#happy hestia day <3

[uppastthejelliclemoon]

did y'all know she's the only one ever <3

#happy hestia day <3 #it's a day early but idgaf #cats the musical #hestia the hearth cat

[ma1dita]

solipsism

a 'partners in crime' installment - luke castellan x dionysus!reader

words: 5.1k

summary: (post-TLT) drink responsibly… trouble doesn’t; you punch luke in this lol (novelization spoilers? kinda canon-compliant)

The one where you finally pray to Hestia to keep your home safe, even if he's also trying to destroy it. Luke visits you four times during college, in a timeline opposite to yours (doctor x river song-coded) (lore expansion & explanation here) (Luke Castellan x fem!Dionysus!reader)

a/n: i hurt myself with this one. anyways its canon (to me) that we’re roommates now !!!! more to come like i promised even during my birthday break ! scream at me in the comments and feel free to reblog :)

(post 3/6, edited/betad @hotchfiles )

—

solipsism (the idea that only one’s mind is sure to exist)

You didn’t mean to send a prayer out into the world so strong that it would will an apparition of an Olympian, but burning cookies seems to be your specialty. Arguably, they weren’t the good kind, just the ones you grab in the freezer aisle of Walmart, and still, somehow they set your fire alarm off. Opening a window and waving through the smoke— Hestia, goddess of the hearth and home was standing next to the rickety dining table you bought off Facebook marketplace. 

“Holy shit, you scared me!” 

There’s mirth in her eyes at your reaction, though for all you know it could be annoyance—it’s not often that an immortal could be badgered enough to reveal themselves for an accident like this one.

“Dionysus was right. You’re too much like him for your own good,” she grins, taking a seat at the table like she’s an old friend. There’s a warmth to her unlike anyone you’ve met before—fire crackling in her eyes and an aura of serenity swaddling the air that you’ve never felt before in your student accomodations.

“I’m sorry I just… with all due respect, what’s going on?”

You go to toss the hot tray of cookies in the trash bin, before hesitating and putting them on your nicest plate. A gentle shove slides them over the table to the goddess, and she takes a crunch out of one happily.

“You were praying,” she states, like its common knowledge, “so strongly, in fact, I thought I’d make a visit to one of my most loyal devotees. Though in this case, you’re the object of his devotion, yes?”

Your hands are clasped across your lap and a familiar feeling spreads through you, then she jerks her hand up and points, “There. You’re doing it again. Y’know, it’s about time you start reciprocating the effort. Hermes’ son prays for you with intention.” You were thinking about Luke before she appeared—and hope glimmered like a tiny open flame. It’s still there, in the slow beating of your heart.

“He’s waging war with the gods. I don’t think he prays to them anymore,” you reason. Luke's offerings to the hearth must have been extinguished by the wrath he’s rained on Camp Half-Blood by now. The perfect storm.

“Not when it comes to you. Mortals never fail to surprise me. But it seems you’re a special case, my sweet. He’s made a home of you.”

To love Luke feels like having to keep a secret and never being able to tell anyone, but Hestia reaches for your hands across the table and looks at you knowingly.

“When I gave up my seat on Olympus for your father it wasn’t a sign of weakness, even if I did it so that others could be happy. I think your soul is a lot like mine in that you’ve given up so much of what you want to protect others. In turn, he’s doing the best he can to protect you; I listen to him every day, sweet girl. You are not weak for loving him still. There are generations of strength in your bones.”

“What else am I supposed to do? I search for him in everyone I meet and I’m not sure I’ll ever find that type of love again.”

These are thoughts you’d never told anyone—not Annabeth, not your father, not even yourself and surely never aloud.

“I hope you never do,” the goddess says, and you know it too.

i. no winter lasts forever (a night out after a drive home from virginia)

Flick. Flick.

“Come on, Hestia. Not you too. Don’t fail me now,” you mumble. The frigid metal of your zippo lighter rubs against your thumbs as you cup it in your hands, shielding the tiny flame that fights the harsh winter wind. Trying to focus as you lean against the brick of the Inferno, you take a deep inhale of smoke to warm your bones. Healing was never supposed to be easy.

Breathe in.

It’s somewhat of a routine you’ve made since getting back from visiting Annie. You’re a regular at this pub now—not even acclimated to the ins and outs of your sleepy college town, and though you don’t know the name of the hall your classes are in, you do know there’s a barstool in the corner of the Inferno with your name on it. There’s something funny about using your father’s gift as a form of fake id, and you wonder if he knows how heavily you indulge in your vices. Five vodka redbulls down the hatch have your knees feeling weak under the alley light until a stranger looms over you like a shadow.

“Those things are gonna kill you one day.”

Breathe out.

“Gods willing,” you laugh, stumbling over your boots and Luke catches you like he was never meant to let you go in the first place. The leather of his jacket is musky and his hair is buzzed. 

Either you were wasted or uncaring of who he was (both), you toss him your car keys and climb into the passenger seat. It’s a silent ride to your apartment besides you giving him the directions and Luke wonders how bad he must have hurt you for you to lay out for a stranger and waste away like this. But he’s the farthest thing from a stranger, even in this error in time and you’re still the daughter of the god of wine so after the third time you try to put your key in the lock he helps you because he hopes you’ll let him in.

“Y’know Annie would get a kick out of your haircut. Come inside.”

You’ve always been able to see right through him.

He’s standing in the hallway with his hand around your waist and he’s already broken too many of the titan’s orders by being here, so he scoffs, “You’re not gonna remember this by morning.” But you leave the door open anyway, dragging him by the wrist and your hand still feels the same in his even after all this time. What more is there to resist when there’s not much left of him to lose? 

This is the last time, he reminds Kronos, and there are monstrous hands around his brain, but yours are still gently holding his heart. The little part of his soul that hasn’t been eaten away holds on for a bit longer, tethered to your being by the way your hands are tied.

“I can, if you want me to.” 

He looks ready for war, and he is— yet you have him following you around the tiny living room almost in a trace as your arms loop around his neck. Luke doesn’t answer. He doesn’t know if you’d want to see him sober, especially when his absence is still fresh for you.

“Baby you look different from the last time we met,” you slur, stepping onto his feet as he takes you for a spin around the coffee table, dancing in the quiet. He’s older than you’ve ever seen him, voice deeper and colder. This is not the boy that ran from you in the forest many months ago. This is a man who’s seen horrors you haven’t lived through yet. You can deduce that he’s the cause of them too.

“So do you. Though still as beautiful as I remember,” he whispers like he’ll get struck for saying it. Your eyes are unfocused as he inspects your face, still soft and young with hope. The titan grips his features now, almost burning through his sense of self—though it’s not tangible he wonders if you could see it.

“I see you all the time. I just… usually have to drink enough to make it feel real. I just miss you.”

He looks pained at your words, and for a moment you wonder if he even heard you. Luke pushes you towards your room, an aura of darkness spreading through him like fire but he relents, pushing past the flames. He’s on borrowed time now, but Luke would gladly waste those minutes tucking you into bed.

Lifting your arms up, he pulls an old shirt of his over your shoulders, and his eyes catch onto the fact that you’re still wearing the dragon scale necklace he made you. Luke digs through your medicine cabinet while you sloppily wash your face and his calloused hands rub serums and moisturizer into your cheeks like how you taught him once upon a time. These are the things he won’t forget. Kronos can take it all away, as long as he gets to keep you. You lean against his chest and shut your eyes, scared that if you open them again he won’t be there.

“You’re not supposed to be here, are you? Are you mine?”

“I’m always going to be yours,” he says with no hesitation, “Four years later, and there is still not one living thing worth losing you,” he says, lips chasing after your fingertips as you trace his jaw. Your eyes flutter in exhaustion, and Luke’s eyes survey your room and he finds traces of you that he’s missed as he rubs your back lovingly like he has all the time in the world.

Your hands cup his face, making him look at you, and he surrenders himself to you as you pull him into a kiss. He’s a ticking time bomb about to detonate in your arms. The warnings that Kronos is beating into his head is nothing compared to the pain of knowing he won’t be with you for much longer. And he kisses you like he could save you from his blaze by doing so, lips and tongue and shattered breath saying I’m here, and this is real. Maybe your worst vice is not being able to wean yourself off the taste of him.

“Tell me what I need to hear. Even if it’s not true…Even if you’re not real,” you say between gasps, and your position on his lap makes him wonder why he’d ever give the world up and burn it down when it’s sitting right here and staring at him with violet eyes.

“It’s always going to be you and me. I’ll love you until the end of my days and then some.”

You laugh in the way that drives him crazy—though he already is, for loving you still. Luke lost all sense of himself when he left camp four years ago. All that remains is you, pushing him so that his back hits the bedspread. He lets you consume what’s left of him, and he’s on fire.

You wake up the next morning with a jolt. It’s still winter, and you’re still alone but despite the chill, you feel warm.

ii. autumn years (with a familiar visitor who finally shows up on time)

Knock, knock.

There’s someone at the door, but your date isn’t supposed to be here for another 10 minutes.

“Babe, someone’s here for you!” your roommate Jo calls out, and you tell her it’s fine to let them in.

The pantyhose clings to the lotion on your thighs and you fix the bracelet on your wrist, stepping out from the bathroom hollering, “You’re early, Kit! Don’t tell me you’re skipping to the good part; I’m a lady i–”

“Who’s Kit?”

Luke’s standing in the doorway of your bedroom and his eyes flit to the reflection of your naked back peeking through the undone zipper of your dress. You look stunning, lips painted red and eyes smoky, but you’re also furious. Too bad he’s always thought you looked extra hot when you’re mad.

“None of your business. As you can see, I don’t exactly have the time for this, Castellan.”

He shrugs, closing the door behind him gently and with the raise of his brow, Luke is leering at you like a teenage boy. Respectfully, of course. The glint of celestial bronze against his hip reminds you who he’s become though.

“I’ll make the time if you say the words, trouble.”

Sighing, you step forward, but then he does that thing again from the last time you saw him out on sea, twisting the crick in his neck like he has to resist your touch.

“You’re still funny. Some old habits die hard I guess,” you scoff, turning and lifting your hair out of the way so that he can zip you up. He opts to not touch you, sliding the dress closed until it fits against your body. You think you can feel his fingers ghost above your skin, and goosebumps rise where he leaves and his breath is warm on the back of your neck.

“Leave your weapons at the door. I run a tight ship, unlike you.” 

Gliding away from him while his hands are still in the air, you turn and sit at the edge of your bed, crossing your legs as you nod at him. Luke picks up the pair of heels next to where he sets the sword against the wall, and like it’s nothing out of the sort, he gets on his knees. You offer a foot to him while he speaks, “I could tell by the taser on your bedside table. You’ve killed monsters before, why a taser?”

There’s freckles on his tanned cheeks and he smells like the sun. You wonder what he’s done to come see you tonight.

“I’ve found out that not all monsters are mythical. When…are you?”

His eyes dart away from yours, securing the buckles on your ankles, and his touch sears through the mesh of your pantyhose.

“A few months ahead.”

There’s an eyelash on his nose, and your finger reaches out to touch it, but he flinches away. Face pulling into a frown, you spit, “You never slow down enough to let me catch up with you, huh?”

You can hear the microwave whirring in the kitchen, your roommate none the wiser of the sound of two hearts breaking. The both of you suddenly realize this is the first time you two have been alone (and the same age) since he left camp. There’s a silent question of if it will ever happen again as he gets up from the floor.

“So you’re seeing other people. Must’ve been easy, h—”

You punch him in the face before he finishes speaking, and all he can do is laugh. You would never let him off so easily.

“Fuck you. What, you think you can just hop in here and act like everything’s okay? What do you want, Castellan? For me to grovel at your feet and beg for you to fix what you broke?”

And you’re right, he supposes. This is the closest to peace that you’ll get in this life you’ve created without him. He won’t be able to take you on nice dinner dates like Kit can, or hold your hand without feeling like fate is going to smite him for existing. You scoff at the lack of his response.

“What happens next?”

Luke watches you chew on your lip, and even if he shouldn’t touch you in fear that you’ll will away his reason for defecting, by the gods does he want to.

“What do you mean?” he mutters. The cord of his necklace is tucked into your dress now that he looks closer.

“If I’m right,” you say (and it’s rare that you’re not), “each version of you that comes to see me knows less, and each time I see you I learn more. You were 23 last time. Why didn’t you see me at 22?” You know he won’t have an answer, but this is the only time you’ll be able to ask the real him. The one that’s yours, just a few steps ahead.

“There’s already been a lot that’s happened since I last saw you.”

“Are you going to hurt me?” you offer him, like he hasn’t already. He can feel the bruise blooming on his cheekbone and he grimaces with what he’s about to say.

“Never intentionally. I’ll try not to.”

It sounds stupid coming out of his mouth and you feel stupid with how empty you feel just watching him. He’s made a home of you, choosing moments in time to visit, but when he inevitably leaves, then what? Luke taught you how to be a home, forgetting you exist until it’s convenient and now there are things about yourself that you can’t unlearn yet don’t know what to do with.

Your roommate knocks on your door asking if you want a shot of vodka before your date starts, and Luke is already walking towards it since he’s overstayed his welcome. He raises his sword to open a portal but you shake your head.

“Go out the way you came,” you swallow, fiddling with the copper pendant around your neck, “and take the purple umbrella in the hall. It’s raining outside.”

When you walk into the kitchen moments later, the front door shuts gently and Jo’s sitting at the table with a mouthful of ramen noodles.

“Is he warming up the car? Your date’s hot as fuck, babe,” she grins, steam coating her glasses.

Knock, knock.

Your phone buzzes and there’s another knock at the door. Kit is 15 minutes late.

iii. auld lang syne (ringing in the new year with an old friend, or more)

Your apartment is filled with friends and acquaintances, but who the fuck cares anyway? There’s 10 minutes to midnight and you’re crossed out of your mind. Holding onto a half-empty bottle of prosecco, your heels clomp over to the window in the living room as you crawl onto the fire escape. 

Clack, clack.

The air is chilly as you hug yourself, and you hear someone step out onto the stairs behind you. 

“What are you doing out here alone?”

You sigh, not even turning to look at him, “What are you doing here, period?”

He takes the bottle of prosecco out of your hands, making you swivel your head to look at him as he takes a big gulp. He’s younger again, and it makes you laugh at how fucked up your luck must be to never be able to see him when you want. It’s always been on Luke’s terms.

“You’re too young to be drinking that,” you drawl, knees bumping against his when he takes a seat next to you. Long Island is quiet at night, and the lack of city lights is nice when you can see the stars so clearly. Music blares through your JBL speaker in the living room, and the sound of cheers gets louder when The Neighborhood starts playing.

“We used to do worse,” he laughs, but something in it sounds hollow. The breeze picks up and you shiver, taking the bottle back from him and swigging it.

“All these visits…you sure do know how to make a girl feel special. But you never come in the summer.” 

He clears his throat, before leaning back on his elbows, “ I haven’t gone a summer without you since we were 14.” This Luke doesn’t know what’s ahead of him yet, but you realize that he’s right. Even now, he keeps up the habit of pissing you off and raising hell on Camp Half-Blood every summer. You notice he’s not wearing his camp beads, and he notices you shiver again in the chill. 

Clack, clack.

Your heels rattle the metal of the fire escape as you readjust your position. He takes off his jacket to sling it around your shoulders and neither of you realize you’ve missed the countdown until fireworks burst in the sky above you. The red and blue reflect off the planes of his face, but what stands out to you is the orange of his shirt, and you comprehend now where he just came from.

“I had to see you. I didn’t get to say goodbye when I left,” he says, and you take another sip before handing him the bottle to finish off. The only new years’ kiss you’re getting is through the lips that hold the last remaining drops of prosecco. 

You nod, remembering it all too well as you both watch the fireworks in silence. He wasn’t able to watch them properly the last time he was with you, Annie, and Percy just a few hours prior.

iv. spring cleaning (only big days are ahead for the both of you) 

It’s quiet in your college apartment this morning. 

The moving boxes are half-packed and stacked against the wall of the entryway and the smell of freshly brewed coffee in the French press on your kitchen counter permeates the air. Perhaps the idea of caffeine is the last thing on your mind, hands twitching as they smooth over the black polyester of your graduation regalia. There’s a few hours still before the ceremony, but you’ve never liked being unprepared. Pollux is driving your dad down the Island because despite the war you’ll inevitably be fighting in once you cross the stage and get your degree, D specifically told Zeus that he’d wage another if he was made to miss your big day.

Parting your hair to fit under the ugly graduation cap, the tassel swings in front of your face as you grab a few bobby pins from the side table. A golden medallion of Castor’s smiling face almost whips into your cornea and you stifle a laugh. D said in his Iris message last night that all three of them would cheer so loud you’d be able to hear it from Elysium (and honestly, jokes aside—he probably has a way of making that happen). A staggered breath leaves your lungs, and you’re filled with anticipation, though you’re not sure what for. 

Time is a thief and you know that too well by now. After all, you’ve spent the past four years running from the truth of your heritage—dodging monsters between study sessions and grief welcoming you every time you come home. Four years later, and who are you trying to fool? While walking across that stage later you might as well take a bow. After all, your ex-boyfriend is the reason why there’s going to be a war of both blood and ichor, mortal and undying and still, you find yourself in the middle of it. You’ve found yourself fielding questions this last semester like dodging celestial bronze, the questions always a little too close to home and the answers you give are too entertaining to be considered the truth.

So, what are your future plans? 

Oh no big deal, just going home and dealing with generations-old family drama. If it drives me crazy enough I might enlist! 

Gods. 

How do you even articulate that these past few years were those future plans? That you didn’t expect to be alive this long, much less have the comfort of feeling secure enough to dream… It’s been years since you’ve had a good dream to work towards with a boy you once knew holding your hand through it all. But the expensive piece of paper you’ll be receiving later feels fake somehow. 

Who does that belong to? Surely not you…surely, someone who dreams without bearing the weight that comes with it. Someone who doesn’t have to look over their shoulder everytime they walk to work in the mornings, who can convince children that monsters aren’t real without having to lie. Psychology was a great field to learn from the mortal side of things—to know the reasons why brain chemistry affects us so deeply instead of just willing it away with the touch of your fingers. You like making people feel better. But who can ever do that for you?

A gust of wind sweeps through your room, the multicolored tassels hanging off your neck swaying from the force and you shut your eyes knowing he’s there again. Citrus and musk, and something that’s just him. He knocks over your hamper, cussing under his breath until his eyes follow your motionless figure in front of the mirror.

“Shit. I can explain, um… I thought you’d still be asleep,” Luke sputters, his converse falling into your laundry pile like quicksand. He bends over, stuffing your pajamas and sweatshirts back into the bin with fidgety hands as his eyes take a quick scan of your room. There are no pictures of you and him on the bedside table. For a moment, he wonders what that means but then his cheeks redden when he picks up a pair of your lacy underwear. He shoves that down too.

“Big day today. You know I can’t sleep when I know something is about to happen,” you smile wistfully, and you keep your eyes shut for longer, because like this, it’s almost like he’s actually there in real time. In a world where things went your way, this would be his apartment too, and his clothes would be scattered around your shared bedroom like how they used to back in cabin 12. You always used to put them on The Chair, as he would call it—but Luke’s known to make a mess of your life regardless of your efforts.

“When isn’t there? Something’s always going on when you’re around, trouble.”

Click. Scattered memories flicker in your head like images through a view-finder, spinning through your vision as you hear the sound of his laughter, gently tapping away at your heart again. Click. In the ones you pre-selected, he’s draped in sunlight, honey eyes sweet and kind, and his kisses are perpetual instead of an indulgence. Click. He’s always wearing faded orange, worn-out, but most of all well-loved. Click.

You open your eyes and they meet his own in the mirror. Time stops for once, letting you catch your breath.

Right now, he looks just as you like to remember him, as you knew him four years ago. Multicolored camp beads are resting easily against his broad neck instead of weighing him down, and he’s wearing the red converse his dad gave him. He’s too young, and so in love with you that it blinds him, but even then…now, he knows the look on your face and it makes him ask, “It’s not my first time visiting you is it?”

“You’re usually more discreet, the door right behind me wouldn’t have been your first option. But you’ve never failed to surprise me before. Tell me about your day, Luke.”

A hesitant smile crosses his face as he sheathes Backbiter against his hip, adjusting under the weight like he’s not used to it yet, and then he speaks, “We ate strawberries in the fields today, straight off the vine, but I argued that the ones you conjure will always taste sweeter to me. You smushed one against my face and I carried you home. You?”

You nod, turning around to face a ghost of your past, and the both of you meet in the middle only a hairs distance away as you admire each other.

“I graduate today. Annabeth’s driving up with her boyfriend and the rest of my family is coming to celebrate.”

He doesn’t know of Percy yet, of Chris’ insanity, of your brother’s death, and the immense hurt he’s caused everyone. The smile that lights up his face makes you realize he thinks he's still a part of this—you. And you miss him—even when he’s right here, fuck, you miss all the versions of him that have come to visit, even the ones you don’t know of yet. Tears brim your waterline as you take a deep breath; the last thing you want to do is scare him away.

“This was his promise to me. By showing me something I was sure of—and I always knew you’d graduate and make it big. Wanted to see it for myself, baby,” he grins, tangling his fingers with yours like your strings of fate, and though you know the answer to your next question you still take a chance, just in case.

“If I tell you what’s happened since…you. Would it be too late to change your mind?”

“Trouble, do you want me to? Kronos’ plan is already set in motion. I think…” he swallows, and your vision blurs without your permission as tears start to fall. Through the film over your violet eyes, Luke frowns and pulls your fingertips to his lips, kissing each one. He hasn’t done that in years.

“Did I make a mistake? Do I lose you, in the end?”

“Angelface…” you sniff, leaning your cheek against his hand, “You were so scared of losing me that you didn't even stop to think of what losing you would do to me. I lost you so long ago, Luke. And you’re not mine anymore. I don't think you have been in a long time.” In these heels, your forehead is closer to his lips so he kisses that too, hoping that somehow this time he can will away your pain instead of his. He doesn’t know what to do but hold you until you say something again.

“I’ll tell you something you need to hear. And no matter what you say or think, babe—it’s the truth. Even without all the glory in the world I would still be yours. I still am, even if I can’t bear it.”

Though he’s holding you, it somehow feels like the opposite—a purer version of him in your embrace while he holds the broken pieces of you together with his golden touch. Right now, you look into honey instead of gold. The both of you look at each other in the mirror melded together like kintsugi, something good still shining through the cracks of you two together like this.

The sound of keys jangling in the lock of the front door lifts you from his embrace, and with one look you both know its time for him to go; Luke’s brows furrow as he mutters, “I’m sorry. I’ll fix this, and we’ll be together. I promise.” You nod anyway, hoping at least one of you believe it.

“Go home, Luke. She…I still need you. I’m always gonna.”

He’s already got Backbiter in hand and one foot through time when he looks back at you. Your voice sounds a lot like how it does when you tell him you love him. Luke wonders how long it’s been since you did. Your bedroom door opens with a bang and some laughter.

“Hey troublemaker, you left the dryer on! All your clothes are gonna shrink,” Jo grins, peeking her head through the doorway of your room and she’s looking at you in your graduation gown standing there alone.

“Were you on the phone? Who were you talking to?”

It’s quiet in the apartment again. Your fingernails make indents in your palms, bunching up into fists before you let go. A sad smile crosses your face as you let the settling wind kiss your cheeks, before reality kicks in and everything settles back to how it was before. 

“Just someone I used to know.”

—

“And no one can ever figure out what you want, and you won’t tell them, and you realize the one person in the world who loves you isn’t the one you thought it would be, and you don’t trust him to love you in a way you would enjoy.” -Richard Siken

luke taglist (some won't let me tag, turn on my post notifs?)

1/2 luke taglist: @kissingyourgrl @dorcas4meadowes @lorarri @andrewgarfldsgf @noodlesketchbook @10ava01 @poppysrin @ashisabitgay @timhalamet @liv1104 @leeknows-wife @mxtokko@bugcuti3 @luvvfromme @midmourn @2hiigh2cry @yuminako @niktwazny303  @lukecastellandefender @intergalactic-padawan @iliketopgun @annybah @dangelnleif @thegrinningghost @alyssajunelle @obxstiles @m00ng4z3r@visndcaitswhore @b0ok-lover @elegant-face-tree @this-barbie-is-having-breakdowns @amortencjja @idonevenknow1359 @maliaaaa @targaryenluvs @sakyira @dhdjdjjdhsjdiri

#luke castellan x reader #percy jackon and the olympians #luke castellan x dionysus!reader #pjo x reader #made by ma1dita ♥︎ #luke castellan imagine #percy series #luke castellan angst #thank you for reading my love ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

[delightingintragedy]

Hey there! Deipnon and Noumenia are coming up again so I decided to post my routine for those two days.

My Deipnon and Noumenia Routines:

In ancient Greece the day started at sundown, so Deipnon and Noumenia would start at sundown/night time and end at the same time the next day, making night first.

Deipnon night:

Shower (prayer to Hygeia for cleansing and give an offering of water), wash face (with khernips if i feel like it), and brush teeth.

Bend 3 coins if not already bent (reason why is here).

Go to the crossroad and pray with my hands outward toward the crossroad, and offer the coins, tossing them out into the road.

Deipnon day:

Clean and cleanse!

I physically clean my entire room. Do all my laundry and put it away, vacuum, dust, wipe down any surfaces, clean everything on my altar, etc.

I then cleanse my whole room with my cedar bundle.

This is also the day I take down my ward, like my holly cross, hagstones, etc. and cleanse them with smoke (usually frankincense) or khernips.

My tarot deck, pendulum, and any divination tool get cleansed last. I then leave them on Apollo's shrine and say something like "Lord Apollo, god of divination and prophecy, hear my prayer! Please bless these tools with truth and accuracy this coming month. I thank you for your blessings." then offer the rest of the frankincense incense to him.

Noumenia night:

Shower (prayer to Hygeia for cleansing and give an offering of water), wash face (with khernips if i feel like it), and brush teeth.

Fill my silver chalices with drinking water and go out into the dark of night and offer it to Selene, pouring it out in her name.

Noumenia day:

Shower (prayer to Hygeia for cleansing and give an offering of water), wash face (with khernips if i feel like it), and brush teeth.

Make an offering to the household deities, Hestia, Zeus, Apollo, Hermes, and Hekate. I pray to them to protect my home, and also ask them to bless some of my wards with protection for the coming month, like my shells full of salt. I have four small shells I found at the beach that I will cleanse in khernips, dry, then place sea salt and crushed bay leaves into. I ask them to bless the salt with protection. I then place them in each corner of my room.

I spend the rest of the day relaxing. This was a day of no work for the ancient Greeks, so after I finish my wards I'm pretty tired from cleaning so much and am happy to lay around.

#hellenic #hellenic polytheism #hellenismos #deipnon #noumenia #helpol #theoi #paganism #paganblr #hellenic gods #hellenic religion #hekate #selene #hygeia #hestia #zeus #apollo #hermes #pagan #riley cackles

[withlovefromolympus]

Everyone Loves Aphrodite

little things the other gods do for the love goddess that she isn’t aware of <3

Zeus: makes sure it doesn’t rain on days when Aphrodite says she’s having a good hair day

Hera: is secretly the mortal marriage counselor aph and heph see every other week

Demeter: provides the best roses in the world that ares sends aphrodite

Poseidon: calms the sea when aph wants to swim in the Cretan sea where she came from

Hestia: makes sure the hearth in Aphrodite’s home is always lit when her family comes over

Hades: sometimes bends the rules when he sees how sad aphrodite will be if one person in her favorite ship dies. he tells thanatos to hold off for a few more months or years to allow the couple more time to be happy

Hermes: provides safe passageway for Aphrodite’s travels as much as he can

Apollo: knows Aphrodite’s music taste and inspires the radio people to play her favorite songs when he knows she’s on the road

Artemis: has instructed the larger/scarier wild animals in the forest to not bother Aph when she’s on a walk in the woods, but told the birds and squirrels and deer to be friendly and make her feel like a Disney princess

Ares: will stop whatever fight he’s in, even if it means losing, if aph needs him in a moment’s notice

Hephaestus: as god of fire, has commanded the element to never catch flame where it shouldn’t in her home so she can sleep with her favorite candle burning if she wants

Athena: continues to run the advice column (in the mortal newspaper) that Aphrodite loves to read

Dionysus: always keeps an eye on Aphrodite when she’s drunk to make sure a) nobody messes with her and b) she gets home safely

#aphrodite #they love her #she’s just so cute #zeus #hera #poseidon #Demeter #hades #hestia #Apollo #Artemis #Athena #ares #Hephaestus #Hermes #Dionysus #greek mythology #greek gods #incorrect greek gods #incorrect greek mythology #classical mythology #mythology

[shiningdesignersreflections]

Netga: Speedy Rabbit

Designer’s Reflection: Speedy Rabbit

Obtained: Hot Pursuit gacha

Rarity: SSR

Attribute: Blue/Cool

Awakened Suit: Dashing Bunny

Story - transcripts from Designer’s Reflection

Chapter 1 - Mecha Girl

Chapter 2 - Uninvited Guest

Chapter 3 - First Mission

Chapter 4 - New Partner

Story - summarized

Netga is behind on bills, and it doesn’t help when some of her customers come storming back demanding refunds because they decided they don’t like her modified mechas. Unlike most in her neighborhood, she doesn’t see mechas only as battle weapons. To Netga, each mecha has a unique personality, and she intends to unlock their full potential with her modifications.

If she can get the money for that.

One day, a newscast announces a reward for catching a scientist selling illegal stimulants through the black market. These stimulants would provide a violent, unfair advantage in mecha battles. And the experiments done to make these were on live animals!

Shortly after the broadcast ends, something rifles through the wires in Netga’s garage. She approaches it... and it’s a small bunny, containing a chip behind its ear. Netga hacks into its data-frame and discovers its creator’s origins.

Following the directions, she and her favorite mecha find a suspicious man leaving a building at the back of an alley. It doesn’t take long to break in with Netga’s skills... but instead of a criminal’s lair, she finds a cluttered, disgusting room,filled with cages of bunnies. Other than being brainwashed by violent movies, the critters seem harmless and happy.

Netga reports the suspect’s hideout and hands over the info on the fake stimulants. In days, she collects the reward. It’s not enough to boost all her tools and modifications for her job, but it’s enough to pay her bills. So, she decides to do both bounty-hunting and mecha modification from here on out!

Connections

-While Nightbane isn’t a part of this Reflection, his suit Soul Magic makes an appearance in the trailer for this event. Netga is hunting the girl wearing his suit.

-Besides Netga, we’ve met only two other woman scientists/engineers, and that’s Hestia and Cecilia.

Fun Facts

-Rabbits are a common experiment animal. They’re not the most common animal, but they’re mainly used in tests regarding antibodies and health.

-From what I could look up, animal experimentation still occurs, but it seems to be for research purposes rather than for testing makeup or products. No one is forcing them to watch bloody films, though.

#netga #shining nikki #ruins #ruins island #blue attribute #cool #ssr designer #gacha #technology #mecha #robot #programmer #mod #hacker #bounty hunter #hot pursuit #bunny #illegal substance

[greenieflor]

hello, it's me... would you tell me about your favorite myth or historical anecdote? 🥰

My love my light <3

God there's so many to choose from. Did you know the ancient Greeks had werewolves?

Not the story I'm telling though. We're gonna talk about what happened when the world was born.

Before there was anything, there was Chaos. She was alone for but a moment, before Gaia, Tartaros, and Eros joined her. Gaia and Chaos each produced children of their own, on their own.

From Chaos came Nyx and Erebos, Night and Darkness. From Nyx and Erebos came Hemera and Aither, Day and Light.

From Gaia came Ouranos, the starry sky, and once he was created, she separated the mountains, Ourea, and the sea, Pontos.

As far above the earth lay the heavens, so far below lay Tartaros, with Chaos settling between her two companions.

Eros is left, he is often described as Love, but more accurately he is Desire and came about at the beginning so Chaos and Gaia may create their first children from themselves.

Now, we have a world. A beautiful, wonderful wide world with a blanket of stars stretching above her. But she is empty. So Gaia lay with Ouranos, and bore him three sets of children. First were the Titanes, mighty primordial deities, then followed two sets of monsters: the one-eyed Cyclopes and the mighty Hecatoncheires, or Hundred-Handed ones. Ouranos was disgusted by the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires and he cast them into Tartaros.

Gaia did have another union, with Pontos, and from them came many sea creatures and monsters, but Pontos doesn't have much presence in myth beyond his status as a primordial being.

Ouranos was Gaia's husband, and she was not happy with how he treated their children. He reveled in their imprisonment and she decided that was enough. So Gaia fashioned a scythe of the strongest metal she could make, but none of the Titans were brave enough to wield it. None, that is, save for Kronos, the youngest.

Now this brings us to our succession myth. Kronos listened to his mother, and one night while Gaia and Ouranos laid together, Kronos took the scythe and severed his fathers genitals, casting them into the sea. Where they landed, sea foam rose up and thus was born the goddess Aphrodite.

Kronos defeated his father, ensuring he would no longer harm his mother or his siblings. He took control, and took upon himself the ruling of the world. He married his sister, Rhea, and they had six children.

Kronos was much like his father, in that he was a shitty one. He had slightly more justification than mere aesthetic preferences, though. Gaia had warned him that just as he overthrew his father, he too would be overthrown. So, when Rhea presented him with their first child, Hestia, swaddled up in her blankets, he took the infant and swallowed her whole. This continued with their next four children, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon, and Rhea had had enough. So she went to her mother for advice.

Gaia welcomed her daughter and commiserated, shitty husbands abound in the Greek mythos. Gaia took Rhea aside and told her she must trick her husband. When she gave birth to her next child, she would not present Kronos with the infant, but instead a rock swaddled up to appear like a baby. She would take the young child, Zeus, to be hidden away in a cave in a mountain to be raised by nymphs and spirits. When he came of age, Zeus was visited by his mother and grandmother and given very clear instructions.

He would disguise himself as a cup bearer and enter Kronos's hall. There, he would feed the God King a mixture of mustard and wine, causing him to disgorge his children. The five gods would burst forth, fully grown and proper angry.

A great war would commence, the Titans against those who would become known as the Olympians. The Olympians would prevail and Zeus would take his place as king of the sky and of the gods.

The pattern continues, with Zeus receiving a prophecy much like his father's- you will be overthrown by your own progeny. Zeus was clever, and lucky, and managed to maintain his rule, but that's a story for another time.

#ask the plant #ty emma!! #this was so fun to write out #i love creation myths #seeking kleos #it takes zeus a few times to ensure his rule #but he gets there

[dionysus-is-my-dude]

guess who's back, witches?

it's been an ORDEAL. i quit my job at the pharmacy 'cause they had me doing the work of 3 people for 1 person's pay, and i was STRESSED. I posted up in the psych ward for 10 days 'cause I was self-destructing. SINCE THEN, I got a job at our local credit union as a teller, and I'm back doing theatre with our local community theatre group. I went from full-time to part-time 'cause i was super stressed and had zero time for myself on top of theatre and family stuff, and i need much more time for doctor's appointments. don't worry, i'm getting health insurance and all that through healthcare.gov, i'm good.

earlier this year, I got covid-19 after all this time, and it had be completely bedridden by day 3. it totally screwed up my periods, worsened my headaches to the point of chronic migraines, AND it might've caused me to develop allergies to cats, peanuts, and tree nuts, things I was never allergic to before. it's absolutely wild how bad my health has been getting these last few years.

i hit a nasty bout of depression for a few months before my psych upped my zoloft, and i was barely eating, so now i don't eat that much, even with my appetite mostly back. i guess my stomach shrank a bit? doing much better now that my hours at work are down and i'm doing a musical and hanging out with friends more. YES I HAVE FRIENDS NOW! We go out to karaoke and make art together and it's AWESOME!

I know y'all don't come here for my infodumping, but i just wanted to catch y'all up on how i've been doing this last year. i've been getting better at studying tarot cards, but other than that, i haven't been doing anything else pertaining to my craft. though, i'm sure Dionysus is VERY happy for me to be back working in a theatre group. when i'm not on stage, i'd love to work backstage. maybe i'll say a little prayer before each show for good luck. anyway, this blog will be back to positivity from the Theoi, particularly Dionysus, Hestia, Aphrodite, Apollo, and Athena, sprinkled in with tarot and other divination stuff since that's where I'm focusing my craft. Have a blessed weekend, everyone!

#witchblr #hellenic pagan #personal

[starlitmark]

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐲𝐳 𝐚𝐬 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐨𝐝𝐬

Summary: The Boyz as demigods Pairing: none Genre: humor, headcanon Rating: PG 13 Tropes: demigod au Warnings: language, mentions of violence, magic, ghosts, spoiler alert they're gay, implications of sex (Hyunjae) Word Count: n/a Note: this is for a combine au with them and NCT Dream 🥹 also this is @raibebe 's fault for enabling my cooking

NCT Dream Headcanon

𝐋𝐞𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐲𝐞𝐨𝐧

◈ Son of Hestia

◈ Discovered he was a demigod when he accidentally set fire to something

◈ He’s always cooking something for the friend group to try

◈ The exhausted father of the friend group

◈ You can probably find him sat by a hearth at any given moment

◈ He’s very easy to get along with and be comfortable around since his mom is in charge of protecting happiness and peace in the home

𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐛 𝐁𝐚𝐞

◈ Son of Charitites

◈ He’s always been a happy bubbly guy and finding out who his mom was just made sense

◈ Found out cause his mom randomly popped in for a visit one day

◈ He takes being Kevin’s emotional support sunshine very seriously

◈ Got rather close with Jaemin from loitering in the mission control center (he’s neurotic about Kevin’s safety)

𝐍𝐚 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐧

◈ Son of Aphrodite

◈ Jaemin’s big brother <3

◈ Cutie pue who loves making pretty things

◈ Accidentally rizzed up a god

◈ Met his mom at the same time as Jaemin (and collected the scalloped shells with him too)

◈ Has no idea how pretty he is

𝐋𝐞𝐞 𝐉𝐚𝐞𝐡𝐲𝐮𝐧

◈ Son of Eros

◈ From the moment he started showing sexual interest in people he’s been a MAJOR flirt

◈ Has tried to rizz up everyone in the friend group at some point (didn’t even try with Mark or Juyeon… he thought they were straighter than anything in the world)

◈ Dad came to introduce and give him a “control your abilities” crash course after he made someone get a little too attached accidentally

◈ Once he and his boyfriend started dating his flirting turned into affectionate bullying each other

𝐋𝐞𝐞 𝐉𝐮𝐲𝐞𝐨𝐧

◈ Son of Nyx

◈ Has always loved the night time and thrives during it

◈ Found out when he accidentally shadow weilded and scared himself

◈ Gifted in combat (shadow weaponry) and healing but is always worried he’ll fuck up healing somehow (his healing ability works best during the night)

◈ Super private about his feelings until something massive happens

◈ Everyone forgets his bisexual

𝐊𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐨𝐧

◈ Son of Morpheus

◈ Ironically… he’s an insomniac…

◈ Started questioning his mom when he kept manifesting into people’s dreams

◈ Sassy and blunt but a sweetie to the people he’s close with

◈ Very close with Mark and tells him everything

𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐢 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐡𝐞𝐞

◈ Son of Demeter

◈ He’s known it most of his life since his mom comes to check on him in the colder seasons

◈ Technically Persephone’s brother but he doesn’t acknowledge it

◈ Sass sass sass!!!!!

◈ Exhausted thanks to his two extraverted boyfriends

𝐉𝐢 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐦𝐢𝐧

◈ Son of Hermes

◈ Freaked himself out by teleporting across his room when he sneezed… mom decided it was finally time to tell him

◈ A little shithead /affectionate

◈ Teasing and bullying is his love language

◈ If he can prank at least one person a day he’s happy (his favorite victims are the grumps (Jeno/Kevin/Juyeon) and Jaehyun)

𝐉𝐮 𝐇𝐚𝐤𝐧𝐲𝐞𝐨𝐧

◈ Son of Pan

◈ Plants started growing really easily when he had a gardening project… then he could suddenly talk to animals…

◈ Very close with Jisung from being in the same area of study

◈ Likes to bother Chanhee in the greenhouse

◈ Loves chatting with random wildlife on the way to missions

𝐊𝐢𝐦 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐰𝐨𝐨

◈ Son of Helios

◈ Manifested a beam of sunshine in a pitch black room and quite literally screamed it scared him so bad

◈ A very gifted healer but it mostly works in the day time

◈ A little shit about being the son of the literal Sun

◈ Even though he’s a healer he does have good long range attacks

𝐄𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐨𝐡𝐧

◈ Son of Hecitate

◈ Started seeing ghosts and having weird purple mist around his hands… he didn’t address it… then his mom showed up and lectured him about not using his gifts

◈ The first time he manipulated mista and warped reality he didn’t associate with anyone for a week

◈ Likes doing silly little spells and readings to play games with/on his friends

◈ One of the strongest but plays a support role on missions since he can’t always control all his abilities

COPYRIGHT STARLITMARK 2024© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED — reposting/modifying any fic or piece of original writing posted on this blog is not allowed. Translations are not permitted. 

Networks: @kwritersworld @k-vanity

Tag List: @jaehunnyy @kyusqult @ericssmile @anyamaris @jwnghyuns

#kwritersworldnet #kvanity #the boyz fanfic #the boyz au #the boyz imagines

[annabethy]

aurora // a 'tis the damn season au

Percy and Annabeth had something real. They fell in love somewhere between bookstore kittens and vintage novels with pages tinted yellow with time, and they were happy. It's rare, finding the type of love they did. It's even more rare making it last. Read on AO3 (Chapter 3/8)

Six years.

That’s how long it takes before Annabeth finds herself back in her hometown, standing in the middle of the sidewalk watching the snow fall from the sky. 

It’s night, but the streets are lit up in the spirit of the holidays. She almost doesn’t recognize this street with the hints of change that have overcome it, but it comes rushing back as she analyzes the buildings, tracing over each individual brick, looking at the downtown windows and stores she used to spend her days away in. 

It’s taken her all day to find her way here. Her plane landed this morning, and she’d spent the day with her dad’s family, suffering through an awkward car ride to the house that she never felt truly welcome in. She didn’t plan on coming home this year, just as she hadn’t come since she moved away, but a lot can change in six years, so she ended up here anyway, doing everything she can to avoid this familiar street. 

Annabeth is exactly twenty-one minutes away from the home she grew up in. She’s twenty-four minutes away from her high school, fifteen minutes away from the grocery store she stole alcohol from after her junior year homecoming, twelve minutes from the place she tripped and scraped her knee, eleven minutes from the restaurant she doesn’t like. She’s seven minutes from the playground she used to play at when she was seven, running around on the mulch and whining to her dad when a chip of wood ended up inside her shoe. Six minutes from the ice cream shop that held her first date.

Twenty seconds from the bookshop where she fell in love. 

She’s been avoiding this all day. She thinks this is the reason she’s avoiding this town for as long as she has. She moved on, made friends and studied and read and wrote. She never thought about a certain green-eyed boy. That was the only way she knew how to live.

The thing about pretending the person she fell in love with hasn’t existed for the past six years is that the second she comes back, standing between the Methodist church and bookstore, she is just as heartbroken as when she first left. 

Annabeth stands in place for five minutes, unable to feel the cold. She’s wrapped in a black wool coat, hair tangling in the light breeze, and she finds she can’t breathe. She calms herself, staring at the beautiful Christmas lights lining Hestia’s. They blink slowly, a preset pattern, alternating a brilliant blue and red and green, and she wonders who put them up. She hasn’t kept in contact with people from here, and she doesn’t know who the bookstore belongs to anymore. She doesn’t know the new wave of people who walk the street, the high schoolers living their very own coming of age movie.

She feels frozen in place.

The bookstore looks relatively empty from outside the windows. It makes sense, nearing eleven at night. She can spot a few people wandering around, and she can practically feel the warmth emanating from the place she used to call home.

Annabeth knows she should turn around.

She should go back to her dad’s house, suffer through two weeks of tiptoeing around people she never really fit in with, the people who guilt tripped her into returning home for the winter. She should do anything else instead of reopening wounds that she spent years attempting to glue shut.

Instead, Annabeth walks inside. 

It’s exactly as she remembers. 

The counter rests at the center of the store, unoccupied, and she figures whoever is running the shop that night is somewhere in the back. The lighting is yellow and flickers every few seconds, but it feels like home. The dark-stained wood looks more worn, but there are still as many leather bound books as ever resting upon the shelves. Her nerves are calmed by the familiar words of Shakespeare prose and Robert Frost. Of people from the past sitting away at typewriters so that today, in an age of technology, places like this can remain, places where inked words offer solace to calm souls.

Annabeth stands idle in the doorway, unable to move further. 

There’s a candle burning on the corner of the shop, vanilla and peppermint, and she remembers the many nights she’s spent curled up in the corner with a book in lap, waiting for Percy to close. She’d always scold him, warning him he’s going to end up with a Library of Alexandria if he’s not careful, and he’d always tell her the joys of peppermint far outweigh the risk of flame.

It brings a subtle grin to her face. For a moment, she can breathe, knowing she’s in the place she dreaded coming and things didn't immediately fall apart in front of her. 

Annabeth moves further in to the left. Her fingers trace over the shelves, picking up on the chipping edges. She has to walk around a girl looking through a few of the novels before she can move back to the shelf. She winds up at the window she used to sit by, and she finds herself looking outside. A part of her wonders if she never left, would she still be sitting here, perched up on the counter with a new book every week? She’s so distracted staring out the window, at the reflection of Christmas lights and remnants of the past, that she almost doesn’t notice the quiet patter of feet until there’s something brushing against her leg, and—

“Maisie,” Annabeth laughs out, bending down to the cat nudging her ankle. Her heart warms at the gentle meowing, and she reaches a hand out to scratch her neck. “Hey, pretty girl. I’ve missed you.”

It’s as though the animal understands, looking directly at her and meowing in her face.

“You’re so big,” Annabeth whispers, letting Maisie’s tail run through her hand. “How have you been, sweet girl? Causing lots of trouble?”

More content purring.

“I’m sure you are,” Annabeth muses. “Wasting your days away sunbathing, huh?”

“Annabeth?”

She jumps at the voice behind her. She doesn’t need to turn around to know who it is. 

When she looks, she finds Percy staring at her, exactly the way she remembers. He looks older, and she knows she does too. They’re twenty-four, and everything has changed, but he’s still there in this bookstore, a white button down with his sleeves rolled up like he’s been working all day, a pair of jeans he’s probably had for years. He’s holding a stack of books, presumably one he was going to put away before he saw her.

He stares at her, expression dazed and in disbelief, and—

Confused.

“You kept the cat.”

Percy tilts his head, brows furrowed in confusion. He shifts his hold on the books. “I kept the cat,” he confirms. “You’re…in East Aurora.”

“For Christmas,” she explains. She grabs Maisie in her arms, painfully aware of Percy’s eyes following her every move as she stands. “My dad wanted me to come home, and I figured…”

“It’s been six years.”

His words are sharp, though not particularly angry. They’re almost accusing, asking how she has the nerve to show up after never having properly said goodbye. The reality is that she couldn’t say goodbye because she knew she needed to leave, and the moment she knew it would be her last time seeing him, she might have changed her mind. She couldn’t let that happen, so she didn’t say goodbye. He didn’t seek her out either.

“Yeah,” she says, choosing to focus on the cat so she doesn’t have to look into his sea-green eyes. “It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah, it has.” He blinks at her, expression unreadable. And then, “Can I help you with something?”

“What?”

He looks around cautiously. “Is there something you need, or was this meant to be a friendly reunion?”

Annabeth bites her lip.  “I was just walking around, and I thought I could stop in for a second.”

“At midnight?”

He’s still confused, maybe a little hurt too. Still, she spots hints of his lips quirked up. “I’m sorry,” she says. “I can leave.”

“I’m not asking you to leave,” he promises. He sidesteps her to place a few of the books back on the shelf slowly while glancing at her hesitantly. “Did you just get in today?”

“This morning,” she tells him. “It’s been a long day with my family.”

“I can only imagine.” He slides the last book in his hands into an empty slot on the shelves before turning to her. “Tired of them already?”

He remembers all the times he used to find her here to escape the wrath of her family. They never did get along, and even six years is not enough to mend the irreparable. 

“It’s going to be a long two weeks.”

And it’s awkward. He doesn’t say anything for a moment, eyes trained on her She had initially feared him asking questions, but it’s worse that he doesn’t. It feels like he doesn’t care, like she’s not an important part of his life. She isn’t, at least not anymore, but it hurts her to remember it.

“Well,” he nods towards Maisie after a few seconds, “you’ve always got here to hang around. I’m sure that one would love having you around.”

“I’m surprised she’s not a warm meal yet.”

Percy shrugs, reaching out towards the cat. “After you left, we got along better. I was the only person really around anymore. Besides, I couldn’t cook her when she attracts so many customers pawing at them through the window.”

“A business investment.”

“She really is,” he laughs, scratching behind Maisie’s ear. “I mean it, though. You’re welcome to hang around here.”

How could he possibly know her like this? How could he know she already left the house to gather her thoughts before she fell apart? How could she have had a love this thorough and thrown it all away?

“Maisie’s really missed you,” he says. “After you left, she was miserable for weeks. Wouldn’t let anyone touch her.”

“It looks like you took good care of her, though.”

“Oh, for sure. She got the most expensive food that took up way too much of my paycheck, and she gets to lay around all day. I’m sure she was hoping you’d come visit.” He locks eyes with her, and she thinks something goes unsaid.

And suddenly, she feels guilty. She knows the only place they’ve seen each other are in the little screens they carry around. They’re nothing more than an occasional like of an instagram post because anything more than that hurts too much. She should have told him she was coming back. She shouldn’t have shown up like this.

“I’ve been so busy,” she tries, though it’s a lame excuse. They both know it. 

Percy reads through her instantly, just like he always has, but he doesn’t say anything to call her out. Instead, he says, “LA keeps you on your toes, I’m sure.”

“Oh, yeah.” She feels stuck, back to the shelves that dig uncomfortable into her spine. The silence that fills them is awkward, and she wishes he would say something to ease the tension except there’s nothing to say because she’s the one that got them in this position, so it’s her turn to say, “I’m sorry for just showing up. I didn’t know you even worked here still, honestly. I just thought I would stop in for a second, but—”

“You’re fine, Annabeth.”

Her mouth shuts.

“You can go wherever you want,” he says. “This used to be your home.”

Something about the words used to be stings. She used to find comfort here, but it’s long gone, along with all the relationships she’d built. She’s standing in the same place, and everything changed.

Percy’s lips quirk up. “Cat got your tongue?”

“Haha,” she unfreezes. “I’m thinking.”

“Oh, god,” he teases, but he doesn’t push her. Something clatters to his right, and he looks over at a girl who’d dropped a book before he winds up with his attention back on her. In that split moment that his eyes aren’t on her, she looks him over, perplexed by how different he looks. He really does look older, though not in a bad way in the slightest, and it makes her realize just how much she’s missed. Six years of memories and scars marking his skin, of smiles and cries and everything in between she’s no longer a part of. She always thought it would be her to grow up with him. “So, how have you been?”

“Busier than I would like,” she says honestly. “A lot of writing.”

“I’m shocked.”

“Right? Who would’ve thought a writer would write?”

Percy laughs softly. “Anything else happen in the last six years, or is that it?”

And a lot has happened in the last six years. She thinks he already knows that.

“Nothing all that interesting.”

“What a shame,” he says, amused and very clearly unbelieving. His eyes linger on her left hand placement on Maisie’s back, and something tells her he’s not focused on the cat. If he has any other questions, he doesn’t voice them.

“What about you?”

“Nothing changes here,” he quips. “I went to school for a bit, but never finished. I’ve worked here full time for a few years now.”

“You’re a brooding librarian,” she teases.

“I’m not sure how brooding a librarian can be,” he says. “Is it still a librarian if the books aren’t being rented out? People have to actually buy them.”

“I never bought them.”

“You were an exception.”

Annabeth lets the cat fall from her arms, but Maisie doesn’t go anywhere, choosing to circle Annabeth’s leg and brush against her lovingly. 

Breaking up is never fun, but she thinks it’s a million times worse when the reason for it isn’t because they fell out of love. The emotions never disappeared, but she did.

“I should probably go,” she says quietly, pulling her coat tighter around her, though she feels too warm. “I don’t want to bother you while you’re busy.”

He blinks at her for a moment before pointedly looking around the empty bookstore and back at her with an amused grin. “I’m incredibly busy. Barely have time to breathe.”

Annabeth laughs, and he pushes himself off the bookshelf.

“I’m stuck here for another half hour, but if you want to wait around, I can walk you home.”

It’s a tempting offer.

It’s an impossible situation. Here she is showing up six years after she left. She left because she needed to breathe, and she couldn’t do that here, but she left everything crumbling behind her, and now he’s offering to walk her home, except she can tell in his eyes that he doesn’t mean it. She knows him well enough to know that he would walk her home without a second thought, but she can see in his eyes that he doesn’t really want her to say yes. 

There’s a lot for him to think about, like his ex showing up in his bookstore and holding his cat like there’s not an ounce of time missing between the two of them when there is. 

“I’ll be alright,” Annabeth says, eyes looking at the book beside his head because she can’t bring herself to look at him. “Hopefully I still remember my way home.”

“Are you sure?” he asks. “I don’t mind.”

“It’s a quick walk,” she says. He analyzes her for a second, and she wants to know what’s running through his mind, but his face is unreadable. 

“Okay,” he relents. “Let’s do something while you’re here, though. Just let me know.”

She bends down to say goodbye to the cat, but at least this time, she has intentions of coming back. “I will.”

He doesn’t follow her to the door, choosing to watch her leave from the counter. He waves with a kind smile, and she’s glad that he’s distracted by a customer ready to pay so that she doesn’t have to walk away knowing his eyes are on her back. 

She takes her time walking home, even though the cold starts to make her ears ache. The upside to a small town is people tend to go all out for the holidays, and it’s been a while since she’s gotten to stare at the twinkling lights. Even when she looks up, she can see the stars that almost live up to the Christmas lights, which is something she doesn’t get when she’s in LA. The brilliant lights capture her attention, and for a moment, she feels like she can breathe. She’s treading a line of uncertainty, of how two weeks with her family is going to go, of how she is supposed to act around Percy, if she should even talk to him.

By the time she makes it home, she realizes another thing she’s missed. The freedom of walking around at night and being able to go places without having to worry about looking over her shoulder every two seconds is refreshing, and she doesn’t want to walk through the front door.

Still, she knows her dad’s already going to have questions of where she went off to as though she was still in high school, so she pushes the front door open and is hit with the vanilla-scented warmth of a home that was never really hers.

Annabeth is happy to find that they’re not waiting up for her, and she lets herself slide her coat off and warm up in the dark. The living room is pretty in a fake pristine way, white and gold glittery lights on an expensive tree, white couches with Christmas themed pillows that people weren’t really meant to use. It’s exactly what she thinks of when she imagines a picture perfect family, and it’s exactly the reason she never fit in here. She never wanted a family with a nauseating sense of self rooted in what others thought of them.

She sits on the couch for a moment, staring at the lights on the tree, and she wonders how she could feel so much colder here than in the arms of the person she left six years ago.

Well.

‘Tis the damn season.

#percy jackson #pjo #percabeth #annabeth chase #my writing #chapter three babey!!!!

[thisismisogynoir]

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What Greek Goddess is prev tags? Aphrodite 💖🕊️ Hera 👰🏾‍♀️🦚 Athena 📚🦉 Artemis 🏹🦌 Persephone 🌸🦜 Demeter 🌻🐍 Hestia 🔥🐷 Circe...

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[uppastthejelliclemoon]

If you're still taking questions about your OC: if you could assign Hestia a specific line to sing from "Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats" which would it be and why?

THIS IS MY FAVORITE THING TO TALK ABOUT

so i firmly believe that the lyrics to "Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats" are rotated as a new cat is sent to the Heaviside Layer. So once a cat has their lyric, it's theirs until they leave the tribe!

Since my main Hestia canon is based around the 1998 movie, Hestia's lyric would be "When you're walking alone", which, of course, is Baby Griz's lyric.

I have a lot of emotions about Jemima and Hestia both taking after their nana in some way, Jemima with "Memory" becoming her theme, and Hestia with her taking over Grizabella's lyric.

In my canon, Hestia is very close to her nana, both because she knows the story of what happened after she left the tribe, and because she knew that her daddy, Grandpa Deut, and Uncle Straps missed her with all their being. (and because of some shenanigans she gets into with Jubilee, which is a whole couple of storylines that @queen-with-the-quill and i rp'd!!)

and connection with Grizabella aside, the line just fits Hestia so well.

She lost so much of her family to Macavity, and until she and Jemima found out that they were sisters, Hestia felt so alone in being just "Macavity's daughter". That was so much of her identity until she found the strength to push past it and become her own person, to become Hestia the Hearth Cat, but for a lot of her kittenhood, she was a lonely little queen because of this. She couldn't find a way to talk about it to anyone.

When she and Jemima found out they were sisters, it was honestly a bit of a relief, because they could share their fears, and didn't have to feel guilty, because they knew how it felt.

So, when Hestia takes over the "when you're walking alone" line, she transforms it into something of an encouragement. She wants to make sure that any Jellicles, new and old, know that they don't have to walk alone, that they have a family, and they have a support system, and that they'll always have someone at their side.

#hestia the hearth cat #happy hestia day <3 #grizabella #jemima #cats the musical #literally could make a whole analysis about how hestia and grizabella are so similar

[thelostrainbowthenovel]

Didn’t get a chance to upload these till now(I originally did on my DA two weeks ago), but I finally sketched out the future kiddo concepts I made last year! It was always something I meant to do but it was never at the top of my project priorities. But, here is part one of sketching out those concepts, and I hope you enjoy! :3

(Their bios can be found below!)

=============================================================

* Silas Erdmann Son and youngest child of Gaia and Ren, younger brother to Aster by about 2 years. Prince of Erdennia. While he is adopted, his parents having found him as a lone elf baby when visiting more of Erdennia's smaller villages, he is very much loved by his brother and the rest of his family. He is much like his Papa when he was younger, being more standoffish and withdrawn, but he does has his rare moments of warming up to others when he is comfortable. Like his parents and older brother, he too has taken to witchcraft, though unlike their more nature-based magic, he practices gray magic more. He often feels ‘overshadowed’ by Aster who tends to get the most attention and he feels like he acts condescending towards him about that, however that is untrue as Aster loves his grumpy brother and does his best to include him whenever he can. * Aster Erdmann Son and oldest child of Gaia and Ren. Crowned Prince of Erdennia. A compassionate and precocious young lad, he has taken to advocacy work from a young age to stand up and fight for what he believes in. Much like his parents he has also taken to practicing witchcraft, practicing nature magic much like his Mama but was mainly inspired from his origin as a ‘clay baby’ to pursue it. With them being a little closer in age and both relating to being clay babies, he is close friends with Crowned Princess Mira of Feor, who often keeps him on his toes with the adventures they get into when together.

* Phoebe Von Brandt

Second daughter to Hestia and Tyson, younger sister to Seraphina by two-ish years. Princess of Feor. She takes more after her mama in temperament, being more calm and serious than her older sister. While she is quite strong like the rest of her family, she prefers more academic pursuits, commonly being found reading in the castle library. While she usually complains, she often gets roped into her older sister and older cousin Mira's antics, often acting as the 'voice of reason' to help keep them out of trouble. * Miku Neptune Daughter and youngest child of Amaya and Iris, younger sister to Gale by 5 years. Princess of Arian. Miku is a ‘clay baby’, meaning she is a biological child of her parents through the practice of a ritual created by the witches. Miku is a total sweetheart to all those around her, seemingly more confident than her brother but she does tend to bottle up her nerves more than express them. She is interested in her Mama Iris’ work as an ambassador, and hopes for herself that one day she can be able to travel out into the world. * Gale Neptune Son and oldest child of Amaya and Iris. Prince of Arian. Gale came into his parents’ lives one day when they were visiting one of the local orphanages, and after falling in love with the baby they decided to adopt him and bring him home with them. Gale is mostly a happy and carefree child, though is often intimidated by the older nobles of the royal court, worrying about if he could ever measure up to their expectations. Besides his Mama Maya, one person he can relate to this with is his cousin Clara, who is often under a lot of expectations as well as the crowned heir. * Clara Neptune Daughter and only child of Talia. Crowned princess of Arian. Despite the trauma her mother went through when she was younger that left her pretty withdrawn, the two have a good relationship as Talia considers her girl like the “light” of her life. Clara herself is very well-mannered and proper, a little quiet but she does her best to speak up. She loves doing anything she can to make her family and friends smile, even if with small gestures.

#the lost rainbow #sequel ideas #future characters #next generation #erdennia #feor #arian #royalty #silas erdmann #aster erdmann #phoebe von brandt #miku neptune #gale neptune #clara neptune #silas #aster #phoebe #miku #gale #clara #sketch #sketches #concept sketches #character refs

[sweeethinny]

A good day to be alive

what happened before Harry called Sirius on his birthday. happy birthday Sirius!

(I'm sorry for posting on the wrong profile, I had just woken up and just today I've taken 3 meds, so I'm a little out of sorts ahahhaha)

---

''Happy Birthday, Black,'' Hestia said, carrying wine and a grocery bag. He smiled, taking the things from her hand and floating into the kitchen which was very tidy.

''Thanks, I thought you weren't coming,'' He waited all day for her. Sirius cut his hair and shaved, put on the earring he hadn't worn in a long time, and even wore a new shirt that Lily had bought for him for Christmas.

''I said I'd come, didn't I?'' She walked into his house, hands behind her back and looking around curiously. Her outfit was beautiful, a black velvet skirt, high boots, a yellow plaid sweater, and a black cape that he hung behind the door. ''I brought wine and some snacks, I don't know if you would want to go out or not.''

''I'm not really in the mood, but if you want, we can look for a bar,'' He smiled. ''I don't even get a hug?'' For someone who had had sex a week ago, they were quite shy.

Hestia laughed, rolling her eyes and going to him. Sirius hugged her, loving the feel of her body against his again, he had really missed it. When she went to kiss him on the cheek however, Sirius turned away and stole a real kiss, holding her face and making her walk until her back met the door.

It was too good to be alive.

#sirius black #sirius x hestia #sirius headcanon #my fic #happybirthday #padfoot

[flygonscales]

I’ve not been great at keeping up with this drawing challenge. This week has been really busy (we’re moving house soon), but here are the next four prompts! Same as last time, they’re only sketches, but I definitely want to add colour to some of them.

Day 3’s prompt was a fairy, so I went full Brian Froud on this one. I love how he distorts different body parts in his work, and combines them with loads of symbolism. This fairy is definitely a lord (or lady maybe? I don’t think they really have a gender). I also just love drawing long deer leggies, so satisfying.

Goddess was the challenge for day 4. I’m not sure about this sketch - she’s a goddess of the hearth a la Hestia, and the cat elements are taken from how cats love sitting by the fire. I think she could really do with a redesign, making her basket of logs on her back more prominent. I am happy with her pose though, I’m not great at stuff like that. I think she looks quite a bit like The Star from The Arcana (it’s a great game on mobile go and play it), and I like to think of this goddess like a mix between her and the Norse goddess Freyja.

Next prompt was ‘Merfolk’. I like the older depictions of mermaids as fully half and half creatures with a clear divide, but more modern mermaids (see Harry Potter and even Narnia films I think) are easier to draw (for me, anyway) and more natural. This merman was not based on any fish really, more concepts of how the sea is dangerous. (This is just getting out of using a reference, I know, but I just want to draw, not find the perfect image to copy from)

Finally, todays prompt was ‘Zombie’. Zombies I’ve never really liked, mostly because they often turn up in a modern setting, and lots of tropes are predictable nowadays (Shaun of the dead is great though, love that). Also swords are better than guns. So a zombie dog. I could be so much more original, but that’s what I felt like. Also his anatomy is defo kinda dodgy. He’s not much of a character though. I may improve him later

Sorry about the long post and the long gap with nothing. It’s the weekend next though, so I’ll probably get more done with less pauses soon

The prompt list is on the last post, thanks to whoever made it

#fairy #faery #brian froud #fae #chimera #goddess #cat #cat goddess #hearth #hearth goddess #monster #may #fire #merman #mermaid #storm #ocean #trident #merfolk #zombie #zombie dog #dog #undead #unalive #monster may hem #1 month drawing challenge #long post

[poseidons-favourite-daughter]

How do you feel post-ttpd?

~@unproblematic-hestia

i feel sad, and happy

extremely excited and hella confused

also been jamming to it all day

i think the rest of cabin 3 is sick of it by now lol

#angie answers your asks ⋆｡° ✮ #taylor swift #the tortured poets department

[ptllsdelmon]

Happy birthday Hestia whose best friend looks apparently « just like Pedri »?? 😭 Hope you spent a wonderful day 🎉🎉

thank you!! 😚🩷 and yes i swear he does but i think it’s the facial hair mainly, but they do look alike 😭😭😭 wouldn’t share his picture on tumblr but trust me the resemblance is there

i did have a wonderful day yesterday! totally spaced and forgot tumblr existed yesterday evening so i am just seeing this now <3 THANK YOU AGAIN!!! 🩷🩷🩷

#moots <3