#in the book it’s a betrayal because luke doesn’t ask percy to come with him

[bright-eyes-strawberry-lies]

“betrayal” is a really strong word when Luke just asks Percy to go with him.

“hey come with me to make our lives better.”

Even the lashing out over Hermes is just them fighting and Luke knocking Percy to the ground. Neither of them is even actually hurt in their little scuffle.

[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 🫶.

[demigods-posts]

Reasons why The Last Day of Summer from The Lightning Thief musical is an amazing song:

1.) “What do you do when it’s up to you to choose: has something ended or begun?”  It’s the end of the book, the musical, but Percy has to decide if this is the end of his story. This line does an amazing job at explaining Percy’s dilemma.

2.) “Do I stay because it’s safer? Back to the home I left behind. I could stay and train for a peace of the action, but what about peace of mind?” In Good Kid, Percy complains that no has ever asked him if he’d like to come around and stay, but in The Last Day of Summer, the camp directors are asking him exactly that - and he doesn’t have answer. Being a year-round camper allows Percy to strengthen his skillset as a demigod so he can better prepare for a world of monsters, but it requires him to sacrifice the chance to lead a somewhat normal life. I find it admirable that even though he has begun to embrace his godly side, he still has a grasp on his humanity. 

3.) “Perry Johannsson, this means you.” I love this gag that Mr. D deliberately choose to say Percy’s name wrong the entire musical, and also the entire five book series. 

4.) “Sometimes, family is worth the trouble. Believe me.” “I guess we both have a choice to make, Seaweed Brain.” I love the contrast between that moment in Killer Quest when Annabeth calls Percy Seaweed Brain in an attempt to insult him versus in The Last Day of Summer when it becomes almost a mockery of their initial rivalry. Here, Annabeth acknowledges their rocky start, but chooses to not let it define the future of their friendship, and I love that for them. Additionally, Annabeth lets her guard down and briefly confides in Percy, which goes to show that she has begun to trust him and, more so, heed his advice. Their friendship is portrayed so beautifully. 

5.) “Tough last day?” I’m really enjoy all of these callbacks we are getting in this song. When Luke ask Percy ‘Tough first day?’ in Their Sign, Luke has yet to decide if Percy will be a threat to his plan to overthrow the gods. Here, Luke knows Percy is a threat and intends on eliminating him.

6.) “You’re the lightning thief.” “The oracle warned you. ‘Betrayed by a friend.’” Percy saying the title of the show, and Luke quoting the line referring to his betrayal >>>>

7.) “I’ll do anything. I don’t care if I hurt anyone. It doesn’t pay to be a good kid, a good kid, a good son.” This line right here forces the listener to empathize with Luke. While we may not agree with the decision he makes, we understand why he makes them: because he was once was where Percy is. 

8.) “Soon, you’ll see what I did.” Throughout the PJO series, we see Percy have resentment toward Luke for good reasons, but when Percy denies the gods offer in 'The Last Olympian', he, in a round-about way, defends Luke. Even as Percy grows older, he understands Luke’s stance toward the gods and the shitty system they created of sending their kids off to do their bidding. Luke was right. In time, Percy would soon see what he did and why he did it.

The Last Day of Summer is such a beautiful song. The callback to previous songs in the musical, Annabeth and Percy becoming good friends, Luke’s reprise of Good Kid, the foreshadowing that Percy will grow up to understand why Luke is doing what he’s doing. Just, everything about it is so amazing!

[oh-look-another]

spoilers for pjo tv ep 8

luke’s betrayal ashkshlslajsak

annabeth was there?? she was watching the entire time?? like this is even more heartbreaking bc in the books someone told her, she got to know it second-hand but here?? her watching as the boy she had come to treat as her older brother betraying her best friend?? can’t even begin to imagine how she was feeling

we didn’t get the scorpion scene :(

backbiter can make portals!!

clarisse still looks so pretty <3

’wait your name is percy?’ mr d. what 😭

percy calling kronos ‘grandpa’!! please make this a thing in the rest of the seasons i need to see them having a serious discussion about how to defeat kronos and some mortal walking past and overhearing a bunch of teenagers plotting to kill their grandfather

the fight!! the water rising slowly behind percy and the giant wave!! u can see the tide receding and then slowly building up pressure it’s so cool!! (totally wasn’t playing son of poseidon in the background)

alecto!!

shoutout to mr d. for basically kicking out the campers who weren’t gonna stay for the rest of the term (‘the cleaning harpies will eat anyone who remains!!’)

frederick chase bringing annabeth to disney world!

idk is it just me or is hades’ helm kinda ugly (it’s probably me i do not have an eye for fashion or anything)

the betrayal again!! luke looked like he was on the verge of tears but he was trying to keep it together for percy he genuinely believes kronos is a better option he wants percy to join him he doesn’t want to hurt him

percy accidentally slicing luke and immediately apologising because he doesn’t see luke as the enemy yet, he still sees luke as his mentor, his friend; meanwhile luke lunging at percy almost immediately after getting sliced?? the parallels??

zeus raising the master bolt to strike percy?? and poseidon steeping in to save him??

’i surrender have your victory but spare my son’ (uh might not be totally accurate) oh my gods ughhhhh

sally divorcing gabe!! you go queen!!

the guy on the phone talking about law school loans haha yeah i feel you buddy

gabe trying to open the door then asking if the guy on the phone if he knows how to pick a lock.

him tearing open a package that was. clearly. not meant for him.

but him immediately turning to stone haha u deserve it gabe

imagine ur last words being ‘wow that’s gross’

luke betraying percy at the same spot he trained him at less than two weeks ago (wow was it that short)

percy bringing riptide with him to school

[apollo-kid-writing]

14, 15 and 30? (Pjo ask game)

Hey, thanks for the ask! (Before I answer these just keep in mind I haven’t read PJO in a year and HOO for like… five)

14. Most Heart-wrenching Moment?

PJO: I think maybe Nico finding out about Bianca’s death? It’s such an integral part of his story and it’s devastating on both ends really. There’s Nico’s anger and feelings of loss and betrayal, plus Percy’s guilt and terror as Nico loses control of himself. I don’t know, I think about it a lot.

HOO: Festus’ crash and ‘death’ outside the Midas house. Leo’s utter devastation at losing Festus had always hit me really hard, it really reads like the death of a pet. This is also, if I’m remembering correctly, one of the few scenes where Leo is actively expressing how upset he is around other people because that’s how visceral the loss is for him. I could go on about the symbolism of this scene but I don’t want this to be too long so I’ll just say this was one of the few scenes that still is really clear in my mind after all this time.

(Ironically, Titan’s Curse and Lost Hero are my favorite books from each series, who would have thought)

15. Best Canon Fluff Moment?

PJO: I really love Percy and Sally’s little scene on the beach in Lightning Thief if I’m honest. Maybe it’s the musical giving me rose-tinted glasses but Sally and Percy’s relationship is so important to Percy’s story and in this little scene it’s made clear just how much he adores his mom as well as how much she cares about him, the love is palpable.

HOO: I’m not certain this counts as a fluff scene but Annabeth and Frank’s discussion about the Chinese finger traps in Mark of Athena was so cute to me, it’s genuinely one of my favorite scenes with Annabeth in particular. Part of it might just be that it’s one of the few scenes we get of The Seven interacting with people other then their partner’s but I also like how it shows Annabeth’s tendency to overthink things. I don’t know I just think about this one a lot.

30. Demigod Most Likely To Stab Another In The Back If It Would Benefit Them?

PJO: Is saying Luke too obvious? I mean it’s actually canon he would do that. Other then him… Nico? I mean he does pull a sorta betrayal in Battle of the Labyrinth but I’m not certain because Nico doesn’t strike me as a backstabber so much as someone who is more likely to put the greater good over himself and his friends (ex. Isolating himself because he thinks that’s what everyone wants, searching for Thanatos at the risk of his own safety, etc.) Though he also tricks Percy in The Last Olympian so maybe it’s just a personal vendetta against Percy.

HOO: Octavian is an obvious choice but other then him… Piper, easy. The whole first book is her fighting herself on the concept of betraying her friends. I understand it was a blackmail situation but I think Piper just also has an inclination to be a little selfish. It’s probably due to her upbringing, since she’s used to having everything except affection and as such has probably come to value material/conceptual things a little more over people. I’m not saying she absolutely would on a whim but I think if pushed she would be the most inclined to out of The Seven/Main Cast.

[amaryllisblackthorn]

a lot of people have this idea that Annabeth's been like, a Luke apologist and in denial since the very beginning but it's not really true?. Annabeth was angry at Luke for his betrayal in the end of Lightning Thief and during Sea of Monsters. It's only until the end of The Titan's Curse that she starts the 'Luke really isn't that bad' kind of thing.

the end of Lightning Thief:

"I can't believe that Luke..." Annabeth's voice faltered. Her expression turned  angry and sad. "Yes. Yes, I can believe it. May the gods curse him...He was never the same after his quest."

"When I get back next summer," she said, "we'll hunt down Luke. We'll ask for a quest, but if we don't get approval, we'll sneak off and do it anyway. Agreed?"

 She was really angry at him during Sea of Monsters. Her vision from the Sirens does indicate that deep down she may believe she's able to save him, or at least wants to, but it doesn't diminish the hurt and anger she does feel.

"How could you?" Annabeth sounded so angry I thought she'd explode. "Thalia saved your life! Our lives! How could you dishonor her--"

"Liar!"

"I understand you want to destroy the camp!" she yelled. "You're a monster!"

"Because you have none of your own [intelligence]!"

"That's disgusting!" Annabeth said.

"You're insane," Annabeth said.

"Go to Tartarus," she said.

All those above are on the Princess Andromeda with Luke. Then later, to Percy:

She shook her head. "We made a dozen safe houses like this. I doubt Luke even remembers where they are. Or cares."

Even in the beginning-ish of Titan's Curse, she doesn't trust him. When he's struggling under the sky and asking for her help, she's hesitant. It's only when the sky begins to fall  that she goes to help hold it.

Annabeth had tears in her eyes. She reached down like she wanted to touch Luke's face, but at the last second she hesitated. "What happened?" she asked.

"Why should I trust you?" Annabeth asked. Her voice was filled with hurt.

Then the darkness above Luke began to crumble, like a cavern roof in an earthquake. Huge chunks of black rock began falling. Annabeth rushed in just as a crack appeared, and the whole ceiling dropped. She held it somehow--tons of rock. She kept it from collapsing on her and Luke with her own strength.

However!! There's a shift in her feelings by the time Percy and Thalia rescue her and I personally think it's because she's aware that Luke 'saved' her life for the time being after Atlas ordered him to kill her after Artemis took the sky -- even though he was super complicit in her being in that situation in the first place. Compare:

Luke hesitated. "She--she may yet be useful, sir. Further bait."

and

"We'll bring Luke back," Annabeth pleaded. "To Olympus. He...he'll be useful."

I don't think it's a conscious parallel on Annabeth's part per se, but Rick Riordan using the parallel to indicate the connection. I think that's when Annabeth discovers that Luke does still care deep down, and that deep down the person that she knows is there. which is fair, because before this point he hadn’t given her any indication seeing as he literally directed  Oreius to eat her. that’s a whole ‘nother write-up, though, i think. i digress.

Once she knows this, she starts to view him as someone being manipulated and taken advantage of by Kronos, someone who was able to manipulate Ares, a god, in the first book, -- she's not wrong! He is being manipulated. That doesn't absolve him from his horrible behavior especially towards her, but she understands that Luke is a troubled, traumatized young man being taken advantage of by the evil King Titan, and she's also aware that literally no one else cares enough to try to save him.

like, the language Annabeth uses to describe Luke in the end of Titan’s Curse is the same that Percy uses to describe the demigods on the  Titans’ side in Last Olympian. 

"You don't believe me about Luke," Annabeth said, "but we'll see him again. He's in trouble, Percy. He's under Kronos's spell."

vs

I tried to wound his men, not kill. That slowed me down, but these weren’t monsters. They were demigods who’d fallen under Kronos’s spell. I couldn’t see faces under their battle helmets, but some of them had probably been my friends.

there’s another callback with the language Percy uses to describe the opposing demigods in Last Olympian. this time, to what Percy says to Luke at the end of Lightning Thief.

“He’s brainwashing you, Luke.”

“You’re being used, Luke. You and Ares both. Don’t listen to Kronos.”

vs

This kid was getting brainwashed—trained to hate the gods and lash out because he’d been born half Olympian. Kronos was using him, and yet the kid thought I was his enemy.

Poseidon put his hand on my shoulder. “Percy, there were only a few demigod warriors aboard that ship, and they all chose to battle for Kronos. Perhaps some heeded your warning and escaped. If they did not . . . they chose their path.”

“They were brainwashed!” I said. “Now they’re dead and Kronos is still alive. That’s supposed to make me feel better?

Percy has sympathy for the demigods manipulated by Kronos to be on the Titan’s sides; he sees them as victims. the reason he doesn’t for Luke, I feel, is because Luke’s betrayal made it personal. I think this is where Percy’s fatal flaw comes into play, honestly, with the personal loyalty. both in regards to the personal betrayal to Percy, as well as Percy’s loyalty to Annabeth (and thus Luke’s betrayal of Annabeth, too). and i feel this also applies, to a lesser extent, to Ethan. but that’s a whole ‘nother write-up, too (one day!)

there is, admittedly, the factor of Luke’s age in comparison to Percy, Annabeth, and most of the other campers. there’s definitely a power imbalance -- especially with Annabeth, which isn’t okay, obviously.  so even though he’s a victim and young himself, that power imbalance in regards to his actions, manipulations, etc is messed up and not okay. 

even so, Luke is still pretty young himself -- not as young as the others, but still young. like, i got into this series when i was younger than Percy and Annabeth were, so Luke, like most early 20 year olds, seemed very old to me in that regard; it’s only as i got older and closer to his are that i started to really realize that heck he was really young. so while Luke is definitely an adult in regards to the relationship he has with Percy, Annabeth, and other younger demigods -- which he should have been mindful of and makes his manipulation etc very messed up and not okay -- he’s also young himself which is something to keep in mind. like, Luke is only around 19-22? in the series. That puts him at a power imbalance in regards to Annabeth and Percy, in which he's very much an adult in the relationship, but outside of that he's still pretty young! he’s a college kid, which when you’re younger seems pretty old but then you are one and realize differently -- his brain hasn't even fully developed yet. but i’m like, seriously digressing. 

my intended point was that i disagree with the interpretation that Annabeth was blinded by emotions and a toxic relationship which led her to make excuses for Luke and unable to see him for what he really was etc,--  because Annabeth was angry at him after his betrayal and had even thought he was different, that he didn’t care anymore. The ‘Luke apologist’ behavior only starts at the end of Titan’s Curse, the third book in the five book series. I just feel like her ... feelings? perspective? position? idk the right word.... is often misrepresented? 

she becomes very defensive over Luke’s ‘inner goodness’ and stuff because she’s literally the only one who wants to save him and knows it. she knows what he’s done isn’t okay, but she keeps driving it home that he’s being manipulated because he is! it doesn’t excuse his actions but it doesn’t have to. by the end of titan’s curse, annabeth sees luke as someone terribly lost and no one trying, willing, or caring enough to save him. and like, she’s right when she sees luke as someone who isn’t beyond saving, who’s extremely lost and being manipulated through his trauma and anger -- it doesn’t excuse what he’s doing but that doesn’t make him someone not worthy of saving. despite what he’s done, luke is still her family and she will fight for him. she sees luke the same way percy sees the other opposing demigods in the last olympian and she’s right. she’s not making excuses for him, she doesn’t think he’s done nothing wrong, she’s just not willing to give up on him and she was right. as the child in the relationship/dynamic, it wasn’t her responsibility to be the one to save him and shouldn’t have been, but she wasn’t wrong in how she saw Luke.

 like, their was definitely a power imbalance in their relationship and it’s definitely important to acknowledge that, but i feel like people tend to like, erase annabeth’s agency, for lack of a better word, and attribute her desire to save Luke as being tragically misplaced? like, Luke has totally wronged Annabeth and mistreated her terribly, but like...I find her not giving up on him mostly admirable and not pitiable, though like I said as the child in their dynamic it wasn’t her responsibility.  i’m rambling though.

mostly this post was made to remind people that Annabeth was angry towards Luke, and rightfully so, until near the end of Titan’s Curse, which is where her defending Luke and insisting he could be saved really started, likely with Luke indicating he actually still cared deep down for the first time being the catalyst.  especially since it seems a lot of people give like the impression they think she’s done it from the very beginning? idk ive definitely rambled a lot and lost my main point sometime ago or something. enjoy this anyway.

[dykeseinfeld]

u asked someone to remind you to post about your pjo dual protagonist thalia/bianca au and i am SO intrigued by this idea please say more

anon asked: hey queen hope your homework went good yesterday 🌸…now what were you saying about thalia and bianca 😳 ?

ok y’all i’m here...the moment almost none of y’all have been waiting for....bianca/thalia protagonists with alternating pov’s au

warning it’s kind of super long and may or may not read like a 2nd grader’s semi-coherent game of pretend so under the cut it goes!

so the main things you need to know about this au are 1. thalia survives and 2. annabeth’s + luke’s ages are a lil diff bc canon is my sandbox 3. i can’t decide if percy exists in this au or not (maybe y’all can help me decide?)

so the first book:

would start a few months after grover brought thalia (12), luke (13), and annabeth (10, not 7)  to camp half blood. they were chased by monsters sent by hades on the way, and thalia almost didn’t survive, but ultimately she got lucky and managed to send a bolt of lightning through her spear for the first time and they made it into camp

it’s been some time so annabeth is happy as a clam in the athena cabin doing her 10-year-old-with-severe-mommy-issues thing and luke is actually pretty popular with the hermes cabin bc he actually Met Their Dad Holy Shit and also he’s getting pretty good with a sword

at the same time, thalia is alone in the zeus cabin. everyone has been freaking out bc they all saw the huge bolt of lightning that incinerated a couple hellhounds as they made their grand entrance and What The Fuck Child Of The Big Three???

she’s also further isolated because chiron will take her for private training sessions sometimes, since she is clearly really powerful already and also Hades Himself was trying to kill her (chiron told her the reason was the big three’s pledge not to have kids, and maybe about the great prophecy? if he tells her that then she’s sworn to secrecy)

once grover leaves on another protector assignment, thalia mostly hangs out with luke, and annabeth. luke + annabeth both will try to eat meals with her at the zeus table but annabeth doesn’t want to get in trouble and luke is genuinely making friends in the hermes cabin so thalia will feel bad sometimes and send him back

kronos, seeing this bitter isolated child of the big three’s dreams: it’s free real estate

MEANWHILE

hades is Pissed that thalia survived and zeus got to break their oath And get the glory of a prophecy child

so he sends someone to take bianca (12) and nico (10) out of the lotus hotel and casino a little early.

grover is still their protector, but since the Stirring hasn’t begun in earnest yet and hades is lowkey determined to keep them safe, they make it back to camp half blood with no escort/incident

bianca + nico are put into the hermes cabin, and luke kinda takes them under his wing bc while he’s not bitter he still needs therapy bc this 14 year old has never met a pre-teen he couldn’t try to parent

luke introduces nico and annabeth since they’re the same age and they become really good friends!! she Loves mythomagic and he thinks her dagger is super cool and they’re both just really excited about camp <3

bianca is more reserved and resistant to the whole thing, and she wanders around alone exploring and runs into thalia in the zeus cabin

at this first meeting they get into a bit of a fight bc bianca is still in shock/denial about the gods being real, but thalia at this point has zero patience for this

anyway after that and maybe another scuffle during capture the flag or something they hit it off and become best friends in the way girls can, especially bonding over how they’ve both had to take on raising annabeth and nico basically on their own at the age of 12

~QUEST TIME~

thalia is given a quest for [unspecific reason] and chooses bianca and luke, they go off leaving annabeth and nico frustrated at home

quest hijinks etc, bianca is trying to figure out her parentage + her weird mysterious powers? and thalia is arguing with luke because he’s settling into camp/hero life really well actually but she’s getting progressively angrier with the gods for trying to kill her and also keeps getting dreams from kronos and doesn’t get why he doesn’t seem to remember all of the shit that the gods have put him through

bianca + thalia have las-vegas-style-heart-to-hearts where thalia shares her tragic backstory about her mother and her brother and how hades tried to kill her and even about the great prophecy and how she’s trying on this quest bc of that and her dad but at the same time these dreams are making her suspicious that he might’ve been responsible for her mom’s death.

bianca then shares her own stuff, about how terrified she was being on her own with nico having to protect him but also not remembering most of her childhood and not remembering her parents or how she ended up in the care of this lawyer and just the absolute mindfuckery that her memories/past are

luke is asleep in those scenes i guess lol 🧍‍♂️

anyway eventually they finish their quest in this massive climactic battle where bianca discovers her powers in a huge-showy-”i’m the ghost prince”-way and is formally claimed by hades which thalia sees as this Massive Betrayal obviously and bianca is horrified too because she knows what hades did to thalia but at the same time she’s just so happy to finally understand at least part of her past

thalia just reaches a breaking point though because everyone around her just doesn’t understand her anger and just when she thought she had found another sympathetic person who understood what she was going through she joins hades??? no. no fucking way. kronos reveals that he’s the one who has been sending her dreams, prob by sending some messenger who he possesses or smthing and when he offers thalia the chance to join him? she does (dun dun dun)

main beats of the rest of the series:

thalia and bianca on opposite sides of the war training to be the prophecy child, they come together a Lot and have like melodramatic fight scenes where they talk out their anger and try to get the other to join them bc they don’t want to kill each other

luke is extremely conflicted/betrayed and there’s a titan’s curse moment prob towards the end of the third book where they’re fighting and thalia is trying to get her to go with him but here he actually does go to join her (gasp!!) and is evil for at least one book but his heart’s not in it and he goes back to the good side eventually

by the point of luke’s betrayal, annabeth and nico are growing and developing and old enough to go on quests w bianca and by the last book they’re a main trio of sorts and their hypothetical character development is already making me emotional

there’s just a lot of general sexiness with foils and inner conflicts and bianca doesn’t even want to be the prophecy child but she needs to for the fate of the world and bianca is so angry at thalia bc thalia is a daughter of zeus and could control her powers and is perfect and just meant to be the prophecy kid, not some daughter of hades who they didn’t even have a cabin for before

hm maybe by either the last or second-to-last book thalia + bianca are close to reconciling or at least their interests are aligned for the moment and they read the text of the prophecy together and things go Wild bc they both think “single choice shall end his days” either is about luke or nico and it turns up the gas to their fighting both of them care about both of them and yeah

and then i can’t decide if there’s romantic arcs at all but if there were it would go like this:

just a dash of thaluke where at first it was luke having a one-sided crush but thalia misses him a Lot after she goes to kronos and wonders if it’s that she misses him or if it’s something More until to get him to defect there’s like a melodramatic moment in the fight where thalia kisses him and they go off to be Evil Together but it ends bc luke doesn’t believe in the cause and only joined her in hopes of getting thalia back to his side

once luke leaves/is kicked out thalia realizes that she didn’t love luke she just wanted a family and also in the second half of the series she realizes she’s a lesbian as a parallel to her redemption arc

bianca meanwhile is unconcerned w romance until she has her botl-hoe-moment where within one book she 1. runs into the hunters on a quest and has a thing with zoe nightshade who tries to get her to join plus tells her about that time she met thalia, 2. she goes to calypso’s island and falls in love w her in the moonlight or w/e and has her what-if moment, and 3. when they meet up that book thalia somehow knew abt zoe + calypso and seems almost angrier abt them  than the war?? weird bc bianca knows that thalia is Totally Straight right??

my main point is that bianca/thalia is our friends-to-enemies-to-lovers endgame thank you i will take my pulitzer now

[theolympusfiles]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[sentient-stove]

My Personal Beef with Chiron: An essay because I AM that bitch.

@theultimateyeeter @falling-oceans @reallydelicate-cycle  you three showed interest in this essay via contacting me or other ways, so this is for you.

To say that I have a deep hatred for Chiron is to undersell my point.  When I was thirteen, my mother gifted me a Kindle and asked what books I wanted on it, I said “Greek Myths”  because that’s what I thought Percy Jackson was called at the time.

I got the actual mythos. (even though she literally was reading the lost hero at that time and knew what i meant by greek myths. she was a bit of a bitch, but you know, it be that way.)  You know the ones, with Jason and the Argonauts, Demeter wandering the earth with Misery while in search for her daughter who had been captured by Hades, or perhaps the original Perseus, who used Medusa’s head to kill a fearsome sea creature and take Andromeda for his wife.

When I was reading this, I was introduced to Chiron, a mighty centaur who taught the heroes from the time that they were babies to adulthood, training them in everything from swordsmanship to healing.

So this is the teacher that I was expecting when I picked up my first ever copy of Percy Jackson. (In Italian I might add, we were living in Milano at the time, so I read Harry Potter and Percy Jackson in my second language before my parent tongue, but go off me.)

This was not who I got.  I got a sorry excuse of a teacher who sent literal children to die.  I got a centaur who withheld important information about demigods, which often led to serious injury.

I don’t believe that Chiron didn’t know who Percy’s father was.  He should have known the second he lay eyes on him.  The Chiron from the myths was able to tell who a demigod’s parents were from a single glance.  AND that was from over 2500 years ago.  Why wouldn’t he have more experience now?  And even if he couldn’t figure it out immanently, shouldn’t have been pretty fucking clear after Percy literally manipulated water to drag Nancy Bobofit into a fountain?  Or the fact that he gave Percy a sword that was traditionally held by a child of the big three?

And that’s not where it ends.  Chiron mentions that he practically raised Luke at camp, he of all people should have seen Luke’s betrayal from a mile away.  You cannot convince me that he doesn’t suffer from albus dumbledore syndrome, it’s practically his main affliction.   He has important information and then refuses to share it.

LIKE HIS OWN PARENTAGE.  How did not one fucking person at camp realize that his dad was Kronos?  Because he didn’t tell them and apparently he only teaches the old myths when he’s not at camp, because if you picked up a single book at camp that was the original myths, you could have found that out.  For all his preaching about needing to know modern myths, he sure isn’t great at making sure that people know.

He also refuses to give any information about the final prophecy because ‘it’s not time.’

Bullshit.  The Chiron I know would have given names and numbers for people to analyze.  He was first and foremost a teacher, destiny be damned.

Or like how easy he is to defeat in combat.  Would you want that training your kid as a mortal parent?  A centaur who’s leg got crushed because he somehow didn’t realize that an entire building was about to come down on him?  Like in the myths, Chiron was the demigod’s teacher because of his prowess in battle.

He’s pathetic and I think that he should put down his fucking pinochle game with Dionysus,  get out there and actually start teaching again.  Chiron ought to use his experience to prevent demigods from those untimely deaths that he so mourns, not help enable them.

Not to mention, the Chiron of myth sent out ADULTS on quests, ONCE he was done teaching them everything he knew.  This Chiron doesn’t tell Percy he’s a demigod until a fucking Minotaur is on his heels (even then it’s Grover who tells him)  and then he sends him on a quest with no training whatsoever. 

What the hell dude.  What the hell.  You’re not teacher, you’re a washed up mentor who needs to actually get off his horse ass and do some teaching.

stars above and seas below, I hate him so much, I could probably keep ranting, like how he clearly knew who Jason was and didn’t tell anyone, or like how he knew that the Argo 2 was bound to fail in preventing Gaia’s awakening (long story)  

If he had literally taught just a bit of the original myths to the kids he was ‘training’ they probably would have had better success rates and survival stories.

man, now im just upset even more.

[callonpeevesie]

Things that bother me about Percabeth

Warning: this is going to be long and I'm not even sure if this will make sense. Also don't read this if you aren't open to criticizms of Percabeth.

Percabeth is a good ship, or at least has potential as one, but it has many legit flaws (this and this go into the flaws. By the way, go check out @takaraphoenix's Riordan crit) and I have some personal grievances. I'll write this out to understand my stance better because I need to get this off my chest.

I believe most people wouldn't agree with me on all this, but this post is entirely self-indulgent and I'm doing this for catharsis, so don't come at me. This isn't an objective analysis, just me trying to clear my thoughts. But feel free to share your opinions if you want.

Evolution in PJO

This is a pretty general point. I love the evolution of their dynamic in pjo. Their bickering, them opening up to each other and becoming so important to each other, the slow and steady buildup, it's great. Heck, I love slow burn. They have some good moments in pjo: Annabeth opening up to Percy on the zoo express, the scene with the sirens, Percy doing everything he did to save Annabeth in ttc, their conversation after Annabeth took the knife for Percy in tlo. (The underwater kiss is not one of my favourite moments, I'll come to that later.)

The romantic evolution, though, I'm not sure. I enjoyed it in ttc, there were small subtle hints like Aphrodite's scarf, or Aphrodite looking like Annabeth to Percy. But it became kind of tiring in botl onwards. Annabeth was extremely possessive and awful to Rachel. And in tlo things became a bit over-the-top.

I think Rick tried to establish them as the Most Important Person to each other. I don't like that. This is more apparent in HoO. I'll come to hoo later, but there is one instance of this in tlo: Percy seeing Annabeth in the Styx. Like one of the posts I've linked above says, it's shippy nonsense. It comes from the idea that one's romantic partner must be the most important. It doesn't make sense. I think Percy should have seen his mother in the Styx. It would make sense for Sally to be Percy's anchor, considering how much she means to him.

In short, their enemies-to-friends evolution was great, their friends-to-lovers evolution started out fine but became too much for me, and their friends-to-Most-Important-Person-to-each-other evolution was unnecessary and forced.

Luke

Luke and Annabeth's romantic subplot didn't need to exist. This isn't exactly Percabeth, but I'll say it here anyway. First of all, there's a seven year age gap, so Luke returning Annabeth's feelings is creepy. And it seems pretty unnecessary to me. It's also a bit of a mess. In tlt Annabeth blushes when Luke is around, and Luke says 'She's like my little sister.' In tlo Luke asks Annabeth if she loved him, and she says 'You were like a brother to me.' This part feels like Rick trying to add last-moment tension to Percabeth by making Luke a potential 'rival' to Percy. In the Staff of Hermes Percy says Annabeth had a crush on Luke, and as she got older, Luke had a crush on her too. Just ... Why?

They and Thalia were each other's first friends. Annabeth looked up to Luke and Luke was fond of Annabeth. That is enough reason for Annabeth to be hurt and for Luke to care about Annabeth. That is enough to set up their post-betrayal dynamic. The romance thing was completely unnecessary.

Rachel

I absolutely hate the way Annabeth treated Rachel. If there is one thing I despise about romantic subplots, it's justifying bitchiness with romantic jealousy. I guess it's okay to feel a little jealous or even possessive, and I can kind of see where Annabeth was coming from, but treating someone like shit because of that, especially in the middle of dangerous quests, is not okay. It's petty and immature. (It could be argued that Annabeth was mad because Rachel got to lead her quest, but let's be honest, she wouldn't have been that mad if it were anyone else. She specifically treated Rachel like that out of jealousy.) It was never called out and Annabeth never seemed to regret it. This bothers me so much. Fanfiction is a good coping mechanism, I suppose, but I'm here to complain about canon, not cope with it.

Speaking of Rachel, Perachel could have been a good ship. A demigod looking for a normal life and a mortal with clear sight. This elaborates on that pretty well. At the end of tlo it really felt like Rick had to get Rachel out of the way to make way for Percabeth.

Annabeth seems to be too demanding

Annabeth's attitude towards Percy bothers me sometimes. She's a good character and has a strong dynamic with Percy, but she's a bit tiring with regards to Percy (in a romantic sense; she's fine as his friend). I mean look at this quote from tlo:

I can't pretend I hadn't thought about Rachel. She was so much easier to be around than ... Well, than some other girls I knew. I didn't have to work hard, or watch what I said, or wrack my brain trying to figure out what she was thinking.

Percy feeling that way about Annabeth - his best friend of four years - just doesn't sit well with me. Percy straight up admits he's more comfortable with Rachel than with Annabeth.

There's more: Annabeth punching Percy when he asked who he should dance with in ttc, the way she treated Rachel, the way she behaved towards Percy regarding Rachel in botl, judo flipping him in moa. It's pretty tiring in general. Now that I think of it, this wasn't a thing before the romance showed up. Their dynamic was better in the earlier books in general.

Also personally I'm not a fan of Annabeth constantly calling Percy Seaweed Brain. This and this nicely sum up how I feel about that. Annabeth making fun of Percy's intelligence even after getting to know him makes no sense, especially as he was insecure about his intelligence. (And yes, I know she thought he was intelligent, as she said in the Demigod Files, but that doesn't cancel out the million times she called him stupid to his face.)

They became too couple coded

I've seen people say that Percabeth is better as friends than as lovers, and honestly I agree, and I've done some thinking to figure out why. I think it's because of the way they were written after they became a couple. They could have been fine as a couple, if they were written differently.

They started out not being able to stand each other, then gradually, they went through a lot together, got to know each other, learned to work together, and became a team. That was a great evolution, like I said before.

And like I also said before, everything I dislike about Percabeth showed up with the romance. Annabeth became catty and possessive. They became a couple. And it was as if the friendship wasn't there anymore, just the romance. They became like a cliche unreasonable girlfriend and clueless boyfriend. This is especially obvious in the beginning of Percy Jackson and the Staff of Hermes. Where's the friendship? Where's the comfortable bantering? Where's the known-each-other-for-years soundness? Hoo Percabeth just doesn't live up to pjo Percabeth at all.

(Also this is a personal bias of mine, but I'm partially romance repulsed. I can't stand cheesy romantic coded stuff. I only like lovers if they're also friends. So I guess I'm kind of pissed about Percabeth becoming so couple coded after becoming a couple.)

Their HoO dynamic

This is a related point. Like I said, hoo Percabeth doesn't live up to pjo Percabeth. All they care about is each other. They literally don't think about anyone else at all. Percy loses his memory and he remembers Annabeth. Why? Does Hera ship Percabeth? If he remembered anyone, it should have been his mom, like in the Styx. The only reason Percy remembered Annabeth, i.e Annabeth was made out to be more important to Percy than everyone else (including Grover and Tyson and Sally 'best person in the world' Jackson) is that she was his romantic partner. Again, it's shippy nonsense.

And there's this reveal that Annabeth had a crush on Percy all along. Are you kidding me? It completely retcons the enemies-to-friends development. Are you telling me that the Percabeth evolution in pjo where they learned not to hate each other was a lie? That Annabeth gradually opening up to Percy and coming to appreciate him was her acting out of a crush? I'm not believing that, no way.

I'm probably not making any sense, but my point is that Percabeth in hoo in cheesy and can't go one day without each other and people love it but I don't. It kind of messes up their previous dynamic, which is a shame because I liked pre-hoo Percabeth.

Rick seems to go overboard sometimes

I'm about to get a little controversial here. Many of the Percabeth posts in those tumblr screenshots going around social media are about the campers shipping Percabeth, or Arachne making Percabeth fanart, things like that. My theory is that part of the reason Percabeth is so popular is that the characters ship it. And Rick kind of goes overboard with that - not just with the in-universe shipping, with the ship itself.

Prime examples of going overboard are Percy seeing Annabeth in the Styx and remembering Annabeth when Hera took his memory, which imply that Annabeth was objectively the Most Important Person to Percy. I've already ranted about these above so moving on to the part about the in-universe shipping. Like I said, I'm not a fan of the underwater kiss. It's because of the situation involved. The campers just won a war and lost their friends and siblings, Clarisse just lost Silena, you'd think they'd have other things to care about than Percy and Annabeth kissing, at least for one day. And why did Arachne make fanart of that? How did she even know? There was also the matter of moving to New Rome - them wanting to move halfway across country to live together, away from New York, doesn't really make sense to me. This post elaborates on that and suggests better alternatives.

Of course, the author has complete control over the narrative, and the author wants you to believe they are making sense. And when the characters believe that too, it becomes harder for readers not to. When all the campers ship Percabeth, it's enough to convince half the readers to ship it too. (And of course, the pjo fandom has an unhealthy thing with canon ships.)

It's pretty much kept up by the fans

While we're at it, let's talk about the out-of-universe shipping. The fandom has always shipped Percabeth, partly just because they are the male lead and female lead of a series. Percabeth was set up to happen, so when Rick introduced Rachel, who actually made Percy feel good about himself and let him be himself around her, and whom Percy was interested in, he had to get her out of the way. I'm not sure I can explain it, but the Percabeth ending in the first series feels very fan service-y to me.

Platonic Percabeth vs romantic Percabeth

I think everything I've said above just explains why Percabeth worked better as friends. The had a great friendship arc and became two friends who know each other inside out, butt heads a lot but love and respect each other deeply. And then when the romance happened, Annabeth began to show these romanticized but actually toxic girlfriend stereotypes - being jealous and possessive, expecting Percy to read her mind and getting pissed when he can't, etc.

The fandom thinks those traits are okay, because they are normalised in society. People think that's how couples should work (it's not). And so the reasons I don't like Percabeth are the same reasons many people do. The date in the beginning of Staff of Hermes makes me cringe, because they were friends first and friends don't work like that. But no doubt there are many people who find it cute because society loves to romanticise the unreasonable girlfriend and clueless boyfriend trope. There are plenty of people who romanticise Annabeth judo flipping Percy or treating Rachel like shit, because things like that are normalised but I personally can't stomach them at all.

Anyway, those toxic traits come with the Percabeth romance as a package deal and there's no getting rid of them. That's why Percy and Annabeth worked better as friends, and why I feel things would be better if they just stayed friends. There was none of that tiring crap pre-romance. I can't stress this enough, I really loved their friendship in tlt or som. But when their dynamic evolved to romance, it messed up their friendship. There was a specific moment in botl when Percabeth began to feel off for me.

'She will calm down,' Chiron promised. 'She's jealous, my boy.'

'That's stupid. She's not... it's not like...'

Chiron chuckled. 'It hardly matters. Annabeth is very territorial about her friends, in case you haven't noticed. ...'

I don't know why this moment specifically, but this kind of marked a change for me. This is where Percabeth became seriously romantic, and I didn't like the related developments. This was the beginning of Annabeth's jealousy.

So what would I prefer?

I'll be honest, I shipped Percabeth for a while, probably because I love some friends-to-lovers. So I was going to make a list of things I'd change about Percabeth. I wanted to make some self-indulgent UAs (universe alterations) to fix the things I don't like. But then I started writing this thing and read up on other posts and stuff and I realised the list of things that bother me is huge and I could never make Percabeth work for me without messing everything up. So I just gave up shipping it entirely.

What I would prefer is an AU where Percabeth stays platonic forever (@elf-loving-dragon has been encouraging that idea as well). They were great as friends and I want that back. It would be so refreshing to have the male lead and female lead not end up together. Annabeth could end up alone, and still get her something permanent with her friends and camp. It would be so beautiful if something completely romance-free was specifically stated as permanent, because friendships in media deserve as much love as romance.

As for Percy, he could end up either alone or with Rachel. I don't ship him with anyone else rn. While I have made it obvious that I like Perachel, I still don't know if I actually ship it, and the idea of Percy ending up alone is not too bad either. (Update: I stan platonic Percabeth and qpp Perachel now.)

I promise I'm done now. Whew. If you've made it to the end of this long repetitive introspection, congratulations. If you agree, feel free to tell me, and if you want to argue, go ahead, I wouldn't mind listening to others' opinions. If you read this and hate me because of this just keep that to yourself. I have no patience for people who attack those who don't agree with their ship. K thanks, bye.

[percabeth4life]

Shrouds of Betrayal

I was kinda pissed when I was rereading the books and read the funeral shroud scene. Percy risked his life and the Ares cabin made him a joke of a shroud. I didn't think his reaction was realistic, not in the slightest, so I've adjusted it.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

We were the first heroes to return alive to Half-Blood Hill since Luke, so of course everybody treated us as if we’d won some reality-TV contest. According to camp tradition, we wore laurel wreaths to a big feast prepared in our honor, then led a procession down to the bonfire, where we got to burn the burial shrouds our cabins had made for us in our absence…

Or well, the shrouds Annabeth’s cabin made for her and… what was made for me…

Annabeth’s was beautiful, you could see the love and care they put into it. It was made of the finest grey silk, owls embroidered in intricate patterns that almost seemed to shape a city.

Mine… mine was made by the Ares cabin, they were the only cabin willing to make it.

My stomach twisted looking at it even as I plastered a smile on my face.

It’s obvious no one really cared if I lived or died, my shroud alone shows how little anyone cared about me at this camp.

My shroud was made out of an old yellowing bedsheet, the border painted with red smiley faces with X’ed-out eyes. In the center was the word LOSER painted really big.

We burned it, and I pretended I wasn’t affected by it, but it really did hurt.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

The days that followed were so weird. Everyone was being so nice to me, they all wanted to be friends.

But they left me alone before? Actively refused to be around me? But now that I’m some hero they want to spend time with me?

I avoided them.

I scheduled my activities to avoid the other cabins, except the Athena cabin (because Annabeth is there).

It was so weird, how much everyone tried to spend time with me. Before the quest they avoided me at all costs.

I talked with Grover still of course, my one real friend (I’m friends with Annabeth but she doesn’t understand why I’m avoiding everyone, Grover at least seems to understand, or at least not talk about it).

He joined me for activities and stuff, at least until the Fourth of July, when he left for his quest to find Pan.

Then I was alone.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

My dreams were filled with the pit, whispers from the ancient, evil voice down there (Kronos).

He pointed out how I was treated, tossed aside, taken back when I was suddenly useful.

I have to say, he’s not good at manipulation, but he’s not even trying really. He’s just… honest.

Nothing that he says is wrong.

The Gods don’t care about me (Didn’t Zeus send monster after me when I was on this quest for him? Didn’t he send that lightning bolt down at the beginning? Doesn’t Mr. D show no care for us? Doesn’t he get our names wrong constantly? Didn’t Hades threaten my mother and me? Didn’t he promise us eternal torment for something I didn’t do?).

The campers don’t care about me (Didn’t they toss me aside the moment my parent was revealed? Maybe they were scared, but none of them stood by me. Only Grover would talk to me still. Didn’t they avoid me? Change activity times to stay away? Refuse to work with me? Wasn’t I abandoned?).

Why do I stay here? Because it’s safe? Is it really?

Kronos whispered in my ear, and this time I didn’t send him away.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

The end of camp was coming, they’d sent us forms to fill out to decide what we’d do (and if you don’t then you get eaten, the care is underwhelming).

I kept my head down and kept working (the only one that I still spent time with really was Luke, he’s the only one who didn’t leave me before the quest, the only one to support me besides Grover).

I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I’m not staying at camp.

I trained and trained, I need to survive out there (because I don’t know if I’ll come back to camp, not now not ever).

Luke taught me more tricks, I beat him some spars now, he told me stories, talked about his quest and what he thought (he didn’t like the Gods, I’d gained an understanding of him at this point, he is very against the Gods).

I trained and trained and pretended everything was okay (the other campers had stopped trying to get close to me, I heard them whisper about me being stuck up, about me thinking I’m too good for them. I didn’t know how to say that it was them that left me first).

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

I laid in bed and listened to Kronos’ whispers, I listened and closed my eyes.

choose

What do I choose?

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

Annabeth was getting frustrated with me, I know she was, but I can’t help my feelings.

I know why they avoided me, logically I do.

I can’t help but feel that they only care for me so long as I do what they think is good.

I don’t want to live my life for them.

I won’t live my life for them.

I turned back to Luke.

I started to avoid Annabeth too.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

I thought of Zeus’ comments when I gave him his stolen Bolt.

I thought of how everyone was so worried about me existing.

I thought of how Kronos would mention a prophecy when no other would (he whispers a lot in my dreams, and a lot of it is so true it hurts).

I thought of how alone I was.

I thought of my choice.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

Luke asked to do once last hunt through the woods before camp ended, he offered me a smile and held his mortal-killer monster-killer sword.

We went into the woods and killed nothing.

I had my backpack because I had already packed.

We sat and drank some coke.

He asked me to choose.

He asked me to leave.

He held out his hand.

I thought of my choice, of the Gods, of the campers.

I took his hand.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

When the world tells you that you are nothing

Unless you bow to their whims

Do you bow

Or do you stand on your own

[bright-eyes-strawberry-lies]

Part Three of Three where I talk about Luke Castellan in an attempt to educate you clowns.

Percy’s Personal Sense Of Evil

Throughout the series, we see Percy refer to Luke as evil. What caused this shift in Percy’s perspective is much simpler and a lot more personal than Luke joining Kronos.

The only betrayal that Percy cares about is the one where Luke tries to kill him. Percy was blindsided by it. He couldn’t believe that Luke would hurt him. He doesn’t even really think it’s Luke; it’s just Kronos brainwashing him. Because Luke was the only person at camp who treated him like a human being and because Percy would literally kill for his friends.

I’d imagined meeting Luke again many times since he’d tried to kill me last summer. I’d pictured myself boldly standing up to him, challenging him to a duel. But now that we were face-to-face, I could barely stop my hands from shaking. [Percy] (TSOM, pg 126)

This hurt Percy on a fundamental level. This event impacts Percy so much that after it, he starts calling Luke evil. In Sea Of Monsters, he refuses to let Luke be friendly with him at all and makes it clear that any interactions are purely business.

You’ve got to remember that Percy doesn’t care about the gods. He still hasn’t figured out how he feels about his dad now that he’s met him. Though like most children, Percy is desperate for his dad’s love and approval even though he’s furious that Poseidon left him and his mom alone.

Percy also asks for all of the (surviving) demigods who were on Kronos’ side to be pardoned and welcomed back to camp. So no, it isn’t Kronos that makes Luke evil to Percy. It’s that Luke betrayed him.

It takes four years before Percy softens at all towards Luke and it’s because a) he considers Luke to be dead in all but name after being possessed by Kronos, b) Percy understands now. It might also have to do with Luke never trying to kill Percy again and always giving them opportunities to escape.

Thalia Never Liked Luke

Thalia has always been interesting when it comes to Luke because she’s never done anything on the page to indicate that she actually likes him.

Thalia withholds information from Luke even when it isn’t important info. She wants to follow a goat around for three days and won’t even tell Luke why. She knows the goats name but doesn’t tell Luke what it is for three days. She doesn’t tell Luke that their meeting wasn’t an accident for three years. She tells Luke the bare minimum about her past; that her mom was a drunk so she ran away.

On the other hand, Thalia mentions that Luke told her all about his mom.

Thalia’s one thing that she does for Luke is not joining the Hunters of Artemis because otherwise Luke would be alone.

When Thalia sees Luke in the golden casket in Percy’s dream, she’s surprised.

After Thalia is brought back to life, in Titan’s Curse, she tells Percy that Luke has never let her down...only to say that she’ll kill him with no hesitation a heartbeat later. When Thalia and Luke fight, she walks away without a scratch. While Luke first gets cut across his chest and then kicked off a cliff by her.

Luke begs for them to be a family again. And that’s probably where he went wrong. Because family isn’t what matters to Thalia.

Afterwards, Thalia regularly tells Percy not only that Luke has to die but that Percy can’t sympathize with Luke. Rehabilitation or therapy for Luke are not things that ever cross her mind. Even the idea of using him doesn’t appeal to her; Thalia would rather he be dead.

Thalia also blames Luke for her death. There’s no way to get around it. She tells Percy that Luke became reckless and fought every monster they came across...without mentioning that they came across more monsters because of her or that it was Grover who led them straight into trouble (and if you want to get real technical, it wasn’t even Thalia’s fault they were being hunted so hard [to a point] it was Zeus’ fault for killing Maria Di Angelo).

You could argue her feelings two ways: she’s never liked Luke or she’s already written him off and there’s text to support both.

Luke Needs A Friend

Demigod Diaries was big on giving us info on Luke’s childhood. Mostly that he is desperately lonely.

Luke tried to make friends with mortal kids. He told the mortals about his dad being Hermes and the monsters and all they can say is “that sounds so cool!” Luke doesn’t want to be around people who don’t understand him.

He wanted someone to relate to and the closest he found was Thalia. Luke even says that now that he’d found her, he was determined to stay with her. He ignores his instincts because he’s so desperate for someone to understand.

In the books, Luke doesn’t seem to be close to anyone from the Hermes cabin. His siblings seem to be fine with him taking off. He’s never seen hanging out with anyone at camp except for Percy. Almost all of his time after leaving camp seems to be spent with monsters. It’s implied that Luke has been training the demigods he’s been recruiting and that he’s proud of them, but those are both one liners and are never expanded upon.

Luke and Kelli might have had a friendship or relationship but after Kelli kills a boy, Luke wants nothing to do with her.

Speaking Of Annabeth

Annabeth doesn’t seem to know what to think of Luke. In her head, Luke goes from family to crush to enemy and back to brother.

Luke knows exactly what he thinks of Annabeth and has since the very first time he laid eyes on her. He constantly refers to her as his: daughter, sister, cousin, family.

Their family dynamic fell apart not just because of Thalia’s death and Luke “switching sides” but because by The Lightning Thief, Annabeth couldn’t even handle a hug from Luke without panting like a dog in heat. When she spoke to him, her entire voice changed to become breathy.

It was likely extremely awkward to have a girl Luke considers family to be blatantly crushing on him to the point that the new kid notices it after a single interaction. But despite that huge amount of cringe, Luke still tried to get Annabeth on his side. He promised they could be a family again, like the old days.

Annabeth goes back and forth between whether she wants Percy or Luke. She wants to keep Luke around because he might be useful but she also can’t get rid of Percy because he brings her more status (and being around Percy means that she’s always going to be involved).

By The Last Olympian, Annabeth winds up cursing her dagger because she feels Luke betrayed her...and then on his deathbed, she tells him that she finally sees him as a brother again. Which is a little bit late but at least Luke gets to die with that much.

[perseusjackson-jasongrace]

Hi C!!! It's meeee

Anyway I don't know why but I just kinda want to put this out in the world. You got me on Jercy (I'm not kidding I hated Jercy before you) but Percabeth is my OG ship like they started me ok fanfics and they're like my first real ship period. And I hate all the hate Annabeth gets because I really love her so I just wanted to ask you if you could go more in depth with why you aren't big on her/Percabeth please

Love you!! ❤❤

Hi my Gretch seeing your username (on any of the platforms) makes me forever and eternally happy. Okay onto this beautiful, intense ask:

First things first: I love Annabeth. Like Annabeth as a character? wonderful, incredible, unreal. She is so versatile and full of so many things that make us human and I see her character and character arc as a complex web full of intricacies and weaknesses (yes i said web on purpose).

My favourite things about her:

1. She always has a goal, whether it be long term or, I'm just trying to stay alive in this second. For people like me who kind of go through life on vibes and a vague sense of what they want it is awing to read about and meet people who have solid, planned goals that they live, breathe, and perform by.

2. She is proud of her friends. Since her fatal flaw is pride it is very easy to see the downfall but there is also an upside in that she uses that well of pride as an extension of her and it reflects on others. We know she is proud of Percy, and grover, and Thalia, and why Luke’s betrayal hit so hard for her

3. She continues to break stereotypes. Not just as the dumb blonde (which was admittedly a big thing at the time of the book’s release) but also in her being a girl who saves herself, who goes on the dangerous quests, who isn’t helpless. I never had a lack of female role models in my life but adding Annabeth to the mix only did me more good.

4. She thinks things through: I am kind of impulsive when it comes to certain aspects in my life and I have some thought process for other parts but Annabeth is not impulsive. As much as she has ADHD, in which impulsivity is fairly common, she doesn’t present with it. And it’s refreshing and exciting to see this character that thinks through plans and decisions and tries to predict the outcome, not only so she can change it if need be but also to prepare herself for what is to come. Narratives (especially at the time of those books) were full of impulse and quick decisions and always being on the spot. Hell Percy was exactly this kind of narrtator. And while I love dit because I mean what ten year old doesn't love fast-paced intense excitement? it was so truly wonderful to read about someone who thought further. It allowed you to connect to the next page, chapter, book. 

5. She is a complete badass. And I love it. I love badass women. I could never get enough of them and I think they should rule the world. And I love smart people. I love them. Smartness, intelligence, is so attractive to me. Because it means you have passion, and the ability to think beyond your surroundings. Annabeth Chase is hella smart.

What I've been having a crisis over for the last few years is Percabeth. It is summed up most accurately here but just to continue my thought:

Rick changed the percabeth dynamic so much in HOO that it became almost unrecognisable. I think in the bid to have this whole, everyone is a couple and everyone deserves someone (which boosted Leo’s narrative but was also the cause of great conflict in everyone else’s narrative expect percabeth) he forgot to make them friends. And that was the basis of percabeth. It was the reason percabeth were so godsdamn cute in PJO. Because they were friends who ended up becoming a couple. In HOO they were just a couple. And it sucked out the life of their friendship so that we could only focus on their relationship.

And unfortunately it is Annabeth’s narrative that really brings this home for multiple reasons (all of which we can blame Rick for):

1. This is the first time we got other points of view beside Percy which means everyone’s flaws were much more obvious. Annabeth’s fatal flaw specifically was really played (the entire reason she went on that Mark of Athena quest; why  they landed up in Tartarus). it made focusing on her harder especially because Percy’s Fatal flaw is loyalty so he spent a lot of his narrative focusing on others. this one is mostly my bias as I prefer to have a character’s narrative that also focuses on the happenings of others with the characters personal thoughts. Annabeth was the kind of narrator who focused on herself first. 

2. The entirety of HOO was about relationships. Rick didn’t bother to form any actual friendships with any of the characters (something he was undoubtedly great at in PJO) so when we got to percabeth scenes it was things like: Piper being jealous of them; Percy being worried about them; Annabeth being worried about Percy as a person or herself in her quest; Leo being sad that he was alone; etc. It made liking any of the couples extremely hard.

3. As you (and my other Tumblr babies) may know I don't believe Percy and Annabeth’s fatal flaws work well together. I think Percy is often the one to sacrifice himself and Annabeth sacrifices her wants (material things) and it is not the same. Percy is loyal to Annabeth. But Annabeth’s pride continues to rule her life. For example, if Percy had gotten in the way of Annabeth rebuilding Olympus I fully believe she would have attempted (at the very least) to get rid of him. I don't necessarily mean kill him I just mean he wouldn’t have been in her life. Don’t get me wrong this does not mean she did it or there was even a possibility that she could have. but the reason for that is because Percy is loyal to her. So he wouldn’t have gotten in the way of her dreams. And I think there’s something fundamentally dangerous about sacrificing yourself for someone else’s dreams. If Percy became loyal-to-a-fault towards Annabeth and she then decided to join Luke’s army he would not have stopper her. In fact it’s quite possible he would have joined her. And Annabeth has so much pride for Percy, but her pride-to-a-fault does not lie in people it lies in material things. So she would have gone after her own goals if Percy did not follow. It just seems like it’s luck that they continue to work well together. Percy sacrifices himself. Annabeth sacrifices herself. But only cause their goals align. What happens when they don't?

Please do not make the mistake of thinking I hate percabeth because I don’t. I cannot hate them when those books were the heart and soul of my life for so many years. Percabeth was such a big part of them, to hate the ship, would mean to hate the books and that is absolutely not the case. Annabeth and Percy’s friendships is so important to me. 

TL:DR I love Annabeth she is an absolute badass; I am not a fan of the percabeth dynamic especially in HOO; my bias is present in everything I do. I acknowledge it and try to work to bring all the facts together.

I hope this answered your question Gretch! And do not hesitate to ask if you want me to elaborate on a anything further.

I, of course, also welcome dispute from anyone but remember we do things nicely on this blog.

[thejudgingtrash]

Hey! Can you envision an AU where,for some reason,Luke doesn't go to Kronos,even though the titan had talked to Luke in his dreams? Perhaps remove the failed mission(although I don't believe it was more than the "straw that broke the camel's back,and some random shit would be the thing that pushes Luke over the edge),or put someone to help Luke dealing with his negative feelings,preferably in a way that makes him use it in a positive way. Do you have any say about it?

Okay, let’s do this! All the Luke appreciation on my dash is motivating me to crack the rotting asks down! Sorry for not working on this sooner :D Also the love triangle/last Annabeth sequence doesn’t fucking exist, I don’t know what kinda crack cocaine Riordan was smoking. I’m not having it. Old but gold rant on that right here (LINK!)

(Also I’m too lazy to think of a proper „new“ villain so let’s just take Ethan in that AU cause why not).

I think instead of pissed, angry (or whiny like some of you assholes with a lack of basic reading skills say) Luke, I go the sorta indifferent route. Luke is apathetic to it all. Disappointed, done with it, used to at it this point. Back at it again.

Luke saw how his mother turned into her unstable self and ran away with fourteen, had to protect his new found family (Grover/Thalia/Annabeth) saw how Thalia got turned into a fucking tree by her father and trained his ass off. Luke who was one of the few children that were actually claimed by their parents and saw how the rest withered away in misery in the Hermes cabin.

I’d still let Luke go on the mission and have it being a mini breaking point. Just one that goes in the opposite direction. In the end he does not care about the gods, but he also cares too much about the other kids around him to ditch them to switch sides. He’s being given a little (reused) mission as somewhat of a sign of attention by his father, fails and gets wounded. In his desolate state, Kronos appears in his dreams but things go differently.

Instead of giving in, let him ask the repeated question: if my so-called father and his father don’t care me or any other kid, why the fuck would you? How could I possibly trust in you knowing that you’ve done no better than them? How is a new golden age to be oh so beneficial for us? Sorry mate, too obvious bate. Smell yah. Kronos then moves successfully onto Ethan.

Luke is the only remaining older teen (aka free babysitter) in CHB to help out all of the other kids in there as Chiron’s funky horse ass is being a lazy shit in Dionysus’ smoking den. Luke just remains the big brother and go to person for all of them and sees demigods come and go.

Percy drops by, Luke trains him and then decides you know what? College would be actually nice, retiring and stuff Annabeth ain’t happy about that. The rest of the lightning thief unfolds. At the end, with Ethan’s betrayal Luke goes oh shit

and decides to stay (and take online classes probably? Oh yeah, electronics do work. Wouldn’t it make more sense to let the kids use phones but once they’re trying to connect with Olympus they need to switch to the old stuff? A switcheroo? Mini idea) to defeat the new threat and talks about his dreams as he now can characterize the evil.

SOM hits, Luke is hating it but actually prays to Hermes to help Percy find a way to the sea of monsters because he knows that Percy is needed for that mission. Hermes tried to have a conversation and Luke declined. In the end, Luke is being whiplashed as Thalia returns. Seeing your old crush/best friend after years again and they’re still stuck in a child’s body? Pretty sure they’d just awkwardly hop around each other but remain close acquaintances.

Annabeth having boy troubles in the transitioning of TTC to BOTL and asking her big brother for advice and Luke going what?? Do you?? want me to dooooo?? Omfg I thought you were supposed to be the smart one! Use your bird brain?? Ask himmm? Ask Percy??? Also we’re in the midst of war preparation, trying to figure out the labyrinth and your infatuated cooch has nothing better to do than to hop on his tiny c*****ck what the fuck (internal screaming)

And then… the final battle. Percy leading the kids with Annabeth and Luke on his side. I can see two possible scenarios. Luke is fighting on the bridge, saving Michael Yew and falling to his death or Luke and Clarisse are killing the drakon that killed Silena and he gets thrashed.

As sad as it may seem, I think regardless of what happens Luke was destined to die. Seeing the canon former friend turning into a monster dying and being corrupted, was already enough. But could you imagine if non-Kronos!Luke had been around in every book as a guide and counselor? And then he’d be gone? The pain, agony and depression??? Yes??? I love that???

I’m sorry I also would’ve George R. R. Martined the fuck outta HOO.

Also Luke looks like Luke Volker and is an Aussie because I say so :3

Anyway... my oversimplified non-Kronos!Luke Au!

[allducksloveloveloveme]

all the best ones drool

This is inspired by @aria-lerendeair and her awesome fic. I hope you like it!!!!

_________

It's cold when Magnus wakes up. The weak morning sun is just beginning to rise, and the Chairman is curled up next to him.

Magnus stretches his arms above his head, and cracks his back before checking his phone.

There's a message from Alec, sometime after midnight, which simply says: going to stay at the institute, don't wait up

It's a simple enough message, short and crisp, which is exactly what makes it so uncharacteristic.there are no i love yous, no emojis, infact, the message may as well be written by someone else.Its easy to imagine that Alec was preoccupied with a mission, or perhaps some excruciating paperwork, but a part of Magnus knows that that's not the case. And Alec still hasn't returned, which further deepen Magnus’s suspicions. Maybe he should call, or text, or should he wait for Alec to return, whenever he does and then ask him?

Magnus settles for making breakfast, and then some light reading to distract himself. The chairman struts out of the room, meowing for treats and pets and Magnus obliges as Percy, Annabeth and Grover lounge in Lotus Hotel and Casino, and the sun rises overhead.

By the time Alec comes home, Magnus's head is swimming with Greek lore and Luke's betrayal. Sometime around Sally's death, Magnus had slid off the couch and onto the soft, carpeted floor, which means that Alec hasn't seen him just yet, He's leaning against the door, facing away from Magnus, his forehead pressed against the door. Ichor and blood are splattered against his jacket, and Magnus has half a mind to wrinkle his nose and tell Alec to burn that jacket, so that some of the tightness in Alec's shoulders eases.

When he turns around, it takes him a grand total of five steps to notice that Magnus is sprawled on the carpet, book in lap, and the Chairman snoring on the couch above his head.

"Magnus," He exhales. Magnus doesn't wait much after that, he drops the book, page unmarked and stands up so quickly his head spins, because Alec looks like he's going to collapse.

If Magnus ends up half sprinting to him, then he's really not embarrassed. It looks like Alec is trying to smile, but he looks so tired that the smile looks more like a grimace.

As soon as Magnus is close enough, he throws his arms around Alec, rubs his hands up and down Alec's back, and shivers when Alec presses his cold palms against his back, and then there is the sticky wetness of tears against his shirt and Alec's trembling, Magnus can hear his rattling breath and sniffles and can only rub his back softly while murmuring nonsense in his hair.

It doesn't take long for Alec to stop crying, and Magnus sways him gently towards the couch, till they can fall onto it. The Chairman (bless him) crawls into Alec's lap. His eyes are red, and stray tears fall across his cheeks and Magnus wipes them away softly, while Alec pets the chairman and boops his nose.

Magnus pulls the table closer to the couch, and Alec slouches till his legs end up on the table and his head on Magnus's chest.

"Can we watch some T.V.?" Alec asks, he sounds cautious, like he's sure Magnus is going to say no, and badger him about whatever's making him upset. And Magnus is going to do that, just not now, later when Alec doesn't look like he's going to collapse if he says more than five words a sentence.

So Magnus switches on the T.V. and they watch Casablanca, as Alec slouches further into the couch, and then begins to snore. Soon there's drool on Magnus's shirt, and Alec's arm is thrown around his waist, holding him in place. The Chairman goes to sleep next, he'd been trying his best not to sleep but Magnus has pulled all the blinds down, and has put a thick, blue comforter on Alec's sleeping form and by extension on the Chairman, and when Magnus has made sure that the comforter is covering Alec's toes too, the Chairman stares at him, blinking slowly and when Magnus has blinked back slowly, he purrs and goes to sleep.

Magnus cards his fingers through Alec's hair, and wakes him when the end credits are rolling. chairman yowls when Alec wakes him up with a smile so warm that Magnus has to looks away. Alec yawns and presses his cold nose against Magnus's neck whilst petting the Chairman, his breath is warm and Magnus kisses his forehead.

Alec only lets him go when his stomach rumbles, and he smiles sweetly. Magnus gets up, and makes enough cheese pasta for the entire Institute while humming along to the Harry Potter soundtrack.

Alec pours the Chairman's lunch in his bowl by the couch, and then all of them dig in. On screen, Harry presses his palms against Quirrell's face, which burns and then disintegrates, along with his whole body.

When Magnus has left the plates to soak, Alec sighs deeply and lowers the volume of the T.V.

He runs his hands through his hair, and then looks at Magnus with tired eyes, and Magnus rubs his back. When he starts speaking his voice is soft, like he doesn't want Magnus to listen to all of it, "After the patrol was over, we recieved intel about this Raum nest close by, it was nothing big, so jace, andrew and i decided to check it out." he took Magnus's hand in his, twisting around his rings and when he smiles, it's rueful "Turns out, the intel was wrong. there were so many of them, Magnus, i was sure that...that none of us were gonna live. luckily, Andrew had called for backup."

Magnus nods.when Alec doesn't add anything, Magnus prompts gently with an "And?"

Alec murmurs something like "You always know," with a smile and then "After the backup came, it didn't take all that long for us to get rid of the demons, but Jace and Andrew..." Alec swallows, his voice quivers when he continues "They were both pretty critical-severe internal injuries, multiple fractures."

He stops, and Magnus dropped his head on Alec's shoulder, nosing along his cheek and Alec sighed “It's just I could, I could feel Jace's pain, and Andrew's chest was so scarred it looked like a battlesite by itself...And I couldn't help but think..."

"That it's your fault." Magnus guesses, Alec nods and rubs his hand over his face in frustration, and by extension over Magnus's nose.

His hand is cold, so Magnus takes it between his, and strokes his thumb against the back of Alec's hand.

Alec huffs suddenly, before saying "It's just...I know that I am not supposed to think this way, and that it's okay to ask for help and-and that I deserve to be the head and more, but..."

He looks at Magnus, biting his lip, and then looks away, again.

Magnus doesn't say anything right away, this is important and it's more important that Alec knows that-- "It's okay, Alexander. Its okay to think this way, and then to remember that you are much more than whatever your mind tells you. Its just... that you expect so much from yourself, and i'm not saying that you shouldn't, but like you said it's okay to ask for help and-and I'm so glad you told me." Magnus smiles, and pats Alec's hand, and Alec smiles back easily.

"But I want you to promise me something," Magnus continues, he sounds fierce, even to himself, and Alec nods "Next time, something like this happens, you call me, doesn't matter what time, or where you are, or the severity of the situation; you just call me. Promise?"

Alec grins, and Magnus can't help but smile too "Pinky promise."

Alec's smile widens, and Magnus has an idea.

"We can visit Jace, if you want to?" He asks cautiously, and Alec grins, abashed and shakes his head "Izzy said if I returned to the Institute before tomorrow evening, she'll force feed me her stew."

Magnus laughs "Does your sister know I love her?"

Alec's answering grin is warm, his cheeks red and so Magnus says "What about you?" Alec looks up, confused, "Do you know? Or did you forget"

Alec beams, and then leans in, pressing his forehead against Magnus's, then their noses, and Magnus sighs, feigning impatience(he has all the time in the world for Alec), Alec laughs and then presses his palm against Magnus's cheek(his hand is warm, and Magnus drops a kiss against his palm, and Alec breathes deeply) and he says "Magnus Bane, how could I ever?"

So Magnus kisses him.

[marchived]

tl;dr. note that “ first ” coincides with the books, not the years / dates. if it’s third autumn then that means the fall during the year of titan's curse. morrigan is raised by loving parents yet she runs away after being attacked by her first monster. she comes to chb in spring & becomes best friends with luke. she grows awfully resentful of percy. luke's betrayal is a stab in the gut. fast forward to second spring, & she manages to contact luke early summer. she joins him then after being claimed in first december, & works as a spy up until fourth autumn. she begins to doubt her allegiance when kronos takes on luke as a host, & that doubt only grows as she battles in chb’s wood . by the fifth summer, she is sure, yet she still fights for luke because she misses him. by the time the second titan war starts, she is a top general that joins in the battle of manhattan on numerous occasions. she is never out without kronos, though, & only appears in battle as he does. by the end, she gains the courage to go against kronos ( silena’s death is part of the tipping point ) & helps the fight by hanging back when he calls for her & ethan to go to olympus; though that only drives monsters towards her. she ends up creating a chasm that sinks much of the army. she passes out afterwards, & is brought to a safe place by hades.

* something not mentioned below: ethan meant a lot to her. the two of them were exceptionally close as luke’s right hands, possible delving into romantic tension. he died before anything could be talked about & that seriously hurt her.

tw for: death, slight manipulation, brief mention of non - descriptive eye trauma.

born & raised in new york city, she’s a bronx kid who grew up loved, albeit a little sheltered. her adoptive mother entered her life when she was around five, & immediately won her over with her kind words & optimistic perspective. though, as lisa likes to remark, eun - hee had rubbed off on her more ( & as was expected. she raised a child through her bitterness, & showed her daughter the truth while teaching her the revolutionary views she held ). someday, she’ll change the world, eun - hee had boasted, over rice & fish. i just know it.

& her childhood had been like that. loved, safe. yet something felt wrong, felt off; looming shadows & whispering voices that accompanied her throughout the day, the feeling of something that had watched her the moment she stepped foot into middle school. & she was right; something was wrong, even if it wasn’t in the way she had intended. a calculated plan formed by a monster she dares not name, it had driven her away from home & left her cold & numb on a bus out; does reality dare lose itself when i need it most?

she doesn’t stay alone for long; & later, a kid her age boards the bus to sit next to her. rows of empty seats, & they had chosen hers in the very back. i promise you that i’m offering something that will make sense, they tell her, & she accepts. what has she got to lose now, anyways? so they switch buses & it’s a rather uneventful ride, but along the way she notices more about them. the shoes on their feet fit loosely, they’ve got extremely hairy legs, & something about their face seems off. she can’t quite grasp it.

she follows them through woods & to a pine tree on a hill, where the words camp half - blood shines out to them. & there they are, whisked away into a camp where she’s promised she’ll never feel out of place in. yet she lies when they ask about your parents; or at least, her mortal ones. she says they kicked her out when she knows they are worried sick about her. chiron looks hesitant to believe her, but she refuses to say anything else on it. so he leaves her be & she returns to her happy bubble, with other kids her age & a story that seems to make sense.

then she meets him. luke castellan, her counselor, & she immediately likes him. spring flies by & she sticks with him, the one friend to count on. even as she grows bitter over not being claimed, even as she shines bright with getting a pegasus to like her, he is there to comfort & applaud her at every second. you are a little sister i am glad to have, he tells her, & she tells him he’s being sapp .

( she regrets it, years later. swallows everything she wished she could have told him, the appreciation & gratitude ).

summer comes & she meets percy. he is easily likable & seems as bitter as her, yet she stays wary. something in her says that he cannot be trusted, that he is a danger to her. she waits, eyes him at dinner, loses track of him during capture the flag ( yet she finds that she is quite the fit for a hermes kid with her speed ), & enjoys the campfire up until… he gets claimed. & her bitterness only grows at that =, finds herself making a rival she didn’t expect. especially when he goes out on a quest he seems predestined to have, when he gets all the fame & glory for being a big 3 kid.

( she never apologizes, even years later, yet she swallows words that could have been the start of a tentative friendship ).

summer passes in excruciating wait, whispers of percy this & percy that ever present in every corner. even luke isn’t immune, & she loathes everyone for it. yet by the end, when she is glad for it to be over, she finds herself horrified that she ever wished it’s end. for betrayal is never sweet, & when percy announces it with a scorpion stinger’s wound to prove it, she runs to hide herself away in her sleeping bag & cries herself to sleep. she dreams of sweet spring days & misses luke more with every passing day.

autumn passes in a blur, yet the start of winter brings her an unwanted gift. right before her birthday she is claimed ,marked as a daughter of hades right under everyone’s noses . chiron goes pale. mr. d looks troubled. the campers are afraid & whispering. & never before has she hated her never present father more, with roiling anger that threatens to tear her whole. she passes dinner to gather your things, tucks the sleeping back under her arm, & … remembers there is no hades cabin. there is no hades cabin, no place for her. where is her fame & glory? she thinks that night, where is her acclaim?

she ends up living in the big house.

the months before the second summer, she tries contacting luke. even with the bitter taste of a prophecy chiron had told her, of her importance, she yearns for the once person who had been a friend. who she hopes, desperately, will be her friend still. the first month, nothing . but just shy of june, she succeeds. he is surprised, slack jawed in the mist, asks her how, but instead she tells him of her claiming. of hades’ horrible birthday gift, of the campers’ treatment, of her struggles. & to her relief, he accepts her. tells her to meet up with him in the city, promises her information.

she gets it. his full involvement, the monster army, kronos, the deal he can’t back out of. she tells him you can’t, he asks her, you have anything better? she doesn’t. & he asks her if camp is better, where they sleight minor & dare to sleight major gods, asks her if they have built a cabin for her yet, & she tells him he doesn’t need to play tricks & manipulate her onto his side. she tells him that from the start, she had felt slighted. & so he asks her to be his spy, alongside silena. of all people. she asks him how long. he says not long. she eventually agrees.

the next year passes in more of a blur. it grows eventful as luke starts getting all the pieces he needs, yet she doesn’t focus much on the events. she starts to resent silena & her pretty ways, her stellar acting. when she herself can barely keep her own together, where she spends more days hiding & shutting herself in to keep the bitter taste of betrayal out of her mouth. one day she asks her how she does it. silena replies that it’s all for charlie, that it’s easier knowing that he’ll be safe. she grows disgusted. how could you sacrifice all for one person? she wants to cry, but she finds herself no better.

by the start of the fourth autumn, she fully joins luke. he only needs one messenger to get his word across, & so she participates in the nitty - gritty aspects of his plan. she gets the monsters, the funding, the demigods he needs. rallies them together under the promise of a better life, where the gods can’t ignore them. she knows luke means to get rid of them; or is that kronos she senses, hiding just beneath the surface of their dreams? she can feel the titan watching hers, careful. waiting for betrayal, no doubt, because he needs his pawn of the prophecy to tip the tides into his favor. he’s waiting for the perfect moment to seize her mind. ( she has already stumbled once, while sparring with luke sometime between second & third fall. she has mistepped once & nearly lost her eye from it; she cannot risk mistepping again, if not for her sake then for luke’s. )

by fourth summer, she starts to wonder if she has chosen wrong. the final battle through twisting labyrinth only grates on her as luke - but - not - luke leads through. blue eyes are traded for gold & kronos sneers with luke’s face. she misses her friend, her real one. she misses the luke she met back from first spring, where may flowers had bloomed under gentle care of demeter’s children. those she now fights against, as she hacks her way through vines & dodges like she’s born for the fight. in a way she is  she supposes, but she isn’t born to hurt her own. so she takes care to knock them out only, away from other monsters to finish the job. it is her small mercy for those who have hurt her.

by fifth summer, she is tired. she has surely chosen wrong. she is certain as kronos walks with luke’s feet, stares at olympus with luke’s - eyes - but - not - luke’s - eyes. yet she can’t do much, bound to serve as his right hand. still, percy’s arrival on the andromeda is surprising; & beckendorf’s death even moreso, as she escapes last minute with ethan, in tow with kronos. & she swallows words for silena, i’m sorry i'm sorry i’m sorry i couldn’t do anything. she is so tired. she wants to escape this war yet she is in the middle of it. as she prepares for manhattan, as she prepares for more death, she swallows words for luke, i’m sorry you had no choice. as she fights on the bridge, as she fights against percy, as she fights against people who could have been family, she swallows words, i’m sorry.

so she defies kronos, during his last call for support. she stands still, with all eyes on her ( & her father, to who she wishes him a bitter thank you for his birthday gift all those years ago ). & kronos is enraged, but she decides that, if he succeeds , she will face his wrath later. instead , she focuses her thoughts on the monsters that threaten to surround her, & she fights with the last of her swallowed words.

for silena. for beckendorf. for ethan. for luke. for all the unclaimed. for all those forced to be a pawn. & she prays that percy succeeds.

mortals wake up around her, & she knows she must act fast. she dives into her well of power, down down down, as much time as she can snatch out to drive the army down. she imagine a pit so deep that those who fall will greet tartarus, & she

r

i

p

s

the pavement with a fury unmatched, repeating the names & titles in her head. a deafening crack & rumble & she is falling herself. she wonders if tartarus will greet her.

she wakes & it does not.

she’s alive & others are not.

she is alive.