#Kronos doesn’t even want to take over any more he is just trying to find a way to reserve time so this never happened

[iamlostandinneedofcoffee]

Image a spiderman meme moment of Meg and Thanatos(doing reverse hades runs trying to break into the house), Asterius and Theseus(he got bored of being ignored and wanted to find his foe[read second only friend] Zagregus and dragged Asterius along so he wouldn’t die), and Melinoe, who is on a vengeful and important quest, all breaking into the House of Hades at the same time.

Hades is chained up and unnoticed in the background, just watching and begging someone to kill him cause why are these idiots here and who let them in his house.

Zag broke out 3 mins ago and is due back any moment now, being dragged back by grandpa who is done with this feral child who he doesn’t have an official excuse to eat but is getting damn close

[long-live-astronerd-ghost-king]

Dannymay 2023. Day 7. Weapon. DPXDC.

The Justice League is trying to figure out Danny’s identity, and he’s not happy about it.

~Words hurt more than weapons~

~~~

Wonder Woman: You’re bound by the Lasso of Truth. No more chance of hiding secrets, ghost.

Danny: Are you kidding me?

Batman: Who are you, Phantom?

Danny: "I am a 400-foot tall purple platypus bear with pink horns and silver wings."

Captain Marvel: Wow, you don’t see many Fire Nation princesses these days.

Danny: Hm, at least someone with good taste here.

Danny: Have you even read the Fenton articles? Batman? Anyone? No? Remember. Ghosts will always find a way to lie. Your ribbon has no power over me.

~~~

Danny: ..I have a few words for you too, Batsy. Martha says hi. And she wants you to know that " ..if I see a damn clown in the immediate vicinity of one of my grandchildren or if I find out that you or any of the family are on patrol with broken bones, I’ll spank you as soon as I meet you on the other side. Obey Alfred. With love, Mother."

Flash:..Batman, why are you so pale?

Batman: Someone sprayed the fear toxin. Check the ventilation.

Flash:..

~~~

Superman: Stop it! Listen..

Phantom: I liked you when I was a kid, you know? They say it’s better to never meet your idols. Now I see it's truth.

Superman: You shouldn't be doing this alone. We can help you.

Danny: What makes you think I need your help? Don’t be a hypocrite. Why don’t you take off your glasses at the Daily Planet office? And why do you think that you can tell me what to do with my secret identity?

Danny: Don’t worry, I’m dead but my family is fine. I’m not like you, Big Blue. I will not sacrifice the people I love for my murderous secret.

Superman: What are you talking about?

Phantom: Don’t play dumb. In the land of the dead, people like to talk about the past, you know. You told Jonathan he wasn’t your father, and then you didn’t even try to save him. It’s cruel. But you can be happy, Jonathan doesn’t blame you for his death. I do.

The temperature in the room dropped a few degrees.

Superman: I.. I listened to what he said. He was trying to protect me.

Danny: So, how does it feel? Letting him die in front of you, knowing you could have saved him? Do you blame youself?

Superman: How dare you.

Danny: Of course, you do. Because no matter how many lives Superman saves, the most important one to you..You’ll never got it back. Afraid of being a lab rat? Superman is not special. I am not special too. 

Danny: Don’t look down at me just because you have more experience behind you. Revealing my identity should be my choice, not yours.

~~~~

Danny: Stay out of my grave. *turns to Batman* You should stay away from your son’s grave too. Leave the past behind.

~Hairstyle. Sharp tongue. Physique. This Insolence.~

Batman: Jason?

Danny: Wrong ghost, old man.

Batman: ...You’re the one who said a ghost would always find a way to lie.

Danny: Pride and prejudice! *shit, I’m starting to swear like Mr.Lancer, It’s time to finish my english essay.*  I’m not your Robin. Sorry bout that.

~Jane Austen? No hint more obvious. Jay doesn’t want to deal with the League? Well, Bruce doesn’t mind playing along.~

Batman: I understand.

Danny: Thank Ancients! Anyway, I’m leaving. Don’t look for me.

~~~

Tucker: Wow, Danny, when we told you to take care about the League, we thought you’d do it, like, without turning all of them against you.

Danny: Not all of them. And I didn’t do anything wrong. We talked.

Jazz: Danny, believe me, sometimes a conversation with you can cause more damage to your enemies than your ectoblasts.

Sam: Not just to them. Sometimes I also feel like his ideas are melting my brain.

Danny: Hey! Actually, you should be on my side.

Sam: We should?

Danny: Never mind. But if JL set foot in Amity Park I will sic on Wonder Woman her grandfather.

Tucker: But her Grandfather is Kronos. He’s a creep, trying to eat all his kids. Where do you even know such a monster from?

Clockwork *puts a cup of tea on the table and coughs to attract attention*.

Tucker: Wait a minute...

Tucker: Oh mY GOd, Mr. CLocKWoRk I’m sO SorRy, please don’t kill me.

Sam: Now you’ve changed your mind about importance of a healthy vegan diet, Tucker?

Tucker: ..No, I’m not that desperate.

~~~

~At the same time,somewhere in Ghost Zone~

 Martha *teaches Jason to do a choke hold*.

~~~

~At the same time, in one of Amity Park’s alleys.~

Maddie and Jack *discuss ways to capture the Phantom*

Batman *appears behind them*:DoN’t toUcH my the сHiLd.

~~~

Jazz: Don't you think that mentioning Superman's father was too much?

Danny: Maybe.But..when I think about you, mom or dad in dander I can't imagine what would make me freeze and.. It just doesn't make sense, okey?

Jazz: You're still thinking about Dan, right?

Danny: Every.damn.time.

[gardenofadonis]

Snippet of my Jude Polymestor write-up that makes me very unhappy because I feel incapable of even capturing even 0.01% of his performance.

One thing I loved about his Polymestor is that he's the only one (that I saw) whose immediate reaction after killing Polydorus was not about himself (be it self-pity or regret or guilt or whatever emotions he feels), but instead was to think about the victim and say a prayer for him before processing his own emotions. I wish more Polymestors would do that. But then I simply just miss Jude terribly.

*******

The omniscient caretaker knows he’d be here. Everything’s prepared for him. He opens the suitcase and the boy drops onto the ground, still shaking and alive. He spreads the sacrificial sheet on the ground, too engrossed in his own deed and remorse to notice a distressed cry and two figures, one holding another, that quickly disappears into a tenement flat. Turning back, he takes Polydorus in his arms and lays him down onto the sheet, now dirty and battered from carrying dozens of kids. He has a catalogue of them in his office. Sometimes in private, he would look at them, black and white photos of young boys and girls looking back at him, their image forever imprinted onto paper while they have long perished. He puts the leaf charm on Polydorus’ necklace into the kid’s mouth - it was this charm that sealed his fate, not the drug.

The door opens and Kronos’ imposing figure stands against the blinding light from within. He takes a step back from the kid, kneels, and raises his hands in the pose of Moloch. ‘Hail Moloch.’ He declares, trying to not let the caretaker see his grief that will be taken as evidence of him being unfaithful. Moloch is a strict god who will not tolerate any second thoughts. The caretaker begins dragging the sacrificial sheet, pulling the boy, whose dilated eyes are now staring at him in disbelief, into the door. And then it’s over. The boy is now with Moloch.

He feels all the strength and defiance in his body slip away as he stands up. The boy’s death touched him more than he could ever have anticipated. He heads upstairs, to Askalaphos’ greenhouse.

Sitting on the stool, he thinks about the crime he just committed with his own hands. But moreso, he thinks about Polydorus, the young boy who grew up in the war, who’s lost most of his family and his kingdom; a boy separated from his mother; a boy who desperately wanted to join the army but couldn’t; a sweet and timid boy with a hidden ego and sass. He’s like a son he always wanted. And he just murdered him. Taking a handful of sand, he is reminded of a long-forgotten prayer - a prayer to the Olympian gods he has long abandoned, the Olympian gods Polydorus would have worshipped.

He raises his hand and watches dark sand slipping through his fingers. ‘Give him cool water from the ever-flowing spring of memory, and place him among the heroes,’ he draws a constellation with his fingers in the air in front of him, ‘for he is a child of the earth and starry sky.’ It’s been so long since he prayed to the Greek gods he doesn’t remember the rest of the prayer. But he tried, and hopefully it was enough to ease the kid’s journey to the underworld. At least now it’s all over. The kid will suffer no more - not from Moloch and not from having to find his way in this world as an orphan of a fallen kingdom. It is he, the one who’s still alive, that will continue to suffer. He rises and leaves the greenhouse, unable to be alone with his guilt any longer. ‘It’s done.’ He whispers under his breath. His duty to Moloch, his betrayal to Hecuba and Apollo - they’re all done. The gods forced him onto this path, and they succeeded.

[winns-stuff]

LO RANT:

Okay this is petty to say, but it’s late and I was thinking about Lore Olympus heading into it’s new episodes and I just… I don’t get it. All the plots are kinda done and over with if you think about it, toxic girlfriend is gone, kronos is dead, no more college, no more TGEOM, no more controlling mom, and no AOW storyline. What will be left is Apollo, marriage, babies and you can easily just give that one or a few episodes because let’s be fr, Rachel did that with the whole 10 year thing. Everything is gonna be dealt with without any character development or any real message. This is supposedly a feminist story yet it depicts the story of a young girl falling for an older much richer and powerful man and the young girl leaving everything she loves and everyone she loves to be with this man after three weeks just to marry and have kids. I don’t know about you guys but I just don’t want to see Persephone become a housewife, I don’t want her to be just a baby maker for Hades and before you even say anything let’s be real that’s where this story is going you may not like how I say it but I’m saying this in the nicest way I possibly can. Persephone is literally just there to “fix Hades”, give him kids, and be with him so he won’t be lonely. He’s so dependent on her emotionally that he physically doesn’t know what to do with himself, a lot of people mistake that for love but in the context of their relationship I see it as desperation.

Hades has always been desperate. Desperate to be like his brothers, to have a queen, to have a wife, to not be lonely. He’d literally pick anyone to be his wife at this point if he hadn’t met Persephone because we’ve seen him trying to flirt with women before, it’s always giving escort and no I don’t mean to sound like I’m shaming escorts or anything that’s pretty dumb seeming as they’re literally doing a job but in this context the women he’s choosing aren’t escorts they’re just unlucky women who have to deal with him. He pays them and buys them gifts and everything and gives them everything they have just so they’ll stay with him. I’ve been noticing that, and then once he finds another young woman he does the same thing. That man is so utterly pathetic it’s scary, if you’re ever going to get into a relationship you should at the very least deal with very huge behavioral problems, for example Hades’ temper, something doesn’t go his way he riots like a child or you disagree with him and he’s upset, you give him criticism and he’s rushing out in the rain. You see what I’m getting at? Hades isn’t a very suitable person because he expects the woman in the relationship to be able to fix himself for him, to make all his problems go away, to deal with him at his ugliest and everything when he can’t even comfort and help Persephone when she confessed to him, or Minthe when she was getting insulted (badly might I add) by his own family to his face. He doesn’t even try being there yet those women are gonna have to bend over backwards to please him or he’ll go find someone else to whine to. Hades is pathetic and I despise him immensely, I hate him with the passion of a thousand suns and I wanna make that intensely clear to anyone who comes across this page for the first time. He was never a good person and he can’t even better his ways for Persephone.

Anyways, that’s the end of this rant. I’m a little eager for Saturday since I have a few things I wanna say about the episode but yeah, school is back in session as most of you know and I am running out of rants and even some appreciations. I believe I was going to appreciate Artemis next though so I’ll just use this post to remind me whenever I get the chance. But as I always say these are completely meaningless I don’t want anyone taking this seriously, I’m just stating my thoughts and opinions and if you agree with it that’s great and if you don’t that’s great too. By the way, this isn’t to bash Hades Lovers or anything if you like the man I don’t want you to back down from him just because I, a random teen on the internet, said something about it. If he’s your type he’s your type and this wasn’t a bash or anything so hopefully it doesn’t seem like it if it does I’m very sorry.

[thepassionatelady]

Lore Olympus Theory 201 (SPOILERS)

I do not own any of the characters of Lore Olympus. These bullets are my opinions and based on what I think will happen. Thank you!

* As we dive into this week's episode, we see the wonderful Persephone as she argues with Zeus that if he needs sorrow, he will stay. Yet, Zeus argues that he must inspect Tartarus and see what is happening. My theory is that when he gets there, Kronos has got to be waiting for Zeus to show up with Persephone to hand her over or “control” Zeus in some way.

* Then after they argue, Zeus says he will take her back to the Mortal Realm, and I am so happy Persephone stood up for herself and said no!! Like yes, queen! Take over your realm and claim that throne! Zeus mentions that Persephone is a liability because Kronos wants to eat her/want her powers, so Zeus is trying to be an excellent brother-in-law to defend Persephone by going with her as they explore the unknown of this new Underworld! I feel the more they investigate, the more shit the whole situation is.

* As the bitter and argue more, Persephone ask if Zeus knew how to get to Tartarus and even suggests an offering. Zeus is like, what, offering? (Like major freaking out, LOL). Then Persephone defends herself by saying he doesn’t know anything ABOUT THE UNDERWORLD. Like for a King of the Gods, he really should know how each realm works!

* When they reach Hades’s office, they see Hecate under Kronos's spell because you can tell the long black hair and long claw hands. I love how both of them agree not to approach Hecate because they both know they will be fucked up if they try to challenge her. In Greek mythology, Hecate is one of the most potent goddesses, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if they tried to avoid her as possible! (I wish Hecate would have been the person guarding Hades, but now that I look at it, I am so happy Rachel decided to put Hecate and Hermes under Kronos's spell). That leaves me with another theory if Hecate and Hermes are under a spell, then what about Hades? How bad is the damage? Will Zeus and Persephone try to stop Hades and wake him up? I want to see the showdown between Zeus and Persephone versus Evil Hades/Kronos and see our beautiful soon-to-be Queen help rescue her king like he did when she went into Hyper-nation!

* As they explore more and more, Persephone asks Zeus when was the last time he saw Hades. Zeus mentions a few meetings, but each time Hades pulls further and further away. Then he openly said I offered him a bride, yet he declined. Persephone was like you kidding me? Really? To Zeus. The bride was Leuce. In Greek mythological, Leuce was a lover of Hade's, but I can’t remember the whole tale. I am so happy that Rachel included Leuce and the many other “small details” of Greek Mythological and how it plays in modern times. It makes the series more interesting! When Leuce and Hades interact, Hades defends Persephone and declines Zeus's offer. Hades wanted Persephone to be his queen. He mentions this in the conversation between Leuce and Zeus.

* ONLY 👏A 👏MAN 👏WITH 👏NO 👏UNDERSTANDING 👏OF 👏LOYALTY 👏WOULD 👏THINK 👏THIS 👏IS 👏A 👏GOOD 👏IDEA👏 >> I love when Hades screams this saying towards Zeus. He is telling Zeus that he should wake up, love Hera, stop cheating, and get him Persephone. Hades understands true love; he is trying to teach that to Zeus! 👏YOU 👏CAN’T 👏JUST 👏REPLACE 👏HER👏Another point of him telling Zeus that true love is real and he should start treating Hera. This goes back to the relationship of Hades and Persephone from day one, how they fight, how they argue, and how they fall in love repeatedly. More reasons why we need to find Hades!!

* Hades finally said he wouldn’t have any more negotiations or meetings with Zeus unless he had Persephone by his side. I love that so much and how he defends Persephone repeatedly. My theory is that when they find hades, I believe Persephone will pull what Hades did when she was in the hyper nation back a few episodes (when everyone found out what she did and it was on the news). Or Persephone will saved Hades by being vulnerable or authentic true love’s kiss to keep him. I am so excited for that episode!!

* We see a new character popping in the window and catching Zeus and Persephone walking/talking. My theory is Hypnos, God of Sleep. He is the twin brother of Thanatos, but maybe there is more to it with Rachel 🧐? My gut feeling is that he is the reason why the citizens and (perhaps) gods under the sleeping spell not only to protect them from Kronos but to probably save the realm from chaos.

* Then we see Persephone talking to Zeus, saying she loves the devotion, but the idea of being lonely is crushing. Hades wants to be with you and only you, Persephone! Then Zeus doesn’t understand why they love each other due to the time limit they had with each other. He goes on to about risking more wrath from him to see Hades. Yet we see/read the truth of why Persephone decided to go and see what was going on in the underworld (not that she confesses her feelings about hades) but telling Zeus why she wanted to see hades. The idea of helping Hades how he helped her over and over again! She wants to be there for him like he was for her.

* Then she asks Zeus why he won’t let her be with Hades in the first place. She goes over all the reasons why she wanted to be with Hades. Then Zeus said I advise him to marry you, but in the first few episodes, Hades wanted Persephone to love him instead of forcing her to love him. As we see their relationship/story grows and unfolds, the more I want to see them together again!!

* Zeus then again asks whether Persephone gets tired of hades and moves on? (hinting at the many relationships with Zeus). Bragging about her fertility goddess powers and how someone like Apollo might overthrow Zeus. Then Persephone ends that quickly because we all know what happens with Apollo. How he raped her, used her, and gaslighted her. Rude!

* Then the episode ends with Hypnos freaking out, making Persephone freak out. Why do you think they are freaking out again? Maybe Kronos? Who is trying to control the Underworld? Perhaps Hades is in deep trouble than we thought? Maybe to get some more power to help defeat Kronos once and for all? All of these are my theories!

* SIDE NOTE: When Kronos versus modern gods/goddesses comes down to it (the showdown). My theory is Persephone is probably going to consume his powers, and she might become evil. Not really Kronos controlling her evil, but a new form of Persephone is born, and maybe she might be the new villain? (again, one of my theories).

[antiloreolympus]

10 Anti LO Asks

1. No cap but Persephone's hair, when it's short and flat, really does look like Rachel Smythe.  

2. honestly i feel like if rachel kept her original style more serious aspect like the kronos stuff would actually carry some weight, because the current style is so cartoony looking with such oversaturated colors and goofy expressions  at every turn that i just cant take any of it seriously. i dont get how she had a style made so much better for young adults and older readers while still being stylized but now it looks like a lazy knock off of the steven universe style.

3. There's a really good theory that LO Zeus swallowed Metis because she's a fertility goddess, which would in turn give him enough power they needed to take out Kronos, so it'd be a tragic circumstance and desperate choice over just Zeus being awful. It gives him so much more nuance and shows what tough choices he made to win and earn the respect to be king and I can't wait for Rachel to NOT use it because Zeus is a meanie who is against Persephone and the fans would NEVER accept it. Yaaaay. 😒

From OP: To clarify, Demeter does say in the story that Zeus swallowed Metis because she’s a fertility goddess so it’s not a theory.(Episode 145)

4. “Persephone speaks her truth” is what Webtoon sent as an notification…. She basically didn’t. 

5. the UnO creator is finally coming back after over half a year off and you can tell just off their social media they're so much happier after a real break. I would so like to see RS do that but I just don't see it happening.

6. im not at all suprised Rachel went with the "hades finds out by accident" route. does anybody remember why hepheaestus is there???? was there any alluding to his presence???

7. i swear, no one in lo even talk like actual people. i know some writer friends who work out their dialogue by saying it outloud and taking out whatever sounds unnatural to the human ear, but rachel just goes guns blazing into weird cringey dialogue, esp when its trying to sell how into each other hxp is (why would demeter say hades looks like a man dying fo thirst and that her DAUGHTER looks like a sparkling river?? like who talks like this, esp about their own child??)

8. theres this one webtoon artist on featured who does nothing but suck up to rachel any chance she can get, meanwhile im p sure rachel doesnt even follow them? and theyre constantly kissing up to her and webtoons and dont see anything wrong with how they overwork themselves as a single artist while the actual company doesnt even promote their comic and theyre still living off commissions to survive. like girl, focus on yourself over hoping rachel might one day help you. she wont.

From OP: Tbf, they may be friends on discord or something else.

9. i feel like a big problem with the writing too is it wants us to go off a modern value system, yet at the same time wants to use the "its ancient times" excuse for how hades and co. act very badly, especially by modern standards (he owns slaves!!), but also wants to weave "good and bad" together but cant show the shades of gray because bot rachel and her fans do not want the characters to be complex, they can only be wholly good or bad. under a real writer this would work, bot it cant under RS.

-----FP Spoilers/Mention-----

10. I don't even know where to start. What was that filler chapter? An attempt to give P any character development? Why making her naked additionally? It's just repetitive attempt to fix what should have been fixed long ago and I'm not buying any of it. And P again doesn't care how awful person H is (wanting for his slaves to suffer eternally) cause I guess he looks "cute" holding a hen lol. She brushes it off like it's nothing. I'm sorry where is Helios?

[wasithard]

Percy wakes up on his seventeenth birthday in his own bed.

One year ago today, he’d woken up in a room at the Plaza Hotel from a vision of the Titan Lord Kronos planning his attack on Manhattan. One year ago today, he’d woken up in the middle of a war – and that’s not even the most recent war he’s fought.

Percy wakes up on his seventeenth birthday and immediately goes back to sleep.

**

His day goes like this: waking again to blue pancakes and waffles and eating them with his mom and Paul. Having a picnic lunch with Annabeth and Grover in Central Park, then driving with them to camp for dinner and a bonfire with their friends. Roasting marshmallows and singing songs and kissing Annabeth by the fire. Getting too lost in the way the firelight tinges her grey eyes red to notice the rest of the campers gathering around them before they pick them up and throw them in the lake, just like last year. Sitting around the dying embers of the fire, remembering the friends they lost in the war that ended one year ago today, the heavy silence of that moment burying itself in the middle of his chest, sitting there like a weight. Going to bed in his cabin, Tyson snoring in the bunk above him, wishing the love he’d felt from his friends that day would be enough to silence the voices in his head yelling it should’ve been me.

**

Percy wakes up on his nineteenth birthday, three years after the war.

He wakes up and wonders if he’ll ever stop thinking of it as the anniversary of the war instead of a celebration for another year he’s lived, or another year he’s spent with Annabeth.

Annabeth, who’s living on campus in the city they almost gave their lives defending three years ago now and comes over for breakfast that morning with Sally and Paul. He’s sitting at the table with them all, laughing and grateful to have them, but wondering if he should be worried that it’s been three years and he still wakes up on August 18th with a tightness in his chest at the thought of getting another year older than his friends who will never see another day. He knows they’re in Elysium. The thought should bring him peace.

Breakfast trickles into the afternoon and he and Annabeth go for a walk in Central Park before driving up to Camp. On the way there, Percy takes a detour to a small beach he’d scouted out a few weeks before and surprises his girlfriend with a picnic on the sand. He helps her build a sandcastle that’s almost taller than he is, holding the waves back so that they can use the hard, wet sand near the shoreline to make their castle stronger.

By the time they get to Camp they both smell of salt and seaweed and his spirits are high. It makes it worse, somehow, when they have their annual memorial to those they lost three years ago that he’s had such a nice day so far. Annabeth notices his change in mood, presses a kiss to his shoulder as she entwines their fingers.

After the campers start to trickle off to bed, Chiron catches his eye and Percy follows him to the Big House. They are sitting on the balcony, crickets chirping around them and a glass of cool blue Coke in Percy’s hand when Chiron fixes him with a stare that has seen countless tragedies and asks him if he still blames himself for being alive.

It’s jarring to hear someone so bluntly say out loud the thoughts he hasn’t dared to speak for so long. He swallows, can’t bring himself to hold Chiron’s gaze so flicks his eyes down to his feet instead, the only part of his body that doesn’t feel like it’s shaking. His fingers clench around the clear glass in his hand and he watches beads of water slide down the outside of it. Chiron doesn’t speak, but the silence is heavy and Percy feels like it’ll suffocate him if he doesn’t break it.

“I don’t– ” he clears his throat. It sounds too thick. “I don’t blame myself.”

He takes a sip of his Coke, swallowing it completely. “I don’t blame myself. I just don’t understand…”

He doesn’t want to finish the sentence, doesn’t want to say the words, I don’t understand why it wasn’t me, but when his eyes meet Chiron’s again he knows the centaur understands. How many other heroes has he seen feel the same way? Does he feel the same way?

“Percy,” Chiron says, his voice steady and deep with thousands of years of wisdom and loss and hope. “You help no one by holding on to guilt that isn’t yours.”

Percy exhales roughly, running a hand through his hair. In his head, he understands this. He just doesn’t believe it. If he had been a little bit better, in any sense of the word: faster, stronger, smarter. Maybe Charles wouldn’t have gotten caught in the engine room of the Princess Andromeda. Maybe Michael wouldn’t have been caught in the earthquake Percy had caused on the Williamsburg Bridge. Maybe Clarisse could have been convinced to fight in the war earlier, so Silena wouldn’t have had to impersonate her.

“Percy.” Chiron repeats, voice firmer. “You might be a hero, but you are also a person. And all a person can ever do is their best.”

Percy closes his eyes, bows his head. Chiron continues speaking. “The gods have done wonderful things, but they have also made many, many mistakes. More and far more devastating mistakes than the ones you have made in your short life. The benefit and curse of immortality is seeing how the actions of a moment can fade over time. How they can be made up for when a similar situation arises in the future. How it is not one’s past that defines them, but how they learn from it.”

Percy doesn’t want to look up at Chiron now, because there are tears in his eyes and it’s embarrassing, frankly. But he owes it to him.

He looks up. Chiron’s gaze is as steady as before, and Percy exhales one more time, releasing air all the way down to his belly. One tear slips down the side of his face and stops at his upper lip. He licks it away, using a hand to wipe his eyes as he turns his face to the now quiet camp. He can see the volleyball court, the rock climbing wall, the smoking embers of the campfire and the beginning of the circle of cabins. He sees his home: safe, intact. Filled with his friends, the survivors. He breathes it in.

“Thanks, Chiron.” He says, turning back to the centaur who gives him a soft, understanding smile in return.

Percy finishes off his drink and leaves the empty glass on the same wooden table he saw Chiron and Dionysus playing pinochle at when he first arrived at Camp, all those years ago. He stands up, wishes Chiron goodnight and starts walking back to the cabins.

Cabin 3 stands there: dark, alone and familiar. He feels tiredness tug at his eyelids and muscles but inside he still feels too wired to lay down just yet. He heads for the beach.

Annabeth is already there. Her legs are bent in front of her, arms tucked underneath them and chin resting on her knees. He sits silently beside her and they stay there, no sound between them except the gentle crash of the waves on the shore. After a few minutes she leans her head against his shoulder and he rests his atop hers, closes his eyes.

“Do you remember when we were in the Sea of Monsters and I wanted to hear the Sirens?” Annabeth asks, voice quiet. “I would’ve killed myself on those rocks swimming to their island but you dove into the ocean and pulled me out of their range, even though I was kicking and screaming at you to stop. We were thirteen.

“And remember in Mount St. Helen’s? I know you didn’t have a plan, but you made me get out anyway. You made sure that I was safe before even thinking about how you would survive.”

He feels her weight leave his shoulder then, glances over to see her sitting up and turning towards him, crossing her legs under her. The light of the full moon washes her in an ethereal glow, and her eyes are gleaming wide and bright as they lock onto his, pinning him in place. Annabeth is always beautiful, but when she’s determined – whether in battle or in convincing her boyfriend that he doesn’t deserve the pain he inflicts on himself – she has a face that could launch a thousand ships.

“And in Rome,” she says, her voice catching. “You wouldn’t let me face Tartarus unless we could face it together. I don’t know how many times you saved my life down there…” Percy sees her eyes begin to well with tears. “When we were fighting the arai…” She closes her eyes as a few tears escape them. Percy reaches forward and wipes a few away with his thumb. She opens her eyes into his again and gives him a small smile.

“My point is,” she continues, her voice thick. “Being a demigod is a high risk life that none of us asked for. An occupational hazard of us just being alive is death by monster attack. This is the first thing we learn when we find out who we are. All the friends we’ve lost over the years…they knew that too.

“And that doesn’t mean that their deaths were ok or justified or that we can forget about them, but I think that shouldering the burden of their deaths is stopping you from remembering the beauty of their lives. And it’s stopping you from remembering all the people who haven’t died because of you. Every single person in this camp owes their life to you, either directly or indirectly. Yes, a lot of people died on this day three years ago, but even more people were saved, and you had more to do with the last thing than the first.”

Percy’s getting teary again, but he doesn’t feel embarrassed this time. Annabeth shuffles closer to him on the sand and grabs both of his hands, squeezing them tightly, bringing them up and pressing her lips against them. “Percy Jackson, you have the purest heart of anyone I have ever met. It’s glaringly obvious to anyone who knows you – except yourself, apparently. I will spend the rest of my life trying to help you see it, but until then you’re just gonna have to trust me.”

Her face changes. It goes from open and pleading to playful, one eyebrow raised and a challenge in her eyes that makes his heart skip a beat, even when the rest of his system is in emotional overwhelm.

“Do you trust me, Percy?” Annabeth asks him.

He lets out a laugh, shaky from tears, and nods, “Yes, Annabeth. I trust you with my life.”

She beams at him, sitting up on her knees to bring her face closer to his, until it’s close enough that he can feel the warmth of her breath as she speaks, her eyes still locked onto his. “Then believe me when I tell you that you deserve forgiveness. And you need to give it to yourself.”

It’s too much. Percy swallows, jaw clenched and glances down. Annabeth releases one of his hands and grabs his chin, not letting him get away that easily.

“You. Deserve. Forgiveness. More than anyone in this world.”

He’s searching her eyes, frantically almost. It feels too easy. There has to be a catch.

“Ok?” Annabeth prompts, her voice still soft but firm, uncompromising.

He opens his mouth to speak but any words get caught in the knot at the base of his throat. Tears are leaking down his face and he can’t. He can’t. It can’t be that easy. It shouldn’t be.

Annabeth exhales, removing her hand from his chin and instead running it through his hair, stopping at the back of his head and bringing it forward until their foreheads touch. She doesn’t say anything else, just sits there with him.

With him, while he closes his eyes and thinks about the Minotaur choking his mom when he was twelve. Thinks about imaging Tyson drowning in the Sea of Monsters when he was thirteen. Thinks about losing Bianca di Angelo and Zoe Nightshade later that same year. He thinks about the campers that fell in the Battle of the Labyrinth whose names he didn’t know, and the campers that fell in the Battle of Manhattan whose names he made sure he did. He thinks of a Titan and a Giant at the Doors of Death, sacrificing themselves so that he and Annabeth could get to safety.

Percy sits on a beach at nineteen years old and thinks of all the death he’s seen in such a short time, all the death that’s been haunting him for years.

A cool breeze passes by him, coming from the water. As it brushes his skin, he comes back to the warmth of his best friend’s forehead pressed against his, her hands: one clutching his, the other tangled in his hair. He feels her soft exhale of breath and thinks about how she is alive, here, with him. Against all odds. He thinks of the campers asleep in the cabins just metres away: alive, here, with him. He thinks of his mom and Paul and Rachel, his friends from Camp Jupiter, all the people he cares about who are alive, here, with him. He thinks about the fact that they outnumber the dead, and realises he’s never really thought about that before.

Percy lifts his head and looks at Annabeth. She cups one side of his face with her hand, eyes still trained on his intently.

“I love you.” He says. “I’m so happy you’re alive.”

Her smile is small and bittersweet, her eyes wide grey pools of understanding.

“Me too,” is all she says.

It is enough.

[pokedash55]

ULTRA LONG TIME TWIN HEADCANNONS

@sippin-on-waterfalls your post is ready

From Pokedash and Purplefern

Ooooooookay here we go.

_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_

-Krux perceives time slower than others so he is easily late to events (plus he gets distracted and way into projects so he can easily lose track of time, ironically) so he could end up missing a lot of Elemental Alliance meetings

-Acronix made sure he informed Krux it was time to go (whenever he remembers, anyway) otherwise he’d be uber late all the time. Good thing they always go together

-Acronix is super early all the time because of his powers and he and Griffon Turner’s grandfather got along really well

-All the same, between lack of attention span, focusing on other things, and not caring for the meetings in general, Krux and Acronix miss a LOT of meetings 

-Before alliance meetings Wu is training little Morro and the Twins and the Master of Speed just waltz in the monastery doors an hour early

-Acronix teaches Morro some sick fighting moves (some rather underhanded)

-Krux advises him to never let people get away with harm cause you are the most important thing in your life. (Revenge!)

-Wu be like plz stop encouraging my kid into violence and dishonorable tactics.

-Krux brought refreshments to an EA party exactly once. It was pickled beet tea and nobody liked it. He took it very personally. 

-Back during the war, the love triangle with Misako was actually a love rectangle. Krux had a crush on her too but he literally had no idea how to act on it so his part of the rectangle was staring at her longingly from afar and not saying anything. 

-Yes Acronix teased him immensely about this. And tried to act as a wingman several times but Krux swore if he did he would murder him 

-Pre-series, Misako would do work for the museum a lot, so she ended up working with Sanders Saunders quite often. Despite her relationship to Wu and Garmadon and their “history”, he did like working with her ok

-They both also worked with the Explorer’s Club a lot, and have equal disdain for Cecil Putnam and Clutch Powers 

-Krux hates Cecil’s stuffy rules (even though he couldn’t show it while being Dr Saunders) and Clutch’s….everything

-Krux’s doctorate is real, and he has a doctorate in History and and Master’s degree in Museum Studies 

-He’s the Curator of History at the museum, and the other curator is the curator of natural sciences 

-Acronix is a big nicknames guy. He doesn’t usually call people by their actual names. Only the people he actually cares about or that he super hates. 

-But he also generally despises nicknames given TO him. The only people allowed to call him Nix/Nixie are  his brother and mother (and later Shannon). 

-Krux only calls Acronix "Nix" if he's feeling particularly vulnerable/scared/etc (so like, when being the older twin isn't feeling that fun and he decides to ignore those 3 minutes and be more like the "younger" twin.) So this becomes a lot less as he becomes more arrogant. 

-(Based on how he describes Dareth getting beat up by the Vermillion warrior) Krux likes watching wrestling. It’s a guilty pleasure of his 

-And of course Acronix loves it once he learns about it, so the two watch it together 

-Krux occasionally plays strategy board games. He tried to get Acronix into them but he found them boring. 

-(Sometimes he’ll suck it up and play with him anyway, though.) 

-Both are sass masters

-Both also like science

-But like completely different facets of science. 

-Krux of course likes the more stable and earthy sciences. Biology and geology, ecology. Those elemental science that have always existed but we just haven’t yet understood them

-Krux is also a total history nerd. Things like paleontology and anthropology are also really interesting to him 

-Yes he was a dinosaur kid. (Especially since dinosaurs had just started to be discovered back in his day.) 

-Acronix of course likes advancement and the otherworldly sciences. Technology, Astronomy. Sure we build upon the discoveries of the past but what about creating something new for the future? 

-Acronix does like bioengeneering since it is a new advancement but he knows saying so would make Krux grin with “I told you bio was cool” vibes

-Krux can engulf himself into his work or his schemes for days. As he is very patient. 

-Acronix is less so. He sees time constantly moving forward so sitting idle to “Plan” seems a ridiculous waste of time. 

-He jumps from activities quickly as the novelty of it wears off and he is always on a quest for what's new and what may work, not really what has been confirmed to work

-Krux of course sees this as a fool's errand. We need to respect the knowledge we have and use it and plan with it. 

-But when they are in sync you should be SCARED

-Both thinking in the Present can make them in perfect harmony, Both in fighting and talking.

-Their different planning methods can help eachother get things done. So yes, when they work together you should be scared 

-Krux can get really fixated on an idea, and get into major creative blocks. Acronix helps propose out of the box solutions that keep his ideas moving forwards that he wouldn’t have thought of himself. 

-But as we see they can also be reeeeallly different and fight over the miniscule things.  

-Krux lingers on Grudges easily as he physically cannot not put value to the events of the past.

-Acronix’s main grudge with the alliance came from his ego and arrogance, not his element. I think he feels very internally about wrongs to him in the moment but if he sees nothing really changed a couple of days later he loses interest in holding such a grudge easily

-Each of them have the ability to not be affected by the other’s powers

-Acronix has no patience to listen to anything he doesn’t want to hear. Back when he had his powers he COULD and WOULD just “skip” peoples’ dialogue if he got bored of it. 

-Krux has a bad habit of “freezing” people if he feels like they’re interrupting him. Like, he will freeze people who are trying to get him to stop working on something while he’s trying to get something done, and then get back to them when he feels like it. Everyone has to work on his time. (Annoyingly, this does not affect his brother, which is why Acronix is the only one who can actually get him to stop working on his projects.) 

-Whenever Krux & Acronix would hang out with Chen, Acronix loved messing with Clouse. Clouse reminds him of his brother, but even more stuffy and annoyed somehow, so he just has an instinctual urge to annoy him as much as possible. 

-(Clouse does not appreciate this, but Master Chen says they’re “important” to his plan so Clouse just suffers quietly.) 

-Acronix likes the Master of Speed, but also finds it annoying that he can resist his slo-mo powers by going really fast. (On the bright side, though, this does make him the closest thing to an equal he’ll get for a sparring partner, if Krux doesn’t want to train with him for whatever reason.) 

-Because of his element, Sound is one of the rare people who doesn’t really mind Krux but REALLY dislikes Acronix. Acronix is just so loud all the time and it physically pains him because he is so sensitive to vibrations and volume. Krux is generally pretty quiet so doesn’t bug him as much. 

-Acronix is an Entrepreneur (ESTP)  and Krux is an Architect (INTJ) 

-They have no Feeling whatsoever

-Otherwise, they are complete opposites

-Both of these personality types hate rules, regulations, and micromanaging restricting authority figures (hmm, wonder why they broke away from the alliance…)

-Acronix is arrogant in the way that he doesn’t care about his flaws, because obviously he is awesome and everyone else is just jelly, Krux is arrogant in the way that he hates people pointing out his flaws, because shut up he doesn’t have any 

-Their mother is Polaris, they take after her physically 

-Father is Kronos, they got their powers and ego from him 

-Their father actively encouraged them to have immense pride in their element -- being the former master of time himself 

-Ordered them the sweet matching armor

-He was a samurai back in his day, which is why the Twims wore samurai helmets.

-Between their two loving parents, the Twims were nearly spoiled 

-Krux and Acronix grew up pretty rich, Kronos was pretty much high society and Polaris was too 

-They went to a fairly fancy private school growing up

-But everyone there were snobs so they didn’t get along well with their classmates (what a surprise)

-Their parents died in a skirmish with Serpentine, leading the Twims to join the alliance full of vengeance. 

-Acronix has a battle scar from being grazed by an anacondrai sword on his left pec cause I said so

-Also a lot of misc snake bit scars and a burn scar from that one time (Ray’s got a bad temper and Acronix likes pressing people’s buttons, so that went super well)

-Acronix super cares about his looks so has a ton of, like, haircare and beauty products. Krux has a single bottle of 3-in-1 and a bar of soap and says that that’s sufficient. 

-Back in the day Acronix had a bunch of oils and whatever for his hair, and when he’s in the present he’s got a bunch of fancy shampoos and such.  He’s definitely the vain one of the two twins

_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

A collection of Neurodivergent Twims HCs

-Acronix has ADHD and Krux is autisitc

-Acronix is early, but only to things he remembers. He often forgets dates. And Krux will get involved with something else, and has a warped sense of time. Together, the two miss a lot of EM meetings 

-And when they’re at them, neither of them are good at conversations. Acronix talks a mile a minute and doesn’t let anyone get a word in edgewise. Krux either doesn’t talk to anyone or similarly dominates conversation and doesn’t let anyone else talk. 

-The two also get sent on solo missions alot

-They don’t focus well in a group setting (Acronix generally ignoring the plan for what he prioritizes as the better option and krux simply not being popular with the others and only really battling well beside his brother)

-They are generally strong enough to protect a village by themselves

-The other EM work better with them out of the way since they are “annoying” and no one really likes their arrogance, pride, or entire personhood

-They seem to be happier working only together than with the whole group

-Once during a group charge on a collection of Serpentine races Acronix notices a horde heading in a different direction and follows them impulsive

-All of these things together make them especially unpopular with the other EMs

-Especially with the Master of Ice, who considers their actions disrespectful and often scolds them on their behavior 

-Krux and Acronix can BOTH get hyperfixated on things they are interested in, and can also forget to eat and sleep.

-Acronix struggles with insomnia a lot because his brain doesn’t shut up. Luckily his brother never really sleeps either. They spend a lot of long nights talking about nonsense 

-Acronix tries to use time skip powers to not waste time while sleeping. He skips the night, but he still didn’t get sleep. He crashes after a few days of this and Krux tells him that he’s a moron 

-Acronix has a fidget spinner, which he got for the memes but ended up finding unironically helpful, and gives Krux a fidget cube (which Krux reluctantly accepts and actually does use pretty often.) 

-Before learning what a fidget spinner was he would flip his phone a lot. It was both an easily accessible stim and assurance he knew where it was cause he tended to leave things around at random. 

-Krux used nail-biting as a stim, mostly because it can appear pretty neurotypical 

-Acronix is “annoying” around the ninja during his lil redemption arc, but instead of reacting like the elemental masters, the Ninja actually do research and come to an understanding (especially Zane, who is perceptive, understanding, and has an instantaneous link to the internet). 

-Altogether he’s a little surprised when they actually put effort into tolerating and understanding his differences. Huh. How’s bout that? 

-Jay is also pretty understanding, he’s got a lot of nd cousins and has ADHD himself so it’s kinda just *shrugs*

-Modern dyes and preservatives really trigger Acronix’s ADHD to be even worse than usual. 

-Zane picks up on this, and like the mother hen that he is starts to put in a special effort to keep dyes away from Acronix (or to keep Acronix away from dyes, as the case may be)

-Jay has a similar problem with dyes (which Edna let the Ninja know about, thanks a lot ma ) so Zane works double time to keep them both away from dyes

-Makes special dishes that are “ADHD safe” 

-Neither appreciate it (well Jay does but will complain openly at every chance he gets)

-Acronix got into a lot of trouble with their dad when he was a kid, because he just couldn’t pay attention 

-Has bursts of anger a lot, oftentimes this happens during things like parties or pre-meeting conversations. (which easily leads to him getting a label of “aggressive” or “hotheaded” by the EMs) 

-DEFINITELY struggles with Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria

-Ninjago history is Krux’s special interest 

-Krux freezes people around him when he needs a sec to destim

-Krux is pretty high-functioning, but is on the borderline. He's high-functioning enough to be aware of himself and mask, but not enough to avoid things like shut/melt downs 

-Acronix is fiercely protective of his brother whenever he shuts down. Messing with Krux while he's like that (whether the antagonist is aware or not) is a one way ticket to his wrath as well as physical punishment. 

-Whenever things got too intense at a meeting/party type thing, Acronix would ditch and sneak them both out whenever Krux was heading towards a shut down. Being the awesome supportive twin that he is, he learned to pick up on the signs of one and was certain to prevent them pretty much whenever possible. 

-Acronix failed in his efforts only once (he was kind of sick that day and wasn’t at the top of his game to be keeping a watchful eye on his bro), and Krux kind of ended up time freezing a few of the EMs in the process. It was something the elemental masters (or Krux himself)  did not soon forget or forgive. 

-He'll go nonverbal sometimes, to the minor aggravation of the alliance. Sign language isn't a thing yet so anyone trying to understand him when he's like this are pretty much reliant on Acronix and his twin sense to translate. 

-When their parents died Krux went nonverbal for a little over a month. 

-Krux was pretty delayed in learning to speak, he didn’t say his first word until he was 3 ¼ 

-Even during his redemption arc, Acronix does not tell the Ninja about Krux's autism, from a built in fear that the knowledge would be used against him in possible future battles. (Also because he knows Krux wouldn't want them to know.) 

-Krux doesn't just hate phones because “ugh technology”, he also just hates talking on the phone because it’s super difficult

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OK there are way more that we have but... did you know there is actually a word limit on Tumblr? Heh heh... If you want more Twim goodness you can read our extensive fanfic collection... or maybe we’ll make a part two (That’ll probably consist of Home life pre-war stuff, post-canon AU junk, Vermillion family nonsense, and more random stuff)

[theolympusfiles]

rereading the PJO and HoO - part one: the lightning thief

before i start, all italicized parts are from the lightning thief by rick riordan. they're not my words and these are not my characters. my thoughts are the only thing that are mine :)

• "mom, you're coming too." her face was pale, her eyes as sad as when she looked at the ocean. "no!" i shouted, you are coming with me. help me carry grover". - the first(ish) appearance of percy's fatal flaw! i love the early establisment, especially because it helps foreshadow to the sea of monsters when fatal flaws are formally introduced.

• "that's -" "pasiphae's son," my mother said. "i wish i'd known how badly they wanted to kill you." - sally is underappreciated. she's smart as hell and clearly took the time to research demigods. yes, she was a little bit selfish with keeping percy out of the loop and not sending him to camp. but can you blame her? she lost all of her family and if she sent percy to CHB at an early age, that most nearly means she won't see him often (he'll attract monsters because he's aware of his status as a demigod and will most likely be at camp full-time). but sally ensured that she knew enough about the demigod world to protect percy because she knew that her selfishness would come with consequences. best mom.

• i was crying, calling for my mother, but i held on to grover - i wasn't going to let him go. - percy's first loss as a demigod and i am broken. honestly, so sad to think of, especially knowing all the losses he'll face in the future books. this line is also his fatal flaw showing once again (refer to first bulletpoint)

• "it (america) is the great power of the west. and so olympus is here. and we are here." - if olympus follows the west, where would the next location be? obviously, america is still a big powerhouse in terms of western civilization but that's not going to last. my bet is south korea but who knows? would love a fanfic on this tbh

• "the truth is, i can't be dead. you see, eons ago the gods granted my wish. i could continue the work i loved. i could be a teacher of heroes as long as humanity needed me. i gained so much from that wish... and i gave up so much. but i'm still here, so i can only assume i'm still needed." - how will it be decided that he's not needed? honestly, can't imagine CHB without him but chiron also deserves retirement

• i started to understand luke's bitterness and how he seemed to resent his father, hermes so okay, maybe gods had important things to do. but couldn't they call once in a while, or thunder or something? - percy has always showed some hesitance when accepting the demigod world, so i wasn't really surprised to see doubts like this pop up, especially with luke's influence. i'd think most demigods feel this way, luke and percy are just the ones who exhibit it the most in the series. i'm really interested in the parallels between the two and i'm looking forward to reading more and examining them

• "during the winter solstice, at the last council of the gods, zeus and poseidon had an argument. the usual nonsense: 'mother rhea always liked you best', 'air disasters are more spectacular than sea disasters', etc. - despite the fact that the gods are all-powerful beings, i appreciate the petty sibling spats that are mentioned briefly

• "so let me get this straight," i said. "i'm supposed to go to the underworld and confront the world of the dead." "check," chiron said. "find the most powerful weapon in the universe." "check." "and get it back to olympus before the summer solstice in ten days." "that's about right." i looked at grover, who gulped down the ace of heaers. "did i mention that maine is very nice this time of year?" he asked weakly. - this would be perfect for those 30 second trailers

• "gee," i said feigning surprise. "who else would be stupid enough to volunteer for a q uest like this?" the air shimmered behind chiron. annabeth became visible, stuffing her yankees cap into her back pocket. - the way he knows her pretty well already, i-

• the truth was, i didn't care about retrieving zeus' lightning bolt, or saving the world, or even helping my father out of trouble. - early on, we see from the get go that percy has a dislike for the gods. it's small mentions like this that really gets me thinking. he never really showed any dislike of the gods when he first arrived at camp (understandable) but he was hopeful for his father. it wasn't until luke planted the seed into his head that these thoughts came to light. i love this little detail, especially as we know that towards the end, luke does seem to think he can turn percy against the gods. his plan backfired a little bit on him in the end but like i said before, the parallels between luke and percy are so glaring. riordan definitely thought it out extensively

• do not be a pawn of the olympians, my dear. you would be better off as a statue - this is said to percy by medusa and again, feeds into his dislike of the gods. i wonder if monsters have some opinion on this. most would probably hate the gods but i wonder what their stance is on demigods. we know that they work with them (see kronos' army). the real enemy for monsters are the gods, the demigods killing them are just pawns to the gods so maybe that's how some monsters see them

• "so, what's your status?" luke asked me. "chiron will be sorry he missed you." i told him pretty much everything, including my dreams. it felt so good to see him, to feel like i was back at camp even for a few minutes, that i didn't even realize how long i had talked to him until the beeper went off on the spray machine. - there's no doubt that percy really considered luke a friend. he wasn't hesitant to tell luke about his dreams, something that he didn't share with annabeth or grover until later on the book. luke was a sort of mentor to percy and it was conveyed pretty well through their interactions, which makes his betrayal even more heartbreaking

• "you think you'll ever try living with your dad again?" she wouldn't meet my eyes. "please. i'm not into self-inflicted pain." - my heart breaks for annabeth and her relationship with her father. i've read most of the riordanverse books and the growth in annabeth's relationship with her family is definitely something i'm looking forward to watch grow as i make my way through the books again

• i looked over at the desk and saw a girl sitting there, also wearing a straitjacket - so i never paid the dreams any mind but now that i think about it, they're really good for analysis. for example, the straitjacket could mean something like the gods are keeping them restrained. maybe i'm overthinking it or have been analyzing text too much in AP english but i think that the dreams are worth some deeper thinking

• i pretended not to see annabeth wipe a tear from her cheek as she listened to the mournful keening of cerberus in the distance, longing for his new friend - i need to see annabeth play with cerberus again D:

• i turned and faced my mother. i desperately wanted to sacrifice myself and the last pearl on her, but i knew what she would say. she would never allow it. i had to get the bolt back to olympus and tell zeus the truth. i had to stop the war. - percy's growth as a character really shines through here. the lightning thief is a pretty short book and the journey they took was less than 2 weeks but despite that percy's grown immensely as a character. his goal was always to save his mother but in the end, he sacrificed her because he knew it was his duty to save olympus and i respect that

• "you have made an enemy, godling," he told me. "you have sealed your fate. every time you raise your blade in battle, everytime you hope for success, you will feel my curse. beware, perseus jackson. beware." - ares cursed percy to be unsuccesful in battle but does his curse ever take effect? i don't recall any mention of this curse later on the series. obviously, percy is the main character and a really good swordfighter but the curse might have affected some battles right? but then again riordan has a lot of plotholes so i wouldn't put too much thought in it

• i knew dionysus must've filled it out, because he stubbornly insisted on getting my name wrong. - i've always accepted the fact that dionysus called the demigods by their wrong name for humor. but what if it's deeper? what if it's a way to put some space between him and the demigods, just as an extra precaution so he won't get attached. or it could be a ploy to showcase that he's more powerful than them and that they are beneath him, which is why he doesn't need to know their name. i like the former headcanon more though :P

• i opened my eyes. i was propped up in bed in the sickroom of the big house, my right hand bandaged like a club. argus stood guard in the corner. annabeth sat next to me, holding my nectar glass and dabbing a washcloth on my forehead. "here we are again," i said. - the parallel

well, that's everything i had notes on. overall, i liked rereading it. i really do miss this series and i'm finding my love for it be rekindled by rereading. i miss the humor of the early books (i could literally make a whole post of underrated lines). the last time i read the series in its whole was when i was 7 and now that i'm 16, i have more thoughts and can analyze the story better. also loved seeing baby percabeth as they're my OTP. i'm excited to continue with the series. to the sea of monsters!

[dehydratedpercy]

No Preserve or Raze chapter tomorrow, so instead here's a different fic I plotted out the entirety of (over text). Enjoy!

Question: What would a Luke/Jason Soulmate AU look like?

Answer:

• Luke doesn't die. Something happens to him-- idk where he goes, but something happens and he's still alive, either on the run or in the mortal world under close watch or something like that

• And Jason is a praetor at camp jupiter

• Lmao Jason could be dating Reyna

• And they need to meet this prisoner for some reason and they go and do that and it's a huge mistake because as soon as they do, they know

• This would be a cool fic for big-boy world-building relating to soulmates

• Maybe there's stigma between having a demigod soulmate and a mortal soulmate

• how would people know that they're soulmates? It'd have to be something that they could tell at first glance. Maybe the words one: you have the first words your soulmate tells you tattooed on your body. On Jason's body is something snide, maybe "I don't care what you offer me, I'm not helping you" or something like that

• (Which, speaking of: why are they going to Luke for help? Maybe he has knowledge they need-- maybe something about the Underworld/tartarus, after having helped Kronos. Maybe some of the romans fell into tartarus and they need help communicating with/saving them. Or maybe they know they need a quest going in tartarus, and the only demigod who's ever gone down their and come back is Luke. I don't think he did in canon, but maybe in this fic he had to go to tartarus personally to get Kronos's coffin)

• Anyways, that's on Jason's body, and on Luke's body is just the word "no". So when they meet, Luke says "I don't care what you offer me, I not helping you" and as soon as he says that, Jason feels his soul mark (which he's had his entire life) burn and/or change colors. Also, he just recognizes those words, because he's been waiting all his life to hear it. (Reyna recognizes those words too-- she knows about Jason's soulmark). So Jason hears it (coming from the mouth of this filthy prisoner/traitor) and just goes "No" and turns around and leaves

• When he comes back, Luke is still there, but his expression has changed because he also knows that they're soulmates now

• Also, maybe demigod soulmate pairs are special because you can share powers?

• So maybe Jason starts to pick up on Luke's powers, like the ability to unlock any door and steal anything. And meanwhile, Luke is starting to pick up on Jason's powers... which include huge storms that could totally destroy the prison he's in

• Maybe Jason is planning on going on the mission to tartarus. And Luke is super against it, because a) tartarus is super bad and he doesn't want Jason hurt, b) when your soulmate feels pain you feel a lesser version of it (especially after you meet your soulmate, not really as much before), and c) if your soulmate dies, your body goes through a natural grieving process, which is debilitating for months

• So Jason is going to go on the quest to tartarus, and Luke really doesn't want him to.

• So finally, Luke manages to channel Jason's powers and he breaks himself out of the building. Then he sneaks into the principia at night and surprises Jason, maybe pinning him against the wall and putting a hand over his mouth

• And they get in a fight that basically boils down to Luke saying "you can't go to Tartarus" Jason going "Shut UP yes I can" and Luke kidnapping him

• He'd have to kidnap him in a very specific way, mind you, since escaping from bonds is 100000% a Hermes skill

• But he kidnaps him and they go on a road trip away from camp with Jason as his unwilling but mostly just irritated prisoner

• Also, maybe Luke learns Jason's powers a lot quicker than the other way around, because Luke's powers already revolve around "stealing", so it's natural for him to be good at "stealing" other people's powers

• Whereas it's harder for Jason to learn Luke's magic, even though it's debatably simpler

• And as they go on their road trip, different opportunities could come up where they could fall into tartarus, and there's a couple times where Luke has to bodily wrestle him away from throwing himself into the pit

• Throughout this trip, obviously, they get closer too

• Maybe Luke reveals that he always hoped Thalia would be his soulmate, and that she said "No" to him a lot too (in a not rapey way, just her rejecting him or his ideas a lot) and it always made his heart speed up and he always checked his soul mark but it never changed colors

• Also imagine them staying in a motel in a room with two beds. And Jason is like "I'll take this one" and Luke is like "we're soulmates, sweetheart. Why not share a bed? ;)" and Jason is like ugh we're not soulmates like _that_. Keep it in your pants.

• But of course, eventually they share a bed

• Maybe there's a lot of biological stuff that has to do with soulmarks that they fall victim to. Like, maybe originally the concept of "soulmates" was something that came to exist through natural processes, helping compatible partners connect with each other

• So maybe at first, there's only minor affects of having a soulmate, like the powers thing or whatever. But over time, your soul bond pushes you for more. In the ideal world, you'd have a couple weeks of courtship, then eventually start dating for real, then eventually start having sex and becoming completely codependent. And so the soul bond is trying to do that for Jason and luke... except obviously, it's not ideal for them

• So the longer they're together, the more they lust after each other, and the more physically uncomfortable it gets to be apart

• Until eventually they have to share the same bed just to try and snuff down the hormones

• "They were in Oklahoma when Jason finally gave in. Luke was in his bed already, flipping through the channels on the box TV, and didn't pay much attention as Jason padded through the room, pretending to pick up. Finally though, Jason couldn't help himself anymore, and slid into bed with Luke.

• Luke stopped changing the channels.

• Jason crawled under his arm, cuddling against his side, and even as his conscious mind objected loudly, his subscious mind seemed to exhale, quieting down for the time being. It felt impossible good, sinking against Luke's chest like this-- good enough that Jason could put away the part of his mind that objected, and just enjoy this while it lasted.

• "What are you doing?" Luke asked. He didn't cuddle Jason back necessarily, though he did shift slightly, getting more comfortable. And most importantly, he didn't shove Jason off the bed, which was always a good sign.

• "I can't _think_ with this soul bond going off in my ears all the time," Jason complained. He felt embarrassed for giving in, and in such a pitiful way, but he couldn't hold back any longer. "I figured, might as well give it what it wants."

• "And _this_... this is what it wants?"

• "It feels better like this," Jason said, then sighed. "We should probably start sharing a bed. Maybe even faked proximity will make the soul bond calm down."

• "This doesn't feel like faked proximity," Luke noted, and Jason elbowed him.

• "Stop talking. I'm trying to pretend you're not here."

• And eventually, Jason acknowledges that yeah, it's gonna be _hell_ to be away from Luke, especially in these first few months

• But he still has a mission, and he really needs to go. So finally, he manages to find another entrance to tartarus and manages to outsmart Luke and throw himself over

• Into the pit

• Idk what happens next

• But it probably involves Luke doing something significant to redeem himself, Jason getting out of tartarus (probably with Luke's help somehow), and them acknowledging that yeah, fine, maybe they like each other a little

• And they go back to new rome and Luke is allowed to be on house arrest, maybe, instead of a prisoner? And Jason keeps quiet, because he _knows_ Luke is going to have the ankle monitor bracelet off by the time he leaves the building, but that's not really his problem anymore

• They get a house, and a cat. They put the tracker on the cat. Everything is right with the world

[lilydalexf]

Old School X is a project interviewing X-Files fanfic authors who were posting fic during the original run of the show. New interviews are posted every Tuesday.

Interview with Rachel Nobel / Rae Lynn

Rachel Nobel, aka Rae Lynn, has 2 fics at Gossamer, but she’s written many more X-Files stories than that. You can also find fics by her at AO3 and various other archives. She’s one of the rare, special authors who’s posted numerous fic during the show’s original run and again in recent years. Big thanks to Rachel for doing this interview.

Does it surprise you that people are still interested in reading your X-Files fanfics and others that were posted during the original run of the show (1993-2002)? Absolutely. I joined a Facebook group for fanfic writers where someone recognized my name and asked about some of my stories that have disappeared from the Internet, and I almost fell off my chair. On the other hand, I go back and read original-run fanfic all the time - the Wayback Machine is my best friend for all the late great fanfic archives. Like fine wines, they get better with age! What do you think of when you think about your X-Files fandom experience? What did you take away from it? I was fairly young during the peak of the fandom - I was only 12 when I started watching the show and discovered the fandom online. A few years ago, right around the time we learned the revival was coming, I wrote an essay I called "How 'The X-Files' defined my adolescence," in which I wrote: "If you think about it, 'The X-Files' is a lot like adolescence: You start out thinking it's going to be a little hokey, NBD, and then you end up in its thrall, captivated and occasionally hugely let down. A lot of people behave strangely, and no one gets out unscathed. Mulder, in his own weird way, is the perfect mirror for an adolescent: He doesn't fit in; his life careens between being utterly consequential to the fate of the known universe and being completely pointless; he's socially awkward and can't quite nail it down with the girl of his dreams."

So for me, the fandom is inextricably bound up with adolescence, that feeling of vacillating between desperate loneliness and being on the verge of something enormously significant. Take romance: I was a bit of a late bloomer, and when all my friends were exploring their first relationships I was watching Mulder and Scully navigate this beautiful, complicated, soulful relationship without ever even kissing. That was deeply affecting for me as a teen.

Social media didn't really exist during the show's original run. How were you most involved with the X-Files online (atxc, message board, email mailing list, etc.)? I started out on mailing lists - there was an EMXC mailing list and one that I think was called X-Angst. [Lilydale note: There was a mailing list called XAngst Anonymous.] This was back at the dawn of the Internet when I only had 10 hours of AOL access a month, and I remember using what AOL called a "FlashSession" to log on, download all the fanfic from the mailing list and log off to read it. I vividly remember the excitement of watching all that new fanfic flood my inbox! Later on I was on atxc. During the long summer between "Gethsemane" and "Redux," it felt like fanfic was at its peak. There was a group of about a dozen women who got together (virtually) to discuss a work in progress by Lydia Bower called "Primal Sympathy." We called ourselves the "Primal Screamers," and we had our own website with fanfic recommendations and other discussions (it cracked me up to locate us as an entry on Fanlore.org). I was still in high school at the time and I was the youngest member; I felt like I had been accepted into a cool underground club. I worshipped these women, who were fanfic writers themselves. They taught me everything I knew about how to be a decent, respectful, enthusiastic consumer and writer of fanfic and fandom. [Lilydale note: I’ve talked enthusiastically about the Primal Screamers here before, including their fanfic primer.] What did you take away from your experience with X-Files fic or with the fandom in general? In the '90s, I would have been embarrassed to tell anyone I read fanfic, let alone that I was writing it. Now, I look back on it and realize how talented and smart and passionate we all were. It's something to be proud of. What was it that got you hooked on the X-Files as a show? The first episode I ever saw was "Shadows," which was on in reruns between the second and third seasons. I don't think "Shadows" is an episode that anyone today would consider thematically significant, but something about seeing those office supplies float spookily through the air - it wasn't like anything I had seen on television, and I wanted in. What got you involved with X-Files fanfic? I've always been a person who, when I am interested in something, seeks to learn more about it. So I guess I got online as a 12-year-old with this new interest and discovered fanfic. It was thrilling to find out that so many talented people were taking characters I loved and bringing them to life for me. When the screen faded to black each week and I wondered, "That's it? What next?", fanfic was always there to fill in the blanks and take Mulder and Scully to the next level. As a teenager, I was self-indulgent enough to think I had something to contribute, too. Most of what I wrote in the '90s would today make me cringe. I remember literally paging through the dictionary in search of erudite words I thought Mulder and Scully would say! But occasionally I'll feel brave enough to read an old story and I feel encouraged to see a spark: a turn of phrase or a fragment of dialogue that I still feel proud of. I write professionally now, but I've never written fiction that isn't X-Files fiction, so it's something that has really allowed me to hone my creative juices in a different way. What is your relationship like now to X-Files fandom? Sometimes I feel like the Statler and Waldorf of the fandom, like I'm sitting up in the balcony grousing "Back in my day...!" Because the fandom is remarkably robust, and I've gotten involved with it to an extent on Twitter and AO3, and now all these young whippersnappers idolize Mulder and Scully just as much if not more as I ever did! Were you involved with any fandoms after the X-Files? If so, what was it like compared to X-Files? Not really, no. I've of course consumed a lot of media since The X-Files that I wanted to discuss with others - I'm a huge "Harry Potter" nerd, and I was outraged when Netflix canceled "The OA" - but strangely I've never had the urge to read or write fanfic about anything other than "The X-Files." Do you ever still watch The X-Files or think about Mulder and Scully? Every Thursday night! I watch a chosen episode with a group of fans on Twitter and tweet about it - #tbtXFiles. That's great fun. There are episodes I've seen dozens of times over the years and episodes I think I only ever watched once, and it's always enlightening to watch them again with a certain critical eye. When I was a fan during the original run, I really idolized Mulder; I loved episodes where we saw him in all his cracked genius glory. Scully was a trailblazer of a character, of course, but I think the fandom has evolved over the years to give Scully her due. Do you ever still read X-Files fic? Fic in another fandom? I was fairly stunned when the revival came around and I realized that people were still writing X-Files fic, and that a lot of it was so good. So yes, I do read fic on Archive of Our Own. But my heart is always with the early days of fanfic. In the revival when Mulder says "I've always wondered how this was going to end" - that felt to me almost like a love letter to fanfic authors who had been trying to answer that question for 25 years. Surprisingly, I've never had the urge to read fic in another fandom. Every time I try, it just feels like I'm cheating on Mulder and Scully. Do you have any favorite X-Files fanfic stories or authors? My favorite author back in the day was Kipler. Her stories were just like real episodes of the show I could vividly imagine in my mind. I adore syntax6, particularly "20" and "The Birthday Stories," because of the way she perfectly and poignantly captures vignettes that span the entire series. Another favorite is Dawn and her "Blood Ties" series - I started out as a "NoRomo," and Dawn was one of the authors who made me believe Mulder and Scully could have a romantic relationship that really worked. And I always had a soft spot for Profiler!Mulder stories, so to this day I mourn the unfinished state of the great Kronos fic "Ascent to Hell." One fic I always come back to that captures profiling Mulder really well is "Domination of Lies," by cslatton. And then there are stories that I consider classics: "Corpse" by Livengoo, "Oklahoma" by Amperage and Livengoo, the "Revelations" and "All Hallow's Eve" series by Windsinger. What is your favorite of your own fics, X-Files and/or otherwise? I have a soft spot for a story I wrote called "Human Credential." I was attempting, a quarter-century after the first season of the show, to set a story in the very early days of the partnership (which these days is one of my favorite kinds of fanfic to read), and I felt like I nailed it. Do you think you'll ever write another X-Files story? Or dust off and post an oldie that for whatever reason never made it online? I have been doing both of these, as a matter of fact! Or in my case, they are oldies that made it online but vanished when Geocities went belly-up, for example, that I sometimes go back to and reshape. Do you still write fic now? Or other creative work? As the swallows return to Capistrano, I seem to always return to writing fic at periods of transition in my life. The first time I "retired" from fanfic, I wasn't even in college yet! If one can be nostalgic at 21 years old for something one gave up at 17, I was nostalgic for fanfic, and I picked it back up again in grad school. Then I became a teacher and a wife and a mom and years passed, and the revival seduced me back into it again. But the vast majority of fanfic I've written is firmly planted in the first seven seasons of the show - poor Mulder and Scully never seem to get to grow up in my stories. What's the story behind your pen name? I wrote under a lot of pen names over the years! When I first started writing fanfic, no one knew anything about Internet safety and it didn't occur to me that it wasn't wise to use my real name. There was a period when I would have been mortified if anyone discovered my stories under my real name - now, at least I can write it off as a youthful indulgence! When I finally grew into a more mature writer, I started using the name Rae Lynn, which is almost-but-not-quite my real first and middle names. Do your friends and family know about your fic and, if so, what have been their reactions? As far as I know, unless my friends and acquaintances have done some sleuthing, only my husband knows I still write fanfic. And he's never read it, though he's kind enough to give me a glazed-eyes indulgent smile if I ever talk about it. Is there a place online (tumblr, twitter, AO3, etc.) where people can find you and/or your stories now? I am xraelynn on AO3! I have about a dozen stories there - some of them I wrote 15 years ago and some of them are brand spanking new. Is there anything else you'd like to share with fans of X-Files fic?

Fanfic is a true labor of love. Fanfic authors don't write fanfic for money or fame; they do it because they love it. Sites like AO3 and Tumblr have made it so much easier to show your appreciation to writers (::gruff reminiscing voice:: back in my day, you had to send them an email, and now you can just click the "kudos" button!). I can only speak for myself, but I really thrive on that feedback - otherwise I'm just Mulder in his cramped hovel of a home office waiting for Scully to nag me to shave my beard. Every so often I think about the fact that there is so much high-quality writing about these characters I've loved for decades just available on the Internet for free and it feels like a true gift.

(Posted by Lilydale on May 4, 2021)

[pjoseries]

“i bear it so they won’t have to” + curse of achilles percy

oh this one’s a doozy, thank u emma 😋

(TLO AU)

══════════════════

Percy doesn’t know how he didn’t notice it—the bloodlust. It starts out as a whisper, a simple low hum drifting across the nape of his neck. It crawls in his ear and settles inside his brain and every time he uncaps Riptide, a single persistent thought crosses his mind: Show no mercy.

And he doesn’t. Not when a hoard of monsters comes barrelling through their ranks. Not when he sees the other campers on their feet, but flagging, exhaustion bogging them down as monster after monster charges at them. Percy holds his own on the front lines, raising his voice to be heard, “Fall back!”

He repeats it again for good measure and the piercing, confused stares from them quickly fade as he gains the attention of every monster in his vicinity. A grin slides across his face and he gives Riptide a twirl. 

“How many of you do I have to kill before you get with the program,” Percy taunts. He lets one of them come close enough to sink their claws into his skin, but it just slides right off, ripping through his shirt instead. 

The monster gapes for a moment and attempts to slice through him again, but Percy just tsks and tilts his head. “Nice try, but no dice, man.”

He impales the monster in a quick movement, leaving him in a shower of dust. He grimaces and looks at the others. They march towards him, but Percy doesn’t even think. He blocks and jabs and slices his way through the dust and the dirt and he feels nothing. The curse really works. 

He doesn’t know how long it takes to slay the last monster. He just knows that at the end, he’s drenched in monster dust and sweat. Percy finally rolls his shoulders, taking in the damage. The borders are safe for now. He spots a few campers a ways away limping and handing each other ambrosia. Footsteps come towards him and he whirls and points Riptide at empty air. 

It takes him a moment, but even that’s too long, before he lowers his sword. It’s Annabeth, of course. He furrows his brows. He knows it’s her. She wipes the sweat off her forehead and tucks her cap into her back pocket. 

“Percy, what was that?” she asks, gray eyes glinting in the afternoon light. 

“I, uh,” he says, pocketing Riptide back into his jeans. “I’ll tell you later. We have to check on—”

Annabeth stomps towards him and grips his arm. Logically, he knows how tight of a grip it is, but it’s weird that it doesn’t even sting. “Did you… gods, you didn’t. That trip with Nico… Percy, that is stupidly dangerous.”

She knows. Of course, she figures it out. Percy’s just a fool for thinking he could have broken the news to her later. 

“I did what I had to do.” Percy grits his teeth and steps back.  

She tugs him closer. “You could’ve died.” 

Percy makes the mistake of looking into her eyes again, shiny with unshed tears and he falters. He can’t stand to see her cry. He musters up a wry smile and shrugs. “I’m here, though.”

He tells her nothing of what he saw as he made his way out of the River Styx, doesn’t say a single word about how the first time he ever felt like he would drown that her voice was the only thing he grabbed onto. All he does is loosen her grip with his free hand and gives it a small squeeze. 

“I’ll tell you more about it later, okay?” Her hand is warm and callused from training and it takes him a few seconds to remember he has something to say. “We need to go to the Big House.”

Annabeth just nods and he lingers for a moment before he lets go. As they make their way to Chiron, their hands brush and all thoughts of the fight vanish from his mind. 

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

It’s on the bridge when he gets an inkling that something is wrong, not with the curse or with the battle itself, but him. It’s similar to the last fight, Percy yelling at the Apollo campers to retreat, but the last of the monsters are dead. All that remain is Kronos himself and his demigod army. 

He slows himself down, aiming to knock them off their skeletal horses and send them running, not maim. Their swords bounce off his skin harmlessly and Percy vaguely notes that he’s ruining his already low supply of shirts. 

The voice is louder now, but still the same. Persistent as a tic: Show no mercy. 

Shut up, he wants to bite back, but he already looks insane just charging through a swarm of demigods and coming out completely unscathed. They make their way almost to the middle of the bridge when Percy freezes, like a lightning bolt just jolts through his body. Then: Annabeth screams. 

“Annabeth!” he yells and turns. A guy stands over her, his knife bloodied and dripping. Percy sees red and the voice persists louder again and he’s almost tempted to take its advice if it isn’t for Annabeth’s weak gasps. 

Percy would’ve died, if not for Annabeth and Annabeth’s dying because of him. Because he’s too damn focused on that stupid voice in his head that makes him want to tear the bridge apart and everyone in it. She doesn’t even know that’s his weak spot. 

He locks eyes with the demigod—Ethan, his mind supplies—and stalks towards him. In a beat, Percy slams his sword hilt into his face and feels a bitter sense of satisfaction as he grunts out in pain and moves away. A couple of other demigods try to come closer, but he swings Riptide as a warning. 

“Get back!” he growls. “No one touches her.”

Kronos merely hums. “Interesting.”

Percy just scowls and steps closer to Annabeth. Suddenly Achilles words come back to him: The heel is only my physical weakness, demigod. He was dumb enough to ignore Achilles’ warnings and now his weakness is staring him right in the face, her face turning ashy as her breaths weakening. Annabeth. His tie to the mortal world. He should’ve known. Maybe somewhere in the back of his mind, he always knew, but the war took precedence. Now look where it got him. 

She’s dying and he’s surrounded by enemies. 

“Bravely fought, Perseus Jackson,” Kronos says. “But it’s time to surrender, or she’ll die.”

Annabeth sits up and groans. “Don’t.”

Percy clenches his jaw and bites back the panic at the sight. Her shirt is soaked in blood and he has to get her to a healer. His mind swirls for an escape route and, in a second, he yells out, “Blackjack!”

The pegasus swoops and carries her out and away from any immediate danger. Percy’s glad he knows what to do because he doesn’t have any time to explain. Luke—Kronos’ face twists. 

Percy meets the scythe with Riptide. 

Then their battle begins. And for once, Percy lets the voice in his mind take over. 

Show no mercy.

Percy smiles. He won’t. 

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

The voice stays with him, long after the war ends. Despite how many hours he’s clocking in that affects his sleeping schedule, or the lack of one, he notices that he’s itching for a fight. 

It makes no sense. He wants to rest, but the voice tells him he has the curse for a reason. What use is he to his friends, to his family if he lets them go off on dangerous quests to get injured or worse? A couple of extra more hours of sleep is a petty consequence when it means saving everyone the trouble of getting hurt. 

So despite Annabeth’s warnings, he volunteers to guard the fleece, or to head training, or to do any of the more dangerous missions. There’s an undisputed agreement amongst the campers that they’ll let Percy do whatever he wants which is kind of weird but it works in his favor, so he’ll take it. Well, unless their names are Annabeth and Grover, that is.

But after this one quest—if he can even call it that, maybe just a favor for his father—Percy lands back on the shore, sitting with his knees tucked to his chest. His hands tremble as they flex over his own legs. The water rushes to his ankles, an attempt to calm him down but he just flinches. It just makes things worse. 

Percy’s no better than the monsters he fights. 

He wonders if monsters never exploded into dust, if they bleed like he does. He wonders how much blood he’s spilled, how much it stains his hands, his heart, his soul.

“Percy?” Annabeth says quietly. She pads over to him, settling down right next to him. The water drenches her shoes, but she just places a warm hand on his. “Percy, hey. Are you… okay?”

Her tone is awkward, but there’s an earnestness to it that makes him soften slightly. So he lifts his shoulder in response and stares out into the water. 

“You don’t have to do this, you know.”

Percy clears his throat. “Do what?”

“Go on all these quests. Try to save everyone. The war’s over, Percy. You can just enjoy camp like everyone else, too. You don’t have to do everything. You’re not Atlas.”

“Annabeth, this curse… I have a responsibility. Why let everyone else get hurt if I can do it? They’re just kids.” Percy unfolds his legs and lets Annabeth’s weight ground him. It’s like the voice gets muffled when she’s near. “And besides, I bear it so they won’t have to.”

Annabeth’s fingers find his cheek and he crumbles under her touch. He turns and Annabeth has this expression on her face that he can’t parse out. He closes his eyes and lets her smooth out the wrinkle between his brows, lets her trace a swooping pattern on his cheek. “You’re sixteen, Percy, not sixty-five. You have to let yourself take a break, Percy. The others need to know how to survive out there without you. You’re not always gonna be there to protect them. You’re gonna run yourself to the ground and I’d like to see my boyfriend awake once in a while.”

“Guess my eyes have to be open for that.” Percy smiles into her fingertips and blinks exaggeratedly at her. She giggles and it sends warmth all the way down to his belly. She stands up and brushes off the sand from pants before she holds out her hand. 

Golden light shines behind her, circling her like a halo. He’s suddenly reminded of his dip in the Styx, the way dream-Annabeth held in her laughter as she grabbed his hand and pulled him up. Real-Annabeth wiggles her fingers and he lets her haul him up. 

“Promise you’ll take it easy?” she asks. 

And his answer is an easy one. He kisses the side of her head. “Promise.”

Then they walk back to camp, their hands swinging between them. 

[alatismeni-theitsa]

anti LO anon opinions

(1) If i had to guess, the fact Hephaestus was written ok in LO is because of the editor. On their official job listings, one of the editor requirements at Webtoons is to actually aid in if not completely ghostwrite some of the episodes if need be. If i had to bet, the LO editor (the 3rd they're on now btw) had the better sense than to get into more hot water like the r*pe discourse and took over writing him so RS wouldn't make him another villain. RS tends to be a PR nightmare in that regard.

(2) If there’s one thing I find strange about the writing choices in LO (and I have a lot I don’t like) it’s that it pretty constantly tells and shows us Hades is, frankly, the worst king imaginable. He’s violent, he’s entitled, he doesn’t like to be corrected or told he’s wrong. He physically threatens others if not outright attacks them (a paparazzi college student isn’t evil for trying to make ends meet.) when called out on it, he doesn’t see the error of his ways and it’s even worse when Persephone calls him out on it and he just quiets her or they make out to shut her up I guess?

Even people from Hestia to Ares don’t trust Hades and call him cruel, violent, and a bad king. You cannot constantly tells us he’s a bad king and leader and see it as fair and just he remains a king at the end. This wouldn’t be an issue if it weren’t for the fact Smythe keeps framing and excusing him as the most perfect, romantic man ever and sole voice of reason and logic in her universe and who every man should be like and who every woman wants.

He would actually be a great antagonistic love interest, a fun take on H/P as a twisted dark romance of a young woman rejecting her perfect life for the darkness and cruelty of the king of death, but LO has no use for that when its sole purpose is to whitewash him and make them “precious cinnamon rolls”.

Also, going off visual cues, Persephone will be the one to change for HIS wants and lifestyle, not the other way around, so we know he won’t change his ways or even learn, but instead will get everything he wants and then some, only with the slight slap on the wrist that he won’t be able to have sex with his child-like bride half the year. 

Persephone is ultimately rendered a prop in her supposed story. This is not a story of empowering Persephone or giving her a voice, it is a story of excusing and romanticizing a cruel, capitalistic slave owner who really wants to have sex with someone who can pass for his daughter and framing it as a progressive romance.

(3) There’s something very sad in the fact the canon of LO is that Persephone isn't even of Demeter’s blood, but rather is made of clay. Persephone has had all her friendships, any hints of personality, understanding, goals, and even her family ripped away from her so the only thing in her life is Hades and what he wants and what tells her.

In comparison, Hades is given relationships to characters he never had in the myths (his expanded sex life, friendship with Hecate, huge emphasis on Rhea having him as her favorite child, Hera being his lover, even Thanatos to an extent), he gets to keep and even gains status as the implied true heir of Kronos and controller of all the wealth/CEO, and is given more personality and goals than myth gave him.

Despite being the lead character, Persephone is given nothing beyond wanting to be Hades’ wife. Her school work doesn’t matter to her, she has no flaws or complexities, she doesn’t know her own body or powers, her sexuality is based in naivety & only wanting Hades in a narrative that shames other consenting adults, I could go on. She ends up more regressed than myth had her, and Ancient Greece wasn’t exactly as progressive as we are today, while Hades ends up having more love and care put into him.

It shows just how little Smythe cares for the mythology but also the claims of it being “progressive feminism” are all lip service. Persephone is not a character in LO, she’s a prop to self insert on (which would be fine if it weren’t for the claims Smythe is “empowering” her) and make sure people don’t feel bad about shipping a assaulted kidnapping victim with her myth canon uncle and assailant. People have been shipping and writing HxP for decades with no issue and yet LO has twisted them into something even Tumblr (which essentially created it) is souring to.

(4) I dont mean to sound like a prude but why is lo Demeter, Hera and eve Artemis all drawn so cartoonishly sexy? every one of them are all drawn with super exaggerated tapered curves with huge boobs and hips and wearing clothes that are constantly showing off their chests and are dangerously close to showing more than just leg.

they're far from the only female characters drawn like that too. basically every woman has to be drawn with extreme sex appeal. that’s not to say the characters mentioned aren’t allowed to be sexual beings (I personally would love to see hera and demeter, two often prudish mother figures, have the chose to have their own love lives) but it becomes shallow when the only sex hera is allowed is via cheating on her husband with hades (gross, sorry 😂) and demeter being so removed from sex she made her daughter through /clay/ (because making persephone an object is better than just having her being from a single mother/no father mentioned I guess) this once again shows a lack of design or character considerations on Smythe’s part.

while the male characters get more variety (not much, but some) all the women regardless of character or traits are made into more pinups than their own unique beings. That’s not even mentioning the only unique looking woman (Athena) is only that way because she’s depicted essentially as a man. If you have anything bigger than an A-cup, it’s only a matter of time before you’re sexualized. 

[chironshorseass]

melted ice cream sandwiches

Thanks, @silenabeth​, for subconsciously adding your presence into this jksdhoisfjs. This one’s for you. Sorry it’s angsty, but oh well.

In which Percy and Annabeth have an argument, Connor Still chops off Annabeth's braid with a sword, and then she and Percy have a talk. It doesn't nearly go as planned, but at least they ate some ice cream sandwiches.

Rated T for language.

Read on ao3

(The Hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap)

A baby is born

Crying out for attention

The memories fade

Like looking through a fogged mirror

Decision to decisions are made

And not bought

But I thought this wouldn't hurt a lot

I guess not

“I’m your friend, of course I care!”

“You shouldn’t be my friend! That way it wouldn’t hurt so much!” Annabeth says.

It had started off as a simple comment, nothing too serious. Something about Annabeth not wanting him to help with reports—but Percy’s beginning to realize that anything can explode into an argument.

“What are you talking about?” he demands. Luckily, they’re near the woods, so at least no demigod can hear them. Not like last time.

“Just—I’m tired of you going away! You can’t have it both ways, Percy. Either you’re not my friend and forget about all this shit, or you stay here and fight him.”

“Why can’t I have it both ways? Last time I checked, I’ve spent enough time at camp to train. And why are you suddenly all gloomy and shit about being friends with me? Do you just...want me to be Luke? Make you feel better? Do you even give a shit about what he did?”

Her face reddens. “Why would any of this be about Luke?”  

“Because that’s all we fight about! You seem to have it in yourself to see him as this amazing hero when he’s the entire opposite of that!” Percy knows that what he’s saying is slightly ridiculous, and that she’s right; this has nothing to do about Luke, but he doesn’t particularly care at the moment. “Because the last prophecy was about him! You ‘lost’ the bastard to Kronos and you want him back, is that it?”

“What? Yes, I want him back—but, no, I—”

“He’s hurt you so much, Annabeth. You seriously care for him? You seriously don’t want to be my friend because you—you hate that I hate him?”

“Yes, I care for him! You didn’t know him when I did—but you mean so much—”

“He wanted to kill you!” Percy grabs her by the shoulders so they’re face to face, so she understands exactly what he’s talking about. “He doesn’t fucking care! Why can’t you see that?”

“All I see,” Annabeth seethes, shoving him off, “is a scared little boy who wants everything to be black and white.”

“You’re one to talk, telling me that I have to either stay in New York or stay at camp. I’m trying to make that work—”

“Work how, exactly? So that everyone here takes on the weight of the war while you go off and act all ‘normal’? Here’s a quick disclaimer: you’re not normal, Percy!”

“Don’t you think I know that? I’m this close to probably dying, so forgive me for wanting to cool off a bit.”

They’re nose to nose now, and Percy can feel Annabeth breathing heavily, nostrils flared.

“Shut up,” she says.

“What?”

“Just, shut up!”  

She storms away before he can say anything else. The early singing of the birds doesn't sound so sweet anymore.

He can see her wipe at her face angrily as she runs to gods know where. He knows that she won’t let him see her cry.

:

He’s in the archery class, trying not to kill anyone, when he hears commotion by the arena.

“No! I’m fine!” a familiar voice keeps insisting—Annabeth.

She stomps past a very concerned-looking Connor. Her hair is pulled into two braids, as it was earlier in the morning. She’d been experimenting with different hairstyles—it probably had something to do with Silena’s influence—but now, Percy realizes that one of her braids is missing. It had been cut off, by the looks of it.

He lowers his bow, walking over to them. Something had happened, and it hadn’t been good.

“I’m so sorry, ‘Beth,” Connor says, this time truly sounding sorry. “I didn’t know that you wouldn’t block me—if there’s any way to repay you—“

She stops her fast-walking and turns towards him. “You’ve done enough.”

“Okay but I—”

“Hey!” Percy calls out as he approaches them. “What happened?” Annabeth suddenly starts walking again.

Connor stares at him sheepishly. “I sort of, um, cut her hair.”

Percy ignores him. “Annabeth? Come on! Don’t walk away—I’m asking you something!”

“And I don’t care to answer.”

“Can I help? In any way?”

“I don’t need your help, either.”

He sprints over to her anyway, grabbing one of her shoulders. “Come on, why—”

She shoulders him off.

Percy hears the steady footsteps of someone right behind them: Connor.

“Annabeth. Please,” he pants, running ahead and facing her. He walks backwards while she walks forward, a mule with a job in mind. “I’m so sorry. But where are we going?”

“‘We?’” she mutters, not looking at either of them. “None of your fucking business, assholes. Now leave me alone!"

Annabeth shoves them out of her path and runs. Runs before either of them can catch up. She’s always been faster than both of them.

What hits him there in the middle of a summer day, staggered with only a son of Hermes as a companion, is the pain he heard in her voice. And Percy has a feeling that it’s more than just her missing braid.

No, he is the cause of that pain—he’s the one to blame. And he feels like dying a little.

:

He sits by the canoe lake, the sun reaching further west because of the time. But even with the sun not directly above him, it still feels like laser beams down his neck.

Silena meets him there. Her camp shirt is tucked into her shorts in a stylish way that very few people can achieve, hair perfectly in place and without even a slight sheen of sweat on her face

Percy doesn’t know how she does it. It’s the middle of July, after all.

She sits down, pulling her legs into her chest and leaning in, watching him.

“Everything okay?” he asks.

She sighs, though it’s barely noticeable. “I came to talk to you. About Annabeth.”

He catches her gaze, but for the first time, Percy can’t tell what she’s thinking.

“She’s fine. If that’s what’s worrying you. Well, not exactly ‘fine,’ but—like, she’s not hurt. Physically.”

“That’s reassuring.”

Silena snorts and follows his eyes towards the swaying trees on the other side of the lake. They look so peaceful there, almost as if they’re dancing. Maybe they are. Maybe they don’t care about wars or drama.

Good for them.

“No,” she muses. “I guess she’s hurting, and not just because I had to cut so much of her pretty hair. Almost made me want to cry. She didn’t say much, but I can always tell when you two had a fight.”

“If you’re here to lecture me—”

“Oh, come on. I may be close to her, but I’m not the type to meddle. I just came here to tell you that you should talk to her.”

“Then you are meddling.”

She laughs. “Okay, maybe I am. And maybe I also talked to her about it. She’s not that mad at you. Mostly sad. It would do you both good if you actually worked things out.”

“Trust me, she hates me at the moment.”

“And trust me, she doesn’t. She wants you to go to her.”

They stare at each other, both gazes challenging, until one of them loses.

Percy breathes out a sigh of defeat. “Fine.”

Girls are so weird, he thinks.

But maybe he says that part aloud, because Silena rolls her eyes. “I heard that.”

“Of course you did.”

She winks at him. “Maybe you should give her an ice cream sandwich. You know, as a truce. I heard that the Hermes cabin stashed some from their last raid.”

“Um, I thought Annabeth wanted to talk to me. Why would we need a truce?”

“Oh, she certainly does. But ice cream never hurt anyone.”

“Fine. Whatever you say.”

“That’s the spirit,” she grins.

:

Percy finds her at the beach, in the part where grass is more common than sand. It’s dry and brittle, yellowed from scarce rain—but next to her it looks like golden thread.

Her hair is cut just above her shoulders, like a bob. He’d never seen her with short hair before, but he thinks that it makes her look older, in a way. Changes from that pretty girl he’d met nearly four years ago to a beautiful young woman. At least that’s what she’s making him feel.

Gods, she’s too good for me.

Percy takes a deep breath and clears his throat. Hopefully this can end well, because just by looking at her makes him nervous.

Annabeth had probably heard him coming, since she doesn’t startle at the sound.

That could be a good sign.

“Mind if I join you?”

She says nothing, but she also doesn’t protest when Percy sits down next to her.

“Uh…” He takes out the ice cream sandwiches that were in his pocket. “Do you, like, want any?”

She nearly smiles. Nearly. And she nods hesitantly, snatching one from his hand.

Good.

He doesn’t care that she still can’t meet his eyes. Or maybe he does care. And maybe he also cares that the space between them feels like the wind holding its breath, how her skin looks so warm, but instead of feeling it, he feels the grass tickling his legs.

“Um, it—you look pretty, that way…” he says, mainly to break the silence, but now he wants to slap himself. “Not that your hair wasn’t pretty before or anything. Well, not your hair, I mean—you were pretty before. Uh, not that you’re not pretty now—”

“It’s okay, Seaweed Brain. I get it. My haircut isn’t that bad.”

He can see her smiling from the corner of his eye. He doesn’t remember the last time she called him by his old nickname, least of all smile. Hopefully he isn’t blushing as much as he thinks.

“Silena helped. Before, it looked like half of my hair had been chopped with a sword—which it had, I guess. I’m still planning my revenge.”

“For Connor?”

Annabeth turns to Percy. “Yes. Connor… ” her gaze falters. She stares longingly out at the ocean, eyes blinking rapidly.

They don’t say much for a while, but rather listen to the song of the birds and the wind and the ocean. The grass between them flutter like butterflies, slight touches against their legs.

Annabeth rips the plastic off the ice cream sandwich and takes a big bite. He slips off the package of his own sandwich as well, but stops to notice how the vanilla melts under her fingers and how it oozes from her mouth and down to her chin. His own hands are covered in the soft feeling of the chocolate cookie, sticky and gross; his sandwich is almost melted in the harsh sunlight. He doesn’t wipe his hands away or feel like eating it anymore, and she doesn’t care to clean her chin up, either.

They’re both a mess.

The vanilla ice cream softens in his mouth, and an explosion of chocolate sweetness ensues after, but not before a big portion of the sandwich falls into his shorts and slips into the dry grass between his legs.

He hates ice cream sandwiches.

Why it was a good idea to share some in Long Island, during the warm days of summer, he has no idea. But the spray of salt that kiss their cheeks alongside the cacophonous roar of the waves make the situation not that horrible. At least in Percy’s opinion. Also Annabeth not mad at him anymore is a plus. Or perhaps she is. Their fight earlier in the day wasn’t exactly pretty.

She finishes her sandwich and licks some of the chocolate off her fingers.

“I just,” she says, taking a deep breath. “I’m tired. Of the same thing. Over and over. It’s not even Connor’s fault. Hell, this time it’s not your fault, either. I’m just...stupid.”

“Hey. Don’t ever say that. You are many things, Annabeth Chase, but stupid isn’t one of them.”

She must feel his heated gaze on her, because she meets his eyes. She quickly wipes away her tears.

“Maybe I wasn’t before. But now, I kind of am. I—I get carried away by you and how you’re never here, and I don’t even think about how close we are to the end, and then I can’t even fight well anymore—so Connor fucking Stoll cuts off one of my braids.

“And then I look weird and I can’t even cut my hair properly, so Silena helps and she looks at me like I’m...like I’m some poor creature! And I’m not! I just want things the way they were with my hair the way it was and with no wars and no prophecies and no shitty feelings and no...no traitors! I don’t care about quests, or glory—I can’t even fucking do that right because you almost died and Luke is now freaking possessed—and I...I want everything back the way it was!” she sobs into her hands, smearing her face with the remaining ice cream and chocolate.

Percy doesn’t know what to do. He wants to hug her, pull her close and tell her it’ll be alright. Kiss the top of her head and reassure her that they’ll make it out alive. But he doesn’t. Or at least, he doesn’t say any of those things.

But he does scoot closer, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and placing her head against the crook of his neck. He lets her weep until there are no tears left, lets her wrap her own arms around his neck. That way, they can hold each other properly.

“I’m sorry,” he says after her breathing has calmed down. Her short hair feels like silk against his hands.

“What are you sorry for? You’re the one that will...who will…” She hiccuped. “Gods, you don’t even know, and, and everything is supposed to be fine anyway!”

“What do I not know? You can tell me, ‘Beth. I’m your best friend.”

She shakes her head, mouth tightly closed, but soon her face contorts into another sob, and her hand comes up to her mouth to cover it. He holds her closer to his chest, not caring about how much ice cream has been smeared in the process.

“No, no,” she cries. “I—I can’t say. It doesn’t matter, anyway.”

After a few minutes, her tears run warm and her breathing relaxes once again. The waves calm to the soothing sounds of water meeting shore. He obviously had a hand in that. But everything stops to a halt, and it comes down to Percy and Annabeth, holding each other. Just like in Siren Bay, only now things aren’t so simple. They know more than they should.

“If anyone should be sorry,” she whispers against his shirt, “it’s me.”

His hand tightens against her shoulders, but he doesn’t protest. It’s no use to try and contradict her right now.

Slowly, her arms loosen their hold on him and she sits down like she was before, but now she’s significantly closer to Percy, hips touching.

Annabeth breathes deeply, staring at her hands. They’re a mess of ice cream and grass; she wipes them away with her shirt. Then, she tries to do the same with her face.

“Here, I uh…brought some napkins.”  He fishes around in his pockets until they come up, offering some to her.

She grabs a handful. “Thanks.”

He looks at her while she works, until finally he says, “None of that is your fault.”

Her hands stop moving. She closes her eyes.

“But it is.” Percy almost doesn’t hear her. Almost lets the roaring winds drown her down, under the waves. A whisper amidst the sound of thunder.

Of course, he does hear.

“Why would all of this crap be your fault?”

“Because I couldn’t convince Luke to stay at camp. I had my chance, and I didn’t take it. Because I almost let you die.”

“First of all, you could never have changed Luke. I know you hate me saying it, but he’d already made his decision. And...well, I made my decision as well.”

“Like how you’ll make your decision to go to New York? During the summer?” Her voice isn’t accusing or angry, but desperate and soft.

“No, I won’t.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yeah I do. I won’t visit New York in a while, if...that’s what you want.”

“Of course it’s what I fucking want!”

He silently cringes at that. Wrong thing to say.

She sniffles the last of her tears and glares at him, eyes red.

“You’ll leave me anyway, sooner or later. Everyone leaves, and—and you’re no exception, Perseus Jackson. You hear me? You are not the exception!” As she says every word, she rips out the grass stems around her; they make popping sounds as the roots come off the ground. Her lips tremble and her eyes shine with fresh tears, but she doesn’t stop.

“Fuck, I don’t care if you go out to that wonderful city of yours with your pretty girlfriend to forget about your problems. That’s great—I wish I could do that. But your problems are very much real, and the people here are counting on you. Has it ever crossed your mind that they miss you? That I miss you? Why is staying here for a bit longer so bad?”

Something in Annabeth’s tone makes Percy feel like he’s stepping on a floor filled with broken glass.

“I—”

“No,” she shakes her head. “I’m sorry. It’s—you’re not the problem. I don’t want to argue anymore. I just want to...spend more time with you.” She takes a rattling breath and looks at him directly in the eye once again. Her face is a wet sheen of tears, despite wiping them off with a napkin earlier. “All I meant to say is that we don't…” her train of thought stops; she stares at her hands. “We don’t have forever. And maybe you don’t think that you’ll leave me, but you don’t know that.”

“No one has forever. Unless you’re a god.”

She laughs bitterly. “That’s my point. If we don’t have forever, then why won’t you stay here? With us? Spend what little we have together.”

“Okay.”

She glances at him, stunned. “Okay? Just like that?”

“Yeah, why not? We’re at a summer camp. I’m supposed to enjoy things. Not leave. I’m...sorry about that.”

“No, I,” she sighs, “I get why you’ve been leaving. But, yeah, it would be nice if you could stay.”

“That’s what I’m planning to do,” he gins, content that for the first time in a while, he’s made Annabeth happy.

“Thanks for the ice cream sandwich, by the way.” She smiles, and some could say that it’s a weak attempt to seem grateful or content, but Percy knows that it’s genuine.

“Yeah. No problem.”

:

That night, Percy lets Sally know that he won’t be coming home in a while. For now, he is home. And Annabeth is his best friend, and so is Grover. And he can count on Beckendorf and Travis and Connor. They’re part of who he is, he realizes. And camp feels like belonging and the warmth of a thousand fires and a thousand starry nights.

But the missions and war preparations begin again.

And they both end up fighting. Nothing Percy says to Annabeth is right. Being without her hurts, but staying hurts even more.

He leaves the next morning.

Maybe after the summer is over, they can confront the feelings they have. Maybe they can fix whatever is broken between them when the war ends, and if they’re ready, be more than just friends. Maybe he’ll never have the courage to tell her that. Or maybe he’ll die. Maybe Kronos will win.

As Percy trudges up Half-Blood Hill, he feels someone watching him. He turns around, and there she is, her arms crossed and golden hair loose; it still hasn’t grown enough for her to put it in a ponytail. He can’t make out the look on Annabeth’s face, but he waves at her awkwardly all the same.

She doesn’t wave back.

When he sees Peleus’ smoke coming from Thalia’s tree, he looks back again. But she’s gone.

He hates ice cream sandwiches, but he hates his life more.

[iloveannabeth]

You’re on, Seaweed Brain.

Percy stood hunched over, hands resting on his knees and panting like Mrs. O’Leary. The summer sun beat down on his skin, making his orange camp t-shirt cling to him with sweat. He stood up, heaved a sigh and mentally prepared himself for another round.

It was about a month before Percy’s sixteenth birthday and all the campers had been working harder than ever before, getting ready for whatever Kronos was going to send their way. Percy himself has been training more than anybody. He’d just spent the better part of an hour hacking practice dummies to pieces with Riptide. With the weight of the world on his shoulders, (not literally this time) he had to be ready. If that meant killing one dummy after another, so be it.

Just as he was about to start swinging again, he felt someone come up behind him. He turned around and came face to face with Annabeth.

His breath caught in his throat and he had to work to keep his facial expressions under control. Annabeth was clad in a sports bra and shorts, clearly suffering from the heat just like him. Her face and chest were flushed and, surprisingly, her hair was down, laying in messy curls around her shoulders. She looked spectacular.

“Hey, Percy,” she smiled at him. “Working hard?” He missed the way her eyes were glued to where his shirt stuck to him for a moment, before looking back up.

“Uh, hi. Y-yeah, I am,” he managed to squeak out after a moment.

His relationship with Annabeth this summer had been...rocky. For the most part it was great. They seemed closer than ever, brainstorming attack plans, sparring, even relaxing at the beach together in those calm moments that were so rare these days. Percy was getting bolder too, flirting with Annabeth when he saw an opportunity. He was pretty sure she never noticed and he didn’t know if that was good or bad if he’s being honest. It took Percy a while to admit it, but yeah, he liked her. A lot. So why wouldn’t he want Annabeth to know he was flirting with her? Well that’s complicated.

More often than not, the nice moments they shared were disrupted with an argument and ended with Annabeth storming off. It was always the worst when Percy told her he would be leaving for the weekend. She would go silent for a few minutes, then purposefully start a fight both of them knew was bullshit, just so she had an excuse to leave. She wouldn’t speak to him for days after he returned. Eventually, Percy stopped telling Annabeth he was leaving. He would simply come back and they’d pretend like nothing happened.

A part of him hoped she was acting this way out of jealousy. The more rational part of him thought that she was acting this way because he was a selfish, lazy asshole. So, maybe Annabeth knowing he was flirting wouldn’t be the greatest thing.

Still, Percy hated fighting with her more than anything. Most of the time, he didn’t even know what they were fighting about. He yearned for a time there would only be good moments.

So, he was determined not to mess up this time. Hopefully she wouldn’t catch him staring because he had a feeling that wouldn’t end well.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” She asked with a raised eyebrow and an annoyed look on her face.

Fuck.

“O-oh, uh, nothing. I was just wondering why your hair’s down, is all,” Percy spluttered out. Smooth.

“My hair tie broke,” Annabeth grumbled. “I guess now you’ll actually have a chance at beating me, with my hair flying around my face,” she smirked. She looked pointedly at the sword in his hand.

Percy realized she was asking to spar with him. No way was he going to be able to focus with her looking like that. She’d be able to beat him no matter what state her hair was in, but she didn’t need to know that.

“Please, your vision doesn’t need to be impaired for me to beat you. I’d win no matter what,” Percy gloated and matched her smirk. Fake it ‘till you make it, right?

Annabeth laughed and yep, Percy was a goner. She looked him up and down and said, “Oh you’re so on Seaweed Brain.”

Percy tried not to blush at that and failed miserably. He looked down and got into position.

As soon as he locked eyes with Annabeth, they were off.

Through the years, Annabeth and Percy had trained together time and time again to the point where they had practically memorized the other’s fighting style, which only made them that much more evenly matched. The chances of winning were more or less equal.

The two demigods circled each other, waiting to see who would make the first move. Suddenly, Percy sprung forward and slashed Riptide through the air, narrowly missing Annabeth’s waist as she side-stepped.

Percy kept advancing, going on offense. He jabbed and Annabeth blocked, never letting him get a hit in. Percy faked to the left and hit Annabeth’s shoulder with the hilt of his blade. Annabeth gasped and stumbled slighting but before Percy could take advantage, Annabeth came back at him twice as hard. She wielded her dagger like a madman, stabbing here, and slashing there. However, Percy was just as effective on defence. He ducked just in time and saw a couple strands of his hair fall to the floor.

“Oh, so you’re giving me a free haircut as well as trying to kill me, huh?” Percy asked breathlessly during a lull in the fight.

“I mean, why not, Gods know you need one,” Annabeth replied with a cheeky grin.

“Come on, don’t lie, you love my hair. But you’re going to pay for that.”

“Oh, yeah?” Annabeth’s cheeks were tinted pink. Interesting. Maybe she did realize he was flirting.

“Yeah.”

Percy lunged.

Annabeth expected percy to make a direct assault, so she was unprepared for when he rolled through her legs and jumped up behind her.

Percy slashed at her neck while she was turning around. Percy watched in horror as Riptide travelled through the air towards Annabeth. He tried to stop it, but the momentum wouldn’t give in. Before Annabeth had time to parry, the blade made contact with her skin.

Annabeth cried out in pain and the hand not holding her dagger went to cover the area Percy had struck. Her hand came away bloody. Percy felt like he was going to throw up.

“Holy shit, Annabeth, I’m so sorry, are you okay—“

Next thing Percy knew, Annabeth had judo flipped him and he was laying on his back, with the point of Annabeth’s knife pressing against his jugular.

He looked up and realized he had only given Annabeth a small nick. Then he realized...some other things. Annabeth stared down at him with a satisfied smirk adorning her features and her knees bracketed his hips, leaving her weight rested on his lower abdomen. Her golden hair tumbled down around her face and tickled Percy’s ears.

If being thrown to the ground hadn’t knocked the wind out of him, that certainly did.

“I win, Seaweed Brain,” annabeth proclaimed softly. She lowered her weapon.

Percy’s brain was too busy short-circuiting to formulate a response. He just stared at the ethereal sight above him.

“Percy? Are you okay?” Annabeth had started to look concerned.

Thankfully, his mouth had finally figured out how to work again so he said, “you’re beautiful.”

What the fuck. No. Okay, clearly, his mouth needed a bit more time.

“Um, i mean, y-yeah. Sorry, I’m all good. Nice one.” Percy would like to die now. He was sure his face had never been a deeper shade of crimson. Stupid mouth.

Now, Annabeth was the speechless one. Her face held a blush that rivalled Percy’s. She tried to appear exasperated, but Percy could see a pleased, if somewhat embarrassed, smile shining through. She was radiant.

Before this train wreck could get any worse, Percy changed the subject.

“How’s your neck?” Percy inquired. He reached up and gently brushed his fingers over her cut. Percy scowled. Even if it was inconsequential, he was still mad at himself for hurting Annabeth.

He heard her breath hitch as he ran his hand down her neck.

“I’m fine, I promise.”

Percy didn’t know why she was whispering but it felt appropriate. Her eyes found his before glancing down at their bodies. She seemed to realize, for the first time, that she was straddling him, if her eyes widening comically was any indication. She looked back to Percy’s face and the air around them turned heavy and thick like molasses. Neither of them moved for a long time. Just as Annabeth sucked in a breath and started to lean down, they heard a wolf whistle and looked up to find the culprit.

“Well, isn’t this a compromising position,” Clarisse noted with an amused voice. “I thought this was the training arena, not one of your cabins.” She was clearly trying very hard not to laugh.

Percy and Annabeth stared at each other in shock before springing apart like the other was on fire, stammering out excuses.

“We were just sparring and then Percy—“

“Annabeth beat me so she—“

“Save it you two,” Clarisse said. “I’m just playing.” Though the look on her face said she clearly didn’t believe a word. “Now get out, I want to beat up some dummies.”

With that, Percy and Annabeth packed up their stuff and walked out. They continued on in a charged silence for a few minutes before Percy couldn’t take it anymore.

“Hey, Annabeth, we were just sparring, don’t listen to Clarisse. It’s no biggie, don’t let her make things awkward between us.”

Percy didn’t mean any of it. It was definitely a ‘biggie’. A very big ‘biggie’.

Now, feel free to call Percy delusional here, but he was sure that Annabeth was about to kiss him before Clarisse interrupted. He had half a mind to go punch Clarisse in the face for that, but he had more desperate matters at hand. He needed this to stay a good moment, so he hoped downplaying it would make Annabeth feel better.

A dejected look crossed her face and she answered, “right. No biggie.” She gave him a fake smile and kept walking towards her cabin.

Shit. Maybe downplaying it was not the right strategy, Percy thought. He started grasping at straws.

“Winner gets to dunk the loser in the lake fully clothed?” He suggested with hope in his eyes. “I promise to let myself get wet this time,” he smiled.

He had a feeling Annabeth missed the good moments too because, luckily, she accepted his lousy excuse for a peace offering. She gave him a real smile and said, “you’re on Seaweed Brain. Race you to the lake!”

Percy stood there for a second, just watching Annabeth run off. His chest filled with a sensation he wasn’t ready to identify quite yet.

Annabeth turned around to see him still standing there. “Hurry up, slowpoke!” She called out.

Percy couldn’t stop smiling if he tried. Oh, yeah, he thought. This was definitely a good moment.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Clarisse was walking back from the arena when she saw Percy and Annabeth together in the lake. Percy resurfaced with water in his mouth and spit it in Annabeth’s face playfully. She shrieked and jumped on Percy, shoving his head back underwater. They ended up with Percy holding onto Annabeth’s waist and her hands on his shoulders. They were grinning like fools and their eyes were sparkling.

Clarisse couldn’t remember the last time she had seen either of them that happy. Idiots, she thought.

“Hey Clarisse,” Silena said, walking up to her friend. “What are you looking at?”

“That.”

Silena’s gaze followed Clarisse’s line of sight and she saw the two lovesick demigods.

“Oh my Gods, that’s too cute even for them,” Silena deadpanned.

“When do you think they’re going to pull their heads out of their asses and realize they’re in love with each other?” Clarisse asked.

“I have no idea, but it better be soon. They’re driving everyone crazy.”

“You got that right.”

The girls set off, leaving Annabeth and Percy to smile at each other under the setting sun.

[antiloreolympus]

7 Anti LO Asks

1. Do you know what really gets my blood boiling about this comic? Persephone and Demeter's relationship.

In the myths, Demeter and Persephone loved each other more than anything. Their reunion is so important - it marked the coming of spring and growth. A whole cult was dedicated to this for crying out loud. Yes, the myths were far from perfect, but the Persephone and Demeter myth showed the strength of a loving mother-daughter relationship with Demeter searching endlessly to find her child that was ripped away and had her innocence forcibly taken.

Now, RS is not the only author to make Demeter this over-bearing mother type in order to put more positivity onto the Hades-Persephone relationship. However, RS takes this trend to a whole new level - to the point where I would even consider it misogyny.

How is it, she takes this beautiful mother-daughter relationship and makes it out to be an abusive and controlling one, and then takes the Hades-Persephone relationship from a forceful one to a loving, perfect relationship with no problems? How is it ok to ruin one relationship to elevate another?

I understand that many versions of the myth try to downplay Hades' actions, and even make it so Persephone actually falls in love with him and there is no rape. But it doesn't change that this relationship was problematic, and meant to represent the loss of innocence.

Then fans have the gall to claim this comic is feminist and then claim on top of that that Demeter and Persephone's relationship was the same in the myth? These fans clearly don't know the myths, and neither does RS.

Making Hades a good person is fine. Changing it up a bit to make Persephone's loss of innocence something else is also fine. But ruining Demeter and Persephone's relationship? Especially when Persephone has to spend half the year with her? So horrible. 

2. im sorry, but rachel cant introduce KRONOS coming back and then dropping it for several episodes to focus on a stake-less trail and persephone not knowing what lingerie to seduce hades in. like thats too much of an earth shaking development and huge stake plot point to just ignore for months to focus instead on something as minor as hxp's relationship, which only points out a huge flaw: why is hxp's relationship so minor in this? isnt the whole point supposed to be about them?

3. I think LO completely dropped the ball over Hades’ characterization. 

From the first ep I thought ok, this is good, we have some bones to see he’s not that lucky in love and is just tired and lonely, and while ignoring the creepy actions towards Persephone, I thought ok, Artemis hates him, Hestia hates, even Ares hates him, maybe once Persephone finally sees the underworld and probably gets to know him it’ll be a clever twist and they’ll be proven wrong. The underworld will turn out to be fair and just, the citizens will love Hades, he’ll be revealed to be a good leader and king and not like his brothers, it’ll be like everyone saying Hades of myth isn’t actually that bad, and it’ll help reinforce why this sweet and bubbly Persephone wants him, she sees the real him, not the mean rumors and assumptions, this is perfect.

And then it just didn’t happen. The exact opposite happened, actually.

We’re shown the LO underworld is cruel and unjust, where the poor dead are forced into slavery and Hades created a harsh class divide with him and him only on top, the citizens hate him, the underworld gods don’t trust him and openly seem ok if he’s taken out of power, he’s not a good leader and king and doesn’t even want the job yet keeps it for his own ego and grip of power m, and on top of it all he is just like his brothers, if not worse. He loves to get violent over any little slight against him, he hoards wealth and resources to enrich himself while his citizens starve and struggle to survive, he’s corrupt, he controls all the media and laws to bend to his will, sleeps with his brothers wife for centuries behind his back while claiming to be holier than thou, he has sex with his secretaries who are made dependent on him for any way to survive, and now he lusts after his barely legal intern who is also now dependent on him for her way to survive, and that’s only what I remember off the top of my head.

LO perfectly set up to prove Hades isn’t the devil or the false pop culture assumption that he’s evil and to show some actual facts from myth, and yet Rachel only ended up reinforcing exactly that and even making him even worse with her made up ideas, all while thinking having Persephone ignore or excuse it somehow makes it not bad or even a good thing. It’s honestly kind of impressive just how bad of writing that actually is. 

4. Chapter 172 is not that interesting. It’s setup had me excited to see Hephaestus and Hera and learning more about echo, but it’s cut so short. Because again the story can’t leave HXP out for 2 seconds.

I can also see why Zeus is gonna go insane. 

5. i agree w/ other anon. LO should have pulled a PJO or a BoZ and just made up OCs and have them interact with the gods than whatever Rachel thinks shes doing, which is lying she's being accurate and faithful while completely changing all of it, removing what is needed, and adding what isnt so that it lines up with no actual myth besides like, various 50 shades fanfic she read in 2015 and some popular tumblr text posts.

6 . the animation studio behind blood of zeus literally can only draw one face for the men and one face for the women and they were still able to make the gods all look distinct and hot while LO can't even bother to use more than 6 colors and can only have the women look as tiny as possible with the biggest boobs while the men are all just lego men.

7. ////FP SPOILERS////

Okay so like I stopped reading LO way back before season 1 ended, and a majority of my knowledge of the series comes from what I read here on your blog which is enough for me lol and I decided to read the latest 5 chapters just to see what's up (on zahard. I refuse to give the actual series any views)

And I just. Could not take the whole scene with Daphne running from Apollo seriously? The anatomy and art inconsistency was so distracting that i genuinely could not find it serious. Even when Thanatos discovers her hibernated body I couldn't take it seriously because of how she looked?

And when Hades had that call (??? Was it a call? Or his inner dialogue? I couldn't really tell ngl) with Zeus and said he's causing Persephone unnecessary distress, and that she didn't pose any threat. B!tch??? She killed a ton of mortals??? She has no control over her powers???? She's literally a fugitive for the aforementioned things??? She apparently woke Kronos up? (Idk if anyone knows about that, again my knowledge only spans to whatever I read here) Hello????

And I have a lot to say about the chapters starting the trial but I'll only mention one thing; Hades saying "I don't think blindly supporting my little brother would be doing him any favours (as a ruler)" had me cackling. This is coming from a guy blindly supporting a girl he's literally only known for a few weeks, who's like what, only recently turned 20? Sit tf down Hades you're not cool, you creepy ass overgrown smurf.

Overall I still hate this series lmao. Regarding art though I feel like I wouldn't be so miffed about the anatomy much if the character designs were consistent and the story was compelling. They literally change hairstyles and body types frame by frame, and it's distracting.

The timeline from what I read here is laughable. 4 years in publication with almost 200 chapters and you're telling me only like a month has passed canonically. That's wild and such poor writing.

And as someone who literally will sympathise with any lead character pretty quickly, the story makes me hate them. It makes me want to root against them. I also hate the fact this trash is somehow top ranked on webtoons when so many other stories are far better then it.

Anyway, many thanks to this blog for existing and allowing me to dump so much text here to vent out my hate for this series lmao. You the mvp fam, hope you're having a good day 🥂🥂🥂