#I like piper and leo as well but even they fell flat for me

[m4gp13]

Can we talk about how badly Rick nerfed Jason when he broke IVLIVS at the end of the book it was introduced in? And by nerfed I don't mean the destruction of it held him back in terms of power in any way, I mean in terms of the narrative and particularly his ability to stand against/alongside Percy.

Percy already had five books of context, backstory and time for the reader to get attached so Jason had to do a lot of heavy lifting to not get completely overshadowed but at every opportunity Rick had to let Jason have something to puff him up, it fell flat. Percy had a cool transforming weapon so Rick gave Jason one but then destroyed it in the first book of the series. It reminds me of Rick giving Jason a flying horse in the form of Tempest so he would have his own Blackjack but then Tempest hardly showed up and didn't have a fraction of the established bond that Percy had with Blackjack (also Tempest definitely should have been a giant eagle especially since it was established that Venti can appear as giant eagles).

The worst part about it is that IVLIVS could have been so cool! First of all, ranged weapons are incredibly underused in Rick's books. Clarisse had her electric spear that was relevant for one book but everyone else just has swords or knives, occasionally bows and arrows. It's especially annoying because in most historical military units, Roman and Greek ones included, swords and knives were mostly kept on person as a last resort. In an ideal fight, they never would have been removed from the sheath. The spears should have been enough and most of the time, they were enough. Jason being a Roman demigod could have made him using a spear much more impactful because it would have emphasised the strict and regimented approach the Romans have towards fighting. It would have contrasted with the way the Greeks fight. Since Rick already had the whole arc of Jason deciding he's as Greek as he is Roman, it would have made the whole thing about IVLIVS being both a spear and a sword may more narratively important. The spear represents his Roman side and the sword represents his Greek side.

Second of all, the functionality of it could have been very well-utilised. It's a coin toss. It's inherently random. It would have been cool to see Jason in a fight where he wanted to use one weapon but the coin gave him the other and we would have seen him improvise on the fly, showcasing his years of military experience and the skills that made him a praetor to adapt an ill-suited weapon for the situation and use it effectively because he knows these weapons very well and knows how to use them even in unfavourable contexts. Or you could have it the other way. He wants weapon A, gets weapon B which is much worse for the fight he's in and does poorly, extra points if it draws attention to the Greek/Roman debate he's having. Maybe he wants to use a spear when he's fighting the ghosts at the start of BOO but gets a sword and because of this, gets stabbed by the ghost guy who emphasises how Roman he is. Jason internalises his failure to be Greek (failure to use his Greek sword and fighting style to protect himself against the Romans) and how it caused him to be in danger of 'dying like a Roman' but does character development stuff and heals his wound with the power of believing in himself and realising he can be both Greek and Roman (*cough cough* because I'm a bi!Jason truther his dual identity could have been a great metaphor and parallel to his sexuality *cough cough*).

Lastly, it would have given him something interesting to help him stand out in a cast full of interesting characters with their own 'flair' to make them memorable. Percy obviously has Riptide, Annabeth had Luke's old knife (which she should have gotten to keep), Piper had Katoptris and later on the Boread's sword (which she should have gotten to use more), Frank was the only significant character with a bow and arrow, Leo had his magic toolbelt and Hazel had her spatha (but should have gotten to use it while on Arion a lot more, it's a cavalry sword). And Jason had a sword. Just a regular ass sword. Even Nico's sword had some intrigue because it was made of Stygian iron and it has its kopis shape (idk if that's canon or fanon because it's shaped like that in virtually all fanart of him but I can't remember it being described like that in the books. I could be misremembering this but I have no idea where that idea came from). Jason's already at a huge disadvantage and loads of readers (particularly when the hoo books were being released) just saw Jason as boring and unnecessary.

#pjo hoo toa #percy jackson #heroes of olympus #jason grace #all I'm saying #is that if Tutankhamen can have a dagger #made of extraterrestrial iron #with a fucking DIAMOND pommel #Jason can have a little coin #Q

[artsybookworms]

A pointless thread in which I rate the seven demigods:

Preface: These are my PERSONAL opinions! My ratings will be based on how I feel about them at the moment, not an analysis of how well they’re written (although it might play a role in some of them).

I’m not even rating him—a 10/10 would be an understatement for how I feel about Percy. I grew up with him, and he honestly feels like an old friend. It’s because of him I found friends in this fandom and felt a little less lonely when I was younger. I owe him a lot, even if he is fictional.

10/10: Man I love her. Does she have a lot of flaws? Yeah. But that doesn’t make her any less of a good character. If anything, she feels more real because of it. Also, I’m very biased because I related a lot to her as a kid.

3/10: Pleaseeee don’t hate me. Jason just never resonated with me, and he was kinda boring. I hated reading anything from his POV lmao. I feel like Rick tried to make him this stoic, rule follower with a heart of gold and accidentally made a wet sack of rocks who’s conveniently oblivious to when people need him as a friend (see: Reyna and (to a lesser extent) Percy). Idk he just rubbed me the wrong way.

5/10: I liked Piper when I was first introduced to her. She honestly felt like the main character of TLH; she definitely outshone Jason. I think she’s really cool, but I couldn’t really relate to her. We don’t have a lot in common, and that’s really the only reason I was never that interested in her character.

6/10: Remember when I said these are my personal opinions? I like Frank mainly because he’s Chinese and I’m Chinese and I’m that desperate for Chinese representation (I was especially desperate as a middle schooler in the Midwest). Is the representation necessarily good? No… some might even say it’s problematic. But he’s really sweet (if a little bland), and he has his moments. Not my favorite character and he could be improved a lot, but again, I’m biased.

6/10: I love Hazel! I think her backstory is really interesting and I just really liked reading about her. I also relate to her because we both like to make art lol. I wish Rick had made her 15 since that’s how he wrote her, but other than that I think she’s a really charming character and one of my favorite of the seven.

4/10: Um… once again… please don’t kill me. I was never a Leo fan. It really just comes down to bad writing on Rick’s hand. He felt like your regular old “joker on the outside broken on the inside” stock character. I’d seen it before and he just ended up kinda flat? He’s an overused trope, and while it can still be compelling done right, Rick didn’t do anything interesting with it. Also, I really hate arrogance, even if it’s fake. It’s one of my pet peeves.

Honestly, I think the reason I rated the HOO characters so low is because they’re extremely underdeveloped. I mean, we spent FIVE YEARS with Percy and Annabeth, getting to know who they are as people and growing to love them. It’s kind of hard to suddenly build the same kind of relationship with 5 other people, especially when their “screen time” is divided leaving us even less time to get to know them. I love the fanon version of their characters, but going off canon alone, they fell flat. Hopefully this didn’t offend anyone, I’m curious to know if you agree!!

#percy jackson #annabeth chase #percabeth #pjo #leo valdez #nico di angelo #hoo #percy jackson headcanon #piper mclean #hazel levesque

[seattlesea]

Why Piper McLean is Useless

So there’s the whole debate about ‘Piper McLean is useless she does nothing’ and ‘Piper McLean isn’t useless she did so many things’ and all that.

Well I’m here to voice my personal opinion on it, and here it is- Piper is useless.

Not because she didn’t do anything, she did. She-

-Put Gaea to sleep with her charmspeak in the final battle -Defeated Khione and the Boreads  -Defeated Medea with her charmspeak and saved Jason and Leo -Killed a flock harpies -Saved Percy and Jason from killing each other -Saved Percy and Jason from drowning in the Nymphaeum -Saved Annabeth from Mimas in the Temple of Fear by convincing her to attack with ‘emotions’ (???) -Charmspoke the eidolons out of Percy, Jason, and Leo -Charmspoke the Gemini into revealing their true intentions and lead them to the giants -Saved Annabeth from being stabbed by Enceladus and charged at a group of giants -Put Gaea to sleep in the Wolf House -Awoke the Makhai to get an ingredient for the Physician’s Cure -Woke up Festus with just her voice -Defeated the giant Periboia

So the question is- after all this, why is Piper still useless? 

Well, because if you took her out of the series altogether, nothing would have changed. Let’s look back at her accomplishments I listed above, shall we?

-If she didn’t put Gaea to sleep with her charmspeak, Leo’s fire and the onager from Octavian still would’ve mixed and Gaea still would’ve been defeated, plus Festus had Gaea in the air so she couldn’t do anything anyways. All Piper really did was stop Gaea from yelling at the demigods. -She was the one to anger Khione and the Boreads in the first place, so if she was out of the picture it never would’ve happened. -If she didn’t go on the quest, Drew Tanaka would’ve, and she also has charmspeak, so Medea would’ve been defeated either way. -Any demigod could kill a bunch of harpies, they’re not that powerful. -She was the one to lead Percy and Jason to Kansas in the first place, so if she was out of the picture they never would’ve fought each other. -She was the one to lead Percy and Jason to the Nymphaeum (despite literally seeing them drown and bringing them there anyways) so if she was out of the picture they never would’ve almost drowned.  -She was the one to lead Annabeth to the Temple of Fear in the first place so if she was out of the picture they never would’ve gotten attacked by Mimas. And of course it’d be hard for them to defeat Mimas they sent the two weakest demigods in the group lmao. -If she didn’t go on the quest, Drew Tanaka would’ve, and she also has charmspeak, so the eidolons would’ve been forced out anyways or Hazel could’ve forced them out as they’re from the Underworld. -The demigods already knew the Gemini were up to something, so Piper’s charm-singing was pretty much dead weight to prove something already known and Hazel could’ve found the tunnels in the first place since they’re underground or she could’ve just created her own like she’s done so many times. -She was the one to lead Percy and Annabeth to the giants in the first place so if she was out of the picture they never would’ve gotten captured. -If she didn’t go on the quest, Drew Tanaka would’ve, and she also has charmspeak, so Gaea would’ve been put back to sleep anyways. -Any sacrifice would’ve been enough to awaken the Makhai and either Frank or Hazel could’ve found them as Frank is the son of Mars and the Temple of Fear was underground.  -If she didn’t go on the quest, Drew Tanaka would’ve, and she also has charmspeak, so Festus would’ve been woken anyways.  -If she didn’t go on the quest, Drew Tanaka would’ve, so Periboia would’ve been defeated anyways. 

So...yeah. Erase Piper from the series, and literally nothing would’ve changed. Actually, things would’ve been much easier. She caused more problems and put the demigods in more life-threatening situations than Gaea herself did. That’s what makes her useless. Not only that, but because everything I listed was extremely unrealistic. How can Piper- a newbie who only trained with a sword for a few days, defeat a goddess by herself with a single stab, be on par with a giant in fencing, charge at any army of 10+ giants and not even get attacked while Percy and Annabeth did, put Gaea to sleep twice despite Gaea meeting all the loops and flaws of charmspeak, rival Medea- who’s been practicing charmspeak for thousands of years- etc.? Why should it count as Piper being powerful and strong if it makes no sense whatsoever and has no logical reasoning behind it? Remember- ‘fantasy’ and ‘unrealism’ are two different things. ‘Waking up a metal dragon with words’ and ‘Melting literal ice with love’ are things from My Little Pony, not Percy Jackson and Greek/Roman mythology 💀

And the fact that Riordan degraded Annabeth’s power, skill, bravery, intelligence, etc. just to make Piper look stronger, cooler, braver, smarter, and more powerful is literally disgusting. He really went ‘Peak feminism is downgrading one woman to make another look better’. Like honey no-

What I mean by that is the whole Mimas-Temple of Fear situation. Annabeth was facing all the fear she’s felt her whole life crashing into her at once, and I can agree that must’ve been terrifying, but Annabeth is supposed to be one of the strongest, bravest characters in the whole series, and fighting a giant while feeling afraid despite feeling that same way plenty of times before gets her falling to her knees and crying like a baby? And Piper- the newbie who has no idea what she’s actually talking about- toughens her up and helps her gather strength and courage??? Then saves Annabeth from being killed by Mimas three times despite Annabeth facing worse than him and having trained since she was six years old??? Excuse me??? Showing that even the strongest people need help sometimes is fine and honestly a great lesson, but Riordan flat-out destroyed all the strength and bravery he built up for Annabeth just to make Piper look cool. How do I know this? Because if Annabeth was with Percy, Jason, Leo, Hazel, Frank, or anyone besides Piper, she wouldn’t have broken down like that. Only when Piper is around does Annabeth turn weak, cowardly, and honestly- downright stupid. I mean- in The Lost Hero, Annabeth doesn’t notice the very-obvious human footprints on the threshold of the Hera cabin, but Piper does? And Annabeth is nervous- even scared- to walk inside of a cabin that obviously has a human, not a monster, inside of it, but Piper walks in without hesitation? And Percy and Annabeth- the two apparently most powerful demigods- are captured by the giants while Hazel’s Mist is being used on them, but Piper is the only one who isn’t (and the Mist is powerful enough to mask the scents of demigods as well) and has to save them again? And then Piper faces off 10+ twenty-foot giants and none of them even bother attacking her, instead staring down at a 5′5″ little girl with a big icicle who’s threatening to destroy them all (and they actually get intimidated)??? If Piper wasn’t included in the series, none of that would’ve happened. While Annabeth was following the Mark of Athena, she did everything on her own with no problem, faced her worst fear in the most disgusting, terrible form possible, almost died for the hundredth time, fell into Tartarus- which is way worse than the Temple of Fear, faced Tartarus himself in his physical form, etc. and she still held her ground. But the moment Piper comes along, all of that disappears for no reason. That my friends, is what we call sexist. 

And that is why Piper is useless. Not because she didn’t do anything, but because everything she did was extremely unrealistic and had no logical reasoning behind it and was just added in to make her look good while she did everything with absolutely no effort, struggle, or mistakes, everything she did had no impact whatsoever and could’ve easily been done by another demigod (and more quickly and efficiently may I add), and cause if you took her out of the series, nothing would’ve changed (and things would’ve been done a lot faster and easier). 

But, because I ranted about Piper, it’s only fair that I call out the others as well. AKA Percy, Jason, and Annabeth were also useless, Frank, Nico, and Hazel honestly didn’t do much, and Leo and Reyna were the only ones who actually did anything and contributed to the plot. 

And yeah thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

#heroes of olympus #demigods #piper mclean #piper is useless lmao #piper is useless #but so are the others tbh #reyna and leo were the only ones who actually did anything #piper is sexist too lol #percy jackson #annabeth chase

[phoebehalliwell]

how would you rank the seasons from least to most favourite?

alright okay right off the bat worst season season 7. for starters i think this season has no staying power i mean like since i’ve been running this blog 4 so long now my knowledge of charmed is encyclopedic and insanely vast more than like it ever need be but for the longest time. i could not remember season 7. like wtf even happened there?? evidently leo became human??? cole returned? the avatars??? like all of it was just. it’s not even necessarily forgettable it’s just i straight up could not remember it for the longest time. and i’ve said it before the concept of utopia was way to advanced for a show like charmed to tackle i am not watching charmed for moral philosophy i am watching bc i love these girls ♥ hee hee hoo hoo magic adventure ✨ tho if i am to offer a single comment on utopia: it’s awfully rich for a show to go on about destiny and fate and then take a stand against utopia in the name of free will. but w/e. i don’t like leo in the avatars i don’t like his dynamic with piper in this season i don’t like whatever phoebe’s doing this season there’s like leslie?? maybe there’s someone else? boring & flavorless they should have been setting up her endgame instead of puttering around. and kyle. zoo wee mama. could have been a great antihero. morally gray. duplicitous. self serving. but no. they gave him all those traits and called him hero/love interest. s7 left a lot to be desired out of the characters and their relationships also gave us phat L’s such as the charmed ones are werewolves don’t worry about it and feminism peaked with naked women. shout out to zankou: demon, dilf, dub & the noir episode.

you know what? fuck it i’ll say it second worse season 5 genuinely fuck season five. this is probably a Very Specific beef 2 me But. i hate what they did to the charmed universe. this was the season that marked the transition of charmed from supernatural drama to campy soap which like. i love camp! i do! but fr. fuck this season and what it did to the worldbuilding. the early season have Such A Vibe to them man with warlocks and witches and just a couple niche monsters from assorted lore that the show took and made their own. season five opens with mermaids goes directly into fairytales then gives us superheros whatever the fuck was going on in that mummy episode the sandman leprechauns and nymphs. and i hate it for that. it takes away from this urban fantasy things that go bump in the night what lurks in the shadows of the back alleys of san francisco in favor of the ugliest cinderella dress ever put to television and an onslaught of horrible irish accents for a full episode. other issues with season five: cole’s still here? why? they don’t know and neither will you! we’re not redeeming him! phoebe’s not getting back together with him! yes he died we just refuse to let him go! the cherry on top of course being a cole-centric 100th episode. shout out to. hmm. lemme think about what i actually liked about this season. i like jason dean as a love interest i don’t remember what he did in s5 but i know he was there. the season finale i’ve talked about how stupid & shitty it was but idc i still love that episode and then shout out to bacarra the only original villain this season that was a proper serve. the crone gets second place.

next on this come on we all saw it coming season 8. it’s a bad season! and i get bts there was a whole lot happening budget cuts missing actor etc. but it goes beyond that. it was a bad season. billie and christie were bad. and i’ve said this before but billie in herself is not an inherently bad character. she was just the literal worst for the show. she was a dollar store buffy blonde confident cocky skilled and ready 2 fight evil But. we are not following her like we followed buffy we are following her mentors. it’s like if we had a show called giles that aired for seven seasons And Then buffy showed up. billie was insanely irritating to watch from our perspective and in general wasn’t like. well written. attempts to humanize her / give her more depth often fell flat. and then christy. oh nelly. oh my god. barely a character. not well acted but hey it would have been a miracle if she was. negatives include dumain who was a mess omg bringing back the triad bringing back the source billie & christy obvi and also involving homeland security. which is season 7′s fault which is why it’s the worst. dubs on the other hand include both coop and henry i really liked them the shoehorned love interests weren’t great but i like their characters i though the way the got rid of leo to save on the budget was really creative and gave us a great piper episode and of course the sugary sweet finale i love it i do what can i say.

yet another controversial choice aptly coming in fourth is season 4. i respect what season 4 set out to do. i think it was a good idea. long form narratives, keeping a darker tone, focusing on character-driven drama and growth. too bad it fucking failed miserably at all of this. cole as the source and phoebe as the queen of hell was just so so botched. they had a very unique opportunity following the death of prue to explore these characters and what it means to them to be charmed, to be witches. they saved the world but the cost is insanely high. they’ve lost an older sister. they’ve gained a new sister. how do you even begin to cope with all this? episodes such as hell hath no fury and brain drain fuck so hard because they work with exactly that. had the whole season been like those episode season four would sit at number one with flying colors absolutely no competition. but alas. we can’t have nice things. the show got so bogged down with phoebe & cole, in a way that was just so, so messy. for starters, whether you loved cole or hated him before, we can all agree source!cole sucked. he was such a strong 180 from what we had seen that the show had to make the source some type of possession to justify half the shit they were trying to pull. and then to pit phoebe and paige against one another over a man was just. disgusting. and the ending of course felt rushed because it was! they wrapped up that entire issue in a nice little bow much faster than they reasonably should have been able to. it could have been a great season. it was definitely not. shout out to the seer an iconic mastermind on barbas levels, as previously stated brain drain and hell hath no fury Specific shout out to piper’s scene at prue’s grave shout out to paige as a character i like what they did with her and um. yeah that’s it.

okay we’re exiting the shit tier in favorite of the good tier welcome to the upper half. kicking us off is season 6. season 6 did what season 4 could not in that it gave us a long form plot that still left plenty of room for like. normal demon of the week episodes. i love phoebe early in this season with her faboo haircut her brand new empathy power and her relationship with jason dean. obvious strikes against for whatever the fuck that baby crazy stint was and also the mata hari episode. yikes. i love paige’s hair color in this season nothing paige as a character necessarily stands out to me however i like how they seem to have hit the blend of work-magic with paige where she wants a life and career outside of magic however she still loves the craft and embraces is with an open heart and mind. season six also gives us chris who was a very fun male lead imo we really didn’t have many like him he’s bitchy. he whines and bitches a lot he’s got an agenda he’s a bit secretive but at the end of the day he just wants a family i like him. i like the character growth we see out of piper i like seeing her try to move on from leo i love seeing her get back together with leo i like her dynamic with chris and her fears about motherhood. i also liked richard but that one takes a lot of justification. L’s are witchstock hyde school reunion used karma off the top of my head also the paige/richard/addiction plotline was so tone deaf. also the girls were mean to darryl : ( he deserved so much better. dubs were chris as a character, tbh the episode little monsters, phoebe with empathy specifically saying i love you too to jason i could write a dissertation on that line alone also the courtship of wyatt’s father and i thought the reveals of evil wyatt and chris being piper and leo’s son were both fun and interesting plot twists.

coming in third is actually season 2 a season i really do love it’s just. it lacks structure. imo there is a lot to love about season 2 morality bites and pardon my past are both delightful time travel episodes we get jack sheridan and bane jessup two of my personal favorite prue love interests we get p3 h2o and a great prue plotline regarding the death of patty we get the super cute cupid episode it’s a great. collection of episodes. it’s not a great season. there’s just imo not a strong enough thread connecting the stories together it’s mainly held together by having the same characters in it over and over again i really liked dan personally but like. i knew we were wasting time there. he was just an obstacle. a super cute loving and caring obstacle who’s great with kids but lbr piper and leo were always endgame. wasting our time on dan was stupid. i do love the sister dynamics in season two “gotta hand it to those pesky little demons they sure have brought us closer together” but again. this season could have benefitted from a rex and hannah type or even like a cole or zankou. this season is less of a season and more of just like a handful of episodes, and while there are some fat dubs, there are also some definite swings & misses. shout out to the time travel episodes the prue centric episodes phoebe’s character growth and maturity throughout this season (e.g. her going back to college) and i also think the fashion got a lot more fun this season.

second place i’m saying season one season one was a really strong start and gave us these really compelling characters with interesting relationships between one another But. a lot of it just kinda falls flat. and credit where credit is due it was a brand new show getting its feet under it but the fourth sister feats of clay which prue is it anyway they just simply aren’t dubs imo. also i don’t like that 70′s episode bc again i am an asshole concerned about The Lore i can’t believe one bitch ass warlock caused the Charmed Ones to grow up without powers. it just really bugs me. all in all the plots as a whole like aren’t great imo they’re nothing to write home about (save for from fear to eternity) it’s really the characters that make this season so goddamn good.

first place congratulations to the one the only season three. this is just because it kinda hits all my requirements in that it has some banger one offs (e.g. all halliwell’s eve, the good, the bad, and the cursed) it has an overarching plot at the exact same time as the source becomes more prominent and obvi cole is also there with murderous intent i like the character growth we see especially from prue i like piper and leo finally get married overall i really like the aesthetic of this season that blends a darker urban fantasy tone with still some charmed fashion and whimsy. strikes against tbh phoebe and cole’s relationship i am insanely picky with my enemies to lovers and the do not come remotely close to cutting the mustard in fact they are almost immediately disqualified however from afar i can see and respect The Drama. shout out to recasting victor prue with pistols death as a character and shannen directing episodes

#and of course this is a matter of opinion i'm not expecting everyone to agree w me Howver #i think you'd also be hard pressed to talk me out of my opinion #like the closer you get to the top there's more wiggle room like what's the best season i think changes with the wind #but the shit tier stays shit tier in my mind it's a matter of personal preference and i personally prefer my season to be good #charmed #💌

[winryofresembool]

Things We Lost in the Fire, ch 33

aka Caleo uni au

Fic summary: Calypso starts studying at a new university, but to her annoyance her new flatmate is a loud mouthed mechanic who also likes to sneak his dog in whenever. But as she learns to know him better, she realizes they might have more in common than what she first thought. Eventually, even the darkest secrets come out…

Chapter summary: What happens after Leo returns? (At Waystation, pt 1234)

A/N:  What is this? A new chapter? I know I probably apologize too much but still, sorry for the long wait! Writer's block is not fun, you guys. It seems that I'm getting more and more insecure about where I should take this story by each chapter, but I did get a couple of encouraging comments while I was writing it and they motivated me to keep going! Extra special shoutout to my bff Cris(sy) for both recommending me the song that eventually helped this chapter to be born, and also helping me edit yesterday because I certainly wouldn't be posting this right now without you. (((((((((huug))))))))))

Disclaimer: The song New Year's Day obviously belongs to Taylor Swift and I definitely recommend listening to it while reading this chapter (specifically the scene where it's mentioned).

Words: 3300+

Genre: romance & hurt/comfort

Warnings: none

previous chapter / AO3

…

Leo stayed at the park for a while longer, but eventually he knew he had to return to Waystation. The talk with Piper had made him feel a bit better, but he was still worried about how Calypso would react to his meltdown. In his opinion, she had every right to be mad. He would have to explain his behavior, but how? That was the big question.

It was already well past noon when Leo showed up at Waystation again. The building was surprisingly quiet when he entered, hoping the others were looking for him. Usually Georgina was all over the place around this time, sugar high from the chocolate she had eaten and making a mess with her new presents. Luckily, once he had removed his coat and his hat, he started hearing some clunking from the kitchen, indicating someone was there.

Instead of just bursting into the kitchen and announcing that he had returned, he stopped to watch by the doorway. Only Calypso and Georgina were in there, the younger girl chatting enthusiastically while the older one was instructing her with baking. They were standing with their backs towards the door so they couldn’t see Leo. The smell that was coming from the oven somehow felt very familiar… something he associated with Calypso. It wasn’t until she bowed down to take something out of the oven that he realized what it was. The cookies smelled the same as the cake Calypso had baked a few times at their flat, and the shampoo she used: cinnamon-y.

“Look, Georgina!” Calypso showed her the cookies. “These ended up pretty good.” It sounded like she was hesitating a bit before she continued: “Hopefully your brother will like them as well.”

“Oh, he will, Calie! He’d probably like anything you do!” Georgina noted in the straightforward style she was used to.

“But I didn’t make these alone,” Calypso reminded her. “I had a good helper.” She put the oven pan on the table and reached to ruffle the top of Georgina’s hair a bit.

“Where do you think he went, anyway?” Georgina asked. Leo wasn’t sure if he just imagined it but to him she sounded pretty worried. “I’ve not seen him that way often…”

Calypso sounded pretty cautious when she answered. “I’m sure he will be back soon. He must be tired because he’s been working a lot lately and that’s why he’s a bit on the edge… but he wouldn’t want to miss your gingerbread cookies. Hey, what color should we use to decorate these?” She turned Georgina’s focus back to the cookies again. “Do you think pink would be cute?”

“No, I want all the different colors! Blue, red, purple, green, yellow…” Georgina started listing all the colors that she could remember.

“I don’t think we have that many food color bottles here,” Calypso pointed out with amusement. “But you know, we can try to mix some together!”

“That sounds great! Hey, is pink your favorite color?” The girl asked suddenly.

“Hah, what gives me away?” Calypso chuckled. Even the apron she was currently wearing happened to be pink, although Leo knew that was probably purely coincidental because she was using one of Emmie’s aprons.

“You’re always wearing something pink and you even wanted pink gingerbread cookies,” Georgina noted while she started mixing the sugar frosting very eagerly.

“You’re a smart one, aren’t you?” Calypso teased. “I do really like pink, though. I don’t know. Maybe it reminds me of the sunsets back in my childhood home… But lately I’ve noticed that I have quite a lot of red things in my wardrobe too. But what about you? What’s your favorite color?”

Georgina gave Calypso a long and colorful answer, which Leo only half listened to. He started thinking about Calypso’s statement. He wasn’t completely dense; he had noticed that Calypso had often picked those outfits that he may have complimented at some point. But could it be that she had even started using more red because of him? Nah, he shook his head, that was a selfish way of thinking. Her outfit choices were probably purely coincidental.

Suddenly Leo realized that he had been standing there eavesdropping the girls way too long. When he was about to leave, though, he heard Georgina say: “my moms try to hide it from me, but I know that Leo is not OK. I mean, maybe he is, sometimes… but I remember that last Christmas was a lot like this one.”

“What do you mean?” Calypso asked.

“He didn’t yell at anyone, but… when he is in a bad mood he either shuts down and avoids us or is even louder than usual. But between the jokes, he doesn’t look happy at all. Moms would probably say ‘Georgie, you’re too small to understand that stuff’, but I’m not a baby anymore. This one golden haired dude visits us sometimes and he knows a lot about health things and he’s been teaching me as well. I know sometimes people get depressed, if for example something really bad has happened to them. And I think something very bad happened to big bro before he came here.”

“Yeah… sometimes things like that happen, sadly… But you know what?” Calypso said, probably attempting to sound more cheerful. “I think your brother is really trying. He cares about you so much he puts your happiness before his. He doesn’t want you to worry about him. But he’s strong, just like you, right? He’ll pull through.”

At this point Leo felt he had heard enough. He had been expecting some talk about him; after all he had just caused a scene in the middle of the present opening. But to hear Calypso talk about him that way? So sweetly? That he hadn’t expected. He had imagined she’d be mad at him after the ‘incident’ of that morning. Maybe she was just trying to be nice simply to calm Georgina down, but that he would never know.

He slowly started backing up, so that the girls wouldn’t notice his presence. However, just when he was nearly by the stairway, his foot hit a box that someone had left on the floor, making a loud noise. Cursing himself in his head, he quickly looked up to see that the sound had piqued the girls’ interest and they both tried to see where it had come from. He hid upstairs as quickly as he could, but that didn’t change the fact that Calypso most likely knew he had been listening to them.

Great, he thought, as he closed his bedroom door behind him. As if things hadn’t already been awkward enough even before this…

… (Calypso POV)

Once she was done with baking with Georgina, Calypso withdrew into her guest room for some ‘me’ time. She had a lot to think about. Leo hadn’t been around for the lunch, which meant that the Waystation group had been unusually quiet while finishing their meals. She knew everyone must have been thinking about him, but no one dared to bring him up. After the lunch, Georgina had asked Calypso to bake with her and she had agreed, welcoming the distraction. But Leo still hadn’t returned so she had started playing with the idea that she wouldn’t listen to Jo and Emmie’s advice, instead going to look for him after cleaning the kitchen. Before she had gotten that far, though, she had heard him in the hallway, but he had disappeared from there before she had time to even properly see him. However, she knew it couldn’t have been anyone else.

While she was relieved that he had finally come back, one part of her was also kind of mad that he had been eavesdropping and hadn’t even told them that he had returned. She was pretty close to just marching into his room and letting him hear it, but eventually she decided she wasn’t quite ready for that talk yet. If only there was some machine that would allow them to exchange their thoughts without the actual confrontation… But that was a naive thought, Calypso knew.

Finally, she decided that dwelling on the issues the whole day wouldn’t help anything. Since the Waystation family would get some Christmas guests for the evening, she decided that she should probably change out of her baking attire (a simple t-shirt and sweatpants) that had gotten a bit floury despite the apron that had covered it. Thankful for having taken several outfits from her flat (see, Leo, they were useful for something after all, she thought), she was drawn between blue jeans and a white blouse and a pretty 50ies style red dress she had only recently sewn for herself. It had sleeves that reached her elbows, a ribbon around the waist and a v-shaped neckline. Calypso wondered if the dress was a bit ‘too much’ for a family dinner but she liked how it had ended up looking and felt pretty confident in it. That’s why she ended up picking it instead of the more casual option. Besides, a tiny voice said in Calypso’s head, it didn’t hurt that Leo liked that color...

Tying her hair into a small braid pun and adding a ribbon around it, she was finally happy with her look. Then her gaze fell into the silver bracelet Leo had given to her that was still around her wrist. Briefly, she wondered how he’d feel about seeing it after their earlier incident, but she decided to leave it on. She had kind of expected Leo to give her something silly, like a CD of him singing Never Gonna Give You Up or chili seeds as a joke, but the jewelry box and the bracelet had been very thoughtful. Leo really knew how to surprise her – in a good way – sometimes…

Realizing that she had already been spending over an hour in her guest room, Calypso decided it was time to go back to socialize with her hosts. She heard Georgina’s voice coming from the living room and decided to go check up on her. The young girl was sitting by the piano, singing one of those more modern Christmas songs that she herself wasn’t crazy about, but somehow it sounded a lot more bearable when Georgina performed it. But what really surprised Calypso was Georgina’s pianist. Leo was sitting there next to his adoptive sister and focusing on running his fingers on the instrument. For some reason she hadn’t expected him to be musical and especially not interested in playing Christmas songs (Calypso knew he was more of a rock ‘n roll type of guy). She wasn’t sure what to think of this discovery.

Calypso had always loved music and she had even attempted to learn to play the piano with the help of a nanny for a little while, but when her dad had discovered what they did, he had immediately told them to stop. To this day, Calypso couldn’t understand why; she just assumed that maybe her beloved father hadn’t wanted her to learn something so ‘useless’. Thankfully, her voice wasn’t something her father could take from her so she had kept singing mostly out of spite, and became pretty good. Now she began wondering if Leo would ever mind teaching her to play… that was, if they were able to have a normal conversation again.

Georgina’s song ended and Calypso stepped forward to let the others know she was there, applauding the girl.

“That sounded good!” She encouraged her. “I’m not a fan of Christmas songs but you did well.”

“Thanks, Calie!” Georgina beamed at her. “Leo has told me you can sing too. Can I hear some? Please? Leo can play!”

“I… uh… wasn’t expecting to see you here.” Calypso turned to Leo. “Since when have you been playing the piano?”

Leo ignored Calypso’s first remark and replied: “Since I was a kid. Yeah, I bet you thought I’m more like a drum person or something but it was my mom’s idea I’d try this. Well? Are you gonna sing something?” He asked when Calypso remained quiet.

“I don’t really know that many Christmas songs…” she replied hesitantly. “Georgie, do you have any suggestions?”

“I love Taylor Swift’s songs!” the 9-year-old announced. “Do you know any of them?”

Calypso nearly burst out laughing. “Of course I do! She’s one of my favorite artists. But I thought we were going to sing Christmas songs.”

“Nah, I think I’ve already had enough of them,” Georgina stated. “But TS has made some holiday themed songs as well. Like New Year’s Day. I have the piano sheet for it!” The girl showed her a book she had borrowed from the library.

“You’re a real Swiftie, huh?” Calypso couldn’t help but smile at the girl’s enthusiasm. “But fine, I actually quite like that song so I could sing it.”

Leo had been following the conversation quietly but now he took the book from Georgina and eyed the sheet.

“Let me practice a little; I haven’t even heard this song before so I have no idea how to play it.”

“Sure, take your time,” Calypso said carefully. She was relieved to see that Leo was acting that calmly now despite the morning’s incident but she couldn’t help but wonder if that was just the surface. Surely he couldn’t have just completely forgotten about it? She would have to bring it up at some point, but now was not the time. Even when she attempted to read the lyrics her thoughts kept going back to him.

She was so lost in her thoughts that Leo had to raise his voice before she noticed he had stopped playing. “Hey, did you hear me? I asked if you’re ready.”

“What?” she shook her head. “Sorry. I was just wondering something. But yes, I’m ready now.”

Calypso noticed that Georgina kept looking at them curiously, but for once she didn’t say anything.

“Good. Let’s go,” Leo said in a neutral tone.

As she started singing, the lyrics started sinking into her differently than before. Suddenly she felt like she was the narrator, singing about the aftermath of a party she had attended. Even though Calypso wasn’t big on parties, and the latest one she had been in – the Halloween one – hadn’t gone ideally, when she kept picturing herself among her friends that she had gained during her time in Indianapolis, smiling, carrying their shoes because their feet hurt from the dancing, she felt… happy. Adding to that the image of spending time with Leo cleaning up their home while he made his snarky comments and probably tried to sabotage her cleaning process, she felt warm in a way she hadn’t expected. However, she tried to stop that track of thoughts because she realized what it implied. The narrator of the song was singing about her significant other, and Calypso had decided a long time ago that she shouldn’t get one.

As Leo kept playing, Calypso tried to keep her focus on his fingers running on the keys. For a while it worked; Calypso was amazed by how fast they could move, but then again, she supposed that all those years of building things with his hands really helped him develop that skill. Calypso could spot some stains on his hands from the machines he had handled that would barely leave even with soap, and the under nail area could definitely have used some proper scrubbing, but he wouldn’t have been Leo without those things. She couldn’t imagine him not fiddling with something 24/7. That was one of the reasons she admired him; she valued hard work pretty high and couldn’t imagine being with someone who was just sitting still.

”But I stay when you're lost and I'm scared and you're turning away…”

When Calypso reached that part, she felt chills go down her spine because of how well that line described her and Leo’s current situation. He felt lost because of some past traumas. She was scared of both letting him too close and losing him and everything she had gained since that fall. He had turned away from her and his family already twice that day. But there was hope; maybe, if they managed to finally communicate properly, they’d find a way to even deal with the ‘midnights’.

“Hold on to your memories, they will hold on to you.”

Calypso stopped to think about that line. At first her thoughts went to the badmemories such as the times when she had been living with her father. But when she repeated the line, she understood the song was talking about the good memories that would carry you even in your worst moments. Before she knew it, she was filled with flashbacks. Yelling at Leo after Festus broke her desk. The weird warm feeling after she saw the fixed desk. Casually spending time together; cooking, cleaning, playing, watching shows together… That time when Leo had given her the seeds of her favorite flower… The ‘therapy’ sessions… The Halloween party and the almost kiss after that… the weird tension they’d been having ever since that moment… His smiles and laughs… No matter what would happen, she would always hold those memories close to her heart.

Suddenly, Calypso knew. This wasn’t just some infatuation that would go away with time. She had learned to appreciate Leo’s company more and more, the good and the bad sides, to the point that she was now in love with him. Back in August she had thought that they would probably never get along, but to her surprise they had more in common than she had expected and he had become a big part of her life. Lonely, unsure about their futures, past traumas… that’s what tied them together. And even if she wanted to, she wouldn’t be able to deny that what she had been afraid of had already happened.

“And I will hold onto you.”

Those five simple words made Calypso���s voice crack. With frustration she swept the corner of her eyes quickly and attempted to clear her voice for the last lines of the song.

“Please don’t ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere.”

She looked up from the lyrics with blurry eyes and glanced at the boy with the piano. Some months ago, she had told herself that she wouldn’t let anyone get too close to her. But somehow Leo and all her new friends had just snuck into it, and she couldn’t imagine her life without them. She wanted them to be a permanent part of it, but with so many uncertainties in the future, could she count on it?

“What’s the matter, Cal?” Leo asked when she very clearly had difficulties pronouncing the last few words of the song.

Calypso knew the words she was going to say were probably unfair, but she couldn’t stop herself. The frustrations of that day just demanded to get out. “What’s the matter, Cal?” she mocked him. “I don’t know, Leo. You just… freak out all of a sudden and run away and then you come back and act like nothing happened?! Don’t you understand at all how worried we all are about you?!”

“I…” Leo stammered but didn’t finish his sentence.

“Well? Are you gonna explain yourself?” Calypso asked.

“Listen, you need to understand…”

“Understand what, Leo?”

Calypso waited for a little longer, but when the answer never came, she said: “You know what? Never mind. Clearly I was a fool to think that you care about us… about me the same way I care about you.”

“Calypso…”

Calypso turned her back to him and muttered: “I’m going to see if Jo and Emmie need my help with something. Do not follow me.”

In reality, Calypso withdrew into the closest bathroom and finally let the tears come.

#caleo #leo valdez #calypso #heroes of olympus #percy jackson and the olympians #trials of apollo #my fics #caleo uni au

[sapphicambitions]

I started writing a post that said “The reason the Percy Jackson and the Olympians is better than Heroes of Olympus is because it understood simplicity and character development” and then accidentally wrote like 10 paragraphs. 

The reason the Percy Jackson and the Olympians is better than Heroes of Olympus is because it understood simplicity and character development.

The PJO series was so effective was because of the simplicity of it. It was a well written and interwoven story that took place over the course of many years, but it was never too complicated. Each book was a quest and each quest had a prophecy and each book built up to the final battle in the Last Olympian. You never felt lost, you were completely engaged. Plot points and characters were set up a book and a half in advance. It was an incredibly well developed world and I will never get over how excellent the payoff was in The Last Olympian. The Annabeth & Luke stuff is to this day one of the best payoffs I’ve ever witnessed in a series. The way everyone came together in the final battle, everyone that we’d met over the course of four books? Impeccable. The Hestia plot line was set up from Percy’s first moment at Camp Half-Blood.The character arcs were stunning and realistic and truly a coming of age story. 

The way the series itself developed from the happy go lucky cross country road trip in the Lightning Thief to the first death of the war with Bianca we witnessed in the Titan’s Curse to the serious tone and action picking up in the Battle of the Labyrinth to the fact that 75% of the Last Olympian was just the Battle of Manhattan and it worked. It payed off. Ten years after the final book was released and to this day I say it is one of the best written series ever and I will love it for the rest of my life.

And Heroes of Olympus kind of... fell flat. For me it was just too complicated. It had so many characters and plot lines that it was hard for me to keep track of it all. Specifically House of Hades and Blood of Olympus, every time we switched to a new perspective, I struggled to remember what had happened when last we left off. Things were kind of  set up a couple books in advance but there was so much going on that they’d mention a character or an object and I’d be like “Wait, what’s that again?” ESPECIALLY with all the giants and their names that I couldn’t remember. Blood of Olympus had no payoff for me. Like, where was Percy’s sacrifice that was so heavily hyped up? How did the characters grow and develop? Rick was trying to do a lot over the course of the series with all the different perspectives and introducing new characters and I kind of think he lost sight of what made the original series good. Yeah there was a big plot and war or whatever but the original series was about the characters. 

PJO was getting to watch Percy go from an idiot twelve year old to leading an army to save his home. Seeing Annabeth go from a stubborn little kid trying to prove herself to the Architect of Olympus. Grover went from a total dorky mess to the Lord of the Wild. Clarisse went from a bully to a drakon slaying hero. We got to see Luke’s whole journey in all of it’s ups and downs and understand his character better. PJO was always about the characters, no matter how cool the plot and action was. It was always about getting to grow up alongside them. Now one could make the argument that Heroes of Olympus wasn’t trying to be a coming of age story, it was trying to be a cool action adventure series, which is fair. But I think the characters suffered because of it.

Percy and Annabeth didn’t really change over the course of five books, they just got more trauma. Hazel and Piper got like, good at fighting and using their powers, which was kind of badass. Jason figured out his career, I guess. I refuse to acknowledge Leo’s arc because it’s dumb that it was tied to a girl and falling for her and not realizing how loved and valued by his friends. Frank got promoted and like, I don’t know, found his courage, which was nice. I really liked Reyna but we never properly got to know her. I know absolutely nothing about Octavian. The only character who got an ACTUAL arc and is, to be honest, the MAIN reason I’m glad this series was written at all was Nico. Nico got an ARC. Nico’s story of feeling like a hated outcast to a welcomed member of the family with a home and people who love and accept him is the BEST damn thing about Heroes of Olympus and you can quote me on that. 

I really enjoyed Mark of Athena (because it plays directly into my found family lives together in a personalized home doing adventures and eating meals together niche interest thank u 2012) and there were good parts sprinkled throughout the series and I do like the new characters. I did! I thought they were neat. I just felt like they weren’t given proper justice. We didn’t see anyone long enough to actually get to know them. I missed the side characters of the original series. Like, where was Grover the whole fucking time? Clarisse? Rachel? The Stoll Brothers? Why didn’t we get to see more of Thalia? Honestly I didn’t really care about the Romans as much, where were the characters I grew up with? 

I’m also not going to get into the whole “so many things that happened in the original series were swept aside for the sake of interesting plot development like the minor gods being important or whatever” because like we know and I don’t have the energy to be upset about that right now lmao.

Further, Percy Jackson and the Olympians was all building up to one moment specifically: Percy giving Pandora’s Jar to Hestia and the line “Hope survives best at the hearth.” It is the thesis of the series. I’ve posted about it at length before because it is what ties all the books together. The idea that we should place our hope in our loved ones, our friends and our family, and if we do that, we won’t be tempted to give up hope again. I’m crying just thinking about it! Literally! That one simple line is what made the series so powerful and it truly felt like every single line, every single moment was just building up to that specific moment and I will literally never get over it. I am not joking when I say I want that line tattooed on me. It’s iconic and i think about it daily.

Heroes of Olympus had uhhhhhhhh..... It had..... ummmm........

I shit you not, I finished reading the book for the second time less than 24 hours ago and I couldn’t tell you. What was that series about? What was the thesis? Did it have any iconic lines?What was it all building up to? A battle? Like, cool I guess? But how did the characters grow and develop? You know what even if they did, I’m not sure I kept up with it because there was so much going on all the time! and I got lost in it! I read the series when it first came out and then completely forgot everything that happened in it! It was too much!

The spirit of the original books was never in the action and the monsters and the gods. It was in the characters, and how they grew up. How they changed and developed and became better people. How they all loved each other. It was about the promise of family and of hope. And that’s why the original series will always be exponentially better and hold a special place in my heart.

#lesbianlaynie #participating in pjo discourse at 23 #pjo #percy jackson #heroes of olympus #percy jackson and the olympians #laynies pjo essays

[miraclesnail]

A little bit of magic, a little bit of logic (and a whole lot of coincidence)

Summary: It’s not so bad growing up in Camp Jupiter. Sure, there’s little annoyances here and there: like, Octavian always glaring at him, him being stuck in the fifth cohort, his inability to learn Latin that well, his weird preferences for the Greek names over the Roman ones, and the most annoying of all, an itching, indescribable feeling that somebody is waiting for him. Somebody… which is ridiculous because he has nobody outside of Camp Jupiter.Or my self-indulgent AU where Connor grew up on Camp Jupiter while Travis is still on Camp Half Blood.

ao3 link

ffn link

aaaaaaaaaaand chapter 5 is finally done.

Chapter 5: I have to say, I am a pretty great friend.

Written for Writer’s Month Day 22: Summer

Connor climbs onto the ship not so gracefully and rolls over the rail onto the deck, sliding the grappling hook onto his belt. He surveys his surroundings. By the ballistas, Percy and a blonde are beside an unconscious body. In the middle of the deck is Jason, unmoving, — oh gods. Is he dead?! No, wait. His chest is rising. Jason’s okay. Jason’s fine — and another girl, conscious and tending to Jason.  

Nobody notices him yet despite his rather loud landing. If he hurries, he can bring this down without fighting a single — 

“Go! Get us out of here!” Percy yells and the blonde nods, standing up with speed and turning around. She freezes though when she sees him. 

Their eyes meet. 

Her eyes widen. She mouths a name. ( His name). A blast of icy cold wind chills his core (someone) (someone is waiting for him), but he pushes that thought away. 

Camp Jupiter first. Everything else second. Prove your worth and all of your problems will be solved. 

Connor uses the only asset he has, his slightly above-average speed, and takes off for the helm. The blonde follows after him unfortunately. 

He doesn’t want to fight. 

(You can still back out)

But there’s no other choice. There’s no backing out. 

He reaches the helm seconds before the girl will. At first glimpse, it’s obvious everything at the helm is handcrafted. The navigation system is… unorthodox. No traditional steering wheel. Just a variety of game controllers plus a dubstep keyboard and an aviation throttle all linked to several big screens.

The girl is nearly here. Make a decision, Connor. And make it fast. 

He lunges for the aviation throttle, but before he could push forward the girl screams that name again.

Travis. 

Travis… 

That name… that name sounds so familiar, even as it tears a hole in his chest. Travis… Travis… Travis is… Travis is someone important… someone he treasures. But that’s ridiculous. He never met a person named Travis before at all (Liar. Think harder.) 

No. Stop it. Camp Jupiter. You’re going to prove Octavian wrong, remember? Don’t you want to rub it in Octavian’s face? Don’t you want to rub it in all their faces about his success? Then stop listening to the voice and just do it, you loser. 

Connor grits his teeth, grips the throttle, and pushes it forward. The ship angles downward slowly. Not exactly what he wants to do. How does he lower the ship? Ah, whatever. He doesn’t have to bring the ship down. As long as he keeps it in place until the eagles could get here. 

The dubstep keyboard probably controls the ship’s cannons, oars, and mast. He stabs his dagger into the keyboard, flinching from the resulting sparks. The Wii remote he doesn’t have a clue as to what it does, but he jabs it with his dagger too. As for the monitors, he cuts the wires on the back and watches the screens turn black. 

Looks like they made a stop at McDonald’s before coming here. The soda cup sitting on the dashboard is half full and from the transparent lid, he can tell it’s definitely not water. Great! 

He’s about to reach for the cup when the girl pushes him aside with enough force to knock him to his back. 

“Crap. Crap. Crap. You couldn’t have made this simpler could you, Leo?” the blonde curses as she spends a second to stare at the controls in confusion before she finally spotted the throttle. That second cost her. Connor sweeps his foot on the back of her knees, watching her lose balance and hit her head on the dashboard. 

She glares at him and oh man, her glare?  It’s definitely enough to make him want to quiver in fear. But that’s something Octavian loves to poke fun at so he fires up whatever specks of courage he still has left and says, “You shouldn’t have attacked my home.”

“Your home?” Her eyebrows furrow. “Jason wasn’t lying. You’re really not Travis, are you?”

Connor clenches his eyes shut and wills the pain away with minimal success. Why does that name always do this? He doesn’t understand. His head… his whole body… it feels like he’s been shot and dunked in an ice bath. Fuck. He hates this. He hates everything right now.

“I’m not,” he starts to say, but the world spins dangerously. Don’t pass out again. Don’t pass out. Now’s not the time. “My name isn’t Travis. It’s Connor. I’m an only child.”

The girl hums. She probably doesn’t think he noticed her hand itching back up to the controls, but he sees it and he tackles her. Not that it did much. In seconds, he’s pinned on his back in a rear chokehold.

“Are you sure you’re an only child?” the girl grunts into his ears, tightening her hold. “We have someone who looks exactly like you back in my camp.”

“Sure you do,” Connor mutters and tries to roll around, failing spectacularly. But at least the girl is too occupied to reach the controls. If he can keep them this way for a while longer, then—

“Annabeth! We need to go!” Percy yells, running into view. “Terminus is firing up an attack and I don’t think this ship can withstand it.” 

“Kinda busy, Percy,” the girl — Annabeth — yells back, “I’ll hold him down. You get us out of here. Pull the throttle all the way back.” 

Connor sucks in a quick breath, pulls his grappling hook from his belt, stops himself from crying when Annabeth tightens her hold, and aims the hook at what he hopes is the dashboard. Annabeth attempts to snatch his weapon away. Or maybe she was trying to mess up his aim. Either way, the pressure on his throat lets up slightly and he elbows her hard in the side. She hisses in pain, pulling back more and Connor lets the back of his fist rocket back and hit her smack in the face. 

As she curses and clenches her nose, Connor rolls back up to his feet and takes aim again, focusing on the dashboard and pressing the trigger. The hook shoots forward. 

Amazingly enough, Percy notices the hook firing despite the barely noticeable gush of air released. He spins and swings Riptide down on the hook to knock it out of the way. But Connor kinda already knows Percy is that capable. He saw the guy fight. 

The hook fell to the ground, right next to Percy’s shoes.

Did he feel any guilt when he retracts the hook, the hook snagging on the shoe, and watches the son of Poseidon fall flat on his face?

No. Not really. His favorite boba shop was blasted to pieces because of them. This is just penance.

Connor stands and dodges Annabeth’s lunge, tossing the gun on top of her head. He runs to the controls, leaping over Percy’s groaning body, and grabs the soda cup again. If he pours it over the controls, it should fry the mechanics, shouldn’t it? If it doesn’t… two versus one isn’t ideal but all he has to do is hold them here long enough for Terminus to attack then boom. Goodbye ship. Hello Justice. 

“Connor.”

Now isn’t that a familiar voice? Connor bites his cheeks, but he doesn’t let go of the cup. Pour it.

“Connor, wait.”

“... why should I, Jason?” Connor says. Pour it. What are you doing? 

Connor chances the second to glance up at Jason, standing with the help of a brunette and wearing an orange shirt. He’s not a friend. He let his Camp be attacked. He’s an enemy. 

Even still... 

“You’re hurt,” Connor states, watching blood trickle down Jason’s temple. “What happened? Did another brick get to you?”

Jason rolls his eyes as the brunette stares between them. “Yes, it was a brick just like two years ago. Funny, I know. Absolutely hilarious. We can laugh about this later but Connor, I need you to listen to me. Put down the cup.”

Connor raises it instead. “No.”

“Connor,” the brunette begins to say, voice calm. “Put down the cup. Let’s talk this out.”

For some reason, her voice just makes him all the more angrier. 

“No.” He pops the lid. 

“I know you’re angry,” Jason says, tone slightly hurried now, “I know you think if you stop us from leaving, they’ll accept you. But the truth is—”

“Angry is kind of an understatement, Jason,” Connor snaps.

Jason continues like he never talked. “Octavian and his lackeys were never going to accept you. You fought in the titan war. You defended it the same as any of us. That should have been enough. Doing this won’t change their opinion.”

(He’s right, you know.)

His vision swarms, hard blinking no longer working on curbing the nausea away. A hand grasps his shoulder and he knocks it aside. Somehow Jason stumbles to his side. More than anything in the world, Connor hates the concern on Jason’s face. It makes him feel incompetent. Worthless. Weak.   

“I don’t care about being accepted. You attacked us. You need to face justice.” His voice breaks towards the end. 

“It’s to save the world,” Jason states. His hand grips his wrist holding the cup. 

(Let’s leave.)

“The… world? Come on. You’re exaggerating,” he snorts, but he could feel his resolve crumbling.

Jason shakes his head. “No, I’m not. This is to save the world.”

(Let’s go east)

The pounding in his head isn’t making understanding any of this easier. He blinks hard again, rubbing the heel of his hand over his eyes. 

(And then you can finally find him.)

“The titans are rising.” (Leave)

Ah. 

“Me, Piper, Leo, all of us. We are going to stop it.” (Go east)

It’s happening again. 

“So please.” (Someone is waiting for you)

That dream. That woman with two kids in her arms. He can’t see their faces. He could never see their faces. But they’re important. He needs to see them again. He needs to find them. (East.) 

“Connor? Hey? You okay? Are you still there?”

When Jason places a hand on his shoulder again, he doesn't bother knocking it aside. He looks down at the controls, not believing what he’s going to say next. 

“It’s… really to save the world?” (Someone is in this world. Might as well let it be saved as you go east and find your—)

Jason nods and Connor’s chest tightens like a hand is squeezing over it. 

“I really, really hate you,” Connor says, pouring the drink onto the deck and stepping back.

The three fates appear behind Jason, wrinkly, old faces judging him and judging him hard. 

Yeah, yeah. My promise. I didn’t forget. 

“Wipe that smile off your face, Jason.” Connor scowls, bumping his friend’s shoulder as he turns around and walks to the rail. “You destroyed my favorite boba shop. When this is all over, I’m making you buy me as many boba drinks I want forever.”

The stupid grin doesn’t drop from Jason’s face. “5 boba drinks a month. I can’t afford to spend hundreds of dollars for your boba addiction. Hey, Connor, where are you going?”

Connor didn’t answer as he stops by the rail. He can see Frank as a dragon distracting Terminus down below. He can see Hazel putting out the fires on the sails. He can see he’s thousands of feet above the ground. Everybody is just a dot. The giant eagles are finally here and racing towards the ship, but they’re probably not going make it. 

“Connor?” Jason asks quizzically.

He steps atop the rail.

“Connor!?”

I can’t believe you gave up so easily . 

“Connor, get dow—”

And jumps down back to Camp Jupiter.

Out of the four seasons, Connor has to say summer is his favorite. It’s warm. It’s bright. It’s full of life. Going out of camp with his friends and visiting the sea lions at Pier 39 is his favorite activity to do ever. 

(And the summer atmosphere reminds him of someone. He likes summer too.)

Someone catches him as he’s falling, her cheerful voice telling him who saved his life. But Connor opens his eyes just a tad to double check, resting his head on the uncomfy armor. 

“Thanks, Gwen,” he mumbles. 

“You’re welcome, you idiot. Octavian was going to let you fall to your death, but I wasn’t about to let that happen.”

“Thanks.” It might have been better if he’d just fallen to his death though.

He listens to the eagles’ flap their wings, but they’re not going to reach the ship. Octavian’s cussing confirms Jason and the others are gone. He still opens his eyes though to see the tail end of the ship disappear into the clouds. The glares he gets from Octavian and the others are enough to make him squirm closer into Gwen’s arms.

“Don’t let them get to you,” she says to him with undeserved support. “They couldn’t even get on board the ship.”

“Gwen,” he murmurs, “I let them go.”

But she just says it's okay, smiling with her saccharine grin. “I kinda figured you will. Jason can make you do anything he wants. Don’t worry though. I’ll protect you from Octavian.”

Connor pouts. “No, he can’t.”

(Yes, he can.)

“Yes, he can,” Gwen says, her smile dropping in concern. “Connor, you should sleep. You look like you need it.”

(She's not wrong.)

Why don’t you just shut up?  

But that annoying voice of his is right. And he hates it when that stupid voice is right. It makes it so much harder to question its validity. 

#fanfiction #archive of our own #connor stoll #jason grace #pjo #hoo #au #ao3 #it's been 5.5 months #i have to say #that's pretty good

[dyde21]

Marching On 3: The Announcement

It’s been a while since my last chapter, sorry for the delay! I have so much planned for this AU now, hopefully I’ll be able to put these out more regularly now when I need a break from painting. WIthout further ado..

AVAILABLE ON AO3 HERE

XxXxXxXxX

With a yawn, Percy pulled open the annoyingly heavy band door. The whole room, as he had learned, was rather soundproofed because the band got pretty loud. Once he got past the nerves of being in a new place that felt like he wasn’t welcome in at first, it was actually a pretty cool rom. The rooms were lined with wooden lockers that people got assigned in the beginning of the year, so he  now just kept his stuff in this room. The back of the room was occupied by the percussion section, various mallet instruments he couldn’t quite tell apart yet, an expensive piano he tried to avoid touching out of fear, a big set of drums he had heard called “timpanis” and a sink and counter with a microwave. There was a small room off to the side that held a bunch of big string instruments and archives of old music, and a hallway that lead to the teachers office and connected to the choir room. In the front of the room there was a small room dedicated to drumline gear, and three practice rooms, one of which held a smaller, cheaper piano for practicing. The room was feeling more comfortable to him than he expected it would, and the various pictures and awards of previous bands was actually kinda cool to see hanging up. It really did give the feeling of being a part of something bigger than himself. 

Moving over to his locker, he pulled out a set of drum sticks and moved back to the back of the room. Today they would find out the results of the auditions, and it was making him nervous.

Despite how nonchalant he wanted to be about the whole situation, he was actually really hoping he made the line. 

Thalia’s performance had been something else. She wasn’t like the stuffy music teachers she had expected, but rather she seemed pretty cool. She had made the drumming seem as cool as a drum kit. She turned it into a challenge.

“What’s wrong?” Piper’s voice chimed in, leaning over the chair next to him and tilting her head. 

He glanced over at her, before shrugging. “Nothing.” He said, scooting down a little lower in his chair. He wasn’t sure why, but admitting to Piper that he was nervous about the results felt like losing. He could already hear her gloating about being right about band.

She rolled her eyes, before plopping into the seat next to him. “You do realize we’ve been friends for ages right? I know everything about you. Like how when you’re anxious you bounce your leg a lot. That nervous about the auditions?”

He flinched, annoyed that his best friend could read him like a book. Then again, he couldn’t be surprised, it wasn’t like he couldn’t read her well either. He knew all of her habits without even trying.

“Maybe a little.” He confessed. 

She grinned at him, but decided against teasing him apparently. “I heard about the auditions from Annabeth. I’m sure you did fine. You’re way more musical than you think you are, and you remind me of Thalia a lot. I’m sure you’ll get picked. Clarisse and Jason are obvious picks, but my money is on you and Bianca.” She offered, thinking for a moment. Percy knew his friend wouldn’t lie to him to get his hopes up, Piper honestly thought he had a shot. 

Not long after Annabeth wandered over, giving him a small smile and a wave. “Nervous?”

“A little.” He confessed, trying to play it off. Her eyes gave him the impression she could see through it, but she apparently wasn’t going to call him on it.

“I get that. I had my auditions at the end of last year for drum major. I was a wreck the whole month leading up to it, and until I heard my name I don’t think I relaxed once.”

Piper laughed and nudged Percy’s side. “You really want to stay away from Annabeth when she’s stressed over something. She gets scary. Also avoid her in the mornings before coffee. I found out the hard way if you make her grumpy she’ll snap.”

Percy snickered, turning to a laugh when he saw Annabeth’s cheeks blush red slightly. “The morning isn’t the only time I’m dangerous McLean, watch it.” She warned, crossing her arms. 

“Mhmm, sure.” Piper said dismissively. 

Leaning over slightly, Percy could see Thalia in the front of the room now, chatting with Chiron about something. Probably the results if Percy had a guest. 

His eyes shifted to Annabeth. “Do you know the results already?” He watched her carefully, looking for any signs. 

She shrugged. “Nope. Just because I’m kinda a teacher’s assistant doesn’t mean I get to know secrets ahead of time.”

“That’s a flat out lie.” Piper chimed in, raising an eyebrow. 

“True. But I’m telling the truth this time. I don’t know, I didn’t ask. It’s hard to talk to people if you know something about them they don’t know.” Annabeth answered, and Percy could only nod. She made a good point. He also realized she had a good poker face, he really couldn’t get a read on what she was thinking. 

She plopped down in the seat on the other side of him. “Like I told Piper, I think you’ll make it. I think Thalia likes you, and you play well, so I see no reason why not. We lost two seniors last year on snare, and with our small percussion section we had spots to fill.”

Percy tried not to get his hopes up still. He had had them dashed too many times before to be comfortable with that.

Glancing over, he saw Tyler sitting alone in the corner of the room. He was on the piano bench, texting someone on his phone, looking way more nervous than Percy felt. Poor kid was probably even more anxious than he was. 

Jason approached him a minute late and he looked up startled, before starting to stand up. Jason just said something he couldn’t quite hear, and Percy saw Tyler relax slightly. They chatted for a moment, and soon they were both laughing. 

“Jason’s good with people.” Percy remarked idly, impressed. He was never that good at dealing with people, it honestly made him a little jealous. 

“I know, right?” Piper remarked a little too quickly, before she looked away like she hadn’t said anything. 

Annabeth had an amused smirk on her face as she looked at Piper, but turned to Percy. “He wasn’t always though. After luke left…” There was a pause where Percy saw Annabeth’s expression darken slightly. “Our band was kinda shaken up. He was a junior who volunteered with Thalia when she was a senior at my middle school to teach music. He left… a gap that had to be filled my freshman year.” Her face grew darker, and Percy could tell there was a lot more to the story than she was sharing, but he wasn’t going to pry. “Jason and Reyna both stepped up. I fell into the role later thanks to Thalia. But Jason was just as nervous as Tyler was when he started. He practically stuck to the drumkit to avoid talking to people. Band has a way of changing people though, for better or worse.”

There was a heavy silence between them as Piper rested a hand on Annabeth’s knee reassuringly. Percy was wondering just what had happened their freshman year, but he was still practically an outsider and wasn’t going to drag up old pain. Maybe he’d ask Piper about it later.

Piper, seemingly done with the tension though snickered and nudged his shoulder. “On a lighter note, look.” She said, subtly pointing across the room towards where Ashe was standing, looking clearly a little frustrated at Jason chatting with Tyler. “Someone’s jealous.”

Annabeth laughed. “Who woulda thought Ashe would have grown so attached to someone that quickly. I’m sure she’s happy Tyler is being welcomed though.”

Percy watched Ashe let out a sigh, before smiling slightly at the boys and turning back to talking to some other students.

“Ten bucks if Tyler gets Quads Ashe is the first to congratulate him.” Piper offered. 

Eventually Chiron called the class to attention and they all sat up at attention. 

“Now, it’s clear there’s an elephant in the room and everyone is waiting to hear the drumline results. Now in the hopes that there will be a chance that our dancers and percussionists may actually listen to class for once, I’ll let Thalia clear the air now.” He offered, making the most of the rest of the band laugh while Annabeth huffed.

Thalia stepped up, her cocky grin being replaced but a more somber smile. 

“Sadly there were more students than there were positions, some unfortunately I can’t give good news to everyone. However, I was proud to see how many people were willing to step up to take the risk to audition. Even if you didn’t get a spot on the line, this band will always have room for you. Be it in pit or another instrument. So don’t give up and just kick ass next year!” 

“Thalia!” Chiron warned.

She flinched and snickered. “Just kick butt next time and you’ll get a spot.”

The group laughed as Thalia pulled out her list. A hush fell over the group as everyone was suddenly on edge. Even the people who hadn’t auditions were suddenly nervous for their friends.

“We’ll start with the snares. Jason, Clarisse.” Thalia glanced over at Chiron. “Leo Valdez. Bianca Di Angelo. Percy Jackson.”

Percy’s eyes widened as he heard his name called. He looked over at Piper only to see a flurry of brown hair as she tackled him into a hug, wrapping her arms around him tightly.

“You did it!” She said, her voice dripping with pride.

Percy hugged her back, filled with pride he wasn’t expecting. Realizing he would actually be on the drumline and learning to do the cool things he saw Thalia doing was pretty cool.

Glancing over, he saw Annabeth beaming at him too. She mouthed congrats.

Jason and Clarisse both looked excited, but it had been pretty obvious they would make it. Leo seemed stoked to, and once Piper had let Percy go, she had given him a high five. Bianca was celebrating with Silena quietly.

Thalia gave a moment for the cheers and applause to die down. “As for the Quads. Frank Zheng and Tyler Glacias.”

Frank was congratulated by Hazel and some others, while Tyler just looked shocked. He broke out into a smile, before looking down at his lap, still grinning. He was celebrating on his own until an arm was thrown over his shoulder. He looked up to see Ashe grinning at him. “Good job! Making quads on your first try is impressive.” She said, making him blush slightly at the praise and her proximity. 

“Uh.. thanks.” He said, grinning at her.

She spread her arms slightly, and he hesitated for only a moment before he hugged her as she returned the hug.

Piper just leaned over. “Told you.”

Thalia was glancing over at Tyler and Ashe as the brief round of applause died down. She smirked for a moment before clearing her throat. “Finally, we have our bass line. The Stoll Twins, Charles Beckendorf, Will Solace, and Chris Rodriguez.” 

The twins high fived loudly, Beckendorf was congratulated by a lot of students again. Percy was impressed, he seemed to be someone else the band looked up to a lot. Annabeth had moved over to thank Will, and to Percy’s surprise Clarisse was congratulating Chris in a surprisingly sweet exchange. While Percy hadn’t had much of a chance to talk to clarisse yet, she had seemed… rough to say the least. Yet, she was showing a soft side to Chris that Percy doubted he’d ever get to see himself.

Now that the line was announced, there were murmurs throughout the band. There wasn’t really an upset, based off experience the line pretty much fell as people figured. They were surprised that two new transfers had made it, Percy and Tyler judging by the whispers he heard.

Ashe was still happily chatting with Tyler, and Percy was still grinning. He wasn’t sure if it was just because it was something new still, but he was in for a heck of a year. 

Thalia stepped off the platform as Chiron took it again. 

“Congratulations to those of you who passed the auditions! I’m proud of all of you. And to the rest, never give up! You are all young, and you future is ripe with possibilities. Learn what you can now, and rise to the challenge next time.”

The classes offered some confirmations as there was still clearly an energy in the air.

“Monday will be the start of our serious practices, so I suggest you take this weekend as a chance to prepare. Our schedule will be very rushed due to the unfortunate circumstances of the delayed start of this year. However I have confidence you will all be able to rise to the moment.”

There was a delay and Percy saw multiple students lean forward, like they were expecting something. He had no idea what else could be announced, but they were all expecting something.

“Now, I believe you all are waiting to hear what our show will be this year-” There was a cut off as a round of cheers erupted from the group, Piper included. Annabeth had a knowing smirk, but still seemed excited. 

Piper leaned over. “We voted last year but he waited until he saw what our line up would be to announce what the music would be. Only Annabeth and Reyna knew.”

Annabeth just stuck a tongue out at her.

“This year, our music will be the soundtrack to ‘Six Wings’” 

There was a clamouring of sounds as people let out their opinions. Half the group was excited for their first pick was chosen, while others complain. Some had wanted a variety of other options it seemed. But Piper seemed pretty happy, and Percy recognized the soundtrack at least. 

It had been a blockbuster hit the past year, with two sequels apparently in the works. 

“Why didn’t you tell me!” Piper said, shaking Annabeth. “You know I love that movie.”

Annabeth was all grins as she shrugged. “Because I wanted to see your reaction here, and I doubted you’d be able to keep it secret.”

“Ugh, you’re the worst.” Piper said with a smile as she turned to Percy. 

“I wonder what songs are in it. They usually break down the show into an intro, a soft break in the middle, and a finale. I wonder who composed it too.”

Percy tried to nod encouragingly, but he was in over his head. He had no idea how a movie could be a score for a show. Stil, he figured he’d learn soon enough so he’d just celebrate with Piper. 

“For now, for the rest of the class, we'll go over the basics of marching. So, everyone follow me to the football field.”

Percy glanced around but everyone was still talking about the music standing up and heading towards the doors like it was normal. Percy was a bit caught off guard but just followed Piper and Annabeth as they headed out towards the back of the room. 

A minute later and they were all huddled up as Chiron, Thalia, Hylla, Annabeth and Reyna were standing in front of them. 

“Annabeth, if you don’t mind.”

Annabeth nodded. “Returning students will know the drill, but for the first timers… Marching is a lot stricter than you probably think. Posture, direction, expressions those will all be judged, musical playing aside. You need to be in perfect control of your body as you move.

Thalia nodded. “Drumline and Colorguard also both have some different things unique to them. Hylla will explain how color guard works to her students later, but for now I’ll have drumline learn the basics with the rest of you. Maybe an example would be best. Attention!” 

Annabeth and Reyna both snapped to attention, standing straight up, arms resting at their hips in tight fists.

“Up!” Their hands shot up as if they were holding a trumpet in front of their face. 

Thalia continued to bark a few different orders, having them face different directions, marching at ease or attention, pausing, reversing their direction. Once again, Percy was impressed. It was like when Thalia and Jason had played. They moved in sync with each other, it almost looked mechanical. As he watched Annabeth, he could tell just how carefully she was moving. Every part of her body was under control, even her expression was serious but smiling. 

Eventually Thalia let them stop and they just stood there for a moment, grinning. There was a small round of applause from returning students who apparently knew how difficult was it was respond instantly to orders like that.

Glancing over at Piper, he was suddenly worried about how well he could take orders being barked at him all day. Apparently Piper could read his mind because she offered him a sympathetic smile and patted his leg reassuringly. Marching band was turning out to be a lot more than he expected, in every way.

“Now, while Reyna and Annabeth are both prime examples of marchers, don’t worry if you are slower on the uptake. It was very much a skill learned by practice, and I will be sure to give you plenty of practice.” He said with a playful lilt in his voice.

“For now, everyone stand up and get into rows. We’re going to practice.”

They all got up, and Percy was standing around nervously.

Piper nudged him. “Stand behind me, keep your eyes on me if you get confused. Just copy what you see, but try not to move your head too much.”

Percy nodded and listened to her as everyone group up. 

Apparently Ashe had said the same thing to Tyler because the boy was standing behind her, looking as nervous as Percy felt. 

They ran them through a few different ways of standing, walking around and correcting people as needed gently. Then the basics of turning.

“Remember, when you march you always face the stands and the judges. When you march sides, raise your chest and turn at your hips.” Annabeth explained, walking to the side as she twisted her torso to face the same way she had been.

“Drumline is a little different. We crab walk versus turning because of the harnesses, and Bass Drums will always face their right side to the stands instead. But we’ll go over that later so follow along with Annabeth.” Thalia interjected for a moment. 

Nervously Percy tried to get used to the idea of turning his hips but not his chest a bit. 

“Let’s try it slowly.”

Annabeth said as they all took positions. Thalia, Hylla, Annabeth, and Reyna all stood outside the block of students on one side to give them someone they can see.

They continued to drill marching a bit, and before long Chrion was checking his clock before clapping his hands loudly. 

“That’s enough for a first day. Wonderful job to all of you who are just starting out. While we will be giving you plenty of time to practice this, I highly recommend spending at least a little time outside of class practicing. You will have a lot to learn at the same time, and anything you can make second nature will spare you stress. Now then, let’s get back to the classroom for the final notes.”

Everyone let out a groan as they began to file their way back into the classroom. Percy’s body was aching all over, and he was tired. It was still pretty hot out, and it was more physically intense than he expected.

They all piled back into the bandroom and Percy collapsed back into a seat.

Piper was sitting next to him, smirking at him. “Good job today. It’s weird seeing you follow orders for once.”

Rolling his eyes, Percy crossed his arms. “Yeah well, it wasn’t exactly easy. I don’t know how you put up with it for so long.”

Piper nudged his leg. “Because once you get it down, it changes how you think. You don’t listen because someone is trying to boss around. You listen because you are working with others. One person in a large group, all working together, all helping each other out.”

He stayed quiet, thinking about it. He still didn’t understand but moving as a group was… weird. Seeing dozens of students move in a group, turn on a dime, marching together to a single beat. It felt almost a little… surreal.

He stayed quiet, but Piper seemed content with the fact he was thinking. 

Chiron stood up at the front again. 

“Now as you all get ready for the weekend, I suggest you rest up. Starting next week we will be splitting our time between learning our music and our drill. We have a lot of catching up to do, and this will not be easy. We will also be starting to collect initial fees next week so please have them prepared or have the deferral signed and returned.”

This time Thalia stepped up. “Drumline, meet with me for a moment after class please.”

Hylla repeated the request to her color guard as everyone was dismissed.

Percy huddled over with the rest of the drumline while Thalia glanced around. 

“Like Chiron said, we have a lot of work we need to do if we’re going to keep up with the band. We will need at least one day a week after school in the beginning to keep up.”

They all chatted a bit, until they decided Wednesday at night would be the best time for all of them. 

Colorguard seemed to be having a similar meeting about extra practice. 

“I know we keep saying how much work this will be, but I promise you we’ll have plenty of fun too. For those of you who are new, I will personally turn you into total badasses by the time I’m done with you. Just don’t be stupid and work hard, and we will put all the other drumlines to shame.”

She put her hand out into the center, and Jason and a few other senior members did so to. Percy stared at it, then back up at Thalia. Was she serious? That was so cheesy.

She returned his gaze with a challenge of her own. “We’re drumline. We’re loud, we’re proud, and honestly we’re all kind of idiots. If we don’t work as a team, we’ll fail a team. The band relies on our beat to keep together, and we rely on each other. So we’re a team, get used to it.”

Percy glanced around, but even Tyler had put his hand in. Slowly he reached his hand in, before Thalia slapped her other one down on his harshly, making him flinch as she grinned at him. 

“On 3, drumline!”

“ONE. TWO. THREE. DRUMLINE!” The seniors shouted while Percy mumbled it. 

They were grinning while the rest of the band looked over at them, rolling their eyes and laughing. 

Piper wandered over while Hylla started scolding Thalia for making so much noise. 

“It smells like team spirit.”

Percy hit her shoulder. “That was actually the worst pun you’ve made. Don’t drag a good band down to your level.”

Laughing, his best friend got her stuff from her locker. “You’re so cute when you’re a part of a team. Did you tell your mom you got it yet?”

Pausing, he realized he hadn’t actually let his mom know yet. Pulling out his phone, he sent a quick text to her. A moment later she replied.

Congrats! We’re going out for Pizza to celebrate. Bring Piper.

Percy just turned his phone to show Piper, who grinned. “Your mom is the best.”

He rolled his eyes and sent her a thumbs up. “Yeah, I know.” As he finished getting his stuff together and started to walk to his car with Piper.

XxXxXxXxX

Later that night, Percy walked into Blackjack Pizza with Piper and his mom. They had studied at his place a little before they had decided to get dinner when his mom got back from work. He didn’t even have a chance to say hi to her before she had pulled him into a tight hug, saying she was proud of him and thanking him over and over again. 

He had told her she was overreacting, but he had to admit that it felt very… nice to see his mom so happy for once. He wouldn’t screw this up, his mom deserved that at least. Plus even his stubborn ass had to admit that so far band was cooler than he expected. He was pretty sure he lucked out with his drumline instructor. He doubted he would have been so into it if it hadn’t been someone as cool as Thalia. She seemed like she got it, that if someone like her could enjoy it so much then maybe he could too.

They stood in line, looking up at the make-your-own-pizza menu. The restaurant wasn’t too close, so they didn’t get the chance to go too often. His mom usually saved it for a celebration or a day they were spending together. 

Piper was idly chatting with him about what she was going to get, listing of various vegetarian pizzas that Percy would never try. He respected her choice, but he couldn’t imagine giving up burgers.

Percy ordered what he always got, with Sally having done the same. Piper made some vegetable abomination, which Percy tried to hide his opinion on it, but judging by Piper’s laugh he didn’t do that good of a job.

His mom paid, and they all took their seats at one of the tables. He was chatting with his mom about the practices they were going to have every week, when Piper nudged his side. 

“Guess who walked in.”

Percy followed her gaze and saw none other than Annabeth standing there. She was alone, looking up at the menu as she fixed her ponytail. 

“Who’s that?” Sally asked, quietly leaning over the table. 

“Annabeth. A drum major.” Percy offered.

“Chase!” Piper called out suddenly, making Percy flinch. He looked at Piper with wide eyes. Why was she calling her over? 

Annabeth perked up at her name, glancing around until she finally recognized them. Offering a smile, she headed over to them. 

“Hello.”

Percy offered her a small wave. “Fancy seeing you here. Getting dinner?”

She nodded. “I finished up some studying in the library nearby. Never been here before but I kept hearing about it. I don’t know what’s good here though.”

Piper suddenly roughly shoved Percy in the back so he stumbled off the bench, forcing him to stand up and find himself inches from Annabeth. His eyes widened as he leaned back a bit. Her eyes were surprised, but a playful smirk crept on her face. “Hi?”

“Pip-”

“Tell her what to avoid here. Then she should join us. We were just letting Sally know about how marching band works.” Piper offered, far too amused with herself. 

Percy glared back over his shoulder at his friend but nodded when he looked back to Annabeth. “If you don’t have any other ideas, you can join us.”

She brushed some of her stray bangs behind her ear, smiling softly before nodding. “Sure.” Her eyes shifted to Sally.

“You must be Mrs. Jackson then.”

His mom stood up, offering her hand to Annabeth. 

“Sally is fine, dear. I’ve heard a bit about you.” She said, with a tone in her voice that made Percy know exactly what expression she was wearing even if he couldn’t see it. He internally groaned, know what his mom was thinking as he started walking towards the line. “Let’s get you some food.” He offered Ananbeth, desperately trying to move her along.

Mercifully Annabeth followed him.

“So what’s good here?” She asked, looking up at the menu.

Percy looked over it again. “Avoid the ham, and red peppers. I’ve never had good experiences with them. The garlic knots are amazing too. Also get extra cheese, they tend to go on the lighter side of it for some reason.” He offered.

Annabeth nodded along, with a surprisingly genuine focus which Percy found pretty cute. She was pretty straight forward.

She ordered her pizza as their were called to be picked up. Percy sat down with his, kicking Piper’s leg under the table as he glared at her for putting him on the spot like that. Just because he thought Annabeth was pretty didn’t mean he needed his best friend trying to set him up with her. He had enough on his plate trying to figure out all this marching crap. She flinched at the kick, but was still grinning at him, apparently having anticipated it and already decided it was worth it.

When Annabeth moved towards them, he moved next to his mom while Piper scooted down, leaving Annabeth across from him. 

“So you’re a drum major? You help conduct the band, right?” Sally said, putting down her slice to engage Annabeth. 

Annabeth nodded, looking impressed as she took a bite. “Yeah we- wow this is good- yeah, we mark out the tempo for the band to keep the group, theoretically, playing at the same tempo. We also get to give cues and help out how we can from our podium.

Sally nodded. “That’s what I read.”

Percy glanced over at his mom. “You read about it?”

His mom shrugged as she took another sip of her drink. “If my son is going to be spending so much of his year in a program, I should at least understand it. Especially since I made you do it. Plus, I like research. You know that.” She teased.

Percy smiled at his mom, she really was a good mom. He turned back to Annabeth who was looking between them with a soft smile. Ignoring how hot his face felt, he spoke up. 

“My mom is a writer. She likes doing research on things too.”

“Just a self published writer on the side.” She countered, making Percy roll his eyes. 

“You seem like a good mother, Mrs. Jackson.”

“Sally, dear. I told you. And thank you. It’s only because I have a wonderful kid, even if he doesn’t like to show it.” She said, reaching over and messing up Percy’s hair who just laughed and swatted at her arm.

Piper leaned over and said something to Annabeth that Percy couldn’t hear, which made the blonde nod. He shot his friend a glare, but she just winked and took another bite of her pizza. 

“Well hopefully you’ll be able to see one of our shows. We have four competitions planned this year, with some performances at football games once we get the show settled.” 

Sally nodded. “I don’t plan on missing any of them. Make sure to let Percy know if you guys need volunteers. I would be more than happy to help out whenever I can.”

Annabeth shot a glance at Percy then nodded. “Of course. We always need either drivers, people to help at the competition with preparing lunch, or general set up. I’ll be sure Percy passes along any messages from Chiron.”

Sally nodded. “Good.” 

The rest of their pizza dinner was quiet, but nice. Annabeth answered some more questions about the season for Percy and Sally, Piper chiming in occasionally to offer her input. Percy also had the chance to glean a few more bits of info about Annabeth. She lived alone with her dad. She wanted to study architecture, and she had been in music since middle school.

It wasn’t much, but it was enough to make Percy want to know more. 

Eventually they had been there a while, the food was long gone, and he saw his mom let out a yawn. She had been working all day after all. They had cleaned up their table, and were standing outside the restaurant saying their goodbyes. Annabeth had offered to give Piper a ride home, since her house was closer to hers than Percy’s so they were saying their goodbyes.

“Thanks… uh… for letting me sit with you guys. It was nice eating with you guys. Your mom also seems pretty cool.”

Percy nodded and scratched the back of his head. “Thanks for answering our questions. I’m sure you dealt with that all day. But when my mom said she wants to volunteer she means it. I’m sure she’ll be a huge help, whether I want her to or not.”

Annabeth laughed, pulling her jacket a little closer around her in the chill of the night air. 

“Well, I’ll see you next week. Make sure you practice a little, okay? I have high hopes for you.” She said with a teasing wink, before turning and catching up to Piper who had given her some space.

Piper gave him a peace sign as she left, with a smirk that meant he was going to be expecting some annoying texts later that night.

As he piled in the car with his mom, she started to drive back to their house.

“She seems nice.”

“Ugh, mom.” He said, dropping his head back against the headrest. Just those three words were dripping with that mom tone. “She’s just a friend. Yeah, she’s pretty cool.”

Sally laughed, raising a hand in a peace making gesture. “I’m just saying, I’m glad you found a friend like her there. I hope I get to see more of her.”

Percy rolled his eyes, looking out the window.

He hoped he got to see more of her too.

XxXxXxXxX

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! I’m still working out some minor details, so if there were any details about Thalia’s backstory that changed forgive me, I’ll go back and edit the previous chapters eventually. Still trying to nail down all the little details here and there! As always, let me know if you like this AU! :D

#Percabeth #PJO #Percy Jackson #Annabeth Chase #Sally Jackson #HoO #Jason Grace #Thalia Grace

[bookworlders]

the wedding date - chapter 5

percabeth fake dating!au part 5!!!

part 1 

Cabin 3 was unrecognizable from when they had arrived the night before. Annabeth’s suitcase had erupted and her makeup and hair appliances now littered every flat surface. Thankfully, Percy had vacated their room to hangout with Frank and Leo so she could ready in private.

It had been awhile since she’d gotten dolled up to this extent, curling her hair, a full face of makeup, and heels. Annabeth hadn’t gotten this glammed up since Piper and Thalia moved away.

Annabeth went out with Rachel occasionally, but it was always to some hipster dive bar in the Village where a flannel and jeans would suffice. Sometimes, if Annabeth was going straight from work to meet Rachel, she’d even try to make herself look worse coming from a day at the office to fit in with Rachel’s grungier friends.

It was nice to take time to do her hair and mix-and-match and pick out an outfit that matched with the bachelorette party sashes Leo had acquired for them. Getting ready was especially relaxing after she had taken the best shower of her life. It was a much needed hot, relaxing session after the day they had all just had.

After brunch, all of the wedding guests had returned to their rooms to change, and rest up for an afternoon of camp activities.

Annabeth set down her curling iron, and shook her arm out, sore from their first activity after brunch — archery. Annabeth had never been spectacular at it in camp, and the years removed their camp training days had made her worse. Not as terrible as Percy, though. Annabeth spent the morning laughing at the cute face he made while he aimed for the targets.

Annabeth finished curling her hair, and got to work concealing a scratch on her arm.

After archery, a group had taken an excursion to the training arena to spar.

“Who’s next?” Annabeth asked, eyes sparkling as she swiped sweat from her brow. She held out her hand and helped Jason up.

“Hades, Annabeth,” Jason muttered, sheathing his golden gladius, “Can’t even give me a break on my wedding weekend?”

Annabeth grinned, “I was already going easy on you, Grace.” She looked around for her next opponent. Piper, Hazel, and a group had gone to the stables to groom the horses. Leo sat, bruised, physically and his ego, on the sidelines nursing a scrape on his arm. Frank messed with the straw poking out of one of sparring dummies, and refused to make eye contact with her. “Come on!”

“I’ll have a go,” piped Percy, standing up from the bench where he’d been sitting with Nico watching Reyna and Thalia spar across the arena.

Annabeth shot him a look, “Really Percy? It’s alright. These guys are just babies.”

Percy stood directly in front of her, “No, for real, I’ll spar with you.”

“Percy, no it’s okay,” Annabeth sheathed her knife in the holster of thigh, “We’ve all trained to sword fight since we were kids at this camp, it’s—”

“You scared?” Percy said, his wagging eyebrow challenging her.

Annabeth gaze darkened, “Alright, then.” She unsheathed her knife, “Pick your weapon.”

Percy picked up a bronze sword from the chest Chiron had brought out to the sparring area, swinging it back and forth testing its’ weight, “You alright with those little knives, Chase?” He stood in front of her.

Annabeth unsheathed another, “Perfect with them. They let me get closer to my opponent.” She stood directly in front of him. Thalia and Reyna had paused their spar to watch.

Percy grinned, “Rules?”

Annabeth twirled the knife in her left hand, using them to point to the markings on the straw covered sparring arena, “First person to step out of the boundaries.”

“Not to the death?” Percy grinned at her.

Annabeth smirked back, “Ready, Jackson?”

The two faced each other within the ring and fell into a fighting stance. Annabeth beckoned him with her hand to make the first move. Percy made the first strike, and Annabeth parried him with a basic block, but Percy struck again, this time disarming Annabeth. Her knife cluttered to the ground. Annabeth raised an eyebrow, her face failing to conceal the shock.

“Jason, I think she really was going easy on you,” Percy said, sweeping up her knife and tossing it back to her. “Don’t you dare go easy on me, Chase. Let’s call that a warm-up round.”

Annabeth’s expression was unreadable, “Fine, let’s go again.” This time, Annabeth made the first move, which Percy smoothly blocked.

Suddenly, they were dancing. The clang of bronze against bronze and the whip of blades flying through the air filled the training arena. Every strike from another was met by a perfectly in sync parry. They fought as if choreographed, his body occupying the space hers was in seconds before being interrupted by the clang of metal. Annabeth didn’t know if she was fighting against Percy or with him. He seemed to know exactly what her next move would be.

Annabeth’s muscles burned in a way she hadn’t felt since her camp days — the exertion required of an equally adept opponent. No one had matched her combat skill like this since, well since Luke, who had taught her to fight in the first place. Fighting with Percy was a dance, and she didn’t want the song to end.

Annabeth knew that she wouldn’t be able to outpower Percy, not due to her own strength or skill, but because she was three rounds of sparring in and he was fresh. His technique was a little rough around the edges, but his natural skill was apparent. Annabeth noticed this in his stance, and they way his arms extended when he swung his blade at her.

She would have to end this round with strategy. He had caught her off guard with his skill when he disarmed her in the first round when she was going easy on him, but now she truly was exerting herself. Percy was having fun, too much to stop or give in. She could tell from the way he almost had her disarmed a couple times, but also eased up just in time for her to inter his saber with one of her knives. How dare he go easy on her now, Annabeth thought as she swung her blade as his throat.

Clang! Percy blocked it. She saw him grin and couldn’t help a smile from spreading across her face.

But she had a plan. Percy swung his sword at her, and Annabeth resisted the urge to block, just for a second, but that was all it took. Percy’s arm faltered, just for a second, when she didn’t move from his attack. The tip of the blade grazed her arm. That second hesitation was all Annabeth needed to get close enough to shove Percy off balance and take a step out of boundaries.

Jason and the others whooped and cheered from the sidelines.

“That’s what you get for going easy on me, Jackson,” Annabeth said, holding out her hand.

Percy shook it, and didn’t let go, “Believe me, I wasn’t.”

“Where’d you learn to fight like that?”

“I’m an actor. Years of stage combat classes.”

“Nerd.

Annabeth finished concealing the scratch on her arm, and began tidying up her mess of makeup and clothes around the cabin.

After a couple more rounds that afternoon (Percy and Jason fighting round after round until eventually calling a tie), they left to meet up with the stable group in the woods for a game of capture the flag — bridesmaids and dates against groomsmen and dates. Annabeth’s team won, of course. “I always have a plan,” Annabeth said with a wink. That plan had just so happened to involve Percy as bait and a distraction while Annabeth claimed Jason’s flag right from under his nose.

A walk through the strawberry fields in the afternoon had allowed Percy to bond with her camp friends. They all seemed to love him, and she did as well the more she got to know him. Percy was charming and funny and retorted back to her witty remarks with clever jibes at her that made her laugh. They hung back from the group on the walk and Percy told her about his mom, Sally, who raised him as a single parent and faithfully supported his acting career, and his stepdad Paul, who was an English teacher.

Annabeth justified it as informing Percy on the need-to-knows of being her fake boyfriend, but the sun and the smell of strawberries had her spilling tales of her stepmom and the rough years with her dad and the move from Virginia to San Francisco that made her summers at camp the best times of her childhood.

When they had returned from the strawberry fields, Jason and the groomsmen had invited Percy for a couple of beers down by the lake. Annabeth said goodbye to him with a kiss on the cheek to get ready for Piper’s bachelorette party.

That had been an hour or two ago before Annabeth had taken the best shower of her life, and washed away the grime and sweat of the day. It had been an amazing first day of Piper and Jason’s wedding weekend, participating in her favorite camp activities and getting to know Percy — bringing him as her date was a great idea from the looks of today.

Annabeth looked in the mirror hanging against the wall next to the door of Cabin 3 and adjust the bridesmaid sash over the short black dress she wore. Piper had no idea what was coming for her for her bachelorette party.

~

sorry for the long wait, hope you enjoyed xx

#mywriting #percabeth #fanfiction #the wedding date #percy jackson #annabeth chase #fake dating!au

[dotshiiki]

more angst fic

I am not done reacting. 

Spoilers, naturally. 

A Demigod’s Life | another thousand + words of angst and percabeth

(This is actually a pared down version of the initial percabeth reaction fic I wrote in the last two days, which is on Ao3 but I’m not comfortable putting adult content on places without an age filter, so, clean version here.)

Annabeth's hands shook as she hung up the phone. The cheer she'd tried to inject for her cousin's sake slid away like oil on water. As soon as she looked back at Percy's red-rimmed eyes and scrunched up face, she lost even the faint flicker of optimism Magnus's good news had brought. It was great that the world wasn't going to go up in Norse flames, but …

Maybe Magnus had saved the world, but it still felt like theirs had come grinding to a halt.

She went to Percy and put her head against his shoulder. His arms came around her automatically.

'He says your advice helped. He said to tell you he kept his …' Her voice died on the words butt clenched all the way.The joke fell flat as the memory of their first flight to New Rome on the Argo II crept up on her. Jason had been trying to explain legion formations to them, and Leo, ever the joker, had asked if they all had to walk like they had sticks up their butts, too.

'I do not walk like I have a stick up my butt,' Jason had protested.

Piper had laughed and kissed his cheek. 'Well, you do sort of clench when you're being all proper and stuff …'

Annabeth choked down a sob. Percy pulled her closer and buried his face in her hair. He might have been trying to comfort her, but from the way his arms trembled, she knew she was as much his lifeline as he was hers. When something like this happened, when the grief and guilt threatened to swallow you whole …

'It's my fault.' Percy's voice cracked on the last word.

'No,' she whispered. 'You know it isn't.'

'I—' He gave a harsh, humourless laugh. 'I'm supposed to be the one whose fatal flaw is loyalty. And I wasn't there. I didn't go.'

It wasn't so much loyalty, she thought, as it was his need to save everyone. His inability to step away had always been a struggle for him. And now that he'd finally started to conquer it, Jason had made the ultimate sacrifice … and Percy couldn't forgive himself for falling short.

'You can't always be the hero, Percy.'

'Too many times,' he said in a ragged voice. 'Too many times, someone else's taken the fall. First there was Bob and Damasen … and then we let Leo … and now …' He took a deep breath. 'Apollo came to me, Annabeth. He asked for myhelp. And I told him no quests. No saving the world.'

'You took him to camp. You did what you could.'

'I said no. But Jason didn't. And now he's …' He closed his eyes. 'I should have gone. I should have been the one to—if anyone had to die …'

'Don't say that!' Shards of ice pierced her skin, spilling cold fear into her veins. 'Don't ever say that.'

It was a fear that had always lain dormant in her mind. That this would be exactly how she would lose Percy one day—one heroic sacrifice. After all, he'd come so close so many times. In the Labyrinth. In Tartarus.

Annabeth had wanted so badly to move past that fear. In her hubris, she'd believed they'd done their part. They could go off to college in New Rome and be safe, normal. How could she have forgotten, even for a second, that a demigod's life was cursed a thousand times over by the Fates?

'Maybe if I'd been there …'

She cupped his face. 'I know you, Percy. If you had been there, it wouldn't be Jason in that coffin. It'd be you, and I couldn't … I can't even …' Her voice cracked. 'Maybe I'm selfish, and awful, because I can't help being so damn grateful that it wasn't you.'

She was shaking uncontrollably now, a tsunami of guilt and terror threatening to sweep her away. She couldn't deny that as devastating as it had been when Apollo had told them the story, a small part of her had thanked every god in the pantheon that of all the tragedies that could have happened … it wasn't Grover. It wasn't Piper.

It wasn't Percy.

What sort of person did that make her?

'You're not awful.' Percy pressed his nose to hers. His tears were falling fast again, mingling with hers on their cheeks. 'I couldn't lose you either.'

She wasn't sure if his mouth found hers, or if it was the other way round. Whichever it was, she breathed him in hungrily, needing absolution, needing succour, needing him. Their kiss was rough and desperate, almost violent as they searched for relief—a relief that wouldn't come, but they would try and extort from each other anyway. It was a shared outpouring of guilt and fear and grief, a maelstrom of emotions that would have eaten her alive if she tried to endure them alone.

Being with Percy was a single stitch holding together the ragged fabric of her heart.

And she could not forget that but for a twist of Fates' needles, she could be in Piper's position: broken and alone, holding the pieces of a shattered heart that would never fit back together.

They were demigods, after all. Life was fragile and temporary and you could not plan for it. You could not plan for loss. You could not plan for heartbreak.

You can't control every contingency, Piper had once told her. You have to accept that. Let it scare you. Trust that it'll be okay anyway.

Annabeth wondered if Piper still believed that after this.

Afterwards, as they held each other close, Percy traced a series of tally marks across her shoulder blades. She knew without asking that they were a running count of the friends they had lost over the years. Deaths they had moved on from, but which came back to haunt her now that another friend had joined the list, as if to remind her that there was no statue of limitations on grief.

'He saved my life, you know,' Percy said softly. 'At the bottom of the ocean, no less.'

'The thing with Kymopoleia?'

Percy's laugh was brittle, but less broken now. 'And I told him to keep the details to himself. Wish I'd let him make as much fun of me as he wanted.'

'He wouldn't have.' She sniffled. 'He was always so honourable.'

'So serious,' Percy agreed.

Her mind gave a crystal clear image of Jason with his glasses on, earnestly trying to explain Roman history to the Argo crew. He taught so much better than she did, with infinite patience and none of her exasperation.

'Professor Grace.' Her lips formed a trembling smile.

'The blond Superman.'

'Pontifex Maximus.' She thought of the rough sketches Meg McCaffrey had pressed into her hands. Jason's final legacy, entrusted to her.

Her eyes met Percy's and a terrifying but inescapable truth passed between them. 'We have to finish it. Everything he—everything he died for.'

Percy's jaw clenched. 'The emperors.'

It was time they joined the fight.

They weren't done saving the world. Maybe they never would be. But that was what being a demigod meant. Monsters—human or otherwise—never went away. All they could do was keep the evil at bay, the way Jason had, and Bob and Damasen, and Luke, and Beckendorf, and Silena, and so many others who had gone before them. Until their time was up, and they had no choice but to hand the sword over to someone else to carry on the fight.

All she could do was live with the fear and the pain and the heartbreak, and keep fighting anyway. Trust that it'll be okay.

And if it wasn't …

Then Annabeth just prayed to every god there was out there—Greek, Norse, Egyptian, she didn't care which—that if the time ever came for Percy to be the hero, she would fall with him.

As long as they were together.

A/N: Jason's death in The Burning Maze raised quite a bit of guilt in that I actually felt relief about it before sadness that we'd lost this good, heroic character. I needed to express this somehow, and I guess my girl Annabeth gets to be the one helping me give voice to those feelings. And it ended up being this fic. So that being what it is, I don't know if this is all that great a piece of writing. But perhaps some of you can relate.

#percy jackson fanfic #tbm spoilers #tbm fanfic #the burning maze #percabeth #percy jackson #annabeth chase #angst

[constantlywaiting]

for auld lang syne

percy jackson fic debut! I figured I’d have to post eventually. shoutout to @annabethlancaster22 for not laughing and @bananannabeth, since I practically studied her format and writing style to learn how to write fanfic, and she’s basically my inspiration. here goes nothing!!!

“Are you just going to sit here all night?”

Percy takes another slow swig of his beer from his spot on the couch and raises his eyes to meet Piper’s. “You know of anything better to do?” “For Christ’s sakes Percy, liven up a little- it’s a party,” she says, her hand on her hip.

A pretty crappy party at that, in Percy’s opinion. The flat is full of college freshmen who are too loud and too drunk and way too promiscuous- he can’t even get up for a drink without being surrounded by handsy eighteen year olds looking for his phone number and a New Year’s kiss.

He’d left Leo on the dance floor- the DJ was playing a resoundingly five-dollars-an-hour set list of hits from 2002- and retreated to the dimly lit living room, where two guys were discussing football fixtures, and a young couple was making out in front of a small television showing live footage from Times Square.

“I think I’ll just chill out over here,” he says, as Piper rolls her eyes and heads off to find Jason. 

The two guys are still talking about football, but the couple have managed to break loose of one another for just about long enough to go dancing. It’s way too stuffy in the room, and Percy is just about to get up and find some fresh air when somebody flops down onto the sofa beside him.

Annabeth sinks back into the cushions, pushing her mussed hair up off her sweaty forehead- she’s clearly been dancing- and Percy is ridiculously aware of the very limited space between her thigh and his. Out of breath, she sighs dramatically and turns to face him.

“Remind me again why we’re not in a bar downtown?”

“We promised Nico we’d come to his new boyfriend’s party,” Percy answers, glancing through the doorway to where Will Solace stands chatting to a girl with fiery red hair, one arm slung casually around Nico, who looks unusually cheerful.

“Oh yeah,” Annabeth mumbles, sounding newly dejected. Her white shirt rides up her stomach a little as she leans back in her seat, and Percy swallows hard.

He doesn’t know exactly when he fell in love with her, but he remembers the moment he realised it as though it were yesterday. They were sitting on the beach in Montauk during spring break of senior year, just the two of them and their old friend Grover, and she had grains of sand stuck to her ankles and sea salt gathering at her eyebrows and hairline, and the sun was beating down and turning her hair to spun gold. She reached up to release it from her barrette, and that was it. Lightning strike. All his pining, blushing, hopeless daydreaming and awkward flirting, all his inching away and inching closer, all Piper’s sly smirks and winks and entirely unhelpful comments stem from that one moment with her hair clip. 

He’s been utterly fucked ever since.

He doesn���t realise he’s been staring at her midriff until she leans forward suddenly and sits up straight.

“I’m not drunk enough,” she announces, and gestures towards his beer. “Can I have some of that?”

He’s about to argue that the slight slur in her voice, her previous position on the couch- Annabeth rarely slouches- and the acute flush in her cheeks indicate that she’s already had plenty to drink, but she leans over and plucks the bottle from his hand before he has the chance and takes a long swallow.

“You know, I really hate New Year’s,” she declares after she comes back up for air.

“Oh yeah? Why’s that?” he asks, somewhat disinterestedly- she is drunk, after all, and not at her most eloquent- as he delicately takes the bottle from her hand and places it on the coffee table, well out of her reach.

“People are just so full of shit, you know?” she continues. “Everyone thinks they’re going to be so good, and accomplish everything they hoped to in the new year. But nobody ever tries past January. People rarely work for the things they want, and then they have the nerve to be disappointed when they don’t get them. It’s so fucking stupid. Bugs me to shit”.

Percy pauses for a long while. He’s not sure what he expected her to say, but it certainly wasn’t that. He contemplates his answer, rather unsuccessfully, but in the end it doesn’t matter- their conversation is interrupted.

“Hey there, Kelp Head. Long time, no see,” his cousin Thalia says with a grin. He stands up to hug her, and she greets Annabeth in turn, asking her how she’s finding the final year of university.

Annabeth starts off on a rant about exam format, but Percy isn’t really listening. He’s too busy thinking about what she mentioned earlier, about people never working for the things they want to happen. He’s pretty sure if he asked her now she wouldn’t even remember what she’d said, but he can’t help feeling like it’s the truth. His truth.

By the time he’s snapped back to reality the room has filled with people waiting for the countdown, and Piper has appeared at his side, Jason standing behind her with a hand resting on her shoulder. She digs Percy in the ribs and grins.

“Glad to see you’re standing up,” she jokes. 

He glances at the clock on the TV- twenty seconds until midnight. Annabeth links his opposite arm with hers and begins counting down with the others.

Percy’s thoughts race at a million miles an hour. He’s liked Annabeth, loved her, even, since the end of high school. That’s- what- three, four years? And in all that time he’s never made a single move that might lead her to believe he had feelings for her. Not one gesture to suggest he could be thinking of her in a more than platonic way.

“10, 9…”

Maybe he’s only thinking like this because he’s drunk. But she’s drunk too. If he goes for it, she might not even remember. It’s not exactly security, but it’s something. If it backfires he could always pretend that he was too drunk to remember.

“6, 5…”

It’s New Year’s Eve, so it’s not like it would ruin their friendship or anything, right? Would it?

“3, 2…”

Fuck it, he decides, and as the ball drops and the clock strikes midnight, he catches her by the waist and kisses her like he’s been dying to do since he was seventeen years old. 

Her lips are soft and her mouth is sweet and her eyelashes brush the top of his cheekbones. 

It’s over almost as quickly as it started, but when he pulls away Annabeth’s eyes are wide and her jaw is slack. She looks like someone’s dumped ice water over her head, wide awake and stone cold sober, and Percy is so horrified by her expression that he turns to grab Piper and kiss her too in an attempt to pass it off as a totally shit-faced friendship thing.

Before he can, however, Annabeth snatches the back of his t-shirt and swings him around to her, burying her fingers in his hair and pulling him back to her mouth.

He doesn’t quite realise the gravity of the situation until the next morning when he wakes up in her bed, her bare body pressed against his, where she shoots him a little smile and causes all the wires in his brain to short circuit as she tells him that maybe, just maybe, New Year’s isn’t so bad after all.

(And when she leans across to kiss him, he doesn’t need to open his eyes to see the fireworks).

yaaay happy new year everyone! feedback/constructive criticism is much appreciated :))

#percabeth au #new years #pjo #hoo #percabeth #pjo fanfiction #percabeth fanfiction #pipercy friendship #a little bit #i dont know if people say bugs me to shit outside of ireland #maybe itll catch on #happy new year #2018

[m4gp13]

I love most of the HOO characters but HOO would have been so much better if we got to see it through the eyes of characters we already knew.

We should have had one of the Stoll's, preferably Travis because he's older (I think), and he would have to deal with the repercussions of one of the titan army's most notorious demigod leaders being his brother and the conflicted feelings that would come with all that happened at the end of the war. There would have probably been a lot of distrust surrounding the Hermes cabin even after things had settled down. Travis would have been struggling with leading his cabin through new times, the pain of his brother's betrayal and the distrust of camp as well as being away from his brother for a prolonged amount of time probably for the first time ever.

Clarisse also should have been on the quest. She was probably guilty about all the deaths that occurred while she and the Ares cabin stayed at camp and also she just fascinates me. I want to see her perspective on things for more than maybe a couple chapters in SoM. She probably would have taken charge of the quest and tried her best to fill in the role of a leader in spite of everything going on like her dad. If Ares and Mars were warring in Frank's head they would have been doing the same in hers and we know from SoM that she's likely had scary and bad experiences with him before.

Also, Silena and Ethan shouldn't have died and instead been on the quest. The conflicting of knowing they were right and following the only person they thought could help them when they were just being used to further a goal that they didn't sign up for would have been interesting to explore. In HOO we are shown that the gods didn't keep their promise and that would have been gut-wrenching for the two of them and all the other TA demigods that joined CHB. They would have to force themselves to pick the better of two evils and deal with the hatred they'd undoubtedly receive due to their role in the first war and I want to see that concept explored. Also, how hard would it have been to just let them survive their injuries? Disabled people are right there and it would not have been difficult to ask someone about how to accurately depict the disabilities their injuries would have resulted in.

Between PJO and HOO Rick should have focused on the Romans and given them a series of their own before putting them up beside the Greeks. Even just a trilogy would have helped them a ton. We could have had any number of Romans on the Argo 2 that we actually care about instead of some kids we literally just met and are being asked to put them beside a guy we've been reading about for quite literally several years. I adore Frank and Hazel but Rick really shot himself in the foot with them. I want to know what NR was like before Percy showed up. I would have loved to see Hazel trying to figure out the modern world and NR's weird mix of modern and ancient. I would have loved to see Frank trying to adapt from his normal childhood up to his teens to being a child soldier in a war-torn world he knows nothing of. I would have loved to see stories from Reyna, Gwen, Dakota, Octavian, Jason, any of the Romans but Rick rushed himself and didn't give us a chance to connect with the Romans like we did with the Greeks and that made HOO an inherently weaker series.

There are a million other things I could say about this but that's a post for another day. Oidhche mhath.

#I like piper and leo as well but even they fell flat for me #they're all good characters dammit! #I just wish we had more time with them #I want to know the HOO characters as much as I know the PJO ones #but rick just rushed himself to get HOO out and the story rolling without pausing for breath #or letting his readers take a breather #and that directly works against my ability to enjoy the series as much as I did PJO #there are a ton of other issues as well #but that one just jumps out at me #pjo #hoo #percy jackson #heroes of olympus #travis stoll #clarisse la rue #silena beauregard #ethan nakamura #hazel levesque #frank zhang

[bananannabeth]

A Very Merry Christmas Party

This has been sitting in my drafts for - no exaggeration - three effing years. Honestly what. Am I doing. 

Anyway it’s about time it saw the light of your dashboards, so here, have this unfinished Christmas themed Percabeth AU where they both work at Disney world.

Piper idly flipped her blue ID between her fingers as they walked through the tunnels under Magic Kingdom. “Do you think they’ll give us free cookies? They’ve got truckloads of them, right? Literal truckloads. Surely they can spare some for Cast Members.”

Annabeth shrugged. “I’d love to say yes, but it depends on who’s the Captain.”

“Chiron will give us cookies.”

“Chiron will definitely give us cookies.” Annabeth tried to remember if her favourite Captain had already told her where he’d been scheduled for this Christmas party. She couldn’t recall them discussing it, but she hoped that he’d be at the dance party with her and Piper.

“Reyna might,” Piper said as they joined the line of people checking in at base, which snaked around the corner and down the tunnel. 

Christmas party nights were always busy, so there were people running around everywhere. Princesses walked by, wearing sweatpants and talking on their phones. People who usually didn’t work at Magic Kingdom but had picked up shifts to hand out cookies milled along the edges of the tunnels, waiting for someone to tell them where to go. The Christmas decorations stuck all over the walls and dangling from the ceiling made the place feel more claustrophobic than usual, even without the crowds of cast members.

“She probably won’t blatantly say we’re allowed them, but she’ll leave a pile of them in the break room and give us all knowing looks as she exits,” Annabeth said, brushing against a paper snowflake stapled to the wall and almost knocking it loose. 

Piper laughed as she quickly pressed it flat again. “Yeah, probably.”

Base was crowded, but Annabeth was a seasoned pro and moved through the throngs of people with ease. She’d been a Character Attendant for almost a year now, and she knew the drill for these parties. Clock in, check in, get your piece of paper with all the special instructions for the night, get your radio and go. She’d collected everything and was just about to leave when a commotion came from the check in windows.

A guy - a character performer, judging from his uniform grey sweatpants and barcoded t-shirt - had knocked over the snowman prop in the corner of the tiny hall. The sound of the plastic globes clattering together echoed through the base, and everyone fell silent. He flailed, managed to catch the prop before it hit the ground, and carefully set it upright. He smiled, obviously pleased with himself, and looked up to see who’d witnessed his faux pa. The entire room had seen it, of course, but out of everyone there he locked eyes with Annabeth.

He was incredibly handsome. Dark hair, green eyes, tan skin and a lean, muscular build. Not many people could make those grey t-shirts look flattering, but he managed it. The longer Annabeth held his gaze the hotter she could feel her cheeks getting. 

The moment was only broken when one of the Captains yelled out, “Percy, you’re late! Again!”

He - Percy - finally looked away from Annabeth. She breathed out as he turned his charming grin to the bearded man standing in the doorway. “Sorry Chiron! Totally not my fault this time, I had to catch the bus -”

“A lot of people have to catch the bus, Percy, and they all manage to make it here on time.” 

“Yeah, well.” Percy shrugged, apparently unable to come up with a suitable retort. “I’m here now.”

Chiron sighed, and Annabeth started when Piper grabbed her elbow. “You good to go?” she said, nodding towards the exit.

Annabeth threw one last look over her shoulder at Percy as they left, but he was busy throwing an exercise ball at Jason, one of the other performers, and didn’t notice her staring. She didn’t know if she should be disappointed or relieved by that.

“Who’s that guy with Jason?” Piper asked as they meandered down one of the much quieter hallways.

“I was hoping you’d know... Chiron called him Percy.” Annabeth glanced at her friend, gauging her reaction, before casually adding, “He was pretty good looking.”

Piper smirked. “Was he? I didn’t notice.”

“Only because you were too busy staring at Jason.” 

Piper elbowed her in the side. Annabeth shoved back, and they continued their tousle all the way to the break room. The dance party was being held in The Golden Horseshoe, which was normally used for actual stage shows, so this break room was one of the few actually set up like a proper dressing room.

Annabeth’s friend Grover was already there when they arrived, admiring himself in one of the dressing table mirrors. From the waist up he looked perfectly normal, wearing the regulation grey t-shirt, but from the waist down he was wearing the black tights and furry shorts of a character.

“Nice look,” Annabeth said in greeting. “Who are you hanging out with tonight?”

He sighed and patted the heavy shorts. “Horace Horsecollar.”

Piper scrunched up her nose. “Who’s that?”

“No one knows him!” Grover wailed. “He was in the old shorts, back when Mickey was first made - but that’s not the point! The point is I’m going to spend the whole night hearing people call me Goofy’s ugly cousin or something.”

Annabeth snorted. “Yeah, probably.”

“So comforting, Annabeth, thank you.” Grover huffed.

She was just about to ask him if he’d feel any better if she could get him some cookies when the rest of their team walked in. The other attendant was a small girl named Hazel, who neither Piper or Annabeth had worked with before, but who was the epitome of lovely from the moment she said hello. The other performers were Jason (Piper’s eyes lit up the moment he walked in), a big guy named Frank, and Leo.

“Keep an eye on him,” Reyna said, glaring at Leo as he struggled to get into his costume. Hazel hurried over to help him. “Last time he did a dance party Max Goof started grinding.”

“You cannot prove that,” Leo said, but his eyes were glinting wickedly.

Jason laughed. “Dude, it’s all over Youtube.”

“No date stamp on the video, no proof,” Leo argued.

Reyna scowled. “Annabeth, I’m counting on you. I’ve got to look after this and the Frontierland characters, so I need you to make sure everyone runs to schedule.”

“Will do,” Annabeth assured her.

Reyna almost smiled as she turned to leave. 

Annabeth kept things running smoothly for the first three rotations. Everyone got their breaks exactly when they were supposed to, no characters got bombarded by guests demanding photos, and when Frank’s shoe overlay started to un-velcro she managed to stealthily reattach it before anyone noticed, including Frank. 

The smoke machine was on, the lights were flashing, the DJ was actually playing pretty good music and her best friend was beaming beside her. Annabeth was having a pretty good night. Piper bopped along to the music, grinning toothily as she watched Jason dance with a family decked out in Christmas clothes.

“This is a good shift,” she said, leaning over to talk into Annabeth’s ear. “We’re pretty much getting paid to dance.”

“And make sure they get off stage on time.” Annabeth checked her watch. “Have you given the five minute warnings?”

Piper nodded. “All done. When’s your break?”

“Now, but I’m just gonna go off with them.”

“Annabeth! What are you doing? Go sit down,” Piper scolded. When she opened her mouth to protest, Piper raised a finger in warning. “I will tell Reyna, and you know she won’t like that. Hazel and I have got this, go.”

Reluctantly, Annabeth slipped out a side door and into the quiet hallway that led to the break room. The grey concrete was a startling contrast to the Western-meets-Disco get up going on out there, and she smiled in the comparative quiet.

But then she almost ran into someone, and her smile fell away.

“Whoa!” the guy said, throwing his hands up. “Sorry, didn’t mean to run into you. Just didn’t want to be late. Again.”

Annabeth’s breath caught in her throat. It was Percy, but he’d changed into the khaki shorts and bright blue shirt of a character attendant. The colour made his eyes look even more vibrant.

“Why have they sent us another attendant?” she asked, skipping the pleasantries out of shock.

He didn’t seem offended, shrugging. “I’m a spare. They had nowhere else to put me.”

“Oh.” Annabeth blinked at him. His eyes were really bright. “Well, um, I’m just going on break, but you can... go in and just keep an eye on things, I guess?”

“Yeah, cool,” he said, smiling. “I’ll see you back in there.”

Annabeth nodded, slipping around him and disappearing into the break room to eat some of the cookies Reyna had left on the table for them.

When she got back out to the dance floor, she saw a crowd gathered in the centre of the room. She stood on the tips of her toes to see what had caught everyone’s attention. All of the characters were standing in a circle, while Grover - Horace Horsecollar - danced around in the middle. Percy and Piper were standing on either side of the circle, cheering him on.

“Let’s give it up for Horace!” the DJ announced, and the crowd of guests cheered and clapped.

Annabeth sidled up to Piper. “What’s going on?”

“No one knew who Horace was,” Piper snorted, “So Percy decided to get him to show the guests what he could do.”

Annabeth leant forward to peer at Percy, who immediately caught her eye and grinned. 

She found herself suddenly grateful that Base had sent him to them.

#can you pinpoint the moment where i lost all motivation #if someone wants to like #take this idea and run with it/continue it #feel free #just tag me in it so i can read it #i'd like to say i could finish it but #like i said its been in my draft for THREE YEARS so im giving up #percabeth #percabeth au #disney parks au #mine #why do you write like you're running out of time? #pjo #pjo au

[jpllotteringwholocked2210]

My first fanfic Pt. 3

Hi guys!! Firstly, I want to say SORRY for not uploading this sooner - I said it would be up soon and then waited THREE MONTHS :((( I am so sorry!!! But please still read it!! I’ll put the whole thing up as usual so you don’t have to scroll through old posts to find Pt. 1 and 2...! <3 Sorry guys!! Hope you like it...

THE LAST THOUGHT.

 Will Solace woke with a start. Loud bangs were coming from his neighbour’s room again. He rolled over and peeked at his phone to check the time.

03:47.

What. The. Fuck.

Will groaned, hoping to god that they would stop moving and making such a racket soon, and he nestled his face back into his bright blue pillow decorated with suns. He exhaled, his blond curls drifting over his freckled forehead.

Bang. Bang. BANG.

Oh, for fuck’s sake, Will thought. 

He had no idea what these noises were, but they had been happening for days now, ever since his new neighbour moved in.

He didn’t usually get annoyed, but it was all he could do to not scream at the wall in frustration. He hadn’t even met his new neighbour, as they seemed to never exit their apartment.  Obviously still alive though, with all this noise. Will frowned, and wriggled further down his bed.

At first, he had hoped his new neighbour would be cute and funny and friendly (and, as Leo wouldn’t stop reminding him, “maybe even boyfriend material, amigo!”), but no such luck. He didn’t even know what gender his neighbour was, and after all this racket, he didn’t care if they were the sexiest man alive.

BANG.

Staring at his ceiling and cursing silently, he resolved to knock on their door tomorrow and sort this out…

***

Beep. Beep. Beep. BEEP. BEEP. BE-

“Ugh.”

Nico di Angelo smacked his alarm clock, swiping at his bedside table, and threw his black duvet over his head, grumbling about the loud noises he heard last night at an ungodly time that morning.

Nico only moved in a few days ago, but he didn’t want to make any effort to get to know his neighbours despite his half-sister Hazel’s insistence that he should “at least try to pretend he had friends and a bit of a life”. Although that made Hazel sound harsh, she was a lovely person and an even better sister, and she really cared for Nico, which is more than Nico could say of anyone else. Besides, she had a point. Nico had never really made an effort with people, mostly because he was terrified of what they’d think of him.

“Weirdo.” “He’s not normal.” “Bell-end.”

Nico buried his face in his mattress, curling up in a foetal position whilst trying to forget the high-school dicks that took great pleasure in tormenting him. High-school had ended a year ago. He was nineteen. He should be over this.

He wasn’t.

Nico looked at his alarm clock.

07:35.

He didn’t have to get up for anything, but getting up made him feel as if he had some sort of purpose in life, even if he just went back to sleep later. He sighed and got up slowly, rubbing his eyes and running a hand through his dark tousled hair.

“You’ve got to stop doing that, you’ll go bald Neeks!!” His sister’s voice echoed in his head.  9 years, and Bianca’s voice was still in his head.

 He pushed a button on his De Longhi coffee machine and made himself an espresso. Hazel had referred to his new coffee machine as his “pride and joy” (which, Nico thought, was quite accurate as he was pretty sure his body was 90% coffee beans). He slumped onto his black leather armchair that his millionaire father had “generously” deigned to give him, coffee in hand, and thought about the sleep he’d missed. Whatever Hazel said, after these annoying banging noises, Nico was even more certain he never wanted to get to know his stupid neighbour.

***

When Will woke up to his alarm, he felt as if he’d only been sleeping for a second since he’d been disturbed earlier.

“Bloody new neighbour with their bloody nocturnal habits…”

Will looked at his phone, and cursed when he read the text that his friend Piper had sent him.

“WILL I AM TOTALLY SCREWED FOR TODAY. SERIOUSLY.”

“Shit. Shit. Fuck. Shit.” Will groaned and put his palms to his forehead in annoyance. They had a test today that he had completely and utterly forgotten about. 

Med school was turning out to be way harder than he thought.  Not that he expected it to be easy, exactly, but the tests every week were even starting to wear him down, and he was definitely the most upbeat person there.

He got out of bed and ruffled his hair, pulling up his pyjama trousers so he didn’t trip over the bottom of them, and shuffled into the kitchen area of his flat.

Oh no.

Will looked around at his flat and wrinkled his nose. Pizza boxes and beer bottles covered the floor from last night. Why had he allowed Leo to come over?! It always ended like this, and Leo never ever helped tidy up. For one person, Leo not only ate like a horse, but also made so much mess it looked like a hippo had rampaged through the room.

Will sighed and rubbed his forehead. He was already running a little late and couldn’t afford to clean all this up now, so instead of sorting it out, he wandered to the fridge, pulled out a yoghurt and sat down. His phone buzzed.

“WILL I SWEAR TO ALL THE GODS I CAN’T DO THIS TODAY.”

Will wasn’t worried. Piper said this every morning there was a test and somehow managed to get above 80% every time. People usually would find this annoying. But Will chuckled. He loved Piper, as she was the only other med student who, when faced with Will’s bright clothing and incessant smile, grinned just as widely and said “I like you!”. Naturally, people thought they were going out, but Will didn’t mind it. It was better than having to openly admit the truth.

“You are not allowed to like boys, William. It is not normal.”

His mother’s voice echoed in his head.

At least with Piper herself, Will didn’t have to pretend. Piper knew straight away that Will was gay, and that didn’t bother her at all. In fact, she made it her mission to point out all the men she thought “worthy”. Once, Piper walked up to a guy in their class, and pointed in his face, wiggling her eyebrows at Will. Of course, at the time, Will was so embarrassed, he went tomato-red, but now Will giggled and blushed slightly at the memory. He really did love Piper.

He checked the time again.

08:05.

He suddenly remembered his resolution to confront his new neighbour.

Maybe that can wait till tomorrow…? Will mused, not really desiring any sort of conflict. Or maybe just after class… He decided to wait until later to choose.

He tugged at a strand of hair that fell in front of his blue eyes, wrestling with the possibility of calling in sick to avoid the test. But, as usual, Will felt guilty at even the thought of that, and so texted Piper to say he was on his way, and went back to his bedroom to get dressed.

Okay… he thought, as he left the apartment. Time to face the music.

***

Nico heard a bang as his neighbour left their apartment. He guessed they were quite clumsy, because every single morning he heard a thud as they closed their door, occasionally accompanied by an “Ow!”. Nico rolled his eyes and sighed. Clearly, this neighbour was deaf or something, especially considering all the loud noises that had been emanating from the flat next door. 

Nico put his coffee mug down on the ridiculously expensive black marble coffee table, (another “present” from his father) stretched in his armchair and dropped his head back, glaring at the ceiling. 

 Wasn’t the whole point of not being in school so that I could restart my life? Find a hobby? A career? A friend…? 

 Nico sighed and rubbed his eyes. A friend was the least likely of the three he would ever have. He never had got along with people. People didn’t get along with me, he thought. Not since Bianca died…  Nico breathed deeply. He really missed her. He missed her ability to cheer him up with only a look, the constant glint in her eye, her laugh, her energy, her voice…

Great. Wallowing in self-pity. Nice. 

A faint buzz interrupted his sombre thoughts.  Nico forced himself to stand up, glancing at his mobile phone that he’d chucked on the kitchen worktop. 

Neeks. Emergency with Dad. Hazel xx

 Ugh. Leave it to our father to screw things up.

 Be right there N x

 Nico picked up his keys and was about to step out of the door when he looked down and realised he was still wearing his novelty Darth Vader pyjamas that Hazel had given him as a joke. Nico smirked despite himself, and went back to his room to quickly pull on black jeans and his ACDC t-shirt. Hazel called this his “rock-emo look”, but Nico had always felt black was his colour. 

 Yet another thing people at school took the piss out of me for.

 He tugged his trainers on, grabbed his leather jacket and stepped out the door, raising his eyebrow at a mound of miscellaneous cardboard that resembled…pizza boxes?…outside his neighbour’s door. 

 Typical, he thought, turning his back on the curious disorganised lump and striding through the corridor to the outside world. 

***

Well, that was awful. 

Will ran his hand through his hair, frowning at the space where his test had been. He sighed, and looked over at Piper who was grinning at him, mouthing “THAT WAS NOT TOO BAD”, and he made an extreme pouty grumpy face to show her that he did not feel the same. Piper winked at him and stuck her tongue out, her hazel eyes shining. 

Will sulked, wrinkling his nose and scrunching his eyebrows together, but couldn’t hold back a snort of laughter when Piper stood up and melodramatically blew him a kiss. Piper tossed her braided hair over her shoulder and winked again, giggling at Will as he struggled to keep a straight face. Will really loved her to bits. 

“Why the looooong face, Will?” 

Will looked up from his seat and met Piper’s inquiring eyes, and shrugged his shoulders. “Pipes, the test was so bad. I don’t even know if I answered half of the questions in comprehensible English!”

Piper tilted her head to one side, her choppy fringe drifting across her forehead, and put her hand on his shoulder. “Oh, I’m sure it wasn’t as bad as you thought it was!” She grinned and ducked to catch Will’s eye, and he smirked back, standing up to sling his rucksack over his shoulder. They walked for a minute or so in silence. Will was still worrying about the test, and Piper wasn’t sure whether she should interrupt his thoughts. They stopped outside their classroom and Piper checked her phone.

“Ooh we’ve still got ten minutes! Shall we just stay here?” Will nodded, but stayed quiet.  Piper frowned, but then her face lit up with a wide smile. “I have something for you!” 

Will frowned at Piper. “Ummm Pipes, last time you said that, you introduced me to Leo. I don’t need to remind you how well that turned out.”

“Oh Will, don’t be so dramatic, you love Leo now!”

 “Yeah I do”, Will admitted, “but not in the way you hoped!”

Piper chuckled, and pulled something that resembled a fur-ball out of her tote bag. “Here.” She pressed it into his hand. 

“Pipes…why have you given me a dead rat?” 

“It is not a dead rat! Jeez, Will. Is this the thanks I get for giving you a lucky rabbit’s foot?”

“A what?!” Will dropped it, squeaking and wrinkling his freckled nose in disgust. Piper picked it up again, putting a hand on her hip and waving the foot at Will.

“A lucky rabbit’s foot. According to mum, it’s meant to bring you all the luck you need!” 

Will looked at the strange object, slightly freaked out by the idea of it having belonged to a real animal. “Well if it was so lucky, you could’ve given it to me before the stupid test then…” Will grumbled, gingerly taking the foot and stuffing it in his jeans pocket. 

“Will, why are you being such a grump today?” Piper pouted, furrowing her eyebrows. 

Will looked at her and sighed, feeling guilty. “Sorry Pipes, I just didn’t get a good night’s sleep. It’s this neighbour! They don’t seem to understand that 4am is not an appropriate time to refurbish their flat!”

Piper studied Will’s face for a second, before bursting out laughing. Will felt his face grow hot, and was slightly confused at Piper’s reaction. 

“What?! Pipes this isn’t funny! It is so annoying and I can���t get any sleep and it’s endless and- PIPER!”

Piper was crying with laughter, doubled over and cackling loudly. “I’m sorry Will, it’s just, your face, and you looked…so furious” Piper wheezed, and Will stood opposite her looking disapprovingly. Piper was just standing there, guffawing in the middle of the corridor.  

“Are you quite finished?” Will crossed his arms, attempting to look annoyed, but really just smiling along with her. 

Piper had tears streaming down her face, and was laughing so hard that she was spluttering, and she started coughing loudly. 

“Oh god, Pipes! Are you okay?!”

Piper just nodded and giggled, and Will rolled his eyes at his friend. 

“Pipes, you are certifiably insane.”

“I’m not the one who sounds like a grandpa at the age of 19!”

Will chuckled, and just as he did so, the bell rang to signal the start of class. Ugh, Will thought. More brain-work. 

As they wandered into the classroom, Piper mused “So…Will…this neighbour…are they cute?”. Will turned around to Piper winking, with a mischievous glint in her eye, and he rolled his eyes for the second time in five minutes.

Yet, as Will sat down and pulled out his books from his bag, he found himself thinking… what if they are…? 

***

Slipping his motorbike keys into his pocket, Nico knocked on Hazel's door. He hadn't noticed his father's black Mercedes S-class outside, which was confusing, as Hazel had clearly mentioned trouble with their father. Nico figured that, in usual crap father-style, he had left after upsetting Hazel.

 Probably without even apologising or realising he had upset her. That would be classic oblivious and uncaring dad.

 Nico sighed, knocking again on Hazel's golden door of her flat. Nico remembered the day she picked that colour. He had thought then that it was absolutely ridiculous to have a golden door, but Hazel's heart was set on it. And when that happens, I know to let her have it.

 "Hey, Neeks!!"

 Nico flinched at Hazel's bright, unwavering smile and her diamanté-studded top. She leapt onto him, giving him a huge hug, and he smelt her coconut shampoo in her caramel corkscrew-curls as she buried her face into his chest.

 He couldn't help but smile as his sister stepped away and, with a little faux curtsey, waved him into her apartment.

 "Coffee?" Hazel sweetly smiled, and gestured to the coffee machine.

 Nico chuckled softly. "Go on, then."

 Hazel beamed, and walked towards the marble countertop in her kitchen.

 Nico was almost grinning too until he remembered why he had come in the first place.

 Dad.

 Nico took a deep breath and looked at Hazel, rubbing his arm in nervousness. "So...what happened...?" Nico studied Hazel's face. She still seemed surprisingly cheerful.

 "What happened when, Neeks?"

 "Um...wi-with dad?" Nico frowned, confused and concerned that Hazel was showing no signs of worry or distress. "As in, when he came over...what did he say?"

 Hazel wrinkled her nose, pouring some coffee beans into the coffee machine. "...hm?"

 "Hazel. You texted me?!" Nico exclaimed, now even more confused than ever.

 “Oh, aha I did, didn’t I?”

 “…Hazel…?!” Nico’s eyes narrowed, impatient for an explanation.

 “Ummm…” Hazel looked at the ground. “I lied.”

 “What do you mean? Why…?” Nico scanned her face, attempting to detect any slight hint of an explanation.

 “I wanted to ask you something…kinda…important…and wanted to, well, make sure you came over…” Hazel mumbled.

 Nico felt guilty as he saw his sister shift, seemingly uncomfortable, tugging on a curl.  

 “Hey…”, Nico stepped towards Hazel and rubbed her arm. “I’ll be here for you whenever, you know that.” Nico frowned, worried, and nudged Hazel’s arm, as if supplicating an explanation.

 Hazel took a deep breath, and nibbled on her bottom lip.

 “Well…basically…there’s this…ummmm…” Hazel blushed slightly.

 “Yes…?”

 “Guy.” Hazel squeaked out, looking everywhere but at Nico.

 Nico’s eyes widened and his eyebrows almost shot upwards and off his face. He looked at Hazel, and she met his gaze with worried eyes. Then, Nico snorted.

 “What…?! Neeks!! What is it?!”

 Nico doubled over laughing, wheezing slightly. Any semblance of a ‘bad boy’ persona had evaporated as Nico started crying with laughter, shaking slightly as he spluttered:

 “Nothing…aha…nothing! Just – Well I – I thought you were about to tell me something awful! Not that you liked a boy!”

 Hazel punched Nico in the arm. “This is serious!!” she exclaimed, with a fiery look in her eyes.

 Nico looked at his sister, attempting to keep a straight face. “Alright, alright! I’m – aha – I’m sorry!”

 Hazel blushed furiously, turning her back on Nico. “Here’s your coffee.” She said, plonking it down on the kitchen surface in front of him.

 “Hey, Hazel…I think it’s great you have found someone. Really.” Nico smiled at her. “What’s his name?”

 “Frank.” Hazel grumpily supplied.

 Nico tried to suppress another chuckle that almost forced its way out of his mouth. He coughed, “Ah, how do you know him?”

 “School. He’s in my Art History class.”

 “Great! I know how much you love that.” Nico smirked. “…He isn’t the reason you’ve been gushing about those classes is he…?”

 Hazel narrowed her eyes, lightly punching Nico’s arm again. “Shut up! No, he is not!!”

 Nico snickered, and this time Hazel couldn’t help herself either. She giggled and gave Nico a hug, and Nico wrapped his arms around her, giving her a little squeeze and resting his head on the top of her caramel curls.

 “Honestly Hazel, I’m so happy for you.” Nico stepped away, grinning again. “So…when can I meet this Frank?”

 “Neeks! It is not anywhere near serious! And you are not scaring him off, okay?!”

 Nico raised his hands in surrender. “No of course not!” He smirked. “Just need to make sure he’s good enough for my little sis.”

 “Hmmm...” Hazel raised an eyebrow. “How about…no?”

 “Awww come on Hazel, I’m intrigued now!” Nico smirked again.

 “Not now!” Hazel narrowed her eyes cunningly. “Anyway, what about you?! Is there anyone for you, big bro?”

 Nico just rolled his eyes and shrugged.

 Yeah right, as if there would ever be anyone who would like me.

 ***

 Will pushed his shoulder into his door, turning the key. He threw his bag on the floor and slumped into a chair at the kitchen table, resting his hands on his temples.

 “Ughhh…” Will groaned. That last class had been hell. Will had been completely lost from start to finish, and he got a headache in the last 20 minutes that had made it even more impossible to concentrate.

 His phone buzzed, and Will glanced at it, still cradling his temples.

 “Hey amigo, you still up for the party tonight?”

 Shit.

 Will had forgotten that Leo had invited him to a college party, and if he was brutally honest, he really did not want to go. But, he also didn’t want to let Leo down.

 He started typing:

 “Hi bro, yeah I would love to!”

 Then he remembered the last time he went to one of Leo’s college parties. Will had been left all alone within 5 minutes of him arriving because Leo had found some poor girl to spend the night with, and Will ended up sitting on a sofa with two other guys who kept asking him whether he’d be up for a threesome.

 Ugh.

 “Actually, I’m sorry bro, I’m not feeling too well. Hope you have fun!”

 Will sent it, relieved that he had made the decision not to go, and slipped his phone back into his pocket. He stood up, sighing, and thought of the sleep he had lost the previous night. Will then remembered he still had to confront his neighbour about that.

 Maybe some other time…

 He picked up his bag and made his way towards his bedroom, collapsing on his bed with his bag under him and his shoes still on.

 Knock. Knock. Knock.  

 Will frowned into his pillow. Surely that wasn’t someone knocking on his door? He had already told Leo he couldn’t go this evening, and he wasn’t expecting Piper.

 KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

 This time Will couldn’t pretend it wasn’t for him. He scrambled to his feet, shuffling out of his bedroom. He opened his door.

 Wow.

 Will was greeted by, put quite simply, the most beautiful man he had ever seen. He had thick, wavy, jet-black hair, gently parted at the side, and was wearing a leather jacket that hugged his shoulders and arms. His skinny black jeans accentuated his muscular yet lean physique, and Will’s eyes widened as he noticed a strip of skin peeking out between his ACDC t-shirt and the waistband of his jeans. Will suddenly felt extremely underdressed in his light blue jeans and yellow t-shirt. He hurriedly attempted to smooth down his curly hair, which was undoubtedly tousled from his earlier collapse onto his bed.

 “Um. Hi.”

 Idiot. Hi?! Any stupid person can just say hi!!

 “Hello. I’m your neighbour. Nico di Angelo.”

 “Hi.”

 Again with the hi?! AGH!

 “Um, I mean hi. Nice to meet you Nathan.”

 “Nico.”

 FUCK.

 “Nico, sorry! It has been a long day! …I like your um…jacket.”

 I LIKE YOUR JACKET?! William Solace what are you doing you stupid man?!

 “Thank you. I was actually knocking to…to say hello.”

 Will grinned broadly. “Oh, well hello!”

 Nico looked slightly surprised. “Er…what’s your name?”

 Stupid!! Why didn’t Will say his name before?!

 “Oh, I’m Will. Will Solace.”

 “Great.”

 Great…? What did that mean…?

 Will felt himself blush furiously as he had eye contact with Nico’s chocolate-brown eyes, and averted his gaze.

 “Well, it was nice to meet you.”

 “Yeah, you too – er, Nico.”

 “Goodbye.”

 “Bye.”

 Will closed his door, and leant against it. What had just happened?! Will had a god for a next-door neighbour. An actual god. He was gorgeous! And his voice…so rich and…well… sexy. Will took a deep breath, attempting to register what had just happened. He slid down to the floor by his door and put his hands on his cheeks. He was burning hot!

 Ugh…I probably looked a right red idiot! Getting his name wrong, and then complimenting him on his jacket…Argh…!

 He closed his eyes and tried to imagine his neighbour’s face again, still in slight shock from the encounter.

 ***

 What just happened?!

 Nico walked back into his apartment, and sat in his armchair. At first, he hadn’t even wanted to meet his neighbour, but then he resolved to confront them about the loud noises, before it got even worse. He had been so ready to get angry, but something had happened. He just lost all sense of anger when he looked at…Will, was it? There was something about him that made any anger he had dissipate…Something about his freckled face and curly blonde hair that slightly stuck in all directions…and his tight jeans…and his even tighter yellow t-shirt…

 He looked down at his outfit and cursed slightly. He looked like an overgrown middle schooler that listened to music alone in his room. But why would that bother him? It never usually did, in fact, he revelled in the fact that he still rocked the all-black look and didn’t care what people thought.

 Idiot.

 Nico relaxed into his chair, crossing his ankles. He thought back to Will’s grin…how it lit up his whole face, illuminating his already perfect features, making his blue eyes sparkle.

 Shit.

 Nico’s eyes widened.

 What am I thinking?! Perfect features?! Sparkling eyes?! Oh gods…

 Nico chewed on his bottom lip, sighing heavily.

 This cannot be happening. I don’t even know this guy! Next time I see him, I will confront him about the noises. Maybe he has a boyfriend…? Or girlfriend…

 Nico stopped himself from thinking too hard about the possibility of his neighbour having a partner.

 Ugh.

 Nico closed his eyes.

 What is happening…?

 ***

So... the boys have finally met!!! HOW EXCITING!!! Plz leave comments/thoughts/constructive criticism in the comments and like/reblog if it floats your boat!! <3 Love you all!!!

#solangelo #fanfic #nico x will #cuties #first fanfic #pjo #hoo #Nico di Angelo #Will solace

[cabinofimagines]

Tripping hard: Part 2

And here is part 2, still no pairing! I just split it up, because for 1 part it was a bit long. Here you go!

“So, you are saying that there are books,” Piper started. “Yup.” “And those books describe our lives?” she finished. “Yes. And my guess is that we are in the Mark of Athena at the moment.” You stated. You had just explained everything, leaving out the movies of course, and it seemed that everyone believed you. You were now sitting in the dinning place. “So, what are we going to do now?” Leo asked, still smiling widely from the fact that he was one of the most loved characters. “Well, I don’t know.” You answered “This is all cool and stuff, but I think I got to go back sometime.” “I also suspect that the gods won’t like it, that you know what is going to happen.” Piper said. You nodded. Suddenly there was a loud blast on the deck, and alarms started going off. “What the?” you mumbled while everyone started to get up. When you were about to also go on deck Frank, who was walking before you, turned around. “Maybe it is better for you to stay downstairs. Safer, you know?” You shook your head and pushed past him. Whatever was going on was also your business. It could hurt your favourite characters!

As you arrived on the deck you noticed that the Argo II was under attack. Some weird looking  gigantic fish? Whatever it was, it had a huge head, about the size of a dump truck, needle-sharp teeth and as finishing touch greenish-blue scales that covered its head.  It was about to strike down on the mast, but Frank shot an arrow towards its head. The arrow just reflected and disappeared into the sea. “Leo! Get the ship into the air!” you heard Annabeth scream from the other side of the ship. “The fuck!” You screamed when the head ascended once more onto the ship. This didn’t happen in the books! You noted how everyone was trying to stop the beast, while you were just standing there, useless. “Well shit..” You mumbled and started running towards the person who was the closest to you, which happened to – still – be Frank. “Hey! Can I do something?!” you screamed over the sounds of the ravaging beast. “Get down!” You heard Jason yell and you grabbed Frank and took him down to the ground with you, just in time because not even a second later and the head of the fish beast had passed right over us. “Thanks.” Frank breathed out.

 You were already standing up, when the Agro II suddenly started going upwards. “The beast is holding the ship too hard! We can’t go higher like this!” Leo yelled. You looked around at what you can do, but in all honesty you didn’t know how to fight, you didn’t have a weapon, and everything was chaos. ‘How do demigods do this normally?’ You asked yourself. You felt the air going static, and suddenly saw a flits, indicating that Jason had used lightning to try to make the beast lessen its grip, sadly without success. “I need a weapon.” You told yourself, when suddenly Piper flew into you.

You landed harshly onto into the railing, but you stayed onto the ship, luckily. “Piper! Are you alright?” you asked, but she just grunted. You saw that she had her dagger, Katoptris, loosely in her hand. “This will have to do.” You said while you grabbed the dagger. Firstly you put Piper in a better, safer place though. You don’t want her to accidently fall of the ship now, do you? You stood up and looked at the monster.

“What kind of monster is it? How can you beat it?” You asked yourself, when it hit you. No not the beast, but how to beat it. There were a few scales missing from its head, so if you could hit it right there with the dagger! Would it mean that you will die? Possibly, but hey, you are the number 1 of the Leo Valdez, Nico di Angelo and technically all characters protection squad. You can do this! Or at least, you hoped that you can.

“Hey! Fish head! Yeah you! You want some of this?!” You yelled as loud as you could so the beast would turn his head to you. It worked, for like one second, and then it turned back to trying to destroy the Agro II. “Hey!” You tried again, this time swinging your arms above your head “Stop ignoring-“ “What do you think you are doing? Are you trying to get yourself killed?!” Leo grabbed your arm. “Maybe.” You said sarcastic. “I am not going to let that happen. Just stay close to me.” Leo commanded you. ‘Aww he cares about me.’ You thought ‘But I got to do this. Best shot – tell him the plan.’ “Uhm Leo, I have a plan. You see those missing scales? If we could hit it with something it might kill the beast.” You told him. Leo looked up at the head and nodded. “But how are we going to hit it?” He asked while looking at you. “I was planning to launch myself at the head.” You told him. “That will kill you!” “Well, this thing needs to be stopped and-“ You started. “No. You are not going to get yourself killed. Maybe if we can reach Jason he can stab the beast, or Frank can shoot and arrow.” Leo started rambling.

You knew he was right, and started looking for someone else to help you kill the beast, when the head of the beast was right above you. “Leo…” you said. “What!” He yelled. You pointed your finger up, frozen in fear. Leo looked up and his eyes widened. Suddenly you came out of your shock and pushed Leo away. When the beast came down you readied the dagger and hit him right in one of his eyes. While you were still holding on to the dagger, the beast moved upwards taking you with him. “Shi-AAAAAAAHHHHHHH” You screamed loudly enough to be heard on Olympus. The monster moved underwater, trying to shake you of. You felt water getting inside your lungs, but kept holding on. Finally the monster came back up, and you sat on its head. Holding on to the gigantic scales you removed the dagger and stabbed it in the flesh of the beast. This resulted in that the beast became dust and you started falling. ‘Well this is it. RIP me’ you thought, when suddenly you were back inside the void. ‘Again?’ looking around you saw a red spot instead of white this time. The spot became bigger and bigger until you were falling, towards the ground. You fell face flat on the ground, and sat up to see that you were back in your school. “Did I just trip?” you mumbled and went to stand up, when you noticed that you had Katoptris in your hand.

“Oh man”

#LOOK HERE GUYS !!! #ANOTHER SUBMISSION #NICE #submission

[demiboypercyjackson]

i havent made a post about trans girl jason in a while and i miss her so • she just goes by grace. she spends ages worrying over a name and being unable to find one that she likes, but nothing fits. piper and reyna both agree that only the name 'xena' is badass enough for her to deserve, but she laughs and says no thanks. she thinks, 'maybe gabrielle?' and likes it, but it just doesnt feel.... right. its a good name for sure but... for a different girl. • well, technically, she doesnt just go by grace, that was a lie. leo actually calls her 'supergirl' when she tells leo shes a girl his eyes go wide and his jaw drops and she feels so afraid for a moment but then he says loudly "youre not blond superman, you're supergirl! that makes so much more sense!" and he's grinning and being his usual self. he makes a few jokes about how "pixie cuts are in, dont worry about the hair" because thats the only way he seems to know how to be nice and she quietly resigns herself to a lifetime of being stuck with him secretly, though.... she thinks its sweet. and shes more relieved than she's ever been • she's called other things, too. 'friend', for one. 'sister' when she tells thalia, who's over the moon to hear she has a little sister. 'fly girl', by percy and piper, as well as 'gorgeous'. and on one memorable occasion... 'legs'. that had been the first time she'd seen dakota since she'd begun to present more femininely. it was also her first time being cat-called. she'd bristled and turned to strike the dude into a pile of ash, but then recognized dakota (who was smiling like a fat happy cat) and her face fell into flat annoyance. she looked at him with a blank stare for maybe twenty whole seconds before his cool, cheshire cat facade broke and he fell over into giggles. "welcome to the land of the pink, white, and blue, my dear," he said after their hello kisses and hugs. "its a hard road, but its..." he struggled to find the words she smiled. "its different, but it feels a lot better." he grins too, and says thoughtfully, "i agree. funny, you and me, both praetors of the fifth cohort, both trans, both gorgeous.... we're basically the same person." she laughs and pays along "we're like twins." "you cant even tell us apart!" and so on, and so forth. its good to see dakota again. his sense of humor is.... well, he's dakota, and she's missed that. being with him reminds her of simpler times. it reminds her how much and how very little things have changed since then. • she's also called 'aunt grace'. it started as a bit of a joke, since she's technically the aunt of hermes cabin, apollo cabin, ares cabin, dionysus cabin, and athena cabin. will solacd, who is also trans, started it. he's telling her he's proud of her for coming out, that if fighting monsters time and again didnt prove she was brave then this did. it makes her smile, even though she shrugs off the praise. this doesnt feel like bravery. mostly shes nervous and tired and irritated by how repetitive coming out has been. she pulls herself out of her thoughts to reply but then his eyes go wider and he cocks his head to the side, as if surprised. "guess this means i have two aunts!" theres a beat of silence. she blinks. "...what?" will laughs, shaking his head. "sorry, i mean you and thalia! well," will concedes. "two mortal aunts, i guess." then, before she knows it, cecil markowitz hears about it and is telling his entire cabin about aunt grace. aaaand the hermes cabin tells the other campers who tell other campers who tell other campers and word gets all the way around camp half blood. before she knows it, tons of kids are calling her "aunt grace". most people say it ironically (at first) but the younger campers do seem to look up to her.... she talks to percy about the situation over an iris message and he laughs and laughs. "you always were the motherly type" he says. "does this make me uncle percy? can i choose to be uncle percy?" she groans and throws herself down onto her bunk. "unbelievable". but secretly, she doesnt mind. in fact... she kind of likes it. being an aunt, being a sister. its not so different than being an uncle or a brother, but she supposes thats because she never was those things. she's always been supergirl and aunt grace and baby sister. maybe even 'legs', she thinks, a quiet giggle escaping. she's just finally allowing herself and others to truly realize that. and its nice. very nice.

#jason grace #trans jason grace #trans girl jason grace #lgbtqpjo #trans dakota #dakota pjo #dakota hoo #trans will solace #will solace #percy jackson #pjo #hoo #toa #mod will