#and it was the exact same as before where percy failed to save her

[cornbake]

Headcanons of Grog, Pike, Scanlan, Percy, Vex, Keyleth, and Vax being surprised by their quiet friend because they didn't notice them at all! Said friend is just that quiet, not because they're being mischievous.

I've never done headcannons so I hope I did this right lmao ALSO I'M NOT DEAD. I sure feel like it lmao. Had a very long string of bad luck, as I'll put it, but thankfully it's gotten a little better. GROG - Grog is big and loud, two of his main characteristics. You where the exact opposite, small and quiet. - Despite being his opposite, Grog loved you dearly. In fact, he almost preferred it. If you were just like him you would only be his competition, which wouldn't work because he didn't want to hurt you. - Yet a problem tends to arise when he's a little to loud to hear his lingering shadow. - Most of the time it would take several tries before you could even get his attention. - "Oh! When did you get here?" - He would be a little shocked to hear you have been with him the whole time but would be glad to know you where here with him to cheer him on at his drinking games. PIKE

- Pike enjoys your company, it's so different from most of the others that it's nice to have some time with someone that's not nearly screaming every five minutes. - You both would sit to pray to your deities, many long nights together in silence. - At least that's how the nights usually went. Pike was a lot louder when it came to the day and the rest of Vox. - You can't blame her, her best friend is Grog after all. - So when someone as light footed as you happened to stick around the two cheerfully out spoken fighters it usually resulted in a screaming match, or a shriek if it was just Pike. - "Oh man! You sure got me good that time!!" - She found it more as a game, laughing it off with you. - You tend to make it your goal to keep spooking her as she tries to catch you before you can. SCANLAN - Much like his barbarian buddy he was loud and boy was he proud. - He loved to be in the spot light and loved all the attention from it. - You didn't mind that the spotlight was one him, at least it wasn't on you. - Anytime you did aproach him after a performance of his. He would have eyes and word on the others. Which might be why he didn't see you. - "Gah! Wha- How did you-? (Y/N)! You gotta stop sneaking up to me like that!" - You would just laugh and hand him a drink as he tries to stay grumpy at you, failing horribly. PERCY

- You preferred to stay in the shadows. Not for the same reasons as Vax but it was something that often made Percy feel unsettled. - He would try and cox you out into the light, as an attempt to show you it wasn't all that bad. Despite his efforts, he still found you stalking him and the party in the darker areas. - Even though he knew you were there he would always get a little spooked by your watchful gaze. It was never angry or sorrowful, but more curious and cautious. - He hoped you wouldn't use that to your advantage one day. Or at least not in the way the other would. - He can't tell you how many time he has nearly jumped out of his skin when he sees you. - "I'm going to have to get you a bell..." - "But then that would ruin the point of stealth." - "A bell for around the keep, or my hair will turn whiter than it is now." VEX - She was a hunter, a tracker, no one can out best her eyes. Well, maybe save her brother.... Okay, not even him. - She could see anyone or thing coming from a mile. From dragons to imps, nothing can get the jump on her. - Okay, MOSTLY nothing can get the jump on her. YOU on the other hand just seem to be able to sneak around her senses. - Getting an unexpected light tap on her shoulder was a shock to her, so much so she was ready for a fight. - Thankfully your friendly face was enough for her to lower her bow and take a moment. - "How on this green dirt did you get there?" - "Hmm? Oh! I just walked!" - "That's not- nevermind, what did you need darling?" - So maybe she can't track everything. But you are always a welcomed exception. KEYLETH - Keyleth herself was rather quiet, have moments of quiet to be with nature. - You often admired her Disney Princess like presence finding yourself watching her as she take her times of rest. - It was your moment of rest as much as it was hers, lasting as long as it took for her to spot you. - "AH! Oh! Hello! Oh my god, you scared me!" - "Oh- sorry Keyleth, just getting you to say dinner is made, wouldn't want Grog to take everything again now would we?" - Laughing she stood to make her way to the kitchen, telling you she'd save you a plate as you go to get the others. VAX - Vax, the one that kisses the shadows. HE is the one that sneaks up on people. Making them frighten for their lifes. - He dances with the night and dresses with the dark. - The rouge of Vox. The stealthy assassin. The one you see one second too late. - But that tends to not matter if he cant see what sneaks up on HIM. - He is honestly jealous that you got blessed with such a light foot. Might have to ask you for your secrets later. - Much like his sister he is ready to attack the unknown presences before he places an armed hand to his heart. - "My god feather, you've got to tell me next time you decide to follow me!" - He liked to call you feather after the first few times you happened to spook him. In his words, "You are as light as a feather, and just as pretty as one too."

#critical role fanfiction #fanfic #criticial role #vox machina x reader #headcanons

[cadykeus-clay]

just finished rewatching the briarwood arc and it really sticks out to me that matt Never said cassandra had been charmed by sylas and delilah. he never mentioned in meta any kind of magic effect, never described her “shrugging off” anything. she did say that her actions were made ‘not in her right mind’ but that doesn’t necessarily mean a charm effect, and matt also referenced stockholm syndrome. 

so all evidence on the table, there’s a very high chance that cassandra was never charmed by the briarwoods in a magical effect sort of way, but instead in a mundane sort of “your brother left you for dead, but we saved you, because you’re worthy, not like the rest of your family, they hardly cared for you anyways, lonely youngest daughter, always forgotten, always left behind, but no more, we will love you, we will cherish you, you’ll be the sole object of our desire, and you’ll see that all cruelty is just means to an end, you’ll come to understand why we had to do this in time, no one purely evil would have saved a dying girl in the snow, but we did, because you’re so important to us” sort of way. 

and i’m thinking especially about her white-knuckle gripping percy’s hands and choking on her words as she asks him “can i be trusted?” and archibald refusing to look her in the eye for days after finding out she was double crossing the rebellion attempts she feigned leading with him, and the fact that she kept a picture of her with some of her brothers, but her parents had been burnt away, and delilah’s final words to her being “YOU COULD HAVE BEEN MY DAUGHTER” and like .... cassandra ......................... what did you Go through

#critical role #critical role campaign 1 #vox machina #cassandra de rolo #briarwoods arc #all the various insight checks on her throughout the siege of the castle never revealed an ulterior motive #and i truly believe that until that moment that the glass walls came down in the acid pit she was really thinking that percy had come back #to save her. and she was willing to trust him and turn on the briarwoods #and then she saw him and his friends trapped #and her free #and delilah came and whispered in her ear #and it was the exact same as before where percy failed to save her #he failed again #and it was a perfect chance to even the scales #to leave him behind when she was the only person who could save him #delilah may have killed her family but percy abandoned his and a part of her is going to relish walking away as He lays dying so he knows #just how bad it fucking hurt #and then they come crawling to the zigguraut barely scathed #and she's so god damn angry that he got away again #he saved his stupid fucking skin and is going to ruin her life yet again #and then she gets knocked out and when she comes back the first thing percy does is give her a sword and tell her to run #to save herself #to get out while she can #and maybe. just maybe. he means it this time. #and maybe. just maybe. she was right the first time in trusting that he loved her #and she looks at delilah. armless and dying. begging for vox machina to finish the job. #and she's fucking sick of people swearing to love her and then leaving and sylas and delilah; who swore they'd never be felled and they'd #stay with her for eternity; are dead or nearly there. and if she's going to lose them no one else is going to fucking take them from her. #she's going to be the one to get rid of them. not the other way round #and she puts her sword through delilah's chest.

[bipercabeth]

“Something’s wrong, I can tell” for percabeth 💖🔪

(in which we ignore the fact that hoo exists)

Annabeth’s alarm clock blinks 5:00 PM on her bedside table, the bright red casting a glow over her dark dorm room. Her blinds are drawn back, but uselessly so. The sun hides behind rain clouds that drown the city in their gloom. And so the turn of spring is more limp than victory march, or maybe it just walks to a cadence Annabeth can’t hear. The moment her feet hit the floor this morning, it felt like she was stepping out of time. 

The darkness presses in heavily on Annabeth, like maybe it’s her fault the sun rose wrong today. The girl with a plan for everything can’t even rouse herself out of bed. Afternoon collapses into early evening, and the weight of the lost day pins Annabeth below her comforter. Alone in a twin bed, the way it way built to be. Even after nearly a decade of sleeping in a cabin with all her siblings, that’s all Annabeth has ever really been: alone, the way she was built to be. 

Sneakers scuff the carpeted hallway, stopping when they reach Annabeth’s door. A key scrapes the lock without a knock, which is how she knows it’s Percy on the other side. 

Light from the hallway follows him in, and both of them blink as their eyes adjust. Annabeth is blind for a moment, able only to focus on Percy’s silhouette. Even in the lowlight, she can see the way concern softens his brow and stiffens his hands. 

“Baby...” he says, a nickname that has become a common occurrence in their seven months of dating. This is the first time it has failed to warm Annabeth’s chest. “What’s wrong?” 

Annabeth tries—she really does—to sit up and wipe the tear tracks from her cheeks, but her nose is snotty and half her hair falls out of its scrunchie from being upright for the first time all day. Her voice cracks when she says, “M’fine.” 

Percy just crosses the room and turns on her desk lamp, giving the place a soft yellow glow. He looks like the sun sweeping away the shadows of a dim day. With gentle hands, he undoes Annabeth’s scrunchie and coaxes her curls into a bun that will hold in the wake of her wallowing. Annabeth leans her head back into his stomach to look at him upside down, at which point he holds her cheeks and breaks her with a gentle, “Something’s wrong, I can tell.” 

She just gapes at him uselessly, because isn’t the lack of words the very core of this pain? All the power of Athena’s wisdom, Daedalus’s laptop, and Annabeth’s own mind, and she cannot string together a sentence about Luke Castellan that rings true. 

He was a hero. Naive. 

He was a monster. Calloused. 

He loved me. 

Well, aside from that, which is the only thing she knows to be true. 

Percy senses the tectonic shift within Annabeth and holds her tight, laying her back on the mattress and tucking himself in behind her. His arms wrap around her like he can prevent the earthquake, but all that tension can only do one thing: snap. 

Luke loved her. It’s the one thing she knows. None of it makes sense if he never loved her. She has to make it make sense. 

Most days her brain buries the ache. Annabeth is a runner; she is good at lacing up her shoes and hitting the road, but her feet cannot carry her far enough. She is the house she’s running away from. Luke’s influence is a painful design that fuels self-hatred and frustration, but the bones were good. At its core, the house was built with love, the kind you want to share with family. Before her fearlessness and fire were her own, they were his. Luke was the first person to put a weapon in her hand, and Annabeth is nothing if not a warrior. He made her to be the exact thing she needed to be to survive him.

Seven months after his death, and sometimes a day goes by where Annabeth doesn’t think about it. Some days are too full of Percy’s sunshine smile for the sky to dream of dimming. Other days—ones she keeps to herself—the thought of Luke shines in the rose-tinted lens of nostalgia. And then there are days like today where she is rendered immobile by the mere memory of him.

Closure is a sick and twisted joke. Luke’s love for Annabeth saved his soul and the world, just the way she wanted. All the pain and suffering of the past four years was worth it. She was right to believe in him. So why does the burden still burn into her shoulders? 

Percy presses his lips to the back of Annabeth’s neck, drawing her back to the present. His arm rests underneath her neck and wraps around her shoulders while the other falls over and around her torso, linking their fingers over her heart. He’s grown considerably since the summer, a fact that bothers Annabeth until moments like this where the width of his shoulders eclipses her own. It almost fools her into thinking he can protect her from this. 

“Easy.” His voice is low, whispered into her neck. “You’re okay. Just breathe with me, alright? I’ve got you.” 

Each swell of Percy’s chest coaches Annabeth through her own. Inhale. Hold. Feel his hands squeeze each second. Exhale. Listen to him whisper affirmations like prayers into her skin. Repeat. 

It takes a while, but Annabeth’s heart slows.

Percy’s voice resonates again her back. “What happened?”

This, she thinks, is the hardest part. Annabeth doesn’t have an empathy link like Percy and Grover, nor does she have someone with shared experience to speak to. In her struggle with Luke, she is truly alone.

“It’s not fair,” she manages, breath hitching.

“What isn’t?”

“That he—“ A stray tear leaks onto her pillow. Percy’s lips linger on her shoulder, patient and steady and everything Luke couldn’t be. Annabeth sobs, a mortifying sound, and she’s glad Percy can’t see her face as she presses it into her cold pillowcase. The stain of fallen tears waits for her, inviting her back into old pain. “That he loved me. It’s not fair that he loved me.”

Though he tries to hide it, Percy’s body goes rigid. They have fought about this on Annabeth’s rose-tinted days or whenever someone brings up Luke’s legacy, be it as hero, pawn, or monster. Part of Percy will always be the twelve year old boy who was betrayed by Luke, and part of Annabeth will always be the seven year old girl who found a family with him.

“Love isn’t always enough,” Percy says, and she can hear the tension in his jaw. Bless him though, he tries for her. “It’s not your fault he couldn’t do a single damn thing about it.”

He pulls her into his chest and lays his head on her shoulder, keeping her from falling off the bed while her body shakes. She withers at the realization that she can’t offer him anything in return, not even a promise that she’ll take his words to heart.

Luke did something about it: he died. He became the hero Annabeth saw in him after years of struggling, and then he left her again.

But he kept his promise. 

Annabeth’s chest aches as it always does when she thinks about Luke, it just runs a bit deeper today. It was in his nature to cut to the bone. 

“I just don’t want to feel like this anymore.” She sounds every bit the small, bitter runaway. 

The cold of the pillow is replaced by Percy wiping away her tears and dabbing at her nose with the sleeve of his hoodie. “What can I do? Tell me how to help.” 

“Just stay with me.” She leans into his palm, kisses his wrist. “Hold me a little longer.” 

“As long as you need,” Percy promises, dropping kisses along the line of her neck, her jaw, her cheek. “But I need you to look at me.” 

They untangle their limbs for Annabeth to flop onto Percy’s chest. His arms wrap back around her, this time firm around her waist while his free hand slides to her neck, his thumb under her jaw to hold her gaze. His eyes blaze with the fierce love she is still learning to accept, the one that burns to protect. 

“I love you so much,” he says, his voice aching as though it almost hurts. “And if I could take this away, I would. You don’t deserve it. I know we don’t... That he...” Percy frowns, then tightens his grip on her. “I know I don’t get it. I know. But I’m still here, you know? I don’t want you to be alone. Ever.” 

The gears in Annabeth’s brain take a moment process, and her response comes out in a breathless, “I love you.” The phrase is warm, as it always is, like the sun shining through the rain on her window. Loving Percy turns the light on in every room she enters. The rest of her words fall short, though they’re honest. “I don’t know what to say.” 

Percy’s thumb swipes across her cheek. “Me neither. We’ll figure it out together, yeah?” 

She throws herself into the crook of his neck, knocking the air from his lungs. He just softens and holds the back of her head while tracing circles on her hoodie—steady, sweet, supporting. He holds her tight and kisses her temple with the same tenderness she presses into his collarbone: a small attempt at reciprocity, but a meaningful one nonetheless. They’re trying, which is all they can do. 

#hey babes here’s some luke themed h/c with a side of spooning #truly ​an annie seeking missile #my percabeth #drabbles #my fic #ayesha tag #annie tag #bc anything mentioning luke goes there #iris messages #autumnmuses

[mostlyanything19]

I posted 3.637 times in 2021

471 posts created (13%)

3166 posts reblogged (87%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 6.7 posts.

I added 3.290 tags in 2021

#critical role - 944 posts

#c1 - 437 posts

#c3 - 425 posts

#fanart - 420 posts

#adventures in cr - 353 posts

#exandria unlimited - 155 posts

#p - 154 posts

#rqg - 149 posts

#community - 134 posts

#queue - 119 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#und ich glaub auch das hört nie auf; egal ob jetzt romantisch oder platonisch in zukunft aber die beiden sind unheimlich wichtig füreinander

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Imogen on her first attack: “Hm I guess I’m gonna give this guy a real bad headache to throw him off kilter”

Imogen on her second attack: “After seeing what he did to Laudna, my eyes start to flash white and my hands start flickering brighter, and I’m gonna cast witch bolt. Straight at his heart.”

190 notes • Posted 2021-10-31 02:15:50 GMT

#4

Is that a framed collage with both of their childhood photos in it ashfkshdjsfhsj PLEASE

IT IS

191 notes • Posted 2021-04-18 19:58:33 GMT

#3

Vax, Percy and Scanlan vs. a door that’s not even locked, just barred by a kinda heavy thing of wood.

On their side: An ineffective use of Dimension Door, a gnome too small to lift up some wood, Percy’s never-before-used sword that draws its first blood by cutting Scanlan when they all try to lever the door open with it by hanging on it on both sides with it shoved through the crack, an admirable determination to follow this line of action through and NOT go in the broken window literally feet from them, a half-elf that does finally climb in through the window to help the gnome lift the piece of wood but is also too wimpy, a MAGICALLY SUMMONED UNSEEN SERVANT FROM ANOTHER PLANE THAT TRIES TO LIFT WITH THEM AND ROLLS A FUCKING FOUR, and finally, born out of desperation after like twenty minutes, three wasted spells and four points of self-inflicted slashing damage, a completely overkill use of Bigby’s Hand to flick the wooden bar away like a toothpick.

On the door’s side: TECHNICALLY NOTHING.

260 notes • Posted 2021-05-20 22:20:03 GMT

#2

When ur bard breaks up with you only to turn into some rando on the street five minutes later

329 notes • Posted 2021-10-03 18:25:33 GMT

#1

Imogen failing her wisdom save on the thought reading attempt early on, and having to spend the rest of the day in a state of what pretty much amounts to constantly trying to avoid auditory sensory overload is honestly so weirdly relateable.

She keeps trying to steer everyone to the secluded corners of the tavern and away from the crowds because she can’t seem to turn off hearing the barrage of thought input from the people around, and even says to Laudna afterwards that she had trouble following the actual conversation at the table because of it. Like, girl I feel you. Try being autistic and sitting in a crowded restaurant on a day where you’re not completely at 100% and it’s pretty much the exact same experience.

743 notes • Posted 2021-10-22 19:44:03 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#tumblr nonsense #(affectionate) #whew looking at the most used tags this year was ALL critical role #except for the community phase in like march and some rqg #BUT my longest tag is a wilde hühner tag! nice. #year in review

[greekgeek21]

Percy Jackson & The Avengers: Convergence - team-up time!!

Ok, so I'm a little off schedule, but who cares? Honestly, I've been getting a lot of good reviews/comments and I'm so grateful!!

My amazing beta reader, nightskywithrainbows, is so patient and I would not be able to do this without you. So, give them some love!

Anyway, I hope you like this! Stay safe and happy reading!

- your author

Ω ♆ Ω

"Wise Girl? Are you here?" Percy asked as he walked into his cabin.

He had just gotten back, and the first thing he did was ask where Annabeth was. Apparently, she had got into the Poseidon Cabin after their IM and hadn't come out since. It was sweet, really, but if she ever caught him saying that, he would be beheaded in an instant, so he kept it to himself.

He was not expecting what he saw when he walked into his home-away-from-home. Annabeth was asleep on top of his covers, a book laying beside her. The lights were still on, too. It looked like she had tried to stay awake for him, but it was reasonable for her to fall asleep. He HAD gotten back at 2 AM.

To anyone else, she would have looked peaceful, but he knew his girlfriend, and he saw that she was having a nightmare. Unlike him, who thrashed around and screamed, Annabeth was dead silent during her dreams. It had scared him more times than one. The only indication was her frown, the slight sheen of sweat, and the rare barely-there whimper.

He raced to her side, lying down next to her and pulling her into his side, "Shhh...you're okay. We're okay. We got out. We're safe now."

The Tartarus nightmares had gotten better, but they still had them every so often. They had learned to deal with them properly in a way that worked. They had even tried therapy once, but that was a disaster waiting to happen anyways. Annabeth and him don't talk about their feelings very well. Still, it was worrying to watch your loved ones suffer with nothing to offer for comfort other than your support.

Percy continued to whisper sweet nothings and reassurances in Annabeth's ear before her breathing eventually evened out and she slowly started to blink her eyes open. She seemed confused about his appearance for a second before she realized that he had come in while she was sleeping.

"Seaweed Brain? When did you get here?" She tried to sit up, but Percy held her tight, so she relaxed into him.

"Not long ago. But don't avoid the question. You know we need to talk about it. What happened this time?" he asked.

Annabeth sighed and answered, "It was the same one. You were controlling the poison 'down there' and I saw your eyes. They were a sickly green, Percy. Not anything like your usual sea green. They were almost grey, and they were glowing. I was terrified. This time, I couldn't stop you. I had to watch as y-you killed her."

By then, tears had started to escape her tight control over them. If it were anyone else, Annabeth would never have let them hear her sound so weak, let alone see her crying. She was the strong leader of Camp Half-blood, and that came with the responsibility to keep a confident front.

However, every leader needs time to release the stress. Her alone time with Percy was that time. He had been through almost everything with her, and she trusted him to the end of the universe. HE was HER rock just as much as SHE was HIS.

"I would never do that. You have to know that. It wasn't real. We're home, and we're together. We made it, Wise Girl," Percy reassured, kissing her on the head.

"Yeah, I know. They just get so real sometimes," Annabeth curled into his side.

"I know. It's late, though. Do you want to stay up talking or do you want to try to sleep again?" he asked, tucking them under the sheets.

Annabeth closed her eyes, wrapping Percy's arm around her tighter as she said, "Let's go to bed. I'm sure I'll be fine now that you're here."

Percy smiled his goofy smile, "Okay, Wise Girl. I love you."

"I love you, too, dork."

He chuckled, and Annabeth fell asleep in contentment to the sound of his heart beating. As long as that was happening, she would be fine.

Ω ♆ Ω

The next few weeks went by as smoothly as a demigod's life could. Percy never received any communication attempts from SHIELD, so he let himself fall back into his schedule. Him and Annabeth went to stay with Sally while also staying at camp on and off. There were no major problems for him to deal with, and he was soaking up every bit of it.

Of course, he should have never said anything. That was an invitation to the Fates.

He was driving with Annabeth when he learned about it. A news broadcaster came over the radio and was retelling an active event happening in Los Angeles.

"There has been another suicide bombing in downtown LA. There appears to be GREEN FIRE coming from the explosion. Officials are attempting to get the flames under control, but their tactics seem to be failing thus far. This is another in a string of connected bombings around the US. So far, there are no suspects, but we are told there has been progress made in the investigation. What is the purpose of these attacks and who..."

Annabeth turned the volume down. She turned to Percy with a grave expression. Green fire could only mean one thing: the divine were involved. The mortals had somehow gotten into contact with Greek fire, and they were using it for terrible acts of violence. And of course nobody could put the fire out, it was impossible unless dealt with by someone who knew what they were dealing with. Like Leo, for example.

"Percy, at the Brooklyn Bridge, was the fire green?" Annabeth asked cautiously, already dreading the answer.

"I can't remember. I was too focused on making sure the bridge didn't collapse that I didn't bother to check what the explosion looked like. Oh gods, what if I could've done something if I had seen it earlier? What if I could have stopped this bombing in LA? This is all my fault!" he exclaimed.

Annabeth laced her fingers with his, "Perce, you did more than anyone could've asked. You saved so many people that day. This is not your fault, okay?"

He still looked disbelieving, but he reluctantly nodded. He didn't have time to debate his guilt with Annabeth, he had somewhere to be. Percy wasn't exactly sure where that location was, but he was needed somewhere, and so was Annabeth.

"SHIELD's on this case already. I need to get in contact with them, and then we need to meet with them. I'm not letting anyone else get hurt," he told Annabeth, driving towards Camp Half-Blood.

The gears were turning in Annabeth;s head, and he knew the exact moment she figured out what his plan was. Surprisingly, she didn't argue. She just nodded and grabbed her phone from her backpack, flipping it open and turning it on. She only used it in emergencies, and this felt like an emergency.

She called one of the few numbers she had on there: Camp Half-blood's. Camp had only one phone in the Big House, and it was scarcely used. It was an old landline, too, in hopes that it attracted less monsters. Nowadays, it was impossible to not attract them, with technology all around them.

It rang for a long time, almost to the point that she was just going to give up, but right as she was going to press the 'end call' button, Jason's voice came over the phone, "Hello? Who is this?"

Annabeth let out a sigh of relief, "It's Annabeth. I'm with Percy. We need you to gather the Seven quickly. We'll be there soon."

"What? Annabeth, what's going on? Why do you sound so worried?" Jason asked.

Annabeth's patience was waning, "Jason! This is important! Secret of the gods important! Prepare for a fight and wait for us to get to camp. We'll explain there."

Jason sighed, clearly wanting more information than that, "Alright. See you soon."

"Bye," Annabeth hung up the phone as soon as possible.

They had probably already been on for too long, but it was worth a shot. And besides, none of the monsters would dare come near them once they realized who was on the call. That's what she was counting on, anyway.

She looked up at Percy and instantly noticed the tension all throughout his body. He still believed it was his fault, obviously. There wasn't much she could do about that. It was his fatal flaw!

"We're going to figure this out," she consoled.

"Yeah," Percy whispered as he pulled over at the bottom of the hill leading up to Camp.

They were both out of the car and running already, so it didn't take them long to reach Peleus and Thalia's tree. He didn't even pay them a thought as they ran through the border and towards the Big House, where they could see a group of armored demigods congregated on the porch.

As they ran closer, they saw it was the Seven on the porch, talking with Chiron. They were all in their basic armor: a chestplate, greaves, vambraces, and helmets resting under their arms. Piper had her dagger hanging on a belt, Jason had his gladius, Frank had his bow and arrows slung over back, and Hazel was carrying her imperial gold spatha. Leo was, of course, wearing his toolbelt. They all were in various states of confusion and agitation from being left in the dark about whatever they were dealing with, and they all seemed relieved when Annabeth and Percy came running up.

Before either of them could get a word out, Piper spoke, "Let me guess: this has something to do with Percy and the bombings, and now we need to go clean up his mess."

"Words hurt, Pipes," Percy sarcastically held a hand over his heart.

She rolled her eyes, "You'll survive."

Annabeth smiled in the direction of her friend. She had really started to become comfortable as a demigod in the past year. Plus, she had picked up on some of Annabeth's habits. Like picking on Percy, for example.

"What's this about Annabeth?" Jason asked, stopping the playful mood in its tracks.

Annabeth exchanged a look with her boyfriend before responding, "Piper was right. This is about the bombings. They're using Greek fire. But it's still mortals doing it. That means somebody from out world is supplying the mortals with our weapons, and that is a recipe for disaster. We need to stop it before it gets too out of hand."

"Why us, though?" Hazel asked.

"We're the Heroes of Olympus, and we're the best to represent our kind in the fight. Plus, I trust you guys the most. In case it is a mole in the camps, we need to keep this between us," Annabeth answered.

The mood got even more serious at the realization of where her thoughts were headed. Somebody still inside the camp could be taking the fire to the mortals, and they didn't know who it was yet.

But then Piper noticed something in Annabeth's wording, "What do you mean 'represent our kind?' Who are we meeting?"

Percy answered her this time, "SHIELD. They're already working on this, and I have a deal with their director to help with stuff from our world. We only need to figure out how to contact them."

"I've got that covered!" Annabeth interrupted, "I have a plan."

"Of course you do," Jason said, "What is it?"

"We're going to Stark Towers, and we're going to meet with Tony Stark. He's Iron Man, and he no doubt works with SHIELD, so we'll use him to get to them. It's not my best plan, but it's the best we got," she answered.

"It's better than what I was going to do," Percy remarked.

Annabeth didn't even want to ask what his plan was going to be. That was a road she did not want to go down.

"When do you leave?" Chiron asked, finally speaking for the first time.

"Percy and I will get ready and then we'll head out right after. We need to get a handle on this ASAP," Annabeth answered, already heading towards the armor shed.

Percy ran down to meet her there, and they got dressed in the same gear as the others before heading towards their separate cabins. As a precaution, all campers had been required to make an emergency quest backpack in case they had to leave quickly. They had the demigod essentials like toothbrushes and paste, deodorant, a couple spare changes of clothes, nectar and ambrosia, and a prism with some drachmas for IMing.

Percy and Annabeth both grabbed their kits, along with a few other personal items that they suspected would be needed for this specific quest, if you could even call it that. They still had to meet with Rachel, but she was staying with her dad in New York. That would have to wait for later.

They were geared-up and ready in less than twenty minutes, and then they were standing on the edge of Half-blood hill with the others, saying goodbye to Chiron.

"Be careful. I have a feeling the path you are about to take will lead you through hard times," Chiron warned.

"We'll be fine, Chiron. It's nothing we can't handle," Annabeth assured.

He gave a tight smile in return. His reaction to their quest was disconcerting, but the demigods didn't have time to ponder on it. They had to get to Stark Towers as soon as possible.

So, they gave one last wave and started towards the Delphi Strawberries van Argus had pulled up. He would be driving them to the tower, but they would be on their own from there. There wasn't any reason to be worried, though. They had traveled across the world on a floating boat; this would be a piece of cake.

The drive there was tense and silence-filled. Or it was until Leo ruined it.

"So I get to meet Tony Stark?" he asked, an excited grin forming on his face.

Piper groaned, realizing what was bound to happen. She had met Mr. Stark at a gala her father had dragged her to before. He was a self-centered jerk who had too much money to know what to do with it. Plus, his ego was the size of a planet. Leo and Tony Stark together in one room was going to be crazy.

"Don't do anything nuts, Leo. We need him to trust us, and it's hard enough doing that without telling him what we are," Percy said.

Leo gasped, "I am hurt that you would ever think I would do such a thing! Uncle Leo just wanted to chat about some design flaws in his suit! And maybe some possible ideas that all that money could help put into action..."

Annabeth gave him her death glare, and he sank away, "You are forbidden from speaking until I say so."

He hurriedly nodded his head. She was scary!

Percy smirked at his girlfriend, knowing that she was fully aware of the effect she had on the poor demigod. Of course, Percy was whipped, too, but it was still amusing to see Annabeth go all 'powerful daughter of Athena' on people that weren't him.

"We're almost there, guys," Piper said, pointing up ahead, where they could see the tall outline of Stark Towers.

Annabeth had to admit, the architecture was impressive, even if she would've gone less futuristic. But the sustainable energy system was remarkable.

She snapped herself out of her daze. She was not there to admire the architecture, she was there to do her job: saving the mortals. And with the amount of stupid stuff they did, they would never get a vacation.

"So what's so important about this Stark guy?" Hazel asked, finally giving in to her curiosity.

"Oh! I always forget you aren't all caught up on modern pop culture," Piper exclaimed, "Tony Stark is a rich, playboy, engineer who doubles as an Avenger. The Avengers saved the world from aliens when we were saving it from itself. He's Iron Man, which is basically just a suit he invented."

"Sounds like someone Leo would like," Hazel remarked.

Percy laughed as Argus pulled over, "Exactly."

The demigods all climbed out, standing in a line before the entrance. It seemed they were all waiting for one of them to make the first move, but nobody wanted to be that person. Of course, Annabeth wasn't one to back down from anything, so she stepped forward and pushed the glass doors open, striding through with confidence only a daughter of Athena could command.

The rest of the group trailed behind, tensed for anything. They were literally surrounded on all sides by technology, and it was unnerving for them all. Well, for almost all of them. Leo was practically vibrating with energy and excitement. He was about to meet his idol AND get the chance to explore all of the toys there.

"Remember: professional," Annabeth warned one last time before turning to address the front desk lady.

"Yes, mom," Piper whispered to Leo, who muffled a snicker in response.

Percy just prayed that this all went well. He wanted this whole ordeal to be over quickly. He didn't want to be brought into another situation where he had to use his powers. They were still too unreliable, even after a year. The bridge incident was hopefully a one-time thing.

"Hello. We're here to meet Tony Stark," Annabeth said.

They knew the Mist was covering their weapons and armor, especially with Hazel there. People wanted to see some regular teenagers, so that's what they were seeing. Not seven, well-trained demigods in full armor, prepared for battle.

The receptionist looked her up and down, "Do you have an appointment?"

Annabeth tried for a smile, but it turned into more of a grimace, "No, but it's important. I'm sure Mr. Stark would understand once we talk to him."

Sometimes being young can come in handy, but a lot of the time, it sucks.

"I'm sorry, but Mr. Stark only accepts scheduled meetings. If you want to make one of those, you can contact his secretary. But for now, I would ask that you please leave," the woman responded.

Annabeth glared, and was about to start yelling, but Percy stepped up and placed a calming hand on her shoulder before he spoke, "Actually, this is urgent. And I'm sure that if you called Mr. Stark, he would send us up, considering that we're friends from work, and I'm not talking about his day job."

He said everything so calmly, that you would have thought he was having a civil conversation if not for his icy words.

"Fine," the woman ripped the phone up and dialled a number, "Yes, there are seven teenagers here to see Mr. Stark. They say it's urgent. And that it's about his OTHER work."

She nodded a few times before hanging up, "Mr. Stark will see you now."

Ω ♆ Ω

45 minutes earlier...

Fury was not having a good day. First, an idiot dressed-up as a spider ruins his morning, and then another bombing happens in LA, and finally, he has to deal with the Avengers now. He had been hoping to deal with this case without them, but he was pushed into the decision when he got a message from the terrorists responsible for the bombs. They threatened to bomb things much more important than the Brooklyn Bridge, and that they had the means to do worse.

None of his regular agents could figure it out, so he had to bring in the big guns. Besides, the heroes had had much too long of a break already.

That's how he found himself in another blacked-out SUV, on his way to Stark Towers after calling a meeting of the Avengers there. He had no way of contacting Thor, so it was just Stark, Rogers, Widow, Banner, and Barton. He had another person in mind, but Fury didn't want to call him in just yet. It was still a new alliance after all.

When he got there, he went straight up the elevator to the penthouse. From there, he went to the meeting room and found everyone but Stark already there, which was no surprise. Without a word, he strode up to the head of the table and slipped the flash drive into the slot, automatically turning on the holo-projector in the center of the table. The flash drive had all of the details of the case, along with whatever notes his agents had made.

He opened up the photo gallery, flicking to each bombing site, "The Brooklyn Bridge, Portland, LA, Long Island, San Francisco. What do all of these have in common?"

Just as Steve was about to answer, Tony burst in the door, taking a seat without an apology, as per usual.

Steve cleared his throat before continuing, "They all had a bombing happen recently."

"That's right. And it's gotten out of hand. Your job is to stop them," Fury cut right to the point, "Everything you'll need is in this folder. I want this done discreetly. That means no flashy spectacles, Stark."

Tony mock-gasped, "I would never!"

Banner shifted nervously, "Will the 'other guy' be needed for this?"

"Possibly, but as a last resort. You'll be needed for tracking more than anything," Fury answered.

Bruce nodded his head, seemingly finding comfort in that.

One look at Clint and Natasha, and you could see that they had gone into SHIELD agent mode. They were both studying the file information with rapt attention. They, at least, Fury could count on.

"This needs to be done as quickly as possible, got it?" he ordered.

"Yes, sir!" Tony sarcastically saluted.

Fury held back a growl. If anyone could make him lose his composure, it would be Tony Stark.

"I expect results the next time I see you," he said, turning to walk out of the room, but he was interrupted by J.A.R.V.I.S.

"Sir, there is a group of teenagers asking to see you. They say it is urgent," the AI said.

Tony sighed, "J.A.R.V.I.S., I thought I programmed you better than this. I don't want to see them."

"But sir, I am told it has something to do with your Avengers work. They are very adamant," J.A.R.V.I.S. pressed.

"Pull up the camera feeds," Tony ordered.

For some reason, Fury felt compelled to see who had wanted to see Stark, and he understood why as soon as he saw the footage. There, with six other teens, was Percy Jackson.

Before Tony could turn them down again, Fury said, "Let them up. Now."

"Right away, Director," J.A.R.V.I.S. replied, listening to his SHIELD reprogramming.

Tony threw his hands up in defeat and grumbled "Whatever. It's not like I own the building."

"Direct them here, J.A.R.V.I.S.," Fury ordered, going back to his previous position at the head of the table.

Steve sat up in confusion, "What are you doing, Fury?"

The man in question ignored him.

Before any more objections could be made, the Seven were standing before the Avengers, everyone confused.

Percy was the one who broke the silence, "Well, this makes our job a whole lot easier."

Ω ♆ Ω

Don't forget to like, comment, follow me, and reblog! Stay safe and happy reading!

- your author

other chapters :)

#pjo #percy jackson and the olympians #heroes of olympus #the avengers #mcu #superheroes #Percy Jackson and the avengers

[flightfoot]

You know what would be a horrible AU? I see some fics on this idea but..here we go: A alternative of TOA where Apollo is still turned as a mortal but is captured by Python.

Alone in a cell, chained and tortured (because killing him immediately is less “funny” than making him suffer for long/break him).

And nobody come for him.  He hopes, he cries, he prays for his twin, his father, his brothers, his sisters, his uncles and aunts to save him. A few times a day, every day. His calls become more and more desperate.

“Please dad I’m sorry!! Please!” “Artemis where are you?” “Hermes, please…come!” “please…anyone…whatever who” “save me…please”

Python tells him again and again “they don’t care” “the gods will not come” “they don’t CARE” “they don’t really love you" "they don’t CARE”

And a little part of Apollo begins to believe it. After all, why would they have left him to suffer here? They are his family. Family means love, right? Right?

What he doesn’t know, or doesn’t realize in this state, is that Python has hidden him. It’s not that they have abandoned him...it’s that they CAN’T see him.

But they KNOW that Python has captured him. and let’s say that they WANT to find him but fail. It takes some time before they decide to ask for help from the mortals.

So Zeus sends a very exhausted Hermes (by days of searches) to the Greek camp, and after to the Roman Camp, to give them the order (since prophecies don’t work) to save Apollo from Python. With the little information that they have. 

Yep he waited almost 3 WEEKS before for asking the help from the demigods.

Yeah for once, Zeus doesn’t have them asked immediately. Even when the situation is so desperate.  Let’s say that Hermes is very upset about it (because it’s SO important). But he’s too worried and tired to be angry. Same for Artemis.

Literally everyone searches for Apollo. (Gods, Demigods from Greek and Roman camps, Hunters, Furies (uncle Hades sent them), Amazons)

Will takes that very personally and decides to go on the quest for save his father, he drags Nico, Leo, Pipper, Jason, Connor, Reyna and Frank with him. 

(Percy and Annabeth search too, of course, with another team, and with Hazel and Clarisse)

But Apollo does’t know and has almost give up any hope.  Who can blame him at this point? Even if Apollo is strong, despair always comes. 

And some time later, it’s his son with some else who comes to save him. And Apollo becomes a god again (at the exact moment when Zeus spots him) but…he’s even more traumatized than before.

Understandably, nobody can blame him: In his mind the words “your family doesn’t care about you” stay. He feels abandoned and betrayed. His child (so young, so vulnerable, so MORTAL) has saved him, not his parents, not his siblings, not an immortal.

Will tells him “They were worried!! Everyone tried to find you!” for days with patience, because he knows and understands what his father thinks. But Apollo refuses to leave the half blood camp. Refuses to return to Olympus.

He wants to believe Will, but he wants his family to prove Will’s words. Prove that it’s truth. 

So every god comes. Artemis decides to stay until her twin smiles again and  he’s ready to return home. All the others come: Athena, Ares, Dionysus, Hephaistos, Hermes. Hadès. Posédon. Aphrodite. The muses. Even Asclepios. Everyone.  They all speak to him. They try to prove to him that Python is wrong, that they cared, that they have tried to find him day and night. lot of angst lot of tears lot of hugs. Zeus realizes how much he has messed up. And TRIES to make things better (at least he tries).

It takes time but Apollo finally believes them at 100%  And he forgets the horrible and poisonous words of Python.

In the end, Apollo returns to Olympus, and the story ends when he does a “horrible” haiku in the throne room, but this time everyone laughs softly because they have missed so much their sunny dork.

#trials of apollo #apollo #lester papadopoulos #I corrected some spelling and grammar errors but otherwise didn't touch anything #naehja #This is SO GOOD #submission

[dulcepericulum-rp]

In the month and a half since the memorial at St. Mungo’s, the world has been quiet—-publicly at least. No one can deny that tension rang through the streets of London and the walkways of both Diagon and Knockturn Alley, setting a permanent grey cloud over the already dreary England skies. People speak in hushed whispers, milling about in shops long after they’ve closed and crowding the Leaky Cauldron more than what’s considered usual (though Tom isn’t one to complain from the profit earned from this scare). The wizarding world is waiting for the other shoe to drop… and finally, they get their wish.

On February 17, a flurry of owls are sent off into the sky, the number so great that some mistake them for clouds or, if near a park, the leaves of a tree. Early risers think nothing of it when a paper arrives at their homes, but some are confused when they receive two bundles instead of one: one of the usual Daily Prophet, and another from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Some look at that paper first, but all eventually turn their eyes to the Daily Prophet as they are wont to do, the staggering headline facing them in big, bold print:

‘HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY TO CLOSE INDEFINITELY’

On the second page of the paper, under the Auror Beats, another shocking piece of news comes into light: Alastor Moody has been declared missing in action, and Rufus Scrimgeour is to step in as acting Head Auror until further notice. His induction ceremony is set to happen eleven days from the publication of the article—February 29.

Meanwhile, the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters don’t sit idly by. Hogwarts, once considered the safest place on Earth, is now free for the taking. After all, who wouldn’t want to put a castle to use? The Death Eaters have an advantage, thanks to the break-in earlier in the month by Bellatrix Lestrange and Rabastan Lestrange that led to the shut down in the first place.

FEBRUARY 29 - MORNING

(9:30 am) Fabian Prewett, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Lily Potter arrive near Hogwarts as a group, all with separate tasks and limited time to get them done. Nearby, Bellatrix Lestrange arrives at Hogwarts with the intent to find and combat any Order members she comes across.

(9:32 am) In Hogsmeade, reconstruction efforts are well underway. Narcissa Malfoy is there personally overseeing everything and, having been the first to declare public support for Hogsmeade and donated a large sum of money to the cause, is followed without question. While coordinating the volunteers, Narcissa comes across Molly Weasley, who had taken Bill and Charlie out with her to help. Unfortunately, the boys have gotten off somewhere while Molly checked on the twins, and the two women search together for the children.

(9:45 am) A little ways away, Lucinda Talkalot and Marlene McKinnon walk through Hogsmeade both to volunteer and build good PR for the Catapults. Billy and their coach have asked Lucinda to groom Marlene’s public disposition, but Marlene seems she would rather be anywhere else. Lucinda quickly manages to give Marlene the slip when they’re stopped by Narcissa and Molly, going to the Forbidden Forest and entering the Hogwarts grounds through the breach. She is meant to watch over the grounds while Bellatrix scouts inside the castle, but has the unfortunate luck of running into Fabian Prewett, who had been doing the exact same thing.

(9:57 am) Inside of Hogwarts, Peter Pettigrew and Lily Potter team up to search the lower levels of Hogwarts for anything that could be of use. Lily also scouts the condition of the castle to see if it’s viable to use for the RHEA Initiative. While Lily searches through Slughorn’s supply closet, Peter keeps watch and comes face-to-face with Bellatrix. Not wanting the most important part of the mission to fail because of a duel, he tells Bellatrix where she can find Sirius in the castle, knowing that he can take care of himself. Luckily for him and Lily, the witch takes the bait and leaves to find her cousin.

(10:10 am) Near the Gryffindor common room, Sirius Black is confronted by Bellatrix, their rivalry coming to a head in a duel against one another. Sirius is grievously injured in the fight and is left by Bellatrix to die. Back in Dumbledore’s office, Fabian, Peter, and Lily search through the old headmaster’s belongings one more time for anything that could be useful. When Sirius fails to show up at the allotted time, Fabian makes the decision to leave without him, and the three of them escape the castle through Dumbledore’s illegal Floo network.

(10:12 am) Outside of Hogwarts’ barrier, Amelia Bones waits in case the infiltrators need back-up. When she hears nothing, she decides to start an unofficial investigation as to how anyone got through the school’s wards in the first place; about halfway between Hogsmeade and the Forbidden Forest, she finds Pandora Lovegood, who is going the same thing under the guise of writing an article for the Quibbler.

(10:27 am) Not wanting to attend the induction ceremony that evening, James Potter volunteers to strengthen the wards around Hogsmeade while he waits for the proper time to join the team in Hogwarts. He loses track of time, however, between his work and chatting for appearances, and it isn’t until he hears Marlene mention Lucinda’s disappearance that he realizes something is wrong. James abandons his post and rushes to Hogwarts, where he not only finds that his wife and comrades are gone, but that Sirius is on the ground dying outside of their old haunt. He gets in contact with Amelia using his Patronus as a messenger, and the two quickly bring him to St. Mungo’s, unaware that Pandora followed Amelia inside and sees them carrying Sirius into the Floo Network to leave the building.

FEBRUARY 29 - EVENING

(7:30 pm) The induction ceremony for Rufus Scrimgeour is crowded, though it seems that more than half of the Aurors manage to get out of attending it. One of the few there is Alice Longbottom, who seems less-than-pleased to see anyone but Alastor Moody standing in Scrimgeour’s spot. She makes conversation with Alecto Carrow, who is lingering by the refreshments table, and becomes distracted by Mary Macdonald, who decided to make an appearance to provide more of an Order presence to the ceremony. In the moment of distraction, Alecto dumps several vials of poison into the various punches and leaves before the two women can speak with her further. She will not, after all, ruin the Dark Lord’s orders over measly conversation.

(7:52 pm) After Scrimgeour’s speech is over, Gideon Prewett makes his way toward him with his nephew Percy in tow, wanting to introduce himself to his new boss. After a shallow introduction, Scrimgeour brushes him off and leaves Gideon standing in the middle of the atrium. With a promise to give Percy a tour of the Ministry after hours to uphold, he turns to do so but is intercepted by both Mary Macdonald and Sinistra Lowe for some idle conversation. The conversation with Sinistra doesn’t last long, as a slightly-lost looking Lucius Malfoy begins to field press questions. If he seems to favor questions from the Quibbler more than anyone else, no one decides to say.

(8:12 pm) Rabastan Lestrange, having been tricked into attending the ceremony, has happily indulged in the free punch and freely admonishes the event under his breath. He latches onto Mary and begins drunken ramblings that only leaves her with more questions than answers. Across the way, Alecto sees his state and cannot save him from the poison without exposing herself and angering the Dark Lord. On her way out, she passes by Sinistra, drink in her hand, and presses a vial of antidote into her palm with the whispered instruction to pass it to Lucius. She makes her exit quickly, and Sinistra does what she says without asking questions for the moment.

(8:15 pm) Alice Longbottom is the first to fall, the cup in her hand shattering on the floor and sending wine and glass everywhere. The concern is small at first, with the nearest people going to help her, but when Rabastan Lestrange and Sinistra Lowe fall one after the other, the crowd becomes panicked. The people who drank that evening begin dropping like flies, the horrified yells of those who did not drink emphasized by the ever-present thumping of bodies and breaking glass. Having not had anything to drink, Lucius and Gideon begin working together to help the fallen, aided substantially when Lucius realizes the vial passed to him is an antidote. Mary helps the two of them as well, but the small amount she did drink catches up to her, and she falls with the rest.

MARCH 1

News of the disaster at the Ministry from the previous night spreads like wildfire, and for his first act as Head Auror, Scrimgeour separates the Aurors into two teams: one team will continue to investigate the Hogwarts security breach, while the other puts all their time and resources into figuring out who was behind the mass poisoning and why. With some of his best Aurors currently in the hospital, however, it proves to be a substantial task to take on. His next act is assigning a new security detail to protect Minister Minchum, the unit headed by Corban Yaxley and (unknown to Scrimgeour) composed of several Death Eaters.

The plan to take over the Ministry of Magic is underway. Corban just needs to take care of Rufus Scrimgeour before it can come to fruition.

#dulceevent

[incorrectquotes-randomthoughts]

Part 2 of why the pjo movies shouldn’t exist, and now that they do, you should refrain from watching.

Continuation to my post before last. (Yes, I got through the rest of it, I’m surprised too, and not mentally stable)

(After Percy gets healed by the water)

If you saw my other post you know that I turned it off during the capture the flag scene, the whole movie is incredible horrible so I was wondering why that scene was even worse, so I broke it down;

Percy and Annabeth are on opposing teams.

Percy’s a better sword fighter than three people from the other team combined. (Who Luke had said to be sons of Ares)

Annabeth was the only one gaurding her flag.

Needless to say, Percy didn’t get guarding duty, like in the books.

I already mentioned Annabeth’s speach, so unlike her it’s not ok.

She’s been training for five years, but if we take her movie age, at least nine. Yet Percy is almost as good as her.

She should be using a dagger, Luke’s dagger, not a sword.

Everyone has the exact same sword, although Percy has Riptide, other than the pen feature it’s the same as everyone else’s.

Needless to mention swords are the only weapon being used.

Everyone has the exact same shield.

Annabeth and Percy are fighting and people are just watching. That’s not how capture the flag works.

^^^ No one’s trying to steal the flag, neither flag in fact, when it’s clear the blue flag (Percy’s team) is poorly guarded, if at all.

Still no Clarisse, still no electric spear.

Percy beats Annabeth in combat.

Percy just raises the flag and suddenly they won.

There was no claiming. Spoiler alert: In the whole movie.

And now, to my normal form of complaining opinion experessing.

Where are the tables?

Or the magic food??

Or the burnt offerings???

Percy’s supposed to feel alone seating at the Poseidon table.

Nymphs are suddenly horny teenage girls that throw parties I guess.

What even is supposed to be her place? They live in trees.

Grover’s suddenly also a horny teenager. You already threw away his personality a little more won’t matter I suppose.

Percy is not happy about being a hero.

Annabeth is smart enough to know that. She doesn’t think he’s all ‘victorious and got the fame up his head’

WHY WOULD HADES WANT THE LIGHTING BOLT.

Also, why would he appear in flames in the middle of dinner.

Chiron’s protective instinctives don’t exist.

Good to know the Oracle is as exsistent as the Big House.

Percy Jackson would never sneak out of camp.

Grover Underwood would never agree.

Annabeth Chase would never accompany them.

Not their 12 year old selves or however old they are supposed to be.

Luke has technology.

Luke hides bolt in shield because he just happens to know that they’re sneaking out of camp today.

He also happens to have a pair of flying shoes from his dad who he has never met.

And a magic, super convenient map. Also from his dad.

Luke Castellan is smart enough to not mention that he hates his dad in front of them. Specially Annabeth, who he knows how smart she is.

They stumble upon Aunt Em’s in plain daylight, because the map says they have to.

Oh yeah, forgot to tell you, Percy never destroyed national monuments, which never led to him getting magic pearls.

They also never go to the water park.

They never meet Ares, or Aphrodite.

We never learn about Annabeth’s phobia of spiders.

Their actual quest is getting the pearls that will get them out of the underworld, because Luke oh-so-conveniently knew exactly that they would do that.

Not Grover who fought so much to get Annabeth, Luke, and Thalia to camp. Not Annabeth, who survived on the streets when she was seven. Not even a first-quest Percy would suggest to split up. Much less agree.

Percy has a phone.

Medusa doesn’t try to trick them or anything she just straight up goes, I’mma turn ya to stone.

Apparently the temptation to look Medusa in the eyes is too much so this random woman does and turns to stone.

Medusa’s horny af.

I would make a comment on the fact that’s it’s for Annabeth, but like, other than the not-really-actually-exsisting age gap.... they’re Greek.

“Yeah, I’m just gonna seduce this girl into opening her eyes”

Percy decapitates Medusa with pretty much no problem.

Grover can drive.

Grover found a truck, with vines all over it, found the key, and knew how to drive not to mention the car actually worked.

Percy can drive.

Magic seat changing between one scene and the other.

They can afford a hotel.

They can also check in the hotel without being questioned.

They keep Medusa’s head in a sink, in the bathroom. They also got ice for it.

They keep their curtains open.

More Percy just seating underwater doing nothing.

Percy can now heal other with water.

Apparently the gods are forbidden to communicate with their kids.

Producer: Sir, here it says that Annebth likes architecture. We should mention that. Director: Have her go ‘woah’ when she sees a monument. Producer: You’re a genius.

Annabeth sneaks into the boys bathroom in the middle of the day and no one notices.

No one checks, or cleans the bathrooms at the end of the day.

Annabeth has a computer which she uses to video chat Luke.

Luke’s flying shoe gift work perfectly. And even though he said it might take “a little practice” Percy can almost master them.

Hydras can look like/poses people.

Percy. Pays. Attention. To. Chiron’s. Class.

Perseus Jackson knows that you can’t cut a Hydra’s head.

Movie Percy Jackson single handedly cuts all seven Hydra heads before they can regenerate.

Good thing only nine grew back.

Also convenient that Grover carries Medusa’s head around.

Medusa can also turn monsters to stone??? I’m not sure if that one’s canon or not.

Magic map says Lotus hotel because magic pearl ends up here.

The Lotua hotel is NOT suppose to look like... that.

Annabeth wouldn’t take food from such a sketchy place.

Grover would detect that there’s something wrong with the food at least.

That’s is not how the magic of the Lotus casino works.

Friendly reminder that Grover has no personality or emotions other than horny.

And there goes Poseidon speaking in Percy’s mind again.

There’s people chasing after Percy who we never actually learn who they are??

Percy, back to his senses, doesn’t find anything weird about this guy knowing his last name.

Car that was on display is completely functional with no protection for people to steal, and the keys are right there.

Somehow rushing out Percy grabbed the pearl that was oh-so-conveniently next to him when he got back to his senses.

Magic seat changing between one scene and the other part 2.

Part 3.

We never know where they parked the car, as far as we know it’s in the middle of a mountain.

There’s Ancient Greek written in the H of the Hollywood sing and if you read the translation aloud you get a passage to the underworld. How convenient.

Friendly remainder that Grover has no personally part... how many times has he said something again?

The entrance to the underworld is a farse.

The under is a farse.

How is that supposed to be the River Styx? How are you supposed to jump in that?

Producer: Sir, we gotta cgi a three-headed dog. Director: Too much effort, make it three big hellhounds. Producer: Your wit never fails to amaze me sir.

Persephone isn’t suppose to be down here, it’s summer.

Persephone is also horny... for Grover, because he’s a satyr.

Gotta agree with you there Grover, Hades looks like a lesser version of Mick Jagger.

The electric guitar. Seriously? You too?

Hades’ as much of an ass he is in this movie is smart enough to not just... give Percy Sally without the bolt.

Which brings me back... why would Hades ever want the bolt? You know the amount of paperwork a war would cause?

Oh look, there’s Annabeth’s dagger.

I understand that many have different points of view as to how the Hades-Persephone relationship should work but Uncle Rick wrote it so it was a happy relationship so please stop with your “he’s abusive and I look forward to getting out of here” BS you’re not even suppose to be here in the first place, it’s summer.

Grover and Persephone are horny for each other, and since they only have three pearls Grover does the ‘sacrifice’ to stay down here.

Sally, Annabeth, and Percy picture the exact same place with no communication what so ever. Not even glances or nods, nothing.

From here...

Luke has another pair of flying shoes, he goes to the Empire State Building flying.

Luke would never admit in front of Annabeth what he wants, he loves her so much. Even back then, just as a sister.

That’s not even what Luke wants.

Annabeth’s dagger is gone again, replaced by a sword.

Percy happens to have the flying shoes with him.

Percy and Luke have the same amount of sword fighting skill.

Luke takes the bolt from Percy and flies away enough for Percy to have to chase him but not enough to, idk, get out of there.

Percy does not suspect Luke -who wanted him to fail on this quest- would have done anything to the shoes.

The shoes that the first time Percy wore took him time, he can wear perfectly now with no effort what so ever. This kid is a master of the skies.

^ Which he shouldn’t be because Zeus pretty much hates him right now.

Percy uses his powers for the first time in the whole movie (not even unintentionally before) and can control them better than he could in, I dunno, the third or fourth book.

Luke throws his sword to cut to the wings in Percy’s shoes. Not really convenient his like, a foot from the roof of a building.

Luke loses his flying shoes and Percy can take them because they happen to be right next to him.

Percy flies back.

What do you mean there’s no elevator music?

Or grouchy guard?

Mount Olympus looks good, ngl.

...to here has only been nine minutes

The gods at this moment are only supposed to be 12ft tall not... 60

Everyone believes everything, it was Luke’s fault, I did nothing, save my friend the satyr

Poseidon left Percy when he was seven months old apparently. Not before he was born.

Poseidon be like “let me talk to my kid just this once” like you haven’t through out the whole movie.

Sally talks about camp half-blood like Percy’s gonna live there the rest of his life.

Gabe wasn’t petrified.

Percy didn’t send the head to Olympus.

Chiron is encouraging Percy to sneak out again wth.

Annabeth teases Percy. Yeah, I meant sexually.

Anyways, I survived, but I wanted to sum up + add some things, for both posts...

Grover’s a horny teenager with no personality.

Nymphs have ‘places’ where they can throw parties.

The movies target a completely different audience than the books.

There’s a lot of filmimg errors.

The only time Annabeth’s dagger showed up it wasn’t used.

Annabeth fights with her hair down.

Abso-fucking-lutley no one looks like they’re suppose to. NO ONE

Luke doesn’t have his scar.

Annabeth-Chiron relationship is nonexistent.

Annabeth-Luke relationship is nonexistent.

Thalia’s tree never appears.

Nothing about Annabeth’s or Luke’s backstory is ever mentioned.

Nymphs are horny teenagers.

Gabe is a completely different person. (Still an ass but, not properly.)

Persephone is horny.

Medusa’s horny.

Every female in the lotus hotel is horny.

There’s more but honestly I die a little more every time I write something.

Let this be a guide to what not to do in the new adaptation.

And again, let this not be the only visual content we get and let’s pray, please, Disney, adapt Percy Jackson.

#disney adapt percy jackson #percabeth #percy jackson #pjo movies #pjo #pjoverse #anabeth chase #luke castellan #clarrise la rue #grover underwood #pjo text post

[jq37]

**spoilers for sophomores and stagecraft the NYC Fantasy High Live Show**

I never actually got an ask explicitly asking for this recap so I didn’t do one because I’ve been super busy but I wanted to do a quick post on it before I go fully in The Unsleeping City mode. This is all off the top of my head.

I know we kinda knew the gang went back to school after S1 because of the little epilogue they had but that's still so wild. Imagine getting arrested and slaying a dragon and almost dying (and *actually* dying in some cases) and then having to go back and be a Sophomore with a bunch of kids who, as far as we know, have little to no practical experience (except the 7 Maidens who kick ass and not only slayed a dragon but did it for no reason except they felt like it, which is metal as hell).

Sidenote: I was gonna say "a bunch of kids who might as well go to Mumple," and as I was considering it, I realized that it's never actually explained what exactly that school's deal is. But it's such an unpleasantly named school that you're immediately like, "No thanks. Hard pass."

IDK if BDG watched the full FH season before he played or if Brennan just briefed him really well but he matched the tone and the setting from the first word out of his mouth. Him going up to the gang and being like, “You’ve done murder, right?” was just like an instant hall of fame line for me.

And all the regular cast slipped right back into their roles so well. They may not have remembered all of their spells and attacks but they remembered all the character stuff 100%

Possibly my fave line of the night was when Aguefort bamfed out of the room and Siobahn did a little leaning on the fourth wall, “He just did a teleport spell. The rest was flavor.” It was so smooth. 

My headcanon of Adaine’s life being mildly inconvenienced by random visions when she’s trying to, like, have her damn breakfast is validated. 

Oh, the other great Adaine line in this ep was when Falinel was trying to get her back and was like, “I get that you’re a teenager,” and she was like, “Do you?”

Also, I think it’s funny that Brennan didn’t expect Adaine to use the identification spell, even though the whole story hinges on the the gang fighting a monster using a powerful magical item that none of them recognize. 

“Don’t Emily Axford me on the live show.” She’s a verb. I love her so much.

Brennan explains that Fig and Riz are touring and “in deep cover” respectively and, hilariously, no one is very curious about the second thing at all. It’s like, “Same shit as usual.”

So Kristen’s highlights. Because I think doing this person is easiest for my memory.

Kristen is having ANOTHER crisis of faith and, this time, her tentative solution is to change Yes! to Yes? Which doesn’t help at all and arguably makes things worse because now her spirit guardians are a bunch of annoying philosophy majors (because Brennan loves dunking on himself as much as I love dunking on him).

Tracker MVP Line: I feel like if you don’t want to join a cult, Crossfit is a bad call.

Kristen playing the gay card to get Adaine to walk into her room (“Come in and be an ally. Are you an ally?”) and then Ally announcing that she and Tracker are both naked has equivalent energy to that scene in Critical Role where Percy knocks on Vex’s door and Laura gleefully announces that she opens the door buck naked.  

Gorgug is the most naive of the Bad Kids and also most likely has the most comprehensive knowledge of sex stuff which is hilarious to me. The duality of man.

Toss-up favorite Gorgug moments were his constant, “He’s doing it!” to Hargis’s awful acting and him grabbing the wig from Iris and turning into a cloud of gnats wearing tiny wigs (which Brennan allowed at the audiences).  That second thing was such an off the wall bonkers choice. That was like an Emily choice. 

Oh, there was a moment when he got hit by a charm ray and everyone went, “Awwww” and then Zac went, “I’m immune,” and everyone went bonkers. I cannot stress how wild the energy in the room was. 

Also, during Gorgug’s intro when his parents are like, “We’re just super happy you haven’t died and gone to hell yet so far.”

Fabian’s whole conversation with Cathilda about his mom attempting to use the kitchen was gold. 

Likewise, the whole interaction between him and Gilear was AMAZING. Fabian and I had the exact same reaction to hearing his engine was full of bees.

Sidenote, I love that he hates that Gilear is dating his mom and has zero self awareness that he’s doing the exact same thing with Adaine’s sister.

Lou/Fabian wasting good rolls on pure flavor is very on brand. 

The best thing about Fabian is he’s entertaining when he’s succeeding big and he’s entertaining when he’s failing big. 

Oh, my fave Fabian line I think is when Hargis comes in and is like, “You’ve murdered, yes?” and everyone is like yeah except for Kristen and he’s like, “OK but you’ve facilitated a lot of murder. You’ve blessed me to commit murders several times.”

Aguefort totally DESTROYS Gorgug when he tries to point out that maybe the school isn’t being run in the safest way and it’s amazing. 

Also, Brennan as Aguefort prompting everyone to yell, “Chronomancy!” was very fun. 

Truly, the most iconic moments of the session were BDG’s nat 20 roll to fool Iris as Professor Bargis (I can’t believe we got truly the only scenario where that worked because I thought he was doomed), Gorgug making his dex save for petrification (s/o to riz-gukgak) and then throwing out that “to be or not to be”, and Brennan grinning and slowly lowering his laptop screen because Hargis just did a one liner and killed the boss. 

This is really far down for this comment but I really didn’t expect Adaine to pull the wig right when she did and trigger the combat. I mean, if she hadn’t, it would have run even later and I got home pretty late as is, but I really thought there was gonna be at least one conversation between the Id-ing the wig and the fight.

Sidenote: My fave Bad Kid dynamic is that everyone is constantly ganging up on everyone. It’s exactly how I remember all my friend groups in high school being. 

Adaine makes very good use of spells like Tasha’s Hideous Laughter and Ray of Sickness. They’re like her go-to’s and they’re really low level. 

Did Brennan write this villain just the make fellow teen jokes and to have a valid reason to say, “You snatched my wig?” Discuss.

This is way longer than I intended. 

Anyway, as good as it the show was (and it was amazing) the wildest part for me is always gonna be that, after the show, I met Brennan and got confirmation that he has a tumblr, that was his account on that one post, and he is aware that I dunk on him on the regular. Truly not information I thought I was going to get when I started doing these and yet here we are. The internet is wild y’all. 

#fantasy high #dimension 20 #the other reason this took so long is I had to spend a full week processing the fact that brennan recognized my tumblr icon when he saw it #truly a wild turn of events

[dontgofarfromme]

the wild thing about the "vexcourse" is that the adventure zone had a very similar setup: two identical male-female elf twins both grew up poor & relied on each other to survive the streets. the guy twin's focus on acquiring rich/fancy things can be sometimes comedic, but fans understand his behaviour easily & don't treat it as a simple moral failing. so the only distinction I can find is that vex's traits aren't given the same understanding as a dude in her exact position. wtf guys!!!

“omfg i'm an idiot you're clearly a taz veteran, but yeah i do find it fascinating how the cr fandom views vax and vex compared to how the taz fandom views taako and lup... they're obviously not exactly the same, but taako's materialistic moments being perceived as more harmless/more justified than vex's moments is so bizarre to see”

Ahaha yeah I love TAZ! And I definitely see what you mean--I’ve always drawn similarities between the sets of twins, Taako and Vex being money-conscious (and having matching hats) and Lup and Vax having the whole semi-alive (at least end of campaign Vax) and Raven Queen connection thing. This is really interesting though because I definitely havent seen anything trashing Taako about his “””greed””” to nearly the degree that I’ve seen stuff about Vex--I would say it could be partially because I got into TAZ after it was over, but I did the same with CR and somehow even before this song came out I’d seen a lot of hate for Vex on this specific topic. From what I’ve seen, anyway, Taako’s inclination to want expensive things or to barter is treated as funny most of the time by both the fandom and the players, and he has some /classic/ moments of haggling genius like that time he managed to con Garfield into selling him the Raging Flaming Poisoning Sword of Doom. But Vex has a lot of really funny haggling moments as well, and I would say that the rationale for this tendency is even more emphasized in her character, since we don’t get Taako’s backstory until pretty late in the game but we know where Vex comes from almost right off the bat. And yet, she isn't afforded the same hand-wave of “its comic relief!” or the willingness of people to dig into her background to understand the reasoning behind this trait.

Also, and this is going a bit off topic from your ask, but in CR whenever any of the guys attempt to haggle or negotiate for anything it is completely hand-waved in a way that Vex doesnt get. Obviously she is the one who takes charge of most of these interactions, but if I remember right there are definitely a few instances where someone else does the bartering, such as Grog’s multiple failed attempts, and these interactions are always solidly assigned the category of “comedy.” Obviously Grog is very ineffective, which may contribute to it, but his objective is the same--to, in theory, get the price down (not that he knows what that means...)--and nobody ever talks about how greedy he is. And if we look at all the times the characters explore the Dragon’s lairs, Vex isn't even always the one looking to get more out of the loot! I think it’s after they fight Thordak specifically where Vex says something like “This isn't our money, it belongs to the people of Emon,” and says how “We have a lot of money right now,” with the intention of taking very little of the money in the lair because they dont need it. Percy has to point out that they have repairs to make for her to up the amount of money they’re going to keep, and then once they’ve collected the set amount for the group, Scanlan has to convince her that they should each take some more individually before saying enough is enough. I’m not saying that the guys are being greedy or unreasonable, but they are definitely not being any less into saving money or gaining loot than Vex is, but they never face a backlash for it. Its a game, and even in-game theyre adventurers--half the fun is using your money to buy cool items and getting cool loot. Everybody benefits when Vex haggles, everybody wants to get more expensive items, but somehow it’s only ever Vex who gets shit on for it.

#critical role #cr1 #vex'ahlia #taako #ask #celestialily

[lady-dinah]

Batfam PJO AU

Look I love the Percy Jackson AU for the batfamily and I definitely feel like there isn’t enough about it, so here’s my two cents. I mean you already know that every Greek God or Goddess wants to fuck Bruce Wayne. 

Dick Grayson:

I always see Dick as either Aphrodite’s kid or Zeus’s. Aphrodite it’s pretty self explanatory besides the fact that Dick is hella hot, he’s also a charmer. Gets everyone in the room to like him. 

With Aphrodite Bruce met her at one of his many Galas. At first, she thought he would be one of her many forgotten mortal lovers. Just a quick night of passion to satisfy her own needs and she would be gone before the morning. But once she got close to him, and started to use her charm speak to enchant him to her bed, she noticed that beside his obvious charm and his handsome features, Aphrodite was most attracted to his desire. His desire to do good, his pure heart, his need to save everyone, his lust for heroism, his romance with his city. Those were the true traits that lead her to realize that she may be in love with him. That one promised night of passion, became quiet long walks along the Gotham harbour, or Sunday morning picnics. She didn’t find his ass or his abs that attractive (not saying they weren’t, they were quite a spectacle after all) no, it was his eyes. His bright blue eyes that became windows to his soul, his wants, his desires. So for her final stay, she decided that their child would have the exact same eyes. 

Aphrodite came bearing Dick Grayson with all pride and love, announcing him as one of her greatest creations, one of her many forms of desire. Bruce, without hesitation, took their son, and Aphrodite saw that same love for his city (maybe even more) reflected in his eyes, but it wasn’t about Gotham anymore.

With Zeus, Dick is all about flying, so it would make sense for him to be the literal son for the God of the sky. Not to mention, Dick is famous for his anger. So imagine lightning demi-god Dick Grayson getting angry. Even Zeus, who is rarely ever shaken, shivers when he feels thunder clap because of his son’s fury. 

Zeus met Bruce Wayne as batman. He was in disguise as a low tier hero, someone the justice league would soon forget ever existed. But he was curious to see the people who mortals say, rival the Gods themselves. That’s where he saw a regular mortal man, Bruce Wayne, standing in front of everyone, commanding them, leading them, with no use of powers, or threats, or anything. Just simply using his voice and his intelligence. A single mortal man could bring God like people to their knees, could get Gods to listen to him. Zeus knew that out of everyone he had witnessed in this era of the earth, this mortal man, deserved to bare his kin. 

Bruce was quite surprised when Zeus himself was standing infront of Wayne Manor, holding a small basket made of gold. Without a word, he passed the basket to Bruce and vanished into the air. Bruce picked up the small child, and was taken a back when he was the skies themselves in the baby’s eyes. Bruce knew this one would be destined for great things. 

Jason Todd: 

I mean as much I love the idea of Ares being Jason’s father (like Aphrodite!Dick Grayson and Ares!Jason duo is the best) I really like the idea of Jason’s father being Hades. And the idea that Jason’s wasn’t claimed until after his resurrection. 

Hades saw the batman in action in a particular bad night. When batman was more beast than human, more monster than man. Where batman would beat the rapists and harassers senseless for what they had done onto others. With blood on hands and sweat in his skin, this is when Hades knew Batman must be his. Although Hades was very much attracted to Bruce Wayne’s darkness, he made the mistake of setting their child in the streets of Gotham, hoping the batman would find him there. Instead, someone had stolen Jason, and Bruce did not find him until he was stealing tires from his bat-mobile. Bruce knew Jason was not mortal, as monsters and other entities would attack Jason rather than Bruce, but he couldn’t figure out what God or Goddess he belonged to, and no God or Goddess even bothered to claim him. Of course this used to upset Jason at times, that his other parent didn’t even care for him enough to even claim him, but Bruce would assure him that they were probably just busy at the moment, and that he would love him for the both of them. But when Jason got the idea that his birth mother may be Athena (the boy likes books and was quite intelligent so it made sense), he went to Ethiopia to confront her. Turns out it was just the joker playing tricks to lure the young demi-god away. 

Hades, was furious when we found out that his son was killed, murdered. He brought darkness and grief all throughout Gotham, fuelling the dark knights fury. When he found his son’s soul, he felt a sudden sympathy for the young boy and did the one thing he vowed never to do.  

Bruce finally found out Jason’s God parent, when his son stood there, back from the dead, commanding the shadows around him, his eyes green like greek fire, as Hades symbol shone bright and proud a top his head. By then it was too late, Hades influence had gotten to his son, Jason was death itself. And Bruce’s heart broke knowing he had truly lost his son to the darkness, but even the God of Death held mercy. 

Tim Drake: 

I like to think that Tim is Hephaestus’s son since Tim is pretty technologically advanced. Not to mention Tim is a bit of fixer, both in a physical and relationship sense (he did ‘fix’ Bruce after Jason died). 

Hephaestus actually met Bruce Wayne during a Wayne Tech event where they were announcing their newest creations and inventions to potential investors and current shareholders. Hephaestus, in disguise, was curious to see the technological advances mankind was currently involved with. Although every time he spoke to an individual they would either gawk at his rather unattractive face or were too nervous about saying anything offensive to say a single word. In the end, when Hephaestus was about to give up and damn all their useless creations, Bruce Wayne had personally approached him and began explaining what each and every invention did. Bruce apparently had seen his employees failed attempts at explaining what the machines intended use was and decided to take it upon himself to explain them to the curious God. 

Hephaestus was intrigued, and quite impressed that billionaire philanthropist Bruce Wayne knew so much about his own inventions, and had a sort of fiery spark in his eyes when explaining what each thing did. Not to mention the man had the gall to approach him, even look past his rather unsightly looks. 

A few days later Bruce went down into the batcave, ready to continue working on the new blueprints for the batmobile, when he saw a small child wrapped in a single wash cloth, a make-shift metal toy clutched in the baby’s chubby hand. When Bruce picked up the child he just knew, he was the key to fixing everything wrong in his life. 

So these are my thoughts so far, gonna finish up the rest of the batkids and post them later on. Let me know what you all think!

#jason todd #bruce wayne #tim drake #dick grayson #percy jackson #pjo #batfamily #pjo au #red hood #batman #red robin #robin #nightwing #hades #aphrodite #hephaestus #greek god #Goddess #DC #Batfam PJO AU #zeus #half blood #rhato #rebirth

[hazellvesque]

more thoughts about the lightning thief musical because I have the soundtrack on repeat and I can’t stop thinking about it

“yes the gods are real, and they have kids, and those kids have issues” well yeah that’s it that’s the whole series I’m glad we established this in the first 45 seconds of the show

Percy’s entrance is the greatest, most in-character thing I’ve ever seen he just slides across the stage and looks to the audience in his “paint me like one of your french girls” lounge pose and recites those ICONIC first lines of the book and it’s just fabulous

that moment in the opening number when riptide turns into a sword for the first time is just SO COOL because there’s strobe lights and so much is going on and you can’t really see how the effect happens all of a sudden Percy just starts swinging and it’s so satisfying

“This ain’t Odysseus’s Odyssey” that’s a really tough tongue twister but also just a really good line 

I love all the moments where Percy’s voice gets all quiet and gentle like in Strong when he’s asking all the questions about his dad the delivery of those lines adds so much to his character; sure, the whole show is written in the Rock genre and his big outbursts accompanied with loud guitar show his frustration and anger at the world but those times where everything is solemn and all you hear is the acoustic guitar and the sound of ocean waves crashing in the distance really keep him rounded out and I just love it a lot

“Normal is a myth” LIKE THE GREEK MYTHS GET IT 

“Is she real?/I must be dreaming/She's floating close to me like an angel....This is weird/But a good weird” wow Percy so eloquent you wanna quote that in your wedding vows? 

Chiron’s elegant prancing when he first gets up out of his wheelchair while Percy is just screaming in confusion is by far the funniest thing I’ve ever seen in my life

Clarisse’s vocals in Put You In Your Place are insane it feels so 80s and she’s violently swinging a spear the whole time and you don’t know whether to be attracted to her or terrified so you’re just both simultaneously

Percy just comes strolling across the stage on a toilet on wheels I love professional theatre 

I could write an essay on Good Kid but all I’ll say now is the line “I keep my head down, I keep my chin up, but it ends all the same/With ‘Pack your bags, Percy, you’re always to blame” just hurts my heart a lot, more than anything else in the song

and during Good Kid Percy is climbing all over the scaffolding like he’s in a DCOM and when he gets to the bridge and it slows down he just sits on the railing high up off the ground and is withdrawn and quiet and wow

Grover ‘baaaa’-ing throughout the whole show makes me really happy 

all of Lost has been stuck in my head for days and it condenses 50% of TLT’s plot into a single song that’s basically just like “yadda yadda yeah they took a week to travel and the goofed up a lot we don’t have time for this” and it’s done so well because they still manage to mention every significant stop in the story 

(except the scene in the waterpark and “You’re my friend, seaweed brain, any more stupid questions?” but I can forgive that)

“We’re lost and it’s dark and I thINK THAT SOMETHING’S MOVING” god you forget that they’re supposed to be children and then lines like this happen

Can we just talk about the Percabeth parallel in their lyrics “All I need is one last chance to prove I’m good enough for someone” vs. “And someday soon, I swear, I don't know how or when/But I promise you I'll never be invisible again; someone will notice me” their first someones end up being each other (and also Grover #1 MVP third wheel for life we love a supportive satyr) before the rest of the world recognizes them your OTP would never

Drive ends up becoming Grover’s recurring theme in the show and you almost forget how much he’s been through until he reprises it in the finale 

“I never dreamed that I could do this/Never felt like I was worth a damn” YEAH LETS TAKE A MOMENT FROM THIS SILLY ROAD TRIP SONG TO REMIND EVERYONE ABOUT PERCY’S INNER TURMOIL REAL QUICK ouch 

All of The Tree on the Hill is my favorite scene and I’m super biased but I don’t care

“And maybe if I'd been a little bit braver/Maybe if I stayed behind to fight/But ‘maybe’ doesn't let me go back and save her/’Maybe’ doesn't make it alright” and then “There’s a tree on the hill, up on half-blood hill/That protects us all, and always will/And it’s there reminding me of all I failed to be” WOW I MISS WHEN GROVER WAS A COMPLEX AND RELEVANT CHARACTER @rick riordan can we have that back please? 

Annabeth and Luke hugging each other and crying as Thalia makes her sacrifice hurt my heart a lot especially when you remember he’s about 14 and she’s supposed to be SEVEN they are babies my god

D.O.A. starts with Charon saying “sorry, I couldn’t hear you over that SWEET ASS RIFF” and she’s a sassy lady in a sparkly silver dress with big hair jamming to disco and it’s the biggest mood ever and the levity we all needed after the heartbreak

Percy and Sally’s harmony on “what belongs to the sea can always return” is just so pretty and there’s that return of the soft acoustics that I love so much in Strong ugh

When Percy and Poseidon would say “It’s a seashell” they’d say it like California surfer dudes and do the little surfs up motion with their hands and I laughed way too hard especially in the middle of Son of Poseidon where it’s supposed to kinda be serious 

Luke sings “it’s time someone put them [the gods] in their place” and he doesn’t riff all over the place like Clarisse but DAMN this whole scene is just so ominous it gives you the exact same vibes as when you first read it and realized what was happening except it’s worse because he just STABS PERCY in the end 

(and I totally don’t mean to undermine Luke’s Good Kid reprise because it’s fantastic but the chanting of “summer, summer, summer” in the background just makes me think of high school musical) 

“Are we ever gonna once have it easy?” “Nope!” again just sum up the entire series in two lines good job 

#tltm #the lightning thief #it is nearly 1am i need to be asleep yet here i am

[curriebelle]

Critical Role and Queer Perspective

There’s a little Critical Role analysis I’ve been thinking about that probably won’t fit in my thesis, mostly because it’s too narrow in scope. I wanted to talk about it, though, because it’s been one of the most interesting transitions to watch in terms of how the show thinks about its queer characters.

I have no idea where I read the comment, because it was a very long time ago, but I also remember it vividly. A Critter explained that Gilmore’s scenes made them uncomfortable, because Gilmore fell into the trope that “Queer People Are Funny”. That’s the very 90s-sitcom-esque tradition of writing jokes where the punchline is that the character is A Gay. It’s a problem because it makes people not take queerness seriously - being gay is literally a joke. The first time I saw this comment was when the Whitestone Arc was first airing, but I’ve seen it repeated here and there throughout the run.

I don’t think that argument holds true anymore. Critical Role might not be perfect, but its attitude toward queer representation is not only above average, but also constantly improving. The show started with its singular gay character, Gilmore, who first showed up in Episode 14, and by the end of the series we have a non-binary emperor, two queer happily-ever-afters (Larry and Tary, and Kima and Allura), and multiple characters confirming queer sexualities. More importantly, these characters aren’t just token sexual minorities - they’re quite varied and interesting, and have stories that don’t revolve around their queerness, but don’t ignore their queerness either. The cast does make mistakes with these characters sometimes, but they are very eager to correct them when they do.

I think a really good point of contrast is when Scanlan drinks the love potion and falls briefly in love with Percy near the end of the campaign. That entire scene is utterly hilarious, but it’s no longer made hilarious by relying on the Queer People are Funny trope. It’s hilarious because Scanlan is over the top in his declarations (”your eyebrows...I want to lick them”), because Percy is constantly miffed that Vox Machina is shocked that someone finds him attractive, and because Vex is trying to manage the whole thing and failing not to threaten Scanlan’s life.

This is obviously a matter of opinion, but while the argument that Critical Role uses the Queer People Are Funny trope doesn’t hold true now, back when Episode 14 first aired it sort of was true. For future context, if you didn’t know, I’m queer myself and this episode didn’t bother me at all at the time. Still, I could certainly see how it would put other people off, and it does make me a little uncomfortable in hindsight.

In Episode 14 there are two big moments where the show wrings a joke out of people being queer. The first one is Gilmore’s introduction. The party prepares Vax to flirt with Gilmore for discounts, and they erupt into giggles when Gilmore comes swishing in, and any time Vax initiates flirtation or contact there’s more laughter. I think it’s important to compare this scenes with Vax’s first love scenes with Keyleth in Whitestone - which were notoriously awkward - because it becomes pretty clear after doing that that Vax flirting with Gilmore was A Joke. I don’t think it was meant to be mean-spirited - the players loved Gilmore and the fans did too, pretty much instantly - but there was something giggle-inducing about Matt and Liam trying to out-flirt each other.

The far more uncomfortable moment in Episode 14 is when Kima and Allura reunite. Matt describes them hugging and talking, and Orion - whose character Tiberius has a crush on Allura - starts grumbling that it’s “the story of his life”, implying that Kima and Allura are either together or interested in each other. This one is less “queer people are funny” and more “Orion gets weirdly pissed at his dungeon master for implying a women is attracted to another woman instead of him.” Matt’s initial reaction was to claim the two were ‘just good friends’. Orion’s reaction felt bizarrely possessive and objectifying - like he was upset that the character he’d ‘called dibs’ on, Allura, had the gall to flirt with someone else in front of him. Matt’s denial doesn’t strike me as a bad thing - he was more defending himself from Orion saying “Seriously, Matthew?” - but regardless, he eventually changed his mind on what kind of ‘good friends’ they were.

So we’ve got two early scenes that fall loosely into poor representations of queer characters - one turning gay men into jokes, and one objectifying queer women. In my mind these are more bruises than deep cuts, mistakes that make some people uncomfortable and that are worth pointing out, but that don’t condemn the creators or the show as hateful. It’s worth pointing out that the show does have queer players on it (at least one, possibly more), who didn’t find the scenes disturbing either. The most interesting thing about these moments, though, is how they triggered plotlines that continued throughout Critical Role - plotlines that actually transformed the show’s representation in a really neat way.

Let’s back up a moment. CritRoleStats has previously pointed out that Critical Role now comprises more content than The Simpsons. We’ve spent a lot of time with Vox Machina and their allies; as much time as The Simpsons has spent as an icon of popular culture. In fact, it’s pretty much only sitcoms that can rival Critical Role in terms of sheer runtime and content, but their formulas for churning out this content are very different. Sitcoms are purposefully written so that each episode starts with the status quo being disrupted and ends with the status quo being somewhat restored by the end, with a few lessons learned along the way. Think about i:; nearly forty years later, none of the Simpsons have aged a day. Other long-running shows (like Law and Order or Star Trek) can wring years and years of programming out of single-episode stories, each one forming their own unique adventure. Sometimes the characters grow between seasons a little, and some are killed off or leave the show, but the characters largely remain consistent so their adventures can continue in perpetuity.

Dungeons and Dragons campaigns, by their very design, have to progress. Characters gain experience, learn more about the world, explore it, make new friends, and develop relationships. Change is anathema to sitcoms, but integral to tabletop gameplay.

And alongside the players’ concerted efforts to get better at queer representation, I think this sense of progression was what changed how Critical Role thought about queer characters. The other key factor was that the players are both the writers and actors for their PCs. They know their motivations intimately, and they write their lines on the spot from what they feel like their character would do. And there is only so long that you can inhabit a character before you have to stop taking them as a joke.

I think the moment that drives this home hardest for me is still Vax ‘breaking up’ with Gilmore in Episode 38. He takes Gilmore aside in a tavern, says he’s enjoyed the flirting and that he’s ‘been curious’, but he can’t take it further because he’s in love with someone else. Gilmore is hurt, but gracious, and leaves the tavern. A brief pall hangs over the group after that, until the game moves on and the pain fades a little. Gilmore remained funny, and charming, and bombastic, and flashy, and lovable, but that was a moment he utterly stopped being a joke. His infatuation with Vax, or his love, or whatever you want to call it, was not funny anymore. It was heartbreaking in the way that only love can be, queer or otherwise. As painful as the scene was, it was a huge step in everyone’s ability to understand how to play queer characters. Vax was devastated that he had to break Gilmore’s heart, and Liam still identifies Vax’s biggest regret as “causing Gilmore any pain.” Moreover, Liam was more open and enthusiastic about Vax’s bisexuality as the campaign went on after that scene.

And after that scene, Gilmore disappears in the dragon attack. The group rescues him, and Matt reveals that he nearly died trying to save Uriel’s children. In the Chroma Conclave arc we learn he crafts his own spells, seen when he kills the assassin during the Rakshasa attack and when he helps create the Whitestone barrier. The party meets his parents in Ank’Harel, and learns he changed his name to help his business succeed. We learn during the fight with Thordak that he’s a runechild sorcerer, one of Matt’s homebrew classes. It was like something had snapped, and Gilmore suddenly unfolded into three full dimensions of characterization. Of course, the storyline had gotten more dark in general, but some characters - think Viktor or the mapmaker - remained jokes, no matter how dire their situations were. Not so with Gilmore. The events of the campaign, and the party’s investment in Gilmore’s well-being and their constant instinct to seek his advice or his help, allowed Matt to play him more and to get to know him better. We saw how he reacted to tragedy and pressure and the destruction of his livelihood. He became perhaps the most beloved and fleshed-out of all Matt’s NPCs, to the point where he - along with Cass and Kaylie - was Vecna’s chosen sacrifice to hurt Vox Machina the most.

Coincidentally, Kima went through the exact inverse of this development. In the Underdark, she rebuffed Grog and Scanlan’s advances (both of them hit on her quite a bit) and seemed much happier to be reunited with Allura. The joke that Kima and Allura were a thing began to seem, over time, like much less of a joke. Fans (bless Charlotte Sandmael, for one) helped persuade Matt into getting on that ship. At the same time, though, Matt wouldn’t have gotten them together for kicks or just to please shippers. Instead, he let Kima and Allura develop through the story of the Conclave’s return. The dragons from their past brought them back together again. We saw snippets of their guilt and panic and mutual support, and even of their relationship in less hectic times (”you didn’t have to wear the dress, Kima, it was just a suggestion-”). The storyline would likely have fleshed out Kima regardless, due to her history with the Conclave, but in getting to know both Kima and Allura better, I think Matt eventually saw what the fans were seeing, and he realized that the pair of them falling in love wasn’t really a joke after all.

So, Gilmore started as a beloved if somewhat stereotypical queer cameo, and he evolved into a well-rounded and absolutely adored queer character; and two characters that likely would have been well-rounded regardless naturally developed a queer relationship out of their storylines. I think that happened because Matt is, by all evidence, an extremely empathetic person, and as a dungeon master he strives to understand all the characters he creates inside and out. Look at how well he understands Sylas and Delilah’s relationship: they’re sympathetic and understandable, despite the fact that they’re also despicable. He gets deep, deep inside their heads. And when you get that deep inside the head of someone who is openly queer, you learn to write and play them in a wonderfully rich way; and when you get that deep inside the head of someone whose orientation you don’t know, you might find out that queerness is a part of their personality.

Which brings me, finally, to Tary. I think Tary is just about the pinnacle of this development arc across the story. Up until Tary, the only player character who had a really in-depth queer storyline to explore was Vax, which almost accidentally emerged from him treating Gilmore as a flirtatious comedic bit and then realizing, through roleplay, how strong and conflicted his feelings were. Interesting in its own right, but also more or less concluded as a storyline by Episode 57. By the time Tary shows up in Episode 85, though, Kima and Allura are together, Gilmore’s super well-explored as a character, and the non-binary J’mon has been introduced. Most of the other characters were sort of locked into female-male relationships at this point (or into Epic Single-ness, in the case of Grog Strongjaw), and regardless of their identities (bisexual Vex and Panlan Scanlan) they didn’t get as much time to explore the stories of their orientation as Vax did. So when Scanlan left and Sam had an opportunity to explore a new character, he ended up with Taryon Darrington, who was later established as gay.

The most excellent thing about Tary, besides literally everything else about Tary, is that I still don’t know if Sam knew he was gay from the beginning or if he figured it out along the way. I can’t remember what Sam has said about this, and in a way it almost doesn’t matter. Tary only had about fifteen episodes to explore who he was, and in that time he had a really compelling and honest series of fears and revelations about his sexuality. To me, Tary is pretty much the pinnacle of all the hard work Critical Role has done to try and understand and play queer characters more sensitively. As a character, Tary is far more than his queerness, but he also has chances to explore that queerness in a very real way - and he even gets a happy ending!

And yeah, some things about Tary were a joke - even some things about Gilmore and Kima and Allura are still jokes - but the other thing about love is that, along with being heartbreaking, it can be pretty hilarious. Kima gets grumpy about how perfect Allura’s hair is in the morning. Tary morosely dubs his lost love affair “Larry and Tary”. Gilmore teleports into a hallway where Vax is (for some reason) naked, and cheerfully asks if it’s his birthday.

I think the reason I’ve been so proud to watch all this development is that it doesn’t just explode that Queer People Are Funny joke from the inside, it actually fixes one of the most difficult things about it. Because queer people want representation that doesn’t make a joke out of their identities, it can sometimes be hard to write funny or happy stories about being queer, and that’s part of why we end up with endless numbers of queer tragedies. And that sucks, because queer characters seriously lack for happy endings. They don’t even get to have fun, in some universes. 

But being queer is fun. It’s fun and it’s funny. I loved the part where Kima was complaining to Allura about her dress. My first girlfriend was a wonderfully creative seamstress, and she and I used to cosplay together, so - let’s just say it brought back some nice memories. Critical Role remedied the problems that the Queer People are Funny trope created almost as a direct result of its format - as a result of spending so much time trying to understand those characters. Queer characters can be funny again, and they can be tragic, and they can be well-rounded and human. I think there’s a magnificent capacity for greater understanding here. It makes me very, very excited for the next campaign. If they came this far in round one, I really hope round two nets us a queer player character or three, and I can’t wait to meet them.

#critical role #critical role thesis #well it's more or less on that same road but #cut from the Final Product #for space #y'know

[fireandgloryrpg]

Name: Nico di Angelo.

Age: 94 years old. (but appears 24 years old)

Faceclaim: Dylan O’Brien

Heritage: Son of Hades.

Affiliation: Ambassador of Pluto, Citizen of New Rome.

Status: Taken (played by PJ).

Headcanons:

Nico is not so secretly terrible with technology. He has never really mastered touch screen technology, and the idea of talking to a machine is ridiculous to him. It doesn’t help that everything is so shiny. He likes matte black.

Nico wears pretty much exactly the same outfit everyday. He actually has several of the same pairs of black jeans, black t-shirts and black sweatshirts. Though he likes to pretend that he just doesn’t know how to do his own laundry.

Personality: 

Misanthropic, Distrusting, Cynical, Brave, Kind, Self Sacrificing.

Biography:

The early years of Nico’s life were always a blur to him. To this day, he could never recall the exact year he was born, but the day was always Halloween. It was a lot more fitting than he could really understand. He never knew his father, but his mother, Maria, and older sister, Bianca, were everything to him. After their mother was taken from them, the circumstances of which never becoming quite clear to him, he and his sister were shipped off to a boarding school by their parents’ lawyer with the promise of a bank trust waiting for them once they became legal. They’d never receive the trust. Some time passed, and that very same lawyer appeared once again, this time to take them to a different location: the Lotus Hotel and Casino.

About a month had passed (or so they thought) before a different lawyer came to collect them and shipped them off to yet another boarding school, Westover Hall. From that day on, Nico felt like something was off, but he could never quite put his finger on what exactly that was. Life at Westover Hall was less than ideal, but having his sister at his side could get him through the worst of times, even the torment the both of them received from one Dr. Thorn. He never understood why he held so much disdain for the two of them, until the night of the dance. Dr. Thorn attempted to kidnap them, but his plans were foiled by a group of women neither Nico nor Bianca had ever seen before. They, along with a few other kids Nico didn’t recognize, rescued him and his sister from Westover Hall, and once they were able to regain their bearings, it was revealed to them that they were demigods, though of unknown origin, and the women who saved them were the Hunters of Artemis, along with Percy Jackson, Grover Underwood, Annabeth Chase, and Thalia Grace.

The next few weeks would be the most trying of his life. His sister agreed to join the Hunters of Artemis, and though he still had the company of the demigods who had saved him, he could shake the feeling of being alone. Because he was so young, the decision was made to leave him at Camp Half-Blood while the others, including his sister, embarked on a quest, much to the disappointment of Nico. He made Percy swear to keep his sister safe, and once they returned, he realized he’d put his faith in the wrong person. Percy failed to keep Bianca safe. The anger and despair Nico felt that day would never compare to anything he’d ever feel again, and after opening a fissure in the ground to swallow up the skeleton warriors that appeared, it became clear to everyone that he was a son of Hades, god of the Underworld.

That was the last day he’d spend at Camp Half-Blood for some time. He escaped camp through Daedalus’ Labyrinth, where he met King Minos, who trained him to use his demigod abilities. It was in the Labyrinth that he decided he’d trade a soul for the soul of his sister, leading him to the Triple G Ranch in search of Geryon, where he once again ran into Percy, Annabeth, Tyson, and Grover, and after Geryon almost kidnaps him, Percy convinced Nico to summon Bianca’s soul. It works, but Bianca tells him to give up on trying to resurrect her, and to let go of his grudge towards Percy, because holding grudges is the fatal flaw of the children of Hades. After their business in the Labyrinth was taken care of and the Battle of Camp Half-Blood ensued, Nico left camp for good, stating that he felt just as much in place at Camp Half-Blood as his father did on Olympus.

It was shortly after that that the war against Kronos began, and Nico knew exactly how to gain an edge over the Titan. He helped Percy bathe in the River Styx and obtain the Curse of Achilles, and together, their demigod army was successful in taking down Kronos and order was once again restored to Olympus and Camp Half-Blood. Just as Hades was finally given a place on Olympus, the Hades cabin was erected at Camp Half-Blood, though even after that happened, Nico still only showed up to Camp Half-Blood from time to time.

Following the Battle of Manhattan, Nico returned to the Underworld to once again attempt to resurrect his sister, only to find out that she had elected to be reborn, but his trip hadn’t entirely been in vain. While searching the Fields of Asphodel for Bianca, he ran into his half sister, Hazel Levesque, and felt she deserved another chance at being a hero. It was then that he learned of the other side of the demigod coin: Roman demigods. His father gave him directions to the Roman camp and instructed him to introduce himself as a child of Pluto, as neither group of demigods knew about the other. It was there that he ran into a long lost Percy Jackson.

From there, he and his allies embarked on another world-ending quest against the Giants. They closed the Doors of Death, helped Percy regain his memories, and even spent more time than he’d ever desired to spend in the depths of Tartarus. Even for a son of Hades, spending any amount of time in Tartarus takes a toll on the soul. Once again, the power of the Giants proved no match for he and his fellow demigods, including the new allies he’d met along the way, and the Giants were defeated and order was established between the Greek and Roman camps. Now, Nico spends his time in New Rome, trying his best to stray away from the turmoil of war.

#percy jackson rpg #new rpg #lsrpg #rpg #nico di angelo #hades #canon #citizen #greek #open