#percy and annabeth both have adhd what did you expect

[pjowasmy1stfandom]

I feel like some PJO fans think of the original trio or Percabeth like this:

Percy: *acts impulsively*

Annabeth: Percy, no!

While others might see it like this:

Annabeth: *acts impulsively*

Percy: Annabeth, no!

Meanwhile, the true relationship is:

Percy and Annabeth: *act impulsively*

Grover: Guys, come on! *ends up joining in at some point*

[helyeahmangocheese]

Give me the bipolar2!percy headcanons, my good royalty of ambiguous gender.

I have Bpd!Percy as a massive headcanon for him ^__^

okok this is just gonna be an info dump of what comes to mind and mostly comes from my own experiences/how I read percy but since you so kindly asked:

its onset is probably closer to the first Great Prophecy — not that hypomania wasn't brewing for multiple reasons and not that he hadn't already experienced depression but I do imagine that further into his teens he becomes more and more sleepless abt his inevitable death and he starts feeling more ok with so called risky behaviors

lol on that note he'd mess with annabeth and snack on her melatonin gummies casually before bed. it wouldn't do anything to him and he's not trying for that either—the strawberry ones just kinda taste good tho

realtalk this is honestly really unhealthy but he's probably convinced all is fine when he goes hypomanic during dangerous quests (particularly during HoO). this is the only time he truly believes he can do the world-saving, legendary things that he /is/ capable of. it's not necessarily that he has an "overinflated" self image—he's just at the point where he's willing to take the risks per the quest and believe he can pull it off. which honestly is often required for those moments, and that's why the cycles are so hard.

same with his having "grandiose plans" or having all this energy despite getting no sleep—it's all just his body coping with excessive trauma and unrealistic expectations on these quests, that's how he pulls it all off. is it technically a hypomanic episode? will he eventually crash? yes and yes, but he's also the son of Poseidon so wyd. he needs to have a plan and he needs to believe he can pull it off. he needs to pull it off.

oh but I would love to see percy's rapid speech written out as dialogue. like, explaining a plan he has but it's too fast and he explains it backwards but he doesn't even realize that not everybody is on the same level as him in the moment. bc that's what it's like in both types of episodes—just constant confusion abt where you are and why others aren't there with you.

his depressive episodes are fucking awful after quests and it takes a similar hit to him when nobody else seems to feel as deeply as he does about it. he falls back into self deprecation and it's really confusing for people to witness and experience these "two types of Percy." he's really not a fan of people labeling it that.

sometimes he just won't talk after and the best thing at that point is to just be around him let him choose how to express himself—because he's honestly really creative. music and painting kind of let him sit with whatever emotions, whatever episode he's experiencing, process it, and share afterwards. he's very vivid when explaining his experiences, he just needs time, and he needs to feel in control while also not self-isolating.

annabeth does a really good job of making sure he's not ever alone in a risky way while also giving him space and also they parallel play a lot.

outside of episodes, he just feels things very deeply in general. he loves deeply, he mourns deeply. when he says he feels for you, he fucking means it.

he doesn't necessarily rapid-cycle, but he has both types of ADHD so he has to be very careful about the lines between hyperfixation and hypomania. and inattentiveness vs literally just being dissociated. bc holy shit he did NOT see that coming when he started New Rome University—my boy managed to panic-complete all of his assignments during the week, go out every weekend out of FOMO, and then crashed so hard during winter break back home that I'm honestly pretty sure this is when they diagnose him.

bc tbh all of the other symptoms popping up during SON/MOA era and particularly through/after going through Tartarus made a lot of sense. but he was hoping it'd be over after he stopped feeling the need to sacrifice sleep to protect Annabeth every night, etc. the fact that uni became one of his triggers after hs was a total sideswipe.

boy was hypomanic during hoh-boa and when apollo saw him in that whole "please god not this again" state in toa he was in the corresponding depression tbh. idk if that lines up w the timeline but it's probably true.

also one of his "risky behaviors" is getting into so many commitments with various friend groups that he can't juggle them all but can he really help it bc he's loyal? like is it his fault that he's for some reason managing multiple club sports teams because he likes the people and he picked up so many different sports/hobbies out of boredom the last time he wasn't sleeping more than 4 hours a night? oops!

it also probably works that annabeth doesn't mind taking care of finances bc he will impulse spend it on these hobbies when he has all that hypomanic energy. love u bby boy me too.

literally word vomit but I hope that made sense and Im happy to elaborate or discuss heh! also: thank u for being absolutely correct abt my gender

[algumaideia]

An analysis of Octavian

This post was actually going to be an explanation of why I think Octavian is an antagonist, but not a villain. But it ended up being an analysis of his character. 

SPOILERS

And as always feel free to disagree with me, just be respectful. 

Sorry, because it wasn’t well-written, I’m incapable of writing good texts. 

Backstory

I think it is important to say that since we don’t have any information about his backstory most of the thing said in this part of the review are what I think is his backstory. It is a mix of the facts stated in the books, the way Octavian acts and my interpretations. Besides the things I’ll make clear that were said in the books, the rest is not canon. And you don’t need to agree with me that this was his backstory.

His family is one of the richest of New Rome- In the books he also seems to act without fearing the consequences while taking the privilege/money of his family as garented. Octavian acts like someone that is seeking attention. It is so weird how he just do whatever he wants without fearing consequences when his family is right there in New Rome. For that to happen I think or his family neglects him or they are those kind of people who think the children can do no wrong and are all my baby didn’t do that. But I think that if they were the latter, they would be more present in Octavian’s life, but they are never there. 

He is an augere and feels very proud about it. I don’t think there is too much to add about it besides that I think he likes to be an augere because it makes him important and necessary.

No one likes him and this isn’t something new. In Son of Neptune, Hazel says half of the camp hates Octavian and most of his friends are bought. So, Octavian is a lonely child. And he is aware of this. He is a bad person, people dislike him for a reason. But it seems people have been disliking him for some years and he is a child. According to his wiki he was 10 years old when he came to Camp Jupiter for the first time, and he spent his tweens and teens years in a place where people did not like him. I don’t think this was a good place to grow up.

He is really smart and manipulative. I think that those traits are a little inconsistent. Because in the beginning of the SoN Percy says how Octavian is really good at manipulating people with words, but then in the ending of the book and in MoA everyone is shutting Octavian up. Isn’t he this kind of master of words, how he isn’t answering people back? 

We also know he’s been at camp jupiter for quite sometime. I’ll talk about it in another part of the post.

He is anemic and mentally ill. I’ll talk about those things in the Camp Jupiter, Treatment and Ableism parts. 

Other thing that I would like to say is that this post is not an attempt to ignore the bad things Octavian did and pretend he is not a bad person. It is just me trying to understand his better and show why in my opinion the fandom hasn’t treated him fairly.

Camp Jupiter

Camp Jupiter sucks and it does for a lot of reasons. Some of them being the fact they have a city full of adults and most of them were demigods trained in the camp, which means they have trained adults but instead tweens and teens are the ones who fights. Hazel said that if Percy dishonored the legion they both would be executed. Hazel also says that sometimes people die in the war games. There is also the fact that people are dying all the time in missions/wars. The Camp Jupiter also expects perfect behavior for its demigods, to them all know the rules and to do not commit mistakes and I don’t have adhd but this doesn’t seem to be a good place to people that has the disorder. There is too much preassure to do not do any wrong, apperently no emotional support and the punishments seems to be crazy. It’s not a healthy place to a chldren grow up.

Other point is how they value physical strenght, hand to hand combats and offensive approache more than a lot of things. Frank said how he wasn’t treated well because he was an archer, and this was seem as cowardice. Octavian is anemic, he doesn’t have physical strenght or energy to be able to fight. The only way to be respected in Jupiter's camp is to be a good fighter, and he cannot be that because of his illness. As I said Octavian is someone that is often seeking attention and validation by his peers, and I think that this is why being an augere is something so important to him. He cannot make himself important in the traditional way and by being an augere he is necessary to the camp. People cannot just dismiss him. He buys friends, he manipulates people, he becomes a centurion, he is always dominating the senate. He makes himself impossible to be neglected. 

Yes, Octavian is power-hungry. Yes, he is bad. But a lot of things he did during Heroes of Olympus was just Roman things (he was also mentally ill and his mental health was getting worse in each book). When Hazel says that Octavian will kill Percy if the greeks atack New Rome, but in the next sentence she says that Romans take oaths very seriously. However it is all written like it is Octavian being a horrible person. But it is not. The Romans are very harsh with their punishments, they seem to be violent, physical. When Octavian says the Romans should fight the greeks, he is just acting like a Roman, like someone who was raised in a enviroment that encouraged violence responses.

Treatment

Octavian wasn’t treated nicely by the narrative and other characters. I mean, this guy was the centurion of the first cohort and an augere. But no one seem to respect him. No one enters the legion without him saying yes (I know it is acording to what he sees) but he is treated like he isn’t important. He is the one that is responsable of saying what the gods wants, but no one seems to have problems mocking him. I mean fi he decides to give you a wrong information about what a god want you are dead. 

Hazel said how “obsessed” with the sibylline books Octavian and it was framed as him being irrational and dumb. But in the end he was right, if the legion listened to him Ella would have been save way sooner. But no, it is just Octavian being  “obsessed”.

Percy acts like Octavian doesn’t have any prophecy powers, but he saw the lighting in the Jupiter Temple. Then when Octavian is mad because there are three preators he acts like he is overreacting, and Jason and Reyna do nothing. And this is weird because it was made very clear that rules are very important to Camp Jupiter. 

When he decides to attack Camp Jupiter he is always villified and not seem as a mentally ill boy that has been getting worse doing the Roman thing. 

He is always dismissed, mocked, villified, ignored.

And the fact Luke was treated with sympathy, but Octavian not. Luke, who tried to kill Percy, a childre, a lot of times. Luke, who used Annabeth feelings and emotional attachment to manipulate her. Luke, who was 19-22 years old and groomed Silena, who was 14-18 years old. Luke, who poisoned Talia’s tree. Luke, who had no regards for Grover, the satyr that saved him. Luke was treated with sympathy. But not Octavian. Not the mentally ill child who was losing the touch with reality during the series. Not the guy who was just doing what he was raised to do. 

I mean, I don’t even like Octavian and I cannot stand it.

Gwen

Guys, Octavian did a lot of bad things but killing Gwen wasn’t one of those thing. It is so no sense for a lot of reasons. 

As we talked before he is anemic and he is also smart. This intelligent man, that is full aware of his physical limits, thought it would be a good idea to get in the midle of a chaotic fight? I don’t think so.

Some pages before that Percy hit Octavian and he fell like a straw man (according to the text, the first time I read it I thought he fainted). 

Octavian always makes things because of a purpose, he isn’t just being mean because. He does bad things because his actions will give him something. Killing Gwen wouldn’t help him with anything.

Frank for some reason decided to look to Octavian during that mess and that doesn’t make any sense. He is in the camp for a month at this time the guy should’ve already known that Octavian doesn’t battle, he only commands. He saw Percy fighting for a couple of seconds during the war game and was already able to say how he fought.

Octavian was without his knive, but just minutes before he fainted, he could have lost it when he fell.

Frank said that Octavian seemed interested and not worried. But this is not enough to blame the guy, this is not enough to assume anything execpt that maybe Octavian has low empath. 

Greeks

Octavian was a roman. To the romans the greeks didn’t exist anymore, and they were the enemy. 

So, a random greek shows up, spends some days at the camp, becomes preator, and two of your most important gods appear and give a lot of attention to this greek. This is really suspicious. This greek also says that the romans should work with the greeks so they can defeat Gaea. And why you should trust this dude? He doesn’t show respect for the Roman culture. Then this huge war ship appears and this suspect greek guy says that they all come peace and the romans should not attack. Obviously you don’t believe it, and what happens they attack! As the good roman you are, your answer is to attack the greeks back. 

The romans answers things with violence. This is why Reyna asked if Annabeth was a roman after the judo flip. This is why Hazel said she and Percy would be executed if he did a mistake during his period of probatio. Octavian was being roman. He was trying to protect and revenge his Camp against a long time enemy. 

Not saying everything he did about it was logical, but this is because of his upbringing and his mental health. 

Goals

I think it is really interisting the fact that Octavian main goal was to be a hero, not more powerful. Apollo didin’t say Octavian would become preator, he said Octavian would save New Rome. 

I mean, since Octavian wanted to be preator and then became the pontifex maximum, so the logical think it would be to him wants more power. But no he wants to be a hero. A hero is someone that is respected, admired, liked and even loved. All the thing Octavian isn't. Don't get me wrong, Octavian is a bad person, there is a reason people dislike him. But he is also a lonely child that is hated by most of the camp.

Ableism

Octavian is often described as crazy, mad, insane. In his first appearence Percy said Octavian had madness in the eyes, and this was the way of the narrative warning us he was one of the bad guys. He is obviusly mentally ill, his mental health is obviusly getting worse, but everyone ignores it. Everyone ignores it, execpt when they are describing how insane his laugh is, how crazy he looks, how intense his gaze is. Everyone ignores it, until they need to remind us he is one of the antagonists. 

Ending

The ending was terrible. 

Octavian was obiously having a psychotic break, he was stumbling, laughing “in an insane” way, and he didn’t realize his jewelry was in fire. And then what happens? Michael Kahale, the person he most trusted, his problaby only friends appeared, saw the situation and did nothing.

Octavian didn’t kill himself. He didn’t know his clothes were tied in the onager. It wasn’t a sacrifice. It was an aciddent. 

Nico stopped Will Solace who was trying to warn it because some “deaths are inevitable”. Nico, also a mentally ill character saw Octavian in the vulnerable state he was and did nothing to help him. And when Nico was seeing Octavian lunch himself to the sky he thought that this was a relief. No one was sad, no one thought this was a tragedy, no one cared. Octavian was dead and that was a relief. 

The guy was so desperate to be the hero and no one even cared about his death. It is horrible.

Another sorry for the weird tense of the text.

If you want to read this is my post about Octavian and Azula and how their mental illness were treated differently.

Best regards,

Me. 

Ps. We need to start talking how the way Bryce was written was ableist.

[justonemorechapternicercy]

In my defense- it's not my fault! It's the numerous incorrect quotes' fault! I can't be blamed for writing it! 😔

Percy was distracted. Well, that wasn't new, as he was distracted most of the time when he was in school, as his ADHD made it difficult to concentrate and his dyslexia made it extra hard to even keep up with the mandatory readings.

But that time, he was even more distracted than he was in any other lesson. No matter what he tried, he couldn't focus on anything else other than him.

His soothing voice, his soft, mortal body, his handsome face, his salt and pepper hair, his enthusiastic gestures…

He was hot for his English teacher.

While he met with literal Greek gods and powerful demigods, something about the extraordinary ordinary looks of his teacher made him hot all over.

For Percy, he was perfect.

While Mr. Blofis was not the most popular teacher in terms of good looks, for Percy, there was no competition. He was flirted by the sun god, Apollo, he regularly saw the messenger god, Hermes, he sparred with half naked, sculptured bodied demigods-

And all he wanted was a middle aged mortal man, who had a thing with his mother.

He sighed in frustration, both because of his thoughts, and because he could feel himself getting harder and harder the longer he stared dreamily at his teacher.

To his frustration, nothing could change his predicament. He was getting a boner in the middle of his English class, which was not fun, to say the least. So, when Mr. Blofis asked them to start reading the next chapter of their current reading material, he snapped.

"Isn't it your job to teach this stuff? Why are we reading this in class, why don't you teach something more useful?" he snarked. The whole class boo-ed, gleefully waiting for the teacher's response. While he was a pretty bad student, he never started the conflicts. He answered them, of course, he sassed with everybody, even with the teachers, but he never started one, so this was an interesting moment for everybody.

Even for him, as he didn't even think that he was going to say something.

"Mr. Jackson, you stay here after school," was the teacher's simple answer. He didn't even look annoyed or angry at him, just… disappointed.

Fuck.

Percy huffed in frustration, but gathering the last of his survival instinct - which was called Annabeth Will Maim Me If I Keep Doing This -, he just nodded, and stayed quiet.

After his classes, he walked towards the English classroom, ready to waste even more time in the school he hated. His mind was a mess, his body was full of repressed energy. He just wanted to end his day.

He knocked on the door, and when he heard a confident "come in," he stepped into the room, eyes locking with his teacher, who sat on his table, relaxed.

At the sight, Percy's mouth watered.

"Mr. Jackson, please, close the door," the teacher waved. Percy did so, but hesitantly shuffled his feet in front of it, wondering whether he should just run, or try to survive the next hour. "Now," Mr. Blofis smiled, and he motioned Percy closer, "we should talk about your behavior."

Percy gulped.

"And what if we just… didn't?" He asked with a weak grin, already knowing the answer.

"Mr. Jackson… Percy," the teacher sighed in disappointment. "You are a good kid. You would be capable of so much more! I know that you don't like to cause problems, that the problems find you, so what happened today?" Mr. Blofis' caring, soft voice, compassionate speech left him breathless. Percy was unused to this. Gods and demigods expected him to do extraordinary things, but nobody told him that they believed in him. They just told him to do it, or else.

"I…" he started, throat dry.

"Come on," the older man patted the desk next to him, showing the green-eyed demigod that he should sit there. Hesitantly, he did, secretly enjoying the warmth of the body next to him. "What happened today?" Mr. Blofis asked again.

"I… I wanted… I was frustrated," Percy stammered, trying to find the right words.

"You were frustrated by…?" The man sitting next to him prompted.

"By you," the young man blurred out.

The teacher blinked.

And blinked.

And blinked, while Percy was silently freaking out.

A strange kind of tense silence fell over the room. The demigod was avoiding eye contact, hoping that his teacher would misunderstand what he said, and would not take his words the way he meant them, but. Paul knew Percy didn't hate him - so the only logical conclusion was that he liked him.

"So you caused a scene in the classroom because you were distracted by me?" The man sounded amused. Percy glanced towards him from the corner of his eyes, but when he saw the strangely flustered sight of his teacher, he snapped his head towards him. He didn't look disgusted, or angry-

He looked flattered.

Maybe even hot and bothered.

Percy grinned, his confidence returning. "I can't stop thinking about you in class," he confessed his tamer thoughts, waiting for a reaction. He got what he wanted.

Mr. Blofis' lips parted to wet his dry mouth, his pupils widened. Jackpot.

"When you stand in front of us, so confident and hot, I can't take my eyes off of you. I want you all over me. Touching me, kissing me… fucking me," Percy whispered into his teacher's ear. He waited, and he wasn't let down: as he breathed out the last few vowels, a big hand grabbed his tight, so deliciously close to his crotch. "I want you to kiss me, Mr. Blofis'."

The young man didn't have to wait for too long; he was immediately silenced by foreign lips pressing against his. Even he was surprised by the needy whimper he gave out as his deepest desires came true. His surprisingly strong teacher pulled him from his place, closer to the older man, and he immediately melted against him.

He felt as big hands traveled down on his body, exploring everything through his clothes, and finally finding their place on his round ass, grabbing him, pulling him closer.

"You are going to kill me," Mr. Blofis' whispered into his mouth.

"Yes, I am," Percy answered in a confident grin, and instead of getting his fill with passionate kisses, he smirked, and went down on his knees.

The older man's eyes widened, reflexively snapping his head towards the door in fear of somebody seeing them in this compromising position, but didn't resist. In fact, he spread his legs wider, letting his student fit better between them. Percy bit into his bottom lip, as he unbuckled the belt and freed the mouthwateringly hard cock from his pants.

"Such a good boy," the teacher purred, as Percy wrapped his lips around his head. The older man's groans encouraged Percy, who vigorously bobbed his head up and down on the erect cock. The thick pre-cum filled his mouth, and he couldn't hold back his moan at the taste. He wanted to taste the real deal, so bad!

Before he knew it, his head was held down, his teacher's cock deep in his mouth, cum spurting down on his throat. He couldn't breathe, his mind was foggy, and black spots danced in front of his eyes, but it was so worth it. Absolutely worth it.

Letting the flaccid cock out of his mouth, he slumped against the man's legs, gasping for air. The closeness of the other man relaxed him, even if he didn't cum, he felt floaty, happy, a feeling that wasn't familiar to him, not even after masturbating.

It was something else entirely - and he wanted more of it.

"You were so good for me, Percy. So good for your teacher," the man whispered as he gently stroked the boy's fluffy black hair. Percy smiled contently against his legs, and said,

"We should do this again. Soon."

[athinakori]

Character trivia game !

Rules: describe 10 random headcanons about your muse of choice that will rarely ever have the chance to naturally come up in threads. Go wild, go random, go meta!

Tagged by: @rckusasu ( thank you so much!! ❤️ ).

Tagging: @badboysupr , @stygicniron , @madefate ( muse of your choice ), @ichoric ( muse of your choice ), @furys-burn ( muse of your choice ), @wisewcman , @greeneyesandaballpointpen and whoever wants to do this!!

1) Let me start this saying that, i know that people headcanon that Annabeth is terrible in the kitchen and Percy is the one who cooks. But!! In my view, both of them knows how to cook, okay? They like to cook for each other and they have wonderful times and moments while cooking together making romantic dinners. Still, Percy is still the one who cooks most of the time because Annabeth gets very tired by the end of the day.

2) Annabeth is very good in literally everything she does. And when i say everything, it goes to fighting, weaponry, project ideas and combat strategies to handmade stuffs. She even learned how to deal with her dyslexia and ADHD, although there’s some times she can’t.

3) Annabeth has abandonment issues, but she also has a big heart because of it. Why? Because even thought she truly felt abandoned by her father and goddess mother to the point of running away from home when she was seven years old, she will make sure that her kids feel very loved and won’t leave their side. At that point of her life, she will probably be retired from the quests and her demigod life. So yeah, she will want to have a normal life. She felt abandoned by Luke and Thalia, but never stopped making friends and she protects them with her life. Also remember when i said that Annabeth is the kind of person who would step back if notice the person she likes actually likes someone else? Because it was exactly what she did with Percy and Rachel. Annabeth stepped back because she noticed something was going on with them while she felt her feelings for Percy were growing stronger. She felt abandoned by him, but never stopped being his friend. Hell, she even protected Rachel and saved her from dying in the helicopter fall because Annabeth was the only one who could do it and she knew that Rachel’s death would devaste him. Annabeth is a person with a big heart, okay?

4) This is something that i can hopefully write during threads, but when i say that Annabeth looked for Percy nonstop when he disappeared in the lost hero book events, i mean that she barely had any sleep because she was worrying sick about him.

5) Annabeth doesn’t really show this side of her, but she is the kind of girl that likes to take care of herself. Like doing skincare, although she doesn’t really do it frequently, but she tries. She also doesn’t really use makeup, only in certain occasions.

6) Annabeth likes to read a lot — it’s how she learned how to deal with her dyslexia.

7) The phone she secretly keeps with her in the camp was given by her father after the events of the titan’s curse book where she got kidnapped and almost killed. She’s not suppose to have one because of her demigod aura and that can attract monsters more easily, but Frederick gave her the phone to send messages to her once in a while to see if she’s okay and safe.

8) Annabeth loves animals, but she’s a cat person.

9) Annabeth favorite books are Wuthering Heights and The Phantom of The Opera because they are not exactly romances.

10) She’s the kind of person that likes to cuddle and hugs a lot, so expect a lot of that if you are in a relationship with her.

[mcmactictac]

Ramble time!!!! Boy oh by do I have thoughts today!!!

(It’s been a while since I’ve read the books, I plan a re read soon so sorry if everything isn’t totally accurate!)

Why do I never see anyone talking about how low Percy’s self esteem is? I feel like we all make him out to be this cool, know it all guy who is super confident right? But he ISNT. And throughout the series you can see aspects of his mental health shown in different ways, but I find it the most interesting to look at the difference a POV change makes.

We as a reader know that Percy is powerful, but we don’t get a sense of how he comes off to other people until we get Frank and Hazels POV’s in Son of Neptune. Both of them are in awe of this kid, I mean Hazel thinks he’s a GOD IN DISGUISE when she firsts meets him. That’s no small feat, and almost everyone seems to find him incredibly impressive and intimidating too.

But when we get Percy POV’s (I’m talking mostly PJO here but HOO is also applicable) he’s totally humble? This is the kid who beat the god of war as a 12 year old with virtually no training in combat, or of his powers. That’s a HUGE deal. And Percy never really has that big moment where it’s like “woah, I just beat the God of war, that’s a massive deal”. He constantly undermines his own achievements, simply in the lack of acknowledging and appreciating them. It’s just another thing to him, something he did to save others. He’ll literally hold the sky and brush it off like it was nothing. And it seems like it’s nothing, but he consistently does it! The readers don’t notice it as much because we don’t know any different. It reads as just being insanely humble, but there are times when you deserve to step back and appreciate what you accomplished. Percy rarely (if ever) does that, and often just passes it off as luck or a mistake that it worked. Something that worked out by chance, and not a pattern him being successful.

I personally like to believe he doesn’t notice or brag about any of these things because of his low self confidence. Objectively, beating a god is an incredibly impressive thing, that Percy would praise in other people, but when it’s HIMSELF it doesn’t matter. That’s what his expectations for himself are. It isn’t an achievement but more of a “congrats, you didnt screw up this time. Don’t know how you pulled that off”. It’s more of being excited/surprised you didn’t fail, instead of celebrating the achievement.

Battle of the Labyrinth. There’s a lot going on there. Literally most of the main characters in this book have a crush on him. Annabeth, Rachel, Calypso, and Nico all express interest in him, some more clearly than others. And for the most part? They are NOT subtle. Even though readers only have Percy’s POV, it’s still blatantly obvious to us that Annabeth, Rachel and Calypso all have feelings for him. So why doesn’t Percy recognize it? I mean you could argue that he is unobservant, but we see everything narrated through his eyes. Which means he sees and processes everything we know. He is totally aware of the signs of people flirting with him, but he just cant comprehend the fact that someone could be showing interest in him and doesn’t even consider the possibility. Most of the time his reaction is genuine surprise when he realizes someone has feelings for him. He can’t wrap his head around that idea without being explicitly told. I feel like this relates into confidence again because despite all the signs being there, he automatically assumes that he’s misreading them. He basically doesn’t view himself of someone worthy of having a crush on.

People with ADHD also have a tendency to have way lower self confidence: Since they are constantly told they’re doing something wrong, or misbehaving, or corrected on something they can’t control, it can be really challenging to not feel like a failure, or think something is wrong with you: Not meeting up to neurotypical standards can be incredibly challenging, and can make people feel bad about themselves when they don’t meet those standards. People with ADHD often receive so much external criticism, and If you don’t realize what you have it can potentially be even harder, since you are constantly trying to match a neurotypical level, and not understanding why it’s so much harder to reach. That negative talk you hear so often around you gets internalized into your own narrative, and makes you more critical of yourself as well. I’m sure having an abusive parent only made this worse. The way Gabe talks to Percy and about Percy sets him up as this problem child who doesn’t deserve anything. Sally is amazing, and I love her, but she can’t magically undo the negative impact all of that commentary from Gabe, teachers, and peers has had on Percy’s view of himself.

It’s also interesting when you look at HOO, when everyone is comparing Percy and Jason, and who could win in a fight. Everyone has their thoughts and opinions, and it’s something Jason thinks about a lot. Jason and Percy view this “rivalry” in a really different way. Jason has been raised to be the best, he is a strong and capable warrior who is pretty confident in himself once he starts to remember who he is. Jason worked his way up and earned his position as a leader, it was something he wanted and chose to be. He is confident in himself, and just wants to prove to others that he is strong and capable, a leader worthy of putting trust in. Percy on the other hand was forced into a leadership role. He was forced to take his first quest and he had no choice in being the child of the prophecy. He doesn’t even really want to be, I think he would have been perfectly happy if it was Thalia’s problem instead. He adapted and learned, but he still doesn’t see himself as a leader. He feels as fake as he did as a young kid, having no idea what he was doing. Faking it all and hoping that no one would notice the doubt he hides from them.

Just because Percy doesn’t see himself in a “negative” light, does not mean he doesn’t have severe mental health issues. Since it’s a children’s series, obviously a lot of it is glossed over or lies more in the subtext, but I wish it was something the fanbase acknowledged more because its so interesting!!

[perseabethj]

i don't really have an explanation (i.)

When Percy started his senior year in yet another school, he promised himself he would try his best to make sure nothing strange happened; sure, it wasn’t really up to him monster-wise, but he could at least try not to say anything strange to his new classmates or curse in ancient Greek. Besides, the last two years had been a mess and, with his kidnapping, it was not like he had much to say when he was told to introduce himself the first day of class -‘’hey, my name is Percy Jackson, my dad is a Greek god, and I was kidnapped last year and my memories were erased; oh, and I like blue food!’’. Yeah, that probably wouldn’t work.

Thus, Percy was known as the quiet and reserved kid in his school. This was a first for him; sure, he’d never had many friends, but he was always causing trouble. This time, however, he knew that Annabeth would kill him if, for any reason, he messed this school year up and he couldn’t go to New Rome University. He made friends -a first, excluding Grover and Tyson, who didn’t really count if you kept in mind that, well, they were his protector and his brother, and a satyr and a cyclops. He didn’t tell his friends much about him -his step-dad was an English teacher, he had been expelled from way too many schools, he had ADHD and dyslexia, he was very athletic, and he was going to try and join the swim team. He made sure to exclude everything that could be linked to his other life -he didn’t talk about his summer camp, his other friends, his huge dog, his father, or his girlfriend; Percy liked how both things didn’t go together, and he felt like it made everything easier. Whenever he talked, he sounded like a normal seventeen-year-old, and he was glad about that. He had had enough of monsters for a lifetime and, even if a hydra or a hellhound bothered him every other day, he could truly say that he could see a future for him and Annabeth that didn’t include them dying in the next five months. All in all, things were good.

When his school organized a homecoming football game, however, he did invite Annabeth; she was in a boarding school in the city, but it wasn’t that hard for her to sneak out with her New York Yankees cap, and he did want her there; it was a milestone for them. After all, Percy wasn’t supposed to reach senior year. They had agreed on meeting at the school; Percy had told Annabeth he’d meet her at the entrance once she texted him that she was close, since he was already at the bleachers with his friends. He wasn’t used to having a phone yet, however, which, in his opinion, gave him an excuse as to why he wasn’t checking his texts. Moreover, his ADHD tended to slow time down for him, so he was pretty sure that he still had thirty minutes before Annabeth was supposed to arrive.

‘’I swear, man, she was the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen,’’ his friend Matthew said, leaning over Kayla so he could see him.

‘’You say that about every girl you meet.’’

‘’I don’t say that about you,’’ Matthew told Kayla, who elbowed him in the ribs and, promptly, shut him up.

Percy couldn’t help but laugh at Louis’s mocking expressions behind Matthew. He’d only known these people for less than a month, but they had accepted him into their little club as soon as they’d met him and he was infinitely grateful. As Louis opened his mouth to, probably, laugh at Matthew over his ability to fall in love at first sight everyday, Matthew and Kayla stopped laughing when they looked at Percy. Percy tensed up, his hand moving to his pocket to make sure that Riptide was with him in case he needed to kill a monster, but, when a pair of arms linked themselves around his shoulders from behind, he tensed up for a whole different reason.

‘’I didn’t think I’d see you here, Jackson,’’ a female voice said playfully close to his ear.

Percy disentangled himself from her arms and turned around to stare Mary in the eye.

‘’An athlete at a football game. Who would have though, right?’’ he ironically said.

Mary rolled her eyes and rested her hand on his shoulder. Percy had to resist the urge to slap it away, but he didn’t want to cause a scene -he knew a lot about causing scenes and, with his luck, slapping her hand away would lead to a monster trying to kill him, and he didn’t want to be expelled before he could even take his first test. He didn’t know what he’d done to gain her attention -she was popular and decidedly pretty, and he was an outcast. He knew he wasn’t bad-looking -if Piper described him as a Greek god once more, he might die; Annabeth telling him that he looked exactly like his father also didn’t help, since the two times Poseidon had shown up in the past year while he was with Annabeth had always led to Percy wondering whether his girlfriend found his father attractive-, and he spent so much time swimming that one would have to be blind not to notice that he had a nice body. However, the whole school knew about his experience with being kicked out of school, since some teachers had made sure to remind him to behave during the first week of classes, and the swim team wasn’t regarded as highly as the football or the hockey team. All in all, he wasn’t a mess -unlike thirteen-year-old Percy-, but he was guarded and serious enough not to attract the attention of preppy girls. Mary, however, seemed to be obsessed with him from the day he got her phone out of the swimming pool after she dropped it while flirting with another guy in his team -‘’keep it wet, keep it wet’’, he’d had to remind himself-, and he regretted being a nice guy ever since then. Honestly, if his mom hadn’t raised him to be such a good kid, most of the problems in his life wouldn’t have happened.

‘’You could sit with us if you wanted,’’ Mary told him, signaling to her girl friends.

Percy knew the invitation only extended to him and not to his friends, who were quiet during the conversation. They had been at that school for three years, so they knew Mary and her gang, and Percy knew they sometimes wondered why he didn’t drop them for the popular kids. He also knew that he would rather face the Minotaur again than sit with the popular kids.

‘’I’m quite happy where I am, thanks,’’ he politely answered, trying to end the chat before he said anything rude.

‘’But you would have more fun with us, I’m sure,’’ Mary insisted, running her finger down his arm.

In moments like this, he almost missed being the young kid he was when he first arrived to camp, skinny and short and with a voice way too high for anyone to consider him a man.

‘’No, thanks,’’ he said again, using his other arm to take his phone out of his pocket, hoping Annabeth wouldn’t take much longer. ‘’Besides, I’m waiting-‘’

‘’Perseus Jackson!’’

‘’Man, I am going to need a massage after this’’, he though as he tensed again. He noticed his friends drive their attention away from Mary, who had also looked towards the origin of the voice with furrowed brows, her finger still on Percy’s arm. Before turning around, Percy quickly looked at the time on his phone, silently cursing in Greek as he saw the multiple texts and missed calls that he clearly hadn’t heard.

‘’Why is there a beautiful blonde goddess walking towards Percy, yelling his full name and looking like she wants to kill him?’’ Matthew quietly asked, forcing Percy to stifle a laugh.

He turned around slowly, half-expecting her to have a dagger at his neck. She was still far enough for him to be able to think of a few excuses, but he knew that wouldn’t work. Man, he had been offended the first time she’d called him Seaweed Brain, but she’d really hit the nail on the head.

‘’I can explain,’’ he said while she was still a few metres away.

‘’Explain, then,’’ she told him, now standing in full height before him. He was quite taller than her, but a standing Annabeth with folded arms and a stormy look in her eyes before a sitting Percy who knew he’d messed up was definitely scary.

‘’I…’’ he started. ‘’I didn’t think I’d get this far, honestly. I think this might be the first time you let me explain and I’m not ready for this responsibility.’’

He knew that was the right answer -her eyes were now shining with mirth and he could tell he was holding back a smile. She still had her arms crossed, but he figured she wasn’t going to kill him in front of so many people, so he tugged at them and forced her to sit next to him before he could regret it.

‘’I really thought it was earlier. You know how I am with the time, and I’m still not used to the phone.’’

She finally unfolded her arms and shook her head as she smiled softly, and Percy knew she wasn’t mad any longer.

‘’The fact that I have experience navigating labyrinths doesn’t mean that I want to navigate your high school, Seaweed Brain,’’ she told him.

‘’Completely understandable, Wise Girl.’’

He threw his arm around her shoulder, all his previous conversations forgotten, and he was about to ask her about her day when another voice interrupted him.

‘’Excuse me, Percy, but who is this?’’ Mary asked from behind him.

Annabeth turned around, a fake smile on her lips as she took in the brunette girl sitting behind her.

‘’His girlfriend,’’ Annabeth said. ‘’Nice to meet you.’’

She offered Mary her hand, though still wrapped around Percy’s arm, and Mary took it automatically, a shocked expression on her face. Her friends looked back between her and Annabeth, equally confused.

‘’His girlfriend?’’ Matthew whisper-yelled.

Both Louis and Kayla nudged him with their elbows, earning a laugh from Percy, which made Annabeth look at them with a raised eyebrow.

‘’Guys, this is Annabeth, my girlfriend,’’ Percy introduced. ‘’Beth, these are Kayla, Matthew and Louis.’’

‘’You’ve mentioned them,’’ Annabeth said, extending her hand and offering a real smile. ‘’It’s nice to meet you. Anybody who manages to put up with Percy deserves to be admired.’’

‘’Hey!’’ Percy whined.

His friends sat there, flabbergasted, but he didn’t really mind. Sure, he could have told them in advance, but he also didn’t think it was that important that he had a girlfriend; he was not the first guy in school to have one, and he definitely wouldn’t be the last.

He didn’t have time to talk any more before the game started, but he did manage to hear Matthew whispering to Kayla and Louis as the players made it to the field.

‘’So not only is Percy the hottest guy at school, but he’s also dating the hottest girl in New York? How is that fair?’’

Percy smiled softly and pressed Annabeth closer to him, enjoying her warmth and having her next to him. This was how things were supposed to be.

[melancholic-pigeon]

Too Short For Ao3 Fic #3? 4?

SO this is the extended edition of the bonus wip I did with Sally's birthday. The overall fic it belongs to is Extremely Smutty, so I went in and revised out the brief references and I'm posting the family-centric g-rated stuff for anyone who wants that but not the smut! Cough.

Also, I felt bad about missing WIP Wednesday again. Lolsob.

Percy rouses at around eleven PM to a sketch of himself on Jason's pillow. There's a note on the other side. 

I wanted to wake you up to say goodbye, but you looked so comfy I didn't have the heart to. your mom's presents are in the bag by my desk. say hi to everyone for me. I'll call tomorrow anyway.

love you to the moon and back.

-J. ❤

Complete with a little red heart. He doesn't even care that the doodle of him next to it, burritoed in a pile of blankets, includes a little spot of drool— he can tell by the rest of his cartoony, ballpoint features that Jason put it in because he thinks it's cute.

(And by the fact that he's said so, several times.)

Percy gathers up his junk. The cornflower blue sweatshirt he steals goes halfway down his fingers. He's come to accept that at six foot three and counting, Jason is the taller of them and always will be— barring some sort of horrible wood-chipper accident or curse from a grumpy deity. 

Fortunately, there's something about looking up to meet someone's eyes that Percy finds incredibly attractive. He has since Annabeth outgrew him for the first time in eighth grade. 

He heads out in his own jeans and the boxers he packed and the sweatshirt that smells like cinnamon. Once he boards the train, he stands with his arm around a pole and the other holding the bag against his chest, and tries to stay casual and keep the grin off his face.

It's almost midnight when he gets home. His mom, of course, is still awake, so he heads into the living room to greet her.

"My other half says hello."

There's a pile of presents on the coffee table. He puts the bag with the rest of them and sits down, kissing her cheek.

"He didn't have to get me anything." She closes her book and eyes the bag with a fond sigh. "How is he?" 

Percy's the same way she is, always happy to do favors and give gifts, but feeling pretty awkward about receiving them. Jason's even worse, the three of them in an ongoing and circular competition to never let any of it go reciprocated. 

"Working too hard, as always. Pulling As and winning games and barely sleeping to do it. His stepmother's up his ass and his father's a bully, so, you know, news at eleven." He leans his head onto her shoulder. "That's why he gives you stuff. He's trying to show you how much he appreciates you." 

She sighs, and Percy knows it's because she's just as frustrated by the whole thing as he is. 

"He knows I appreciate him too, I hope." 

"Without a doubt." Percy smiles at her, watching as she goes a little pink and smiles back. "You have a talent for making him feel appreciated." 

"He treats my baby like a prince," she says softly. "That's why I appreciate him so much in the first place. How could I do anything else?"

Percy turns his face into her shirt collar, another futile attempt to hide his goofy expression, 

"He really does, doesn't he?"

Holding doors, pulling out chairs, offering an arm on unsteady streets. Jason's never laid his coat over a puddle, but Percy's pretty sure he would, if the option presented itself. 

His mom starts playing with his hair, her fingers light and familiar.

"I'm just happy you're happy, sweetheart."

He knows that feeling too. 

Half asleep from the petting, Percy lets himself be a little babyish. It's after midnight now, which means it's her birthday, and he knows that sometimes she misses when he was Estelle's age and little enough to curl up in her lap. He's way too big for that now, obviously, but he can still slide down the couch and rest his head there. 

"You too, Mama." 

She looks at him, her eyes misty with emotion and almost green in the light.

She's smiling, too. 

She smiles a lot, these days.

—

In the morning, Paul makes coffee while Estelle helps unwrap the avalanche of presents. She's at the age where ripping paper makes her squeal with hysterical laughter, which worms its way into Percy's heart and melts it into pudding. 

Several of them are from Percy's friends, including a handbound book of original recipes from Leo, a lovely silver bracelet inset with mother-of-pearl that Beckendorf made himself, and a huge sheathed knife with a matching decorative handle from Clarisse. The last one makes his mom snort as she gets up to put it on the bookshelf, out of reach of curious toddler hands. 

"Decorative. Sure." 

"I bet she'd teach you how to use it if you asked." 

"I know how to use a bowie knife, dear. Your father and I used to catch and cook our own fish when we went camping."

"Which reminds me, he still hasn't taken me out," Paul cuts in, frowning. "I've been saving up dad jokes and embarrassing stories for four years."

"I'll bug him about it the next time we talk," Percy promises. "It's probably the ADHD." 

"Do you want me to bug you about bugging him?" 

"If you haven't set something up by blueback season, yeah." 

Percy and Paul went in on a pound of jasmine tea, which his mom reaches for next. She immediately asks for a cup— it's one of two days out of the entire year where she lets other people wait on her, for a change, and even that took a lot of cajoling. 

Paul makes the tea, since Percy usually scalds the leaves and it turns out tasting like grass. She probably wouldn't complain anyway, but it's her birthday, and she deserves to have the best tea that can be made in their kitchen. 

"Is the last bag from Jason?" Paul sets the mug on a coaster in the middle of the coffee table, and Percy scoops the baby into his lap so she doesn't try to grab it. She mashes her tiny hand against his cheek.

"And Thalia. I'm not sure if they went in on stuff or he just packed them both in one bag to make it easy." 

Either is a possibility. He watches as his mom reaches in and pulls out a large wrapped frame, Thalia's spiky handwriting answering the question. 

Whatever's inside, it makes her shut her eyes and exhale deeply through her nose. 

"Please pass on that I am absolutely furious."

She turns the frame around. An autographed vinyl EP of Sign O' the Times by Prince— one of the albums Percy grew up on, though she skipped a number of the songs when he was little. Thalia must have spent a fortune on it. 

"That woman is incredible," Paul breathes, lightly touching the glass. "How does she get this stuff?" 

"See!"

"She has friends in high places." Percy grins as Estelle reaches for the album, and holds her over the glass so she can touch it too. "She's also really good at barter chains."

His mother shakes her head, but he can tell how delighted she is— the two of them have spent hours animatedly talking about music, Thalia hanging on every word and groaning with jealousy over the concerts his mom went to in the eighties. 

"I know exactly where I'm going to put it." 

Thalia got her a turntable for her fortieth birthday last year, as well as a full set of replacements for every worn-out record in their collection— and had the originals framed too, since they had sentimental value. They're currently occupying the better part of two walls of his mom's study. 

There's a blank spot by her bookshelf, right underneath the first copy, that the autographed album will fit into perfectly. Percy grins. 

"I'll hang it up for you later."

She doesn't argue. There's only Jason's left, his careful print written out across the same paper Thalia used. The crinkling draws Estelle's attention, and she gleefully reaches over to help tear it off.

Their mom gasps at what's inside and puts a hand to her mouth, her eyes going bright.

It's a watercolor portrait of Percy and Estelle, laughing by the shoreline. She's dressed in a little bucket hat, a ruffled swimsuit patterned to look like a clownfish and the coolest shades in the world— sparkly blue frames shaped like seashells that he kind of wishes he could get in his size. He's in a wetsuit, having spent the morning surfing, and he's holding onto her hands so she can jump at the waves. In the distant background is the Montauk lighthouse.

It's beautifully done, like everything else Jason's ever put to paper, but Percy's never choked up like this over one of them.

"You remember that, Beluga? That was on my birthday, when you came and visited me and Jason at the beach."

"Beach?" she asks, expectant. Paul bursts into laughter, sounding as rough-voiced as Percy feels.

"You're your mother's daughter, sweet pea."

"Beach!" Estelle insists. Percy noses her pudgy cheek.

"It's too cold to swim, baby." His mom's eyes are sparkling, still a little teary. He can see Estelle in the smile on her face. "But we could go for a walk and visit." 

"Brunch first." Paul kisses her— Percy averts his eyes, wrinkling his nose at his sister to make her giggle again— and gets up, heading back into the kitchen. 

It's a lovely way to spend a late morning. Pale blue araucana eggs courtesy of Grover's new hens, a blueberry coffee cake from Nico by a fantastic hole in the wall in Hell's Kitchen, Paul's signature home fries made with blue potatoes and seasoned to perfection; all of it delicious.

Jason calls while Percy's doing the dishes. After his deep, resonant performance of the happy birthday song, the five of them chat on speakerphone for a little while, though he has to excuse himself pretty quickly to keep banging through his reading. 

"Maybe next year," Percy sighs. His mom puts her hand on his hip, then crouches down to help Estelle with her light-up sneakers. 

"He's always welcome for a rain check."

"He's always welcome, period," Paul adds. For the second time, Percy gets dangerously close to sniffling. 

Montauk is a little far for a day trip, so they head to Brighton Beach instead. Estelle's shrimpy legs get tuckered out more quickly than the grownups' do, so Percy ends up carrying her on his hip, snuggled into his jacket to block the chilly breeze. She points at seagulls, shouting triumphantly every time. 

"More bird!"

"That's right. A whole flock of 'em."

They watch for a while as the gulls fight over a discarded pizza crust. Then Percy feels an arm around his back and a head against his shoulder.

"I don't know how I got so lucky," his mother murmurs, barely audible over the rushing of the waves.

Percy's eyes sting. 

For most of his life, her birthdays had been spent without fanfare. He was rarely actually there for them anyway, and Gabe complained so much it was easier to just ignore the day and focus on survival instead. 

She'd been triaging like that since before she even met his dad, keeping herself afloat when nobody seemed to care if she drowned. It would have been easy to lie down and give up. Percy's pretty sure he would have, in her place. 

He turns to hug her with the obligatory proclamation of a Stella Sandwich. He catches Paul's eye over her shoulder, and gets a wide, sentimental grin in response. 

"Luck's got nothing to do with it," Percy tells her, leaning his cheek against the top of her head while his sister wriggles with delight between them. 

"Listen to our son," Paul adds. "He's very wise, as you raised him to be. This is all on you, honey." 

Within moments, she's surrounded by her whole family on all sides, and Percy has another arm around his back, and he's getting a little choked up over it all. 

When she first started dating Paul, back when Percy was still in middle school, she'd spent weeks all aflutter. It was the happiest he'd ever seen her at the time. They'd sit outside and work on her car together, and she'd slip into song like a grease-stained fairytale princess without even thinking about it. 

Seeing them interact is like cool water on a burn, Paul's devoted kindness soothing a lifetime of sitting back and watching people treat her like dirt. He worships her, just like she deserves and long overdue.

"I love you," she says, tearful and muffled in someone's shoulder. "All of you, more than anything." 

"Love Mama," Estelle replies, and that's it— Percy's blubbering.

It'll never undo the damage, but it's about time she got a chance to heal and thrive. 

-here in our bed, chapter 7, ~6200 words

[summerkyn]

My thoughts on The Lightning Thief

So I decided to re-read the Percy Jackson series is preparation for the Disney+ adaptation, and I haven’t read it since I was 12. I kinda liveblogged a few reactions but now that I’ve finished it and I’m ready to start Sea of Monsters, I thought I should give my thoughts on the first one UwU.

1). I really thought that Percy’s devotion to his mom was very refreshing. Often times parents are completely written off in books, or there is very little focus on them. However I thought it was really sweet to see how much Percy cared and how strong their bond was, no matter how hard Percy could be to take care of at times.

2). Gabe is very, very well written imo. I have never hated a character this much since Dolores Umbridge. The way he’s shown to be so sleazy and awful and abusive, and how terrible he is to Percy and Sally, it really made me want to fight him. Especially with how sweet and genuine Sally is and how dare he treat her that way??? 

3). Grover and Percy’s friendship??? Yes. Sure, in the first couple chapters Percy dips on Grover and isn’t the best, but the way they are such close friends and how well they accent each other, what with Percy’s courage and Grover’s shyness. I honestly love “opposites but best friends” dynamics. Also the fact that they’re both so loyal to each other and their friends. 

4). Annabeth is a very cool character to me. And not just because she is basically my half-sister lol. I guess I just don’t read very many female characters who are like her? Like very smart, analytical, good fighters, but also don’t have that whole “i’M nOt LikE tHe otHer giRLs” thing. It’s a breath of fresh air. And I think it’s also important that she’s not all buddy-buddy with Percy right away and that trust needs to be earned, because too often characters in books are best friends immediately because the author is too lazy to write a developing friendships or just don’t care enough to try.

5). I love how they try to paint Hades as the bad guy but then they get down to the Underworld and he’s all “bro why would I want a war the AMOUNT of PAPERWORK man I just wanna live with my wife and my dog.” I kinda like that subversion of expectations I guess haha. And yeah sure he did technically try to kill them, but they barged into his territory, accused him of thievery, honestly I’d do the same thing.

6). Ares. He’s an interesting character, that’s for sure, but I don’t know if his motives made sense to me. I guess it felt a bit like a copout, but at the end of the day I did think he was just as good a villain as any other. Or maybe just antihero idk.

7) BRO that plot twist with Luke I TOTALLY forgot about that lol. I think it really shows how manipulative and cunning he is and I know he gets worse throughout the series. I think it also really sets up for how cutthroat he is and how he gave a 12 year old shoes that would drag him to the deepest pit of hell and when that didn’t work he set a venomous scorpion on Percy. It shows he will stop at nothing to reach his goal.

8). I think Percy’s feelings towards Poseiden are completely valid, and it was interesting to read his inner turmoil about wanting to help his father but also being angry at him for not being around and leaving his mom. It made him feel like a real person, because I know that there are probably lots of kids reading these books that come from similar situations.

9).As an ADHD person myself, I think it’s awesome that Rick writes his characters as heroes and that their ADHD is a good thing. Like it’s their battle reflexes. I think it sends a good message that you can be a hero no matter what and I find that beautiful.

So overall: I really enjoyed re-reading this! The character dynamics, and how it sets up for a sequel, really engaged me and I can’t wait to start Sea of Monsters UwU

[givepercyahug]

Percabeth as Parents: Pregnant Annabeth

exactly what it sounds like. get ready for a new headcanon series starting with an excited Percy, a helpful Sally, Hera causing issues, and, of course, a very pregnant Annabeth

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

There is constant joking that turns into a genuine concern that Annabeth won’t give birth like normal, even though she is clearly pregnant and her belly is growing. A stressed out Annabeth starts trying to track down any older siblings she might have, asking Chiron for leads, trying to find any instance of a child of Athena giving birth to get rid of the paranoia that she might have to cut her head open.

So many long talks with Sally. Annabeth admitting to her that she is scared to give birth and Sally telling her what to expect, since obviously Athena isn’t going to be much help there. Percy wanting to learn everything he can on how to help Annabeth. Overprotective Percy really comes out now, even though he knows a 7 months pregnant Annabeth is still extremely deadly and capable. Sally reassuring both of them that they will be excellent parents when they are freaking out. “Just look how good you guys did helping with Estelle. You will be fine.”

A roughly ten year old Estelle, give or take a few years,(these kids got a lot of trauma to sort out and living without a prophecy to do before they have their own kids, also Annabeth has a career to focus on so I’m guessing they wait a good bit) getting super excited to be an aunt and wanting to help with everything. We know basically nothing about Estelle’s personality but I’m just imagining an excited 3rd grader who was basically Percy and Annabeth’s practice baby suggesting names and being super curious about it all(pls let me know if you want a whole post about Percabeth and Estelle!!)  

Percy asking her all the time if she needs anything and her response is something along the lines of “Yeah, I need you to tell your kid to stop jumping on my bladder.”  “I meant like some ice cream or something.” Annabeth tries to be annoyed but just looks at the ground and mumbles, “I’d take some ice cream.” Percy laughs and walks to the kitchen. “Chocolate please!” “I know what to do,” he calls back from the next room. He brings back two bowls of ice cream and hands the bigger one to Annabeth. They sit on the couch and eat while Percy pretends to scold the baby, wagging his finger at her stomach, “Stop hurting Mommy.”

They definitely have a cute name to call the baby before it is born. In real life those are usually derived from a random instance or what the ultrasound looks like, so it could be anything BUT it would be hella cute if it fit the same format as Seaweed Brain or Wise Girl, yet kind of combined them. Like Smart Fishie. Are you seriously going to tell me that you can’t imagine Percy talking to Annabeth’s belly saying, “I can’t wait to meet you my little fishie” and Annabeth laughing “Fishie, really? Are you really going to be the first one to start calling the grandchild of Poseidon a fish?” “Fine, they are my smart little fish is that better?” “A bit.” And from there they start referring to the unborn baby as Smart Fishie.

Staying up late talking about what they think their kid is going to be like. Both in general personality like mortal parents, but also what powers they will have. They alternate between serious considerations and also the likelihood of ADHD or dyslexia and Percy throwing in crazy suggestions to lighten things up, “I bet they’ll be able to turn into an owl. I mean Frank can do it, it isn’t completely impossible.” Annabeth jokes around too, like when Percy gets excited about the possibility of breathing underwater she starts talking all kind of shit just to mess with him. “What if they can’t even swim? Like they don’t even want to learn, they just aren’t interested. What are people going to say when Perseus Jackson’s kid would rather sunbathe than get in the water at the beach? It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve saved the world, you’ll be the laughing stock of Olympus. How are you ever going to recover from that” “My child will like to swim, shut up, Annabeth. I’m going to bed.” A few minutes later he just whispers, “Do you really think they won’t like to swim?” “No, Seaweed Brain, I do not think our kid will have a fear of water. Now go to sleep.” “Okay. I love you.” “Love you, too.”

Her pregnancy starts to get really really really bad after they start telling people, they think because Hera starts to pay attention. Annabeth fully admitted in MoA while disrespecting Hera that she didn’t care that she could curse all her future marriages and childbirths, so Hera takes the opportunity. Her pregnancy continuously gets worse(progressing from just extreme, near constant nausea, completely unable to eat, and even passing out, all the way to doctors recommending bed rest and concerns of miscarriage). This lasts until a terrified and angry Percy (who is tired of watching the love of his life be in so much pain and trying not to panic while holding her as she sobs about potentially losing their baby) has ENOUGH and goes up to Olympus and fucking goes off on Hera and the rest of the gods. “You stole 8 months of my life, can’t you give my wife 9 months to grow a human? Leave us the fuck alone we have earned it.” Hera then backs off quite a bit and the rest of Annabeth’s pregnancy is much easier.

Even when Hera was causing extreme havoc in Annabeth’s body, Annabeth was determined to work as much as possible. She would spend days lying on the bathroom floor with her laptop next to her, trying to sip water and manage to get a few things typed in between another round of morning sickness(which was nowhere close to just being in the morning). And towards the end of her pregnancy, once Hera had calmed down, she pushed her maternity leave to the last second, trying to make up for the work days she lost earlier on. Percy probably had to drag this girl to the hospital after her water broke, all because she was determined to send “just one more email!”

[enchantedisabella]

Why Annabeth is not Hermione 2.0

I’ve been wanting to write this post for a long time, because so many people compare Annabeth Chase to Hermione Granger when they’re really nothing alike. Yes, they’re both the smart, female best friends of the main protagonists, but that doesn’t make their personalities identical. Here are my reasons why.

Annabeth has ADHD and dyslexia and is unfocused at times. Hermione has no disorders we know about and is attentive in class. I understand that Percabeth in high school is a very popular headcanon among the pjo fandom, and Annabeth is indubitably ridiculously clever, but she is NOT going to be raising her hands every second of every day in class and she definitely won’t pass every single subject without even trying. I’d be very surprised if she could stay focused for a full lesson. Honestly, I’d expect her to be labelled as even more of a ‘troubled kid’ than Percy, because Percy has spent years in mortal school while Annabeth hasn’t. It would be Annabeth, not Percy, being the one desperately trying to pay attention but the first to lose focus halfway through. Hermione, as we all know, is the exact opposite, and hates when people disrupt classes.

Hermione is a rule-follower at heart. Annabeth is not. We all remember that time when Hermione Badass Granger kept a woman in a jar for a year, right? However, we also remember the numerous times she’s threatened to report Harry and Ron for breaking the rules- mainly in the earlier books, when their friendship isn’t as developed, but she still acts scandalised whenever rule-breaking is brought up. Hermione will break the rules, because she’s a Gryffindor at heart and she will do anything to protect her friends (trap Rita Skeeter in a jar, report the Firebolt to McGonagall because it might have been cursed), but that doesn’t mean she necessarily enjoys it. Annabeth is a different story altogether. In fanon, it’s usually her who is expected to restrain Percy from doing something stupid (like Hermione and Harry’s canon friendship), but in actual pjo canon, it’s the other way around. Annabeth Chase is smart and clever but she’s also prideful, impulsive, and downright reckless, while Hermione is most definitely not. Annabeth will use any excuse to break the rules and sees no point in regulations if they don’t make any sense, and thinks that authority figures should earn her respect. Hermione basically hero-worships all authority figures unless they’re really bad (eg. Snape and Umbridge). It takes a lot for her to rebel against someone in a higher position than her, and she will willingly give teachers her respect even if they haven’t earned it yet.

Hermione is book smart. Annabeth is street smart. I’m not saying that Annabeth doesn’t like to read, because it’s clearly stated in The Lightning Thief or Sea of Monsters (I can’t remember which) that Annabeth reads so much that Percy forgot that she also had dyslexia. However, in school aus, Annabeth would probably not perform that well on tests and she would absolutely not join spelling bees and win, or have we as a fandom collectively forgotten that in SoM, Percy said that Annabeth could have spent the whole night trying to spell ‘cyclopes’ due to the fact that she kept messing up the letters? And if I hear any reasons like ‘they removed her dyslexia because it didn’t fit their fanfiction, and there’s no need to be so pressed about it’, that’s very fucking ableist, for one, and defeats the whole purpose of Rick Riordan (bless him) making the book’s protagonists have ADHD and dyslexia for his son. Also, it says a lot about fans trying to make Annabeth into Hermione 2.0 when she’s very much not, and then fooling themselves into thinking that the girls’ personalities are carbon copies of each other. Hermione is repeatedly described as the brightest witch of her age- she’s deductive, rational and calculated. She has no problem paying close attention to detail. She spurts out so much information in the books that she has been repeatedly compared to ‘swallowing the textbook’, courtesy of Ron. I can’t even imagine how much she would have to memorise to be compared to that. Annabeth would not be capable of that, nor would she even want to be. She would not see the point in memorising facts, because Annabeth Chase learns things by doing, and Hermione Granger learns things from books. In the Philosopher’s Stone, Hermione is distraught at their first flying lesson because she can’t learn it from a book first. You know who wouldn’t be? Hands-on, street smart, capable Annabeth.

Annabeth values knowledge more than Hermione does. Some of you may not understand why this is, but Annabeth is a daughter of Athena and Hermione is a Gryffindor. They have very different learning strategies and if they ever met, they’d be nothing alike and probably wouldn’t even see eye to eye. Hermione canonically scoffs at ‘books and cleverness!’ both in the movies and the books of the Philosopher’s Stone. Hermione is Sorted into Gryffindor because she values bravery over everything else- even knowledge. Annabeth has always put knowledge first. That’s not to say that Annabeth Who-Took-A-Knife-For-Percy Chase isn’t brave, but she values knowledge above else and she’s willing to fight dirty to get it (as is Hermione, but that’s beside the point). It’s understandable that Annabeth would put knowledge above bravery, because of her parentage. Hermione’s choice is also understandable, given the circumstances, and it’s noteworthy that she repeatedly chooses friendship over cleverness in the series just because she knows its importance. Just to reiterate: the girls are different people. Don’t put them as madly competing in your Hogwarts x Camp Half-Blood fanfictions. Do you honestly think Annabeth would compete with Hermione for the best grades in History of Magic, or that Hermione would ever try her hand at sword-fighting and archery? I don’t think so. This might seem like it’s contrasting my point, but Annabeth probably isn’t going to be interested in most of the lessons while they’re taking notes in a classroom without any hands-on work. She doesn’t function like that. She would do well in Charms or Transfiguration and positively shine in Quidditch, not History of Magic or Muggle Studies or Divination. She values knowledge she deems useful, and the only way for knowledge to be deemed useful by her standards is if she used what she’s learnt in practical spells and not note-taking.

Hermione has flexible moral principles. Annabeth’s are set in stone. Hermione is a very complex character. She repeatedly chastises Harry and Ron for breaking school rules on a daily basis, but it was her idea to go through with the Polyjuice Potion in CoS, her decision to keep Rita Skeeter in a jar, her decision to use a Time-Turner to get to all her classes on time. (Well, she also had to appeal to Cornelius Fudge through McGonagall, but it was her idea.) Hermione’s moral code is flexible, to say the least. She won’t break it for mundane days, but will for special occasions, and that’s because she knows that desperate times call for desperate measures. None of her moral code is written in stone. There is always a point where she justifies her behaviour by decreeing that the situation needs it. There is no line that she isn’t willing to cross depending on how bad the situation is. Hermione has a justifiable reason for breaking rules, and though she doesn’t enjoy it, like I said earlier, she will do it of her own accord if the situation calls for it. She has no point where she says to herself, ‘Okay, this is one rule that I’m not going to break no matter what.’ This girl, this brilliant, ruthless girl, is willing to cross every single line if she absolutely must, and that is why she is not at all like Annabeth Chase. Annabeth Chase, whose principles are set in stone. Annabeth Chase, who is prideful and stubborn and who does not compromise her values no matter what. Annabeth is not ruthless; Annabeth is not cruel. She is the embodiment of- not exactly goodness, but fairness and equality. She gives everyone what they deserve. She literally told a Sphinx off for not giving riddles that make you think, but instead asking questions that you just need a certain amount of knowledge of facts to answer. Let that sink in, because it’s the most perfect example I have. Hermione Granger would have answered them quick as a flash and moved on, because it’s an easy way out, she knows all the answers anyway, and she’d probably treat the Sphinx like an authority figure whose test she has to pass, not change. Annabeth Chase, instead, gets offended and demands riddles that make you think because she will not compromise her principles for anyone or anything, and places so much faith in her intelligence (which is why she values it so much) that even if the questions will be harder, she thinks that it’s downright insulting that they aren’t already. She takes it as an insult to her intelligence. Hermione is flexible; Annabeth is hard as stone.

Annabeth has the makings of a hero; Hermione has the makings of a villain. Sure, Hermione started SPEW and cares for the welfare of creatures and is portrayed as sensitive time and time again, but if she believes that what she is doing is right, she will use wrong methods to get to her goal. After all, when the greater good is at stake, who wouldn’t use less morally superior methods to get to it faster? What’s the murder of a few people who deserved it- maybe Bellatrix or Umbridge- when a greater number of lives can be saved? Hermione is unnervingly logical and although she is sensitive, she is not weak. She might feel pity for Sirius’s experience in Azkaban, because he’s ‘good’, in her mind, but would she feel for Bellatrix, who ‘deserved’ it? And of course Bellatrix did deserve it, but Hermione conveniently ignores that they went through the same experience because only Sirius deserves her pity, because he’s good. Hermione wouldn’t sacrifice Sirius for the greater good, but she would sacrifice Bellatrix, and Annabeth wouldn’t, because as I’ve said, Annabeth does not have a flexible moral code. Annabeth would not stand by and sacrifice Bellatrix, because she is still a person in Annabeth’s eyes, but Hermione would, because there is no line she wouldn’t cross. As long as Hermione thinks that what she’s doing is right, she would condone any action to achieve her goal. I think we all know enough about history to know that that is terrifying as fuck. Hermione, under different circumstances, could be a villain; Annabeth would be the hero and do the right thing no matter what.

These two girls are so inherently, intrinsically different that I have trouble wondering why anyone would think that they were anything alike just because they’re smart and friends with the protagonist. There are probably more points, but I’m tired and it’s a school day and I can’t think of anything more to add on. Anyway, thanks for reading this and I hope nobody makes the stupid, stupid mistake of saying that they are in any way similar after reading this, because I could honestly relate Annabeth more to Ron than I could to Hermione.

[greekgeek21]

Percy Jackson & The Avengers: Convergence - woah! shy guy is a bear now!

Oyasuminasai! Or Ohayoo! Or Konnichiwa! And if you were wondering, yes, I am taking Japanese as my language. So if I ever find a way to incorporate Japanese into this, I KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!!! Sorry, sore subject.

Anywho! I'm sorry for taking too long to update. I was lazy and didn't feel like it. It's as simple as that. I also found some REALLY good fanfics to read recently, and they are super long and have sequels so yeah you know how that is, right?

Now on with the story! Stay safe and happy reading!

- your author

Ω ♆ Ω

"Well, this makes our job a whole lot easier," Percy said.

Percy looked around and saw all of the avengers besides "Thor." Magnus had told them what the real Thor looked like, and from what they saw on the news, this version of the guy was not the real one. Annabeth had theorized that they were aliens who had taken to calling themselves gods when Percy had asked about it. Whether they were real or not, Percy still immediately disliked gods in any form.

"What are you doing here, Mr. Jackson?" Director Fury asked, leaning onto the table.

"Yeah! What are you doing in my tower?" Tony asked, finally tuning into the conversation.

Percy smirked, and Annabeth knew what he was about to say would be offensive to somebody, but he spoke before she could stop him, "We're here to do your job."

Tony scowled, "Listen here, kid. We deal with serious threats, and we don't have time to help you. Plus, we're the Avengers, and you're kids."

Annabeth narrowed her eyes, a small blow to her pride being felt, "Unless you want to die, you need our help. We deal with this stuff on a daily basis."

Okay, so they don't really deal with it on a DAILY basis, but close enough. Besides, the guy's ego needed to be knocked down a peg. Annabeth was even thinking about showcasing their skills to prove their worth.

"I think we got it handled, kids," Steve said, holding out a placating hand.

Piper thought it was the perfect time for her to butt-in, "Oh really? So you know where the green fire comes from? And how to put it out?"

At their silence, Piper gave a smug nod, "Thought so."

Fury saw this getting out of hand, so he brought it back on-topic, "Mr. Jackson! I asked you a question. Does your answer mean you are offering your help in this case? And does that mean this is a part of your world?"

Annabeth and Percy seemed to be having a silent debate with each other, and it seemed that Annabeth was winning. And when Percy answered Fury, it was obviously not what he wanted to say.

"We are here to help however we can. This is equally a part of our world and yours," he said, voice monotone like he was reading from a script.

Annabeth seemed satisfied with his answer, but she also wanted to add her own part, "We would also prefer that we keep our involvement as inconspicuous as possible. The gods know you guys have trouble with that."

"Hey! I take offense! And did you say 'gods'?!" Tony exclaimed.

Everyone ignored him, and only paid attention to what Steve said: "Are we really going to be bringing kids into this, Fury? I don't like this."

Fury sighed, and answered on his way out for the second time, "Yes, we're doing this. Get acquainted with each other, no fights, same expectations. And I don't care if you like it or not, Rogers, we're doing this. Jackson! Can I speak with you outside?"

Percy nodded and followed him out the door.

"What do you know that we don't? Are you telling them what you are? Are the other kids in there like you?" Fury rounded on him as soon as the door was closed, speaking in a whisper.

Fury didn't know what could be considered an insult to these new gods. He was treading in unknown territory here.

"We don't know much more than you, probably. And no, we're keeping what we are a secret. We're all the same, though," he answered, choosing his words very carefully.

Percy suspected that Tony Stark had eyes and ears everywhere, and would no-doubt try to figure out their secret on the first night. His job was to make sure that didn't happen.

"Be careful, Jackson. These people don't like secrets," Fury warned, walking away without another word.

Percy tried not to take the man's words too seriously. Doing that would just distract him from the quest. They needed to deal with these bombings quickly, and then go their seperate ways from the Avengers. Telling them their secret was NOT a part of the plan.

With a deep, preparing breath, Percy reentered the meeting room. Inside, he found both groups glaring at each other in silence. It was clear that nobody trusted each other, and that needed to change. If they were going to fight together, they needed to have some semblance of trust. Without that, they weren't going to last that long.

"Hey, guys! Why don't we start with introductions! I'm Percy," he said, clapping his hands together.

It was clear that nobody was buying his cheery mood, but at least Hazel was willing to try.

She said, "I'm Hazel."

"I'm Piper, and that idiot over there is Leo. We've forbidden him from speaking, so he's not able to introduce himself," she stuck her thumb in Leo's direction, who was literally bouncing on the balls of his feet.

It was a miracle that he hadn't caught on fire yet, honestly. Usually, at least his nose will start smoking when he gets too excited.

"Jason," Jason introduced.

"Hi. I'm Frank," Frank said, nervously twiddling his thumbs.

Annabeth's glare intensified when she said, "Annabeth. Not Annie, or Beth. Annabeth."

Percy smiled, slinging an arm over his girlfriend's shoulders in hopes of calming her down. She was way too high strung in the moment when they all needed to be relaxed and open.

The demigods looked at the Avengers, waiting for their introductions. Some of them didn't really need it, but it was nice to be formal.

"I'm Captain Steve Rogers. It's a pleasure to meet you all," Steve nodded his head in greeting and pointed to each Avengers respectively, "This is Dr. Bruce Banner, Clint, Natasha, and I'm sure you know Tony Stark."

"Of course they do, Capsicle. Why wouldn't they?" Tony gloated.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, but Leo couldn't hold his tongue any longer, "Oh my gods! There are so many things I need to ask you about! Why did you keep the name Iron Man when the suit is obviously made of a nickel-titanium alloy? Why don't you protect the arc reactor more? With the amount of power that thing holds, you'd think you would take bet–"

"Leo! Shut up!" Piper yelled, charmspeak weaving through her words.

His mouth immediately shut and was physically withheld from opening again. Piper seemed satisfied with her work when Leo attempted to speak again, but his lips weren't moving.

"Gods, I love charmspeak," Frank murmured under his breath.

"I know, right? But sometimes it can get a little annoying. Like when she doesn't realize she's using it, and then you do exactly what she wants, no matter what? I mean, that's a little..." Percy trailed off, realizing he had let his ADHD get out of hand, "Sorry."

Annabeth fondly smiled up at him.

"Can we get back on track, please? How are you kids going to be able to help us?" Clint asked, speaking up for the first time.

"Can we address what this Leo guy just said?!" Tony exclaimed.

"We have...special abilities that make us fit to deal with these kinds of things. Usually, we'd deal with this on our own, but...this is the first time it's been done like this. Our people don't usually work with your type of people," Annabeth ignored Tony, hating to admit that they were different from the mortals.

"What kind of abilities?" Natasha asked, scepticism lacing her words.

The demigods shared looks with each other, all evidently asking Percy and Annabeth what they should do. Their decision was to show them.

"They're hard to explain, but we can show you. It might be easier to be somewhere with more room, though," Percy answered, looking around at the small space they were all standing in.

"We can do this in the living room. I need a drink, anyways," Tony said, exiting without waiting for a consensus.

The rest of the group followed him, albeit a little reluctantly in some cases. Percy made sure to pull Annabeth to the back so they could talk. He was worried about his control. His powers did not like to be used in small areas. The ocean did not like to be restrained to precise movements. That's what he was worried about, and he told Annabeth that.

"I'm not sure about this, Wise Girl. I still haven't really had enough practice since 'that place,'" he whispered.

Annabeth pecked him on the cheek, "You'll be fine. I trust you, but you need to trust yourself. I know you have control over your powers. Just look at what happened at the Brooklyn Bridge!"

He was still tense, but her words did have some effect. He was at least willing to try now, even if he refused to do anything big. He would only do something basic enough to prove he was capable, but nothing dangerous. Percy wasn't Leo; he wasn't in this to show off.

"Now let's catch up. You know we can't leave Leo alone for long," she cracked a grin, trying to defuse even more of his tension.

Percy forced his troublemaker smirk back onto his face before lacing his hand with Annabeth's, and walking in the direction the others had gone. They found them in a large room with a very open-floor plan. Off to the side, they could see Tony fixing himself a drink at the bar. Everyone else was sitting on the unnaturally-long couches, the Avengers on one and the demigods on the other.

Everyone seemed to be waiting for the two to join them to start. That or none of them had the guts to go first. But with Leo there, it was most likely the first option.

"Who wants to go first?" Annabeth asked as she and Percy sat down.

Leo seemed to be pleading with his eyes, and Annabeth, for some reason, decided to pity him and let him go first. With a simple nod of confirmation, Leo shot up from his seat and went to the side, where there was more room.

"Keep it low-key, Leo," Jason warned, knowing full-well nothing his friend did was low-key.

"Of course, Lightning Boy! I get it!" Leo reassured.

He positioned himself in a square stance before lighting his whole body on fire. If it was possible, Leo defied expectations of how not low-key he could get.

"Oh! Somebody put it out!" Bruce exclaimed, rushing over to Leo.

Before anyone could start dousing him in water, Leo turned it off, revealing himself free of burns. Luckily, he had been wearing one of Calypso's fireproof outfits, so his clothes had stayed intact. His skin was covered in a thin layer of soot, and his hair was letting off some smoke, though.

"Tada!" he proudly said.

Tony's interest seemed to be piqued, "That was awesome! How are you still okay? Is it some sort of mutation?"

"Something like that," Annabeth answered for him, fearing that Leo would let something slip on the first day.

She knew there was a high chance that their secret would be revealed at some point, but she wanted to prolong the mystery as long as possible. That meant constantly watching what the others said, especially Leo and Percy.

"Frank! You're up next, bud!" Leo pointed at the chinese teen.

Frank seemed to shrink in on himself slightly before convincing himself to stand confidently and walk over to replace Leo on the scorched floorspace.

"I'm not really sure what to do, so...I'll just do this," he said, before turning into a guinea pig and back quickly.

Percy shuddered, bad memories flooding in. He would never look at celery the same way again...

Tony did not seem impressed, "So...you can change into a rodent? How's that gonna help us?"

Frank straightened up again before staring right at Tony as he turned into a grizzly bear, raising on all fours and letting out a growl. Tony seemed to be in a state between fear and curiosity, but before he could speak again, Frank turned back and walked back to his spot on the couch between Jason and Hazel.

"I stand corrected," Tony muttered before going and taking a seat himself, a brown drink in hand.

"I guess I'll go next. You guys have kinda already seen what I can do, but I guess I'll showcase it again," Piper said, standing up but not moving to where Frank and Leo had.

She looked around the room and its occupants before choosing her targets, "Tony, pour your drink in your lap."

Tony got a dazed look in his eyes before he robotically moved his glass over his lap, tipping it to the side and letting all of the liquid drop onto his legs. When it was all gone, he snapped out of his fatigue and jumped up.

"What the hell happened? Who did this?!" he explained, looking down at his pants.

Natasha actually SMILED, "I like her. We need more girls around here, especially ones who can do that."

Tony turned to glare at Piper, "You did this!"

Piper only smirked smugly in response, "Yep. I did. Now, sit back down."

Tony complied immediately, causing his team to break out in laughter.

"We call it charmspeak. Only Piper can do it," Annabeth informed the Avengers, "Jason? Why don't you go next?"

"Alright. I can't do anything too major, since we're inside, but I think I have an idea," he said, moving to the same open area.

He glanced around before zeroing his gaze on a power outlet in the floor. He reached out a hand in its direction, and slowly, a string of electricity snaked its way out of the outlet. It built in his hands until it was in the shape of a ball, and then he stopped gathering it. He tossed the ball between a couple times before throwing it at Tony's chest, causing his arc reactor to glow brighter.

Jason smiled and went to sit back down again, "That's what I can do."

"Cool," Clint commented, "What about Hazel?"

"I can do this," Hazel stated simply, breaking a chunk of concrete off the floor before placing it back in place.

She didn't even move from her spot, the only part of her moving was her arm. She made it seem effortless, but if more attention was paid, someone could see that a beat of sweat had formed on her brow. Unnatural minerals, like concrete, were harder to control.

"Impressive," Steve sat forward, "What about you, Annabeth? What can you do?"

Before she could explain that she didn't have any powers, Percy answered for her, "She's a genius. Plus, she can fight, like, really well."

"Very eloquent, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth teased, but her smile was thankful.

He knew she was self-conscious about being the only one in the Seven without a demigod power. But he also knew that she didn't need it. She was the best at everything else already.

"I'll be testing that later," Tony said, clearly telling the truth.

Annabeth sat up straight and looked him right in the eye, "Looking forward to it."

"The only one left is you, Percy. What can you do?" Natasha inquired.

The superspy had noticed that the boy had tried to sink into the background. He was uncomfortable with answering the question, and that meant that it was worth pressing for. She wasn't afraid to do it, either. Natasha didn't like that Fury had kept something from her, and she was determined to find out the full story.

"Um...well, I can control water, basically," he answered, squirming under all of their gazes.

"Can you show us?" Steve asked, tone gentler than Natasha's was.

"I guess. It'll be something really small, though," Percy responded.

He saw that there was a vase full of flowers and water in the corner, and he chose that as his example. He held out a slightly-shaking hand in its direction and called the water to him. The familiar tug in his gut was almost indecipherable when the water trickled out and into the air. It did the same thing as Jason's electricity when it formed a line to his hands before forming into a ball. Percy held it above him, eyes narrowed in concentration, and willed it to become the shape of a small spear. He focused his attention on a spot between Clint's open legs and through the water-spear at that area. It hit its mark and dissolved on impact.

After it was over, Percy let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. That had been far too easy to do, and it worried him. His powers were growing, but he didn't want them to. He had to concentrate on only that small amount of water so that he didn't accidentally burst the pipes running all throughout the walls. When he wasn't using his powers, Percy could contain his reach and not make anything explode, but when he let the water in, it was like a sensory overload. You would be surprised how much water runs through a skyscraper.

"Yeah. That's what I do," Percy shrugged, sitting back down and choosing to ignore the awed stares he was getting from most of the Avengers.

"He's just being modest! He can do so much more awesome stuff! Like when he and Jason created–" Leo began.

"Leo! Stop talking!" Piper yelled, noticing Percy's discomfort.

Leo would have been grumbling if he could open his mouth, but he couldn't.

"Those are some basic abilities we have. We are all trained in combat and in various weaponry. I'm best with a dagger, but I can use just about anything you give me," Annabeth steered the conversation away from Percy.

Her boyfriend sent her a grateful look.

"Can you show us a little something?" Natasha asked.

"Sure," Annabeth answered, pulling a celestial bronze dagger (not the one Luke gave her, of course) from her thigh-strap.

She aimed it at the small space under Tony's arm, and quicker than anyone but a demigod could notice, she threw it with perfect accuracy. It lodged itself in the couch in that small space, not even nicking Tony one bit.

"Hey!" Tony exclaimed, eyes widening.

"You're fine," Clint rolled his eyes.

"So...yeah. That's us. You'll learn more about our fighting styles as we fight together, but that should be enough for now. Well, you should know one more thing: Percy can't use a bow. At all. Don't even let him NEAR one. Got it? Good," Annabeth said.

"I love you, too, Wise Girl," Percy remarked.

"Uh-huh," Annabeth mumbled teasingly, leaning into his side.

Ω ♆ Ω

I hope you like this chapter! I'll try to be better at updating, but we both know that's a lie. This would not be possible without my beta reader, nightskywithrainbows, so show them some love by reading their stuff on Ao3. Remember to comment, follow me, and like! Stay safe and happy reading!

- your author

other chapters :)

[rubyfics]

We’re (Super) Heroes (A Percy Jackson Fanfic)

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan

Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase & Jason Grace & Percy J. & Hazel Levesque & Piper McLean & Leo Valdez & Frank Zhang, Nico di Angelo & The Seven

Characters: Percy Jackson, Piper McLean, Leo Valdez, Annabeth Chase, Jason Grace, Hazel Levesque, Frank Zhang, Nico di Angelo.

Additional Tags: Crack Treated Seriously, Superheroes, Attempt at Humor, Annabeth is the only rational one, The Seven Become Superheroes, I try to be funny, Complete Bullshit

Summary: The seven take an interest in comic books, and while most people would want to dress up to go to Comic Cons, or write fanfics, these demigods have different plans. OR The seven become superheroes, while Annabeth tries to talk them out of such stupidity.

There was something about Percy Jackson that nobody but Annabeth knew.

He liked comic books- or “artistic literature” as he would call it when Annabeth playfully teased him about it. It was strange, because Percy had never exactly been a book person either- ADHD made it hard for him to read long paragraphs, or stay focused on a book long enough to finish one. However, incorporating pictures was different- it felt as though her were reading pictures rather than reading words.

That being said, it wasn’t something he openly advertised or anything- not necessarily in fear of others knowing, but it simply never came up in conversation. In reality, he didn’t really care if people knew or not, but what if he bored them with his comic book knowledge? What if nobody knew what the hell he was talking about, and just stared at him weirdly as he did so?

He didn’t think it was worth the time.

So, when he heard Leo talking about Batman casually one day Percy randomly blurted out, “You read comics too?”

Leo, as well as the rest of the table turned to look at Percy with a weird look. Percy looked between Leo, Piper and Jason- what had he missed? Was there something he was supposed to know but didn’t?

“You didn’t know that?” Piper asked pointedly.

Percy, in fact, did not know that. He didn’t really talk to Leo any more than he talked to the rest of the seven- though he would like to. It seems, despite Leo’s hyperactive energy, he didn’t let people in easily. Percy knew. One time, he asked about Leo’s past, and was met with a glare instead.

“Leo’s workshop is scattered with comic books- both from Marvel and DC. He’s been trying to get us to read some-“

“You should!”

Leo raised an eyebrow at Percy, “You’re a comic book nerd as well?”

Percy sighed, his face flushing red in embarrassment, “Well, I wouldn’t say I’m a ‘nerd’ but…”

Jason smirked, “It’s okay, we’re all nerds. It’s a compliment.”

“You’ll never be a bigger nerd than me, though.”

“Shut up, Valdez.”

***

Percy honestly didn’t expect Piper nor Jason to take his advice and read the comics- so when Piper came running in, with an excited look on her face, he was honestly expecting her to announce something stupid Leo was doing, and asking him to come watch. He did not, however, expect, the next words to come out of her mouth.

“I read Leo’s comic books, and I think we need to create a superhero team!”

Percy raised an eyebrow, “Not that I disagree or anything- but why?”

Percy honestly didn’t think Piper was serious- he assumed she meant cosplay or something, and quite honestly, his heart was bouncing in his chest just thinking about it. He’d always wanted to go to Comic Con, but he was too poor. However, his hopes were crushed, when Piper revealed her intentions.

“We all have powers… what better ways to use them than to save people!” Piper exclaimed.

Percy’s stomach swirled with doubt, and confusion. What on earth was she suggesting?

“Piper, we do save the world… all the time… and we nearly get killed doing it.” Percy reminded her.

“Yeah, but the way we do it isn’t cool!” Piper protested. “We don’t wear cool costumes. We don’t do it because we want to, we do it because the gods are dicks!”

Percy sighed- it was true. For once, it would be nice to save a life because he wanted to, not because the gods wanted him to. However, he couldn’t believe how stupid this whole thing was.

“What about the mist? Nobody would see what we’re doing!”

Piper bounced, “That makes it cooler!”

Percy hesitated, thinking about it. The pros were it was super cool, no less dangerous than anything else he does. The cons were, Annabeth would probably murder him.

“Pleeeeeaase Percy! Leo already said yes!”

Percy sighed. Of course he did. He realized there was no winning, and Annabeth would probably kill him anyways.

“Okay. Let’s be superheroes.”

[supershanaynay1]

R: Are there any writers (fanfic or otherwise) you consider an influence?

I definitely didn’t see this ask, think I’d answer it later, then get completely side tracked by life and only remember this now. Nope couldn’t be me.

To actually answer your question.... (also thank you for playing the fanfiction ask game)

The short answer is yes, there have been writers that I consider an influence. (Warning long ramble ahead)

The longer answer: fanfic writers haven’t been much of an influence because I only recently joined fandom and started reading and writing fan fiction, even if I’ve been creating the equivalent of fanfic in daydreams since forever.

Rick Riordan was a large influence. I’ve read his books since I was a little kid, and he includes such diversity in his books while also telling the stories of his minority characters in a respectful way. And I dont view his diverse cast of characters as him getting diversity points, he is just telling stories with characters that people can relate to and find themselves in that isn’t always present in the broader media. He has an entire series where the main characters have ADHD, and I realize now that I connected so much to that story because I (self diagnosed) have ADHD and I could see myself in characters like Percy and Annabeth. His books also teach about different cultures’ mythologies in a way that’s both entertaining and east to understand.

Another writer (or i guess in this case writer team) that was a great influence on me was PC Cast and Kristin Cast who co-wrote the House of Night series. This series has multiple instances of flipping tropes on their head (light, white = good; darkness, black = evil). That has personally been a fascinating thing to explore in my own writing. I don’t believe writers should be actively trying to outsmart their readers and destroy an entire storyline in favor of “haha! I outsmarted you and completely subverted your expectations!” But I think exploring ways to twist common tropes or archetypes in your writing and subverting expectations that way (while still remaining true to your story) has become a thing in my own writing because it’s a new way of thinking and creating.

Take this last one (this post is already too long even if i do have more influential writers, i ramble too much) whatever way you will: the supernatural writers. Their writing and story (and subsequent destruction of it) was a huge influence on me. Ignoring the actual show’s influence, let’s focus on what the writers did (and didn’t do). They created a storyline where all logical reasoning pointed towards a certain kind of end. Then they threw all of that out the window, whether it was network interference or a final spit in the fans’ faces idk and am not getting into right now.

If you as a writer promise something, you better deliver. Plot twists are no good if they dont make sense. Happy endings are not a cliche and characters that have been through hell (literally with supernatural) should be able to live full and happy lives. You should not only find peace and happiness in death. I could go on, but because of supernatural, particularly the finale, cemented those above things in my writer brain. I already believed/followed those rules but that finale truly drove these points home (because it followed none of them). And perhaps the biggest influence: i only started physically writing fanfic because of that finale. I never wrote it before because I didn’t want to betray characters by writing them wrong and doing them injustice (i am a perfectionist and have weird reasoning for things, moving on). However. Nothing could ever be such a betrayal to story arcs and character development and a betrayal to the characters themselves than that finale. So the finale, and by extent the spn writers, influenced me by finally driving me into the crazy world of fanfiction.

Thank you for reading all of this (if you did you are such a trooper, this is an incoherent mess), I’m so sorry that this post became so long I got slightly off topic at the end with an impromptu mini spn finale rant. And sorry again for not responding sooner!

[pjoheadcannonsandaus]

for the prompt  “Percy finds a girl (about 7) that is a demigod and helps her out.”

——–

Sometimes, Percy thought to himself as he drove up the Taconic State, You just have to run away.

  This week had been overwhelming, to say the least. He liked being a teacher and all, but it was the flu season and two kids puked in his room just in the past 3 days. Not to mention, it was getting closer and closer to Halloween, and monsters were getting antsy. So, when Friday rolled around, he plopped the stack of papers yet to be graded into the passenger seat of his car, and his duffle bag in the backseat.

  He needed a change of scenery, but Montauk wasn’t going to cut it this time. It was a helluva lot closer, and had so many memories, but…

  There was a place he and his mom had gone once. He still didn’t know why she changed the vacation spot that year. Maybe she was worried about monsters and being too predictable, maybe she just wanted to do something different. But one Columbus day weekend, they drove north instead of east. The air retained more of a chill the farther they drove, and the leaves slowly turned into beautiful hues of orange and red and yellow. Rolling mountains cut across the horizon, only accented by the turning leaves. Journey was playing on the radio, and they were screaming along at the top of their lungs and making each other laugh. It was a good memory.

  Percy smiled as he recalled all this, and relaxed slightly. He found himself doing this the past couple of years, and by now he knew the route by heart. Head up through the Bronx, change onto the Taconic State for a few hours, get on the Thruway for a half hour or so, before finally spending the last hour on Route 28. Stop at the diner on the Taconic, get a burger. It was all familiar.

  He was an hour or two, and barely paying attention at this point. That is, he wasn’t until a young girl landed on the hood of his car.

  She wasn’t even paying attention to him, locked in combat with a hellhound.

  He swerved to the left, offering her a moment of respite while the hellhound bounded over. In one swift motion, he grabbed Riptide out of the main console of the car, and jumped out to help the girl.

  He had to say, she was holding her own pretty well, but he wasn’t about to let a kid deal with this on her own. He’d experienced that too many times. So, working in tandem, the swung and jabbed, her with a crowbar and him with a sword, until the hellhound was dispelled in a cloud of dust.

  The girl to a step backwards, eyes closed, to catch her breath, before remembering where she was. Her head snapped up to look at him, and he caught a brief glimpse of the deer-in-headlights expression on her faith before she took off running into the woods again.

  Percy swore and took off after her.

  He really didn’t have the time to do this today. He just wanted a nice little weekend in the mountains, but this kind of thing always had to happen… How the hell do you even find yourself running through the woods after a 7 year old in a suit on a Friday afternoon? Oh right—the demigod luck.

  Ahead of him, he saw her trip on a root and land awkwardly on her ankle. “Dammit,” He muttered, adding what little extra speed he could to his pace, at her side in seconds. Her eyes went wide and she tried frantically to crawl away. He put up his hands in the ‘I surrender’ motion and said, “Let me see it. I can help you.”

  He could see her fighting an internal battle, but after about a minute, she nodded. Cautiously, he reached for her ankle, and as soon as he touched it, she winced.

“That’s not a good sign.” He muttered to himself. He pushed the joint again, harder this time, and could tell she nearly screamed. “I think you sprained it. Pretty badly.”

She didn’t react outwardly, just bit her lip.

“Come with me, I’ll get you fixed up and take you somewhere safe in a few days.”

She gave him a suspicious look, before saying, “I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”

He stood up and frowned at her. “From the looks of that, not really.” He said, nodding towards the injury.

  She paused for a minute, before finally agreeing. “Fine.” She tried to get up, using the crowbar as a kind of cane, before falling back down. Her cheeks were tinted red, and she said, “I don’t think I can go anywhere without help.”

  Percy shook his head, then threw her arm around his shoulder to help her up. “Let’s go.”

  ——

  They were back in the car. Percy had wrapped her ankle with the first aid kit Annabeth had made him start keeping in his car, and it was now propped up on the dashboard. Hey, he had to take a first aid course before school started every year, he wasn’t completely clueless! It was about 20 minutes later, and she had relaxed a little bit by now. Enough that she was talking to him. Her name was Laura, she was from Poughkeepsie, and her mother just thought she had a really good imagination.

  She wasn’t talking much now, though, and seemed to be nodding off. He didn’t mind, he knew killing monsters was hard work. So he let her rest, and took the time to think.

——

  “Can we get McDonald’s?”

  Honestly, it was like kids operated on timers. It was nearly 7 now, and Laura had slept for about an hour, and woke up to ask for food. Percy had to admit, he was hungry too.

  “Uh, yeah, sure.” He said, starting to look for signs for the next rest stop.

  It came up pretty quickly, in the next 10 minutes. Laura let out a quiet cheer as he merged onto the exit ramp.

  He parked and she jumped out, racing towards the door, then turning around to wait for him. He couldn’t help the smile that quirked up around the corners of his mouth. There was just something nice about seeing a kid who’d obviously been through some rough times still be able to get happy over something as small as McDonald’s.

——

  They sat at a disturbingly sticky table, Laura with a Happy Meal and Percy with a burger and a coffee, and both discarded any manners in favor of scarfing down their food.

  Once she was done, Laura amused herself with the toy that came with the food, and then asked, “Why are you wearing a suit?”

Percy took a sip of coffee before answering. “I’m a teacher. I have to wear this to work.”

Laura made a face. “That’s boring.”

Percy laughed. “Maybe so.”

She put the toy down and looked at him with a serious expression. “Why did you help me?”

Percy was a little shocked by this question, but knew he should’ve been expecting it. “Well, I’m like you.”

Laura looked skeptical.

“Weird stuff happens for you, right? If you’re too scared or too happy? You probably also have dyslexia and ADHD, and see things other people can’t?”

Now she looked like she believed him.

“And you only have a mom, or only have a dad?”

She nodded, looking at him intently.

“You’re a demigod. That means one of your parents was a god, as in Athena, or Zeus. In my case, my dad is Poseidon.”

“I don’t–I never knew my dad.”

“Yeah.”

“You mean he was a GOD?”

“Probably.”

She sat back in her seat, stunned.

“But hey, there’s places to help you. There’s a camp out in Long Island that I’ll take you to, they can keep you safe.”

She didn’t say anything.

“That’s where I spent my summers. They can train you and give you a place to stay. And, there’s more people like you.”

She looked a little scared at the idea, so he shied away from the topic.

“But that’s on Monday, okay? I have to go upstate, which is where I was headed when I found you, so you have the weekend to think about it.”

She nodded, the thoughtful frown still on her face.

“Ok… well, are you done? We should get back on the road again.”

She nodded.

“Great. Then throw out your garbage then meet me in the car.” She got up and grabbed her tray, and headed towards the trash. “And make sure to hit the bathroom before you come out!” He called after her.

And as he walked out towards the car and thought to himself, You know, this weekend isn’t going as planned, but maybe it won’t be so bad.

by @genderfluid-jaredkleinmann

[lixxiecorn]

Totally Normal - Steve and Bucky

Part two of Totally Normal. Like I said with part one, Totally Normal is a multi-chaptered fic I’m writing on ao3 but since the chapters function on their own as one shots, I’m posting them here as well. 

This chapter features The Lightning Thief-The Percy Jackson Musical which if you want to know more about their official website is here. I really enjoyed it and if it’s coming to a town near you I would definitely recommend seeing it!

Read the entire story on ao3

…

It had started out with a simple statement from MJ at lunch one day.

MJ always had a book on her no matter what. Gym Class? Book. Fire drill? Book. End of the world as we know it? Book. Which is why it didn’t surprise Peter to see her reading during lunch. What did surprise him, however, was what book she was reading.

“Are you reading Percy Jackson?” Peter asked as he and Ned sat down across from her.

“Yeah.” MJ responded, not even looking up.

“Uhh, don’t you read stuff that typically have a bit more meaning?” Ned pointed out, confused.

“I’m preparing.” MJ told them.

Peter and Ned shared an exasperated and confused look. “For?” Peter prompted.

MJ sighed and put a bookmark in her book before setting it down.

“My dad was going through current Broadway shows because why not and he came across Percy Jackson The Lightning Thief: The Musical. Since he knew that I enjoyed the book when I first read it, he got us tickets for this weekend and I’m rereading the book to prepare.” MJ explained, then picked the book up and began to read again.

“Wait, Lightning Thief is a musical? Is it any good?” Ned asked. MJ ignored the question, seemingly having had enough of the conversation. 

“Let’s google it.” Peter suggested.

He pulled out his new Starkphone, he used to have an older one, but DUM-E had accidentally broken it, and pulled up google. He quickly typed in the musical’s name and hit search, surprised with all the results that came up. Going to YouTube, Peter found the trailer for the musical and with one earbud in his ear and the other in Ned’s, they watched it.

“Oh my god. Or should I say gods? This looks amazing.” Ned said in disbelief.

“Yeah, and I know just the people to go see it with.” Peter responded, an idea forming in his mind.

…

“There’s a musical!” Bucky exclaimed, excitedly. Peter had just told him and Steve about the musical, and as he expected, they were extremely excited.

It wasn’t overly surprising that the supersoldiers were excited, they both had enjoyed the Percy Jackson books and they liked going to musicals. They said it was something they could do that made them feel like normal citizens for once instead of superheroes.

“And we have tickets for this weekend?” Steve asked in slight disbelief.

“Yep!” Peter confirmed, popping the p.

“How did you manage to make that happen?” Bucky asked.

“I asked my dad who is a billionaire, he does nice things for people sometimes.” Peter said, shrugging.

…

Both Steve and Bucky dressed up nicely for the show, while Peter wore his Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and kakis. They made their way to their seats, third row courtesy of Tony, and sat down. Peter spotted MJ and threw her a wave. She barely got a chance to wave back before Steve pulled Peter down into his seat. The lights dimmed and the show began.

The three Avengers laughed all the way through ‘The Day I Got Expelled’. Peter agreed wholeheartedly with Percy in ‘Strong’ when he talked about ADHD. Bucky seemed to find ‘Another Terrible Day’ quite funny. They all loved ‘The Campfire Song’, especially when Percy sang about his dad and owned it. Peter really related to Percy in ‘Good Kid’ about how he didn’t deserve what was happening to him, because with all the hardships in Peter’s life, he understood that frustration. Steve’s face when Percy said hell in ‘Killer Quest!’ was hilarious, and Peter could hear Bucky whisper “Language” tauntingly to Steve.

…

“So, what do you guys think so far?” Peter asked at intermission, munching on some skittles.

“Steve must have hated it because Percy said a bad word.” Bucky teased, looking at his friend.

Peter giggled as Steve rolled his eyes. “That was one time!” Steve exclaimed.

“One time’s enough.” Peter informed him, grinning.

“I thought I’d see the three of you here.” A voice said. Peter spun around and came face to face with MJ.

“Miss Jones.” Steve greeted, extending his hand to her. She shook it and gave Bucky a small wave which he returned.

“Hey MJ.” Peter said, smiling.

“Hi loser.” She responded, stealing one of his skittles.

“Hey!” Peter squawked, pulling the bag away from her. “Don’t you have a random bag of M&M’s or something?”

“No, I left those at home today.” MJ replied, her lip twitching up in a smile.

The lights flickered, signaling intermission coming to an end.

“Well, I better go back and find my dad.” MJ decided, grabbing another skittle before walking off with a wave.

“She took my skittle.” Peter said in shock, staring at the bag.

“Come on Peter, wouldn’t want to miss the rest of the show.” Bucky prodded, giving Peter’s shoulder a slight push.

Peter got up and followed the supersoldiers back to their seats. They sat back down, and the second act began.

All three agreed that ‘Lost!’ pretty accurately described most of the Avenger’s missions, which was basically saying they were a mess. Bucky and Steve told Peter that he was the squirrel, which Peter agreed with. ‘My Grand Plan’ was another one of Peter’s favorites, Annabeth reminding him of MJ and Nat, two of the strongest women he knew. Everyone enjoyed ‘Drive’ because one, it was a bop, and two it really encompassed the different events that occurred throughout the book. Both Bucky and Steve got a little emotional during ‘The Tree on the Hill’, Thalia’s sacrifice reminded them of when Bucky fell off the train many years ago. Peter politely pretended not to notice their tears or the face they were tightly gripping each other’s forearms. Bucky liked ‘Son of Poseidon’, he identified with the accepting yourself aspect of the song due to his own struggles with accepting his past as the Winter Soldier. The part Steve wasn’t a fan of (Peter and Bucky liked it but that’s besides the point) was ‘The Last Day of Summer’. He liked the song in itself but the fight between Luke and Percy reminded him too much of his own fight with Tony and he didn’t ever want to go back to that. All three loved ‘Bring on the Monsters’ and the message of unity and hope it brought, plus the references to all the different songs at the end was amazing.

As soon as the curtain dropped and the lights came up, Peter ran around collecting the confetti that had been shot out over the audience, as well as some of the toilet paper that had been blown out during the water scene. Once satisfied, the trio went to the souvenir shop. Steve insisted on buying everyone a tour t-shirt, as well as buying one of the squirrel stuffed animals. Peter rolled his eyes but couldn’t deny the fact that he loved the squirrel.

“On a scale from one to 10, how much did you guys love it?” Peter asked once they had gotten into Bucky’s jeep.

“I’d say a solid 9.” Steve decided.

“I give it an 8 because Percy didn’t wear the flying shoes in the book, Grover did.” Bucky pointed out.

“But the references! Like Bianca was the one talking in the Lotus Casino in Drive and they mentioned the dam snack bar in that song too!” Peter exclaimed.

“True, but the shoes…” Bucky said, glancing in the rear-view mirror at Peter.

Peter dug through the bags to find his squirrel stuffed animal and was surprised to find two of them.

“Steve, you got two squirrels by accident.” Peter said, holding up the stuffies.

“No, I bought two on purpose.” Steve corrected.

“Why?” Peter asked, confused.

“Tony’s squirrely.” Steve said, shrugging. Peter laughed at that the entire way back to the tower.