#poor grover was so embarrassed

[calla-starkflowerstew11]

I hope they have that scene in the series in which they are playing hacky sack and grover just *chomps* on the apple

[bomber-grl]

General grover dating headcanons ⋆°🌱

~ ⋆｡‧𖦹 Grover Underwood x Gn!Reader

Grover is the absolute sweetest 😭🫶

Ofc he’s super sassy too but that’s besides the point

Grover initially is a bit hesitant on acting on his crush on you

Especially if you’re a demigod and mostly because he’s just shy like that

He needs some obvious encouragement and gets a good amount of it from annabeth and Percy

I mean, from first glance Grover has been attracted to you and just you as a person overall

Unfortunately he hadn’t gotten the opportunity to be your friend just yet but that was one of his main goals

He eventually began running into you, usually at the pavilion when he would talk to Percy or if you work at the strawberry fields then he gets to know you

Otherwise you’re introduced by Percy, his wingman

He’s so painfully awkward around you it sorta endearing 😭

He really doesn’t know how to romance you or even begin trying to get close to you as a friend so he’s definitely struggling with that

It’s not until he finds a subject that your interested in and he might even go as far as watching the show, reading the book I mean anything to have common ground 😭

I mean to even date Grover you’d have to be in touch with nature so if you’re an advocate for nature and have an appreciation for it and it’s animals then he’s even more enamored with you

Especially if you confront people on it because he sometimes doesn’t have the confidence to

Anyway, the way you two started dating was around the time or maybe a little after he was rescued in sea of monsters

Dude really realized how scared and how fast things can pass so he tries his best to hype himself up and Percy does the same

Annabeth too but tries to not bring up the actual probability-

Anyway

You’re both probably done tending to the strawberries or maybe after lunch time

You’re both grateful to just be alive and well at camp and you both decide to go for a walk since it’d been awhile

You both walked past trees and it got to a certain point where Grover just sat down and asked you to join him

He had planned this a million times, rehearsed it to the point it was engraved into his mind-

“I like you”

Huh?

You had just confessed to him in a seconds impulsivity when this guy had been mentally preparing your whole friendship

EVEN BEFORE

his jaw drops and gave up on trying to create a romantic atmosphere

He just turns to you deflated and admits that he was planning on confessing

And when you noticed his demeanor you had asked how long he’d been planning to, thus him explaining the embarrassingly long amount of time he put into his plan

He was so embarrassed and his face showed just that

All you could really do was laugh at his expression and find it endearing

Of course you two end up together after that and Grover, despite his previous sulking, was a very happy saytr

Now onto the actual hcs

Grover is so romantic 😭🫶

He’s constantly getting you things that are mostly little trinkets

He’d even offer to play you a song despite his obvious embarrassment

He always goes out to show you things and show you pretty rocks or anything really

It’s so endearing and once you let him know this thought-

Grover’s being practically evaporates from the earth

He’s slow to be more affectionate but his overall demeanor and shy smile on his face shows he’s more than welcoming to it

He loves to hug 😭

I mean he’s slow to and a bit shy but he loves to

Like seriously

He’s always smiling when hugging you and it’s his favorite thing

You’re practically glued together at this point

He isn’t too big on kissing kissing but he loves to kiss your cheeks

Especially if they’re chubbier then he likes showing affection that way

He’s honestly the best

Especially with how often he gifts you stuff and always wanting to go on little dates

Of course he takes into consideration what sort of things you like but his ass does NOT have real money 💀

So it’s sorta a plot hole but u still love his dirt poor ass

[nanazillastic]

The writers of Disney's Percy Jackson could do the funniest thing... Do you know how Percy mocks Athena with the posh english accent? They could let Toby Stephens keep his accent, his very natural and very posh english accent.

Then, when they meet for the first time, with Annabeth and Grover in tow, and Poseidon open his mouth... the poor boy would be so mortified and ashamed that his deadbeat dad speak with that accent, that he would momentarily forget about his quest for child support: "Stop that sound you're making with your mouth. You're so embarrassing"

[benedictconsultingbatch]

I loved the "I plunged to my death" episode. It was too short! I loved Annabeth saying froofy boarding school and then Grover's like "what's froofy? who's froofy? you're froofy" Percy and Annabeth talking about thalia. Percy asking if annabeth gives him a hard time because he has earn it like annabeth did with thalia. They seek shelter from Echidna at the st. Louis arch because it's a monument to Athena! And annabeth gives all the details of the structural integrity cause she loves architecture! And she says that it's earthquake safe so Poseidon can't ruin it!! Annabeth says "This is how you show Athena your love. A monument to the power of perfection" Poor Grover doesn't like the animal skulls on display. Percy says to Annabeth "He doesn't like when people mess with animals" It's so true to who Grover is! Percy imitating a posh lady saying "be right down going to the potty" was so unexpected but I loved it. And then Annabeth said "Careful. I think you were about to call me a friend" <3 Athena letting monsters attack her daughter and other demigods because she was embarrassed is so petty. Athena doesn't deserve Annabeth's love and admiration.

[dragonfly0808]

Could you give more squad headcanons? They're never enough ☺️💓

Riven is the heaviest and will use his weight to bother the others, crushing Timmy, Stella and Bloom is they get too comfy on the sofa.

Stella is always getting little gifts for everyone.

Bloom has managed to get Helia to help her make caricature portraits of everyone. Brandon framed his.

Sky, Musa, Nabu and Timmy are the only ones allowed to lay their heads on Tecna’s lap.

Flora and Riven can finish each other’s sentences/roasts.

Aisha will use her Morphix to mess with the others if they bother her too much. Flora is the only one that’s safe.

The headmasters/Guardians/poor Griselda have given up in trying to keep track of their visits and sleepovers. No one knows where they are but they’re pretty sure they are incapable of spending a whole week in their own dorms/beds.

The boys cuddle just as much as the girls and I will die on that hill.

They will usually sleep in trios if they’re squished into beds, the trios go as such: Tecna, Musa and Helia. Timmy, Bloom and Nabu. Aisha, Riven and Flora. Stella, Brandon and Sky. (The couples try not to sleep in the same bed for the third wheel’s/guardian’s sake. Stella and Brandon don’t care and Sky is used to it so they’re the exception.)

The girls have finally caved in and are now also learning Star Wars fights. The guys have memorized plenty of them and are unstoppable. Not a day goes by Bloom doesn’t regret introducing them to Star Wars. Also, she totally got Riven a Darth Vader helmet or a Darth Vader mug or smth. (Riven and Sky have the Obi-Wan vs Anakin fight in Revenge of the Sith down perfectly.)

If anyone starts singing one of Musa’s songs, the others have to obligatory join in with the worst tones possible to embarrass Musa. Extra points for cringey choreo and trying (and failing) to actually hit the harder notes.

They’re known as menaces in the 2 restaurants they frequent because of the amount of food the boys eat (listen, they train for like six or seven hours a day and their teenagers, you know those boys have endless pits as stomachs).

There is so much shit people have overheard from them that, without context is just… everyone in the three schools are convinced the Winx and their boys either secretly run the world or have only survived thus far due to dumb lock and Mom-friends Flora, Helia and Tecna.

Anytime there’s a campfire they bust out a perfect rendition of the Campfire Song from The Lightning Thief Musical. Riven is Luke, Flora is Annabeth, Bloom is Katie, Timmy is Grover, Nabu is Chiron, Musa is Silena and Helia is Percy, the rest join in on the chorus :).

Aisha, Stella and Bloom have bust out a perfect rendition of Candy Store, so have Timmy, Nabu and Brandon.

There’s a perfect divide of extroverts and introverts in the group: Bloom, Flora, Tecna, Timmy, Riven and Helia are introverts. Stella, Musa, Aisha, Sky, Brandon and Nabu are extroverts.

[entirelyhumanperson]

Do you think Poseidon saving Percy from Zeus’s wrath gave him more confidence to stand up to Luke.

They aren’t perfect, but they are trying. Hermes looked sad that he didn’t get along with Luke. He helped them.

Poseidon saved him, and surrendered the war, willing to be embarrassed in front of his entire family, so his son’s life was spared.

Hephaestus wanted his family to be better.

Zeus turned Thalia into a tree to save her life, and the mention of her bravery helped dampen his anger.

ok the tree thing wasn’t the best idea, but he tried

Hades didn’t want a part of the family drama. He didn’t want a war. He saved his nephew’s mum and held her hostage to get his helm back. He held up to his end of the deal. He offered to protect them from grandpa in return for the bolt.

They are a toxic and disfunctional family, and demigods are small and scary. But they are trying.

Kronos on the other hand, never gave his children a chance.

When it comes to parenting, the gods are a slightly lesser evil.

It’s easy for Percy to understand where Luke was coming from. He isn’t stupid. He knows the gods aren’t good parents. He knew some of them didn’t care. But he’s seen them make attempts. Poor attempts, but still attempts him.

Poseidon still dreams about Sally. He protects Percy even though he failed.

The gods are bad parents. They are inattentive, they ignore their children. Use them.

Athena gave Annabeth the hat. But Annabeth embarrassed her. She wasn’t worthy of her love.

Ares hates kids. Maybe his kids slightly less, but they are still children.

Hermes doesn’t know how to connect with Luke, how to make amends.

Zeus turned his kid into a tree.

But Kronos ate his children two seconds after they were born. Luke’s justification is that the golden age needs to come back, because the gods were bad parents. Luke doesn’t seem to remember that Kronos is worse.

And Luke betrayed him. He put him, Grover, and Annabeth in more danger than they need be. He didn’t see why plotting to drag him into Tartarus was not a very friendly thing to do.

Luke had a point, a point Percy could easily understand. But at his dad saved him, when it would have been much easier to let him die.

Hermes helped them, he didn’t exactly want too. But these kids stole from him, he could have gotten angry at them, he could have stopped them. But he didn’t. They were Luke’s friends. And he knows how much Luke cares about Annabeth.

Camp Half Blood is the first place he felt he had true friends, and now Luke expects him to turn on them. And he had a very scary sword and sort of almost kidnapped him.

Whose side did you think he was going to take.

[evilincoperated]

My thoughts on episode 4

PJO EP 4 SPOILERS

-Omg cute Sally and Percy moment!!! I hope nothing will ruin this!!

-Oh.

- Aww him and Annabeth are talking

-Facts Percy preach it!!

-Annabeth you are a gift :(

-Grover literally funniest character ever

-Let him get up Annabeth insult after insult, youre pulverizing him

-Oh... thats not

-Damn that woman just looks evil

-WHAT IS WITH THEM ATTACKING ANNABETHS ABOUT HER MOM 😭😭

-Bro literally got stung by a Chihuahua/j

-"Earthquake proof so Poseidon can't destroy it" "...nice"

-Bro is PALE

-Poor Grover :(

-Aww cute Annabeth and Percy moment!!

-Oh. He's definitely dying

-NAH THEY ARE SHOVELING THAT WATER ON HIM LMAO

-That Chihuahua is taking names God Damn

-Annabeth no you aren't an embarrassment :(

-Damn yall fell for the sword swap 😭😭

-Nah bro let him get up 2v1 and the 1 is poisoned that's crazy

-Destroying some national monuments 👍

-The water came and caught him (totally not disappointed we didnt get to see the dive into the water full force obviously)

-How Percy feels after saying his dad was never there and then being told by a mythological being that he was always there: "🤨😐🧍‍♂️"

-THATS THE END????

[juicygf]

“Okay.” I take a deep breath.

“Because I do. I want you with every single part of my being. You’re my best friend, my partner in crime, the only person in the world who understands me perfectly and accepts me completely the way I am. You’re my protector, my lover, my tease. You share your snacks with me, you let me steal your clothes, and I don’t care how many Taylor Swift songs I make you listen to. You always match my energy perfectly, and our sarcasm is exactly in tune. You let me play with your hair as I tell you stories about what our future will be like. You’re incredible with kids, and every time I see you with the younger campers I fall deeper in love with you. You’re the perfect mix between skater dork and lover boy. So yes, Perseus Jackson. I still want you.”

“Even if we only dated for a short while, I’ve known you for years. Remember the first time we met? You were a soggy twelve year old boy, half drenched in the rain and crying over your mother, dragging poor Grover. I told you that demigods have to be better than that. You retorted that ‘You’d be sad too if your mum died’. And I replied that ‘Well, better that than frostbite’, and that confused you so much you laughed. And ever since, we’ve been best friends. We’ve gotten through every quest together, every monster we fought side by side. You understood my humour when no one else did, you comforted me when nightmares got too embarrassing for me to admit. You were the reason I got through my really bad year mentally when we were fourteen. *You* are the one I crossed the country for. You jumped into the River Styx for *me*. I still wear this—“ I hold up my wrist, which bears a woven bracelet of black, sea green, and orange thread. “—Because it’s the colours of your hair and eyes and camp shirt. You are the reason I keep going, Percy Jackson. And I am not letting you go.”

holy shit guys my wife is a writing genius

[erasermist]

My thoughts as I watched the Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 1 on Disney+

Episode by episode random thoughts below, but overall I loved it. The actors are really good at what they do and I love who they chose as Percy, Annabeth, Grover, Luke, Clarisse… etc.. all of them were fun to watch.

Yeah I was disappointed with the ways many of the scenes were done, but I also don’t think an exact copy of the book would have been relevant now. It’s definitely been adjusted to suit the time period and just because they were changed doesn’t automatically make them all bad changes.

Episode 1:

They’ve definitely made some changes which is obvious. They always do. But I love Walker as Percy. He does such a good job. “Okay… Why?” Was hilarious.

Somehow they made Sally even more amazing and her “death” even more sad. Though it’s an interesting change to make Sally do a lot of what Book Percy did in that fight.

Episode 2:

Luke and Percy’s relationship is making what’s coming even worse! The pat on Percy’s shoulder when leave Hephaestus’ cabin 😢 they are really showing how close Luke made himself to Percy.

Percy’s sass! Him during the waiting time of capture the flag was perfect

I kinda wish they had kneeled when he was claimed but meh I’m still good with this.

“I am Sally Jackson’s son!”

Episode 3:

“Oh geez. You seem busy. I’ll come back.” Poor Percy facing the Oracle

Medusa’s place brings up a lot of deep questions. I kinda like the way they took this. Bringing attention to the actual horrifying truth that is the gods’ cruel punishments is something I appreciate.

The conversation they have after everything is done was a nice touch. Letting us see them actually talk things out and see the bond slowly forming is amazing.

Episode 4:

The moment Percy changes places with Annabeth was perfectly done. Loved it!

Athena “my child embarrassed me so she can die for all I care” vs Poseidon “like hell I’m letting my son die and if that means I make a water tornado to snatch him from the air then I will”

Episode 5:

I love the popping their heads up from behind the concrete when talking to Ares.

Making it modern like Ares starting a fight on Twitter is so cool in a way. Making them “relevant” to the modern world is such an interesting take. I’m looking forward to seeing if they do it with the others too.

“Push down a flight of stairs” is very suspicious. That’s exactly what Percy said when choosing Annabeth.

😂😂Percy is completely on top of this entire park being a creepy ghost place lol though the music break was great

Grover showing off his genius with his flattery of Ares!

Hephaestus changing his mind was good but Annabeth standing up to him (and her mother) was better!!

Grover worked out who stole the bolt?!?!? This would be different than the books, but I’m still willing to see where they go with it.

Though also a thought… we are definitely getting a lot more of the gods than the books gave us. Never saw Hephaestus and it seems like we are gonna see Hermes next episode.

Episode 6:

Oh. They were wrong about who did it. That’s good at least. Figuring it out so early would not have been a good choice.

Annabeth stealing from the god of thieves 😭 even if he let her do it, for those couple of minutes it was hilarious

Santa Monica was more heartbreaking than I thought. Show Percy was really expecting his dad. But the fact he was actually there is something

THEY WERE LATE!! Wow what a change!

4 pearls!!

Episode 7:

The lack of the Crusty fight is actually disappointing honestly

No DOA Recording… I loved that one. Dead on Arrival was just clever. And no pay raise conversation 😢

“Only suckers wait in line” showing your New York City there Percy

Oh no. Now we are down to 3 pearls. Show universe is really out here making Poseidon a better father by actually caring. First he was actually waiting to see Percy and then he gives 4 pearls.

Annabeth isn’t with them anymore 🤔 I don’t like that.

“Sanctuary” for just a second I was impressed with Hades then he explained then I realized it was incredibly pragmatic of him.

Wow. I hold no animosity to show Poseidon like I do Book Poseidon. The immediate answer to Sally… Wow!

I hadn’t really realized I had animosity to book Sally but Show Sally actually did her best to prepare Percy for the world where Book Sally just ignored it.

Woo! Let’s go Ares fight!

Episode 8:

And so begins Percy’s absolute hate against Ares that even transcends a goddess erasing his memories.

Ares didn’t curse Percy though…

Yo… Poseidon surrenders for Percy

And Show Zeus is better than Book Zeus at least for now. He’s at least willing to entertain the idea of Kronos rising.

Oh Luke… I was right… this was worse than the book

“I didn’t think you’d give them to Grover” that is the most heartbreaking line

The mouthing off to Kronos is awesome. Love it “Are you kidding me” he says 😂

And sadly, but also thankfully, no getting rid of Gabe through Medusa’s head by Sally (though still got him lol). Seems like they made him not as abusive on screen as the books showed him to be.

[sapphicfandompirate]

PJO Reaction Episode 5

Emerges from nearly 2 feat of snow I live!!! The US is not having a good time right now. Khione have mercy…

I have warm peanut butter chocolate chip cookies and some hot cocoa and I'm ready to see Ares and the Tunnel of Love. Remember, there is some minor spoilers for the TV series based off Book info

Oh right, starting off with the aftermath of ST Louis. Oh…this is where we have the Fates. That's terrifying

Percy, sweetie, dry yourself off lol

Baby Percabeth hug!!!

Yeah…being a wanted criminal kinda impedes public transportation

Oh, theorizing who stole the bolt. They're right, even if Hades had it, a demigod was needed to steal it

Baby Percy's confidence in Poseidon is adorable, but it'll be shattered I'm sure

I'm not sure how I feel about Annabeth seeing the string being cut instead of Percy, but it makes sense. She is connected to the Hero of the Prophecy who's going to die.

Hello Ares!

Ok, this scene is hilarious, with them hiding behind the concrete barrier and I'm liking this version of Ares.

Oh Percy, Ares is just the tip of the iceberg for your insane family. Wait till you meet your brothers

Oh I can't wait to see Tyson next season!!!!!

Anyway

Ares as a Twitter Troll makes perfect sense.

Oh good, we finally get Bitch Ass Gabe

Sassy Annabeth! I like how Ares is kind of explaining everything but with his spin on it. Especially the family drama and war stuff

Oh! Ares is separating the party. Poor Grover, I'd be terrified. To be fair, Grover is the least likely to punch him so that's probably good. Note: Least likely, not won't. He can be riled up when it comes to nature, pollution, and Pan

Oh this park is already creepy as hell.

Honestly, Hephaestus would build a bomb ass terrifying amusement park that would make adrenaline junkies drool. Me included, I love amusement parks and roller coasters

…Grover is a fan of Ares? I mean, nature is brutal. Is he actually a fan, or just buttering him up? I love this conversation actually.

Back to the creepy amusement park and the creepy tunnel of love

They don't recognize "What is love???" What is this younger generation coming too, they don't even know the classic memes

I kind of like Percy knowing some of the stories though, especially how Sally tells them.

Oh the ride is getting fun!

C'mon Percy, use your water powers! It would be very embarrassing to drown here. Ok good, he did it!

Annabeth's hair is never going to dry is it?

Yay a puzzle! I'm sure the throne is trapped nine ways from sunday

Of course Grover is trying to solve it and Ares is shutting it down…

Athena conversation? Ok, Grover is definitely trying to butter Ares up. This is beautiful. Oh….Grover what have you done.

Oh. if they make it so the throne is like a Chinese finger trap that would be a cute call back to the Mark of Athena. I don't think this trap is as simple as one gets trapped and one survives. Maybe if he just promises to be nice it'll let him go?

I love the scene tho, its so cute and serious.

Oh I love the animation for the trapped seat. Percy chanting "I'm ok" and turning to gold is heartbreaking.

C'mon Annabeth! If anyone can figure it out, its you!

Oh. Hello. Hephaestus? Hermes? Who is this? Oh ok, Hephaestus, I like his appearance, I didn't know he was cast already. What is his plan though?

C'mon Annabeth! Break that generational trauma! Character Growth!

Yay! Percy Lives!

Oh. I hate this part, the "kindness" transport. Oh. He's sending them to the Lotus Casino? Asshole. And there is the backpack…

Persassy strikes again!

"Thank you for the emotional abuse and the cheeseburgers" Grover never change. I'm stealing that. Somehow

Ooh, Grover knows Ares is lying. I wonder who he thinks stole the bolt? Athena?Damn you cliffhangers!

I think this was my favorite episode so far. I love all of the changes they made, and all of the conversations. The pacing is better than the previous ones, and so were the emotional beats and special effects

I'm so excited to see where we go from here!

[youarestellarverse]

It's not actually Trivia Tuesday, but I don't care; Barricade Day is an exception for obvious reasons.

SO I'M JUST GONNA RAMBLE REAL QUICK!

Thalia never has an instant of concern over whether Nico can carry Frank, who is nearly a foot taller and easily twice as heavy. The reason she isn't worried about it is because they go to the same dojo and she's seen him flip someone bigger. (He passes his black belt test shortly after the show.)

I don't know who's playing Courfreyrac at this juncture (I thought Clarisse, but that was when Beckendorf was Combferre and I have since gone with him being too old for other reasons), but as he carries the flag in One Day More, I DO know that whoever it is, they're also captain of the colorguard.

Beckendorf does, however, mentor Annabeth through the engineering aspects of the turntable. He also functions as the bridge between her and the cast, so she rarely has to address Percy directly even in a group. (see HiOB, chapter 19.)

Paul choreographed all of the stage combat. This did not prepare him in any way, shape or form for actually watching The Final Battle in all its heart-rending glory.

He cried. A lot. Percy was very embarrassed, but also deeply touched, and definitely did not cry a little afterwards himself. Nope. No way, no how. (lies.)

There's an exchange between Nico's dad, stepmother and stepgrandma during intermission where the women rightfully shame him for being completely and totally shocked that his son can sing like that.

"That's because you don't pay enough attention to him" "And look how skinny the poor boy is! He's clearly not eating enough wheaties /fussfuss"

Sally is also very close with Nico, because up until Les Mis, he was always the other assistant stage manager. She made a point of tracking him down and showering praise on him because he's kind of her baby too and she couldn't be prouder 🥺

Nico occasionally holds Estelle, then about 6-8 months old, while learning music. Many years later, he explains to her why she always gets drowsy every time she hears Bring Him Home.

Estelle kind of becomes the cast mascot by hanging around at rehearsal. She's a charmer baby who makes friends everywhere she goes.

Grover does wardrobe for the drama department. He designs all the costumes and sews the majority of them, with some help from Juniper.

Piper and Thalia totally use the same locket for Fantine. Thalia and Piper grow pretty close over the run of the show, because Thalia is going to have Jason Feelings come up every time she thinks of Fantine for the rest of her life.

Actually, Thalia auditioned for Eponine, and she was pissed when Luke cast her as Fantine. She demanded to know why he would do that to her, and he told her she was the only one who made him believe her.

Speaking of Luke, Percy absolutely based some of Enjolras on him— specifically "a charismatic young man capable of being terrible". Everyone who knew Luke knows this because it's blatantly obvious, but nobody ever talks about it.

Will plays Joly (because I'm obvious and the medical connection), but also plays Monsieur Fauchelevent, which is a tiny bit of a problem because it means 99% of their stage time together is him lying helpless and watching Nico flex. 😳

(Lou Ellen has to close his mouth for him the first time he hears Nico belt a sustained high note.)

I think Anubis cameos and plays the Jean Valjean lookalike, on account of him bearing an eerie resemblance to Nico.

I also kind of want Annabeth to briefly date Carter Kane in college (maybe they take a semester abroad together and end up on the same archeological dig?), but it's mostly to distract herself from Piper. They stay friends, though!

That's all I have at the moment. Feel free to ask me about shit, though, I have the full symphonic soundtrack going (I'm on Fantine's Death 😭) and I'm In A Mood.

[browniesnivy]

muppets :)

Sorry that I was so slow to answer this but it’s funny that you would ask about Muppets because I was literally JUST working on my senior thesis which is about Sesame Street so!

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most)

ROWLF! Rowlf is just my favorite guy ever I mean just LOOK at him… what’s not to love? He’s a dog for crying out loud! I’m so in love with the way he looks it’s ridiculous. Also, as an armchair Muppet historian (lol), I find his status as the first famous Muppet to be incredibly fascinating. The entire empire of Muppets is built on Rowlf… give him the respect he deserves!

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped)

EMPHATICALLY Grover. When people call characters their “son” it’s normally kind of annoying because they’re talking about like a fully grown man but Grover is literally four years old. I would say that I raised that boy but he actually raised me LMAO. “Cuteness aggression” is the perfect way to describe how I feel whenever I see Grover… he’s so adorable that is actually makes me feel like my blood is radioactive and my body is going to explode.

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave)

Firstly, I feel like Rowlf has been under-appreciated by the shows and movies for quite a while now, so I just wanted to point out that I find that extremely offensive and need Rowlf to return NOW. But because I already talked about Rowlf earlier AND I’ve talked about why I think it’s sad that he’s being replaced before, I want to talk about someone else for this lol, so I’m going to how things Prairie Dawn on this one. I know that her design isn’t as interesting as a lot of the newer Sesame girls (who I also think deserve more love tbh), but I really like how she represents those kids that were always trying to act responsible and I feel like her kind of smart and proper character is missing from the current ensemble. I also think her relationship dynamic with Cookie Monster is CRIMINALLY underrated like just let them be best friends PLEASE I am begging… the contrast between her perfectionist personality and his insanity is completely hilarious of course, but I also like that despite their differences they want to hang out anyway. Reminds me of when I was really little and kids would form close friendships even when they had nothing in common LOL… I just find that really cute!

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week)

The fact that Rowlf has a nephew whose name is Nephew and is just a smaller version of Rowlf is so hilarious and adorable and I’ve been absolutely DELIGHTED to see several other fans calling for the return of this character. I also am unhealthily obsessed with Bert’s twin brother Bart, who looks exactly like him but has an overly amicable personality and a son (who is named Brad and I also love to pieces for no real reason). I like to imagine that Bart is Bert’s straight brother who is an overly supportive ally to the point of being a complete embarrassment, an idea which makes me lose my mind laughing whenever I think about it so I find myself thinking about it a bit too much LOL.

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave)

Sorry but it’s Bert… he is like the definition of a poor little meow meow in terms of being completely pathetic. Like I love him so SO much don’t get me wrong but he’s such a three out of ten… I can’t stop pointing and laughing at him he’s such a flop with a receding hairline. I’m obsessed with him.

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason)

Kermit… I want him to be happy obviously but also he is so funny when he is stressed out and I want to see him snap. I want to see him scrunch his face and flail his arms and just generally get hopping mad. I am willing to sacrifice his sanity for my entertainment.

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell)

Uncle Traveling Matt please go to superhell and try and explain everything you see there. I’m only like a quarter of the way through Fraggle Rock right now but I think Traveling Matt might actually be my favorite character… seeing all his silly misadventures just scratches a specific itch of mine. I want to see him struggle to rationalize everybody’s gay crimes.

[phykios]

honesty and promise me, part 3 [read on ao3] [co-written with @darkmagyk]

Several more weeks and hookups later, Annabeth thinks she should probably come clean. Some people might bury it deep, and for sure, Annabeth’s considered it, but, well. It is kind of embarrassing that she didn’t know Percy’s name at first. Stuff like that doesn’t usually bother her--she’s had nameless one night stands in the past, and despite Thalia’s ribbing, she knows that Thalia doesn’t really care either. It’s just that, you know, he’s Thalia’s family, and they’ve seen each other a few more times, and they are planning to continue to see each other a few more times in the future. Or more than a few times. 

Anyway, she kind of feels like she owes it to him. Like he deserves this small nugget of truth, payment for all the times he’s fucked her blind. It’s nagging at her, and she hates feeling like she owes anyone anything. 

Piper certainly seemed to think so, when Annabeth had told her over their monthly brunch date.

“It’s just common courtesy at this point,” she said. “Like, what if you guys end up married and then sell your story to Hollywood, they cast my dad as the male lead, and it comes out in interviews that you didn’t know his name for like a month? He’s gonna get the wrong idea.”

Annabeth wasn’t sure which part was more ridiculous: the movie, Piper’s dad being involved, or them being married.

Anyway, sharing some of her avocado fries, Piper had reminded her that being mean wasn't very punk rock, shutting her up effectively.

She’s out on site in the Lower East Side, taking measurements for plots of land, writing down sun angles and measuring the wind velocity between the brick buildings, when she gets a text from him. 

I’m on a break and I’m starving 😩 Want to grab something to eat?

It’s 2pm on a Thursday and he wants to grab something to eat. If Annabeth didn’t know any better, she’d say that that sounds like a real, honest-to-goodness, bona fide date. (Meeting up at and subsequently leaving bars together does not count as a date, she’s pretty sure. Neither do the booty calls.) He’s been getting a little free with his texts, that boy, sending her selfies and memes and questions about her day, and now this? An invitation to their first, actual date? She should block him on principle, just for the sheer audacity.

sure, wya

520 8th, text me when you get here 😁

That’s another thing: Percy loves his emojis. If this is going to continue, they’re going to need to have a serious talk about that. 

She doesn’t need to text him when she gets there; he’s already outside, leaning on the stone edifice of the building like a particularly jacked rent boy in his tight t-shirt and broody look, cigarette between his fingers. The sweatpants sort of ruin the image, though. He looks particularly comfortable in a way that warms Annabeth right from the inside out. “You know, when Nico said you smoked, I honestly didn’t believe it.” she says, not even bothering to say hi. 

He looks up from his phone and smiles, the sun behind his teeth. “Hey!” 

“Hey, yourself.” She doesn’t even hesitate--she plucks the cigarette out of his hand, taking a drag off it herself. “You been smoking for a long time?”

“Who do you think taught Thalia how?” He raises an eyebrow, bemused. “Is that a problem?”

It is, but it’s not like she can tell him that without losing some of her credibility. “Wouldn’t smoking fuck with your cardio?”

Percy shrugs, conceding. “A little. I used to be a lot worse, but I just can’t quite kick the habit. It’s mostly a stress thing, anyway.” 

“Rough practice?” she asks, putting just enough effort into her lip wobble to make it abundantly clear that she’s making fun of him. “Were the other boys being mean to you because of your tights?”

He grins at her, saucy. “Annabeth Chase, do you really think that NYCB rehearses here? In the Garment District?” But he laughs before she can stammer out an answer (and thank God, she’s lived here three years and can barely keep the boroughs straight, let alone the neighborhoods). “I just wrapped up teaching a class. I don’t have to be at rehearsal until 5, I was thinking we could hang out? Bryant Park?”

A first date at the New York Public Library. She almost hates to admit it, but Percy Jackson might be kind of her dream man. “I believe I was promised food,” she sniffs, but she does hold out her hand, and when he takes it, lacing his fingers through hers, she’s sure that he can feel her heart beating, palm to palm. 

Twenty minutes later they’re settled on a bench in the corner of the green, Annabeth halfway into a ham sandwich and Percy juggling a salad and an iced coffee. He’s been regaling her with tales from the more exciting side of ballet, a side she hadn’t even imagined could actually exist. “So by the time I land in Paris,” he says, taking a sip of coffee, “the guy’s foot has swollen up to, like, twice its original size, and when I finally managed to find some wifi to check my phone, there’s, like, eight missed calls from my mom and my agent, and an email from her that just says ‘READ THIS,’ in all caps, and of course the article is in French, which I didn’t really speak at the time, and I was so stressed that my ADHD made it so I couldn’t even read the Google translation, and I had to ask someone to translate it for me.”

“Oh my god,” she says, struggling to keep it in.

“And that’s how I found out that I’d been moved up to first cast in Le Corsaire, from the poor barista at a coffee shop in Charles de Gaule!” He laughs. 

“That’s insane,” Annabeth says. “And the show was the next day?”

“It was that night! I had to haul ass to the opera house and get warmed up, because I was going on in about four hours. You should have seen the looks on everyone’s faces when I stumbled in, I’m sure that they all wanted to kill me.” Percy chuckles, taking a bite of leafy greens. “Now I wasn’t just the twenty-year-old upstart American, I was the twenty-year-old upstart American who skipped town when I wasn’t supposed to.”

“How did it go?”

“Killed it, of course,” he says, deservedly smug. 

Despite her best efforts, she’s absolutely entranced; he’s a great storyteller. “I bet you break that story out at parties all the time, don’t you.”

He laughs. “Whatever gets the donors to open their checkbooks, right?”

“I can’t believe you lived in Paris. I’ve always wanted to see it.” She’d had a few chances to when she was in college, the semester she’d studied abroad in Rome, but she just never got around to it. Just another item on her long, long list of regrets, placed somewhere between the sketchy burrito from last week and not telling her mom to fuck off earlier when she’d had the chance. “If I were you, I’d never leave.”

Percy shrugs. “It was amazing, I won’t lie. But towards the end I just really, really missed it here. All my family is in NYC, you know? My mom, step-dad, and my sister live here, and Thalia and Nico and Hazel, too. I tried to come back and visit whenever I could, but being away from them was really hard.” There’s something soft and inviting in his expression when he says, “I’m really happy to be back home.”

“What are they like?” Annabeth asks. “Your family. Your non-mob family, I mean.”

He rolls his eyes, but he grins another one of those blinding grins, too. “My mom is the most amazing person you will ever meet. Not only did she support my dance habit, she did it as a single working mother who had to raise an angry, ADHD asshole of a son who didn’t always appreciate her. I don’t even want to know how many hours she had to work or how many scholarships and grants she had to track down in order to pay for me to go to SAB, but somehow she made it work, and managed to write her novel at the same time. She married my step-dad the summer I turned sixteen, and my baby sister was born the next year.” 

Even Annabeth, cynical and black-hearted as she is, has to smile back. The love he has for his mom is so palpable, so tangible, she can practically see him glowing. “And the…” What had Thalia called them? “The ‘Cousin Consortium’?” 

At that, Percy laughs, full-bellied, unrestrained. “The name was Nico’s idea. I didn’t really have many close friends when I was a kid, apart from my buddy Grover--he had to wear this really gnarly leg brace and I liked to dance, so you can imagine how much we got picked on--but we were all really close growing up, since our dads were all assholes. They may have left us emotionally scarred, but at least we had each other’s backs the whole time.”

This is a very Percy thing, she’s starting to realize: he can not and will not hold back on his feelings. He simply refuses to. Where most guys might try to hide or downplay their affection for their friends, Percy’s is written all over his face. Maybe it’s a byproduct of doing ballet, but he’s so unashamed of his love for his friends and his family and his art, that maybe Annabeth kind of wishes she could be included in that love too, if it always feels this warm and joyful. 

“I think it’s amazing that you guys are so close. I only had the one cousin when I was growing up, and we didn’t really talk all that much,” Annabeth says, almost without her permission. Something about him, it’s just so easy to talk to him. He makes it safe to open up.

“The med school guy, right?” 

Annabeth nods. “Magnus. Fifth generation Harvard student. We’re all very proud.” 

Ugh. Even she has to wince at the false cheer in her voice. Percy gives her a half-smile, sympathetic and soft. “Harvard not really for you, then?” he asks, picking up the threads of a long and complicated story, and one that she absolutely does not want to get into right now. Or ever, if she can help it. 

“More like I wasn’t really for Harvard.” Which wasn’t entirely untrue. She had been good enough for the university in Cambridge, Mass--good enough for two degrees and graduation with honors--but she had never been good enough for her mother’s capital-H Harvard. Never good enough for her mother at all, really. 

Percy takes her hand. His fingers are cold from his iced coffee. “Hey. It’s their loss,” he says, with a sincerity and an intensity that makes her blush.

Every part of her wants to pull away. His thumb is rubbing against the joint of her finger, soothing and sweet, and she thinks she may break out in hives from it. “Damn right it is,” she mumbles. 

He is so nice. So nice and hot and sweet. Objectively, what she’s about to do is a terrible idea, and might torpedo a really good thing that they have, but if she doesn’t come clean now her own guilt is going to drive her insane.

“Okay, I have a confession to make.” Percy raises his eyebrows, slurping the last dregs of his drink. “When we met… and then when we hooked up the first time… I may have… thoughtyouwereJason.”

He blinks. “Pardon?” he asks, mumbled around the straw.

Annabeth buries her head in her hands. “Please don’t make me say it again.”

“You… thought I was Jason?”

“Well,” she sputters, glaring at him through her fingers, “you were being all bro-y with Thalia!”

He is valiantly trying to hold in a smile. “You know, I distinctly remember telling you my name that morning.”

“I was really hungover,” she whines, “and you were shirtless and making breakfast so I wasn’t really… paying attention.”

“For a whole week?”

This is so embarrassing, why couldn’t she just keep her stupid mouth shut? “Yeah.” She slumps her shoulders, stuffing her hands into her jacket pocket. “Sorry.”

She’s not entirely sure what she expected: at best a couple of weird looks and a tentative promise to meet up later that would end up not working out, at worst she thinks he’ll just get up and leave her here at Bryant Park. Either way, they’d be doomed to months of awkward interactions, until eventually they wouldn’t be able to be around each other, and Thalia would have to pick a side--and Annabeth’s seen what Thalia does to people who cross her family. She’s seen Thalia beat a dude to pulp for calling Nico the f-slur. Picking Percy over Annabeth? That’s nothing.

So when he starts laughing, Annabeth is completely at a loss. Slowly, at first, then all at once, he’s laughing so hard his shoulders are shaking, and he has to put down his salad so it doesn’t topple over onto the grass. His head is tilted back in joy, the grey, late afternoon light adamant that Annabeth can see all of his features clearly, from his screwed up eyes to his bright, white teeth to the single dimple in his cheek.

Of course, even his laughter is hot. Asshole. 

“You thought I was Jason!” He shrieks.

Annabeth crosses her arms, scowling. 

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I really don’t mean to laugh,” he giggles. Annabeth can feel her own giggle rising in response, and she ruthlessly quashes it. “I can definitely say I’ve never heard that one before. You do know Jason is blond, right?”

“As a matter of fact, I did not. Besides, you and Thalia look exactly alike.”

He scoffs. “No we don’t.”

“Uh, yeah you do. You, Thalia, and Nico are all basically clones of each other.” 

“Okay, Captain Glasses, whatever you say.” He rolls his eyes, but there’s no heat behind it.

“I’m sorry,” Annabeth feels like she has to say again.

He cocks his head. “For what? For thinking I was Jason? He’s a pretty cool guy.”

“No, for,” she blushes again. All this blood rushing to her head can’t be good for her. “For sleeping with you when I still thought you were Jason.”

Percy scoots closer to her, throwing her a grin and slinging his arm over her shoulders. Without even realizing that she’s doing it, she settles in beside him like she’s been doing it her whole life, slotted up against his torso, tucking her booted feet beneath her legs. “I am choosing to take that as a compliment,” he says, smirking. “You couldn’t resist my charms, even when you thought I was a brogrammer.” 

Annabeth can’t help herself. She kisses him, wiping that smug grin right off his face, and when she finally retreats, after what feels like hours, he looks so dazed she could probably keep calling him by any name she wanted and he wouldn’t even realize it.

After their lunch, they meander for hours, headed in a vaguely southerly direction, holding hands the whole time, a steady, uninterrupted flow that took them all the way from Midtown to Greenwich Village. He tells her about his first day at ballet school; she tells him about her favorite monuments. “There are two architectural environments in America,” she says, ranting, speaking with enough force that she might forget the feeling of his hand in hers, “endless dead suburbia, or cities where every single building is either a concrete or a glass block--and not even Brutalist concrete, just shitty, poorly designed, paint-by-numbers concrete. It is an absolute travesty of modern government that they don’t fund any public works projects anymore.”

“That’s why all the gardens and stuff?” he asks.

“Nowadays everything is built by the lowest bidder. At least I get to add some beauty back into the city.”

“I know what you mean,” Percy says. “Paris is practically overflowing with public works, you almost forget about it sometimes.”

She sighs. “You’re so fucking lucky. Paris is so beautiful and everything in New York is just hideous.”

“Aw, come on,” he says. “Not everything. What about the Empire State Building, or Central Park?”

“Well, obviously, those,” she says, just a teensy bit flustered, but she’s not about to give up the argument without a fight. “I just mean like, normal, every day buildings: offices and apartments and stuff. It’s all so samey and boring.”

He looks to her right, pointing at the building they are passing. “What about this one?”

She turns.

If she had known they were headed this way, she never would have taken them past here.

“It’s… okay, I guess,” she mumbles, staring up at the arched windows, pedimented doors, and Rococo details of Miss Minerva’s Private Pre-College Prep School. A shudder goes down her spine, like someone walking over her grave. “There are better Beaux-Arts buildings.”

Sensing her discomfort, he picks up the pace, and changes the subject.

Finally, he stops outside a nondescript building, turning to face her. “This is me,” he says, a little bit mournfully, squeezing her hand. “Are you okay to get home safely?”

This man is ridiculous; it’s not even dark out. “I think I can manage a few blocks,” she says, lightly swatting him. “Isn’t it kind of early for you, though? It’s only four o’clock.”

He flushes faintly, one hand coming up to rub at his neck. “Uh, well, I always give myself a little extra time--you know, time blindness and everything.”

“You baked in extra time in case I wanted you to walk me home, didn’t you?” She mock-gasps, secretly delighted. “Scandal!”

“Guilty,” he grins. “You’ve been to mine so many times, I was curious.”

She just barely stops herself from laughing out loud at the very idea of Percy coming to her apartment--as if. Thalia hasn’t even been to her apartment. Nobody knows where she lives, none of her neighbors know who she is, and this is entirely by design. “Cut me some slack; a girl’s gotta have some mystery. Can’t make it too easy for you, can I?”

“I have a feeling you’ll never make things easy for me,” he says, white teeth gleaming.

“You better believe it,” she smiles back. “Now that I’ve foiled your plans, are you going to be too bored?”

“Oh, I’ll think of something,” he shrugs. “I’m very resourceful when it comes to boredom.”

Inspiration strikes, and she grasps his hand, pulling him down the alleyway. She almost hates to admit it, but she has something of a Pavlovian response when it comes to hanging out with Percy. Annabeth has come to expect some really excellent sex whenever the two of them meet up, and maybe spending all afternoon with him has made her a little bit horny. 

She presses him up against the brick wall, hidden from the street by the long afternoon shadows, and kisses him. His hands flounder for a second, before coming up to rest on her shoulders, this thumbs tapping against the base of her neck, fingers fluttering on her jacket. It’s an intimate touch, kind of chaste and very respectful, and he holds her with precision and grace. He wouldn’t do anything she wouldn’t want to. This is a date with no expectation of sex on his part. But Annabeth does not want grace right now, spooked by the ghost of her old school. She does not want precision. She just wants him. She just wants to keep him on his toes, keep him interested, blow his mind a little. 

She just wants to blow him, to be honest. 

He squeaks into her mouth as her hands fly to his belt, deft fingers practically ripping it off of him in an increasingly familiar motion. “H-hey,” he says, squeezing her shoulders, “this is--”

“Do you not want me to?” she asks, one hand playing at the top line of his underwear. 

“No--I mean, are you sure? I’m-I’m okay with this, I just want to--”

“I know.” She kisses his cheek, then drops to her knees. “But we’ve got some time to kill, don’t we.” 

Afterwards, when she’s finished with him, Annabeth wipes her mouth, and he whimpers. 

“Ho… holy shit,” he pants, flushed and trembling. 

She tucks him back into his boxers, doing up his fly. “There we go. That was better than being bored, right?”

He nods wordlessly, swallowing, shaking. His eyes are glassy and glazed, stupid like he’s just shot out his brain through his dick.

In the short time they’ve been together (though, honestly, this might be the longest relationship she’s ever been in before… and they haven’t even broached the “dating” conversation yet) Annabeth has been on the receiving end of several different Percy looks. His face will light up with joy when he first lays his eyes on her, so happy to see her (though she can’t really fathom why), glinting like the sun on the water. His eyes will narrow, glaring, even as he furiously tamps down on his growing smile when they start arguing over something stupid, like Annabeth’s affinity for olives. He’ll grin at her, knife sharp and slanted, licking his lips and looming over her after she comes down from yet another orgasm via his mouth or his hands.

Percy looks at her now like someone took a bat to his head, and instead of seeing stars, he sees little miniature Annabeths flying around. 

He pulls her to him and kisses her, entirely too sweet for what she’s just done to him, but that is also a very Percy thing. And when she leaves him with a final kiss on his cheek and squeeze of his ass, she can feel that look burning a hole through her jacket, following her down the alley and around the corner, and she finds that she doesn’t mind the weight of it at all.

[solangelover]

AUctober: Day 2 - Pirates

Mermaid/Pirate AU

For @solangeloweek AUctober and to continue my AU!

Ch 1 | Ch 2 | --

Read on AO3 or FF.Net

A/N: You all loved this fic so much (and tbh I read it back and impressed myself lol), so I’ve been wanting to continue for a while! I had like half of this in MerMay, so I finally finished lol. I have a rough chaptered plan buuuut we’ll see!

Will could practically feel the nervous energy of his fellow shipmates right outside the infirmary door. They all tried looking casual, but he saw many people try to peek in through the tiny door window to get a glimpse of what was going on inside.

After all, no one ever thought they’d meet a mermaid.

Well, merman was the proper term (merboy?), but still. Merpeople existed. They’d seen a lot of crazy things out at sea, but they never actively sought out mythical creatures—those things usually came to them anyway. So, no one was surprised, per say, but everyone was definitely curious.

“Grover, Will,” Captain Percy began as he entered the room. “Talk to me.”

Will was finishing his preliminary check of the merboy—Nico, Will reminded himself—though his limited knowledge of merpeople anatomy and physiology was not enough to fully assess Nico’s condition. Grover had come to help at the captain’s request. He had a way with all kinds of creatures, animal or mythical, though usually the non-humanoid kind. He had not done much so far besides smile, but Nico seemed to be more at ease with significantly less people crowding around him.

“Captain,” Will began, still looking at his clipboard as he finished writing notes down. “I’ve just completed assessing Nico’s condition. I don’t know much about his kind, but Nico agreed to receiving more assistance and that he could help fill in knowledge gaps.”

“Oh!” Percy was pleasantly surprised at the merboy’s cooperation. He looked past Will toward the boy on the cot, no longer cooped up in a cage. He smiled at him, earning him a scowl in return.

Nothing fazed the fearless captain, however, as he addressed the merboy. “That’s great news! I hope our doctor here can heal most of your wounds. He’s pretty good at it.” Percy smirked as he cast his eyes toward his best friend. “I also hope Grover did something helpful. He’s probably the nicest person aboard this ship.”

Grover sputtered at the compliment, spitting out, “I didn’t do anything! I mean—I just—I’m just, here to help.” He rubbed his neck, slightly embarrassed as he smiled bashfully at Nico.

Nico nodded at the human. He did seem kind, in a different way from the golden-haired boy that was helping him. The first boy had darker-colored eyes, though not as dark as Nico’s own. But the second boy, the “doctor,” apparently, had bright eyes—the color of the ocean as light filtered in from above. They seemed to sparkle in the same way, too. That actually comforted Nico the most. Before, he would have lashed out and quickly made his escape back into the sea, just as he’d imagined doing on the other ship. But here, the boy with ocean-blue eyes made him feel… not safe, not yet, but safer than he’s felt in a while.

And, now that Nico was looking at the captain of this new ship, he noticed that his eyes were similar. If the doctor, Will, had eyes blue like the deeper parts of the ocean, the captain’s eyes were the color of shallower areas, with green hues mixed in with the blue. Again, it made him feel safe in a way that the cruel, pale blue eyes of his captor had not.

Still, Nico didn’t plan on staying for long. He believed these humans had good intentions, at least as far as healing him went. But beyond that… Nico wouldn’t stick around to find out what they planned to do with him.

Will was going on to say some things about Nico’s condition that Nico himself didn’t fully understand. While he had always been curious about the human language and hung around ships to understand some things, his vocabulary was limited.

“… Anyway, I think I should keep him here for a few days to be sure he heals up okay.” Nico’s head whipped up to stare at the back of Will’s head. A few days was… more than he had anticipated.

Percy nodded, glancing up when he saw Nico move. The bandages on Will’s arm were noticeable, especially considering that Will himself didn’t get hurt very often. Percy was wary of leaving him alone with the merboy. Though the scumbag they rescued him from was vile and cowardly, he might have had the creature locked up for a reason. But after his initial strike, Nico hadn’t moved to hurt anyone outside of scowling and glaring viciously. Plus, he trusted Will’s judgement.

Percy took a step toward the cot, not venturing too close but showing that he wasn’t afraid of the kid. “Nico, right?” The merboy nodded once. “Nico, I’m truly sorry that you were captured and hurt on that other ship, but on my ship, we’re all friendly. I’m sure you don’t trust us yet, and that’s totally fine and understandable. But please know that we will do whatever we can to help you out. After Will gives the ‘okay’ on your health, we’ll take you where you need to go. Got me?” Percy had no idea if Nico was fluent in their language or not, but he hoped his message got across properly.

Nico sat there for a moment, both surprised and suspicious at the man’s words. He stared into those sea-green eyes, coming to the conclusion that, at least for now, his words were genuine. Nico nodded once more, then cleared his throat. “Thank you,” he sounded out carefully, hoping that was the proper usage.

Percy smiled immediately, big and bright. “Okay!” He turned and clapped Grover and Will on the shoulder. “Will, I’m trusting you to fix up our friend, alright?”

“Aye, captain.”

“Grover, I could use your help relaying our situation to the rest of the crew. Tell Kayla and Austin to come in and give Will a hand as needed.”

“Aye Aye, captain.”

“And Nico,” Percy glanced back over his shoulder before heading out, locking eyes with the merboy once more. “Please be nice to the good doctor. He’s the best we’ve got.” And with that, the two friends stepped out and shut the door behind them.

Will swallowed nervously, glancing at Nico, who was still staring at the closed door. Though Grover had not done much, his presence did ease Will’s nerves and allowed him to focus on assessing Nico’s condition. Now that they were alone, however, Will really had time to process the fact that he was here, with a mermaid, acting as his healer. He just shook his head. What a life I have, is all he could think.

He cleared his throat, effectively gaining Nico’s attention as he whipped back towards him, dark eyes boring into Will’s own. “Um, so, your condition is… not great,” he began oh so eloquently. Nico nodded seriously anyway. “You appear to be malnourished, physically injured though not critically, and sleep-deprived. Um,” he glanced nervously at the merboy’s tail. “I also think you’re probably dehydrated if merpeople need more water than humans to survive. The overall condition of your tail doesn’t seem good, though obviously I don’t exactly have a frame of reference for that.”

Will waited as Nico processed his words. His understanding of English was pretty amazing since it obviously was not his native language, but he probably didn’t get to practice it much.

Nico spoke up, voice a bit rough due to disuse and dehydration. “I understand,” he said. “You are correct. My tail should be… lighter? Less… dark.” His face twisted in confusion, and maybe a bit of frustration, at his limited vocabulary.

The doctor hummed as he tried to understand what Nico meant. “Do you mean shiny? Like,” he tapped his chin in thought. “Kind of how the ocean looks when sunlight hits it?”

“Yes!” Nico exclaimed. He wasn’t quite smiling yet, but his eyes lit up at learning a new word. “Shiny,” he said experimentally, tasting the word on his tongue. Will did his best to tamp down his own grin at how pleased Nico looked in this moment.

“Okay,” Will said, making a note on his clipboard. “So, with all of that, I think it’s best if you stay with us for at least three days. There’s a lot of healing that needs to be done for me to feel comfortable sending you home. Octavian really did a number on you.” He frowned down at his notes, upset at how awfully his cousin treated this poor merboy. It was almost amazing that he could become even more disgraceful in Will’s eyes than he already was.

Nico took note of the way Will looked angry when discussing his treatment on the other ship. He did not think the anger was directed at him since Will had been nothing but helpful the entire time he had been here. But he couldn’t quite grasp why Will seemed so upset on Nico’s behalf. They didn’t even know each other—they weren’t even of the same species! Yet, somehow, the way that both the captain and doctor of this ship seemed to care for Nico’s wellbeing brought him a bit of comfort. Not that he trusted them—yet—but he knew genuine actions when he saw them.

Even with all of that, though…

“Three days?” Will’s head snapped up at Nico’s voice, like he had been lost in thought previously. “Is that needed? I can heal on my own.”

The blonde took in the stubborn pout that graced his patient’s face. On the other crew members, Will would have been annoyed. But with Nico… well, he couldn’t help but think it was kind of cute. “Three days is the minimum.” Cute or no, Will always drew the line at someone’s health. “Really, I’d rather keep you for longer, just in terms of your wellbeing. However,” his eyes softened, “I also want to be able to get you home as soon as possible. I’m not sure how long you’ve been away, but I’m sure you must at least miss being in the water.”

Nico glanced away from the kind eyes of the healer. He had not been home in some time, not just due to his capture. But that wasn’t for this human to know.

The merboy didn’t know what to say, but luckily, Will continued on. “So, if it’s okay with you, I would like to keep watch over you for three days to monitor your health so that you can make a full recovery. Is this acceptable?” He desperately hoped that Nico could trust him enough for that to happen. Honestly, the fact that Nico hadn’t put up much of a fight aside from the very beginning shocked Will completely. Perhaps Nico had had good experiences with humans prior to Octavian. That would explain his knowledge of the English language.

Will was also bursting with questions about Nico’s species, which he hoped to get answered over the course of the three days. Because how could he not?

After what felt like an hour of silence, Nico finally seemed to find what he was looking for in Will’s eyes. He nodded, more to himself than the doctor, and said, “Okay, I agree. One condition.” Nico pointed to the door without taking his eyes off Will. “Keep this door locked.”

“What?” Will cocked his head to the side in confusion. That’s probably the opposite of what he would have expected the merboy to want.

“Locked,” he said again, like Will didn’t understand. “I do not think you will harm me. But I do not know the other humans.”

Ah, that makes sense and is actually pretty smart thinking, Will thought as he nodded in understanding. “Understood. I’ll clear that with Percy and make sure it is always locked. I can leave a key in here as well, if that makes you more comfortable. I don’t want you to feel,” caged, he nearly said, “held against your will.”

This earned Will a tiny smile and a nod, which he counted as a major win for the day. “Okay then. That’s settled, so let’s continue on…”

 A/N: I’m going to cut this here. Next chapter will be the next day, or day one of the three days. (Who knows when that’ll be up—)

[theculturedmarxist]

For those that might not know, Grover Norquist is Washington’s anti-tax poster boy since the Reagan administration. Calling him an anti-tax lobbyist is missing the vast majority of other shit he’s responsible for or has had a hand in. He’s basically been integral in creating the immensely shitty situation in regards to a failed government and overpowered business lobby that we’re in today.

Anyway, I wanted to share the absolutely delusional bullshit these people say to each other, because it’s absolutely illuminating.

Grover Norquist On Taxes, Socialism And The Demonization Of The Rich

Grover Norquist is President of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), a taxpayer organization that opposes all tax increases as a matter of principle and has been leading campaigns for tax reductions since 1986. ATR was founded at the request of President Reagan and asks all candidates for office in the United States to sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, a written commitment to vote against any tax hikes while they are in office. Rainer Zitelmann spoke with him:

Rainer Zitelmann: In Europe, governments are already looking beyond the coronavirus crisis and planning massive tax increases. In particular, there have been increasing calls for a wealth tax on the richest within society to pay for coronavirus measures and guard against future crises. Supporters of free market economics, on the other hand, are calling for tax cuts to get the economy back on track once the current crisis has abated. What do you think will happen in the United States? If Trump is re-elected, will he cut taxes again? And what will happen if Biden wins?

Grover Norquist: Once we’re looking back on coronavirus in our rearview mirror rather than having it flying at the windshield—then what? Little will happen before the November 2020 American presidential election. Democrats will demand higher taxes and massive spending, Republicans will propose tax cuts. But the Democrat-controlled house will block any tax reductions and the Republican-dominated senate and the Trump veto will block any tax increases or spending explosion. Should Trump win re-election, Republicans will move to enact their stated goal of reducing the corporate income tax to 15% from today’s 21%. They will push to index capital gains for inflation—so capital gain taxes would only be due on real gains, not inflationary gains. Should Biden win the presidency, and the Democrats capture the senate, Biden has promised $3.4 trillion of new taxes. That is three times what Hillary Clinton threatened/promised in 2016—and she lost for being too left wing. Spending will explode. Income tax will be increased, an energy tax will be imposed and eventually a Value Added Tax will be levied. Of course, this fork in the road would be exactly the same if there was no coronavirus. Republicans are the party of tax reduction and (modest) spending restraint. Democrats remain the party of endless tax hikes and endless spending sprees.

Zitelmann: In the United States, socialism used to be a dirty word—and it still is for many older Americans. In contrast, large numbers of younger Americans are committed to “socialism.” So why has anticapitalism become so popular in the United States, especially among younger people?

Norquist: The sad answer is that younger Americans do not know what socialism means. Millennials do not remember the Soviet Union. Or Stalin’s Gulags or the Warsaw Pact. They only know Russia. They could not even tell you what the initials U.S.S.R. stood for, or that Nazi is the abbreviation of National Socialist. Somehow, Bernie Sanders, who is well versed in Soviet history and Cuba’s tradeoff of “literacy” against political prisoners, has explained to younger Americans that “socialism” means Sweden and Denmark.

‘Sanders Had Already Won The Policy Debate’

Zitelmann: Sanders is now out of the race. However, you believe that his ideas have nevertheless prevailed. Why is that?

Norquist: You might think that Bernie Sanders’ withdrawal from the 2020 campaign and the likely victory of Vice President Joe Biden represents a move to the center by the Democrats. Sadly, no. I would argue that Bernie Sanders left the race not because he failed to get enough delegates to win but because he had already won the policy debate. Biden’s threatened tax hikes total $3.4 trillion dollars over a decade. That is three times more than Hillary Clinton threatened. Biden promises to ban fracking, plastic bags (he said plastic, let’s generously assume he meant only plastic bags), expand Medicare with a “public option,” meaning a door through which all Americans could be pushed into a one-size-fits-all, government-controlled health care system, and an energy/carbon tax. What is the difference between Biden and Bernie? They have the same Rolodexes. The same likely White House staffers. The same rhetoric.

Why The Rich Are Being Demonized

Zitelmann: In the Democratic primaries, all of the candidates seemed to be competing to outdo each in terms of their “rich-bashing” rhetoric. Even Michael Bloomberg, himself one of the richest men in the world, was forced to demand higher taxes on the rich before he was forced to withdraw from the race. Where does this hatred of the rich come from?

Norquist: The Democrats need trillions of dollars to buy votes to win the 2020 election. To do that they will require a great deal more money than the $3.8 trillion raised in taxes under the 2019 budget. And they can’t afford to admit that regular voters are the likely target of their new and additional taxes—an energy tax, a Value Added Tax and higher payroll taxes. So Democrat candidates, continuing the strategies adopted by Clinton and Obama, started by demonizing the rich and then promising to tax them—not you, the typical voter. Now, both Clinton and Obama did raise taxes on the middle class—but they talked so much about taxing the rich that even a well-educated voter could be forgiven for thinking that the new taxes were all on the rich. Every new tax voters heard about were announced as targeting the rich (or corporations which, of course, pass on their increased tax burdens to consumers in the form of higher prices and workers in lower wages). The left needs to demonize the rich. It is, after all, their justification for taxing them. Americans do not like the idea of taking money away from someone who earned it.

Zitelmann: A great deal of energy is expended on arguing that the “rich” did not earn their money.

Norquist: Yes, the logic is this: If the rich are only rich because they got lucky, then they never truly earned or deserve their fortunes. This is why Barack Obama told small businessmen in the 2009 campaign, “You did not build that,” when referring to their own small businesses. If you didn’t build it—it isn’t really yours. And, once Democrat logic is accepted, taking it away is not really theft. Nor wrong. Nor immoral. But demonizing the rich has a second advantage for the left. In addition to making it easier to tax the rich and trick voters/taxpayers into thinking they are not the true target of higher taxes, the war on the rich covers up the 50-year failure of the Great Society. The Great Society was launched in 1965 with the promise that the government knew how to help the poor become middle class and self-reliant. Government spending on housing, healthcare and education would instill the poor with middle-class values such as hard work, self-reliance and a willingness to work and save today for a better tomorrow, maintaining a long-term perspective. But the Great Society spent some $14 trillion in giving money to the poor, or more often paying well-paid government employees to “provide services” to the poor, and has little or nothing to show for it in terms of improvements in savings, income, education or work. So rather than admit that they wasted trillions of dollars and concede that they should shut down government job programs that only benefit the Democrat party’s base, the left pivoted to a new problem. Not that the poor are poor, but that there is a large gap between the rich and poor.

This new problem—inequality—can be solved without helping to lift a single poor person out of poverty and into the middle class. One only needs to reduce the wealth and income of the rich. That way we will be more equal. All worse off. But more equal. It is possible for modern Democrats to reduce inequality without doing anything to help poor people or communities. The middle class can suffer while we “reduce inequality.” That they can do. To tax the rich; first undermine their right to keep what they create. Demonize them. To avoid embarrassing questions about the failure of the left’s “war on poverty” you just need to shift the focus to inequality.

‘Immigration Is Our Strongest Competitive Advantage’

Zitelmann: Donald Trump has certainly done some positive things in terms of tax policy and deregulation. At the same time, however, he has increased what was already an extremely high level of national debt and is pursuing protectionist trade policies. I have the impression that Trump has no clear market economy compass. How capitalist is Trump?

Norquist: It’s not clear whether Donald Trump has ever read Hayek. But his tax cuts are straight out of the Ronald Reagan/Art Laffer/Milton Friedman playbook. His de-regulation goes further than all previous presidents combined. His judges will strengthen and repair America’s commitment to the rule of law for a generation. And his unwillingness to be dragged into every stupid idea some European intellectual thought up—windmills, solar to replace real energy that really powers a national economy—has been a godsend. Those who wish to embroil America in every war in every quadrant of the globe have no ally in Trump. Trump knows that war is the enemy of liberty and fiscal prudence. Free trade and immigration are issues where Trump departs from President Reagan and Adam Smith. But as President Trump said before the coronavirus crisis—we are running out of workers in the United States. And the higher wages and jobs growth he delivered reduced the grumpiness of American voters who no longer lash out at immigrants and foreign competitors suspected of stealing their jobs. Trump’s tax cuts, de-regulation, sound legal system and respect for property rights delivered growth to America before the virus and will return when the virus is behind us. Trump’s growth silenced the concerns that drive protectionism and tariffs and stoke fears of immigration. Yes, the wall will be built. America will gain control of its borders, but it will maintain large and open doors. Immigration is our strongest competitive advantage over China, Japan, Russia and most of the world. And yes, our trade agreements need to ensure that our intellectual property is not stolen and reduce the ability of governments anywhere to subsidize trade and disadvantage foreign competition.

Zitelmann: What are your thoughts on the Fed’s low interest rate policy? What does this mean for our market economy system?

Norquist: The danger of near-zero federal interest rates is that borrowing money is seen as “almost” free. The deficit is not the problem. Overspending is the problem. The deadweight cost of government is total spending. The deficit is one element of the problem—like the visible part of an iceberg. But it is the larger, hidden mass of the iceberg below the water line that ripped the Titanic apart. If deficit spending is held down, and taxes are not raised, then there is a limit on spending. That is good. But if deficit spending is “free” or “inexpensive” because interest rates (today) are low, then public opposition to more and more government spending is reduced and government spending will be allowed to increase and weaken the economy.

[howtotrainyouragents]

Agent H’s Musical Reactions