#festus hoo

[scrunchi]

My oil painting of Festus and Leo that I've never posted because I thought I wanted to keep working on it (Leo's FACE??) but I probably won't.... it looks finished enough :,)

[witchhazelevesque]

Things that happened during those 24hrs before The Battle at Camp Jupiter after The Dark Prophecy

The loving, joyful, teary Hazel-Leo-Frank group hug we deserved and didn’t get in BoO

Leo gets an actual tour of the city

It’s full of battle strategizing and Frank prodding at him to make sure he’s actually real, but still

Reyna gets a good look at Festus and her respect for Leo goes up a little more

Leo finally gets a close look at the metal dogs and falls in love

Her dogs go batshit over the dragon, barking their heads off in excitement like ‘Dog! Dog! Big Dog! Friend!’

Festus is confused but pleased

Leo and Reyna watch on and Leo goes, “Guess we’re co-parents now”

Reyna relents a smile

Hazel knows she’s supposed to be a dignified centurion, but she’s also a kid who loves fast things and she’s like, “Dammit I’m gonna fly on this dragon” and invents an errand to take him

Leo gives her that ‘you like Krabby Patties don’t you Squidward’ look, and she isn’t even ashamed and it’s Good(tm)

Frank kisses Leo, because he didn’t before the last major battle and he’s not making that mistake again

Leo catches on fire and this time Frank doesn’t recoil because he’s got nothing to worry about. 

[skogensro]

i'm rereading mark of athena right now and i'm only about halfway through but man leo has so many good scenes <3

(i swear i will draw other characters soon lol)

[lokiwiiiiiii]

still fighting with art block but Leo illustration 👍 (and mini festus)

[blueparsley444]

leo with festus doodle </3

he’s so beautiful in my mind thank you rick for the fantastic books

[zacrisart]

Leo and Festus in Bunker 9

[poppitron360]

HOLYSHITTT THE MOST AWESOMEST HEADCANNON JUST POPPED INTO MY HEAD JUST NOW

Ok so I’m reading HoH rn, and we’ve yet to explain the whole “Festus is alive” thing, and I have a feeling it might not be explained, but I have an explanation for it and oh myy gods-

BECKENDORF.

In tlh, they explain how Beckendorf was the only one who could control Festus, right? And how the dragon went haywire after he died?

Well WHAT IF Beckendorf in Elysium tried for Rebirth and was REBORN INTO FESTUS???!?!?! Like when Piper woke him up and stuff, she called on his soul and his soul BECAME FESTUS. Or maybe before that- idk what the deal is with exactly when Festus became conscious. MAYBE AFTER HE SAW PERCY FALL INTO TARTARUS FOR ANNABETH AND REMEMBERED HIS OWN SACRIFICE AND WANTED TO BE A HERO AGAIN??? MAYBE HE SEES LEO, HIS LIL’ BRO, BEING BADASS AND AWESOME AND HE’S LIKE “I WANNA HELP THAT KID”??? OR MAYBE HE WAS REBORN WAY BEFORE THAT DURING TLH????

Anyway, idc what explanation they give, Festus is the reborn soul of Beckendorf and you can’t convince me otherwise.

Also, sorry for all caps I’m exited shut up

[incorrect-riordanverse]

Hazel: Leo are you okay?

Leo: I’m having one of those headaches with pictures

Frank: Oh my gods he’s having an idea

[ottpopfic]

So Wolf Speak is described as a mostly nonverbal body language forward way of talking. So you know who could learn this, Festus. Like my baby boy even has a tail, he could be totally fluent. Leo gains the the power of speaking Machine through his godly gifts, Festus learning Wolf would mean he could talk to everyone not just Leo

Just Jason teaching his step son what is basically his first language, getting to bond with the dragon over it. Featus, who is made of metal and possibly immortal, still getting to talk to people after The Seven+ are gone.

Festus getting to tell stories

[litiyerses]

leo when he saw frank turn into a dragon: "i'm gonna sue for child support"

[spicassis]

HAPPY NEW YEAR !! Have a lot of fun in 2024 !!

[witchhazelevesque]

We didn't get to see Camp Jupiter's alarms blare when a gleaming mass is spotted in the sky, streaking right toward them. We didn't see the crowds gathering in the streets of the city, the soldiers in the barracks moving to gather their weapons, weary because haven't they dealt with enough?

We didn't see the Praetors of New Rome and their most trusted legionaires step out of the shadows of the Senate House as the flying shape resolved into the form of a dragon. We didn't see the familliarity of that dragon register on the faces of the soldiers who had fought at Camp Half Blood last August.

We didn't see the Praetors stop in shock as the word spread through the crowd, questions and doubts and disbelief.

We didn't see Reyna's lips part in astonishment, a rare sight as she’s not easily surprised, and in the same breath ordering her people to stand down. We didn't see Hazel let out a joyous cry, hands flying to cover her mouth as she mentally calls for her steed so she can meet her friend as soon as he lands.

And we didn't see Frank stand rooted to the spot, eyes fixed on the figure that's little more than a speck sitting astride the dragon's back, his heart thundering in his ribs, his throat, the entirety of his body.

We didn’t see him, never once looking away from the sky as he steps foward, pushing through the crowd, moving with more and more urgency as the truth hits him, until he's running, sprinting, lifting off the ground, barely conscious of shifting his form because all he can think is that he can't lose one more moment on this earth that rider died to defeat, not when that rider is alive and here and in reach. 

We didn't see the rider register the shape moving to intercept him, the resignation for a fight before the recognition of that giant eagle that he knows so well, the blinding grin as the eagle swoops in so close they should all go tumbling out the sky.

We didn't see the eagle morph back into a teenage boy who has missed Leo Valdez so fiercely that he thought the feeling alone could break open the surface of the sleeping world, who doesn't have to miss him anymore, because Leo is pulling his still shifting form onto the seat behind him.

We didn't see Frank Zhang in the open sky for the first time in his original form, or how he barely registers the sensation because he's too focused on wrapping himself around the boy he'd feared he had truly lost, head buried against his shoulder, arms tight around his torso, Leo's own holding just as tight to him, to one of the main reasons he was able to go through with his sacrifice in the first place.

We didn't get to see that. 

[wanderingmind867]

Do we ever learn who made Bunker 9? When Festus was created? How and why the bunker was created? I haven't read the Heroes of Olympus books in a good many years, but I don't remember if we ever learned why Bunker 9 was made. And if we still don't know why it was made… perhaps a short story about that is in order? Because I have questions, and I'd kill to read a short story about the birth of Festus. Especially if it's bookended with him and leo being best friends in modern times.

Plus, someone in Bunker 9 sketched out a design for the Argo II and wrote under it "Prophecy? Unclear. Flight?". There's a story there, and I want to know what it is! Was a 19th century hephaestus kid an oracle? Can someone kindly tell the dead person who drew that sketch that they ended up being very helpful in the long run? So many minor things that could be fleshed out into little short stories.

[your-stranger-halfblood-things]

Rick Riordan forgot to add this in HOO, but when Leo built the Argo 2, he definitely made it have an arcade and bowling ally

[demigod-shenanigans]

I actually think it’s so weird that the fact that Annabeth and Percy were there when Festus was first rediscovered and Annabeth literally hot-wired him never comes up in the books. I think she and Leo should talk about this actually

[zacrisart]

I had this idea of making Festus HUGE so I did it.

So here's Leo and Festus chilling at Bunker 9