#fuck am I the luke castellan of this situation

[flying-ham]

percy @ luke during sea of monsters

[too-deviant]

freaky friday

OR… that one time you woke up in luke castellan’s body, told from the perspective of percy jackson.

Pairing: Luke Castellan x Fem!Demeter!Reader

Word Count: 4.2k

Content: the most loser loser!luke has ever loser-ed. this is sooo unserious like pls.

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Percy Jackson had only been at camp for a day, but he was completely sure that something was wrong. 

It started early Sunday morning — well, when he thought back on it, he guessed it might have started late Saturday night, when he woke up to a few of the older campers (Luke included) sneaking off out of the cabin and not coming back until the sun was peeking through the horizon. 

But he didn’t really think about it until Sunday morning — when the thing that startled him out of sleep was a loud shout of  “Holy Fuck!” echoing from the bathroom. He sat up, startled, and eyed the door along with everyone else. Then there was a yelp. 

“Oh my gods. No — this is, this isn’t real. Am I still — oh don’t touch that. That’s not yours. Jesus, Luke — No. Stop looking. Oh my gods.” 

A few campers shared some wary glances, asking the silent question of who’s going to investigate? Eventually, Chris (Percy thought, one of Luke’s friends from yesterday), stood up with a sigh and a raised brow, stepping over sleeping bags until he stood outside of the door. He looked at them all, the curious eyes of literally every kid there, and knocked slightly. There was another yelp. 

“Uh…” Chris blew out a puff of air, “Are you okay in there?” 

A few seconds of tense silence, then the door cracked open and Luke Castellan stuck his head out. He looked at Chris, at all the kids staring at him, and smiled stiffly, “I’m good. Don’t worry about me.”

He shut the door once more, the force blowing Chris’ hair back for a brief moment. The boy shrugged and nodded at everyone else to start getting ready because it was almost time for breakfast. He headed over to Percy, asked how his first night was, and left him to gather his bearings before they had to leave. 

The kids attempted to forget about Luke’s debacle in the bathroom, but when they started to get impatient about his hogging it, all disregard of his personal business went flying out of the window. One kid mustered the balls to knock, and then another shouted through the wood for him to hurry up. 

Just as one of the Stoll brothers was about to pick the lock himself and check out the situation, the door flew open, and Luke frowned at them from the doorway, “I’m done, my gods.” 

They looked at him — he was leaning against the now open door, hip bucked out and not a care in the world that he was in nothing but his underwear. He glanced at them, then at the kid who Percy thought was called Conor, and sneered in his face until the kid flinched back. When he did, Luke pushed the bathroom door until it hit the wall and gestured dramatically inside, “In you go.” 

Percy didn’t think he was the only one who was shocked by Luke’s sudden show of attitude. Sure, he’d only known the guy for a day, but he’d been super nice the whole time. Even when Percy was ready to give up on finding his skill, Luke was supportive and kind. Now, he just looked irritated at everyone in the room. Maybe he wasn’t a morning person. 

Yeah, that was probably it. 

Percy decided to let him wake up a bit instead of irritating him with questions about how the morning routine at camp usually went. Instead, he followed the lead of the kids around him and got himself ready before lining up along the wall. His face bloomed red when someone had to tell him to go to the back because he was new, but other than that he was doing somewhat alright. 

Chris and Luke were arguing quietly in the corner, being careful to ensure nobody else could hear their murmurs. At one point, Luke stepped up so he was nose to nose with Chris and the boy put his hands on his chest to push him back — only for Luke to sharpen his eyes down at them with such a scandalised look that even Percy was slightly confused from where he stood and watched. Luke folded his arms over his chest indignantly and Chris sent him a dumb look before muttering something that made Luke straighten and drop his arms once more. 

When the boys ceased their conversation and walked over, the kids pretended as if they hadn’t been watching their entire time

“Okayyy.” Luke spoke, huffing out a breath. He shot his hands out and waved them, “Let’s go.” Nobody moved, and he furrowed his brows, “Uh, onwards and upwards? Hop to? En guarde?” Silence greeted him and he rolled his eyes, clapping loudly, “Can yall just fuckin’ move?”

The kids at the front flinched slightly, deciding it best to just leave rather than wait for him to say his usual morning pick-me-up. Clearly he was having a bad day and they chose to leave him to his own devices. Percy followed at the back, and couldn’t help but listen as Chris muttered to him once more from behind him. 

“Can you at least try to act like a normal person, please?” 

“I am acting normal.”

“Luke Normal.” He paused, waiting. Percy guessed Luke must’ve agreed silently because the next thing he said was, “Thank you. Now get to the front of the line like the cabin counsellor you are.” 

Luke huffed, pushing past Percy to get to the front of the line. Chris followed, whispering something about Luke having a bad day and to just ignore him before jogging to catch up. The blonde boy had never felt so awkward — the only friend he’d made and the guy was skulking around like he hated the world only twelve hours after they’d met. 

He tried to brush it off by focusing on his breakfast — blue pancakes, blue cherry coke. Okay, not the healthiest option but he was having a bad weekend, let him live. 

Chiron came to find him a bit after that, asking Percy how he was settling in and if he was ready for the Capture the Flag game they were playing later. 

After that, Percy tried to avoid the prying eyes of Annabeth by spending his free hour in the Hermes cabin where she couldn’t get to him — only to walk in on something a lot more awkward. 

Luke was lying on the floor, groaning in pain. The smiley Demeter girl he had introduced Percy to the day before was on top of him, also groaning in pain. 

“Uh, are you guys okay?”

They flinched, scrambling off each other and pulling themselves to their feet. Luke brushed himself off and looked at Percy wide eyed, “It’s not what it looks like!”

“Seriously.” The girl said when Percy raised his brow. She shook her head slowly, “We would never —“

“Yeah.” Luke scoffed, “Like never ever.” 

The girl — Percy was still trying to remember her name — turned her head and looked at him blankly, “Okay. That wasn’t needed.”

“I’m just clarifying.”

“You didn’t need to sound so disgusted about it, though.” 

“Oh my god.” Luke scoffed a chuckle, shaking his head, “You’re such a guy.”

Percy screwed up his face, and Luke suddenly backtracked, “Uh, I mean — such a lie…er.” Even he looked confused by what he’d said. He straightened up and scoffed, waving his hands, “She wants me so bad. Right? Bro?” He held out a fist, but Percy just looked at it. 

The girl, who had swiftly knocked his hand back to his side and stepped slightly in front of him, smiled kindly like she had yesterday when she’d asked how Percy was feeling about the sudden change in his life. “Sorry for scaring you, Perce. We’re just talking about something. Did you have a question?” 

“Yeah, actually.” He looked at her, “Are you in pyjamas?” 

She looked down at herself like she was just remembering her white tank top and fleece pyjama pants with bats printed on them, and Luke laughed into his fist. Upon hearing his chuckles, she swivelled back to glare at him, “Hey, don’t laugh at me! Would you rather me undress you?” 

“What?” Percy asked. He was ignored. 

Luke took a step back and held up one finger, “Uh, no. I don’t need you looking at my tits, perv.” 

“What?” Percy tried again. 

The girl scoffed, looking away from him and muttering under her breath, “Kinda hard not to when they get hot in the night and climb out of your shirt.” 

Luke gasped and put his hands to his chest, “Oh my gods.” 

“I tried not to look but they were right there — !”

"Well — " Luke stammered for a rebuttal, eventually pointing in accusation at the girl beside him, "You had morning wood!

"What — ?!"

“Hey, guys!” Percy finally interrupted, and they looked at him in surprise like they’d forgotten he’d been standing there the whole time. “What the hell is going on?”

The two shared a look, but it was you who stepped forward and looked at him kindly, “Nothing you should worry about. You’ve had a tough weekend already, just pretend you never saw us.” 

Percy was tempted to refuse and force them to spill the beans, but they were two older campers who could very well send him to detention or whatever it was they did here for punishment — he wasn’t keen on finding out. So he left with a nod and closed the door behind him. 

Your voice drifted through the window, “—can’t believe you wear batman pyjamas.”

“At least I wear pyjamas.” Luke responded, “You left very little to my imagination this morning.” 

He walked off before he could hear anymore. 

He didn’t see either of you again until just before lunch. He was walking through camp with Grover, half-listening to his friend yap about a blueberry bush he thought was cute, when they passed you and your sisters giggling about something near the forges. 

“Gods, he’s cute, though.” One of them was saying, eyeing up a boy with soot all over his face. Percy couldn’t see much of him to determine him as cute, but your sisters seemed to agree with a loud dreamy sigh. 

“He is, don’t get me wrong.” Another girl added, “But consider this: Lee Fletcher.”

“Oh, yeah.” 

“He’s got potential. He’s got potential.” 

Percy found himself slowing down, the teenage boy in him wondering if someone would mention his name. Of course they wouldn’t — he’s twelve, and they’re all around yours and Luke’s age, but a boy could dream. 

One of the girls clicked her tongue, looking at you, “Who was it you said was sorta dreamy the other day?”

Percy watched you freeze, suddenly looking very awkward. You took a deep breath in and pretended to think about what you were going to say, but one of your sisters chimed in for you.

“It was Astor. The Ares kid with the curly hair.” 

“Oh yeah!”

“What?” You exclaimed, scrunching up your face. When your sisters looked at you all confused, you backtracked, “Uh, I mean yeah he’s…cute.” You forced the word out with difficulty, “But, I dunno. There's cuter guys out there.”

“Oh?” Your sister said, interested, “Who are you thinking?”

Now you were on the spot. You swallowed, making these exaggerated facial expressions that Percy assumed were you trying to convince the girls that you had just come up with this idea, when you’d actually probably been wanting to say it the whole time you’d been talking and just needed an excuse, “Oh, I don’t know…” You shrugged, “Luke Castellan’s sorta…y’know?”

The girls looked between each other, and you watched with slight anticipation. Then one of them, the one who had mentioned Lee Fletcher earlier, said, “I swear you said he was too full of himself.”

“What —?”

“Yeah, she did.” The other chimed in, “You said he would be cuter if he didn’t — what was it? — flaunt around camp like he had the biggest cock out of all of ‘em.”

The girls laughed, and you attempted a weak chuckle, but it sorta looked like you were in pain. Percy thought it best to walk off after that, looking for Grover who had long since left him to his eavesdropping devices and presumably wandered off into the forest to look for Blue the blueberry bush. 

So maybe Percy should’ve pressed harder when he’d cornered you and Luke earlier that morning. He thought he could brush it off, even when he kept seeing Luke lift up the hem of his shirt and poke at his abs in wonder, or when he saw you pushing your hair out of your face once every ten seconds before finally putting it in the messiest ponytail he’d ever seen. It was as if you had lost all sense of self overnight, like you'd never actually seen your own bodies before. It creeped him out, but he held back on asking. Maybe it was a demigod thing he hadn't been taught yet.

The straw that broke the camel's back, however, was after dinner. Usually when the nymphs take the plates away and the campers start to trickle down to the campfire, a few odd groups would stay behind at their tables, gossiping or finishing their desert until they had to get up and go — not only were you and your siblings part of this group of people, but so were Luke and Chris (and, by default because he had nobody else to hang out with, Percy). 

So the newcomer had the fortunate opportunity to bear witness to possibly the greatest series of events he’d ever seen (and he once saw a rat the size of a small dog eating a small dog). 

It all started when a girl from the Aphrodite table stood up and walked over to where the boys were sitting. 

“So, if you do ever want to sneak out to the forests, don’t go through the pavilion.” Chris was explaining, “Mr D has a birds eye view of the whole place from his bedroom window, so you gotta sneak as close to the Big House as you can get. But make sure to duck under the windows just in case Chiron is trotting around in there.” 

“And be careful around cabin four.” Luke butted in, “They have vines that spring out of the floor whenever a non-Demeter kid gets too close during the night.”

Chris turned to his brother with a look, “How do you know that?”

“Oh, uh — ”

“Hey, Luke.” 

Three heads turned to the edge of the table where she was standing — a pretty girl with short blonde hair, a few strands dyed pink near the front. She was smiling at Luke cheekily and Percy noticed Chris send his brother a smirk. 

“Uh, hi…” Luke trailed off, squinting.

“Laura.” She finished with a frown.

“Laura!” He exclaimed, snapping his fingers. “I knew that. I did.”

“Cool.” She said slowly, brushing off the moment and bouncing around the table to sit next to him on the bench. She leaned on her elbows into his side and Percy watched him shuffle back, only for Chris to push him right back forward. “So, uh, I had fun…last night.” She side eyed Percy across the table, but the boy just pursed his lips awkwardly. 

“Really?” Luke responded, a little shocked. He nodded, “Well, uh, me too?”

Laura grinned widely at that, back straightening, “I’m so glad we agree.”

Percy wasn’t so sure Luke agreed, he wasn’t even sure the guy remembered whatever saucy interaction she was referring to. But he was pretending to, for her sake. He blinked at her silently, but she just looked as if she was waiting for him to say something — Percy was only young, but he’d seen enough movies to know that she was waiting for him to suggest they do it again sometime. 

He did not. Instead he twisted his body away from her and back towards Percy, smiling at him, “Wanna head to the campfire, get some good seats?”

The boy was moments away from responding, but Laura clearly wasn’t taking his silence as an answer. She pulled Luke back to face her by his arm and blinked up at him, “I was just about to suggest we skip the fire tonight. Just us, y’know?” 

Chris cleared his throat and stood, ushering for Percy to do the same, “Let’s go, lil bro.”

“Wait — “ Luke stood with them, staring back with a silent plea of help. Chris wasn’t having it, just grinning at him. 

“Have fun, Luke.” He snorted, “See you later.” 

“No, you can’t — ” He started, but Laura was yanking him back with a high pitched giggle. 

“You heard him, Luke.” She smirked, “No one's gonna notice we’re gone, loosen up.” She ran a slow finger down his torso, and Percy watched him visibly tense up. He didn’t understand why she hadn't taken the hint already. 

Chris seized Percy by the wrist and began to pull him away, occasionally looking back and giggling like a schoolgirl, with the odd snort. The younger boy didn’t really want to look back, but then when he heard Luke yelp like a girl, well…

He had to. And thank the gods he did.

Luke was sprawled on the table like a scared rabbit and Laura was standing with one hand hanging limply in the air, looking confusedly at his stance. Chris burst into loud laughter when he noticed Luke’s legs were spread and the boy was trying really hard not to look at his own crotch. 

They walked over when it was clear someone needed to intervene, and Percy noticed the Demeter girls from before joining them — you were at the front, looking panicked and slightly annoyed.

"What's going on?" You asked, looking between the two of them.

"Nothing." Laura said plainly, "We were just talking."

Luke looked at you, “She — uh, she grabbed your — uh, your — ” 

He gestured between his legs with a shaky hand. Percy raised a brow, as did everyone else at the scene. Except for Laura, who began to cackle loudly, bending over at the hips and bracing her hands on her thighs. The rest of the kids stared at the pair with varying expressions, and Laura straightened up, wiping under eyes with a giggle before pointing between you and Luke. 

“You guys — oh my gods — ” She laughed again, shaking her head and trying to breathe long enough to get her words out, “Holy Hades, Castellan. I’m — I’m sorry.” 

She held her hands up in surrender, looking at you now, “I am. I didn’t know you guys were dating. I guess I took mine and Luke’s conversation the wrong way, but — ” Another wheeze, “And I shouldn’t be laughing, but he just referred to his penis as yours, and I — ” 

“Laura, it’s not like — ” You stepped up with a wince, trying to alleviate the growing tension between the group. The Aphrodite girl wasn’t listening. 

“I just think that’s the funniest thing I’ve heard since…” She took a moment to think, catching her breath and smiling at herself as she thought about it. Eventually, she gestured to you with a laugh, “Well, since last night when you called Graham Lee an extra-terrestrial ass-kisser.” 

Luke licked his lips, taking a deep breath in and pushing himself off the table and to his feet. He went to say something to Laura, face serious, but then he stopped and knocked his head back in a slight movement. He looked around at nothing, as if he was recollecting a memory, and then he gasped and pointed a finger at you, “I did do that.”

“You called Graham Lee an extra-terrestrial ass-kisser?” You tilted your head at Luke, “Why?”

Luke shrugged, “He grabbed my ass.” 

Laura scrunched up her face, looking between the pair of them, “Are you guys on drugs?”

"There aren't any drugs at this camp." You blanked. You brother laughed.

"Says the drug dealer."

You raised a brow in shock, like you'd had no idea about your own small business. You looked at Luke intensely -- Percy thought maybe you were trying to keep your drug dealing thing a secret, and Luke had gone and spilled the beans. That would explain why he suddenly looked so sheepish. It wouldn't explain why you then said, "Well I am not on drugs."

"Then what is wrong with you guys?" Someone finally asked the question Percy had been sitting on since he watched you hover your hands over your own boobs before retracting them quickly as if it was against some demigod rule to touch your own body — only for Luke to see from afar and have some very stern words to say about it.

Finally, after ten seconds of intense eye contact, you and Luke took in simultaneous breaths. It was you who spoke first, addressing the whole crowd — which consisted of Percy, Laura, Chris, and the Demeter kids — “We’re in eachother’s bodies.” 

The Demeter kids made grossed out faces, but Chris just snorted into his fist and let the conversation go on. Percy had never been more confused in his entire life — and he had once thought his dad was Jesus. 

Laura chuckled, “Yeah, we know that. His penis is yours, or whatever freaky shit yall are up to.” 

“What?”

“No — ” 

You and Luke spoke at once, each taking a single step forward. You paused, looking at each-other until you gestured at Luke with a sigh, letting him speak. He nodded, “We’re serious. We are in each other's bodies.”

“Freaky Friday style.” You jumped in before anyone could make a sex joke. You sent the group a sharp look, and then zeroed your eyes in on Percy, “That’s why we were acting so out of it earlier.”

It was silent for a long stretch — everyone looking between one another. Percy didn’t even know what to say. It did explain their strange behaviour, but —

“How the hell did you end up in each other’s bodies?” A demeter boy asked, holding a finger up like he was in class. The rest of them nodded, wondering the same. 

“Well…” Luke sighed (or You sighed, he guessed. He was still confused), “At first we had no idea, but now I think it was Graham Lee.”

Another Demeter girl hummed, “He is a Hecate kid. It’d make sense that he put some freaky spell on you after you insulted him.”

Chris coughed, still red in the face from laughing into his shirt, “Okay, but why Luke?” 

You shrugged, “Dunno. I’ve never done anything to the guy.”

Suddenly, Laura let out a long, “Oooohhhh.”

Everyone eyed her. She pursed her lips in embarrassment, although Percy definitely saw amusement in her eyes. She tucked some hair behind her ear and winced, “So, maybe we went to the clash together.”

“The what?” Percy asked, finally speaking up. The rest of the group looked at him as if only just realising he’d been standing there, suddenly looking sheepish. 

“Uh, it’s a party.” Chris scratched behind his ear, “Older campers only, but if you don’t tell anyone about ‘em you can come to the next one.” 

He shrugged, “Deal.”

“So, wait.” You pointed at Laura, “You went to the clash with Graham? Like with him?” 

“Yeah.” She folded her arms indignantly, “But he was literally staring at you the whole time, so I left to flirt with Luke.” 

Your cheeks dusted pink, and both Laura and Percy realised she was talking to Luke, not you. She turned to Luke, clearing her throat, “Sorry. He was staring at you the whole time. So I left to flirt with…uh, Luke.” 

A collective breath ran through the group, everyone putting the pieces together in their own heads. Percy was still a little unsure, but he had the gist (maybe). Just as he was about to suggest they go find this Graham guy and ask him to undo his spell, one of the Demeter girls Percy had seen talking to you earlier gasped and looked between you and Luke with wide eyes. 

“So when we were talking before…” She looked at you, “We were talking to Luke?” 

You — or Luke, but as you — stammered, and Percy couldn’t help but let out a little laugh. Luke looked on, confused, and the girl looked at him with a smirk, 

“Earlier, we were gossiping about hot guys.” She chuckled, pointing at you, “And Luke suggested his own name, as you!” 

“What?” Luke exclaimed at you, partially appalled but also holding in a laugh. 

You stammered for an excuse, but then her face contorted and she zeroed Luke with an accusatory stare, “Well, you said I walked around camp acting like I had the biggest cock out of them all!” 

Luke scoffed, “You do.” 

“I do not!”

“You kind do.”

“Yeah, you do.”

“You sorta do, man.”

You turned to Chris, scandalised, “Bro.”

The boy shrugged, “Sorry man. It’s true.”

Eventually, you managed to convince the kids to finally go to the campfire and leave Luke and yourself to fix your problem with Graham when you got down there. They agreed, although not without making as many jokes as they could on the walk down to the clearing. 

“So, how did you guys pee?”

“Have you seen each other all naked and stuff now?”

“Did Luke have morning woo — ?”

“Alright.” You smacked Chris hard on the back for that one. “To your sections, please.”

Percy sat down on the end of a log, and watched as the two of you walked over to Graham and spoke to him in hushed but harsh tones. At one point, Graham was looking between you two with the most genuine look of confusion and Percy assumed he only agreed to reverse the spell because it was making his mind go all wobbly just talking to you. 

When he saw Luke again, it was at lights out. Percy was tucking himself into his thin sleeping bag when the boy came over, crouching to his level and dropping something on his lap. 

He lifted the bag of coins to his eyeline and then raised a brow at Luke, “What’s this for?”

“Drachmas.” He explained, “Just enough to get you a new shirt at the camp store. Or a thicker pillow, some three ply toilet paper. Whatever you want, really.” He shrugged, “Partly a welcome to camp gift, partly hush money.”

“Right.” Percy lowered the bag and levelled Luke with a curious look, “How was being in another person’s body? Weird?”

“Oh yeah.” He nodded, looking into the distance like he was having some awful flashbacks. Percy remembered seeing you walk out of the bathroom earlier, a look of terror plastered in your eyes. 

He cleared his throat, “Well, thanks for the money.”

“No problem, kid.” He patted him on the shoulder, “Get some rest. It’s capture the flag day tomorrow and guess what?"

"What?"

"We're teaming up with Demeter."

[g1rld1ary]

you never disappointed me - part five

part one part two part three four

➻ synopsis: luke castellan x aphrodite!reader ; luke tries to apologise for the party, but it takes you a while to forgive him (10 things I about you AU)

➻ word count: 3753

➻ warnings: ooc/kind of loser!luke, ooc silena, she/her pronouns used for reader, swearing

➻ did this take a month? yes. am I sorry? yes. will it happen again? absolutely

TAGLIST: @myxticmoon @wicca-void @leeknows-wife @thekittyxo-blog @number-onekidqueen @instabull @slaybestieslay946 @sflame15-blog @yourfavmiki @ivory-sage @caramelandvenus @chasebeth @maraudersmyloves losergirlcrowley amortencjja wisecrownpaper iammightsadyall odeasforyou rlqfpdl

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You were humiliated. You’d spent all night crying, mortification setting in thick over your body as you lay on your bed. However, despite how embarrassed you were, you were mostly angry. Angry at Luke for acting so affectionate, for making you believe that he really liked you then pulling away at the last second. Angry at yourself. Angry that after all these years, all it took was one stupid boy to bring down all your walls; angry that you let yourself be led into this situation.

And so that morning, instead of letting yourself mope around about it anymore, you picked yourself up with a new determination. You were angry, and everyone was going to know about it. Your braids were pulled extra tight, not in the mood to deal with flyaways or gentleness, and the smudged eyeliner around your eyes served as a reminder of the tears you’d wasted.

There was a much shorter line at the Lava Wall than usual. Although skipping out on activities could earn you some shitty chores or revoked dessert privileges, your bad mood had seeped into the whole area, practically lowering the temperature around you. You only had a few newer campers dare to enter your territory, and it took a Herculean effort to not snap at them for even coming near you.

Luke watched you from afar, hidden away in one of his typically safe smoking spots. He was trying to gauge your mood, see if anything was fixable. His prospects currently looked grim. He watched in anticipation as a young girl made a dumb mistake. Luke thought it wouldn’t have been her fault — Chiron had made him tour her around camp only a few weeks ago and she’d been pretty beat up before she got to camp. He watched you yank her off the Lava Wall moments before disaster, and held his breath as you both seemed to falter. The girl looked like she was going to burst into tears, and your face was unreadable, which was usually not a good thing. Just as he thought you were going to take out all your feelings on the scared kid, you crouched down to her level, thumb wiping away her spilled tears. You spoke softly to her, bringing her down from an impending breakdown with a gentleness that didn’t often emerge at camp.

The interaction gave Luke some hope, maybe your heart hadn’t totally closed off. That thought was quashed, however, when minutes later you ripped Travis Stoll a new one for being an ‘egotistical dickhead’ as he fooled around on the wall. Luke was genuinely shocked at the volume which came from your body, he could have mistaken it for a conch horn. Even Travis seemed a little taken aback at your outburst. Usually your bad moods were pretty easy to avoid — stay out of your way and you stayed away from others. Clearly today, though, you had anger to get out of your system, and you weren’t hesitant in expressing it.

You were still upset by lunchtime, and your day only got worse.

“Dance for me, cowboy,” Katy Gardener yelled, evil grin shining across the Dining Pavilion. You kept your head down and ignored it, hurrying to your table. A body popped up in front of you, blocking your path.

“What do we owe you for the table dance, babe?” Ethan crooned, and if you were in a slightly more private setting you would have decked him. You grumbled out a “Fuck you,” and shoved past him towards Drew, knowing that at least she wouldn’t reproach you in public. Ethan clearly wasn’t done with you yet, though, and began an all too innocent conversation with Mr D.

“Why don’t you ask how her weekend was, Mr D?” He said, throwing a casual glance over to you.

“Unless she kicked the crap out of your dumb ass, Elton, I don’t wanna hear it.” You could have kissed Mr D, and then immediately recoiled at the thought. Ethan’s embarrassed expression was enough to please you though, and you sunk into your meal silently, but at least not active with anger.

After lunch Luke tried to apologise to you, or explain himself at least. He knew you were upset, but he was still feeling good about himself. He had noble intentions, and was doing objectively the right thing by not taking advantage of you when you were drunk. None of these sentiments were expressed, though, when you stormed right past him, making sure to land an extra aggressive stomp on his foot as you went. Chris couldn’t hold back his loud laugh, clapping Luke on the back in semi-sympathy as he headed to his own next activity. Luke stood dumbly in his spot for a few minutes, unsure of how exactly to proceed. Clearly you were more upset than he thought.

Your own next activity was Ancient Greek with Mr D. You didn’t know why he taught it at all given you personally thought he was hardly fluent, but it was one activity you actually didn’t mind, especially as you got older. Whilst the younger kids had lessons focused on getting used to the alphabet and language, the elder campers who were more fluent had more traditional ‘english’ classes — learning about texts and languages, only in Ancient Greek so the dyslexia didn’t slow you down as much.

You shot Mr D a tightlipped smile as you walked into the pavilion, hoping to get by the lesson unscathed, though you didn’t have much hope. Both Ethan and Luke were in this class, and you really didn’t want to see either (though Luke usually skipped, so he wasn’t such a pressing issue).

Just your luck, Ethan was already in his unassigned assigned seat behind you, filling in the campers who didn’t attend the party about your escapades. You just rolled your eyes, trying to seem somewhat graceful about your own actions, but the leering eyes of your peers was making it supremely difficult. For once you did regret not making many friends at camp — if you had, maybe your humiliation wouldn’t be such a hot topic, but the very presence of your class reminded you why you had no interest in being friends with them.

The room thankfully quietened down when Mr D walked in, the whole camp somewhat wary of his temper. He started the lesson: Shakespeare. You perked up a bit from your slouched position in the chair. Whilst school wasn’t exactly your strong point with the ADHD and dyslexia, Shakespeare was something you actually kind of understood. When you were younger your Dad had taken you and Silena to a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and you’d loved it ever since. Shakespeare translated into Greek was maybe your dream.

Mr D started talking about sonnets, and you got the distinct impression that he didn’t totally know what he was talking about — or just didn’t care enough to go into any detail. You figured that was more correct since he was the god of theatre, but you could never be totally sure with Dionysus. Regardless, he’d moved on from explaining the basic form of a sonnet and had set you a project: write your own version of Shakespeare’s sonnet 141. You sat straighter in your seat, unable to hide the small smile that had crept onto your face. You raised your hand, slightly offended by Mr D’s eye roll.

“Yes, Miss I-have-an-opinion-about-everything?” He sighed, but you persevered nonetheless.

“Do you want it in iambic pentameter?” You asked.

“You’re not going to fight me on this?” He hesitated, and you revelled in the fact that you could still surprise him after all these years.

“No, I think it’s a really good assignment.”

“You’re just messing with me, right Barton?”

“Beauregard,” You corrected for the thousandth time, “But no. I’m really excited to write it.” You picked uncomfortably at your cargos as the class watched your exchange.

“Go see Chiron.”

“What?”

“Get out!” He yelled, not quite angry but you weren’t going to be the one to test him. There were rumours of previous campers who’d been turned into dolphins and you did not want to continue that legacy. You wandered out of Greek class, still slightly confused at what had just happened, and headed back to your cabin, not bothering to go see Chiron. With the cabin to yourself you tried to get a start on Mr D’s project, but inspiration was lacking and you resorted to taking a nap instead.

The rift between you and Luke became public knowledge at that night’s campfire. Without even realising it you’d started sitting with him most nights (or rather he sat with you, bothering you until you submitted to a conversation). Then suddenly you were avoiding him like the plague, spitting out a harsh “Get fucked, Castellan,” when he called your name softly, almost begging you to talk to him. You were never one to back down from your decisions though, and left him in the dust, taking a seat next to Clarisse. You could tell even Chris could see something was seriously wrong as he pressed a kiss to Clarisse’s hand and disappeared somewhere, presumably to sit with Luke.

You didn’t even really know why you were at the campfire in the first place. You’d been only a handful of times before you knew Luke, and now you didn’t want to know him yet here you were. Clarisse tried to keep you entertained with her quiet comments — which did admittedly make you snort a laugh once or twice, but you were otherwise miserable. You sure as hell weren’t going to participate or chat to anyone, and you were really regretting not just pursuing your usual routine of getting to the top of the Aphrodite cabin for stargazing. Plus, you could feel Luke’s eyes following your every move, and you were getting fed up with the kicked puppy act.

Your final straw was the singing — why was everyone in Camp Half-Blood so obsessed with singing? The second some douchebag from Apollo brought out a guitar you were done, launching yourself out of your seat and stomping back towards your cabin for some peace and quiet. Just as you were crossing the threshold out of the amphitheatre a hand grabbed your arm and you whirled around to face the culprit, ripping your arm out of his embrace.

“Touch me again, Castellan, and I swear to the Gods I will make sure you have no hands to use.”

“Look, I just wanted—”

“I don’t care, Castellan. We don’t always get what we want, do we?” You knew you were being mean, but you frankly didn’t care. When Luke was shocked into silence, mouth slightly open as he searched for anything to say, you took the opportunity to leave him in the dust, trying to keep your confident walk even as your legs were shaking slightly.

“Bro, what did you do to her?” Beckendorf approached Luke up near the exit of the amphitheatre.

“I didn’t do anything,” Luke snapped, before taking a beat to calm himself down, “She would’ve been too drunk to remember.”

“But the plan was working!”

“What do you care? I thought you wanted out.” A slight blush crept on Beckendorf’s face, accompanying the dumb grin.

“Yeah, well I did, but, um, that was until she kissed me.” Despite his own bad luck, Luke couldn’t help but be happy for Beckendorf, slightly hating the fact that the lame younger boy had grown on him significantly. He let Charles ramble about the kiss for a bit despite his decreasing interest in the conversation, very glad when Percy joined them.

“So I talked to Clarisse,” He said, and Luke knew by his tone the news wasn’t going to be good. Beckendorf was still hopeful (or just naive) though, and pestered him for more details. “’Hates him with the fire of a thousand suns’ is the direct quote.” All three of them grimaced, yet Beckendorf persisted.

“Hey, we don’t know. She might just need a day to cool off.” Luke thought back to the bruise you’d left on his foot earlier in the day.

“Maybe two.”

The Aphrodite kids were all in archery except you, who’d claimed to be sick to get out of it. So, Silena was on her own and vulnerable to Ethan approaching.

“Hey there, Cupid.” He popped up behind her, not noticing the grimace creeping onto Silena’s face.

“Hi, Ethan.” She refused to look at him, focusing instead on aiming her arrow.

“I want to talk about the end of summer dance.” Silena rolled her eyes as the rest of her siblings pretended to mind their own business despite their innate need to know what was going on.

“Look, you know the deal. I can’t go if my sister doesn’t.” The end of summer dance was exactly what it sounded like; a big party for all the kids at camp to celebrate the three months they’d spent together and send off the kids who weren’t staying all year round. Though the actual dance was supervised, it was a well known secret that all of the older campers stayed out through the night drinking and dancing, and most of the folk around camp turned a blind eye for the night. Usually, your dad would pick you up just before the party started, which would inevitably result in a fight between you and Silena. Now though, Silena wasn’t quite so against leaving early, wanting out of the boy drama she’d found herself in.

“Your sister is going,” Ethan said, puffing out his chest as if it made him look more manly. Silena’s surprise was genuine.

“Since when?”

“Let’s just say I’m taking care of it,” Was all Ethan said before walking away, confident swagger in his step as he passed in front of your siblings, and Silena wondered how many of them were holding back the urge to let go of their arrow as he crossed them.

Still, Ethan had to make good on his word, so he found himself approaching Luke again. Rummaging around in his pockets, Ethan presented him with 200 dollars in cash. Luke raised an eyebrow, not bothering with words.

“This should take care of everything for the dance. I’m sure you don’t own anything presentable so this is for a new outfit, flowers for her, whatever. As long as she comes to the dance.” Luke stared at him, and was disgusted at what he was feeling. He might’ve been growing a conscience, something that would be greatly inconvenient for his life as the scary, unsociable older guy at camp.

“I’m sick of your game,” He said finally, pushing the cash back towards Ethan, who frowned. Luke got the distinct feeling he’d never been told no before — except by you, of course. Ethan exaggerated a huff and reached back into his pocket, pulling out one more hundred dollar bill. Luke faltered. He was sick of hurting you, but three hundred dollars was a lot of money. And without any way of making income as a year-rounder it was only more attractive. So Luke swallowed his pride and his morals and took the money. Though, getting you to ever consider going out with him again was basically a hopeless case.

So Luke began his new quest of getting you to speak to him again. He’d shown up to the Lava Wall full of audacity and enthusiasm, and waited patiently in line as you helped the other kids, pretending you couldn’t see him. When it was clear he wasn’t going to leave — or have his turn on the climbing wall — until you acknowledged him, you rolled your eyes aggressively.

“What are you doing here?” You snapped, gesturing for the Athena kid standing behind Luke to have her turn.

“I want to improve my time,” He smiled, and you could tell he thought he was being cute. You only partly secretly agreed.

“You’re so…” You trailed off, unable to find a word appropriate for your audience of children.

“Charming?” He asked, and there was that smile again. “Wholesome?”

“Unwelcome,” You settled on, turning back to your duties.

“You’re not as mean as you think you are, you know that?” You froze for a second, then told the kid waiting to start to hold on until you could get rid of him.

“And you’re not as badass as you think you are.”

“Ohh, someone still has their panties in a twist!”

“Don’t for one minute think that you had any effect whatsoever on my panties,” You scoffed, subconsciously adjusting your denim shorts.

“Then what did I have an effect on?” Despite the two of you clearly arguing, there was a surprisingly vulnerable look in his eyes. You ignored it.

“Other than my upchuck reflex? Nothing.” You turned on your heel, making it clear the conversation was over.

You were absent from that night’s campfire, which Luke was grateful for since Percy and Beckendorf had much to say about the plan, none good.

“So she’s still majorly pissed,” Percy started and Luke snorted.

“Yeah, got that, genius.”

“Well the question is, how do you stop a girl from being mad?” Beckendorf asked, and Luke could only cringe at how they sounded. With the way the three of them were talking, any passerby would surely think they were three prepubescent virgins. From next to them, Annabeth sighed harshly.

“Look, Luke. You embarrassed her, her ego’s taken a hit. Devastating for any girl, especially damaging for a daughter of Aphrodite. You need to get on her level; even the score and embarrass yourself for her.” The boys sat back, stunned. One by one they processed the instructions, nodding slowly. Thank the Gods for Annabeth Chase was the only thing Luke could think.

With much planning and a little bit of outside involvement (Luke swapped some of his chores with Clarisse’s to get her to agree), the plan was set in motion.

“C’mon, it’ll be fun. We can make fun of the little kids singing Disney songs?” Clarisse lay on your bed as you cleaned your bunk area and you looked at her skeptically.

“Why tonight? We never go to the sing alongs.”

“Dunno,” She shrugged, “Something to do. Plus, summer’s almost over and soon we won’t get to spend any time together.” You grinned, reaching over to pinch her cheek lightly.

“Aw,” You cooed, “I knew you liked me deep down.” Clarisse swatted your hand away but smiled nonetheless, and the two of you stayed huddled up on your bunk gossiping until dinner.

Swayed by Clarisse’s begging, the two of you ended up at the sing along, much too close to the front for your liking. You struggled through the karaoke songs, only staying to commentate to Clarisse. You’d heard one too many awful renditions of classic childhood pop songs when the amphitheatre went quiet, no one knowing who was meant to be leading the next song.

“You’re just too good to be true,” The voice rang out into the night, unaccompanied voice making you gasp immediately in recognition. This was your favourite song, but hardly anyone knew that. It was the song you used to dance to with your dad when you were a kid, before you even knew you were a demigod.

“Can’t take my eyes off of you.” People were murmuring now, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from and who it belonged to — no one who’d sung before for sure.

“You feel like heaven to touch, I wanna hold you so much,” You gasped again as you saw the figure emerge from the darkness. Luke Castellan was singing at the camp sing along. You couldn’t hold in your giggle as he continued to sing a cappella, coming into the light of the stage. He seemed to be searching for something though, eyes roving over the audience.

“Can’t take my eyes off of you.” His eyes locked with yours; he found what he was looking for. Before you could dwell on the incredibly cheesy act, music swelled to life, the Apollo musicians seemingly having learnt the piece beforehand. You wondered how much planning went into this. Your joy only increased as Luke began to dance; dorky, outdated moves that made you laugh out loud — a sound so unfamiliar that a few campers had to look back to check it was really you. You laughed and clapped along with everyone else, thoroughly enjoying Luke embarrassing himself in front of the whole camp.

The performance had to end at some point though, and you found yourself rising out of your seat to give a standing ovation, whooping and cheering along with everyone else. By chance you caught a glance of Clarisse’s face to see her already watching you, a satisfied look evident on her face. You were confused for a second before a memory struck you — a late night on the roof trading drunk secrets and stories where you told her about your childhood connection to Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You. You were floored, and also kind of flattered. You knew it would have taken a lot for Luke to go to Clarisse for help — she was scary when she was pissed, and she was definitely pissed at Luke after the party.

You felt that little ball of light start to flicker in your chest again, and you were scared. But more than that you were excited. Despite everything else about you, you were a daughter of Aphrodite and a teenage girl, and the most romantic thing to ever happen at camp just happened to you. You guessed Luke had probably grovelled enough, and you would’ve told him that immediately if he hadn’t been swarmed by campers congratulating or laughing at him. Deciding you couldn’t put yourself in the middle of that crowd, you settled on telling him in the morning.

[amoreva]

Dark Luke Castellan hijacking the reader, I can't deal with the end of the series.

WHAT IS LOVE?

—– ٠ ✤ ٠ —–· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • · —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —–

pairing: luke castellan x fem!reader

summary: was it love if he did it for you? for a better future? the gods were his enemy, but he wanted you by his side away from harm.

warnings: during luke’s betrayal, angst, ooc luke

a/n: tbh i had no idea how to write dark!luke castellan, so i kind of wrote him kind of desperate and insane and a lot neglected because of the situation and kronos manipulating him.

—– ٠ ✤ ٠ —–· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • · —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —–

“Luke. What?”

Your heart drops to your stomach. Luke is holding your hands. You thought he’d took you into the forest to makeout (maybe more), but no. He was asking you the unthinkable, the impossible.

To join him. To join him side by side with Kronos the Titan.

At first you’re in denial. “Don’t joke like that.” An awkward giggle emitted from your lips. “You shouldn’t tell that joke to Percy. He almost met him.”

Luke squeezed your hands. A firework exploded behind him, allowing you to see the details of his face. Your stomach churned. Luke’s eyes are missing that warmth and affection he always had.

In its place is determination and power. “Come with me.” He asked again, firmer this time.

Your smile dropped. This the same Luke that gave you his dessert at dinner, right? The same Luke that held you when nightmares felt real?The same Luke that told you he loved you? Right.

You were willing to forget this, put it behind you like nothing ever happened. He probably hit his head or had a really really bad nightmare. “We should get you checked out, hm?”

“Nothing is wrong with me.” Luke said and unsheathed Backbiter. He let go of your hands. Luke wouldn’t hurt you, would he? Another firework, Backbiter gleamed in the pink. “Let’s go.”

“Luke, you can’t possible believe—”

“Kronos has opened my eyes!”

You flinched. His interruption scared you. “He showed me the gods treat their children like pawns, like shit. Me! You! Will, Silena…Thalia, even Percy!” You wince at the mention of your late friend. “I should’ve known. Ever since I saw my poor excuse for a dad—I’m not getting used anymore. I don’t want you to get used anymore.”

“I don’t want you—us to keep getting neglected because of our parents. We don’t deserve it.” Luke pleaded, trying to open your eyes in a new light.

“What makes joining Kronos any better?” You cupped his cheek, thumb brushing against his scar. The same scar that reminded him of how little the gods cared.

Instead of softening up to your touch and leaned in, he was still, tense. “I would be the son of a Titan—a Titan who sees me for who I am!”

“Luke…” You said softly and held his face. His eyes flickered, they glistened with moisture as he listened to you. It was like he was still there. “I don’t know—I don’t know what you got yourself into, but—for fucks sake snap out of it!”

“Do you hear yourself?” You asked.

The twinkle in your boyfriend’s eyes died out as if he was reminding himself of his purpose, his quest for Kronos. He stepped back from you. Daunting questions weighing in your head.

“Were you the one…that released the hellhound after Capture the Flag?” You asked, putting the pieces together.

“Yes.”

“You tried to kill Percy—Luke…you have to know that is so fucked up!”

“The gods are my enemy!” Luke shouted and gripped your arms. He looked you in the eyes. “You…you are still my sweet, sweet, naive girlfriend—you don’t get it now…but know this is all to protect you, protect us from harm, war.”

“Naive?” Your eyes widened. That was the only part you got out of it.

“Yes—no. Not naive! Fuck!” Luke huffed in frustration and ran his fingers through his chocolate curls. “Just…just—come with me—either way, I’m not leaving you when war breaks out.”

“Stop it.” Your heart was breaking into two, seeing like this. It looked like he was battling with himself, in his head. Tears brimming your eyes.

You hesitated to help him, your hands hovering close like he was delicate animal. He straightened up and brushed his hair back.

“I have to recruit, Percy. Last chance, babe—” Babe. It sounded so wrong coming from his lips now, especially now.

His once charming smile replaced with one filled with hidden insanity, pseudo. It was like he was cracking. Cracking under pressure. Cracking under time. Cracking under stress, sympathy, anger, revenge—all of it.

You don’t know how he got here, how Kronos fucked with his head so bad that he was breaking. It hurt you, hurt you more than you thought you would. A part of you wanted to keep refusing, get Luke the help he needed.

The other part; to join him. Join him, but not to join the cause. Join him and help him soothe him, him and battles with his own head. To make sure he was okay and completely sane for choosing this.

Yet an answer refused to leave your mouth. You were speechless. Tears rolling down your cheeks at the situation. The entirety of true situation felt overwhelming. Either way you couldn’t lose Luke.

This was love, right?

To feel be so conflicted with your emotions and decisions, but wanting your partner to be safe and okay from whatever being had his mind captive.

To wanting to get revenge on the Greek gods and goddesses, but you couldn’t allow your partner to get caught in the crossfire.

In both of your own ways, Luke and you still cared and loved each other dearly and it would never stop.

Luke sighed. “Don’t cry, baby.” He wiped your tears and pressed a kiss to your forehead (one that really felt like it was him).

Your body felt weak, vision fading in and out. You didn’t notice, but you felt a pressure on your carotid arteries. “Luke—”. You blacked out and he caught you in his arms.

“Just sleep. We’ll be there soon, with or without Percy.”

—– ٠ ✤ ٠ —–· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • · —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —–

[freddie-77-ao3]

pjo characters as quotes

Thalia:

“I *Audible sigh* I really can’t believe I have to say this, but *another sigh* when someone tells you not to run down the stairs, you do not jump out the window. Thank you.”

"Legally all of us are dead except Percy, so sir, the cops are going to have a lot of trouble finding records of us.”

“For the love of Zeus? What love? He doesn’t have any, except for himself and power.”

Nico:

 “As the only person here who did not, at one point or another, have a crush on Luke Castellan, I’m choosing where we’re eating today. And it's Mcdonalds.”

Travis:

“I have to wonder how many ping pong tables Clarisse has destroyed in her time at camp, oh wait no i don’t. The number is thirty-seven”

“I am a very good person, I just choose not to act on it.”

“Good fucking gods- wait no, the gods aren’t good. Uh, fucking gods. Yeah, that seems more accurate.”

Connor:

‘I have enough money to last for the rest of my life, but I have to die by tuesday.’

“I will pay a nickel for the first person to kill me. Please and thank you.”

“I’ve made a lot of bad decisions today. Most of them involve the soda machine at noodles and co.”

Clarisse:

“Oh, me? I’m the tooth fairy, here to steal your bones.”

“zeus may have fucked his way through the family tree but Percy's gonna fight his way through it.”

Clovis:

“Obviously he has harvesting god trauma, I mean: Titan of time, Goddess of Springtime/Queen of the Underworld, Kronide 2.0, Trip-oh something.. “ about nico (Kronos/Persephone/Demeter/Triptolemos)

Miranda:

“All of our most emotional, important, or depressing conversations happen over a ping pong or card game, and I’m not entirely sure that’s healthy.”

Chris:

“What am I? Well, personally I think of myself as human, but I suppose technically I’m only half human, so maybe just a being of pure chaos. As for why I’m on your lawn, I have no clue, sir.”

Cecil:

“Hold on, if I’m jewish, and you’re an atheist, then who’s going to acknowledge the god in the kitchen?”

Drew:

“What? Ignoring a situation? There is no situation and therefore I have nothing to ignore.”

“My fuck, do you remember that time when Miranda bought a parenting book, and then highlighted it and added names according to the issues everyone had? Say what you will about her, but that was the ultimate power move.”

Malcolm:

"I would say get a room but yours is the same as mine, please try to remember that."

"Morning? Sorry, that wasn't meant to be a question. I mean, I know it's morning. But I meant 'good morning'—"

Katie:

“You look delicious… i mean beautiful- wait, pretty? Handsome? Hot? Yeah. You look hot today.”

Percy:

“Who needs health? I have chicken nuggets.”

[sparkedblaze]

Luke as a villain. Or JD. Writer’s choice

I'm so sorry this kind of sucks. This is attempt *checks watch* four at posting this.

T/W uh… violence, mentions of unaliving self, mention of bombs and trying to unalive others,

Ohohohoho both sides of my ‘could I become them?’ coin

How am I supposed to pick-

JD is a villain that I could never be.

And ik that’s probably not what you’re asking about, but that’s how I start my deep dives, so bear with me.

He was traumatized, literally watched his mom end her own life and then was forced to pay rent. He’s constantly on the move and has little to no social skills.

I mean my man finds solace in a 7/11 which should tell you how bad his situation is.

JD is just a dynamic character.

I love him (not as a person).

He’s manipulative. And he’s good at it. Homie had Veronica eating out the palm of his hand. He’s the ultimate narcissist. HE TALKED HER INTO STAYING WITH HIM AFTER HE UNALIVED THREE PEOPLE ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

He let his trauma overtake him and drive him to planting bombs at a pep rally.

As someone who listens to Heathers on the reg, it’s quite the accomplishment to form that pit in my stomach every time I hear

“Sorry for coming in through the window. Dreadful etiquette, I know.”

IT NEVER GOES AWAY AND IT JUST MAKES ME SCREAM. JD IS SUCH A TERI LE PERSON BUT HES SO WELL WRITTEN I JUST- AHHHHHHHH

Also bc my blog is 99% newsies (and therefore is followed by many fansies) I have to include this clip of the Heathers workshop 😌You’re welcome.

NOW TIME FOR LUKE CASTELLAN BC IF YOU THOUGHT I WAS GONNA PICK BETWEEN THEM YOU WERE VERY WRONG

LUKE IS A VILLAIN THAT I VERY MUCH COULD HAVE BECOME. LIKELY WOULD HAVE BECOME IN THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES.

I held a lot of bitterness and anger toward my parents for a long time

But that’s neither here nor there

Luke is one of very few villains that I love a redemption arc for.

Holding a grudge is one thing. Feeling abandoned by his dad and terrified of his mom? Can you see why he may be a little upset?? But using said feelings to endanger all of the people he cares about just for revenge?

And then a deity starts whispering to him about taking revenge and at first he’s like ‘eehhhhhhh…..’ but the temptation is too great and he’s eventually POSSESSED BY SAID DEITY.

But in the end he sacrifices himself?!?! UGH SO GOOD

Like this is a villain that I can follow the train of thought. The tracks are clear. One stop after another. Abandoned, forgotten, LOSING HIS BEST FRIEND SISTER AND THEN BEING TOLD TO POISON WHAT’S LEFT OF HER.

AND HIM BEING TOLD ABOUT ANNABETH DENYING WHAT HE SEES AS THE ONLY THING TO DO AFTER ALL OF THIS.

KRONOS WHISPERING THINGS LIKE: AFTER EVERYTHING THEY WENT THROUGH. AFTER THEY PROMISED TO NEVER ABANDONED EACH OTHER. HOW COULD SHE?!?

AND LUKE BEING CONFUSED AND POSSESSED BY THE SPIRIT OF KRONOS AND JUST HOW COULD SHE?!

THIS BOY IS SEVEN KINDS OF FUCKED UP.

PLEASE GET HIM THERAPY.

ALSO FOR ANYONE WHO DOESN'T KNOW THERE'S A MUSICAL AND THIS IS LUKE'S BIG REVEAL AND IT'S SO GOOD

[nectaric]

@trckstaer asked:    “ am i not good enough? ”  - luke castellan

hermes had never been good in these kinds of situations.  not for lack of caring, or trying, or a desire to do the right thing and say the right thing.  but he never knew what to say.  sometimes he rambled on for ages, trying to find words and failing.  other times, he completely froze up, his brain whirring on while he mouth refused to move.  luke’s expression was enough to make hermes’ heart ache.  how was he supposed to find the words now?

“you have always been good enough.”  hermes replied resolutely, shocked by the strength of his own voice.  his hands were shaking, tapping away, praying he didn’t fuck this up entirely.  this was a delicate matter, but when had hermes ever been delicate?    “its me that’s the problem, kid.  i-- i don’t know how to do this.  i don’t know how to be the dad you need and i’m sorry.  i’m so fucking sorry i ever made you doubt that you’re enough.”

[multifandomegan]

thoughts on 15x19

It’s fine I’m fine its fine 

There’s just… nobody

dean still has the handprint on his shoulder

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

He is trying SO hard to keep it together poor dean

Oh no jack no

So like… what are they supposed to do

THIS IS NOT FUN

NOOOO JACK ITS OK

I mean it’s not 

But

Sam this is not your fault

That’s a stupid joke

NO THEY’RE SO SAD

I DON’T LIKE IT

Why he nap on the floor

I thought dean wasn’t a dog person

At least he’s smiling...right

What a good boy

That dog is probably someone evil in disguise

Oh goodbye then

This is probably a mistake

Hey it’s Midam

Oh no just Michael

I still have trouble seeing him not as luke castellan

Even though those movies sucked

A solution???????

Oh nope

Maybe he should just pick up the book and open it instead of trying to use the force

Has jack tried to open the book? Maybe jack should try to open the book

Jensen said this was the season finale

So they’re probably going to kill chuck in the next 28 minutes

I hope

Ah yes

The BM scene

WHAT

THE 

FUCK

CASTIEL

I have a bad feeling about this

Oh that’s about right

NO MORE LUCIFER

I AM SICK OF THE DEVIL

Oh he killed her

Ok then

Ahhh I understand now

That’s actually a really good play

Oh haha

Yeah she knows but she’s not gonna tell you

Huh ok then

Why is he still here

No more of him

Oh good he’s gone now

So he just happened to drop the book so it was open...how convenient

Oh come on that was not a battle

You stabbed him and that was it

Why not just get a new death

This seems too easy

I am, as the kids say, straight up not having a good time

WHY HE NEED TO DO THAT

“Give it up” have you /met/ them?

Everything is good now

Is jack god now?

THAT’S NOT WHO I AM

THAT’S NOT WHO WE ARE

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Jack is professor hulk in this situation

Stock footage montage

So jack is god now

Aw their son is all grown up

Sam hasn’t even thought to call Eileen 

ah yes

BM scene pt 2

That was incredibly cheesy

MONTAGE

[takaraphoenix]

Luke Castellan, Loki, Severus Snape, Pitch Black, Sebastian Morgenstern.

Thaaat is a very interesting lineup and it legit took me a moment to see the common element there. In my defense, it’s late. xD” Thanks for playing! ^o^

Now... what do I rank them by? Judged as characters and how much I like them, or judged as villains...? *frowns*

To quote my favorite should-be-gay cartoon boys: Both. Both is good.

Ranked as characters and how much I like them as characters:

Loki Friggason. A dramatic little bitch. Delightful

Sebastian Morgenstern. Important to note that you said Sebastian because, show-wise, I really do think that Sebastian and Jonathan have VASTLY different... portrayals. And I REALLY loved Sebastian as a character. He had a lot of potential

Luke Castellan. Very tragic. Less child-murder would have endeared him more to me though

Pitch Black. Also very tragic. Amazing character design and delightful take on nightmares

Severus Snape. Little bitch. Not the delightful endearing kind like Loki though; just a weak-ass little bitch who shouldn’t be allowed near children

Nooow as villains/wanna-be-villains/really-villains-who-get-retconned-out-of-villainhood:

Sebastian Morgenstern. Two sides of the same coin, clever, vicious, clear motivation. I think that the complexity of his motivation is played down too much; like the shit and abuse and isolation he went through sure shaped him and should be taken into consideration more (not as an excuse but as a reason, a foundation on which his acts are built)

Loki Friggason. Depending on the adaptation, got delightful clever plans. Backstabbing betrayal always fuels wonderful angst. Clear motivation and goal. Dramatic color-scheme and get-up. All the gay vibes, which, very important for a villain to be queercoded, naturally; Disney taught us that

Pitch Black. Archetype villain but refreshing in this setting. Beautiful show-downs with the hero. Delightful play on the powers between him and Sandy, opposites of the same side. Tried to recruit main character onto his side in a very classic spiel

Luke Castellan. VERY solid motivation, legitimately totally dug the whole spiel, but major point-reduction for genuinely thinking that turning to Kronos of all people would be a good idea. Obviously is that bitch going to use you for his own gain, you moron. Would have preferred for him to go villain without involving the Titans and just straight up taking over Olympus because those bitches really have it coming. Also the repeated attempted child murder; super not cool

Severus Snape. Little bitch. Buhu I was bullied as a child so now I am an abusive adult who enacts revenge by playing out power fantasies over children even though I am their teacher. What a will-they-won’t-they situation but in the sense of “so is he evil? is he not evil?” and it got tired real quick. Still can’t believe the author thought that “but he was IN LOVE with Harry’s mom and BULLIED by Harry’s dad” is a legit justification how this adult person acted toward the kids. What the fuck

Send me five things (whatever you’d like!) and I’ll rank them!

[nicostolemybones]

The Battle of Area 51

“This is not a game,” Nico lectured sternly, and Percy snickered. “This is no laughing matter, Jackson! Okay, let’s run through the plan one last time! Ares cabin, Clarisse, you’ll lead the charge, take down the guards, lay down cover fire for the Naruto runners! Poseidon Cabin, Zeus cabin, you guys whip up a storm to help the Ares cabin! Apollo cabin and Hunters of Artemis, you’re the snipers, I want you on high ground firing arrows at them! Aphrodite cabin, charmspeak those guards to let us past and to give us access codes to all the rooms and spill all the secrets! Hecate cabin, use the mist to make decoys! Nemesis cabin, remember, this is vengeance for all the imprisoned aliens and that’s why you’re here! Demeter cabin, slow the guards down with thick vines and poisonous plants! Athena cabin, you’re working on infiltrating and hacking all the computers! Hephaestus cabin, burn down gun stations, jam missiles, Festus can burn down doorways, I want to see you guys working on all the technology we steal and I want you all to figure out all the machines inside and use them for our advantage! Dionysus cabin, get them drunk, make them temporarily mad, weaken their defences! Iris cabin, use your abilities to disorientate and distract the guards! Hypnos cabin- CLOVIS WAKE UP- send the guards to sleep when you can! Hermes cabin, you’re stealing and sneaking in whilst the guards are distracted! Hades cabin- well Hazel- summon obstacles and summon weapons, shadow travel aliens to safety. The rest of you, just fuck shit up with your abilities! Romans; same rules apply, and follow the orders of your Praetors, do not go against orders unless necessary!”

“LET’S CLAP SOME ALIEN CHEEKS!” Connor yelled. Nico glared at him, whilst the younger campers plus Percy erupted into giggles.

“There will be no clapping alien cheeks,” Nico sighed in exasperation, “no alien cheeks will be clapped by anybody, by Olympus what the Hades is wrong with straight people?”

“Wait you’re gay?!”

“Yes but that’s not the point, just- go blend in with the mortals! Solace- you’re with me, we’ll go in with the Naruto runners and you need to make sure we don’t infect the aliens and they don’t infect us, and treat the wounded.” Percy wolf-whistled, so Nico summoned a skeleton to smack him round the back of the head. The group of demigods dispersed amongst the mortal army- which wasn’t much, but between the Kyles, weeaboos, tumblr trash, and Naruto runners, there was a fair few, and some cosplayers, DnD players, and medieval recreation nerds seemed to have a fair amount of weapons and armour- even if most of it was plastic light sabers, Klingon Bat’leths, and various other fantasy weapons.

Everything was quiet for a while, and the battle was more a staring down contest between the guards and the civilian raiders. Phones were beginning to live stream, and that’s when the Stoll brothers yelled the immortal battle cry “DO IT FOR THE VINE!!!” and the mortal crowd roared and cheered, repeating the battle cry.

“PEANUT BUTTER!!!” Tyson yelled as the crowd surged forwards. Nico screamed, Naruto running as fast as he could towards the guards, summoning skeleton armies of Naruto runners to back them up, but as soon as the guards opened fire, many Naruto runners gave up and turned away running back, or decided it best to run “normally”. One dedicated man had turned his electric wheelchair into some kind of turbo charged mini tank shaped like a Dalek. Fortnite dancers fortnite danced as they charged, Harry Potter fans desperately yelled out Unforgiveable Curses. Stargate fans dressed as Jaffa and Goa’uld warriors charged with staff weapons and pellet guns, some wearing “Free Thor” t-shirts- but not Marvel’s Thor or the Norse God thor- but rather the tiny alien guy Nico recognised from when Will made him watch Stargate. The Stargate Atlantis fans came dressed as Wraith instead. Marvel fans were clad in full superhero gear, although some fights had broken out between them and the DC fans. Star Wars fans dressed in Jedi robes. Clad in armour, the demigods didn’t look out of place. Nico was pleased to see the Egyptian magicians being lead by Sadie and Carter Kane, Magnus Chase and Samirah al-Abbass leading the Valkyries, Alex Fierro next to Frank Zhang shapeshifting into whatever they could. Alex stopped occasionally so she could spray mace into the eyes of Terfs.

Nico shadow travelled at the last minute, grabbing hold of Will and pulling him through the shadows. Will didn’t slow down when they emerged, and the image of Will Naruto running headfirst into a wall was going to be a source of laughter in Nico’s mind for many years to come. Thankfully, he didn’t do a Jason and knock himself out. “Ah fuck, I can’t believe you’ve done this!” Will gasped, and Nico raised his eyebrow. In the distance, they heard Grover cause a Panic- although it didn’t affect the guards about to shoot Will in the face, so Will let out a shrill whistle and Naruto ran for it.

“Dork,” Nico jibed, pulling Will into the shadows again. Nico meant for them to land inside an aircraft hangar- but it soon became clear that they were inside some kind of alien spaceship.

“Holy Hera,” Will gasped, “Nico THIS SHIP HAS A STARGATE! NICO LOOK THAT IS A STARGATE, IMMA DIAL ABYDOS-”

“Focus, Solace,” Nico warned, “we can do that once we get this back to camp. I wasn’t allowed to drive the sun chariot so I’ll drive this time.”

“I get the feeling I’m gonna die if I let you drive,” Will replied, and Nico huffed.

“That’s if I don’t kill your stupid face first,” he retorted proudly, and Will snickered, looking around the ship.

“OH MY GODS NICO THERE’S A LIGHT SABER HERE!”

“DIBS THE RED ONE,” Nico yelled, rushing over and grabbing one, almost decapitating Will in his excitement.

“We should summon up a certain ghost,” Will grinned.

“Are you suggesting we prank call Castellan?”

“Nico, dude. You have to, for humanity. Do it for our children.”

Several runs to McDonald’s later and Luke Castellan’s ghost was confronted by Nico in pitch black armour and a light saber to speak the immortal words: “Luke, I am your father.” Luke’s ghost laughed. The gods applauded from Olympus. Will was unable to get up off the floor through his raucous laughter.

After several minutes of exploring the craft, the two demigods were armed with phasers and now possessed the infinity gauntlet- although they both agreed not to let Percy near it in case he dabbed rather than Thanos snapped at monsters. Nico shadow travelled a fair amount of the loot back to camp, where Chiron stood facepalming and shaking his head. This is when Nico learned that the Party Ponies had joined the raid and found out that Monster Donut were sponsoring Area 51. Nico returned to find Will making a flower crown for a baby alien he’d found hidden in the glove compartment. “Is that what I think it is,” Nico questioned, and Will smiled.

“An alien? Well yeah.”

“No, I meant a baby. Are you seriously holding a baby?”

“Yeah, a cute little alien baby, I made them a flower crown and put a bow in their hair! Well I hope it’s a baby otherwise I just told a whole-ass adult I’m their daddy now.” Nico choked- Will didn’t appear to realise the innuendo his words would have turned into if the alien was an adult. Will appeared to have adopted an alien child and that somehow melted Nico completely. Stupid son of Apollo being a perfect dad to an abandoned alien baby found in the glove compartment of a space ship.

“You can’t just raise a child, Will, the parents won’t pay child support and you’re like- fifteen and you look- you look twelve, okay, you look like a foetus!”

“Nico I’m only two months older than you,” Will laughed, “I’m still fourteen like you are, idiot. Although technically you’re ninety, you can be the grandpa.”

“I’m not going to be your daddy, Solace,” Nico replied, forgetting how it may have sounded like an innuendo, and Will choked and spluttered.

“That word is officially banned,” Will squeaked, and Nico quickly nodded in agreement. Thankfully before it could get any more awkward, the alien child started to cry. “Oh my gods Nico what do I do with it?”

“Does it have an off switch or batteries you can take out like the babies they give you in school?”

“Um- I can’t see any off switch, Nico, what do I do?!”

“You’re the doctor! Sing to it! Just don’t do a Hera and yeet it off a mountain or out of a window, I don’t need you Percying this into a worse situation than it already is!”

“Oh my gods I’m a single parent before I’ve had the talk,” Will whined, trying to hum a lullaby to the alien baby, which screeched, turned into a bug, and ran. Will shrieked and Nico accidentally summoned a pile of alien skulls. “Hey! My singing isn’t that bad,” Will protested, and the alien bug screeched again and shot some kind of web at Will’s face. Will squealed, trying clumsily to wipe the webbing off his face. Once Nico stopped laughing, he helped to pull the webbing out of Will’s hair, although once he managed to detangle the last of the webbing, he found himself enthralled by the soft bouncy texture of Will’s hair. It was curly like Nico’s, but dryer to the touch, probably a testament to the hours of sunbathing Nico figured Will had to do in order to stay tanned all year round. He didn’t realise he was obsessively caressing his best friend’s hair until he felt Will’s hand on his shoulder. Nico gasped, snapping his hand back and muttering an apology, but Will merely smiled and gods that smile melted Nico. “Fellas, is it gay to kiss your homie at Area 51,” Will asked to nobody in particular, and Nico found himself turning puce as Will leaned in, placing a gentle but certainly not platonic kiss on Nico’s lips. Nico’s brain seemed to short circuit, skeletal butterflies resurrecting down his spine and in his stomach.

When Nico’s brain finally managed a coherent thought, all he could manage to say was “that’s gay.”

Will snorted, resting his head on Nico’s shoulder as he laughed silently. “You’re gay,” he finally replied through giggles.

“Well you kissed me, you’re gay,” Nico retorted with a huff.

“Yeah, but is it gay if it’s your homie and you’re in Area 51,” Will asked with an impish grin, lifting his head and giving Nico a mishievous grin.

“We are gay, you dumbass,” Nico replied, lightly shoving Will’s shoulder.

“I guess we are,” Will replied with feigned thoughtfulness lacing his voice, “maybe we should make out just to be sure.”

“Don’t push your luck, Solace,” Nico said sternly, and Will pouted comically. Nico stood on his toes and leaned up, but he was too short to reach, so Will leaned down and Nico was finally able to place a rough kiss on Will’s lips.

And of course, that just had to be the exact moment to hear a chorus of “two bros, chillin’ in a space ship, five feet apart ‘cause they’re not gay!” They broke apart immediately, startled by the presence of an Iris message showing Percy, Jason, Leo and Piper all grinning stupidly at them and Annabeth rolling her eyes.

“I’ll kill you all if you dare tell anyone,” Nico warned, raising skeletons to chase after them- although the skeletons were certainly not human. Leo and Percy screamed and ran, whilst Piper and Will laughed loudly. Jason merely raised his eyebrow, and Nico shrugged in response.

“So, that’s your type, huh,” Percy grinned, “I never thought we’d share a type!”

“What,” Nico snapped.

“Bossy blondes,” Percy replied, and Jason and Annabeth glared daggers.

“I agree,” Piper chimed in, “bossy blondes are worth the trouble.” This time, Jason and Annabeth both blushed.

Nico shrugged, looking back to Will, who seemed to be pre-occupied with the Stargate behind them. “Well, this one’s my bossy blond,” Nico replied fondly.

“Troublemakers are my type,” Annabeth replied, and Percy and Piper bowed proudly, “and Jason’s.”

“My type is pouty emo kids with long hair and sexy accents,” Will replied, and Nico blushed darkly.

“Your type is troublemakers,” Piper replied, “the ideal OTP formula is bossy blonde and troublemaking brunette, you can’t change my mind.”

“Whatever,” Nico protested. The Iris message cut off when a fight broke out between a Star Wars stan and a Trekkie.

“So,” Will began immediately, “can we be boyfriends now?”

“Only if you keep PDA to a minimum,” Nico replied, and Will beamed, glowing a warm amber light. Before they could do much more, however, a loud explosion ripped their attention away from each other. They both ran out to find the source of the explosion, and that is where they found Clarisse refereeing a battle between Shaggy and Thanos. The Stolls were running a betting ring, and Nico was sure they were all gonna die. But hey, it was a room full of Millennials and Gen Z, so nobody seemed particularly bothered by the danger of the situation, because this footage would certainly be legendary. Thanos snapped, and Shaggy disintegrated, only to reform using 1% of his power and steal the gauntlet. Shaggy dabbed, and Thanos was no more. Clarisse blew her whistle and the fight was over- the most epic showdown in human history and it had only taken seconds. Within minutes, lightening struck, and that was the moment Percy groaned loudly in realisation that the gods had been responsible for Area 51 all along.

“FUCK YOU, ZEUS,” Percy yelled, and the lightening would have struck him if it wasn’t for Shaggy eating the lightening bolt and letting out a loud burp.

“Do you have any wisdom, O mighty one,” Kayla asked, bowing at Shaggy’s feet.

“Sometimes you just gotta eat the enemy, man,” Shaggy replied, and the demigods let out a collective awed ‘ooohhh’. It was that moment that Shaggy burped out a heart-shaped arrow, and Nico realised that Shaggy had vored Cupid. Nico felt a smug grin break through his usually stoic expression, and Jason cheered loudly from the sidelines.

“Anyway, Shaggy said gay rights,” Will grinned.

“Actually, young man,” Shaggy said, gently resting his hand on Will’s shoulder, “I say gay and trans rights. And on that note, I think I might assassinate the president! Until next time, guys, gals, and non-binary pals!” And with that, and a wink to Alex Fierro, Shaggy dissipated into the wind, enraging the bigots and empowering the queer kids.

The raid continued into the night, the Stolls helping to take technology back to camp and Clarisse leading the charge against the military. It was only when Nico and Will made their way to the middle of the camp, all of the aliens freed and all technology liberated, that the end of the raid was in sight. Nico opened the final door, the entire raid party behind them, to find Rick Astley tied to a chair, singing Never Gonna Give You Up. It was then that they realised: they had been Rickrolled by the government.

[the-kiwi-is-not-a-pewee]

A person wants something that is important to them but the only way they could have it is to ask a person of higher power. This person of higher power denies them the thing they wanted most and so the person lashes out against the higher authority with an army. Now, are we talking about Salem's attempted uprising towards the Gods or Ruby's heist at Argus?

Salem’s attempted uprising because Ruby didn’t have what you’d call an “army” backing her. If I remember correctly, the “army” was actually on the person of higher authority (Cordovin)’s side. Of course, if you zoom out enough you can see similarities but the situations are not THAT similar.

There is, of course, the basic premise of x person wanting something y person can give and y person is usually in a higher position of power and x person isn’t given what they wanted. X person says “Fuck it and fuck you, I’mma get it anyway”.

And then things start to diverge.

1. Salem EPICALLY fails at what she was trying to do. Like, she failed so bad she didn’t think ahead and consider what the gods would do if they could subdue her army. 

2. Ruby’s shindig actually succeeds, and probably would have succeeded on the first go if not for an Adam Taurus. 

3. Ruby has the backing of her team +JNRQO. Salem has... an army that she manipulated. She has manpower, but I wouldn’t call that support in the same sense Ruby has with her friends.

4. Salem’s goal benefits only herself. Overthrow the gods... because they didn’t give Ozma back? Ruby’s actually hinges on protecting the world from, well, Salem.

So really Anon, if you go general enough you can be like “Oh, these situations are very similar!” with most everything. “Evil character blends in with other side and later reveals to have been pulling the strings to start a major invasion on a location the protagonist is invested in.” Now, am I talking about Cinder’s orchestration of the Fall of Beacon, or Luke Castellan’s campaign on Olympus?

[notesofarichlycolorednight]

Fanfic Ask Meme: A: How did you come up with the title of It's the Perfect Story? J: Write or describe an alternative ending to It's the Perfect Story. P: Are you an 'architect' or a 'gardener'? X: A character you enjoy making suffer. Y: A character you want to protect.

A: How did you come up with the title of It’s the Perfect Story?

i wanna preface this answer with: i always like my titles to be symbolic. as much as i can. main titles of stories are a must. chapter titles not so much, but if inspiration strikes me, i’m there.

so i did the same for this story. another important note is that this was a rewrite. and the final important note is that i knew that luke was going to die in this rewrite (i.e., i knew that i wasn’t going to change too much of canon, i wanted the main storyline of the pjo series to pan out as it had in the books)

from there, i believe at the time i was thinking about this rewrite/beginning this rewrite, i was listening to dr. horrible. it’s a short musical (the full title is dr. horrible’s sing-along blog) and it has a song called “so they say.” in it is the line: “it’s the perfect story, so they say.” (emphasis mine)

you really gotta go listen to full song to get the depth of my reasoning, but the reason i chose that particular line in that particular song is because of the fact that this song is so upbeat and there are parts that are really funny. but if you listen to the lyrics it’s really, super cynical and actually quite sad (especially within the whole context of the musical–seriously it’s like an hr, go listen to it).

also i’m a hoe for irony (see also: the second to last chapter, the chapter in which luke dies, that i named “that famous happy end” from the song so close)

long story long, i like to take a phrase from something (a song, a quote, etc.) if it like really fits with the story/chapter, but the something that i took it from also provides context and gives a deeper meaning to the story/chapter. irony isn’t a must, but if it happens to fit and is ironic, i’m down 110%

the rest is under a cut bc it’s get hella long

J: Write or describe an alternative ending to It’s the Perfect Story.

um so…idk if this like actually counts as an alt. ending (this question is worded so ambiguously what)

update: this question was actually quite hard to answer. i had an idea but i didn’t want to go with that. and so i’ve been sifting through ideas all day. so here’s smth i finally felt i liked/could stick with

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

Luke held Tori in his arms, squeezing her shoulder tighter than necessary, but Tori didn’t even notice. Not with the gaping hole in her chest from Luke’s sword, weilded by that dracaena, Kelli.

They were still in the suit from last night, after she’d just woken up from having been stabbed by her own sword, by none other than Kelli.

Tori was really starting to hate Kelli.

Luke’s beautiful blue eyes were filled with unshed tears. Tori could feel him trembling as he held her.

“I’m sorry,” Luke managed, squeezing her tighter.

“It’s not your fault,” Tori managed. Her vision was already blurring, fading in and out. Luke’s voice sounded far away. Luke opened his mouth to say something but she cut him off, “Promise me something,” she whispered, reaching a shaking had up to caress his cheek.

Luke closed his eyes, his tears finally falling. Tori gently stroked her thumb under his eye as they opened again.

“Anything,” Luke whispered, sinking even closer to the floor. He’d been on his knees before, but now he was sitting with his legs underneath him.

“Don’t…” Tori took a hollow breath. “Don’t follow me.”

Luke shifted, cradling Tori. “I’d follow you anywhere,” he replied, a smile pulling at his lips as more tears filled his eyes. “Off of a cliff. To the ends of the earth.”

Tori smiled, too. “You can’t get rid of me that easily, Castellan.”

“Tori–”

“You can make this right,” she interrupted again, her smile dropping. “Please, make it right again, Luke.”

“Tori, please…” Tears were freely streaming from his eyes now.

“I’ll find my way back to you,” she said with such ferocity, it startled Luke. Then she started shifting, as if trying to sit up. Her hand moved from caressing his face to gripping the front of his shirt. Luke helped her, pressing his forehead to hers. “I promise.”

Her hand went slick and Luke felt her let out one last, small breath. He gripped her to him, silent sobs wracking his body. The only thoughts echoing through his mind: I’m sorry.

When Luke finally managed to get a handle on his grief, he stood, Tori still in his arms, and gently laid her on the bed. Her eyes were closed, skin ashen. He took her hand into his. It was still warm.

“Luke–” Kelli tried, but Luke looked at her over his shoulder, his eyes as sharp and cold as ice.

“Let me have my grief,” he snarled. “You owe me that much.”

Kelli didn’t look happy about it, and the bear brothers shifted, looking oddly uncomfortable. Luke turned back to look at Tori.

He wasn’t sure how much time passed, thoughts racing through his mind the whole time. Of what he should do, what he could do to keep his promise to Tori. He hated that she knew him so well. He would’ve taken his sword and run himself through the moment Tori had taken her last breath, but her words had sunken into his mind and taken root.

“We should go now,” Kelli said, in a harder voice. Luke didn’t turn to look at her this time, only stared at Tori’s peaceful face. Her hand had turned stone-cold.

Make it right.

Luke almost turned to tell Kelli, “No.” and face the consequences. Or maybe start negotiations he could do that.

But then a thought struck him like lightening.

He’d never been proud to be a son of Hermes. It wasn’t just that his father was a shitty at being a father, it was also that anyone unclaimed was crammed in the Hermes cabin. Anyone in there was miserable, Hermes kid or not.

The first that usually came to most people’s minds when thinking about Hermes was that he was a messenger of the gods, sometimes god of thieves, which was dangerous.

Hermes, god of thieves–cunning, silver-tongued, highly intelligent.

Whether he liked it or not, Luke was his father’s son.

And he would use those skills his father had granted him to keep Tori’s promise: he would use his cunning, his silver-tongue, and his intelligence to gain Kronos’s trust. And just when Kronos thought he’d have it all, rip it away from him, like he’d done to Luke.

Only for her. Only for Tori.

“Luke.” Kelli said with force to catch his attention. Luke raised his head, steeling his resolve. “Having second thoughts?”

Luke gritted his teeth for a moment before unclenching his jaw and turning, letting go of Tori’s hand.

“Not at all. Let’s go.”

so uh, apparently i can’t let them be happy. moral of the story. sorry fam, the powers that be have spoken. i am unable to come up with like an actual happy ending for them haha that’s not entirely true, i have smth planned for them that you could call happy, all things considered

i’m not sure it’s exactly what the question is asking, but it does end differently??? luke ends up playing double-agent, working for Kronos, but feeding chb information. this is a great au, like fuck, i’m saving this for later

extra: i almost had luke jump heroically in front of tori and take the sword for her, and die. and then she would become the double-agent if only bc, uh, burial at sea? fuck yeah. and with tori’s impeccable aim, she’d land that flaming arrow right on target. luke? not so much. but then i was like…nah, luke’s heritage makes more sense.

bonus: i’d been tossing the idea of tori taking the curse of achilles and being kronos’ vessel for the longest time for itps before i finally decided on smth else

P: Are you an ‘architect’ or a ‘gardener’?

i’m, what we in the professional business call, a landscaper.

in all seriousness though, for all my stories i’m both. i’ll have certain plot points (big or small) planned out–they need, must be in the story, no exceptions. then i need to get from point a to point b, and the path isn’t always straight/linear. it’s in those moments that i’m really more of a gardener, where i let the characters tell me where to go.

sometimes i’ll spend fucking weeks imagining every single detail in 1080p high-def imax surround sound for a certain scene and/or plot point so when i sit down i’m like

but when i’m on the path between point a and point b, where i may have some vague sense of where i’m going/how to get to point b (or sometimes no sense at all) i’m more like

(this is most often a weird hybrid where i’ll have an idea, but i won’t have a clear vision, and so i’ll sit down and write it and let the characters and the context of the scene take me where it will. the moments when i don’t have any idea of where i’m going are very rare)

but for the past few months *cough*since i’ve started grad school*cough* it’s been more like

when will my muse return from war

(to be fair to myself, i hit serious writer’s block. i’m having trouble coming up with ideas to move the story forward in the direction that i’d like it to go.)

bonus: the whole, “tori became the very thing she was trying to save luke from” was totally a “gardener” moment. didn’t plan it, was just writing and my brain was like wait a minute–perfect

X: A character you enjoy making suffer.

i’m so much better at writing ocs than i am actual characters, just bc i’m so nervous abt mischaracterizing them. whoo boy, can ppl get so mean abt mischaracterization.

and look i understand, but getting all up in ppl’s business is rude and really uncalled for. what happened to being civil? guess ppl don’t know her.

anyway, i mean honestly apollo from the pjo series??? like yeah i write tori in some pretty harrowing situations…heh, but it’s really more so i can explore her character and keep the reader interested, as well as seeing my reader’s reactions (those are the best)

but anyway, whenever she interacts with apollo i always enjoy having her get underneath his skin (he’s very fun to write from an outsider’s perspective and when annoyed)

wait until she meets him as a mortal. he may look sixteen, but he’s like 4 centuries old so you bet your ass tori is gonna tear him to shreds

Y: A character you want to protect.

dude

bruh

this is jumping way far away from pjo-verse, but uh any female character in ffxv deserved better fam like

ya’ll can fucking fight me on this

okay, but also, like actually protect: adrien agreste (my sweet sunshine child) from his manipulative, abusive father (fuck you gabriel, go burn in hell), and promoto argentum (my other sweet sunshine boy) from life’s hardships in general bc he deserves all the good things

♪ ♫“The use of words expressing something other than their literal intention.”♪ ♫