#like naturally at first i was thinking of apollo for him but i feel like the apollo vibe just isnt there for him

[folkwhoreberry]

Amongst Demigods

Flirting With Fate

f1 x reader

or... the one where there are five ways to steal a heart

word count : 999

warning : suggestive jokes, english is not my first language!!!

check masterlist for more parts of this series!!

🏛️🏎️

weeks had passed since you’ve first stepped foot in camp half-blood, and you were starting to feel more settled.

you weren’t sure when it happened, but the chaos of the hermes cabin, the intensity of training, and the never-ending questions about your godly parent had become… normal. what you didn’t expect was the new kind of chaos - one involving a certain group of demigods who seemed to always be around.

——————

lando was the first. you weren’t sure how it happened, but the two of you had started spending a lot of time together. it started innocently enough: races by the lake, where he always insisted he was faster because of his sea legs, which you told him wasn’t a thing.

“come on, admit it,” he’d say, grinning as he caught up to you after another race, “you just like the view.”

you rolled your eyes, trying to ignore the way your heart skipped a beat every time he flashed that smile. “sure, the view of you eating my dust.”

“oh, dust is it now? I was more thinking of you checking out-“

“shut up, lando.”

he’d laugh, but it was never mean-spirited. you’d end up sitting by the water afterward, legs dangling into the cool lake, talking about everything from your messed-up childhoods to how he still couldn’t swim properly, despite being the son of poseidon. you weren’t really sure what you were, but lando had a way of pulling you in, making you forget everything else.

——————

then, there was charles. sweet, golden, frustratingly perfect charles. he was a natural charmer, but not in the way you’d expect from a son of apollo. he’d always find you after archery practice, usually while you were nursing another terrible shot.

“need help?” he’d ask, leaning against the target, his bow slung lazily over his shoulder.

“if I say yes, will you stop being so smug about it?” you quipped, though you always accepted his help.

he’d stand close behind you, his hands gently guiding yours, his breath warm against your ear as he gave tips.

“just relax, focus on the target, and let go when you feel it’s right.”

you’d let go, but the arrow almost never hit the target.

“I think you’re distracting me,” you muttered one day after yet another failed shot.

“maybe I am,” he replied, a playful smirk on his lips.

you laughed it off, but it was hard to ignore the way your pulse quickened whenever charles was around. he had a way of looking at you, like you were the only person in camp, even when you were surrounded by people.

——————

oscar was different. quiet, thoughtful, but somehow always knowing exactly what to say when you were feeling overwhelmed. you’d started to catch him watching you during lessons, his eyes following you with a sort of quiet curiosity.

“what?” you’d ask, after catching him staring one too many times.

“nothing, just… you’re interesting.”

“interesting how?”

he’d just smile, shrugging as if he wasn’t going to answer, but there was always something behind that smile that made you wonder what he was thinking. the two of you had started to spend more time together, mostly during strategy lessons or sparring sessions, where he was always more tactical than aggressive. it was different with oscar. where lando was playful and charles charming, oscar made you feel like he saw you, like there was something more between the lines.

——————

daniel, though - daniel was chaos. pure, unfiltered, ares-born chaos. he had a way of turning every situation into a joke, a flirtation, a game.

“you know,” he said one day, tossing you a sword during practice, “there’s something about watching you swing a sword that’s…”

“don’t even finish that sentence,” you warned, but you couldn’t help the laugh that escaped.

“what? it’s impressive! who knew you could be so… deadly?” he wiggled his eyebrows, and you almost dropped the sword from laughing too hard.

but then, daniel would catch you off guard. in between the jokes and teasing, there were moments where he’d be serious, like after a particularly hard fight when you were frustrated and ready to quit. he’d walk up, offering you a hand, his usual grin softened.

“you’ve got this,” he’d say, no jokes, no teasing. just simple, genuine support.

it was those moments that made you wonder if there was more to daniel than the laughter and flirting.

——————

and then… franco. he was the wildcard, the son of eros who always seemed to know just what to say to get under your skin - in the best way. he’d drop by during meals, sliding into the seat next to you with that infuriatingly charming smile.

“hey,” he’d say, his voice soft but with a teasing edge, “have you always been this gorgeous, or is it just today?”

“franco,” you’d groan, rolling your eyes, but he’d just laugh, leaning in a little closer.

“what? I’m just saying, the gods clearly have a favorite.”

he had a way of making you feel special, even when you didn’t want to admit it. there was something about him, something that made your heart race when he got too close, his hand brushing yours in the most casual, accidental way possible.

“you’re impossible,” you’d tell him one day, after he’d successfully distracted you from an entire lesson just by sitting too close.

“impossible to resist, maybe,” he shot back, his grin wide as ever.

“ugh, franco.”

he’d laugh, but there was a tenderness behind his playful words, a softness that made you feel like maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t all games after all.

——————

and so, here you were - caught in the middle of this strange, confusing, and slightly chaotic situation with lando, charles, oscar, daniel, and franco, each of them pulling you in different directions, each with their own way of making you feel something more than just a friend.

you weren’t sure how it happened, but something was definitely happening.

————————————————————————————

@briefkittenearthquake @colpenter

a/n : wrote this during three five minute drives and lunch where I didn’t eat nothing bc fuck tummy ache🫶🏻

[11queensupreme11]

I Need to know what the other siblings think of dory!! To they have beef with him like axiandros or to they just not care for him?

I need to know the yan opinion on dory especially hades!! To they like him bcs he is basically Percy 2.0 or they hate him for being Poseidon son?

BEELCY babies! I need to see how the other beelcy babies look like!

P.s. you are an ✨AMAZING WRITER ✨ your writing is chefs kiss✨

axiandros: he has the most intense beef with eudorios ever and the funniest part is that it's ONE-SIDED 😭😭😭 dory does not give a shit, he's too busy being smothered by his mother's affections to even notice his eldest bro silently seething in a dark corner LMAO 😭 just seeing dory ruins his day. he hates the way dory looks, acts, smells, BREATHES. dory could literally be walking down the hall and goes "morning, ax! 😄" and axiandros would mutter "disgusting, deplorable piece of shit 😠🔱" and poor dory's like:

"what'd i do????? 🥺" 😭😭😭😭

kymon: mildly irritated. there are very few places he likes to be in and that's either his bedroom or by his mother's side cuz that's where he's most at peace, but in comes fucking DORY again whining and whimpering for mother to pay attention to him 🙄 he rolls his eyes and shows the barest hint of annoyance whenever he sees dory ambling towards them and is already teleporting away because he knows his presence beside their mother only makes dory more annoying and he does not want to deal with that 💀

thalassandros: "can you fuck off, you little shit???????" no seriously, dory spent HOURS with their mother yesterday, it's his turn now, this is SO unfair ugh 😒 he would absolutely hit dory and tell him to screw off, only to get scolded by their mother but he doesn't actually mind cuz you know... mother doesn't actually BEAT THEM unlike a certain asshole (looking at you, bitch (poseidon) 🖕) plus, mom's paying attention to him now, so a win is a win lmao.

as for the yans......

hades actually adores eudorios! mainly because, in his eyes, eudorios is the sweetest of the posy kids. he's so much like percy and is NOTHING like poseidon. ofc, he has no idea that dory is actually completely insane, but oh well! 💀

beelzebub does not like eudorios. he literally gets the tingle every time that kid is around, and he KNOWS that dory's more evil than he looks. he may act all sweet and uwu like percy, but he knows the kid's actually super fucked up inside. tries to warn percy to be more careful, but she loves her son too much to abandon him or let beel get rid of him

loki is another one who knows the kid's unhinged LMAO 😂😂 literally took one good look at him and immediately sensed the insanity asdgvajdf lowkey entertained by percy's naivety but also hopes this doesn't end TOO badly

anubis likes dory a lot! eudorios is his favorite amongst the posy kids cuz he's just sooo nice and friendly! he reminds him so much of his beloved mate 💖💖💖 (reminder: gods don't have souls so anubis can't tell the type of person dory actually is 💀)

cú chulainn is..... somewhat okay with eudorios. he acknowledges that dory is definitely the nicest out of all of the posy kids, but he just can't help but feel that something's..... off with him, but he just can't put his finger on it. he keeps a close eye on him whenever he's around, but other than that, treats him decently

apollo considers dory his favorite amongst the posy kids just like many of the yans do lmao. he's just a sweet kid, what's not to like? he's always nice to him and his children whenever he's around. sure he's a little clingy towards percy, but she's his mom so it's only natural!!!

poseidon is THIS close 🤏 to bashing eudorios' head open. he has no idea where he and percy went wrong with him. he's infuriating and an embarrassment in poseidon's eyes (which is ironic considering he's literally like PERCY who poseidon absolutely adores 💀)

beelcy and poki babies are coming!!! dw. poki babies are mostly ready so they'll come first

[floralovebot]

recently i've been a little obsessed with the character designs in dislyte and naturally i've been thinking of the winx in it and like,,, helia blessed by morrigan... dudes.....

[krkiiz]

take a chance with me . luke castellan x reader

you decide to confront luke about your current situationship with him.

luke castellan x f!reader , reader is the daughter of Athena , crack , misunderstandings , “what are we” , “i thought we’re already dating” , fluff with slight angst , overthinking , kisses , them being sappy , nicknames

note : can’t stop falling in love with this evil betrayer smh. inspired by niki’s song “take a chance with me” ! (IM SORRY IF THIS IS CRINGE this is my first time writing kiss scenes help 😭😭😭😭)

let me know your thoughts ! likes, reblogs, and comments appreciated <3

“It’s getting dark. Let me walk you back to your cabin, yeah?” The dark haired boy smiled at you.

Gods how you loved that smile of his.

It’s a tradition of yours. Him walking you back to your cabin after your outings. The two of you walk hand in hand as your near the Athena cabin.

You and Luke had been acquainted for quite some time. You both first met when you arrived in camp for the first time.

You were fifteen back then. Time passed by as fast Zeus’ lightning strikes as summers blurred after summers. In a blink of an eye, you guys were both eighteen now. Adults, no longer those carefree teenagers that relied on your counselors.

During those three years of friendship, you and Luke only got closer. It was hard to admit, and after an excruciating time of denial (and constant pestering from your half siblings including Annabeth), you finally surrendered and admitted the growing feelings you harbored for your close friend.

You’re too afraid to confess your feelings as you treasured your friendship with him deeply. You would gush about how sweet he is to Annabeth, rolling yourself on your bed as blood rushed to your cheeks at the thought of him.

Little did you know he was doing the exact same thing. Confiding to Annabeth about your recent encounters, eyes lit up rivaling the shine of Apollo himself as he thinks of you.

Poor girl. Annabeth was sick of it.

But this summer, you felt a shift in your dynamic with the curly haired boy. He would eat lunch with you more often, asking you to go on more hangouts, challenged you on more duels, battles. It felt different, closer.

You were not complaining, matter of fact you were quite glad. Maybe your feelings wasn’t just one sided after all.

But as time move forwards, the closer you two get, more couple-ey interaction commends. He would tuck your hand behind your ear as you both converse, intwining your hands when your in the same path, calling you nicknames.

The more your relationship with him progressed, the more it blurred the line between friends and more. At this point, you knew he had feelings for you as well, and he too was well aware of yours.

A bubble of thought soon started clouding your mind. What were you both now? Friends? Close friends? Lovers? You don’t remember Luke asking you to be his girlfriend.

What was the nature this relationship?

You feel his grip on yours loosening as you stopped near the grey building of Cabin 6. “This is it for you, princess.”

Words rolled of his tongue like honey and you felt like a honeybee, drawn to its sweetness.

Friends don’t call each other nicknames.

Luke placed a gentle hand on your cheek, drawing closer has he placed his lips on your temple, as if he was kissing your thoughts away. “What’s got you thinking so hard since we started walking, hm?”

Your cheeks lit up like campfire at his action, he smiled noticing your flushed state.

Cute

You look up to the curly haired boy, his fingers still pressed on your cheek. What are we, Luke?

What if Luke suddenly doesn’t want you anymore because of that question?

Were you too selfish by wanting more?

Was this not enough for you?

No it wasn’t. You want to draw a clear like between friends and more, and Luke and you were shoveling a deep hole in the middle of said line.

What if he fears commitment and disappears?

“Oh no, it’s nothing Luke.” You shook your head away from his grasp, pushing all your thoughts away. “It’s late, I should probably get in.”

But before you can turn away from him, Luke was quick to grab your hand, not letting you go any further. “No, Yn. Something is clearly bothering you. And I don’t want you to go to bed with an unpleasant feeling.”

He squeezed your held hands. “Please, Yn. Is it something I’ve done?”

You were quick to deny him. “It’s not, Luke. I don’t even know it’s just. I don’t know, confusing? I think complicated is the right word.”

The dark haired boy brought your intertwined hands to his lips, kissing your forearm softly. “It’s okay take your time, darling. I’m listening.”

You sighed seeing him caress your hand gently as he brushed his lips on the skin. “It’s about us, Luke.”

Dark hues make contact with your own. “What about us?”

“What are we Luke? I don’t even know anymore.” You retracted your hand from his grasp, frustration getting a hold on you. “Friends don’t hold hands while they walk, friends don’t kiss each other’s foreheads, or hands, or even call each other nicknames.”

You look up to see the confusion written clearly on his face. “What are we, Luke Castellan?” You asked once more.

There was a moment of silent and you dreaded it. Each passing second you can hear the rustling wind, chirps of birds, and the sound of your heart falling into your stomach.

Before he finally broke it. A wholehearted chuckle graced his lips, creasing his eyes.

You scrunched your eyebrows at his reaction. Clearly displeased. Were you some joke to him?

“Luke, this is serious, why are you laughing right now?”

He quickly straightened his composure after hearing your tone. “Ehem, wait sorry. You’re serious? Is this what you’ve been worrying about?”

“Well yeah. What’s so funny about it? Am I just some joke to you?”

“No no! Yn, wait.” He placed both of his hand above your shoulders. Eyes peered at yours before genuinely asking. “Haven’t we been dating for like two months now?”

What? Confusion warps your face.

“Yn, remember? Two months ago when I took you on a picnic by the lake? I asked if you wanted to be together and you agreed to it, remember?” He tried to recall your memory.

Then it snapped.

“Oh, that was a confession? I thought you meant it in a friendly way.” Luke mentally face palmed himself and you sheepishly giggled.

“Okay maybe I was too vague with my words so let’s redo it right now yeah?” You tilted your head at him.

The dark haired boy took both of your hands from your sides, lacing them into his. “Yn L/n, daughter of Athena, one of the best warriors I’ve ever seen, wisest and the most just ever, will you take the pleasure of being my girlfriend?”

You unwind your laced fingers, your hands moving, circling themselves around the nape of his neck as his hands are now placed on the sides your waist, drawing you closer. “Hm will I?” You teased him lightly.

“Please?”

“I guess you got yourself a girlfriend, Castellan.”

You laughed against his chest. And you can feel his ribcage expanding was he laughed along with you.

You tilt your head above, standing on the tips of your toes, as you pulled him even closer than before. Your noses touch at the proximity and you could feel his breath on yours. “Is this why you’ve never kissed me before?” you hear him whisper.

“Well I am doing it right now.” You pull him in, his lips crashing with your own. His grip on your waist tightened as your hands made its way to the softness of his curls. Eyes tightly shut as you both bask in the bliss of ecstasy before pulling apart.

He leaned his forehead against yours. Giving your lip a small peck as he craves for more of you. “I don’t know if this is not obvious yet but I like you, so so much, my Yn.”

You softly giggled. “I like you just as much, my prince.”

©️ sirena | krkiiz 2023

[folklovrr]

nature feels spencer reid

| spencer reid x fem!reader

| hello! my first post on tumblr. inspired by frank oceans song nature feels. but also like… kind of not. idunno!! minors please dni (18+)

| content warning: religious references, munch!spencer (😁) worship?!, making out, alludes to pinv.

Spencer Reid was an endlessly curious man. It generally didn’t matter what the subject was, he already knew about, and could be classified as an expert in the field.

He like to think of himself as a specialist in all things mathematics, chemistry, engineering, and you. At times like these, that last one became more of a weakness than a strength.

Sitting on the plane home, returning from an exhausting case, hearing the bass line from Derek’s headphones and the muffled sounds of Rossi and Hotch discussing something that could be anywhere from the case to his latest interaction with wife number nth, Spencer Reid couldn’t stop thinking about sleeping with you. You hid in the buzz of the engine, the smell of coffee leaking out of the jet’s small kitchen, taking him to the four walls of your shared apartment, where the smell was omnipresent.

Many people might compare you to a warm summers day, but he found that misrepresentative. You were much more comparable to a snowy christmas evening. It’s the time of year that everyone looks forward to, cookies and cakes and freshly cooked meals, things that were constantly filling your kitchen, love leaking from their extra chocolate chips. All year round, when christmas music plays, people are filled with joy and cheer, and he thinks this phenomenon is not unlike to that of your sounds, and when his memory so unhelpfully brings those to the forefront of his mind, he is filled with that same joy.

The familiar bump of the jets landing cut this train of thought, and as the team filed back to quantico, Spencer had never been more grateful for two things:

1. the fbi’s access to efficient travel - he thinks that if he was forced to sit in the metro waiting, the personification of himeros that was sitting eagerly in his heart ( and other parts of him that he was careful not to pay attention to at this time ) would grab him by the shoulders and force him under the need that he was drowning in.

2. the invention of internet and online communication - the influx of texts from that had ceased to deliver while he was in the sky all flooded in at once, giving him the idea that this missing business was not one sided.

| spence, hope you’re ok :( penny told me that case was tough. cant wait to see you

| I have missed you so much. cant stop thinking about you. text me when you land, love.

| come find me when you get home, doctor ;) i have a surprise for you!

It was in moments like these, when people showed even the slightest romantic fondness for him, that he was taken back to his bumbling college experiences with sex. A word that people danced around, but he researched thoroughly. Not for perverse reasons, as this form of interest in the female anatomy would hit him a bit later in life, but pure curiosity. Why did people enjoy? He could understand what the appeal was for men, but what made the experience enjoyable for the other sex?

These questions still plagued him to this day, even after extensive practical elements were added to his studies, with you being a very supportive test subject. Spencer explored what it was like to feel, and to find meaning through this thing that had become so, even though it sounds silly to say, sexualised in media, and to move past the physical elements (but he still appreciated those, greatly) and to find what philosophers spent eons theorising over, which the two of you seemed to have found so easily. Connection.

In the many nights he had spent tangled in your embrace, Spencer mused thoughts of the origins of humans, and as the quiet hymns of the night sung, he worshipped Apollo for having mercy on the split humans and reconstituting their forms, allowing them to find this physical bond, and their souls other half.

As the elevator at quantico rose to the BAU’s floor, the team had a quiet understanding amongst them that small talk was not necessary, and that conversations of weekend plans were trivial in comparison to the things the victims had been through.

After finishing up the, for lack of better words, ginormous pile of paperwork, Spencer was finally free to follow the light of your twin flame home. As he sits in the metro though, he is brought back to the disdain he holds for the public transportation system, and the distain for every passenger that gets of on a stop before his, slowing his journey. He wishes that access to the fbi’s vehicles was available off the clock, for boyfriends whose need for their girlfriends was eating them alive. How inconsiderate of them.

When the autonomic voice announced the station where you resided, so close yet so far, Spencer jumped out of his seat, himeros once again took control of his body, willing his muscles all the way home.

As the loved in door to your home creaked open, Spencer was guided by the candlelight and warm lamps through to the back garden, where the leaves and flowers of the cherry trees spread through the garden fall gracefully and surround a figure, who is gently swing back and forth on a tree swing. Spencer sees you, and wonders what if this is what Adam thought when he first saw Eve, and if he too felt so compelled to caress the slopes of her neck and pray at her divine altar.

The leaves under Spencer’s converse crunched, and alerted you to his presence. As you turned around, there was barely a split second before Spencer was on you, burrowing his face in the crook of your neck with his arms planted firmly around your waist.

“hi spence”, you whispered quietly into his hair, the glasses on the bridge of his nose digging into the skin of your neck. he began to plant soft kisses there, to exhausted to formulate a response. You nudged his chin with your shoulder, and his lips landed softly on yours, gentle kisses explaining things that words do no justice to.

As the night air became more humid around you, and fireflies surrounded the two of you, Spencer’s warm hands pushed the ankle length hem of your spring dress up your thighs, closer to your core. He kisses a pathway up your calf, up your thigh, towards the need in your centre, and ponders if god had made you for him.

Spencer thinks that he is fairly devoted to a number of things, like his work, or his academia, but the way he eats you out is oh so blasphemous. He circles and flicks and plunges just right, and as the cherry flowers fall in his hair, he looks like a debauched angel, with a sole mission of making you come on his tongue. he is devoted to it, and it’s his mission.

The way that you moan his name and pulse around his fingers turns him on more than things that are seen as generally sexually conductive for the male gender, and as you pull his roots and tighten your thighs around his head, he feels the satisfaction of your pleasure travel all the way to his climax, without being touched. Truly sinful Spencer Reid, truly Sinful.

As his mouth separates from your divinity, he thinks that the string of saliva that connects you is symbolic of every single thing that connects your physical elements to the emotional unison that you share. As the dirt digs into Spencer’s knees, and the thighs around his head loosen with satisfaction, He can’t help but compare you to the delicate cherry blossoms, and he sees your kindness and ineffable gentleness bloom around the garden.

You stand, and pull Spencer to his feet, and as he pushes you against the bark of the cherry tree, ready to connect again, just as Apollo and Adam and Eve and whoever else he had to thank for this intended, he can’t wait to feel your nature, to make love.

a/n thank you for reading!!! i know it’s rough, but yet i persevered and finished it. yay me 😛.

[ma1dita]

BABEEE happy birthday!! (i'm so terribly late i'm so sorry) congrats on 23💖

🐥 so i'm having thoughts right now about luke x reader and physical affection. like maybe one of them being touch starved and always craving the other person's touch and the other person noticing it and doing it more? maybe from platonic (i will go down with best friends to lovers) to romantic, i'm just on this brainrot tonight

🐥🐥🐥🐥🐥

luke castellan x reader

a/n: back from the klerb but here with a classic 4am post �� but the hangxiety wont let me rest until this is out! ill edit this in the morning... or not 😗

wc: 1.1k

—

It’s hard to miss what you’ve never had.

Luke Castellan was never a touchy guy. Sure, he’ll hold a new camper’s hand during welcome tours (especially the little ones who can barely keep up with his long legs; if they’re lucky they get a piggy back ride), and he won’t shy away from a clap on the back when his strategies for capture the flag bring his team to victory (they always do, mind you), and when he feels like it, he’ll even shove Annabeth playfully to show her he adores her (but she packs a punch now that she’s older).

It never really goes past that, and he’s never had to think too hard about it—physical touch.

He’s the one who takes care of others—a part of his nature like it is for Hermes’ cabin to take in unclaimed demigods. But something changed in the months that he’s gotten closer to you. At first, he’d bite his tongue at the way you’re so open to patting his cheek when he does something funny (which he doesn’t try to make a show of, but now…), how you choose to sit so close to him during bonfires that your knees touch (the Apollo kids could be singing about the heavens falling down on them for all he cares but he zeroes in on every word that leaves your lips), and the way you’d lock your fingers with him for a pinky promise after every little thing ‘to make sure it’s real’ (Luke didn’t understand the merit of a pinky promise over whether you could have his dessert for the next week if you took over arts and crafts with the kiddie campers for him; truthfully he’d give it to you anyway). It was unusual for him to have someone comfort him, to show care without a true reason. But he didn’t realize how much more it bothered him now that you wouldn’t even look him in the eye.

Silena and some of the other Aphrodite children had asked you the very defining question of, “Do you like Luke Castellan?” and having never thought of it that way, or being able to put your feelings for him in words instead of fingers in his belt loops or in the muss of his curls—that shit was terrifying!

You spent all Saturday afternoon at the docks with them belly down under the glare of the sun’s rays as they explained to you what the five love languages are. By the end of it, sunburn wasn’t the only reason you felt hot.

“Your love language is physical touch,” one of Silena’s older half-siblings—Connelly, says like he’s explaining that the sky is blue, “And Luke’s not that type of guy! Think he’s more acts of service…”

“Ooh, or words of affirmation….” another one of them muses, but the sound of your heartbeat tunes it all out. Well shit, have you been sending him the wrong signals? Or are there even any signals you want to send him? 

Nevertheless, in the matters of love or even the tiniest whisper of it—maybe there’s no one else you can trust with this stuff besides Cabin 10.

Wrong.

Absolutely wrong. Whatever the hell you’ve been convinced or whatever’s changed since last weekend—Luke just knows he hates it, and he’s angry. He’s angry at how you gasp in surprise every time you brush shoulders during archery practice when you used to let him fix your form, he’s angry at how you’ll squeeze campers’ shoulders to tell them they’re doing a good job carrying the strawberry crates—and all he gets is a mumbled ‘Thanks, Castellan’ when he stacks them up and takes your load.

Luke’s so terribly angry that Travis told him he’s been walking around like a big strawberry, face red and irritated—but not at you. 

He realizes he’s also angry at the fact that he can’t protect you from the onslaught of a rain cloud—or maybe it was the fact that you’re so okay with the rain touching your skin and seeping through your orange shirt like he wishes you’d let him. He’s angry at the way the wind blows your hair into your face and your fingers brush the strands away like he wishes he can. Most of all, Luke Castellan is angry that he didn’t know how good a simple touch could be until he lost it—before he even really got to appreciate yours.

You’re sitting on the opposite end of the row in the amphitheater laughing with your friends and the furrow in his thick brow is a tell-tale sign of his discomfort. Luke doesn’t dare to remember what it’s like before you to be honest—he’d rather give up Elysium instead of having you ignore him like this. He calls your name, a tinge of both anger and desperation until you look over at him, eyelashes kissing your cheeks. The hold you have on him transcends the physical touch of your fingers but he wants, no—needs you next to him.

“C’mere! Why are you so far away?”

Luke hopes it doesn’t sound pathetic, but a crooked grin splits across his face as soon as you make your way over, sitting down and crossing your legs away from him. It’s still too far, even if he can feel your breath on his shoulder.

“Did I do something to make you angry? I…” The words escape his mouth in a jumble—quick wit from his father escaping him, though he knows not to rely on that asshole, god or not. You mutter words that almost escape him too, and he leans in, chasing your hands and putting them in his own until they’re gentle and soft in his lap.

“No, no…. I just… don’t want to push your boundaries. I know you don’t like it when I’m too touchy,” and he thinks his heart clenches a little like how you’re squeezing his hands. Luke shouldn’t feel instant gratification from a subconscious action. He wants to know you mean it with him—that’s what he can’t put into words.

“I….like it when you do.”

You notice the way his fingers tangle tighter with yours, pinkys interlocking with yours. When he lets go, Luke wraps his arm around your shoulders until you’re able to laugh in the crook of his neck. He chooses to place a kiss on the corner of your mouth when your head sways to face him at the silly tune about centaurs and then you realize that Luke loves the way you love him. You wonder if he accidentally missed meeting your lips, but then the noise in your head quiets down when he pulls you closer, lips locking tenderly, intentionally—as they were always meant to.

You both hear a giggle that sounds a lot like tinkling bells belonging to children of Aphrodite. 

For once they were wrong about love. 

Luke’s tongue parts through your lips and meets your own like they’re in a long awaited embrace, dancing and devouring you from the inside out but this, you— are what he can rely on. This, your touch, and how he chooses to let it consume him, never letting go.

[thatshadowgastwhore]

Why demigods have certain powers: a theory (long post)

I have this theory that the reason demigods have specific strengths, or display one aspect of their parents powers over others is due in large part to what aspect their godly parent visited their mortal parent in AND how their mortal parent perceived them. TLDR at the end. Idk if this is a common theory, but I’ve never seen it written out before.

Half of this is pretty much so canon, in the way we know that Greek vs Roman demigods are different because they aren’t the same exact gods. The best example of this is Nico vs Hazel, where Nico is a child of Hades, who is the god if the Dead where Hazel is a child of Pluto, the god of the Underworld and Wealth. This affects their powers. We will come back to them.

However, we also know that demigods don’t necessarily inherit all of their parents dominions. For example, Will, Kayla, and Austin are all children of Apollo, but each have very different specialties. Will has power over healing and light, Kayla over archery, and Austin over music. Apollo is god of all three, but they all have very defined areas of interest and talent.

I think what powers come to a demigod naturally will be determined by their mortal parent, not their godly parent. The best example of this is Hazel.

Marie Levesque very specifically summoned Pluto because he was a god of wealth. It’s how she perceived him, not as a god of the underworld, the dead, or shadows, but as a god if riches and jewels. This explains why Hazel’s abilities are focused on riches. (I’m aware Pluto grants Marie a wish, and that part of that is that Hazels jewels are all cursed. However. Even after they stop being cursed (kind of) at the end of SoN she doesn’t lose the ability to summon them. SHE is the gift Pluto granted Marie, not the gems themselves) This doesn’t mean that she can’t access other abilities associated with children of Pluto/Hades, as is obvious in HoH when she assists Nico in shadow traveling everyone out of the House of Hades, or that the dead don’t sense her as a child of the Underworld and defer to her, like the Leres at CJ, but that isn’t how her powers naturally manifest.

Sticking with Hades, Nico (and Bianca) are a good comparison: they have (kind of) the same father as Hazel, but their abilities are very different. Looking at Maria, we don’t know too much, but I am going to assume something based on the fact that she’s from Italy in the 30s and her name is Maria: she was probably Catholic. Now, as someone who was raised Catholic, I feel qualified to say that Catholics are, while not as a whole superstitious, they are quite obsessed with death. Not in a Rapture sort of way the way some denominations are but more in a���they care A LOT about the Saints and Heaven and judgement, and because of that they’re more than willing to accept things happening because of intercession of a Saint or a dead loved one guiding them. I am not Italian in the 30s, so I can’t speak to that. But because of that, and the fact we KNOW that Maria knew the father of her children was Hades, Lord of the Dead (he offered to keep her safe in the Underworld, she knew about the prophecy, she knew Zeus wanted her dead) we can see how these things about her are reflected in her children.

Nico is known as the Ghost King, because his powers mostly manifest in his ability to summon and control the dead. He also has powers related to shadows, but he really has to practice to get good at it and not pass out. Affecting the dead is the first thing we see him do as a Hades power (dismissing the skeletons attacking Percy at the end of TC, and again all through BotL with Minos) before we ever see him shadow travel, which isn’t introduced until tLO, two books after his introduction. While Bianca’s page time is limited, the only real Hades power we see her demonstrate is when she destroys the skeleton. Maria saw Hades as the king of the dead more than any of his other powers. She obviously RECOGNIZED he had dominion over darkness and shadows (she says so when she tells him she won’t raise her children in the darkness of the Underworld) but that isn’t the part of him that she sees and values and fell in love with. She had kids with the god of the dead, so her children primarily manifest their powers over that domain. I also think that the fact she knew she was dating a god made her children more powerful, if that makes sense. Nico and Hazel are some of the most powerful demigods in the series, even apart from being big three kids.

But Mags, Mags! I hear you cry, what about kids like Annabeth? Athena kids don’t have obvious powers, how is that relevant here?

There aren’t a ton of good comparisons for Annabeth to see how her abilities compare to her siblings besides maybe Malcolm. However, I’ll do my best.

Annabeth’s power from Athena is her intellect and her cunning. Let’s look at how Athena and Fred met: Annabeth tells us that without Athena’s help, he wouldn’t have graduated his doctoral program. So when Fred met, we can assume he met Athena in her aspect of being a scholar. We know is that this is not Athena’s only mythic role, she is also a strategist and a patroness of useful crafts like weaving among other things.

I believe that Annabeth’s intellect really does manifest more as a scholar than anything else. For example, she has no formal schooling between the ages of 7 and 12, when she is at camp full time. Those are some formative years when a child creates a foundation for their future learning, and Annabeth has ADHD and dyslexia. School should not be a walk in the park for her. And yet, she doesn’t really struggle to reenter school, and she’s constantly referenced as doing essentially independent studying, whether it’s reading books in Ancient Greek or working on Daedalus’s laptop. Studying and researching is her hobby because it comes incredibly naturally to her, which matches up with how Fred would have seen Athena. And yes, we see her weave to get across the cavern in MoA, but that’s kind of a one off. Annabeth herself realizes in the moment that, “oh yeah, Athena’s the goddess of useful crafts,” like it’s never occurred to her to even attempt such a thing before. The only time we see her bring this talent back is at the beginning of BoO when Jason is stabbed (iirc - I could be wrong on this reference. I didn’t open a single book to write this essay)

Comparing that to Malcolm, we don’t know a ton about his powers or his parent. All I can recall is a single short story in which Athena sends him a dream requesting he reinstate a festival of hers, and he leads the Athena cabin in setting everything up, and I think weaves the Athena Parthenos a cool robe? Fact check me here, that’s as memory serves.

So why wouldn’t Athena ask Annabeth to do that? She’s the one who found the statue after all. I’m willing to bet it’s because whomever Malcolm’s father is, he met Athena in her aspect as a craftswoman. The skills that Malcolm inherited are primarily to do with crafting because of his mortal parent.

You can also see why some aspects of gods aren’t really seen in their children. For example, Dionysus is a god of wine but also notably mania. Of his two children we see + the one child of Bacchus we see, (Castor, Pollux, and Dakota) all three only have affinities towards the former. (There are vague allusions to the twins assisting the Demeter cabin with the strawberries because fruit bearing plants do well with them, although grapes are best, and Dakota has his kool aid addiction) but none ever display an ability to induce mania. Dionysus does, in TC when Percy Iris Messages him, but his kids don’t. Why? I’m willing to bet that less people are attracted to the manic aspect of Dionysus than the party side, especially because it requires wanting to make a baby with the guy. Not everyone, I’m sure at some point there’s been a Dionysus demigod who could, but it’s be rarer.

So what about Percy? He has like ALL his dad’s powers. Eh - kind of? Walk with me here:

We know quite a bit about Sally and Poseidons relationship, that they were together for an entire summer, that they met at Montauk, and that Sally knew she was dating the King of the Ocean. (Poseidon also offers her a palace under the sea to keep her safe from Zeus. Now he’s 2/2 on having his brothers offering to keep their lovers safe from him and thus revealing their identities to them and making their kids even more powerful)

We know that she associates Poseidon with the sea very strongly, but more so that she thinks he is powerful but GENTLE. I posit that because of that, it explains why water is healing to Percy. Zeus kids don’t get magically better when they stick a finger in an outlet. Demeter kids aren’t healed by plants. This is kind of unique to Percy and I think it’s because of Sally and Poseidon’s relationship. I would also assume that at some point, Poseidon showed her that he could communicate with sea life and horses, and those then became part of her idea of him, which is why water, equestrians, and fish are the parts of Percy’s power that comes most naturally.

You know what Poseidon’s the god of that isn’t in Percy’s primary powered? Earthquakes. He’s done it once: Mt St Helen’s in BotL and he did so while he was actively dying and the mountain was already erupting a little bit, he just made it worse. But he’s never actively tried to do so. It feels kind of like Hazels shadow travel: he probably could, with a lot of effort and maybe some help because his dad IS Poseidon, but it’s not his thing.

It’s also why he can kind of mess with ice. The only real time we see him do so is in SoN when he collapses the glacier CJ in Alaska, but for the most part, if water isn’t in its liquid form, he doesn’t really mess with it. No steam either. He probably COULD, but Sally met Poseidon by an ocean, so that’s their basis.

The poison in HoH reads similar to the earthquake. He probably could control any water based liquid but it would take more effort and he doesn’t want to. For what it’s worth, yes, Percy could blood bend, easier than he could poison bend because blood is salt water. But he won’t. Because it disturbed him.

Moving on.

Mags! That’s all well and good, but what about Thalia and Jason? Don’t they kind of disprove your theory? They have the exact same mortal parent, why do they have such different powers?

Well, for what it’s worth, they DON’T have the exact same parents. Zeus and Jupiter are not the same god. So they’re technically half siblings through Beryl. Swerve. But I see your point - if I’m suggesting that the powers one inherits from their godly parent are determined by one’s mortal parent, then Thalia and Jason should be basically the same.

Well, they are pretty similar, all things considered, but a key part of that is what there really is to inherit from their godly parent. This gets more into classical theory that I am not an expert in, but from my understanding: you can generally state that of the two, Zeus was more impulsive and wrathful and might smite you for anything, and Jupiter filled the father/king of the gods role more. And we already agreed at the bringing with Nico and Hazel that Roman and Greek gods aren’t the same.

And. When we’re looking at the relationship between Beryl and Zeus, it’s a wild starlet having a wild fling, she has no children, she parties, she’s here and there and everywhere, she can’t be tied down. And it’s implied that she knew he was a god, because being able to catch the attention of Zeus apparently made her go off the deep end when he left. And she wanted very badly to see Olympus but Zeus refused (with good reason. The reason being Hera) Thus, Thalia’s powers pick from the ones matching those traits. She’s got power over lightning, but not necessarily the sky. She probably could fly if she ever tried. And also: she doesn’t have to ask permission to call down lightning. She just does. She makes her own lightning.

Jason on the other hand, is the result of Beryl and Jupiter. The relationship was a smidge more stable. Beryl was calmer when Jupiter was around and Jupiter presented himself to her in a more…grand? aspect. It makes sense then that Jason can fly but he’s not really a lightning guy. Like. Yes. He caaaan, but pretty much so any time it counts there’s a mention that he like, petitions his dad to let him summon a bolt. But he controls the winds with ease, because Jupiter is a king, and that’s how he presented himself to Beryl.

Which brings me to a straight up theory I have about May Castellan. I think that she was either a politician or a political correspondent. Someone who was on the news a lot, someone with a sharp tongue, an excellent debtor, and an orator extraordinaire. All we know about her in canon is that she had Luke, and she was special enough to Hermes that he continued to visit her after Luke was born, and that he told her about the Oracle, and how that turned out.

Hermes is the god of a metric ton of stuff. Thieves, travelers, tricksters, merchants, athletes, gymnasiums, orators, communication, gambling, the list goes on. A lot of his kids are described as speedy: their mortal parents probably caught his eye due to being athletes. We know Luke to be very charismatic and the best swordsman the camp had seen in years. I think that indicates that May attracted Hermes as someone with a sharp wit, who could verbally spar anyone into submission (unless she was legit into swordplay) and she caught peoples attention and could convince them of anything. It also explains why she’d have been so insistent on becoming Oracle, besides being clear sighted. If she was an elected official or a media correspondent, it would suggest an interest in conveying messages, and being the voice for others, like being the voice of Delphi.

But Mags, that’s all well and good but Will’s mom is a musician. Why is his only gift on that front that horrible dog whistle?

Eh…? This one is tricky, however, it might be that she attracted Apollo because of her music, but he attracted her because he exudes warmth and light, thus her child gained healing and light powers and not music. It’s a weaker explanation. Sorry.

There is one other very notable exception to this theory, and I do have an answer to that. Leo’s fire ability had very little to do with Esperanza, and everything to do with the prophecy.

I think that Leo was fated to have power over fire, as the fire in “to storm or fire the world must fall.” That being said, I don’t think Leo’s crafting skills were fated. Those I feel were passed down from Hephaestus through Esperanza’s association with engineering and crafting with him, but the fire wasn’t. The fates wove that power in.

TLDR: Which powers a demigod inherits from their godly parent isn’t random, it’s determined by how their mortal parent perceived the god and their domains.

[chbvalentine]

laughter and smiles ᢉ𐭩

how the hoo boys make you smile (characters: percy , leo , jason , and frank )

a/n- it’s been a while since i read the books. don’t judge too hard.

when you’re having a rough day, percy is the first to notice. while most of the time he’s an oblivious bum, the slightest hint of a frown doesn’t go unnoticed by percy. instead of immediately prying, he’s sneaking of to the beach to prepare a cheesy date. rose petals will be scattered in a heart, with candles galore and a cozy blanket laid perfectly so you can cuddle and watch the sunset together. it looks like something straight out of a rom-com, and you couldn’t be happier. even though he sacrificed his dessert to the demeter children for the roses and promised to leave the apollo kids alone for the candles, it’s worth it to see your sickeningly sweet smile.

when you’re dating leo, there isn’t a moment you aren’t laughing till your stomach hurts. he’s always cracking a joke to make you smile, no matter how serious the situation is. you could be full on crying, and between his comforting words he’ll slip in a lighthearted quip that makes you giggle between sobs. if he isn’t throwing jokes around, he’s making you little trinkets out of scrap metal as gifts. flowers, hearts, and even a mini-festus sit on your nightstand, proudly displayed. they’re a reminder of how much your totally awesome boyfriend cares about you, so naturally, seeing them makes you smile.

jason is extremely good with kids, specifically your relatives. there’s a lot of things about him that make you smile, like his silly glasses or how much he cares, but nothing tops how he acts around kids. it started when you asked him to babysit a little demigod at camp, since you were busy and the baby was too young to be by themselves. when you came back, you saw him asleep in a rocking chair, the kid wrapped up in his arms, also snoozing. you weren’t hesitant to ask him to watch the child again a week later. when you returned this time, jason’s large frame was stuffed into tiny chair, sitting next to them. he had a pink feather boa around his neck, and was sipping out of a teeny tea cup, while the little girl did the same. the sight of his tall and masculine figure dressed elegantly in pink definitely made you grin ear to ear.

frank absolutely adores buying you endless amounts of stuffed animals. elephants, seals, weasels, and countless other creatures sit pretty on your sheets. he likes to surprise you with them, too. you’re having a bad day? boom. new manatee stuffed animal laying on your bed for when you go to sleep. he traveled outside of camp recently? boom. awesome new fluffy souvenir. they all sleep on the bed too, obviously. can’t have one feeling left out. frank loves the way your eyes light up and you start thinking of names the moment he gives you one.

[periwinkla]

Phoenix's careful wording in 4-1

I noticed something about 4-1, Turnabout Trump. Phoenix uses very careful wording. He never outright lies, mostly misdirects. Like when he's asked if the locket is his, and he says the locket has his daughter's photo inside. But the most important misdirection here is about the forged card. He never shows it as actual evidence from the crime scene: if you look carefully at his words, he actually shows it as evidence of the reason why the killer would have taken the card. He's even meticulous about verb choices. In the ENG ver,, he even outright says the card is his. Everyone simply assumes. Also Apollo, unknowingly, doesn't present it as evidence from the crime scene, either. Anyway, here are some parts I found particularly incriminating. JP text beside ENG for comparison's sake. I'll only provide translation for the relevant parts (or the parts that differ between versions). But as you can see, the misdirection is there in the JP version as well. Disclaimer : I only studied Japanese for a little while. AA dialogue is pretty simple though. Also English isn't my native language either. Feel free to correct me on anything wrong here. Also note that I'm not trying to make the translations sound natural, I'm mostly trying to explain what the words are saying, sometimes I'll be more literal than others. Translation =/= localization. Translation notes and musings are in small text.

Judge いかがですかな？　弁護人。 Well, Mr. Justice? カードがスリ替えられて、 持ち去られた“理由”‥‥ The question of why the killer would swap out a card has been raised. そのコンキョを提示できますか？ Can you point to a reason? Apollo (‥‥どうやら、 　ここが“勝負どころ”だ！） (…It's now or never!) なぜ、カードは スリ替えられたのか‥‥。 Naze, kaado wa surikaerareta no ka... The defense would like to present evidence to the court… Naze, kaado wa surikaerareta no ka... Why the card was switched... 弁護���は、その“理由”を 提示したいと思います。 Bengogawa wa, sono "riyuu" o teiji shitai to omoimasu. Evidence showing the reason why a card was swapped out! Bengogawa wa, sono "riyuu" o teiji shitai to omoimasu. The defense would like to present that "reason".

Judge これは‥‥まさか！ Could… this be…!? 現場から持ち去られた “５枚目のＡ”ですかッ！ Could this be the missing fifth ace!? Kristoph ば‥‥バカな！ なぜ‥‥なぜ、キミが‥‥ In-Inconceivable! How could you… そんなものを持っているのだッ！ What are you doing with that card!? Apollo そ、それは‥‥その。 （なんだ、このあわてようは‥‥） Um, well, that's the thing… (Why's Mr. Gavin so upset?) （アヤシイ女の子からもらった、 　ただのアヤシイカードなのに） (Ayashii onna no ko kara moratta, tada no ayashii kaado na noni) (It's just a fishy card from some fishy girl…) (Ayashii onna no ko kara moratta, tada no ayashii kaado na noni) It's just a suspicious card given by a suspicious girl... Apollo doesn't even understand the weight of the card when he presents it. He's just doing what Phoenix is pointing him to. He thinks it's just a suspicious card, and he's only using it to provide a "reason". At first, I was confused by this, because he seemed convinced later on that the card was real. But it appears that at first, he was indeed suspicious of it. It's just as the trial goes on, he's manipulated to think the card is indeed real. Because he trusts Mr. Wright, which *seems* to say it's real. Phoenix そのカードはね。 あの晩、事件の後‥‥ 《ボルハチ》で、 ぼくが拾ったんだよ。 Sono kaado wa ne. Ano ban, jiken no ato... "Boruhachi" de, boku ga hirotta n da yo. Oh, that card? It's mine. That is, I picked it up at the Borscht Bowl Club that night after the murder had occurred. カードは商売道具だからね。 ‥‥ムスメにわたしておいたんだ。 Kaado wa shoubai dougu dakara ne. ...Musume ni watashite oita n da. I gave it to my daughter. Cards are her stock and trade, after all. In the ENG, 'It's mine' is actually an addition. Maybe to drive the point home more? The rest is the same though.

Phoenix じ���、ハナシをつづけようか。 Ja, hanashi o tsuzukeyou ka. Allow me to elaborate. Ja, hanashi o tsuzukeyou ka. Well then, let's continue this discussion? (fun fact: hanashi can also be traslated as 'story', or even 'fable', you could say hanashi is the noun version of the verb hanasu (to talk, tell) so it's basically anything you 'talk' about) この“血痕”が原因だった としたら、どうでしょう。 Kono "kekkan" ga gen'in datta to shitara, dou deshou. What if this trace of blood was the reason? Kono "kekkan" ga gen'in datta to shitara, dou deshou. (what) If this ''bloodstain'' was the cause... what do you think? The 'dou deshou' is usually also traslated as 'what do you think?' - it's used after you make a statement and you want to ask for the other person's opinion. But mostly it's a rethoric question. 'What about it?' would also fit. Also interesting how "bloodstain" is in quotation marks...

Phoenix 現場写真‥‥被害者の頭部を もう一度、よく見てください。 Take another look at the photo… and at the victim's head. 犯行の瞬間、帽子は床に落ちて、 このとおり‥‥ At the moment of the crime, his hat fell to the floor… ひとすじの血が、 後頭部に向かって流れています。 …and a trickle of blood ran from his forehead down the back of his head. この血が、一滴。カードに落ちた。 ‥‥そうは考えられないでしょうか。 Kono chi ga, hitoshizuku. Kaado ni ochita. ...Sou wa kangaerarenai deshou ka. Couldn't a drop of that blood have fallen on one of the cards? Kono chi ga, hitoshizuku. Kaado ni ochita. ...Sou wa kangaerarenai deshou ka. This blood, this drop. Fell on the card. ...Is that unthinkable? / ...Is that unimaginable? He's basically proposing a theory. Not said the card in Apollo's hand is actually the one. Apollo カードに、血が‥‥ Kaado ni, chi ga... I suppose… Kaado ni, chi ga... On the card, the blood (fell)... Apollo is following along with what he's saying. Phoenix ハンニンは、それをかくすために カードを持ち去ったのです。 Hannin wa, sore o kakusu tame ni kaado o mochisatta no desu. The killer then took the card to hide the blood. Fun choice of words. 'no desu' = 'the explaination is that...' or, in this case: 'the explaination would be...' This is the more literal translation just to make it more obvious how he phrases it: The culprit, in order to hide that he took the card the explaination would be So in a way that it's actually comprehensible: The explaination would be that the culprit took the card in order to hide that (the blood).

Kristoph 成歩堂！　キミも 一度は法廷に立ったオトコだ。 Wright! Regardless of how you wasted the last seven years, you used to be a lawyer! 証拠品を隠すことが、 どれだけ大きな“罪”であるか‥‥ You know what a serious crime it is to conceal evidence! Phoenix そのギロンはあとだよ、先生。 それよりも‥‥ Sono giron wa ato da yo, sensei. Sore yori mo... Oh, we can discuss the finer points of our legal system later… Found it funny how he calls him 'sensei' but in a way that is very mccking. 'Sensei' means someone who is masterful/very knowledgeable in something, in this context, law. He says 'Let's leave that discussion for later, sensei. More importantly...' これで、きみの疑問に 答えるコトができたようだね。 Kore de, kimi no gimon ni kotaeru koto ga dekita you da ne. What's important now is that I've answered your question. Kore de, kimi no gimon ni kotaeru koto ga dekita you da ne. And with that, I was able to answer your question, wasn't I? Basically says the same thing, but uses 'dekiru' = 'to be able to' Kristoph な。なんのコトですか？ Wh-What are you talking about? Phoenix ハンニンがカードを 持ち去った“理由”だよ。 Hannin ga kaado o mochisatta "riyuu" da yo. You wanted to know why the killer would have taken a card from the crime scene. Hannin ga kaado o mochisatta "riyuu" da yo. The "reason" the culprit took the card. カードに残った、１滴の血。 Kaado ni nokotta, hitoshizuku no chi. And now, I've told you. A drop of blood, it feel on the card. (That was why) 彼にとっては“致命的”だった。 ‥‥だから、持ち去った。 Kare ni totte wa "chimeiteki" datta. ...Dakara, mochisatta. That one drop of blood would have been decisive evidence, you see. Kare ni totte wa "chimeiteki" datta. ...Dakara, mochisatta. For him, that (the drop of blood) was 'fatal'. ...So, he took it.

Overall, the word choice in both JP and ENG is very careful, but in different ways since... obviously they're different languages with different idiosyncrasies. In conclusion....

Phoenix basically treated the card not as evidence from a crime scene, but more of an example, a recreation, a construction. Never said that was the actual card. Made people assume. Didn't correct them. So... he manipulated their thoughts. He's like 'oh, you want to know the reason? well, let's see, why would the killer take the card...? well maybe it had incriminating evidence on it - oh what kind of evidence? look at this card here - see this drop of blood? what if the blood fell from the victim's head on the card? so he had to take it - because it would have made it obvious the killer entered from the secret passage and how the murder actually happened' Something that breaks my heart immensly about all this is that Apollo is so adamant at the start of the trial that Mr. Wright would never lie... and he's furious and heartbroken that he basically manipulated him (and everyone else), instead. Phoenix literally couldn't lie anyway, because then Apollo would have known. If you think about it, it's kind of how Engarde was able to lie to Phoenix even though he had the magatama. He purposefully and meticulously manipulated people to think the evidence was real, without ever saying it. Putting the words in other people's mouths. (Also... at least to me, this seems a very prosecutor-like tactic. Perhaps even Von Karma-like.)

Why does he even tell Apollo that he forged it? (He didn't have to.) Because he felt guilty. Apollo asks how he can call himself an attorney and he tells him he, in fact, doesn't call himself one. Doesn't have the right to. Phoenix isn't a liar - he says so himself after the trial, he never lied - but he sure is a manipulator here. But he does feel guilty. He lets Apollo punch him. And he smiles. I think this shows how even when we believe that what we're doing is wrong, we might do it anyways. Out of desperation, anyone might cave and go against their own morals.

[genericpuff]

hi, i know the episode came out weeks ago, but i wanted to talk about ep 277 and your essay on it. i thought it was very well thought out and had brought up lots of concerns abt apollo's other victims and the harm persephone caused to others that i just. hadn't really thought about myself because honestly this webcomic is a BLUR to me LOL. thank you for writing these insights and putting them online for others to read ! i think you manage to keep a respectful distance to rachel [1/]

Yeah, regarding how the SA was handled...

I think Rachel did exactly as well as anyone might have expected someone like her to write a plotline like that.

Honestly if Rachel really did want to do the arrow thing, I think it would have worked WAY better if she had used the arrow of hate. First of all, because it had already been established back in S2 when it was shot at him by Psyche, but ALSO because making it an arrow of love confirmed that Eros literally did what Apollo asked despite the fact that he's Persephone's best friend and should have been more suspicious of what he was going to use it for. Why not just do a bait & switch where Apollo is under the impression that it's an arrow of love but Persephone trusts in her friend and pieces it together that it's probably an arrow of hate? It would also payoff the whole "news crew being nearby" thing (as well as all the other gods that just randomly showed up) because uh oh now they all see his true nature and he can't hide behind his lies anymore!

After all, as I mentioned in my previous post about this (the one I believe you're referring to) it's not like there wasn't already foreshadowing that Apollo was going to fall on his own sword the way of Mr Waternoose from Monster's Inc, he was already showing signs of cracking under the guilt that he was feeling towards how he treated Persephone/Eris/Hermes/etc. so why did it have to be Persephone taking a massive risk by sticking him with an arrow of love that still doesn't fully explain why he would even suddenly be a changed man? Loads of people like Apollo think they're in love / define their infatuation as love so I don't see how an arrow of love would suddenly make him empathetic to her pain. Especially when, again, he still begs her not to make him confess, so the guilt he's feeling is still completely empty and unmotivated.

I will leave this with one final thing that I saw the other day that very much reminded me of the Apollo SA plotline and I think it rings very true for the misdirected conclusion of the plot itself:

One of the biggest issues of the Apollo SA plotline, at least in my opinion, is that it never really gets to the root of why people like Apollo exist. There absolutely were strong foundations for this - he's the son of a guy who's known for being a serial cheater, he's popular and egotistical and is used to women wanting him, etc. - but all of those foundations kind of fell to the wayside in favor of turning Apollo into just another boogeyman, especially to lift Hades up as a "good man" by comparison (when Hades himself also falls on this spectrum). But many people like Apollo aren't just random guys in an alleyway or conspiring with some "higher power" that's manipulating them, they're men who fundamentally do not understand consent and assault on the varying spectrums in which it exists from "SA just exists, oh well" passiveness to "I'm an actual monster who gets pleasure out of victimizing women" aggressiveness. I think there's a lot to discuss about how people like Apollo exist WITHOUT sympathizing with them, but LO manages to do neither - not only does it give us uncomfortable and unnecessary looks into the rapist's POV more than we get the victims, but it does it in a way that doesn't actually address the issue of how people like Apollo come to be, it's just "Apollo is the big evil boogeyman who raped Persephone". Not only does it not actually put enough focus on the victims, but it reduces the societal and cultural complexities of where Apollo's brand of egotistical entitlement comes from to just "some guys just be evil like that". Guys like Apollo don't just come out of the womb like that, they're often shaped into what they are by a society that both excuses them for awful behavior towards girls ("Boys will be boys!") and enables - if not outright encourages - them to objectify women as trophies that they're entitled to. Even the seemingly innocent and sentimental practice of "giving away a bride" at a wedding is rooted in these patriarchal systems, with the belief that a woman first "belongs" to her father before being "given to" her husband.

It's the part of feminism that often gets overlooked - it's not just about uplifting female voices and helping survivors speak up about and heal from SA, it's also about deconstructing and challenging the patriarchal systems that lead to SA victims being created in the first place. Sure, Apollo got sentenced to building temples in the Mortal Realm, but what is that actually doing to address the bigger topic of how men like him come to exist in the first place? Especially when it was also treated as a good thing for TGOEM to be disbanded, instead of, idk... reworking it into a women's support group for survivors like Persephone?

IDK, it's a very complicated subject that you can approach from a million different angles, I don't think that my criticizing it should outweigh the opinions of those who were satisfied with the punishment that was given to Apollo (my saying the SA plotline sucked doesn't mean you're not allowed to find your own validation in it) but I do think that, at best, Rachel ended the SA plotline the only way she could because she herself is just not equipped to tackle such broad subjects that require a lot more education, experience, and nuance than what she's capable of writing. There are definitely 1298423108 better ways that plotline could have been resolved, but not with Rachel Smythe at the helm.

And that's my many cents on that.

[aroaceleovaldez]

what's your opinion on the trials of apollo series? (if you already have a post like this, you could link it below, i just haven't seen it if so)

I think it has an interesting concept and introduces some interesting worldbuilding, plus some nice new characters, but overall it's not executed well and is an unnecessary third series. A lot of TOA kind of ends up breaking the theses of the first series by creating a premise that basically every character involved needs to be retconned to be able to fit within. It also focuses way too heavily on unnecessary cameos and retcons/overcorrecting previous mistakes. Not to mention how much new stuff it introduces that is... not great. Altogether it's kind of a mess. But I can see promise in some of the core concepts.

My two main sort of main "takes" on how I think TOA could be improved is either: a.) remove Calypso from HoO and instead have her be re-introduced in TOA as a tritagonist in a trio with Apollo and Meg, with the focal point of the trio's dynamic being the intersection of their experiences and how they relate to one another - with a lot of emphasis on Calypso being a mirror to Apollo in both being stripped of their immortality and thrown into the mortal world and having been unfairly punished. Then have Calypso join the Hunt in approximately TTT (essentially her way of taking control of her own life again and regaining her immortality) so the finale is Meg and Apollo on their own and Calypso's absence is naturally felt because we're used to trio dynamics in the franchise. It'd be a great way to break the convention of the series while also playing with this feeling of loss but also hope leading up to the final fight in a meaningful way without having to lean so heavily on unnecessary (and poorly executed) character death. Calypso is gone because she got her happy ending, and now it's Meg and Apollo's turn.

or b.) - and this is apparently controversial - instead of having the protagonist be Apollo, have it be Ares. Otherwise the overarching plot is the same. This way you can keep the plot structure but not have to entirely retcon Apollo's character to fit the story concept. It also finally ties up that loose thread about Ares never seeing repercussions for his actions and allowing him to have a positive character arc that way more naturally touches upon events from the previous series. As a bonus it also allows for bringing PJO!Ares closer to how he's mythologically portrayed and examining some of his mythological themes and what exactly he's the god of. Mars is an agricultural god! Having his deuteragonist being a daughter of Demeter would be really fun to highlight that! Mythologically he's usually portrayed as a really good father! Let's allow him to have some character development where he stops being such a jerk!

One of my core problems with TOA is Apollo's character is retconned entirely for TOA to even begin, he doesn't have any actual true flaws that he needs to work on throughout his character arc, and by the end he's literally just back where he started with his characterization in PJatO. It's a total net-zero. Why? Having Ares be the protagonist instead would be a great opportunity to take his currently very stagnant character from PJatO (and the very little he shows up in HoO) and have him change dramatically for the better. Doing so would also fit way more with the themes of the first series.

[azerinbouee]

why does rick riordan write percy differently in every book after pjo?

it is not even about the timelines. like, the way he wrote percy in son of neptune was I think a great characterization. he was amnesiac but he still carried a major undertone about how much he loved annabeth, and his normal characteristics like his loyalty, his experience in battle, his ability to make new friends, his natural leadership, him being a great war strategist even though he does not even remember how to make them, and his underlying anger and trauma from the Titan War. then this anger and characterization was not handled that well in mark of athena in my opinion and unfortunately percy's arc in that book was mostly used for that meaningless effort to create a rivaly between him and jason but it still was okay for most of the part. then in the house of hades, all that buildup has exploded, and wasn't that the perfect place for the character? he broke down finally, going as far as to bloodbend a goddess and liking it. his love for annabeth was the only thing that held him back, but it must have been very traumatising for him, not just the whole tartarus experience but that feeling of power, and liking the pain he caused on akhlys, that must have caused a big inside dilemma in percy. incredible place to put the character percy, after everything that has happened. that could have led to a great conclusion.

then the blood of olympus happened. and... well, where was percy's trauma? where was the result of percy going as far as to bloodbend to save annabeth and himself, and finding out the true limits of his power, which is so scary even someone like annabeth freaked out. someone who knows percy inside out, better than anyone does, that knows the way he breathes. she was scared of percy. and percy realised that. how is that of no consequence in blood of olympus? let alone, percy and annabeth does not even have povs. the only thing mentioned about this is annabeth talking to piper about what happened and piper's question about what would happen if percy decided to act scary. then... his nose bleeds, that wakes gaea, and that was something he technically knows he could control now, so he could have stopped his blood from dropping to the ground and waking gaea, but he did not because annabeth asked him not to. this could have caused a great arc showing percy's regret and dilemma about doing the right thing even if using that power is wrong and choosing to not do anything because he always puts annabeth first. but there was nothing because it took 2 minutes to defeat gaea after that. percy seems same, even less traumatised than he was at the end of titan war at the end of the blood of olympus.

i won't go into the trials of apollo much, because to be honest that was apollo's story and I found percy's small bits enough for that story. no need to build unnecessary characterization in that books for percy. but timeline wise , let's do demigods and magicians. he is back to being the scary, scowling, frightening and powerful demigod. and he knows he is powerful. his lines to carter, 'names have power, i can't tell you my name.' , 'not many people can fight me that well.' . I love the percy in that book. i think that is exactly where he should be at that point.

then the chalice of the gods happens.

percy in that book is nothing like in the demigods and magicians. and there is literally days between both books. he is back to thinking he is useless, and everything is like taken out of a time between the pjo books, like none of the hoo happened. same for the wrath of the triple goddess. where was percy's trauma of tartarus? of bloodbending? of all the other things that has happened? where was annabeth's trauma, as well but that's another long topic.

I just am starting to think rick resets the characterization of percy in the beginning of every book and likes to write what he wants at that moment. i really don't like him do this to percy out of all characters. and I wish he realised before he write the other books.

[asofspades]

I had a random thought pop up in my head, you guys remember that scene of percabeth in Tartarus that the fandom so lovingly calls "dark Percy moment" right(?) you remember how the reason Percy was terrified was not his power but how much he'd scared Annabeth. I want you now to think of how everyone views every single ability of Nico as unsettling or terrifying, Percy being scared after Nico's first outburst of power, all of them being scared of his abilities in the labyrinth, even Pan being unsettled by him, there's examples of that all across BotL, TLO, and the HOO saga, including Jason feeling that Nico is dangerous and getting defensive when they argue, Leo being creeped out, Frank finding his abilities unsettling even Hazel seems to be a bit scared of his abilities (even If she's insanely strong herself, it's more the nature of his powers) and then Reyna is terrified during the Bryce thing but at least she shows understanding. Nico was aware of how people viewed his power no matter how much they wanted to pretend they weren't unsettled by him, can you imagine what that must have felt like? If I was him and everyone looked at me like that for my abilities I wouldn't want to be near them either. Even Lester who is literally Apollo is a bit unsettled by Nico's powers in ToA...

I'm just saying, Nico doesn't even have to go Bryce mode for his powers to be considered scary and creepy.

[cherriestears]

Hiya, I loved your Yandere!Athena HCs! Could you maybe write Yandere Percy and Jason x reader HCs, like in a poly situation? Thank you! ❤️

yandere PJO! Percy Jackson x demigod! darling X yandere HOO! Jason Grace 🌊☁️⚔️ - general hcs

!!WARNINGS!!: yandere, obsessive and stalkerish behavior, manipulation, mentions of vi0lence and murd3r, overprotectiveness, jealousy, etc etc you know the drill

pairing/s: yandere pjo!Percy and Jason x demigod!darling

a/n: sorry it took so long anonie, i kept losing motivation lol

So let's start this off strong, if this was pre-Blood of Olympus Percy and Jason, they definitely would've killed each other for you soooo...

Let's just assume this is pre-Trials of Apollo Percy and Jason

You were one of the half-blood campers who went to New Rome for college

And by some stroke of luck (or not) you managed to catch the eye of two of the most powerful demigods ever known, Percy Jackson and Jason Grace

I'd assume that both of them would already be in a relationship with each other when you showed up

Jason would be the first one who would notice you

He had noticed Frank showing you around the campus while he was in one of the cafes and he was immediately intrigued by the reserved air you held about you

How you shyly thanked Frank for showing you around and how you looked around the campus like it made was straight out of Mount Olympus

In Jason's eyes, anyone who can appreciate the beauty of Rome is gorgeous to him

So naturally he developed an interest in you

Jason is a very communicative boyfriend and the second he realised he might have developed feelings for you, he immediately told Percy

Of course, it wasn't like he wasn't in love with Percy, it's just that you had caught his eye too

At first, Percy was pissed. Percy is a rather overprotective boyfriend to have and he immediately began digging up on you, to find out who had been attracting his boyfriend

However, when he started learning more about you, he couldn't stop himself from liking you

For some reason, you had the same effect on him that Jason did and he immediately understood why you had caught Jason's eye

The two of them had a long conversation and agreed to try to win you over

So they would start reading into you, finding out what you like, what your hobbies are, things like that

They didn't realise it but they developed quite the obsession with you, observing you late into the night, thinking about you constantly

Finally they approached you, on the pretense of wanting to welcome the new blood

You were quite flattered to have such important demigods willingly offer to be your guides and immediately took up their offer of friendship, starting to hang around with them more

I feel like Percy and Jason would genuinely want to be your boyfriends instead of kidnapping you or just making you fall in love with them so it would be easier to get you

They want a healthy, normal relationship with you but they don't realise that their love for you goes far too deep for a normal relationship

Your friendship would start off really simple, just things like picnics in the gardens of Rome, late night study sessions, the occasionally fighting monsters outside camp

Slowly they'd become more bold, starting to bring you gifts, surprising you with things that they had handmade from the Vulcan campers, just for you

They'd finally offer the option of joining their relationship to you one late night and they'd be absolutely over the moon when you shyly accepted

Once they're officially your boyfriends, you'd notice them competing with each other for your affection

It'd start off with small things, like if Percy took you out to a gorgeous beach on a weekend as a little relaxing surprise for you, you'd notice Jason eyeing him a little challengingly

Then Jason would take you on a surprise flying trip to wherever you wanted and and would have a lovely time with you, only to come back home to a rather grumpy Percy

Of course they still love each other, but they can't help but feel a little more competitive when it comes towards you

Honestly, it's one of the things that keeps their relationships going and it's rather interesting to watch at times too

I have this headcanon that Jason cooks really well so he'd learn your favourite food and make it for you <3 (just don't ask HOW he knows your favourite food since you never told him)

Percy is insistent that you learn how to swim so he'll drag you to the beach at random and try to teach you how to swim if you don't already know

If you DO know, he'll try teaching you tricks and will show off his own stunts underwater to general applause (although Jason keeps berating him for it since it makes Percy dizzy, he's usually on a lounge chair, watching you two)

Percy isn't very happy if you wear a revealing swimsuit but let's it go when Jason reminds him that not only can they both fight, so can you

He still glares at everyone who looks at you in even a slightly admiring way but usually Jason is there to restrain him from dousing them in sea water

I think they probably wouldn't punish you or such, since they didn't have to kidnap you to get you and since they don't like hurting you

I'd say the most they'd do as a 'punishment' is ignore you for a few days, essentially isolating you but just from them

And of course, since you love them so much, it's pure torture to you so you do everything you can to make up to them

Both of them looooove reminding you how gorgeous you are

Percy totally takes photos of you all the time with a Polaroid, no matter whether you're eating, studying, sleeping

When you stay up late to study at night, Jason is right by your side, providing you with an unlimited supply of coffee or hot chocolate, whichever you prefer

Percy would probably study with you since he isn't very good at studies either but he'd probably get really easily distracted by how pretty you were which results in Jason having to smack him on the head (and then kiss his forehead because he felt bad about it)

They NEVER forget important dates

Anniversaries, birthdays, special holidays you like, they will ALWAYS remember

Both of them spend hours with each other while pondering your gifts (and each other's but neither one of them tells each other that)

It's always a thoughtful, sweet gift whether valuable in sentiment or use

They spoil you as much as they can with what money they have

Jason leaves little notes for you all over your dorm, some reminders and some just sweet compliments <33

Percy definitely brings you random trinkets from his father's palace when he goes to visit <3

Both of them LOVE showing off their horses, offering rides to you at random odd hours of the day

If anyone dared to ask you out, usually Percy would pull them into his cabin to talk to them, with Jason by his side as he calmly tries to explain that you were already dating them

Usually, the demigods of two of the most powerful Olympians confronting them regarding a loved one, would have any demigod with any common sense immediately apologizing and promising not to do it again

If some idiot, however, ignores their (Percy's) warnings, neither Percy or even Jason can guarantee their safety next time they're in the air or the sea

They may not have as many powers over their respective domains but they have enough to cause 'accidents', small things that confuse, weaken or hurt the unfortunate fool who chose you to have a crush on

They wouldn't go as far as to kill anyone though, unless it's in a fit of rage (Percy) or they decide it's well deserved (Jason)

Overall, they're amazing boyfriends and the chances of you ever finding out about their obsession is almost zero since they're so sweet and loving that it distracts you from all the red flags <3

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

a/n: the ending was lazy but kindly forgive me for that, it was like 3 am, I'm so sorry ☠️☠️

[a-d-nox]

can you list any of the aspects in synastry or composite charts (if possible) where it indicates who breaks up with the other first ? for example, i just read a post saying more often than not, in venus conjuct pluto aspect- the pluto breaks up with venus first.

what causes break-up/rejection in synastry and composite

i wouldn't count on that always being the case, sounds like someone is justifying their specific situation because conjuncts are atypical in nature - they often don't have predictable results. some people say that they promote positivity (for example, venus person is enamored by pluto person and pluto person is obsessed with venus person like the twisted book series that went viral on tiktok) and some say that nothing good comes from them (like whichever post the example is from in the ask)...

i'm going to work off of what i already have posted (no asteroids discussed after this post will be included or added after the fact). finally, i would like to state that NO TWO CHARTS ARE THE SAME. what i am about to list out does not mean you will for sure need these exact things (or all of these things) to be shy, nervous, and/or anxious around one another. if you don't understand my thought process, feel free to comment with questions!

8h/12h saturn

often the ending of this relationship is not pretty and involves a long-term coupling falling out of love with one another.

8h uranus

uranus person likely feels that the house person is too clingy for them and will be the first to pull away.

12h aries (1°, 13°, 25°) and/or mars

tends to indicate an ugly split.

12h capricorn (10°, 22°)

tends to indicate a harsh breakup/rejection from the house person which causes the saturn person to fall into a despair. this connection is often of a long-term variety.

12h aquarius (11°, 23°)

this might end with one of the partners in the connection asking for an open relationship, cheating on their partner, and/or ghosting the other partner.

sun negatively aspecting mars

sun person denies mars person. sun person tends to not like the mars person's energy and how passionate they are - they tend to not feel as deeply as the mars person.

mars negatively aspecting saturn

saturn person rejects mars person. usually the saturn person doesn't see the mars person as a good fit for them long-term - it tend to have to do with how clingy/possessive the mars person is. often the saturn person doesn't think that the mars person is worth fighting with, while the mars person sees the saturn person as someone worth fighting for.

mars negatively aspecting uranus

uranus person rejects mars person. the mars person often doesn't see this coming as an uranus person in this connection is quick to ghost/disappear from the mars person's life. the mars person tend to lack closure in the connection.

1h salome (562)

in oscar wilde's play salome, she is enticed by jokanaan but still wants him dead, and the play ends up with them both dead but him by salome's order.

apollo (1862) negatively aspecting kassandra (114)

kassandra person may seem interested at first but ends up just using the apollo person only to get ahead then rejects the apollo person.

medusa (149) negatively aspecting poseidon (4341 / h47)

poseidon person aggressively pursues medusa person but medusa person wants nothing to do with poseidon person

narcissus (37117) negatively aspecting echo (60)

echo might adore narcissus person, but narcissus person may either just enjoy that echo person likes them or they might decide they are too good for echo person.

rhea (577) negatively aspecting kronos (h43)

rhea person tend to be unhappy in the connection and plots against the kronos person.

zeus (h42 / 5731) negatively aspecting hera (103) and/or juno (3) negatively aspecting jupiter

typically, the hera/juno is hurt by the zeus/jupiter person because hera/juno person learns that they are being cheated on. oftentimes, this leads to a breakup. however, if there is a hera/juno prominent person in the connection, the relationship tends to continue but at the expense of the loyal (and unhappy) hera/juno person.

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[pumpkinbxtch]

･⁠｡ﾟ “Lovelorn” .⁠*⁠･⁠｡ﾟ

— leo valdez x daughter of apollo!reader

Summary: You and Leo have been friends for a long time. You fight too hard to let him know what you feel and you receive help... divine

Warnings: swear words, mentions of minor burns (really minor)

A/N: English is not my first language, so sorry if it's bad.

Word Count: 2,094

°

The two of you were friends, so close, that you couldn't help but feel bad about yourself as you sighed as you watched him pass by.

«Just a few more days and we will be at camp», you found yourself counting the hours to always have him by your side. Damn, you were obsessed.

Gradually, you stopped making your pen write, and it was now making a constant noise against the library table, your eyes still following his figure along the shelves of books. Why he was it taking so long?

—You've already gone over that shelf five times.— You mumbled and temporarily stopped tapping with the pencil.

The brunette turned to you and smiled with a raised eyebrow. — Shall I distract you, señorita? — Your heart stopped, and you turned your gaze to the notes, trying to hide the red tint that spread across your face, meanwhile, your friend continued passing the shelves and sporadically glancing at you discreetly. He thought you had been acting very strange for a while now, and constantly wondered if it was because of something he had said or done. If so, Leo blamed his loose tongue and the natural insolence of his being, but he could swear by Styx lagoon that had not done something.

When he finally found what he wanted, he returned to the table with you, you, as expected, had almost finished your homework while he hadn't even started.

—Are you almost done, nerd?

You frowned.

— Nerd? Or are you an idiot?

Leo let out a laugh that if it weren't for the silence of the library you would never have had the pleasure of hearing. He settled down and began to write while carefully studying a mechanics book.

—Isn't your father the best mechanic in the universe?

A smile appeared on Leo's lips without looking away from the book and from the book to the notebook. He looked stupid good, his shoulders, his fingers running across the page and his curls falling down his face due to gravity. Blessed gravity.

— I would like him to teach me what I need to know instead of doing godly things and getting me involved in suicide missions, but I don't think that's going to happen, right?

You leaned back to lean your back on the old wooden chair, this allowed you to have a better view of Leo. However, as soon as you realized how stupid that reason was, you felt the heat on your cheeks making you regret it.

— I guess — You cleared your throat and rubbed your cheek hoping it wasn't apparent but the movement caught Leo's attention.

— You feel bad? — He said quickly.

You gasped and shook your head left and right, praying you didn't look as pathetic as you felt.

Leo left the pen next to his notebook. — Come — he said with his hand suspended in the air. You hesitated to lean towards him, you knew that would make it worse, however, like the desperate Leo he was, he didn't wait to rise slightly from his seat and reach out to you. Not even two seconds had passed when he had already gently placed the back of his hand on your cheek. You wanted to die or be swallowed by the earth, but not exactly in that order, or if the gods wanted, all at once. But, as usual, your wishes were not listened to or at least those were not heard.

When Leo's eyes met yours, you couldn't help but pull back, which gave Leo an ache in the chest.

— Everything is alright? — He said when he was finally sitting again, his expression went from calm to serious. Leo was always joking and teasing you, but yes, if he wanted to talk about something serious, he didn't waver in the attempt. You knew it well, and that made you press the edges of the table with enormous anxieties.

So easy that it would be to lie to him with a simple “yes” but your feelings twisted in your stomach and your heart felt a pain that danced between fear and desperation. You were so sick of feeling that fear and not telling him, but you were also terrified of what he would think. Would you be on the same page? Or was it just Leo's stupid attitude with everyone?

— Hey — Leo passed his hand in front of your eyes, bringing you back to earth, you looked at him, still speechless. — Are you ok? Shall we go to the infirmary, or can you handle it? — His index finger pointed to your golden necklace with a sun engraved on it, you immediately pressed it against you.

How did you go from being joking to being terrified of your emotions? You wished it were easy.

And then, your mouth opened without permission:

— No. I need you.

You two stood silent, even everyone in the library seemed to hold their breath.

Leo raised his eyebrow and leaned forward.

— Excuse me?

— Don't you notice, idiot?

For a moment, it was like hearing yourself in the third person, you couldn't believe those words were coming out of you. The fear seemed to vanish out of nowhere.

Your best friend looked down as he took the pen and tapped it on his notebook. — Notice what?— he muttered, looking back at you.

— That I like you.

Leo opened his eyes, and you felt your stomach twisting again, but definitely one less burden on your back. Now you were wondering, would it be very stupid of you to say it was a joke?

Yeah, he would forgive you.

You Laugh — N-no, I don't…

— And you to me.

Both fell silent and Leo snorted.

— Were you going to say it was a joke? — Leo frowned and squeezed the pen, the small device began to melt in his hand.

Seeing this, you muffled a scream and covered his hand without stopping to think twice. The fact was that you were no less sensitive to heat than the plastic pen, which caused a cry of pain to echo throughout the library, earning you several looks and scoldings.

You held your hand with your good one and hunched over in your pain, holding back any more sobs that might bother others. Leo quickly jumped out of his chair to walk past you and kneel, asking to see your hand. With your thoughts fuzzy, you shook your head repeatedly.

— Let me see

You denied.

— Give me your hand!

You denied again.

— Que la chingada, give me your hand!

— YOUNG PEOPLE, KEEP SILENCE — Miss, are you okay? — The librarian looked at your hand and put her hands on her chest, totally scandalized — What are you waiting for, sir? — The old woman pointed at Leo, causing him to fall onto the carpeted floor — Take your girlfriend to the infirmary immediately!

Leo looked at her dumbfounded, still on the floor.

The librarian looked quickly at you, still pressing your hand against your chest, she looked back at Leo and snorted exaggeratedly.

— NOW!— She shouted, breaking her own rules.

— Yes ma'am!

Leo stood up and analyzed you, still struggling with the pain.

— Al carajo, pues. — And he carried you.

It certainly would have been one of your fantasies, if it weren't for the fact that you felt like your hand was melting. Leo's arms carried you by the back of your thighs, while his right hand kept your head resting on his chest. When had he become so strong?

— I had some Ambrosia in my backpack — You whispered in Leo's ear, he stopped at the door of the infirmary, panting. He gave you a look of disbelief.

— And you tell me right now?

You raised your blistered hand, that broke Leo's heart.

—I'll let them take a look at you anyway. —And he entered, still with you in his arms.

To your surprise, the room was empty, but Leo decided that it would be best to wait.

After a few minutes, Leo scratched the back of his neck and gave you a nervous look from the doorway, waiting for someone to enter. Of course, you had completely forgotten.

You settled on the stretcher, making space for Leo, and patted the space with your good hand. He didn't argue and walked over to sit down, probably just as impatient with the situation that had caused your burns.

—Leo…

— It was a joke?

Both looked forward, contemplating a diagram of the human nervous system seemed more comforting than facing each other face to face.

You sighed and looked at your hand, red and blistered, it looked slightly better, it was your nature as a demigoddess after all, but it still hurt. The words stuck in your throat, but you fought it.

—Would it be bad if I told you I wasn't joking?

Leo turned to you with unfocused eyes, his fingers twitching around one another, probably missing not having gears and parts in his hands to calm his nerves.

— Are you serious? — Leo approached impulsively, making your heart skip a beat.

— Sorry, I didn't mean—

His hands cupped your cheek, and he pressed his lips to yours, then he turned away from him to look into your eyes with a smile. He kept his hand on your chin and caressed it gently, his fingers traveled to your forehead to brush away strands of hair, Leo looked at you tenderly and leaned down to kiss several places on your cheek.

—Is that a “I like you too?” — you asked between giggles while Leo continued attacking your face affectionately.

He pulled back and admired you.

— I told you, but I don't mind repeating it.— I, — he pointed to himself dramatically — am a sucker for you.—

You pouted and leaned towards him. — Aren't you always?

— Hey! — He laughed and poked your rib, causing you to join him.

Suddenly, the figure of a man appeared at the entrance to the nursery, both looked in his direction, and Leo stood up.

—Are you sure any of you feel bad? I notice they are in too good a mood.— Said the medical assistant with what seemed like a play on his words. You couldn't see his full face, as it was hidden behind a mask, but the golden curls looked familiar.

Leo cleared his throat. — I'll go get our things, let him check you out. I'll be back in a few minutes.— And he walked toward the doorway.

You nodded and watched the doctor approach with a tray full of instruments for healing. Strangely, just the one your injury required.

— Your hand — He said, the tone also became familiar to you. Curiosity hovered, and you tried to recognize him with the mask on, when the doctor realized he looked up and you were left speechless.

Those blue eyes.

— Father! — You screamed and he removed his mask.

— Trapped — He said sweetly, still paying attention to your hand.

The words didn't come, but the realization hit you like a bucket of cold water.

— You were — Apollo looked at his daughter with a bright smile. — I would never have said that in my life, you forced me!

The god rolled his chair back.

— No, darling. I just sent you a wave of self-confidence — Apollo took your hand in his and lightened up, making any discomfort and any apparent burn disappear.

Your eyes locked onto your father, and you stuttered, the god raising his shoulders.

— What? I made you waste less time with that son of Hephaestus, who is practically my brother, which makes Leo my nephew, but also my son-in-law.

— Dad! — Apollo smiled and winked at you.

—But we don't have DNA, so it doesn't matter.

— Dad!

— Oh, what? I just helped, you asked me to, so did I make my daughter happy or not?

You couldn't deny such a question.

— Good! Ready! I love you, bye

And he disappeared in a burst of light, leaving you with your mouth open.

You raised your fist in the air, and before you said anything, Leo appeared.

— All good?

He looked for the doctor and asked you silently. You sighed and turned to him.

— What happened with? —You gave him a kiss. Leo let go of his backpack and pulled you close to him.

When you broke away from his lips, you smiled at him and grabbed his backpack from the floor, offering your now healthy hand for Leo to take. That made him squint.

— Come on, we have to find something to burn as an offering. I'll tell you on the way.

— Yes my Lady

And you make your way to the main dining rooms.

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N/A Bless the gods if you made it this far. Thanks, kisses. If you have any request, go to my profile.