thinking about the parallels between hermes thinking he's a terrible father and sally jackson thinking she's a terrible mother only Sally had Poseidon to talk to and Hermes only had May, his beautiful fragile mortal wife who went insane because he wasn't strong enough to keep her safe

oh God i can't do this someone hold me

y'all.

Y'all.

In episode six, a lot of focus is put on Percy and annabeth and grover (rightly so, seeing as they're the main characters) but I don't think enough people are seeing how much Hermes LOVED Luke.

Sure, he was an absent parent--but the difference between him and people like Zeus is that Hermes was absent from Luke's life purely out of necessity. It killed him to stay away. He talks about it with Percy and annabeth, trying to explain to them how much it hurt that no matter what he did, he always seemed to be doing something WRONG--whether it was with Luke or with May or with the people he helped to the underworld.

_________

"There is another way to the Underworld. A secret way. I've helped others find it. And do you know what happens, every time? I mean every single time."

"Do you know what that feels like? To be so close to someone you love, and knowing neither of you has any choice but to keep on hurting each other?"

"I don't get involved anymore."

_________

Even after all that, he STILL made sure they had everything they needed (minus the innate driving skills that Percy already possessed). Because of Luke. Because no matter how much his son hates him, he'll always be unable to fully stop himself from trying to help him at every turn.

Even when Luke was diametrically opposed to Hermes' entire existence, Hermes still wanted so badly to be close to him. That's how much he loved his son.