Okay, so not this is Animox but whatever, in the spirit of Season 2 of PJO and me about to update the next chapter of SOM fic (yes, Lee, I’m almost done with it, i just need a few more Simon and Percy scenes because yes and I hate Percabeth):
Something i love and resonate with is that, me and Lee both HATE (okay, maybe not but we don’t particularly like) PJOTV/the show
I hate it for a variety of reasons (non of which is with the actors and more about Rick, as he said to blame him for anything, and I shall, for everything), but my main one is, before I read the books, i was reading fanfics (where i got recommended Annabeth-bashing and her cheating and all, with Percy gaining other love interests, mostly guys) so, i have a perspective of Annabeth being bad, which i carried into when I finally read the books in year six and carried until the end, where i mostly skimmed Percabeth scenes becuase i’m a Percabeth hater. That being said, I don’t hate Annabeth, not really. I think dislike her because she reminds me a little bit of myself and that scares me. And if you still don’t belive i don’t hate her, i dressed up as her for Halloween a few years ago (twice), and my favorite teacher was dressed up as Percy (i don’t think that’s a good argument, but meh, it’s fun)
Lee, on the other hand, doesn’t like the show because of Annabeth. Not Leah—Annabeth (this distinction is important). Show Annabeth didn’t look like how Book Annabeth was originally described, so Lee stopped watching the show because of it. No hate to Leah, no raging, nothing. Just, no one really looked like now Lee imagined and i had the same feeling, because being blonde is a core part of her character so, get Leah some blonde extensions or smt, idk, give my girl her blonde. Also Lee’s a Percabeth fan.
I, on the hand, am a D1 Percabeth hater. Mostly because of the judo-flip scene because WHAT???, and wow. I especially hate how watered down they are now. Percy’s smart in his own right, i believe everyone is, but Rick plays a lot on the “Dumb Boyfriend, Smart Girlfriend” trope that the fandom plays they are. And, i think in the recent book, Percy pees his pants and Annabeth has to get him new pants??? Ah-huh, my guy. The dude who slayed the minotaur, medusa, kronos, Gaia and survived Gabe and Tartraus, choked Misery with her own poison and everything with his dyslexia and ADHD and the Mist, needs Annabeth, A-N-N-A-B-E-T-H, to change his pants? And the recent books are unsurprisingly bad quality nowadays, it’s like they ran a prompt through AI, edited a little but didn’t proofread and used that, considering the amount of mistakes and canon inconsistency and things that don’t make sense.
And Percabeth show feels like Fan Service (which Lee accused me of, becuase of this: “I looked and, Maya was… in a compromising position… so to speak, her legs were sprawled over the ground while her skirt flew up to her navel—I blushed, eyes darting anywhere but her lower body. She looked dazed, her eyes foggy as she groaned, spitting the sewage.
I really hoped she wore shorts or something underneath or… never mind, she probably did. / … Maya, rapidly blinking, pulled her skirt over her legs—a bright red flush over her cheeks as she scowled at my direction. And, I thought, maybe she didn’t wear shorts underneath..? Gods, I hope she did, or that’d be awkward for the both of us.) please don’t tell me it’s fan service, I’ll actually cry/jk, i didn’t mean to wirte it that way) as Percabeth is supposed to be a slow burn, not fast, insta-love burn, because why is Percy telling Annabeth he’d burn Olympus for her? For her, Percy, I don’t think that’s until very much later, but even then, you guys are FIGHTING FOR OLYMPUS, not against it (like Luke), and you’re both THIRTEEN, shouldn’t you guys be worrying more about school? (The actors are 16, I believe, but besides the point)
Just because something’s written for kids, doesn’t mean it has to be badly written. Because kids aren’t stupid, and probably, adults and older people would indulge in the content as well (personal examples for are: Helluva Boss, because the arcs aren’t it tbh but it’s an adult show, as Viv says, so maybe not a good example)
And this is just my opinion and some criticisms i’ve had over the years as a PJO fan, no hate to anyone who likes the Show, Show Annabeth (again, NOT leah), or Percabeth, this is just a rant because, i wanna be chatty and hear some thoughts because i keep getting recommended Percabeth and it’s driving me up the wall
Random Animox fanfic rec (Bc i’m bored and I write the majority of it)
It’s an Animox oneshot, that’s not mine and actually based on canon only, no crossovers, and in Nolan’s POV, here’s the link:
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
The fic’s written in German so you have to translate it if you don’t know the language (like me), but I think it’s a pretty good read if you wanna see/read a take on Nolan’s perspective. It’s set after Book 2 with the last few lines being set during the end of Book 4.
In the spirit of a very late Christmas and one of my friends (Hi Lee 🙂) told me i should post this after keeping it in my drafts for a few months:
Something i found really icky is that, Zia and Malcolm are married and that they have a daughter (Darla), and, most likely, no one in the books questions it.
Like, Leo (Zia’s dad) and Celeste (Mal’s mom) are foster siblings. Even if it, technically, doesn’t make them first cousins. I’d like to remind you that Luke is their brother (both Bio and Adoptive). He’s Zia’s older, bio brother and Malcolm’s older, adoptive brother.
Zia’s younger than Malcolm (who is now 32, if the Wiki is right, and i usually don’t have a problem with age gaps as long as they’re all adults and it’s not too gross), and even though they never knew each other, it gave me the ick. Zia, that’s your FAMILY. What in the sweet home Alabama was i reading?? Does no one else get the ick?
So, incest. I literally cried over an incest-ous book that’s only been translated in Russian and German in the recent years, and no one told me. The family line is shit and almost as bad as Rick’s timeline
But, again, they’re family— their profiles even mention Luke as their brother, each other as wife/husband and Darla as their daughter. So, my respect for Carter plummeted like, 1000% for springing that to me unironically during the third book and the wiki (i genuinely thought Zia meant it as in, idk, a sibling-platonic way? Maybe I’m too grossed out by romance nowadays)
And, if someone mentions that, in PJO the demigods are related, i’d like to remind you, in Greco-Roman myths, their deities keep fucking and marrying each other, because blood isn’t as thick as humans’. I think Percy mentions this:
[ “See, eventually the guy Titans started thinking, Hey, Dad had Gaea for a wife. Who are we going to have for wives? Then they looked at the lady Titans and thought, Hmm…
I know. You’re screaming, GROSS! The brothers wanted to marry their own sisters?!
Yeah. I find that pretty disgusting myself, but here’s the thing: Titans didn’t see family relationships the same way we do.
First off, like I said before, the rules of behavior were a lot looser back then. Also, there weren’t many choices when it came to marriage partners. You couldn’t simply log into TitansMatch.com and find your perfect soul mate.
Most important, immortals are just different from humans. They live forever, more or less. They have cool powers. They have ichor instead of blood and DNA, so they aren’t concerned about bloodlines not mixing well. Because of that, they don’t see the whole brother-sister thing in the same way. You and the girl you like might have been born of the same mom, but once you grew up and you were both adults, you wouldn’t necessarily think of her as your sister anymore.
That’s my theory. Or maybe the Titans were all just freaks...” ]
I think, to some extent, i can wave it off because “it’s fiction” but incest is a real thing and can affect kids in many cases, and i feel like it needs it be more sensitive if you try to write it in (Rick’s acceptable to some degree. Especially when the characters play important roles in the MC’s story and because of the mythology it’s based in) For Ao3, i can whole-heartedly excuse because it’s made for freaks (like you and i, for example). I’ve read the grossest, weirdest and dumbest shit there and liked it. But when it’s on paper and very open to the public to be sold, that’s where i draw the line.
I dunno if it’s because:
1, i was raised very religious
2, hate my family
or 3, the fact that i run on very little sleep everyday
that i really disliked it, but whatever. Problem is, i really liked reading the books and the shoe-horned ship almost made me throw my laptop across the room last time. What do you mean:
Is this rant a little toxic and a bit uninformed on my part? Probably, but it’s still icky for me. So, no matter how you spin it for me: these two are family. But that’s my opinion.
I’m open to any objections (or criticisms on the fact i used AI for the answers, because this was a bit rushed and more of a casual rant on my end) i just wanted to clean out my drafts a little to clear up space and Lee told me it was a good idea to post this when i showed it to them for an outsider’s opinion
Unfinished sketch of Luke and Simon + the orignal art i traced over and edited
I don’t wanna talk about Luke’s skin cus i’m using the skin pallet from a fan art after testing Simon’s skin colour 😭😭
Yes this is traced, no i don’t remember the artist’s name i found this off pintrest so i can’t give proper credit, if you know the artist, i’ll credit them
Random sketches that were inspired or had the poses used by @anniflamma in Come Give Me Love animatic (which i loved and it got me to read Prince’s Psalms on google books because, i’m broke 🥲) side by side comparison. idk if it’s technically plagiarism because i’m using screenshots but i’m willing to take them down if i get told.
Honestly Anniflamma’s art is amazing and i’m lowkey envying how good hers looks. :’)
Also, have a grainy picture of my tutor’s doggy (Barney, because we couldn’t call him Babi the Bitch/hj) because he’s a menace when he bites my ankles and i love him for it >:)
Omgg, thanks! My friend actually wrote that during our English class while we studying for our majors (my handwriting’s kinda, bad, to say the least)
Awh, i miss them too. I really liked watching and re-watching the animatics during my free time (and also because i like messing with my friends with some of the panels from them, especially from Adoni (loved that song))
IKR?? Barney loves biting everyone’s ankles since he’s so tiny and, very adorable (he was a gift from my tutor to her husband for his birthday). Last time i was there, he kept chasing me around the yard til i was breathless while my tutor did online class. He’s named after my tutor’s old dog, who passed somewhere around Nov~Dec during my minor exams 🥲 I didn’t even learn from my tutor herself, just one of my friends who also attends her class during lunch
Random sketches that were inspired or had the poses used by @anniflamma in the Come Give Me Love animatic (which i loved and it got me to read the Prince’s Psalms on google books because, i’m broke 🥲) side by side comparison. idk if it’s technically plagiarism because i’m using screenshots but i’m willing to take them down if i get told.
Honestly Anniflamma’s art is amazing and i’m lowkey envying how good hers looks. :’)
Also, have a grainy picture of my tutor’s doggy (Barney, because we couldn’t call him Babi the Bitch/hj) because he’s a menace when he bites my ankles and i love him for it >:)
I think her vibe fits more in a cafe than anything (you're welcome to tell me otherwise, i’m going off a very vague hunch)
You cannot tell me she absolutely didn't try to deck someone (A Karen) when on shift
She was literally the best student in the Cave, it's even mentioned in the Animox Wiki (where my ass goes when i'm doing research and taking notes about them)
She definitely knows how to make any fight look like an accident
She's probably that one barista who’s super aloof but a genuine sweetheart when you get to know her
Simon stops by and refuses to look her in the eyes as he buys a fourth cup of pure sugar and caffeine
She’s worried for him but still makes him the drink
She’s awesome under pressure, she was trained to be a spy, c’mon!
Jam:
Idk, probably a librarian or a life guard
As a librarian:
Reads a bunch of fantasy and classics, i bet
Would read Percy Jackson, and fall in love with how Percy is (while also being kinda jelly) and or, daughter of the deep (which, i’m gonna read after getting a physical copy)
Gushes about the books to Simon, when he visits—because Ariana and Winter, though they love Jam, cannot deal with his rant like Simon does
Simon’s like: “Oh, that’s cool. My interest is piqued, tell me more,” and all that, when dude’s getting snippets of how fast Jam’s talking but, he doesn’t mind
People think he and Simon are a couple because of it, and they don’t really care bc—in my eyes— they’re queer
He has that thing grandma’s have on their glasses so they don’t slip off and break and Winter makes fun of him for it.
As a life guard:
Simon swears up and down that he didn’t send Jam goggly eyes his way, but Ariana and Winter’ll tell you otherwise
Swimmer body, duh
He’s from California, he has to have a tan
Amazingly good at throwing people over his back like a sack of potatoes (He did it to Simon once, and immediately gotten his bicep bitten because Simon was sleeping)
I can imagine him being a bit uncomfy with mouth-to-mouth CPR, so he does a lot of chest compressions to compensate
Insecure about his scars even though it’s makes people swoon
Winter:
I can’t imagine much but she’d be someone who works at Sephora.
She’s definitely gotten Simon make-up to help with the scars and made a skincare for him. (I mean, she patched him up with socks and duct tape, what’s a little make-up and skincare gonna do?)
Definitely made Simon her guinea pig for trying new products out
Has probably given Simon hives and rashes because of the makeup, much to his displeasure and her horror
Uses PETA approved products. Simon insisted, because empath and animal abuse isn’t cool, and Winter’s ‘Fifty-fifty’ about the matter but obliged
Simon:
My trauma-wanting instincts say ‘he’s jobless, man can’t do jack’ but my pitiful side says otherwise so:
Probably a libarian or a mechanic (because of the Leo and Drew art i look at)
As a libarian:
Standard stuff
Nolan visits to annoy him and read comics
Then gets told by Simon’s boss to ‘get back to work’
Simon has to get him a nametag that says Nolan Thorn in all bold so they don’t get mixed up
Jam and him probably work the same shifts
They say the most horrendous things like it’s a normal Tuesday while everyone else is recovering
As a mechanic:
He learned from Darryl
Tell me otherwise, i need a good father-and-son relationship and it won’t be Malcolm and Nolan or Isiah and Jam (Darla doesn’t exist, sorry if you like her but Zia and Malcolm being together gives me the ick)
He’s like a Caucasian Leo
Somehow always has grease on him, it’s even in his hair
Somehow looks like a country bumpkin in his greased up overall and sneaks
Winter, despite it all, still hugs him
Had a a portion of his hair ripped off because of his coworker
Constantly gets his haired seered off that he jokes that he doesn’t need a hair cut
I’m remembering a immortal Perpollo fic where Apollo goes and gets heart broken by mortals left and right and Percy, in love with him, picks the piece and puts them right back up till Annabeth tells him to focus in himself (or smt) then when Apollo gets dumped by a singer, he looks for Percy only to see him and Annabeth being close. Everything else after Apollo getting jealous, i can’t recall.
I wanna recreate it with Simon and Nolan bc they’re my roman empires. I need these two to have the most angsty, gut-wrenching relationship with no comfort of Nolan pining and chasing after Simon, who becomes Camp Half-Blood’s patron god (in the sense of Simon stays at camp taking care of the kids and, in return, the campers heed his every word, nipping at his feet for a glance and a smile). Then the next fic is just Simon and Nolan, after so long seeing each other. Simon utters four words, and Nolan cracks.
Snippet: ??? ☺️☺️☺️☺️ (i got exams, that’s my excuse)
omg now that I've found another one of the, like, three fans out there, let's yap abt Animox
Omg, rlly? Yipee, i’d love too :D
One of my friend’s a fan of Animox too but she’s only read the first book and nothing else, though she introduced me to the series and i’ve been obsessed since then.
okay, so do the Simon Thorn books actually exist??? Because I have searched every piece of media, every platform for the fandom, but it's just?? not there??
Animox, are you just a fever dream or do you actually just hide from me?
I ask this question every day 🥲 Had to legit use my tutor to help get me the books (I have an ebook of The Spider’s Web, but it’s in German and I prefer physical copies so she’s searching for them rn)
Ms Aimée Carter, stop hiding them from us. C’mon, don’t be shy. release them in English 🙂 it’s been a few years, surely you’ve translated them? 🙃🙃
My fanfic on Ao3’s probably the only piece that’s been written so, check it over there, if you’re interested because I was probably high and crying while I wrote the chapters 😅 And look at my tiktok where it’s just Animox/Simon Thorn (much like a Russian account I found that’s dedicated to the series), pls? 🥺
I’m tempted to make a Yan Animox x PJO fanfic soooo, yeah.
Edit: It’s not Yandere anymore but it’s still the same concept, js on AO3 but here’s a few snippets that I think are maybe romantic-ish:
But there’s one part I haven’t been able to stop thinking about.
After it all—the sword, the dust, the disbelief—I found Grover and asked him:
“That kid. The one who answered Brunner’s question. Who was that?”
Grover went pale. “What kid?”
I described him. Pointy ears, sweater, freckles, weirdly pretty blue eyes.
Grover fiddled with his apple core. “I didn’t see anyone like that. Pointy ears? Are you sure, Percy? Maybe... maybe it was just the light? Or maybe it was that new kid, Danny? Danny's got messy hair..."
“You’re joking. He saved my butt with that answer! And Danny from Chem? Danny's six feet tall and built like a linebacker," I pointed out. "This kid was smaller than me. And Danny wouldn't know Kronos from a corn dog. Plus, those eyes... they were really blue. Like, weirdly bright and.." I flushed, "pretty, like the sea."
*
The next time I woke, she was gone. But someone was carding their fingers through my hair, humming softly. The tune hooked into my ribs, like a song I’d heard in another life, but the notes slipped away before I could place them.
I cracked open my eyes.
A boy—his hair haloed in the dim light, like he’d been dusted with sunlight—leaned over me. I squinted, was this dude an angel? Everything about him seemed to glow faintly—his hair, his teeth, even his fingertips—or maybe I was hallucinating.
I felt that his palms were small, soft—not calloused. A scribe’s hands, or a thief’s. His voice was softer than the girl’s, but just as firm. Like he was used to not being heard.
A husky blond dude, like a surfer, stood in the corner of the bedroom keeping watch over me. It took me a second to realize the surfer dude wasn’t just blond, he had blue eyes—at least a dozen of them—on his cheeks, his forehead, the backs of his hands. The glowing boy—i realized then, that he was the kid from the museum—turned to him, his mouth moved but the words were like I was underwater, bubbling like I was sinking into the deep.
The surfer guy's eyes all turned to him, softening and cracked a small smile, before half splitting to me and hardening; his smile evaporating. The glowing boy tilted his head, lips moving in a playful smirk, and the surfer man rolled half his eyes—like this was an old argument they’d had before—and nodded.
The boy—Birdie, Thorn, whatever his name could’ve been based on what Grover and that girl said—turned back to me, running a hand through my hair once again, humming, “Sleep,” and the word settled into my bones like a spell.
*
Word of the bathroom incident spread immediately. Wherever I went, campers whispered and pointed-some at me, some at Annabeth (who was still dripping wet), but most at Simon, who looked like he'd just witnessed a ghost. His usual easygoing smile was gone, replaced by a haunted stare that made me feel guilty as he stared at the ground.
I had scared him. I scared one of the only campers who's been nice to me since he’s known of me, and I turned him into a nervous wreck after the toilet incident.
*
“Open your palm.” He said, his voice breathless.
“Why?” I asked, doing as he said almost automatically.
Simon looked around like he was watching for wandering eyes, and placed a stone in my hand. I looked a bit closer and he’d given me a small smooth stone that almost looked blue and it had a caduceus etched on it.
“For you.” He said, “Luke and I made a bunch, figured it’d be a nice souvenir for surviving everything that’s happened lately. Forgot about it till now.”
“Oh,” I said. I didn’t know why but I felt my face suddenly felt warm. I closed my fingers around the smooth stone, the cool surface pressing against my palm. Simon's blue eyes were bright with excitement, his cheeks still flushed from the battle. A strand of his messy hair stuck to his forehead, and I had the sudden urge to brush it away.
"Thanks," I managed to say, my voice coming out a little too rough. I cleared my throat. "I mean—it's really cool.”
Simon grinned at me before Maya dragged him away, his laughter ringing over the cheers of our teammates. I clutched the smooth stone in my pocket, still warm from his grip. I was about to join the celebration when Annabeth’s voice, right next to me in the creek, said, “Not bad, hero.”
*
His eyes fluttered open, “Wha— Percy?” He yawned, pushing himself up. He didn’t seem like he needed to be in infirmary any longer to me. “What, what time is it?”
“Almost breakfast,” I said.
“Good,” Simon yawned, swung his feet off the cot and pulled his jacket on, “C’mon, walk with me.”
“Aren’t you—?”
“Oh, no. The rocks didn’t crack my skull or anything, just gave me a scratch. The medics are just overprotective.”
The walk to the dining pavilion felt like navigating a minefield in slow motion. Simon moved with a slight stiffness, a barely perceptible hitch in his step that contradicted his dismissive words about the injury. He kept his head up, offering tired but genuine smiles to everyone we passed—a dryad tending roses, a group of Hermes kids rushing to breakfast, a solemn Hephaestus camper covered in soot. Every single one stopped, their faces lighting up with relief and warmth.
"Simon! You're up!”
"Looking good, Thorn!"
"Glad you're back on your feet, man!"
"Don't scare us like that again!"
Their greetings were bright, effusive. Then, inevitably, their eyes would slide to me, walking beside him. The warmth vanished, replaced by suspicion, coldness, or outright hostility. Smiles froze or disappeared. Conversations died mid-sentence. The Hermes kids glared; the dryad turned her back pointedly; the Hephaestus camper’s expression hardened into a scowl.
It was like Simon radiated sunlight, and I cast a freezing shadow that extinguished it wherever we went.
Simon seemed oblivious, or perhaps he was just practiced at ignoring the undercurrents. He waved back, called out greetings, even stopped briefly to reassure a tiny Demeter girl clutching a wilting flower that he’d look at her project later. He was patient, effortlessly kind. That was why he was the camp favorite. He paid attention to everyone, remembered small things, and offered help without being asked. Watching him interact with the others only sharpened the sting of my own isolation. He belonged here in a way I clearly never would.
*
A little girl said, “Mama! That boy walked out of the river carrying a pretty girl.”
“That’s nice, dear,” her mother said, craning her neck to watch the ambulances.
“But he’s dry! And the pretty girl is bleeding!”
“That’s nice, dear.”
I laid Simon down, pressing my hands over his chest. One. Two. Three. I tilted his head back—pinching his nose—my lips inches from his, before Simon’s body decided that was the perfect time to wake up and make him spit out the water all over my face.
Simon’s eyes fluttered open, scrunching up his nose as he sat up, his nails scratching against the concrete—letting out a pained noise when he moved his injured leg—as he spat out the rest of the river water all over the ground, “Bleh! Disgusting!” He scowled, sticking out his tongue as his lips curled away from his teeth.
He looked ridiculously adorable—like an angry wet cat. He wiped his lips with the back of his hand, “Did you just—” he coughed, “—did you just try to give me mouth-to-mouth?”
My face burned, “You weren’t breathing!”
“I was breathing just fine until you decided to blow up the arch and manhandle me.” He snapped, before turning over to gag—spitting, “gross, gross.”
I stayed quiet. He must’ve noticed, because he turned to face me, “Sorry, that was mean.” He said gently then gave me his hand, “help me get up?”
I nodded and grabbed it, wrapping around his arm my neck as he balanced on his good leg. We stayed silent for a minute as i carried him before he nudged me, “for the record, Percy, I'm… flattered you tried to save me, even if it did almost involve mouth-to-mouth and having to taste dirty river water.”
“No problem, man.” I said, “I don’t want you to die on my watch. Besides, Luke would’ve killed me it he knew i was the reason.”
Simon snorted, “Luke’s as likely to kill you as i am to fall off another building.”
I smirked, “wanna bet?”
“Oh my gods, you’re so dumb.” He laughed. “If we get back safely, you’re so wrapping my leg.”
“Deal, Birdie.” I said, pulling his jacket’s hood over his blond mop of hair, “you clearly can’t fly on your own.”
*
Water exploded out of the pipes. It roared into the pool, sweeping away the spiders. I pulled Annabeth into the seat next to me and fastened her seat belt while yanking Simon onto my lap, my arm around his waist, just as the tidal wave slammed into our boat, over the top, whisking the spiders away and dousing us completely, but not capsizing us. The boat turned, lifted in the flood, and spun in circles around the whirlpool.
Simon wrapped an arm around my neck, gripping my shirt with fear in his eyes. The water was full of short-circuiting spiders, some of them smashing against the pool’s concrete wall with such force they burst.
Spotlights glared down at us. The Cupid-cams were rolling, live to Olympus.
But I could only concentrate on controlling the boat. I willed it to ride the current, to keep away from the wall. Maybe it was my imagination, but the boat seemed to respond. At least, it didn’t break into a million pieces. We spun around one last time, the water level now almost high enough to shred us against the metal net. Then the boat’s nose turned toward the tunnel and we rocketed through into the darkness.
Simon, Annabeth and I held tight, the three of us screaming as the boat shot curls and hugged corners and took forty-five-degree plunges past pictures of Romeo and Juliet and a bunch of other Valentine’s Day stuff.
*
Simon, Grover, Annabeth, and I walked down to the edge of the surf.
“My uncle’d kill me if he knew i was at the beach.” Simon said quietly, kicking the sand.
Grover nodded solemnly, “Darryl seems to only like the beach at Camp, and even with some exceptions.”
“I know.” He agreed, waving a hand around, “what really is the difference in here, Coney and there? Well apart from the stench and the seagulls here.”
I almost wanted to tell Simon that, when the quest was over that he could come visit Montauk with my mom and I, if his uncle would let us, but that seemed like a slim chance
*
Simon looked like he couldn’t tell whether to laugh or throw himself into the river for coming on this quest.
Mist curled off the filthy water. Above us, almost lost in the gloom, was a ceiling of stalactites. Ahead, the far shore glimmered with greenish light, the color of poison.
Panic closed up my throat. What was I doing here? These people around me… they were dead.
Annabeth grabbed hold of my hand while Simon took my other. Under normal circumstances, this would’ve embarrassed me, but I understood how they felt. They both wanted reassurance that somebody else was alive on this boat and I was the closest person next to them
*
Simon eyed the food warily, before tucking himself into my arm, clutching my shirt as he dragged his still injured leg. I tightened my grip. I didn’t know why Simon seemed so clingy but i honestly didn’t mind if it meant i could be close to him.
*
“Do not play innocent with me, girl. You, that little… hōraios* and the satyr have been helping this hero—coming here to threaten me in Poseidon’s name, no doubt—to bring me an ultimatum. Does Poseidon think I can be blackmailed into supporting him?”
Simon’s face burned a bright red, the pink reaching his ears—i didn’t exactly know what the word meant but the way Hades spat it made hōraios sound like an insult. I tasted the word on my tongue, mouthed each syllable and found myself almost agreeing with its meaning—truth be told, Simon really was pretty.
But the way Hades said it made it sound… dirty. Like he was diminishing Simon down to only his looks.
*[in one's prime" or "seasonal," it was most famously used to describe ideal, youthful beauty—specifically a beautiful young man whose features are harmonious and perfect.]
*
Simon unclasped his dog tag, wrapping it over my neck. I decided to look at the inscription—the dog tag thing had been bothering me for days since I saw it. It read:
THORN, SIMON(NA) “THÉRÈSE”
JUNE SECOND, XXXX
BELOVED NEPHEW OF THORN, DARRYL
MANHATTAN, NYC
I really had two thoughts in my head. One was: Simon’s alleged middle name was Thérèse—like the super controversial painting about a girl? Or was it the French nun—The Little Flower?
My second was: I still had the blue caduceus stone in my back pocket he gave me after we won capture the flag—I hadn’t thought much about it since the Lotus Hotel.
Simon must’ve felt me reading the tag because he quickly whispered, his voice light and playful, “It’s a joke between the Hollands, Darryl and I.” Before he let me go, his cheeks flushed redder than strawberries.
I nodded like he told me like some super sacred, world breaking secret I'd take to my grave, “It’s… a really nice name—Thérèse.” I whispered.
He looked at me like he was trying to sense some undertone, “The painting or the saint?”
I didn’t stop myself, “Both.”
He nodded, like it’d said everything and nothing at all—maybe I had, maybe I didn’t. “Be safe, Percy.”
*
Poor little Percy Jackson wasn't an international criminal after all. He hadn’t kidnapped his “girlfriend” Simonna Thèrése Holland—"she” was kidnapped alongside him. He'd caused a commotion on that Greyhound bus in New Jersey trying to get away from his captor (and afterward, witnesses would even swear they had seen the leather-clad man on the bus—"Why didn't I remember him before?"). The crazy man had caused the explosion in the St. Louis Arch. After all, no kid could've done that, not when Percy’s lovely “girlfriend” was injured. A concerned waitress in Denver had seen the man threatening his abductees outside her diner, gotten a friend to take a photo, and notified the police. Finally, brave Percy Jackson (I was beginning to like this kid) had stolen a gun from his captor in Los Angeles and battled him shotgun-to-rifle on the beach. Police had arrived just in time. But in the spectacular explosion, five police cars had been destroyed and the captor had fled.
No fatalities had occurred. Percy Jackson, Simmona Thèrése Holland (who the press begged to kiss Percy, which “she”d hesitantly done on his cheek, because neither of them or their friends could convince them they weren’t a couple) and their two friends were safely in police custody. The reporters fed us this whole story. We just nodded and acted tearful and exhausted (which wasn't hard), and played victimized kids for the cameras.
BYEEE, (and yes Leo and Drew will forever be Winter and Simon in another life in my eyes, just look at it—them, I mean. Do you see my vison?)
okay, so do the Simon Thorn books actually exist??? Because I have searched every piece of media, every platform for the fandom, but it's just?? not there??
Animox, are you just a fever dream or do you actually just hide from me?
I ask this question every day 🥲 Had to legit use my tutor to help get me the books (I have an ebook of The Spider’s Web, but it’s in German and I prefer physical copies so she’s searching for them rn)
Ms Aimée Carter, stop hiding them from us. C’mon, don’t be shy. release them in English 🙂 it’s been a few years, surely you’ve translated them? 🙃🙃
My fanfic on Ao3’s probably the only piece that’s been written so, check it over there, if you’re interested because I was probably high and crying while I wrote the chapters 😅 And look at my tiktok where it’s just Animox/Simon Thorn (much like a Russian account I found that’s dedicated to the series), pls? 🥺
