#and i also love putting percy in uncomfortable situations

[helphelph]

Rating pjo ships because I've seen a good amount of people doing it lately and it seems fun. But there's a twist!! I used the wackiest rating system imaginable because I'm insane. Have fun.

Percabeth: a hundred hearts out of five blue cookies.

Their dynamic is not only incredibly fun but also they complement each other very well. Honestly, when I first read the books, I didn't really want them to get together because I didn't want another "main guy gets main girl" situation, but they're honestly made for each other.

Jiper: five daggers out of ten great canyons

They were incredibly forced, but honestly not that bad of a ship. They were really cute but I dont have much to say about it.

Valgrace: fifty festus heads out of ten college aus

One of my favorite Jason ships ever. I love me some tragic gays.

Pipabeth: Two goddesses out of fifteen owls

I will ALWAYS support a good wlw ship. And Piper defo had a microcrush on Annabeth while they were on the Argo II. Plus the fanart of them is SO good.

Jercy/Person: twelve riptides out of ten horses

I like reading about it and it's quite fun to think about. Nothing much to say honestly.

Perachel: Ten prophecies out of nine pancakes drowned in syrup

They could have been cute. I dont really ship them though.

Annrachel(is that the name?): three prophecies out of five spiders

Korrasami vibes lmao. I think they're better off as friends but I will read a fanfic if I find an interesting one.

Solangelo: twenty-six skulls out of ten doctors notes

They were written for each other. As in Rick made sure that they were written for each other. I havent read tsats yet and im still on the first toa book so I don't have much on their dynamic. Still I like them and they visually look good together.

Valdangelo: ninety-four automatons out of six pomegranate seeds

They would have been unstoppable I tell you! Unstoppable!! Or maybe I'm biased. Either way they would have been an amazing couple together but Rick was too much of a coward to let them be (boy)friends. (Can you tell I'm biased?)

Jeyna: One bad father out of two older sisters.

UPDATE!!1!1!1 It has come to my attention that Reyna is canonically aroace with no romantic or sexual interest whatsoever so this ship is out of the window.

Jasico: 3/10

Personally I've never seen the hype for them. I like their dynamic a lot but not really in a shipping way. Sorry pjotumblr😔

Pernico: One bathe in the river styx out of thirteen hades figurines

The angst of Nico having a crush in Percy is a good concept to explore. Both in relationships with other characters and Nico's character development. But them being in a relationship together just irks me. It's not entirely problematic(at least i dont think it is? Correct me if im wrong), but still, the age gap makes me uncomfortable.

Ruegard: thirty-seven drakons out of one patrochilles parallel

Like I said, I love me some wlw ships. And while I've never really been a diehard fan of them, the fanart is amazing, so of course i ship them.

Frazel: 6/10

Rick try to make a girl and a boy stay friends challenge(impossible). But jokes aside, the 13-16 gap makes me annoyed. Three years isn't much but it matters in this situation. And it annoys me bacuse I want to like them. They have a cute dynamic but the maturity gap between them kinda gets in the way. That said, I would probably have liked them a lot better if they just stayed friends.

Valzhang: Nine eagles out of twenty hidden bunkers

Like I said before, I will consume almost every ship in a fandom. And if I find good fanfics of them, I will read it because I like exploring different characters' dynamics with each other. It's fun and I honestly think the pjo fandom should chill out a little. The amount of people who put others down for shipping something that isn't canon is way too much. Just let people enjoy their ships.

I think that's all? I didn't include Grover and Juniper because I honestly don't really have any opinions on them. They just exist and it's kinda like Rick just made them canon because he didn't want grover to feel left out. Let me know if there's other ships you'd want me to rate!

[callmesel]

Okay, so remember the Artist x Muse AU i talked about yesterday?

Well, I had a dream last night (again) with another plot for this AU and it involves Ron.

The dream was that Ron wants to be an artist but he had just done portraits of his siblings. Luckily for him, he is friends with one of the most influential person in the country, aka Harry, so he has the opportunity to see one of the most famous artist of the time, aka Oliver.

So now Ron is in Oliver's door asking if Oliver could take him as his pupil. Oliver is looking at his work with the portraits of his siblings and there is one that cough his attention, as you can imagine, is Percy.

Then the dream goes on with Ron learning from Oliver until Ron doesn't need supervision or something like that, but at the same time Oliver keeps that portrait of Percy and starts to analyse it. It's pretty but is not very well done. It lacks detail while the other paintings are very well done, they look a live. While Percy's has a very stiff face and posture, unnatural even.

Oliver wanted to know why he was the exception so one of his classes with Ron he ask him if he could bring the man in the portrait with him so they can paint him because his was the only one that was kind of bad. Ron looked kind of uncomfortable but he accepts.

When Percy comes Oliver is like wow, he is prettier in person.

So this lecture is Oliver helping Ron to get the proportions right and the details of his freckles and the blue of his eyes. How his hair looks like flames under the sun and how pale his skins looks. And now Oliver is mesmerize by him.

They finish the lecture and in the next classes Oliver ask Percy come again but this time is a night lesson of how the different textures look under the moon and Oliver is just in love with how beautiful he looks. Is like he glows and -insert another romantic descriptions for this man-

He wants to call Percy over more but he know that he can't because his brother is just there and he will notice his obsession with him and that is not good. Also because Ron has to learn more about other types of skin and face structure.

So he ask Percy to model for him outside of his classes with Ron and slowly Oliver can't think of painting anything else but Percy.

Every project, every artwork, is him and even when he has a comission he mamages to sneak Percy into it and no one seems to notice so he doesn't think to mucho of it.

Then one of his artworks is sold to a gallery and is Percy wearing a white gown under the moonlight looking quite angelic.

Oliver has asked Percy if he wanted to remain anonymous and Percy said yes so noone except Oliver and Percy's relatives knew who the model of the painting was.

With time Oliver and Percy slowly fall in love but they are discovered and persecuted for being homosexuals. They burned Oliver paintings, leaving just a few hidden away but their friends.

Years later they are rediscovered and put in a museum. Letters and journals of their story are spread worldwide.

One of the most famous paintings is one that Ron made, is Oliver and Percy dancing under the moonlight even though there was a mob of people going after them. They were happy with each other and they didn't care what the rest of them thought.

In the modern day, a young couple looked at that same painting. Both being a replica of that same couple. They look at each other and smile.

Then there is a scene where you see them leaving and is them once again reunited, in a different time, happy with each other.

And supposedly is their souls that found each other once again and they are soulmates and stuff like that.

I know that I'm my dream there was like a big plot twist between the first painting and their death but I can't remember so, idk

But I keep having theses dreams of them in different situations that I can't get out of my head.

[nickeverdeen]

Hello! I’m here for Spiderverse match-ups! One nsfw and one romantic please :)

My name is Mk, and I’m in my late teen years!

I tend to be very sarcastic and snarky, but I’m also very nice to people that I like, I usually have a soft spot for people I have a crush on but I’ll usually avoid them bcs I’m too scared to interact with them and I don’t want to embarrass myself lmao. I get embarrassed easily, especially if someone’s flirting with me or doing something cringey near me. Whenever I’m around people I don’t like I usually just give them a nasty side eye or a glare. I don’t really have friends, but that’s because I’m homeschooled and I live out in the country so any town I’m around is usually 45 minutes away. I’m very selfless and I always put other people’s well-being before my own and I’m not good at saying no. I usually follow the rules and never get into any trouble because I prefer to stay under the raidar. I’m alone most of the time when I’m not learning, and I’m pretty isolated as well. I’m very empathetic towards plants and animals as well as the environment, so I like to pick up any trash or anything that could possibly harm the environment. As I’ve said before: I’m very sarcastic, but I’m also quite oblivious so I can’t detect sarcasm that easily. I’m pretty bad at social cues, and I’m oblivious when it comes to people who have a crush on me or try to flirt with me, but like I said, I get very flustered when I realize someone’s flirting. I’m very shy and nervous around new people, and I usually stay close to the person I know the most when I meet them.

I LOVE history, but mostly the creepy and darker side of history. I’m super into paranormal investigating and I’d love to investigate with friends and such. I like exploring abandoned buildings but I always prefer to have someone with me. I like doing creepy challenges with friends, I also like exploring the wilderness and nature. I LOVE swimming and I have a deep connection with the ocean and water. I can be pretty weird when I’m not being sarcastic.

I’m pretty unlabeled when it comes to my gender and I literally just use any pronouns cuz idgaf, I’m also unlabeled on my sexuality, I like who I like and that’s that.

Likes: Conspiracy theories, cryptids, mysteries, exploring, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, scary stories, legends, creepy history, paranormal stuff, Star Wars, marvel, anime, video games, music, dr.pepper, Pepsi, candy (specifically chocolate and cotton candy), witchcraft, Ninjago, Tmnt, nature, cats, foxes, rabbits, the morning dew, science, and other nerdy stuff.

I have social anxiety, autism, depression, and some PTSD

I have a pretty traumatic childhood, but I don’t remember much of it because my brain made me forget, so kudos to my brain ig

I’m not gonna do NSFW here as I’m not so sure about it and it’s a bit uncomfortable

Your Spider-Man Across the Spiderverse match is…

Hobie Brown

Hobie would be fascinated by your love for paranormal investigations and creepy history

He’d gladly join you in exploring abandoned buildings, claiming, “If ghosts are real, I wanna meet ’em.”

He’d tease you about your obliviousness to flirting but would find it endearing, often dropping playful hints that leave you flustered

Hobie loves your sarcasm, often firing back with his own, turning conversations into a playful banter

When he sees you isolating yourself, he’d subtly encourage you to open up

He’d help you pick up trash on walks, fully supporting your care for the environment, and might even bring spray paint to tag anti-pollution messages on walls

Hobie would write punk songs inspired by cryptids and conspiracy theories, sharing them with you to make you laugh

He’d take you on spontaneous adventures, whether it’s exploring hidden parts of the city or watching the sunrise by the ocean to connect with your love for water

Understanding your social anxiety, Hobie would always keep you close in new situations, subtly acting as a buffer while making sure you’re comfortable

He’d surprise you with little gestures, like fixing your headphones when they break or leaving a chocolate bar on your desk with a cheeky note

Hobie would make sure you feel seen and valued, constantly reminding you that you are

[versiaocs]

Table of contents

Hello! You can call me Versia or Viscardi, whatever suits you best. Generally a they/them should suffice. I'm brazillian, 27, and I have too many ocs.

This is the blog I shall use to rant about all these dipshits. Would love to interact with other people's characters, and to interact with them. I don't bite, shoot a message whenever!

I tag whenever darker themes are involved. Strong believer of "ship and let ship". If you don't enjoy it, don't follow me! Bye!

You can find my ocs with a filter menu HERE.

I kindly ask that minors don't follow me. It's not personal or against you, but I am an adult and won't risk putting you (and myself) in uncomfortable situations and/or any kind of danger.

A small list of fandoms I dangle around in:

A Song of Ice and Fire - and assorted series (GOT, HOTD).

Percy Jackson

Homestuck

Marvel

Avatar (2009/2022)

Star Trek

And also a few original scenarios, seeing as I have too many of those. Usually willing to do aus, and I rp.

[crow-collective15]

Hey there!! I’m Crow! You can also call me Riley, Armine, Summer-Marigold or whatever name of the alter fronting, if you know!

My pronouns are whatever is funniest or most convenient in the situation, but favorite is it/its!

If it ain’t obvious yet, we’re a system! I won’t be listing our disorders online though

If you talk to me about whatever I’m hyper fixated on, I will love you forever/silly

Raised pagan-atheist, now I’m Unitarian Universalist, each alter has separate religious beliefs

Second generation SCA!!!

Tradigrade

This is fun I think

—————————

@crowwwwwwwwww is our main (we like, follow and leave asks there)

@crowandthefics is for fanfics! We write a ton of pjo fics

@crowsarchery archery blog! They put a bow in our hands at 2 years old and it was downhill from there

Uhh @crows-templets is also us!

————————————

Best friend/sibling: @lovesomesys historical moment

——————————

Boundaries/dni

-endos/pro endos Dni, neutral ok but on thin ice unless already close

-radqueers dni

-Wicca/Wiccan are on thin ice. (This does NOT include pagan, witch’s, satanists, polytheists, those all are welcome! Just not Wicca)

-on a similar topic as the last one, godspouse honestly makes me so uncomfortable. Some religions like Christianity have nuns which have actual sources and roots for how they came to be, but mostly anyone who believes in godsoupse dni, I haven’t found an credible sources with references to ancient mythology other then Christian nuns

-on that topic! Christians are welcome! With the exception of LDS and Jehovah’s Witness. 

-anyone who believes [disorder] abuse (ex: narcissistic abuse)

-Rick Riordan critics, free to interact! Just be a little more mindful of criticizing the story’s, i agree many things need criticism, but I don’t really want that here

Box’s made by @boxes-for-systems our wonderful mutual (Percy Jackson box by @sysboxes )

[annabethy]

aurora // a 'tis the damn season au

Percy and Annabeth had something real. They fell in love somewhere between bookstore kittens and vintage novels with pages tinted yellow with time, and they were happy. It's rare, finding the type of love they did. It's even more rare making it last. (Chapter 7/8) | Read on AO3

“Fuck.”

Of course this is her luck. 

Annabeth wiggles the doorknob again, and when it doesn’t give, a few more choice words slip from her mouth. She’d be more concerned if there was anyone around to actually hear it, but there isn’t. That’s the exact predicament she finds herself in. 

It’s cold outside, which isn’t unusual, but after twenty minutes standing locked out of her own father’s house, it starts to slowly burn, like dry ice on bare skin. It’s not so late that it would be unusual for a family to still be awake, especially during the holidays when people are traveling all over, so she’s half convinced they’re watching her through the security cameras and laughing at her. 

Annabeth wipes her nose on the sleeve of her coat, pushing the discomfort of the raw skin to the back of her mind, and thinks, yeah, this was definitely intentional. 

She’d try to pinpoint why she’d be intentionally locked out, but the reality is that it could’ve been any number of things. The reality is also that it probably isn’t actually intentional because even her family, twisted as they are, wouldn’t want a premeditated murder hanging over their heads. She’s just bitter enough, though, to pretend they are that bad, and she decides that tonight’s predicament is entirely because they found out she spent the night with Percy after ditching the Christmas party. 

It’s also entirely possible that the door was locked the night before too, and she just hadn’t noticed. 

She’ll give herself a pass if that had been the case, because spending time with Percy was definitely worth it. It had been… just like old times. She hadn’t expected it to feel that way while she sat in his passenger seat and followed him through the neighborhood stores for discount lights and cheap chocolate flavored candy. 

They’d parted ways hours before, Annabeth choosing to spend some time with Piper. She’d promised herself she’d give him some space, as fun as the day was, because it wasn’t fair to keep bothering him and letting him steal kisses between the tinsel and candy canes when she’d be leaving soon enough, putting them in the exact same situation they experienced before. She chose to lean upon the memories of the past few days for company instead of making new plans, but now the cold is freezing her to the core, and it’s not like her own parents are going to be the ones to save her when she rings the doorbell for the sixth time.

Her eyes lock onto the front door. From the outside, it would look like she was examining the intricate designs on the surface, but the reality is she’s wondering just how humiliated she’s going to be calling Percy again so soon in the middle of the night to help her out.

The answer is: a lot.

“You’re definitely the only person I would do this for,” Percy says as he unlocks the bookstore for her.

There’s a lot that goes unsaid in that sentence, and a lot that’s implied. Words are louder than actions though, so when he’d picked up on the fourth ring and hadn’t hesitated to haul himself out of bed to come get her, he didn’t need to say anything for her to read between the lines. 

Annabeth slips through the door quietly, eyes adjusting to the darkness as she awkwardly slides off her coat. He flicks the light on, and it takes a few more uncomfortable blinks for her eyes to stop burning. 

A bout of deja vu slams into her as she remembers the last time they were here after hours. It had been forever ago, back when they were still in high school. She’d decided to accompany him to work after classes ended, and it was soon after she gave the cat a home in the bookstore, so she was perfectly content to stay there the entire night. Turns out when there’s a pretty girl and no parental supervision, he was perfectly content too. They lost track of time, and when midnight rolled around and the alarms still hadn’t been set for the night, Percy’s mother had figured she better roll around to see what was up.

Poor girl showed up to find them in quite a predicament, fooling around in the back rooms. 

She wonders if Sally ever recovered from that. Annabeth should’ve gifted her bleach that Christmas. 

“You okay?”

Percy’s voice is gentle, and it reminds her of a breeze at night, soft and slow as though to not startle her. Airy as the snow lining the ground at dawn.

“Yeah,” she breathes, turning to him. “Just remembered something kind of funny.”

“Well, don’t keep it to yourself.”

“I am not telling you,” she says, but the slight smile gives away the general direction of her thoughts. “No way.”

“What else are we supposed to do? Who knows when your dad is going to let you back in.”

“Could be all night,” she says seriously. 

“I’m really hoping not.”

“You’re telling me you’re not cherishing this time?”

“If it weren’t the middle of the night, sure. I’m tired.”

Annabeth rolls her eyes and chooses that moment to move further in and set her coat onto the wooden countertop. It’s loud in the silence, just like the unsaid words. “Go home. I’ll be fine by myself.”

“Not a chance.”

“Because you’re just so heartwarming and kind, right?” Her voice falls flat.

“More like I don’t trust you won’t rob this place dry.”

“Oh, you’re right.”

“It’s the lit major in you.” He laughs at his own words like it’s the funniest joke he’s heard in a bit. “I’d bring you back with me so you could get some sleep, but it’s been a long night with Estelle, and I’d feel bad not asking my mom first—”

“You don’t have to explain,” she says. “This is more than enough.”

He joins her at the counter, putting his weight onto his elbows. They’re close, but not close enough for it to be considered intimate, which is for the best. From the moment she saw him, she’d been unable to forget the warmth of his embrace and the feeling of his lips on her skin. Any closer and they might find themselves in a similar situation to the past. “It’s not a bad thing, though. This is practically your dream.”

“Being locked out of my house with no company except you.”

“You could be less disgusted about the me part.”

“I really can’t.”

Percy snorts. “Alright.”

“You’re right about the book part, though. It’s not the worst.”

“Are you still a poetry type?”

“It’s not my focus, but I still love it.” He doesn’t wait for her to stop talking before he’s already weaving between the aisles. She watches in amusement as he almost trips over the cat they dropped off between errands who darts out from beneath a shelf, and when he’s analyzing a few books before picking one out, she asks, “Why?”

“Well,” he starts as he turns back toward her, waving an unfamiliar book at her. “Since you left, I’ve gotten more into poetry myself. It’s not that bad once you really get into it.”

“I’ve been telling you that since we’ve met.”

“Yeah, well, I was stubborn.” He shrugs and comes back to her to place the book in front of her. It’s a collection of poetry, which isn’t unusual. The book, though, seems old but in good condition, like it’s been carefully preserved for years, waiting for the right person to come along and run the ridges of their fingers over each individual page, to get to know the experiences of the poets before them. 

“Any suggestions?” she asks as he turns to a specific page. 

“I’ve been more into Robert Frost since you left,” he says, looking up at her for a moment. “Have you read Out, out? It’s kind of tied into Shakespeare too.”

Annabeth kind of wants to kiss him. Of course he’d get more into poetry after she’s gone, but she also wouldn’t doubt he did it because she was gone. It makes her smile, and she’d kiss him for real, if his attention hadn’t returned to the book, reminding her of the situation at hand. They’re only here because she has nowhere to go. 

She’s definitely read that poem before when she was, like, five, but to humor him, she tells him she hasn’t. 

“You’ve done your homework,” she comments.

He flips to another page. “I’ve had six years.”

The way he says it makes her feel like he always intended to tell her about poetry after she left. Like he always intended for her to return home to him, if only for a weekend. Like he had this waiting, preserved for her because he somehow knew she would come back before even she knew. 

A moment of guilt takes over thinking of Percy holding onto that for her, no end in sight but hoping he’d find a way to give it to her. It reminds her of a child waiting hopelessly for something that would never come.

“Anyway,” he says, and he’s onto another page. “I’d recommend this one, if you ever get the time.”

“How much is it?”

He gives her a bored look that reads, Really?

“What?”

“It’s insulting you think I would make you pay for it.”

Half of Annabeth wants to argue.

There’s a smaller part of her that thinks there’s meaning behind it.

“Do you just give out books to all the girls who walk in?”

“Only the ones that deserve it.”

“And are there a lot of those?”

Percy winks. “A few.”

Annabeth smiles and snatches the book from him. “Give me that.”

“I don’t actually give books away unless it’s for a little kid without money or something, but the other day, Drew of all people walked in. I half thought she couldn’t read, so imagine my surprise when she tried to flirt with me to get me to give her a few free books.”

“Did it work?”

“I mean. I did give her the books just to get her off my back, but the flirting? Not so much.”

“She’s just going to come back for more now.”

“That’s when I hide.”

Annabeth shakes her head at him, biting her lower lip. She wishes she could analyze him like she does everything else in life, pastel highlighters streaking across the important points, writing in the margins the things she loves. “Look at you. A neighborhood gossip.”

“Oh, don’t tell me you’re above a little gossip.”

“Depends on who it’s about.”

“Anyone you want. I have the scoop on just about everyone we went to high school with.”

“God.”

“You mean you don’t want to hear about the adventures of Drew Tanaka?”

“I can never escape her, can I?”

“Probably not,” he agrees. “I swear for as much as she says she hates you, she tries so hard to be you.”

Annabeth laughs. “Does she really?”

“She does! She acts like she’s obsessed with books and poetry, but I know for a fact that she hasn’t opened a single one of those books she stole from me.”

“You said you gave them to her,” she points out.

“Against my will,” he says. “I was flirted with.”

“Seemed voluntary to me.”

“You would do it too if Drew was five inches from your face.”

Annabeth stifles a laugh into a cough. 

“But seriously, she’s obsessed with you. You become a writer, and suddenly she’s a writer. She’s been trying to hop on me ever since we broke up too.”

“Should’ve taken her up on it.”

“Funny.”

“Anything else happen with Tanaka?”

“She’s just insufferable as always,” he says. “Sure you saw that a few days ago.”

“I definitely did.”

“Someone did start a rumor that she was pregnant, though. Says they saw her with a big ol’ bump and that she’s hiding the baby in the basement for the child support money.”

“That’s…” Annabeth blinks. “Wow.”

“I know. Crazy, right?” Percy straightens with a smirk on his face, like this whole situation amuses him. “Anyway, I’d get a restraining order against her before she tries to peel your skin from you and step inside it.”

“Have you considered that she might enjoy poetry?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Annabeth, no one enjoys poetry.”

“I thought you did.”

He smiles. “Did I say that?” 

Annabeth laughs. “Any more gossip for me?”

“Leo from chemistry went to jail because he started a fire. Heard rumors that Jason’s dead.” 

“That can’t be true. Piper would’ve said so.” 

They trail into silence, and she lets herself look him over, any shame lost to the late hours. She really must’ve pulled him out of bed, and she’d feel bad, really, if it weren’t for the look on his face like there’s nowhere he’d rather be.

“What about you?” The green of his eyes seem darker. “Any gossip for me?”

“Just a bit,” she says, and for a moment, it doesn’t hurt as much when she thinks of where she came from. She’s not sure what’s changed. “You know, in LA, I have a friend. Connor. He’s kind of like Drew.”

Percy snickers. “Uh-oh.”

“Not like that,” she laughs. “He tried to be something that wasn’t really him. He hated poetry, but he used to research poems anyway and try to make sense of it. He was awful at it—he’d be a terrible poet—but it was sweet.”

It hurts less. 

Something tells her it’s because of the person standing next to her.

He’s silent, analyzing her face, and she thinks he recognizes the name. She’d never admitted it to him, but it was never a secret. He’s smart enough to ask around, to know where she’s been, who she’s been with. His gentle eyes tell her he knows.

“What happened with that, anyway?”

“With what?”

He tilts his head, and the dim lights seem to get darker. It’s like teetering on a tightrope, only one direction to go. The thing is…she wants to go there. She wants to tell him what she never thought she could tell the person she once loved. The person she still loves. She just doesn’t know how.

He smiles, and it’s not hurt that flashes in his eyes. 

“I think we both know Connor was more than a friend.”

Somehow, when he’s the one to say it, it’s more difficult to look him in the eyes. It’s like she’s done something wrong, even if she didn’t. She thinks it’s because they took a path they weren’t supposed to. Her and Connor were never supposed to happen, just as she was never meant to leave. 

What happened to that?

He proposed. She said no. She said she wasn’t ready, and maybe it had been the truth. At the time, she thought it was. She’s not so sure anymore.

Now, in the bookstore with a cat hiding in the shadows, with Annabeth standing painfully in his line of sight, she can’t admit the real reason she said no.

“He wanted a wife. I just wasn’t ready.”

He doesn’t believe her. 

She sees it in his stance, in the tension in his shoulders, in the look of disappointment flashes through him, in the way he doesn’t say anything for a few seconds, the way he doesn’t do anything at all, except stare directly at her. 

His fingers find their way to the book, tracing over the leather spine. He feels the dip of the letters, the divots and creases, and it feels a lot like his fingers are on her, turning her in circles, analyzing her every move like he’s the poet and she’s the muse. He picks apart what she says, what she doesn’t say, what’s true, and what isn’t. 

“You have something to say,” Annabeth challenges. Her fingers twitch towards the book, but she lets him have it. “Say it.”

“I don’t have anything to say.”

But he does. 

There are six years worth of words to say. It’s a question of who’s going to say those words first.

“Yes, you do,” Annabeth says, frustrated. “Say it.”

“Annabeth, please.”

Her name, her name— 

His lips, and her name. That’s how they belong. 

Percy sighs and catches her eyes. “The way you talk about Connor. You say that you weren’t ready to marry him, and that’s why you broke up.”

“It was,” but she knows that’s not the truth. 

The truth is something complex, lying on the road not taken. 

His eyes dart around the room, like he’s scared to look at her now, or like he’s scared of what she’s going to say next. Eventually, they find their way back to her, and he looks her up and down in the dim light in a way he hasn’t done since long before she left, when they were still in love, when they didn’t know that they’d be here six years later, familiar as strangers. 

“You say that, but you’re sitting here in my bookstore telling me about how great he was, and how he read you poetry he couldn’t understand just because he was doing it for you.”

She swallows.

“You’re telling me he did everything right.”

“He did.”

“It just makes me wonder,” he says, walking the tightrope.

As always, he’s always known her better than she’s known herself.

“Did you break up because you weren’t ready to be a wife, or because you weren’t ready to be his wife?”

[hchollym]

Unpopular Percy Weasley Headcanon:

I think Percy realized that he was bisexual early on and told his whole family before Harry even met Ron. 

It seems like every fanfic has Percy being in denial about his attraction to guys, but that makes no sense to me. Percy is actually very attuned to his emotions. He literally wrote love letters all summer and kept a picture of his girlfriend nearby. What other 16 year old boy does that? I also don't think he would be ashamed of those feelings, because he doesn’t let other people’s opinions (like the twins) change his perception of himself or affect his pride, and he wouldn't see anything wrong with it, because he would immediately research it within a historical lens and find other wizards/witches that were suspected to be the same way. 

And once he figured it out, I think he told everyone soon after, because he is in Gryffindor for a reason - whether people like to admit it or not, Percy is brave and doesn’t back down from a tough situation. He may not have told his family about specific relationships, like with Penelope at first, because he didn't want them butting in, but I think he would want to tell them that it was a possibility that he would eventually date a guy, because he hated the idea of procrastinating and having to worry about it later - a sort of "just rip the bandage off" scenario.

I think that's partially why Molly favors him (among other reasons), because she's worried about what he'll have to deal with from the rest of the world if he ends up with a man. I also think it's why the twins and Ron teased him so much about his obsession with Mr. Crouch - they thought he actually had a crush on this man (hence Ron's “They’ll be announcing their engagement any day now” comment). 

Unfortunately, I also think it put a bit more of a strain on his relationship with his father, because I picture Arthur as being the type of person to have some internalized homophobia, so he’s "okay" with it as long as he doesn’t have to see it or hear about. He kept trying to change the subject at dinner (during the summer of GoF) when Percy was talking about Mr. Crouch, because 1. He was uncomfortable with the idea that Percy had a crush on any man, and 2. It was made worse by the fact that said man was the same age as him.

By the way, I'm not saying Percy actually had a crush on Mr. Crouch - I'm just saying that everyone thought he did for a reason.

Basically, I just personally don't think Percy struggled with his identity or coming out. 🤷

[moonlit-sunflower-books]

writing strong protagonists

protagonists are often meant to be relatable to the reader, but because one’s audience is so vast and varied, it can often mean that protagonists simply become flat.

but the key to writing a good protagonist, in my opinion, is making them sympathetic - and having something about them that appeals to the reader, whether that be their sense of humour, their moral compass, or their relationships with other people!

disclaimer: i am not a professional writer, i'm a student who writes for fun, so make sure you do your own research. this is based solely on my own experience and opinion.

give them purpose

this is quite basic, but every protagonist must have a very strong motivation that the reader sympathises with. it could be love, revenge, loyalty, fear, fulfilment, approval, or anything else. but when you clearly establish why your character is doing what they are doing and make sure that it is justified in their internal narrative (i'll elaborate more on this later), the reader will want to support them.

make them sympathetic

this is a continuation of the previous point, but essentially, you need to make sure that your character justifies their own actions in their internal narrative. even if they do something rash, immoral, unhinged, or poorly executed, the decisions that they make should seem to make sense to them. essentially, give them a strong moral compass.

add a sense of humour

especially if you're writing in the first person, let your character have a sense of humour! let them make rude comments internally about people walking by them, let them be awkward and uncomfortable, and let them laugh about stupid things constantly. adding a sense of humour lightens the tone and makes your character more human, and although it may seem like it at first, it doesn't take away from the depth or meaning of your writing at all. it just makes it fun to read!

in six of crows, the characters spend very long making fun of kaz and his bad hair, and the book has some very complex themes. percy jackson has a younger target audience, so the humour is laced throughout the storytelling rather than added in bits and pieces, but that only makes percy more likeable.

give them LOTS of flaws

do NOT hold back on your character's flaws. not only does this make their character development richer, it makes the characters sympathetic and fun to read about. if your character loses their temper at the drop of a hat, it leads to much more conflict. if your character is a pushover they'll end up doing many things that they don't really want to. if your character is selfish, they might push other people away. if your character is socially awkward, they could miscommunicate and/or end up in situations they don't want to be in.

when a protagonist is too perfect, they don't have enough internal conflict and also separate themselves from the reader, because your reader will relate to one if not all of the flaws your protagonist has, which will make them far more likeable.

make sure you know them

i put this as the final point because i feel like it's both the most obvious and the most important - you should know your characters inside and out. you should know how they would react to different situations and the way that the inside of their mind works so that you're able to translate that to your story.

[timelesslords]

Can u pls write a percabeth fic where Percy and Rachel are dating and percabeth are best friends and they end up spending the night together and it's been a week and they don't know how to tell Rachel and Rachel being bitter ?? Pls

This was kind of out of my comfort zone in terms of what I usually write lol but I tried my best!! I imagine this as like a mortal college AU :)

send me a prompt!

“Beth, you can’t walk home like this,” Percy said, exasperated.

“I’m fine! I’m hardly even drunk,” Annabeth said, trying (and failing) to quash the butterflies in her stomach when he called her Beth. Percy, having been her best friend for almost a decade, was the only person in the whole world who was allowed to call her that. He only pulled it out in rare situations, and every time he did Annabeth would swear her heart skipped five consecutive beats.

Not that he could ever know that, of course. Now felt like a more precarious situation than most-- she’d come over to his dorm so they could watch a movie together, and had ended up curled up together on his bed around his laptop. In fairness, his dorm was tiny and there was nowhere else to sit besides his bed, but if Annabeth imagined really hard she could pretend that it had all been completely intentional, and he was sitting this close to her because he wanted to.

“Hardly?” Percy asked, raising an eyebrow. And, fine. Annabeth had had… an amount to drink. A non-zero amount, some might say. More than Percy, and she had a way lower tolerance than him. She was buzzed, sure, but not buzzed enough to walk back across campus to her own dorm.

“I’m fine. It’s barely twenty minutes,” Annabeth protested. She started to stand up, but Percy gently tugged her back into the bed. She should have put up more resistance than she did, but, well. Who could blame her.

“It’s also three in the morning and you’re drunk,” Percy said, “Come on, just stay the night.”

“Stay where? Grover’s bed?” Annabeth asked, repressing giggles at the thought. It wasn’t really that funny a thought, but, well, she was tipsy.

Percy’s roommate was gone for the night to visit his girlfriend, leaving his bed empty. Grover was a cool guy, but he also had a weird tendency to leave soda cans just about everywhere, including in his bed.

Percy just rolled his eyes. “No, here.”

It took Annabeth a few seconds to realize exactly what he was saying.

“In your bed?” Annabeth asked, hesitantly.

“We’ve been sitting on it together all night,” Percy pointed out.

“Yeah, but…” Annabeth trailed off.

It was different. She knew it was different. And frankly, any other time she’d be absolutely delighted that Percy was offering that difference, but there was also the issue of Percy’s girlfriend. Percy’s girlfriend, who he’d met their freshman year and hit it off with despite the fact that Annabeth had been in love with him since she knew what love was. Percy’s girlfriend, who was in another dorm on campus not ten minutes away, not here but also not not here.

“But what?” Percy asked. There was the tiniest bit of a smirk on his face, and Annabeth shoved his shoulder, rolling her eyes.

“You know what,” she said. Maybe it came off a little more seriously than she’d meant, but he didn’t seem to care.

“It’s not like we’d be doing anything,” Percy said. Annabeth tried not to feel hurt at how foreign the concept of “doing anything” seemed to him in relation to him and her. But she didn’t have any right to feel any type of way about that, because she and Percy were just friends and Percy had a girlfriend who was not going to be happy about Annabeth spending the night in his bed, regardless of which activities did or did not take place there.

“Yeah, I know, but its just… I don’t know, don’t you think Rachel will be mad?”

“You’re staying here because you need a place to crash. She can’t be mad about that.”

“I’m pretty sure she could find something to be mad about,” Annabeth muttered, mostly to herself. Percy heard her though. They were sitting so close their shoulders were touching, so it would have been a miracle if he didn’t.

“Fine, I’ll sleep on the floor. She can’t be mad about that,” Percy said, actually making to get up like he was about to lie down right there and then. It was Annabeth’s turn to pull him back onto the mattress.

“Don’t be stupid, you’re not sleeping on the floor in your own dorm room,” Annabeth said, “Besides, she’d just say I kicked you off your bed.”

Maybe Annabeth should’ve kept that last bit to herself, but she’d never been very good at hiding her feelings about Rachel. Percy sighed, knowing she was right but not wanting to admit it.

“Well I’m not letting you sleep on the floor,” he said stubbornly, despite the fact that Annabeth hadn’t even suggested it. She had to bite back a laugh at the indignant look on his face.

“Percy, I was never going to sleep on your floor. I was going to go home,” she reminded him.

“Well I’m not letting you do that either,” he said, “So I guess you’re stuck in bed with me, unless you want me to spend the night on concrete.”

“You’re so goddamn annoying,” Annabeth grumbled.

“Does that mean you’re staying?” he asked. His expression brightened considerably at the prospect, and Annabeth had to physically force herself to calm her heart rate down.

“Well apparently I don’t have a choice,” Annabeth said, rolling her eyes, praying to every god in the universe that she wasn’t blushing.

“Right,” Percy said, putting on some exaggerated confidence, “Obviously. So am I taking the floor or the bed?”

Annabeth knew he would sleep on the floor in a heartbeat. If she told him that she was uncomfortable being in his bed with him, he would gladly spend the night on cold concrete in the middle of winter in a dorm that had, frankly, terrible heating.

But she wasn’t about to make him do that. And if she was honest with herself, being in bed with him was the opposite of uncomfortable.

“The bed,” she sighed. Percy grinned triumphantly.

“I knew you wouldn’t make me sleep on the floor,” he said, and Annabeth finally let herself laugh.

“Yeah, because I told you so twice.”

“I think it’s because I know you so well, actually,” he said, finally closing his laptop that had been playing the movie earlier, and setting it on his bedside table. They’d turned the lights off earlier, and without the soft glow of the computer screen the only lights in the room were the faint street lights outside.

The bed was just a regular old twin, with not much space for either of them. That was why they were touching so much, Annabeth reminded herself. Just that. No other reason. He just put his arm around her shoulders because it was more comfortable that way, that was all.

It was late, and Annabeth was drunk, so falling asleep was easy. But she’d be lying if she said Percy didn’t help with that too.

***

It’d been a week since Annabeth had spent the night at Percy’s dorm, and they hadn’t talked about it at all.

She’d woken up the next morning completely hungover, and also with her and Percy’s limbs completely tangled together. The bed they’d shared was small, but it wasn’t that small.

Percy, of course, had acted like it was nothing. He’d teased her about her bed head and she’d half-heartedly teased him back about his morning breath, and then she’d packed her stuff from the night before and made her walk of shame back to her dorm. Except it wasn’t even a proper walk of shame, because they hadn’t actually done anything.

He hadn’t brought it up since, like it had been no big deal at all. Annabeth wished she could be so lowkey about it, but it was the only thing she’d been thinking about that entire week.

They’d already planned to meet up at the end of the week again, only this time in a group setting. A group setting meant Rachel was going to be there, and Percy might think their little sleepover hadn’t been a big deal, but Rachel was definitely not going to share that opinion. Annabeth was honestly dreading facing her so much that she considered bailing at least ten times. In the end, she decided that she had to just suck it up— she was going to have to face Rachel at some point, it might as well have been now.

All that to say Annabeth was a little surprised when she showed up at the party, only to find Rachel acting completely normal towards her. She was irritated towards Annabeth, but that wasn’t unusual. Rachel was always irritated towards Annabeth, and Annabeth was always irritated towards Rachel. But Rachel wasn’t pissed at her like Annabeth expected her to be. She wasn’t even not pissed, she was downright cordial.

All it took was one look at Percy for Annabeth to confirm what she already knew. He hadn’t told her.

“I need to talk to you,” she said, grabbing Percy’s arm and pulling him down the hallway. Rachel was going to be pissed at her for that, but Annabeth didn’t care. Percy followed along without complaint, not even bothering to shoot Rachel an apologetic look.

The hallway was empty, or as empty as a hallway at a college party could be. The music was loud enough to cover up their conversation, anyway.

“Did you not tell her?” Annabeth asked, keeping her voice barely above a whisper. Percy immediately looked guilty.

“You don’t know that,” he said, as if everything about both of their demeanors hadn’t given it away instantly.

“Of course I do, she wasn’t absolutely furious with me,” Annabeth hissed. Percy looked, if possible, more guilty than before.

“Okay, fine, I didn’t,” he admitted, “But what’s the big deal? It’s not like we did anything.”

And there it was again, those two little words and the way he said them, as if anything happening between the two of them was an impossibility. It felt like a dagger straight to the heart, but Annabeth ignored it.

“I dunno,” Annabeth said, “I mean if I was your girlfriend, I think I would want to know.”

Percy had choked on his drink halfway through her statement, and was already coughing before she could finish it.

“Are you okay?” Annabeth asked, alarmed. Percy just shook his head.

“Fine,” Percy managed to choke out, “I’m fine.”

“Am I going to have to heimlich you again?”

“Hey, you promised you would never bring that up again,” Percy said, pointing an accusing finger at her as he coughed again, clearing his throat a few times for good measure, “Besides, I don’t think it works for soda.”

“Fair. But don’t change the subject.”

“You changed the subject first,” Percy accused, in a not subtle attempt to change the subject once again.

“Because I thought you were choking, dumbass. You have to tell her.”

“Why?” Percy practically whined.

“Because the fact that you don’t want to means you know she’s going to be mad about it,” Annabeth said.

Percy groaned, letting his head fall back against the wall.

“Why are you so smart?” he asked. It sounded like a complaint, even though she knew he didn’t mean it that way. It sure felt that way, though.

“‘Cause one of us has to be,” Annabeth sighed.

If Annabeth were smarter, she would’ve never agreed to spend the night to begin with. But it was way too late for that now.

They went back and joined the group, but Annabeth knew Rachel was staring (bordering on glaring) at her the entire rest of the night. She couldn’t even really blame her. She was going to be a hell of a lot more mad at Annabeth once she found out the reason Annabeth had pulled Percy away to begin with.

The very next day Annabeth was in her dorm room, trying to finish a project for her architecture class. It was due on Monday, but she’d been so distracted the entire week that she’d barely even made a dent in it at all. It wasn’t coming together the way she wanted to and Annabeth was three seconds away from snapping her pencil in half and throwing the whole draft away. Before she could, there was a sharp knock at the door.

Annabeth glanced down at her phone, but she didn’t see any texts. Maybe it was the RA doing an inspection, or maybe Piper had forgotten her key again.

But when Annabeth opened the door, she found Percy standing in the doorway. He spoke before Annabeth could even open her mouth.

“So, I told her,” Percy said, with absolutely no context. He knew she didn’t need it. Annabeth found herself gripping the door so tightly she thought her fingers might break.

“You did? What happened?” Annabeth asked, trying not to sound frantic. Why was he here? Why didn’t he just call her? What if Rachel had made him swear to never talk to her again and he was just here to say goodb--

“She asked me to tell her with 100% certainty that I didn’t have feelings for you,” Percy said, impossibly calm.

If Rachel had asked him that, why was he standing in Annabeth’s doorway?

“And?” Annabeth said, voice small. Her heart was practically pounding out of her chest, but Percy just shrugged.

“And, I couldn’t.”

“You couldn’t?” Annabeth repeated, just to make sure she had heard him correctly.

“Nope,” he said, easily, too easily, “To be honest, I couldn’t even give her like, 1% certainty, but that would’ve felt a little rude to say.”

“So…” Annabeth trailed off. She couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing. It didn’t make sense in her brain. Percy had feelings for her. And he’d broken up with Rachel, which meant— which meant—

“I think now is the part where you tell me if you like me back,” Percy said, interrupting her thoughts. He was smiling though, like he already knew the answer.

Annabeth did not currently have the mental wherewithal to form words. Thankfully her feet did the thinking for her, closing the already small distance between them and kissing him like she’d wanted to do for years.

“So I take it that’s a yes?” he said with a grin, when they finally broke apart. Annabeth was pleased to see he was a little breathless, at least.

“Shut up,” she laughed.

“Gladly,” he said, leaning down to kiss her again.

[utilitycaster]

Hello I would love to hear you thoughts on Caduceus and his arc. Clay is the only character who’s story has made me cry genuine tears (when he got his fam back) and I feel like his nuances and the changes he goes through tend to be overlooked a lot, exactly because of how quietly they happen.

Of course!

So as Taliesin said a few times and as I've pointed out, Caduceus (and Molly for that matter) was intended to be a static character. Obviously this is an impossibility in D&D because things happen and you cannot control it and moreover I am sure Taliesin is aware of this, so it's more that the intent was to have a character who did not feel they needed to change, possibly in contrast with Percy, who absolutely felt he needed to change. A self-proclaimed static character still needs a reason to be static: Molly's philosophy was, as notably stated on talks, "Life's short...do something to a bagel" and more generally the lack of need for change came from this sort of aimless and benevolent-when-convenient hedonism. Caduceus, on the other hand, is secure in his purpose. He has known who he was supposed to be for his whole life, and he embraces it, and sees no reason to change, until he absolutely has to, and even then he is deeply reluctant.

Caduceus is about what happens when your comfort zone and guiding principles themselves fold in on each other and are like "hey. expand us or else."

I think a lot of people have rightfully noted that from his appearance through the Xhorhas arc, Caduceus sees the rest of the Nein as mourners, and that's within his comfort zone. Sure, there are some moral quandaries at the docks of Nicodranas, but he's able to get through that (in part because he's in the Mighty Nein but isn't personally stealing the ship, in part because of Jester's talk with him). I think it's also worth noting that while Caduceus is extremely insightful he is not superhuman (super firbolgian?) in that regard; it is the insight borne of being someone who is there for mourners and so he has a good eye for emotions, less so for motivations, and a lot of the Nein's motivations early on escape him.

The first wave of big changes happen in Bazzoxan and the immediate aftermath. First, Fjord confides in him and asks for advice - and Caduceus is used to giving advice but I'm not sure he's ever had to offer religious practice advice, as the people he would have interacted with would have either been the sketchy people of Shady Creek Run, or else people already faithful enough to seek the Blooming Grove. And second, the party finds itself directionless for a time; there is no pressing business or better ideas and he cannot hide his own mission behind someone else's, so he voices his recommendation that they come clean to the Bright Queen, and then they go to the kiln.

Caduceus's relationship with Fjord I think is useful to bring up in a sense of contrast, in that Caduceus is incredibly good at helping Fjord through a crisis, because Caduceus is trained for crisis - but it gets much hazier once Fjord is out of said crisis and as it turns out has a very different relationship with the Wildmother, and I think this comes up to an extent when they talk in Rexxentrum. I think Caduceus, for all his talk of nature's violence, struggles with the concept of nature being malevolent or having goals - it just is. Whereas Fjord is much more comfortable with the idea of nature perhaps being a force that is itself a threat, or deceptive, and more generally with the idea of nature as somewhat unknowable and full of mysteries. I don't think Caduceus's personal view of nature ever changes, but I think his ability to process that he doesn't have the answers even in the areas within his comfort zone improves, and this is something of an inflection point with regards to him acknowledging new perspectives on his own comfort zone.

It's also a little before this that we see Caduceus reveal vulnerability for the first real time since his panic attack on the boat right after they stole it, when he confides in The Gentleman. Some of this is a calculated social move, to be fair, but it's a notable step forward.

That said it takes a while to change and he spends a few days post-Rexxentrum doing anything to avoid facing his own mission. It's worth noting that Caduceus is a cleric of the same level as Jester, and could have cast sending before the party ever met up with him, and he never did. So they go to Beau's father and Isharnai first, putting it off as long as he can.

Caduceus's scenes with his family sort of snap all of the above into place, in that his parents are glad he's spent some time in the world and are completely accepting of his desire to keep going for a time. I'm honestly not sure, myself, why he does this because I don't think it's metagaming (ie, it's not Taliesin going 'I can't make a third character') but I think there are multiple valid interpretations. Caduceus's role, as the one who stays at home, is ultimately a self-imposed one.

He sort of mulls on that for the next while, sort of uncomfortably internalizing differing perspectives on deities with the Artagan reveal/Rumblecusp and additionally processing his own deeper relationship with the Wildmother, with multiple visions, and maybe even the fact that nature constantly wants to murder him.

Then we get to Eiselcross and that's when it all hits. I think as soon as he sees the corrupted trees he gets a sense of the scale, that this corruption is not just unnatural but it is ancient and has been a threat for a long time and that staving it off at the Blooming Grove is not getting at the unknown, underlying source (which he probably knew deep down, but as discussed above he does not really love to admit those things to himself). And he realizes that he might need to be the one not just to commit but to initiate violence, as the person with no emotional ties to Lucien via Molly; he finds himself bending his own moral rules for the greater good more; and I think this is when he realizes either that he needs to change, or perhaps that he's been changing quietly and slowly the whole time and has just been terrified to admit it.

The last night at the Blooming Grove before the final push into Aeor is another good look at Caduceus, who, like a number of characters in this campaign, is so very much defined by his ongoing and important familial relationships. We get a brief but heartbreaking glimpse at the state he was in prior to the Nein showing up in the garden, and how he was trying to induce something, anything, to give him direction because he didn't trust himself to leave without that assurance; and his admission, finally, to someone else of that change, that he never wanted to be the person to go on an adventure, that he still has very mixed feelings about it, but that this is his responsibility. And it's that which allows him to confidently say, on Cognouza, that it's time to end this shit.

In short (Clue the Movie voice: too late) Caduceus's arc is someone who has always believed in his sacred, literally god-given responsibility into which he was born, and struggles against the fact that said sacred responsibility ends up being quite different than what he expected but ultimately is able to accept it, and his reward is that he can return to the responsibility he initially embraced, having grown in ways he could not have otherwise.

Now, I think part of why Caduceus's arc gets overlooked is twofold. The first reason is that background arcs are, well, background, and it's quiet and subtle and highly internal and hard to turn into big dramatic moments, which, as a person whose favorite C1 character is Vex, I understand, but also those arcs are the best.

The second, and this is going to sound even more "I appreciate the muppets on a much deeper level than you" than the first, is that I feel a lot of people who considered Caduceus their favorite character did lean into the myth of "superfirbolgian" insight when the fact always was that Caduceus had no interest in the political; did not make Trent quake in his wizard robes in the slightest as was confirmed in the finale; and ultimately wanted most of all to return to his home.

It's a very true and very unique choice and if I may [note: I am writing this so I do what I want] I think a lot of people did not understand Caduceus in that they felt his ending was unhappy for him, and some of this is that people had really stupid takes on the party splitting at the end. I have mixed feelings on the true universality of the Campbellian Monomyth and even more mixed feelings on everyone giving Dan Harmon tons of credit for merely rephrasing it but despite that, Caduceus's arc fits it perfectly (and very literally): comfort zone -> need arises -> unfamiliar situation -> adaptation -> gets what he wants -> at a price -> returns to comfort -> having changed.

[perseabethj]

i don't really have an explanation (iii.)

They had meant to study. Percy had a history text the upcoming week and Annabeth had offered to help him revise, so they really had meant to study. However, they were also seventeen-year-old teenagers and they hadn’t seen each other in almost three weeks, which is why they were currently making out on Percy’s bed, both of their shirts thrown onto the ground and their hands moving across each other’s body.

Percy’s senses were completely focused on the little whimpering noises that Annabeth made every time he grazed her neck with his lips or his hands pressed down on her hips a little bit harder. He could tell she wasn’t paying attention to the outside world either -her lips swollen, her cheeks flushed, her hair a mess and her eyes closed as she threw her head back to give him more access to her neck. Percy liked many Annabeths: the one who could talk about architecture nonstop for three hours, the one who always stopped to pet dogs on the street, the one who would curse in ancient Greek for five minutes straight when she stubbed her pinky toe, the one who would throw him out of the kitchen so she could bake cookies with Sally and talk about the most recent exhibition at the MET and more. Nonetheless, this Annabeth was one of his favourites, completely carefree and trusting in his hands and free of worries and nightmares and pain. When he went to sleep at night and he was worried that he might have a bad dream, he liked to think of this Annabeth to try and make sure that his dreams would be peaceful. When he was nearing his breaking point during run-ins with bullies, he liked to think of this Annabeth to remind himself that she was waiting for him and that she wouldn’t want him to do something he might regret. He loved this Annabeth, and he loved caressing her with loving hands and touches, making sure that she was comfortable and happy.

They both knew they wouldn’t be going all the way today -Sally was in the kitchen with Estelle, and Paul was in the living room marking exams, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t enjoy each other for a little while. However, they knew Sally wouldn’t enter (they liked to think that it was because she trusted them, but they knew that it was actually because she had been even more embarrassed than them when she had walked in on them making out when they had first started dating), so they weren’t worried about being caught.

‘’We should be studying,’’ Annabeth whispered between kisses.

Percy smiled softly and hummed in agreement before sucking on a certain spot on her neck, eliciting a soft moan from Annabeth as she let herself be laid down on the bed.

‘’Percy, I’m serious,’’ she said, pausing between words. ‘’You need to study.’’

‘’I have an anatomy test coming up in two weeks,’’ he answered, blowing softly on the spot his lips had been on, ‘’and I’d say I’m studying pretty well.’’

Annabeth tried to laugh, but it was cut short when she gasped for air as Percy descended from her neck to her chest.

‘’I don’t think your history teacher will find that excuse acceptable.’’

‘’I don’t find his lessons acceptable and here we are.’’

Finally admitting defeat and realising that no more history was going to be revised, Annabeth turned them around and straddled Percy.

‘’Well, if that’s the case-‘’

Before she could finish the sentence, the door to Percy’s room flew open, showing his friends from school with their backpacks on and a smile that quickly morphed into a surprised look.

‘’Hi -oh, fuck, sorry, fuck! TMI, TMI!’’ Kayla exclaimed, turning around and bumping into Matthew, who hadn’t moved.

This was followed by an exclamation of curses in ancient Greek from Annabeth -he’d like to say he was too embarrassed to feel anything besides the flaming heat on his cheeks, but he’d be lying if he said her dirty vocabulary didn’t turn him on a little bit-, and the couple rushed to put on their clothes. It was easier for Annabeth, who grabbed Percy’s shirt and threw it on, leaving him with a shirt way too small that definitely didn’t fit him and, therefore, shirtless.

‘’Beth, I know Malcolm said it was cute when we wore each other’s clothes, but I don’t think he meant me wearing your old camp t-shirt from when you were fourteen.’’

Annabeth quickly elbowed him before running her hands through her hair to tame it and rushing to his dresser to get him something to wear. She needed to move; otherwise, she’d be forced to face Percy’s friends, and she’d rather face a hydra than actually talk about her making out with her boyfriend on his bed with his family in the room next door.

‘’We came to study history together and your mum told us to come in,’’ Louis said. ‘’She did mention Annabeth being over, but…’’

‘’Yes, um, she, uh…’’ Percy stammered. ‘’She came to help me with history, actually.’’

‘’And anatomy?’’ Matthew asked, a sly grin on his face.

‘’You know what?’’ Annabeth said before they could be embarrassed further. ‘’I’m going to help Sally with the cookies or Estelle. Whichever is giving her more trouble.’’

She moved towards the door, and Percy’s friends moved to let her pass. When she left the room, Percy smiled at his friends -he was not as embarrassed as Annabeth, considering these were his friends and they would have been stupid to think he didn’t make out with his girlfriend whenever he could-, but the situation was still uncomfortable.

Just before he opened his mouth to finally say something, Annabeth came back into his room, cheeks even redder than before and hands fidgeting non-stop.

‘’I’m wearing your shirt,’’ she whisper-shouted. ‘’I’m wearing your shirt and your mum noticed. I’m wearing your shirt and your mum noticed and now I can’t show my face around here ever again.’’

The tension was finally broken when Percy let out a loud laugh as Annabeth left the room again to change her shirt in the bathroom and Percy’s friends laughed as well, mocking Percy before finally managing to convince him to study World War II.

[fandomlovingfreak]

Mrs. Weasley, Dear (7/?)

George Weasley/Reader

Sequel to You Can’t Marry a Malfoy

Rating: E for everyone. Triggers include talk of pregnancy.

Word Count: 871

MasterList Link I AO3 Link

Summary: Reader and George Weasley have been married for six months now. After their whirlwind romance, including a Pureblood Marriage Contract with a special clause, confessions of love from both, and a quick wedding, everything seems right in their world. Domestic life seems like it was meant for them.

Notes: Midterm season is upon us so I’m going to be somewhat slow getting chapters out :( But I promise I’m still trying to write as quick as possible, it just won’t be a perfect “every night” situation currently. Also, If you have any ideas of one shots I beg you to please send them to me. I’m currently writing for George (duh) and I want to write more about Fred!

Enjoy

It shouldn't be possible that George feels like he's fallen deeper in love with (y/n), but it seems like he finds a new reason why he does with each passing day. He can't help it. (y/n) is the most wonderful, amazing woman.  And now that they're expecting? He's never felt this kind of love before, watching their life take full form. 

"What are you thinking about?" (y/n) asks from her spot on the couch. She has one of his sweaters on; the one mum made him last year for Christmas. (y/n) had her own, had received her own sweater from Molly since they were kids each Christmas, but she always managed to steal his whenever she got the chance. Especially now, though, he finds her in this particular sweater often when they're home.

"Just how I like you in my clothing," he smiles flirtatiously at her. 

(y/n) rolls her eyes, "So I thought we could have your our families over tomorrow? For dinner?"

"Yes?" He thinks he knows where this is going.

"I think we should tell them."

He scoots closer to her, taking her hand in his own, "Can we? I mean--"

"I want to. I don't like keeping them a secret" (y/n) rests their joined hands on her stomach. George glances down at their hands, grinning wider.

***

Somehow they're able to fit (y/n)'s parents in at the table with his entire massive family. They always seem to be slightly uncomfortable for the first few minutes in the Weasley clan's company, suddenly surrounded by the chaos of a large family. He doesn't blame his in-laws. It probably is a bit shocking compared to their one-child family. Yet, the moment everything starts to mellow down, the enthusiastic greetings between his family (who have no right to act like they haven't seen one another in a decade when they all have dinner at least once a week) have finished, the (y/l/n)'s seem more at ease in this environment.

(y/n)'s food sensitivity has mellowed out as well in the past month. She can be around some (not all) of the foods that caused her discomfort. They together had put an easy dinner that wouldn't upset her stomach in any way, just in case, though. 

Everyone's settled in, eating and chatting about the different affairs going on. Recently, Percy had been engaged to no other than (y/n)'s friend Audrey, who is also attending tonight's festivities. (y/n) had been ecstatic when she found out the two had been dating secretly after their wedding, citing that their wedding brought together the couple. And now, here they were engaged. (y/n) loved to point out that she had called this when they saw them dancing together. Most of the conversation seems to surround the upcoming wedding. Of course, they both were invited to be in the wedding party, (y/n) as the maid of honor and George as a groomsman. 

As they're talking about the future, he can't help but get excited to tell them about him and (y/n)'s news. He takes his wife's hand in his, squeezing gently. She looks over at him, mid-conversation and smiles.

 ***

(y/n)'s corralled the entire family into the living room under the pretense of a drink. He helps pour a bit for everyone, minus (y/n), which he's sure is a dead giveaway. He catches their mothers side-eyeing this little detail and wonders if they've figured out somethings up. They probably have. His mum for sure would already be suspicious, and he doesn't doubt that his mother-in-law is just as clever as his mother. 

George sits down in one of the armchairs, (y/n) perching on the arm. He wraps his arm around her waist, pulling her down onto his lap. 

Again, the family falls into a comfortable chattering. No one questions why (y/n) doesn't hold a glass until Ron speaks.

"Why doesn't (y/n) have a drink?" This thought catches Hermione's attention, who looks at her boyfriend for a beat before looking over at George and (y/n). Hermione's eyes widen as she connects the dots. 

(y/n) glances at George, silently trying to decide if she's just going to blurt it out. But, he beats her to it, too excited to stop his mouth from speaking.

"Because (y/n) is pregnant." (y/n) blinks at him before turning back towards the room that's gone so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"Are you?" (y/n)'s mother asks.

"I am. We are--" The room erupts in questions and congratulations. 

Fleur, his mum, and (y/mother/n) are talking excitedly about having hand-me-downs for them, while the rest of the group is asking to touch (y/n)'s stomach or how far along she is.

"I have so much baby clothing saved of George and Fr--" Molly catches herself quickly. She probably assumed she'd be saving Fred's childhood stuff for his own family, not offering it up to George now.

"You have Freddie's stuff? Can--Can we have that too?" George finds himself asking.

His mum looks teary-eyed but nods, "Of course you can."

***

Once everyone's left, and they've gotten the house back in order, they sit back in their quiet living room. (y/n) has her feet in George's lap as she reads. Everything is right at this moment. He couldn't be happier.

[eleven-times-lively]

You and Me

I have a request for Percy! Perhaps the reader is head girl and as head boy Percy spends a lot of time with her but they are kinda pining for each other and eventually admit their feelings? Bonus points if the reader is a hufflepuff!

Summary: You and Percy have loved each other for years, yet neither of you seemed to realize it. Word Count: 1276 Note: This is deliciously fluffy and I’m super proud of it. A little saucy but no real smut. Enjoy!💕

As Dumbledore droned on you couldn’t help but stare at the red haired boy beside you. It was the weekly prefects and head students meeting, and it was Dumbledore’s typical lecture on presentation and restraint. As soul-draining and boring as it was, the meetings gave you an excuse to stare at Percy Weasley for an hour. You’d admired him ever since you’d met at your first prefects meeting in fifth year… shame that he barely noticed you.

“And don’t forget to monitor the common rooms after dark.” Dumbledore cleared his throat, excusing the students with a wave of his hand.

“Pity how we can hear the same information so many times, yet half of the students here fail to retain it.” You chuckled, walking out with Percy.

As he laughed lightly his hand brushed against your own. You could’ve sworn you felt his fingers twitch in desire. “Well,” he spoke up when you reached the Gryffindor common room, “my fellow head-student it seems that this is my stop.” He gave you a warm smile and a wink before heading inside.

The warmth that spread throughout you was unrecognizable, this boy was doing things to you. Taking your time walking back to your own common room, you thought of all of the lovely things you could do with Percy if only he loved you as much as you loved him. 

***

Percy flopped down onto his bed, letting out a puff of air. He had a chance, and he wasted it. He thought of your hair bouncing as you walked, the tone your voice took when you were reprimanding students, or the way your head girl badge shone in that sunlight as it was always perfectly polished. You were the girl of his dreams, he hasn’t said anything for years, and you still hadn’t noticed him

***

The next night it was time for rounds, and you had been paired with Percy. “I don’t understand why they’d pair two different houses together,” you mused.

“More authority,” Percy spoke. He was always levelheaded, ready with a viable and succinct answer. “How was your day, y/n?”

“Great, thank you. Yours?”

“Quite boring. I find myself spending most of my time in the library preparing for NEWTS.”

You nodded your head in agreement, humming softly. As the pair of you rounded the corner, you heard a low growl seemingly coming from the woodwork. You jumped up in fright, bumping straight into Percy. “Ooh,” he exclaimed, having the wind knocked out of him in shock. You took a moment to regain your composure, while also relishing in the situation. His arms were wrapped protectively around you, lips dangerously close to your neck, hands dangerously close to your hips. He must’ve noticed how long you lingered in his arms, as he shuffled back awkwardly. “Everything alright?”

“Yeah,” you tried to brush it off, “thought I heard something.” Thoroughly embarrassed, you spend the rest of the night a noticeable distance from Percy, not wanting to make the boy more uncomfortable than you clearly already had. However, Percy awkwardly shifting his robes around his hips hadn’t gone unnoticed to you.

You tiptoed back into the dorms, trying not to wake anyone as you wandered round the halls. You pushed open the door to your dorm - empty thanks to you being head girl and a seventh year - and locked your door behind you. You stripped off your robes, putting on your silk night robes and sauntering over to the bed. You thought of Percy, his perfect face, his silky red hair, his penchant for authority. Your breathing picked up and your heart rate increased. Your cheeks flushed as you dipped a hand below your sheets, toying with the ideas of all the things Percy could do to you. 

***

The next morning at breakfast you entered the great hall to Percy talking with his brothers. He looked tense, uncomfortable.

“Oi, Percy!” Charlie piped up. “Just talk to her! I’m sure she feels the same.” His booming voice echoed, allowing you to hear. However, you couldn’t hear whatever delightfully meek Percy had muttered.

“Just needs to get laid,” Bill chuckled, wandering off.

You frowned, unsure of what to make of what you had heard. And to think, you were about to tell the boy you loved him. At least you heard him talking before you made a fool of yourself. Clearly he was in love with someone else. 

Percy turned his head, trying to not look at his babbling brother. He turned just in time to see you dashing out of the great hall. A bit confused, and a bit brave, he decided to follow. After all he did care, whether you cared about him just as much or not.

“Y/n!” Percy called, catching up to you just as you rounded the corner.

“Percy,” you huffed, stopping and turning on your heel. You quickly wiped away the few tears that had fallen. 

“Y/n”, he whispered, almost unable to be heard. “What’s wrong?” He placed his hand on your forearm, attempting to soothe you.

“Nothing Percy,” you choked out. Your lips pressed into a thin line and you blinked rapidly, emotions betraying you. 

“I know that isn’t true, darling.” He looked at you with a slight frown, eyes searching for the truth. “Tell me.”

“Can we go upstairs?” You looked at him, pleading. He nodded, allowing you to lead the way.

You let him into your common room, sneaking him up and into your dorm. 

“Well?” He said, looking down at you as you sat on the bed. 

You took a deep breath, collecting your thoughts. “I’m so sorry Percy. I’m sorry if I’ve sent you the wrong signals, or made you uncomfortable, or whatever made you not like me. I just feel so stupid.” You buried your face in your hands, unable to look Percy in the eye.

“Y/n,” he whispered. He placed his hands over yours, removing them from your face. He was crouching directly in front of you, staring deep into your eyes. “Y/n.” You looked at him, scared to speak. “I love you. I’m not sure what gave you the impression otherwise, but whatever it was I apologize. I’ve loved you for so long, darling. If anything, I thought it was you that didn’t love me. Please don’t feel stupid, you’re the most brilliant woman I know. Please have me.” His eyes were glowing as he stared at you, innocently pleading.

“I love you too, Percy.” You leaned down, capturing his lips in a loving, passionate kiss. You moved slowly against each other, savoring in the unique bliss.

He stood to meet your level, and you instinctively wrapped your legs around his waist. He groaned into the kiss, savoring the new angle. You felt him hardening against you, and began to rut your hips on him. You moaned, allowing him to deepen the kiss. His tongue explored every inch of you as you continued to tease his hardening length.

“Y/n,” he broke, huffing, “Are you sure about this?”

“Absolutely.” He pushed you back further onto the bad, looming over you, ready to deepen your love for each other.

***

You awoke nuzzled into the chest of a still sleeping Percy. You breathed in his oaky scent, running your fingers along his bare chest. He stirred slightly, peering down at you.

“Morning, darling,” he groaned, voice still laced with sleep. He smiled at you, enjoying your fresh, rested face.

“I love you,” you whispered, burying your head in his neck.

“I love you, too.” He kissed your forehead, humming into it before glancing around the room, ready for his new relationship ahead.

[aknosde]

Okay so I’m thinking about the found family trope and the seven, right? Now, usually there are two figures that are seen as the parents, everyone thinks that they are responsible and super smart and ready to talk about emotions and basically they are the leaders. So the obvious choices would be Annabeth and Jason right? They meet most of the criteria, and this is even what we see during the week that is Mark of Athena. Some people might suggest Hazel or Frank as runners up, they’re super kind and huggable and cute, right? (at least that’s what fandom often reduces their characters to) Or maybe Piper? We know she’s good at emotions. Do you know who the parent actually is? Percy.

Percy’s been taking care of other kids for forever. He protects the other kids at school who get bullied. He assumes total and complete responsibility for Nico’s action at the age of thirteen. He’s received more shit in four years than anyone else has (except maybe Hazel cus she, you know... died). He’s proven to be extremely aware of his feelings, to the point where it can get uncomfortable. He’s a whiz at reading people and can tell when something is wrong. His intuition pertaining to any situation is amazing. Without further ado I present to you possible situations on the Argo II:

He pulls Leo back to the group, time and time again. He knows what it’s like to feel out of place, and he pulls away sometimes too. He lets Leo yell at him and be mad at him, and he’s there with a strong hug and a grimace that melts into an actual smile when Leo gives in. He makes bad puns or rambles in Spanish until Leo falls asleep when he’s staying up too late, and they talk about their moms and sometimes what their home lives used to be. 

Percy and Hazel are definitely the closest. They go into in depth conversations about the state of the world. He hunts around the Argo looking for paper and pencils for her and they doodle together during meetings sometimes. They have a lot of late night chats in her cabin, he’s the only person she trusts to braid her hair, and he’s really good at it. She braids his hair occasionally too, it’s the closest to hers. They call each other siblings and when they talk with mortals on a mission they introduce the other as ‘my brother’ or ‘my sister’ 

During a watch shift with Piper they start talking and she says she found him unimpressive when they first met. He wholeheartedly agrees. After that they become very honest with each other, in a way they aren’t with almost anyone else. He watches Piper charm speak and sees how uncomfortable it makes her sometimes. They have a lot of ‘sidebars’ during group conversations. He asks her how she is feeling, since she asks everyone else and feels the burden of their emotions. 

If Percy had to rank the people he loves Frank would be very high on that list. On the Argo he makes a point of asking Frank about his family, about how he’s dealing with his grandmother’s death. They tease each other by complimenting each other. They hype each other up. They also train a lot together, both of their powers can be unpredictable, and Percy’s set on becoming passable with a bow and arrow. They have a secret handshake with Hazel. 

Jason was the hardest person for Percy to crack, mostly because being around Jason threw him into many conflicting feelings. But they’re both afraid of never regaining all of their memories, and after that it doesn’t take long. They talk a lot about their lives before Hera, they talk about what has been going on at the other camps. Jason has gifted kid burnout and it takes two seconds into a real conversation for Percy to realize it. He also keeps Jason in check, putting a hand on his shoulder when Jason is slipping into the ‘I’m most qualified’ mindset he was raised to have. 

And of course there’s Annabeth, although that’s different because she’s his girlfriend. Percy can read Annabeth like a nautical map. He knows when she’s about to spiral on a topic and is there hugging her from behind and distracting her with a chaste kiss. He pulls her aside and waits for her to piece her feelings together, offering to spar because she expresses her feelings physically and that’s when she has the best emotional revelations. He listens to her rants and draws out the part she’s actually upset about, then forms his own logical responses, outlining them clearly because she can spew out a hodgepodge of information but intake is something completely different.

He’s the first to step back from a mission, only insisting on coming if he’s positive he can offer something the others can’t. He cleans the communal spaces and reminds people that laundry is a thing that needs to be washed. He fixes rips in people’s clothes because he has passable sewing skills but keeps them in his own because that would be waisting thread and also ‘the aesthetic’ He wears his hoodies oversized so no matter what he’ll offer it and it’ll fit. He’s the first to offer to patch other up after a fight, even when he’s injured. Surprisingly, he’s one of the most medically competent among the crew. He wakes up ridiculously early and runs laps around the deck, and people join him. He cooks proper meals (without the magic plates). Ones that he’s known since he was little, and he invites people into the kitchen while he cooks. He and Leo argue about spices, he and Piper talk about meat substitutes, he adds cinnamon to the mug of hot chocolate Frank makes for him and he teases Jason about liking white people food. When he sets Annabeth’s plate in front of her he says it was made with love and winks, and when Hazel falls asleep at the table he picks her up and tucks her into bed before making sure Leo gets some sleep too. 

[pls-let-me-out]

The Selection

For thirthy-five youngers, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince William.

But for Niccolò Jackson, formerly di Angelo, being Selected is a nightmare. It means leaving his home to enter a fierce competition for a crown he doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks. Especially when he knows that his family has rebel affiliations. Just one slip as he talks of them, and he will be executed for treason. So, when he is chosen to participate, he has a simple plan: get in, don’t do absolutely anything to attract the Prince’s attention, and be sent home after the first week.

Of course, things start going down-hill since the first day.

 After saying good-bye to his younger sister Hazel, with the promise of writing, the last thing Nico wants to do is socializing with the other suitors. Not only would it be absolutely tiring, but he also finds it useless, as they are meant to be competitors for the same prize. None of them will cultivate any long-lasting relationship. Not that the others are too heartbroken to see him disappear, they have been eyeing him weirdly since he first set foot down the plane. He isn’t the one from the lowest cast, but most of the others are from the higher ones.

Nico is a Six, or has been so for the last few years. It’s the cast of workers. He doesn’t know how much of a background-check they’ve done at the Palace, how much the Prince actually knows about him. However, it has taken Nico exactly a look at the other two suitors from the lower castes (Elise, a Seven, a manual laborer; James, a fellow Six) to know that they are the charity cases. Every time a Selection is held, people from all castes (except Eights) are brought to the Palace, but it’s always clear that they won’t stay for long. They are often ignored by the other suitors and the Royals. It’s fine by Nico. He will be paid for staying a week.

The gardens are at least pretty. Nico has to admit as much. There’s a maze somewhere, which he doesn’t want to see even from afar, and old statues in white marble are scattered around. If Hazel were here, she would love the place. Nico finds it a bit overboard. There’s a golden plaque on the ground. Nico bends to read the descriptions.

“Forgive me,” someone says, and Nico almost jumps out of his skin. “Are you lost, sir?”

Nico turns around, hiding the cigarette behind himself. Useless, since it just makes the smoke come from behind him. The person he comes face to face with has widened blue eyes. Oh shit.

So much for not being noticed, Nico thinks. In complete silence, he stares at the Prince, and the Prince stares right back at him. Nico hopes that, if he gets away from the situation at hand quickly enough, the Prince will forget his face. Poor people probably look all the same to pricks like him, anyway.

“Hey!” The Prince exclaims, and a smile brightens his features. “You are one of the suitors, aren’t you? I’m Prince William, it’s nice to meet you.”

Prince William extends a hand, and Nico has to switch the cigarette in the other hand to shake it.

“Niccolò Jackson,” Nico says. Should he say that it’s nice to meet him? How is he supposed to know how to greet a Prince? He lets go of the Prince’s hand.

“It’s very nice to meet you,” the Prince continues. “However, shouldn’t you be socializing with the other suitors?”

Nico sighs. “It’s not really my scene. Sorry.” He shrugs.

“Oh.” The Prince rubs the back of his neck, looking around uncomfortably.

“You don’t have to stay,” Nico says. He craves peace and quiet, and he can’t get it when the whole reason he has been taken away from the family in the first place is right in front of him. “You can just go. I’m sure you have very important things to do.”

“I do, as a matter of fact. Greeting every suitor, for example.”

“Consider me greeted.” Nico nods one last time at the Prince, before giving him his back and inhaling the smoke of his cigarette. He really hopes they aren’t being filmed right now, or Sally will kick his ass once he gets home.

“I – you shouldn’t be smoking,” the Prince continues.

“Will you put me in jail if I do?”

The Prince seems even more taken aback, and Nico is starting to feel impatient. He wants to go home and sleep for the next few years, but he can’t, because of course he just had to be one of thirty-five idiots sorted from the whole kingdom. That’s just the kind of luck that follows him around these days.

“Well?” Nico asks again. “Will you put me in jail?”

“Of course no! But it’s bad for-”

“Bad for me, so mind your own business.”

And with that, Nico stomps away. They won’t even notice I’m there, Nico told Hazel before leaving, when she was still in bed with her hair wrapped in her scarf. I’ll be a shadow. I’ll sneak something out of the Palace for you, though. She laughed, until her lungs started burning again, and she got cut off by a heavy round of coughs.

 Nico shares his suite with a guy named something he can’t pronounce. He’s a Two, an actor. He informs Nico of that himself, and also asks whether Nico wants an autograph. It’s almost heartbreaking, how Nico has to inform him that he has never seen any of his movies.

“It must be such an upgrade for you,” the guy continues, from where he is perched on the sofa, watching him unpack through the open door of the bedroom. “Passing from being a Six to a Three. You know you will be a Three when this is all over, don’t you? Of course I will remain a Two, unless the Prince chooses me. Then I’d be a One. Don’t you find it so-?”

Nico doesn’t hear the rest. He closes the door, muttering something about taking a bath. He just sits on the bed, and lets the hours pass. He doesn’t get out of his room until it’s dinner time, when they are brought food into the suite. Actor-boy tells him that he will be dining with the girls in the next suite, and leaves Nico behind.

 The following day the suitors have breakfast together. Only one place is left vacant at the table, by the time food arrives.

“Is it for the Prince?” The girl next to him asks another. “Should we wait for him?”

The other shakes her head. “Oh, no. It’s for Drew Tanaka. She will be having breakfast with her family, though.”

Nico furrows his eyebrows, sipping his coffee quietly. Shouldn’t that not be allowed? They can keep their phones and contact their families, also post on social media, but they shouldn’t be traveling home. And does she intend on traveling home every day?

“Her father’s a lord,” the second girl responds. “Her family lives here.” She snorts. “Didn’t you research anything about the other suitors?”

“I didn’t think it was allowed.”

“And it isn’t,” a third girl says. She sighs. “Honestly. Just don’t talk about breaking the rules so openly at the breakfast table. You don’t even know who is listening.”

Nico feels her eyes on his face, but he doesn’t look up from his coffee. Once again, he wishes he were in his own home, even if it means having to deal with Percy and his obnoxiousness. Maybe he can stay just for a few days, thinking better about it.

When breakfast is over, they are brought to a circular room. The smell of flowers in there is almost nauseating, and Nico wishes he could open the windows. But Jasmine – the woman who showed them around yesterday – is already giving him weird looks. If he were to step closer to the window, she would probably think him in the middle of a robbery of windows. So he walks around the room while he waits for his turn, stopping every once in a while to admire the paintings on the walls.

“You aren’t a Five, are you?”

Nico almost jumps out of his skin. Again. This time at least it isn’t the Prince in front of him, but the third girl from the breakfast table. Nico shakes his head.

“Six,” he says. “But not only Fives can watch art, you know.”

“I guess,” she responds, shrugging a bare shoulder. The girls are wearing elegant dresses, and hers has a particularly large gown. Nico is in a suit, which he looks like an idiot in. “I’m Lou Ellen, Two.”

“Niccolò Jackson,” Nico says. “Six.”

“You already said that.”

Nico shrugs, without anything left to say. He turns back to the painting.

“You don’t look particularly happy to be here,” she continues. “Don’t you want to woo Will?”

Nico turns back to her. “Who’s Will?”

“Prince William.” She doesn’t hide a smile. “He’s a friend of mine. So, are you going to woo him?”

“That’s just the least my charming personality can do,” Nico replies. There’s a smudge of something in the corner of the painting, which is in equal measure disgusting for the viewers and horrifically disrespectful to the artist.

Lou Ellen laughs. “I guess so. Why are you here if you don’t think you can woo him?”

Nico shrugs. “Aren’t they paying us?”

“Chapeau,” Lou Ellen concedes. She takes a deep breath. “You don’t seem very interested in making friends.”

“That’s because we won’t be friends for long. Ten go away after this first week, or fifteen, I didn’t really read all that well. After that, everyone who has stayed will try their best to remain again, beat the others somehow. At some point, people will just be stabbing each other in the back.”

“Will you?”

Nico scoffs. “I won’t stay that long. Me, the other Six, and the girl from Seven. We are the three everyone is certain will leave after this week. We are placeholders.”

Lou Ellen is called in next. They’re going by order of the castes, so Nico is the third-last to go in. He finds the Prince seated at the round table, the breeze entering from the window is ruffling his blond hair. His lips are already pulled in a smile when Nico enters. It makes him shiver.

“Mr. Jackson,” the Prince says. “It’s very nice to see you again.”

The Prince gestures to the enormous teapot and the two empty mugs. There are also many types of sweets, and the lemon-cake Hazel likes so much. Just thinking of her has nostalgia blossom in Nico’s chest, and they have only been apart for a day.

“Are you glaring at the lemon cake?” The Prince asks.

Nico startles. He quickly sits at the free chair. “No.”

“Are you allergic?”

“No.” Nico clears his throat.

“May I offer you some tea?”

“I really despise tea,” Nico replies. He crosses his arms on the chest, leaning back. The Prince pours some for himself. “Also, isn’t it your thirty-third cup?”

The Prince smiles. “Yup. Believe it or not, there are people who enjoy a good cup of tea.”

“I can believe that, but thirty-three in a morning is a bit of a stretch. Won’t you get indigestion or something?”

“Is that a threat?”

“From the one who thought that it would be alright to let you drink thirty-three cups of tea in a morning, maybe,” Nico replies. He grins. “Not for the poor soul who is just the witness. Should I tell the thirty-fifth to let you take a toilet break?”

The Prince laughs. “I really hope you know we are being filmed, and this is a live-stream.”

Nico taps his foot on the ground. He isn’t used to being on camera anymore, although Hazel often posts short videos in which he also appears on her profiles on social media. He doesn’t have to talk in those, though.

“You really know how to put people at ease,” Nico comments. “What are you going to tell me next, that your parents are watching in the next room, ready to intervene if I ask you too much about your toilet habits?”

“They only intervene if you are unreasonably sarcastic.”

“That’s a very charming and fancy way of telling me to shut up.”

“Oh dear – tell me you aren’t one of those eat the royal folks.”

“Didn’t you run a background check on me or something?”

“Well, yes, but I wasn’t shown any of that,” the Prince admits. He shrugs. “So, uh. I don’t know much about you.”

Nico nods, and stares at the table. It’s covered by a really horrible, red and golden tablecloth. It’s exactly the type of thing Nico should have expected to find in the Palace.

“Cool,” Nico says.

“What’s cool?”

Not this tablecloth. He doesn’t say that. “Not much.”

The Prince nods. “Alright.” He clears his throat.

There’s a long, awkward silence. Nico should deal better with awkward, really. That’s all conversations ever are with him. There are stilted words, long, stretching silences. He wishes the ground would open under him.

“How much longer do I have to stay?” Nico finally asks.

“Where?”

In this hellish hole. “Here. Now. In the tea-room, I mean.”

“We should go for a walk,” the Prince says.

“Not together, right?”

“Ah.”

“I mean, no offense, but this is frankly embarrassing,” Nico says. He leans forward in his seat. “I just really need a cigarette.”

“I’ve never smoked one.”

“I really hope you aren’t trying to get one of mine.”

“I was just trying to make conversation.”

And the Prince makes a strange kind of puppy eyes, which Nico has only ever seen Hazel make. And Percy, occasionally, but his just annoy Nico to an unbelievable level.

“So, what do you do in your free-time?” Nico blurts out, hoping to erase the Prince’s eyes.

“Oh, I study,” the Prince says. “I really enjoy reading, and learning in general. I particularly enjoy Philosophy, which I usually study on my own. I have tutors, of course. Although at the moment I am having some problems with Physics. I have also tried studying French a couple of years back, but I wasn’t really good at that. It was just so horrible.”

“Learning French sucks,” Nico concedes, thinking back to his own struggles with the language. “But not as much as learning Latin.”

“You know Latin?”

Nico shrugs. He shouldn’t have said that, should he? The Prince has already said that he doesn’t know much of his background, so maybe he also doesn’t know that Nico hasn’t always been a Six. Hell, he wasn’t even always called Niccolò Jackson.

“I know Ancient Greek.”

Nico nods. “Sounds fancy.” He doesn’t say that he knows that, too.

The Prince almost seems to be having problems controlling all his energy. His finger curl and uncurl around the armrests of the chair. His gaze shifts more than once to the windows and the gardens. When Nico follows his eyes, he doesn’t see anything, though.

A bell rings, startling the Prince out of his reverie.

“It seems that our time is up,” the Prince says.

The Prince stands, and Nico does the same, giving him an even-more-than-awkward nod, and turning to leave.

“It was really nice meeting you!” The Prince continues, when Nico’s hand is already on the doorknob.

Nico turns back, to give him a tight-lipped smile, catching the Prince empty the mug of tea out of the window. It startles a laugh out of him. The Prince turns, his eyes widened at having been caught in the act. His cheeks dust in red, and it only makes Nico laugh harder.

“So you aren’t poisoning yourself with thirty-five cups of tea, only the soil outside,” he says. “Good to know.”

“It’s considered polite to offer people tea,” the Prince replies smoothly.

Nico’s smile tightens. “Well, let me tell you, Your Highness, maybe the Twos, Threes, maybe even Fours or Fives, care about drinking tea and making small talk. Sixes and Sevens? We don’t really care whether you stuff yourself in tea and lemon cakes. Actually, most people from home would probably much rather you not waste so much food when everyone has already been served plentiful breakfast.” Nico makes a mocking wave with his hand. “With your gracious permission.”

He doesn’t slam the door behind himself, even if his cheeks are red and his ears ring. Sally should be proud of him, honestly.

[slyttherins]

Unexpected flame (part 1) | Fred Weasley x Sirius Black’s daughter

December 1993

This year, Christmas fell on a full moon. Remus felt guilty about leaving Juliet for the holidays, but he had no other choice. Staying with her on a full moon was dangerous and endangering her was the last thing he - and Sirius - wanted.

''It's okay. You can't control the moon.''

''Wish I could.'' Remus flashed her a sad, apologetic smile. Although he had grown to accept his fate - or curse -, he still hated that part of himself. The wolf. ''Have you packed your bags yet? The train is leaving tomorrow morning, right?'' he asked, changing the subject.

''Yes.''

''Good.'' Remus nodded. ''I talked to Molly, she'll be picking you up at Kings Cross.''

In the red leather chair, Juliet sighed. Much like Remus, she didn't like when people made a big fuss or went out of their way for her. It made her very uncomfortable. ''I could've stayed at school, you know. Some students stay here for Christmas.''

Remus brushed her off with a whisk of his hand. ''Nonsense. Molly and Arthur promised it was no trouble. And, you and Ginny are good friends. You'll have great fun at the Weasleys','' he promised.

''I'll miss you.''

''Me too, darling.''

''Remus?''

''Yes?''

''If he returns-''

''I'll send an immediate owl to the Weasleys and let you know.''

.

Ginny by her side, Juliet joined the rest of the Weasleys after getting down the train. There were so many students at the station, but, lucky for her, their red hair were easy to spot in a crowd.

A round woman with a bright smile and ginger hair was waiting on the side. She greeted each of the kids with a tight hug, happy to see them after four months away from home.

''And you must be Juliet?'' she said, seeing familiar a pair of grey eyes. ''I haven't seen you in so long. It's crazy how you've grown!''

Juliet smiled politely, having very few memories of the woman. ''Thank you for having me, Mrs. Weasley.''

''It’s no problem. Remus is a friend of family and we’re always there for family. You can call me Molly.''

.

''You’ll be staying in Ginny’s room. It’s on the first floor,'' Mrs. Weasley announced when they crossed the Burrow's front door. She looked around, searching for her daughter who was a couple meters behind, struggling with her own bags. Why did she bring so much stuff? ''Ginny! Can you help Juliet set a bed? I've put extra blankets and everything you'll need on your desk.''

The younger Weasley nodded and grabbed Juliet's hand and led her up the stairs, excited to have a friend over and having a sleepover.

The room was small - not to say tiny - which was to be expected with such a huge family. The girls put their stuff away and set Juliet’s bed right by Ginny’s. It was a bit cramped, but it was only for a couple days.

Once everything was set, Juliet came back down and followed the yummy smell to the kitchen.

''Where's Ginny?'' Molly asked.

''Bathing. Neville wasn't sitting when the train took off and spilled pumpkin juice on her shirt,'' Juliet explained, shaking her head at Neville's mishaps. That boy was so clumsy!

''Well, come and sit. Dinner should be ready soon.''

Juliet pulled one of the many mismatched chairs and sat down. One of the twins was at the table, but she couldn’t tell if it was Fred or George. Hopefully by the end of the stay she’ll be able to tell them apart.

''So...you’re Black’s daughter?'' Fred asked as he subtly tried to steal some cookies that were cooling on the counter while his mother's back was turned.

Since Sirius' escape from Azkaban, it was difficult not to bring up her father every time Juliet mentioned her name. It didn't help that she looked so much like him. She had become well known over the past year despite Remus' attempt to hide her from the wizarding world. Not the magic, but people.

Although the Black family was part of the sacred twenty-eight and very high in the wizarding world's hierarchy, Sirius Black was considered a traitor. Therefore, as his daughter, Juliet was considered as so too. People could be so vile and quick to judge - even toward a fourteen years old girl.

Fred, though, didn't mean any harm.

''In the flesh,'' Juliet responded proudly.

''What does it feels to have a father on the run?''

''Fred! Don’t harass our guest,'' Molly warned, eyes on the cooking pot. ''And don't think I didn't see you stealing cookies.''

The two teenagers chuckled.

''It’s fine, Mrs- Molly. It doesn't bother me. I can handle the questions.''

''Well, you two can do that later. Dinner is ready.'' She turned to her son. ''Go get your father, he's in the yard studying another bizarre muggle invention he got his hands on.''

Fred left and she then proceeded to call out the rest of the kids, making Juliet jump. She had not expected Molly to have such a loud voice.

Seconds later, everyone stumbled in the kitchen, scurrying for seats. Ginny, freshly out of her bath, sat next to Juliet, telling her all about the delicious dish her mom had prepared tonight - and the desert. Ron arrived next, sitting on her other side and making a dash for the bread in the center of the table, taking a big bite and chewing like a cow. How charming.

''Apparently it's called a toaster. You put bread in it and it springs up when they are grilled and ready. It's bloody brilliant!'' Mr. Weasley explained as he walked in, Fred on his heels. He kissed his wife’s cheek and made his way to the table where all the kids were. ''Smells good in here.''

''I've never met him. Sirius. He was wrongly sent to Azkaban before I was old enough to remember him. I've only seen him in pictures,'' Juliet told Fred when he sat down beside his twin.

''Our father says he killed thirteen muggles and an old friend, Peter Pettigrew,'' Percy said, reaching for a piece of bread from the basket on the table.

''Percy...'' Mr. Weasley warned loosely.

''There is no proof. There was no body-'' the raven haired girl defended, only to be interrupted by Percy.

''Where is Pettigrew then?'' he asked with an eyebrow raised, scoffing when Juliet didn't respond. ''Sirius Black is a murderer. I hope the dementors find him very soon and put him back where he belongs. He deserves to rot in Azkaban for his crimes.''

Tears welled in Juliet's eyes at Percy's words and accusations, but she refused to let them spill. Was this what Percy really thought? Or was he repeating what he's heard from his father and other wizards?

''Percy!'' Molly scolded. ''That is no table talk.''

.

By 10pm, Ginny had already gone to bed, tired from the day. Juliet had been a bit bummed, but she stayed downstairs with the other Weasleys. Ron and George were disputing a game of chess in the living area, making the most of the time they had left before their bedtime. She had watched them for a few minutes, but then decided to get some fresh air.

She sat on the small wooden patio and raised her eyes to watch the stars, secretly hoping she could put her astronomy lessons to application. Since she was a kid, Juliet always loved looking at the starry night sky. It helped calm her mind. Maybe it was part of her bloodline? The Blacks had a penchant for astronomical names and took their names from stars or constellations. Even Juliet had carried on with the tradition. It was subtle, but Sirius had chosen the name very carefully.

''What are you doing out here?'' Fred asked, coming from behind. He had a thick sweater - most likely knitted by Molly -, shielding him from the late night air.

''Looking at the stars, although I can’t seem to find any stars I’m looking for tonight.'' Juliet frowned, disappointed and annoyed. ''I thought it'd be easy. I’m usually pretty fast at finding stars and even constellations in Astronomy class...''

''Ah! That’s because Professor Sinistra makes sure what you’re looking for can be seen from where you are. I'll help you.''

Fred took a seat beside her and looked up. He had never been an astronomy nerd, but he could recognize a few. Constellations were harder to find though.

The sky above the burrow was almost always clear which made it easy to see the stars. The view was even better from Ron's bedroom, being on the highest floor of the house.

Fred felt himself close having a crick in his neck when he finally found what he was looking for. A smirk curled on his lips. ''Can you see that one? Over the pond, right beside the Orion constellation.'' He pointed his index in the direction, helping the younger witch find her way in the night sky.

Juliet followed Fred's direction and nodded. ''The one that shines so bright it's almost blue?''

''Yeah. It's the Dog Star, also called-''

''Sirius,'' the raven haired girl finished with a smile, amazed by her new find. She had been trying to find her father's star for months, but Grimmauld Place wasn't ideal for stargazing and she didn't dare ask Professor Sinistra, worried she wouldn't help her because of the star's name.

''How did you know it was that one? Are you a secret nerd, Weasley?''

Fred shook his head, looking down with a small laugh. ''No. You should see my marks... But Bill, my older brother, had an astronomy phase a few years ago. He had a telescope in his room and all. From what I remember, the Sirius star is part of Canis Major which is a winter and spring star pattern. Sirius is the constellation's dog’s nose.''

''Thank you. For showing me this. It’s rare these days that when someone brings up my father’s name it doesn’t have murderer or criminal in the same sentence.''

''Sorry about what Percy said during dinner. He’s a git sometimes. Don’t listen to him.'' Fred didn’t have to apologize on his brother’s behalf, but wanted to, knowing Percy was stubborn and would never. Whether he believed Sirius was guilty or not, he didn’t have to be so cold and crude.

''Perhaps he’s right.'' Juliet sighed, putting her head in her hands in despair. ''I don’t know who or what to believe anymore.''

''It’s okay to be confused. The whole situation feels like it’s missing pieces of the puzzle,'' Fred admitted, platonically putting a hand on her thigh, trying to bring her comfort.

Juliet raised her head and stared ahead. ''If he didn’t kill Pettigrew, where is he? No one has seen him since that night at London. All that was left was his finger.'' The frustration and desperation were clear in her voice.

Fred wished he had answers for her, but he was just as in the dark as everybody else. ''What does Remus think of this?''

''That he’s innocent.''

When she turned old enough to understand what Azkaban was, Remus had revealed her father's whereabouts. He had insisted to be the one to break the news to her, not wanting untrusty wizards or loud mouths - or worse, students - to twist the truth. He told her about the Potters, about...Voldemort, and the wizarding war. Nothing was very jolly, but Remus insisted that she knew. Most importantly, that she knew her father had been accused of crimes he didn't commit.  

Fred thought for a moment, putting his words together. ''Want to know what I think?'' She nodded, turning to look at him with her grey irises. ''I think Remus is the only person alive that knows Sirius well enough to judge your father's intentions and what he's capable of. I also think there a hidden part to every story.''

Juliet frowned, confused. ''I don't get what you're trying to say...''

''I don't think Remus would feed you lies solely to make your father look like a good man to your eyes. If Sirius really did kill those people, he would've warned you about him being the dangerous murderer the Ministry claim him to be.''