#luke castellan crit

[massiveladycat]

maybe the "did you love me?" could be seen as platonic or romantic, but i'm not here to argue about that honestly, even if it was meant in a platonic way, luke was still an awful person. he manipulated kids in bad positions to join the titan army, knowing full well so many of them would die and knowing full well camp half-blood was full of children. in fact, he knew most of the campers personally children who trusted him were exploited and luke castellan is literally one of the most evil people in pjo deadass and it surprises me when i see people trying to defend him list of all the things he's done, excluding what he's done when possessed by kronos:

stole Zeus's lightning bolt to start a war with the gods, knowing full well that would have led to many deaths

framed 12-year-old percy for stealing Zeus's lightning bolt

gave 12-year-old percy cursed shoes meant to drop him into tartarus. he would NOT have survived that. that was done with every intent to kill percy.

summoned a hellhound to kill percy

left percy alone with a deadly scorpion

poisoned thalia's tree to put the campers (CHILDREN) in serious danger

tried to kill 13-year-old percy in a duel

deceived Annabeth into holding up the sky in place of atlas. she was 14. holding the sky is extremely painful. he literally took advantage of the fact she still had affection for him.

used Annabeth to make artemis hold up the sky

extorted silena into being his spy, threatening to hurt her boyfriend if she disobeyed; also took advantage of her crush on him (she was 14 or 15, luke was 23) anyways. fuck luke castellan and he is NOT innocent and never will be and he hurts children❤️ yes i agree that the gods are pretty messed up but he was more than willing to harm the people the gods were harming. he claimed to only want the best for them, but he was likely the number 1 reason that so many of the kids were dead and/or traumatized. he can't claim to only want the gods to be better when he's going to take it out on kids who've done nothing wrong.

[bugwolfsstuff]

I hate when Luke shows up in those tiktok slideshows of the gods and their kids with some Taylor swift song playing

Like I just saw one that went "give me back my childhood it was mine first" and Luke was among the demigods like he did not help steal their childhoods

Think Luke was a hero or not but he very much did traumatize the entire fucking generation in a war

[ofswordsandpens]

rip Percy crashing the bus, rip Annabeth hyperventilating after Luke hugged her, rip Argus, rip the trio playing hacky sack, rip dumbass Percy and dumbass Annabeth ignoring Grover and walking straight into Medusa's emporium just cause they were hungry...

[helpallthenamesaretakensblog]

In PJO, the main antagonist's primary villainous motivation was the injustice of the toxic cycle that was repeating itself through centuries. the same cycle of neglectful parents, and kids that tried too hard to please them, when they never cared, only putting the innocent kid in harm. the main antagonist wanted to rebel against this vicious cycle after his own traumatic experiences in the system.

In HOO, the main antagonist's primary villainous motivation was the fact that she couldnt wake up but she wanted to.

Both can be equally relatable, in different circumstances. One arc takes place as you mature in life, another takes place on Monday morning

[solarspunk]

never a lukabeth(?) shipper because gross and not why annabeth loves luke at all but the LACK of relationship exposition between the two of them in the show is PISSING me off genuinely. luke and annabeth's relationship is CRUCIAL to the conflict Luke has with the gods and his subsequent redemption, as well as the entire driving force for book 3,4, and 5. it was a relationship that percy was jealous of, not simply because he liked her romantically but because it was a side of Annabeth that he never got to see and a type of bond that he never had with her, despite going through so much together.

letting Luke say "oh Annabeth and I are like family" and then never even let them interact with each other makes absolutely NO SENSE. this lack of relationship exposition between the two of them completely takes away Annabeth's emotional investment when facing Hermes and explaining May's curse. its PAINFUL for her to talk about them because it PAINS Luke and she can TELL.

if you're not gonna build up their relationship, why do we waste precious screen time with Hermes and make the Lotus Casino Scene so... meh??? When it could have been fun and whimsy and silly and the kids can take a shower and hear some weirdo say groovy and realize gambling is a trap!!!??

It also robs Annabeth of such character depth in PAINS ME. shes just a girl. shes awkward and have crushes and is emotional and is scared of losing people she loves. shes not just "six step ahead of everyone child soldier prodigy" MY GOD.

and of course i love seeing percabeth on my tv but dear LORD having luke say "youre like an old married couple" is SO OUT OF CHARACTER and to have Annabeth not even respond flustered or embarrassed?????? ITS THE SLOW BURN OF THE CENTURY I DO NOT NEED YOU TO HAMMER IT INTO MY HEAD THAT THEYRE MARRIED AT 12. I FIGURED THAT OUT WHEN HE SACRIFICED HIMSELF TWICE FOR A GIRL HE JUST MET.

[chironshorseass]

the thing is, we were never meant to sympathize with luke when he betrays percy. we aren’t meant to see his inner turmoil. we aren’t meant to see hesitancy, or regret. it’s meant to be a slap in the face. luke takes percy to the woods knowing full well what he’s about to do. in tlt kronos orders him to kill percy because he’s too volatile; kronos said so himself when percy hijacked luke’s dreams and began to figure out there were bigger things at play. the thing is, when kronos orders luke to kill percy, he doesn’t hesitate. that’s the point!!! it is essential that luke is so blinded by rage and vengeance for the gods that he will stop at nothing to get what he wants (the god’s destruction). percy accuses luke that kronos is using him, but he just retaliates that the gods do the same, and they do!!! but see, the thing is, luke’s whole point is that he’s so focused on the god’s injustices that he forgets what’s important. he goes for the “greater good” but he destroys his family, his life, in the process. by attempting to dismantle a system, he turns to another system that follows the same oppressive logic. THAT is why luke fails. THAT is why it’s so important he be blinded by rage, because it’s his inevitable, tragic end. he’s doomed by the narrative from the start. yes, we’re meant to be surprised by his betrayal because of how cold and calculating it is, but also it’s important to set the grounds for luke’s character to be this angry, vengeful boy because later on we come to understand why it is that he made those choices. we see annabeth’s side of things and percy’s side. we see luke’s side. we see many sides. we see a man who is too far gone yet comes to understand, in the end, that he’s been doing more harm than good to those he was supposed to protect (annabeth is the most obvious example). we get a complex character who won’t hesitate to kill but who also won’t hesitate to sacrifice himself so that he can save the family he has left.

the thing is, luke was supposed to be angrier in the show. percy was supposed to be angrier in the show. they’re both foils. luke is what percy could become, if percy lets his anger win. so, to change—even if it’s only slightly altering—their characters, is to change the point of the story. because luke tries to kill percy in his betrayal and later percy tries to kill luke but then percy starts to understand luke…until luke is gone and kronos is gone yet the gods don’t change but percy does. and percy’s initial anger is supposed to transform and he’s supposed to see what luke saw and the cycle continues. the thing is, it’s not even one of the worst changes the show made, yet it’s still so, so telling that they failed to see why it’s important to let your characters do bad things, to make mistakes, because that’s how a story can carry on. that’s how you give a story depth.

[punkeropercyjackson]

Punk Percy moments

Getting kicked out of 6 schools by age 12 because he refused to stop being a bully beater

Telling the gods to fix how they run their shit with his whole chest no hesitation as soon as he thought to and them listening due to a mix of fearing and respecting him

The leadup to it being his bully beating manifesting/escalating in him fighting against an entire pantheon as a system for four years straight and continuing to afterwards too

Gifting Nico a The Ramones shirt

Insulting his classmates in Som for being 'a bunch of rich white boys' and carrying on his anti-capitalist mentality from the start and the franchise as a whole,including refusing to ask Poseidon for or accept riches

Confirmed to be psychologically immune to selling out in one of the Tkc crossover short stories as a god tried to use their powers to brainwash him but they had so little in common with an emphasis on want for positions of authority/OP abilities Percy was able to defeat him

Participating in Rachel's charity events and protests during their time at Goode High

Instantly riding for Hazel harder than anyone and nurturing her as an older brother figure and pseudo-dad as he does Nico

Disliking Annabeth flirting with him as she uses white girl tactics so he found her attempts gross and completely flew over his head as he couldn't comprehend how all That could be expressing romantic attraction

'The sea does not like to be restrained'Translation:Percy is an anarchist

Going on a quest to prove himself as completely unlike cis men to an arcaic group of young abused by the patriarchy girls and succeeding because he IS completely unlike cis men(read:transfem gender fuckery)

Sympathizing with victims of the system fullforce and in general(instant forgiveness and understanding towards Silena for being groomed to the bad side/eagerly speeding to save Chris from the Labyrinth/gentle treatment towards Ethan even as they fought and worrying over him at time with Luke)

Unstoppable brutality when it comes to fighting

His sense of humor as a whole

His Rbf is implied to reflect his anti-societal mentality

Not caring about his image in favor of being his authentic self no matter what happens or how much he hates himself at the moment as he always does

Compared in a contrasting way to Luke,who's fash trash yet constantly talks down to by him for not being as radical as him despite Percy knowing a lot more about and doing a lot more to do what's good for the people than he does(which is to say:Nothing except self-justfied violence against them and lying about doing good things for them only to never followup on them,as irl white men in authority pretty much are always like)and for not having it as bad as him despite Luke growing up sheltered in a fantasy land where everybody worshipped him while Percy grew up hurt nonstop in the real world and also taking Percy's rightfully earned title of 'The Gods' Martyr' for himself even in death like the attention seeking manchild he was when the gods barely did anything to him compared to Percy and tons of other demigods

Instantly clocking the gods as bad in Tlt thanks to his own past experiences with authority figures

[tagthescullion]

unforgivable disney sins of the pjo finale:

percy didn't say 'thalia died for you' and luke being all fucking pissed

what the shit do you mean sally did not purposefully murder gabe? that was her finest fucking moment ffs

[fellatitledthemf]

Everyone's saying how Luke and Percy are similar and how only difference is their choice.

But you are forgeting one important detail, Percy had it better.

Percy did have abusive step-father and bullies, but he had his mom, he had someone. He got attention of gods as soon as he god in camp by killing the minotaur and also by completing his first quest. His dad answered him many times, Percy's dad showed that he cares about him and Sally.

Luke didn't have that. His mother became mad after becomming an oracle when he was just born. Only time Hermes showed up he just yelled at Luke. One his quest he failed on succeeding and getting his father's attention, while also getting his scar. Can't forget the fact Luke was the oldest one in camp, meaning he watched multiple children go on a quest for getting attention of their godly parent and never coming back.

Luke didn't have a choice, and you can't blame him for his reasons.

[phoenix--flying]

We (read: I) need to talk about Silena Beauregard, because I fear this fandom hates one of her most interesting (to me) traits, because why do we hate her being the spy? I see so many people trying to justify it and make reasons for how Luke manipulated her. Why can't she just. Be mad.

"But she said Luke-" she was also dying. She could've minced her words, and didn't think about how it would come across. Did Luke manipulate her into joining or did he manipulate her into staying? And yes, I know, Luke is a horrible person, groomer, etc, whatever else his antis say I don't pay attention to them.

But can we just talk about the possibility that Silena joined because she wanted to? That maybe Luke saw she was mad, took that and was pushing her to join? That maybe she wasn't so vain as to see a pretty boy and betray her camp for him?

Also, do you think we would've gotten the focus on Beckendorf looking at a photo of her, her reaction to his death, her and Clarisses friendship, etc if it wasn't build up to her being a spy? She would've just. Been there, if she wasn't. Like Lee Fletcher, or Michael Yew. They had their roles, but oops they're dead, no other character traits.

Plus, Silena being a spy introduces the possibility of there being other spies within the camp. Can you imagine finding out that one of the counselors, someone who's supposed to be responsible for an entire group of kids, someone who's supposed to be trusted and a role model, was working for Kronos? That shits devastating.

There's also, of course, the people that say she isn't a traitor. Because news flash, she is. Yes, she died a hero, she saved the camp, but in the end. She still betrayed them, she is a hero, but she is also a traitor. There's no argument there, plain and simple, she is a traitor. You wanna call Ethan a traitor? You have to call Silena a traitor, they aren't that different in that regard.

Her being a spy, also introduces us to the idea of her friends and siblings feeling betrayed. Not that anyone actually likes the one character we see who does that. Drew hating Silena for being a spy, is 100% valid, nobody can tell me otherwise. Does it excuse her being a bitch to her siblings? No! But she's a fucking child and her sister told everyone she was a traitor and then died. That's gotta hurt. It's also not just the fandom that villainizes Drew for hating Silena, it's Rick himself, which is insane.

He threw Piper into the Aphrodite cabin as this new kid, who didn't know Silena I'd like to mention, and fully just. Decided she knew what Silena would want, decided that Drew was wrong to hate her sister and that Silena did nothing wrong. Which is, bullshit in my opinion. The absolute audacity to come into this new place, hear about this girl through stories and then acting like you knew her personally??

And if you know me, you know I love Drew with my whole heart, but I say this 100% truthfully, she was wrong in how she ran the cabin. Do I think she was trying to put herself as far away from Silena as she possibly could? Yes. Do I think she was right to do that? No.

[viscera-divine]

you know it's really funny looking back at the complaints on episode 6 of the percy jackson tv series. and by funny, i mean annoying.

"they should be doing more "show don't tell!!"" as if this fandom isn't full of illiterate idiots. like episode 6 didn't have the best example of "show don't tell" and the coolest change from book to tv.

people were so whiny about the changes in episode 6 that i have yet to see anyone point out that Hermes sabotaged the quest

Hermes sabotaging the quest, and Percy deciding to keep going is frankly such a cool way of incorporating Book 5 stuff into the first season.

In Book 5, Hermes states that he does care about Luke but he is helpless to change his fate. And then translating that into Hermes making the trio fail the lightning thief quest - showing how Hermes tries to protect Luke from discovery - and Percy forging on with the quest regardless of their failure - showing how Luke's fate cannot be changed or avoided.

now *that* is a good example of show (tv) don't tell (book)

a callback to this in season 5 would be sick as hell

[ofswordsandpens]

I probably need to stop rereading the chapters alongside the episode releases cause it only makes me miss what could have been but honestly I really forgot how much of a brat Luke was even before his big reveal like "hmmmm who could the lightning thief be 🧐 ??? Only someone who could be invisible 🤭... but not annabeth 😳!! btw are you wearing those shoes I gave you 👀" like yes Luke plant those seeds of doubt and discord, manipulate these 12 year olds 🙌

[mik3stuff]

Ugh I hate blond Apollo and I think the way Rick wrote him was pretty dirty. Tho I like his character, I still wish he was better writen

[solarspunk]

i hate the idea of luke being manipulated by ares/kronos SO MUCH. that boy has lost hope in humanity and the gods. his sword is a double-edged weapon that kills in both worlds. his father is deadbeat. his fate is pre-ordained and it drove his mom crazy. he fended for himself for years. he watched his best friend turned into a tree. HE WAS NOT TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF BY KRONOS. resurrecting kronos, starting a war, rebuilding the world are LUKE'S IDEAS. thats why annabeth understood it. thats why people followed him. hes a powerful antagonist because his ideals and his story resonates NOT BECAUSE HE WAS ON THE SIDE OF THE TITAN.

taking away luke's agency in making these decisions takes away his motivations, his character, and ultimately cheapens the narrative of him being the "hero of the prophecy." if kronos told him to be evil all along, then him making the decision to kill himself is less compelling than one where he recognized how far he strayed and became a hero by making the right choice that saves the day.

i hate that the show implied kronos was the big bad guy appearing in dreams manipulating gods and demigods. hes just a device to further percy and luke's parallel narratives. the real villain of the series is luke. give my boy some credit.

[my-pjo-stuff]

I can't believe I'm saying this but.......ngl I'm glad Luke died in TLO and that Rick doesn't seem to have much more interest in the guy. Because honestly? Considering how OOC he's been writing some his characters recently I do NOT want to know what he'd have done to Luke. The weird "confirmations" of Luke having romantic feelings for Annabeth are already damaging (and brain-dead) enough. I do not need Rick, who works with the fandom wiki and the fandom versions of his characters, to write more on Luke. Because I KNOW that my boy will be butchered.

[punkeropercyjackson]

Y'all nonstop turn Percy Jackson into the most neurotypical poserest punk of all time by stripping 'em of their canon personality and dynamics to make them a racist and ableist fantasy for pussy ass misogynists but if i said i headcanon Percy Jackson as a trans afrolatina based on how Rick accidentally wrote them as a transfem narrative and way more realistically to be black-latino and on how much i relate to Percy as a black woman and always have,you'd jump my lights out for 'ruining' Pjo for you.Anyway,Percy Jackson is a trans afrolatina and she's also autistic and hates men and loves her found siblings and pseudo-kids Nico and Hazel and the only dark thing about her is her skin because she's monoracial