#hello i like boats | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

aroaceleovaldez · 6 days

Text

i have suddenly become obsessed with a theme that HoO established but never proceeded to extrapolate on, which is:

You are Percy Jackson, and you have been swapped with a boy who was allegedly everyone's favorite person, but they have decided to replace him with you. They just met you. You stand next to his best friend and the people he's known his entire life. In his home. In his cloak. In his place. They stopped looking for him.

You are Jason Grace, and you have just found out you have a long lost sister who completely replaced you in her life with this girl you just met. Your lives and personalities are mirrors. She is you, living the life you were robbed of.

You are Annabeth Chase, and you have just become starkly aware that you have been inhabiting the void left behind by your best friend's long lost brother. You and Luke were just replacements for him. Now you have to look him in the eyes when he has nothing and know you took that life from him.

You are Piper McLean, and you have just found out your relationship is fake and built entirely on the memories of Annabeth Chase. You have been given a boyfriend when hers has been taken away. You have no idea how much of it is real or not but regardless you feel like if your relationship isn't exactly in their image that you have failed.

You are Leo Valdez, and you have just learned that you are the echo of your great-grandfather. You are not your own person. You just exist to be a mirror of him. A doppelganger. An actor and stunt double facing all the danger he never had to but wearing his face. To be there for his best friend decades later simply because he couldn't. You are playing a role. A seventh wheel and a pawn for a goddess who carefully sculpted your entire life for her own purposes.

You are Hazel Levesque, and the only reason you are alive is because your brother couldn't save your his sister. You are a consolation prize. An apology. Your existence here is misplaced in every way but you inhabit it anyways.

You are Frank Zhang, and you are a shapeshifter. Inhabiting your own body feels strange and clumsy when you could be literally anything at any time. You are anything and everything and live your life with the simple certainty of knowing exactly how you will die.

#pjo #hoo #heroes of olympus #percy jackson #riordanverse #jason grace #annabeth chase #piper mclean #leo valdez #hazel levesque #frank zhang #meta #analysis #me shaking hoo: what if we actually address the interpersonal dynamics of the characters. please. please. please. please.#frank is the only person on the boat not having an identity crisis tied to another member of the crew somehow and that is FASCINATING #but also WHERE is all the interpersonal literally anything. hello. please. making grabby hands. everybody identity crisis go.#i wanna see the entire argo ii crew stumbling through trying to figure out their places and senses of self!!!!!#particularly in relation to each other!!!!! we get snippets but we rarely ever get the full thing or a resolution!!!#like. HELLO??? Piper acknowledging that her relationship with Jason is artificially sculpted in the image of Annabeth and Percy???#and that her ideals of what Jason and her can be are just that she feels like they need to be like what Percy and Annabeth have????#and thats just DROPPED COMPLETELY????#poor Jason is getting replaced twice. Leo is not his own person.#Hazel at least gets the resolution that Nico does not truly see her as a consolation prize #but Annabeth gets to be hit with the like EIGHT YEAR DELAY of learning the place she inhabits in Thalia's life is the echo of someone else #cause like. yeah she knew Thalia had lost her brother but i dont think it clicked for her until she met Jason that oh. she *replaced* him #Frank at least has some certainty about his identity in one aspect (his curse). everybody else is floundering a bit #except for maybe Percy but its kind of the camps of ''i replaced this person and it weighs on me'' versus ''i have been replaced''

2K notes · View notes

softquietsteadylove · 3 months

Note

Hey I thought about an interesting AU and I wanted to ask you what you think about this one.

Thenamesh quiet place AU!

Maybe them living and surviving together and they find Makkari and Sprite and they decide to take them in?

Or you can put your own version in it! You decide

Thena looked around the campground, being careful of the sticks and leaves that might be remotely louder than silent. Of course things seemed calm, but one could never be too sure.

Being out of the city at least was hopeful. She and Gil had managed to leave together because of living in the same apartment complex. They could only hope their other friends had made it out and to some of the boats. That was the goal now; find water.

It was no guarantee, but it was a hell of a lot better than nothing.

Gil waved to her, pointing at a caravan in the back, close to the trees. She nodded. The further from the city they got, the quieter things were, but that certainly didn't mean that they were alone out here. But they needed supplies, just like anyone else.

She walked ahead, being the quieter footed of the two of them. Gil did his best, but he was a dense ball of muscle, some noises were just inevitable. She looked around the area; still nothing. Slowly and carefully, she reached for the latch on the door. It wasn't silent, but it wasn't loud either.

Gil held his hand up. She had heard it too. He walked closer, holding up the butane torch he kept on him as a weapon. It gave off some sound, but it was still a hell of a lot quieter than any gun. And fire seemed reasonably effective against those things.

She pressed her back to the outside wall of the camper. She couldn't hear that clicking sound, which was a good sign. But it could still be a stray animal in there that could let out a shriek and spell their doom. Or perhaps the things were evolving and disguising the telltale sound of their presence.

Gil opened the door and poised his arm in the air. She peeked at him from behind, ready to pull him out if something went wrong. But he just stood there. She frowned.

"Uh-"

Well, that was odd. She moved around the door and behind him, trying to see past his wide shoulder. She bent, instead, looking through the gap between his arm and his side. She blinked, "oh."

The kids were huddled together, not terribly young but no older than their early teens. One with unruly red hair was glaring at Gil from under the table. The other one was facing him head on with a baseball bat held high above her little head.

The one under the table gave them the finger.

Gil shut off the blow torch, holding his palms out to show his intention of being friendly. He pressed his finger to his lips. The girls traded a look between them. At least the baseball bat was lowered.

He shook his head as something was signed to him. He looked at her for help, shaking his head and making a face. She nodded; it wasn't her best language, of course, but she knew some.

The girl was fluent, her hands moving rapidly, and with a definite sense of displeasure.

Thena held up her palms as well, urging the girl to slow down. She already wasn't good with kids, let alone kids when communication was even harder than usual. Slower, please.

The girl blinked, maybe pleased or at least surprised to have found someone who knew sign language to any extent. She looked at the smaller one again. Maybe.

I'm Thena, she began, spelling things out in what she was sure was a clumsy way, for the girl. That's Gil. You?

Makkari, the older one also spelled out, before offering a sign that clearly was a shorthand for her name. She even repeated, clearly not expecting much from them. She pointed, Sprite.

Thena nodded, looking up at Gil and then the kids. Why are you alone?

Makkari helped Sprite out from under the table. She pointed at the door, which Thena latched carefully. They had hung blankets in the windows, either for safety or to dampen any incidental sounds.

"We were camping."

Thena and Gil both looked at Sprite with surprise. Maybe they had assumed both kids would be mute. Gil looked at her before gently motioning for her to sit across from the kids at the breakfast nook table. He remained standing. "How long have you been out here?"

Sprite shrugged, although Makkari mentioned something about at least six months. How these two girls had survived all by themselves like this was beyond them. "When everything happened, our mom went to ask someone what was happening. She...she never came back."

Thena frowned; Gil physically winced. His heart was much too tender for all this. She leaned forward in her seat, what have you been doing to keep yourselves safe out here?

The girls traded a look again. They were integral to each other's survival out here. "Kari goes looking for things. She's really fast, and those things kind of don't always notice her."

That was interesting. But if the girl was quick and light on her feet, maybe she was as negligible as the wildlife, in terms of sound.

Makkari pointed at them, you're the first people we've seen.

Since everything happened. Thena looked up at Gil. The look on his face didn't surprise her. They weren't allowed pets in the building they had lived in back in the city, but she always imagined Gil would be the type to rescue a kitten from a box in the rain. And this would be the expression he would have on when he found it. She put her hand on his arm, shaking her head quietly.

He held out his hand.

She made a face, hoping to keep the kids from seeing it. She didn't want to abandon them here either. But kids were a whole other level of liability in their mission to find a safe haven in this new world--this dangerous world.

He put his hand over hers, but gave her a much firmer look. He wasn't going to leave them here, and 'no' wasn't an option.

She sighed through her nose. She could have guessed that was the case. Gil was just too sweet.

"Uh, hello?"

Thena looked at the girls again. They were both still distrusting of them, for which she couldn't fault them at all. This wasn't the kind of world in which just anyone could be trusted. "We-"

"We're not asking you to drag us along, if that's what you're thinking."

They had to be at least 13, judging by the attitude they both had. Thena resisted the urge to roll her eyes; this was exactly why she had been poised to say no. Gil would be a great guardian and father-figure. He would make a great dad, if the world hadn't outright ended. She, on the other hand, was no mother-hen.

"It's not safe for you to stay here," Gil said oh-so gently and sweetly. His voice was comforting, like a blanket. "We can help each other."

We're doing just fine, Makkari argued, her hands smacking together slightly in her passion, right here!

Thena reached out, snatching the girls hands before they could clap together, palm against palm. Makkari looked affronted but she raised her eyebrows at the girl. Careful.

Perhaps chastised for the first time in months, both girls quieted. They looked at her with their big, sad eyes. Makkari pulled her hands away slowly and offered a sheepish, sorry.

Gil peeked out from their blanket curtains, making sure nothing was lurking around outside. He patted her shoulder.

It was all clear; Thena leaned back in her seat again. Still, she spoke barely above a whisper, "come with us."

The kids looked at each other, but rather than seeming to have their own conversation between them, they looked tentative. They looked scared, frightened at the possibility of leaving what shreds of a home they still had.

Thena sighed again. "How much food do you have?"

Both girls blushed, perhaps their stomachs were rumbling quietly as they spoke.

Gil hurriedly and happily took off his backpack and dug around in it. "Why didn't you say so?"

Thena gave the girls a smile; Gil looked big and tough, but he was a teddy bear if ever there was one. He was a chef.

The girls' eyes both brightened, big turquoise and speckled brown respectively. They clearly had been living sparingly, eating what they could manage to get their hands on after the immediate supplies ran low.

"Here," Gil whispered, putting down a cloth bundle of dried meats. "It's jerky."

"His recipe," she added with a hint of satisfaction as the girls all but wrestled over it. "He marinates it himself."

The kids tore at it like wild animals. But Gil just chuckled, leaning on Thena's shoulder. "I have more, and biscuits and roasted nuts. You guys can have as much as you want."

They would get spoiled. But Thena had to admit that it was nice to see something as hopeful as kids devouring some good food after everything everyone had been through. She patted Gil's arm as she stood from the seat. "I told you it's good."

He rolled his eyes at her, but he returned her affectionate little pat as she checked the other window. "It'll be dark in a few hours. We can stay here tonight."

The kids looked up and then at each other and then back at them.

We'll need supplies for travelling. We can collect things a little at a time and use this place to sleep safely. When we have enough food and water for everyone, then we'll go.

Sprite had a piece of jerky still dangling from her lip when she asked, where?

Terrible manners, not that those mattered anymore. Thena set her bag down too. "We have to look for water. Those things can't swim. Water is the best way for us to survive."

"Uh, we can't-"

"You don't have to swim," Gil amended quickly and gently. He leaned down, subtly reaching into his pack for more food. "I can't swim very well."

That was an exaggeration; he sank like a stone. Not that she was much better. But Thena smiled, "we'll find a boat, or something. Then maybe we can find an island that still has some people."

The kids shrugged. They weren't concerned with finding the remains of civilisation. They were only concerned with tomorrow, and maybe the day after. They had each other, and that was enough for them.

Thena pushed forward the biscuits for them to also devour like hyenas (which they did. "Where do you two sleep?"

Makkari chewed with her mouth open (great). But she gestured to the benches on which they were sitting.

Thena looked at the camper as a whole--there was a larger bed at one end and a smaller, elevated area at the other, directly under the window. She pointed at the larger one for Gil, you take that one.

She would have to teach him some sign, but he got what he needed from it. Enough to give her a look and insist that she take the larger bed. He pointed to where he stood; he would stand guard.

She rolled her eyes more blatantly at him, "you still need to sleep, Gil."

"And I will," he insisted before gesturing to the smaller shelf of a bed, "there."

Sprite gulped down some dry biscuit, crumbles flying from her mouth as she said, "what, are you guys in a fight or something?"

She frowned, and Gil looked at her too. She shook her head, "what?--no, why?"

Makkari waved her finger between them, aren't you married?

Thena's jaw dropped. These impudent kids--completely without manners, so full of attitude. And why would they assume that?! Just because she and Gil were travelling together didn't mean they were married! They didn't seem married...did they?

"What?"

She rubbed her temple, trying to conceal her frustration. It was just a question by some unruly kids. She picked up her head and smiled at him, "nothing. You should get some rest now, then you can take watch later."

He made a face at her, and at the girls giggling at him.

#Thenamesh AU #Gil and Thena are neighbours #they get alerted and immediately find each other #they don't manage to get on the first round of boats #they resolve that they'll find their own way out of the city #because if they're together it won't be so bad #so they go #they look out for each other #Thena goes first because she's quiet and fast #Gil keeps her safe #and cooks all the food they find #she legit doesn't know what she would do without him because everything he makes is so good #and now they find these kids #and goddammit!!!#of course Gil is already so sweet #he's like we can't just leave them here #Thena: you get those big brown eyes away from me #Makkari and Sprite are hissing in the corner #until Gil has food then they're like hello father #Thena: I hate this family #also listen #I also would assume they're married #I mean who wouldn't #so then Thena says they're not and the kids are just like #...okay #Thena: I'm serious!#the kids: we didn't say shit dude you deny too much #also lowkey the kids: we've never had a dad this will be fun

6 notes · View notes