Anyways I believe strongly Penny had an abject hatred for Mischa purely because of the commercialised hiphop 'bad egg' persona. Maybe if she knew he was a loverboy less so but I think she would have one-sided beef with him
I just saw you answer the ask about his relationship with Annabeth, what about his relationship with Thalia?
I know there's some controversy regarding Thaluke.
But when you read the demigod diaries, specifically Luke's diary, it's pretty obvious he had some sort of a crush on her and would do anything for her.
Was he truly just flabbergasted that Thalia wouldn't join the cause to tear down the Olympus?
more opportunity to be mean to rick riordan GOODIE. the amount of bs with thalia is a topic so near and dear to my heart because i treat that girl like an oc
all the weird stuff with the tree slowing time down just enough where she’s conveniently the same age as percy annoys me tbh. THEN shipping her off to the hunters, which is basically “female character got too cool” jail. i hate the hunters thing the most but that’s a whole other rant. tldr She’s Punk. a lot of thalias character was shot in the foot for the sake of convenience (being the same age as percy for the sake of the prophecy, then immediately removing her from the prophecy by having her join the hunters) and it’s so frustrating because so much could’ve been done with her
and of course RR had to create more bs accidentally because he didn’t want to write thalia or something!!! 😭 because yeah all the stuff above complicates matters like thaluke, especially since 99% of luke’s narration in the demigod diaries is just “i love thalia if she asked me to jump off a bridge i would” and you couldn’t get more obvious if you tried. which is something that could’ve been explored further, but obviously couldn’t. yet another piece of thalias character that got sacrificed on the altar of convenience
but taking a sharp right into percexe rewrite land, They Haunt My Every Waking Moment. to the point i’ve written a lot about trying to rework pieces of plot to actually explore things that were ignored in canon. mostly how thalia would feel about the TA and the fact she blinked and lost ≈5 years of her life. and how luke complicates things because that’s all he does. but to discuss that we REALLY need to go into rewrite land. a land that exists past that read more sign there 👇
welcome to rewrite land. today’s tour will take you through a version of events titled “thalia gets katniss everdeen’d.” the prerequisites for this is ignore canon and take my hand. this post has now been hijacked by me shoving a fanfiction in your face. we will really be making shit up here
we open with the TA while they’re just starting out, sometime before the start of sea of monsters. they’ve spent the months after ditching CHB building up resources and gaining their footing, and now that they have a boat and supplies, they can actually start Doing something. luke had previously understood that thalia wasn’t actually dead, just “asleep”, and kronos has been encouraging the idea of freeing her for years now. with the TA becoming an actual force of people, the FIRST thing on the agenda was bringing thalia back. obviously luke wanted to free her because he cares about her, but he could also spin it in a way that inspired everyone else on board. how freeing thalia would be their first big statement to the gods, rejecting how they used demigods and saving the girl that had become a legend at camp. it would get people’s attention— especially other demigods, who could see the TA as a force for good, not just “the guy who tried to kill percy and the other ones i guess”
obviously the rest of the fledgling TA took to the idea, and the quest to free thalia began. which brings us into sea of monsters, and how CHB and TA were just playing tug of war with the fleece. but what CHB didn’t understand is they both wanted the same thing; thalias tree was poisoned because the fleece couldn’t heal something that wasn’t damaged. so no matter who got the fleece in the end, the TA won. which became a very unfortunate rug pull moment for CHB, when the final conflict around thalias tree ends with her being healed, but the TA grabs her immediately and runs off. gotta love a book cliffhanger
thalias first waking hours are very confusing. it’s a blur of voices and movement, but she’s checked out at the tiny infirmary the TA has set up. she’s glad luke sticks by her side through all of it, but it’s all still confusing as hell. everyone around her looks to her like she’s some sort of living legend, excitedly talking about how they’ve all been waiting for her. she’s given the celebrity treatment on the princess andromeda, which is just more overwhelming. she finally talks with luke, and receives a very…….skewed version of events. thalia learns about the TA and everything they do from the perspective of the people in it, particularly luke, who is very invested in portraying things in the best light possible. thalia being thalia is initially on board for fighting against the gods. she knows firsthand how they disregard demigods, since hades hunted her down for years and her own father kept her in a tree for years. there’s a lot of anger there that can be used to get her on the TA’s side
she spends a while with the TA, and the first weeks are defined by everyone being reverent but careful with her. luke especially does whatever he can to make sure her recovery goes well, not so subtly flexing all that new power he has to get her anything she wants. after all, he finally can, after years of having nothing on the run. he’s already someone who knows how to use people’s perceptions to his advantage, and all those years of lies and using words to get what he wants has bled into how he treats thalia. it’s automatic at this point. so he hides things from her, tells her warped perspectives of events, and outright lies occasionally. anything to keep thalia from realizing how loose the TA really is with morals. see the aforementioned percy murder attempt
but thalia is not dumb. and she knows luke better than anyone else in the world. yet that dorky and nervous boy who would always fuss over her is nowhere to be found, replaced by someone who confidently holds an entire ship under his thumb. it’s almost morbid to her. being disoriented by losing so many years of her life has already isolated her from others. made worse by the TA seeing her as a symbol first, person second. and the more empty reassurances and gifts and half truths luke gives her, the farther she feels from him, too
the real point of contention is always annabeth. thalia asked about her immediately, which luke brushed off with a promise that she’s okay, but thalia will have to see her later. when later never came, thalia got more insistent. if annabeth was safe, why was she at that camp thalia was imprisoned in? and if that camp was so bad, why haven’t the TA rescued annabeth from it? months of being kept in the dark and isolated finally catches up to thalia, and eventually she starts to realize what’s actually going on. she starts to investigate things for herself, trying to see the side of the TA luke is so desperate to keep from her. and truths she finds. how the TA is one big web of lies and shady deals and murky ethics. and how the center of it isn’t luke and his manipulation, but something worse. kronos, whispering things down the chain of command
right now dear viewer is when you must remember thalia is punk. she opposes tyranny, but she is also anti war. and the path luke had dragged her down was headed right to war. she may not have the full picture, and the lost years still weigh heavy on her, but she understands one thing. if she doesn’t get out, if she doesn’t do something to stop this, the ship will go down with everyone in it