#if only percy knew how other people view him

[lilislegacy]

i love this scene lol. because sometimes i wonder if percy isn’t actually as amazing as i make him out to be in my head, but then i remember scenes like this. leo was SO annoyed with him for being not only super powerful and heroic and handsome, but also a great person too. like he was genuinely upset 😂

[7s3ven]

DRIVING LESSONS. luke (pjo)

Normal! Au

( master list )

IN WHICH… Luke attempts to teach Percy how to drive and, in the process, almost crashes into Luke’s long time crush. But maybe he can spin it in his favor.

—

Luke was like an older brother to many. He had warm and comforting aura that people seemed to gravitate towards.

“Don’t get hurt, seaweed brain.” Annabeth warned Percy, pointing a stern finger at him. Luke chuckled as he leaned against the hood of his shiny car. Percy needed driving lessons and Luke was more than happy to help. Though, he knew he was going to regret it. Annabeth and Sally were both too terrified to teach Percy but Luke was up for the challenge.

“Turn on your blinker, Percy.” Luke reminded the teenage boy for the fifth time.

“My what?” Percy only stared at Luke in utter confusion.

“Your turn signal. And keep your eyes in the road!” Luke exclaimed as another car whizzed past, narrowly avoiding crashing into them. Percy immediately glued his eyes back to the view in front of him, sheepishly smiling.

"Sorry." He whispered.

“Turn slowly here.” Luke instructed, nodding when Percy finally remembered to press his blinker. Percy turned painfully slow, matching the speed of a sloth, and Luke held back an annoyed groan.

“So, when did you start driving?” Percy asked. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Luke shrug.

“I’m not sure. Around your age or a little older.” Luke was in his twenties now, already having secured a well-paying job which helped pay for half of Annabeth’s tuitions. The other half was paid by a scholarship she earned.

“Have you met any cute girls?”

Luke lightly snorted, grinning in amusement. “Why are you asking me that, Percy? You know I can see how you look at Annabeth. I should be asking you how it’s going with her.”

Percy and Annabeth had always been stuck between friends and lovers and it was driving Luke insane. He wanted to shove the two of them together and demand they admit their feelings.

“Okay, but have you met any cute girls?” Percy was persistent, which suited his given name. Luke scoffed, tilting his head back. He had but he didn’t want to admit it to Percy. How was he supposed to tell Percy that he was still in love with the same girl from high school?

He thought he was over his feelings but he saw her in a coffee shop one day and everything came flooding back. Their playful flirting, their late night rants as they lay in each other’s arms while listening to Luke’s playlist, and that kiss they shared in their last year. Annabeth was already calling Luke a loser for liking her again, he didn’t need Percy doing the same.

“I guess.” Luke finally answered. “I’m not really attached to any of them, though.” Because his mind was always on Y/N, his high school sweetheart.

“Are you gay?” Percy asked out of the blue, causing Luke to choke in surprise.

“Am I- No! I’m not gay, Percy! I like girls but I wouldn’t date any of the girls I meet!”

“Is it because you’re still obsessed with her?”

Luke knew who he was talking about. He clicked his tongue, giving Percy the indirect answer that he needed. Percy wasn’t so clueless after all.

In all Luke’s years of babysitting Annabeth and Percy, he had only brought one girl over, who happened to be Y/N. They were working on a school project but Annabeth still liked to tease him about the way he gazed at Y/N.

Percy made the mistake of tearing his eyes away from the road again. “Percy!” Luke shouted as soon as he spotted someone walking across the pedestrian crossing, “Eyes on the road!” Percy, in a panic, slammed his foot against the break. The car screeched to an abrupt halt and both boys were sent flying forward. If it weren't for their seat belts, they would've crashed through the windshield.

There was a soft knock on Luke’s window and he turned his head, mortified to see the very girl he was just thinking about. The brunette slowly rolled the window down, thickly gulping.

“Hey.” Y/N greeted him, resting her arms on the sill, “You know, people usually stop at the crossing. They don’t almost run someone over.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. It’s his first time and he’s still pretty nervous.” Luke jabbed a thumb in Percy’s direction. The blond boy was sweating, gripping the steering wheel tightly. He sent Y/N an apologetic smile.

“Oh, Percy. I haven’t seen you in a while.” Y/N grinned at him, “You’ve grown up so fast. Last time I saw you, you were smashing into walls.” Percy’s cheeks heated up at the memory. “Glad to see you still have that habit. Though, instead of walls now, it seems you like to crash into people. You weren't thinking of committing a hit and run, right?"

“How have you been, Y/N?” Luke changed the subject to spare Percy from the embarrassment of Y/N’s teasing remarks. “You disappeared after high school. And the last time I saw you was in a cafe. I barely had time to ask.”

“I went to university in Europe.”

“And you got your law degree, I assume?”

“Conjoint, actually. I majored in law with a minor in psychology.”

Luke whistled, impressed. He barely passed university. “So, what are you doing now?”

“Well, I was taking a calming walk before I almost got killed.” She chuckled, an amused glimmer flashing in her eyes. Percy sank deeper into Luke’s leather car seat. “If you need help with teaching Percy to drive, I’d be happy to help. You look like you need it.” She fished out a card from her purse, handing it over to Luke. “I changed my number, by the way. That’s my personal one. Feel free to contact me, Luke.”

She bid the pair farewell and once she was out of earshot, Percy and Luke turned to face each other.

“Oh my gosh, she gave you her number!”

“Bro, I got her number!”

It was safe to say that Luke spent the rest of the terrifying car ride feeling elated despite being tossed around in the vehicle with Percy and almost throwing up once or twice.

Luke was dreading the next day with Percy because the young boy was not a good driver. At all. Not only had Percy narrowly avoided crashing into a pole and took off one of Luke’s mirrors in the process, but they also got chased by the cops for going over the speeding limit. Twice. And he couldn't forget how they almost killed Y/N.

Luke was thinking of ditching Percy but he was technically Annabeth’s boyfriend, even if she didn’t want to admit it.

His phone buzzed and his eyes darted to the screen for a split second. He looked back at the road, quickly stomping his foot onto the break. His heart sank for the second time this week. This was not how he wanted to meet Y/N again.

Y/N was teasingly grinning as she made her way over to his window. She knocked on it, bending down to match his height. “Hey, Luke.” She uttered, clicking her tongue. She playfully pursed her lips as she watched Luke sigh, his head resting against the wheel. “You and Percy seem to have one thing in common. Almost crashing into me.”

Luke’s cheeks flushed bright pink. “I didn’t mean to… I swear.” He uttered.

“It’s fine, Luke. As long as you don’t actually hit me. Because if you do, I will run you over too.” Y/N smiled, acting as if she didn’t just whisper a threat in Luke’s ear.

“I’m actually going to pick up Percy right now. Do you want to, uh, join me? I might throw up less with you around. Partly in fear of embarrassing myself.” Luke chuckled to himself while Y/N huffed in amusement.

“As long as I don’t land in hospital, I’m up for it.”

“No promises.”

Y/N climbed into the passenger seat, shutting the door behind her. She tilted her head to the side as she picked up a Lancôme lipstick. “I never took you as lipstick person, Luke.” She joked, holding up the tube.

“It’s Clarisse’s.” He said. Despite their differences, the two were quite close in high school. And they still were.

“You two dating already? Everybody shipped you two.” Y/N chuckled, turning her head to look at Luke.

“We’re just friends.” Luke said.

“Oh, come on. You must like a girl. Who’s the lucky one, huh?”

You, Luke almost said.

“I’m not interested in any girls right now.” He said instead. Y/N quirked an eyebrow.

“Are you gay? Wait, I kissed you while you were gay?!” Y/N gasped while Luke wildly shook his head.

“Why does everyone think I’m gay?!” He exclaimed.

"You've never dated anyone, Luke. It makes people think things." Y/N chuckled as leaned back in her seat. "I remember when everybody thought you and Chris were an item. Your fangirls were devastated. It was hilarious."

"What about you?" Luke asked, "How did... you feel?" Y/N faltered. She slowly turned her head to look at Luke before shyly diverting her gaze.

"I was more preoccupied with laughing over the sad girls with my friends." She uttered, "But I had a feeling you weren't gay. Your fashion sense back then was a dead give away that you were straight."

Luke clicked his tongue, "Was that meant to be an insult or a compliment?"

Y/N silently shrugged, flashing him a small grin. "A bit of both, I think."

Silence eventually settled between the pair. The car engine quietly hummed and Y/N glanced out the window as the radio played a soft melody. She thickly gulped as Luke pulled into Percy's driveway, a little disappointed they'd no longer be alone.

"Y/N." Luke quickly turned to her as soon as he pulled the keys out of his car. She met his gaze, confused as she gestured for him to continue. She watched as Luke took a deep breath. "Do you remember when I asked you if you had a partner for prom?"

"Of course. I went with Jake."

"I know that. But do you remember when you told me about Jake and I looked a little sad?" Luke was usually straight-forward with his sentences but he couldn't find the right words in this moment. Y/N slightly tilted her head.

"Yeah... you looked crushed." She said in a joking tone, causing Luke to gently chuckle.

"I looked sad because... I wanted to ask you out. Because I liked you. And I didn't ask anyone else out or accept any other offers because you were the only person I wanted to go with. And when you kissed me in our senior year, I couldn't feel happier, even if it was only because you wanted to feel a teen romance. And when you left... I didn't leave my room for ages. Annabeth had to drag me out. I was scared that you would find another person and I didn't want you to leave me behind."

Y/N gazed at him in silence. Luke cleared his throat, nodding his face. "I shouldn't have said anything... sorry. All those things were ancient history. I don't even know why I brought it up."

"What about you?" Y/N breathed, "Is there anyone else in your life?"

Luke pressed his lips into a thin line. "No... To be honest, I still haven't moved on from you." He turned his head to face Y/N, taken aback when she pressed her lips against his.

"I didn't find anyone else, Luke. I wanted to come back from university and run into your arms again, like old times." Y/N uttered as she pulled away. Luke cracked an ecstatic grin, pulling her back.

"Are you guys seriously making out in front of my house?"

Y/N and Luke jumped apart at the sound of Percy's voice. The younger boy was staring at them through the tinted window, face wrinkled up in disgust.

"I'll, um, get in the backseat." Y/N said, smiling before she switched seats, allowing Luke to sit beside Percy. The brunette gave the boy a subtle glare.

"Can I turn on some music?" Percy asked as he drove down an empty road. Luke had switched off the radio to allow the blond to concentrate.

"Only for a little while. Keep your eyes on the road so you don't almost kill anybody else." Luke snapped. From the backseat, Y/N lightly laughed.

Percy pushed a button and with a quiet click, Olivia Rodrigo started playing. "Really, Luke? Your sad playlist?"

"It's the only other tape in my car."

"I got my driver's license last week"- Percy sang along but he was cut off by Luke's stern tone.

"Percy, you won't be getting your license for ages if you don't focus on the road." The brunette warned. Percy frowned, going silent for a few moments before he parted his lips again.

"He used to listen to this playlist in his car while it rained. He was probably thinking about you." Percy said to Y/N, looking at her through the mirror, "I think he even cried at some point. Annabeth and I saw him one night, just sitting in the car and banging his head against the wheel."

"Percy!" Luke hissed, trying to shush the boy. But the damage was already done as Y/N diverted her eyes to look at Luke.

"Really?" There was an amused edge to her voice.

"Stop the car." Luke demanded, glowering at Percy. The young blond nonchalantly pulled over and stopped the engine. "You're dead, Percy. I'm going to tell Annabeth how you still drool in your sleep." Luke pulled out his phone, causing Percy to panic.

"I told her I stopped!" Percy reached for Luke's device but the brunette quickly stepped out of the car. He held the phone up high, away from Percy's grasp. Y/N watched as Percy chased after Luke, desperate to hide his drooling problem from Annabeth.

Luke turned his head to scowl at Percy. "It's your payback for telling Y/N that!"

idea from @emiliehornby !!

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[glorified-red]

I'm seeing all the hate The Sun & The Star is getting on this hellsite and its so obvious that people aren't reading this book for what it is.

It's literally a children's novel written for children. The book is supposed to be easily digestible and stupid and explicitly written because kids books are supposed to be completely laid out.

Rick has always written dorky things in his books but he has also prioritized writing about real world issues and struggles. He's written about trauma, abuse, PTSD, depression, anxiety, etc. For years.

So here he is writing about deep rooted insecurities and self-doubt and learning to accept all those dark parts of yourself as well as others, AND tackling internalized homophobia and queer struggles, and we're upset the book is too focused on the relationship?

The entire point of this book is to teach the audience how to navigate a rocky relationship with compassion and understanding. It's showing that relationships aren't perfect, you can be upset with your partner and your partner can be upset with you but the point is that you talk about it and you try to do better.

Is it such a bad thing for young teens to be learning this?

Is it such a bad thing for them to see that love is effort? And can and will be flawed and that's okay??

This is the first time we've seen this topic discussed by Rick and I've never seen a book tackle this topic because we always see the Hollywood depiction of love---yet that's unrealistic.

This is showing that love can be flawed but still be oh so beautiful. That you can be traumatized and still worthy of love.

And I am so proud of Rick and Mark for not only showing a healthy attempt at a relationship but also showing countless times that those lessons apply to any relationship. They put significant stress on platonic and familial relationships and how that love is also effort, compassion, and understanding.

Yes, it focused on Solangelo a lot.

Yes, it had soooo many flaws that even I cringed and got disappointed at times.

But the fact that we got a book that finally lets two characters talk about their feelings is incredible, and the fact that this new generation gets this book??

If I had a book like this when I was young, showing me how to navigate conflict and that relationships CAN be hard?? My god, the healing that lesson could have done.

Perspective is everything for this book. Hell, perspective was everything in HoO. It showed that how characters are perceived is very different from how they perceive themselves.

Leo was literally always shown as comedic relief and nothing more until we saw how incredibly lonely and sad that kid was from his point of view.

Percy was always said to be intimidating and powerful, but in his perspective, he's a kid who has no clue what he's doing.

So yea, in this book, it may seem like these characters have shifted, but once again, Rick is relying so heavily on perspective.

Nico was edgy and depressed for as long as we knew him, even in BoO when we first got his POV. But now that he's accepted, loved, and healing, why are we getting mad that he's a dork again---how he was before all the trauma? Why are we mad that Nico is growing and healing and becoming himself again because he feels safe enough to do so.

Ofc he's gonna feel different than how he was written a canon year ago.

And this is the first time we've had Wills perspective. He's always been seen as this sunshine happy character but we FINALLY get some acknowledgement that he's deeply terrified. He's shown as a leader and camp counselor but he's got anxiety written in his bones.

He felt like a burden this book because he's a healer. He's absolutely terrified to be a fighter and yet we got to see him become one in his own way. He was out of his element but he was trying.

Because he's so goddamn afraid of losing someone else.

Call Will an asshole all you want, but Nico had been to Tartarus and the Underworld more times than he could count.

Will is literally walking into a place he's never been to before and is the complete opposite of anything he's ever known---for Nico. The comments he makes about plants and lack of sunshine? It wasn't him being a dick, he was him being genuinely confused because hes only ever known earth logic.

If I saw flowers blooming in a pitch black room I'd be a little confused too. He says the Underworld is depressing because it's literally draining his energy.

You yell at Will for not being open-minded yet won't comment on the fact that Nico hardly made an attempt either. Nico could have been more understanding about the fact that Will, a guy who's exploring this place that's slowly killing him, might not like the place at first because he doesn't understand it.

Because Will wanted to understand.

And the second Will finally began to understand the beauty of the Underworld, he was nothing but supportive.

You get mad at Will for making mistakes yet refuse to acknowledge that he learned from them.

The Sun & The Star tackled a hard topic that doesn't get talked about often. It portrayed a queer relationship and it emphasized characters who learned and grew. It's different from other Rick books because that was the point. (And it wasn't just Rick writing it)

This book was about accepting change within yourself and "daring to be different."

And the fact that you can't even accept a book that does the same just shows that the lessons this book taught went straight over your head.

I've never been more disappointed in this fandom. We begged for this book. We begged for queer representation. Yet here we are criticizing every little thing about it as if we aren't lucky to be getting this book in the first place---a book about two side characters.

This book had soooo many flaws but it wasn't a bad book.

Isn't that the point of it all? To love something even though it's flawed? That flaws dont necessarily mean it's broken and bad forever?

It's okay to hate a book.

That doesn't mean it's a bad book.

It just wasn't for you.

There are dozens of other books in this fandom to love and cherish, but don't hate this book just because it's different from what we're used to.

[restinslices]

Everything pt3

PJO Show Ares x Child!Reader (no gender specified)

Word count: 6999 (I made a few word changes at the last minute so this is inaccurate. Rip)

Summary: Everything pt1 and 2 from Ares perspective

Warnings: Sad shit. Ares threatening to murder Athena’s owl so animal cruelty? OOC Ares but this is not y'all first rodeo. Possible OOC Athena but who isn’t a little shit to their sibling? (The way that most of the gifs of him on here are him beating on Percy-)

You wanna know how to keep your sanity somewhat intact as a god?

Don't worry about your children. 

Gods are immortal. Their children? Not so much. If the gods watched over all their kids and were as involved as people wanted them to be, that meant everytime one of them died, they'd be torn up. Gods had too many kids. The grief would never end. 

That's how Ares saw it at least. Plus, that's how Zeus had it. You couldn't be too involved, and Ares didn't complain. Hating your kids was so much easier than openly loving them. Sure, he would watch his kids from a distance sometimes but there were gods like Hermes who thought about his kids every single day. One specific child tore him up from the inside. If anyone ever mentioned Luke Castellan, his face would go all solemn and he'd make some excuse to leave. 

That's what happened when you cared about one child. Imagine how it would be if the gods cared about all their kids this way. Endless torment. 

The brain was a funny thing though. You could try not to think about something, and it'd pop in your head anyway. Sometimes, you just did things because your brain was used to it. Like a morning routine. You don't think about everything you're doing when you're getting ready for the day, you just do it because that's what your brain is used to. Sometimes you'd look somewhere and be flooded with emotions linked to certain memories. The brain was very interesting. 

Ares didn't mean to stumble upon one of his kids. It just happened. Went back to that brain thing. Ares only meant to have a nice late night drive in the rain, no real destination in mind. That was his mistake. If he had a destination in mind, he wouldn't have been on autopilot and drove down a street that was linked with multiple emotions and memories. 

Memories of a woman he shared laughs with. Memories of a woman he'd hold hands with and take on various bike rides and walks. Memories of a woman he called beautiful and loving on multiple occasions. Memories of a woman that had one of his children and looked as happy as could be when she held them. 

There were other memories though. 

Memories of a woman he watched turn bitter and cold towards him. He was gone too often and they both knew she wouldn't be the last person he was with. There were memories of them fighting, of her telling him that he left her with a curse she couldn't get rid of. And Ares watched from afar as all the anger she had towards him was targeted at his child because they were within reach. 

He gritted his teeth as he thought about it, and he was planning on turning around, but he decided not to when he saw the figure sitting on the ground. He didn't have to be close to know it was you. You sat outside a lot, and he assumed it was because your house was too loud at times. Plus, you had a specific hoodie you got as a gift in middle school and you kept it ever since. Pros of getting a gift way too big for you. 

His mind screamed at him. “Do not go any closer! Just mind your business and turn around! Now!”

He didn't stop his bike as he was thinking, and the view of you and what he assumed was gonna be your poor excuse of an offering came closer and closer into view. A fruit roll up? He probably would've ignored you if he wasn't so close. 

“Tough night” he said once he was in front of you. Your confusion was clear. You hadn't technically made an offering, so you weren't expecting him to appear. “You were going to”. 

You asked why he was here and he responded a little more sarcastic than he meant to, but oh well. Wouldn't matter. He'd take you back to camp, forget this conversation, then that'd be it. 

“Why don't you like me?”

The question caught him off guard. It was sudden and came out of nowhere. He hasn't told you or any of his kids he didn't like them, so where the hell did you hear that?

Then you explained, and the conversation kept getting more heated. 

Anyone would expect for him to love arguments and usually, he did. This one though, he didn't. The more points you kept bringing up, the more he'd try to deflect and move on, and then you'd bring up even more points. You didn't accept him saying he didn't have to explain anything to you, and he hated it. Any other kid wouldn't dare talk to their parent this way, so why did he have to get the difficult one?

You made another good point about how his eyes shouldn't wander when he has Aphrodite and that calm facade slipped for a moment. Not because he didn't want you speaking about her, but because you were right and he had no actual answers for you. He should be satisfied with Aphrodite, and he was. But he was also a god and sleeping with mortals was part of the gig. They never really thought about what happened after. They weren't supposed to. 

“I didn't choose to be abandoned by my father and be stuck with a dysfunctional family for the rest of my life. You should be angry at that, not me mentioning Aphrodite. You should be enraged at the thought of anyone putting their hands on me and your hands should be covered in their blood! That is how it should be”. 

“Believe it or not, the gods aren't too keen on the idea of killing mortals”

But he wanted to. You had no idea how hard it was to watch one of your children be stuck in a situation you wanted to save them from but couldn't. 

Couldn't. 

Ares hated that word. As a god, he should've been allowed to do whatever he wanted. “Couldn't” shouldn’t be in his vocabulary, but rules put it there. You had no idea about all he had done to keep those types of men away from you. Did you honestly believe he “broke his wrist at work”? He worked at a fast food place. What were the chances?

He tried. The guy was just persistent. When he eventually gave up, your mom married another guy like him, just in a different font and had kids almost immediately with him. Like the last guy, this one was also persistent. There was only so much Ares could get away with before it'd cause a bigger problem, but he tried to make your life better from afar. 

He wanted to beat himself over the head. Why was he so frustrated with himself? The whole point of telling yourself and others that you hated kids, including your own, is that eventually you'd believe it. It was supposed to stay that way. He should've just said “I tried. Get over it”. Why did he wanna try harder? Why did he have this weird ache? Why did the rain suddenly hit him harder and the air smell so bitter?

“None of us asked for this. You all just decide to create and leave us. And you hating the people you created is… I don't know. And it's so stupid that I've spent years of my life trying to get you to be proud of me, only for it to be impossible!”. 

That wasn't true at all. Him not being proud of you? He wasn't supposed to have a favorite, but in the back of his mind he knew his favorite was you. He didn't give gifts to just any of his kids, it was for a reason. It was a small hint that he was watching and liked what he saw. He watched how you carried yourself in battle. You didn't just run in angrily, no. You understood battle. You understood your opponent. You actually looked into wars and you and a few of his other children would try to spot where his influence was. He'd be pretty stupid not to have you as a favorite. 

But you couldn't hear that. If he said any of that out loud, that'd make it real. If he said all of that out loud, his facade would crack and that's something he couldn't let happen. So he defended himself instead. “I claimed you didn't I?”. 

He didn't expect what happened next. 

Firstly, he didn't expect that you'd start to actually yell at him. Only fools who didn't care about their lives did that. Secondly, he didn't expect that ache he felt to get worse with every little thing you said. Especially the last part. 

“... If you asked me to extinguish the sun, I'd find a way to because to me… to me you were everything. You are everything”. 

The facade slipped from his face for a second. How couldn't it? You looked so beaten down and broken, and not because you were in a fight. He would've preferred that. If you had just finished a quest and you looked badly beaten with bruises everywhere, he would've felt better than he did now. At least then he wouldn't feel so guilty. Guilt was another feeling he hated. It meant he did something or made a mistake and he had a reason to feel guilty. Feeling guilty meant he cared enough about you and regretted what he done. It meant the lies he told himself for years weren't satisfying him anymore. It meant he had a problem. 

He tried to tune out the rest of the interaction. He heard your comment about being a burden, and your crying, then your realization that you had yelled at a god, and your comment about him cursing you, but he tried not to focus on any of it. All he did was throw a pouch of drachmas on your lap and watch you suspiciously open it. If you didn't want a ride from him back to camp, you could at least call for another. He could've just tossed you one, but you didn't have any on you. He figured you needed it more than him. 

“You're leaving?” You asked.

“I have a busy schedule”. It wasn't necessarily a lie. He had a particular house call he had to make, so technically he had something on his schedule. Besides that though, he knew he had to leave.

The thing about being away from your kids, is that it makes hating them easier. As twisted as it sounds, they're not there to defend themselves. It's easier to put walls up when there's not someone in front of you knocking them down over and over again. 

Then you did another thing that weirdly hurt. You didn't call him dad. 

What was wrong with him? Must've been just an off day. That's all it was, right?

“Yeah” he accidentally replied to himself out loud before he sped off. 

Just an off day. 

~

You wanna know another way to keep your sanity intact as a god?

Don't have an off day. 

Why? Because being around gods is like being around elementary school bullies. The gods still hadn't let Ares live down that day when him and Aphrodite got trapped by Hephaestus. Almost every single meeting they'd had, someone made a sly joke. Do you know how annoying it is to hear “I heard you're good at… NETworking” multiple times a year? You'd help Kronos escape too!

Gods notice when you have off days. They also dabble in business that had nothing to do with them. 

When Ares noticed he was missing offerings from a particular child, he must've seemed off. You know who smelled it on him? Athena. 

Ms “look at my owl! I'm so smart! Dad loves me more! Hahahaha I'm just so much better at war!”. Couldn't Kronos strangle her first?

“Ares, brother of mine, you seem so distracted”. Shielding her nosiness as concern. Of course. 

“I was taking in the view until you ruined it”. She smiled, but it wasn't a smile of joy. It wasn't a smile of bitterness and anger either. It was the kind of smile someone gave you before they dealt a crushing blow. Sinister almost. 

But sure, she was totally the better and nicer god. Yeah, ok. 

“Olympus certainly is beautiful. I'm surprised a brute can comprehend something as ‘beautiful’ and 'take in a view’ ”. 

He couldn't help but think to himself “this is the person people prefer?”. At least he was openly mean. Athena was like one of those mean girl characters in movies Aphrodite made him watch. Real snarky but hid it well. 

“You can't turn me into a spider, so I'll just say it; you're a real bitch and one day I'm gonna kill that disgusting owl of yours”

“You'll do no such thing!”. Threatening an owl made her angry? But if he called her pathetic then it's “Ares be nice to your sister!”. 

“Anger over an owl? You're pathetic-”

“Ares!” Hermes seemed to shout from out of nowhere “be nice to Athena!”

See?

He couldn't even throw something at Hermes because he was there one second and gone the next. 

Athena chuckled. “The smell up here is heavenly too. I can smell the offerings my children give me so well up here-”

“What do you want?” he asked, tired of this game already. “Get to it and make it fast. I don't like you”. 

“Hmm, you know who does like me? A particular child of yours”. She didn't need to say your name for him to know who she meant, but she did it anyway. 

“I don't care” he lied. It should've been the truth, but the memories of your last talk coming back and the fact that you chose her out of all the gods to switch over to pissed him off more than he liked to admit. “I have other kids”. 

“But each child is special, aren't they? There's only one of them”. 

“I don't care about any of them”. 

“Then you shouldn't care about what I'm about to say next; it's not just me. I asked around and I guess your child prefers others. Such a sad time. Speaking of other gods, did you know Poseidon got an offering from them recently? Poseidon, father of the child that beat you in combat, well they'll be watching over that child that beat you in combat. Maybe they'll even visit that beach where-”

“It was one time and his dad helped him!” 

“Whatever you say”. Ares had to remind himself that destroying another god wouldn't look good for him. That owl though? He was gonna poke a hole through it. 

“I couldn't imagine any of my children doing that. Must put a lot on your mind” she patted his shoulder then walked away. 

You gave offerings that belonged to him, to other gods. Worse of all, Athena. Then you decided to watch over Percy Jackson of all people? Really proved you were his. You knew how to hit people and make them feel it. It was just unfortunate it was happening to him. 

He didn't care. That's what he told himself. He was just being nosey. Hermes did it all the time, why couldn't he? 

He didn't think about your last conversation and ever since then he'd been watching over his kids more. 

He didn't care about one child not giving him his offerings. 

He wasn't seeing what the hell was going on being he cared. Absolutely not. He was just bored and nosey. That's all it was. 

~~

Ok so Ares had made a little oopsie. 

After your talk, Ares made a little house call and things got out of hand and some hospital visits had to be made. Whoops?

Because of that, your mom and step dad needed no convincing when you asked for legal documents so Sally could take you in. 

Well fuck. There went that obstacle.

And because he absolutely did not care and was only a bit nosey… he kept watching over you. 

He kept debating with himself. On one hand, he shouldn't have cared. Sure, he was missing offerings from one person but it was only one person. On the other hand, the fact that you kept making offerings to Poseidon, and he even gave you a gift, rubbed him the wrong way. Offerings, gifts, staying with that mortal woman and his son, going to school near each other, it's like you were changing families. Not only did that damage his pride as a god, but it also twisted a knife inside him that he didn't know how to get out. 

One day though, Ares got tired of it. He was a god and if he wanted you to cut this shit out, then he'd just force you to. All these emotions were making him weaker than he was, and he was tired of it. You weren't Poseidon's child, you were his. Simple as that. You just needed a reminder.

Slight problem. You and that Jackson boy were idiots. 

For reasons unknown to him, neither of you thought “hey, wouldn't two demigods attract a lot of monsters?”. So a big chunk of the time he was watching over you, he was killing monsters. You may have thought you were killing lots of monsters when you snuck over to Jackson's school, but he did a lot more work than you. Behind the schools, outside the apartment building, in between alleyways, everywhere. If he was anyone else, he wouldn't have been having as much fun as he was having. 

Fun had a limit though. He'd think about Poseidon and Percy and your last talk and that “fun” would become “annoyance”. Right now, the annoyance was higher than the fun bar. 

He was approaching the mall you worked at, and let out a deep sigh when he got closer. He was sure to mortals, it looked like a group of women were standing around and talking about whatever older women talked about. To him though, and anyone else that could see through the mist, the view was more sinister. 

Harpies. Not just one. Not two. Not even three. He didn't count them individually, but if he had to guess, there were at least ten. At least. 

Ten harpies. One demigod. 

One demigod that happened to be his child. 

All of that equaled one very pissed off god. 

The battle was short. The smart harpies flew away when they smelled him. The stupid ones were ripped limb from limb, beheaded and had holes put in them. 

Afterwards, he had a pep in his step. If there were at least ten outside, he could only imagine some made their way inside. 

By the time he found you, you had just stabbed your sword through a harpy’s throat. You pulled it out just as another harpy flew in the air. 

“MY SISTER!”, it shrieked. You looked up at it, no sense of fear in your body language. 

“You want more from the Child of Ares?! I have plenty to give!”. A sense of pride shot through him. 

You wouldn't get it unless you were him. He was the god of war for fucks sake, so not only was he watching a child of his in battle, but that same child used his name as a battle call. Sure, armies used to all the time, but it felt different when it was your kid. Once again, you wouldn't understand unless you were him. 

Unfortunately though, the fight was cut short. The harpy saw him and stopped, “L-L-Lord Ares. I-”. He didn't waste any time. He grabbed you and threw you at it, and watched as your sword lodged into the harpy and the wall. 

“What are you doing here?” You asked. 

“Saving your life”. 

Your face turned sour and he couldn't help but chuckle. Maybe you didn't know, but you looked the farthest from pleased. If he had to guess, you were probably thinking something like “I had everything 100% under control”. His children tended to have prides as big as Olympus itself. 

“Are you gonna catch me?” You asked.

 “What for?”

 “Because you threw me all the way to the fifth floor and it’d be nice not to break something”

 “You need me to warm up milk up for you too?”. Ares made smart ass remarks, and he expected you to make one back. Instead, you firmly planted your feet against the wall and pushed, and like a reflex he moved his arms so he could catch you. 

Ares couldn't remember the last time he held you. In all honesty, he wasn't sure he ever held you. He wasn't sure he held any of his kids. He used to. Time was hard to keep track of when you were immortal, but he remembers a time, maybe a hundred years ago, when he used to be present for his kids. Before rules were made and “couldn't” slipped its way into his vocabulary. He used to see his kids all the time. He'd actually keep track, help them on their journey and watch over them. When they died, he'd truly mourn them. 

Then rules were in place and now he kept his distance. When they died, did it hurt? Sure. Not as much as it used to though. A pro in a boatload of cons. 

When you slipped out of his hands, he noticed a few things. You were a few inches taller, and your hair had grown out. Such small things. Anyone else wouldn't notice, but because of his absence, he always noticed small things like that. He used to think “ok, whatever”. But now, he felt an aura of sadness. You, and the rest of his children, were getting older and he was never really there. 

He missed when he was just annoyed or angry when he saw his kids. Anger was way better than sadness. 

“I thought you're not allowed to interfere” you said, and he raised a brow. He thought it was real ironic that suddenly you cared for rules as if you hadn't been breaking them. 

“Are you gonna tell on me?”

“If you hadn't caught me”

“And now?”

“My lips are sealed”. He wasn't really bothered about you telling. Zeus would get over it, and you only knew about one fight. Not the others. 

He could've walked away and left it at that, but he didn't want to. Your words from last time kept ringing in his ears. 

“... If you asked me to extinguish the sun, I'd find a way to because to me… to me you were everything. You are everything”. 

He didn't know why it bothered him so much. Maybe it was because you were the only child of his that actually voiced how you felt. You made him feel guilty and that small amount of guilt cracked the walls and foundation he worked so hard to build mentally. 

Another thought crossed his mind. He didn't want this conversation to stop now. The gods were on borrowed time. Who knew when Zeus would get a bit nosey and he'd be forced to go? He craved what used to be normal hundreds of years ago, and even though it probably wouldn't be that way again, he could pretend for the time being. 

“You have money on you?” 

“Uh, yeah”

“You're paying for dinner. Let's go”. You owed him offerings anyway. 

“I can't” you said after you grabbed his arm. 

“Can't?”

“Yeah. I can't. My uh… my ride. Mom. She's coming to get me. You don't want mom knowing you're in town, right?”. Sneaky asshole. If he hadn't been watching, and if you hadn't paused so much, he would've believed you. 

He looked you up and down, debating on if he should pop your bubble now. 

“Just tax them another burger” he thought and didn't mention he already knew you were staying with Jackson and his mom. Instead, he told you the name of a diner nearby and to be there by noon tomorrow. There was no sneaking your way out of this one. 

~~~

Ares wouldn't say he was nervous. It just felt different. Not in a bad way either, which was alarming him. He enjoyed being around one of his kids, even though he was occupied with the Twitter war he started about vaccinations. 

You looked at him from across the table with a furrowed brow, and that's when he finally addressed you and told you what he was doing. 

He didn't know if you noticed this, but you made a little sound. Like you were beginning to scream but didn't. He looked up at you and you looked laser focused. Were you… were you screaming in your head? Alright. Maybe it was time to put the phone down before you popped a blood vessel. 

“You're probably wondering why I've called you here”

You squinted, “I'm wondering why I'm paying”

“Ask me”

“You know I wanna know though so why am I asking?”. He didn't respond. He just stared at you and tapped his foot on the floor loudly. He hoped it annoyed you as much as your smart mouth annoyed him. Maybe this was how parental relationships were supposed to feel though. It'd been so long. 

“Ares, the amazing God of War. The Protector of Mistreated Women. Wearer of biker jackets. I come before you as your humble child, begging thee to tell me what required my summons and why you were at the mall last night. Please please please tell me. I'll fall over and die if you don't”. Chiron was doing a terrible job when it came to teaching you manners and if you were anyone else, he would've gotten angry. Instead, he was mildly annoyed. 

He motioned towards the platter of burgers and fries, “this is your thank you. This is your offering to me since you haven't been doing that”. 

There it was. You visibly tensed now that you were caught. 

“You noticed?”

“I did. You demigods think you’re so smart. You have these big egos and think you’re ahead of us. You gave your offerings to Athena and Poseidon of all people” saying it out loud left a bitter taste in his mouth and he got angry again. Poseidon and Athena? Two gods that wouldn't have saved you from that mall incident. Two gods that didn't even try. In all the incidents you've had so far, it's been him trailing behind you and keeping you safe! “And then you stay with that fish boy and his mom. Yeah. I saw that too. And I save your life and you don’t seem the least bit grateful”.

“Yeah dad, I’m super grateful my life consists of monsters trying to eat me and a dad I only see once in a blue moon. Totally grateful”.

“We can’t interfere” he tried to defend his actions again. 

“Didn’t stop you last night”

He tsked, “I don’t get you. You complain about my absence then you complain when I’m here when I could be doing anything else!”. Ares kept putting his foot in his mouth. He was so bad at this, it was insane. Ares was never one to coddle his children, but he used to be able to be strict and stern without hurting someone's feelings… majority of the time. Sometimes things are said, but he didn't used to be this bad at it. What he should've done was apologize, but apologizing was never something he was good at. And if he apologized, he'd have to admit he was wrong and promise to do better, and he wasn't sure he could or that he even wanted to.

“Then go do those things. I’m not holding your hand and making you stay! And this isn’t about us and you know it. This is about you. This is about your ego being hurt. You don’t care about my safety. You didn’t go to the mall to protect me. You just love a fight and you were probably disappointed you couldn’t do more”. The scowl you had was so familiar, it was almost creepy. You weren't 100% his twin by any means. You had your own facial features, but dammit, anyone could tell by the scowl alone that you were his. It made that knife he couldn't get out twist a little more. 

You were so wrong. Sure, he was at the mall planning to set you straight but he genuinely did care about your safety. You had no idea how many monsters he killed or scared away that were tracking you down, and you had no idea about the other harpies outside the mall. The fact that you thought he didn't care about you at all, hurt him more than he ever wanted to admit. 

“That's what you think?” he asked. A tinge of anger in him, but mainly regret and sorrow. 

“That's what I know. And I didn’t need your help. I was just fine. The only thing you would’ve missed if I somehow died was your little offerings. I don’t matter to you. Just admit it so we can move on” he wanted to tell you how wrong you were, but you beat him to the punch. “And for your information Percy and Sally are very nice people. They feel more like family than you do”. 

The knife kept twisting. 

He wanted to share the blame. He wanted to find a way to blame you, or his other kids, or Zeus, but he knew he couldn't. Zeus was a problem. No point in denying that. But Ares could've always tried, and he didn't. He allowed himself to lie to himself over and over again about how he felt about his kids, and now it felt like you were slipping through his fingers and he wasn't strong enough to hold on. He wasn't fast enough to grab you. 

It got silent. He didn't know what to say. Ares hardly ever felt powerless, but that's exactly what he felt in this moment. Completely and utterly powerless. 

“Have you heard the song American Pie? Yes, it’s somewhat important to what I have to say. Yes or no only please”. He didn't need a mirror to know he looked unamused. What did a random song have to do with anything?

“I don't know. Maybe? Who cares?”. 

“There’s a line in the song that says this’ll be the day that I die. And for whatever reason it made me think about what I’d do if I were dying. If I woke up one day and I knew I was gonna die that day, what would I do? You wanna know what I realized?”. He leaned back in his chair. He had no idea where you were going with this but he might as well hear you out. “Shoot”. 

“I realized-” your voice wobbled and he did his best to not reveal how much it hurt to hear. “I realized I'd spend every second trying to make you love me”. 

The room stilled for him. Everything seemed to pause and he was left in a silent room. Everything was silent, except for his own heartbeat which thumped in his chest in an increasingly slow rhythm. 

If Ares was asked to describe how much those words tore him apart, he'd be at a loss for words. It was a feeling you'd only understand if you were a parent, and it was a feeling you'd hope you'd never feel. It was words you hoped you'd never hear. What was worse is that he only had himself to blame. Ares spent years lying to himself about how he felt. It became natural and sometimes he'd lie about things he didn't have to just because lying felt normal. It didn't feel that way anymore. It felt… he didn't know how to describe it. Each lie he's ever told in his life felt like it was being shot back at him at point blank range. He kept feeling various holes being shot in him and he had no idea how to cover them back up. 

When you started blinking, which was an obvious attempt to not cry and said “And I uh… I don’t wanna be that way anymore. And selfishly I hope that scares you” that knife kept twisting. 

“Gods don't feel fear” he lied. Gods felt fear. They were just better at hiding it. 

“Well whatever you wanna call it I hope you feel it. I hope -and I’m gonna keep calling it fear- I hope you feel afraid for what that means for us”. How defeated you looked filled his head with memories he wanted to keep buried. It reminded him of when he found you on that rainy night. It reminded him of when you started leaving cracks on his mental fortress. 

 “Allow me to humor you for a bit” all the sarcasm and hostility slipped from his voice now. He had a question but he wasn't sure he wanted the answer. “Why would you not wanting to spend your last day with me scare me?”

You gave him an answer and if he could go back, he wouldn't have asked at all. 

Ares knew that his kids wanted to bring honor to his name, and as demigods, it was kinda their job. With that being said, he still felt something he hadn't felt in a long time. 

Grief. 

Grief because your relationship was ending before it actually began. Hearing that you were intrigued by him before, and when you were claimed you read every story with him in it, only for all that excitement to be crushed… he wouldn't even wish this feeling on Athena, and on more days than not, he wanted to strangle her. It's a feeling you only wish on your worst enemies. 

“... And I hope the idea of me calling you Ares instead of dad terrifies you…”. 

It did. He never thought it would, but it did. Ares made many claims, like gods not dreaming or feeling fear but it was all false. Right now, he had a dream. A dream that this feeling would roll off him and he could go back to being how he was before. His fear was that that wouldn't be possible anymore. You cracked him. You broke his walls down but he was too late to welcome you in. He was too late to welcome any of his kids in. 

Everytime he tried to blame Zeus for his stupid rule, or Poseidon for welcoming you in before he did, it never stuck. He could only do so much blaming before he had to wake up and realize he wasn't fully innocent. None of the gods were perfect but some tried a lot harder than others. Why didn't he do that instead of convincing himself he didn't care for his kids?

“... and if you hate me I am begging you to have mercy and leave me be. No visiting. I won’t come to see you when we do that little field trip either. I’ll stay at camp or I’ll go bother another god. Hermes is really nice. And if I break my end of the deal you can do whatever you want to me. Turn me into an ant, rearrange my fingers, throw me down a flight of stairs at full force, whatever”.

He didn't hate you. He understood that a little too late. All of his kids thought the same? He understood why, but fuck. He missed when he was just angry. He missed how he was before he stopped to check on you that night. 

“You think, but you don't know anything” he managed to get out. Ares wasn't the type to cry, but his mind was going so fast and it was hard to slow it down. Each word that came out of your mouth twisted a knife inside of him more and more, and the injury was so severe, he could genuinely feel it. 

“Then tell me what I don't know”. 

Should he? Should he say anything? Should he tell you that he was sorry and he wanted to make things right, for not only you but for all of his children? Should he comfort you? Should he admit he was wrong? Should he go back to having a personal relationship with his children? Should he go back to fully mourning them when they passed?

No. 

What good would it do? Would he end up like Hermes? Paralyzed with grief for a son that wasn't even dead yet? Would him changing even mean anything anymore? He tried to be better, then what? He didn't even know how. He'd string his children along, making them believe it'd be better, then he'd be reminded of their impending deaths or the fact that gods couldn't be too close without there being a problem. Then he'd stop. Then his kids would push away harder. Then he'd be Ares, donor to many but father to none. 

“Sally's been waiting outside so…”

Wouldn't it be better this way? Let his favorite go and move on? Let the child that tore down his walls go and work on building them back up? Go back to being the Ares people expected?

“Yeah” he answered himself out loud. He let out a breath as he felt another twist inside him. “You want this?” he asked. 

“No” you said instantly. That voice wobble again… he was so much happier when people were angry with him. Anger he could take and give out, but he couldn't remember the last time someone was disappointed in him and he couldn't remember the last time he broke someone down without trying.  “No I don’t but this just seems like the best thing to do”. He didn’t argue with you even if he wanted to. 

Your hand went to reach inside your pocket for money but then he spoke again “keep it”.

Money was the last thing on his mind. 

“It’s no problem-”.

“Just keep it”.

You nodded. 

It fell silent for a moment. He could've just left, but he stayed seated. Ares from a couple years ago would probably feel lively and free, but Ares today? He felt like something was crushing him and that was hard to do. 

“Can you do me a favor?” 

“Another one?” he responded lifelessly. Pretending to be unaffected was exhausting, and he was beginning to feel the effects. 

“It's not a favor if you don't wanna see me either”. He didn't respond. He didn't feel like lying anymore. “Can we do that thing mortals do? You know, when they hug and say they love each other before they go their own way? Or maybe just the ‘I love you’ part”.

He stared at you as he debated on what to do. One on hand he knew if he did as you asked, it'd be harder to let you go. On the other hand, a war was brewing and if you fell in battle, he knew he'd have forever to live with the regret of not hugging you. 

So he stood up. 

You stood up. 

It's strange how something Ares hadn't done in years could feel so right. Like this was how it was always meant to be. Like he was always supposed to be the type of father that was so present, that his kids would hug him regularly. 

He felt warm. He didn't know how else to describe it. He was just warm. Imagine it's a freezing cold day and you're walking home from school. You walk and walk, trying to ignore how numb your hands feel and the cold nipping at your nose. The cold is terrible, but you remember you left the heat on and that idea alone warms your body and keeps you moving. That's how he felt as he held you. 

“I love you dad”. It was natural. He wished he heard it more often. 

Go back to the scenario from before. 

You get home, so excited about the heat, only to find out the heat is off. Maybe you turned it off and forgot. Maybe someone in your house did. Either way, it was off and the inside of your house is just as bad as outside. The cold feeling seems to get worse now that the warmth of hope is gone. That's how he felt when he said “I love you too”. 

He meant it, but that warmth faded when reality hit. This was it. There would be no more talks like this. This was only the second time and your talks never went the best, but he still valued them. Maybe he was wrong to have favorites and maybe he was wrong to feel so hurt when he caused this but he was in agony anyway. 

When the two of you pulled away and you left, the knife twisted one final time then cut straight through him. He watched as you left for a moment before he looked away and sat back down, the emptiness becoming loud. 

You wanna know how to keep your sanity intact as a god?

Don't care about your children. 

Don't care about anything. 

Stay detached. Stay far away. Stay to yourself and a few other gods you can tolerate. Don't think about your children. Put your walls up and don't ever let them down. 

Stay angry. Don't feel sorrow or sadness. You'll live forever and the chances of that grief getting better are slim. Stay angry because at least you'll look intimidating instead of weak. Let people make their assumptions. 

Just. Don’t. Care.

But as Ares looked to the side, towards an empty booth with a window that perfectly showed you sobbing in Jackson's car, and your seemingly new family being there for you… he wasn't sure he could do that anymore. 

Y’all I swear they will have a happy ending… just not right now. But before y’all beat my ass, y’all knew damn well this part had no chance of being happy. The happiness is coming! I swear! I think I got everyone on the taglist.

Taglist: @kyuupidwrites @chadmeeksmartinswifey @lebguardians @beansficreblogs @itzjustj-1000 @white-wolf-buckaroo @elsisenta @leathesimp @marshymallo

[deramin2]

(Spoilers for Critical Role Campaign 1)

I don't have any expectations for wherever FCG will stay dead or come back somehow because I've spent 9 years watching Sam Riegel totally subvert my expectations in a narratively compelling way.

But I will say that "FCG shouldn't come back because it would lessen the impact of a narratively perfect death" is EXACTLY what people were saying about Percy's first death after C1 E68. (The first televised character death.) If he had to have an end, it was a fitting end that, while tragic, neatly tied up the thesis of the story. Would Taliesin even want him to come back? With Whitestone saved and Ripply killed, was there even much left to explore?

They found Percy's death letter telling them he loved them all but please bury him in a ditch with all his designs so he could be forgotten by history. He was so sorry for all he'd done and he could never make it up.

But they tried anyway, having to wrest Percy's soul away from Orthax. The players knew what they said in the resurrection ritual was meaningful along with their rolls. But they did not know they were also having to convince Taliesin. If they'd tried to appeal to Percy's soul in the wrong way, dice be damned, Percy was going to refuse. What we got was really meaningful and powerful roleplay (especially from Marisha and Laura) that did convince Percy along with successful rolls.

Being brought back did not at all weaken Percy's own sacrifice or the impact of his death. It forced him to confront everything he'd been running from. It forced him to see that there were people who loved him and would not let him throw himself away for them. They didn't want a martyr, they wanted their friend. It utterly changed the trajectory of his character.

There's only four ways I can think of on the table to bring FCG back:

True Resurrection — Incredibly expensive high level spell. They would have to find the materials as well as someone who both can and is willing to cast the spell in the middle of a war to stop a second Calamity. None of this would be easy. The ritual could still fail. FCG could decline to come back and the other players would not know that until they went to all the effort. The Raven Queen views True Resurrection as heresy which is why they didn't try it on Vax. How would a second chance change them?

Reincarnate — Lower level and cheaper spell. FCG would come back as a fleshy being instead of an Aeormaton. Would the experience live up to FCG's fantasies about it? How would it change them to realize they are truely alive, and always were, but are now also mortal? Reverse Veth story? Wild ass Pinocchio retelling? What does it mean to get a second chance but everything about you is different?

Wish — I think this would count as duplicating True Resurrection. High component cost and requires a high level magic user. (If it's duplicating a spiral there's no risk of no longer being able to cast Wish.)

Hag Deal — They do know a fatestitcher Hag who likes them and limes making deals even more. Orym may be able to just extend his existing deal. What are the consequences for the deal marker as well as FCG? Would the robit feel responsible for that person's fate? How would that affect how they feel about coming back and the meaning they need to make from it.

I don't think there's a right or best option because whatever we speculate on, the actual result will be full of meaning and very poignant. I can't imagine that Bell's Hells won't try to bring him back. They've lost so much already. They couldn't bring back Eshteross or Bertrand or Will & Derrig. They couldn't live with not even trying. Maybe their method works, maybe it doesn't. But at least they tried.

And if FCG does come back, they have to live with knowing that even though they saved their friends and put an end to Otohan, they also hurt their friends by treating themselves as disposable. They forced their friends to confront that each of them might have done the same and that's deeply unhealthy. It will change the character development tremendously.

My favorite film and play genre is where the protagonist dies (or nearly dies) (usually self-inflicted) at the beginning and has to journey through purgatory to find themselves again before they can return to the living. Films like Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006) or Castaway on the Moon (김씨 표류기 2009). Death matters because it reminds you to live. The journey is finding meaning in both life and death and coming back utterly changed.

[pjohoo-reclists]

Percy Jackson & Triton Fic Recs

A list of fic recommendations with Percy and Triton's relationship as brothers.

Wait, No, Stop! by PunkFlame

G | 1.0k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Triton

Seafam, Brotherly Bonding, Mer Percy Jackson

"I'll go and tell Father, or better yet, Mother, that you're abandoning your precious baby brother in his time of need." The Crown Prince froze and immediately whipped back around, and stared his brother dead in the eyes. "You wouldn't dare."

A Pain in My Ass by PunkFlame

Not Rated | 1.1k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Triton

Seafam, Brotherly Bonding, Fluff

Triton froze then jolted forward. He zoomed towards him, grabbed him by the shoulders, and spun him back around. "Don’t say that. Take it back."

Questions Unanswered by EclecticPhoenix

G | 1.2k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Triton

Brotherly Bonding, Triton is a Good Sibling, Fluff and Angst

Triton never gave much thought to his bastard half-brother. Not after their first meeting. It was supposed to be an easy job to lend a helping hand as a favor to one of his oldest friends. It also worked out perfectly because Triton needed a small break. He did not expect to meet the demigod that had the divine world wound up.

Zoo Day by PunkFlame

G | 1.5k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Triton

Brotherly Bonding, Insecurity, Hurt/Comfort

"I am unsure as to how much you know about me and my myths." "Only a bit," He admitted, "But I tend to build my knowledge off of first hand encounters, rather than some old texts." Triton nodded, "Did you know that I had a daughter?" Percy drew his eyebrows together, "Had?" "Her name was Pallas."

ευσεβή αδέρφια by GravityEffect17

G | 1.6k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Triton, Percy Jackson & Poseidon

Abused Percy Jackson, Good Parent Sally Jackson, Good Sibling Triton

Triton has a mortal sibling. His father broke his oath.. Triton should dislike his sibling. But...He can't. Watching the child crying themselves to sleep. Triton couldn't hate them.

the waters connect them, unseen by Nightingale231

T | 2.0k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Triton, Percy Jackson & Poseidon, Poseidon & Triton

Family Fluff, Good Sibling Triton, Atlantis

Delphin doesn't know how they're doing it, but somehow it works. He can see Prince Perseus' body change a little, pink and blue scales bubbling just under his skin as King-prince Triton forces him to own up to his heritage. They are so similar in their instinct even when they are different. It's strange, especially to an outsider who happens to know that they didn't grow up together, because looking at them now - clashing but together, a force to be reckoned with - he wouldn't have been able to tell. (Percy, Triton, and Poseidon experiencing each other, from the views of outsiders and, eventually, themselves.)

We are the warriors that learned to love the pain by Violettavonviolet

G | 2.9k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Triton, Percy Jackson & Annabeth Case, Percy Jackson & Poseidon

Hurt/Comfort, Hybrid Percy Jackson, Touch Starved

When people touched him, they usually flinched and took a few steps back. Some got really pale in the face and once, a teacher had fainted after grabbing his arm. He didn’t really get why, other people never seemed to have the problem, but that was just another way he was special. The only person that ever really touched him was his mom, but even she was hesitant and he knew she hurt just as much as everyone else. It was his fault. His freaky body. It felt unfair, kind of, that so many kids had these traits, but only Percy was debilitated by them. He wanted a hug. He wanted to high-five Grover and give Annabeth a fist-bump. Hell, he couldn’t even train normally, because his opponents couldn’t touch him. It made him hate himself. Hate his Dad. Hate the fates. -- Percy had returned from the stupid quest with Annabeth and had stupidly touched the statue, leaving him gasping on the ground, as a coldness like never before spread through his entire body. Distantly, he could hear Annabeth shout and try to touch him, but he hurriedly rolled away, she couldn’t touch him! or: Percy inherits some fun blowfish traits and when trouble comes, he has to turn to his family for help

behind this mask by Sappho_of_Space

T | 3.0k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Triton, Poseidon & Triton, Percy Jackson & Poseidon

Character Study, Triton is Protective, Undersea Family

Triton had never been a big fan of his younger brother. His mortal younger brother. But, Percy was of the sea, just as him. The same ichor flowed in their veins. When someone threatens Percy, Triton only did what came naturally.

terrorbane by Nightingale231 

T | 3.3k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Nico di Angelo, Percy Jackson & Triton, Percy Jackson & Poseidon

Powerful Percy Jackson, Brotherly Bonding, Good Sibling Triton

He laughs, wild and free with the power that come of the Storm and the Seas, and lets the earth beneath him give him strength as the Storm does around him. Zeus may be the god of thunder, of lightning, and the ruler of the Winds, but he was not the god of the storms. The Storm and the Seas envelop him as the earth feeds him its strength, and he keeps laughing. It tears itself out of his throat just as he tears a bloody trail through the horde of monsters and leaves nothing but the hint of gold dust suspended in the air. - Or, Percy comes into his full powers, Triton and Poseidon are good family members, and Percy is a fucking badass.

Triton's no good, very bad day by Ghxst_Bird 

T | 3.5k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Triton, Percy Jackson & Poseidon

Misunderstandings, Undersea Family, Deity Percy Jackson

While Poseidon and Triton contemplate why Percy does not want to accept godhood Percy has a surprise in store for them... if only Triton and him didn't decide to spar. aka. Waiting for others to deduce a surprise may lead to catastrophic events. such as the flooding of the entire Atlantic Coast. I don't make the rules.

Triton: Professional Date Crasher by anxious_tofu 

T | 5.2k | Complete

Percy Jackson/Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson & Triton, Percy Jackson & Kymopoleia

Fluff, Sibling Bonding, Established Relationship

Percy finally bonds with Triton only to run into one, tiny problem. He won't stop interrupting Percy's dates.

Get Well by PunkFlame

Not Rated | 6.8k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Triton, Percy Jackson & Poseidon, Percy Jackson & Amphitrite

Chicken Pox, Protective Triton, Family Feels

Normally Percy wasn’t huge on physical contact, which is what made the demigod utterly melting into him - and even nuzzling against his chest - all the more bewildering. Not that a single thing in the past few minutes made much of any sense. Firstly Percy never prayed to him, so hearing him do so filled the god with trepidation. Despite whatever situation he thought he would find the demigod in, not for a moment did the messenger even consider that his brother would be lying face first in a bathtub, one foot hooked over the edge of the tub, and the other wedged in the corner. What had happened to him now?

I'm Not Inclined to Resign to Maturity by Butterflies_Stormclouds

T | 14k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Poseidon, Percy Jackson & Triton, Percy Jackson & Kymopoleia

Family Issues, Prince Percy Jackson, Seafam

Triton found himself investigating the recent spate of thefts from the palace kitchens. With an eccentric father, pestering cousins, and a recently legitimized self-sacrificing demigod, what could possibly go wrong?

Love Blooms From Within by PunkFlame

T | 16k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Poseidon, Percy Jackson & Triton, Percy Jackson & Amphitrite

Hanahaki Disease, Undersea Family, Happy Ending

Percy grabbed a tissue from the nearby box to cough into, only to nearly faint when he caught sight of what was nestled in the bloody mess. “Are those… petals?” He pushed it to the back of his mind, and tried his very best to forget all about them. Even though the cough and the petals never truly went away. ____   All Percy ever wanted was his Father's love. Some brotherly love would certainly have been nice too, but how could they possibly ever love someone as fleeting as him? (Hanahaki with a familial twist.)

The Sea Does Not Like to Be Restrained by PunkFlame

T | 20k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Poseidon, Percy Jackson & Triton, Percy Jackson & Amphitrite

Protective Triton, Atlantis Centric, Family Bonding

As it turns out, when a demigod rejects their godly parent’s domain with such vehemence, the god and their child could become entirely severed from one another. There was little knowledge on the matter, the bottom line seemed to be that if the two did not mend the sever, Perseus would slowly fade away and die, step by step loosing more and more of himself as his soul desperately tried to mend the gaping hole in itself. Triton couldn't even imagine. The most terrifying concept to him was piece by piece loosing what made him who he was. To have parts of oneself ripped from one's very soul until they remain a husk of what they once were, there were scarcely worse things.

How to Avoid a Prophetic Death by PunkFlame

G | 24k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Poseidon, Percy Jackson & Triton, Percy Jackson & Amphitrite

Protective Triton, Baby Percy, Triton Raises Percy

"What in Hades have you just handed me?” The King looked at him as if he had lost his mind. “An infant?” “No Father. I'm well aware of that. But why the-” He took a moment to calm and collect himself, “Father? Why do you have a demigod?” “I don't.” Poseidon replied simply, holding his empty hands up, “You do. If I were to have a demigod, he would be doomed to a tragic Fate. If you, my son, were to have a demigod, he could live a long life tucked away where no one would dare come and take him from you.”

Fishing in Alaska by CaffeinatedFlumadiddle

G | 112k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Triton, Percy Jackson/Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson & Poseidon

Family Feels, PTSD, Triton is a Good Sibling

[Note: fic was deleted from ao3. Link is to a google drive copy. The hassle is worth it].

“This… this would qualify as a mental breakdown, right?” Triton asked, frowning over his shoulder to where Percy was still fuming in the corner. The lady at the counter curiously glanced over before lifting a questioning brow. “My brother – half-brother, technically, I have much better breeding – decided to run away from home to where our father can’t reach him and now he won’t leave. And now I can’t leave unless he leaves,” Triton continued. Percy opened his mouth to object that wasn’t what happened at all, but the tyrant only waved a hand to silence him. “He’s seen war or whatever, so if you could maybe just drug him then I’ll throw him into a suitcase and we can be out of here by the Summer Solstice!” Silence. Finally, the woman cleared her throat and turned to Percy. “I’m guessing he’s the one you want checked into the mental hospital?” She asked. Triton gasped as Percy punched the air in victory. “Aha!” Or: Getting in trouble works a little differently when your parent is an all-powerful god. Sometimes you have to escape to the land beyond gods and get your immortal brother turned human to drag you back so you can be exploded a million pieces. You know, normal teenage stuff.

Hold Tight and Pretend It's a Plan by Rynna_Aurelius

M | 112k | Complete

Percy Jackson/Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson & Sally Jackson, Percy Jackson & Triton

Time Travel Fix It, BAMF Percy Jackson, Emotional Hurt/Comfort

Olympus has fallen. The second Gigantomachy has ended far differently than the first, and in Gaea's triumph, the world has been torn apart. But the Fates have seen what ends their failed meddling have brought, look on at the dead—and undo what should never have happened the only way they possibly can. Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon, is returned to his twelve-year-old self, memories intact and determined to save everyone he can. But he is not alone. The Moirai underestimated the strength of the Lord of Time when stealing his power, and there is something about this particular demigod brat that intrigues him. . . Perseus Jackson came roaring to life with a violent gasp, green eyes wild. After a moment of panicked flailing and struggling to breathe, his fear-filled gaze settled upon a girl with blonde hair and stormy grey eyes, her face stern and unimpressed. "You drool in your sleep." Part 1 of Sing, O Muse (OF Heroes Once More)

Who Would Dare? by PunkFlame

T | 120k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Triton, Percy Jackson & Poseidon, Percy Jackson & Amphitrite

Extreme Medical Trauma, Prince Percy, Undersea Family

"Listen." Triton's voice cut through Percy’s haze "We both know you're hurt, but you don’t have to play the hero. Now let me see your damn wound." Percy nodded, opening up his stance and allowing Triton to approach him. He lifted the hem of Percy’s shirt carefully, to reveal an inch deep gash that stretched from the top of his shoulder to his upper thigh. Triton froze, eyes widening in disbelief, but he remained silent. He reached out but stopped himself just short of touching the wound. When he finally spoke, his voice was low and grave. "Tell me who did this to you... Now." ________ Triton, at Poseidon's request, goes to seek out Percy; however, he finds him on the brink of death, and brings him back to Atlantis in an attempt to save his life. What will this mean for them, what will this mean for the royal family as a whole, and who would dare to have done this in the first place?

ATLOP: Trial by Fire by WardofWinters (QoLife)

T | 225k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Sally Jackson, Percy Jackson & Triton, Percy Jackson & Grover Underwood

BAMF Percy, Water bender Percy, Smart Percy

Percy was having a normal day at the beach, until he decided to try to waterbend like Katara from his favorite show. Problem is, he succeeds. Now he has to figure out how to waterbend, and keep the normal people from finding out they have a waterbender in their midst. Finding out he's actually a child of Poseidon will probably explain a few things. Part 1 of To Make a Legend

[leaawrites]

Rumors

Luke Castellan × Ares!daughterCharacter

My first official character in a fanfiction! Her name is Anya. Face claim: Ava Aley Rementegui

Summary: A rumor might viewed as bad, but in this case it pays out for her.

Warnings: Original Character, fluff, rumors, none really

Wordcount: 1,4k

In cooperation with @curlymeme

Thank you so much for this idea!!

Masterlist

Rumors spread like wildfire. A common phrase that’s hiding the anxious feeling building up in your chest whenever you walk outside with a burden to carry. A lie so big that you can’t just deny it. Someone will always refer to it, bring it back from the death only to embarrass you.

People are lousy, nosy creatures. There should be little to no surprise at the fact that stuff like rumors exist. As a daughter of Ares and one of Clarisse’s close friends, Anya was used to people talking about her. Especially after Percy Jackson entered the camp. There was really no peace for her after that boy arrived. Clarisse felt the constant need to pick on him and Anya couldn’t blame her. he definitely was a hand full. Though, to her surprise, not everyone seemed to be fed up with him all the time.

“How can you possibly go on quests with him?” The red head asked Annabeth, leaning on the wall of the Athena cabin next to her.

“He can be nice, sometimes,” she answered, not knowing herself how she put up with him most of the time.

“I don’t believe you on that topic,” Anya told her, which surprised herself, since she mostly agreed with the wise girl.

In her head, it wasn’t an insult like Clarisse planned it to be. It was more of a compliment. Annabeth was wise. There was no doubt to that in anyone’s mind. She should know it as well.

Even when she tried to be on her sisters side completely, Annabeth was the exception. The sweet girl always got to calm her down. Anya didn’t know how she would survive camp without her.

“Anyway, I saw you watch Luke quite often these last days. What’s up with that?” Annabeth asked her, changing the topic but not to one in Anya’s favor.

The girl stopped breathing for a second. She knew that Annabeth would notice something sooner or later, but she hoped it would take her a bit longer to figure things out. Anya should’ve known that she was wrong. Annabeth was always one step ahead of her, she probably already knew about her feelings before Anya herself. She swore to herself that she wouldn’t fall for the stupid boy. She swore it after seeing all the other girls in camp practically drooling over him whenever he walked by. The sappy stories she heard from the Aphrodite cabin about love and it’s complicated sides was enough to scare her away from it. But something about him made it difficult to ignore him. How could she not watch his scar wrap itself in his skin, trailing her eyes along it like following a river? How could she not admire the way his body moved whenever he fought someone? He was better than her, better than anyone else in camp. How could she not admire him when he was almost perfect? She couldn’t stop the feelings from growing. Couldn’t stop the stupid butterflies that would swarm her stomach whenever he smiled in her direction.

It ruined her. Those stupid thoughts she had about Luke Castellan were only a method of life to get her to break. She would eventually fall under the knife of heartbreak and be admired by a former lover for the last time before sacrificing herself in order of not being hurt too much. ironic, isn’t it?

“There is nothing going on?” Anya tried to defend herself. If she couldn’t have him, why would she admit some stupid thoughts?

“You know, you should just tell him,” Annabeth told her. “There’s nothing to lose.”

“Yeah, nothing to lose, besides my reputation and potentially a friend,” Anya tried to make Annabeth drop the subject. She didn’t want to talk about it clearly, but Annabeth knew something she didn’t. She noticed his stares as well.

“You wouldn’t lose a friend. You’re not friends with Luke, are you?” Annabeth asked her.

“But we’re friendly,” Anya tried to explain herself. she maybe wasn’t yet friends with the golden Hermes boy, but she was sure she soon would be. Or at least she hoped so. Annabeth raised her eyebrows at her, knowing that it wasn’t the truth. The only thing they did was smile at each other. It was pathetic in her opinion. “What would I even say, if I would confess? Which I won’t. Just walk up to him and ask if we could be like girlfriend and boyfriend?”

“Yeah,” Annabeth shrugged like it was nothing. Just normal Wednesday evening events. Like eating dinner.

“What? So, then Luke is my boyfriend?” She asked her friend with a funny look on her face. She wanted to show that something like that wouldn’t work. Not even if she was drunk and completely out of her mind. “It’s not that easy, Annabeth.”

“Whatever.” the younger girl rolled her eyes at the red head. “If you won’t say a word about it, at least stop complaining that he doesn’t notice you.”

“I never complained,” Anya defended herself, but was quickly defeated when Annabeth looked at her seriously. “Whatever.”

The hour was early, too early for her. Anya stood by the side of some kids, helping them finish up their chores. The looks she received from them ever since last night weren’t going past her anymore. Some looked at her with their hand over their mouth, hiding their giggles as she walked past. Others - especially the younger girls - were watching her with sour, threatening eyes. She tried to ignore them at first, assuming that Clarisse did something stupid again. But when she asked her sister, she just looked at Anya confused and disappointed. It’s sad to know that her sister assumed the worst from her.

All of a sudden an arm wraps itself around her waist, pulling her close, further away from the kids. She wanted to push the person away, punching them in the face for being so close to her without her consent.

“Hello, girlfriend.” A voice stops her from moving for a second. This had to be a dream, right? This can’t be reality. At least not a reality she lives in.

“What are you doing, Luke?” she asks the boy behind her, still pushing him away from her a bit, which made him let her go. Her face was heating up, lending color to her pale skin.

“We don’t have to hide it anymore,” he tells her like it’s nothing. Unbothered by the looks the pair received, he continued talking. “I’m glad you finally admitted it to someone, even when I was sure Annabeth already knew.”

Anya looks at him with a confused face. Eyes scrunched together while she bit the inside of her cheek, trying to not start screaming in confusion. “What is going on?”

Luke laughs at her, grabbing her hand gently, leaving butterflies to swarm her stomach, leading Anya away from the group of kids she was supposed to watch. They disappear from the eyes, falling into a calm tempo, their hearts both racing.

“Rumor goes around that I’m your boyfriend, which means that you’re my girlfriend,” Luke explains the situation to her, still holding her hand while they stand side by side, looking at the other.

“Rumors? How? Why?” She wanted to ask more question, but Anya decided to stay silent for now when she saw in Luke’s eyes that he had an answer.

“An Aphrodite kid overheard you telling that to Annabeth,” he told her. Anya’s eyes widen, she did say that. But not in that sense. She had no idea that someone would overhear them. “Now my question is, why would you say something like that to Annabeth?”

Anya tried to come up with a reasoning, it shouldn’t be so hard to think of something. But something made it hard for her to decide. Something in her wanted to tell him.

“We were just joking around,” she finally said, looking down at her shoes in embarrassment, eyes lingering on their hands.

“Why not make this joke reality,” Luke says. He always sounded so sure when saying anything. Anya admired that about him.

She looks up at him, trying to find the mischief in his eyes that she was thinking would appear in a matter of seconds. But all she received was his thumb rubbing her hand. Their skin confirming the twisted lies between them. A lie that maybe wasn’t supposed to stay untrue.

[soft--dragon]

Loosen Up

So recently I finished Vox Machina and if you haven't seen I highly recommend it!! SUCH a good show oh my lord. Can't wait for the third season to drop :D

You can view the relationships however you like, I don't mind ^^ (except Vex and Vax, they're siblings, don't be weird :/)

Word Count: 3,138

Warnings: Kinda spoils a plot line in season one but nothing major ^^

This is a SFW tickle fic, if you don’t like that then don’t read :)

It isn’t a secret that Percy is a bit of a stick in the mud.

Rarely did he let his walls down and simply be. Too caught up in his world of smoking guns and exploding inventions. A lifetime of heartache shutting his heart away in a cast iron keep that very few had a key to access. This also meant emotions such as joy, love, and contentment were rare to be exposed from behind those defensive gates.

That was before Vox Machina. 

A chaotic, rambunctious group of outcast individuals working with the skills they had to make it through another day. A ragtag family doing its best to survive in a world that would spit at their feet and tell them to fuck off. 

However, this family knew how to tell the world right back to fuck off too. 

Percy honestly couldn’t imagine his life with these people a few years ago, but now he simply could not fathom a reality without them. Tight-knit and stupid and loving, never faulting in their care. It was something Percy told himself to never take for granted, no matter how much they tested his patience. 

Much like tonight, where he was being subjected to the most irritating forces known to man: Vex and Vax when they were on the hunt for entertainment.

Percy is sitting near the fire, sketchbook in hand with rough charcoal drawings of new inventions scattering the pages. Vex and Vax have boxed him in by sitting on either side, peering at his notes and asking such incomprehensibly odd questions Percy wanted to know who the hell tutored these two monsters.

Honestly Vax, why would a pistol need a compartment for snacks? 

It took almost fifteen minutes before Percy's patience gave in and the notebook snapped shut with a dull thud. “Are you two quite finished?” Percy demands, staring at the duo with a narrow gaze. 

Vex grins, raising a hand in surrender. “We’re curious about your new inventions, love. Is there something wrong with that?”

Percy huffs, tucking his book into the folds of his jacket that is laid not too far from the flames, warming up for the night ahead. “Only when you keep badgering me to make a glove that turns whatever it touches into gold.”

“It would be quite helpful, dear.”

“And far out of my current capabilities, I’m not a wizard.”

“Oh, give yourself some credit, Freddy,” Vax grins. “Grow a beard and I’d say you’re plenty wizard-like. With your lifespan, you’ll need a cane before you know it, and it could act as your staff.”

Percy glares at him under half-lidded eyes. “Thank you, Vax’ildan,” he says sarcastically. “Remind me that I will die much sooner than the rest of you, just what I needed to hear tonight.”

Vex snickers, gently bumping his shoulder with her own so those green eyes look at her. “Oh come on, we’re just messing with you, Percival. What’s got you so grumpy this time?”

Percy gave her a mildly incredulous look. “I’m not grumpy.”

“He says while glaring, and with a bitter tone of voice,” Vax murmurs with a grin. 

Percy shoots him a dry look which the male elf only laughs at. “See? That’s exactly what I mean, man!”

Vex’ahlia laughs, dropping her arms over her bent legs and cocking her head to the side. “What is it gonna take to make you loosen up, Percy?”

“A good bottle of wine, some peace and quiet, and a book.”

“We have two silver to our name and a bear,” Vax counters. “Can’t quite match your aristocrat taste, but Trinket tells great stories.”

Trinket, nestled comfortably at the edge of the cave where the other party members are conversing, does not indicate that he knows, nor cares that his owners are talking about him. Percy envied that damn bear, able to go to sleep and easily block out the surrounding sounds. What a dream life. 

“Trinket is busy sleeping,” Percy tells them, “his stories will have to wait.”

Vex isn’t dissuaded by Percy’s bristling attitude, instead leaning more into his personal space just because she can. “Darling,” she says, “We just want to help you relax, is this such a big ask?”

“...Yes.”

“Aeugh, the drama of this man,” Vax chuckles through an exasperated breath, elbowing Percy’s side gently. 

The white-haired human flinches away from the contact with a start, his hand shooting down to rub the area. “Yes, yes, you’ve stated I am a dramatic piece of shit more than once, Vax. I believe your point is made.” 

The twins aren’t listening to Percy’s grumbles. The second he flinched, they’d locked eyes, a conversation played out with expression alone.

Vex narrows her gaze. Hurt?

No. Healed by Pike from the last mission.

Just startled, then? 

Seemed more than that. He knew we were right there.

So what are you thinking? 

Perhaps…

Vex perks a brow at her brother when his expression suddenly brightens in some kind of realization. Her eyes flit over to Percy who was unaware of their silent musings, still resolutely crossing his arms with a scowl that the fire did not deserve to be subjected to. She looks back to her sibling who is grinning now. Vax gives a small flex of his fingers, his eyebrows jumping up and down. Understanding hits Vex and her smile turns evil, nodding minutely. They wink at each other, the excitement for a game making them giddy though they contained it. Couldn’t let Percy catch on too early after all. 

“Percy~” Vex coos in her sultry voice, not missing the slight twitch in his face from her tone. The sight makes her all the more eager to extract the plan she and her brother had silently communicated. She lifts her fingernails to her eyes to examine them. “You sure we can’t convince you to loosen up at least a little?”

There was a scoff. “I’d like to see you try,” Percy muttered.

Oh excellent, an invitation. 

“Well, if the man insists, Stubby, who are we to ignore him?” Vax leaps for the opportunity with a grin that’s all charm and Cheshire-like. 

“I agree,” Vex smirks. “Shall we?”

Simultaneously, the two half-elves grab one of Percy’s wrists each and fling him onto his back, his arms being pinned by his head. A startled yelp leaps out of the human, the sudden gravity shift leaving him to stare up at the pair of matching grins. He tugs at his arms. They won’t budge. 

“What the hell are you doing?” Percy asks, bewildered and slightly on edge. 

“You said we could try and loosen you up,” Vex answers.

“By wrestling me to the dirt and pinning me down?” 

“Oh no, we just had to get you in a better position, dear heart,” Vax smirks.

“A better pos- for what?” 

The bemused and exasperated question only delights his captors further, and this is where Percival Fredrickson de Rolo the Third realizes a very fatal error. He had been encouraging the chaotic force that was the Elf Twins. He'd practically been asking for trouble. This realization only sinks in further when Vax’s free hand comes down to rest on Percy’s clothed stomach.

“Percy, you wouldn’t happen to be ticklish would you?” 

Oh.

Oh gods, no.

Memories spring to Percy’s mind of laughing himself hoarse while dogpiled under his siblings from the silly battles. The sensations scuttling everywhere, unstoppable and unbearable. His realization shows up in his face in the form of a pink flush and the beginnings of a wobbly grin that he desperately tries to keep under control.

“Oh, I see a smile trying to come out there!” Vex leers keenly, lowering her own hands to wiggle her fingers close to Percy’s side, delighting in his immediate response to wriggle away despite his efforts to seem indifferent to his dilemma. 

“V-Vex, this is ludicrous-” Percy splutters, his grin becoming wider by the second, his resolution foiled from years of inexperience in this game. 

“So you are ticklish, then?” Vax questions, his fingers gently pressing from where they are resting atop Percy’s lean stomach. 

The flinch and sharp intake of breath was answering enough. Percy’s ears were starting to burn from the attention, torn between wanting to wrench away and escape this playful teasing, or staying and trying to muscle through in a show of defiance. 

“I’m- it’s been a very long time since someone has tried,” Percy answers stiffly. 

The way the twins lit up made him cringe back, instantly knowing that was the worst thing he could’ve said.

“Well now we have to tickle you,” Vex exclaims like her word is law. Though, with her role in the group, it may as well be. 

Percy is most definitely blushing now. It was honestly adorable. “N-No you don’t!” He protests, his boots now shuffling into the dirt in hopes of dislodging his sudden capture. “I’m not even tihicklish!” Damn it.

“Was that a laugh?” Vax coos, delighting in a sound so rare from Percy who barely even grins on a good day. Percy is doing his best to try and become an ostrich with how far he’s turning his flushed face into the ground, stumbling refusals not quite managing to leave his lips coherently. 

“Why my dear brother, I think it was,” Vex chuckles. ‘Shall we see what else we can pull from our resident sour puss?”

“Thought you’d never ask.”

Electricity crackles through Percy’s sides and stomach in a split second, a strangled sound being pulled from a forgotten section of his vocal cords. His whole body instantly jack-knifes, legs trying to pull to his stomach to protect the sensitive areas suddenly under attack. Stubbornness makes him clamp his lips shut and bite his tongue, not wanting to give the twins the satisfaction of hearing him laugh again. He refused.

“Hmm, seems we’ve got a stubborn one in our hands, Vex,” tuts Vax, his fingers probing up and down Percy’s ribcage, noting every flinch and muffled grunt let out by the human. 

“Oh don’t worry, he’ll crack eventually.” Her eyes meet Percy’s and her smile makes his stomach twist in anticipation. She winks. “They all do.”

Her hand starts to slink down to his hip bones and- Nope. Nope. Nope. Not gonna happen, he’d rather get possessed by a demon again. Percy’s struggling kicks up, trying to find momentum with his legs to dislodge the grip pinning his wrists to the cave floor, still fighting not to crack as Vax’s fingers deftly squeeze his sides. He almost manages to heave himself to sit up, but a well-placed scratch at his lower back sends him crashing back down. His legs fly up to his stomach again, desperate to protect some part of his sensitive body while his chest shakes with restrained laughter. 

“Uh uh, not yet mister, we’re not done with you until you laugh~” says Vex, her hand dropping to lightly scuttle behind Percy’s knee that was right beside her.

Percy yelps, immediately kicking his legs back out, and scrunches into himself in a fast motion. The reaction made the twins pause, and he knew he was royally screwed. 

“Interesting, he might be like you. I think the gentler stuff works better on him,” Vex says to her brother, her hand dropping to Percy’s hips once more and scuttling her nails featherlight across the man’s skin.

“NoHAHaha!” Percy protests, his yelp swimming between stolen laughter that tries vainly to escape his throat, his head being tossed back against the floor as his body tries to do an emergency lockdown on his vocal cords. 

“Brilliant, sister,” Vax chuckles, and before Percy can prepare himself, he spiders his claws up along Percy’s stretched torso with a softened touch.  

Immediately, Percy sputters, and the dam finally cracks. “S-Shihihihit! Vehehex! Vahahax! Ohoho gohohod!” Percy gasps out through fits of boyish laughter, a sound so out of character for the gunslinger that it takes the twins aback in surprise.

His cheeks are flushed a rosy pink, standing out against his pale complexion and white hair. A wide, mirthful smile cracked out against his brooding face, nose scrunching in a way that couldn’t be described as anything but endearing. His body didn’t know whether to fight or fold, the long-forgotten instinct of childhood leaving him withering and laughing from the soft fingertips spidering along sensitive skin.

“Well, how about that,” Vax murmured, something gentle in his voice despite the mean wiggling of his nails on a particularly sensitive rib. “He can laugh.”

“Oh much more than that, dear brother,” Vex smiled fondly. “He isn’t grumpy now.”

Experimentally, her fingers swirl up Percy’s unprotected ribs to dance gently under his arm to see if it would have much effect. Oh, and it does. Percy practically squeals. High-pitched and panicked and childlike, his struggles for his pinned arms make a reappearance as the sensitive hollows are attacked by softly brushing nails. 

“Nononononohohoho VEHEehehex!” He pleads, scuffing the heels of his shoes into the floor in a half-baked bid for relief. “Fuhuhucks sahahake!” 

“That is utterly adorable,” Vax laughs, his own hand coming up to stroke deftly down Percy’s arm from wrist to armpit in a maddening pattern of soft touch. The strokes only elicit more half-bitten squeals and squeaks of protest, most noises swallowed up or blended into Percy’s laughter.

He knew he should feel embarrassed, his pride shattered into pieces from a few measly fingers and well-picked words to crack his defenses, but Percy couldn’t recall a time he’d last been in the middle of a play fight such as this. The sensations are foreign but not forgotten, too much and yet not enough at the same time. It was a conflicting state of escape or endure.

However, when Vax slipped a hand under his buttoned shirt to ghost gentle nails on his bare lower back, he was pretty sure his body got struck by lightning. 

“VAHAHAX! OHOHOhoho mihihy gohohod plehehehease! P-PLEHEhehehease!”” 

Vex and Vax pause in their movements and watch with awed amusement as Percy laughs himself mad from the briefest touch to his back, his full-bodied laughter quickly melting down into rich, honey-sweet giggles that shake his entire body. It didn’t seem real, that a sound so adorably childish could come from Percy’s mouth, and yet here he was, half curled on the ground, giggling up a storm. 

Vex and Vax share a fond, endeared smile and let go of Percy’s wrists, leaning away so he could have space to collect himself. The human wheezes through his tumbling giggles, his arms shifting to wrap around his middle as he slowly calms down. His eyes, which had been tightly closed, flutter open to show mirthful tears at the edges.

“F-Fuhucking hehehell,” he gasps, “I thohought I wahas gohohing to dihie.”

“Oh relax, we like you too much to kill you,” Vex snickers, offering her hand to Percy. She has to hold back a snort when he flinches mildly at her fingers, eyeing them distrustfully. “We’re done,” she promises.

After a suspicious look, Percy grasps her hand and allows her to tug him into a sitting position. One of his arms is still wrapped protectively around his stomach, his hand reaching far enough to rub that damn spot Vax had tickled for three seconds which caused him to fall apart. 

“Remind me to never piss you off,” Percy rasps, taking off his glasses to rub the tears in his eyes away.

Vax leans over to his supplies to snatch up his water skin, offering it to Percy who took it gratefully. “So,” Vax starts, watching Percy drink water like he hadn’t had it in years. “Soft touch and bad back, huh?”

Percy almost chokes. With a rough swallow, he recorks the water skin and clears his throat, stubbornly not looking at either of the twins. “Like I said, it’s been a long time. I didn’t think I still even was… well, you know.”

“What? Ticklish?’

Vex’s gentle tease makes Percy’s face burn for what felt like the millionth time that evening. He shoves his glasses back on his face despite the heat in his cheeks making them fog up mildly. The reaction makes the twins chuckle.

“You don’t have to be embarrassed, Percy dear,” Vex soothes, an arm wrapping around his shoulders and rubbing gently at the nape of his neck - tension knotting the area from hours of leaning over a workbench while inventing. Percy winced at the attention, both from the anticipation of another attack and the ache of his tense muscles. 

“It’s embarrassing,” Percy grumbles without much heat, sounding like a petulant kid. “My siblings always ganged up on me because of it.”

“You have a nice laugh, I can see why they would,” Vax hums, tucking his water skin back into his nearby cloak.

The surprised look on Percy’s face almost made Vex tackle him back to the floor and tickle him again just so he could hear how precious his laugh was. She held herself back though, he’d had enough for tonight anyway. He hadn’t been tickled in years, he’d need to be introduced back to the game slowly. Tonight was an excellent first lesson. 

“So, Percy’s ticklish then?”

The sudden voice made the trio jump and look up to the other side of the cave where the rest of Vox Machina were watching them with grins. Scanlan, who’d asked the question, chuckled at the human’s sudden flush. “Yeah no, we saw the whole thing, de Rolo. Don’t expect this to be the last time, that was cute as fuck.”

Grog chuckled deeply. “Very cute,” he agreed in that rumbling voice of his. Pike, who was sat atop his shoulder nodded enthusiastically in agreement. 

“Had no idea you could laugh like that, Perce,” she chirped, glancing at Keyleth who giggled softly. 

“It was quite sweet,” the Air Ashari tacked on.

Percy stared at the group of people he called family, his eyelid twitching slightly and cheeks flushed a rosy pink. His gloved hands come up to press over his face, knocking his head into his bent knees, wishing the floor would just cave in and murder him quickly. 

“Aww, I think we’re embarrassing him,” Vax cooed, his hand resting atop Percy’s head and gently ruffling his hair in a brotherly fashion. “It’s alright, Giggles, you know we do it out of love.”

“F’ck off and die,” came the muffled grumble buried into Percy’s hands.

The twins cackled, pleased that they not only thoroughly shattered Percy’s indifferent demeanor, but got him flustered beyond repair from simple, playful affection and loving words. They were gonna have fun with this new information. It was their right as a family to carry on the de Rolo tradition of making Percival Fredrickson de Rolo the Third laugh, they wouldn’t let Percy’s late siblings down on that front.

[mimymomo]

It’s truly astounding how the people belittling Fearne’s feelings and growth the most are Fearne fans themselves.

Fearne/Ashley made it explicitly clear that she didn’t want the shard. She stated that it multiple times and went even further to explain that it scared her and TOLD ASHTON that she believed they should take it. They willingly went along with Ashton’s plan because she believed it was the right thing to do but as time went on, she grew more and more concerned but still believed in Ashton who kept telling her it it would be okay, downplayed the consequences (saying his death would be a funny story to tell and that’s all as if them dying wouldn’t be horrible and affect Fearne/the others because they genuinely can’t believe that his life is worth that pain) and said that she promised him.

Fearne said multiple times that Ashton didn’t manipulate her. Ashton wasn’t hiding their intentions from her — he told her the plan, they knew (some of) the risks and Fearne said she went aligns to hit because she thought it was the right move. You’d think Ashton had a gun to her head by the way the fandom is talking about the whole thing!

Yes Ashton was pushing and they never should have kept Fearne from telling the group the truth but she made her choice and it was a bad one out of love and care (and no Ashton did not manipulate her feelings/attraction to them to convince her: Ashton did not and still does not know the full extent of what Fearne felt towards them and when he kissed her, she had already agreed to the ritual and the kiss only made her really second guess).

Now am I saying that she’s equally culpable as Ashton? NO!

Am I saying she owes Ashton an apology? GOD NO! And thank god Ashton told her she didn’t owe them anything, he put her in such a bad situation and that was 95% on them. THEY FUCKED UP BAD AND DESERVED ALL THE TONGUE LASHINGS THEY GOT!

But the way the fandom presents the issue is as if Ashton was this maniacal, evil manipulator who preyed on Fearne solely because she was too good to say no instead of viewing the whole situation as it really is: a man who is fucked up asking someone they trust to join in on their stupidity without fully realizing how much danger, trauma and suffering he is going to put her through.

We can acknowledge that Fearne made a mistake by being complicit and used Ashton plans with the shard to justify (run from) her not having to take it due to her own personal beliefs and fears and use that acknowledgment to further show her growth as a person who will never let herself get thrusted back into that position again. That she can’t blindly trust and follow someone’s self destructive path if it’s gonna lead to her being hurt. This is a good thing! Let Fearne learn and grow from this! That’s what the whole Chetney discussion is about: no one’s blaming her, Ashley’s not dodging anything or protecting Taliesin/Ashton — this is Fearne being honest, taking agency, calling out her actions and growing.

Fearne messed up and was complicit in going along with the plan AND she has every right to be upset with Ashton for what they did and she deserved her apology are two statements that can (and should) coexist!

I’m so tired of people vilifying Ashton and making him come off as this terrible and evil individual when that’s not what this was. They aren’t. And then saying that he was throwing a pity party when in reality they’re coming to the realization that his behavior is his own fault and they can’t keep running and blaming others for the actions he takes and then apologizing and taking responsibility and ownership for what happened and saying they want to be better in the future.

The same fandom that worships the ground Percy steps on despite all the bs he put VM through, actually tried to argue that Essek — a character who due to his own hubris stole a priceless and ancient artifact that was essential to his country’s religious identity and nearly started a whole ass war — wasn’t a war criminal because the Geneva Conventions didn’t exist in Exandria (yes this actually happened to me at one point), seems to be unable to handle Ashton without any sort of empathy or understanding. A character who has been mentioned to be broken (physically mentally and emotionally) with crippling self worth issues who needs to be better in not only how they show they care, but in loving and caring for himself.

These past 2 episodes were so good but gosh some of the reactions have been aggravating

(Maybe I would accept people saying Ashton was manipulative more if they weren’t demonizing him in the same breath and acting as if they’re only only questionable bad egg in Bells Hells…)

[arrowofcarnations]

Fic-O-Ween 2023 Day 4: Dead End

Some Luke/Logan friendship for day four of the fest (@noots-fic-fests)! Thanks to @lumosinlove for creating these two, and special thanks to @fruitcoops for beta-reading this and being an all-around excellent friend and hype noot. <3

Title: Birds of a Feather Characters: Luke Deveaux, Logan Tremblay Rating: G

(Contains Vaincre spoilers!)

“Luke and I have been running along the river. You know, the Hudson River path? It’s been kinda warm so sometimes we lay out after. There’s a park with grass. It’s nice.” (Logan, Vaincre, May Part Two)

~

They didn’t have a set schedule or anything. It would happen like this: Luke would text him something like “Run tomorrow? Gonna be nice out,” Logan would send a thumbs-up, and they’d pick an access point along the path to meet—sometimes a familiar one, sometimes a new one way uptown or downtown so they could try out a different route. That’s how it happened in the beginning, at least. Now Logan texted first sometimes, too.

Neither of them were runners the way Finn was, both preferring to keep it down to a few easy miles at most. Sometimes they’d stop so Luke could pet a dog, or so Logan could take a picture of the view to send to his boys. It was…well, nice, like he’d told Leo. Grounding. Head-clearing. Nice, too, to hang out with Luke outside of practice, travel and team dinners.

He had other real friends in New York, of course—with Alex, Percy and Will as his teammates, it still kind of shocked Logan just how many friends he had here—but there was a level of understanding with Luke that was unique. Alex and Percy were loud, outgoing, hearts-on-their-sleeves people. Will was a thousand times more patient and level-headed than Logan could ever be. But Luke—Luke was a lot like him. A hundred silent thoughts for every one said aloud. Guarded around new people. Tough shells, Leo had said of the two of them. Logan supposed that was as good a phrase to characterize it as any. He just knew he was thankful for it.

On this particular day—the warmest they’d had since they’d started doing this together—they hooked up with the path near the George Washington Bridge and headed south, flanked by rows of still-blooming cherry trees lining the river. They’d timed it late enough in the afternoon for the crowds of cyclists, families and dog-walkers to have thinned slightly, but with enough daylight left so they could finish before dark. Streaks of orange and pink were starting to paint the sky by the time they reached Riverside Park. They found an empty spot and planted themselves there; the grass was cool on Logan’s skin as he flopped down on his back, only raising his head to take a sip of water before going boneless.

“Do you have a good route in Gryff?”

Logan’s gaze traveled from the wispy clouds overhead to Luke sitting beside him, bent over his own thigh in a stretch.

“Ouais, kind of,” he replied. He liked that Luke never used the past tense when they talked about Gryffindor, about his life there. “I usually go with Finn—he has his favorites. There’s one we do in the old part of the city that’s good. You know the Godric’s Hollow neighborhood?”

Luke nodded, switching to the other leg. “Hazard dragged us to a bakery there on some little dead-end street once.”

An ache Logan was now familiar with pinged briefly in his chest. Race you to the door. Damn, I can smell those croissants. C’mon, Lo baby, I’ll buy you something sweet. “I know the one. Pretty sure he built the route around that bakery. Even when Knutty and I sleep in, he’ll bring us back something.”

It was a relief to not have to pick and choose his words when it came to Finn and Leo. So new, and still so strange. Had there ever been a time before the last few weeks when he didn’t have to worry about implications?

Finished with his stretch, Luke sat up straight and rolled his neck and shoulders a few times before grabbing his own water bottle. “He’s a morning guy, eh?”

Logan nodded. “Annoyingly so. He needs a coffee in one hand and a book in the other just to keep him in bed past eight.”

Luke gave a hum of acknowledgement, then chugged the rest of his water. He was quiet long enough that Logan was about to ask something else, but then Luke, staring out at the water, said, “Saint’s the same way.”

It was a good thing that Logan had already noticed, that he’d already suspected as much, because it was easy to keep his expression neutral. He was surprised, though; not because Luke and Saint were a thing, but because Luke had told him about it.

“He’s a morning runner?” he asked, staying put in his casual sprawl as though no big news had just been dropped.

“No, yoga. Out on his balcony, ass crack of dawn, with this ugly tie-dye bandana on his head.”

Logan laughed, loud and bright, and it startled a little laugh out of Luke, too. “Goalies are crazy.”

Luke’s shoulders, which had been creeping up toward his ears, dropped; his whole body seemed to relax by several degrees, and he smiled. “They’re nuts.”

They both let the lull in conversation stretch for a little while after that. Luke eventually laid down under the waning sun like Logan was, both of them watching the sky as the city provided a familiar soundtrack of birds, dogs, people and distant traffic. Logan thought about how Luke helped make New York feel like a home away from home. About how nice, how necessary, it was to carve out new routines and memories in a place that was so tangled up with his memories of Finn, and how Luke seemed to know that, how he’d been helping Logan do that without ever discussing it. Though, he guessed part of it was that Luke simply wanted to hang out with him because he liked him.

Liked him and trusted him. Logan wasn’t sure how he’d earned that, but he knew he’d do his best to keep it.

And because he liked Luke, too, he had to turn his head on the grass to look at him and find out what the two of them were dealing with, even if it was awkward.

“Do the other guys know?”

Luke shook his head.

“Your families?”

Another head shake.

“Have you talked about it? You and him.”

Luke glanced away, then snapped his eyes back to Logan like he was making himself stick this out. Logan understood that more than he could put into words. “Not really. It’s—a thing, but not…no one’s said boyfriend. It’s not like Black and Lupin. Or you three.”

“D’accord.”

Luke didn’t ask him not to tell anyone. He didn’t need to.

“You don’t seem surprised,” Luke said after a moment.

Logan shrugged. “Not because—I didn’t hear anything from anyone. I think maybe I can see it because I lived it for so long.”

Luke looked like he was taking that in for a second. Logan hoped he got it right. He wasn’t Finn, who always knew just what to say to anyone, or Leo, who made people feel comfortable with the kindness that radiated from him like sunlight. But Luke nodded, tossed him a stick of gum, and started talking about their upcoming game on Tuesday, so Logan figured he hadn’t fucked it up too badly.

They talked hockey until they really started to lose the light, then made their way through the park toward the street, walking fast to keep warm as dusk ushered the spring chill back in. They lived close enough to share an uber, and Luke called one as they reached the curb.

Logan pulled out his phone as they waited; Finn had correctly guessed where he was just from a blurry picture of one of the pink-petaled trees from earlier, and Leo sent a selfie of the two of them with goofy grins from ear to ear and a love you, gonna kiss you in 2 days!!!. He forgot all about the weather, warmed from the inside out at the sight of them. He wanted that for Luke and Saint, too. He wanted it for everyone who still had to hide, who still told themselves they weren’t allowed to have it.

The car pulled up in front of them and, just before they got in, Luke put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing briefly.

“Thanks, Tremz,” he said, tone casual but green-brown eyes sincere. “For real.”

“No worries,” Logan said, a phrase he’d picked up from Leo. “Get in, I’m fucking freezing.”

Luke shoved him, then climbed into the car. Logan followed his friend close behind.

[demi-gods-posts]

PJO characters as moodboard’s and my opinions on them🫶 (not including the gods)

Major spoiler warning!! ⚠️ ⚠️‼️‼️

I tried to include every character I could/could think about at the moment + from the wiki.

Character development ratings are for how well I think their character development was in the story with everything we’ve been given in PJO and how they’re portrayed with this development.

The overall rating is my genuine opinion on how well I think the character was written overall and how they were handled in the story.

Percy Jackson

A bit biased considering he’s the main character but I love his relationships with people around him. How he always jokes around even in tough situations (but only when it’s needed, not unnecessarily joking). And his sarcasm in the books feels like he’s telling us a story that he knows everything about. It makes the story feel more at home and open rather than being in an outside perspective viewing in. It allows the reader to become immersed with the story and feel how the characters are feeling.

Character development: 10/10

My rating overall: 10/10

Luke Castellan

I honestly really liked Luke’s character development as a whole in the series, seeing how he felt betrayed by his family and how he didn’t have a sense of home or anybody to rely on. And how he loved Annabeth for so long but she didn’t love him in the same way at the end. How he was never able to see his father and never got any support from Hermes at all, how his mother went insane and how he ran away from home to camp half-blood.

Character development: 10/10

My rating overall: 9/10

Zoë Nightshade

Zoë’s my favorite character by far in the entire series, just showing how she knew she was going to die on the quest but went anyways truly shows her courage and determination to stand up against her father Atlas. And the way she asked Artemis if she did good made my heart shatter. And I love that she lives in the stars now by the moons side with Artemis. Just knowing she can rest now after what I’m guessing is thousands of years of hunting with the huntresses and seeing her friends die again and again. Now knowing she can finally be free and safe in the afterlife.

Character Development: 10/10

My rating overall: 10/10

Silena Beauregard

As I think about it I start to like Silena’s character more, how she joined Kronos as a spy because of her love for Charles. How she is the daughter of Aphrodite of all of the gods and is swayed to do something she doesn’t want to do because of love. How she comes in to fight pretending to be Clarisse because she wants revenge for Charles and gets to see him again in Asylum. How the entire reason she became a spy was for her love for Charles and the fear that he would get hurt if she didn’t join Kronos as a spy. And how she was considered a hero afterwards because of her actions in the battle.

Character development: 9/10

My rating overall: 10/10

Charles Beckendorf

Though he wasn’t shown all that much in the actual story he was a good character in theory, how he sacrificed himself to sink Krono’s ship. How Silenas love for him created her into a spy and lead to him dying as a result even if she was promised he wouldn’t get hurt. And he’s now safe in Elysium with Silena being happy together.

Character development: 10/10

My rating overall 9/10

Nico di Angelo

From the start of his arc’s I personally didn’t really like Nico until the war. I also enjoyed the plot point of his misplaced anger for Bianca’s death and the betrayal against Percy because of his father. Though I didn’t like how much of a ‘villain’ he was portrayed as because he was a child of Hades. Just adding to the fact he felt misplaced and was used by Mida’s ghost for leverage against the other mortals

Character development: 9/10

My overall score: 7/10

Bianca di Angelo

I felt like Bianca was a sort of throw away character in the series and was only really there for Nico’s story in the books. Since she died so early on from being introduced it felt like she was just used for plot development instead of being created as a genuine character who wanted to live with the huntresses. Being that the first quest she went on she died. Though I do love to see the sense of community and family she finally gets after joining the huntresses for the first time and how she finally feels accepted in her life.

Character development: 3/10

My rating overall: 5/10

Annabeth Chase

Honestly Annabeth isn’t one of my personal favorites though she’s pretty high on my list, she’s written as being witty, sarcastic and serious with a sort of soft side to her. I like her development with her parents in The Titans Curse and how her parents treat her (I say parents as her dad and step-mom. Not Athena) and also in The Titans Curse I like her development with when she meets the huntresses and almost joins them. Though decided not to because of Percy.

Character Development:8/10

Overall Rating: 9/10

Thalia Grace

Thalia had a lot of good development before she joined the huntresses, though I do think after she left the tree she acted like she knew more than everyone else in a sense? Though I do like her general character and her choice to join the huntresses of Artemis after Bianca and Zoë passed on.

Character development: 9/10

My overall score: 7/10

Clarisse la Rue

Clarisse was a really good character in my opinion, being all rude and rugged to Percy but treating Annabeth like a sister, comforting Silena when Charles died and staying by Chris’s side when he went mad later forming into Chris calming Clarisse when she was upset or just generally being a good boyfriend towards her. Clarisse is rough and tough though she has a soft side towards certain people like Annabeth, Chris and Silena.

Character development: 10/10

My overall score: 10/10

Feel free to add your opinions on the PJO series and its characters in either my asks or comments 🫶.

[sometimes-men-need-help-too]

Percy Hynes White Allegations Debunked

Important note: A majoity of the information is coming from a twitter account FreddysRevenges. I will also be showing you a statement from Percy, as well as a statement from one of his supposed victims, Jane (Her twitter is Relation4y).

I was originally going to link the twitter thread so you could see all the screenshots (there are 41 tweets in total), but then with the changes made to twitter, I was going to screenshot most of it and put it in reblogs. However, the whole thread was uploaded on thread reader so now I will link it and you can view everything. And I encourage to look there as well because I'll be summarizing but not including everything because or else it would be really, really long.

So to start, if you haven't heard of him, Percy Hynes White is a 22 year old Canadian actor. He's been in some movies/shows before but got really popular after being in season 1 of the show Wednesday that premiered last November. In January of this year, he was accused of sexual assault (which has gone back and forth from being assault or rape), being a racist as well as a nazi.

On that note:

This all started back on the 18th of January of this year. A girl named Aries retweeted "proof" of Percy sleeping with an underage girl. Aries added that the girl had lied about her age to the public, saying she was sixteen, but that he'd known how old she truly was. Additionally, Aries said that the underage girl and Percy had been talking since the girl was 13 and she could have sworn that the girl had told her (Aries) that they'd been messing around when she was 13 but couldn't exactly recall.

The underage girl she was referring to is named Jane. Jane is a former friend of Aries, with Jane having ended the friendship in 2020. Prior to that, Jane had been shown on Aries' Instagram page. There are pictures and videos of her doing drugs with her and Aries' other friends. Jane was the only minor of the group. The other girls, all 10 of them, were 18+ with three of them being over 21 years of age.

That same day, on the 18th, Aries lied about the age difference between Jane and Percy. She said that he was four years older than her and would have supposedly been 18 when he and Jane slept together. However, that is not true. Percy's birthday is in October of 2001. Jane was born in March of 2004. That can be proven based on a screenshot of her Instagram bio which previously had her age in it (19), as well as a birthday selfie in which she says I'm 19 now. Hence, the age difference is 2.4 years and not four as previously claimed.

The post that Aries retweeted, the one showing the "proof" was from her friend Kayla who posted the misleading private instagram messages between her and Jane. Those messages made it seem like he'd had sex with her even though he knew she was underage, even though it left out the fact that he was also underage at the time. With both of them being Canadian, the age is consent is 16 and having sex with a 14 or 15 year old is not a criminal offense if the partner is less than 5 years and there is no relationship of trust, authority or dependency or any other exploitation of the young person according to The Official Website of the Government of Canada. 

Aries then doubles down on it. She said that the reason no one had any other proof was because they thought it was normal. She said that Jane, though she did not identify her by name in that particular tweet, "was severely groomed and severely thinks he loved her or something."

But people were able to gather who she was talking about because in another tweet she only censored one letter of Jane's name (J*ne) and based on Instagram story highlights where Jane was tagged. Aries nor Kayla follow Jane and Jane does not follow either of them. Aries had since referred to her as one of her ex friends and says that they do not talk anymore.

Meanwhile, it was shown that Percy and Jane are still on good terms. They follow each other and one of Percy's ex, Katie Douglas, still follows him and follows Jane as well. They've both shown support for Jane's art

All of the information provided by Kayla and Aries was not only a lie, but her (Jane's) history with Percy was used without her consent. She (Jane) tweeted on April 18th that she was not a victim and telling people to stop messaging her on inatsgram. On the 19th, she retweeted the post from the FreddysRevenges account about how Aries lied about the age difference.

On twitter, there were some people were wanting Jane to confirm Aries' story. Aries said she couldn't force people to talk about it and had to respect their privacy. In another tweet, she said they don't talk anymore and she has no way of getting into contact with her. She also claimed that Jane has seen her tweets and made her own choice, implying that Jane had no problem with what was being said.

The user she was responding to then questioned why she would use her without her consent and without verifying anything. Aries said she was responding to a friend, when she retweeted the initial post, and didn't think it would get that much attention.

In multiple tweets, Aries referred to Percy as a pedophile. There are at least seven screenshots that show her saying it. She goes on to say that he likes girls 14-17 years old, again without mentioning how old he was at the time. She also said that he is a "known assaulter and groomer and pedophile in Toronto n me and my bud were victims."

Then we have the nude pictures. Aries was sent two nude pictures of Percy (he was not showing his genitals) by an anonymous account. Those pictures were supposedly sent by him to a group chat he was in with minors. The anonymous account was not in the group chat, but a friend of theirs was and they saved the photos on an old phone. However, there is no proof that the chat was real or that Percy sent those himself. since Aries' tweet, these pictures have gone viral. The anonymous account said that he'd sent those around 2 years ago, which would be around January of 2021. But there are pictures of his hair to debunk this. In early to mid 2020, he dyed his hair blonde. In mid to late 2020, he dyed it back to the original color with it just touching his shoulders from late 2020 to early 2021. His hair in the nude pictures showed his hair shorter, looking like it is slightly past his ears.

There was an article posted when Percy's nudes were leaked. It dates back to June 26 of 2019. That was 3 and a half years before they were posted by Aries. The timing of the article would mean he was 17 at the time and therefore, a minor.

Aries then denied ever posting his nudes. She insinuated that because he was not showing his genitals, then that meant it didn't count as a nude picture. But the word nude is defined as wearing no clothes which he most definitely isn't in the picture. What Aries did, because the pictures were originally from when he was a minor, counts as distribution of child pornography. She denied what she did was child pornography, but in doing so, she admitted in a tweet that those were nude pictures.

What Aries did, sharing the pictures for all to see, with him being naked and without his consent, counts as revenge porn. One of her tweets reads: "my god I am so happy these pics r on the internet. look at him. this who the haters defending. I'm crying laughing thru the pain rn" counts as cause them distress or embarrassment in the definition of revenge porn. It is a criminal offense in the eye of the Canadian law.

There were four girls who came forward--Aries, Desiree, Karis and Kayla via sexual assault, enabling rape and verbal abuse. All but Kayla claim to be a victim of his. No one else came forward. In a tweet, Aries said no one had any proof that he did anything. There are multiples times she's said this. In another one, she said she didn't have any proof, just what she's posting on twitter. Then 10 minutes later, she contradicted herself, saying "cus we got proof" and will let the court legally prove her story. But then 13 minutes after that tweet, she contradicted herself again and said she had no proof.

Someone asked Aries if anyone tried going to the police. Aries said in a tweet on the 18th of January that one person tried back in high school but the police did nothing about it. But Aries is the only one having accused Percy of sexually assaulting her so if she didn't go to the police then no one did. 23 days later, Aries contradicted herself by saying "we did try going to authorities." Once the accusations went viral, Aries said she was going to proceed with legal action. But then she says she hasn't gone to the authorities because she is waiting for Percy to make the first move and it's unclear what move she expects him to make. So if Percy doesn't make the first move and makes a case in a legal setting himself then she won't do it. If she has been talking to lawyers but never presses charges, Percy can't be arrested or be dealt any legal repercussions because the accusations never came into a courtroom.

On at least 9 different tweets, Aries alluded to Percy raping her. But once articles started coming out, she changed her words. She said that he never raped her, that he "assaulted me and touched me, grabbed me, spoke to me and made inappropriate innuendos." She also said that she'd made the twitter thread to shed a light on what he did to others. In another tweet on the 22nd of January, four days after she accused him, Aries said that people may have been misreading her tweets, saying that she did it for her own assault (assault, not rape) and for other people.

But even after that, in February she again referred to him as a rapist (remember, she is the only one who accused him of assault/rape. The other accusers did not).

Aries claimed that she was sexually assaulted by Percy at a party at his house in Toronto at the end of summer/fall, possibly early winter of 2017. But that can't be true because from June 17th of 2017 to December 4th of 2017, Percy was in the U.S to film for the series The Gifted. There is an article that mentioned the location where it was being filmed (Atlanta Georgia). There are also pictures and videos of him attending promo events like the San Diego Comic Con in June of 2017, as well as pictures posted by his co-stars (like Jamie J. Chung) showing him hanging out with them.

What's interesting is that initially, Aries watched Wednesday without a problem. The first episode came out on November 23rd of 2022. Her initial tweets made no mention of Percy or the alleged assault. It wasn't until sixteen days later on December 9th, where she said that seeing Percy (in a show about her favorite character) made her want to die. The next day on December 10th, she re-tweeted a post from Pop Cave and said that she needed him gone from this world.

Her initial tweets contradict what she said on January 18th, in a tweet where she said she'd been trying to tell fans about Percy ever since Wednesday came out. There are (at least) five screenshots of her posts/retweets regarding the show with a couple of them now deleted at the time the threadreader post was made.

On February 10th, she said she only watched the season one time and that's it. That same day, she said she didn't know Percy was in the show until she saw him in the first episode. She added that she called her friend Kayla and they reacted together to him being in the show to which Aries said they were "both sick to our stomachs, shocked and queasy."

In spite of that, they both watched the show. Kayla said that Aries "went into a full blown breakdown." Aries said she wasn't okay with seeing his face. But even with that reaction, she watched the whole season. Percy appeared in all 8 episodes and according to Screen Time Data, had a total of 1 hour and 1 minute of screentime.

Now back to Jane. Remember that Aries had said, though at the time she didn't mention Jane by name, that the person (Jane) was 13-17 and severely groomed by him. That was on January 18th. As I mentioned, Jane's birthday is in March of 2004, so the alleged timeline is from 2017-2021. Kristina, one of Aries' friends, confirmed seeing Jane and Percy together in 2020-2021 when Jane was sixteen. At some point, all three girls were friends. There are dates form late 2020, 2021 and early 2022 of them being on good terms.

And if you remember that in 2017, Aries said she was assaulted by Percy and yet, for 2 years she didn't say or do anything when Jane was hanging out with Percy. she didn't try to stop it or get parents/police involved. It was after the were no longer friends that she actually said something.

The big thing to note is that Aries doesn't even know Percy personally. In a series of tweets from January 19th to February 15th, she said that she doesn't keep up with him, never dated him, didn't go to school with him and never even texted him. The only time they've interacted was at that party in 2017 (which we know is false since he wasn't in Toronto at the time). Even so, she has tweeted about how he supposedly hates acting. The tweet made it seem like she knew that for certain, but in another tweet on the 15th of February, she said that people were talking about it in Toronto and that is how she heard about it.

It goes to show that Aries is relying on second hand information and can't 100% verify what she's saying. Those accusations of him being a racist and a white supremist/nazi supporting are also proven false. The video of him saying a slur was from a movie he was in where he played a racist character in the TV show Them. The white supremist/nazi ideology account that he was supposedly following was an art page ran by an all black artist movement that was made to critique American media.

Aries had said she made the thread to talk mostly about other people's experiences, not just her own. But she's deliberately lied about important details, has not done her own research and accepted unconfirmed evidence. That led to her distributing child pornography of Percy. She's even shown interest in using rumors of Percy's relationship with his ex girlfriend Molly so she can make more posts against him.

Back in may of 2021, a twitter user (braidsbyemily) who is also a local of Toronto, made a post calling out Brycen Davidson. She called him out for physically abusing multiple women. On January 20th, 2 days after she came out with the allegations against Percy, Aries addressed the tweet and that is the only time she does. She said that Brycen was someone who Percy was very close with (I'm not certain how close they actually were/are). She also retweeted from another user, agreeing with the user saying that they must have been trying to talk about it since than (2021) and people weren't ready to listen. But what she doesn't mention is that Bryce was also good friends with 3 of the girls who came forward about Percy (Kayla, Desiree, Karis). Desiree and Kayla have been admitted to defending and protecting Brycen at one point. Aries claimed that she had nothing to do with it when another twitter user pointed it out. But that contradicts when she said/implied when she agreed that they have been trying to talk about it and people weren't listening.

In tweets from January, Aries made fun of a woman (Angie) who said it (the claims) was obviously all a lie and said she stood with Percy. Aries responded to that by saying look at this dick riding for a man that didn't even hit on her when meeting her she also added 3 laughing emojis. When she says that didn't even hit on her when meeting her, she is referring to her own alleged meeting with Percy (when he'd supposedly made inappropriate innuendos). For her to supposedly be a victim, her response doesn't make sense. Remember that he'd not only done that, but Aries also claimed that he groped her, crept up behind her and touched her back/hips, etc. You have to ask why she would make fun of Angie for not being hit on by Aries' assaulter? Aries then apologized for how it sounded, saying that she was just trying to point out that Angie just never saw that side of him.

But it didn't end there. Aries went on to attack Angie in her DM's. She threatened Angie's safety multiple times, says that Angie doesn't know what she (Aries) is capable of and told Angie not to comment on her posts anymore or she will find her address. She also explicitly told Angie: I will actually end u. Angie posted the screenshots of the messages that Aries sent her, adding that those are going to be sent to the cops and encouraging people to send her other tweets made by Aries if they have death threats in them. That same day (the 19th of January), Aries (perhaps inadvertently), confirmed that the screenshots are real. She claimed that Angie harassed her private socials and tried tagging Aries' family/friends in the comments, however she couldn't have spammed her because she hadn't even accepted Aries' message request.

Aries used the popularity of Wednesday to push her cancelation of Percy. Again, she tried to insist that she's been trying to tell people about him since the show aired but no one listened to her until now--which we know isn't true. Aries then targeted fan accounts of Wednesday and even harassed one account for "stanning" Percy (stanning means to be an avid fan). When Aries replied to a post of the account to tell them why they shouldn't be stanning him, the reply was hidden because the account owner thought it was spam. Aries then called them out on this, questioning why they were still using a picture of Percy for the profile picture. Eventually, the account rebranded and there was no mention of Percy on it at all.

People started to call out Jenna Ortega (lead actress of Wednesday who is also friends with Percy) for not saying anything about the accusations and still showing to be friends with him. At first, Aries said Jenna didn't need to say anything because it wasn't her responsibility. However, it is shown that a month and half later Aries liked tweets that condemned Jenna for still being friends with Percy.

Back in January, just a day after the accusations, someone named Jo made a video on tiktok, claiming that they'd (that's their pronouns) gone to school with him and he'd "used every girl he could to his advantage." The day after that, Aries claimed that she knows Jo. When people questioned Jo, asking for proof, they said that they didn't like Percy and didn't hang around him so that's why there are no pictures of them together. However, Jo is shown to have liked 5 of Percy's instagram posts from January 29th of 2019 to September 6th of 2021. He has not liked their posts nor does he follow them.

A girl named Daisey made a tweet in support of Aries on the 19th of January where she says that "all of toronto has known about percy and his friends for years." She was then questioned about her own experiences with Percy, to which Daisey said that there was a list of sexual predators in Toronto being spread around in 2020 and it had his name in it. That list has not been proven. Additionally, despite supposedly knowing that he was a sexual predator, Daisey liked an instagram post by Percy on April 3rd, 2021. She also has a spam account where she made 2 posts referencing Percy. One of those posts was on January 16th (2023) where she expressed her negative opinion of him. The second post came a day after the accusations where she is celebrating him being "canceled" and showed a DM of someone praising her for "influence" of getting Percy canceled. There was also a link to a fake article that body-shamed Percy and called him "an alleged rapist" even though no one had said he'd raped them. (Remember, Aries said he'd sexually assaulted her).

And so with that, Aries used these stories from other people to add more credibility to her claims. But 6/7 of them never even interacted with him. Not to mention, a lot of these people are those that she knows or claims to know.

If you'll recall, one of the people who spoke out against him was Desiree. She said that Percy let her get raped in his basement by a man, Raphael Irwin. She shared a screenshot of a text with Percy where she explained Raphael's behavior on that night. In the text, Desiree mentioned that there were "more than 10 people there" which implies that he wasn't there physically to know how Raphael was acting which is why she later messaged him about it. This can be also proven (him not being physically present) because in the tweet, she said that he called her afterwards (and supposedly was more worried about the police than her).

Besides Raphael, Desiree says that Percy said nothing while she was being abused by Brycen Davidson, who was also a close friend of his at the time. What she didn't mention was that she was a closer friend of Brycen's and left out that Brycen was friends with 3 out of the 4 girls that came out with accusations against Percy (Desiree, Karis, Kayla, who later clarified that she wasn't a victim and a girl named Emily who is a close friend of Aries and one of the last girls to come out and say something against Percy). So to clarify, Brycen was a friend to all of them and not just Percy.

Keeping that in mind, and the fact that her tweets show her being angry that people aren't believing her/questioning the legitimacy of it, Desiree was called out by 2 of her former close friends for enabling and defending Brycen and accused victims of lying even after seeing him abuse them. One of the girls even said that she's walked past Desiree "100 times" since than and Desiree had said nothing to her about it.

Now let's talk about Kayla. She is a longtime friend of Aries, and initially (on the 18th of January), Aries called her a victim. But when a post from Pop Culture News referenced her being a victim, Kayla corrected that and said she wasn't, that he only verbally attacked her when she called him out. She, like Aries, referenced Percy being a rapist, even though no one came forward with a rape accusation. The freddyrevenges account actually asked kayla who he raped if none of the victims who came forward were raped, Kayla responded and said she wasn't going to "out other people and their names." This is contradicted by her earlier actions when she shared that misleading DM to "prove" that he'd been sleeping with an underage girl (Jane). Both Kayla and Aries used Jane without her consent in order to push this lie.

One of the other girls who came forward, Karis, was not a victim of Percy. She referred to him as her abuser but hasn't elaborated on that. What we do know is that he dated her best friend, Lena, and apologized to Karis for for making her think they were together/playing with her feelings. Speaking of the apology, Aries and Kayla had used that apology as a means of evidence to show everyone that he was admitting for "the things he has done." In reality, Karis had messaged him to explain how he'd hurt her by leading her on, which he then apologized for doing.

Additionally, Kayla had posted (and what was retweeted by Aries) screenshots of texts between Karis and Percy that were meant to show him insulting her (Karis) and sending his fans after her. It's unclear why, but for whatever reason, Percy was cutting Karis off as a friend. She wanted an explanation, he didn't give her one so she called him a skeletor (referencing his skinny body) and told him to eat a burger. What neither Aries or Kayla showed was the story Karis posted. Karis had posted another screenshot of texts. At the time, Percy had been in Atlanta and asked her to visit him. Karis asked him "What would Lena think?" Lena was either his gf or ex gf at that time. He clarified that he meant as just friends. Karis then shared the screenshot, saying, @ me pussy boi as a way to expose him.

In response to that, Percy sarcastically posted to his own instagram story said: omg guys I've been #exposed!! Nearly a MONTH ago I invited [karis*} to Atlanta!! What a horrible thing to offer to a friend guess that means I'm officially #canceled R.I.P "skeletor" AKA pussy boi

** I didn't wanna put her username there but that's what was there

She'd said to @ her and that's what he did. He also only mockingly repeated the bodyshaming insults she'd said to him. You could argue that he probably shouldn't have made the story and just ignored her story, but even so, he didn't just do it out of the blue unprompted.

Lena, one of Percy's ex girlfriend's, was a mutual friend to both him and Karis and even Kayla. They all followed each other on instagram until the accusations came out. Lena then unfollowed Kayla and Karis (who was her best friend at one time) but still follows Percy.

Now a lot of people took Percy's initial silence as him being guilty. But that's the advice lawyers will give you. Karapance Law of Toronto said that by speaking out to defend yourself, your word risks being taken as victim blaming and suggests to take a social media hiatus (which Percy did). He came out with a statement and so did Jane.

Here is Percy's:

And here is Jane's

---

Now I want to talk about some of my own thoughts that I had while looking at that thread.

Right off the bat, the behavior of the girls, especially Aries, is very telling. They're being combative with practically anyone who doesn't just immediately accept their word. If you're telling the truth, we should be able to ask questions. Even if you boiled it down to "well, they're frustrated because people aren't listening!" Their words just don't sound right--like the dick riding comment.

A lot of people seem to think that by Percy being silent about the matter and disabling comments on his instagram, that's an automatic sign to tell that he'd guilty. It's interesting because on the gossip reddit page, Fauxmoi, someone else pointed out that's the kind of legal advice they'd be given in a situation like this but the reddit user said he should have just ignored it. One of those well, if it was me kind of comments.

What's unfortunate is that some of these people who believed the girls will not change their minds even if they see the evidence. There are people who commented under Jane's statement who didn't believe her. They think that she was paid by Percy to say that.

This should be a warning about the dangers of blindly believing any accusation you hear. It's about saying that they're all lies because they're not, but this shouldn't have happened. Percy, Jane, and their families have been through a lot and probably are still going through a lot because of this ordeal. A lot of people haven't seen this thread and the news outlets haven't talked about him much (beyond the initial accusations and his statement). I can't imagine how this must have been on him mentally

I hope those girls receive some kind of consequence for what they've done

[poisonpercy]

i would be most intrigued to know the reason you hate nico di angelo

that sounds threatening oh god no im just gen curious

Lol you’re good and don’t sound threatening (to me)

As the self proclaimed “#1 nico fandom hater” that I am, I love this ask. Anyway, that being said, I don’t hate Nico di Angelo. My problem lies with fandom and how Nico is perceived. Before I get into it, here’s a collage of tumblr posts that represent my feelings on Nico:

And my favorite post that fully sums up my thoughts on Nico:

I’m going to be making some generalizations throughout this which I don’t love, but it gets my point across the best.

Canon Nico (specifically in pjo) = good! I like this little boy! Little cutie and a little shit. What’s not to like! (hoo!Nico = eh, he’s ok I guess. He didn’t need to have POV chapters and should have taken on a more minor role imo)

Fanon Nico ≠ not good! Please burn it with fire 😃

FYI: when I talk about canon Nico, I’m referring to the original characterization of him throughout pjo (maybe some hoo, but no toa).

So this problem happens across every fandom it seems like, and I have a dislike for every character that gets treated like this throughout all my fandoms. Not everyone is like that, but I am.

So what am I talking about? It’s the blatant fanonization of Nico to the detriment of his character and others. It’s taking popular fanon takes regarding Nico (behavior, personality, relationships, etc.) and insisting that they’re canon even when evidence shows the opposite.

A big problem for me stems from the solangelo ship. If you like it/ship it, that’s great! I personally hate it… like a lot. To me it came out of nowhere and the inclusion of it in canon has brought in fanon concepts into canon that overall damages the integrity the the wider scope of the riordanverse.

What do I mean? I can’t speak too much on canon since I only read up to The Burning Maze and refuse to read any further in toa or tsats, but generally what I’ve seen from others is that canonical events/their perceptions of them have been skewed in Nico’s favor to put down Percy and other demigods, even when Nico is more at fault. Not saying this is 100% in canon but it is in fanon. And this view is widely spread by people (not all) who like Nico, and it’s very hard to ignore if you don’t like it because it is everywhere.

Saying things like no one cared for Nico when he first came to chb is blatantly untrue and makes me think that if you have that opinion, you didn’t read botl. People didn’t hate him because he was the son of Hades because the vast majority did not know Nico was the son of Hades! He was mostly unclaimed from chub’s perspective. It’s just the people that went on the quest in ttc that knew because of Bianca.

Also like Percy straight up worried for that kid day and night. He felt responsible for Nico even though Percy himself was a child! Nico was the one that was pushing Percy and everyone else away. That was his own doing, though understandable. Don’t push Nico’s actions onto other characters to villainies them in Nico’s story.

Also, for some reason people still blame Percy for Bianca’s death and then come to the conclusion that Nico hates and (still) blames Percy for it. He doesn’t. If you don’t like Percy, that’s fine (but why are you reading the series then?) but don’t spew hate about a character on things that aren’t true. Nico isn’t going to be your bff if you do so.

There’s also the belief that Percy is like abusive to Nico because of that one scene in tlo. Please put on your thinking caps if you genuinely believe only Percy was in the wrong. Percy only lashed out at Nico because Nico betrayed his trust. Also, once again they’re both kids. They’re going to have immature reactions, but you also have to remember the stress of the situation that compounds everything that these characters do.

Ok, back to solangelo. There’s this weird codependent relationship that fans tend to force on Nico and Will. Other ships do it too but solangelo stands out to me. And maybe it’s because I just don’t like solangelo, or have a favorable opinion on Will Solace, or stopped reading toa, but I genuinely don’t think there’s much grounds to Will’s character besides being Nico’s boyfriend. I know he gets some more depth throughout toa (and possible tsats) but that only happened because he was Nico’s boyfriend. Like he was Nico’s boyfriend before he was Will Solace.

And because of this, fans generally tend to make Will this mouthpiece in fandom regarding Nico. He feels like a self-insert and not in a good way. And because of this, there’s a lot of negativity towards other characters in fandom that fans use Will’s “voice” to push in name of defending Nico or whatever. Like babes, you’re projecting. I don’t know Will, but the Will from the limited time we knew him in pjo wouldn’t speak that way/share those views.

Also the weird patient/doctor relationship solangelo has going on gives me the ick. Espresso with how it’s portrayed in fandom. Like there’s this weird power dynamic that just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I’m rambling at this point, sorry. I’m only on 2 hours of sleep right now so forgive me lmao.

I won’t go too much more in depth but Nico also gets infantilized a ton by Nico/solangelo fans which isn’t cool. He’s a kid, but he’s not a fucking baby.

Also making Nico this 1-dimensional emo, sad boi type character is not cool. He’s so much more to him. When you reduce characters to a singular trait, it leads to all the issues I described. Ok I’m just going to leave it at that.

TLDR: I don’t hate Nico di Angelo, I just have a lot of problems with his fans.

[keepmeinmind-01]

Hi! Will Percival and Theseus meet again in the future? What's your headcanon on their past? I really enjoyed their friendship during the captivity. Having Percy so broken was heartbreaking. Yet he still looked at Theseus as someone who could save him (it was awful of Grindelwald to mock him for that). It was really validating when he told Newt about the vow after everything. Did the meeting rekindled something between Thes and Percy? I assume that Grindelwald knew about their past when he captured Theseus? What's his view on past and present relationship between Percy and Theseus?

mild spoilers for my fic keep me in mind!

but mostly just Theseus and Percival backstory

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Hello and thank you for your question!! :D The way they meet is a little convoluted because of the wartime context, so brace yourself for a massive set of paragraphs ahaha.

Yes, they will meet again in the future. Percival comes back into the plot after I finish this arc (which ends with the canon plot of SOD) and start the next one. Until then, he’s essentially in a recovery facility. Then I have quite a few interactions, etc, planned for them, although I’m still building out the subplot that involves Percy for the last bit. If I ever get the numbers or dates weird, it’s on me LOL.

My headcanon on their past! I don’t know how historically accurate it is LOL but here goes. So I write Theseus as having gone to the front a few months after WW1 begins, being one of the first/the first surviving wizard to have broken Evermonde’s decree. A few million British soldiers did survive the entire war from start to finish, even if the average lifespan was quite short, so I imagine Theseus having served the whole way through (age 25-29). So he’d have the “Pip, Squeak, and Wilfred” set of medals.

I then imagine Percival has joined the war roughly at the time America entered, which would be in about 1917, where MACUSA was deliberately sending in higher level officers to essentially monitor the situation, keep a low profile, etc, as Percival is (in my headcanon) about 8 years older than Theseus and consistently a rank higher.

Theseus, like a lot of British soldiers, was deployed to France in 1914. I headcanon he was then reassigned to Ypres, Belgium in around 1916, after the Second Battle of Ypres but before the Battle of Passchendaele. Percival would have landed in 1917, earlier than the majority of American troops, who arrived in 1918 for the German Spring Offensive, because as a Senior Auror he wouldn’t have needed the same training time as civilian troops and was on a slightly different mission anyway.

So they both end being in the field in Belgium at the same time, but in different places. At this point, Theseus has been promoted from private to lance corporal to corporal and is commanding his unit section. Awful things were going on in Belgium at this time, in particular war crimes against civilians, so a lot of effort was targeted there.

I see MACUSA as sending a handful of people in not necessarily as foot soldiers, but more to keep an eye on things, passing through regiments, being more flexible on the Statue and so on, just because I feel like it aligns with US policy at the time, where they partly only entered the war (“belligerency”) to gain a foothold in the later international treaties and debates that’d follow. That and the early American attacks were ineffective and recycled some of the old tactics already used by European forces earlier on, so I could sort of see MACUSA wanting to do some kind of patriotic intervention.

So I imagine that therefore, in early 1917, Theseus is defending a Belgian village/civilians with his platoon. The village is lightly shelled to break the defence and then they’re attacked by the troops from the Central Powers. But the perimeter defence is killed, etc, and Theseus and the others end up having to surrender after a drawn out fight. It’s an incredibly tough fight where most of the Allied troops are killed along with lots of the civilians in proximity.

Therefore, the survivors of the platoon are taken as prisoners of war, including Theseus. As a corporal, Theseus probably wouldn’t have been interrogated for intelligence because there’d be the officer and sergeant ranking above him. But he uses magic during the fight to try and protect fellow soldiers and the Belgian civilians, a few things that aren’t really dramatic or noticeable (I don’t think he’d have had the power or reserves) but enough that the captors note this strange phenomenon.

Once Theseus is in the POW camp, Percival, who’s kind of bouncing around units/faking his death, etc, is in the area and senses a magical signature. Theseus gets interrogated a bit but has no special intelligence. Percival observes this and considers leaving him (in theory, the POW camps weren’t a death sentence, but they were pretty awful regardless) to continue his mission, but then after a few days of observation, Theseus is pushed to the point of doing accidental magic. So Percival has to just get him out ASAP as damage cleanup to avoid the Statue getting absolutely destroyed (although Theseus has already broken the Statue a load of times, especially in some of the earlier gas attacks, but this could get high level quite quickly in a POW camp vs on the chaotic battlefield).

Percival then breaks in and helps Theseus escape. But they’re caught and have to full-on apparate out as they’re about to be executed. That’s the incident they talk about in one of the earlier chapters where it was right down to the wire in terms of getting shot by a rifle LOL. Percival is “fresher” and a bit more skilled than Theseus, who’s been essentially living as a Muggle for a few years with rusty magic, so they fake new identities and join another unit. This is Percival’s first taste of being in the trenches for a long period of time and having to act fully like a Muggle. This goes on for a few more months where they’re actually fighting side by side until Percival gets an owl. Which is for the more senior Americans (which he is as a Senior Auror) out in the field to regroup in Ukraine, because the British Ministry has started a programme on the Eastern Front involving dragons.

I’ll be honest here, I can’t remember if I wrote that Theseus manages to get home and briefly report back to the Ministry or goes straight there with Percival (so please forgive the inconsistency on this, as I think I wrote Newt as believing Theseus “followed” him to the eastern front but it wasn’t quite as deliberate as that haha). They travel with magic, some help from other agents, etc. Percival has got a solid rep at MACUSA so they’re keen to get him there safe for his excellent leadership skills. Of course, when Theseus rocks up, Newt’s there too. Which gobsmacks Theseus but also is classic Newt ahaha.

From there until a month before the end of the war, the three of them are there. Percival and Newt both go back as soon as the programme fails (Percival because he’s extracted, Newt because he’s devastated/furious at the Ministry killing the dragons) and Theseus does clean up for that last month. Hence Newt having to pick him up when he goes back on a conventional troop carrier, as the Ministry doesn’t want to expose any of the wizards among the Muggle troops.

I headcanon that they become friends at first and then the spark grows until in Ukraine, where they do become lovers (and have a physical relationship LOL). It’s kind of a situational thing but the attraction is quite deep and they’ve been through a lot together. Then, after the war, it’s easy for Theseus to find Percival, and they start a sort of relationship again.

It lasts barely two months and devolves into hookups as the two get busier and busier with work and generally more distant in different continents. They end up going back to friends because it’s clear it doesn’t quite work for either of them. They’re not quite long term compatible, they decide, just personality-wise, with Percival being the more decisive in breaking it off. And then in about two years, Theseus meets Leta, by which point they’re colleagues with no trace of the old feelings.

Haha, that was so long. I didn’t manage to get it smoothly into the captivity part of the story because there wasn’t much pacing leeway unless I did a massive flashback, but once more, your excellent question has made me realise it’s got to get written in somewhere rather than just floating around in my head LOL. Or maybe I do it as a linked one shot. In a way, it’s kind of fate, because Percy saved Theseus and then Theseus saved Percy :D

I wouldn’t say it necessarily rekindled something in a significant sense. It definitely helped them both, just because Percival was so touch and affection starved for something from a normal person (sorry, Grindelwald) that he was just instantly hit with the feels, but Theseus is also still being eaten alive by his grief over Leta. So there’s a bit of that intimate spark from surviving something awful together there which almost straddles any kind of relationship description, whether it’s friends, lovers, etc. Sort of like they might be happy to experiment again in the future, and definitely are desperate to see one another again as friends if nothing else, but probably don’t imagine a long term romantic relationship together.

As Grindelwald knew basically everything about Percival’s life, he did know, as you’ve said :) I honestly think he didn’t care that much about the past relationship, to the extent where he’s like “Ohh, the Auror from Paris is the same man from Belgium?? Ohhh, I forgot.” He doesn’t massively approve of the war and might see it as being born of violence, being too physical, etc, but I don’t think he’d really be too bothered about it. The present one annoyed him because he could tell it was making Percival less loyal. I don’t know if Grindelwald romantically loves Percival so much as he loves him like an object (not like Vinda, with some more genuine feeling, but there’s only space in his heart for Albus).

I think he could even consider a relationship between Theseus and Percival, if it ever happened (I’m not writing them as endgame, but might play with the boundaries between friends and friends with something extra a little) as useful in some form, as it gets the targets together. He might feel a bit bad for Percival though, given how much he hates Theseus for tricking him, in Grindelwald logic LOL.

I hope this all makes sense :)

[starlightshadowsworld]

The only one who could have been Jason's replacement as Praetor was Percy.

It's not because of status, powers, being a big 3 kid or anything like that.

It all comes down to who they are as people.

Camp Jupiter is corrupt.

Much like it's ancestral counterpart it has a system that can be easily abused.

And the wrong people can very easily be put in positions of power.

We see this with Octavian's scheme to become Praetor.

He was actively blackmailing other campers to vote for him.

And even self proclaimed himself as Ponitifex Maximus, the highest position in Camp Jupiter.

We see this in how different cohorts are held and are treated.

And even through the fact the God's rarely ever visit Camp Jupiter.

Making then kinda free to do whatever they want, their isn't a Chiron or a Mr D to keep the peace.

I recognise Terminus is their but other than being the Godly equivalent of a metal detector he doesn't do much.

And so incharge of Camp Jupiter are Jason and Reyna.

Jason is interesting because despite playing into the whole "perfect soilder" ideal he is fundamentally not that person.

Jason is a kind soul.

He doesn't long for power nor fame.

He wants simply to be with the people who love him and grow old knowing he's loved.

He wants peace where others wish for war.

But on the surface he appears like everyone else.

Jason is a great fighter, he's powerful, a great tactician and someone who people want in power because of that.

Because he's skilled, because he's the son of Jupiter.

And because of these things people think he will uphold the system.

But Jason shows very quickly he has no desire too.

He was wanted by the 1st cohort.

The best of the best.

It was a no brainier to anyone else that this would be the cohort he joined.

It just made sense.

It's the best.

And Jason declines.

Over and over and over again.

He joins the 5th cohort.

And it's like a slap to the face.

Almost a mockery of how dare a great and esteemed soilder, son of Jupiter himself join the worst cohort at Camp.

Jason joins them because he wants the 5th to be treated better.

He knows how he's seen, knows how people view him and uses that to help people who others would see as beneath him.

Jason has and always will stand up for the little guy.

No matter how much he's ridiculed for it.

No matter how it paints his image or if people look down on him for it.

Even when the very people he swears to stand with don't care to search for him.

Jason stands by them.

You know who else is characterised as standing up for the little guy?

Percy.

Percy has gone through life as the underdog, he's been bullied, mistreated.

Looked down upon by practically everyone in his life.

Even at Camp Half-blood when his parentage is revealed, Percy is immediately isolated.

He gains their favour.

He gains their respect and admiration and he becomes beloved.

And yet he still faces those times where he's on his own and needs to go against the norm to do what's right.

Much like Jason.

And I think it's important to recognise that it's Reyna who picks Percy.

Reyna who's the Batman to Jason's Superman.

Reyna who's seen a lot of shit in her life, who's jaded from it and someone who despite being a good person doesn't believe she is.

Reyna looks at Percy and she sees Jason.

She sees someone who will stand up for the 5th, the little guys.

She sees someone who isn't afraid to call people out, to call her out if need be.

Who will always strive to do the right thing.

No matter how difficult it is.

She sees someone who will balance her out, who she will clash with but also have common goals.

Jason knew Camp Jupiter better than Camp Jupiter knew itself.

Percy wasn't raised by Camp Jupiter but he knows corruption.

He knows how people abuse power and how they think they can walk over others.

They are both people who don't fancy themselves as leaders and yet in doing so do it well.

Reyna knows Jason.

She knows Jason better than anyone else at Camp knows Jason and she sees Percy for who he is.

And knows he's the only person she can trust to take Jason's place.

Who won't screw them over, not destroy the little progress they've made.

Who's not doing this for power but as a favour to a friend, who will not only pick up where Jason left off but do it well.

And than we get to Frank, who Jason chooses to be his successor.

Jason and Frank up until the creation of the 7 have never met.

Frank has probably heard of Jason but Frank joined Camp when Jason was missing.

Where Frank sees someone unworthy to be a child of Mars.

Jason sees him for who he is.

And deems him worthy.

And who else sees these qualities, this potential in Frank?

Percy.

And this detail is small but it means so much to me.

And it's that Jason tells Percy he has picked Frank as Praetor. And asks if he has any issue with it.

Anyone else wouldn't even consider Percy's opinion here, he was merely a stand in while Jason was missing.

Jason never stopped being Praetor.

While Percy has very much resigned his short lived role.

Hell he's not even Roman.

It shouldn't have mattered if Percy was okay with it or not.

But it does because Jason recognises Percy as a fellow Praetor.

Much in the same way Percy recognised and acknowledged him.

He sees him as an equal, just as he would any other former Praetor.

And Percy of course agrees and is happy with Frank's promotion.

Both of them see Frank for who he is as a person.

His determination, his courage, his bravery and self discovery.

Anyone else would have dismissed the idea entirely, not even seen him as a possible candidate.

Because he's from the 5th cohort, he was on probatio, he's not experienced enough etc.

But they don't.

Percy would have picked Frank for all the reasons Jason does.

He's the only one who could have replaced Jason.

I mean think about how long Jason was missing and how soon Percy became Praetor.

Reyna knew better than anyone it should be him.

There was no one else.

[sadsoftserve]

So you know that Percy and Howie go to Lowe's bit a posted a while ago? So, I turned it into a mini fanfic, like any sane person does. :)

This is mainly Percy centric as I really like her character and how she acts, so this is like one giant headcannon for her. Oh, howies here too.

Percy And Howie go to Lowe's- a mini fanfic-

"Percival." Howie muttered under his breath as he watched Percy mindlessly wander through the lights section of the Lowe's. It was clear Percy was intrigued with the lights, as she looked like a moth drawn to a flame. However, Howie didn't have time for her antics, he came to get two things, screws, and 2 by 4's.

Percy wasn't into construction, she was primarily architectural, the step that comes before construction, so looking at lights, lamps, doors, and Windows was what she wanted to do. So she did exactly that.

"Percy." Howie spoke a bit louder and sterner this time, seeming to grab her attention. She looked over to him from the light fixture she was currently looking at.

"Oh, it seems I have gotten distracted once more. I truely apologize Howie." Percy apologized, as she turned her body to face him. She was standing in her usual stiff way as she spoke.

Howie sighed, he knew she couldn't help it and he was willing to be patient, but he wasn't a very patient person.

"You're fine Percy. Just try not to let it happen again." He sighed, as he and Percy continued to walk through the rest of the Lowe's heading to the wood section to grab the 2x4's, which were conveniently placed close to the screws he needed to make his 💫 honeyed snacks💫.

Both were quiet as they walked through the hardware store. Nothing to talk about, both were there to get what they needed to complete the job they were working on. Besides Howie always took small talk as a waste of time. And Percy disnt mind the silence, though the large amount of people there was overstimulating her a bit. But, nothing she couldn't handle.

Soon enough, both were in the wood section, Howie looking at various 2x4s and Percy watching. Howie was very picky when it came to building materials, he tended to stick with what he knew was reliable. However, Percy was getting antsy. She knew about his pickiness, and she was usually patient when it came to stuff like this, but, the noises, people, and bright lights of the Lowe's were sending Percys brain into overstimulation.

Percy audibly sighed as she begun lightly tapping her foot against the concrete floors. Howie took this as a sign of impatience from the woman.

"I'm trying to do this as fast as possible Percy, give me a moment." Howie responded to her audible sigh and body language as he looked at her then back to the wood in the aisle.

"No, no. Take your time, Howie." She responded with her usual monotone and polite voice, as she started to look around the aisle as she waited. Wood. That's all she saw, god, she's only been in this aisle 5 minutes and she hated it.

She looked back to Howie, noticing he was completely invested in trying to find a good enough wood, that she could slip away, and hopefully find somewhere else to look that wasn't a wood aisle. She took the chance and slipped away, out of his view and continued walking through the Lowe's.

The first place she found herself in was the carpet section. One of the many places in the store she liked. Percy wandered down the aisle of carpets, feeling each sample upon the shelves, it calmed her down a bit. The feeling of carpet was one she enjoyed, and one that didn't give her that disgusting chill down her spine when she touched it.

Percy inhaled in the hardware store scent, as she exited the carpet section and moved her way along the store. She passed aisle after aisle of hardware goods, tools and many other things you would expect to find at a Lowe's. For some odd reason, Percy didn't feel as overstimulated as she did when she was in the wood aisle waiting for Howie. Why was that? She had no clue. Maybe it was the scent of the wood. Maybe it was the fact Howie was taking a long time, or maybe, Percy was self soothing by using ways she knew would calm her down. Either or, she felt more grounded than earlier.

Percy continued walking. She went from the carpet section to the paint section. She smelt the fresh paint being mixed, and saw the array of color samples that were aligned on the walls. She took a couple, some blue ones of various shades, and some yellow. Colors she thought that represented her. Comfort colors in a way.

Soon, she left the paint section, and made her way to the kitchen appliances. She took a look at the sleek silver fridges and stoves as she walked. Occasionally stopping to feel the handle, or press a button. The washers and dryers were there too. She found it strange that laundry machines and kitchen appliances were so close together, but she couldn't deny that she liked the sound the washers made when you turned the little knob.

She turned it a couple times, each time making a sorta ping noise.

Ping.

Ping.

It was a nice sound, one Percy found herself to like.

Ping.

Ping.

She smiled softly at the noise before continuing to walk. Percy made her way through the appliances and out to the registers. Faced with an annoyed looking Howie.

"Where the hell were you?" He asked with a look of irritation on his face, apparently Percy was gone longer than she realized.

"I was, here, in the store. Looking at the variety of merchandise. Why do you ask?" Percy answered his question and followed it up with her own.

"I've been waiting here for 15 minutes, Percy. 15 precious minutes." He glared at her with some sort of dissapointment on his face.

"I apologize for that. I did not realize how long I was going to be wandering. That is my fault."

"Damn right it is." Howie followed up her words with his own snide remark as he went to pay for his 2x4s and screws.

Before the two left the store, Percy took one last look back before smiling softly, she liked this store, it was a little overbearing at times, but overall it was enjoyable, she'll definitely find herself her on her day off.