I'm absolutely LIVING for the increase in luke and percy parallels, but something that's been rattling around my brain since I last listened to the lightning thief musical is that without luke, percy WOULD become him. I think that it's seeing the example of the cruelty and betrayal in luke that prevented percy from following the same path. he's horrified at how luke betrayed his friends, but luke believes he's doing it for the good of the demigods, just as percy would believe he's doing it for the good of his friends. percy is regularly disloyal to the gods by being loyal to his friends. he is saved from luke's fate simply because he came second and watched it unfold before him. I'm so sorry luke but you really are doomed by the narrative. you were always going to turn against the gods, even it it wasn't you. it had to happen.
I cannot believe they marketed the Scott Pilgrim Takes Off animated series as a true-to-the-graphic novels adaptation with Bryan Lee O’Malley and the original movie cast (thus luring in both the movie fans and the graphic novel purists), set the first episode up to appear exactly like that’s what they were doing, and then at the last minute they went SIKE this is not the story you think it is. I’m obsessed
hadestown really does convince you that maybe it’ll turn out different this time. maybe eurydice wont go. maybe hades will let them go. maybe, just maybe, orpheus wont turn around early.
and then she does go. and hades makes them take a test. and doubt creeps in.