Shut Up 😭😭how Did I Not Realize This

@lost-trio-week day 5: parents

Esperanza Valdez just made sense, Jason thought. Her ghostly figure was entirely silver in color, but Jason could see where Leo got his curls. She had pulled hers back with a bandana, but the way her eyebrows knitted together was very familiar. He could almost imagine her glaring at Festus because he ate all the hot sauce again, like a certain son of Hephaestus he knew.

But Jason had a mission- that certain son of Hephaestus’ birthday was coming up, and he was completely stumped on what to get him. Tools? He literally had a magic tool belt, and that came with all the wrenches, hammers, and breath mints a guy could want. Clothes? Piper had that covered, she was going to take him shopping at the mall that weekend. Books? Dyslexia was a bitch, plain and simple.

Yup, Jason had something of a problem. But! Nico had volunteered to help him, since he was in a similar situation with Leo’s birthday gift. So here they were, on an appropriately dark and spooky summer night, filling a pit with Coca Cola and french fries to summon some ghosts- or one particular ghost. It looked like it had worked.

“Good evening, my lady. I crave a boon,” Jason stated, kneeling before the spirit as one would to an Olympian.

Miss Valdez’s face scrunched up in both humor and confusion. “‘My lady?’ ‘Crave a boon?’ I’m flattered, kid, but I’m no goddess.”

“Sorry, my lady. I mean- ma’am.”

“You can get off of the ground, y’know? Your jeans’ll be ruined if you stay there any longer. Grass stains are tough.”

“Yes, ma’am. Thank you, ma’am.” Jason resisted the urge to salute once he was done dusting himself off.

Miss Valdez snickered. “Before you get into craving boons and the like, why don’t you tell me who you are?”

“Jason Grace, former praetor of the 12th Legion Fulminata, current Pontifex Maximus of Camp Jupiter, hero of Olympus, slayer of the titan Krios, ma’am. Um, and more importantly, a friend of Leo’s.”

The ghost’s eyes seemed to light up at the mention of her son. “Mi hijo,” she crooned, clasping her hands together. “You’re a friend of mi hijo Leo? How is he?”

“Yes, ma’am. He’s doing quite well, ma’am.” He intentionally left out the part about Leo blowing himself up for the good of the world. That was a story for another time.

“How old is he? The clock doesn’t work so well down in the Underworld, it’s still saying BCE. Hard to keep track of time and all. Oh, he must be getting so big.”

Jason chuckled. “He’s fifteen going on sixteen, but nobody’s calling him big.”

Miss Valdez got this wistful look in her eyes. “You have to bring him to see me sometime. I miss him more than anything.”

Nico’s eyes widened and he waved his hands like he was calling a timeout. “I have an idea,” he mouthed, but Jason needed to get his prescription updated, so it looked more like “I have an IKEA.” Or an icee? Yeah, it was probably icee. But Jason knew this to be untrue, since he had just poured his last one into the pit. His brows furrowed, but he smiled politely at the specter before excusing himself. “Um, may I have a moment, ma’am?”

“Of course,” she answered, taking the time to press her ear to the side of a tree like she was trying to open a safe. “God, I haven’t seen real trees in years,” she muttered.

“Do you need more icees?” Jason whispered conspiratorially. “I can run down to the corner store if you need.”

Nico made a face. “What? No, I just have an idea. I was just thinking about what Esperanza said: maybe we could set up a picnic out here and then surprise him with a ghost visit. I know that I like to be ambushed by ghosts when I eat my lunch.” He snorted at his own half-joke.

Jason nodded enthusiastically. “A-and we could ask Miss Valdez about his favorite foods! And make them for him!”

“Hmm? What was that, kid?” Miss Valdez’s head snapped up from where it was trained on a blade of grass swayed in the breeze.

“Um, uh, do you remember what Leo liked to eat as a kid, ma’am?”

“Goodness, you can stop with the ‘ma’am’ thing. But he always loved tres leches cake! I can give you the recipe. And when I had the time, I would make him a grilled cheese for his lunch at school. It would be cold, but he always hugged me extra tight when he got home on those days.” Miss Valdez reached up to tighten her bandana. “Though now that I think about it, he probably just heated it up on his own. Clever boy.”

Jason nearly jumped for joy. He could have hugged her. And he did indeed try, which caused the woman to laugh when he fell through her apparition. “Thank you,” he mumbled into the dirt sheepishly.

“No problem, niño. Really, I should be thanking you! Fresh air is nothing short of a miracle when you’ve been dead as long as I have,” Miss Valdez responded, clearly joking, but something in her eyes said she was sincere. She had big, round ones, that were probably a wonderful shade of brown when she was alive.

Yeah, Jason thought he had hit the jackpot gift wise.

~*~

If you were to look up the definition of “tryhard”, a picture of Tristan McLean would pop up, Leo thought. Then again, he’d also appear if you looked up any of the following terms: bombshell, hot, gorgeous, gay awakening, etc.

He was on a quest with Will and Clarisse (God, that lady scared him- like she was cool and all, but he would be relieved when she left for Arizona at the end of summer). It was a classic “we don’t have phones nor do we trust the post, so you have to go give Camp Jupiter X, Y and Z” quest, but long story short, hellhounds sucked a lot and Leo’s legs were tired.

Chiron and the praetors of Camp Jupiter had been working on a sort of housing system for demigods- a network of safe havens all across the country. Piper’s dad had signed up as soon as possible, now that he knew a little about the demigod world. That had been one hell of a conversation.

So that was how he ended up sitting on the floor of a millionaire’s gigantic living room, tinkering with the skeleton of a Stymphalian bird, with a scary lady snoring on the couch behind him and a lanky blonde dude curled up on an armchair in front. He had taken the opportunity to catch up on some of his favorite shows while he had access to a TV.

“Hey, kid.”

Nothing like a spooky voice to wake a guy up!

Leo startled, making the Stymphalian bird fly up in the air. For one second, he almost thought it was alive again, so he reached for his tool belt.

“Woah, there,” the voice laughed, “hold your horses. It’s just me. Piper’s dad? You didn’t pull a Jason and forget your entire life, right?”

Leo snorted. “You weren’t even there for that part!”

Mr. McLean stepped forward into the dim light of the lamp. Yup, just as Leo suspected: he had a chronic case of looking-good-in-whatever-lighting-he-was-in-itis. Then again, he had already diagnosed his friend’s father with that condition last Christmas, when he spent the holidays with Jason at Camp Jupiter.

Truth be told, Leo was getting a little tired of the man. All throughout dinner Mr. McLean had been all “is there enough salt on it? Do you need more? What do you want to drink? Can I get you anything else? Tell me if you need anything.” At first, he had preened under the attention, but right now, what he needed was some time to get the logistics of his pet project figured out.

“What are you working on?” Mr. McLean asked politely.

“Carrier pigeon,” he answered.

“Nice. What’s it do?”

“Carries things.”

Mr. McLean smiled. “Why do you need it?”

“So, like, you know how we were sent here to deliver some important documents or whatever? Next time, this little guy is gonna do it for us. If I can figure out how to animate said little guy’s skeleton again, that is.”

“How are you gonna animate it?”

As a mechanic, Leo admired the fact that Mr. McLean was so persistent, but as a teen, he wished he would give up already. “I dunno.”

Mr. McLean gave him a soft, slightly awkward smile, like he was still trying to get used to using his facial muscles. “Listen, Leo,” the man sighed, “it’s getting late. You should sleep.”

“I’ll sleep when I’m dead. Oh, wait!” Leo snickered at his own joke.

“What?”

Oh, shit. He forgot that he and Piper had left that part out of the explanation of the demigod world they had given to Mr. McLean. Damn, that line would’ve killed with anyone else. Haha, see what he did there? “Uh, nothing. Ignore it.”

“No, what did you mean by that? ‘Oh, wait?’”

“Uh, I died,” Leo mumbled, hoping that he wouldn’t ask again.

Much to Leo’s chagrin, Mr. McLean asked again. Yay. “Huh?”

Leo decided to take a different route. “I died! I’m a ghost! Boo! All that jazz!”

The man snorted, though he still looked confused. “Alright. But you know what they say about ghosts- they sleep like the dead.”

Despite himself, Leo laughed. “That’s silly.”

“Not as silly as ghosts. They’re too boo-fy!”

Leo giggled. “God, that’s bad. Was-” he managed before succumbing to his laughter once again- “was that supposed to be goofy?”

“I don’t know, you tell me. You’re the one who’s a ghost, after all.”

“I’m not goofy. No, siree,” Leo denied.

“Oh really?” Mr. McLean ruffled his hair and pulled him up so that he was standing. He patted him on the shoulder. “Could’ve fooled me.”

“I can fool anyone, really,” Leo quipped. “I fooled Jason and Piper into being my best friends.”

Mr. McLean guided him towards a hallway that opened at one side of the living room. Leo could see that he was furrowing his dark brows. “What makes you say you fooled them?”

Leo shrugged, scowling inwardly. He just had to ruin it, didn’t he? “I mean, technically it was Hera.”

Mr. McLean shook his head. “I’m serious, Leo.”

Leo laughed awkwardly. “Hi serious, I’m dead?”

Mr. McLean frowned as he opened one of the doors in the corridor. It revealed a blank bedroom, probably for a guest. Desperate to get out of the conversation, Leo moved to go inside, but Mr. McLean stopped him with a hand on his shoulder and a concerned look. “People like you for you. You know that, right? You’ve never had to trick anybody worth anything into liking you. Remember that.” He tapped his temple to emphasize his point.

Leo gave a small, confused, sort of self-conscious smile, but it was still a smile. “Thanks, Mr. McLean.” Leo waddled over to the bed and collapsed on it, suddenly feeling very tired. It was only when he saw the door close completely that he realized he’d been tricked by his best friend’s dad into going to bed at an appropriate time. “Good game, Mr. McLean. Good game indeed.”

~*~

The Underworld kind of sucked, Piper found, especially when you were on a quest with an immortal huntress who was your best friend’s sister and the demigod equivalent of a Spirit Halloween, AKA Thalia Grace and Nico di Angelo. She had no problems with the people by themselves, but she had gotten sick of their arguing long before the murderous mania of a former blonde bombshell descended upon them.

She wasn’t even supposed to be there. She had made plans with Leo and Jason to meet up at a trampoline park, but then a fury showed up out of nowhere and whisked her away to what was effectively Hell, and it was like, this whole thing. Apparently, the lady had gotten her confused with Percy. One hell of a typo.

They had been headed to the fields of punishment because someone had escaped and Hades decided to make it their problem. Classic Gods. Their charge walked straight into them in the form of Beryl Grace.

“Nico, why isn’t she dying?” Thalia barked, shooting another round of arrows at the ghost, which just succeeded in embedding their silver tips in the tree behind it. She released a roar like that of thunder, although it could’ve just been the actual thunder from the lightning she was summoning. A bolt of it came down on Beryl’s head, but it just made her look slightly more insane.

The woman’s red lipstick was a stain on her otherwise pale face, twisting up in a mad smile. It was smudged. Maybe she had been kissing someone, or more likely drinking their blood. Her blue eyes were crazed, darting around like a prey animal.

She had seen that look before.

When Jason had woken up, after the fight with Ma Gasket, he’d shot upwards and whipped his head around. She had looked into his sky blue eyes and seen a deer and a hunter at the same time, ready to fight, not quite ready to die.

And his smile was a sign the apple had indeed fallen far from the tree, but the twitching of Jason’s lips when he hadn’t yet learned to laugh (or hadn’t accepted that he could) was reminiscent of the grin’s neverending movement.

“She’s a ghost, dumbass, she can’t die again,” Nico snapped. He had dropped his sword into the river Lethe, so he just stood there like a fuming GTA NPC.

Piper was the only one to notice that Beryl was backing up towards the forest, aiming to disappear into the fields of Asphodel most likely. “Guys?” She asked, looking around to the other two members of the quest. They were still squabbling. “Guys!”

“I’ve killed a ghost before! At least, I’m pretty sure I could,” Thalia yelled.

“What part of non-corporeal do you not understand?” Nico screamed.

Piper reluctantly began following the spirit just as it bolted into the woods. She swiped a rock up from the dusty forest floor, just to have something on her in case she had to attack. Look, she usually carried Katoptris on her, but she was worried they were going to confiscate it at the trampoline park, okay?

The only sound was the thump of her footfalls, puffs of her breath, and the whooshing sound Beryl made as she passed through trees. The branches were hanging low and, fortunately in most cases except this one, Piper was not a ghost, so she had to bat them out of the way. She was getting pretty damn tired of it. Apparently, ghosts could run fast. “Uh, Beryl- I mean, Miss Grace, can I get your autograph?” She tried.

The ghost’s head snapped back to face her. The gash in her midriff was bleeding somehow, leaking steam and a smell like rain. A piece of car door and shards of glass were lodged in the gap, signs of her death. Her fists clenched and unclenched anxiously at her sides. She stayed rooted in her place. “An autograph?”

“Yup,” Piper confirmed, rocking back and forth from her heels to her toes. “I’m a huge fan of your work.”

Beryl’s pointer and middle fingers twitched and she brought them to her mouth. She looked disappointed by the fact that they were merely flesh (or the ghost equivalent), no cigarette in sight. Her bloodshot eyes met Piper’s as she fumbled with the fabric of her dress. She grunted. “Oh, yeah? What’s your favorite?”

“Me and my dad watch your TV shows together,” Piper lied.

“Mhm,” Beryl hummed placatingly, turning around with her shaking fingers pressed to her mouth. Her glazed eyes disappeared under her dull blonde hair. “Just go get the groceries, Thalia.”

“Thalia? Um, Miss Grace, I’m not Thalia.” Piper followed, stifling a cough when she breathed in some of the fog.

“Nonsense, Thalia. I know you’re just trying to get out of it, you lazy brat,” Beryl spat. “Go get the goddamn groceries.”

“I… I don’t have any money.”

The ghost heaved a deep sigh. “Just get out of the house, Thalia. Mommy needs some alone time.”

Piper tried not to visibly recoil when the woman pushed her away, cold hand going right through her ribcage. “B-but, Miss Grace-”

“Thalia,” the spirit growled, frigid hands landing on both of her wrists, momentarily becoming solid, “I will not say it again, you little bitch.” Her tone was uneven and hostile. “Get the fuck out of my house.”

Piper’s forearms were completely numb where Beryl’s hands had covered them. The woman began to retreat mumbling something to herself that barely reached Piper’s ears:

“The day I get rid of those ungrateful little rats will be the happiest day of my life.”

Oh, yeah. This was the lady who left Piper’s best friend to the wolves at the tender age of two. Of course she was an asshole. Regretting not doing it earlier, Piper gripped the rock in her hand and made a last ditch effort to hurt the woman who had deprived Jason of what family felt like for so long. And if it let her, Nico, and Thalia finish their quest, that was a happy accident.

The stone split open on Beryl’s head, revealing an inky black ore on the inside. Stygian Iron. Huh. Piper guessed Tyche was on her side that day.

Thalia and Nico’s footsteps crunched in the dirt behind her, their yelps of belayed victory echoing around Piper, falling on deaf ears. Her gaze was still focused on Beryl’s unconscious head, hair spilling around her face. Her blue eyes weren’t open, but somehow, they were staring straight into Piper’s soul.

For a split second, Piper’s eyes flitted over to Thalia’s. She was glad she couldn’t completely understand the rage she found there. Now that she thought about it, she had seen that look in Jason’s eyes an unsettling amount of times.

You guys should be glad I have no patience to get good at art because I’d do absolutely devastating things with it if I did

your honor theyre swifties

Remus "You've ruined my life, by not being mine" Lupin, and Sirius "I love you, it's ruining my life" Black.

Concept: Leo taking extra care of the Argo II because the original Jason died on the Argo.

Leo knowing the prophecy hangs over both of their heads. Leo who already knows he’s tempting fate with the name. And being even more careful with the upkeep.

Taking the others remarks about it in stride that he cares about it more then them.

All he can think about how the original Jason died crushed by the rotting mast of his ship.

And that that he won’t let his Jason die because of him.

It's wild to me just how badly Vi's arc is misunderstood in S2. The claims I've seen that it was bad because she didn't join up with Ekko to help liberate Zaun or didn't "have enough stuff to do."

Big 'ole S1 Vi analysis under the cut because some "hot" takes seem to forget that Vi's S1 arc even exists.

Like, sorry, but that was never the direction her character was going to go. This was spelled out for us in the very first episode of the show when Vander is giving her that lecture.

"When people look up to you, you don't get to be selfish."

"Whatever happens, it's on you."

This is the first conversation in the show that carries an impactful character building statement. We are effectively being given the start of Vi's character arc verbatim.

She is not allowed to be selfish.

And as S1 Act 1 progresses, and Vi expresses a will to fight, to rebel, to revolt, she is constantly and consistently shut down and discouraged from that way of thinking by her father figure. She's fifteen years old or so, Vander is the only authority figure in her life that she respects. Why wouldn’t she internalize any of this as is, let alone after all the tragedy she's forced to endure at the end of this act?

Then we get to tragedy. Vander tells her two very specific things before and after the showdown with Silco.

"Take care of the family."

"Take care of Powder."

You know. Not, "hey, take over my mantle as Hound of the Underground."

Or "lead Zaun to freedom" or whatever the fuck.

He tells her to look after their family. The people closest to Vi.

And I don't know how many of you are older siblings. Or even older sisters. But I question if some of Vi's most heated critics are either neither of those things or lack any knowledge of sibling dynamics, period. When you are handed this tiny baby from a young age and are told "this is your baby sibling, you have to help take care of them, we won't always be here but they'll always have you" by your parents, that shit sticks with you forever. For better or worse.

If you're parentified on top of that through either circumstance or abuse, then that sentiment turns toxic. Vander, as well-meaning as he is in his talks with Vi, inadvertently presents a pretty black and white viewpoint. When paired with Vi's reaction to his (first) death and learning what Powder did, it becomes even worse.

Think about it. Most people seem to focus solely on Vi's anger issues when she strikes Powder for obvious reasons. But there's this selfishness that Vi temporarily succumbs to when she hits Powder as well. She's not thinking of Powder's emotional state or devastation as she realizes what she's done, Vi is mired in her own grief and anger.

She then walks away from Powder to take a moment to herself and presumably recollect her own composure, also a selfish move.

Now, when I call these actions selfish, I'm not assigning any negative connotations to them. Selfishness is not always a bad thing, putting yourself and your own needs first does not make someone a bad person by default. It can be healthy to take some time for self-care.

The "issue" is that Arcane is a tragedy. The narrative punishes Vi for lashing out and temporarily leaving Powder by having Marcus kidnap her and Silco adopt her sister. Not that Vi even knows that much when it happens. For all she knew, Silco murdered Powder.

So, then Vi spends something like seven years in Stillwater in constant limbo wondering if Powder is even alive. The sheer guilt she must have felt at "failing" to protect her baby sister would have likely been agonizing.

Seven.

Years.

Then she gets out. And all Vi cares about is finding her sister. She doesn't care about the Hexgem besides the fact that it's directly related to Jinx, and Caitlyn lied to her by ommission about it.

She's not trying to retake the Lanes in Vander's name. She only cares about bringing Silco's empire down because of what he did to her family. She wants her sister back first and foremost, she does not care to stick with the Firelights and even leaves Ekko and Cailtyn on the bridge initially to go after Jinx.

It's really her burgeoning feelings for Caitlyn that ever cracks this near obsessive compulsion to chase after her sister. Vi was going to choose Jinx until the point Caitlyn was injured and then the both of them were shot at by Jinx.

Even the moment she falls in love with Caitlyn is tied to her guilt about leaving Powder. The story she tells while they're on Caitlyn’s bed, her obvious grief and guilt over her sister. She's mired in this moment of pain until Caitlyn reaches out to comfort her. Like, Jinx and Caitlyn have always been intertwined in Vi's arc after she meets Caitlyn. There is no overarching thread to connect Vi to any of the political plot points in this story.

Vi's arc is character driven. Always has been. She's motivated by her warring desire to protect those she loves with EVERYTHING she has, and this by now guilty pleasure to finally develop something purely for herself.

It's why she pushes Caitlyn away during the infamous Oil and Water breakup. The class differences she's citing are an excuse, an easy thing she can point at to push Caitlyn away. What's really going on is that she failed to get the Council to decisively act against Silco. She's failed Jinx again in her own mind, he's still out there poisoning her mind, and now she needs to take care of him herself. Caitlyn proved to be a distraction from her goal, and so must be removed.

Even after teaming up with Jayce and then going her own way, Vi does not go after more shimmer factories. She's not rallying the Lanes to revolt with Hextech weaponry in (on) hand. She immediately goes to the Last Drop to challenge Sevika, someone she hates specifically because she'd betrayed Vander. She had every intention to confront Silco right after that.

Then we get the tea party, and Vi has to come to terms with the fact that the sister she loved is fundamentally changed in more ways than one. She's given an ultimatum to choose between her self-imposed duty as an older sister and Caitlyn. The only relationship Vi has ever formed purely for herself.

And she can't do it. It's an impossible choice. Jinx ends up triggered intensely, Caitlyn is struck by indecision and doesn't take the shot because of Vi's pleas, and Jinx goes on to fire that rocket.

Like this is just Season. One. Every single important character moment Vi has is tied to either Jinx, Caitlyn, or both. This is not a new thing S2 did with Vi's character. Her arc was always about how much she was giving to other characters without much thought to herself.

I just don't get how some people expected that to radically change in S2. It was never going to happen. I'll probably make an analysis on S2 Vi as well, but this is already getting very long. It's also a good way to remind some folks that each season of this show does not exist in a vacuum. I've read a lot of takes that seem to just... ignore S1. It's pretty bizarre.

ok so Haymitch was also in love with a girl from childhood who was an angry rebel with a great singing voice. No wonder he agreed to help Peeta when Peeta explained that he needed Katniss to survive the games, so he needed Haymitch to prioritise Katniss' survival over Peeta's own.

difference between bf and bsf i guess 😭😭

Teo: *applying chapstick*

Aurelio: what flavor is that

Teo: oh, it's guava

Aurelio: can I try it

Teo: *hands over chapstick* sure

Aurelio: *kisses Teo*

Aurelio: holy shit it does

Teo: *has stopped functioning*

Or alternatively

Teo: *applying chapstick*

Niya: what flavor is that

Teo: oh, it's guava

Niya: can I try it

Teo: *hands over chapstick* sure

Niya: *takes a bite out of it*

Niya: holy shit it does

Teo: What the fuck

finished the first book tn and can’t get my hands on the second soon enough thanks tumblr for keeping me fed while im waiting

Yeah, hey Aiden? This is a shockingly good representation of this aspect of the book. Fuck you.

fym jason it’s leo core 😭😭

100% not thinking about how Jason spent months looking for Leo after the explosion and never stopped believing he was out there while knowing full well that NOBODY looked for him when he went missing from Camp Jupiter.