#because he's like oh kronos trained these kids into hating the gods

[gutsybitsies]

#I probably already reblogged this#but yeesssssss#pjo#percy jackson#son of magic#alabaster torrington#he is also topnotch biased narrator who is ready to fight all the tj#nico di angelo#alabaster c torrington

YES this 100%! Alabaster is SUCH a biased narrator, and haley riordan does a great job showing it! having a super biased narration in this case was a good thing because it made the story that much more emotional and raw. his pain, his grief, his guilt, his conviction, twists his view of events!

like i feel like there is so much to unpack in son of magic precisely because of this, and it's so fun to talk about.

for example, alabaster says that kronos was killed by percy, not luke. well one explanation is that he simply has faulty information and assumes that percy killed kronos because that might be the story that reached him after his judgement. but! since the gods were supposed to honor luke as a hero, there's also a chance that alabaster did hear the correct version of events (ie luke betrayed kronos and killed himself), and just chose to think "fuck that's such bullshit, it's obviously a lie." OR he thought "well what's the difference between that, percy is still the cause of kronos' death so it's still true that percy killed kronos"

THEN the whole bitterness about being banished from camp halfblood, WHILE calling the people from the camp brainwashed. Honest to god think that Alabaster really, really REALLY got a good deal because he was still chafing at the bit and still wanted to keep going and fighting. like the gods are not known for their mercy, and he's still alive despite everything.

i think the saddest basically confirmed deaths that we got from Son of Magic are the deaths of those preteens that we saw from Percy's perspective on the Andromeda when he and Beckendorf went to blow it up. like that's what fucked me up the most. of COURSE alabaster would want to kill percy if he had known and had been close to any of those demigods that almost definitely died during that explosion. this is the story from him that i think has the most objective truth to it and we can trust, just because alabaster has seen it first hand and he isn't relying on information he had to glean from other sources.

like yeah maybe alabaster isn't the only demigod to survive andromeda, and maybe some other demigods got lucky as well, but let's be real. percy killed a lot of kids that day. like yes he warned that 12 year old he stopped to get off the ship and to tell the other demigods, but cruise ships are large. and they have no cell reception. his warning maybe saved that particular 12 year old but it would have had very little time to reach a significant number of demigods (if they would even listen).

and again, it's war. i dont know the geneva convention, and neither does the war council headed by literal teenagers who have dyslexia. basically still team percy did the best he could and tried to save as many people as possible but had very very limited resources.

read son of magic and i'm team percy did the best he can in the middle of the war and tried to clean up the mistakes of beings who can vaporize him in a second and was a literal child so sue him if there are times he seemed shortsighted or forgot something. sorry that he, a mortal hero who wasnt the one to father then abandon any children, couldnt have made better decisions that saved every single person in the war that defined his life since he was 12.

but also son of magic was fire, it was pretty great, and i love how it plays with perspectives. i like how old man riordan tries to age down his style of writing but teen riordan is like fuck it we ball. i know some readers say that it changed their view on percy but like this was also very much just alabaster's pov of what happened and influenced by his bias (rmmber how he said kronos was killed by percy, when kronos was actually killed by Luke).

The barebones of what happened to the demigods after defeat was either death or reabsorption into camp halfblood. it's reasonable to assume that quite a lot of titan's army demigods got caught in the massacre, even if it was targeted to monsters and other titans. i just don't believe it was hundreds of demigods, im pretty sure alabaster implied that to be dramatic. i dont think hundreds of claimed greek demigods even existed during that time. Camp Jupiter had 5 cohorts of at most 40 ppl a cohort, numbering at most 200 teen Roman demigods AND legacies at a time. And the Romans were able to have so many because 1) they include legacies and 2) they had a lower mortality rate. So the idea of hundreds of demigods fighting in Kronos' army much less dying for the army? i think not.

Exile was specifically tailored to Alabaster because of how headstrong he and Hecate are and because it's a trait that children of Hecate follow the strongest. Its why he was targeted by Lamia since he's the strongest and once he dies, she gets to be in charge of the rest of Hecate's children. IDK ITS A REALLY DEPRESSING STORY OF A TEEN SOLDIER DEALING WITH SURVIVOR'S GUILT also i think haley riordan did a great job really diving into alabaster's viewpoint

[zagreusapollyon]

I'm gonna get hate for this.

Chiron is an incompetent fool.

There, I said it.

Because why in the absolute FUCK would you send a 13-year-old to tell a kid (which is under your supervision too btw) that "Oh yeah, your sister is dead" !?

That's not say that this man is also a complete DOORMAT to the gods!

Like bro, you're also one of Krono's kids and are also immortal and train their children, you have to have some agency.

Most gods do care about their children. I'm sure if you alerted them or talked to them, they would have at the very least done something indirectly.

You ignored Percy in favor of Thalia when she got resurrected! Choosing to focus on her instead of being strategic and training them BOTH.

There's also the matter of capture the flag. This man does absolutely nothing to supervise these games. If Percy didn't have water-healing powers, he might have just DIED. There is no consequence to the kid's wrongdoings, Clarisse barely gets a punishment for attacking Percy the way she did.

For someone who has been training heroes for thousands of years, he doesn't seem to do anything AT ALL.

[my-pjo-stuff]

Thalia au but she clocks Percy with lightning as soon as she wakes up and runs to the ta

She tired Luke out

— @doe-has-a-hot-take

OKOKOKOK;SO- For this AU to work Thalia would have to know what the TA even was when waking up from being that tree, right? So how about Thalia, in this AU, having been a ghost?

Like, her body was turned into the tree protecting Camp Halfblood, while her soul became a ghost bound to Camp Halfblood protecting it. So just imagine Thalia, stuck as a ghost where no one can see or hear her. She can't touch anything. All she can do, is forced to do, is to watch. And she hates it. Just imagine Thalia being forced to watch how Annabeth and Luke slowly but surely start to drift apart ever so slightly. Being ripped apart by being sent to different cabins and Luke getting more responsibility. Since she can only watch, and thus is sort of removed from camp and all the activities she can see it a lot more neutral. And oh man if you think LUKE hated camp!? Man you haven't seen Thalia yet. Because how come, despite being promised that this camp would be safe, kids are still getting hurt in these games? Why isn't Chiron taking better care of everyone there? Why is Luke forced to become the main caretaker of 20+ kids so young? No one is there to talk to her or to manipulate her, so that hatred and detestation is festering inside Thalia for YEARS. It all reaches a head when Luke is sent on his quest. Thalia can't leave campgrounds, meaning that as soon as Luke steps outside the boundary all she can do is hope and wait. By now Thalia got used to being lonely most the time, usually hanging around Luke to keep herself entertained (Annabeth reads a lot, much more boring than watching Luke training). But now that he is gone Thalia has nothing to really distract her from all the worry and disdain. When he returns with a scar and no apple all Thalia wants is to be able to comfort him. To be able to hug him, and allow Luke to hear him when she tries to comfort him as he cries despite knowing she's only a ghost.

The fact that camp and the gods not only used Luke as cannon fodder, but also gave him no support after the fact is the last push. Thalia hates the gods- wants to see them overthrown as soon as possible even before Luke. She's the first to notice something being up with Luke. That something being Kronos of course. And honestly? Thalia hates that guy too. Because while yes- she fully understands and even supports Luke in his plans to end the gods, she CANNOT accept some random primordial torturing her friend like that. Luke of course doesn't see it himself, he's angry and hurt and needs the power Kronos offers to achieve his goals. Thalia understands that, doesn't mean she hates it any less. When Luke returns from his trip to Olympus Thalia almost immediately knows what he did despite not having been able to see it. And she's completely torn between worried and proud.

Because on one hand, Luke just stole the Master Bolt. Successfully. He is going to rebel against the gods to achieve a golden age for them all, just like Thalia would have done- wanted to do all this time. She knew she could rely on him, always. But on the other, he's going to be going against the gods. He's going to work with Kronos, all alone with no support.Going against the gods is dangerous, and Thalia would give everything to be allowed to share the burden with Luke. When the pit scorpion scene happens Thalia understands Luke. She is relatively neutral to the Percy kid still, and while she wishes Luke wouldn't have to do this she still knows it had to be done. The real hatred and disgust comes in seeing how people react. Because how come that Annabeth, the little girl Luke and her took care of, only has disdain for him? How come she says "may the gods curse him!" and doesn't even attempt to understand him? How comes she acts to unsurprised? And with horror in her bones does Thalia realize that camp brainwashed her. Made her believe the gods are good and right, and blinded her to reality. And who's the stand in for all that? Right. Percy.

Percy, to Thalia, becomes the representation of everything he hates. He's the gods' and camps' little golden boy. Their champion. Their little puppet spouting their propaganda and doing their dirty work. It doesn't help that with Luke being gone now, all Thalia can do is watch the camp and wallow in her hatred. She only grows to despise camp even more and to despise the gods even more for forcing her into this existence where could do nothing but watch. At the beginning of SoM when Luke comes to poison her tree Thalia has mixed feelings. On one hand, she isn't really in the tree. That is all just her body, the rest of camp merely believes it's her essence too. On the other hand, Luke thinks he's poisoning her. For all he knows he is hurting her for his goals.

Yet Thalia grows to understand and forgive him. She sees how broken up over this he is, she hears him apologizing- saying that it needs to be done and it's for the best. That everything will be fine, and it may hurt now but it'll turn out for the better.

And while she doesn't really understand what Luke wants to do, she trusts him enough to believe him. This ultimately turns out to be the right call when at the end of SoM Thalia is suddenly pulled from whatever she was doing and wakes back up in her body. Which- honestly? At first that was disorienting as fuck. She just spent a good 6 years outside her body and suddenly she's back in it? In a body three years older than she remembered having no less? No one can blame her for needing a good second to figure out what just happened. But when she does? When she does finally figure out what just went down and get's used to her body again? Man you BEST believe that she is NOT staying anywhere close to this camp or these people. When Percy attempts to get to her and talk to her all Thalia can feel is a flash of hot anger at who to her is the embodiment of everything she hates. So in a flash of rage she zaps Percy with lightning and takes off. Not stopping for a second to littel to the horrified screams and questioning wails coming from the crowd.

Getting to the Princess Andromeda was a weird mix out of pure luck, knowing Luke and his way of thinking better than himself and having memorized the look of the ship when Percy saw it from the CHB shore. Luke is......reasonably weirded out by Thalia suddenly turning up.

Like, just imagine doing your revolution and being tortured by your evil overlord for failing to get the golden fleece, and suddenly your childhood crush turns up????? Which, I mean the fact that she's 15 immediately kills of any romantic feelings he ever could have had- DOESN'T MEAN HE'S LESS EMOTIONAL RATTELED BY HER TURNING UP. Poor baby is just so stressed. Thalia being fully (if not more) on his side of "let's overthrow the gods" is great and all but she does NOT like Kronos at ALL. Luckily for him Kronos isn't as angry anymore now that they have the Child of Prophecy on their side- so that's a plus. Unfortunately, Thalia is also weirdly against Kronos which gives Luke heart attacks. Because she can't do stuff like that! What if Kronos finds out!?

She couldn't care less. Thalia tolerates Kronos at best. And then only that under the condition that he doesn't hurt Luke. Kronos meanwhile switches pretty quickly over from Luke to Thalia. He was already ready to replace Luke with Atlas, replacing him with Thalia wasn't that much a reach. Luke is obviously hurt, but accepts it. Thalia takes the role only to A) get Luke away from Kronos and B) to get into a position that would allow her to overthrow the god and Kronos. And in all honesty? This change only makes it worse for Camp. Because while yes, Luke is ruthless- he still is able to be talked down somewhat by the right people who take the right emotional angle. Thalia on the other hand? She spent years alone with her hatred festering. She's fresh out of mercy and wants to see blood. The gods took enough from her and the other demigods, and she's had enough of it. No more suffering for uncaring parents. Luke becomes her right-hand man, her lieutenant, the one who she trusts to take care of things when she isn't there to do it. He goes with it ofcourse, he couldn't refuse her when they were young and he can't refuse now. Even if he is scared of Kronos and scared for Thalia, he agrees to help her when she reveals her plans to overthrow the gods and Kronos.

They always managed to do anything together.

[kamiko1234]

*YAPPIN AHEAD; EVERYTHING STATED HERE IS MY SUBJECTIVE OPINION*

Alright I have officially finished TLO and... oh man where do I start. So I'm gonna be real blunt and say, I'm underwhelmed. I genuinely did not like the way this ended mostly because it all felt like so.... little to me? Like, okay yeah- Luke got his redemption. I'm glad for that, I mean he is my all time favorite but like- it felt just sort of rushed? Idk, I wanted to see more of, well, Luke. I wanted to see more of his good side, his caring side. I wanted to see him really struggle against Kronos. See him fight against it, not just sort of suddenly breaking through. More build up would have been nice. Now it just feels like Rick not having known how Percy and Annabeth could have won against Kronos so he shoved Luke in to finish the job for them. I also disliked how Thalia just straight up wasn't there. Like- let me see her reaction to Luke killing himself for them. ESPECIALLY after these just borderline heartless lines she had about him previously. AND THEN THAT LINE AT THE END WHERE HE ASKED ANNABETH IF SHE LOVED HIM OMFG.

Like good god WHAT WAS THAT!? The heck?????? So THAT'S the mother of the groomer allegations? I'm gonna be so for real and say that this line was just HORRIBLE. Not only did it sound REALLY bad, but also???? didn't make any sense?????? First Annabeth says that she never loved Luke and then adds that he was like a brother to her and I'm like???? So you DID love him, like a BROTHER. Rick does know that love doesn't equal romantic feelings for someone, right????? But also how are people calling Luke a groomer because of THAT!? Like yeah that line is,,,, bad, and ngl I hate this line as much as the next person but also????? THAT'S ONE LINE NEVER has Luke shown ANY romantic interest in Annabeth. The one romantic relationship we know he had was off page with an ADULT monster.

Him loving her romantically is just straight up stupid, it had no build up and makes no sense. Not only would it make no sense but it would also royally screw up the ENTIER REST of their theme? Like their whole thing was FAMILY.

"FAMILY Luke, you promised" Like let's all be honest with ourselves , Luke having romantic feelings for her is just... stupid. An objectively stupid take.

Also someone please teach this fandom what the world groomer means, thank you very much. Yeah otherwise I... really don't feel much for Luke's death beyond anger and annoyance and disappointment. I resigned myself to him probably dying at the end as soon as Kronos possessed him at the end of BOTL so I had my time to prepare myself. Again to me Luke's self-sacrifice just felt like the author not knowing how to defeat the bad guy and thus shoving smth in. Well either way at least my fav can get reborn now and have a shot at a good life. BUT ALSO???? AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO THINKS PERCY DIDN'T DO SHIT TO PREVENT SOMETHING LIKE LUKE HAPPENING AGAIN??????? Like let's be realistic, what did Percy achieve? -Everyone get's claimed and brought to camp now -Everyone has a cabin now And don't get me wrong those are great things but..... what else? Genuinly what else did Percy achieve? The thing that drove Luke off the deep end wasn't just that kids went unclaimed and minor gods not respected. Sure it was PART of the issue, but by far not all of it! The demigods are still used as cannon fodder for quests. Their mortal parents are still abandoned with them. Camp is still training up child soldiers. NOT TO MENTION THAT HERMES HIMSELF SAID THAT GODS AREN'T GOOD AT KEEPING PROMISES FOR THAT LONG AND WILLS ONNER OR LATER GROW JUST AS NEGELECTFUL AGAIN

Like let's all be real here Percy didn't really SOLVE anything! All he did was set back the times of a ticking time bomb and calling it again.

And that time bomb WILL be going of sooner or later! Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not in a year, maybe not in Percy's lifetime. But it WILL blow again. That's just inevitable at this point. (And part of he hopes that it's a reincarnated Luke starting a revolution attempt nr.2 purley for the irony & to drive the point home)

I also still don't buy Hermes' bullcrap excuse of not being able to interfere with Luke's fate. I mean bffr that guy SEND LUKE ON A QUEST, and HE COULDN'T HAVE HAD JUST REMOVED HIM FROM HIS MENTALLY UNSTABLE MOM!? Yeah no, I still hate the gods. And now I sort of hate the ending of the books too because in the end they didn't really mean anything, and were sort of underweling imo.

[bright-eyes-strawberry-lies]

My (incomplete) Notes on The Lightning Thief

Percy Jackson, at 12 years old, is miserable

Percy is trying very hard to be good

Percy reacts violently when his friends are threatened

“I’m going to kill her” 

I wish I’d decked her right there

Percy turns red when he gets called on 

Percy knows a lot about both Greek and Roman gods

Percy has an “I’ll-kill-you-later” stare

Percy gives “safe” answers to authority figures

Percy sells an illegal candy stash out of his dorm room

Percy knows about shrooms and thinks that he was drugged on the field trip

Percy has nightmares about the teacher (Kindly One) that he killed

Percy has to get summer jobs

Grover is a very bad liar

Percy almost cries in class when his favorite teacher tells him that he’s different

Percy gets into fights to protect Grover from bullies

Percy sees the Fates snipping the thread and knows he’s going to die

Grover mentions that it’s always 6th graders who are killed

Percy ditches Grover at the bus stop

Grover’s bladder acts up when he gets nervous

Sally Jackson took night classes to get her GED

She wanted to be a novelist

Gabe Ugliano is Percy’s stepdad

His cigars make Percy nauseous 

He drinks beer and leaves a mess everywhere

He takes money from Percy and uses it to fund his gambling and calls it their “guy secret.”

If Percy tells Sally, he’ll “punch Percy’s lights out”

Gabe takes over Percy’s room while Percy is at school

Gabe makes fun of Percy’s grades

Sally works at a candy shop and brings Percy blue candy

She runs her hands through his hair and asks him how he’s doing

She never raises her voice or says anything unkind to anyone

Percy wants to punch Gabe

Percy wants to kick Gabe in the balls and “make him sing soprano for week” 

Gabe blamed Percy for things that aren’t his fault

Percy makes a hand gesture that Grover did, but at Gabe, and the screen door slammed shut 

They have a rental cabin on the beach that is “half hidden in the dunes, full of sand and spiders”

Percy and his mom eat blue foods because Gabe said there’s no such thing as blue food. It’s an act of rebellion. 

Percy thinks that his mom doesn’t want him around

Percy is mad at Poseidon for leaving him and his mom

In preschool, Percy is put to sleep in a crib at school. The crib had a snake in it and Percy strangled the snake to death. 

Percy has a dream that a horse (Poseidon) and an eagle (Zeus) are fighting to the death

“O Zeu kai alloi theoi” means “Oh Zeus and other gods!” 

Percy experiences panic when he realizes that his teacher was a monster trying to kill him

Lightning hits the camaro and blasts off the roof

Percy’s got good instincts; the hair frequently raises on the back of his neck when he’s in danger

Sally gets killed by the minotaur 

She’s actually stolen by Hades

Percy rips off the minotaur’s horn and impales it into his side

Percy is crying, weak, trembling with grief and he literally carries Grover and drops onto a porch

Annabeth tries to get Percy to talk while she’s spoon-feeding Percy ambrosia 

Percy has been unconscious for two days after his fight with the minotaur

Percy would rather live on the streets than live with Gabe

He considers lying about his age and joining the army

Percy is very good at telling when adults have been drinking

Grover is nervous about Mr. D

But he still manages to ask for the diet coke can to eat

  The farm house is four stories tall, sky blue and white trim

The camp grows strawberries and the campers pick them

Grover is 28 years old but satyrs mature at half the rate that humans do

The Poseidon cabin walls glow like abalone. There are six empty beds with silk sheets. It smells salty. 

Chiron gets horribly depressed about training heroes

Luke is very handsome except for a thick white scar that runs from his right eye to his jaw.

He’s the son of Hermes and the counselor 

Luke is 19

He’s in cabin 11

Monsters will always reform because they don’t have souls

The bathrooms are cinder block buildings with a line of toilets and a line of showers; there’s a girls and a boys

Percy feels a tug in the pit of his stomach when he uses his powers

Annabeth just watched Clarisse drag Percy into the bathroom to give him a swirly 

Luke steals Percy some toiletries from the camp store. 

Percy is not good at archery, foot racing, or wrestling

The only thing that Percy is good at is canoeing 

Percy can’t find a blade that fits right in his hand. 

Luke has been the best swordsman in 300 years

Percy bests him after pouring ice water on his head (son of Poseidon) 

Hades doesn’t have a cabin at Camp Half-Blood or a throne on Olympus. They say that it would be bad if there was a cabin for Hades. 

Sixty years ago, after World War 2, the big three gods made an oath not to have more kids.

Two of them broke it; Zeus with Jason and Thalia, Poseidon with Percy.

When Hades found out, he let out all three Kindly Ones and a pack of Hellhounds

Thalia wound up becoming a tree. 

Grover was the satyr assigned to bring only Thalia in. Thalia had befriended Annabeth and Luke, and she wouldn’t leave them behind. 

Percy thinks that Luke’s scar makes him look almost evil

Clarisse has an electric spear

It makes Percy go numb wherever she touches him with it

One of the boys in Cabin 5 (Ares) cuts Percy across the arm

Once Percy gets into the water, he’s very good at fighting

Luke wins capture the flag

Annabeth has a Yankee's cap that makes her invisible. It was a gift from her mother. 

Annabeth is the first person to figure out that Poseidon is Percy’s father.

No wait, Grover was first and then Chiron. Well, they knew he was one of the Big Three’s son.

As soon as Percy steps out of the water, he is exhausted and in pain.

When Hellhounds die, they melt into shadow and soak into the ground.

Hellhounds are from the fields of punishment.

When Poseidon claims Percy, everyone kneels.

“Poseidon, Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God.”

Percy is miserable being alone in Cabin Three and being so isolated. He would rather get into fights every day than be ignored. People are steering clear of Percy. 

Except for Luke, who gives Percy one-on-one sword training. 

Annabeth teaches Percy Greek but she’s distracted.

Gabe tells the press that Percy is violent and a troubled kid. The newspapers say that Percy may be involved in his mother’s disappearance. 

Gabe also tells the press that Percy has expressed violent tendencies in the past.

Percy has more dreams of Zeus and Poseidon fighting. He hears Kronos’ voice calling to him. 

It doesn’t rain in Camp Half-Blood (or even get overcast) unless they want it to. 

Dionysus wants to kill Percy. 

Percy gets embarrassed when he knows something someone doesn’t want or expect him to. 

Percy has a nervous laugh. 

Illegal copies can be made of the Gods Symbols of Power.

Percy has tried to steal pizza from Gabe’s poker parties and got busted for it.

Percy is furious that the camp is being punished for his existence. He thinks he’s responsible for the gods' fight. 

The Big House attic is four flights up. It’s full of mementos from old demigod fights. 

Percy is scared of the oracle. 

Percy’s fists clench at the very sight of Gabe. 

Percy doesn’t have many friends. 

Percy isn’t afraid of Hades; he wants to get revenge and take Hades on. 

Gods can’t encroach on each other’s territories but demigods can. Gods can’t be held responsible for heroes actions. 

Percy describes his emotions as rolling glass in a kaleidoscope. 

Percy is so relieved that Grover is coming with him that he wants to cry. 

Annabeth volunteered to go on the Quest. Percy is not surprised. 

Previously, Luke told Percy that Annabeth has been harassing Chiron for a prophecy and that she’s been hanging onto all of the new campers until she’s sure they aren’t the chosen one. 

Annabeth says that Percy will mess up this quest without her even though he’s been more than adequate at handling everything that’s been thrown his way. 

The camp store loans Percy $100.00 and 20 golden drachmas. 

He’s also given a canteen of nectar and a ziplock bag full of ambrosia squares.

The ambrosia and nectar is only to be used in emergencies; it will kill a mortal and demigods will literally burn up if they overdose. 

Annabeth’s cap was given to her on her twelfth birthday by her mom, Athena. 

Luke actually runs up the hill to give them the basketball shoes. They’re the flying shoes he got from his dad for his quest when he was seventeen. 

Luke gives the shoes directly to Percy. 

Percy is worried that Luke would have been jealous of the attention he’s been getting.

Percy blushes because Luke gave him the magic gift. 

Luke seems uncomfortable talking to Percy. He trails off three times and uses “um.” And then there’s an [awkward] handshake. 

Luke pats Grover between the horns and gives Annabeth a hug.

Annabeth’s crush on Luke has been brought up three times so far. 

Percy figures out by this one interaction that Annabeth let Luke capture the flag instead of her. 

Percy thinks that he’s a brat for wanting a magical gift from his father. 

Riptide (Anaklusmos) is a gift from Poseidon that Chiron has been holding onto for the next child of Poseidon. 

Riptide is forged by the Cyclopes, tempered in the heart of Mount Etna, and cooled in the River Lethe. 

Mortals aren’t important enough for the blade to kill but it will kill demigods and anything from the Underworld. 

Percy thinks that the real world feels like a fantasy after spending two weeks at Half-Blood Hill. 

Percy thinks that Annabeth hates him. 

Annabeth thinks they have to be rivals because their parents are. 

Annabeth was also mean to him before she knew who his dad was.

Even after two weeks away from Gabe, Grover can still smell him on Percy.

This makes Percy immediately want a shower.

Grover says that Percy should be thankful Sally was with someone who smelled so repulsively human because it kept the monsters away and that Sally must have loved Percy a lot to put up with that guy.

This does not make Percy feel better but he hides his feelings; or hopes he does since satyrs can sense emotions with or without an empathy link. 

Percy is on the quest because he wants to save his mom.

He is not on the quest to retrieve Zeus’s lightning bolt

Or to save the world 

Or to help his dad out of trouble. Percy is actually really, really angry with Poseidon for never visiting or helping Sally. 

Annabeth and Percy are good at playing hacky sack. 

The three Furies are considered the worst monsters in the Underworld. 

Percy had a chance to escape on the bus and didn’t take it. 

Alecto threatens to kill Percy (again)

Percy can speak Latin

Percy knows that the Greek Gods (Zeus and Hades in particular) are being assholes to him. 

The food at Camp Half-Blood is grapes, bread, cheese, and extra-lean-cut nymph-prepared barbecue. 

“Your head is full of kelp.”

In Aunty Em’s emporium, Percy says that the smell of her cooking makes everything else go away, however he still has the sense of mind to notice Grover whimpering, the statues’ eyes following them, and Auntie Em locking the door. 

Percy’s neck tingles when he’s in danger. 

Percy is annoyed that Annabeth is being rude to a woman who just fed them for free. 

[theartofimaginaryfriends]

Sleepless Nights

Character: Percy Jackson

Premise: Percy can't fall asleep, and thinks about the friends he had lost in the battle against Kronos

Content warning: grief and loss, dealing with trauma

Masterlist

Word count: 1,067

A/N: This shit hurt to write and I'm absolutely not okay, so I gotta share it with the world. I do, however, really love this piece. We as fans often get so stuck in fanon that we forget how traumatized Percy actually is, and how he has never actively worked through everything. Song used for the fic is Empty Chairs at Empty Tables from Les Misérables

There's a grief that can't be spoken,

There's a pain goes on and on.

Empty chairs at empty tables,

Now my friends are dead and gone.

Percy found himself unable to sleep for the fifth night in a row, not being able to stop thinking about the sacrifices each of his friends made. He carried the burden of the prophecy so that Nico wouldn't, and was named the hero at the end of the day. Glory was supposed to come along with a title like that, but all Percy felt was hopeless and tired.

The Gods expected Demigods to do their dirty work, causing their children to be stuck with a heavy burden on their backs for the rest of their lives. Such grief and pain never truly goes away. That's why Percy turned down immortality. It wasn't worth it if he was going to be carrying that burden while he watched his friends die one by one. Instead, he found a wish that could be easily done. Now, the camp was filled with new demigods and more arriving every day.

Still, he couldn’t help the dread that came along with waking up every single morning, and facing the camp again. Every day, he didn't see the future of Camp Half-Blood, he saw loss everyone had to face collectively. The damage that the war caused both physically and mentally, not only on himself but on his fellow campers.

Here they talked of revolution,

Here it was they lit the flame,

Here they sang about tomorrow and tomorrow never came.

Staring up at the underside of the top bunk, he thought of Luke Castellan. The son of Hermes wanted to be recognized by his father, he wanted all the Gods kids to know who their parent was. Luke's anger towards the Gods drove him down a path that caused him to lose himself along the way. Percy knew that Luke understood a long time ago that he had made a mistake by helping Kronos, but he couldn't help but still feel angry with him.

Luke was a hero in the end. That was what Percy had told the camp. Did he believe it himself? He wasn't completely sure. His first friend at camp became the cause of countless people he considered to be family to fall to their demise. He was the reason Percy carried a burden that – quite frankly – no one wanted.

He recalled the months leading up to the final battle. The demigods were scared, but many were also excited for a battle. A motivation to win sparked through the whole camp, overpowering the general worry every kid had around death. Many were confident, and some had died because of it. These kids never got to see the success of the battle, and Percy hoped they were all in Elysium where they belong.

From the table in the corner,

They could see a world reborn,

And they rose with voices ringing,

And I can hear them now

The very words that they have sung

Became their last communion

On this lonely barricade, at dawn.

Voices were haunting him constantly. Of Luke, Beckendorf, Silena, and many others. Percy often felt like his friends would join him in the Dining Pavillion, despite them not physically being there. He remembered their voices vividly, as if he had just wished them a goodnight before heading to his cabin with Tyson. It worsened his pain, the demigod wishing to forget the sounds of their voices.

Visions of them training at camp wouldn't leave his mind, and he kept seeing their ghosts wherever he went. It made Percy feel even more lonely than before, reluctant to get close to anyone else at camp. In front of Annabeth and Grover, he put on a brave face. There was no way he'd admit to his true feelings, especially to his two best friends. Worrying them was the last thing he wanted to do.

Oh my friends, my friends forgive me

That I live and you are gone

There's a grief that can't be spoken,

And there's a pain goes on and on.

The worst part about the sleepless nights was the guilt that ate at him constantly. He felt like he didn't deserve to live, that he didn't deserve the title of hero. The people he cared about were in the underworld while he got the luxury of continuing to live. A luxury he hated having.

Training at camp was supposed to help the Demigods learn to keep going if a family or friend died in battle. It was supposed to teach them how to move on when experiencing a loss that great. What it didn't help the Demigods prepare for were the flashbacks and the nightmares. The fear that went along with the guilt. The pain that never left no matter how hard they tried to push it down. It was an unexplainable pain, one that Percy knew he would never be able to describe to anyone outside of the camp – especially his mother.

Phantom faces at the window,

Phantom shadows on the floor,

Empty chairs at empty tables where my friends will meet no more.

Oh my friends, my friends don't ask me

What your sacrifice was for

Empty chairs at empty tables

Where my friend will sing no more.

The few hours earlier when the campfire took place, Percy felt the pain and suffering that the campers experienced collectively. He could picture Beckendorf and Silena cuddled up as they sang along, and even Luke's smile as he tried to get the Stoll's to be at least somewhat serious. He could see the ghosts of the kids who's shrouds they burned that night, watching as the campers tried to hold back tears as they mourned for what felt like the millionth night in a row.

The Apollo cabin sat closer together than usual, the pain apparent in their voices as they led the camp through melancholy tunes. Even Percy joined in on the singing, too depressed to care that he sounded like a dying cat. The ghosts of his friends began to sing along to the songs with everyone, but Percy couldn't hear them. He wasn't even sure if what he was seeing was real.

He couldn't tell the difference anymore, but he didn't care. Percy just wished he could slip away, and forget about everything for a while.

[thejudgingtrash]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[demigodsanswer]

Hazel Levesque: Into the Prophecy-verse pt. 1

Time for the prologue to an AU I’ve wanted to write for a long time and need to finally get out of my brain. Hazel is a little OOC in this, but that’s because it’s an AU where she grows up in the modern world, not the 1920s. 

Description:

Rome was a three-thousand year old empire, with two capitals - Old Rome in Italy and New Rome in America. New Rome was the powerhouse of the gods and their hero’s.

The children of the Olympian gods lived amongst mortals, the most powerful of them joining the Legion, and some even earning fame status when major prophecies thrusted one or a few of them into the spot light. 

Hazel Levesque is an unclaimed, unimportant demigod, unsuitable for the esteemed legion. And she’s about to find herself at the middle of a major prophecy. 

~*~*~*~

Alright let’s do this one last time

“My name is Jason Grace. I’m the son of Jupiter and for ten years, I’ve the one and only child of the Big Three. I’m pretty sure you know the rest: I saved a bunch of people, fell in love, saved the city, and then I saved the city again and again and again. I also did this [cut to Jason getting hit in the head with a brick]. We don’t talk about that. Look, I’m a comic book, I’m a cereal, did a Christmas album, have an excellent theme song, and a so-so popsicle. I mean, I’ve looked worse. But after everything, I still love being the hero. I mean, who wouldn’t? So no matter how many hits I take, I always find a way to come back, because the only thing standing between this city and oblivion is me. There’s only one child of the Big Three. And you’re looking at him.” 

Hazel was listening to her music too loud to hear Chiron calling her. She had her first day at some prep school for demigods, meaning she was leaving Chiron’s half-way house for unclaimed and untamable demigods. 

New Rome was overflowing with demigods who either hadn’t been claimed or had been rejected from the Legion. Lupa had deemed her and her friend Leo “too insubordinate” for the Legion. He set the wolf on fire (an accident) and she had told the wolf to eat shit (not an accident.) Demigods who didn’t fit in the Legion and couldn’t live at their home with their mortal parents (like Hazel, who’s mom had been deem “unsuitable”) or didn’t have mortal parents (like Leo) lived in one of the half-way houses. There was hundreds of them around the country, all named “Chiron’s Half-Way House,” but only the New Rome branch was actually graced by the old Greek Centaur. 

He did his best to train or rehabilitate problem kids, getting them ready for either the legion or the real world. He was the one who had insisted every demigod apply to some fancy, over-priced prep school. And Hazel was the only one of them dumb enough to be smart enough to get in.  

 “Do I have to go?” She asked Chiron, as he adjusted the collar of her uniform (which she already hated.) 

“This is a step in the right direction for you Hazel.” 

She tugged on one of her curls, pulling it straight in front of her eyes before letting it bounce back into place. Chiron led her out to the car. Leo was waiting out on the front porch. 

“Don’t forget us little people while you’re off becoming some famous hero or some shit, Levesque.” He said, smiling. 

Hazel pulled him into a hug. “Who could forget you?” 

“I’ll bust you out as soon as I can,” he whispered. 

Hazel sat, clearly angry, in the back of Chiron’s car. He couldn’t drive, being a centaur and all, so Argus, the thousand-eyed half-way house driver was behind the wheel, and Chiron lectured her about all of her opportunities. 

“I don’t care,” Hazel protested. “I don’t want to go, I’m only here because I drew some pictures.” Her scholarship was art-based, that was true. She was a good artist. Not a really notable demigod skill, though. Still, someone had to mosaic all of Jason Grace’s accomplishments. They were only one year away from some world-ending prophecy that the tabloids still had yet to leak. So it was only a matter of time before Golden Boy Supreme (as Leo had nicknamed him) added another line on his resume. And if Hazel was lucky, which she rarely was, she’d be there to sculpt the whole thing in marble. 

“You passed the entrance exam just like everyone else,” Chiron told her. “This is your opportunity, Hazel. Do you want to end up like --” 

He cut himself off, but she knew how that sentence ended. Like her mother. Her mom wasn’t perfect, but she wasn’t bad. She was actually pretty cool. The courts were just picky about who was allowed to raise demigod children. Even mega-Hero Grace grew up with a foster mom - Sally Jackson, poster mom for good demigod parenting. Literally, her picture was on the side of buses. She had her own book. She had been on The View with the nine muses. 

Her mom wasn’t Sally Jackson, for sure, but she always made sure Hazel had food, and she taught her how to draw. The court’s problem was her mom’s inability to hold down a job. The only thing she managed consistently was selling her own homemade jewelry. It was all bullshit though. If Hazel wasn’t a demigod, they never would have separated them. 

“Whatever,” Hazel said as they pulled up to the school. She grabbed her backpack and suitcase, and preyed to whatever god her father was that she would be kicked out by the end of the day. 

“Tie your shoes!” Chiron yelled after her. She ignored him. 

Hazel walked into a whirlwind. The school was huge. Most people were in their uniforms, although a few wore ancient Roman style armor over theirs. Some carried stacks of books, and other had spears and swords. Half her day was academic - Latin, literature, history, science, and math. The other half was training - weaponry, climbing, survival skills, and pegasus riding. At least they had Pegasi here. She had been trained well enough at the half way house, but there were unfortunately lacking in magic horses. Well, besides Chiron’s lower half, which Hazel wasn’t too keen on riding. 

“You’re shoe’s untied,” a stranger said, passing Hazel. 

“Yeah, I know it’s a choice.” 

The sneakers probably weren’t uniform, but she didn’t earn the label “insubordinate” for nothing. 

She found her locker, wide and tall enough for armor, weapons, and other demigod provisions, and shoved her suitcase in it. She figured she would move into her dorm later on. 

Someone opened the locker next to hers. “Oh this is so embarrassing,” Hazel said to her locker neighbor, “we are wearing the same jacket.” She laughed awkwardly, but the girl just rolled her eyes before walking away. 

Off to a good start, Hazel though before grabbing her backpack and moving on to her first class. 

Each class seemed to come with its own thousand pound textbook. And the long, winding hallways made it impossible to stop at her locker in between classes. By fifth period - history - she had four new text books and figured she was about to get one more. 

She walked in late. She hoped the darkness of the room helped cover her late arrival, but she cast a shadow in front of the projector. 

“Ah Miss. Levesque,” her history teacher, some old guy named Mr. Quintus, paused the movie, “you’re late.” 

She shrugged, “Maybe y’all are just early.” 

A girl with black spiky hair and dark eye make up let out a stifled chuckle. Quitus and Hazel looked at her. “Sorry, it was just so quiet.” 

“Please take your seat, Miss, Levesque.” He started playing the movie again. Some history documentary. The Romans loved those. This one had some young narrator, who would have been handsome if it wasn’t for the scar down his face. With his blond hair and blue eyes, Hazel could have mistaken him for Jason Grace, if Jason were twenty-five, not fifteen. 

“The Titan Saturn, lord of Time, was overthrown by Jupiter and his other brothers and sisters, and his remains cast away.” 

Hazel was just staring to tune the whole thing out when Quintus paused the video again. “Can anyone tell me the Greek name for the Titan Saturn?” The girl next to Hazel raised her hand. “Yes, Miss. Grace?” 

“Kronos,” she offered. 

“Very good,” Quintus restarted the film. Hazel thought about leaning over and asking her if she was related to Jason, but figured she probably got that all the time. 

A week later, Quintus stopped Hazel on her way out the door. “Miss. Levesque?” 

She walked over to his desk. “What’s up?” 

Quintus showed her the score from their history quiz the day before. A red 0/100 was written across the scantron. 

“A zero?” Hazel tried to look genuinely upset. “A few more of those and you’ll probably have to kick me out of here, huh?”

“If a person wearing a blind fold took a true or false quiz at random, what score would they get?” 

“Fifty percent?” 

Quintus changed her 0 to a 100. “That’s right.” He stood and faced the bored to start erasing that day’s lecture notes. “Are you familiar with the story of Icarus, Miss. Levesque?” 

“Uh yeah, he was escaping the Labyrinth with his father with a pair of bronze wings. But he flew too close to the sun, the wax melted, and he fell into the ocean. it’s about pride, right?” 

“Correct,” he said, turning to face her, “but you left out a crucial element. Yes, Icarus was instructed by his father not to fly too high. But he was also told not too fly too low, as the sea mist could also weaken the wax.”

“Why are you telling me this?” She asked. 

“You’re trying to quit, and I won’t let you. You must remember not to let yourself fly too low, it’s just as dangerous. I’m assigning you a personal essay. Not about history, but about yourself and the kind of person who you want to be.” 

Hazel had spent an hour at her desk, trying to write anything for Quintus or for her literature essay, but her ADHD was going off the rails. She wished Leo would make good on his promise to bust her out of there. 

But she decided not to wait for Leo. 

She hadn’t seen her mom in a while. She grabbed her hoodie before making her way down the fire escape. 

[mvndrvke-archive]

Okay but do you have headcanons for Nico and Lou Ellen because they're one of my favorite brotps!

um same??????? i hope you know what you’ve signed up for here because i got a lOT OF THOUGHTS-- 

nico initially assumes that lou ellen is only being nice to him because of will, and the fact that she’s not is wildly confusing to him

lou ellen has to explain modern references to nico because he’s an old man and no one understands his references from 1930s italy

also lou ellen???? thinking his powers are cool???? fuckin revolutionary

both of them get disqualified from capture the flag for using their mist/shadow travel powers to get the flag and bring it back at least once

which btw they’d be fantastic in a battle???? nico can only do so many things at once with his power but lou ellen using her powers to help them sneak up on their enemies so that nico can just go all out scary kid of hades like “oh where’d that army of the dead come from oH SHIT IT’S AN ARMY OF THE DEAD--”

but also using their shadow/mist traveling abilities to go on tiny field trips. these kids need to get out of camp more so they’ll just randomly wander up to each other like “hey you wanna go to ihop?” and then just peace out and get some food

they train together a lot too since some of their powers are similar

shadow/mist travel tag is a great way to work on your powers!

if nico was going on a quest, lou ellen is one of the top three people he’d choose to go with him ( will and jason being the other two )

nico sits at the hecate cabin table sometimes because “gosh will i’m gonna go sit with some of my other friends” and they’re all super proud of him but also “oh my god i’m his friend” it’s a magical day all around

nico teaches lou ellen how to play mythomagic but she’s gotta be reAL FUCKIN CAREFUL because those cards/figurines are like. his prize possession. 

game night!!!! starts out as a small thing with just apollo and hecate cabins, then expands into this camp-wide thing where everyone gets WILDLY overcompetitive. bets are taken, enemies are made, rivalries form. 

nico and lou ellen will compete against each other in everything except video games. no one can beat nico at video games he spent like 70 years in the lotus hotel you can’t defeat him

the idea of lou ellen and nico playing mario kart brings me a lot of joy though nico always plays as toad

also dance dance revolution. them dancing together is ridiculous but also really fun okay

if will is the person that gets nico more comfortable with being around other people/helps with his confidence, lou ellen is definitely the one that helps nico actually tALK to more people. i feel like she definitely invites him to hang out with other campers since she’s the head of her cabin

( which he absolutely pretends to hate but also he’s being included and it makes him feel good about himself so he acts like a diva but always has fun and they all know he’s just being annoying for the sake of keeping his reputation as the camp halfblood cryptid that enjoys absolutely nothing )

i feel like their adventures are like buzzfeed unsolved episodes they’ve got the same chaotic energy

lou ellen requesting that nico take a selfie with cerberus whenever he goes to visit hades

if they had snapchat, they would be that annoying pair of friends that send each other dumb things constantly

getting each other to laugh is like a challenge nico is NOT funny and has zero sense of humor so really if they can find something that makes the other laugh, it’s a miracle

lou ellen is one of the few people that nico is totally okay with just being himself around once they become close, and they just hang out and have sleepovers basically, gossip about camp stuff and the other campers, and paint each other’s nails. nico seems like he’d be the kinda Extra kid that’d paint his nails black. pastel blue is also cute too though

talking!! about!! their!! trauma!! they each fought in both wars, they both have chips on their shoulders and losses that they struggle to talk about. they’re wildly different personality wise, but they GET each other. also talking about losing siblings like they both lost sibling(s) during the titan war ( was that the first one against kronos? i’m too lazy to look the second one was like the. who knows. the second titan war? ) and don’t really talk about it much so talking about it with each other is some quality content

if anyone’s mean to lou ellen and nico is straight up prepared to drop them directly into the underworld he will FIGHT

secret karaoke nights in hades cabin

[firesofdainix]

all my wolves begin to howl, oh wake me up the time is now

Fragments of Jason's life before The Lost Hero.

.

His mother told him that she would be back, but it has been hours since he had last seen her and Thalia. He calls for them as he crawls through the Wolf House with his hands and feet. Then he starts to cry, and he feels his ordinary life, from his sister, his mother, tearing itself apart inside of him. As if his childhood is finally done, and a new life is ahead of him.

But still, Jason wishes to hold on, to hope that his mother and sister would come back for him. That fades when a lone howl pierces through his baby ears, and a figure steps out from the shadows.

Sadly, Jason wasn't afraid.

Sadly, Jason Grace was taken away from his old home to a new one with the wolves.

And the cycle continues.

Life with the wolves had been fun. Frolicking in the house where his mother and sister left him, spending the day in the woods trying to catch prey.

Lupa is quite a mother wolf, a strict one, but still a mother whom he barely remembers.

Finally, after months of training, Jason Grace at age three is now ready to face on the cruel world to find Camp Jupiter.

To say he didn't look back was not true. He did look back, to see another kid older than him being taught by the same wolves he considered as a family.

His family of wolves seem to have moved on like the family he barely remembered as a child.

They all look up at him, Jason Grace.

Jason Grace.

Son of Jupiter.

Jason Grace.

The King of the God's son, everyone says.

The son of a no good Dad, he wishes to say, but those words were stuck in his throat, refusing to come out.

He wonders if he'll just become like his father, which is his worst nightmare.

Instead of joining the First Cohort like everyone expected him to be, he joins the Fifth Cohort, filled with what they say, the sea of nobodies.

It's good to be a nobody.

The first time he got his mark, it hurts like Hades. There was a brilliant flash of light... and it's there now.

The eagle, symbolizing his father, the SPQR, and a line representing his first year.

The others say he'll get used to the pain.

He already did.

He just chooses to feel numb.

Being marked was supposed to be the most special time. It means that he is fully accepted into the legion, into the arms of the cohorts. He isn't a probatio anymore; he never is treated as one.

They try to make him join their cohorts.

Anything other than the Fifth Cohort.

And he just glares, because he knows they're not being any fair to the members of the Fifth Cohort.

Bigots.

Bullies. He hates them. He hates them all.

They think they're so high and mighty, picking on the younger probatios, but just one glare from Jason Grace and they'll be running another way.

Jason's just a kid.

A six year old.

Ten year olds run away from him.

Jason Grace tries to become a blank slate one time, resulting in him hearing most of the conversation of the bullies he had driven away.

"The Fifth Cohort thinks they're so powerful, just because Jason Grace is with them", one says.

"Just wait until Jason Grace realizes what he's done wrong and leave the Fifth Cohort", another one says.

Fury engulfs Jason. He didn't know what he was doing, unaware.

He didn't know he summoned lightning and killed three people on the spot.

He isn't a blank slate anymore.

Therapists are common in New Rome, of course. Some descendants of the gods had been involved in wars or had been put through many traumatizing moments throughout their life.

Jason thinks he doesn't count as any of those people.

He doesn't even know what war is supposed to be like.

No one here knows how much damage a war will cost.

"All right Jason", the therapist says in a warm voice, just like all the other therapists before her. "I want you to tell me what you have learned the past year in Camp Jupiter."

It was such a simple question. Jason didn't know where every thing went wrong.

"That the Fifth Cohort is the best cohort anyone has ever seen", Jason says nonchalantly.

The therapist nods slowly. Sooner or later she'll give up on him, like all the others. "Anything else."

"Everyone who tries to say other wise are bigots."

"Mister Grace, your language."

"What is even the point of this? To see if you think I regret killing those assholes a year ago."

The therapist nods. "Yes. You should be ashamed of yourself. We would've sentenced you to death-"

"But you don't want to, since I'm a son of Jupiter, is that right?"

The therapist doesn't reply.

It was his eighth birthday today, and everyone from all cohorts gave him a simple phrase of Happy Birthday.

No one asked him if he was fine.

No one dared ask him what happened in the ward.

He just wants to talk to someone, anyone.

He was elevated to a centurion of the Fifth Cohort, along with Dakota.

Together they kill bassilisks in the temples, and lead the war games with their comrades.

Jason is the reason why sometimes, the Fifth Cohort always win in the war games.

Twelfth Legion doesn't bring pride to Jason at all.

He has no idea to why everyone would be okay to be called 'the twelfth best legion'.

Now that he's a centurion, maybe he can change the minds of the campers of Camp Jupiter.

Rename it to First Legion, he says.

They're hesitant.

He knows why.

Only Octavian stands in the way.

He has no Roman pride.

He only has pride within himself.

Octavian was handpicked as the augur and it made Jason's blood boil.

How could he become an augur? Why had their praetors done this? Do they know how much political power and blackmail Octavian has?

Maybe that's why.

The praetors were also scared by his absolute power.

Jason cannot let him be a praetor given a time.

Then a marvelous and life threatening idea looms over his head.

Yes.

That's how it's going to be.

Jason is standing over Octavian's lying body, blankets covering most of it.

Jason was holding his ILVIS sword, tightly too.

He's going to kill Octavian.

He's going to do it.

He trudges over the legacy of Apollo's bed, but something stops him.

Jason regrets stopping because after that Octavian yells something about murder.

He jumps off the window and into the night.

Fuck you hesitation.

Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano.

That's her name.

A daughter of the war goddess Bellona.

That's nice.

She loves Diocletian as much as he does, and they'd stare at portraits everyday while getting lost at the subject of history.

That's good.

She's also his first friend.

That's the best news.

Reyna's been acting strange lately.

After that little quest, their relationship was never the same.

What did that woman do to Reyna?

Sure, they were still talking, but Reyna seems to be distant, as if thinking of something.

Being wary around Jason Grace.

But Jason tries not to give up, trying to still rebuild their friendship.

"So, you're Bryce Lawrence." Jason looks at the boy with the mix of disgust and indignance.

This-this no good son of Orcus really thinks that a little murder is entertainment.

He should've been dead, but his family is one of the most influential families in all of New Rome.

They can't just execute him and face his angry relatives.

But he was a goddamn psychopath.

Gods, Jason already hates him.

A lot of Roman campers have been missing lately.

The praetors said that they were rewarded a quest by the augur.

But they don't come back after a week.

Jason sighs as he flips his coin, transforming it to a sword.

He's going to find those campers and bring them back here.

Jason didn't know what got into him.

One moment, he was fighting a dracaena and another moment he was fighting one of his own kin, a demigod.

But the demigod isn't Roman.

He said he was a son of Hermes.

And he looks a lot like him.

Who is he?

And how could he do this to his Roman kind?

"Join me, Jason", he says.

Luke.

His name is Luke.

"Together we can tear Olympus apart stone by stone!"

Jason shoots lightning at him, but he seems unharmed.

At the end of the day, he fed the traitor Romans to the sharks.

Nico.

Nico di Angelo.

That was the Ambassador of Pluto's name.

People were wary of him.

Jason? He wasn't wary of Nico.

Finally, a cousin.

He seems secretive, but that's alright.

Jason has a lot of secrets.

And one day Nico brings Hazel, also a child of Pluto.

He cherishes them both.

There's a battle.

And he's in it.

Everyone is in it.

Against the Titan Kronos who has escaped from Tartarus.

He didn't tell anyone about that Greek demigod.

But before they go to New York, they have to face Krios first in Mount Othyrs.

It's going to be a long battle.

Their praetors are dead, and many are wounded.

Everyone is panicking, and Jason and Reyna tries to stop them from that.

Reyna comes up with battle tactics, and Jason is quite proud of her.

They march into Krios' domain, where they're faced with a dragon and the Hesperides.

Reyna kills them singlehandedly as the legion descends into battle.

Jason reaches Krios, and that is where it gets messy.

Hand-to-hand combat.

Why is Jason so impulsive?

His face burns.

His legs are tiring.

His right arm is broken.

And the entire legion is watching them, weapons ready.

They want to see if he lives or dies.

He looks up at the sky as he finally kneels for what felt like years, exhaling.

His lungs are burning.

His heart is beating too fast for his own good.

He feels blood on his face, and his eyes hurt.

He finally prays to his dad for the first time in his life.

And he's overcome with strength he had when he and the Romans scaled Mount Othyrs.

Krios is disintegrating, slowly but surely. He growls, but Jason just kicks him in the face.

"Who even are you?", Krios spits out.

Jason smirks. "I'm Jason fucking Grace bitch. And you'll remember me for centuries."

He watches Krios fully disintegrate with a self satisfied smirk.

And he faces his comrades, all full of amazement or intimidation.

Reyna starts to clap.

Sooner or later everyone starts clapping.

They made him and Reyna praetors of the first legion.

He dreams.

He dreams of his achievements, of his mother and sister, of his family.

But something is still missing.

In all his life, he never called anything a 'home', or a 'family'.

Even in Camp Jupiter, where it was supposed to feel at home, he never feels like it.

He finds Juno staring at him with a smile.

No.

He cannot be used as a pawn ever again.

Juno chuckles.

"It is your time now, little hero. Your destiny awaits."

No.

NEVER AGAIN.

Who is he again?

Where is he?

What is he doing here in a bus, in the middle of wilderness?

He feels something warm on his hand, and he looks over to see-

The most beautiful girl he's ever met.

And, suddenly, he feels a pang of hope, that maybe, just maybe, he will find a home and family.

Maybe is a strong word.

"Jason? Are you alright?"

[couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name]

A Definitely Incomplete List Of My Favorite Moments From The Lightning Thief (book), because I'm having Feelings

Percy very causally mentioning times he accidentally hit a school bus with a canon or dropped fifth graders into shark-infested water

Grover Underwood

Just everything he’s ever done

Percy running an illegal candy ring out of his dorm room 

“I was worried they found out I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the internet and were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.”

When Percy thought Grover was going to give him some deep, meaningful commentary on life to make him feel better but Grover just wanted Percy’s lunch

Percy tried so hard to do well on his Latin final and Chiron somehow thinks it’s a good idea to tell him he’s ‘not normal’ in front of the class my poor boy

That one part where Percy essentially went “Oh hey mom’s home!!! Better reschedule this panic attack I was having!!” 

When Percy did that weird hand sign (that was never explained) and the door slammed on Gabe so hard he flew up the steps

The fact that when Grover finally tracked Percy down he wasn’t wearing any pants. Like, there was literally no reason for him to not have the fake feet and the jeans on. No actual reason for him to be free balling it. Percy just needed a shock apparently. Showing up in the middle of a hurricane with no pants, dramatic ass satyr I love him. 

The SATISFYING DEATH of Gabe’s Camaro + Sally apparently learned bullfighting just in case because she truly is the best mom

Percy killing the minotaur with its own horn

Percy dragging Grover over the camp line while crying for his mom literally end me

“You drool when you sleep.” could we get more iconic here

Percy teasing Annabeth about her crush on Luke

When Luke stole some toiletries for Percy and he got a little choked up because it was apparently the nicest thing anyone had ever done for him

The fact that Chiron basically told Annabeth that Percy was her destiny

The fact that a recovering alcoholic god of wine who hates children was deemed fit to run a camp for children

Not so fun: Percy, upon meeting Mr. D, immediately recognizing the signs of an alcoholic and going out of his way to sit far away from him ‘just in case’

The fact that everyone just expected him to hear ‘the greek gods are real’ and move on?? why would no one let this boy be in shock omg

Zeus apparently had a thing for the fluffy 80′s hairstyles

“the real world is where the monsters are” 

The fact that Poseidon could have claimed Percy at literally any moment but he apparently decided he really needed that dramatic reveal during capture the flag.

When Zeus was feeling Extra Dramatic(tm) after Percy’s claiming so he started making it rain inside the camp boarders and everyone was lowkey freaking out

When Annabeth pulls off her invisible cap and declares she’s going on the quest with him and Percy was like, beyond unsurprised that she was there and didn’t even attempt to fight her 

Chiron forgot to give Percy a sword from his father for like, an entire month. 

Grover with those freaking flying shoes oh my God

Annabeth blushing literally any time Luke talks to her 

IN THIS HOUSE WE LOVE AND RESPECT ARGUS, HEAD OF CAMP SECURITY

lmao when Percy and Annabeth start bickering about something and Argus just winks at Percy because he knows

When they were playing hackey sack with an apple but it got too close to Grover’s mouth and he just ate the whole thing

The entire bus scene oh my God

“I was about to become the ADHD Poster Child of the Year” as he’s CRASHING A BUS

Annabeth on a fury’s back 

the explosion. just. all gr8. 

When Grover tries to play a path finder song and Percy just immediately slams into a tree. Also the fact that the path finder song was actually just a Hillary Duff number. 

“You two are giving me a migraine, and satyr's don’t even get migraines!” 

Percy actually, truly trying to sell the story that the three of them are circus orphans who got separated from their ringleader 

Grover: hey guys this place is REALLY SHADY and we need to leave

Annabeth and Percy: but f o o d

Can you imagine walking into a store and finding your dead uncle’s body on display? Like????

When Medusa revealed herself and Annabeth’s running around invisible, Percy’s swinging a sword blindly and Grover’s flying around screaming and trying to whack her with a stick: everyone here is a MESS

When Annabeth was overly annoyed with Percy after that ordeal??? Sweetheart you fell for the trick too

Name something more iconic than 12 year old Percy Jackson mailing the decapitated head of Medusa to the gods on Mt. Olympus in an act of sheer pettiness. I dare you. 

When Percy was insisting on taking first watch while the others slept and Grover was basically like “hey kiddo listen to this” and played a song that immediately knocked him out so he could sleep all night 

“Percy. Say hello to the poodle.”

Percy seeing all the Greek creatures from the train window 

When Annabeth was dragging the boys to the St. Louis Arch and Percy’s claustrophobic ass Did Not Want To Get In That Tiny Elevator but he went anyway because he wanted Annabeth to be happy. That boy has had it bad since the start. 

“I am Echidna!”

“Isn’t...isn’t that a type of anteater?”

“I HATE AUSTRALIA.” 

How many times has Percy actually been poisoned throughout all the series I literally want a count 

‘Lemme just, uh....jump off the fucking St. Louis Arch and hope I don’t die when I hit the water.’

There is just something very aesthetic about Percy lighting a fire in the bottom of a river 

Percy’s got so much pent-up rage that he’s just immediately ready to wreck Ares upon meeting him omfg

THE THRILL RIDE O’ LOVE

Annabeth getting so worked up and flustered over going down there with Percy because it’s a love ride and Percy’s just like “you literally do not have to make this a Thing” lmao

Annabeth wouldn’t let Percy touch Aphrodite’s scarf because she didn’t want him getting infected by love magic but then...touched it herself lol

The entire sequence with the mechanical spiders and the cameras and the ride itself 

Percy’s plan to get off the ride!!!! He’s so smart okay can people stop calling him stupid!!! 

Grover trying to catch them both in mid-air but they‘re too heavy so the three of them just kind of slowly crash into one of those face-cut-out posters lol

Percy, turning to the camera’s broadcasting this shit on Olympus: “Show’s over! Thank You! Goodnight!” 

THE FUCKING ZOO BUS

Everything about that scene omg. The animals they had to help. Trying to convince Grover of how great he is. The baby percabeth. my h e a r t

“What if it does line up like the Trojan War? Athena versus Poseidon?”

“I don’t know what my mom will do. I just know I’ll be fighting next to you.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re my friend, Seaweed Brain, any more stupid questions?”

Do you hear that sound? That’s me, ages 13-21(+) sobbing uncontrollably oh my God I love them so much

‘let’s just set a fucking lion loose in Las Vegas’ 

“I put a Blessing of the Wild on them, so they’ll safely find food and shelter wherever they go.”

“Why can’t you put on of those on us?”

“It only works on wild animals.”

“So it would only effect Percy...”

“HEY!” 

When they get to the Lotus hotel and Grover starts playing that game where the deer shoot the hunters azxjhnhdjx

Percy physically having to drag his friends out of there once he realized it was the lair of the lotus eaters

When Annabeth gave the taxi driver her lotus credit card and he started calling her “Your Highness” lmao

Every time in this book Percy comes close to uncovering a Dark Truth the people around him are just like “let’s not worry about that :) “ and my polite boy actually shuts up it’s so wild because I would just keep going lol

CRUSTY THE WATER BED SALESMAN 

Listen that entire scene has lowkey always been one of my Favs and I’m not even sure why but Percy chopping his head off was g r e a t

The entrance to the Underworld is DOA Recording Studios and I love it

“We, uh...all drowned in a bathtub.”

Poor Charon just wants his Italian suits he doesn’t need all this bullshit 

Grover almost getting dragged into Tartarus: not good. very bad. bad shit. 

Annabeth getting emotionally attached to Cerberus in the span of 3 minutes: RELATABLE 

‘huh my backpack that I thought I got rid of five days ago is getting weirdly heavy, that’s not suspicious though, right?’ 

When Hades just starts monologue-ing about all the shit he has to put up with

“what kind of awful things do you have to do to get sewn into Hades underwear?” p e r c y

when Percy realizes the Master Bolt is in his backpack and he’s just like. tell me why. why. I’m a good person. what did I DO. 

When Percy has to sacrifice his mom to get Annabeth and Grover out of there I Cri Evey Tiem 

My cute lil’ baby yelling around on a beach to get Ares to show up 

ahdbsjznx when Grover gives Percy a crushed, half eaten tin can for good like and Percy is just like “Grover...I don’t know what to say.” I LOVE HIM

My sweet son kicking the god of war’s ass. bless. blessed on this day. 

The news crews who suddenly started backtracking and writing Percy as a hero 

Percy, choking back tears, giving Gabe’s store’s phone number out on national television and promising everyone free appliances IM STILL CACKLING I LOVE THIS BOY SO MUCH HE’S ICONIC 

Hades actually releasing Sally because he’s Not As Big Of A Dick As He Could Have Been 

Percy: hey I think there’s a really good chance that Kronos was behind this whole mess-

Zeus and Poseidon: XXX KRONOS DO NOT INTERACT XXX

Poseidon rolling his eyes at literally everything Zeus says and does

Poseidon and Percy’s whole talk omg my sweet boy just wants his dad to love him and Poseidon’s trying to figure out how to show affection when he basically signed this kid’s death sentence I’m crying 

A man will never satisfy me as much or in the same way as Sally Jackson murdering Gabe Ugliano did 

Percy was spending months of summer stressing over who the friend that’s supposed to betray him was but like...Sweetie you had exactly three (3) friends and you knew two of them weren’t gonna hurt you

ahbdjsnx when Percy and Luke were having their conversation in the woods and like Luke’s acting shady af the whole time but it’s literally not until he litters that Percy is like “something...is Wrong.” this boy I s2g

Percy getting bit by a scorpion is Not A Favorite Moment but the nymphs helping him out was 

Percy making his Official Decision to go home for the school year only after Annabeth reveals that he actually did talk her into trying again with her family 

I didn’t mean to write out a summary of the whole damn book it’s six am listen I’m just feeling nostalgia for the original series in this chili’s tonight 

whoops

[fierrochase]

my favorite moments from the lightning thief musical: a list

far from comprehensive, because it was all-around amazing :D 

also geez i meant for this to be short?? ok this is the long version and i’ll post an abridged one that’s a bit less wordy in a few

in terms of production value, it reminded me a bit of a starkid musical - there were no fancy special effects, but i liked it that way! it felt homemade almost, like they didn’t try to convince the audience that they weren’t sitting in a theatre watching a show and i appreciate that! brecht would be proud lol (sorry for the lame theatre nerd jokes)

they included blue food!! sally and percy had blue marshmallows at montauk!! on that note, percy and sally’s relationship was absolutely spot-on, it was clear from the start how much he loved her and how much she loved him :��) 

they included the “you drool when you sleep” line boy I nearly cried!! ALSO she said that to him when he was still all dazed from the minotaur attack (a guy with a paper mache head, btw haha) so later when he meets her again when luke introduces her percy saw her and shouted “YOU’RE MY DREAM GIRL! no no wait I mean the girl from my dream!” it made me laugh like a fool and it was sooooo THEM like thank jesus lord, we’ve finally got a GOOD REPRESENTATION OF THESE CHARACTERS!! 

jumping off from that: chris mccarrell as percy was INCREDIBLE. he perfectly encapsulated everything percy should be - his impulsivity, his frustrations with dyslexia/adhd/not doing well in school, his love for his mom, his friendship with grover, his disrespect for authority (i refuse to use the word “sass” in relation to percy but i mean if it was 2013 that’s how i would describe it), his confusion, his bravery, his goofiness - when he picked up his sword for capture the flag he went “COOOOOL” and started making lightsaber noises and i almost teared up a bit i kid you not because I really finally felt like I was seeing Percy up on that stage. also, the boy has some wicked pipes. 

also for reference i’ll try my best to list who all played what part because there were a lot

percy and annabeth were just themselves the whole time, and grover also played mr. d in a few scenes but the rest of the cast played all the different parts

mr. brunner/chiron also played a random aphrodite girl (he wore a wig with long blonde braids skdjhfsjdh), medusa, poseidon, and hades

sally also played silena, the oracle, echidna, and charon 

luke also played smelly gabe and ares

clarisse also played mrs. dodds, katie gardner, a squirrel (to be explained later hah), bianca (also to be explained later), and thalia (also also to be explained later) 

& i’m probably missing a few but those were the major ones! they also played generic students, tourists, etc. 

chiron was really funny, when he revealed himself to be a centaur he sort of just stood up from his wheelchair and was wearing a fake horse tail and he walked everywhere by prancing which was funny

mr. d was ABSOLUTELY HYSTERICAL? as mentioned he was played by the guy who played grover! he was angry and he was loud and he wore this floppy hat and pants pulled up to like his ribcage and he shouted every line and i LOVED IT. a random/unnamed half blood came in and set up a metal chair for him at his table full of paperwork and he kicked it over in rage so she set it up again and he kicked it again later and she ran away and he tried to kick his chair over a third time but it wasn’t there so he went and picked it up just to kick it over again. ALSO HE CALLED PERCY PETER JOHNSON GOD BLESS THE WRITERS!!

also i’m giving them a thumbs up for diversity!! luke and sally were both african american and grover was latino!! it was nice!!

annabeth did call percy out for assuming her dad was the god, like i think that convo was almost word for word from the book AMAZING

also her crush on luke was super obvi, she got all giggly every time he talked to her or put his arm around her shoulder aw

they sort of condensed a few events, which makes sense because most people wouldn’t sit through a 6-hour musical (i would but that’s beside the point!), so annabeth’s capture the flag strategy was to send percy into the bathroom as clarisse bait. ALSO the toilet explosion & the later tidal wave he hits ares with were done by attaching toilet paper rolls to leaf blowers and blowing them all over the stage - like i said, no fancy special effects, but it got the point across pretty well!! 

percy’s claiming happened at the bonfire after they all sang a fun song about how much it sucks to be a kid of a god (during which grover ate his marshmallow roasting stick, like it’s the little things that make this show so great!!) and for that they stood downstage and all pointed vaguely outwards and said “look! the stars are arranging themselves into a trident!” hah

ALSO mr. d’s bit about wanting to turn percy into a dolphin was in there god bless

percy wore the winged shoes the whole time instead of giving them to grover!

^that all was act 1! act 2 was the entirety of the quest which meant that a lot of the events got cut or shortened

the medusa scene was awesome, and pretty true to the books!! also they both sort of ran offstage and then percy ran back onstage with his sword and the head in his hands lol

while grover went into the back of aunty m’s to look for supplies annabeth had this amazing, utterly badass song called “wise girl” about how she’s had to fight all her life to make it, like she talked about her stepmom hating her and running away from home and stuff and it was SOOOOO GOOD like at one point she said “boys who mess up are given a second chance, but i don’t have that luxury” like DAMN GIRL TELL THEM!! also she did call him seaweed brain a few times and i was like oooooh man i’d almost forgotten my vintage percabeth feels

also yes percy did mail medusa’s head to mount olympus and did this very percy-ish little “heh heh heh i’m clever” laugh as he did 

instead of a poodle grover asked a squirrel for directions which was cute!! and yes, annabeth did yell at percy to apologize to the squirrel for offending it :D 

most of the trip west was done as a song/montage sort of thing, from post-medusa to vegas all happened in one song! so echidna and her chimera were there, but it was just her holding a dog carrier and it biting percy’s hand when he reached in and them all screaming and then it moved on!!

OK UM the part that made my day was the lotus hotel, it was like 5 seconds long because annabeth was like “wait!! in the odyssey if you sleep in a lotus bed you wake up years later!” so percy was like “that’s ridiculous! here let me ask this girl how long she’s been here” and the girl was like “my brother and I have been here since thursday!” and percy was like “see? we’re fine” and then she went “in 1939!!” and they sorta screamed and ran out lol and she charlestoned off but anyway the point is she had black braids and a little hat and i turned to my sister and whisper-shouted “THAT’S BIANCA!!!” and she was like “OMG IT IS” i loved it!!!!!!!!!!!! thank god the writers of this ACTUALLY READ THE BOOKS!! 

ares’ first scene was kinda short too, they cut the bit about going to waterland/the tunnel of love ride and just had him give them a ride to the next place, also it was suuuuper obvi foreshadowing because when he gave percy the backpack an ominous chord played lol

my other fav moment was when they were on the train to LA (they cut the zoo truck too) grover told percy the story of getting annabeth/luke/thalia to CHB and they reenacted it as he sang about it (that sounds cheesy, it was the three of them up on the top platform sort of doing it in slow motion while Grover sang) and like ngl i almost teared up a bit when thalia died

no procrustes :(( i know i’m listing thing after thing that they left out but like i understand why they did and i don’t think it suffered too badly!! like someone who hasn’t read the book would probs be a bit confused but in what they did have they were so spot-on that i really didn’t mind!

charon was reimagined as a cool beyonce-esque r&b singer, she was like “hey, y’all want a copy of my mixtape?” lol, also they sang this real fun and upbeat song welcoming to the underworld, like telling them about all the cool dead musicians they have (janis joplin, kurt cobain, and mozart all made cameos - annabeth was fangirling over mozart it was adorable!) and the trio was like “oh this is cool!!” until they realized they were about to die lol and charon started evil laughing it was great!

percy did almost get drawn into tartarus, that was cool bc a trap door opened and all this fog lit with red light started billowing out! also when annabeth was like “that’s tartarus!!” percy went “THE FISH SAUCE??” adorable

hades was great!! very sulky like, “why does everyone always think I’M the bad guy?? maybe it’s the decor” i loved it

also the lightning bolt itself was really nice-looking!! it was like described, a tube with metal caps, but it lit up really brightly as annabeth took it out from the backpack and it looked real cool!! 

instead of the pearls they escaped the underworld with a conch shell that poseidon gave percy in a dream way back after he defeated the minotaur and he did have to leave sally which is sad every time :( 

the final battle against ares was fun, that’s when percy sang his showstopper “son of poseidon” which was truly #lit. if/when they release the cast album that’s the one i’ll be playing on repeat and full blast. and he exploded the toilet paper ocean at ares and it was fun! 

poseidon showed up then to take the bolt back to zeus and chat with percy, he was in his hawaiian shirt and looking real cool! and he got sally back and after she hugged percy real tight she saw poseidon and they had a heated moment of “you’re as beautiful as ever” “you’re as charming as ever” and then percy was like “OKAY THIS IS WEIRD” truly great!!

and they did include the final chat with luke about kronos! i was wondering if they’d cut that because it’s not like they can do a series of musicals (though if they did i’d go see every one) but they had it! plus they needed to tie up the loose end of percy being betrayed by a friend! and he stabbed percy in the lower back but was disarmed by annabeth go girl!! but he didn’t take long to recover hah because he was able to sing the badass closing number about being cool demigods and saving the world!!

anyway there’s much more that i forgot to mention but just know overall that it was amazingly true to the characters and the tone/world/humor/etc. of the books and i was almost giddy for the rest of the day because it was one of the most loving, fun, entertaining, and on-point adaptations of a book i’ve seen in any form. m*vies who?? i only know the musical!!

feel free to send me asks if you want to know more about a particular scene!!

jesus lord this was long!! like i said, short version forthcoming!

[jflashandclash]

Attrition of Peace

Twelve: Frank

Thank the Gods My Dad is Roman

 Frank was determined to act like everything was normal today. He wanted to pretend he hadn’t spent the first half of yesterday avoiding his girlfriend and the latter half of the day chasing down weasels. No matter what animal he had turned into, he’d discovered weasels were difficult to catch.

Normally, he found his praetor house unbearably lonely. Jason had helped him take all of Jason’s stuff out, and put Frank’s stuff in. Members of the Fifth Cohort had snuck in for sleepovers a few times, but it was huge compared to the barracks. It made him think of his family’s burned mansion in North Vancouver.

At least he hadn’t blown up Camp Jupiter and Reyna could go on her date in peace. Despite all his heroics the past summer, he was still scared of disappointing her.

And he was scared of telling anyone that his stick was missing.

He must have misplaced it. That’s what he kept telling himself, but he kept imagining someone thinking it was a piece of kindling and throwing it in the fire. He’d furtively had the members of the Fifth Cohort go through their guests clothing when they went to the baths last night—just in case. He had known they were going to leave to catch a flight this morning, one earlier than morning inspection, and he didn’t want his stick to do some cross country traveling without him.

But nothing. He’d retraced all of his steps as a bloodhound to see if he could pick up the smell. The scent dead-ended at the Principia, intermixed with the various scents of their new guests. It was like someone had poofed with it. He didn’t know how it could disappear without him knowing. Normally, that thing weighed on him heavier than Sisyphus’s boulder.

This alone time at the praetor house gave him the quiet he needed to panic as he shaved his patchy chin growth and prepared to suit up for the day.

Then a shimmery image of Annabeth appeared in his mirror. Well, not in his mirror. Where the sunlight caught the steam in front of his mirror.

Frank yelped, stumbled backwards, and almost tripped over the toilet.

“Oh gods, it actually got through!” Annabeth cheered. “Frank!”

“Hey Annabeth,” he said, trying to pull his shirt and pants on as quickly and casually as he could. Knowing Annabeth, she wouldn’t even notice, but he could still feel his cheeks burn with embarrassment. “I thought Iris Messaging hasn’t been working.”

“It hasn’t!” Percy’s voice came from somewhere behind her. “And Iris hasn’t been giving me any drachma refunds!”

“Percy!” he cried. Just hearing their voices was calming. Maybe they’d have some ideas on how to find his kindling. “It’s good to hear from you two.”

“Unfortunately, we don’t have time to digress,” Annabeth said. She turned her face towards Percy and Frank could imagine the chastising look she was giving Percy. She looked back towards Frank, having given him—possibly strategically—time to change. “We’re looking for some demigods. They’re lead by a guy called Axel Pax—”

“He’s here. Why?” Frank said. He felt something squishy on his shirt. He reached down and found shaving cream smeared all over his clothing. He sighed, realizing he’d have to get changed again.

Percy snorted, “Because one of the girls with him went a little Poison Ivy and killed a bunch of mortals.”

“Percy! We’re not sure exactly what happened yet!”

Frank stared at Annabeth’s image. “What?”

Her expression was grim. “It’s not pretty. She’s carrying Backbiter, Kronos’s old scythe, though it could be in xiphos form. We don’t know what’s going on, but they have definitely proven to be dangerous.”

Frank was starting to feel nauseous, like he’d eaten some ice cream. “We just sent them your way on an airplane. Well, most of them. One of them is here, Axel Pax. Their escorts reported that one of them went missing on the way to the airport, maybe thirty minutes ago. A kid named Pax.” Reyna was supposed to be interrogating Axel about his brother’s disappearance right now.

“Be careful of that kid,” Percy warned. “The Stolls said there are rumors he can change into other people.”

Frank’s nausea solidified into a knot in his stomach. He thought about how Hazel hadn’t quite acted like herself when he saw her yesterday morning on their walk to the battlegrounds and on their… detour. And how Hazel left to grab something, only to show up moments later from a slightly different direction. She’d made him so flustered, he hadn’t thought twice about it.

And he hadn’t noticed his kindling was gone during the rest of practice because he was so focused on what to say to Hazel, and so upset she was acting like nothing had happened.

Frank balled his fists. His face felt like it was on fire and he couldn’t decide if it was from embarrassment or rage. “He has my stick. He stole it from me,” Frank realized.

“What?!” Annabeth asked, her face going pale.

“How?!” Percy asked. “You watch that thing like it’s your… well, your life force.”

“It went missing yesterday morning,” Frank growled. He was going to find that Pax kid, turn into a grizzly bear, and smack him around until Pax gave him his stick back and an apology. How dare he impersonate Hazel like… like that.

“Oh gods,” Annabeth said. “Frank, we’ll find them and your stick. When do the others land in New York?”

Frank shook his head. With trying to round up the weasels, run the camp, avoid Hazel, and look for his stick, he hadn’t paid as much attention to their guests’ itinerary. “I’m not sure, but I can find out from Reyna—but I’m not sure how to get in contact with you after. Iris Messaging hasn’t been working and every time we’ve tried to call you—”

Annabeth frowned. “My cell phone malfunctioned after I took some pictures of an Egyptian journal that we’re pretty sure was cursed.”

Frank probably should have asked, but his anger was too distracting.

“We’re pretty sure they used to be part of Kronos’ army, so the Pax brothers will be trained and—”

“You knew they were part of Kronos’ army and you let them into your camp?” Frank demanded.

Annabeth sighed, like she’d had this conversation before. “That’s not important right now. Just know that they could be very dangerous—”

“—same with that Ana girl—”

“—Euna,” Annabeth corrected. “And, Frank…” Annabeth’s expression changed. “Leo is—”

The image shuddered. Annabeth’s image disappeared as something moved in front of his window, blocking the sunlight’s path to the steam.

Frank almost hoped it was Pax, so he could throttle the kid. But he would have way rather heard the end of that sentence. Leo is… what?

“Those punks are dangerous,” the person said behind him. “But nothing you can’t handle.”

Frank was pretty sure he recognized that voice, though it sounded much smugger than usual. Frank turned, wishing people would stop crashing his bathroom.

He just wanted to finish shaving.

The man behind him wore a pair of dark cargo pants, a dark camo shirt, and a bulletproof vest lined with grenades. His combat boots were caked with mud, adding some unneeded decorations on Frank’s white floor. He wore red-tinted night vision goggles and a black bandana with a skull symbol. He was huge, and shouldered an enormous assault rifle, like a HKG36 on steroids. He stared past Frank, at the mirror. With his other hand, he shaved some scruff off his neck with a hunting knife.

Frank decided he didn’t want to use his dinky razor while this guy was shaving with a hunting knife. Frank could go get a knife from his room to try the same, but—with his luck—that would end this conversation faster than getting Hannibal the elephant to storm the praetor house.

“Mars?” Frank asked. Normally, his father looked like an honorable soldier. This guy looked more like an eager mercenary.

The guy must have been satisfied with his shave job, stowing away his hunting knife. “Eh, close enough kid. Ares. I don’t usually come here like this, especially with all you Romans expecting my other side, but this is personal. To both me and my stiffer side, I guess. And to Rome. But Roman aspect won’t handle this as tactfully as I will.”

Ares set his assault rifle down so he could crack his knuckles.

Frank didn’t understand why he was getting so mad at Ares for tracking dirt into his bathroom. He guessed it was Ares’ aggressive atmosphere, but he still felt like going for a loving father-son smack down. Were the Greek aspects of gods more… influential than the Roman?

“Is this about my stick?” Frank asked. He was mad at himself for asking. He didn’t want to talk about it, but the words just slipped out.

Ares bellowed out a laugh. “Oh no. That’s your problem. This is about those two punks, though mostly about the one that can turn part monster. I gotta hand it to him. If I didn’t hate him, I’d say he has a lot of spunk. Waltzing around Camp Jupiter—like he hadn’t killed two praetors.”

Frank dropped his razor. It clattered on the ground. “He what?!”

Ares shrugged, like this shouldn’t have been shocking. “The legion had to lose two praetors for Reyna and Jason to come to office. I’m not sure how he took out the first one, the one that Reyna replaced, but that monster killed the second in an ambush during the Second Titan War. He wore their medals on his military cloak as battle trophies.”

Wooziness hit Frank. Yesterday, he’d practiced fighting with Axel. He could envision the seemingly genuine glee Axel exuded when battling Reyna. Frank remembered feeling stupidly excited when Axel patted him on the back, complimenting one of his strikes. Axel gave off the confident cool of a leader, one that needed impressing.

But he had smelled weird. Frank couldn’t describe it, other than not-human.

“He killed two praetors. And you’re saying he can turn into a monster?” Frank asked.

“Something like that. I don’t really get it. The Leonis Caput is one of Hecate’s weird magic-science experiments. I’m not sure how much of it comes from being a savage freak, but he has a helmet that can turn him part monster now. But he doesn’t have it on him, so you should be able to take him pretty easily. I kinda wish he did, it would be a better fight.” Ares seemed disappointed.

“Gee, sorry,” Frank muttered.

The Leonis Caput. Frank had heard older legionnaires talk about that creature, one of Krios’s lieutenants.

“It’s a shame. Now, if I remember properly, you Romans are all about quests, right?” Ares scratched under his chin. “You got a pen on you?”

“Uh, no.”

“Augh, why do I feel like Romans never have pens?”

Frank scowled. “We’re in my bathroom.”

“Whatever,” Ares growled. He withdrew a grenade that morphed into a pen and went to scribble on Frank’s wall. Frank wanted to yell at him to stop. He’d have to clean that and the dirt on his floor. He wasn’t sure what the regulations were on yelling at your godly parent, but he assumed it would result in more than being grounded.

“So, you’re supposed to be a good tactician and whatever. If you were this guy, what do you think you’d be up to?”

Frank’s mind whirled. His jaw dropped. The Pax brothers had his stick. And Axel was currently with—

“Reyna,” Frank gasped. “Do you think he’s trying to collect more praetor medals?”

“I don’t know. I just hate the guy. It’s why I cursed him,” Ares said and stepped back from the wall.

“Why do you—”

Ares vanished, leaving Frank with a quest scribbled on his bathroom wall:

Bring the Leonis Caput before the council of the gods for divine judgment. Or at least kick his ass. Have fun kid.

Frank stared at the message for a second, deciding something for sure: the Greek version of his dad was a jerk.

Then he realized he was staring when he should have been scrambling for his armor and weapons. Reyna should be strong enough to hold off the Leonis Caput, right? Especially if he didn’t have his helm?

Good ol’ Ares.... such a great dad!

Sorry I’m running late on updates! It’s been a crazy week. Regardless, I hope you enjoy! I’m super excited for next week’s chapter: Axel’s Handicap of Emotional Heartache. Ready for this book to earn its title! XD