#leo valdez character development

[valewritessss]

I wish I could get my Leo Valdez solution too. Like, if I’m feeling left out, I should just get a gf/bf right? Because that definitely solves everything much more than learning to love myself and being okay with who I am. Right, Rick?

[bajaja-blast]

finally finished this fucking book

it took me almost a year because it’s so hard to get through oh my GODS

[somewhereincairparavel]

People don't talk enough about the fact that the moment annabeth truly started respect Jason was the aftermath of the incident in ithaca. After Jason came face to face with his mom's ghost trying to lure him into gaia's trap.

This was not only a pivotal Jason moment but a huge stepping stone in annabeths character development.

She was able to compare Jason's situation to Luke's, and realised how truly noble Jason was, since he could've easily ended up like Luke considering the familial issues they both had, but didn't. Annabeth always worried in MOA that jason would turn his back on the team, but He didn't give in to the remnant of his mother's temptation of evil, even after all that he's been through. Which caused her to understand that jason is very trustworthy and is like the last person to betray anyone.

A part of me wonders that annabeths real reason to mistrust jason is only partly because he is Roman, and mostly because he bore some sort of resemblance to Luke, which was quite painful for her since she trusted luke only for him to backstab her. This may be a stretch, but it's a Lil theory I had.

’Annabeth took a shaky breath. ‘No other right choice, maybe, but ... a friend of mine, Luke. His mom . . . similar problem He didn’t handle it as well.’

I feel like, based on her tone when she talked about luke to Jason here, this is also the moment she truly realised that she shouldn't have put luke in a pedestal like that, even after the evil stuff he did. She realised that Luke could've changed, but he chose not to, and chose revenge instead, to me, this is the moment she FINALLY came to that painful conclusion about Luke, many many books later. Bc even in lost hero, annabeth seemed very wistful while talking about Luke to Jason (I mean, jason even sensed nostalgic attraction from her tone, so there's that).

I also feel like that's the moment annabeth was freed of her doubt of Jason's intentions. We know that she was very mistrustful of him during MOA and I feel like she always had that lingering doubts up until this moment tbh. But based on what she witnessed, she realised that Jason was truly a good person with a good heart with genuine morals. A hero through and through. Which is what made her admit to Apollo that "Jason was truly one of the best of us" a VERY high praise coming from a child of Athena, who's fatal flaw is hubris.

[valhallavalgrace]

How are you adjusting to the whole Norse mythology situation?

LEO: I’ve mostly been bugging some of the older einherjar, and Hunding, a little bit, to figure this place out. Do you know how cool it is that some people have been here since the industrial revolution?? There's no way that I'm the first of my dad's kids to make it here. I just don't know who to talk to about it.

((Leo's coping mechanism re: Norse mythology is just hating himself more bc of course he doesn't belong in his own afterlife. but he won't admit that to anyone bc he doesn't know who can be vulnerable with.))

prev ask

[calikitters]

unpopular opinion perhaps but logical by olivia rodrigo is insanely caleo coded

(derogatory)

[xx0yeet-everything0xx]

ok but give me the word and i will rewrite the hoo series and i will make it so much better

[stormfirebeauty]

Listen, was Leo getting a goddess girlfriend at the end of the series a good or effective solution to his many problems and insecurities??

No of course not.

If that realistically 100% what a teenager would do??

Yeah ofc. If a hot goddess trapped on an island that only I can rescue fell in love with me and wanted to travel the world with me when I was 16 I would’ve been like bet trauma and therapy and talking to my friends about how I feel can wait let’s kiss

[scaramarii]

"Like they were dead stars"

FANFIC TIME WOOOOOO

this is a wip

*** means different chapter. The pov may change. It isn't limited to Leo and Jason lol

● means new event

title is actually a reference to how one character is described and how i'll end the fic

TW: death, swearing, child ab*se, underage drinking, my bad attempt at graphically describing gruesome shit (y'know, maybe i should make an ao3 account)

***

Leo hadn't meant to get himself stuck in a different dimension. He most certainly did not mean to mess with a magical book (who the hell puts a magical book where innocent demigods can reach it?). And he did not mean to get kidnapped by a bright pink and blue dragon and its rider, who seemed to be attached to their cloak and mask.

"So..." Leo tried to think of something to say. "Do you normally kidnap random demigods?"

The rider shook their head, but provided no other answer.

"Antisocial much?"

They sighed, took a pad of paper out of their cloak pocket, wrote something, and passed it to Leo. They'd written "fuck yourself."

"Okay, you don't like to talk. That's fine. But you don't need to be like that!" Leo could tell that they were grinning under that mask.

The dragon aimed itself downward, and landed on cool blue grass. Its rider slid off and offered Leo a hand. He pushed it away and fell off of the dragon.

***

"Woah." Leo stared at the house in front of him. It was black, with a slight multicoloured glow to it. The biggest window was shaped like an eye, and was stained green and blue.

The dragon person looked at Leo and shrugged. It's not as impressive as its library, they signed, tilting their head.

"Still cool."

They flipped Leo off.

●

Leo's captor/random person dragging him to a random house in the middle of nowhere knocked on the door.

"Hi!" The person who answered had curly white hair, vitiligo, and moth antennae. He was wearing a pastel blue sweater and blue jeans.

"You look cool," Leo blurted.

The guys blood red eyes had a soft kind of look to them. "Thanks." He looked at the dragon guy. "Who's your friend?"

Leo could practically feel the person rolling their eyes.

His name is Leo, they signed. How did they know his name? He hadn't told them.

"Oh." The moth person smiled at him. "I'm Silk."

"Hi, Silk." Leo had a feeling that Silk was the type to get jealous.

"Silk, let those two in," someone said from inside.

"Sure."

As Leo walked inside, he tripped over a shoe, and would've fallen on his face if the person who'd practically kidnapped him hadn't caught him. "Thanks."

A woman who looked like Reyna but more athletic looking and taller and with pointy ears and a burn scar under her eye poked her head around the corner. "Hi."

Hey Raine, Leo's companion signed.

"Who's that?" Raines ears twitched.

Before his kidnapper person could sign anything, Leo elbowed them. "My name's Leo."

"Well, welcome to Terria, Leo. I'm sure Myst randomly kidnapping you gave you a good look at this hellhole."

"Mist?"

"M-y-s-t. That's not his real name, but everyone calls him that when people who don't know him are around. Also, please take off your shoes."

"Okay."

***

Jason couldn't believe that he'd done that. Flying on a dragon? That wasn't new. But randomly kidnapping his friend? That was.

"Something tells me that you're gonna be stuck here for a while." Raine picked at her jeans. "I guess I could let you stay here for a bit."

"Okay then," Leo said, standing awkwardly.

Raine poured herself a glass of wine. "Make yourself at home. If you make a mess, clean it up. If you break something, that's fine, and Silk, for fucks sake, stop glaring at Leo."

Jason slipped out the door, and took off his mask. He glared at its stupid smile, and attempted to crumple it up. Of course, that just made his hand hurt, so he threw it to the ground and stomped on it instead. "I'm so fucking stupid," he grumbled as he trudged through the woods. "I should've just left him alone. I shouldn't have done anything." Jason started cursing in Latin. His voice was full of resentment. "I messed this up. If he finds out, he's gonna hate me."

"Do you need a moment?"

Jason flinched. Silk was standing behind him. "Uh, kinda?"

Silks antennae twitched. Jason couldn't help but find him a little attractive, but that didn't mean anything. "Alright then." Silk slashed his hand across the air, and disappeared.

Jason sighed. It was bad enough that he'd come back to life in a different world. He didn't need to lose his friend. Well, he didn't know if friend was the right word. I'll figure things out. LATER.

●

When Jason got back to the house, Silk was interrogating Leo.

"How did you get here?"

"Book."

"Why would you mess with a book?"

"I have no fucking idea. Oh hi Myst."

Jason refrained from telling Leo the truth. It's not gonna hurt to hide something from him, he thought. Jason waved and ran upstairs.

***

Within the span of two hours, Leo had:

Messed with a magical book.

Got transported to a dimension called Terria.

Been kidnapped by a person named Myst.

And interrogated by a moth person.

Not as weird as some other things that had happened to him, but still weird.

While Myst was running through the woods and being a menace, Raine had given Leo a history lesson on Terria, and how his very existence was a crime and shit like that. He had a feeling that she'd get along with Annabeth.

"So, demigods are illegal here," Raine had said.

"Huh?" Leo had been confused, because he'd never heard of a law against demigods.

"Basically," Raine had waved her hand around as if to add a border to her statement. "Terrian demigods are way too powerful. The monarchy was scared of being overthrown. So they made a law to kill all Terrian demigods on sight."

"But I'm not Terrian."

"Humans can't tell the difference, and no one actually follows that law. I'm proof of that."

That had been the end of the history lesson. Afterwards, Raine had led him to the room where he'd be staying, and left him alone.

The only thing on Leo's mind was Jason. Jason fucking Grace. He'd found his way into Leos heart and stayed there, despite him being dead. It didn't help that he'd broken up with Calypso just last week.

Suddenly, a paper airplane hit Leo on the head. He looked up. Myst was standing in the doorway.

You okay? Myst may not have been talking, but he managed to convey his concern. He still had that creepy mask with the weird smiley face and his black cloak on, despite it being like 70 degrees in the house.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why are you suddenly being so nice?"

Myst shrugged and left the room. Weird, but okay. Leo had so many questions, but he had a feeling that Myst would just flip Leo off.

***

Jason sighed as he sulked in his room. He hated not knowing what day it was, or even what month it was.

Ah yes. The consequences of my actions. How nice. Whatever. Complaining wasn't going to do anything.

He wanted to despise whoever brought him back, but he couldn't bring himself to hate them. He had no idea what their intentions were.

Jason stared out his window at the starry sky, the moons shining brightly. He sighed, and went to sleep. Almost immediately, he was plunged into a nightmare.

●

He was only two when it happened. He only remembered all the details because of how horrible it had been.

Jasons mother had just gotten home from a long work day. She was not in a good mood, as usual. Just 30 minutes before, Jason had tried to eat a stapler, and she was not happy about it.

"WHY WOULD YOU TRY TO EAT A GODDAMN STAPLER?!" Beryl Grace yelled, her face twisted with rage.

"I-I'm sorry," Jason said, his vision blurry with tears, and the cut on his lip throbbing.

"Do you think I raised you to be an idiot?" His mothers voice was deathly calm. "Do you think I had you just for you to pull this shit?"

Jason tried to respond, but his voice failed him.

"You piece of shit. You want me to look bad, don't you? What kind of mother would let her kid hurt himself?"

Jason vigorously shook his head. "I'm sorry!"

His mothers fists clenched, she grabbed the collar of Jasons shirt, and threw him to the ground. "Get out of my sight. I don't want to see you until dinner."

"But-" Jason had started to get choked up again.

"Are you talking back to me?

"N-no!"

Beryl grabbed a glass on the counter, and threw it at her son. It sailed over Jasons head and shattered against the basement door behind him.

●

Jason woke with a start. He was shaking, and tears were already streaming down his face. The scar on his lip stung as if he'd just gotten it.

"It was just a memory. I'm fine. There's nothing to worry about." Jason tried to comfort himself, but his words sounded like lies. He felt a lump in his throat as he tried to calm himself down. Deep breaths, deep breaths. Everything is okay. That is definitely not a lie.

"Shut up me." Jason couldn't help but feel a little scared. He didn't like feeling so vulnerable in a place where he was supposedly safe. He'd had dreams like that before, but who could he talk to? He wasn't able to tell anyone. He was supposed to be strong, and he couldn't show fear. And at Camp Jupiter, they saw feelings as weaknesses. Anyone who was expressive and emotional would be shamed, no matter what was going on. So Jasons only way of coping was destroying small insignificant things. Notebooks, boxes, pencils, etc. It didn't help, but it was all he could do.

Rain started to fall from the sky, with no warning whatsoever. That had been happening whenever Jason got moody. He started whispering the words "I'm fine" over and over again, like a chant.

Lightning flashed.

Thunder rumbled.

The rain got heavier.

And soon, Jason could barely hear his own thoughts over the pouring rain.

***

Leo woke to the sound of thunder and rain. He sat up and checked the time. It was 5:32 in the morning. Leo realized that he'd already forgotten what day it was. When had he gotten here? Oh right. July 22nd.

He got out of bed and snuck into the hall, making as little noise as possible.

Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice, saying "I'm fine" over and over again like a chant. It was hard to hear over the rain, but he knew who it was.

Leo tip-toed over to where the voice was coming from, and knocked on the door.

Leo could hear cursing in a different language after a moment of silence. Eventually, Myst opened the door.

"Jason, I know that it's you."

Myst looked around, and then pointed to himself.

"Bitch, who else would I be talking to?" Leo reached up and snatched Jasons mask, his hood falling off.

Jason looked almost unrecognizable. He was thinner, paler, his hair was longer with some darker strands, and his ice blue eyes had a dim look to them, as if they were dead stars. The only things Leo could recognize were the scar on his lip, and the quiet sadness in his eyes. He looked as if something had scared him.

"Hey." Jasons voice was hoarse. He did not seem to be in the mood to talk.

"When did you come back?"

Jason winced. "I... kind of lost track of time..."

"Well, so you don't forget, it's July 23rd."

Jason looked bewildered. "Well shit."

"What?"

Jason inhaled. "I MISSED OUT ON PRIDE MONTH."

Leo couldn't help but laugh. "Dude, you died and came back to life, and that's what you're worried about?"

"Shut up, Valdez."

***

Jason rapped his fingers against the cool metal bedframe. He couldn't dwell on old memories. It would just break him.

Just focus on the rain, he thought. It'll make you feel better. So obviously, he focused on anything but the rain.

Something about his mother made him anxious. He knew she was dead, he'd even seen her ghost. But just the memory of her sent him into to fight or flight mode. He'd been seeing her in his dreams ever since she'd abandoned him. Jason used to joke about why his mom had left him, but that got him one too many looks of concern or pure disgust.

Suddenly, there was a knock on his door. Jason attempted to regain his composure, but ended up cursing in Latin as he threw his cloak and mask on.

When he opened the door, Leo was standing there. Jason didn't know why, but something about the other boy made him anxious. Jason wasn't scared of Leo, but something about that guy made him feel slightly panicky, and he had a strange urge to kiss him on the lips.

"Jason, I know that it's you." Leos chocolate brown eyes had a glint to them, almost like he was trying to drag all of Jasons secrets out of their hiding place.

Jason looked around and then pointed to himself. He knew Leo was talking to him, but he wanted to waste as much time as possible before Leo could pull off the mask.

"Bitch, who else would I be talking to?" Leo then snatched the mask off of Jasons face, making his hood fall down in the process.

Shit shit shit shit shit. Jason felt even more panicked. I'm gonna say something stupid. Gods fucking damn it. "Hey." He tried to sound happy, but clearly, his voice had other plans.

Leo stared up at him, a stunned expression on his face. Jason probably looked like a mess, but he didn't care. He hadn't looked in the mirror in... well, he didn't know.

"When did you come back?" Leos tone make Jason wince.

"I..." He tried to shove that panicky feeling down, but just made it worse. "...kinda lost track of time..."

"Well, just so you don't forget, it's July 23rd."

Jason took a moment to process that. "Well shit."

"What?"

He inhaled, deciding that saying something dumb was better than freaking out right in front of Leo. "I MISSED OUT ON PRIDE MONTH."

Leo laughed, filling Jasons chest with even more of that panicked feeling.

"Dude, you died and came back to life, and that's what you're worried about?"

"Shut up Valdez."

Leo grinned. "Something's telling me that you missed me."

Jason looked away. "No... I actually enjoyed being away from you." He had a feeling he was blushing.

"Why is your face so red?"

Jason suddenly felt overwhelmed. He was panicking, wondering if he would slip up and admit his feelings to Leo. "NO IT ISN'T," he yelped, and slammed the door.

●

Jason set the hair dryer down. "I am so going to regret this later." He sighed, and left the bathroom.

When he entered his room, Leo was there, arms crossed.

"Did you eat anything?" Leo sounded unbelievably stern.

Jason once again felt a little panicked as he tried to respond, but no sound came out. He settled on shaking his head.

"So you would rather dye your hair pink than than eat something."

"Uhhh," Jason said. He couldn't figure out what to say without sounding stupid. (And he'd dyed his hair red, not pink.) He decided to just use sign language. Sorry that my priorities are off, he signed, earning an amused grin from Leo.

Leo rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Just go get food," he said, tapping his leg.

Jason shrugged. Fine.

***

Leo attempted to build up the courage to confront Jason about why he'd slammed the door on him, but he was even more confused about why Jason had looked so shaken. It could've been a bad dream, or a memory, or...

"Leo."

Leo looked up from his little invention that he'd been disassembling and rebuilding over and over again. "Yeah?"

"Okay, you're alive." Raine closed the door.

Leo still couldn't get over the fact that she was 6'2. How did she survive without hitting her head against doorframes? And who decided they were called doorframes? And why was it called a door?

Leo smacked the side of his head. He looked at the thing he'd made. It just looked like a mess of metal and gears with a handle. In other words, it looked like shit.

●

The day went by quickly. Jason had been interrogated by the demon known as Silk Erdmann about how he and Leo knew each other. Raines girlfriend had visited. And Jason had burned himself while making mac n cheese.

Leo stared at his room. It felt weird to be in a different world where the sky was orange and there were three moons.

A knock on his door startled him.

Leo opened it, and Jason was waiting with... wait, was that Nico?

"Hey Leo." Jason nudged Nico.

"Hi." Nico did not seem to appreciate Jason doing that, and pushed him away.

"Sooo, uhhh..." Leo really had no idea what to do. "Come in I guess?"

Jason practically dragged Nico in. "Nico needs better people skills," he said.

"No."

"Oh shut up."

Leo snickered. "So, what's up?"

"Nothing much." Nico picked at his nails.

Jason smirked. "Guess what I got," he said in a sing-song voice.

"Oh for fucks sake Jason, stop talking like that."

"What do you have?" Leo tilted his head and pulled on a strand of his hair.

Jason reached into his backpack and pulled out a bottle of liquor. He grinned mischievously.

"Oh my gods. Jason, why do you have that?" Nico raised an eyebrow.

"No questions!" Jason looked impossibly close to laughter.

"Something tells me that one of us is gonna get drunk and pass out." Leo drew a circle on the floor with his finger. "Spoiler alert, it's not me or Nico."

Jason laughed. "Oh please. I'm better than that."

"Do you two want to be left alone? Because I can leave if you want."

"Nico, shut up." Jason playfully pushed Nicos shoulder.

"Not until you tell Leo."

"Tell me what?"

"It's nothing." Jason smiled, but there was something off about it. Almost like he was anxious about something.

●

It turned out that Leo was right about Jason getting drunk and passing out.

Leo found a pack of UNO cards under his bed. "How 'bout we play UNO?"

"What the heck is that?" Jason and Nico asked in unison.

"Nico has an excuse to not know what it is, but how have you never heard of it?"

Jasons face reddened. "The wolves weren't exactly sitting down and playing cards."

Leo explained the rules to him and Nico, holding back laughter as Jason asked more and more questions. "Can you explain that again?" "What the heck does that mean?" "Why do you have to say that?"

After what seemed like millennia, they finally understood what the game was about. Nico was constantly winning, with Jason jokingly insulting himself. After Nico won for the fifth time in a row, Jason started laughing until his face was red and he was lying down and covering his face.

"There is no way you're already drunk." Leo tilted his head at Jason.

In one quick move, Nico snatched up the bottle, only to discover that it was emptier than it should have been. "Jason. Did you seriously just drink over half of this shit?"

Jason grinned sheepishly. "Maybe?"

"Oh my fucking gods." Nico shook his head in exasperation.

"I have a problem." Jason said "problem" like how Wall-E said anything. He started giggling. Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, former praetor of Rome. Giggling. Leo hadn't heard of anything so strange.

Jason sat up and leaned against Leo. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. He tried to calm his breathing. He's drunk. It probably doesn't mean anything.

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Something tells me he likes you."

Jason made a weird sound in the back of his throat. "Noooo I don't," he said.

"Dude, you're drooling."

"No I'm not," Jason said, clearly drooling. He nestled his head in the crook of Leos neck.

"Should I leave?" Nico had a glint of amusement in his eyes.

"If you want, I guess." Leo ran his fingers through Jasons hair.

Nico smiled, then winced as if smiling caused him physical pain. For all Leo knew, it probably did. "I'll leave you two be." Nico stood up, and left the room.

Afterwards, there was a moment where Leo wanted to kiss Jason on the forehead, but he wouldn't appreciate that. Suddenly, Jason spoke.

"Mmmmmmmmmleo."

Leo looked at Jason. "Yeah?"

"Leo." Jason said Leos name like it was the most important thing in the world.

"What is it?"

Jason waited for a few moments. "I love you."

"W-what did you say?" Leo felt slightly panicked.

"I love you, Valdez." Leo could tell that Jason was smiling.

"I..." All this time, Jason had liked him? Then again, it could've just been him saying things randomly. "Jason?"

Jason did not respond.

"Dude."

Still no response.

Leo rolled his eyes, moved, so Jason was lying on the floor, and looked at the blueprint he'd sketched out a week prior. He turned on the lamp on his desk, bathing the room in a dim orange light. As he was about to sit down, he heard Jason mutter something about cats in his sleep. Leo decided to give him a blanket.

He stared at the notes he'd jotted down. Leo had been in a rush when making it, so his handwriting was messy. The blueprint was a smaller version of Festus, but without all the pointy and dangerous bits, so Harley would be able to play with something other than the tools scattered around the Hephaestus cabin. Maybe I can use this in a different way... Leo had a feeling that the brightly coloured dragon in the yard would want a friend.

"Hey Jason?" Leo said it loud enough to wake Jason up.

Jason groaned. "Whaaaaat." His tone made it sound like Leos voice had interrupted a nice dream.

"What's the dragons name?"

Jason grumbled something about Leo being annoying. "Her name's Mochi." He passed out again. Leo rolled his eyes.

He carefully dragged Jason into the bed. The floor wasn't very comfortable, and Jason would probably wake up with a neck cramp and a hangover if he stayed on the floor.

Leo then realized how weird that sounded. "Shit. Percy's a horrible influence." He brushed the thought aside and started working on the dragon.

As he worked, his eyelids felt like lead. Leo had to force them open so he wouldn't fall asleep. Eventually, that failed, as when he was done with the mini dragons skeleton, he barely managed to move it out of the way before he passed out.

***

The first thing Jason was aware of was his splitting headache. The next thing was that he didn't remember falling asleep in a bed. He sat up, feeling slightly dizzy. He hadn't had any nightmares, which made him uneasy. It was like the calm before a storm.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead." Leo was leaning against the doorframe, an amused grin on his face.

Jason stared at him. He suddenly realized that he was in Leos room. Meaning he was in Leos bed. "Did you-?" He couldn't finish the thought.

Leos expression went from grinning to amused surprise. "The floor isn't really the best place to fall asleep." His warm brown skin, chocolate brown eyes, and elfish features made Jason feel like fireworks were going off in his chest.

"Ummm..." Jason hoped his face wasn't red.

"Are you okay? You look like you're about to pass out."

Jason got up quickly, only to stumble. He blinked the spots out of his eyes. "I'm fine."

Leo snickered. "Yeah, okay Sparky."

"I haven't heard that in a while." Jason suddenly felt a rush of adrenaline. "Did I say anything weird last night?"

Leo looked away. "No, you just sounded crazy."

"Leo."

"Shut it."

"Repair boy."

"Fuck yourself."

Jason had the urge to say "only if you watch," but he refrained from saying it.

"Cat got your tongue?" Leo asked smugly.

"Ha! In your dreams!"

●

Raine needed time to scheme, so Leo, Nico, and Jason got the house to themselves. For some reason, Nico decided that he was just going to pace around and periodically look out the window, as if he was nervous about something.

"Dude, why are you acting so weird?" Leo pulled a wrench out of his tool belt and started to spin it like a pencil.

Nico looked at Leo like he'd just set off a bomb. "It's nothing."

Jason tried to tune them out. It wasn't like he didn't want to hear them talk, it was just that he had a headache, and everything seemed louder than normal. He grabbed a pair of headphones off the coffee table.

Of course, trying to tune everything out was a mistake.

After a few moments, Jason heard a crash. He jumped up, tossed the headphones onto the couch, and rushed to where the noise came from.

When he got there, Leo had a look of shock on his face.

"What-?" Jason then looked at Nico.

Nico seemed to have been hit by a vase. The right side of his face was bleeding. There were ceramic shards scattered across the floor. He sat up, clearly dazed.

"Oh gods!" Jason grabbed Nico by the shoulders. "Are you okay?" Dumb question, but he wasn't really thinking.

"Yes?" Blood dripped from Nicos mouth.

"No you aren't. Leo, make sure he doesn't die."

"O- Okay," Leo stammered.

Jason rushed to his room. When he'd come back to life, he'd been messed up so badly that it made it possible for him to use technology without attracting monsters. Of course, it also messed up his ability to fly. He grabbed his phone and called Raine.

"Pick up, pick up, pick up." Jason felt a surge of adrenaline and a lump forming in his throat as he looked at the phone.

After what felt like hours, Raine picked up. "What's going on?"

"A vase fell on Nicos head and I don't know what to do," Jason said, his heart pounding.

"Did it break?"

"Yeah."

Raine cursed in Terrian. Jason was pretty sure she'd just cursed her mothers name. "I'll be there in a second." She hung up.

Jason quickly put down the phone, and ran downstairs. Nico was sitting down, holding a wet paper towel on his face. Leo was pacing around, clearly confused on what to do.

"I called Raine. She'll be-." Before Jason could even finish his sentence, Raine just appeared without any warning.

"Jason, clean up the mess that the vase left. Leo, you help him. Nico, I might have to knock you out."

Nico shrugged. "I've done that to myself before."

"I'm not even gonna ask."

Jason grabbed a broom and paper towels. "Leo, come on." Jason grabbed Leos hand and dragged him over to where the vase hit Nico.

***

After that mess, Raine left the house after making sure Nico would be okay. That left Jason and Leo alone.

Jason was clearly upset by what happened. He was fidgeting, and picking at his gloves. Leo didn't blame him. He was also shaken from what happened. But there was still one thing he couldn't understand. When the vase had hit Nico, it looked like someone had thrown it.

"Did- did you see exactly what happened?" Jason resorted to tapping his leg.

"No, I didn't." Leo glanced at Jason, attempting to avoid staring at his lips.

"Alright," Jason said, his voice shaky. Then, the unthinkable happened. Tears filled his eyes, streaming down his face. He buried his face in his hands, sobbing.

Leo flinched at that. He couldn't remember ever seeing Jason cry. Sure, he occasionally got teary-eyed, but those moments never lasted long enough for anyone who wasn't studying his face closely enough. And Leo had experience with staring at Jasons face.

"I should've been paying attention!" Jason sounded like a dying cat. He started yelling some things in a language Leo didn't recognize. He assumed that the other boy was cursing.

"Jason." Leo waited for Jason to calm down.

He just kept sobbing.

"Jason." Leo put a hand on his shoulder. "What's been bothering you?"

Jason looked at Leo. "What- what do you mean?" he asked through tears.

"When I found out you'd come back, you sounded like you were trying to calm yourself down after something. What was it?"

Jason looked around. "I- well- it's just- I had a nightmare," he stammered.

Son of a bitch. "I've both seen and heard you after nightmares, and you do not act like that. Tell me the truth."

Jason had a look of shame and embarrassment on his face. "It was about my mom." He sniffed. "But... that's not everything."

"What do you mean?"

"I... well, you'd make fun of me."

"No, I wouldn't. Tell me."

Jason took a few deep breaths. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm sure." Leo looked Jason dead in the eyes. Jason seemed to be shaking.

"Oh my gods..." Jason looked at his feet, as if he was ashamed for what he was about to say. "Leo... how do I say this? You take up half of my thoughts. You... well, you're you. And I know you don't feel the same way, but..."

Leo knew where this was going. But he wanted to hear more of what Jason had to say.

"But I need to tell you this. I can't keep this to myself anymore." Jason took a deep breath.

"What is it?"

"I love you."

"That sucks for you," Leo blurted out.

Jason groaned. "Someone kill me." He smacked his forehead.

Leo felt like screaming, crying, laughing, and or smacking Jason in the face all at the same time. He had a feeling he needed time to himself so he could set himself on fire without burning the house down.

"Leo?" Jason didn't look at him. "You okay?"

Leo bit the inside of his cheek. "Yeah. I- well- I like you too." His nose caught on fire, and he quickly patted the flames out. "But, I feel like it's a little too soon to actually start dating. I literally just broke up with Calypso."

"Oh." There was a hint of jealousy in his voice. Jason had always seemed a little weird when Leo talked about Calypso, but he'd dismissed it as him wondering why his relationship with Piper didn't work out the way Leo and Calypsos had.

Mochi suddenly poked her head through an open window. She snorted, looking at Jason.

Jason sighed as he got up. He walked towards Mochi, and set his hand on her snout. "Hey, Mochi." He scratched her chin, and she purred like a cat.

Mochi snatched Jason up by his hood. She tossed him outside, and shut the window with her tail.

***

Jason face planted on the grass when Mochi tossed him outside. He sat up, brushing a few leaves out of his hair. He heard the window snap shut, and Mochi nuzzled his head with her snout.

"Hey, Mochi." Jason mustered a smile.

Mochi smacked him in the face with her right wing.

Jason flinched away, and snickered. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry! I won't leave you alone for that long again!" A puff of smoke escaped Mochis nostrils. She snorted, a proud expression on her face.

Jasons smiled faded. He scratched Mochi under her chin. It felt like there was soap in his eyes. He blinked more tears away, holding back a sob. Nico could have been okay if Jason had been there. He wanted to melt away into a lonely puddle, remembering the gash the vase left on Nicos face. Best case scenario, he'd be blind in his right eye permanently.

Mochi sniffed at Jasons face, and curled up beside him. What's wrong? she seemed to be asking.

Jason forced a laugh, and buried his face in his hands. He groaned, and wished he could go back to when he'd been disguising himself. "Myst" seemed less like Jason and more like another life. Hell, it kind of was.

Mochis head suddenly snapped up. She snarled, smoke curling from her nostrils.

"Is something wrong?" Jason stood up, scanning the area. He didn't see anything other than trees and glowing blue soul flowers.

He then heard a sound like a twig snapping. Jason slowly drew a dagger from his belt, careful to not drop it.

He silently approached the woods, gesturing for Mochi to stay put. Jason paused as he heard bushes rustling. He turned in the direction the noise was coming from, and gripped his dagger tightly. He dashed into the forest, hoping he wouldn't get lost again.

●

Jason hopped over a log and hit his ankle, cursing in Latin at the sudden pain. He paused to look around, listening for any sudden noises. All he could hear were crickets chirping and the sound of those strange creatures he'd found on his first day in Terria.

[im-a-creator-im-a-sandwitch]

Leo & Rosamie's Quest to Win the Harvest Trials 🌾

Zeus chooses Leo, Rosamie, Lavinia, Miranda, Connor, Sherman, Julius, Steve, Octavian, and Michael to compete in the once-in-a-century Harvest Trials, where they must survive six dangerous quests, and whoever ranks last in the final trial will be sacrificed to ensure good crops for the next hundred years.

Everyone expects Leo and Rosamie, the camp underachievers to lose, and Octavian and Michael, the camp overachievers, to win, but in the end, it's Leo who shockingly ranks first and he must sacrifice the loser - Octavian. But Leo can not bring himself to kill Octavian no matter how much he despises him.

Julius uses this opportunity to unleash his true mother, Gaia, who opens a sinkhole to kidnap the competitors and starve the planet as revenge for humanity no longer worshipping her, but Leo, Rosamie, and Michael manage to escape and embark on a desperate quest to rescue their friends.

(Sunbarer Trials + PJO Mashup)

[aezuria]

uptown girl!

"she's been living in her uptown world, i bet she's never had a backstreet guy" —billy joel

content: mortal au!leo valdez x reader

╰┈▸ info: stuck-up reader (she gets character development later), cursing, reader is ~18, early 2000s core

notes: stella finally posted a fic !? (pls tell me if u enjoy i need validation 😔)

this has got to be the worst way to start summer ever. first, your morning was ruined by a bird shitting all over your car window—not a mess you had the time nor the patience to clean. then, on your way to pick up your friends for some much needed girl time, your car had the fun idea of breaking down. great. it left you on the side of the road, dialing up your father. which, when you think about it, really wasn't your fault! your precious ride just spontaneously combusted or something. nothing to do with the fact that you've crashed the front about seven times since january. after all, you'd gotten them fixed! it should be the mechanic's fault. or maybe, this car was cursed!

but of course, your dad just had to disagree. apparently it was his "last straw."

you winced away from the phone's speaker as his voice burst through. "you have been so ungrateful lately! when you asked for that car, i bought it for you! i looked over the fact that you don't even have your license yet! all i asked was for you to take care of your things!" he cried. from the tone of his voice, you could imagine the creases dug into his forehead. okay, now you felt bad. just a little.

before you could apologize, he finished with, "you just wait until i get there, young lady."

leave it to him to take away your guiltiness.

"dad!" you watched in horror as the truck towed your sleek red baby to god knows where. you turned your stricken expression on him, hoping to elicit at least a little bit of sympathy. but it seemed like his mind was made up on this one. dammit.

he crossed his arms sternly, putting his foot down. "let's go. we'll talk more in the house."

"-so you want to ship me away to some place crawling with bugs and creeps for the rest of the summer!?" you screeched along with the chair as its legs slid across the kitchen's tile floor.

your dad raised his hand in a placating gesture. "now, now, just until your car is fixed. it might not even be a whole month." he shrugged. yeah, real comforting. "and the city's a nice place. we lived there when you were young, remember?"

"no, i don't remember." you snapped. you did remember, but that brought on memories you'd rather not have right now.

he sucked in a breath. "alright then. it won't be so bad. we still have that apartment, and i got it cleaned up recently. it'll teach you some responsibility and independence." he nodded, satisfied with his decision.

you opened your mouth to snark at him again, but he continued, "and you won't be completely alone. there's a nice young man who will be fixing up your car, just down the street from the apartment building. i asked him to show you around when he has the time. and you'll have your phone, so make sure to call me, okay?" his strict behavior gave way to the soft spot you knew he had for you.

"...okay," you agreed reluctantly. once he really made up his mind about something, there was no changing it, so there was no use in arguing.

he smiled, patting your shoulder gently. "great. now pack your bags."

"be sure to buy groceries, and do the laundry, and clean every so often-" your father rambled on and on. if he was this worried, why wouldn't he just not go through with it? and why was he acting like you couldn't do basic chores!? it's not like you ever did them, but they couldn't be too hard, right?

"i get it dad." you rolled your eyes, staring out the car window. the buildings were all drab, painted in browns and grays, without a single bright color in sight, save for the red stop signs.

he pulled into an empty parking spot in front of the building. your insides recoiled. you swore it didn't look this... dilapidated all those years ago. or maybe you just had better taste now.

"we're here! looks like it's got a lot of.. character." he tried to cheer you up, but even you could tell he didn't think to check how it looked. it would've hurt too much to do so.

your lip scrunched in distaste. "i can't spend a single second in there."

"don't worry, it'll be over before you know it." with one last reassuring smile, he turned and left.

the apartment itself wasn't too bad, it was all cleaned up, just as your father had said. it smelled faintly of lemon cleaner, pillows fluffed and spritzed. your room was cold despite the warmth that came with summer. the pristine sheets were unfamiliar against your skin, as if you were tucked into a hotel bed. the sound of tire rolling against pavement never ceased, people had places to go, places to be even in the dead of night. a draft through your window made you shiver. you should close that in the morning. you curled in on yourself like you did when you were little, only this time there was only the unfeeling fabric to hold you, instead of the warm, long forgotten embrace no one could quite replicate.

you cringed at the shoddy place your phone had led you to, and looked up at the peeling paint sign that read: valdez mechanics. how charming. you even debated touching the rusty doorknob, but it swung open before you could turn it. which would be nice, if it didn't almost smack you in the face.

"watch it!" you hissed, side-stepping in time to see a boy your age walking through. his hair was a mess, and there were grease stains all over his face and clothes. his fingers were tap, tap, tapping away at his leg, to the rhythm of the song blaring inside. you think he'd be cute if he wasn't so dirty.

“sorry ‘bout that!” he laughed sheepishly. he stared at you for a moment too long before asking, “you here for the thunderbird?”

“yes,” you said shortly.

he chose to ignore your clipped tone, flashing you a smile. “come on in then, yeah?”

you followed him into the tiny shop, already wanting to leave. the place smelled of oil, and you could barely find a clean place to sit on. there were tools thrown everywhere, the floor sticky with dried up grease.

“i’m leo, by the way.” his voice snapped you out of your judging thoughts as he led you to the back. you finally saw your car, propped up with the hood open.

“y/n.” you barely glanced at him as you rushed over, examining the damage. “so? what’s wrong with her?”

he gestured with the wrench in his hand—when’d he get that?—and pointed to the engine. “well that’s all busted up, so i’m gonna have to build a new one for ya. i’ll do you an oil change too and-“

“yeah um, how long will it take?” you interrupted, giving him a smile you did not want to have on.

“i’d say three to five weeks? depends if i have any other stuff that comes in so…”

three to five weeks of your summer wasted away here? when you’re supposed to be having the best time of your life before college!?

“are you serious? can you get it done sooner? i can pay you some more-“ you reached into your purse.

“whoa!” he caught your wrist. his hands were clean now, must’ve wiped them on a rag. “money won’t make me work faster, honey.” he let go and shrugged. “sorry.”

honey? “well then what will? cause i need to leave as soon as-“

“some help, maybe?”

you blinked at him, utterly flabbergasted. “you want me to help you? the person who’s paying for all this?”

“technically, your father’s the one paying,” leo pointed out. “and y’know. you don’t have to help, of course. it just might make it go a bit quicker…” he trailed off, dimples poking through as he tried to hide a cheeky smile.

you huffed. “what do i have to do?”

”i am not sticking my hands in those.” you defied, shaking your head firmly.

leo scoffed, flapping the gloves around. “come on! this is the cleanest pair i have!”

"put this here?" you asked, shoving a part that you forgot the name of into an empty space.

"hm?" leo looked up from his fiddling, jaw dropping in horror. "no no no!"

"oh i know how to do this!" you exclaimed as he gave you a screwdriver. "my dad always said 'lefty loosey, righty tighty.'"

the boy nodded. "yeah! try it out." he pointed to a loose screw.

you successfully tightened it (to the right), giving him a proud smirk. "see?"

"yup." leo grinned at your enthusiasm, even though it was the most basic thing ever. "try and tighten the rest. i'll be right back."

a loud clatter made leo jump from across the repair shop. he rushed over to you, finding the parts that were supposed to be screwed together in complete disarray. "uh, maybe you shouldn't help..."

"really?" you deadpanned. "i hadn't noticed."

"sorry." he laughed. "scooch."

you pursed your lips. no one told you to "scooch" before. but you moved over anyway.

"wanna keep me company?" leo slid his gloves on and began putting the contraption back together.

no, you thought. but you didn't have anything better to do other than wander the city like a clueless idiot. and you hated looking like an idiot. "fine."

the shop was quiet, save for the occasional clanging as leo worked on the engine. his rambling was cut short as he focused on his work, something you didn't know he could do.

"nice car you got here. i've always wanted to drive one of these." he patted its side appreciatively. "where'd you buy this?"

scratch that. maybe he could only shut up in two minute increments.

"don't know. my dad bought it for me." you looked around, not even bothering to hide your boredom.

"right." leo laughed. you found he did that a lot. "must be nice."

your eyebrows knitted in confusion. "i guess?" what did he mean by that?

"i hate it here. it's so boring!" you complained over the phone. cooking dinner had been an absolute mess. “and that leo guy is so weird.”

"give him a chance, will you? he could show you around town, maybe teach you some manners…” you father muttered the last bit.

"what?"

"nothing! all i'm saying is give that boy a chance. who knows, he could be a great friend."

“‘great friend’ my… foot.”

[erosjournal]

*checks the date* oh oct 11 already passed. in honor of national coming out day, we now have my argos 2 queer headcanons (in my au-ish)! i already posted something similar but here u go!

percy jackson

cisgender guy, but breaks gender norms/hj 💪

he/him (they/them r fine but he answers he/him when asked)

bi with a fem leaning. (i believe luke was his gay awakening. i dont ship them, but like nico and percy, yk?)

dating annabeth :)

annabeth chase

cisgender girl, but also breaks gender norms

she/her (also okay w/ they/them)

pan ! (i believe she likes people purely based on their personality and their intelligence, not on gender)

demiromantic (like how her crush on percy developed, and sorta w/ luke)

dating percy

jason grace

cis guy (he has slight internal “toxic/fragile” masculinity bc hes struggled to be the male leader people expect him to to be tho :/)

he/him

bi with a fem leaning (takes him a while to realize bc be thought he had to like girls… until percy/leo came along 👀)

either dating or crushing on leo (i say either bc u can interpret it as you please. personally, i ship valgrace so yea)

piper mclean

gender non-conforming / demigirl ! (she feels relatively feminine, genderwise not expression, but not fully)

she/they (he/him is eh, they prefer not to use he/him)

queer (mostly attracted to females, but some men slip in. she prefers queer and to not label their sexuality)

expresses their gender fluidly (some days masc, some days fem, some androgynous. she also enjoys shorter hair)

dating or crushing on reyna :)

leo valdez

masculinely gender non-conforming as well (he is mostly masculine, but doesnt think cis male is the best label for his gender. he’s not gender queer though)

he/him (they/them is fine as well, but NO she/her)

poly ! (not polyamorous 😭 basically, he’s attracted to mainly guys and girls with no preference in there)

dating or crushing on jason

hazel levesque

cis girl (even though shes cis, she is now the biggest ally in the 21st century. after learning abt it from nico, she wanted others to feel safe as she did now that there wasn’t as physical racism, idk if that makes sense but whatever)

she/her (i mean, technically they/them is fine but like, she doesn’t introduce herself with them… yk?)

straight and ace (no, shes not ace just bc shes 13-14 yall, people stay ace)

dating frank !

frank zhang

cis guy (same as jason, has a lot of internal “toxic/fragile” masculinity since he was never a super buff and leader typa guy)

he/him

straight and ace as well :)

(btw, his body never physically changes !! )

dating hazel :)

bonus !

nico di angelo

demiboy (or trans masc, or cis. there is no in between)

he/him (they/them r fine as well)

gay (idk what else to say man)

dating will

reyna avila ramirez-arellano

non-binary / gnc / gender queer (their genders more like: im not a girl, im not a guy, but other than that idgaf)

all pronouns (they/them is prefered, but they’re fine with she/her and he/him)

lesbian (into any non-men. idk wtf was going on w/ jason and… ig percy)

dresses very androgynously (lowkey always in armor anyways)

crushing doesnt feel like something reyna would do… but dating / ROMANTICALLY ADMIRING piper

(ALSO! I USE SHE/HER PRONOUNS ON MY OLD FICS FOR THEM, I WILL START USING SHE AND THEY :DD)

also guys, im not using this as an excuse to make all the pjo characters queer. this is just how i interpret and hc them in honor of coming out fay (oct 11) !!

[daughterofapollo-official]

Leo Vadez son Hepheastus.

So when we are first introduced to the Character Leo Valdez we are informed that he was sent to Military School by the court.

But Uncle Rick never told us the crime!

Leo Valdez is Anorexic. Now I do say this out of malice. In fact I find find him to be one of the most impressive demigods.

But if you pay attention to how he is written it’s pretty obvious.

Leo will forget to eat unless you eat with him. And you have to tell him you’re hungry.

Leo can go three days without eating and not get hungry.

He fits in Georgie’s clothes and she is a 7 year old girl.

Leo wears layers and long sleeves and pants. Even in the summer. And keep in mind, Leo was born and raised in south and Wild West. Texas and Arizona. The boy spent the first 15 years of his life in desert with said attire.

He doesn’t show it. But his very insecure about his body type. He uses the terms skinny and scrawny all the time. Becuase he’s heard it as a way to refer to him so often that he just accepted it. He says it too take away its power. But it doesn’t work. It still hurts when people point out his body type.

Leo is used to not eating. He is part of Disney’s dead mom club.

No one cooked for him growing up. That’s why he is such a good cook. He had to learn.

But who has the money for groceries all the time? Not him. So he developed the habit of not eating to often. And things snowballed…

Leo Valdez has had many run-ins with the law.

Under age use of substances. Yes, multiple. His main vice? Cigs. Lights them up with his own finger tips. Who cares if you’re homeless when you look cool, right? (And no I do not think smoking cigarettes is cool but for a Hispanic misguided teenager who already has a criminal record and no family. It’s pretty clear he’d look at the older kids in his social group smoking and he’d smoke too.)

Breaking and entering. Sometimes he needed a place to hide.

Shop lifting. It’s not because it was fun. He just needed to.

Truancy. He just didn’t give a shit about waisting his days at school in a classroom. And with his grades? With all his learning disabilities and lack of a support system. There wasn’t much hope anyway.

He’s grades all suck. So there was no point in trying.

Fights. He tried to avoid them. It’s not like he went out looking for them but he ain’t no bitch. You punch him he’ll punch back. And leave a Leo Valdez hand shaped burn on yo face!

Leo was a foster kid he wasn’t put into some fancy orphanage he was put in the foster system. Meaning he had mini foster homes, but no one adopted him. I mean, why would they when he first got there? He was already eight years old and then he hit puberty and then he was a teenager and he was brown. No one wants a brown kid. And he was a teenager he masturbated no one wants a teenager. Everyone wants babies white babies. So obviously. When ever his white foster moms would try to encourage him or tell him he could do better in life if he just tried he’d call bullshit and sneak out to smoke cigarettes and drink beer with his friends.

He’s been in the back of a police car more times and he can count because his foster parents thought he was missing.

It doesn’t really put much effort in with foster parents at a point. He did it first when he was 89 1011 by the time he turned 12 he stopped giving a shit.. he hated when his foster parents would Taco Bell and attempted to make him feel welcome in their home. at a certain point he realize that no matter how hard he tries to connect with these people how hard he forgives them for their stupid misguided decisions she’s never gonna fit in and they’re never going to adopt him so he stopped trying.

He’s an amazing mechanic and an absolute comedian, but other than that, his greatest talent is wiggling out of windows and with his little body, it is easy. And climbing, jumping over wall (Mexican joke, not intended, but a happy accident)

Mid he is bored, which he is. He will leave.

[physalian]

Character Types: Femme Fatales & Comic Relief

These two have nothing in common except the one thing I hate about them: By design, they exist to fulfil one shallow purpose, so I’m lumping them together.

—

Comic Relief

Characters that only serve one purpose in the cast stick out like a sore thumb. “Comic Relief” characters exist solely to be funny, as if the rest of the main cast is incapable of humor, and that this character is incapable of any serious moments. Instead of distributing different flavors of humor—sass, dry wit, jokers, pranksters, dark humor, dad jokes and puns—the writer comes up with their grumpy group of heroes, then I guess thinks “oh I need somebody funny to cut some of this seriousness”?

But on top of that, as this character exists just to be funny, there’s usually comparatively less development and rich character nuance for the comic relief over the other heroes. They get whatever crumbs are left over after every other more important character has eaten.

If they do have some tragic backstory or any serious moments, they are still the one desperately trying to cut the tension and either annoying other characters and the audience in the process, or being quite tone deaf in their endeavors.

The one everybody hates: Jar Jar Binks

The one some people hate: Olaf

The one that subverted himself right quick: Sokka

Prequel apologists, step aside. The writing is still terrible and Jar Jar even in Clone Wars features in episodes (“Bombad Jedi”) I routinely skip on rewatches. Maybe he’s funnier for little kids? I haven’t seen every piece of SW media out there but I can’t recall a single moment where Jar Jar has any moment of depth or seriousness and he’s frequently the most inconvenient element of any mission he winds up on.

Honorable mention for C-3PO, far less irritating but still largely a bumbling idiot (I love him, to be clear, he’s just always in the wrong place at the wrong time). The droid factory shenanigans on Geonosis comes to mind, as well as when he was so useless, he was riding around in a sack on Chewie’s back because he got disassembled in ESB.

Jar Jar is funny, but he’s only funny, and most often incompetently funny.

Olaf’s dark humor is what saves him for me personally. “I’ve been impaled” still makes me chuckle no matter how many times I see Frozen. Not only that, but he does have the big heart moment of the movie with Anna. He has zero tragic backstory, he was basically born yesterday, but he’s not a one-dimensional cardboard cutout.

Another honorable mention to, like, 8 out of 13 Dwarves, specifically Bombur, in the Hobbit trilogy. A combined 9 hours of movie and they chose to fill it with Mirkwood River Rapids™ instead of making up development for the heroes.

Sokka, on the other hand, looks like he’s going to be the sarcastic comedic relief, but he becomes so much more and wastes no time doing it. Compare him to the version of him written by the Ember Island Players. He’s been essayed about to death and there’s nothing more I can say about him that hasn’t been said before so I’ll leave it here: Sokka (and Toph) is comedic relief done right.

The whole cast is funny when they want to be, serious when they have to be. No one character gets designated “the funny one” or “the hopeful crying one” or “the buff one” no matter what Fire Nation propaganda wants you to think.

Final honorable mention to Leo Valdez. He has a ton of depth and nuance to him, but is very much "the funny one" of the Seven. Comparing Percy's trip to Ogygia with Leo's and one was a rather sullen "you could have this peaceful escape if you left your destiny behind, but you won't, noble hero" and the other was a bizzare romcom that, to me, wasn't funny, and just created a whole new set of issues surrounding Calypso's character.

—

Femme Fatales

Femme Fatales exist to look pretty, kick ass, pretend to be strong female characters, and be something for the male characters and male viewers to guiltlessly lust after because she’s asking for it. This is not a badass woman protagonist. The classic depiction of this trope is the shallow accessory to a male character, a seductress meant to either manipulate the hero into straying off his moral high ground, or to pit him against another man.

So.

Black Widow.

In Iron Man 2, you can argue that she’s supposed to be shallow. She plays it very close to the chest as a spy and has no reason to let any other characters, especially Tony, behind her mask. It’s not her movie.

In this movie specifically, though, she is this trope exactly. The bodysuit, the perfect hair, the whole changing in the back of the car, her provocative fighting style. She is eye candy that can kick ass, the only thing missing is an attempt at seducing Tony but you'll still catch him looking. That’s the femme fatale.

Extremely popular in 80s and 90s action movies as an accessory to the male protagonist but they've existed as long as film has. If he doesn’t have a damsel in distress to save, he has a sexy leg lamp to woo.

But Black Widow shows up in another decade’s worth of movies and dies to motivate the boys (and because her life matters less than Clint’s because he’s got a family while she can’t have kids), only getting a solo film after they killed her off, but in that time, they gave her plenty to do.

Natasha has many moments with depth, most of them in Age of Ultron and Winter Soldier, but she does have them. She laughs, she cries, she jokes, she’s smart and resourceful in moments where she doesn’t have a male character to impress, she has strengths beyond her physical attributes, and she has flaws. And, she and Steve Rogers miraculously weren’t written a romantic subplot in Winter Soldier.

On the one hand, Natasha knows exactly what she is and her fighting style fully leans into using the weapons she has as a woman… but on the other hand, in creating her character, the writers chose to lean into sexing her up.

I love her character, I just don’t love what they did with her.

—

Both of these character tropes tend to feature in scripts that aren’t the best to begin with. A strong, nuanced cast of heroes doesn’t usually have that one outlier that completely drops the ball.

All I’m asking for is to not designate any one character as the bearer of whatever you forget to give the rest of the cast. “Oops I forgot the funny, let me add in a comic relief, here’s Bob,” is a disservice to Bob. “Oops I forgot the women, let me add in this femme fatale, here’s Nyxandra,” is a disservice to Nyxandra.

Let every character have some funny moments.

You want a femme fatale? Go right ahead, honestly, but maybe don’t make her the only lady in the cast? If she’s a femme fatale because she wants to be, that’s great, but maybe have a woman who proves that you do, in fact, know how to write women?

[steph-schuyler]

wouldnt it be a little cool if i developed my ith and hoo crossover au more

it wouldnt per se fit much into riordanverse canon because they all live in and around new york but..i dont mind..

here are my og ideas

piper mclean: piper is like,crazy rich and lives in one of the fancier areas of the city.what her dad doesnt know is that she sneaks down to Washington Heights everyday to see her friends. what the boss dont know,the boss wont mind/ref

percy jackson: in this universe,percy and sally live in washington heights! idk i thought it could make sense. annabeth is currently staying with them too. yipiee

leo valdez: nobody even knows anything about him. he just appeared one day and became besties with everyone. i can def picture some stuff of him interacting with the canon characters and also being like an apprentice at some kind of..whatever the word is in english for where the mechanics work lmao. anyway, thats basically it. i might incorporate waystation in some way shape or form that makes any sense

and yeah..if you have any ideas for any of the other characters lmk!

[thehyperfixationspeedrunner]

HIIIIIIIIIII WE HAVENT TALKED IN A WHILE HRU

WHICH HYPERFIXATION ARE YOU ON NOW HUH 👀

AND WOULD YOU REC?

HIIIIIII, I FINISHED HIGH SCHOOL YESTERDAY AND I'M IN EXAMS SEASON SO I'M NOT DOING GREAT, HRU???

Girl, you just opened a big bag of worms cause this hyperfixation has taken over the other like 4 that were in my mind at the same time (one of them since January).

There are just a few things I have to warn you about the show before I throw my words at you: there is blood and violence, they do not shy from that; there is physical abuse mentioned and shown (although it's just shown in one scene, if that's the only thing bothering you but you wanna watch I can tell you when to skip); there is cursing, nothing major just what a high schooler would normally curse; abusive relationships and bullies are subjects that are heavily spoken about; death, don't know if that's a trigger but better safe that sorry and I'm pretty sure that's it

First, I have to ask you two questions:

Do you like supernatural stuff?

Do you like gays?

If the answer to both of them is yes, then you need to watch dead boy detectives. It's a series about two ghosts (Edwin Payne- "the brains", spent 70 years in hell, sassy little bitch, from London 1916 and speaks like it, gay, a fucking nerd, somehow everyone is in love with him except his crush (more like the crush doesn't know that he is in love with him, but whatever), so much trauma it's insane, tumblr's favourite; Charles Rowland- said crush, "the brawns", so bisexual but doesn't know it yet, do you know that character that is so charismatic and funny but actually has so much fucking trauma? That's him, daddy issues (because of abuse), from 1989, has a magical bag, so fucking british, so fucking protective of his friends it's insaneee like he will kill someone for them) and these two ghosts are detectives and solve cases to ghosts so they can move on to the afterlife.

This show is so fucking well written, you have no idea, like Charles and Edwin's relationship is so unique, because even though there is a romantic subtext they are best friends before eveything and they know eachother so well it's so rare to see such good friendship where they are so open with eachother in media specially between men (also their ship name is painland, if that's not enough reason to watch the show idk what is).

Another great example of the amazing writing is that characters like Charles normally have their trauma super overlooked, but in this show his trauma is treated so well, there is still a lot to work from it (reason 484837 why I need a season 2) but the other characters actually see his trauma and acknowledge it, it's so fucking satisfying to me because these type of characters are always my favourites but they always have that lack of development (I sometimes confuse between my mutuals who likes what but I'm pretty sure you have read hoo so you know Leo Valdez? Yeah, that's what I'm talking about).

Speaking of development, they do not leave characters behind. There is this character called Niko Sasaki, who is this girl who loves anime and loves love and is always so positive and so sweet and always thinking of others. Now, when someone describes this type of character, my first reaction is "oh, so she's just the comedic relief who is going to have a shallow ass personality" (no shade to that type of characters, shade to the writers who leave them behind), BUT SHE'S NOT. She also has her traumas (dead dad, literally almost dies, more shit that I don't wanna spoil) and they acknowledge it and they develop her. She may not be one of the main focuses of season 1 (I'm pretty sure if we get a season 2, she's gonna have more screen time because of... [spoilers]) but she still has some character development, in the 3rd episode they are solving a pretty brutal case and she says that she doesn't want to be part of it because she litterally almost died the previous week and it's totally okay, she stays at home watching scooby doo and eating noodles, again so fucking satisfying.

Since we're talking about Niko, I have to talk about the dynamics of this show because OMG THE DYNAMICS OF THIS SHOW. Like, you look at the way I described Niko and the way I described the boys and you would think that they would focus on Niko and Charles relationship, right? The two charismatic kids, makes sense. Wrong, it's actually Niko and Edwin's. At first, you're like "you're gonna pair Mr. Horrible at relationships with other people and hates physical touch with Ms. Loves love and hugs fucking everyone?" BUY IT WORKS, IT WORKS SO GODDAMN WELL, IT'S INSANE, they easily became my favourite dynamic of all times, it's so fucking good. Actually, Charles and Niko is the only dynamic that isn't really developed in this show (which is a crime honestly, how could they).

Another thing is that there is one (1) antagonist out of four who isn't likeable. And that fucker is litterally Crystal's abusive demon ex (I've realised now that I haven't talked about my queen yet, she's a bitch, she's a physic, she's fucking badass, she doesn't know who she is until the 8th episode (not in a philosophical way, she litterally loses her memory) and her dynamic with Edwin is fucking hilarious, it's an on going competion of who gets to be the bitcher). There is a witch who is immortal, kidnaps young girls to feed to her snake and has an obsession with getting revenge on the boys and Crystal (they hadn't met Niko when they confronted her for the first time), but she serves cunt everytime she's on screen and she's so hilarious, you love to hate her and deep down you also love her. There is a cat king who is the reason Crystal, Edwin and Charles get stuck in the town they spend the season (they live in London, the town is somewhere on the US coast, technically it's just Edwin who is stuck, but they're all ride or die) all because he wants to fuck Edwin but Edwin doesn't, but his hilarious and annoying in a funny way and a loser and a simp. There is a woman from the afterlife office who spends the whole season trying to catch the boys (who are running away from death, it's a whole thing), fails and ends up stuck with them, I just got mad at her when she interrupted a love confession, but we got it later so it's fine. Then there's David the demon (yes, that's his name, yes, that's hilarious) who is Crystal's abusive ex, is able to get inside her mind whenever he wants and is just so fucking annoying (but is such a great simbol of abusive relationships and how much they scare you even after it's over).

Also, no one, and I mean no one, in this fucking show is straight, whether it is confirmed or not it doesn't matter (although 4 of the nine recurent characters are canonically queer).

Don't know if you heard about it, but this is from the same universe as the show The Sandman and there are two cameos in this show (both Death and Despair get a scene).

There are two things that weren't perfect in this show: the fact that Charles and Niko got one (1) scene together (fucking crime) and the CGI, not that it's all bad it's just they focused on the more visual scenes that make you go uuhh and aaahhh but there is a roof where they sometimes talk where the CGI is so bad, but it's just background shit, do not decide not to watch because of it the only scenes like that are the roof scenes and a scene in the forest (again, background shit).

I did just spend around an hour writing all of this, you are not gonna read this whole ass essay, but just watch the show, it's on illegal sites Netflix (although if you have Netflix, put it, even if it's just background noise, we need the views, this is Netflix and a not that cheap queer show we're talking about)

[personality-corner]

Heroes of Olympus MBTI

Percy and Annabeth’s typings can be found here.

Jason Grace - ISTJ

Jason’s past experiences influence his every choice, even when he has amnesia. Throughout his amnesia plot line, he is able to easily pick up on things he has experienced, even when he can’t describe where or how he has experienced these things. His very in tune with current systems of logic, and tends not to question what seems to work, until it goes against his personal morals.

Piper McLean - ISFP

Piper is emotionally guided, and wants nothing more than to be different and separate herself from others in her class and in her cabin. She does so at first by changing her appearance and making impulsive decisions (Se). However, as she grows as a character and becomes much more comfortable with herself, her auxiliary Se becomes less impulsive and more observant. Her inferior Te becomes more developed, and she feels more comfortable fighting for her dominant Fi.

Leo Valdez - INTP

Leo gets lost in his own mind very easily, to the point where he completely isolates himself sometimes. He doesn’t just love knowledge, he over to figure out why and how something works, which comes from his dominant Ti, and he tends to be carried away by all his ideas, created by his Ne. However, he struggles with emotions, more specifically other people’s emotions, as he feels that people are complicated- you can’t fix a human, but you can fix a machine. Leo prefers problems that he can solve.

Hazel Levesque - ISFJ

Hazel’s experiences affect every aspect of her life, so much so, that they hold her back in a lot of ways. She struggles to let go of her past, and things that happened, in fear of being judged by others, or hurt, and she can often be hesitant towards change. Hazel is also a huge supporter of group values, often doing whatever makes other people happy and comfortable, and struggling to sacrifice others values for her own happiness.

Frank Zhang - ISFJ

Frank is very aware of traditions, both involving his family and New Rome. He is crippled by information he has received from the past, mainly his lifeline being tied to a stick, making him less eager to try new ideas. He is also very sensitive to how other people view him, wanting to be a child of Apollo, so he can be accepted as an archer.

Nico di Angelo - INFP

Nico’s emotions are a driving factor for most of his decisions. He in in an Fi-Si loop for most of the first series, struggling to move past his past experiences to the point where it consumes him. As he comes out of that loop, we start to see a little bit of unhealthy Ne as he is constantly overthinking situations, and comes up with a million ways things can go wrong. He becomes really good at using his experience to support his plans.

Reyna Avila Ramirez Arellano - ESTJ

Reyna is a very confident and strong leader, always taking control of situations, even if it means putting her emotions aside. She is someone that everyone knows to listen to, because she is usually the one who knows best. She is very reliant on her past experiences and traditions, when she is doing her job.