableist/a child/bad person/too obsessed shipper/generally the worst person ever. I find it brave you decided to speak up. Thank you. Especially since your point about Will’s view on Nico was very good. I’m happy I’m not the only one who thinks this way.

Secondly, about that ask concerning the Seven and Nico. Maybe that’s stupid but I actually… see some sense in the way Rick wrote it. I mean, yeah, Nico was hero after TLO. But on the other hand he didn’t really have anyone in the camp. He barely knew anyone, and definitely wasn’t best friends with Percy and Annabeth (who btw were probably busy with school and they could finally enjoy their relationship and stuff). And we know that Nico has a problem with his “people skills”, as Will nicely put in THO. But I don’t actually think everyone in the CHB disliked him. Why? In BoO Will, Lou, and Cecil all treat him normally. Lou waves to him and blush, Cecil compliments him, Will treats him like a friend. There was not a word about any of these three people from CHB being even a little bit scared of him, otherwise I believe it’d be mentioned in the narrative. I think that Nico’s situation in the CHB after TLO is more complicated story we’ll unfortunately never get to see.

Anyway, during HoO we see Nico mostly with the Seven and in Camp Jupiter. We can see that the Camp Jupiter doesn’t really like him. And the Seven consists of three people who’ve met Nico only in HoO and don’t really like him (Jason, Piper, Leo), one person who has a complicated relationship with him (Percy), two people whose view on Nico I’m not sure about (Annabeth and Frank), and his sister, Hazel. What I’m aiming at is that they’re not a representative group of CHB imho. And then during BoO Will speaks mostly for himself, not for everyone in CHB. But as I mentioned, we see three people from CHB who have no problem with Nico, quite contrary, seem to like him. And then we have a few months time skip and in THO Nico is doing just fine in the camp.

What’s my point in all of this? We can’t be 100% sure about Nico’s situation in CHB after TLO. But I don’t think it was just his paranoia either, of course not. My theory is that Nico was definitely lonely in CHB after TLO. He had no starting point, no one who’d help him settle there. And he’s not good with people, so that didn’t help him either. After BoO he had someone to help him settle in the camp. And why he changed his mind about staying specifically because of Will? Not because he got called out on paranoia or something. Because contrary to other people he was close to, like Hazel and Jason and Reyna, Will wasn’t going anywhere. He would stay in CHB. For the first time ever Nico had a right to think that maybe, just maybe he won’t be all alone, left to himself at the CHB.

So yeah, I may be wrong, but like… that’s what I think. My personal interpretation. I wanted to say it here because you’re one of the very few people who I’m not scared of here after this whole thing on Solangelo tag.

You're actually making valid points here tbh. Like I'm glad you agree with me on the first count.

Secondly, I mean, you have a really valid point, and i agree with most parts, but like, i mostly compared their treatment of nico with how they treated a stranger??

Like I understand Percy and Nico's complicated relationship, and it was just based on Percy's flaw for loyalty and Nico's internalized homophobia and from percys side they could've had a chance as good friends, but Nico was too traumatised by his long harboured feelings for Percy, and probably won't feel the safest around him. So the people saying Nico would go to Percy for all his problems, well, i would disagree with them.

And sure, Nico called Percy lots of super mean stuff when Percy broke his 'promise' but he was just a ten-year old who lost the only person he had had for years in a new century. Bianca's death was NO ONE'S FAULT.

And the most important point? Nico apologised for every thing he did wrong.

Percy never apologised for spreading rumours among the argo 2 crew (wtf was up with that?)

Frank never apologised for blaming him when his fucking sister's life was on line

And everybody in general never bothered to apologise or even talk to him like, once. They took it for granted that a random guy who was already heavily traumatised by a quest would help them finish it no matter how he's treated.

And I know they weren't best buddies, but if you compare that to how they would've treated a stranger, that says a lot about Nico's social isolation and the seven's internalized ableism (there's a LOT of it, everyone represses their nd traits and nico and leo, who have autism with adhd amd don't repress every thing? They're both shunned. Percy, Leo and Nico never talk about their suicidal tendencies to anyone in hoo).

I went off on a tangent there, but what I meant is that suspicious as you might be, you can't just see a thirteen year old kid who came back from tartarus and five days of suffocation-and now they magically don't have to go to tartarus-and treat him like THAT.

Honestly, Jason mended his ways, and except Annabeth and Hazel, everyone was pretty much sub par or downright shitty to Nico, and he just turned that around and hated himself more for it.

And yeah, i like to think some campers changed their ways after Nico saved their asses but not all of them did. Nico says so himself.

Also, I might not agree with people who say solangelo is ableist, but I definitely don't mean to talk over them and pretend my opinions are better than theirs. Disabled people don't have a voice as it is, and I would be a complete hypocrite if I talked about the seven's internalized ableism and Nico coded as disabled and then tell disabled people they're wrong.

And about being scared of me, I'm glad you feel safe here, I promise I won't impale you for having different perspectives or opinions or critical thinking skills. (If you come at me with problematic stuff tho, like Nico being bisexual?? Then we're gonna have to talk).

This was one of the longest answers I've ever written but i just have SO much to say about this.

[winryofresembool]

Things We Lost in the Fire, ch 22

aka Caleo uni au

Fic summary: Calypso starts studying at a new university, but to her annoyance her new flatmate is a loud mouthed mechanic who also likes to sneak his dog in whenever. But as she learns to know him better, she realizes they might have more in common than what she first thought. Eventually, even the darkest secrets come out…

Chapter summary: Leo Valdez can be sweet when he wants to.

A/N:  Sorry for the long break! The holidays were a rather busy time for me so it did good to take some time off from writing. But now I'm back for my weekly updates (at least I hope I am)! And not just with any chapter but a long-ish chapter full of Caleo fluff :) I really hope you guys enjoy! Please let me know what you think because I 100% mean it when I say I love reading your comments!!

Words: 3200+ 

Genre: romance & hurt/comfort

Warnings: none

previous chapter / AO3

…

Once Calypso had made up with Leo and Annabeth, she had new issues to deal with. When she paid her rent for the month, she noticed that she only had enough money for one more month’s rent, not even including the other living costs such as food, other daily necessities and school supplies. She had pushed back the job hunting earlier partially because the friendship issues had made her feel too low to care about that kind of thing, partially because she had no idea what she could do, only having a high school level education and no special skills. She had only ever worked at her father’s company and that was not something she wanted to advertise in her applications. But now she was in a situation that unless she wanted to return to the very place she wanted to stay away from, she had to come up with something.

Annabeth and Piper had seen some of the clothes and other items she had sewed and made with her own hands and encouraged her to sell them but Calypso herself wasn’t entirely convinced they were good enough to be sold. She was also a decent enough artist but with a class full of artists just as good (some even better) than her, what would make her stand out in the public? Her people skills weren’t amazing either so she doubted that she would make a good retail worker. But she knew she would probably have to come out of her comfort zone in this case, so if anyone was willing to hire her, she’d accept it.

She was startled when she suddenly heard a familiar voice from the other room: “Sunshine, I’mma head out to buy some groceries and stuff for a new project. You need anything?”

In some other situation, Calypso would have been thankful for the offer, but she was still feeling like a nervous wreck because of her earlier discovery. That’s why the words escaped her before she could stop herself: “Huh? No, I don’t think so? And I can still buy my own groceries, thank you very much.”

“Sorry, I just thought I’d ask… I didn’t mean to…” Leo seemed a bit baffled by her outburst. He was already about to head out when Calypso came out of her room and stopped him.

“No, I’m sorry.” She sighed, looking regretful. “I was just on the edge because I just noticed my financial situation isn’t exactly the best… But that is something I need to figure out on my own, I don’t want charity.”

“Well, I wasn’t gonna buy you a car or anything,” Leo tried to crack a joke. “Just thought that if you’re running out of milk or something, I could have saved you the trouble… Since I’m going there anyway…”

“Oh… no, I don’t think I need anything,” she said, this time a lot softer. “But thank you for asking.”

“No prob, Sunshine,” Leo replied, looking relieved now that he knew she wasn’t actually angry at him. “But hey, if you do need help with, like, searching for a job, or something, I’m your man.”

Calypso tried to keep her face neutral even though she had a feeling her cheeks were probably red. “I’ll… keep that in my mind.”

“Well, see you soon,” Leo said after the two just kept staring at each other for a while. He seemed to be sizing her, possibly still a bit thrown off by her weird reaction before he put his coat on (Calypso noticed it was the same shade of red as a lot of his shirts seemed to be. And it was also rather snugly fit, definitely not a bad sight, she thought before she had time to stop herself) and took his bags, leaving her alone.

“See you,” she said quietly when the door was already closed.

Once sure that Leo was far enough and not coming back, Calypso leaned her back against the wall of her room, sliding down into a sitting position on the floor. Throwing her head back, she groaned at herself. She had thought that the small falling out they had had because of the Percy incident might have affected her feelings towards Leo, but it seemed to become clearer and clearer every day that wasn’t the case. Even if she had admitted to Hazel and Annabeth that those feelings were not quite flatmate like, it was a whole different thing to really come to terms with that fact. She was falling quite hard.

The more she thought about it, the more she freaked out. Her relationships before one faithful day during her teenage years had failed badly (and that was over 5 years ago anyway) and the online dating she had done afterwards… Well, now that Calypso thought about it, only the conversation with Percy had seemed to be going somewhere. All the people she had cared about had left her and never come back. That, along with the fact that she had spent a lot of time alone in the past, had left her scared of relationships and ruined her self esteem, making her think that she simply wasn’t good enough. If Leo left too… she wasn’t sure how she’d handle that. Not to even mention, her dad was still probably looking for her and getting Leo mixed into that would be very dangerous for him. No matter what Annabeth said about wanting to help.

Biting her lip, she decided there was only one option. No matter what she felt, she should try to treat Leo just like any of her friends and conceal her true feelings. Having Leo in her life just as a flatmate was way better than not having him in it at all. When she remembered her friends’ hints that perhaps Leo himself wasn’t as indifferent to her as he probably should be, she suddenly felt like crying. In different circumstances… maybe they could be happy together, go on dates, hold hands… Now she would inevitably have to let him go when someone else would realize that Leo was a great person worth dating.

Calypso didn’t know how long she had been sitting there, and she also hadn’t noticed that there were tears running down her cheeks. She didn’t snap out of her daze until she heard the front door clunking again, this time indicating that Leo had already returned.

“Please just ignore me…” Calypso ranted in her head, but no luck. She heard steps from outside her room, stopping right in front of it. Swiping her wet cheeks quickly into her hands, she stood up from the floor just in time for Leo to knock on her door. Calypso didn’t really want to open it when she was in that emotional state but she knew that not answering would raise even more questions. Her messy looks she could always try to shrug off as a ‘bad day’, she decided.

“Yeah?” she asked weakly, opening the door to reveal her flatmate with that stupid trademark grin of his on his face. He seemed pretty happy about something he had or was about to do. The late autumn wind had made his curly hair even messier than usual and his cheeks were red from the cold weather and the exercise but his eyes were sparkling excitedly, like he couldn’t wait to show her something. He started: “I went to the hardware store and…” He quickly stopped when he noticed Calypso’s expression and puffy eyes. His happiness immediately melted away. “Hey, what’s wrong? Have you been crying?”

“It’s been a rough day,” Calypso sighed, looking down. “Don’t worry, I was just being overwhelmed by the loads of uni work before the exam season. And like I told you before, I need a job… But… it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“Alright, if you’re sure…” Leo narrowed his eyes slightly, probably sensing that she wasn’t telling him the entire truth. “But yeah, I was gonna give you something. Hope it cheers you up a bit. He handed her a tiny packet of what seemed like flower seeds but before Calypso had time to read the text on it, he started explaining.

“So, I was gonna tell you that I went to the hardware store to buy me some supplies, and you know how they sell all kinds of seeds there as well? Well, I just happened to notice these while waiting for my turn to pay for my stuff and I just randomly decided to buy them.”

“But… why?” Calypso asked, finally looking at Leo directly.

“Um…” He started rubbing the back of his neck. “Remember when Festus jumped on your desk and broke it? There was a plant on it too… and I never replaced it. When I saw those,” he nodded towards the packet Calypso was holding, “I remembered that the plant looked like that… At least I think it did… I’m no good with that kind of stuff… But I know you care about your plants… so I thought it’d be only fair if I got you those. I know it’s not gonna be the exact same one you had, but…”

Leo didn’t manage to finish his sentence because Calypso couldn’t contain her feelings anymore. She closed the space between them and hugged him even tighter than the time they had had a game night with Jason and Piper. No one had gotten anything for her in years, and even if the seed bags didn’t cost much, it was the thought that mattered way more to her. She had never expected him to remember such a detail from several months ago when they hadn’t even been friends, but apparently he did.

“Uh, Cal, some air would be nice,” Leo said jokingly when it started seeming she didn’t even want to let him go. He didn’t attempt to break the hug, though, instead gently stroking her back. “Wow, Sunshine,” he said in an attempt to lighten the mood, “You’d think I bought you a house based on your reaction.”

Calypso raised her head from his shoulder, giving him a half hearted glare as she broke the hug.

“I’m not allowed to be thankful for a gift? You don’t know… You don’t understand…”

“Understand what?” Leo raised his eyebrows.

Calypso took a deep breath before answering. “I haven’t gotten gifts from anyone since I turned 16. And even then it was just… uh, never mind. The point is that I’m not used to such nice gestures… And I didn’t think you’d remember… It was my favorite plant. So excuse me if I’m feeling a bit emotional because your gift was more thoughtful than you probably realized.”

“OK, sorry,” Leo apologized quickly. “If you’re not used to nice gestures, I’m not used to displays of affection so I got a bit surprised, that’s all… Well, either way, I’m glad I got you something you care about.”

Calypso’s expression softened again. “Yeah. Thank you. I’m sure they will look pretty.”

Suddenly Calypso realized she was feeling a little dizzy, not sure if from the crying or from the smell of the mechanic oil she had just smelled on Leo’s shirt as she had hugged him. Sitting down on her bed, she leaned her face into her hands.

“Um, are you really OK?” Leo asked. “I know it’s not any of my business, but… if I can help you somehow, let me know.”

After a while, Calypso looked up from her hands, having half expected Leo to leave already. “If you happen to know anyone who’d be willing to hire an inexperienced, uneducated young woman, sure, be my guest,” she muttered.

“Hey.” Leo sat down next to Calypso on her bed, nudging her arm slightly. “Where’s the Calypso who has told me to fight my fear? I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who’d be willing to hire you if they knew how talented you are.”

“Wait… what?” Calypso wasn’t sure if she had heard right. Even if they had been friendly towards each other for a while now, she didn’t remember Leo complimenting her like that before. “Why would you say that?”

“Because it’s true!” Leo exclaimed, his eyes gleaming fiercely the same way Calypso had seen a couple of times earlier. “You are a talented person and even I can see that. You can draw and paint – I bet you’d do way better blueprints for machines than I do. To be honest, I’d probably hire you to do that if I could. You create a lot of things with your own hands – like that one dress you wore the other day, right? Like, OK, I wear overalls all the time so you can take my opinion with a grain of salt, but I thought it looked neat.”

“But…”

“But there are other things as well,” Leo continued persistently. “You know a lot and you’re always working on something – if not something university related, you take care of your plants or bake or something like that – and I think under that hard cover of yours you’re actually a super caring person. I dunno, those are things that at least I value. But maybe I’m the weird one here.” He rolled his eyes as if everything he had just said had been very obvious.

“Leo…” Calypso just stared at him with wide eyes, not finding the right words. She hadn’t been emotionally prepared for Leo showering her with compliments. If her cheeks had felt warm earlier, they were definitely burning now, and her eyes felt weird too… like she was going to cry again. “I…”

“Shhh. Crying doesn’t suit you, Sunshine. Luckily Uncle Leo is good at bad jokes that make the ladies laugh. How about this: What do you give to a sick lemon? Or… why didn't the astronaut come home to his wife?”

“Leonidas,” Calypso repeated but this time she did it with an annoyed groan. That was apparently what Leo had wished, though, because he grinned at her in return.

“Alright, I won’t finish that one!” he raised his hands up. “But it did work because there’s still some spice left in you. That’s what I wanted to see.”

“You’re the only person I know who can literally go from 100 to 0 when trying to cheer someone up,” Calypso said, but her mouth twitched. “But thanks. As much as I hate to admit it, I think it might have worked. For your information,” she added unexpectedly, “you give lemon aid to a sick lemon and the astronaut needed his space.”

“I think my job here is done,” Leo said approvingly, taking one step closer to her. Calypso had seen his brown eyes sparkling when he was happy and burning when he was mad but now she thought they seemed soft and warm, unlike she had seen before. And her heart skipped a beat when she registered that the reason for the warmth might have been… she herself. He looked at her right in the eyes and brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear before his fingers moved to her face. He brushed some of the wetness off with his thumb and for one, short second Calypso thought that he also wanted to do something else… touch her jaw, her lips… But that moment ended fast when he cleared his throat and pulled his hand away. One, tiny part of Calypso’s brain yelled: “no!” while the rational part tried to be relieved.

“Um… You had something there…” Leo tried to brush his previous actions off. “Anyway. Like I said I have no doubt someone wouldn’t hire you. But now that I think of it, I remember hearing from my moms that one of their friends is looking for a holiday helper at her flower shop that is quite near Waystation. The holidays are always a busy time there and the owner’s daughter, who has usually been the one helping, has moved away, so they could really use an extra hand.”

“A flower shop?” Calypso asked, hope starting to flicker in her eyes. “Do you think they may have a lot of applicants?”

“Who knows.” Leo shrugged. “I think it might be a pretty popular place… but you can’t win if you don’t try, huh?”

“Yeah. You’re right,” Calypso agreed. “Do you know how I can contact the place?”

“Hold on for a moment. I can call Emmie and ask,” Leo said and left Calypso alone in her room, baffled by what had just happened but also a bit hopeful. Maybe at least something would turn out right even if her social life would probably continue to be a mess.

A few minutes later Leo returned with a piece of paper in his hands and a satisfied expression on his face. It told Calypso that he had managed to get the number.

“Here you go, Sunshine! Hope you’ll still remember me and how I helped you when you become rich and famous.” He winked.

“I know I’ve told you this before but you really are a weirdo,” Calypso shot back but took the piece of paper gratefully. She excused herself to make a phone call and managed to get a hold of the owner of the flower shop who suggested a meeting for the next day. After finishing the phone call, Calypso searched for Leo who had withdrawn into the living room to watch a movie.

“So… I’m going to have an interview with the owner tomorrow,” she told him. “Keep your thumbs up that it will go fine. I’m kind of nervous, to be honest.”

“I’d keep even my big toes up if needed but I think you’re gonna do great,” Leo noted. “For reals. Have some faith.”

“Easier said than done,” Calypso sighed. “You probably understand.”

“I… yeah,” Leo admitted, thinking about one moment only about a week earlier when he had felt like nothing would work out. “But for what it’s worth, there are people who do support you.”

“You too?” Calypso asked carefully even though she was a bit scared of his answer.

“Yeah, me included.” Leo nodded.

“Listen, Leo… Thanks… for everything you’ve done for me today. Not just the seeds and the phone number, the emotional support too. It really helped.”

She surprised even herself by leaning closer to Leo and giving him a quick peck on his cheek. He went completely speechless and just rubbed the spot on his cheek Calypso had kissed absentmindedly as Calypso waited for him to say something.

“Uhh… you… you’re welcome?” he finally stuttered when Calypso had already started thinking she had crossed some line with the cheek kiss and they were back on square one.

“I should probably go back to do some research…” she said. “I’ve had a hard time focusing on anything lately but I’m feeling better now so hopefully I will manage to make some progress with some assignments. Have fun with your movie!” She attempted to sound cheerful even though the two sides of her brain were having an intense battle in that moment. One said: ‘why don’t you just stay with him? The assignment can wait!” while the other side wanted to run from that situation before Calypso did something she would regret.

“Alright… Thanks. And good luck with that!” Leo said. Calypso was convinced that she just imagined it but to her he had seemed just a bit disappointed that she hadn’t joined him. When she was back in her room, she exhaled sharply. So much for that ‘being just friends’. She would really have to start working harder on that before someone got hurt.

[stitchoran-irwin]

short!annabeth and giant!percy au

percy is like 6'4, 6'5 while annabeth is 4'11, 5’.

• they 100% tease each other about their heights and they’re basically only people who can do it (sally is the only other person besides annabeth)

• percy would use his height as a part of jokes, and be even more of a goofball of because his gigantic height

• annabeth would 10000000% more fierce bc the shorter the person, the bigger the attitude.

• whenever annabeth wears one of percy’s shirts, her one shoulder is always out because it’s so big on her. percy can’t look her in the eye while she’s wearing his stuff.

• annabeth doing gymnastics

• them using their heights to their advantage during fights and living together

• percy knows to never use annabeth as an armrest because he figured she wouldn’t like it and also she threatened him several times

• percy always kisses the top of annabeth’s head, and it somehow started after the titan’s curse??? grover was screaming in agony when he saw percy do that for the first time.

• luke would always tease annabeth in a older brother way about her height and she would be “disappointed” about it

•little baby annabeth loves her dagger bc it’s small like her.

• annabeth’s arm is always around percy’s waist,,,,, and would subconsciously touch percy’s small of his back even before he got the achille’s curse. because annabeth was always touching his small of his back, he chose it to be his vulnerable spot.

• annabeth has given up on heels.

• because annabeth is so short, when she took the knife for percy, it actually got her side, not her shoulder. percy nearly killed ethan on the spot. the river underneath was extremely rough and choppy. waves were about 10 feet tall. maybe even bigger. (tlo)

• during annabeth’s quest in tbol, everyone would mistake percy or tyson as the leader. that is, until they saw the command annabeth had over percy, tyson, and grover.

• percy!! always!! makes!! it!! so!! awkward!! every!! time!! annabeth!! hugs!! him!! • when percy was extremely upset when he dreamt of annabeth taking the sky. however, when he saw her in real life, he cried. just because she looked so small for the first time since he has known her.

• it was incredibly awkward slow dancing at 14 strangers already but add a height difference of a foot? mortifying.

• annabeth acting more brash because of her height. when asked, she says she has to prove is she fierce because no one believes in her. percy looking her in the eye, and saying you didn’t have to prove anything to me because of “you drool when you sleep.”

• annabeth standing on her tip toes just to kiss percy’s cheek, while also trying to get him to kneel just a bit because why are you so tall already

• percy and annabeth ranting about their heights in the kindness int'l truck, them bonding over their hatred for their height

• percy was (still is) utterly impressed with annabeth with her capture the flag skills.

• leo, more than once, has proclaimed the short club is just him, annabeth, and hazel

• jason and leo were weary of annabeth at first, but eventually they were won over. piper took annabeth seriously when she first met her.

• frank, hazel, and reyna didn’t need convincing either. octativan would mock her for her height, and it nearly got him killed every time they met.

•grover died so many times (figuratively) because of how percy and annabeth were acting.

•grover and piper bonded over percy and annabeth.

•after tartarus, you will always find annabeth in percy’s arms.

•did i mention that percy is even more protective of annabeth bc of her height????? well,,,,, he is.

•percy is also kind of like a mother hen when it comes to annabeth climbing on counters to get something in a high cabinet. (“just ask me to get it! because i will! you could get hurt!” cue annabeth rolling her eyes)

•a lot of swimmers are very tall bc their spine stretches bc of the strokes they do, thus creating a longer torso and a bigger height. percy being a swimmer is now even more fathomable !!!!!!!!

•percy also hates his height bc he was constantly growing out of his clothes, and making smelly gabe spend more money on him. smelly gabe is also a huge part of why percy hates his height.

•percy looking even more imitating bc of his height.

•annabeth, and i quote from one of her former classmates, “looks like a small ball of fury,”

•sadie never mentions annabeth’s height, but isis (the goddess, thank you very much) wants to. ps, sadie is the same height as carter.

•carter is overwhelmed by percy bc “wow, a really tall dude.”

•apollo being imitated by percy, and yet being really attracted to him.

•all the gods are nervous around him, a glare in their direction and they might shrink. the only gods not imitated by percy are poseidon, athena, ares, zeus, and hera. zeus and hera will never ever admit they get nervous in percy’s presence.

•annabeth thinks athena gave her height, because athena is about seeing her kids look like underdogs. i mean, athena’s kids are smart and they all have blonde hair. athena’s kids always seem like the underdog, but they will prove you wrong. i’m pretty sure annabeth talks about this in tlt. (this is why i see annabeth as a slytherin)

•so many people have thought that annabeth wasn’t a formidable opponent, but BOY WERE THEY WRONG.

•percy being extra awkward around annabeth in the sea of monsters.

•thalia always making a point of ruffling her hair.

•percy sitting down constantly around annabeth so she can look at him in his eyes. and it’s for sure, not because she wants see his face without a glare from the sun. no, bssh, what do you mean?

•percy blushing soooo much when annabeth hugs him in cabin 6.

•silena and clarisse always trying to play matchmaker with them (i love the headcanon that clarisse and silena planned the lake kiss, not sure who first came up with it.)

•charlie teasing percy about the two of them being tall. when percy is finally taller than charlie, charlie tells him to stop growing bc he’s supposed to be the local tall guy.

•the stolls are always trying to recruit percy into helping with their pranks bc of his height.

•percy being majorly impressed with annabeth, a small 12 year-old girl, leading her cabin into the mess hall.

•percy and annabeth constantly lying on a couch in sally’s apartment. annabeth, most likely asleep, on percy’s chest.

•sally having a multitude of photos of percy and annabeth, highlighting their height difference.

•percy keeping all the blue cookies within his reach. only his reach.

•annabeth, like percy, hates her height bc of her stepmom.

•PERCABETH WITH SUCH A BIG HEIGHT DIFFERENCE OKAY

[blahblahblippyblah]

Nico's Quest (happens after events of THO)

Chapter 1: Nico gets a prophecy

full story: http://archiveofourown.org/works/11403567/chapters/25542171

Summary:

Nico must go on a quest to stop Orpheus bringing back souls from the dead. there only one person who can help him out. Will

Nico was relieved when Apollo finally left, scratch that he was overjoyed. He wasn't the biggest fan of the former god. It didn't help that he managed to destroy half the camp before parting. But now that Apollo was gone they could all take a breath until the next terrible incident happened.

The night after Apollo left Nico's nightmares started again. Not that he wasn't surprised. He always had nightmares. But this nightmare was different this time. He was in his father's castle in the underworld. His psychopathic step mother Persephone sat on her throne looking bored while his father stormed around the room shouting and breaking things. Yep just a regular old day Nico thought. Eventually his father calmed down and turned. When he saw Nico standing there he straightened up.

"Good you here. Well here enough. I need you to do something" his father said.

Yep world best dad. No ‘Hi son’, no ‘How you doing son’, just ‘Hey I have more chores for you’.

"What do you need father" I spat.

"Maybe we should get a more handsome and older hero husband. Not that your children aren't capable, but it would be nice to shake thing up" Persephone interjected while filling her nails.

Hades turned towards her. "My children will do fine dearest. Plus I would rather keep this a secret, and Nico is more suited for keeping underworld problems from Zeus"

"What problem? And why can't Zeus know about it?" Nico said.

“I’ll spare you the detail but we have an escaped soul. Many souls escaped during the waking of Gea but this one in particular needs to be sent back." Hades went on walking over to his throne.

"Who is it?" Nico asked.

Hades mouth twitched as if saying the name was going to cause him to burst in flames. Persephone however interjected.

"Orpheus. The handsome lad managed to get out and is now charging wealthy families to bring back there loved one. A clever business plan if you ask me" Hades eyes flared but he ignored his wife.

"You son can see why that is an issue. If Zeus found out I had someone s telling sold back from the underworld ... Well it wouldn't be pleasant."

"So why can't you look for him yourself? I'm kind of busy at camp" Nico said.

Persephone let out a snort which Hades also ignored. Nico bunched his fist. His understood where the stereotype evil step mother came from.

"You don't think I would have him in my current possession if I could find him. Orpheus is clever. He's hiding from me. I looked all over the earth and couldn't find him anywhere. That's why I need you to look for him. Go on one of your little quest and bring him back."

Nico frowned. He was kind of fed up with going on dangerous quest for his dad. Plus he was finally enjoying camp. He really didn't want to go out on his father's errands.

"But..." Nico tried to interrupt but his father waved him silent.

"I hear you have an oracle back online. She'll give you more detail. Now I have to get back to work.” Hades said getting up.

"Wait a minute” Nico started saying but he was immediately awoken by his alarm clock.

*

Nico put his food tray down on the Apollo table a little too hard when he went for breakfast. Orange juice sloshed out of his cup and onto his pancakes. He fell down beside Will who looked up at him confused.

"Wake up on the wrong side of the coffin this morning?" Kayla joked.

Nico just frowned at his pancakes and began stabbing them with his fork. Will put a hand on his for arm.

"Everything ok Nico?" he asked.

Nico felt bad. He didn't want to upset Will. Why did he have to be so caring?

"Nothing. I just had the pleasure of taking to my father last night" Nico said. He knew he wasn't being 100% honest but he didn't think this was the time or place to talk about his inevitable quest.

Will pouted at him but didn't press him any further.

After breakfast Chiron announced that tonight they would be having a small game of captured the flag with the few year round campers to celebrate the defeat of the Colossus. Also Apollo finally leaving many campers thought.

This cheered Nico up slightly. Even thought there was only around 20 campers he still loved playing capture the flag. It was something he was actually good at. It also helped that he enjoyed showing off in front of Will. Something he would never admit to.

So at 3 o'clock they all gathered outside the forest. Nico had put on his bronze beast plate a thick wool sweater and a more ripped pair of jeans so his good ones didn't get ruined. By the forest other campers had outfitted themselves and we're helping each other strap on armour. Nico scanned the group looking for the familiar mop of blonde hair. He quickly spotter it and headed over to Will.

He grinned as Nico approached

"You’re playing today?" Nico asked skeptically with an eyebrow raised. Will didn't usually participate in capture the flag. His archery skills were mediocre at best. His hand to hand combat was a joke. And he was always needed to reattach Paolo’s limbs.

Will gave a malicious smile.

"Since Percy, Jason and the other aren’t here I thought I'd finally have the chance to wipe the floor with you." Will taunted. Nico raised both eyebrows mockingly

"Ok we will see how well that works out. I hope you brought enough ambrosia for yourself once I'm done with you." Will just smiled at blew him a kiss mockingly.

Chiron called for everyone's attention and separated them into teams. Nico was stuck with the Demeter cabin and a bunch of other not so super cabins. At least the one Ares kid was on his side.

The Demeter cabin came up with the brilliant idea of growing a giant beanstalk and putting the flag on top. Nico was unsure at first when Miranda put a tiny seed in the frozen ground and draped the flag over it. But as she knot her face in concentration the plant grew taller than the tress taking the flag with it.

Sherman came up with an attack plan and Nico made some mental notes in his head about where Sherman thought they might be able to find the flag. When the whistle went off from somewhere in the forest Nico ran a wide flank. He knew that Malkolm and the Hectate kids would make sure he couldn't shadow down travel to the flag so that left Nico with having to actually find it.

He ran thought the tress listening intently for any sounds of movement. Keeping an eye out for any signs of the enemy’s flag. He heard 2 people someone running towards him so Nico jumped up into a tree and did his best to blend in with the shadows the branches were casting. The two people stopped under the tree and looked around.

'I swear I just saw him around here' one of the people said.

Nico craned his neck to see who it was being careful not to move too much so that he stayed camouflaged in the dark. He saw a familiar mop of blonde hair that blended in with his jacket and the snow on the ground. The second person was Connor Stool. Nico gave a grin. Of course it would be will he would run into.

Nico shifted his weight and gripped his sword at a better angle. He then jumped down out of the tree and on top of Connor. Knocking him out cold. Will quickly spun around pulling out his bow and stinging it. Pointting it right at Nico. They circled slightly. Nico knew Will wasn't confident with close combat but Nico didn't like the look of the tranquilizer arrow will had sting on his bow.

"Ready to have you butt handed to you by a healer?" Will taunted with a smile

"If I were you I would watch your footing" Nico laughed.

Before Will pieced together what Nico had said Nico spun down swinging out his leg to catch Will’s causing him to trip. Will's arrow went flying but landed far away. His hand kept tight on the bow. Nico used the hilt of his blade to hit Will’s writs causing him to drop the bow while Will continued to fall back.

This was way too easy Nico thought. He stood of Will who had a disgruntled look of annoyance on his face. This now made it 15 Nico 0 will for capture the flag games. Nico smiled down at Will then offered out his hand to help him up. Will to it but grunted as he stood.

"If you tell me where the flag is I won't knock you out like Connor" Nico promised.

Will's mouth went up at one side disbelieving.

"And why would I do that Di Angelo?: Will taunted.

"Because you realize how superior I am. Also you like me" Nico mocked.

Will gave out a genuine laugh.

"Ya I guess I do really like you." Will admitted. Nico saw Wills eyes twinkle. The twinkle Will got when he was up to something. Before Nico could figure out what it was Will had rushed forward and brought Nico up into a kiss. His arms wrapped around Nico like vipers.

Nico stood shocked for a second but then returned the kiss. He sheathed his sword so he could put both hands on Wills hips. Suddenly Will deepened the kiss. Will pushed into Nico harder an opened his mouth slightly. His tongue came out and began finding it's way into Nico's.

This was very new to Nico and his head spun. If Will hadn't been holding him up he would have fallen over. Everything became fuzzy. Then as quickly as it started it stopped. Nico noticed the sudden absence of warm against him and opened his eyes. Blinking a few times for his brain to come to from the kiss Nico saw Will holding out Nico's sword pointing it at him grinning.

"You sneaking little siren" Nico said half amused that will had the nerve to take his sword.

"Never let the enemy distract you" Will said in his mocking Chiron voice.

From in the forest they heard a shout from Sherman Yang.

"It's on Zeus’s fist!"

Nico smirked. He knew where to go now.

Before Will could reach road to stop him Nico took a step back into the shadows to get closer to the fist.

>>>

Nico stepped out of the shadows and immediately fell over. As soon as his feet touched the ground a log gong like sound reverberated around his head. It sent his head swimming in circles. His eyes unfocused and his legs tuned to jelly. He tried to stand but heard another loud gong like song which sent him back down. Blinking through the disorientation Nico realised he wasn't at Zeus’s fist. He was in the middle of a grove. Surrounded by giant tress so thickly entwined he could see the sky above.

Another gong. But this time Nico relieved it wasn't a gong. It was a voice that reverberated so loudly it shook his bones.

'Stolen soul shall find a pass If shadows fails to break the glass The musician hidden in plain sight Only the sun can find the light. Else the shadows fall to night'

The voice echoed through Nico's head. He could feel his eyes rattling inside his skull. Only two thoughts went through Nico's brain.

'Get Out'

He managed to get on his hands and knees and crawl towards the nearest tree. He used all his willpower and threw himself into shadows one more time. He didn't have a destination in mind. He only concentrated on one thing. Will. I need to find Will.