#this one's not Anakin Complex'd this time

[faeriekit]

I don't think Luke was ever into Annabeth in the way that people seem to be implying. Not sexually or romantically.

Let me explain.

From the very beginning of the camp arc of the first book, we get the perspective that although Annabeth clearly likes Luke, he doesn’t reciprocate, finds her young and thinks of her as a little sister etc. etc. Despite the grossness he displayed over the five books, I don't think Luke ever had any romantic or sexual interest in her-- because I think that any playing into "a possible relationship" was the tactical understanding that 1) she was emotionally attached to him 2) he could use that and 3) Kronos's army needed more bodies. Luke is, and always has been, characterized as a liar, willing to go all the way for his goals, and willing to throw literally any middle schooler on his sword in order to reach victory. Annabeth was just a girl who had accidentally shown him her weakness. Luke was never going to let that go without prodding at it.

See: “Hey, come hold up the sky for me, thank you!”

And if Luke actually cared for her (which is really a question of “can your abuser ever really love you” and I’m not going to play that game with no prizes), playing into Annabeth’s childhood crush on him would help him too, because in theory, everything he was doing was for the three of them-- to remedy the source of Luke's failed quest, of Thalia's treeification, and of Annabeth's early emotional abuse from her mortal parents. Playing into Annabeth's crush on him was a shitty move no matter how you cut it, but I think it was genuinely just politics on his part.

Now. Does this make him a good person? No I actually think this makes him way worse in a different way lmao, and probably toed the line on emotional abuse in a lot of different ways. (Alongside murder. Remember, he murdered people.) I just don’t think he was into a kid in the way that people seem to be implying.

Anyway I’m raising funds for the Annabeth Chase therapy fund: for just four dollars a day, maybe one day she will recover from 1) being born into an emotionally neglectful household 2) her brief childhood on the streets 3) watching her foster sister “die” in front of her 4) being betrayed by her only surviving found family member (who definitely set her up to die!) and 5) surviving two different apocalypse level battles as well as 5) tartarus. 🙃

[faeriekit]

Oh it was SUPER weird and definitely toxic that man's a mess

I don’t think Luke was ever into Annabeth in the way that people seem to be implying. Not sexually or romantically.

Let me explain.

From the very beginning of the camp arc of the first book, we get the perspective that although Annabeth clearly likes Luke, he doesn’t reciprocate, finds her young and thinks of her as a little sister etc. etc. Despite the grossness he displayed over the five books, I don’t think Luke ever had any romantic or sexual interest in her– because I think that any playing into “a possible relationship” was the tactical understanding that 1) she was emotionally attached to him 2) he could use that and 3) Kronos’s army needed more bodies. Luke is, and always has been, characterized as a liar, willing to go all the way for his goals, and willing to throw literally any middle schooler on his sword in order to reach victory. Annabeth was just a girl who had accidentally shown him her weakness. Luke was never going to let that go without prodding at it.

See: “Hey, come hold up the sky for me, thank you!”

And if Luke actually cared for her (which is really a question of “can your abuser ever really love you” and I’m not going to play that game with no prizes), playing into Annabeth’s childhood crush on him would help him too, because in theory, everything he was doing was for the three of them– to remedy the source of Luke’s failed quest, of Thalia’s treeification, and of Annabeth’s early emotional abuse from her mortal parents. Playing into Annabeth’s crush on him was a shitty move no matter how you cut it, but I think it was genuinely just politics on his part.

Now. Does this make him a good person? No I actually think this makes him way worse in a different way lmao, and probably toed the line on emotional abuse in a lot of different ways. (Alongside murder. Remember, he murdered people.) I just don’t think he was into a kid in the way that people seem to be implying.

Anyway I’m raising funds for the Annabeth Chase therapy fund: for just four dollars a day, maybe one day she will recover from 1) being born into an emotionally neglectful household 2) her brief childhood on the streets 3) watching her foster sister “die” in front of her 4) being betrayed by her only surviving found family member (who definitely set her up to die!) and 5) surviving two different apocalypse level battles as well as 5) tartarus. 🙃