#if you actually read all of this then Tyson

[warmilikeit]

Yandere Batfam x Camp half-blood (Neglected reader)

DC x Pjo

Part 12

______________________________

Present

"is that a ferry?" I ask, the hippocampus got closer and we saw something that said "Princess Andromeda", and the figurehead is a wooden woman tied to it

Princess Andromeda... Who?

Ah..

The wife of Perseus son of Zeus, she was to be sacrificed to Poseidon but Perseus saved her

How weird of her to have a ship, you personally, certainly won't step foot into the ocean after you were about to be sacrificed to it

A middle aged man scolds his three kids for jumping in the pool and points at a sign, a dog that looks somewhat human that looks like it belongs in the deepest pits of hell is in line for the buffet

You freeze up, is that an empousa?? A monster playing poker with a mortal human?

You look around and see variations of monsters and humans, seemingly happy in the cruise

What is this? Monster human united nations?

Don't get me wrong, you're not racist, it's just that monsters typically eat humans, so it's okay that you find it weird that a snake haired monster with poison blood is gambling with Jeff

(not Medusa, but gorgons)

"Is this a trap? A knockoff Lotus Hotel & Casino?" Percy scoffs

Annabeth holds your hand in a tight grip "Could be... But we don't know what it does, no one eat anything here"

"Lotus Hotel...?" You ask

Percy looks at you "Yeah... It's some magic hotel where time passes really slowly, like so slow, it's different for everyone, I met a guy there from the 70's and when I asked he said he'd only been there for two days, we felt we were only there for a couple of hours but it's actually been five days"

Oh shit.

"is... Is this hotel in Vegas?" You look nervous, Annabeth furrowed her brows "Yes, have you encountered it? It's dangerous and normal people wouldn't know how to get out"

"oh fuck... I may have been, no definitely, I should be older than I am right now, when my family and I were on a mi- vacation, I went inside this hotel, I was only there for like 20 minutes but they claimed I was gone for two years... I- holy shit. I was stuck in a hotel for two years" you exclaim

"how did you not know that was a trap? Have you not read the Odyssey? The lotus island and the lotus eaters?? I thought you were a fan of Greek mythology?" Annabeth asked

You roll your eyes "Well I'm sorry I didn't think a hotel was going to be related to a magical lotus island"

Tyson's face got sad "that scary... How you got out?"

"I don't know... All I remember was a pageant in the hotel, it was an event and- Oh." You stop

______________________________

Past

"Wow... This place is actually kind of nice" you look around the glistening chandeliers and observe the clamoring people

A servant smiles at you, seemingly ignoring your vigilante costume "Would you like a lotus flower? They're complementary"

It won't hurt you to take one right?

So you did.

"hey.. um where's the way out?" You ask

The smile on the servant's face doesn't drop "Miss it's so late out at night, you should return to your room"

"but I don't have a room-" you feel a key card in your pocket, you did have a room

So you go there, you enter the gigantic room, it was like for royalty, the sheets were so silky, the pillows were so soft, you opened the cabinet to find a set of clothes

Your suit is beginning to feel itchy anyways, you take a shower and put on the clothes, you find on the night stand a platinum card

What were you here for again?

You get out of the room, you hear people laughing

"you should go down there young lady! There is a pageant! There is this beautiful maiden, more beautiful compared to the others!" A man says, he was wearing clothing so old fashioned you'd thought he was from the regency era

Well, a pageant sounds fun!

In the hotel ballroom people were staring... Not at the contestants, well, yes the contestants, but one, one special lady

"Good evening LA!" She laughs

How captivating... , you think

She turns and sees you, she stops smiling "(Name)? What? What are you doing here?"

Did she just call you?

Oh gosh she just said your name!

"you're not supposed to be here!" She floats, yup floats and you're shocked, she grabs your hand and she walks you to the entrance of the hotel, the servants who were eager to help everyone was avoiding her gaze and now staying far from you

At the entrance she gestures you get out of the hotel, so you did

A bunch of guys approach you, you don't know who they are

A few minutes pass by

"guys what happened to the mission?" You ask

______________________________

Annabeth: why didn't you know the hotel was magic?

You: idk maybe because in the book it was an island?!

______________________________

@yunloyal @sirenetheblogger @00hellohello00 @spqce-bun @casspen-starlight @eyeless-kun @ghostdoodlen @ratchetprime211 @delias-stuff @sadslasher13 @ellaprime7 @wpdarlingpan @mountvesuvu @chinxinsomnia @nathaly36 @vanessa-boo @bat1212 @ceramic-raven @sweetconnoisseurgardener @dhanyasri @bella-wolf100 @shortnsweetsposts @roseapov @d3sperate-enuf @d3kstar

[bright-eyes-strawberry-lies]

I think perhaps the queer couple shouldn't keep Nico's children as pets regardless of what their species is.

[leaawrites]

Read to me

Percy Jackson x fem!reader

Summary: in a world full of monsters, Percy just wants to protect his girlfriend.

Warnings: mentions of rainstorms, mentions of threats, self doubt, angst, fluff

Wordcount: 0.8k

Masterlist

The night started off with soft rain falling from the sky on the top of the beach house. Montauk. It started quiet and not threatening. Being the Son of Poseidon it shouldn’t make him lay away at night in fear of the storm outside, right? He shouldn’t fear it. But since the dreams got heavier and he finally had something - someone to lose, it felt all a bit more threatening. His life was now not only weighting him down - threatening him - but also her. The girl in his arms that was unaware of everything that happened during summer.

He felt bad for not spending the holiday with her, but she also couldn’t accompany him. Being left to wonder what he was doing there. She knew Grover already and she listened to Percy talk about his friends there - like Annabeth, a girl he mentioned one time too much in her opinion (but she would never actually say that to him) or Tyson. She knew about the lake that was there and capture the flag, but everything else was a mystery to her.

“Why are you still awake?” Y/n asked, waking up in the middle of the night from her boyfriend shaking in fear of a lightning and thunder.

It wasn’t the first time they have slept in the same bed, often doing sleepovers on the weekends. And it definitely wasn’t the first time she woke up because of him. But when she asked for the reason it was always the same.

“Just a bad dream,” Percy muttered, rubbing her arm gently to assure her that it was all fine.

“Percy,” she said, pushing him further than before. Mostly she would just let it go, nod and give him a kiss before snuggling back into his side and fall asleep again. Assuring him that he was safe was her. But he feared that she wasn’t safe with him.

“What are you dreaming about?”

The questioned lingered on her mind for longer already but she finally spoke the words. She needed answers. Not just lame excuses as to why he had scratches down his skin or why he always carried a pen with him when he never even used it.

She needed answers and he knew that, but could he give them to her so easily without putting her in danger? He couldn’t, so what would he give her? What could he give her?

“You,” he answered. Y/n looked at him confused, leaning on her arms to look at him properly. Her fingers moving through his hair. “It’s always you and it never ends good. I don’t want whatever happens in my mind happen in reality too.”

“It won’t,” she assured him, laying her head in the crook of his neck, planting small kisses on his skin.

“What if it will?” He couldn’t keep the possibility of it all away from his mind. He couldn’t block out the pictures he saw when closing his eyes.

“They’re just dreams, Percy,” she said again.

“Maybe they’re not,” he argued back.

“Dreams can’t hurt you.” She took his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her. “I’m here. I’m fine. And as long as I’m with you I will be.”

Silence filled the room. She was right, partially. As long as she was with him nothing would happen to her. He was able to protect her, fight whatever would threaten her.

“Can you read to me?”

Y/n looked at him surprised but nodded nonetheless. Climbing out from under the covers to grab the book, which she would be reading to him whenever he asked, from her bag. The Odyssey. She was confused and taken back when he asked her the first time, taking the book from her shelve and telling her about his interest for Greek Mythology. That was the first night he stayed over at hers. Listening to her read the words written on the pages for him to better understand them.

Saving herself from the cold again by laying back down next to him, Percy rested his head on her chest like he always did. Her hand found it’s way into his hair and gently playing with a few strands. Percy would ask some questions about who was who again sometimes, making her giggle in embarrassment when she didn’t know herself and then they would try and recite which characters they still knew had which part in the story.

The thunder still followed the bright streak of light closely behind but it got less and when she felt him finally relax against her fully and she turned off the light all which was left was soft rain. Kissing the top of his head, she closed her own eyes, falling back into a deep slumber surrounded with her own dreams of him.

[ruegarding]

so. percy's arc in boo (learning to step back, allowing leo to sacrifice himself despite his loyalty/fatal flaw) sucks. for many reasons.

for one, percy yielding is such an integral part of pjo. all of pjo. but even if u somehow missed it in the first four books, tlo explicitly spells it out. "sometimes the hardest power to master is the power of yielding" hestia says to percy. "i yield when necessary. can you do this?" and then this is the climax of the story. "you are not the hero...it will affect what you do." percy has spent the last five books being told that he's the super powerful chosen one able to save or destroy the world, and he still chooses to yield to someone that has done nothing but betray him. "the line from the great prophecy echoed in my head...my whole world tipped upside down, and i gave the knife to luke." hoo acting like this is a lesson percy needs to learn is an affront to reading comprehension. percy lives bc he yields. and then he does it (yielding) again when he surrenders godhood, and power, to choose other demigods instead. this is not subtle writing.

for two, percy has rejected power, and his title, for the entirety of his story. percy doesn't even fully recognize how powerful he is until the volcano in botl. and he had to be told directly that it wasn't a fluke. then in son, percy immediately rejects the power and status offered to him. repeatedly. reyna offers him praetorship, he turns it down. frank is abt to let percy climb the wall first in the war games, percy says it was frank's claim. percy doesn't even want to go on the son quest but relents bc frank asked him. in moa, percy never demands that he lead. instead, he includes frank where he probably wasn't necessary, supports hazel, encourages annabeth, follows leo and piper's lead, and strategizes w jason. he isn't acting as a leader, but rather as part of a team. percy didn't need to "step back," the writing for the other characters needed to step up.

for three, percy had to be kidnapped and manipulated to be on this entire quest. he's not there bc he has a hero complex. acting like he has to learn to step back when he was quite literally shoved into place is wild.

for four, an integral part of percy's character is freedom, autonomy, and he extends this to the ppl he's loyal to. this is pretty explicitly established in tlt: "you're enough like me to understand," sally says. "if my life is going to mean anything, i have to live it myself." percy respects ppl's decisions. this is one of the first lessons he learns when he becomes a hero and an integral part of pjo: percy has to let sally save herself. percy has to let tyson go to the boiler. percy has to let bianca defeat talos. percy has to let nico walk away. percy has to let annabeth fight. if he loves them, he's going to let their lives mean something. even in hoo, percy still lets annabeth go on her quest alone, despite hating it, despite disagreeing w it, bc it's not his place to tell her what she can and can't do. this is her life. she has to live it. so this plotline doesn't even work it we ignore all of pjo and focus solely on hoo.

this theme of autonomy is especially important bc pjo is abt disability. one of the first things ppl try to take away from u when ur disabled is ur autonomy. the fact that percy vehemently defends it not just for himself but for others is essential to the narrative. percy advocates for other demigods, other disabled kids, and tyson, and he does so while maintaining their autonomy. it's why he's the leader, it's why he's the protagonist, it's why there is a callback to it in every pjo book. trying to act like he wouldn't respect someone's autonomy is a bastardization of this entire theme. which is actually fitting for hoo considering it bastardizes the rest of pjo anyway.

[fbfh]

Hello, a request please, how does Leo react if he discovers that his girlfriend (reader) is a minor goddess, daughter of Poseidon and host (Percy goes into brother mode)

disclaimer that I haven't read the kane chronicles yet and don't feel like I really know enough to write about that so this will be more focused on the whole minor goddess thing bc I LOVE this ask.

You're a minor - and very new - goddess, so most people haven't even heard of you. Your dad is poseidon, and your mom is a sweetbay magnolia dryad, so your dad ended up entrusting you to watch over the coast, and everyone who lives there. Anywhere the water meets the land is your domain. It's a pretty niche job, but you have fun quietly tending to the plants and animals, all the little otters and beavers and water birds. you especially loved the long island sound near camp half blood. eventually you asked your dad if you could stay there, pretend to be a normal teenager for a while. he thought of your brothers, Percy and Tyson, and decided that was a good idea. So he talked to Chiron and sent you over, informing Percy he has another half sibling. Even though it was a little rough at first, you bonded with him so fast, turning into the dynamic brother sister duo you'd both always hoped for.

then you met Leo.

He fell first, and he definitely fell harder. Leo has been enamored with you, practically drooling over you since day 1. Of course this really didn't do much to fix the occasionally tense relationship between him and Leo - if anything it exaserbated it more. You never really outright told Percy what you are, he just sort of... pieced it together over time. You were a little scared to tell him. You were scared of how he'd react, that he'd be mad at you for lying or hate you for what the other gods have put him through. You can still remember sitting at the bottom of the lake with him, watching the sun set from underwater.

"Percy, I need to tell you something. I just- I don't want you to be mad at me."

that got his attention.

"It's about- um- it's about me... who I am. What I am." You'd continued, the horrible knot in your stomach eating away at you, getting bigger and bigger. your pulse raced and your hands shook. He looked over at you, but you kept your eyes firmly on the surface of the water, glowing coral and green in the fading light.

"I know what you are."

he had said it so surely, your heart sunk.

"You're my sister."

you looked over at him, and he knew that if you were on the surface there would be tears prickling in your eyes. You sputtered something and he cut you off, his new york accent getting stronger as he felt a surge of older brother protectiveness through him.

"you're my fuckin' sister." You looked at him and saw everything else he wasn't saying. you're my sister, and that's it. I don't care what else you are, because I'm your brother and you're my sister and that's all I care about.

Ever since then you'd started feeling a little more comfortable about your status as a god. you didn't hide the way certain birds and animals would flock to you, or how just being near the water made all surrounding plants flourish. and eventually, with percy's unspoken support, you decided to tell Leo. You've been going out with him for long enough where you already know most of each other's secrets, and you just feel like it's time. You're walking along the coast, your hand entwined with Leo's warm one as he plays with your fingers.

"Did I- uh, did I ever tell you about my mom?"

You hadn't, and Leo's intrigued. He knows about your dad - hell, he's even met him once. But you never mentioned your mom. You start telling him about her and he listens with rapt attention.

"She's great with plants, too. She's, uh... a dryad, actually. Lives in a sweetbay magnolia tree."

You're quiet for a moment, hoping he'll put two and two together. You see a million thoughts and realizations and emotions flash through him so fast you'd miss it if you blinked. Then finally, he nods.

"So you're..."

"Yup." You say softly. "In charge of the coast. Where land meets sea."

A frog hops over to you and you smile, bending down and scooping him up. He puffs up his throat proudly, and you pet him a little. Leo watches you as you two continue to walk leisurely. The sun hits the water and the trees, basking you in a glittering light and soft shade at the same time. And it makes sense, he thinks. this little strip of land full of plants and animals, where you get your ankles splashed by the tide and get sand between your toes... you look at home here. And you are. Leo realizes that every time you've taken him on one of your little walks like this, you've been inviting him into your world without him even realizing it. it fills him with a sense of warmth and awe and gratitude like nothing he's experienced before. and in that comfortable silence, you know he has your back. Besides, he's sure Percy would kick his ass if he didn't.

[alien-wooliee]

While doing my monthly rewatch of Hbomberguy's 4 hour plagiarism epic, there was one specific thing that stuck out to me- the idea of commentary youtube content farms. Like, we all know that content mills exist, right? But I think it's so interesting just how much of YouTube has been overtaken by vaguely right-wing chuds who post shitty and stupid documentaries on the current popular drama of the week.

They all have the exact same editing style- so much of the time they're just like "What happened to Scrinky Fuckbo?" With dramatic fade-ins and outs, all read out in a voice that sounds like someone trying to do a cartoon nerd impression. So much of the time, people just hop on and commentate about the current big thing, without adding anything unique to the table, and it's so, so boring.

So many times, these channels pick out random tweets with, like, 3 likes and 1 retweet, and say "These people are ATTACKING so and so!" in their titles and thumbnails, which always are so obnoxious to look at. The fact so many of these channels were a part of the anti-sjw crowd years ago also isn't lost on me- it's like they never really grew to believe in empathy, and simply see every situation as a way of making money while tossing the most ingenuous ivories the way of the people actually affected.

The amount of this content farm slop on YouTube is insane to me, and the fact that so many people get their big bucks from either commentary or 'video essays' that do the bare minimum research and get sponsors up the wazoo says a lot about how so much of the time, conservatives just want to constantly have their beliefs reinforced. I'm not saying I'm immune to this, either! I've found myself in a bit of an echo chamber that I'm trying to break out of, after all- but I feel like there's a difference between an echo chamber reaffirming the fact that capitalism destroys lives, and an echo chamber that reaffirms the idea that all trans people are insane lunatics who should be put down. Of course, I'm hyperbolizing somewhat here, but the idea still remains.

So many of these videos feel vaguely sinister as well- they all go over the 'personal flaws' of each person involved, and it just feels like they're vagueposting bigotry whenever it comes to something like a queer person. Take, for example, that infamous SunnyV2 video about Mr Beast, where he claims that Ava Kris Tyson being trans could tank his gains. You don't seriously think that, Sunny. You just wanna throw shade at a trans person for existing.

tl;dr I hate commentary youtube and the fact it always pushes these videos into my recommended feed.

[amoreva]

FEIGNING FOR YA

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CHAPTER 3.5

pairing: luke castellan x fem!reader

summary: easter with your family sucks and since when can Luke read you so easily

warnings: not proofread! slow burn, college au, smau, fake dating to dating, cursing, aged up! pjo charcters, parental expectations

a/n: guess who’s back from my hiatus! can you tell i used a crazy rich asians line. feedback is much appreciated after i took a long break

series list | next

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silenabeau posted a story!

silenabeau

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silenabeau festival at uni!!

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user8 your outfit 😍

yn.ln def going next year

silenabeau missed you guys!

cbeckendorf love you silena <3

clarisselarue letting the lotus flowers go>>>

user9 IT WAS ACTUALLY SOD FCOL

thaliagrace festival needs to come back asap

yn.ln

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yn.ln easter wasn’t that bad after all

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lukecastellan first

lukecastellan ❤️❤️❤️

lukecastellan loml

seaweedbrain you people make me sick seaweedbrain heavy on luke chris.rod d1 hater travisstoll brother is praying on his downfall

user1 this is supposed to be MY DREAM AHGAGAH

clarisselarue she used to be mine 💔

chris.rod WHAT AM I? seaweedbrain chopped liver

user2 PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

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racheleliz an art school away

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juniper.xo come visit us soon!!

silenabeau how much for a painting?

racheleliz still figuring it out!!

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racheleliz <3

juniper.xo posted a story!

wisegirl and seaweedbrain

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tyson did you see me?

tyson dad says hi!

silenabeau cuties

lukecastellan i’m so happy, i love this

seaweedbrain stay mad wisegirl lukecastellan seaweedbrain stop it

user3 the jellyfish 🥰

yn.ln aquarium dates 😫❤️

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lukecastellan

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[aroaceleovaldez]

i'm so happy you brought back up the topic of rick's shitty writing of anyone even remotely non white / "white passing"

with that being said, do you think the shitty script he gave to annabeth in the show has to do with him just being deeply uninterested in adapting his story to include characters of color? bc it seems like once rick encounters a character that cannot be easily erased all ethnic or racial identity of to fit them into an usamerican specifically white ass narrative, he gets lost.

i just keep thinking how the only thing that "changed" about annabeth as presented in the show was her race but her plot relevance and her characterization got downgraded severely. meanwhile percy, whiter than before (wheres the mediterranean god look......................................), got half her functions. like i just look at rick in context and i wonder if he just gives so little fuck about characters of color he cant even write a decent character arc for an adaptation of a very established persona

thoughts? thank u!

I wouldn't be surprised if it's Rick (and the writer's room, since it actually seems Rick isn't all that heavily involved if much at all with the script itself based on some interviews) just has internal biases that he refuses to reflect on. It would be a consistent trend with the uptick in offensive writing in the books themselves (see: the troglodytes in general, all the Jewish kids in CHB being in Hermes cabin, etc etc). Rick seems to want to engage with these topics but refuses to actually assess how he's approaching it and his own biases while also overemphasizing his engagement with the topics. It's a kind of big talk/words vs actions type thing to me.

[this got a wee bit long so throwing it under a cut]

I was having a couple of conversations about this topic recently - one being group reading/discussion of WottG and how, allegedly, the slightly different characterizations in that book are inspired by the actors in the show. Annabeth is repeatedly and frequently described as motherly and maternal in the book, plus some other misc characterizations that make you tilt your head and go "Wait, what about Leah made you want to write Annabeth this way?" and concerns about it leaning into stereotypes. (It's also strange, because in the show Sally is MUCH more aggressive and less maternal, and this is painted like it's supposed to be a girlboss thing cause her being too soft and motherly was too weak or something? But now book Annabeth is now being described as all soft and maternal??? What. What is happening.)

Another conversation that i had with my therapist (cause we talk about pjo a lot lol) and later repeated and discussed more with other folks on discord more specifically regarding the show was a lot of discussion about the casting. Particularly casting choices and how the writing either is refusing to take casting into consideration to respectfully approach how things would be changed to avoid problems or are actively changing the script for characters in a way that is potentially if not downright offensive. Clarisse is the number one example i bring up because a lot of people say that the reason a plus sized actress wasn't cast for her was to avoid the "fat bully" trope. The thing is, there is ALSO a POC bully trope that is just as bad if not worse, so if they were actually taking offensive tropes into consideration one would expect them to avoid that too (especially since Percy was cast as a pasty white boy - which just makes it all look worse)? (Also other plus-sized characters like Dionysus and Gabe were also cast as skinny, same with Tyson. So it just seems like they don't want to cast plus-sized actors either.)

But also they're rewriting stuff that actively puts the casting decisions into worse tropes. Like hey, why is Percy (a white guy) the one who knows the "real" versions of all these myths and is expositioning them to Annabeth (a black girl), who in the books is supposed to know more than him? Why does he know better than her for some reason and have to guide her? Why is Percy teaching Annabeth about pop culture and how to be a kid? Not to mention stuff like the show constantly encouraging the viewer to doubt or distrust characters like Grover and Clarisse and Annabeth as red herrings as to who the traitor is. Plus there's no adjustments to stuff from the books like Annabeth initially being somewhat aggressive/antagonistic towards Percy, or Clarisse's aggression and bullying towards Percy to try and circumvent those being bad tropes in the contexts of the casting.

And there's an ongoing trend of characters who are antagonistic towards Percy in the books being divided into two groups: those who continue to be antagonistic towards Percy in the show, or those who are tweaked to suddenly become kinda silly-goofy and significantly less threatening. Gabe, Dionysus, Ares, and Hades are all examples of characters that should be antagonistic towards Percy but are softened SIGNIFICANTLY and played for laughs in the show. Echidna is played as a twist antagonist because she initially because she approaches the kids as very sweet and helpful. And they're all cast as white! Meanwhile other characters like Clarisse, Luke, Zeus, etc, are still antagonistic towards Percy (plus also like Annabeth initially and again, Grover being painted as a major red herring). Plus some new additions like Hermes, Mr. Lin Manuel Miranda himself, being wholly introduced into the plot when he's not supposed to appear until book 2, and all he does is sabotage the quest. Like, it's weird! That's a weird writing decision!!!! I get wanting to get that sweet sweet LMM cameo money, but, why is Hermes an antagonist here???????? he's not even supposed to be here yet!.

We also have stuff like Poseidon (who, like many of the god/major kid pairings so far seems to have been cast to match each other appearance-wise) saving the day for Percy and being this weirdly good dad, versus the books where we get the iconic "I am sorry you were born" line and Percy and Poseidon's tension is part of their arcs. Notably, Poseidon does this by ceding to Zeus, who is actively about to start a war. While Gabe is rewritten to be a total loser, Sally is MUCH more aggressive and her yelling and screaming at young Percy is supposed to be sympathetic for some reason? If Gabe were acting like Sally does in the show, he would actually be significantly more like his book counterpart! The show is making active decisions to paint these characters the way they do!

Admittedly, part of it may just be they got overzealous with their casting (not inherently a bad thing! diverse casting is good!) and then proceeded to not consider how that casting affects the way the characters are perceived. It also doesn't bode well for certain guesses we can make going further into the show - Thalia is very at odds with Percy initially. She's a very aggressive character. They fight a lot! Also Annabeth's description already implies that they're tweaking Thalia's character to be more "tough love" versus the books where she's significantly more of a bleeding heart when she first meets Annabeth. Like, I'm very happy about Thalia's casting, her actress seems amazing, but also I'm VERY concerned with how they're going to approach her character to make sure it doesn't end up wildly offensive. Athena is similar - we can guess based on casting decisions so far that they're going to try and cast Athena as similar in appearance to Annabeth/Leah. The show has already painted Athena has antagonistic and uncaring towards her daughter. If projected trends continue, these things are not gonna be great.

And the show does seem to rarely want to engage with these topics - like the scene with the cop in the train. You can tell what they wanted to address by having Annabeth be the one to confront him. The thing is they were too cowardly to actually have that conversation! They paint the kids as being unreasonable and getting unnecessarily upset when they aren't directly being accused of destroying a room, therein painting the cop as the one in the right in that situation. The implication seems to be a little bit they were going for "Oh, this is Annabeth's hubris getting them into trouble" but. that's such a bad way to do it! That's like the worst way you could have done it! (This is also a trend in books from HoO onwards, more or less - Rick tries to engage with certain topics, often using characters of specific demographics, and then proceeds to do a really bad job of it.)

There are also some aspects that are just like - in the books, Luke being a middle-class blond-haired blue-eyed pretty white boy is relevant! Because the fact that he has privilege from that particularly in how he's perceived is part of how he came to where he is and why he acts the way he does. Percy not having those same privileges, and having aspects like constantly inherently being labeled as a trouble-maker just based on his atypical (neurodivergent) behavior and coming from a lower socioeconomical background play heavily into his character!!! Percy being both a poor and disabled kid (and implied potentially POC) plays DIRECTLY into why he feels so strongly about standing up for other disenfranchised kids (in SoM, explicitly including other disabled kids and kids of color). It directly relates to his experiences and standing up for kids who are like him because he didn't have that, versus Luke whose perceptions and goals are very self-oriented. Now, in the show, we've essentially swapped Percy and Luke's appearances, and that paints a very different narrative. And that's important to acknowledge!

[joeys-babe]

Joey B Blurbs: Baby, It’s Cold Outside

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Summary: Joe is yet again on the receiving end of your mischief. This time you prank him by randomly leaving without saying a word.

Warnings: None, fluff, unserious/funny, pranks!

Pairing: Joe Burrow x reader

Imagine universe: Into The Mystic

————————————————————————-

*20 weeks pregnant*

The house was warm but quiet.

Tyson and Miles were asleep upstairs since it was late, and the only sounds were of the crackling fireplace.

Joe was lying down, taking up the entire couch and reading a book, while I sat a couple of feet away on the loveseat.

I was on my notes app brainstorming ideas for stocking stuffers for the boys since Christmas was right around the corner.

Once my list was done, I found myself getting increasingly bored sitting there doing nothing.

The presents for Joe, Tyson, and Miles were already wrapped and Christmas dinner was already planned. There was nothing left for me to do.

I knew better than to disturb Joe while he was reading. After a quick analysis of his body language, his eyebrows furrowing in concentration told me that he was very deep into whatever odd topic he was reading about.

Giggling to myself at his face, I pulled Tiktok up, and almost like muscle memory went to my ‘Joe Pranks’ collection.

There was one video that I had saved that stood out to me because I wouldn't have to interact with Joe to do it. Perfect.

I quickly stood up and walked over to the TV stand, acting like I was moving around decorations, but I was actually setting my phone up to record.

After it was set and recording, I walked to the front door and slipped a pair of shoes on before grabbing my keys out of the dish.

I unlocked the deadbolt and opened the door, by now I had Joe’s attention.

“Where are you going?” - Joe

Ignoring him, I walked out of the door and dramatically slammed it behind me.

Now, I had no idea what he was doing, but I just stood in the driveway. Hopefully, he would come out here.

Not even a minute later, the door opened and Joe stuck his head out. He hadn't seen me yet, and his eyes looked panicked.

“y/n?” - Joe whisper yelled

“Hi.” - you

Joe’s gaze snapped over into the direction my voice came from, and he immediately looked equal parts annoyed and confused.

“What the hell are you doing?” - Joe

I shrugged and he stepped out onto the porch.

“Get in the house. It's like freezing.” - Joe

Now I couldn't contain my laughter as he continuously got more flustered.

“Baby, it's cold outside. Come back in the house.” - Joe

“You just said a song title.” - you laughed

“Yup. C’mon, Mama.” - Joe

I didn't move or even budge so Joe heaved a sigh and walked off of the porch.

A loud squeal escaped my lips when he strode up to me and gently picked me up bridal style. He did so extra carefully due to the baby.

“Joey!” - you giggled

“You weren't gonna move so Imma move you myself.” - Joe

He hurriedly got me into the house and sat me down on the couch before walking back to the front door and shutting it.

Joe made his way back to the couch and found his spot sitting behind me. My back to his chest, his arms around my waist, and his hands on my bump.

“Babe, your cheeks are red.” - Joe

“I'm fine. I was outside for like two minutes, and it was just a little prank” - you laughed

“Shit, the last time you walked out without saying was when we were in high school. Remember you were at my house and I was playing video games? You got mad because I wasn't talking to you and you just left. I remember being scared you were going to break up with me.” - Joe

“Well, I didn't.” - you

“Obvs.” - Joe chuckled

“Do you ever wonder what our high school selves would say if they saw who we were today?” - you

“Oh, all the time. High school Joe would pass out if I told him all of the accomplishments he's made… with his favorite girl by his side.” - Joe

“I love you, Joe.” - you grinned

“I love you too, sweetheart. Now where's your phone hidden? I wanna watch this prank footage.” - Joe

The rest of the night was spent watching the various recordings I have of pranking Joe. He found most of them amusing, but after we finished watching all of them, Joe said something that made me slightly nervous.

“One day, Imma get you back. When you least expect it.” - Joe smirked

“Oh no.” - you

————————————————————————-

Authors note: these Joe pranks are my fav thing ever to write 💀🫶

Request for this fic;

Hope you enjoyed! 💕

[not-lame-llama]

My thoughts on Percy Jackson as someone who is reading it for the first time (i’m on the Last Olympian) spoilers ahead!!!

- Past Nico would absolutely lose it meeting Present Nico. He’d be like strong emo boy? I lov him.

- Clarisse and Thalia have kissed at some point. They never spoke of it again.

- I love Sally Jackson. I’m waiting for her to have a seen where she grabs a sword and just cuts down a mf for her son. stab Kronos in the foot Sally! You got it bbg!

- Tyson tries to teach himself how to sew and makes a pegasus plushie for Percy. Nonnegotiable. He stabs himself in the fingers, has to get help from a crowd of cyclopes.

- Zoe is baby. Shoulda been better protected, deserves her place in the stars

- Dionysus has a stick up his ass or smth bro calm down why is your enemy a child. Same with Ares

- Percy coming back to find that Grover is dating a bush is fucking hilarious

- Percy seeing Aphrodite and saying she looked like Annabeth? Top tier.

- Also, I know Percabeth is the THING but him and Rachel was kinda cute

- Percy, dyslexic, solemnly reading the prophecy INCORRECTLY to a room of other dyslexics is just….Chiron, darling,,,,read it out loud or smth. Spare the poor boy

- OH MY GODS AND the way Annabeth said she’d heard it when she was ten and had had nightmares ever since??? Gurl literally admitted she had dreamed of Percy dying and it scared her real bad for YEARS

- There’s literally no way the prophecy actually means Percy permanently dies. Someone else does, or he does and then is reborn. There’s no way he just dies in five days

- bro has no chance against Kronos, why does he keep trying to stab him and then acts surprised when his sword just bounces off the Titan’s skin??

- ADHD does NOT help with battle sense. I speak as an ADHD who was tried MMA. It did not work out. These halfbloods are fucking lying.

- Why no Persephone children? I wanna be a Persephone child

- Grover shoulda become the next diety of the wild, or just a part of it, something stronger and magical tho

- Poseidón and Percy calling Paul Mr.Blowfish. That’s it. They’re twin dumbos

- Oh and that lil bitchy boy that corrects Poseidon all “I’m Poseídons son and HEIR” no. he’s a no. doesn’t exist. nasty.

- Luke is a no. Why do people like him?

[roosterforme]

Old Habits Die Hard Part 4 | Bradley Bradshaw x Reader

Summary: You are a little surprised by your own response when Jeff asks you out. And you really start to wish the study room doors had locks. 

Warnings: Angst, swears, smut, maybe some fluff

Length: 3100 words

Pairing: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x Female Reader (fuckboy college student Bradley)

Check out my masterlist

Bradley texted you all day on Sunday. You made him laugh, and he hoped he was making you laugh too. He never spent this much time talking to girls, but he'd never known a girl quite like you before. 

Every time he saw his door, he smiled. Bradley was a little surprised Jeff hadn't commented on it, but then again, Jeff didn't know he called you Sugar. 

Bradley cleaned the bathroom again after Tyson and Janessa were done in there, but he didn't even mind. He was in such a great mood.

Then he alternated talking to you and working on school assignments for the rest of the day. 

He checked his phone to read the most recent text from you. 

Are you going to crash the study room again this week? 

Okay, so you wanted him to. Bradley just wished he could get you there alone. He wondered how you would respond to that request, so he just went for it. 

Sugar, when can I meet you there for a little one-on-one time?

Bradley had to wait a bit longer for your response to that one, but you did finally write back. 

On Tuesday afternoons Jeff has classes while I usually get caught up with reading. 

So Bradley told you he would meet you then. 

He realized that Jeff was still avoiding him by Sunday evening when Bradley greeted him in the living room. 

Jeff just grunted and asked, "Did you have fun with Phoebe this weekend?"

Bradley shook his head while he dropped down onto the couch. "Nah. Barely saw her. I'm interested in someone else."

Jeff just glared at him. "I told you to leave her alone. She's a nice girl. And I'm asking her out tomorrow." 

Bradley took a deep breath to keep from jumping up and shoving Jeff against the wall. "She's sweet. I like her, too. Maybe you're the one who should leave her alone." 

"What the fuck, man? You can hook up with anyone you feel like, but you just have to have her? Why?"

Bradley didn't know how to answer that, so he simply told Jeff, "Ask her out then. Let me know how that goes."

------------------------------

You were in the study room on Monday, wishing it was already Tuesday, and every time your phone vibrated, you felt butterflies in your tummy. 

Bradley had been texting you pretty consistently since yesterday, and you'd been responding like the ridiculous girl you apparently were. You had Jeff right across the table from you, but you couldn't stop thinking about Bradley. Because that kiss with Jeff was terrible. But when Bradley kissed you, it was fireworks. 

"Hey, so what do you think?" Apparently Jeff had been talking to you, but you had no idea what he had said. 

"Um... what do I think about what?" you asked, shooting him and apologetic look for good measure. 

He just smiled and asked, "What do you think about going out with me this weekend? We can skip the party on Friday night and see a movie instead?"

You swallowed down the lump of guilt in your throat. "Uh... I think I actually already promised Bradley I'd be at the party on Friday night." You had told him in a text that you would be there after he had asked. But then you thought maybe using Bradley as your excuse was a bad idea, because Jeff looked outraged. 

"Are you seriously into him?" he asked, looking like he was about to snap his pencil in half. 

You pressed your lips together. You couldn't figure out how to describe the way you felt about Bradley. "He's... "

"A douchebag? A player? Not good enough for you?" Jeff was quick to supply you with some options. 

"Don't be like this," you whispered. "We've been friends for a while." Suddenly you felt like crying as you watched Jeff rub his hands along his face in frustration. 

"Just think about it before you get involved with him, okay? I'll see you later."

And then he was gone. And you had plenty of time to think about Bradley. 

You thought about him as you met some friends for dinner, and you thought about him while you pretended to listen to Janessa talk about Tyson. And you even thought about him the following morning while you were in your extremely boring differential equations class. 

You didn't really care what Jeff thought about it, you just wanted to see Bradley again. His texting had tapered off a bit, and you wondered if he was still going to meet you in the study room. Or perhaps he was losing interest in you already. It was definitely in the realm of possibility that he was still seeing Phoebe or someone else entirely. Even someone with a visual impairment would be able to tell that Phoebe was better looking than you.

But just when you were about to text him and ask if he still wanted to meet you alone, Bradley strolled into the study room and sat down in the chair next to you, his back to the door. 

"Sugar," he said with a smirk, and you were immediately smiling at him. 

"Beer Boy." His soft laugh made your core throb. You were practically moaning for him after he had said one word to you. How ridiculous. 

"You been thinking about me?" he asked with a grin. You could feel yourself blushing. Have you been thinking about him? Only constantly, and especially while you were fingering yourself before bed last night. 

You shrugged. "A little bit. Here and there."

He nodded. "Yeah, me too. Just a little bit." But he was scooting his chair closer to yours. 

"Jeff asked me out," you blurted, and you watched Bradley rub his hand along the back of his neck, bumping his backwards cap and making it crooked.

"Oh," he said softly with a frown creasing his brow. "That's great."

"Great? I told him no."

Bradley's lips parted in a sigh of relief. "Then why did you kiss him last weekend? After we kissed?"

You knew the blush was returning to your face. "Because you're probably not a good idea, honestly. And Phoebe was calling you."

He shook his head. "She's not calling me anymore."

"Oh?"

"Sugar, I painted my door just for you. Nobody else," he whispered, and you leaned toward him until your lips touched his softly. His big palm came to rest on your knee as you slid to the edge of your seat, getting closer to him. His kisses were so soft, just like Friday night. It was like nothing you would have expected from a Beta boy. Bradley was just completely unexpected. 

He rubbed his thumb in slow circles along your jeans as he nipped gently at your lips. You licked the seam of his lips, and he opened his mouth to you. He tasted like mint, his tongue teasing yours. 

His fingers trailed up your neck and tangled in your hair, and you shivered and moaned softly into his mouth. "Damn, Sugar. Seems like you've been thinking about me more than a little bit," he said, examining your face with hungry eyes before he reached down and grabbed your chair and pulled you closer so your legs were slotted with his. 

You smirked. "I could say the same for you."

He mashed his lips against yours before kissing along your jaw to your neck. "Been thinking about you nonstop. You're sweet."

You tried to squeeze your thighs together, but Bradley's left leg was wedged between them. "Bradley," you whispered as he devoured your mouth with more of his soft and simultaneously demanding kisses. 

"Sugar," he whispered against your lips. He rubbed his nose along the side of yours as he asked, "When can I see you again? I need to see you again, but I have to get to class."

You reveled in one more press of his lips to yours as he adjusted himself before he made to stand up. 

"Thursday afternoon?" you asked, your voice sounding breathy. 

Then he kissed your cheek. He actually kissed your cheek before he said, "See you then."

And when Jeff showed up after his class to study with you, it took all of your energy to stay focused on what he was saying instead of replaying your kisses with Bradley in your mind. 

If only you'd had more time with Bradley, you were sure he would have kissed you until you sounded so stupid, just the way he liked smart girls.

----------------------------------------

Jeff was pissed off, and Bradley knew it. He tried to keep a straight face, but it was hard since he already knew you had turned Jeff down. 

"What's up?" Bradley asked as he passed Jeff and Tyson in the kitchen. 

"Hey man," Tyson said as he devoured a bag of potato chips. 

Jeff just grunted at him before saying, "I saw you leaving the library earlier."

"Yeah," Bradley said with a grin while he started making a sandwich. "I like it there."

"You like the library? Or you like her?" 

Tyson froze and eyed them both up as he crunched on some chips. "You guys talking about Janessa's cute roommate?" 

"Mmhmm," Bradley hummed. You were so pretty, and your lips were so soft. He couldn't stop thinking about having those lips wrapped around his cock. Just the idea of fucking your pretty face had him twitching. Even jerking himself off to the thought of you was better for him than any sex he'd had with Phoebe or the other girls recently. 

"Yeah. She's too good for Bradley, but he's going to insist on trying to ruin her anyway," Jeff said casually.

Jeff was being a dick on purpose. But really, Bradley was pretty sure you were the one who would be doing the ruining, not him. 

"You sound jealous, man. You had months to seal the deal with her," Bradley said with a smirk. "Can't perform under pressure? Too much competition?"

"Shut the fuck up."

Tyson was starting to look a little worried as Bradley assembled his sandwich and said, "She asks you to walk her home, but I'm the one who can get her in his bedroom."

Jeff was seething, but Bradley was kind of enjoying himself. He didn't specifically intend to use you as bait, but no way he was going to let Jeff act like he was better than him. Call him toxic, but Bradley was certain he could kiss you, fuck you, and be with you better than Jeff could. 

"She's too good for both of you," Tyson said as he dumped the potato chip crumbs into his mouth. 

-------------------------------------

You had barely seen Jeff outside of your classes since he hadn't joined you in the library at all on Wednesday. He skipped lunch with you on Thursday, claiming he needed to get to class early, so you were solidly alone when Bradley showed up. 

"Hey, Sugar," he said, pausing just inside the door and staring at you. He must have liked what you were wearing today. You'd done it on purpose, of course, and it was already paying off. He took a step closer to where you sat in your short pleated skirt and cardigan. It never hurt to lean a little bit into your nerd stereotype, especially when you figured it would make you unique to Bradley. 

"You look cute," he whispered, never taking his eyes off you as he set his bag down. "Did you wear that for me?"

You licked your lips, stood, and slipped past him to close the door. "Yes," was all you managed to say before his hands were grabbing your hips, guiding you back against the door. You tipped your head back against the wooden surface and looked up at him. 

"You look like a sexy little mathlete." His voice was soft and deep and raspy, and you felt yourself clench around nothing. Slowly he pressed himself against you, his body much bigger and more muscular than yours. "Keep thinking about all the ways I want you." 

You moaned softly, and that was all it took. His mouth was on yours, and he was gently coaxing your lips apart with his tongue. He tasted your mouth, groaning softly as you brushed your fingers along his scars and up into his hair. 

One of his hands was wrapped around you, reaching up the back of your cardigan. The other was inching down to the hem of your skirt. You let him rub his big hand up your bare thigh as he broke the kiss. He watched you, gauging your response to him as he eased his hand up along your soft skin. 

You knew you must have looked so desperate for him, pressed up against the door with your lips parted, but you didn't care. He grinned at you as he squeezed your thigh making you bite your lip.  

He kissed your neck so softly, his lips brushing you there as he asked, "Do you want me too, Sugar?"

You sucked in a breath, thrusting against the front of his jeans in response. 

"You gonna tell me?" he asked, rubbing your leg so softly with his thumb, driving you wild. 

"I want you," you gasped as his lips found yours again. Both of his hands were under your skirt, palming your ass through your underwear and lifting you up. You guided your legs around his slim waist, rubbing your wet, cotton covered pussy against his belt buckle with a loud whine. You'd never done anything like this in your life, and you felt ill-equipped to deal with that fact that you were probably about to fuck Bradley in the study room you'd been sharing with Jeff for months. 

-------------------------------

You made Bradley feel a little possessive. He wasn't the jealous type, never really got attached to anything. But right now, as far as you were concerned, he needed to be the best. 

As he settled down onto the chair with his back to the door, you straddled him and held his face in both of your hands. Your fingernails were gently gliding along his cheeks, softly caressing his scars. Your lips were kissing him as your nose bumped against his in the sweetest way. But you were grinding your pussy against him like such a bad girl, he couldn't figure out what was going on. 

"Sugar," he moaned, and you tipped your head back, exposing your entire beautiful neck to him. He licked a line up from the top of your sweater to your chin and then moved his mouth to suck a mark on the side of your neck. 

"Oh!" you gasped, and he sucked harder. He reached up your skirt, gripping your hips, guiding your movements a little slower as you rubbed yourself on him. His cock was hard and straining against his jeans for you to grind against, and every time your pussy hit his belt buckle, he got to hear you gasp. 

"Feel good?" he whispered before licking the mark he had made on your neck. Such a pretty spot, he hoped to see it when it showed up darker tomorrow. 

"Bradley," you whined as you tipped your head forward to meet his eyes. He watched you, your eyes unfocused as you rubbed your soft body against his. When you started whimpering, he put his lips to yours, enjoying how desperate your kisses felt. He couldn't remember ever wanting someone like this. 

"What do you need?" he asked, easing one hand gently back inside your underwear and squeezing your ass. Everything about your body was a nice handful for him, and he wanted to wear you out until you were speechless. He thought about reaching into his bag for a condom, but you seemed like you were close to the edge without penetration.  

"I just, I need, I-" 

You were babbling now as Bradley smiled at you. "Aww, Sugar. You sound so fucking dumb right now, and I've barely touched you, baby." He kneaded his fingers into your ass cheeks and watched you get off.

"Oh!" you gasped, grabbing both of his shoulders and rubbing yourself up and down his abs while you moaned and cried out, "Oh, my God."

"Fuck, this is hot," he told you with a devilish grin on his face. "If you're gonna cum this good in my lap, I can't wait to get you in my bed."

"Oh, my God," you said once more, covering your flushed face with both hands. "I can't believe I did that." Your hips were finally starting to slow as you let out one more soft moan.

Two sharp knocks on the door, and then Bradley turned to see what looked like a pimple-faced freshman walking into the study room. You gasped and hid your face against his neck, as Bradley registered what you and he must have looked like with his hands still shoved up your skirt.

"I'm sorry! I thought this one was empty!" the younger kid said. 

Bradley just looked at him as he stood there staring. "Get the fuck out!" he yelled, and the kid spun around and rushed out the door. Bradley removed one hand from your soft thigh and reached behind him to slam the door shut. 

You pulled your face slightly away from his neck and looked up at him.

"You okay, Sugar?" he asked you softly. "You really got yourself worked up, didn't you?"

You covered your face with your hands again and whispered, "I am so embarrassed."

He tried his best not to, but he couldn't stop grinning when you peeked through your fingers and started to get up. 

"What do you have to be embarrassed about?" he asked, taking your left hand in his right one and kissing your cheek. "That was fucking hot. I'm hard as a rock right now because of you."

You squeaked and bit your lip. "That kid looked like he was twelve years old!" you said, gesturing toward the door. 

"Yeah, that was unfortunate. Next time I'll have to jam one of the chairs under the doorknob since these things don't lock."

Your eyes were wide and your cheeks were still flushed. "Next time?" you asked softly. 

"You don't want me to help you study again next week? Show you some of the subjects you haven't taken yet?"

A laugh bubbled out of you. "Bradley, I am mortified right now." When you tried to stand again, Bradley held you in place. 

"Don't be, Sugar. I'm gonna see you tomorrow night at the party, right?"

"Yes."

"You gonna wear something cute again? Just for me?"

"Maybe."

--------------------------

Ahhhhhh! Thanks for reading this fic! And thanks to @mak-32 for helping so much with this one! This is for you, Mak!

PART 5

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[laurenairay]

A reason to start over new - T. Jost

Summary: It’s been five years since Lucy has seen her ex-boyfriend Tyson. Can his grandparents’ Christmas party fix their broken hearts?

Happy birthday @senditcolton! This is my fic for your birthday bingo – I had a lot of fun with this one! I chose The Hand Touch, Exes to Lovers, Free Space (Resolved Angst), “You’re Too Good for Me”, and Winter Romance, making it a full bingo! Hope you have a wonderful day Nicole.

A massive thank you to @jostyriggslover96 for reading through this!

Words: 3.3k

Warnings: angst, flashback to breakup, some bad language, self-deprecation.

Title from The Reason, by Hoobastank

~

I've found a reason for me, To change who I used to be, A reason to start over new, And the reason is you.

~

“Oh wow, Val and Jim have really outdone themselves this year, haven’t they?”

Lucy glanced around at the Christmas decorations surrounding them, smiling at her mom’s words.

“Full of holiday cheer, as always!” she nodded.

She took off her thick coat and gloves, glad to be out of the icy air, hanging them up on the rack put out for guests.

“Now honey, if it’s too much, you can slip out back and head home, okay?” her mom said seriously, albeit quietly.

“You said that last year. And the year before that. For the last five years, actually,” Lucy mused.

“And I’ve meant it every year. They might be our neighbours, but you are my baby. And my priority, always,” her mom said seriously.

Not for the first time, Lucy was thankful to have the mom she did.

“And I appreciate it. But I’m going to be fine,” she said, smiling fondly.

“Alright, if you’re sure. You just send me a sneaky text if you change your mind though, yes?”

“Yeah, thanks mom,” Lucy beamed.

The Christmas Eve Party thrown by her neighbours was a tradition she’d attended her entire life, and even though she hadn’t dated their grandson in half a decade, Val and John had always insisted that she still came along. A lingering effect of being childhood sweethearts, she supposed.

“Amy! Gary! Lucy!”

The welcome from their neighbours was warm and effervescent as it always was, and soon enough Lucy found herself swept in by conversation and catching up. She may have gone to college in UBC Okanagan in Kelowna for both her degrees, barely away from home, but she’d lived in campus residence for all four years of her bachelor’s degree and moved out of her parents’ house properly into a small apartment near campus for her master’s degree. It would’ve been easy to move home after guaranteed accommodation ended, but Lucy had wanted to keep the independence she had grown to love, and it wasn’t as if she didn’t visit her parents at least every other weekend.

But it was still nice to be able to talk about her accomplishments with the people that she’d grown up alongside, especially now that she was in the final year of her master’s degree and looking like she was on track for starting the PhD she’d always aimed for.

After a couple of hours, she escaped the crowds in the living and dining areas, grateful for the sanctuary of the kitchen. There were a few plates of cookies and other Christmas treats laid out, and Lucy couldn’t resist reaching out for a snickerdoodle…

…at the exact time as someone else.

She jumped in surprise as a large hand rested on top of hers, not realising anyone was next to her, but as she looked up, she couldn’t but to freeze despite the warmth of his touch. Tyson. It was Tyson’s hand touching hers.

“Oh fuck, I’m sorry, I…Lucy?”

“Hey Tys,” she managed to breathe.

The familiar curls, the big beautiful eyes, the sweet smile, and now a little bit of stubble? He looked good. Of course he looked good.

Tyson quickly drew his hand away from hers, breaking her out of her thoughts.

“Uh, you have it, I shouldn’t be eating baked goods too much anyway,” Tyson said, rubbing the back of his neck a little sheepishly.

Lucy pursed her lips and broke a third of the snickerdoodle off, handing it to Tyson with a raised eyebrow. Tyson huffed out a laugh but accepted the offered treat, sending her a small smile of thanks. Fuck, it may have been five years since they broke up, but he really hadn’t changed, had he?

“So, uh, you still come to these parties?” Tyson asked.

Lucy bit her bottom lip but nodded.

“Yeah, your grandparents insist. I hope that’s okay,” she winced.

“Of course it is,” Tyson said quickly, “They always loved you.”

Well that was something at least. Why did this feel so awkward? Sure, it had been five years since she’d seen Tyson, but they dated from eight years – surely they had more than this?

“I don’t usually come to these. Well, I guess you already know that, if you come every year. I, uh, I have the 24th to the 26th off this year, so I didn’t want to miss another Christmas with my grandparents,” Tyson explained.

“I bet Val and Jim were over the moon when you told them,” Lucy mused.

Tyson laughed softly, nodding. “They were. Mom and Kacey didn’t hesitate to come to Kelowna to join us, so it’s a big family Christmas this year.”

“That’s great, Tys. Really. Spending Christmas with your loved ones is important,” she said softly, smiling.

His smile dimmed a little, but he nodded.

“How’s, uh, how’s your degree going? Gramps said you’re doing a master’s now?”

He knew that? Did he ask? Or did Jim just tell him?

“Uh, yeah. I graduated my bachelor's degree magna cum laude back in 2020 and went straight into starting my graduate program there. I’m a paid teaching assistant for my supervisory professor too.”

“That’s incredible, Luce. Still doing Earth and Environmental Sciences?” Tyson prompted.

He remembered? After all this time?

“Yeah, yeah it is. Focusing in on environmental impact assessment for my master’s thesis,” she nodded, a little stunned, “I didn’t think…I didn’t think you’d remember.”

“Of course I remember. You were always so passionate about your studies – it was one of the things I loved most about you,” he said softly.

“Tyson…” Lucy said faintly, trailing off when no words would come.

He smiled sadly at her, shaking his head.

“Sounds like…it sounds like everything was worth it for you,” Tyson murmured.

~

2019

“So you can’t make it over?”

“No, Tys, I can’t, I have labs to do,” Lucy sighed.

“We haven’t seen each other in so long!”

“I can’t just not go to my classes because you want me in Denver! You know this!” she groaned.

“I know, I know, but it sucks.”

Lucy frowned, even though he couldn’t see her. “You’re the one who didn’t come home for Christmas, remember?”

“The schedule didn’t make sense, and I offered to fly you down?”

“Tyson!” she groaned.

He stayed silent on the other end of the phone, a silence that sent an ominous shiver down her spine.

“So where do we go from here?”

“W-What?” she said, confused at the dull tone of his voice.

“Your priority is college, my priority is hockey, and neither of us can compromise. I would never ask you to compromise, just like you wouldn’t ask me. We have different priorities, clearly. So where do we go from here?”

“Tyson, are you really saying what I think you’re saying?” she whimpered.

“Yeah, I think we should break up.”

“We’ve been together for eight years! You’re the only boyfriend I’ve ever had, the only guy I’ve ever wanted. And you want to break up, just like that?”

“I don’t want to break up, Luce. But what other option do we have? Neither of us can give the other what we need right now. We have to focus on ourselves, don’t we? For our own careers? You have so much ahead of you and I can’t be there to celebrate it. And you can’t be by my side cheering me on from the stands. I love you, Lucy. But this isn’t working anymore.”

~

“Tyson, why would you say it like that? You think it’s been easy for me?” Lucy asked, throat a little choked.

“No, no, of course not,” he groaned.

“Then what do you mean?”

“Look, forget I said anything, okay? It was really good to see you, Luce.”

Before Lucy could say a word, Tyson walked away, leaving her alone in the kitchen with her head spinning. What the hell was that?

For the final few hours of the party, Lucy indulged in a couple more glasses of wine than she intended, sticking solidly by her parents’ sides. She did her best to keep a smile on her face and ease into the Christmas festivity, even when Laura and Kacey said their hellos, but her mind just kept going back to Tyson.

“We’re going to start saying our goodbyes, okay honey? Why don’t you find all our coats.”

Lucy just nodded at her mom’s suggestion, grateful for the opportunity to escape the crowd. Well, she was grateful, until she saw Tyson sitting on the bench next to the coat rack, face flushed and eyes glassy. He was drunk, at least moderately so.

“Ah, fuck, I didn’t want you to see me like this,” he said, voice slurring.

What did he mean by that?

“I’m just getting our coats. We’re heading out,” she murmured, trying to ignore the whoosh in her stomach.

“Already?”

“It’s nearly midnight, Tys,” she said, smiling wryly.

“Well, fuck. Time flies when you’re having whiskey, I guess,” he groaned, putting his empty glass on the bench next to him.

She huffed out a laugh, unhooking the coats when she finally spotted them.

“You look good, Luce,” he murmured, looking up at her through his eyelashes.

“I do?” she blurted.

Damn it.

But Tyson just grinned. “Yeah, you really do. You always looked good, but damn you’ve really settled into your own skin, eh?”

“I love who I am, yeah,” she nodded.

She wasn’t lying, or even placating. Her studies in environmental impact had opened up a whole new side of her she hadn’t even realised was there, and she loved everything about the person she’d become through it. She just hadn’t realised it was obvious on the outside.

Then again, if anyone was going to notice something like that about her, it was going to be Tyson, wasn’t it?

“You’re too good for me.”

Oh fuck.

“That’s not true. Not even slightly,” Lucy said, frowning.

“No? I can barely get a team to keep me, and you’re soaring ahead with your academic career, just like you deserve,” Tyson scoffed.

This was just the alcohol talking. It had to be.

“Tys, those teams are the ones missing out. You’re amazing,” she said softly.

He paused for a moment, before shaking his head.

“If I’m so amazing, why did we break up?”

Because he had to put hockey first.

Because she had to put college first.

Because neither of them were each other’s first choice.

“That’s not fair, Tyson. We were kids when we first started dating. Barely 13 years old. And we were together for eight years! We had an incredible relationship! It just…we wanted different things. Our priorities were different, our passions were different – we might have grown up together, but we’d also grown apart. Your life is hockey and my life is academics, and that’s okay! That doesn’t mean we didn’t have love, yeah?”

The way that Tyson’s eyes filled up with tears made her own eyes water, dangerous lump rising in her throat.

“If I could go back and change it all, I would. I’d choose you. I’d always choose you.”

His soft words tore a sob from her throat and she shook her head. How could he be so cruel?

“Don’t say that. We made the right decision five years ago and you know it,” she whimpered.

Tyson’s face fell at her devastated expression, and he staggered to his feet.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m sorry,” he said sadly.

And yet here she was, broken hearted all over again.

“I should go. I need to go,” was all she could manage to choke out.

“Lucy, baby, please…”

But Lucy just shook her head, clutching the coats in her hands, shaky smile on her lips as the tears finally fell. “Merry Christmas, Tyson.”

~

“So what happened at the Christmas Eve Party that has you all torn up like this?”

Lucy flinched at her mom’s voice, turning her head to see her standing in the doorway to her bedroom.

“Nothing,” she said quickly.

“Uh huh, and I’m a fairy princess,” her mom snorted.

Lucy couldn’t help but giggle, earning a fond smile as her mom walked into the room and sat down next to her on her bed. Lucy placed a bookmark in the book she’d been reading to give her mom her full attention. She’d needed a little respite from all the preparations to hold her dad’s family for a late lunch, after all the intensity of having her mom’s family over yesterday on Christmas Day, but she’d found herself reliving her conversation with Tyson over and over.

“Sounds like…it sounds like everything was worth it for you.”

“You’re too good for me.”

“If I’m so amazing, why did we break up?”

“If I could go back and change it all, I would. I’d choose you. I’d always choose you.”

So really, her mom coming up to talk to her was a welcome break from all of that as well.

“If you know it was the Christmas Eve Party then you can take a guess,” Lucy said, shrugging.

“I’d rather hear it from you, when Tyson’s involved,” her mom mused.

Well at least her mom was blunt about it.

“We had a couple of conversations, and it stirred up old emotions, old drama. He…mom, he said he’d go back and change it all if he could. That he’d always choose me. What am I supposed to do with that?”

Her mom blinked a couple of times, lips parted in a surprised, before she coughed out a laugh.

“Well I could never accuse Tyson of being subtle.”

“Mom, seriously. This is stressing me out. I can’t stop thinking about it,” Lucy groaned.

“I think that’s an answer in itself, sweetheart,” she said softly.

“What?”

Her mom stayed silent, just nudging Lucy with her shoulder, and Lucy nudged back out of habit. What did she mean, that was an answer in itself?

“Lucy, honey, if you can’t stop thinking about Tyson choosing you above everything else, that means something,” her mom eventually said with a huffed laugh.

“But how can it? He still has his hockey, and I still have academics. Neither of those are going to change any time soon,” Lucy said sadly.

Because at the end of the day, that was the bottom line of it all. Their priorities haven’t changed.

“Just because your both still have your passions doesn’t mean that they have to be your only love. You can have both,” her mom said firmly.

What?

“How can I have both?” Lucy asked, confused.

“Do you love him?” was all she said.

“What?” Lucy said, surprised.

“Do you love him?” her mom repeated.

Lucy opened her mouth, shutting it again before huffing out a laugh. There was only one answer to that.

“Yeah, I never stopped,” she replied.

“Then you can have both. You spent the last five years missing him, and I know damn well that that boy missed you too - neither of you deserve that for another second. You can have both,” her mom said decisively.

She could have both?

How could she have both?

“You love him.”

“I love him,” Lucy whispered.

“Go get him.”

Lucy whimpered as she looked into her mom’s eyes, but she only saw warmth and encouragement. Her mom was right. She loved Tyson. She loved Tyson and if seeing him again this Christmas had taught her anything, it was that she was stupid if she tried to deny how much she missed him. If she didn’t tell him now, when would she?

“He leaves today. I need to go now,” she said suddenly.

“Well damn, okay then. Put on a sweater and I’ll find your snow boots,” her mom grinned.

Lucy felt like she was in a haze as she walked as quickly down the street as was safe, heart pounding as she spotted Tyson loading bags into his grandpa’s car.

“Tyson!”

His head whipped around at her shout, eyes going wide as he saw her walking towards him. Tyson shuffled down the driveway, missing Jim’s fond smile as he himself went back into the house, and the moment that she was standing in front of him, Tyson cupped his hands over her elbows to steady her.

“What are you doing here?”

“I love you,” she breathed.

Tyson whimpered, but Lucy wasn’t discouraged, not when she saw the wonder that filled his expression.

“You love me?”

“I love you. I love you so much and I can’t stop thinking about everything you said the other night,” she blurted out.

“Luce, I’m sorry, I know I upset you but…”

“No, Tys, it’s okay,” Lucy said, shaking her head as she interrupted, “While I stand by what I said, that we made the right decision at the time, maybe we could make a different decision now?”

“What are you saying?”

She could understand his hesitation, really she could. It wasn’t as if she wasn’t coming out with this out of the blue, after five years of nothing at all. After five years of heartbreak and heartache. But her mom was right – she missed him so fiercely and she couldn’t bear the thought of him not knowing that.

“I want us to start over new. I never stopped loving you, not for one moment. We could have both. We could have our passions and our love, and I hate that it’s taken me this long to even consider that? I miss you and I love you and I know you’re heading to the airport to fly back to Raleigh, but tell me I’m not crazy for thinking we could do this?”

Tyson’s jaw dropped as he processed her long rant, and it was only his firm grip on her elbows that stopped her from giving up hope.

“That was a lot,” Tyson said.

She winced. “I know, but…”

“And you poured out a lot of emotion there,” he interrupted.

Lucy kept her mouth shut this time, as much as she wanted to beg him to say more.

“It’s been agony for five years, for so many reasons, but hearing you say that you love me and you want to give our relationship another shot? I just…”

Tyson trailed off, letting out a long breath.

“I understand if I’m too late,” she murmured.

But Tyson huffed out a laugh, raising one hand from her elbow to cup her face in a gentle motion that had her breath hitching in her throat.

“There is no world in which you’d be too late,” Tyson said softly.

“Really?”

“I love you too, Lucy. I never stopped either,” he murmured.

She couldn’t stop the incredulous laugh that tumbled from her lips, smiling back up at Tyson as he smiled at her.

“We’re really doing this?” she asked, giddy.

“Yeah, baby, we are. I don’t know how we’re going to do this, or what it’s going to look like, but we’re both adult enough to know how to put in more effort this time round right, yeah? I’ll fly home for the all-star break, and I’ll fly you out for spring break, and we’ll have video calls that neither of us are going to miss. And everything else. We’re going to make it work this time,” he said, tone serious but face grinning.

“And we’re going to communicate, yeah? When one of us is finding it hard? We’ll find little compromises, as we can’t do the big compromises. We’re worth it,” Lucy added, not caring that her cheeks were aching with her smile.

“Yeah, we are. I love you, so much Lucy,” Tyson grinned.

“I love you too.”

Tyson didn’t waste any time in leaning down to press his lips to hers, their last first kiss.

[anon-sect]

Picture source: @spencer-kicks

PART TWO......

Tyson hadn't heard back from his friend Alex in three weeks since he went on his all paid expense trip. It was supposed to be for a few days, and he would return back. He had yat to come home. He tried texting his number, but there weren't any replies back. He tried calling his number, but they all went straight to voicemail. He was starting to get worried about his best friend. Luckily, the last text he had recieved from him had instruction on how to find him if he didn't return as planned.

Tyson read the last received text from Alex. He was to contact a populer youtuber about his whereabouts. The text also mentioned that the youtuber had invited him to his place as the contested winner. He sent the guy a quck message. Several hour later, he got a reply back. The popular youtuber told him that his buddy Alex had been left his place. And that he didn't know where he was. Tyson at first was about to believe him, yet this youtuber was the last person to see him. Three weeks of no reply told him something was suspicious.

Tyson replied back that he would go to the police about his friend's disappearance and tell them that he was the last to see him. He turneed off his computer. Ten minute later he got an email alert. The popular youtuber told him he might suspect where he went and that he would come help him look. Tyson was pleased with that answer. He gave him the home address.

Two days later, Kevin pulled up at his house as he said he would. Tyson invited him in to talk. "I think I know where your friend might be." Kevin told him.

Tyson was curious since at first he didn't have a clue where his friend was, but now knows. "You sure? At first, you didn't have a clue." He questioned Kevin.

Kevin smiled as he knew exactly where Alex was. Alex was sitting on a shoe rack back at his house. "He is at my house right now. I wore him the three days ago, actually." He informed Tyson, to see a confused look on the guy's face.

"You aren't making any sense." Tyson quickly spoke to his strange words. He saw Kevin pull out a strange cell phone looking device from his pocket. He could hear him typing something in.

"You will join him in my collection. I found that living matter makes for some good shoes." Kevin spoke and flashed at Tyson. Tyson vanished, and in his place were a new pair of sneakers. He grabbed the sneakers and placed them in his traveling bag. He put on the lock for the door and shut it. He got into his car and drove back to his hotel for his filght back in the morning.

The next day, Kevin drove back to his house. He was wearing his new shoes. They felt just as good and comfortable as his other living pair of shoes. He treated the guy like normal shoes. He didn't speak to them, just wore them.

Tyson soon understood what Kevin meant when he was put on his feet prior to leaving for the airport. His face was crushed under his feet the entire time. He mentally pleaded for help, literally for anyone to rescue him. He could hear voices of those around, but being stuck as sneakers, he had no way to reach out for help. He was alone with his own thoughts. Each step was wave after wave after wave of pain. It felt unending. He was at least grateful that the pair of socks didn't smell too bad, even though there was a slight odor to them. Yet still having that odor directly on his face was bad enough. His only motion was decided by the feet of who wore him. This new existence was a nightmare. He now realized what happened to his best friend. The guy had done this to him.

Kevin took off his shoes once he got to his bedroom. He placed them next to his other pair of living shoes. He thought about talking to his new pair, but the guy needed to learn his place just like his best friend. They both were just shoes now. He would have to do video review of his new shoes, but for now he wanted to relax.

Before heading back to the den to watch TV, Kevin turned back to his new shoes. "You can join your best friend as part of my shoe collection. Alex and Tyson. But don't worry, I take good care of all my shoes. You two will be worn on my feet for a long time." He laughed as he left the room.

Alex could not reach out to Tyson, nor could Tyson reach out to Alex even though they were side by side. They were both voiceless shoes whose only purpose now was to be worn on Kevin's feet. Both mentally contemplated their permanent fate, mentally crying for some kind of release or even death. That was a better fate than being Kevin's shoes for the rest of their lives, they thought.

[sexhaver]

comparing a fictitious fantasy to real life chasers aint it babe

the cavalier/horny attitudes towards getting maimed/killed are fine to have now, while robotfucking is in the same realm of impossibility as giantess/inflation/soft vore fetishes, and calling a present-day robotfucker names for getting off on the purely hypothetical risk of harm would be as asinine as critiquing a giantess fetishist with "umm you'd die if she stepped on you actually".

but see that's the thing, robotfucking is not going to be fictitious forever. most of the people reading this are going to live long enough to see a world with sentient consumer-grade robots in it (assuming capitalism doesn't collapse in the next 50 years or so). and that presents a few ethical issues, because once the object of your desire Actually Exists, you have to actually contend with all those previously absurd critiques about the risk of bodily harm. PLUS the object of your desire wouldn't actually be an "object" at all and would take great offense at being referred to as such.

im not critiquing existing robofucker fetishists, im having a neil degrasse tyson moment where i imagine how those attitudes that are unobjectionable now would map onto a future time when the situation is no longer hypothetical and also the robots have thoughts and feelings on the matter and on average would probably prefer not to maim their partner

[modawg]

major yap warning; deep dive into parecabeth (parent!percabeth)

what age were we thinking percabeth would have kids ?

to me annabeth has always been such a planner that i always thought she'd plan all that out, like on their wedding night annabeth pulls out like three binders with ages on the front '20-30's, 30's-40's' and is like "bitch you better be ready"LMAO, though i KNOW percy is DYING to have children i also know percy would def respect her decision to have kids a little later after she's settled in her career

i think i always saw them (having a girl teehee) in their early 30's and i will always stand by the at home dad percy would def be

like maybe up until their ready he works to save; working maybe at an aquarium or some other random places that work with his skills (also dependent on what he actually goes to college for) then once annabeths secure they have their first kid percy stays home and writes his books based on the stories he would tell his daughter (like rick did)

this also gives them another source of income; he prob uses a fake name (cough rick riordan cough) so he doesn't get like stalked or smth but its still nice money to have

i think they'd have a simple two, maybe two girls (teehee) and reference camp as their other kids; their kids growing up surrounded by hundreds of other demigod kids along with the kids of their friends

i once read this fanfic where annabeth designed and built the home they have kids in and i agree with that deeply i think she would get pregnant right as the house would finish up and use the rest of her pregnancy to decorate and really home it up until she gave birth

i think they would stay close to NYC to be closer to sally and paul (and prob annabeths job too) but it would be further away from the city and closer to Montauk

I think that house (and family tbh) would be the pillar for everyone else like most of the time if their friends want to see them they go there rather then the other way around

they probably have cookouts every other weekend, porch jams into the night when apollo kids come to visit, i think the house def has enough room for guests, demigods dropping by every so often for a place to stay but I also think its common curtesy to not try and pry like they don't try to get them to join they just come to shower, to get some wisdom and leave; I think having percy and annabeth as parents would cause a shift in CHB like they always do, percabeth is literally the next generation of adult greek demigods even if they aren't the first to have kids they're the first since the first war to LIVE this long, and to have a fulfilling life that they're willingly sharing with CHB and i think that would really start to give greek demigods hope pushing them more towards the future CJ has (GOD I LOVE THEM)

speaking of room; theres a guest room on the first floor with big windows and house plants that they call the g-room for green room, built for the man himself, g-man. Juniper and Grover come to visit alllllll the time (along with tyson) like its basically their second house, everyone refers to their kids as cousins and even when they grow up theres no questioning that

^ jumping back to having kids i could def see apollo blessing annabeth with an easy pregnancy, safe birth, and quick recovery; i could see percy and annabeth telling CHB and CJ just a couple days after and them pulling up to camp with a big, but quiet, celebration; big feasts and sentimental presents, i could see CHB burning shrouds like they did after their first quest all beautifully embroidered, the campfire dancing with different colors from everyones emotions

i wish we knew more about CJ traditions but i know they would have a feast too and it would be like unlocking the next level being able to explore CJ from the new lighting of parenthood; they probably have an honorary small house gifted to them so they can come and visit whenever but i feel like most friends would come to CHB for the bigger celebration first

god and don't get me started on the hunters GOD i just know thalia is BAWLINGGG and she def comes to visit all the time bc she's probably the god-mother like how grovers probably the god-father

and i know that convo was a hard one having literally everyone in the room crying when they asked

[matan4il]

911 ep 707 first watch reactions

Oh man, I'm actually not sure I have that much to say about this ep.

The entire plot with Mara and her brother Tyson was very sweet, very nice, and way too convenient. One day, shows are going to stop using the phrase, "There must be something you can do!" like it's some secret magic phrase, that makes this sentiment into a reality, AND turns the person addressed into someone willing to risk everything, in order to do that one thing they can do, which is usually something they're very much not supposed to... That said, Denny was sweet, Mara was lovely, her with Tyson was very endearing, and Henren continued to rule.

The storyline with Maddie was nicely handled, both her trauma, and the way Chim helped her use it to figure out the case and help save everyone from the stalker. My little Madney heart absolutely loved it. And Maddie's distress over a baby involved felt very real and understandable, when she's a mom herself now.

But then in a sense, it was clear this has no long term repercussions, other than bringing Brad into contact with Bobby. With his burn scars, and what we know about the fire that Bobby caused in the past, we can guess where this is headed. I trust that 911 will delve into this coming clash with the same humaneness with which it tackles most storylines.

But I'll be honest, I don't really like where Eddie's headed. I know Shannon scarred him deeply, but he was able to let go of her, and allow her to walk away from him twice while she was alive. It's weird if it's now being implied that the reason why he was never able to move on to another serious r/s is that he was stuck on her. The way she died was traumatic and painful, and it made sense that, even accepting that they as a couple were over, he had a hard time dealing with her death, but Eddie seemingly moved on in s4 at the latest. It feels a bit like they don't really know what to do with him, and how to move him on, so they keep going in circles with his character. Kinda like they were with Buck in s6. None of what we saw in that season helped Buck get to some major breakthroughs that we've seen in this one, so this current storyline with Eddie might end in the same way.

I'm not saying it doesn't have the potential to move him forward, and I'm sure it will be presented as if it has whether it actually does or doesn't (kinda like how 618 presented Buck and Natalia as a move forward, even though it very obviously was not), but right now, I'm not enjoying it. I also... even with this idea of having Eddie run into a Shannon look-a-like, I feel they could have gone in a lot of different ways, and the one where he goes on a date with her while having a serious gf he's essentially cheating on, it just doesn't feel great, or true to Eddie's values. Which can be the point, right? That sometimes we're so shaken up, we do stuff that's uncharacteristic. If that's where they'll take it, then it's working, 'coz right now, everything about this feels a little off. Let's hope they do something actually constructive with this, and give Eddie real progress (rather than just give Tim an opportunity to re-use an actress he already said he really likes).

Small mandatory Buddifer moment was really lovely, even if far from what my shipper heart would want. Then again, I honestly feel it's so funny that Buck is dating Tommy, while being married to Eddie, his actual baby daddy. If there aren't a lot of fics shipping all three men already, then IDK fandom.

Thank you for reading! If you’re looking for more, you can find my s7 reactions tag here, and more of my Buddie meta and content in my pinned post. xoxox