#RANTING ABOUT SOLANGELO AGAIN

[coirinthyurilo]

Can we talk about how Will just somehow survived Tartarus despite the odds against him? And how he still loves Nico despite it?

(Also talking about how Will is genuinely such a great boyfriend, Nico is so lucky fr fr.)

Like we just witnessed him actively DYING in Tartarus. Why are we pretending it's not that serious?

Sure, the book itself doesn't feel as dramatic as Percabeth's journey in Tartarus. But it's still actively dangerous.

EXTREMELY dangerous for Will especially. Nico, he's been there. He's been in Tartarus. He's also affected by it too. Clearly both of them are affected because Nico almost DIED in his last one.

And then we have Will actually dying, getting weaker as he travels deeper into the underworld with nothing but a sun lamp to keep him alive.

So why are we only focusing on Nico and Percabeth's journey when Will canonically had the hardest time there? 😭

Sure the entire book is about Nico and Will's character development and their relationship growing stronger by the end.

But can we not invalidate Will's journey THROUGH IT? I've seen many people forget Will is a survivor, sure with Nico's help. But without him he's guaranteed to die.

Still doesn't mean that he's not a strong character, he survived TARTARUS you gotta be HELLA strong as it is? He's also saved Nico's life multiple times in the book.

He may be a healer but it also doesn't mean he's not capable. Only to an extent.

It's sad how some people ignore the book just because it feels like a fanfic when it's not?? It's their journey as a couple, it's FOCUSED ON THEIR RELATIONSHIP.

That's different to Percabeth the book was focused on GETTING THEM OUT mostly.

That's Percabeth was down there unwillingly.

Solangelo traversed to Tartarus WILLINGLY.

That's the difference between two books. If they were down there against their will they might be more at stake because they're fighting for their lives. Trying to get out.

But they're down there to save their friend, so yes it's going to be different— because the main plots is different. 😭😭😭

So with all of the odds clearly AGAINST Will it's remarkable that he somehow survived it all.

Like he had a BAD fall, Tartarus was literally killing him to the point his body is unraveling itself, making bigger wounds. He had a taste of pain of the River Styx. (Even if it's a dream.)

He was CLEVER to use their circumstances and information to send a mania away from them to avoid extra danger. Even if it made Nico unsettled. It was necessary.

He went against a fricking nightmare demon. He went against NYX. And then we have him talking to Persephone for some part of it.

The bravest thing he's done? Was him completely accepting and understanding despite seeing the true nature of Nico's home.

Of where Nico originates. Will stayed with him, despite seeing EVERYTHING BAD about it. All the horrors, and terrors.

And yet there's good in it.

He's still came to the conclusion that this is what Nico is. With all the bad, there is still just a bit of good that makes the entire thing worth it.

I rest my👏 FUCKING 👏CASE.

[lady-menrva]

On a more serious note, Nico being treated as this gay icon is some of the wildest shit in the fandom, which is saying a lot. IMHO it feels like a tight slap in the face of all those authors who've put in so much time and beautiful effort to ensure that their queer characters are well-written and free of tokenism, homophobic undertones, amatonormativity and ableism; all the ills that festoon Nico as 'representation'.

Right, so starting of with Homophobia, here's a great analysis someone did (The original post is here)

Tokenism: Some of the older fans have pointed out how Nico's 'big reveal' came in HoH, which was released in late 2013, and how this aligns with the spike in LGBTQ+ allies (around mid-2013). They theorize that it was done for popularity, and given how hard Rick is trying to milk Nico rn, the theory may have weight. Besides, his crush on Percy...no hints given (please don't come at me typing stuff along the lines of it was planned since PJO...like "oh ThE cRuSh HaD hIntS". Honestly, no? In PJO, originally, Nico did things for Percy out of platonic love, which can be, and is just as deep and beautiful as romantic love. Period. What's ironic is that in PJO, Platonic relationships routinely eclipse romance in terms of writing, dynamics etc.) Plus there's also they way he acted around Juniper and Annabeth, but that's so controversial these days that it can't be discussed without people calling you a homophobe...

Amatonormativity: To be fair, plenty of characters would have been better of without a relationship, but Nico is definitely up there in there 'doesn't require a SO' list, especially when you consider his emotional baggage, internalized homophobia, trauma etc.

Ableism: Oh Nico, you have mental health issues? Not a problem! Have a healer to heal you yikes *wow*. Also, I'm taken aback by the way his mental state is treated by the narrative.

Then again, Solangelo is another issue I don't want to talk about (I've ranted about it at length), and it just helps ruin Nico as representation even more.

[cabinofimagines]

Sick Birthday

I am not winning this year. This fic was written solely because i felt shitty and my birthday is today (when this is posted lol) and i had plans but SOMEONE (my entire nuclear family) decided to get SICK (im not blaming them just upset i can't bake cake for them and have dinner with them and etc etc etc) (there are still other bday celebrations which i will have) (I just hope that my sick feelings ALSO go away when i wake up in the morning and that i was just sleep deprived) Sorry for the rant. Anyways! It's my birthday :), the banner pic is beanjamin in the flesh. Pairing: Poly!Solangelo x reader, Will Solace x reader x Nico di Angelo Request: No! Word count: 1.2k Warnings: Vomit mentions, general sickness. -Asnyox

Today was supposed to be a special day. You thought it would be- you had planned everything out beforehand, the cake, the invites, the one free day this month that all your friends could show up. But then the first camper came down with a stomach bug, and then the second and before you knew it the birthday prep started getting mixed with the extra shifts in the infirmary. Nico got it as one of the first people, Will not too long after. You counted yourself lucky, nothing could hurt you, right? Nico and Will were already better again, so everyone should be able to attend. Your birthday was going to be in two days- none of the gods hated you that much.

Except two days before your party you were hanging above the toilet bowl. As you felt like you reached the bottom of your stomach you moved away and leaned against the wall. You felt a little silly about the sorrow which you felt. Certainly you were tired, but come on you just wanted a get together, to see your friends and feel celebrated. 

But you were just being silly.You weren’t up to it, so Nico called everyone with the news and the rain check. Will offered to be your personal doctor, but you were just without any energy and feeling quite miserable so you told him to just focus on everyone else instead. 

Nico didn’t want to feel too guilty about probably giving you the stomach bug. He also didn’t care about his own birthday that much- but he knew you valued birthdays. He knew because every year you organized something for him, every year Will did something because he knew you enjoyed celebrating them. Every year you try to celebrate your own birthday, making all the preparations and stressing an appropriate amount for one's birthday. Nico knew you were upset, and he knew you would pretend to be fine. Nico might not understand exactly why you care so much about birthdays, but he knew you did and just couldn’t figure out how to make it right. You were going to be sick on your birthday and he hated it. 

Whereas Will decided to focus his energy into healing you in every way possible. He had seen you get more tired the days before you officially got down with the bug. If anything, the way you deflated when you asked Nico to call everything off had his heart aching. Sure, you were firstly stressed about going to the store still, as the plan had been to go last week but it was simply too busy to go, but now you were unable to go anyways. 

At least since the bug had already passed through most of your siblings, you were staying in your cabin. Since it was already past breakfast, your boyfriends gathered up some easy to digest foods and made their way to you. Nico had their presents for you, all wrapped up. He hoped that even if you couldn’t celebrate, they could at least make you feel a little better. 

You had hoped that this morning you would miraculously feel better. Perhaps then you could still do something- hang with your lovers, maybe get some of the closer living friends together. But no, your body was against you. For birthdays to always seem so big and magical, only to just be another day when you’re sick felt like a crime to you. Mostly though you were upset at how upset you were. How did you never realize how important your birthday is to you, unless you’re missing it. At first you thought you might just have been upset at the change of plans because you had planned it all, but then you figured it was missing your friends, missing the shot to have them all come over and talk to them. Sure you never needed a reason, but having a reason on a set date was always nice. And now you were stuck in bed, hugging Beanjamin close, as you blinked away some more tears. 

“How is our birthday buddy doing?” Will’s voice sounded careful. You quickly wiped some residue tears away before turning around in your bed to face your boyfriends. You didn’t feel like sitting up just yet.  “I’m still nauseous, but it is less than yesterday.” You sighed, “Also rub it in that all I’m getting this year is puke.” 

“That’s not true,” Will mused as he crouched before your bed, “firstly you are getting some breakfast if you’re up for it, if not at least some water.” You stared at Will for a beat before slowly going to sit up. Nico was moving your pillow in no time, so you could lean against the wall next to your bed. You spotted the gift bag prepped up against your bed, but didn’t say anything. Something about being polite about it. 

Will checked once more what you wanted to eat and carefully watched while you ate. He seemed content with the fact you were at least ingesting foods now, so with a little ‘proud of you!’ and other encouragement you got down a semi decent breakfast. As soon as that was over, you leaned your head against Nico’s shoulder, as he had sat down next to you and kept Beanjamin safe from any spills. Beanjamin was his plushie, but he had lend it to you as you weren’t feeling well, a guardian of sorts. As you closed your eyes for a little, you didn’t react to the knock on the cabin door. You felt Will get up from the bag, and opened your eyes as he let someone in. 

“Special delivery from Hermes express,” said Hermes himself, as he emptied his sack full of post. After he was done he winked, before going “And a happy birthday, kiddo,” and disappearing to wherever his next delivery was. You sat up a little more, eyeing the small pile of stuff and letters on your floor. 

“Did you set this up?” you eyed Nico who just shrugged. “I didn’t ask anyone, did tell them you were bumped about not celebrating your birthday,” Nico moved off the bed, grabbing a blanket and putting it on the floor, “You want to get started? Only go so many hours on your birthday.” 

You sat on the blanket, boyfriend on each side as they helped you spit through the mail. Most of your friends had written cards, small promises of ‘we should still meet to celebrate!’, ‘hey sucks to miss you but love you nonetheless!’ and a few ‘feel better’ did help to lift the mood. Some had included a present- care packages, birthday gifts, a pair of knit gloves from Hazel. If anything, you might have shed another tear or two simply feeling the love your friends held for you, and even though you didn’t do much special you felt like you were celebrated.    

[cynthiav06]

Annabeth stans and Percabeth shippers are talking about how ooc Annabeth is in WOTTG with her thinking Percy is stupid as if she hasn't constantly made fun of Percy's intelligence since the very beginning. As if she doesn't do it in every book, multiple times. Rick's characterization of Annabeth isn't changing, people are finally just growing up and realizing their fave ship when they were 12 isn't healthy. But instead of actually acknowledging that it's a bad ship they just blame the author.

Warnings: This is going to be a rant; bear with me. People from the "take everything as a personal offense" group stop reading. Will give us both the luxury of a peaceful mind.

It's easier to blame Rick, I think, given his series of shit decisions. The Wrath of a Triple Goddess is a complete abomination, and so is Chalice of the Gods in many ways. But at least it has helped readers understand the glaring flaws of Percabeth as a ship. How Percy's character is butchered to hype up Annabeth.

And I am completely exhausted of trying to get any of them to think rationally and in an unbiased manner. I can't make a willfully blind individual see sense after all.

But yeah, Annabeth has many, and I mean many character flaws throughout the series. The number of times I have made a post on Annabeth's flaws or even why Percabeth is incompatible.... At this point, I believe open-minded and careful readers are going to see and make their own conclusions, and the blind shippers will keep doing their own thing. This , I think, was my most recent post and will probably be one of my last ones on a similar topic. Unless I get newer asks that have some different viewpoints that I can actually explore cause, all has been said so far, I think.

I had a feeling that things would get better as they got older, more mature, you know, an Annabeth character arc of some sort. Maybe exploring the positive and negative nuances of Percabeth or even Percy's suicidal thoughts, non existent self esteem and how Annabeth has been unknowingly feeding into those.

She is one of the more iconic characters to people even outside the fandom. One from a very, very , and exclusive pool of actually strong female characters and the way her character is devolving isn't helping anything.

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All of Riordan's characters have such high potential, and the amount of plots he could explore is staggering, and yet he still dishes out the same generic plot again and again. He is in it for the money now, has been for a while, and so there's no hope there.

This might be a very hot take, but I think romance ruined the series. Rick kept slapping romantic relationships on every character as if that would suddenly make things better. Give them a relationship rather than explore their trauma. I guess it's the easier of the two.

But seriously, Caleo? Jiper? Solangelo ? (I can see the hate comments already). Whatever he was doing with Reyna, but at least she wasn't completely butchered.

Rick's problem is that he keeps giving more importance to romantic relationships and makes that the entire personality of a character.

He butchered Percy, even Jason at times, Leo bloody Valdez and Nico more prominently.

The way Percy and Nico's very deep and volatile bond and heavily dynamic relationship was butchered and distorted to feed into Solangelo and Percabeth, and I can't possibly understate how highly that's been going on.

Then Luke and Thalia's relationship was completely butchered for no absolute reason. I have no idea why. They were in love or at least had romantic feelings for each other, and Thalia just woke up and wanted to kill him? He literally gave all the angst to Annabeth even though Thalia had known him longer, and they had a more nuanced bond.

Jason's relationship with Camp Jupiter individuals was completely scrapped, his and Reyna's dynamic completely watered down, or even his and Leo's great friendship discarded all for Jiper or whatever else was shoved at him.

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As opposed to this whole shit show, I loved the relationships in the Magnus Chase series and Kane Chronicles. That was good stuff. Both character relationships and romantic ones even though I am pretty sure he got a lot of diverse representation wrong or so I have read recently.

Then there's the stupid, blind, bigot part of the fandom that just can't help themselves. I mean dumb Percy takes, Annabeth stans ruining Percy's character arcs and overinflating Annabeth's character, which in turn made Rick do the same.Then the boring Jason thing? What the hell was that? It's like everyone missed the point of why Jason is the way he is. I am going to make a post on that soon, but seriously, the shit that's been going on.

Then the shippers. Solangelo stans and Percabeth stans. They have single handedly ruined the ships for me with their distorted ideas of character dynamics. And their blatant and brutal hate against other Percy or Nico ships is just ridiculous and heavily toxic.

It's a fandom, not a monopoly. Everyone can have their own little thing as long as you don't meddle in someone else's own thing. Let everyone enjoy their own thing.

And for all our sakes, at this point, just pick your own version of canon. Choose which books to stop at. Trust me, it's less frustrating that way.

[onetiny-inkdropuniverse]

There's a reason I named my first Solangelo fic ever "Between Love & Hate". There's a reason. A REASON I SAY! Because of the song! Between Love & Hate by... you guessed it... the Strokes!

And it's actually SO solangelo coded

bear with me, rant incoming. (so worth tho)

[Verse 1] Watched her as she wiped her eyes You don't make me sorry Now I know that you never listened – listen Thinking about that high school dance Worrying about the finals Yes I know, you're feeling lonely Oh lonely, so lonely

Okay, so we're in a Nico di Angelo POV. Seems like a cutesy high school AU-- but it's NOT actually. Where are we? We're post-Blood of Olympus. We're post-Battle of Camp Half Blood.

Nico just glared the living shit out of some girl who thought she was funny, snickering about what a creepy Hades kid he is. Bet she was one of the ones who decided to "fix" Cabin 13 by making it vampire-core. Not. Funny. And if she's crying now from sheer terror, Nico's not mad about it. And he's not sorry.

And Will? Will wishes he was a normal teenager. He wishes he was thinking about the dance and worrying about the finals, but in reality: he's lonely. Yeah, he's surrounded by people, but he feels like no one understands the sheer pressure he's under as the head medic. Maybe Nico senses that. They're both lonely in their own ways. Maybe they'd understand each other.

[Pre-Chorus] Never needed anybody, I never needed anybody I never needed anybody, I never needed nobody Don't worry about it, honey I never needed anybody I never needed anybody, it won't change now

Of course, Nico di Angelo doesn't need anybody. He's all good on his own.

I love how well the vibe of this song captures Nico's attitude. Being a loner for so long, he kind of wears it like a badge of honor. Insists he doesn't need help, that he doesn't need friends.

And in these early days, talking with Will-- perhaps it's a little flirtatious. But it's laced with piss off energy. Nico's loud and clear that, even though they make sense as friends, and perhaps more, that he's never needed anyone before. And that's not going to change now.

[Chorus] Am I wrong?

I love that there's two ways to read this line. "Am I wrong?" as a challenge, as Prove me wrong, Solace. Prove that I do need somebody. He's goading Will. He's tempting him. Nico's so sure he doesn't need friends that he's willing to prove it, and he wants Will to prove him wrong.

But also... genuine questioning. "Am I wrong? Is it true? Do I need somebody? Do I want somebody?" Nico's not sure. He sounds so certain out loud, but in reality, there's uncertainty there. He wants to be proven wrong.

Don't sing along with me I said I was fine It's just the second time we lost the war

This is the best part, because it's such an EXACT MATCH. Nico's unnerved by the way Will mirrors him, by the way they have much in common, by the way Will understands and relates to everything he says. He's like... wait, stop. Don't.

And like, Nico LITERALLY says "I'm fine" (and is lying) in BOO. It's too perfect, guys.

And that last part... gosh. Technically, the war against Gaea is the second time they've won the war, but... it doesn't feel very victorious for Will or Nico. For both of them, both wars ended in bittersweet endings. The Battle of Manhattan ended with Nico feeling left out of Camp Half-Blood and running away again. It also ended with Will Solace losing a large number of his half-siblings. And the second time? It ended with Leo disappearing, with more casualties, with them both getting a sinking feeling watching Octavian's... what? Assisted suicide?

And Nico's inclined to think that it's going to get worse, like last time. Yeah, Camp feels a little more accepting this time around... but what if? What if things change? What if this is just the second time he's going to lose?

[Verse 2] She'd be in the kitchen, I would start the fire Oh, those days are gone But you know I can't give up – give up P.S. If I may ask why, when will they get tired? We've stayed up all night trying – trying

This is a classic #inkdropturnsstraightsongsgay moment, so we've got to play with the original meanings of the lyrics a bit.

I always imagine Nico as a kid being like, the biggest troublemaker. I mean, think about the way he is when we meet him in TTC. He was definitely driving Bianca up the wall in the most loveable way. Back in the old days, it would probably have been his mom or his sister somewhere else in the house, probably being responsible, while he totally set something on fire. What an idiot (lovely).

But those days are gone. It's been years. Decades, actually. But part of Nico is still attached to the person he used to be-- bubbly, nerdy, excited about everything. He doesn't want to give that up. He can't. It's kind of what keeps him going, despite the dark facade.

And now, Nico's helping in the infirmary. Despite everything, he won't give up. He wants to impress Will. He wants to try. He's willing to stay up through the night shift and do anything, everything, to help the campers. To feel like his old self. The one who was excited about things. The one who always wants to help.

[Pre-Chorus] + [Chorus] repeats

And what could be more telling than that? That despite the strides we made in Verse 2, despite the sense that Nico is opening up, that he's changing, he still insists that he's not. That he's still fine alone, that he still doesn't need any help, that he certainly doesn't care about Will Solace. And when he leaves that infirmary...

I guess it's the end

He's never going to talk to Will again. Or is he?

And now, lastly, the title.

Between Love & Hate just feels like the right way to summarize that phase of Solangelo right after BOO. Because they never hate each other, not really, as much as Nico wants to pretend he does. But they're not quite at love... not yet. So they're somewhere in between. A state of limbo. And there's no telling what's going to happen next.

And when the song leaves off... it feels incomplete. Unfinished. Like the story isn't over, despite Nico's claim that this is the end. It's not.

[divinelycrazy]

Can I be a pjo nerd for a quick second? Yeah, okay.

The Sun and the Star is not the Solangelo book we should've gotten, and this is for several reasons.

1. Overhyping of characters. Forgive me as I have not read the book in a while, but I distinctly remember the book marketing Amphitemis as an important character to the book, only to be involved in a chapter or two and then we never see him again.

2. THAT IS NOT NYX. I'm sorry, but of all the depictions of the greek gods in Rick's books, this one felt the most disrespectful to me. Nyx is the primordial goddess of night, wife of darkness, mother of death, sleep, chaos, retribution, etc. It is said that even Zeus himself fears her. But Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro chose to depict her as a crazy hag who lives in a house made of bugs, is afraid of change, and is obsessed with tourism. Rick, honey, that is not a goddess feared by all. That is a homeless woman. A homeless woman who puts disrespect on other homeless people.

3. Tartarus, where? The book was marketed as Will and Nico descending into Tartarus to save Bob, but 80% of the book doesn't even take place in Tartarus.

4. Confusing. The first half of the book is written in a very confusing way where it's Will and Nico talk about their journey into the underworld, which gets very confusing really quickly.

Besides all of that, the book is just mediocre at best. It feels to me that Rick and Mark weren't able to properly plan out the story and, at certain moments, even clashed with each other about it. The book could've been great, but instead, it was meh.

Frankly, the only good thing we got out of it were the Coco Puffs, though the circumstances of their creation do make me very uncomfortable.

Either way, that was all I have to say. Thanks for coming to my rant.

[wolfstaridiot08]

I made a post today comparing James to Jason and I really want to understand why everyone thinks he’s Will other than the obvious stereotypes + solangelo.

Like are they really that alike? Cause I see more similarities between Jason and James

I actually really agree! The post I made earlier was more about how solangelo and jegulus are similar, and I wanted to base which marauders character they were based on their relationships. Overall, I do think Jason and James are really similar, although if I had to pick I'd say Jason is more Sirius and Percy is more James

James is the same as Percy because they both try to hold themselves together for others around them, but inside they're dying and really need help, and the only person who sees them that way is their partner, who's smart and cold, and their best friend, whom they consider their brother and first friend, and their mother, who's sweet and adopt everyone. They also both would sacrifice the world to save their friends, and do dangerous stuff to make sure everyone is ok

Jason and Sirius are the same because they both grew up with a not so great family, and had to adapt to (Jason becoming a warrior and Sirius rebelling), then they met some friends who helped them discover their personality and decide who they were without the pressure their "family" put on them. Then they surrounded themselves with people who they considered their new family and grew away from their other family (camp Jupiter and the black family) but then ultimately died trying to save that new family. They also both created a life for themselves that they thought they were ok with until someone showed them it didn't have to be that way, and were rejected by their lover for a little, before reconnecting with them and dying. They both are really powerful and smart, but don't like the spotlight as much as people think the do, they'd much rather have a safe family in the dark, than be surrounded by the spotlight and responsibility for the rest of their life.

Again this is just my opinion, I'm sure we could analyze every single thing about every character and they'd all be similar in some way. Also sorry this turned more into a rant, but thanks for asking!

[heyhoneyfox]

TW for mentions of trauma, nightmares, disordered eating, grief, and on brief mention of needles (just sewing needles)

No, but please imagine Percy, Nico, and Annabeth being best friends (long post).

Please imagine, after BOO, Percy getting Nico a new aviator jacket just like his old one.

Please imagine Nico taking said jacket, getting an Italian flag patch and a gay flag patch, then very nervously going to Annabeth and asking her if she knows how to sew because Athena invented the loom which is close enough to sewing and Annabeth is one of the only people Nico trusts enough to ask.

Please imagine Annabeth just holding back tears at his trust and telling him she knows how to sew (she does NOT but she figures it out quickly) and helping him sew on the patches and Nico being so happy that he cannot stop smiling even though he is very bad at sewing and keeps pricking himself with the needle on accident.

Please imagine, if you HC Percy as bi, Percy desperately going to Nico at like 3 am, screaming having a sexuality crisis, and Nico being really exhausted and pretending to be annoyed but is actually super warmed that Percy went to him, then Nico helping him figure out and accept his bisexuality.

Please imagine, rather than Annabeth being all jealous of Nico, she always loves talking to him about Percy, at first by accident, followed by the realization it might just hurt Nico more, but Nico promptly jumping in and agreeing and listening openly.

Please imagine Percy and Annabeth, when alone, researching and coming up with ways to help Nico have a healthier relationship with food and how to help him with his mental and physical health.

Please imagine Nico stealing both Percy's and Annabeth's clothes, which are unbelievably big on him, and Percy pretending to be annoyed but actually being perfectly happy with Nico stealing his clothes.

Please imagine Nico always falling asleep on Percy, at first being embarassed, but Percy assuring him that it's okay and that he won't hurt or judge him.

Please imagine Percy one day falling asleep on Nico's shoulder and Nico feeling so honoured that Percy trusts him enough to do so to the point that Nico doesn't move until Percy wakes up, which takes like 3 hours.

Please imagine Percy and Annabeth giving Nico 'the talk' after he gets with Will, Nico blushing and complaining about how it isn't necessary because I HC him as asexual but he doesn't know what asexuality is, so he's just there complaining and mega awkward with the subject.

Please imagine Nico and Percy ranting about how annoying it is to be a big 3 kid, followed by them sparring to see who's more powerful (it's Nico, only partially because Percy goes easy on him).

Please imagine Nico starting to use cheek kisses as a greeting/goodbye for them because that's a normal thing in Italian culture (I'm not Italian so correct me if I'm wrong) and Percy and Annabeth feeling so honoured and trying not to cry.

Please imagine Nico visiting them in New Rome and Percy and Annabeth being really confused by how many people Nico greets by name.

Please imagine the amount of double dates Solangelo and Percabeth would go on, Will being really nervous because of how protective Percy and Annabeth are of Nico, but Percy and Annabeth being really nice and supportive because they have never seen Nico so happy.

PLEASE imagine Solangelo and Percabeth having sleepovers together, or just Nico, Percy, and Annabeth having sleepovers!!

Imagine Percy and Annabeth NEVER treating Nico like a third wheel, but rather as someone of equal importance (BECAUSE HE IS)

Imagine Nico, when alone with one of them, teasing them about how in love they are.

Imagine Percy and Annabeth returning the favour by teasing him about his crush on Will.

Imagine Nico, Percy, and Annabeth grieving Jason together when they see each other again, comforting each other, talking about their memories of him and doing anything they can to honour his memory.

Imagine, as a follow-up to the 'Percy and Nico falling asleep on each other' thing, either of them waking up screaming from a nightmare and the other comforting them and calming them down.

Imagine Nico, Percy, and Annabeth talking about their experience in Tartarus and working through and figuring out the trauma together, eventually joined by Will.

Imagine Percy and Annabeth introducing Nico to queer artists and influencers (backstory of my 'Nico listens to Cavetown' HC).

(If this sounds overly romantic I apologize I don't really have a proper grasp on the difference between romance and friendship but I am trying but just to be clear I do not ship these three romantically, I just think they should be friends because Nico deserves safe people, as do Percy and Annabeth)

(Also I cannot stress the 'Annabeth and Percy not treating Nico like a third wheel' thing enough because that is so important to me)

[justaz]

Your percabeth posts and just most of your pjo verse posts fall right into my taste so I assume (desperately hope) you've also read some mind blowing or just heart warming percabeth fics and the point of this whole rant is just me asking (begging) you for some percabeth fic recs, thank you sm and have a great day!

WELL i have this one linked on a recent post but it’s so cute i’ll put it here too. it’s a cute percabeth impulsive marriage fic,, i accept it as canon in my mind

FOREVER HOUSE i accept this as canon too, it’s so cute and i love the way the author writes (idk how to put this into words but) annabeth

i love this one,, it’s so soft and it has my golden trio in it and it takes place at a little motel during their road-trip to camp jupiter

THIS ONE HOLY SHIT i have this fic open on safari and i go back to reread it so much it’s so soft,, post tlo percabeth but pre hoo

i like to scroll through the whole series but these are kind of my favorite on there so far: hair dresser percy, nurse percy, barista percy, body guard percy, and drummer percy

i am a SLUT for time travel fics but this one is just *chefs kiss* it’s based off of the Adam Project on netflix that walker scobell is in (which i also recommend if you haven’t watched it already)

post tlo pre hoo percabeth again, they are so cute and in love. sigh

post botl pre tlo percabeth stranded at a gas station. this has my whole heart. the desperation and longing holy fuck

post botl pre tlo again,, only one bed and god. the angst. the longing. the late night kisses in a dark room when they’re not supposed to. GOD.

OH MY GOD i read this one a while ago and as i was scrolling through my ao3 history i found it again,, this one is absolutely adorable holy shit i’m gonna reread it. soulmates canon divergence <3 (also extra chapter for solangelo if that’s your thing)

this one has a bit of sexual content but it’s not smut or explicit, it’s more focused on annabeth’s trauma/upbringing and her being touch averse. i’m also an absolute whore for touch starved x physically affectionate so i love this fic

there is absolutely no plot here, just pure fluff, i love it

“it’s you, annabeth” i’m going to eat my mattress i love them, post tlo percabeth but a year after (no hoo, just fluff)

this one is kind of a shot in the dark bc i know a lot of people find these fics annoying or whatever but i loooove them,, like i said i’m a slut for time travel fics. this one isn’t really percabeth centric but instead focuses on like everyone and dives into their trauma and is all about healing from it. it’s not finished yet but holy shit it’s amazing so far. it’s a reading the books fic btw LMAO (i’ve been meaning to recommend this one for a while and nows the perfect time so here)

[cabinofimagines]

Cryptozoology Ver. 1.0.1

Happy birthday Danny!! This is a different POV version from Cryptozoology- the story that was not told before! Have you read the first fic? Read this one! If not- a full version with both POVs is out too!!

Pairing: Leo Valdez x gn!reader, this is a solangelo fic at it's heart- Request: That's between me and Danny's chat, as many things. Word count: 4k Warnings: None!

-Asnyox

Will Solace cared for his friends, making sure that they ate enough, slept enough, and were happy. However, to Will’s chagrin, there was only one thing that at the moment would get Leo Valdez to eat, sleep and be happy. It was the exam period and Leo simply was not listening, unless Will would get him a significant other- something that Leo thought would only happen after pigs learned to fly, but Will had other plans... 

“Leo, I promise I will get you a lover soon enough!” Will waved his hands, “You just have to trust the genius that I am!” “Sure thing,” Leo scoffed, “And how will you do that?” “I have a plan.” Will assured his friend, “I simply need an appropriate candidate.” 

And perhaps he already had one. He didn’t even need to try too hard to stage the first meeting and start Leo’s infatuation. Will passed you on your way out, went straight to Leo’s, and forced him to take a break. While Leo was out he watched the first meeting through the window of Leo’s dorm. The target acted just as Will had suspected, hiding away from Leo, and Will could not wait until Leo’s sleep-deprived brain would start acting its magic. Sure, Will might’ve been unaware of their name, but he had seen them around in the cafe where he worked and he just knew they would be a good fit for Leo.

“Dude!” Leo stormed into his room, “I think I just met Mothman!” 

All according to plan.

───────────

The day after your chance encounter with Leo Valdez (where you heroically ran away from him, after hiding behind a tree, and then a second time in the hallway), you ranted to your friend about it, much to his dismay.

“I mean how embarrassing! I named a lizard after him!” You pouted, “What is the chance? I wasn’t even aware he was near until I saw him bolt away!” “I’m sure he’ll not mind that,” Nico said, “If he’s as idiotic as you paint him to be, he might even find it endearing. What’s his name anyways?” “I’m not telling.” 

“And why won’t you tell me the name of your crush?” Nico was exasperated. “Because you’ll try something!” You squint your eyes at him, “I know you will.” “So we’re calling him fireboy? Because he is hot?” Nico teased, and you laughed, but Nico was not deterred, “Okay, tell me the name of your lizard then.” “No.” 

From the look in your eyes when you talked about Fireboy, Nico knew that he needed to figure out who Fireboy was and how to get you together, if he were to enjoy a calm lunch ever again.

What Nico wasn’t expecting was having to fend off another guy. 

He had stared at the blonde barista in the past (for no reason at all) and didn’t like the interest the guy was showing in you. Of course, he could believe that you didn’t have any interest in the barista, but the way that, since entering the café, the barista kept staring at you intensely, rubbed him the wrong way. Clearly this guy had an interest in you that went past you as a customer. Yet, it was busy and Nico was keeping your seats occupied while you stood in line. He glared as the barista handed you more than just your coffee.  

“So you’re saying you won this ticket?” “Yes.” “From the barista just now?” “Yes.” 

“And you’re sure he wasn’t just hitting on you?” 

“With the way he was eyeing you, I don’t think so?” “What is that supposed to mean?” Nico, unwillingly, felt his face warm. You simply shrugged as you smiled at your friend teasingly, and Nico sighed, “Guess I’ll get a ticket and we can go to the movie together.” 

So, a few hours later, you were sitting together in the movie theater. You were pretty sure you might have switched up the seats, but did it matter? You both had the tickets for these seats anyways. Nico had gotten the popcorn, and the ads had just started, all was good. 

Except, all was not good for Will. While Leo had just told him that the ‘cryptid’ had named a lizard after him, it took Will a moment to realize that his ‘cinema date’ had failed. Someone was sitting in the cryptid’s seat, and Will didn’t like that. He had invited Leo, and the plan had been to get Leo and mothman to sit together. If this black-haired guy had not been sitting in the wrong seat, it would have been a date! Basically! The worst part was that now he had to make sure Leo wouldn’t see Mothman, otherwise the whole ‘cryptid’ mystic would stop and Will’s efforts would be all for nothing. 

Fine, Will Solace resigned himself as he quickly pushed past Leo so he would get to sit next to the black-haired boy, fine, Will Solace would have a ‘date’ with this kid. Fine.   

Nico, on the other hand, felt triumphant as he noticed the big ass glare on the blonde’s face. Clearly this had been some kind of setup for a date, and he managed to fuck it up. (Y/n) was not even aware that the barista had entered the cinema and sat next to Nico, all for the better. Nico made eye contact with his seat neighbor, and stuck out his tongue, to which he saw the blonde tense up. Take that, barista boy. 

Will Solace felt his heartbeat speed up, as he realized a second flaw in his strategy- he might have started crushing on the enemy. 

───────────

Will was not giving up, and a few weeks later the perfect opportunity presented itself. He found a very good sale on fresh fruits and filled his arms with them to use them as a matchmaking ploy. The plan was simple- give you the cold fruits, tell you to hand them out to Leo, and bam! You would get talking, get a hamster, get a house- but first… 

“Hey, do you like mandarins?” “You’re that barista, aren’t you?” you looked at him suspiciously. Will nodded. “Look, as a promotional bit I need to hand these out,” Will lied, “but if you just take them off my hands, then I will be free to have a lunch break!” Will pushed the fruit in your hands and started backing away. Flabbergasted, you made sure not to spill any as you looked at the blonde. “Why would I need this much fruit?” You looked like you really wanted to hand the fruit back to him, so Will had to act quickly. “Just hand them out if you don’t!” Will turned around and took a small sprint. He quickly rounded a corner and not-so-subtly spied on you. With only a bit of luck, you would instigate a conversation with Leo, who was sitting alone, within the next five minutes. And that would mean-

Oh no. Will glared at the black-haired boy who approached you, the same kid that had prevented you from sitting with Leo. His ‘definitely not a crush’. Why was he putting the fruit in a bag? Goddammit! You walked away with your friend, and Will knew he couldn’t keep taking this (cute) boy's interference. Something had to be done. Will wasn’t sure what yet- but murder was still on the list. 

Meanwhile, Nico smiled to himself. He saw the blonde glare, and he felt great having meddled with his plans again. Sure, Nico had to admit that the blonde looked cute when giving away the fruits to you, but there was no way you would fall for someone who was simply giving out fruits, instead Nico subtly walked you into the canteen, spotted your Fireboy (he stopped caring about the name now that he had a face), and nudged you to hand out the fruits there. You might not have put together that Nico knew what your crush looked like (although he did not know his name), but that would all help Nico’s plans. You would never figure out that he was playing Cupid (all in order to get you to shut up about Fireboy during your Mythomagic games, certainly not to rile up the blonde barista who is trying to hit on you). 

Nico was a little proud of his plan- and the next step of it. He overheard Fireboy’s friends mention a party happening, and Nico had to find a way to get you to the party, although he would be the last one to go, he had a foolproof plan. Of course, you still weren’t invited but he guessed that it would matter little to you if you found out the real catch at the party. 

“There are cats.” Nico deadpanned, and he immediately saw you crack. Sure, you weren’t planning on going out today, but how often does an opportunity like this present itself? “But they’ll be inside!” “With that amount of sound? I don’t think so, but your loss.” Nico picked up his Switch again, continuing his Hades run. “Why do you even want me to go?” You sounded a little suspicious, as you squeezed Nico’s Blahaj. 

“So you’ll stop trying to steal my plushies. Just go, nobody cares you’re not supposed to be there!” And that stinky Fireboy would be there, which is why you should go. Of course, Nico didn’t really want to miss out on hanging out with you, but he had to keep his priorities. 

 “How many cats are there?” You considered your options. “Four.” “Fuck.” and there you went. 

A few hours later you knocked on his door, just in time for the both of you to catch the newest episode of the show you were watching together. Yet, you seemed a little fidgety and it only took a little prodding from Nico to figure it out. 

His plan had worked perfectly. Take that blonde barista! He would never stand a chance against the power of cats and your weirdness. 

Yet, Nico’s plan seemed to work a little too well, for one of Fireboy’s friends had spotted you and put the puzzle pieces together. 

───────────

Lucky for Nico, the friend was not Will Solace, unluckily for Nico, Will was a nosy bitch, who worked at a café. Will slid Jason’s favorite drink towards him. 

 “Hey, Jason, can you do me a favor?” Will intensely stared at Jason, his hand still on the lid.

“I don’t know, can I?” Jason looked from the drink to Will, who nodded as he moved the drink a little closer. “Yes you can.” Will said as Jason picked up the drink and examined it closer. On the side of the drink, Will had scribbled ‘for the best dude I know’ with a very badly drawn sun on it. Jason didn’t like the prospect of the favor being bought out of him, but he wasn’t complaining. He could always feign forgetfulness and not do it. 

“I need you to figure out who the cryptid is. Name, address, age-” Will paused, “It sounds like stalking, but you have a class with them, so maybe you can talk to them?” 

“Oh, I know the cryptid. We did a project together once.” Jason squinted at Will, “Are you trying to get (Y/n) and Leo together?” “Pfft, what? It’s not that obvious, is it?” Will laughed curtly, before going back to being serious, “Their name is (Y/n)?” “You didn’t know their name?” Jason sighed, “Of course not- either way, Leo’s obsessed with the cryptid simply being a cryptid.” 

“Good, all according to plan!” Will smiled, “I need you to approach (Y/n)’s friend and ask whether the cryptid is interested in Leo at all.” Will shrugged, “Not sure if the magic is working from that side.” 

“You mean Nico?” Jason asked

“The cute black-haired boy?” Will asked. “No.” Jason said, “I will not ask your crush whether he likes you.” 

“He’s not my crush,” Will shook his head, “He just keeps intervening with my plans for Leo and (Y/n)!”

“I suggest you just talk to him yourself, Will.” but as Jason suggested the normal thing to do, Will shook his head again. 

“Pretty please?” Will looked at Jason as he lifted his hand, clearly indicating that he would push the drink off the table if Jason did not agree. Jason shook his head as he gave in. Will did make his favorite after all, and perhaps he could befriend Nico on the way. He would probably be a little less weird than his current friends- 

“How do you know Nico’s name anyways?” Will asked after a moment. 

“He and Frank play Mythomagic together sometimes,” Jason looked at Will, “You sure you don’t want me to find out whether he likes you?” 

“No” Will blushed, “Not until Leo and (Y/n) are together! Then I can focus on myself. Who’s Frank anyways?” 

“Dating Nico’s half-sister,” Jason explained as Will seemed relieved, “Not that you would care, as you don’t have a crush” Jason laughed, while Will glared at him. ───────────

It took a bit for Jason to find Nico, but he eventually got word from Frank that Nico would be at their usual place for Mythomagic. When Jason got there, Frank hadn’t yet arrived, but Nico was going through his deck. Jason felt relieved that (Y/n) didn’t seem to be anywhere near. 

Jason sat down opposite of Nico and cleared his throat. Nico looked up from his deck.

“You’re Jason Grace, right?” Nico asked, “You finally got a deck?”

“Not yet, maybe you can help me though.” Jason looked at Nico, whose poker face was all too good. He could not make out what Nico was thinking, so he simply continued, “I have a friend who’s interested in you and was just wondering if-” “Not the Fireboy, right?” Nico interrupted him. “What?” Jason took a moment, “Who?

“Small, curly hair, petted cats with my friend yesterday,” Nico sounded a bit disappointed in his next sentence, “you know, ‘Fireboy’, as my friend will not give me his name.” 

“Oh! No, not the cryptozoologist. Any reason why you’re asking?” “For said friend, mostly. Would be disappointing if Fireboy fell for my charms while my friend swooned for him. Anyways, cryptozoologist?” Nico asked and Jason grinned.

“He thinks your friend is Mothman.” Jason elaborated, and Nico nodded. “He’s not wrong.” 

“Sure, anyway, you’re single then? Not interested in the cryptozoologist yourself?” “Pft, I’m not that pathetic.” Nico laughed, “Why are you interested?” “Asking for a friend.” “Toucheé” Nico shrugged, still taking the boy before him in. He had never really spoken with Jason before, but he seemed friendly enough, and if there was something he needed, it was more friends (especially if you were to ever start dating the cryptozoologist, who would entertain him then?). Besides, perhaps he could actually get Jason involved with Frank and his Mythomagic games. They needed more players, desperately. 

“Either way, the cryptozoologist is going to the library later today–” 

“Why tell me?” “No reason.” 

“Well, so are (Y/n) and I, we’re studying together today.” Nico answered shortly, “Look, Jason, great conversation we’re having, but I only engaged in it because I thought you were going to get into Mythomagic.” 

“Oh!” Jason hesitated, looking at the cards, “I mean I would love to, I just really do not know where to start.” 

“I have an extra deck,” Nico started going through his bag, “I can explain the basics in a duel now, and then you can try it against Frank when he shows up. I think Frank also has a more beginner-friendly deck with him- so you won’t be annihilated too quickly.” 

“Uh-” Jason was not prepared for Nico to start talking so fast, or so much.

“Of course, you’ll eventually have to find a deck structure you like,” Nico kept going, “or invest in something more competitive, but just for getting the hang of the game this should be enough.” Nico laid out some cards and grabbed a few figurines, “let’s start with the kind of cards that you can encounter, before going to the phases of your turn.” 

“Firstly! On a different topic, would you know if (Y/n) (L/n) is interested in Leo?” “No” Nico glared at Jason, he didn’t know this Leo kid but you only had one crush and that was your little cryptozoologist. Jason, in the short span of their conversation, blown away by the sudden development of Nico’s talkativeness,  had forgotten that Nico mentioned he didn’t know Leo’s name (or maybe, he simply figured that Nico was joking. Nico could joke, right?). “Okay,” Jason seemed disappointed, “Alright, let’s get into this game” Nico started enjoying the conversation a lot more after that. 

───────────

After a few hours and some intense Mythomagic games (Jason won once with Frank’s beginner deck! Nico seemed proud), Jason encountered Will on his break, drinking tea.

Jason leaned down, next to Will’s ear. 

“So the good news is, Nico is single.” Jason told Will, who spit out his drink and then quickly turned his head. “Why did you ask him that? I gave you a simple-” “I can see the way you eye him.” Jason cut Will off, “Also, be quiet, or do you want people to approach you on your break?” Will grumbled a little before continuing. “It’s because he keeps messing up my plans!” Will watched his tone, “I eye him in disdain, not longing.” “Yes, I see the romantic tension is to die for.” Jason feigned drama as he moved on, “The bad news is, I’m not sure whether (Y/n) is interested.”

“That’s a lie.” Will looked Jason in the eye, “Ask (Y/n). For me?” “I’m not a messenger.” “I will get you more staples.” “I will be a messenger.” Jason agreed, “You better get the staples, because I asked them this morning-” Will looked at him in surprise.

“I only asked you to check at lunch?” Will raised an eyebrow, “You knew already and kept me waiting?” 

“I didn’t know whether Nico liked you, buddy.” Jason shrugged, “(Y/n) seemed like they’re interested, but Nico gave a definitive ‘no’ when asked. Maybe he doesn’t agree with the pairing, maybe (Y/n) simply got flustered at the thought of someone liking them. Who knows?” 

“You’re supposed to find out!” Will exclaimed, “I’m not sure whether this information is worth the staples.”

“Well, perhaps if you would talk to Nico you would ‘find out’ that you have a lot in common!” Jason bit back. 

“I don’t think I can, Jason.” Will quickly took another sip from his tea, definitely not out of nervousness.

“He’s going to the library today with (Y/n)- and Leo is too. Who knows what he will be planning?” Jason offered, “He might try to put Leo in a bad light, I don’t know.” Will glared at Jason. 

“And what am I supposed to do? Be a distraction?” 

“Yes.”

Sadly, Will needed to make sure that Nico didn’t intervene with your study date. He needed to talk to Nico, and he needed to get back to work as his break was over. He only had two hours left- hopefully he would be at the library in time. 

───────────

“We should study in the library today.” Nico said, as if he didn’t overhear Fireboy complaining about wanting to do that. 

But right as he was about to walk into the library, the blonde barista was in his way. 

“Nico di Angelo, we need to talk.” “How do you know my name?” 

“I’ve been trying to get Leo to date someone for weeks now!” 

“I don’t know this Leo guy, but I was matching (Y/n),  and if it wasn’t for your meddling it would have worked!” 

“Well if it wasn’t for you, (Y/n) would already be dating someone. Leo, for example.” “I don’t care about your plan, just leave them alone!” Nico scoffed, “You need to understand that (Y/n) only has the hots for that weird cryptozoology guy anyways.” Will glare dropped, and after a moment, he started laughing. 

“What’s so funny?” Nico was filled with confusion, but Will just kept laughing. Nico realized he kind of liked this laughter from his opposition, especially as Will's face got a little red in the process. Could he make Will blush like that too? Before more thoughts could develop, Nico half-heartedly hit Will on his head, “Answer me.” Will looked at Nico, realizing that Nico’s pout was pretty cute. 

“Leo is the cryptozoologist.” 

“Oh, oh.” 

From here on out they needed a plan, together. 

Luckily things were already moving in the right way, because during the time  Will and Nico talked, Leo and you had interacted. Not a conversation, of course not, but an interaction nonetheless. 

“You’re late.” You stated as Nico sat down in front of you. “So?” Nico shrugged, “Mythomagic took a little longer than planned as we got Jason to join.” 

“Grace?” You asked, and Nico huffed. “Clearly, I meant Todd.” He stated “I fucking wish,” You sighed, “Either way, Fireboy just took a picture of me.” 

“Seems like me being late is the least of your issues.” Nico opened one of his textbooks, “Maybe you should just talk to Fireboy, or I don’t know, leave a note written in code and see if he figures it out.” 

“I won’t, what do you care anyways?” you sighed again, as you looked at Nico. “I care about getting a good grade on the next exam, which I will not get with your fireboy-complaining,” Nico glared at you. 

“If you played less Mythomagic and Hades you wouldn’t be complaining about my complaining,” You stated and Nico rolled his eyes. “We’ll see- maybe you’ll run into Leo again soon.” Nico focused on his books, and you figured he didn’t want to continue the conversation. You also figured that Nico finally found out who Fireboy was- but you didn’t know how. Maybe it was an accident, or maybe it was the blonde barista you’d spotted talking to Nico through the windows just now. They would look cute together. 

───────────

Nico had invited you for a double date. You found the date alright- but Nico was nowhere near, nor was his apparent date.

You wondered why Nico had stood you up. He was normally really punctual, but somehow he was not in front of the café, and after a bit he messaged you, asking you to just go in and sit somewhere. It was as if you were out of luck- every table was taken, and there were not a lot of free chairs. You figured you could get a coffee to go if nothing else, so you made your order with the blonde barista, who was smiling brightly. He pointed you to the only empty chair in the cafe, where your boyfriend sat. 

“Will recommended I visit the cafe today, and get an employee discount on the drink.” “Nico stood me up on a ‘double date’.” You smiled, as you tried to spot the blonde in the cafe, “Did Will just leave?” “He didn’t actually have a shift today,” Leo laughed, “I checked with his coworkers, it’s wild what they do to get us together.” 

“When do you think they’ll figure out we’re already dating?” You asked, as you purposefully kept your awkward distance from Leo. “At the marriage ceremony, most likely.” Leo laughed. “Ours or theirs?” You asked, as you joined his laughter. 

“Whichever is first…” 

From across the street, Nico and Will shared a fist-bump as they noticed the awkward banter between the two of you. “Well, job well done,” Will sighed, “I guess it’s time for our date!” “Our what,” Nico blabbered, as Will simply smiled and grabbed his hand.

[genderfluid-strawberry-of-doom]

okay so i'm just going to rant on here. so i just finished rereading 'hammer of thor' for the first time in like 2 years. AND i noticed that alex seemed wayyy less hostile towards everyone than the fandom portrays him to be?

like when i first entered the mcga fandom, a lot of the content was about the parallels between solangelo and fierrochase. and so magnus was depicted as a happy, sunshine-personified, always smiling kind of guy, and alex was the gloomy, brooding type. and i just took that in but then i got on to tumblr and that contrasting concept reduced by a lot but still sort of lingered in my mind.

but now that i reread it, i realized that alex was maybe hostile for the first five minutes (but even his introduction line to magnus and the rest of hall 19 was like "hi i'm alex fierro nice to meet you all ig" which isn't particularly mean either) and by the time the lindworm battle scene was over, he had pretty much fit in with hall 19? like he didn't particularly despise them?

and then, by the time the bifrost scene happens, he's like completely chill and has mostly befriended everyone (including fucking halfborn smh??) and then the rest of 'hammer of thor,' he's just vibing with everyone and the only times he's stiff or cold again are the times when his personal boundaries (mental or physical) are violated. which is definitely understandable

i think most of mcga tumblr has caught on to this by now but. yeah my point is that alex is not brooding or gloomy. in fact, he's very much cheerful and goofy and likeable and whatnot

[hana-loves-bumblebees]

Glad you’re interested!! Long post/rant ahead, if you’d like to learn more about my au:

I was thinking Haycinthus wouldn’t want to be reborn, so that Apollo wouldn’t dwell on the past and would move on, thinking he’d be happier this way, and so he’d spend the eternity with his sister Polyboia in the Underworld. Only by the time the first ToA book rolls around he’d realize that Apollo did not, in fact, move on, and is not happy. So, he’d try to help. When Apollo and Python fell into the Underworld, he would hear this, run towards them, and break.

He’d spend some time trying to find his way around this new part of the Underworld where he has never been before, with his sister following closely. Eventually he’d wander far enough to see Nyx, freshly defeated by Solangelo. She, so focused on the philosophy of not being able to ever change, would be amused by him, and they’d make a bet that he could be reborn and avoid his fate that killed him. Maybe he’d also fight a monster or something to prove himself.

So he and Polyboia would be reborn as children of Nyx and a mortal she fell for recently, a man named David Nocturne, who had been the first and only boyfriend and best friend of Lester Papadopoulos (because I headcanon Lester as having been a real person who Zeus snatched up) before Lester’s soul was evicted from his body and Zeus made everyone forget him. (She had met David while on a walk/trip with some of her children, he worked as a cashier in a 24/7 store where they’d wandered and made a mess, and he demanded they clean up after themselves, totally unafraid of the intimidating woman-shaped being.)

Nyx would train the siblings (now twins, as in their pervious life they’d been told often that they seem like such a pair) to fight in Tartarus, though they’d also have a normal life of going to school and having mortal friends.

Then gradually, Nyx’s Tartarus Camp would be joined by more people - daughter of Hades and Persephone who Nyx would hide because Zeus wanted her dead, a son of Dionysus, disillisioned by the fact that a lot of his talents/interests only came to be because of his father, Hypnos’ son who befriended the twins before finding out about what they share (and by the time they’d realise it’d be too late, they’d already bonded too deeply to be separated), and a pair of siblings who had no idea where they’d come from, only that they were attacked by a chimera and the girl gave her eyes to the boy, who lost his to the monster. And they’d all become family, and everyone except former Hyacinthus would become familiar with the twins’ background, and start plotting how to prevent the same tragedy that killed him from happening again.

And then, one day, a sun god would fall down into Tartarus, pushed by his own father. Now they’d have to team up to help him get back to the surface. Cue act one.

Hi, I actually have an “Hyacinthus gets revived” au buuuuut it’s set over 20 years after ToA and there’s Nyx and there’s other demigod ocs, and they have sort of a CHB but in the Underworld, could I interest you in it?👀

Also, thank you for being you. I love your art and posts, they fill a certain part of myself (where my brain should be- JOKING, JOKING)

Don’t worry, my posts are just me sharing all the stuff that takes up the place where my brain should be lmao. Also yessss pls that sounds interesting as shit I am definitely intrigued. 

[sammycoola]

Thanks again to an awesome fandomer for giving me this as an inspiration to rant

Today, it's about Will's sexuality

We don't know, okay? But luckily, according to this, we'll find out in the next book.

I have a feeling y'all all rooting for Will to be gay. Personally, Will gives me MAD bi vibes because if he's like his father in pretty much every aspect, why not sexuality?

But this is Mark Oshiro and Richard Russell Riordan Jr. collaborating to make a book. Expect the unexpected! He could be a sexuality that embraces all. Something like being pansexual, I guess. OR, he could be asexual—a sexuality that could explain why we haven't gotten a Solangelo kiss scene even though Boy Alex and Magnus kissed in The Ship of The Dead.

In conclusion, here's our list of possibilities:

1. Everything except straight.

[tsarinatorment]

Apollo & his kids: 8,9,10 (you can pick just one I'm not greedy... Unless... 👀)

You really thought I wasn't gonna answer all of these? When you drop Cabin Seven in my lap like this?

8. A post-canon headcanon

While Apollo starts off appearing as Lester whenever he visits the camp, after a couple of visits he realises that his kids respond better whenever they see him as him, the blond haired usually blue eyed perfect body because that's the body that belongs to their dad, not the awkward mortal god they had to help through everything like one of their own. Will is the one that struggles with the Lester appearance the most, but even the others prefer to see him as god-him, as their dad rather than the usually half-dead mortal.

He also religiously dips into at least one kid's dream a week, more if he can find an excuse for it, because he couldn't promise to be there all the time for them but that doesn't mean he can't try, and if it means wracking up a tab of pinochle ass-kickings from Dionysus to visit them in person once a month or more without being tattled on to Zeus, well, his pride can take that.

9. A missing scene that definitely happened

When Apollo visited the camp again at the end of TON, he definitely spent time with Kayla at the archery range, thanking her for her patience while he was a ridiculously frustrating student and shooting arrows with her (not competing against her, but shooting with her, and giving her some more tips and coaching, because Darren is good but he's not a demigod and doesn't have to shoot in battle, and Chiron is also good but he's not the same, either). Also time with Austin, playing music and helping him record another video to post (which he then made everyone in Olympus barring the zap-happy ones watch). And getting to know Yan, Jerry and Gracie a bit more, now that he can!

10. I recognize canon has made a decision, but given that it's a stupid-ass decision, I've elected to ignore it (+ what should have happened)

The epilogue with Solangelo. Brushing off the fact that Will's gonna follow Nico into Tartarus to rescue a Titan. Anything other than being the overprotective dad and going haywire at the mere suggestion that his sunshine-y son (and said sunshine-y son's boyfriend) is going to go into that Pit of nightmares and worse than death and other horrible things is completely unacceptable and also goes against his character development, to boot.

I've written rants about this before, and I'm writing a fix-it fic as well, which you know full well, fsinger :P Hopefully I can get my muses to behave and finish that at some point...

Give me a character and a number and I’ll tell you…

[solangelover]

Could you do Solangelo cuddling (Fluff), but one of them has really weird mid-night thoughts?

A/N: This has been done forever ago, idk why I didn’t post it, my bad (^_^; )

Read on AO3 or FF.Net

“Ugh, I’m tired.”

“That’s why we’re going to sleep, Ghosty.”

Nico hummed noncommittally as he flopped down onto his bed. It was late, nearly midnight, and he was more than ready to be dead to the world. They had had a busy day of classes, training (for Nico), working (for Will), and dealing with the general chaos that came with living at Camp Half-Blood.

Will’s siblings let the head counselor sneak off to the Hades cabin for the night. While they all teased their older brother about having a “fun night,” they all really just wanted him to get a good night’s sleep, and cuddling with his boyfriend almost always did the trick.

After doing the minimal to get ready for bed, the boys hit the lights and shuffled beneath the covers. Immediately, their hands found each other, and they tangled their limbs together. It was easy, a comfortable routine they developed over the course of their relationship. They were hardly cuddly in public, so their private time together had to make up for that. And it was really just that—cuddling and sleeping together—and nothing more.

“Good night, Neeks.”

“Good night, Sunshine.”

Will shifted onto his back, giving Nico the space to move even closer so that his head rested on the blonde’s chest.

It was nice and cozy. Perfect for sleeping.

And yet.

Will laid there for a solid fifteen minutes, not thinking anything in particular as he stared off into the darkness. He tried not to shift restlessly so as not to disturb his boyfriend, but that just made him stiff and less than comfortable.

He tried to focus on Nico’s breathing for the next fifteen minutes. The boy’s breaths had evened out, but Will had a feeling that he wasn’t quite asleep yet either.

Why couldn’t he sleep? Was something bothering him? Normally, he’d have his to do list for the next day on his mind. When that kept him up, he simply got up, wrote it down, then climbed back in bed and was out like a light. But that’s not what was happening now. He squared away his to do list earlier, on a small note that sat on his desk in the infirmary.

What was on the list? Maybe if Will recounted it to himself, he’d fall asleep out of boredom.

Cut bandages. Well, that was a daily task, but sometimes it was nice just to check it off at the end of the day.

Check inventory. A weekly task, but sometimes Will would compulsively check it, just in case, or when there was nothing else to do.

Practice nutrition plans. Since the son of Apollo hoped to be a real doctor someday, he’d been exploring different medical fields to see how he liked them. He was currently exploring the nutritionist route, which could help as a family physician or pediatrician anyway. He would ask the Demeter kids about different vegetables, herbs, grains, all that stuff, and practice writing up specific diets for hypothetical needs. It was kind of interesting so far, but not Will’s favorite.

I wonder what kind of plan a child of Hypnos might need. If you consider the narcolepsy, possible lack of sunlight, there’s bound to be some nutritional deficiency going on, he thought to himself. Hmm, deficiency. De-fi-shi-en-see. That’s how you spell it, right? D-E-F-I—she-en-see—C-I-E—defishy—um where was I? Okay, wait, D-E—honestly, who spelled this word this way? It’s confusing. Why is C-I-E pronounced “she”? What—

“Will,” a stern voice pulled Will from his musings. He turned his head down to see his boyfriend squinting up at him in the dark, his eyes having adjusted long ago. “You’re thinking too loud. You’re practically yelling.”

“Wha—that doesn’t even make sense,” Will responded, his voice sounding loud in the quiet of the cabin.

“It does. It’s loud. You’re loud.” Nico shifted so he was more even with Will and could look him in the eyes properly. “What are you thinking about that’s making your head wrinkle?” He poked Will directly in the forehead to punctuate his point.

Will swatted his hand away. Nico kept looking at him and he sighed. Whatever. “Why are words words?” He looked back up at the ceiling, confusion clear on his face.

Not hearing an immediate response, he turned to see his boyfriend staring at him, his expression a mix of perplexity, incredulity, and amusement. The son of Hades simply raised an eyebrow, apparently not planning on giving Will the answer he so desperately needed.

So, he continued. “You know, like, words. Why are they what they are? Why is the word ‘word’ a word? Why is it spelled like it is? And why does it mean word? Actually, how do you even define ‘word’?” He tapped his chin in thought, once again staring at the ceiling. He saw Nico glance up at the ceiling out of the corner of his eye, probably mocking Will. But the son of Apollo was too preoccupied to comment.

“A word is a word,” Nico replied, like it was that easy.

“You can’t use the word being defined in the definition,” he rolled his eyes, like Nico should’ve obviously thought about this before and know that that’s not an acceptable answer.

Will took a breath to begin another senseless rant about language when his boyfriend cut him off. “Words are words, letters are letters, languages are way they are because people decided that’s how they wanted to communicate. Nothing more to it. Please sleep.” His deadpan words were probably meant to be patronizing or flippant in some way, but Will actually felt like that answered his wonderings quite well.

“Huh,” Will said, mostly to himself. He paused as the words processed in his brain. “That makes sense.”

“Oh my gods,” is all Nico said before he rolled over, his back to Will. “Go to sleep, idiota.”

Will beamed, throwing his arms around the dark-haired boy to hug him from behind. “I’m so lucky my boyfriend is a genius.”

“You’re dumb, now sleep.”

“Okayyy,” Will drew out. But now that his mind was satisfied, he remembered that he had an exhausting day and that he really really wanted to sleep.

He settled in further before whispering a “good night” to the air, the boy next to him already breathing deeply.

[gatesofember]

can you expand on the canon and fanon ableism in solangelo? I sort of picked up on the infantilisation of nico (hes dealing with ptsd and i guess chronic fatigue, hes not a baby) but i always thought that was handled better in canon than in fanon? But then i havent read ToN i admit

Sure! I don’t know that I’m the best person to ask this because while I am disabled, I’m still unlearning a lot of ableism myself. But I’ll try my best to explain! Maybe some people could recommend some good posts about this if they know any?

Infantilizing—like you mentioned, this is one of the biggest problems with ableism in the fandom. There isn’t much of this in canon, but in fanon Nico’s often characterized as helpless and he’s not taken seriously. Will often plays the role of caretaker rather than boyfriend to an infantilized Nico, which creates an inherent and unhealthy power imbalance.

Will being portrayed as a savior—a common and dangerous trope in romance is that one character is saved by the love of another. It’s especially damaging when the character being saved has mental health problems or physical disabilities. I think most people realize nowadays that this isn’t okay, but you’ll still occasionally see things that portray Will as a savior. Nico entering a relationship because he’s healing and accepting himself is great! But Nico being saved by a relationship? Bad.

Victim blaming—honestly most characters who interact with Nico in canon engage in some level of victim blaming, but by far the worst one was Will (aside from like. Hades and Minos.) In BoO, Will went on an entire rant telling Nico that he was responsible for his own problems and that he manufactured his own abandonment by pushing people away, when really, Nico was the victim of bullying, rejection, abuse, and serious mental health problems—and he already blamed himself for all that so Will’s rant only would have made him feel more invalidated. Later books definitely pulled back on the victim blaming, but it was such a prevalent part of the foundation of their relationship that it’s been ingrained in the ship. It shows a severe and dangerous misunderstanding of mental health on the part of both Riordan and the fandom.

Will being Nico’s healthcare provider—What makes Will being portrayed as a savior even worse is the fact that Will is a healer. Doctors shouldn’t date their patients. Much like the caretaker issue I mentioned above, it creates a power imbalance which is usually satisfied because the doctor is paid for doing their job, but things get messy when any kind of personal relationship is involved. Will should not be in charge of Nico’s medical care. Of course he can act as Nico’s healer in emergencies, but Nico’s primary medical care provider should be someone else. If Will acts as Nico’s medical care provider out of necessity (eg, because he’s the only healer at camp halfblood), then they need to set up clear boundaries and rules. Will being Nico’s doctor should never be spun as a good thing.

Will abusing his authority as a medical care provider—most notably the “doctor’s orders” and “doctor’s note” scenes. Will was extremely overbearing in BoO, from forbidding Nico from using his powers to ordering him to stay in the infirmary, and that kind of pushiness isn’t okay. He was abusing his power, doubting Nico’s judgement and capabilities, and denying Nico’s right to make his own decisions (again, infantilizing). Disabled people’s agency is often denied and autonomy is so important. Nico should have been allowed to make the choice to stay in the infirmary on his own (or not to stay, or to follow through with his plan to leave chb; he should have had the freedom to make those choices, too), and frankly, it would have been a much more powerful ending to Nico’s pov if he had. He should have chosen to go to the infirmary because he decided he wanted to get better, not because he wanted to be around Will (see previous point about Will being portrayed as a savior) (although it would have been fine if Nico thought of Will as an added bonus). I said in the previous post that Will writing a doctor’s note to allow Nico to sit at the Apollo table doesn’t bother me, but that’s because I imagine that situation being like, Nico was denied accommodations so Will and Nico hatched a plan together to use what little leverage they have to get adults to listen to Nico’s needs and take him seriously, but both of them fully understood that Will should not act as Nico’s doctor again unless there were serious medical reasons. Other people interpret that scene as Will abusing his power as the head medic to sit next to his boyfriend. And I’m not saying that my interpretation of that scene is necessarily the correct one, just that I don’t interpret it as Will being ableist.

Nico faking his disability to get things—I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone bring this point up, but it’s something that really bothers me. The ableism regarding the “doctor’s note” for me isn’t the scene itself, but when the fandom portrays Will and Nico constantly using the doctor’s note excuse to get what they want, often having Nico fake some sort of symptom. Besides the abuse of power I mentioned before, promoting the idea that disabled people fake disabilities to get certain privileges is not okay. This is the sort of thinking that leads to stereotyping disabled people as lazy and it’s so prevalent that it makes a lot of disabled people wonder if they’re really disabled or if they’re making it all up (which ties in with the victim blaming point again).

Sometimes I agree that canon Solanagelo is less ableist than fanon, but sometimes fans do a better job than Riordan. It really just depends. I definitely think that both Riordan and the fandom have gotten better though! Will’s character and his relationship with Nico was very different in ToN than it was in previous books (different for the better but also to the point of inconsistency, but that’s a different critique). There were a lot of things in ToN that made it clear that Riordan was listening to the responses of disabled people. Some fans seem to be listening, too. There’s still rampant ableism in the fandom, but people are getting better at responding to criticism and realizing that a lot of tropes that used to be popular just aren’t ok.

Thank you for your ask! I’m glad you reached out to learn more. Again, if anyone knows good posts to read or blogs to visit for further information, please reply with them!