#leo also draws on jasons face so its fine

[aurantiumred]

constantly torn between writing jason baring his teeth, yipping, growling, and wiggling in his sleep and waking up the second he hears his name OR sleeping perfectly still, barely breathing, and not waking up for ANYTHING at all. he could get stabbed and mans would not wake up until 5:30. when he falls asleep he stays asleep.

alternatively, he stays up for 5 days straight on various night watches until he deems a place safe and then sleeps for 16 hours.

[mixedkid-matchup]

you do not have to answer this!! I'm using you to confess my dubious feelings for the Percy Jackson series bc you also expressed like some weird feelings about it, and I kind of thought the series was untouchable bc of how much everyone I see fawns over it, and I have GOT to get this off my chest to someone who might get what I'm saying. But I have major issues with the writing/premise/series bc it's just feels so deeply colonized and it's bothered me since it FIRST came out and everyone in middle school and high school was reading it and teachers were assigning it. Like the whole premise for the Greek gods being in the US is that they follow Western "progress" and it completely disregards all the amazing things Indigenous did and our way of life, and also removes the importance of place-based culture for both Greek stories and Native peoples (like okay all the Greek stuff moved to the U.S. but wth happened to all our spiritual figures?? The story completelya cts like Native people weren't here and didn't have complex beliefs and ways of life connected to the land, and the gods were just free to take over here with no issues). As a mixed Indigenous kid it just rubs me wrong in all the worst ways and the academic systems love affair with Greek and Roman stuff and Rick Riordan's sheer popularity has been forcing this stuff in my face foreveeeerrrr 😭😭 I was surprised to see your tags about the fandom being weird before too tho since I don't interact with it, so I hope you don't mind this ask and just know I kinda feel the same way!! Ok thanks bye sorry for the rant.

BRO I HAVE HAD THIS RANT ON HAND FOR A LONG TIME ITS OKAY!!!!!!!!!

I THINK IF HEARD ABOUT THIS ACTUALLY. but you explained it way better. like when i first read percy jackson ok fine i was 11, i obviously caught onto the ableism and such but i did not catch onto this until i thought about it when i got older. you're super right. the whole thing about ww2 being caused by demigods was the weirdest shit ever i literally did not remember reading it until i read lightning thief again last year. why did hitler need to be child of hades. THAT IS QUITE LITERALLY HOW PERCY DESCRIBES HADES WHEN HE SEES HIM. LOOKING LIKE HITLER. then what you're saying how they move with the places that are the most progressive and basically take over..... like it's just ..... incredibly misplaced and insensitive.

but about the fandom being weird (its literally encouraged by riordan's book tbh), in heroes of olympus, hazel is a black girl from lousiana in the 1930s?? or 40s idk anyways i think she dies and then nico brings her back. whatever, everyone draws her lightskin and with orange hair, and super skinny, (which she's from louisana. shes darkskin and does not have "caramel" hair i hate white men sometimes.) and shes like 13 btw and in a relationship with frank whos like 16. weird as hell and everyone thinks theyre so sweet. and also rick cannot write meaningful young women. and especially not girls of color. like its WEIRD how piper is portrayed as some pick me girl she constantly feels the need to express shes not like the Aphrodite girls. and rick had to make it weird with aphrodite anyway by making them a whole stereotype of snobby boys and girls who love putting on makeup. they had drew, an asian girl & counselor of aphrodite, straight up mean to piper bc she likes jason. like for no other reason. drew only wants to participate and go on the quest because of jason. and other stereotypes like making leo, latine, be super flirty.

and lets really talk about how annoying annabeth was about the blondes are dumb stereotype because, girl we can talk about misogyny and people not letting you do things because of it, but lets also talk about how you are TWELVE, and the blonde stereotype is tired. i never liked annabeth, she was really tone deaf as someone whos half black. OH AND FRANK. they had this weird ass arc where they implied he was fat because of lack of confidence? like when he got confident he, lost weight... because of a blessing of mars? i dont even know.

like as i get older its more and more annoying to see it. i literally rolled my eyes when i saw rick talking about colorblind casting when people got mad about annabeth. he could of said anything else. how this could reconceptualize annabeth's arc around misogyny and now racism. and purposely alter her character to fit this new black annabeth. but no. people treat colorblind casting as a pinnacle of progressiveness.

[perseusjackson-jasongrace]

the story of us

this was requested by @fantasylover16. I genuinely had so much fun with this thank you! I hope you enjoy. Also I said nb jack frost rights and I meant it.

masterlist; my links

This is a story about two people.

One died three hundred years ago and has been alive since then. They have white hair, whiter than the stars, than burning light, than heaven itself. They have blue eyes that remind you of cracked ice in melting winter. They have ivory skin, some say like porcelain, it's more like liquid opal.

The other is twenty two years old. He has black hair, like jet fuel, and midnight. He has green eyes that hold oceans lost to time, that hold memories. He has brown skin that reminds you of cool forest floors and water glistened rock.

This is a story about who they are.

"Percy!" His roommate shouts from the kitchen. "Get your butt down here and tell me if the blue skirt goes better with these glasses!"

He laughs as he pulls a sweater over his heads and grabs his phone, slipping it into his back pocket. He feels the press of his pen as he pats himself down to make sure he has everything and when he is satisfied he bolts down the passage and stops short of the kitchen where Hazel Levesque is parading in front of their grand mirror on the opposing wall. She is decked out in black platform ankle boots, white fishnets that draw out the colour of her skin, slightly dark than his, a bright blue skater skirt and a soft pastel blue crew-neck not unlike his own.

"You Hazel Levesque," He grins bright and unrestrained, "Are a vision."

"Yes," She mutters still swopping between two pairs of clear-framed glasses and scrunching her nose, "But is it enough to bring my crush to their knees?"

"If Reyna doesn't bow down to you I think we can assume she's in desperate need of glasses."

"Well then maybe I should take both pairs and offer her one." She muses, pulling at her afro distractedly.

He snorts, turning to the counter and grabbing a bowl and whatever cereal he can reach first.

"Well," Hazel turns to him, he can see the smile she's trying so hard to hide, "Shall we be off then?"

He blinks at her, blinks again, points an unsure finger at his chest.

"Oh you don't expect me to brave Reyna on my own do you? Besides we're matching today it'd be quite ridiculous if we went out separately."

"But—" He looks to his bowl, as barren as the desert, "But my cereal?"

"I'll buy you breakfast on the way!" She waves the concern off, grabbing his hand and pulling them both out the door.

Despite their height difference, she makes it look far less like he's letting her pull him and far more like she has the strength to straight up carry him across the country.

"Hazel," He giggles, "Slow down."

"I can't Percy," She shakes her head vigorously, practically running through the park next to their building and into the bustling streets beyond. "If I don't do this now I'll lose all my courage and spend eternity in self-damned misery." Her brown eyes, turning honeyed as they catch the sun through the round glasses framing her face, flash bright and bold.

He stops them, pulling her in for a hug, unable to stop the laughter shaking his body." You have never been a coward Hazel Levesque. No matter the day, time or outfit you have always been brave enough to stand up and do what's needed. And telling Reyna you have a crush on her is just another battle you absolutely can win." He pulls them apart, setting a steady green gaze on her excited one. "Now let's get some coffee, and a mint tea for you because you're hyper enough as it is, and then we'll go find the love of your life and I can finally show you the google-doc I have for your wedding."

She strangles his ribs in another hug and then takes a deep breath as she steps away. "What would I do without you Percy Jackson?"

"Let's never find out," He smiles, slinging an arm over her shoulder and directing them towards the Chaos House.

As per its namesake, walking into the café is like being lost in a crowd of sleep-deprived, adhd kids all connected to caffeine IVs. In short: it's chaos. Its their favourite place on earth.

Being hit with a wall of noise after the quiet of awakening nature feels like being sucker punched directly in your ear canal. Percy cannot help but grin as he takes in the racing patrons and the sound of coffee beans being ground and the smell of cinnamon and honey and endless activity.

They immediately spot a group of their friends and bolt for the booth they're all squished into.

"Reyna isn't here." Hazels voice is pitched with panic, "Oh gods what if she's sick today? What if she fell in a ditch on her jog this morning?" She stops right in the middle of the café, brown eyes wide. "What if she knew I was trying to do this and decided to stay home today to avoid seeing me?"

He grabs her arms already shaking his head. "My darling, I need you to take a deep breath. You are spiraling."

Wildness is still tracing her expression but he feels her shoulders rise and fall as she gulps air.

"Okay," He says gently, "Now we're gonna go to our table, have a good time with our friends and if and when Reyna shows up you're going to tell her how you feel and I'll meet you back at home so you can let me know when the wedding is."

She smacks his shoulder gently, nervous giggles escaping her. "Alright fine. I hate when you get reasonable. It's very disconcerting."

"Good thing it's rare," His lips twitch, and they finally start towards their friends.

A loud chorus of hellos and how are you’s ring around his head as they get nearer and he feels right at home amongst it all.

"What's up losers?" He flops down next to Jason, pressing a shoulder into the blondes side in a hug.

Annabeth sits next to the blonde, squished between him and Piper, a leg over Jason's thigh and her hand intertwined with Piper's. Frank is on the opposite side, a casual arm slung over Leo's shoulder. Hazel squeezes in besides Leo and sighs dramatically.

"What's wrong Levesque?" Piper frowns, reaching over to clasp the girl's hand.

"She's feeling put out because she had something very important to do today and her plans are being delayed because a certain someone isn't here."

And just as their friends start reassuring and ribbing her in equal parts Percy's phone rings. With a frown he pulls it from his pocket, as he gets up and waves to say he'll be back in a minute.

"Hello, this is Percy Jackson."

He's not paying attention to his surroundings as he listens to the person on the line so when his shoulder slams into somebody he almost topples to the ground. When he turns around to say sorry there is nobody there; his frown only deepens but then the voice on the phone is pulling his attention and he makes his way outside.

This is story about they meet.

The conversation is a whirl of information about his upcoming course and what his supervisor needs from him. By the time he ends the call and tucks the phone back in his pocket his whole body feels like it's taken on the sky all over again. He has the urge to check if another grey streak has graced his hair. Instead he leans against the wall, ignoring the way his clothes catch against its roughness. He can feel the cold seeping through the cracks in the brick and into the threads of his sweatshirt.

He looks down, pulling his arms over his chest in an attempt to keep the warmth in but as he takes his arms away from the wall he sees the frost outline of his fingers. A clear, already melting handprint marking the brick like a graffiti tag. He steps back, away from the wall, to find his whole body outlined. It reminds him eerily of the chalk markings they do at murder investigations. He's not entirely sure this isn't prophetic.

The frost, little beads of ice skittered in shape, is melting at a rapid rate but the colour catches Percy's eye. It's not the usual dulled, muddy ice that coats his windows in the morning and sits atop the grass each night. It is blue, bright and pure, and looks... happy?

He's definitely going insane. The lack of coffee is getting to his brain and he has officially going mad. He should go inside and get warm and sit with his friends and have 3 espresso shots in a row.

But the phone call is still rattling his nerves and he can't bare to face the café without all his wits about him. So he studies the melted frost outline, curiosity moving him forward to trace it with his fingers. He doesn't expect to feel cold like winter mornings and snowball fights and sleigh rides coursing through his bloodstream. It's shocks him right into a new state of being. It reminds him of a poem his mother used to say at the beginning of each winter. The poem was long enough that he was always asleep by the end of the last verse but he recalls the first part clearly now

Jack Frost was in the garden;

I saw him there at dawn;

He was dancing round the bushes

And prancing on the lawn.

He had a cloak of silver,

A hat all shimm'ring white,

A wand of glittering star-dust,

And shoes of sunbeam light.

The thought is so ridiculous Percy has to laugh. It bursts out of him unexpectedly but once he starts he cannot stop. It feels like the world has turned on its side but he's still walking upright. Everything is slightly dizzying but strangely amusing from this angle. He laughs harder, ribs aching, cheeks stiff, and eyes bright. He's sure people are staring at him like he's mad but he cannot stop. Until he stumbles over the pavement and is falling to the inevitable crunch of his facial bones.

It happens almost in slow motion. He sees the ground coming towards him, bubbling up like it's going to swallow him whole. He stared it down, refusing to close his eyes, as if challenging it to hurt him, to take him as he goes. But then hands, freezing cold even through his layers of clothing, wrap around his waist and he is being hauled up in a rush of wind and dizzying speed. He bumps into a hard chest and feels as if he's stepped into a freezer.

"Hey," A voice low and playful crackles through him, "You okay?"

He turns around slowly, and is not at all prepared for the site he is greeted with. There is so much all at once, startling and glowing and fracturing. His eyes catch an warm icy gaze, blizzard white hair, pale skin, cold-kissed lips, hands running with blue veins and silver rings.

"You okay?" The stranger repeats, looking at him with concern.

He honestly doesn't know if he has the ability to talk. His mouth opens, his throat bobs, but words are lost cargo.

"Can you hear me?" The stranger asks, accompanying the question with sign language.

Percy responds automatically, raising a fist and moving it back and forth; his head accompanies the action but still no words come out.

They smile at him, and start signing another question. He doesn't bother to stop them, tell them they aren't deaf, he can hear, he just can't talk. He's speechless.

Are you okay? They sign.

He nods, and the words stuck in his throat finally tumble out. "Yes, yes," It is croaky with overwhelming emotion, "Thank you for catching me. I’m sorry I uh—" He doesn't have any respectable excuse for being mute for the entire first half of their interaction. He is just completely struck by everything the stranger is.

"Ah so you can hear me," The stranger laughs. He decides the sound is what makes stars. "Well I'm glad you're okay. I'm Jack."

Percy snorts. This cannot be real. Ice, him thinking about Jack Frost, and suddenly his saviour's name is jack? What has the universe been doing with its time to plan this?

“I'm Percy," He stares at them curiously studying the snowflakes that seem to cling to their floppy white hair despite the snow season being weeks away, and the blue eyes that hurtle him to the Abraham lake in Canada. A holiday his family had taken a mere year ago and one of the most beautiful places he's ever seen.

His demigod senses are peeking out their window, as curious as he is. The action puts him on high alert. His instincts are usually only alerted when he's in danger or............. in love.

"What are you?" He cannot stop the question. His mouth has a self-controlled function and no way to override it.

Jack raises their brow, "What are you, Percy?" His name sounds like luxury rolling off the stranger's tongue.

But the question throws him off guard and before he has time to drool over them again he is pulling his pen out and twirling it between his fingers anxiously. "Are you here to kill me?"

That barks a laugh from Jack, who looks so entirely amused he can't help but wonder if he can frame the moment to keep with him forever; a brow quirked, a slight dimple on their right cheek as their smile grows, and bunched freckles as their nose scrunches slightly.

"Get a lot of assassination attempts do you?"

“You have no idea," He feels his eyes roll in annoyance, an automatic reaction after all these years.

"No Percy," Jack says softly. It brushes across his skin like cool paint and snowy pine leaves. "I am here because the moon told me to be."

"The moon?" He sputters, "What do you mean the moon?"

"I mean exactly that. I talk to the moon and it answers."

He can feel his legs grow weak. "The moon— the moon— the....... moon," He mutters, staring at Jack.

They are silent as he attempts to compartmentalize his thoughts. "You know what?" He finally speaks, "That's not the weirdest thing I've ever heard. The children of Demeter talk to grain so this isn't that far out of reach."

Jack just looks at him with a patient, gentle smile on their face.

"So what are you? A child of Selene?"

"I am not a demigod." They shake their head. "I was chosen by the moon three hundred years ago. I am the spirit of winter."

The silence stretches between them like taffy. He isn't sure he's heard this right.

"You're—" He cannot even bring himself to say it.

"Yes, I'm Jack Frost."

Percy's legs give our from under him. Jack is not quick enough to catch him but he lands on a pillow of snow right before he bruises his knees. "You're Jack Frost?"

"Yes. And you are Percy Jackson."

"How—how do you know?"

"I've been alive for a very long time. I know a lot of people."

He just hums, trying to wrap his head sound another layer of myth and fable that makes up the fabric of the world.

"Why are you here?" He finally gutters out. "I mean I know the moon told you to come but why?"

"I uh have a theory but I need to ask something of you in order to know if I'm right."

He frowns, staring up at the stranger. No not stranger. Can you even call someone who's been around for centuries a stranger? What are they a stranger to? They have seen and heard and learnt and loved more than he ever has or ever will. It's more like he is the stranger. "What do you need me to do?"

"I just need you to summon water for me."

A thousand questions sit like caught snowflakes on his tongue but he let's them melt instead of spilling them into the world. Instead he gets up and concentrates on all the water sources surrounding them.

A reservoir one hundred miles away, fire hydrants near bursting with unused pressure, a small pond in a small park about five miles south, and of course the ocean in front of them, no more than fifty miles within reach.

"How much do you need?"

"Give me fifty liters."

He closes his eyes and imagines the pond, the water rippling within it. He imagines holding it in his palm as he would a basketball ball. When he feels a cool sensation wash over his skin he opens his eyes once more and sees a swirling blob of water surrounding his hand, dancing to the beat of his pulse.

"Is this enough?"

"Plenty," They smile and then their hands are reaching out and as if the water knows they're calling to it, it bounces over in little bubbles. As it touches their fingers a ray of light bursts from the contact and it turns to ice. Jack sucks in a breath, watching in amazement as the water freezes and hits the ground in a flurry of snow.

"What?" Percy cannot hold in his curiosity any longer. "What is it?"

"The moon was right." They look at him, eyes sparkling with something more than awe or curiosity.

"About?" He prompts.

"We're soulmates."

This is a story about their destinies.

"We're what?" Percy whispers. He has never gotten loud when he was surprised or angry or sad. He has always been soft.

"I usually need my staff to solidify water but if I use elements touched by my soulmate I can do it without aid."

"This is ridiculous!" He sputters. There is absolutely no way this is real. Seriously? Soulmates? He would laugh if he wasn't so outraged.

"You don't believe in soulmates?"

"It doesn't matter what I believe in!" He growls, "This whole ordeal is completely insane."

"What would it take to convince you Percy Jackson?" Jack just smiles, it is shining with happiness like it hadn't before.

"I have no idea because I have never heard of or encountered a soulmate." He hisses.

"Do you know why you can see me?"

He shakes his head, thoughts swirling faster than the hurricanes his further looses.

"Because you believe in me."

"I thought you had control over who sees you and who doesn't?" He raises a brow.

"Only with children. I can choose to show myself whether they believe or not. I have the ability since enough of them do believe." They say. "But adults are different. If they don't believe I cannot make myself appear to them. I am simply a ghost of their childhood past."

"I don't understand." Percy cannot wrap his mind around this. "How do you know you can only make ice out of whatever water I touch?"

Jack looks around for a brief moment before catching sight of something behind them. In a split second they are there and then they're back.

"Watch," He pours the water from the bottom he'd nabbed over his hand. It falls to the floor as liquid as it had started out.

"That doesn't prove anything, how do I know you're not just making sure you don't turn it to ice?"

"I cannot touch anything without freezing it, especially water." They worry at their bottom lip with their teeth, thoughts flying across their face. "It's like your friend Leo." They nod their head towards the café where Percy can still see his friends snuggled into the booth. "He doesn't necessarily turn everything he touches to ashes but he will always leave a warm imprint no matter how or what he has touched."

"How do you know that?" He gapes.

"Immortality gives you a lot of time to know the world." They shrug. "Now do you believe me?"

"I don't know." He answers truthfully. "I mean if we are soulmates..." He tries to form the question into some semblance of sense and order. "Does that mean I'm tied to you? That we have to like I don't know get married and spend eternity together?"

"No," Jack says gently, "No you can deny this bond if that is how you feel. It does not mean anything except that the universe put our souls in the same constellation. We are free to pick and choose who we love."

“And how will it work if we do decide to get together?” He frowns, “I will age but you will always stay the same.”

They look at him, head tilted, ice eyes bright. “But you know that’s not true.”

Everything in him barrels forward like a tidal wave. It cannot be. No-one knows. Not even his mother. “What isn’t true?” He will play this carefully, like the strings of a harp. He will not let his life crash through the ground.

“Why are you hiding it?”

“I’m not hiding anything.” He is adamant in his stance. He will not bow.

“You are denying the life you chose.” Jack considers him. “Why?”

“I’m not denying anything.” He huffs, “I’m just taking it slow.”

A snort bursts of them, arrogant and amused. “You are taking becoming a God slow?”

“I want to live with my friends before they figure it out!” He cries, all the fear and terror and worry burning through him.

Jack moves closer, presses a cold hand to his shoulder. “It is okay to be scared and angry and worried but do not forget that you are worthy of the title and you should wear it like a crown, not a burden.”

“There is always some burden in this much power.” He is bitter. He is right.

“Come,” Jack pulls them together, “Go meet your friends.” The hug is so cold but comforts him to the bone. “And when you are ready to make a decision, just whisper my name and i will answer, no matter where i am, or how far apart we are.”

He studies the person before him, beautiful and strange in an inviting sort of way, like no matter how much he learns about them he'll always want to know more. "Well you are very pretty."

They laugh, and the sound lights up the ocean inside him. "Thank you."

“Live Percy Jackson.” Jack Frost whispers.

And then Percy is standing outside a café, an icy wind dancing between his fingertips, and the impression of a freezing hug still clinging to his clothes. He realizes he feels happy. He feels safe.

This is a story about their love.

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

[image id: a poem by John P Smeeton titled "Jack Frost in the Garden" the poem reads:

Jack Frost was in the garden;// I saw him there at dawn;// He was dancing round the bushes// And prancing on the lawn.// He had a cloak of silver,// A hat all shimm'ring white,// A wand of glittering star-dust,// And shoes of sunbeam light.

Jack Frost was in the garden,// When I went out to play// He nipped my toes and fingers// And quickly ran away.// I chased him round the wood-shed,// But, oh! I'm sad to say// That though I chased him everywhere// He simply wouldn't stay.

Jack Frost was in the garden:// But now I'd like to know// Where I can find him hiding;// I've hunted high and low —// I've lost his cloak of silver,// His hat all shimm'ring white,// His wand of glittering star-dust,// His shoes of sunbeam light"

the background is a light blue and white marble. end id]

Tags: @fantasylover16 @queen-of-demons-and-hell @nishlicious-01​ @leyontheway @caffeinated-croissant

[palmett-hoes]

Do you have any fan casts or strong takes/feelings on the foxes’ appearances? Fandom tends to use the same Pinterest models, which feels wrong to me.

i do in fact! i've actually been meaning to make a post about how i choose to write all of the foxes' ethnicities anyway

but yes i absolutely agree that the typical pinterest model types u generally see on edits is not how i see any of them. nor is reece king or froy gutierrez or lucky blue smith one of my FCs for anyone

for a lot of them i don't necessarily have a single specific FC so much as i have like,, a general impression of features that i will see on various different people, who all may look wildly different from each other or who may not even look how i see the character as a whole but do have a specific feature i associate with them. mostly it boils down to the Energy i get tbh and that's just a Feeling i cant even explain

fun fact im a tiny bit face blind so that might account for some of why i'm so all-over about this

may as well go chronologically. some of them i definitely have more thoughts on than others

1. Dan

ethnicity: Afro Native (Sioux)

features: medium dark skin. buzzcut, killer fade. she often styles it in waves. she's very butch, wears a lot of basketball and cargo shorts, tank tops and flannels and jerseys, hiking boots. skinny but muscular, with a very rectangular body shape. defined jaw. probably like 5'4 or 5'5

FC/Energy: sometimes i get some dan energy out of janelle monae but more butch. lotta dan energy out of samira wiley. lashana lynch

2. Kevin

ethnicity: a lot of things tbd, but he's pretty multi-ethnic. i like the idea of kayleigh being half- or a quarter-japanese in addition to irish because it gives her more of a reason to go to japan for her undergrad. wymack is from d.c. which is a majority black city for its actual residents, but i also like the idea of him being Pasifika/Hawaiian. HOWEVER - and this is pretty important to my read of kevin's character - he's white passing, and has been mostly treated as a white guy who tans his whole life, like occasionally asked if he's italian maybe. learning that his father was a Distinctly Not White Man was a big shock to him.

kristin kreuk, lindsay price, phoebe cates, and marie digby are all half-asian actresses i base kayleigh on

i suppose i base his story partially on broadway actress carol channing, who revealed publically that she was a quarter black when she was like 80 years old. though maybe wentworth miller, a biracial actor who knows his father is black but also doesn't know him, is more accurate to kevin's story. then keanu reeves is a white passing actor with asian ancestry

also none of these people look anything like how i picture kevin lol. kevin is just like,, a guy. handsome ig. but kind of in a CW character kind of way

actually

kevin looks exactly like young jason momoa

3. Andrew

ethnicity: kayin/karen from myanmar

features: fat and muscular, very wide and heavy. this blog is basically all andrew body type refs. medium-olive skin, has a bit of a greyish tinge that makes him look a bit eerie or unhealthy. deep set, droopy eyes; looks so tired. flat face with a low-bridged nose. crooked teeth, especially his canines. natural hair black-ish but he bleaches it light blond. has the beginnings of martial artist punching callouses in his knuckles

FC/Energy: holy shit the characters i feel have Andrew Energy are all over the place. pedro pascal. babe ruth (yes fr). oddjob (harold sakata) from goldfinger. the jinn (mousa kraish) from american gods. gaear grimsrud (peter stormare) from fargo. takeshi kovacs (joel kinnaman) from altered carbon. and i wanna be clear, it's these characters specifically, and generally NOT the actors outside of that specific role. except pedro ❤️

4. Matt

ethnicity: cuban

appearance: matt has more of an Energy than specific features to me rn. that energy is Warm. he has that Warm bro jock dude energy. kind of a marvel hero build, hunky and muscular. very rectangular face. has this haircut:

5. Aaron

i get to cut myself some slack and not go AS in depth about aaron because he and andrew are identical twins

ethnicity: kayin/karen from myanmar

appearance: similar build to andrew, less confident and casual posture and body language. less apathetically murderous and more emotive expressions. better teeth bc his mom took him to the dentist. yes also bleaches his hair

celebrities: probably a lot like the difference between the characters and the actors. andrew is the characters and aaron is how the actors actually look. idk ive never looked at someone and thought 'hey! looks like aaron!'

6. Seth

ethnicity: have been going with half-vietnamese. considering looking into various south asian possibilities like pakistani

appearance: string bean build. that's all i have to offer

7. Allison

ethnicity: allison's very up in the air for me. she and seth are the two foxes i feel fine with being white, but im committing to having no white foxes sooo. i would say i generally see her as either half-middle eastern or chinese

appearance: plus sized and hourglass shaped. heart shaped face. taller, like 5'8 or 5'9. she has a pretty fraught history with her appearance and her parents payed for/pressured her into getting a nose job to have a 'prettier' nose. she also bleaches her hair blonde. she gets it done at a salon tho the twinyards do it in their bathroom

FC/Energy: elle king and nadia aboulhosn are my main inspos for her, esp body type but nadia esp in Vibes

8. Nicky

ethnicity: multi-ethnic. his mother is southern mexican Indigenous, possibly oaxacan. his father is mixed white/kayin

appearance: definitely takes after his mother while his father is white passing. dark brown skin, warm undertones. slightly stocky build. tall ovular head and thin aquiline nose. he's kind of just,, the opposite of the twins ig, so like their facial features look very different, which is a big part of why people don't make the connection between him and the twins alongside the difference in their skin tones, heights, and builds. nicky's build and features are very vertically-oriented, with a tall head, narrow-set eyes, thin nose with a high bridge, etc. the twins are horizontally-orienged, with broad, flat faces, wide-set eyes, wide noses with a low bridge, etc.

FC/Energy: yalitza aparicio, not a guy but one of the few Mexican Indigenous stars in the film industry and i really like her features for nicky. she's oaxacan

9. Renee

ethnicity: Black. african american

appearance: plus sized, circular/apple body shape. round face. dark skin. microlocs to a bit past her chin, bleached white and dyed at the ends. she and allison go to the salon together. femme but plain style, a lot of blouses and long skirts, practical shoes. knuckle callouses. about 5'6

FC/Energy: dominique fishback. tracie thoms, esp in RENT. gabourey sidibe. nicole byer, but not in Energy. brandy, for some reason, probably bc i think she has very serene Energy and is a little bit otherworldly. like if brandy played arwen or galadriel from lotr it would make perfect sense to me, and that's the Renee Energy™️

10. Neil

ethnicity: mixed. Black/Jewish on both sides. his father is polish ashkenazi and afro-brazilian. his mother is Black British and algerian jewish

appearance: very... sharp. like sharp all over. does that make sense? sharp features, sharp face shape, sharp angles to his body. he's got what i vaguely think of as a 'basketball build' not meaning tall but meaning very rangy and angular and lean. all limbs. seth has a similar build. lighter brown skin. he has waardenburg syndrome which is actually where he gets he gets his eye color, and his eyes are very large and widely spaced as well. freckles freckles freckles. freckles everywhere. 4a hair but at least during canon it's not very healthy and thus the curls aren't well-defined. he grows it out long enough to tie back and starts taking better care of it in post-canon. wonky, slightly crooked teeth, with a gap between the fronts

FC/Energy: now neil i actually have a ton for. mostly models which im a lil ashamed of bc i do try to draw more from athletes. alton mason is a main body type ref. mugsy bogues is good to see what i mean about the basketball build without the height. here're the boys: cykeem white, luka sabbat, désiré mia, Leo Hoyte-Egan, dylan hasselbaink, this beautiful stock photo model i've never been able to track down

i think about him every. goddamn. day.

in terms of like,, real ppl and not models: corbin bleu, especially during Jump In. figure skater elladj balde. rayan "ray ray" lopez from mindless behavior. A$AP Rocky a lil bit, maybe i just like his hairstyle idk

two more models i think are important: carissa pinkston and ralph souffrant

[demigodlunar]

Scars - Chapter 4

-- Trigger Warning: Mentions of self-harm and bad parenting. Read at your own risk.

Chapter 4 - End It Cleanly Mclean

Piper flopped onto her immaculately made bed after her morning run with her mother, rumpling up the covers a little bit and enjoying the brief moments of silence before-

“Models do not flop onto their beds, daughter, they sit on the edge daintily.” A saccharine sweet voice lilted from outside Piper’s bedroom.

Piper stifled her groan and got up quietly, remaking her bed and smoothing her hands over the glossy silk sheets. She made sure not to miss a spot, because her mother, the amazing model Aphrodite Mclean, was no doubt watching her every move from the doorway.

“I’m sorry, mother, “ Piper said quietly, looking down at her feet that her mother commented were “too big” to be from a woman, “I won’t do it again.”

She looked up and locked eyes with her mother, the most beautiful, and cruelest, person Piper had ever met. That one thought of rebelliousness died away, and Piper forcefully looked back down respectfully at her feet.

Aphrodite had silky black hair that made its way down her back in ringlets, with only the most expensive products used on her luscious locks. With chocolate brown eyes like those of a feline. She was thin as a toothpick, with a curvy, full body which attracted a lot of men, and sometimes even women. Aphrodite’s skin was fair and spotless, her nails and clothes always complimenting each other and the rest of her. Piper really wished she hadn’t inherited her mother's insane beauty.

Her mother did another once over of Piper’s bedroom, trying to find something to critique. Not finding any flaws, she pursed her lips, flipped her hair over her shoulder and promptly left the room, shutting the door behind her.

Piper let out a breath she didn’t know she was even holding, and it made her plop back down onto her bed and bury her head in her hands.

Why couldn’t I have just gone with Dad?

~~~~~~~~~~

Tristan Mclean met Aphrodite Ouranos at a theatre gathering. He was immediately struck by her beauty and charm, and she seemed to like him just as much. They started going out after a week, and dated for a couple months before getting married.

After they had Piper, Tristan and Aphrodite made it big, Tristan with a high-paying acting career which required him to move around a lot, and Aphrodite with a modeling job. Both of the jobs needed a lot of traveling, but someone needed to stay and take care of Piper, the beautiful baby who inherited her mother’s beauty and her father’s smile and hair.

So while Tristan went on world tours and visited iconic cities and landmarks, Aphrodite would stay at home and take care of Piper. Needless to say, she hated the job, and wanted to dump her daughter in an orphanage to be taken care of by someone else, but then an idea struck her.

If she could raise Piper to be exactly like her, independent and flawless, it would help Aphrodite’s modeling and parenting. She was wrong of course, but she obviously didn’t think that. The result of her carelessness was a five year old running around a large empty estate, eating whatever she wanted and doing whatever she pleased.

There were many, many times when Piper had been left alone for long periods of time, and she did learn to be independent, but vowed to never become like her mother. Once Piper hit her middle school years, Aphrodite realized just how beautiful her daughter was, even more so, than Aphrodite herself. That was a problem.

So she shipped Piper off to a ladies academy for middle schoolers, and when Piper came back the summer before her first year at high school, she was… exactly the same. No manners had been changed, no clothing choice had been improved, nothing.

That’s when Aphrodite took the manner into her own manicured fingers. She critiqued Piper on anything and everything she did, even if it was the slightest misstep or a small snort that escaped her mouth. At the start, Piper rebelled against her, but Aphrodite oppressed her so much that Piper gave in and listened to her mother's every whim, and stayed quiet through every admonishment.

That was what made Piper start cutting.

It was small at first, just a little glance at a knife or razor and wondering how it would feel against her skin. Then, light traces with the sharp blades on her wrist, seeing how light she could go to draw blood. What pushed past her tipping point was when Piper was idly drawing the knife across her arm, not enough to see blood, but enough to feel a small sting, and her mother walked into the bathroom to see what was taking her so long.

She took one cold look at the blade, and the marks on Piper’s arm and left the bathroom. Piper stared after her, but when she came back, it wasn’t with a hug, or words of help to drag Piper out of the world of a depression.

It was a razor. A pink razor with a bejeweled hilt.

Aphrodite held it out to Piper and said only two words: “Use that.”

Since that day, Piper seemed to enjoy when her mother would leave her alone to do her modeling, because Piper had the day to cut herself happy.

~~~~~~~~~~

Now don’t get her wrong. Piper wasn’t suicidal for two reasons. The first was her father and her friends. She tried to resent her father for leaving her alone with her monster of a mother, but he was too kind for her to hate him, and the couple days a year he came and stayed with them were the best. And her friends, well, they were the only people who kept her sane while she was here. Annabeth, Reyna, Thalia, Leo. They were the best friends anybody could ask for, and they supported her whenever she felt sad. They didn’t know about the cutting.

The second was that she was too cowardly to try to take her life. Afraid of hurting her friends. Afraid that it would all be for nothing.

So she didn’t do anything farther than cutting.

Piper realized that thinking about the past and sitting doing nothing but dawdling was really unproductive. She took out her phone and went to check if there were any new messages, and she saw a text from Thalia. So she replied.

(AN: Thalia, Piper)

Today - 11:34 AM

hey Pipes

hey Thals

wassup

Oh nothing, just trying to get away from my tyrannical mother. Normal day.

nothing much, you?

i’m here with my brother at one of my dad’s interview things

Brother?

Piper couldn’t remember Thalia mentioning anything about siblings before. And she did the normal thing and asked Thalia about it.

you have a brother?

It was a long time before Thalia responded, but when she did, Piper snatched up the phone to see her response.

yeah

Piper felt betrayed, she thought they told each other everything. But then again, she had no room to talk.

excuse me, but how come you’ve never told me about him?

never came up

fine, you win, for now. show me a pic?

Thalia sent a picture of a blond-haired boy with the bluest eyes Piper had ever seen. The thing was, she knew this blond-haired boy.

It was Jason Grace, the only person that even came close to Annabeth’s record setting grades. Once he had beaten her by a percent on a English test, and Annabeth was fuming for days, while Piper and the rest of their friends snickered at her back. But Piper never connected the dots, like how he and Thalia had the same last name.

He was also in her math class during Freshman year, and he sat two seats to her right. Piper could remember clearly some moments of that class.

Like when the teacher would ask the class a question, and Jason’s hand would be the only one up so she called on him. He would bite his lower lip and read out the answer in a confident but quiet voice, like he didn’t want anyone to notice him. Then, once Jason got the question right, his posture would straighten, in a proud way. His eyes would light up like a cloudless day sky and his lips would stretch into a smile, making the scar on his upper lip appear more prominently. Jason would push the glasses up the bridge of his nose, and sit back in his chair, satisfied.

One second. Two.

What. Was. That. Piper shook her head and felt her cheeks become hot. She barely knew Jason, yet she had been paying so much more attention to him than she thought she was. Idly, she wondered if his glasses and the tattoo of glasses she had on her shoulder were related in any way.

Suddenly dizzy, she remembered that Thalia was waiting for an answer. With her thoughts off somewhere else, she mindlessly typed a response to Thalia’s question. The good news, it was the truth. The bad news, Thalia would never let her live this down.

After she felt her head clear, she brought her attention back to the conversation and her eyes widened.

oh, that cute boy you sit with at lunch sometimes? He’s really good looking.

“Crap!” Piper yelled, for once not even afraid that her mother will come in and lecture her about the dangers of swearing.

She could just imagine Thalia cackling her witchy laugh wherever she was. Piper started to type in a message to tell Thalia to please, please not tell her brother about that message when a new message popped up at the top.

Piper, honey, I am leaving for my photoshoot now. Please keep the house clean... and no guests. -Mother >:(

Perfect, her mother is gone, now she can go through with that brunch that she planned with her friends. Then she remembered Thalia. Stupid ADHD, hopping from one topic to the other.

It was too late though, because Thalia has already replied.

yes, he is, and he’s also here looking at our conversation.

Piper felt herself blush scarlet red, and she bet anyone could see it, even on her darker complexion. Now she was in for it, she would never be able to face Thalia or Jason ever again. And once Thalia told the rest of their friends…

Piper stood up and started getting ready for the brunch with her friends she planned. Both mentally and physically. Gods, Leo was going to have such a field day when he found out about this.

Well, the routine was only just starting. ____________________________________________________________

This chapter was fun to write haha

-Blossom ;)

[cartoonfantic8]

Friendships in PJO (Part 1)

I know a lot of people talk about headcannons of the couples or ships and sometimes people forget some pretty great friendships in the books. These are headcannons of friendship that didn’t really happen but I think these would be pretty good friendships.

Trials of Apollo Spoilers

Also I’m ignoring Jason’s death because I don’t consider that cannon.

Percy and Piper

A lot of people talk about this pair and honestly these two would be such a good duo.

One night, Piper wakes up from a nightmare from the war. Jason was at Camp Jupiter so she went to go the Posiden Cabin. She knocks on the door and Percy answers. They both couldn’t sleep and start talking about there nightmares and they really bonded after that.

They would be such a sassy duo. Like both of them would not really listen to authority and pretty much piss of the Gods a lot.

They like to go skateboarding together and make stupid vlogs about all the tricks they would do or something stupid stuff like either of them falling. Afterwords they would get their nails done and this was mostly Percy’s idea, and sometimes when they go to a mortal salon, someone might give Percy a dirty look. Saying some excuse like “Oh he’s a boy, boy’s shouldn’t get there nails done that’s for girls”. Piper curses that person and is like “Bitch no!” Otherwise they go to the Aphordite cabin and those guys are chill and really don’t care, they like to make people feel beautiful or handsome.

They both go surfing togther too. Piper misses the beaches in California and Percy takes her to the closest beach near Camp Haft-Blood. They like surf and collect seashells by the beach. Percy likes to take Piper underwater using his water bubble thing and they see all the sea life and coral under there.

They watch “Dance Moms” or any drama show, and get so invested in all the drama.

Piper and Percy cuff there jeans and listen to Sweater Weather togther. They would blast it at full volume in the Posiden Cabin at 3:00am, singing it at the top of their lungs. Sometimes Leo joins them (those three are all bisexual, no one can convice me otherwise). They like to go to Pride together with other LGBTQ+ campers and they both paint small bi flags on there cheeks.

They also help each other set up dates for Jason or Annabeth, during anniversary’s or just dates in general.

They both would really support each other in anything and have a very chaotic friendship full of teasing and so much sass.

Jason and Frank

At first Frank never really knew Jason. Jason was missing for a while and let’s face it, at Camp Jupiter, Jason was talked about like a hero. To Frank he was important and once he met Jason, he was a normal guy. During Argo ll, they never really got to know each other since they were saving the world from LITERAL MOTHER EARTH

After the war, the Romans were going back to there Camp meaning Reyna, Frank, and Hazel were leaving soon. Jason had to go, to bring his stuff and move to Camp Haft-Blood and teach Frank about being a Praetor. During there few lessons, they became close and got to know each other.

Anytime Jason gets stressed, Frank turns into a kitten and calms him down. When Frank gets stress from being a praetor, Jason tells him to rest and take a break.

They love to watch cheesy Rom-coms and Disney Channel Original movie and either laugh about stupid it is or cry of how sincere it is.

They like to train together and honestly they are both the moms of the demigod friend group (The Seven + Nico and Reyna) They plan hangouts for there friends.

There really just a nice, chill duo who hangs out and just have fun.

Rachel and Hazel

Hazel and Rachel never properly met. Mostly because Hazel is Roman and at this point Rachel is just Greek like everyone just considers her a Greek. One day, Hazel came to visit CBH, to see her friends and Nico.

Chrion asks if she would like to help Rachel out repainting the Camp’s van and making it more different and less boring. She agrees and properly meets Rachel. At first Hazel is sort of scared because Rachel is the Oracle but once she gets to know her, she’s really just a goofy, fun-loving person and they really hit it off.

They like to paint or draw together and just talk. Sometimes Hazel would be Rachel’s muse or Rachel would be Hazel’s muse. Rachel would also go on art rants and Hazel’s a pretty good listener, so she listen’s even though sometimes she has no idea what Rachel’s talking about.

Rachel introduces Hazel to Disney which she got hooked on. They like to have Disney marathons in Rachel’s cave and will spend hours watching Disney.

Rachel also helps Hazel navigate the mordern world and technogly. Hazel also taught Rachel how to ride a horse.

Rachel is pretty adventurous which Hazel loves and they try new things every time they visit each other.

They were overall a very fun loving pair of friends who are artisy and obsessed with Disney.

Nico and Leo

I know a lot of people ship Valangelo, I love these two but I personally see them as a really great friendship. Sorry to Valangelo shippers but here’s there friendship.

At first Nico and Leo hate each other. Nico just finds Leo annoying and Leo just thinks of Nico as the creepy Hades kid. After hanging out a lot more since there in the same group of friends, they become closer.

If Nico ever feels sad, Leo would always cheer him up with a dumb joke which surprisingly makes him laugh. Anytime Leo is sad, Nico will attempt to make a joke and Leo would look surprised and yell across the room “Hey guys, Nico made a joke!”

When Leo overworks himself, Nico will go to Bunker Nine and brings him a Happy Meal. Leo takes a break and they both play Mythomagic, which Nico got back into.

Leo built them motorcycles and they like to race around the woods with them, Calypso and Will would be cheering on the sidelines being supportive.

Leo introduces him to Pop Culture a lot more and even gives him (and Hazel) lessons on what’s been going on in the world and how it’s changed since the 40s

During the days when Bianca and Esperanza died, most of there friends and campers would leave them alone execpt there significant others (or annoyance in Will’s case) and each other. Nico and Leo both empathize with each other because Esperanza and Bianca were there rocks and there only family (besides the gods but there not really around)

Overall, they would be the Keith and Lance duo. Leo being the more jokey one and Nico being the more tough and cynical one. Its one of the more unexpected friendships.

Reyna and Annabeth

Reyna and Annabeth never were really friends at first because of the whole Greek and Roman war going on and once Reyna helped them, the seven had to go stop Gaea and she had to go deliver the statue to Camp Haft-Blood.

After the war, the Romans and Greeks became friends, Reyna and Annabeth made a peace treaty/alliance togther. They became pretty good friends after that.

Annabeth helps Reyna make renovations to New Rome and Camp Jupiter. Reyna helps with a few new battle plans for Camp Haft-Blood so there a lot more prepared for another war or battle.

If either of them are stressed, they will play Minecraft or Animal Crossing online. Like they both have those gaming headsets and will go online for each other.

When they visit each other, they go to a small, quiet coffee shop and get coffee or pastries and just chill and catch up with each other. Afterwords, they go to Centeral Park or a park in California and have a walk.

Annabeth introduced Reyna to Harry Potter. They both finished the movies in like a week and the books take them longer because of there dyslexia but Reyna fell in love. Reyna takes the Pottermore quiz and gets Gryffindor. Annabeth and Reyna are that iconic Slytherin and Gryffindor team.

Once Reyna becomes a hunter, Annabeth, Reyna, and Thalia all go hunting together. I feel like all three of them have completions of who can hunt the most. Sometimes Annabeth will tag along with the hunters and go camping. Artemis is fine with it because she likes Annabeth.

They would be that badass duo that you don’t mess with or else they won’t hesitate to snap your neck.

[winryofresembool]

Things We Lost in the Fire, ch 25

aka Caleo uni au

Fic summary: Calypso starts studying at a new university, but to her annoyance her new flatmate is a loud mouthed mechanic who also likes to sneak his dog in whenever. But as she learns to know him better, she realizes they might have more in common than what she first thought. Eventually, even the darkest secrets come out…

Chapter summary: Halloween aftermath

A/N: Sorry for the wait again! This chapter wanted to become long (for my chapter) so I just couldn't finish it in time. About the future schedule, there won't be another chapter this week but given it's only Tuesday now, I think I may be able to update again Friday next week. Fingers crossed!

Thanks for all the comments again, you guys make me so motivated to continue! ♥ But I won't rant more, now I'll let you know what happens after the cliffhanger of ch 24.

Words: 3,8k+

Genre: romance & hurt/comfort

Warnings: none

previous chapter / AO3

...

Calypso woke up with her head banging in pain and a sour taste in her mouth. She also felt like throwing up. What was even worse than that, though, was that she had no idea where she was. She was still wearing a flowy, white dress instead of her pajamas and she didn’t recognize the bed she had slept in. Perhaps the strangest part was that she could hear light snoring from the floor behind the foot of the bed. She sat up on the bed so she could see who caused the sound, panic starting to surge in her veins when she recognized the dark mop of hair under a blanket.

It was Leo, sleeping on a mattress that had been taken from the other side of the double bed she had been sleeping in. What on earth had possessed him to sleep there, Calypso wondered worriedly.

Pulling a cover over her (which, she knew, was silly because obviously Leo had already seen her in her dress earlier) she continued scanning her surroundings and slowly started making some conclusions. This had to be Jason and Piper’s house, where they had stayed the night after the Halloween party. A party. Right. Her last clear thoughts were from the moment when she had seen the two Hunter girls arrive at the party. After that, she remembered vaguely fleeing the room and finding something to drink, and that’s when her memory got really blurry. And that was the truly scary part. She hadn’t been truly drunk even once within the past five years but she did know way too well what had happened the previous time she had done that. The biggest mistake of her life.

Before she allowed her mind to draw any more conclusions, she decided to rise from her bed and check up on Leo. He was still sound asleep and since the blanket had partially fallen off of him, she could see that he was wearing a tank top and boxers, which she took as a good sign. Since they both were at least somewhat clothed, she thought it was quite unlikely that they had crossed the line that she was not ready to cross. But that didn’t mean that nothing had happened.

“Ahem,” she cleared her throat while wrapping the bed cover around her a bit better, trying to make Leo wake up. She needed to do that at least twice more before he finally stirred.

“Wha… Woah!” He yelped with surprise when he realized where he was and with whom, quickly pulling his blanket over his mostly bare legs. “Morning, Sunshine. How are you feeling today?”

The panic had momentarily made Calypso forget about her headache and dizziness but now that Leo reminded her of it, she realized they hadn’t disappeared anywhere. Sitting back on her bed, she sighed.

“I’ve been better, that’s for sure.” She rubbed her forehead for a moment. “The worst part is that I have no idea what happened last night.”

“You… don’t remember any of it?” Leo asked while sitting up, and Calypso thought she could hear a hint of disappointment in his voice.

“I do remember what happened before my first drink,” Calypso clarified. “But not much after that.”

“In that case, I think I can help you fill some gaps,” Leo replied. “If you want to.”

“That would be good.” Calypso tried to undo some knots in her hair with her fingers, sighing with frustration. “Maybe you can start with explaining why we are both here. I mean, in this room. I think Piper and Jason have several extra rooms in their house.”

Leo’s face turned bright red at the implications of Calypso’s question. He had to clear his throat before he managed to answer. “Um… You were really not feeling well last night… And to be honest, some moments you seemed pretty desperate to… I don’t know, it seemed like you were trying to escape from Thalia and Reyna every time they tried to talk to you. So, um, we, as in, me, Piper, Jason, Annabeth and Percy thought that someone should probably keep an eye on you. Just in case. So. I volunteered.”

Calypso wanted to keep Leo distracted so he wouldn’t ask more about Thalia and Reyna so she asked: “But why you, and not for example Piper? She lives here so it would have been easier for her. You could have just driven home and come to pick me up today or something.”

“That’s… that’s true but I felt it was my duty… as your flatmate, of course… to make sure you’re OK,” Leo stuttered. Calypso had a feeling it wasn’t the whole truth but she didn’t push it. “Alright,” Calypso said. “But why were you sleeping in this room? Like I said earlier, there are other places…”

“Ahem,” Leo made a coughing sound again. “That’s because you asked me to stay here. And I’m not lying about that. You can think anything you want about me but I would not do anything without your consent… um, not that any of that has even crossed my mind, gods.”

Even though Calypso was relieved to hear that because it proved that nothing had happened between them, she had to admit to herself that perhaps a tiny part of her was a bit disappointed. Leo’s reply made it sound like he did not have any romantic feelings towards her. Or then he was a liar. Either way, Calypso wasn’t sure what she should think.

“I… asked you to stay with me?” she repeated instead.

“Um, yeah,” Leo replied, his fingers tapping on his blanket absentmindedly. “You said something about nightmares… and I dunno, you just didn’t wanna be alone. Piper asked if you’d like her to stay but… you picked me? I don’t know why.”

There was a long pause before Calypso answered. Maybe it was her dizzy head making her make decisions she usually wouldn’t, but she thought there was no reason to deny it anymore. Feeling the warmth on her cheeks, she finally replied: “That’s because – I hate myself for this, but - you… you mean more to me than her.”

“I… what?” Leo frowned, looking like he was wondering if he had heard right.

Calypso sighed deeply and hid her face into her hands. She hated how fast her heart was racing in that moment. “I’ve been trying to deny that for several weeks now, but… I guess the drunk me was more honest than what I usually am.”

Leo crossed his arms, inching closer to Calypso on his mattress so he could look at her directly. “But… but… what does it mean? I mean, I do have an idea because I’m not an idiot even if I seem like one – but I need to hear it from you.”

“Leo Valdez, it means I like you! In a very non flatmate like way! There, are you happy now?” Calypso’s voice started cracking and she felt like she was on the verge of tears.

“Of course I am!” He exclaimed, almost jumping up from his mattress. “I think I’ve had a crush on you ever since you got mad at me for smashing your table!”

Calypso’s mouth opened in surprise. “You… have? But… how?”

“When you got mad at me that time, I saw some fire in your eyes. Like, OK, I’m gonna admit that you looked hot from moment one but I didn’t care about that. I didn’t,” he repeated when Calypso looked at him skeptically. “I know a lot of girls who kinda remind me of you with their shiny long hair, perfect eyelashes, et cetera, but many of them are the type of people who used to laugh at me at high school. And I mean, not in a good way. But when I saw that fire, somehow I was convinced that you were different. You have just the kind of spunk that I like and you’re not afraid to call me out when I deserve it – but you’re still fair and don’t judge the book by its cover. Fine, of course I was worried I was wrong and you wouldn’t forgive me for that mistake. But, somehow, this one time, I was right. And I only got more convinced as I learned to know you better.”

“Leo…” Calypso was starting to lose the fight against the tears.

Leo looked extremely worried when he realized she was crying. “What? I thought you’d be happy to hear that? I like you – you apparently like me for whatever crazy reason – what’s the problem?”

Calypso tried to brush off the tears from her face before answering, her eyes sparkling with frustration. “The problem is that you just made this – what I should do – a hundred times harder! If… if you hadn’t answered to my feelings, I could have just tried to accept that and eventually moved on. But… how are we going to live with this knowledge, live under the same roof… when nothing can happen?!”

Leo started to freak out. “What do you mean ‘nothing can happen’? Calypso, could you please finally be clear with me? Why did you just confess your feelings and then say… that?”

Calypso didn’t miss that Leo used her full first name, a thing he did quite rarely. Her voice was still a bit hoarse when she answered:

“Alright. I have plenty of reasons but here’s the first one: In the past… I’ve had nothing but unsuccessful relationships. I may have been really young back then, but it made me doubt myself, Leo. Several guys I really liked - and I imagined they liked me back - told me some big words… only to run to their ‘real’ girlfriends at the first possible opportunity. You’d probably say ‘but that was many years ago, screw those guys’!”

“Damn right, I would!” Leo exclaimed, slamming his fist on the floor next to him to emphasize his point.

“… And I wish it was that simple but it isn’t.” Calypso shook her head. “There’s more to that story than I care to explain right now. And then I met Percy a couple of years later and thought that maybe I’d be ready to try again. Well, you know what happened. It did not work out and I decided that when I’d finally have my freedom… I mean, when I’d move out and start my studies, I would make sure that I really am ready for a relationship before starting one. And I’m sorry, but… I don’t think I’m quite there yet. I want to learn to love myself before… you know.”

Leo finally stood up from his mattress and sat down next to her on the bed, not even caring about the fact that he was still wearing only a thin tank top and boxers anymore.

“I guess I can understand that,” he said, spontaneously taking her hand into his as a comforting gesture. “I’m no stranger to self doubt.”

“Then I guess we have that in common…” Calypso sighed, allowing Leo’s hands to remain on hers. “However… that’s not the only reason why I think it would not be a good idea.”

“What else is there?” Leo asked.

Calypso looked down at their intertwined hands sadly. “Well… I think I’ve told you my father is not the nicest of guys… But the truth is, I left home without his consent or knowledge. So, he’s probably looking for me right now. And if he does find me, I don’t know what will happen. I may have to go back. And I definitely don’t want him to find out about you. He has money and a lot of power and he’s capable of ruining anyone’s life if he wants to. He’d probably blame you for hiding me and have you arrested or something… It would break me if something happened to any of you, because of me.”

“Why… Why haven’t you told this to me before?” Leo’s grip on her hand tightened slightly and even though Calypso didn’t dare to look into his eyes, she imagined that they were burning in anger like she had seen a couple of times before.

Calypso rubbed her forehead tiredly with her free hand. “Because… what would you do in that situation?! I’d arrive at your home and introduce myself: ‘hey, I’m Calypso, your new flatmate, and by the way, I’m running away from my father who may or may not have kept me as a hostage for several years, but yeah, nice to meet you!’”

“A hostage?” Leo was practically growling now.

“Well… “ Calypso was suddenly hesitant, realizing she had revealed more than intended. “I was allowed to go to places… sometimes… but never alone… And I was homeschooled so… I did spend a lot of time at home… but we had a huge mansion… So it wasn’t like I was trapped in a basement or something…”

“But that doesn’t make it any more right!” Leo was almost yelling now. “I want to do something, I want to let people know what kind of person he is so he can’t keep doing that to you or anyone else anymore!”

“Leo, you can’t!” Calypso squeezed his hand, finally looking up at him. “Do you know how dangerous that would be?! And I swear, with his money he would only make the police go quiet about the whole situation… The main thing is that I’m here, right now, and relatively safe. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe he doesn’t care where I am. I don’t know what he’s thinking, to be honest.”

Leo was quiet for a while, breathing heavily and fiddling with the bed covers. “Well… Fine, I’ll let that be, for now. But I swear to gods, or the River Styx, or whatever the hell those ancient Greeks used to swear on, that if he does something to you, I will not let it be anymore. I… and I think I can speak for all of our friends, that we all… will make sure that he will go down with a bang.”

Leo’s comment about the ancient Greeks managed to cheer Calypso up a bit. “You sound like you would physically fight him. And how exactly would you do that?” she asked. “With your tools?”

“That’s not a bad idea!” Leo exclaimed, getting into his fantasies. “I would definitely bring my trusty hammer. Or, I could build a…”

“Hey, now, I was not being serious! But you sound like you are,” Calypso stopped him by putting a finger on his lips. “I absolutely don’t want you to do anything where you could get hurt.”

“Me? Getting hurt? That’s unheard of,” Leo attempted to joke once Calypso removed her finger from his lips.

“Alright, now you’re not being serious. Didn’t you once tell me that you joke especially when you’re nervous?” Calypso remembered one of their earlier conversations.

Leo’s smirk disappeared. “Want me to be honest? I’m not great at the feelings stuff. But I just heard you tell me that you like me. For a moment I was like: ‘hey, for once the chick you like likes you back, maybe this could work out’. And then you told me that apparently your father is some kind of psycho who is still controlling you, his adult daughter. I am glad that you told me about all this but you can’t expect me to stay calm when someone I care about is in danger. You wouldn’t stay calm either, would you?”

Calypso shook her head. “No. You’re right. I would also want to help you. And I really am sorry, I wish things were different and we could… Maybe one day. That’s all I can say.”

Leo sighed and ran his free hand through his hair. “OK. I get it.”,

A silence fell into the room as they both tried to take in what had just happened. Some automatic reaction made Calypso lean her head against Leo’s shoulder as if she was trying to tell him with the touch that she really was sorry. She was thankful he did not shift away. Eventually, she asked:

“So… tell me more about last night. Did I embarrass myself badly?”

“Naah…” Leo lied at first, a smile returning to his face as he remembered some of the things that had happened.

“You just flinched,” Calypso noted. “I felt it. You’re totally lying.”

“Fine. It was pretty funny when you had a karaoke duet with Piper and were too drunk to be able to read the lyrics from the screen so you came up with the words yourself. And at one point you just suddenly switched to Greek and none of us could understand what you were saying. But it wasn’t that bad. And even drunk your voice was kinda impressive. And your dance moves were definitely better than mine.”

“Wait, what? I danced too? Gods, please tell me no one filmed that,” Calypso asked, horrified.

“I can promise no such thing!” Leo grinned, and Calypso stopped leaning her head against him, instead elbowing him on the ribs. “Ow! I’m just joking! I don’t know if Piper got any photo material of that but I was busy dancing with you so I didn’t have time to film anything. Promise.”

“Alright. Sorry.” She lowered her head on his shoulder again.

“Guess we’ll have to hunt down Piper after this,” Leo said with amusement before recalling something. “Anyway, something kinda weird happened too. Like I said, it really seemed like you were trying to avoid Reyna and Thalia and I have no idea why. Every time they got close, you were like ‘gotta get a drink’ or ‘let’s go dance’ or ‘bathroom break’. I’m not even sure if you greeted them. Can you explain that?”

“I… uh,” Calypso tried to come up with something that she wouldn’t have to tell the whole story. “My half sister Zoë… She used to be a Hunter. But she died some years ago. An accident. I think those two probably knew her and… the wound is still too deep so I didn’t want to have to talk about her. It would have ruined everyone’s night.”

“I’m sorry,” Leo said, causing chills in Calypso’s back by running his thumb on the palm of her hand. “I had no idea... Feels like I’m learning a lot more about you now than I have the past few months…” “I probably should have told you about that earlier… So I’m sorry too.”

Leo bit his lip as if he was struggling to decide something. “If it makes you feel any better… I know how it feels to lose someone important. My mum. She died in a fire. Yeah, the fire that started my fear,” Leo confirmed Calypso’s suspicions. “She was the only family I had and after that I went from home to home and no one wanted to keep me… Sometimes I ran away too… That kept going until Emmie and Jo finally found me. It… doesn’t really get easier, but somehow… you still learn to live with it. Because you have to.”

“Yeah. I know the feeling. But if you have to find something positive out of this situation… at least we’re safe now. And we’re not alone, right? That’s what they’d want for us, right?” Calypso sounded a bit unsure, though.

“Yeah. You’re right.” They stayed quiet for a while, but this time the silence was comforting. Finally, Leo decided to break it, in his typical way.

“No offense, Cal, but you could use a shower. For all of our sake.”

Calypso quickly sat farther from him. “Oh my gods, Leo, that is so not appropriate, especially in a situation like this! What’s wrong with you?”

Leo put his hands up defensively. “Was just trying to be honest! The alcohol and the throwing up did not do good to you.” “Geez, I hate you,” Calypso mumbled.

“That’s fine because I hate you too,” Leo claimed.

“Not what you said a moment ago,” Calypso retorted.

“I could say the same back at you.”

Suddenly both Leo and Calypso burst out laughing, needing to release the tension the whole conversation had created. Calypso didn’t remember when she had last laughed that long or hard but she didn’t care, it simply felt right in that moment. When she and Leo finally calmed down, she said quietly:

“Maybe we are idiots, both of us.”

“Maybe. But normalcy is not for me. I learned that a while ago.”

“Same, to be honest.”

Calypso and Leo’s eyes met. Some barriers had been broken that day and even though there was still a lot of work to do, Calypso realized that it had felt good to talk to Leo. He hadn’t judged or questioned, at least not in the way she had expected. He had seemed to accept that she’d come out of her shell with her own terms. Something about it all just felt so right, and when she remembered that he had also admitted he liked her back… she decided it was time to get a bit crazy. Screw the consequences, if they couldn’t enjoy this moment, then what could they enjoy? That’s why she let her hand brush his cheek before resting it in his hair, gently lifting his chin with her other hand so he’d know her intentions…

“Do you think… we could forget about the stupid rules just for a moment?” She asked, resting her forehead on his.

“I think I’m down with that,” Leo smiled at her softly (Calypso didn’t like admitting it but that soft smile never failed to get to her).

They closed their eyes and started leaning even closer, but just when their lips were about to meet, the door opened. The couple quickly separated when Piper peeked in.

“I heard some laughter from here so I thought I’d come to check…” Then she noticed their expressions. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to interrupt!”

“Didn’t interrupt anything,” Leo mumbled, although it was quite clear from his voice he was disappointed.

“Yeah, no worries,” Calypso tried to reassure her as well, although her eyes seemed to be interested in a wrinkle on her dress.

“OK…” Piper wasn’t at all convinced but she didn’t comment on it more. “Well, I just wanted to tell you that we have breakfast downstairs. Whenever you’re up to it.”

“Yeah, we’ll be there in a minute! Just let me… clean up a bit.” Calypso exclaimed, getting up and starting to head to the closest bathroom. Leo also got up from the bed and started pulling on the clothes he had had under his costume the previous day.

“See you soon then,” Piper said, leaving the very flustered couple to get prepared for the day. Calypso could imagine that she and Jason would probably get good laughs from this once she and Leo would leave.

[timeagainreviews]

Twin Peaks s01e01 “Traces to Nowhere”

Happy New Year, and welcome back to Twin Peaks, friends. Before we dive further into the mystery of Laura Palmer, I would like to tell you about my friend Jason. Jason was a pal of mine in high school. We used to hang out, listen to music, watch TV, and smoke. He lived with his girlfriend at the time who was also my friend. This may sound sappy, but around these two, I genuinely felt like the best version of myself. I miss those days incredibly. Jason also happened to be the first person to ever introduce me to Twin Peaks. One night, he and a friend were watching the movie as I came over to buy a bag. On that day, I discovered what was to become my newest obsession, one of which would stick with me for the next eighteen years of my life. Sadly, Jason and I fell out of contact and we lost track of one another.

I mention this because I recently heard through a mutual friend that Jason died two years ago. I'll not go into the details, suffice it to say, it was too soon. I always wanted to track him down to say hello, and now I'll never get the chance. While my friendship with Jason was immensely rewarding, one of the most persistent things he left me with was a love for Twin Peaks. Much of my personal philosophy comes from Twin Peaks, and it continues to inform the person I am today. If it weren't for Jason, I wouldn't be me. Therefore, I would like to dedicate this article in his memory. To Jason Walton- My friend in the stars.

Thank you for allowing me that moment, friend. Now if you remember, we left off on kind of a spooky note. Through some sort of line of sight, Sarah Palmer was given a vision of a gloved hand retrieving James' half of the heart necklace from where he and Donna had buried it. Dale Cooper, after a long day of detection, has turned in for a night of sleep at the Great Northern hotel, which is exactly where today's episode begins.

I've read in the past that you can tell right away when David Lynch is directing, or in this case, when he isn't directing. This is not a complaint about director Duwayne Dunham's work, but there is a clear departure from the slow wave of emotions that permeates the pilot episode. However, the more straightforward procedural pacing works much to the episode's credit. Being written by David Lynch and Mark Frost, this episode is drenched in Twin Peaks tones and textures. I'd go as far as to say Dunham does a damn fine job following the hard act that is David Lynch.

We start with a pan across Cooper's hotel room. As I've done with my Doctor Who reviews, I found myself trying to see this scene as though it were my first time. You watch Twin Peaks for eighteen years, and you tend to forget just how strange the decor at the Great Northern truly is. Off-camera we can hear Agent Cooper talking to Diane through his recorder. As the camera searches across taxidermied deer hooves holding hunting riffles, and ornate nature paintings, we fall upon Cooper, hanging upside down by a pair of metal hooks around his ankles. It's never explained why he's doing this, but for some reason the late '80s and early '90s had a weird thing about hanging guys upside down as so form of exercise. Michael Keaton did it in Batman, Patrick Bateman had one, and even Dale Cooper. Perhaps it was quick way to indicate both athleticism and eccentricity.

Cooper, hanging about in his hot dad garters and boxers dismounts from his perch with an ease that is both impressive and sexy. Before ending his recording session with Diane, Cooper waxes philosophical about Marilyn Monroe and the Kennedys. In a way, this is Lynch and Frost drawing parallels between the deaths of both Monroe and Laura- two blonde women surrounded by powerful men and mystery. It's fitting when you consider that Lynch and Frost's first collaboration was in the form of a Marilyn Monroe biopic which never came into fruition. In many ways, the project laid some of the groundwork for what would become Twin Peaks.

Starting his day right with a balanced hotel breakfast, we're treated to yet another fascinating glimpse into Cooper's diet. As Sheriff Truman says later in the episode, he must have the metabolism of a bumblebee. Cooper orders a breakfast he refers to as "hard on the arteries," which is as hard as he wants his eggs. He wants his bacon super crispy- cremated. It may sound as though I'm exaggerating, but I've always loved watching Cooper order breakfast. He seems to revere food in a way not regularly seen on dramatic television. The morning coffee is more than one of the best, it's "damn fine." People have complained that the way people talk about food in Twin Peaks is weird. Sure, maybe in life creamed corn isn't an allegory to pain and suffering, but we've all been there when someone is having a similar reaction to the stuff. Food is personal, and it's a part of everyone's lives, why wouldn't characters talk about it?

Arriving at the tail end of Cooper's order is Audrey Horne, who has seemingly grown a good six or seven inches of hair overnight. Out of all of the mysteries in Twin Peaks, this was the least perplexing. Somewhere between filming the pilot and the first episode, Sherilyn Fenn grew her hair out, and it looks stunning. Everything about Audrey is stunning. Her eyebrows are stunning. That sweater is stunning. But at the moment, it is she who is stunned by Agent Cooper. Just as charmed by his eccentricities and his slicked black hair, she approaches Agent Cooper and asks to join him. Immediately Cooper sizes up that she finds him attractive, she's not exactly hiding it, and neither is he for that matter. For many fans, this is the moment the ship of Cooper and Audrey set sail. I personally always prefer the version where Cooper does the adult thing and doesn't date a high schooler.

After questioning Audrey, Cooper heads off to the Sheriff Station where they seem to still be having their breakfast as everyone he encounters has a mouthful of donuts. I'd also like to note the weird guy with a welding torch and ladder near the entrance. Twin Peaks is a lived in world filled with these people toiling away. Sheriff Harry Truman, mouth full of donuts, can't get a word in as Cooper flies into the room. After spelling out the itinerary, Cooper disappears to "urinate." This marks the first of many references to Dale Cooper's pee. Much like Tom Hanks, our favourite FBI agent is passionate about pissing. It's one of those life things, like food, that Twin Peaks likes to celebrate. Sometimes it's really nice to have a good piss, therefore sometimes Twin Peaks is about having a really good piss. I'm being completely earnest here.

Dr Hayward arrives to the sheriff station to report the findings of the post mortem. Unable to carry out the procedure himself, he outsourced the job to a nearby colleague. I've always admired the way Warren Frost plays this scene. His sadness seems to come and go in waves of realisation. There are the same echos from the pilot episode present here. From the report we learn that Laura died from a loss of blood from numerous shallow wounds. She had bite marks on her shoulders and marks on her arms from having been bound. She had also had sex with at least three men the night of her murder. The doctor also concludes that there is no doubt that Ronette was also present. As Dr Hayward relays this grizzly tale, his eyes wander to the photo of Laura. Pangs of sadness wash over his face as he questions who could do such a thing. He was the doctor present at her birth. She was his daughter's best friend. Laura was family to him.

On the other spectrum of family, we join the Johnsons at their incomplete home. Unable to just ask Shelly if she would do his laundry, Leo has to play mind games. He asks her if she did his laundry and chastises her as if catching her in a lie because his bag of nasty truck cabin clothes are still dirty. Eric Da Re is not a great actor, but there's something perfect about that. Leo is a big asshole that gaslights his wife, I don't expect much depth there. The only good thing I say about him is they got rid of his awful perm from the pilot. Even the way he pinches her cheek is controlling and unnatural. There's clearly no love between them, which is why when she discovers a blood-stained shirt in Leo's laundry she hides it. With Laura recently dead, and his behaviour as of late, this could be evidence. When he comes back later in a frenzy to find said shirt, he flies into a rage at its absence.

We're back at the Sheriff Station where we learn James Hurley owned the other half of Laura's necklace. As compared to Bobby's interrogation, James is Mr Manners. He answers all of Agent Cooper's questions with a quiet intensity. He admits to shooting the picnic video, and to owning the other half of the necklace, but not knowing who dug it up. He was also aware Laura was taking drugs but tried to get her to stop. On the night she died, James picked Laura up on his motorcycle. Acting strangely Laura disembarked from his bike, a disagreement ensued, Laura told James she loved him and disappeared into the woods. Cooper seems pleased with this information. We're then shown slow-motion picnic footage of Laura smiling at the camera. A somewhat cheesy "Help me," is played over the sound of wind and haunting music. It's a sort of fourth-wall-breaking that makes Twin Peaks feel as though not only the town, but the show itself is haunted by the late Laura Palmer.

Bobby and Mike, freshly arrested from their fistfight with Ed argue in their holding cells about the money they owe Leo Johnson. After being briefly questioned by Agent Cooper, they're both sent away with a warning not to harm James. James is also released into the custody of Big Ed, who confides that he believes the bartender, Jacques Renault,  slipped a Mickey in his drink. Ed wasn't just meeting Norma that night, he was also staking out Jacques' activities as a suspected drug dealer.

Speaking of Norma, we're given a brief but intense encounter at the general store between her and Nadine. At this point in the show, Nadine is completely bonkers. While I don't feel like she becomes any less touched in the head, we do begin to see more depth to her than just Ed's crazy wife. Wendie Robie is so good as Nadine, that Peggy Lipton only really need to react in kind as Nadine goes on about her drape runners. You can tell there's a quiet rivalry between the two women, both of whom resent one another for what they represent to one another. Norma is the woman Ed loves, and Nadine is the woman that stole him from Norma. When Nadine emphatically mentions the cotton balls that will make her drape runners completely silent, Norma can only stand as if in disbelief. It's the epitome of "weird flex, but ok." It doesn't help that all of this cotton ball talk is nestled into a conversation about Ed being in intensive care. Nadine exits as soon as she entered, leaving poor Norma looking confused and slightly violated.

Speaking of forbidden love, we're given a great scene between Donna Hayward and her mother, Eileen. We learn that despite her grief for Laura, and the guilt it makes her feel, Donna is finding herself loving James. Despite the nightmare that surrounds her, this love for James is like a beautiful dream. Eileen encourages her to invite James over for dinner, which she does. When watching James meet the Haywards I couldn't help but think of Eraserhead. In both, we get two entirely different, albeit very Lynchian "meet the parents," scenes. While James isn't asked to carve any manmade chickens, the awkward politeness permeates both scenes. There’s a sort of wholesomeness that borders on absurdity. Watching James make small talk in his big boy sweater is about the cutest damn thing that you almost forget how violent and terrifying Twin Peaks can be at times. This is something lifted straight out of the Waltons with it's cheesy Americana and good-natured sincerity. Of course, not everyone is as pleased about this new pairing as Mike and Bobby spot James' bike outside Donna's house.

Meanwhile, Dale and Harry find their way at the Martel residence to speak with Josie about her language classes with Laura. Through body language alone, Cooper deduces that the Sheriff and Josie are an item of sorts, as indicated at the end of the pilot episode. Pete is his usual charming self, offering up a cup of Joe to our boys. We're given another Cooperism as he asks for his coffee "black as midnight on a moonless night." That's pure poetry. We don't learn much from Josie here, other than the fact that Laura used to tutor her English and that she seemed distracted the last time they met. The biggest takeaway from the scene is that somehow Pete accidentally brewed a pot of coffee with a fish in the percolator. This is easily one of the most iconic scenes from the original series. Jack Nance was a treasure, and I will never not feel absolute delight when he comes rushing in just a touch too late- they've already tried the coffee.

Josie is called away for a phone call from the ice queen Catherine who informs her that shutting down the mill for the day cost the company more money than it was worth. After hanging up with Josie, we can see Catherine is in a strange motel, sipping champagne with Ben Horne. They're clearly working against Josie, but it's no secret that neither of them trust one another. Everyone is playing the double secret con, and it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. However, we do learn that the two are on again off again lovers. On the other side of town, Deputy Hawk follows up with Ronette's parents at the hospital. The Pulaskis don't have much information other than the fact that Ronette used to work the perfume counter at Horne's Department Store. As he is leaving, Hawk sees a suspicious one armed man skulking around the morgue. Following his gut instinct he starts tailing this mysterious figure through the dark halls of the hospital. Upon entering a room alight in a trippy dayglo black light, Hawk finds himself alone. Whoever this mystery man was, he disappeared into thin air.

A lot of this episode's theme seems to centre around the relationship between the parents and the high schoolers. Along with her conversation with her own mother, we get a scene between Donna and Sarah Palmer. Sarah, still sick with grief, seems genuinely pleased to see Donna until she sees Laura's face superimposed over Donna's. As she's pulling her closer she gets another vision, this time of a creepy grey-haired man sitting at the edge of Laura's bed. Sarah goes into full-on panic mode in a way only Grace Zabriskie is capable of delivering. Leland rushes in to whisk Donna away from the traumatic experience. In his own home, Bobby is getting a stern lecture from his father, Major Garland Briggs. The Major awkwardly tries to treat Bobby with some tough love, but ultimately misses the mark. Bobby's problems are bigger than anything his poor parents could fathom. The Hornes also experience a bit of domestic turmoil with Ben confronts Audrey about how her conversation with the Norwegians cost their family greatly. But unlike the Briggses, if Ben wanted to understand Audrey's rebellious nature, he only need look in the mirror.

Let's take a moment now to consider Laura Palmer. She was a troubled teenage girl with a drug habit, yes. Add to that being homecoming queen, in Spanish club, tutoring immigrants, caring for Audrey's special needs brother, and even heading Meals on Wheels for the elderly and shut-ins. It's the Meals on Wheels program that brings Cooper and Truman to the Double R Diner, where Laura used to work. We learn that Laura didn't just head the program, she created it. If any fictional characters were gunning for sainthood, Laura would be high on the list. It's easy to see why losing her has wounded the town so completely. The Log Lady approaches Cooper about Laura Palmer informing him that her log saw something the night Laura died. However, Cooper's reluctance to ask the log directly leads to her leaving before relaying the log's message.

Fresh off her shift from the Double R, Shelly returns home to Leo who has just put a bar of soap into a sock. He questions her about the bloody shirt, but she feigns ignorance. He tells her he's going to "teach," her about respecting people's property as he advances toward her with the sock swinging over his head. We can only look on hopelessly as the brutish Leo approaches a cowering Shelly. The scene graciously cuts away, as we know what comes next. The episode concludes in Dr Jacoby's bizarre Hawaii themed office (or maybe apartment, maybe both). Inside a fishtank sits three dried out puffer fish filled with blinking lights like paper lamps. After putting a tape into his stereo he dons a pair of giant headphones revealing a taped conversation from his former secret patient- Laura Palmer. He pulls coconut from a palm tree and settles in to listen to his tape. He opens up the coconut to reveal the other half of Laura's necklace. It appears that Dr Jacoby was the one following James and Donna into the woods.

The contents of the recording are revealing, not just about Laura, but also about Dr Jacoby. Laura's flirtatious nature indicates that we can add one more sexual partner to Laura's list. She mentions how James is sweet but too dumb to talk to her about her problems like Jacoby is capable of doing. But part of the brilliance in the scene is that you can also sense that Laura is acting for Dr Jacoby. Fulfilling the role of a young helpless girl who loves him, so that he may fulfil some role she needs. Whether it be a form of protection or just a soundboard for her problems, she had him wrapped around her finger. So what is this ritual of Jacoby's? Are these the actions of a killer reminiscing over the trophies of his hunt, or a man grieving the real, if not inappropriate relationship he had with a young girl? As the tape continues, we hear Laura talking about a man in a red car who can really light her "F-I-R-E." She continues to make a confession about a mystery man, but the audio drops out, leaving us only the doctor's perplexed face to clue us into what she said. The credits roll as we're left wondering.

Truth be told, I could have written this review without having to rewatch the episode. I try and rewatch Twin Peaks in its entirety at least once every one or two years. However, I am glad I did revisit this one as there are lots of little pieces of minutiae I may have overlooked. More than anything, I was curious to weigh Dunham's directing against David Lynch's, and I have to say, it's not bad. The tone is correct for the series and the emotions are played for real. It's always going to be different because the two directors are different people. But as certain episodes in season two prove, some directors begin to parody Lynch's style, adding weird for the sake of weird. But this early on, it is as though Twin Peaks is a juggernaut of unstoppable creativity. Even the duller storylines take on the energy of the greater mystery. Lynch only directed a handful of the original series episodes, which is why the next episode I'm reviewing is an especially exciting one. Not only is episode two (aka the third episode) directed by David Lynch, but it also begins to introduce some of the more metaphysical elements of the series. You could almost say that Lynch directs the most important episodes, and my god is this next one a doozy.

Well, friends, that's all from the world of Twin Peaks for now. I'll have the next review up soonish, but not before the new Doctor Who review. Speaking of which, it is now less than an hour until it airs! Who else is excited? What a great way to ring in the new year! See you all soon!

[prxttylittle]

“  do you wanna get out of here?  ”, “  i just want/wanted to help.  ”, “  stay with me tonight.  ” :))))

“Do you wanna get out of here?” 

{ v ;; the princess and the moon.

    Prince was surprised when Luna appeared suddenly by his side, asking if he wanted to sneak off with her. A smirk formed on his lips. He appreciated that they were at a point in their relationship where they didn’t insist ‘this is the last time’ every time they sleep together. After ten times of swearing it wouldn’t happen again, at some point they realised that maybe it would. “I don’t know.” Prince shrugged despite having his mind fully made up that he did want to get out of here with her. He wasn’t sure he ever wanted anything more. He looked at his watch. “I’ve got English next class and I don’t know if I can miss it.” He bit down on his smirk when her hand grasped onto his to pull him through the school halls, leading him away despite his pretence of not being sure he wanted to leave with her. “Y’know, Shakespeare and that. Very gripping stuff.” More important than no longer being in denial about their relationship, Prince was actually fairly comfortable to be around her now without barking and snapping every two minutes. He was open with her, even let her see him joke around and be honest when he felt like it. A privilege not many were fortunate enough to participate in. Just as they turned a corner, Prince’s vision landed on Matt and Nick at the end of the hallway, messing around. Prince’s joking died down and he cursed, dragging Luna back. “I’ve got a better idea.” He mumbled, kissing her if anything just to stop her from talking and drawing attention to herself and them. He pushed open the door to the supply closet a few inches away from them, pulling her inside. It wasn’t spacious and the smell of cleaning supplies wasn’t exactly the most romantic but Prince figured it was better than getting caught gliding hand-in-hand around the school corridors together. He pressed her against the wall, one hand on her waist and the other just under her jaw, wrapped around to the back of her neck. When Luna questioned why he thought bringing her in here was better, he realised she hadn’t seen the pair moments ago. He shrugged, kissing her quiet. “Dunno” he mumbled his lie out, his lips going to her neck now, not leaving any marks but being sure to just about waver over crossing the line, loving the feeling of her keening into his touch. “Maybe the smell of window-cleaner turns me on.” He pulled away to gaze at her for a moment. A smile overtook his lips when she rolled her eyes at his joke. Even in the dim lighting of the small room she managed to look so good, he couldn’t believe it. “Maybe its nearer than getting in my car and driving all the way home and I want to be with you right now.” He added, going back in to kiss her so he could avoid eye contact, his hands going to the buttons of her shirt now. “Mostly the window-cleaner thing though.” 

{ v ;; no reason. 

      Jason chuckled lightly when he felt two hands coming around his body from behind. He wrapped his hands around hers and leaned back into her touch. “Hey sweetheart.” He mumbled before finally turning around to face her. He kissed her to say hello, after not having seen her for a bit as he socialised and she probably hid away from everyone here. He chuckled again when all she did was greet him with a pout. “You bored already?” He teased but they’d been here for hours at this point and even he was beginning to grow tired of listening to the people he worked with talk about nothing of significance and he could only comment on the colouring of the paintings in the lobby so many times before it became monotonous. He was grateful she’d even come with him let alone stay this long without complaining about it once. He watched her expression, knowing she probably wouldn’t want to tell him she was bored but definitely eager to leave. It also probably didn’t help that she couldn’t even have a drink to drown out the people around them, like he’d been doing. “Wanna get out of here?” She offered and the way her lip slid between her teeth, he couldn’t even remember the word no. Jason grinned and kissed her again after nodding that he was completely up for leaving. He grabbed their jackets and bid farewell to the people he knew and the new people he’d been introduced to during the evening before guiding his girlfriend out of the venue. “Imagine what it’s going to be like when he comes out, what a great excuse he’ll be– like sorry I can’t come out tonight I’ve got a kid.” Jason chuckled, hand brushing over Iola’s minuscule bump. He paused when he realised that he had said he despite not knowing the gender of the baby. “Or she.” He added as if that was going to make any difference. Jason didn’t want to make it seem that he was hoping for a boy out of fear it came out a girl and he felt guilty for saying ‘he’ every time he talked about the baby. Though, randomly choosing a gender was better than saying ‘it’ he figured. He returned to the topic of conversation. “That’s like--- eighteen years worth of excuses to get out of hanging out with people.” Jason truly was a big kid so it was a wonder how he was going to suddenly turn into a grown up when Iola’s due date rolled around. “Isn't that awesome?” He beamed at her as they shuffled into her car. 

{ v ;; july 17th. 

     When Zayn felt a pair of hands brush over his shoulders, he had no doubts about who it could be. He turned around, his gaze falling on his wife and a smile brushing his lips. He kissed her lightly and chuckled at her offer. “Get out of here? Our kids first parent-teacher meeting and you’re already eager to leave?” Though of course, he wasn’t guilt tripping her. Zayn was teasing. If there was anyone that wanted to leave more than Ari, it was him. These other parents were annoying and Zayn could tell they had some kind of pre-conceived notion due to how well-known he and Ari were. It was to be expected but part of him had hoped they could just be parents here and not the dramatic-fuelled couple from the TV show that aired ten years ago. He was suspicious of that particular group of women in the corner of the room who seemed to watch every single one of he and Ari’s move. Additionally, Zayn didn’t even like the teachers. Leilani was smart, he and Ari both knew it, so it wasn’t as if they needed any advice from the teachers. He nodded. “Yeah babe, yeah I absolutely want to get out of here, we’ve met all the teachers haven’t we?” He looked around. There were a few teachers he didn’t recall speaking to but they’d already made their minds up so he brought his jacket over his shoulder, wrapping an arm around Ari to lead her out, ignoring the stares from other parents as they marched out. Chuckling, the pair braced the cold, winter air. “Maybe you should home-school Leilani. If these people’s kids are half as annoying as they are, maybe having friends isn’t worth normal school.” He joked as they walked hand-in-hand to their car. Even now, years later, each others company was the best either could find. When they were young and living in the GYHAB house, it was almost painful to have to hang out with the randoms that came into the house when they could just hide away in their rooms together. Zayn didn’t want to have an attitude about his kids school but he wished he could do that. When they finally shut the car doors behind them, Zayn let out a groan before he let a smirk appear on his face. He leaned across the gear-shift and kissed Ari, preventing her from starting the car. “Have you ever had sex in the back of a car in the carpark of the school your kid goes to?” He challenged sarcastically. 

{ v ;; katie and leo. 

      Katie crossed her legs, uncrossed them and recrossed them until she felt a hand on her thigh. She looked to Ava, who was demanding she stop fidgeting so much. Katie sighed and tried to relax but she couldn’t tear her gaze away from Leo who was across the room, absolutely flirting with that girl. Couldn’t he at least try to be discreet? She glared at Eli who commented on how indiscreet she was being by staring over at Leo. She scoffed. “I don’t care what he does, alright? He can shag her for all I care.” She finally turned back to the group, forcing all her attention on the drink in her hand, bringing it to her lips and sipping. However, she could only sip for so long, staring into the bottom of the red cup before the drink finally drained and she had nothing to distract her any longer. There was an expectant silence between the group, everyone probably waiting for Katie to do as they all were waiting for and return her gaze to Leo and that girl. She rolled her eyes. She’d do them one better. She slammed her cup down, glaring again at Eli who looked ready to tease her for whatever she was going to do next. “Okay, fine I care. Whatever, fuck you guys.” She grabbed her handbag and marched away from the Kings, ignoring the sound of their laughter. Why did everyone around her have to be related? When did that become her reality? Though, if she wasn’t so jealous she’d have totally indulged them in their mocking. She wasn’t going to admit that now, though. Katie decided not to barge between the blonde girl and Leo, not wanting to make a show. She made her way into the kitchen, filled with guys and girls she recognised from school and of course, booze. Exactly what she’d been looking for. She hopped up on the kitchen counter right next to the glass bottles. With a perfectly-manicured hand, she picked up a bottle through random selection. Her eyes read the label and she smirked. Tequila, her favourite. Some time later, a random guy, addressing her by the pet-name ‘beautiful’, offered to refill her drink while she took singles of tequila. She shrugged, despite how she hated the nickname given to her, and accepted his offer. At least she wouldn’t have to get down. Though, she was feeling quite queasy. Maybe that sixth shot wasn’t the best idea. He soon returned with a rum and coke but just as he handed it to her, a hand took it and pushed him away. Her glossed lips pouted as her eyes landed on Leo. “Oh, so now you want to pay attention to me?” She challenged though it was difficult to be bitchy when all her words strung together. She hiccuped, realising that maybe she was drunk. Leo leaned in close and for a moment she thought he was going to kiss her, her eyes almost flickering shut. “You wanna get out of here?” She realised he was just getting close so she could hear him. Feeling somewhat dizzy, and very much exhausted, she nodded. She wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling his hands on her waist as he lifted her down from sitting on the counter top. She didn’t even notice but tomorrow she would be grateful that Leo grabbed her bag from the counter. Out in the fresh air, Katie was feeling much better. Still plastered, but less sick. Walking through the estates, she started singing and attempted to show Leo her dance moves. A laugh, too loud to be anything but a result of her intoxication, fell from her lips when Leo mentioned that her dad was going to kill him for bringing Katie home in such a state. “I wish,” she slurred as Leo’s arm snaked around her waist to hold her up. “That you had offered to leave with me before my second shot of tequila.” She giggled, her face close to his. She wanted to kiss him, wanted to ravish him even, but she was too far gone and even she knew it. She would just have to accept being taken home to bed and apologising for her behaviour in the morning.

“I just want/wanted to help.” 

{ v ;; the princess and the moon.

    Before Prince had even joined the group he could tell from across the room that Matt had been flirting with Luna. It was something he was starting to pick up on happened a lot and he wasn’t sure if it was something that Matt always did and he never noticed or if the universe was just trying to fuck with his head. He didn’t understand why it made him so mad whenever it did happen, she wasn’t his girlfriend or anything. When he joined the group his suspicions were confirmed but this time he was privy to being in earshot of everything Matt said. It drove him absolutely crazy but he knew he couldn’t say anything. His eyes met Lunas and he noticed her lean in further to hear what Matt was saying to her, a bit unnecessary Prince thought. If he could hear Matt she definitely could, so what was she doing? Letting all control of himself go, Prince snapped, tugging at Matts arm. “Are you looking for a black eye?” He snapped, glaring at his friend who now looked utterly lost. It was a better expression than the suggestive grin he’d had plastered on his lips moments ago. It wasn’t until Matt questioned what he did that Prince remembered that Matt really didn’t know what he was doing wrong. “Nothing.” Prince sighed and let go of him. “You’re just irritating me. D’you not ever know when to just shut up? Give everyone some fucking peace.” He could tell Matt wasn’t even getting an inkling of what was going on which Prince was both glad and still annoyed about. Prince stormed away but as he turned back to glance to see if Luna was going to carry on talking to Matt, some guy bumped into him on the other side when he wasn’t looking, knocking a drink all down the front of him. If Prince was a cartoon there’d be steam coming from his ears and his face would be red, which it probably nearly was anyway. He shoved the guy, unknown to Prince, before punching him in the face, telling him to watch where he was going. The guy, obviously not knowing who Prince was either, retaliated and Nick had to step in eventually, tearing the two males apart after a few digs thrown. Prince didn’t look at anybody as he marched out of the house, wringing his alcohol-soaked shirt with his now blood-covered, bruising hands. He just reached his own flat down the street when he heard his name. He knew the voice. He ignored the voice. Prince went inside and didn’t get to shut the door as Lunas body barricaded it. “Fuck off.” He grumbled. Prince wasn’t even a little bit annoyed by the fight he’d gotten into on the way out, it had actually helped him get some of his rage out. No, the only thing vexing Prince was how much Luna encouraged Matt’s flirting. He went into the kitchen and pulled out a first aid box to tend to his hand. His irritation grew when Luna didn’t fuck off, as instructed, but instead joined him and, at that, started taking charge of mending his hand. He glared at her, arguing that he could do it himself. “I just want to help.” She insisted and he scoffed, ripping the antiseptic cloth from her hand. “What would help is for you not to let my best friend fucking flirt with you like that in front of me all the time.” He snapped before realising himself. His own words threw him but he refused to focus on what they meant, for him and for them. He paused for a moment and, struggling with holding onto the roll of bandage while also loosening it, handed the materials over to Luna to let her help as she wanted, allowing the silence to fall between them as he hopped up onto the counter. If there was any reason in the world to tell their friends about their relationship it would be to stop Matt from flirting with Luna, as playful or as serious as his intentions may be. Though, it wasn’t the first time Prince was storming off when Matt flirted with Luna, so maybe his friends not noticing that and her following him most of the time meant they were too stupid to deserve to know. It didn’t seem like Luna focused on his confession too much, despite how Prince was sure she wanted to, carrying on taking care of him as she started talking about how she used to have to patch up her brother after he got involved in gang stuff. He noticed her go quiet again, not carrying on talking about her brother. Prince sighed and as she finished cleaning up his face, he wrapped his legs around her waist and pulled her in close to him. He didn’t say thanks but he smirked and kissed her. Prince didn’t speak at all, for fear of Luna asking why it bothered him so much when somebody else flirted with her, not that he really understood it all that much either. “If you really want to help” Prince murmured, sliding down from his taken seat on the kitchen counter. “I have a few ideas.” And he nodded towards his bedroom door, smirking playfully. 

{ v ;; no reason. 

     Jason woke with a start, confused as to how or when he’d gotten into the bed. He sat up, rubbing at his eyes with the palms of his hands, groaning tiredly. Jason cursed when he checked the clock on his phone to see what time it was. He rushed out of the bed and over to his desk, cursing when he saw the smudge of the pencil mark and the dampness of the page. He must have fallen asleep on top of the drawing. He cursed again and this time it gained the attention of Iola, who he hadn’t even noticed had been in the bed beside him. He jumped slightly when she said his name, telling her she’d quite literally only dragged him to bed an hour ago after he fell asleep face-down on a drawing. He ignored her to sit back down at the desk, crumpling up the page he had destroyed by sleeping on it. He didn’t remember falling asleep nor did he know how long he’d been out for but he didn’t exactly have the spare time to just lounge around, not this week anyway. He continued to ignore Iola when she insisted Jason get back into bed. She argued that he needed to sleep when he retaliated that he was fine after the third time she tried to talk him out of continuing with his work. He rolled his eyes. “You should have just woken me up instead of putting me to bed like a kid. I’d have probably woke up earlier if I wasn’t wrapped up in bed anyway.” He didn’t mean to snap at her and it wasn’t as if she did anything harmful. She had literally just tried to be nice by putting him to bed. Jason had been in-over-his-head exhausted the previous evening and as behind in his work as he felt, it was kind of surprising he had done anything without passing out the second he’d got home from work. Jason half-expected Iola to get irritated with him and either go back to sleep or leave his apartment. Instead, he felt her hands slide down his arms. It was intended to calm him down, he knew, but it just irritated him even more. If he was thinking, he’d know it was just the sleep depravity causing his annoyance but Jason wasn’t thinking. He was trying to focus. He sighed, trying to be kinder as he kissed one of her hands. “Iola, baby, I love you but I just need to finish this. The studio said if I can bring in a new portfolio before my next shift they would look at it. I have work tomorrow morning so can you just–” He felt her hands fall loose over his shoulders before the touch was gone completely. He thought she was finally leaving him alone until she mentioned he had loads of time to finish it and if he got a few more hours sleep in maybe he could focus better. She’d obviously picked up that the exhaustion was affecting his tone toward her but her kindness didn’t help. He cursed and turned to face her. “What is your obsession with me being tired? Yeah, I am but I need to do this. It’s not as if my dad can buy me these opportunities, I’ve got to work for it. And you don’t seem to care about how fucking over-exhausted I am when you try to get me to sleep with you every five fucking minutes knowing that I don’t want to!” Jason sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He wasn’t sure where his outburst came from and he regretted his words no sooner than they were out of his mouth but he wasn’t in the mood to apologise for it now, nor did he have the time. “Can you just focus on someone other than yourself for once?” After pouring the final salt in the wound, he went back to ignoring her, re-focusing on the art on the table in front of him, partly grateful he had no paint out that she could splash over his half-attempted drawings as she stormed out of the apartment. “I just wanted to help.” She snapped before slamming the door behind her. He sighed and dropped his head on the table. He’d fucked up and the worst part was it was all for nothing because the second the door slammed shut behind her, his muse washed away completely. Now, he probably wouldn’t get his portfolio done on top of the fact that he would have to spend the next three weeks apologising to Iola for his unwarranted outburst. 

{ v ;; july 17th. 

       It was unusual for Zayn to behave the way that he was. Maybe a few years ago, in their early twenties or late teens it wouldn't have been but it was strange now. Zayn had been clean for so long that he hadn’t even remembered how good it felt to get high. Even the slight poisonous-taste at the back of his throat when the line went up his nostril, burning slightly, was something he missed. A part of him had seen this coming, from the way he'd been acting the last few days before he relapsed a few weeks prior to this. Something in him just wasn’t right. He’d not been able to put his finger on it but when he could feel the shakiness, and the scratching feeling leaving his body, he knew. It had been a craving, a lust for drugs seeping into his blood. Now he had broken the seal and his sobriety, and it felt better than ever. He folded up the rest of the baggie and put it into the inside of a hair-gel tub, on top of the peel of paper that separated the lid and gel so the bag wouldn’t get sticky. He returned the tub to his shelf on his side of the sink and exited the bathroom. He frowned when he heard the music playing from downstairs. Was that-- He walked down the stairs, his eyes landing on his wife in the kitchen. “Are you listening to my album?” Though as Imprint played around them, it was kind of a stupid question. He laughed when she told him how much she loved the new album, and he shrugged. He crossed the room to wrap his arms around her, bringing her body close to his. His hands rested on her waist, fingertips tapping against her hips somewhat quickly. Unable to stand still he started singing along to his own music and dancing around, twirling her around just to pull her back to him, chuckling the whole time. In the days before he returned to his old habit he had been quite snappy toward her, and cold. But now, he just adored being around her. He liked this, having her close and dancing around with her. He didn’t even mind that her music of choice to flood the home was his own, which would probably make him feel self-conscious if he didn’t have confidence in the form of white powder flowing burning through him. When she questioned what had gotten into him, he shrugged, a wide smile exposing his teeth, his tongue pushing out. “I’m just happy, I guess. That a crime?” A new song came on the shuffle and Zayn dragged her in while no lyrics played, immediately pressing his lips to hers. “C’mon.” He mumbled, nodding his head upwards to gesture they go upstairs. The lyrics fucked and I want you really felt like they were applying to him right now but he wasn’t going to share that with her as he led her upstairs to their shared bedroom. Zayn rolled out of the bed, feeling slightly anxious. About an hour had passed since he'd done a key. He looked to Ari, his smile matching hers as she beamed at him. “Toilet.” He excused, somewhat rushing into the bathroom. He reached up to his shelf, pulling the hair gel down. He jumped when the door pushed open just as he unscrewed the lid. Should have locked it. His eyes widened but she didn’t seem to pick up on what he was doing, asking if he really needed to do his hair right now. He laughed, nervously, and made some weak joke about keeping up appearances. He went to re-screw the lid and put the tub back but his nerves turned to jelly when Ari took the gel, offering to do it for him. She was teasing him but it was just playful, it wasn't as if she could know what she was doing by taking the tub from him. He couldn’t help his aggression to follow. “No.” He snapped, attempting to pull the tub away, unaware of just how loose the lid was which was all he managed to yank from her. The gel and the little baggie filled with pure white powder both fell to the floor. He tried to distract her by pushing her out of the bathroom but her gaze dropped to the floor and the jig was up, she finally knew why he had been in such a good mood recently. Zayn feared her confiscating the drugs so he rushed to pick them up before she could. “Zayn..” “---What, Arianna? What do you want to say to me? Tell me you’re disappointed? Give out, yell about it?” His hands were beginning to shake and he couldn't stop himself from snapping when she hadn’t even said anything yet, even if he wanted to stop himself, he couldn’t. “It’s just a bit of coke it’s not as if I’m injecting heroine or some fucked up shit, okay, I can stop whenever I want.” He went to march past her, mostly to avoid that look on her face. He shook her off when her hand took his, when she tried to stop him from leaving. “I just want to help.” He paused, feeling the anger of her words seep into his chest. He needed another line, well two, and he needed it now. He shook her off. “I don’t need your help.” He uttered coldly before finally storming away.

{ b ;; aesthetic queens. 

       The grimace on Cassie’s face was difficult to remove as she was kept up by the sound of shouting and banging in the room down the hall. She missed not knowing who Luna was sleeping with. She now knew she took for granted when the ‘mystery man’ used to whisper and tip-toe around the apartment to avoid being caught. Now, Prince didn’t seem to care if Cass heard every word out of the couple’s mouths. And hear everything, she did. She could hear how cruel they were to each other, could hear the raised voices, and was that– was that a fist into the door? She sighed and reached over to pick up her phone, seeing a message from Nick asking if the noise had gotten any better. She considered climbing out of bed and just going to spend the night at his, despite it being 3am, but her thoughts were interrupted when she heard Luna screaming at Prince and the sound of footsteps stomping down the stairs. Prince slammed the front door shut behind him and Cassie decided it wouldn’t be the best decision to leave Luna here alone. She went to her bedroom door, slowly opening it to reveal her very upset-looking best friend in the doorway of her own room. “Luna…” Cassie wanted to make her feel better but when Luna just slammed the door in her face, they both knew it was to avoid Cassie just talking shit about Prince. Which is exactly what she would have done. She let out a breath and returned to bed. At least the noise had died down, even if it meant she knew her best friend was hurting in the room over. A part of Cassie hoped this meant Luna would finally see Prince Jameson for the asshole Cass believed him to be and would finish things but she hoped that so often it just became futile after a while. 

When Cassie rolled out of bed a few hours later to go on her morning run with Nick, she was exhausted, but she wasn’t going to skip out on her jog just because she’d only slept for three hours. “I just don’t understand what she likes about him. He’s fit, whatever, but he has no redeemable qualities.” She panted out her words as Nick pulled her to a stop. When Nick tried to defend Prince by saying he really wasn’t that bad, she rolled her eyes. “He broke your arm because you called him Princess and he’s done a bunch of other stuff I’m sure and you want to call him nice?” She scoffed. How had she managed to surround herself only with people that seemed to see the good in Prince Jameson? Nick tried to go on and say Prince didn’t have it easy but that was an excuse she refused to take seriously. She shook her head and bid her farewell to Nick, carrying on with her run alone. He was supposed to make her feel less like a crap best friend for not supporting her friend’s relationship but he just seemed to make her feel worse, though she knew it wasn’t his intention. When she returned home, Luna was still asleep. Lucky her. Cass shut herself into her bedroom, deciding she deserved a nap. When she woke up a few hours later, the smell of food wafted from downstairs. She wasn’t hungry but she wanted to make sure Luna was okay, also knowing she was probably trying to make up for keeping Cass up half the night with their shouting match. Keeping an open mind, she went downstairs to greet her friend but she was unable to bite down on her opinions at the sight of Luna. She was covered in– were they bruises or hickeys? Her eyes widened when she noticed the purple mark around her wrist, grabbing onto it harsher than she intended. Luna’s attitude in response to Cassie’s concern was staggering. “Are you serious, Luna? He’s no good for you.” She remembered Nick’s defence of him earlier that day. “You know, just because he had a weird childhood, or whatever is wrong with him, doesn’t mean that he can walk around treating everyone like they owe him something for that. It’s not your job to fix him and he shouldn’t treat you like that, it’s not your fault he’s broken but you let him act like it is. I just—” Luna cut her off and she was taken aback by how harsh she was being. They had never really disagreed on anything until this relationship with Prince became knowledge to Cass, so they never knew what it was like to really fight until now. Cass remained silent, turning sheepish as Luna snapped at her. “God Cass, just shut the fuck up and mind your business. I don’t need you telling me who I should and shouldn’t be with. The last time I checked, my mom was dead.” Cassie was surprised, but also hurt by Luna’s words. All she was doing was trying to defend Luna. She certainly didn’t feel like she deserved to be spoken to in the way she was. Out of her control, her eyes watered up but thankfully Luna stormed off before she could see. The fact that he was the reason for the strain on their friendship did no favours for Prince in Cassie’s books. She just hated him more, wishing he didn’t have such a hold over her best friend. “Luna, I just want to help!” She called out but, just like the night before, had the door slammed in her face. Probably going to Prince’s, despite the awful things he’d said to her the night before. 

“Stay with me tonight.” 

{ v ;; the princess and the moon. 

     Prince quietened his chuckle by kissing Luna. It was bold, the two of them in acting like a couple when anyone could walk by and discover them at any moment in this public place. Prince couldn’t bring himself to care though, as he pushed her back against the shelf behind her. When they shifted, she knocked several tins of whatever processed foods aisle they were in, causing them both to laugh quietly, lips still pressed together muffling the sound. He pulled away, smirking. It was kind of embarrassing how brightly he was smiling with her, his nose crinkling as he rested his forehead against hers, but he couldn’t really force himself to hide it. No one was around but her so he figured it was fine. He wrapped his arm over her shoulders to guide her away. They were so distracted by each other, laughing and kissing, that they didn’t notice anyone as they turned the corner, not expecting it when they bumped into someone quite suddenly. His eyes went from Luna to the stranger and just as she apologised for getting in the way, he realised it was no stranger. It was practically like looking into a mirror if he had more wrinkles and was somewhat heavier. The man stood in front of them possessed all of Prince’s features, down to the stubble. Even his basket was filled with the exact same beer Prince carried in the one in his hands. His smile completely faded and the look on his face transitioned into a glare. Kadin had a smirk on his face that made Prince fill with unspeakable anger. He went to speak but Prince ignored him and just pulled Luna away in the opposite direction. “We’re leaving, now.” It wasn’t unusual for Prince to see his dad considering they lived in the same city but he didn’t want to drag Luna into all of that.

    When they got back to her place, he immediately insisted he needed a shower, if anything just to get a few moments alone. He emerged only five minutes later with a towel wrapped around his waist and his hair letting droplets of water fall to the floor. The way Luna was looking at him as he re-entered the bedroom was kind of intimidating. It was as though she was admiring him and despite how they’d literally just been rolling around naked together a few hours ago, he felt somewhat over-exposed. He pulled his sweatpants up to his hips, despite not having fully dried himself and the cotton rolled uncomfortably against his legs. He was about to pull his t-shirt over his head when Luna was at his side, taking it from him. He smirked when her hands ran up his chest. He turned to face her. “Hi,” He whispered, his lips pressing against hers. He felt her hand on the scar on his torso. He frowned but instead of pushing her away, placed his hand over hers. He kissed her more fervently as her fingers traced the slightly pink skin there. He knew she’d seen his scars before, of course she had. She had the common sense not to ask about them. He pulled back when she asked what had happened earlier. A part of him didn’t want to talk about it, didn’t want to dwell, but the other piece of him wanted her to know about him. He was falling for her and he wanted to let her in, not that he’d say that part of it all. He pushed against her shoulders lightly until they fell onto the bed together. “That was my dad.” He admitted quietly, though it was fairly obvious. He brought her hand that had fallen away back to the scar on his front, wrapping his fingers around her index to trace it. “He’s the one that did this to me. And” he pulled her hand to his arm where a smaller, more flat scar was. “This.” A lump formed in his throat. Quietly, he spoke again as he dragged her hand up past the scars on his chest to rest her palm on his neck. “He did all of this.” He was no longer just talking about his physical scars now. His voice was almost inaudible because of the giant lump in his throat, threatening to break Prince at any given moment. “My mum left when Pandora was just a baby, as in just a few months old. She never, y’know, never said goodbye or left a note or anything. I came home from school one day and she was just gone. My dad hit me before then of course but he used to just smack me around a little and it wasn’t really that bad until she left.” He paused as he remembered his childhood. He would come home from school in the afternoon and his dad was usually still asleep but his peace only lasted so long until he could hear the footsteps outside his bedroom door, always knowing something bad was going to happen. He let out a heavy breath, looking down at Luna. “It got pretty, uh, bad when she went away. It started with just him maybe slapping me or shoving me into a wall. Then, he got real mean. Cigarette burns and, uh—” He paused yet again. It was difficult to talk about and he was realising he had never actually talked about it like this. He kept it hidden from Pandora and Matt already knew everything. “He started using stuff to hit me with.” He grimaced, not using the word weapons because that felt too dramatic. “That shit used to hurt so fucking bad, like a bat or his belt or whatever he’d use. Sometimes he even knocked me out, if I didn’t protect my head on time.” Another pause as he reflected. He never really thought about it but as he spoke about it now he was beginning to realise just how unfair it was that he was put through it all. What had he done that was so bad as a child to deserve it? He didn’t know. He looked to Luna and frowned at the expression on her face. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m fine.” His tone didn’t match his words in anyway but still, she kissed him and he was glad she chose that instead of speaking with pity toward him. He sighed into the kiss, cupping under her jaw lightly. He pulled away and a sudden overwhelming sadness that he never let himself feel washed over him. “I think I should—” But before he could insist on leaving she kissed him again. “Stay with me tonight.” The tone of her voice was soothing, her hands on his body was soothing, the touch of her lips was soothing. Prince needed Luna, Prince loved Luna and looking at her now, after sharing with her, he knew it. He nodded. “Yeah, I’ll stay.” His lips reconnecting with hers. He actually felt something of a weight lifted from him that he’d shared his past with hers.

{ v ;; no reason. 

      Jason groaned at her offer. She knew what she was doing to him, and at this point he was sure that nothing she was doing was a mistake. The first few times Iola said something suggestive or got too-close with him, he’d thought he was making it up in his own mind that she was trying to get him to break his ‘not-until-18’ pact, driving himself crazy. Part of him thought he was being too cocky to think she cared that much about him wanting or not wanting to sleep with her to try and force him to change his mind just because she insisted she didn’t care about the age thing. Now, he was sure she was doing it all on purpose. His hands rested on her waist and he smirked up at her as she straddled him. “Iola, babe, are you trying to seduce me?” He teased, allowing their lips to meet. When she repeated her offer, telling him to stay with her for the night, he sighed and shook his head. “You know I can’t do that, and you also know why.” His words fell short when he felt her lips attach to his neck, his breathing catching in his throat. This girl was honestly trying to kill him, well and truly. God was finally striking him down for all his sins– He never thought penance could feel this good. A laugh fell from his lips and he gently pushed her aside so she was no longer straddling him, partly so she couldn’t see (or feel) what her touch was doing to him, the heat from her breath on his neck. She was driving him absolutely wild. “I want to spend the night with you, I do, but I’m afraid I might lose control of myself.” He looked at her and couldn’t help himself as he leaned in to kiss her. That was exactly why he couldn’t sleep with her, because he knew he wouldn’t be able to help himself later when they were alone in the dark. He bit down on his lip, one hand cupping her jaw and the other propping him up on the bed. His eyes searched hers. “I do want you, just so you know. It’s not about that. Saying no to you is so fucking difficult but I just don’t want you to regret anything, even if you call me crazy for thinking that.” His forehead fell against hers as his thumb softly traced circles under her jaw. He sighed. “You’ll be eighteen in a few months and I can promise you, it will--” He paused and let a smile take over his lips. “It will not be worth the wait, I’ll be really bad and you’ll hate me for making you wait for something so crap.” He laughed, alleviating the tension in the air with his attempt to change the pact to a joke rather than focusing on what he was turning down by not staying over with her tonight.  

{ v ;; July 17th.

Zayn knocked on the door, despite knowing that Ari had it unlocked. A grin plastered his lips when she pulled the door open, clearly irritated someone had forced her to get up from the bed to answer. “Hey.” He looked her up and down and his smile widened. “Is that– is that my shirt?” His suspicions were confirmed when he saw the expression on her face, not having expected him surely. “It suits you, now come on.” He motioned for her to follow him, ignoring her when she questioned him on where she wanted them to go. He knew she would follow him, if anything out of curiosity. And follow him, she did. When she asked again what they were doing, he looked over to her. It was dark in the house, most people fast asleep by now. Far be it for Zayn and Ari to sleep at the same time as the other normal folk of the house. “I want to show you something.” He finally answered. Zayn led Ari out to the garden. Zayn knew Ari liked to read and she’d recently told him about a book that she’d been that invested in that he’d read it just to understand. “So, look.” He pointed up at the stars. “Am I making this up or are those stars aligned exactly like it says in that part of the book you lent me?” He watched as her eyes followed the stars, seeing her thinking of the scene he was referring to. He beamed when she agreed with him. “I just thought you’d like it.” He shrugged, his gaze following hers to go back to watch the stars, too. Part of him just wanted an excuse to hang out with her, another wanted her to know he’d taken her book suggestion. Zayn looked to Ari when he heard her teeth clattering, raising an eyebrow at her. “Cold?” And he didn’t wait for her to answer, pulling his sweater over his head and giving it to her. He smiled, he liked seeing her swallowed up in his clothes like that. “My t-shirt and my jumper? I’ll just hand over my trousers and shoes now too, shall I?” He teased but his arm snaked over her shoulder, pulling her into him, and he leaned in close to her. “If I stand real close, we might preserve body heat.” His words ended with a chuckle when she took him up on his words, the pair shuffling together. They stood like that close together for a while long together before Zayn insisted they go back inside before Ari froze half to death. The walk back to her room was typical Zayn and Ari, laughing and joking. As they walked side by side Zayn stuck out his foot in an attempt to trip Ari but when she picked up on what he was doing she ran off from him, causing him to chase her. He caught up with her, both giggling too loud for anyone to appreciate the noise at this hour. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her up to stop her from running. He started tickling her and when she doubled over he was laughing too much to keep his hold on her. He noticed they were almost at her door and let his laughter fall short, a content smile taking control of his lips. “Goodnight.” He murmured, not really making any moves at first. When he finally did go to keep on walking to his own room, he felt her hand on his arm, turning him with no hesitation. He held back a smirk, eyes meeting hers. “Stay with me tonight.” She spoke and the mood from moments ago of them laughing like kids had completely subsided and a tension hovered between them now. He shuffled closer to her, his hands on her waist now. “I’d like that.” He whispered before connecting their lips. 

{ v ;; what if. 

     Ashton smiled sheepishly, hands tucked in his pockets as he cowered at Ari’s front door. She was either going to invite him in or tell him she needed to be alone but thankfully for him, she pulled the door open further and nodded for him to come in. Ashton knew better than to listen to rumours from tabloids and Twitter trends before hearing it from the horse’s mouth but the second his eyes landed on Ari, he knew word of the split was true. It was a kind of heartbreak that not even he was familiar with sprawled across her face that gave her away. He sighed when she guided him into the living room, his eyebrows shooting up at the crowd of pillows sunken in the middle of the couch, making him wonder how long she’d been laying there to make that kind of an imprint. He sat beside her and, unsure of how to behave, took her hand in his. After hearing about the loss of her child, he had tried to both be there for her while also giving her her distance to grieve without putting pressure on her and respecting her relationship. Though he couldn’t stand the way Zayn acted through it all, a part of Ashton always thought he would eventually see the error in his ways, stop clubbing so publicly and finally return to the arms of his fiancée. Ashton couldn’t even imagine having Ari the way Zayn did and abandoning her every night. It just didn’t make sense to him, but he had kept that opinion to himself over the last year. “Ari, I’m sorry. I really thought you two would work things out.” Even if neither of them believed those words, it was what he had to say and he knew it. When she shifted in a way that her head was leaning on his shoulder, he wrapped his arms around her and gently grazed her forehead with his lips, one hand brushing through her hair soothingly. He was here as her friend and that was it. Ashton didn’t think of their split as his opportunity to jump in and he hoped she wouldn’t think that too but he figured she wouldn’t fall into his embrace so easily if she did. When Ari changed the subject by asking him about anything that was as opposite to the topic of Zayn as possible, Ashton indulged her. If anything, to take her mind off of things. After a few hours, he noticed Ari becoming more tired, eyes fluttering shut and more than one yawn slipping from her lips. He shifted to alert her. “Let’s get you to bed, yeah?” He whispered. She was compliant, allowing him to practically carry her up the stairs. He lay her down in the bed and just as he pulled the covers over her, felt her hand wrap around his wrist. He frowned. “Stay with me tonight.” Her words were only half-surprising to him. He shook his head. He wanted to. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, right now.” He tried to keep his features expression-less but as his eyes met hers, he couldn’t hide just how much he wanted to take her up on her offer. He let out a breath and kicked off his shoes, clambering under the covers with her. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back to him. His lips brushed against her hair and he sighed, whispering for her to relax and go to sleep. 

{ b ;; partners in crime. 

    Prince paused just as he was about to enter the room when he heard Matt speaking, telling someone to stay the night with him. He wasn’t eavesdropping, he just didn’t know that Matt wasn’t alone in the house. A frown formed on Prince’s face when he heard the other person agree to stay the night. Was that–  “Pandora?” Prince quizzed as he barged into the room. The sight that greeted him was the last thing Prince had ever expected to see; his best friend and his sister lip-locked, hands all over each other. Prince was taken aback as the pair pulled away from each other. “What the fuck?” He raised his voice but made no movements, despite how his hands had already curled into fists. He wanted to lunge across the room and knock Matt’s lights out, tell him to stay away from his little sister. He’d never gotten violent in front of Panda, and he wasn’t going to start now. “One of you better explain what the fuck is going on, right now.” He glared at Matt. What the fuck was he doing kissing his sister and asking her to spend the night? Prince had always thought of Matt as a brother, he was family to Prince. He thought Pandora felt the same so the idea of them getting together was almost somewhat disgusting to Prince. There was also the added fact of both the age difference and the fact that one was his best friend and the other his sister. It just felt wrong to Prince. His shock only grew further when Panda took hold of Matt’s hand and explained to Prince that they were together and had been for a few months. “And you can’t tell me who I can or can’t date either.” She snapped with an abrasive tone and honestly Prince understood why she was acting like that. The reaction he wanted to give was probably the one they were expecting. He could tell by Matt that he was expecting a fist to the face. Prince opened his mouth to speak but shut it again, unsure of what to say. He sighed. “I know I can’t, Panda, and I’m not going to. Are you–” He frowned looking between them. “Are you serious about this? Him?” He gave Matt a glance before focusing on Panda again. Prince felt uncomfortable when she put a hand on Matt’s shoulder before she went on to say that she loved him, at which point Matt chimed in, agreeing. “Love?” Prince chuckled but they seemed serious, taking him away from his laughter. A frown formed on his face as he realised exactly what was happening; his best friend and his little sister were dating. It horrified him. He let out a breath. “Fine. I’m not your fucking dad, I can’t tell you what to do. If you want to be together, that’s up to you guys. I guess if you say you’re in love, I can’t say anything.” He shrugged and then his glance flickered to Matt. “But if you hurt her I will fucking kill you, that’s a promise mate.” With that, Prince marched off. He wasn’t about to argue with them if they insisted they were serious about each other but he also wasn’t ready to sit around and celebrate them as a couple. As he made his way out of Matt’s home, he still couldn’t wrap his brain around the idea. 

[freedomfighterposts]

Mornings. Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano x Genderless Reader.

Reyna had long ago found that she had a love/hate relationship with mornings. She hated them because it meant that she was forced out of bed to do menial tasks like; allow extra toilet paper for cohort three or break up a fight between a legionnaire and a Huntress of Artemis/Diana. However, Reyna had grown accustomed to forcing herself out of bed for these tasks. She simply loathed this part of the morning, however she hated with a passion the other aspect of the morning. It meant having to leave her precious baby. Yes, the great, unemotional Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano had fallen for someone. At first the Roman Praetor had been worried about falling for the dangerous game of love again. But after eleven months of peace, adoration and a surprising amount of surprise kisses, Reyna decided that she had made the right choice. Reyna’s deep seeded hate for mornings appeared one morning as she woke up. Reyna’s eyes fluttered open slowly, a light yawn escaping her plump lips as he legs stretched down to the foot of the bed. The gilded purple covers of her bed felt soft and warm at Reyna’s touch. In this moment, everything was perfect. Birds chirped outside in the warm summer breeze of July. A cloudless sky gave way for Apollo’s sun chariot to spread its rays to the mortal world below. Reyna’s body was warm and lazy, despite her usually ever-present professional exterior, Reyna was often a big teddy bear behind closed doors. A lazy smile formed on the Praetor’s face as she felt someone shuffling beside her. Yes, it had been the first night where Reyna and (Y/n) had decided to sleep together. But the pair wholeheartedly agreed to not perform any extremely intimate acts. The most the two did was kiss… a lot. Reyna felt as if she was addicted to (Y/n)’s kisses. Their full lips felt naturally soft against Reyna’s. Reyna had once tried to slip her tongue inside (Y/n)’s mouth, however this resulted in the Daughter of Bellona receiving the silent treatment for the rest of the week. Reyna didn’t hold it against the child of Hercules though. (Y/n)’s body curled into a fetal position, trying to stay as warm as possible. (Y/n)’s back was pressed against Reyna’s side in an attempt to draw heat from her. Reyna’s smile turned from lazy, into one of adoration as her eyes lingered on (Y/n)’s form. (Y/n) had worm a pair of pajama bottoms with a theme of Lion King. The pair had gotten quite a laugh out of that. (Y/n) also wore a pajama shirt of just plain silver. Reyna however, was more outgoing and comfortable with their relationship. True she had felt guarded and against it at first, but the child of the God of Strength had worn her down. Due to this, Reyna simply wore her undergarments to bed, much to the embarrassment of (Y/n) who wouldn’t stop blushing. But now, in the morning, Reyna wanted nothing more than to simply lay here with (Y/n). However, there were still things that needed to be done. Especially after Gaea’s attack on the camps. Even several months after the seven Heroes of Olympus had defeated the Earth Mother, things were not back to normal. Jason’s incessant badgering for new temples gave Reyna more migraines than Octavian. Usually, Reyna slept next to the edge of the bed so she could quiet literally, roll out of bed in the morning. But she had wanted to be next to (Y/n), and now she was in the middle of the large, king sized bed. (Y/n) turned around, still sleeping. (Y/n) wrapped their arms around Reyna’s waist, a smile tugging at their lips as (Y/n) laid their head against Reyna’s exposed back. Reyna allowed herself a small smile, she bent down and kissed (Y/n)’s forehead gingerly before flinging the covers off herself and stepping from the bed. What Reyna did not prepare for, was (Y/n) waking up. “Reyna?” (Y/n) mumbled sleepily, rubbing their eyes lazily. (Y/n) had felt the disturbance from Reyna flinging the blankets away. “Sorry baby, I didn’t mean to wake you.” Reyna’s soft, melodic voice made (Y/n) feel warm inside. (Y/n) reached out with a hand and clasped Reyna’s hand. “Don’t leave me” (Y/n) whined dramatically. Reyna bubbled out a laugh but silenced herself quickly. “I can’t stay my Flos Pulcherrimus. I have work” Reyna’s heart shattered into a trillion pieces when she saw the tears forming in (Y/n)’s eyes as a pout wobbled on her face. (Y/n) sniffed, trying to keep the tears in. “Fine” (Y/n) spoke, not daring to say more. (Y/n) rolled over so that Reyna was facing (Y/n)’s back. “Flos Pulcherrimus. Don’t be like that” Reyna spoke softly, worried that if she spoke any louder (Y/n) would disappear before her eyes. “Sadness doesn’t look good on you.” But (Y/n) still refused to meet Reyna’s face. Guilt and sadness hit Reyna like one of Jason’s lightning bolts. The pain of making (Y/n) so sad was worse than anything Reyna had felt before. She would gladly face against Orion again if it meant that (Y/n) would be happy. However, Reyna is a duty first love life second kind of girl, so with a bitter sweet kiss to (Y/n)’s cheek, Reyna left the cabin she and (Y/n) shared while at Camp Half-Blood. The Heracles cabin at Camp Half-Blood wasn’t the most loved cabin nor was it the most looked after. Most if not all Demi-gods detested the God of Strength. Even (Y/n), who was normally the sweetest and nicest person around, didn’t like the immortal son of Zeus. Its foundations had been made haphazardly and it was only at the command of Chiron that the children of Vulcan and Hephaestus began reworking the cabin so that (Y/n) wouldn’t nearly be killed by a falling beam in their sleep. Reyna knew what Heracles had done that really ticked (Y/n) off. Usually, the gods and goddesses claimed their children on their thirteenth birthday with a holographic projection of their symbols above the child’s head. Grover had brought (Y/n) to camp when they were fifteen years old and it took the anger of Perseus Jackson and several other key Demi-Gods to finally find out who (Y/n)’s father was. Unfortunately, no one was exactly happy. Especially after (Y/n) learnt from Percy and Annabeth about what Heracles had done to Zoe Nightshade. The temple of Hercules at New Rome also remained deserted. It reminded Reyna of the Neptune temple before Percy had been made Praetor. Old, moldy fruits and nuts sat at the pedestal, cobwebs covered all the corners and pieces of stone crumbled from the lack of attention. Reyna knew it was a sore subject to talk about Heracles in front of (Y/n) so she stayed far away from the subject. Whenever someone talked about how Hercules did something bad, (Y/n) would do nothing to defend him. What Reyna did not know, was that as she left (Y/n) alone in bed that morning Reyna would be in some deep trouble for a long time. Reyna walked into the mess hall at exactly twelve O’clock. After a morning full of paperwork and boring talks with architects and even a talk with Chiron regarding the Mars/Ares inter cabin competition. So, when it was time for lunch. Reyna was more than happy to eat something with (Y/n). However, when Reyna walked over to (Y/n)’s usual spot she found no child of Heracles in sight. Confusion crossed over Reyna’s face as she sat with her friends, the Heroes of Olympus. “Yo, Reyna what’s cracka lacking?” Leo asked cheerfully, Reyna didn’t acknowledge the son of Hephaestus’ childish remark. “Have any of you seen (Y/n) recently?” Reyna as the plate before her filled with sandwiches. “Not that I can think of” Offered Annabeth from beside Percy and Piper. “Oh, I saw (Y/n) at the archery range this morning” Offered Frank. This made sense to the daughter of Bellona, because (Y/n) hated using the naturally inhuman strength gifted by Hercules. Instead (Y/n) favoured the bow, which Reyna knew she disliked because even Jason Grace had been impressed by the way (Y/n) had used an imperial gold combat axe. “Yeah, although (Y/n) did seem really upset. And that’s putting it mildly.” Piper added “Yeah, they just left me hanging this morning.” Percy mumbled as he ate a double decker blue pizza. “Yeah but we all know how… delicate… (Y/n) can be” Hazel defended and her words got Reyna thinking. “Delicate… Oh, by the gods.” Reyna cursed herself silently as she stood, taking her plate of sandwiches with her. “You’ll have to excuse me. I must fix a mistake” With that, Reyna sped walked out of the Mess hall. The Praetor of the Twelfth Legion briskly walked through the newly formed Greek/Roman camp. She passed hundreds of Demi-Gods as she made her way to the beach. Reyna knew that (Y/n) simply adored the ocean. Apparently, (Y/n)’s mother was an open water swimming coach and so (Y/n) and their mortal family often went swimming in the ocean. Reyna’s eyes scanned the golden beach carefully, waves crashed gently across the shore. A evergreen tree grew at the edge of the beach, where grass turned to sand, its branches stretching over the waves. Hidden below the branches, Reyna saw the hunched over form of (Y/n) (L/n). Reyna felt the sand shift beneath her feet as she discarded her sandals. The soft, foaming waves caressed Reyna’s toes as she sat down next to (Y/n). The pair sat in silence, Reyna simply content with being next to (Y/n). “I thought you had work to do” Reyna heard (Y/n) mumble beside her. In response, Reyna scooted closer to the child of Heracles. “I did, I still do. But, I noticed you weren’t at lunch so I brought you some food” (Y/n) looked down at the plate of sandwiches nestled in the sand at her side. The child of Heracles picked a sandwich filled cheese and ham, with only slight hesitation (Y/n) began nibbling on the food. After a while all the sandwiches had been eaten by the pair. “I’m sorry for this morning (Y/n)” Reyna spoke sincerely, not wanting to hurt (Y/n) any more than she already did. “No. It was my fault. I was being selfish and wanted you to myself. I should have known that I couldn’t have the great Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano to myself. Especially since you’re Praetor.” Reyna scowled at the use of her full name but said nothing. The pair of demigods just stared across the never-ending, never-beginning ocean, peaceful silence enveloping them both. “You know this is usually the part where you say it isn’t my fault then we kiss and make up” (Y/n) said breaking the silence. Reyna had to bite her tongue hard to force her laughter down. Instead she appeared stoic and serious. “But it is your fault.” Reyna said bluntly, causing (Y/n)’s happiness to drop. “I am a Praetor of the twelfth legion. I oversee the daily routines of over hundreds of demigods, even more now thanks to you Greeks.” Reyna’s heart broke a little as (Y/n) curled into a sitting fetal position, Reyna saw tears threatening to spill from (Y/n)’s eyes. And so, she wrapped her significant other in a tight embrace. Resting her chin on the top of (Y/n)’s head. “However, you are still far more precious to me to leave you alone. Flos Pulcherrimus.” Below Reyna, (Y/n) sniffed a little. “What do you mean?” (Y/n) asked. “I mean… That I think Frank can allow me to sleep in a little later, so long as my baby’s happy” Reyna nuzzled (Y/n)’s neck making the younger demigod blush, (Y/n)’s mouth opened to speak but words quickly turned to moans as Reyna nipped her ear lobe. “Let us finish this in your cabin.” Reyna continued huskily. As Reyna thought back to that fateful day, she couldn’t help but smile. The thought of the huge make out session her and (Y/n) had shared that day was enough to make her extremely happy. So yes, Reyna hated mornings. But she loved them because the look in (Y/n)’s eyes when (Y/n) saw that Reyna was still here was greater than any gift the gods could ever give. Speaking of which, Reyna felt the body next to her shift its position. (Y/n) uncurled from a fetal position and laid their head against Reyna’s covered bosom. Reyna wrapped her toned arms possessively around (Y/n)’s shoulders, letting the sheets fall down into their laps. Reyna’s fingers danced through (Y/n)’s bed hair. (Y/n) could feel the softness of Reyna’s fingers causing their eyes to open slowly. “Good morning Flos Pulcherrimus.” Reyna greeted warmly. A smile graced (Y/n)’s lips, their eyes closing once more. “Good morning to you too αστέρι μου” Although Reyna was not fluent in Greek, (Y/n) and Annabeth had taught her more than enough to know the cute pet names (Y/n) called her. “You have your thinking face on… What were you thinking about?” (Y/n) asked rising from their lying position to sit next to Reyna, both their backs being supported by the wall of Cabin 61. Reyna smiled at the person she adored most. “Nothing kind one. Nothing at all.” She replied sweetly.