#also this is ricks chance to make up for the way nico being came out

[cottageivy]

... i apologize for rambling about percy jackson on my sims blog, it will happen again

[bright-eyes-strawberry-lies]

Rating PJO Ships

I already made the PJO shipping jar meme (not linking because tumblr hates links) but thought I’d write it out anyway. 

***

Solangelo - (5/10) Will is Nico’s unnecessary rebound because Rick couldn’t let someone walk around with a crush on Percy without pairing them off with someone or making them live a life of chastity. The fandom went wild with this ship despite all of their “development” being off the page. Would be better if the building attraction and relationship was given actual page time to develop instead of being rushed. 

Frazel - (10/10) My only complaint is that we didn’t get more of them being the awesome couple they are. The way they went from friends to lovers is perfect. Looks cute but can kick your ass. Very supportive of each other. I am here for biracial power couples. 

Lukercy - (10/10) There are literally dozens of parallels between them and Rick wrote them as soulmates. I love that Luke trained Percy so hard that Percy’s never lost a sword fight except to Luke himself and still hears Luke’s voice in his head guiding him through fights. The subtle ways that Luke constantly gave Percy (and Co) chances to escape from Kronos’ grasp even when he still believed in Kronos was golden. Luke was the only person who was kind to Percy at Camp Half-Blood and trusted Percy to help other demigods when he died? My heart. How Percy now shares all of Luke’s views on the Olympians? Bittersweet irony. I wish that Luke hadn’t died because I’m tired of writing resurrection AUs. 

Percico - (10/10) The most powerful power couple. Nico’s youthful hero worship giving way to love? Sign me up. Percy spending winter looking for Nico to keep him safe and trying to reassure him that he has a place at Camp Half-Blood? Give me more. Making mistakes and forgiving each other for them and their relationship strengthening because of it? Gods, yes. Going to Italy to go gift shopping and flirting? Thank you for this blessing, Rick. If only they had been endgame. 

Thaliabeth - (7/10) Thalia is the only person that Annabeth respects and Thalia has extremely protective feelings toward Annabeth. They would be the nightmare power couple. Murder wives who slay anyone who stands in their way of power and glory. Neither of them would take shit from the other. And honestly, I’m here for it. 

Perachel - (10/10) Mutual respect and open communication are extremely sexy in relationships. Rachel being Percy’s mortal tie and his chance at a normal life; Percy being the one to help Rachel with her powers and clear sight? Please yes. They were really cute and sweet and had so much chemistry. It would have been great if Rick acknowledged that the Oracle isn’t a lifelong job and that Rachel can still date and have sex as long as it isn’t vaginal penetration. 

Percabeth - (0/10) Annabeth hits, pinches, pokes, kicks, ribs, and punches Percy too often for my tastes. She’s got a superiority complex and makes herself feel better by calling him stupid, crazy, and insane. Constantly threatens violence. Annabeth is possessive, jealous, refuses to communicate, and doesn’t respect Percy or allow him to have autonomy. She constantly wants to control what he says and does or doesn’t say/do. She victim blames him multiple times for incidents that were beyond Percy’s control. Percy is scared of her, refuses to argue so that he doesn’t set her off, and thinks Annabeth is going to hurt him every time she so much as looks at him. Percy deserves better. 

Jiper - (5/10) It would have been cool to see them work past the lies and false memories to make a real romantic relationship but I don’t really have a horse in that race. They’re alright. Not bad, not the best. 

Pipeo - (7/10) If the theory that all of Piper’s memories of Jason were actually memories of Leo is true, then I’m here for this. The fact that they were friends before they even knew they were demigods was fantastic. Give me that friends to lovers dynamic and the chaotic trouble they would get into together. They would be unstoppable. 

Caleo - (5/10) Pairing Calypso up with a man boy instead of a man man was a strange choice but Rick likes pairing up teenagers with beings that are over a thousand years old. It’s terribly romantic that Leo kept his promise and came back for Calypso. I like that they decided to leave the demigod life behind to do their own thing. They’ve had enough of the gods! Let them figure themselves out and enjoy each other and life. 

Connabeth - (4/10) The idea is cute if you don’t think about it at all. I think Connor would stand up to Annabeth but she’s been known to wear down three thousand year old centaurs [Chiron] so that he’ll do what she wants...so I’m not sure that Connor actually stands a chance of holding his own against Annabeth. 

Lukethan - (4/10) It would be really cute but they’ve never even spoken to each other in canon. Ethan spoke with Kronos. 

Thaluke - (2/10) Thalia doesn’t like Luke. She withheld a lot of [trivial] information from Luke just because she could and didn’t tell him important info either. She almost definitely knew that Luke would do whatever she wanted him to because she’s got a Look that makes him melt. Thalia is incredibly eager to kill Luke and eventually does. Luke is too dependent and blinded by how much he wanted someone to love him. They’ve got an unhealthy dynamic and I don’t see either of them changing to become better people together. 

Valdangelo - (6/10) They’re both small and cute. That’s all I’ve got. There’s no reason not to ship them. Oh, and Leo warming up a cold Nico with his fire powers is so sweet that I’ve got cavities just thinking about it. 

Jasico - (9/10) Rick was really writing them with romantic troupes during Mark of Athena and House of Hades. When they were paired off with other people, I was actually really surprised. The way that Jason supports Nico’s queerness and the way that Nico can teach Jason that he doesn’t have to live up to stereotypes and other people's expectations...that would have been really good to read. The way that Jason’s death affected Nico really tugged at my heartstrings. I like to think that Nico visits Jason in the Underworld. 

Thalianca - (6/10) The potential of Thalia and Bianca could have been so good and also good for comedy. Imagine Thalia - who missed the past five years - trying to catch Bianca up on the 21st century and being behind on the times. Both of them getting caught up together? Yes. Training together, friendly games and competitions. Midnight rendezvous at Camp Half-Blood. Bianca slowly showing Thalia that not all Hunters of Artemis are bad. Girls supporting each other and growing as people because of their relationship. This is what we could have had. 

[love-has-a-way-ofgrowingbackward]

First of all - thank you for your Solangelo post you’ve posted recently. I feel like these days it’s hard to defend it without being called ableist/a child/bad person/too obsessed shipper/generally the worst person ever. I find it brave you decided to speak up. Thank you. Especially since your point about Will’s view on Nico was very good. I’m happy I’m not the only one who thinks this way.

Secondly, about that ask concerning the Seven and Nico. Maybe that’s stupid but I actually… see some sense in the way Rick wrote it. I mean, yeah, Nico was hero after TLO. But on the other hand he didn’t really have anyone in the camp. He barely knew anyone, and definitely wasn’t best friends with Percy and Annabeth (who btw were probably busy with school and they could finally enjoy their relationship and stuff). And we know that Nico has a problem with his “people skills”, as Will nicely put in THO. But I don’t actually think everyone in the CHB disliked him. Why? In BoO Will, Lou, and Cecil all treat him normally. Lou waves to him and blush, Cecil compliments him, Will treats him like a friend. There was not a word about any of these three people from CHB being even a little bit scared of him, otherwise I believe it’d be mentioned in the narrative. I think that Nico’s situation in the CHB after TLO is more complicated story we’ll unfortunately never get to see.

Anyway, during HoO we see Nico mostly with the Seven and in Camp Jupiter. We can see that the Camp Jupiter doesn’t really like him. And the Seven consists of three people who’ve met Nico only in HoO and don’t really like him (Jason, Piper, Leo), one person who has a complicated relationship with him (Percy), two people whose view on Nico I’m not sure about (Annabeth and Frank), and his sister, Hazel. What I’m aiming at is that they’re not a representative group of CHB imho. And then during BoO Will speaks mostly for himself, not for everyone in CHB. But as I mentioned, we see three people from CHB who have no problem with Nico, quite contrary, seem to like him. And then we have a few months time skip and in THO Nico is doing just fine in the camp.

What’s my point in all of this? We can’t be 100% sure about Nico’s situation in CHB after TLO. But I don’t think it was just his paranoia either, of course not. My theory is that Nico was definitely lonely in CHB after TLO. He had no starting point, no one who’d help him settle there. And he’s not good with people, so that didn’t help him either. After BoO he had someone to help him settle in the camp. And why he changed his mind about staying specifically because of Will? Not because he got called out on paranoia or something. Because contrary to other people he was close to, like Hazel and Jason and Reyna, Will wasn’t going anywhere. He would stay in CHB. For the first time ever Nico had a right to think that maybe, just maybe he won’t be all alone, left to himself at the CHB.

So yeah, I may be wrong, but like… that’s what I think. My personal interpretation. I wanted to say it here because you’re one of the very few people who I’m not scared of here after this whole thing on Solangelo tag.

You're actually making valid points here tbh. Like I'm glad you agree with me on the first count.

Secondly, I mean, you have a really valid point, and i agree with most parts, but like, i mostly compared their treatment of nico with how they treated a stranger??

Like I understand Percy and Nico's complicated relationship, and it was just based on Percy's flaw for loyalty and Nico's internalized homophobia and from percys side they could've had a chance as good friends, but Nico was too traumatised by his long harboured feelings for Percy, and probably won't feel the safest around him. So the people saying Nico would go to Percy for all his problems, well, i would disagree with them.

And sure, Nico called Percy lots of super mean stuff when Percy broke his 'promise' but he was just a ten-year old who lost the only person he had had for years in a new century. Bianca's death was NO ONE'S FAULT.

And the most important point? Nico apologised for every thing he did wrong.

Percy never apologised for spreading rumours among the argo 2 crew (wtf was up with that?)

Frank never apologised for blaming him when his fucking sister's life was on line

And everybody in general never bothered to apologise or even talk to him like, once. They took it for granted that a random guy who was already heavily traumatised by a quest would help them finish it no matter how he's treated.

And I know they weren't best buddies, but if you compare that to how they would've treated a stranger, that says a lot about Nico's social isolation and the seven's internalized ableism (there's a LOT of it, everyone represses their nd traits and nico and leo, who have autism with adhd amd don't repress every thing? They're both shunned. Percy, Leo and Nico never talk about their suicidal tendencies to anyone in hoo).

I went off on a tangent there, but what I meant is that suspicious as you might be, you can't just see a thirteen year old kid who came back from tartarus and five days of suffocation-and now they magically don't have to go to tartarus-and treat him like THAT.

Honestly, Jason mended his ways, and except Annabeth and Hazel, everyone was pretty much sub par or downright shitty to Nico, and he just turned that around and hated himself more for it.

And yeah, i like to think some campers changed their ways after Nico saved their asses but not all of them did. Nico says so himself.

Also, I might not agree with people who say solangelo is ableist, but I definitely don't mean to talk over them and pretend my opinions are better than theirs. Disabled people don't have a voice as it is, and I would be a complete hypocrite if I talked about the seven's internalized ableism and Nico coded as disabled and then tell disabled people they're wrong.

And about being scared of me, I'm glad you feel safe here, I promise I won't impale you for having different perspectives or opinions or critical thinking skills. (If you come at me with problematic stuff tho, like Nico being bisexual?? Then we're gonna have to talk).

This was one of the longest answers I've ever written but i just have SO much to say about this.

[percyjacksonfan3]

The Last Olympian Thoughts

So because I have absolutely 0 self-control or restraint when it comes to this series and its characters, and for The Last Olympian in particular, I could not put TLO down. Because of this I figured I couldn’t do the usual photo reaction posts I have been so far, because the spam would just be ridiculous, so I am stealing the idea from @yourstrulytaaay​ to do a masterpost instead. (Adding a Read More cause this got ridiculously long)

Fun fact, TLO came out right after i finished reading the series for the first time so it's the first PJO book i bought  and my only hard cover one for the og series. I checked the year and turns out it was published 2009, which means i was actually 9 when i read the series for the first time. I realize this is not really a fun fact but i thought i was older when I first read the series so it's blowing my mind a little ‘cause now I’m 21 and everything hits different and i still have so much love for this series and the characters Okay onto book thoughts: - i was right that this book is gonna destroy me, the first line alone made me so excited and nostalgic it's ridiculous - I love Rachel and Percy sm tbh. Her being a bit of peace and normalcy in his life without always reminding Percy of who and what he is is so good for him. Just a little escape

- of course by the end of the book that's not the case any more but by the end he's lived his prophecy so he doesn't need it as badly, plus he and Annabeth are solid again - Percy saying Annabeth has been hard to be around lately... Ouch my heart. Luke really is the last thing that keeps them from being together and Percy is so jealous and Annabeth so torn and in pain, i feel so bad for them both

- Beckendorf 🥺🥺 - the telkhine with the Lil Demon lunchbox!! I forgot about him. Percy: 'i left him alive, partly because his lunchbox was cool' is one of my absolute favourite lines tbh - Paul taking Percy crabbing and being imperative in helping Percy kill the giant crab 💖 Paul Blofis is important and deserves the world, okay? - aw Percy, you can't save every demigod bb

- 'i had to fight him eventually. Why not now?... What difference would a week make?' Oh Percy you have no idea - real talk tho, the fact Kronos possessed Luke's body would also mess me tf up. Percy keeps forgetting it's not Luke anymore and yeah, that would be so so hard and confusing af, like what another smart little mind game for Kronos to pull on top of everything else - the fact Percy fights Kronos before getting the Achilles Curse and actually doesn't die within seconds is... Astounding. He kicks him in the chest! And yeah Kronos is weaker and still adjusting to Luke's body, but Percy is having trouble fighting Luke cause they used to be friends - Percy breaks Kronos' time magic!! Like?! Boy is POWERFUL.

- OUCH - honestly Luke, Thalia and Annabeth's family breaking the way it did... Don't talk to me. Poor Annabeth, Luke betrayed them, Thalia joined the Hunters because of Luke's betrayal so she's pretty much AWOL all the time and then Luke dies. Like Rick wtf, my heart can't take it? -Percy and Tyson having each others backs when talking to Poseidon in the underwater palace is the brother-brother relationship we love to see - Percy trying to stick a sand dollar in the vending machines at school 🤦🏻‍♀🤦🏻‍♀ - the whole underwater interaction at Poseidon's palace? Perfection. Awkward family drama and all - Connor falling out of the tree when he sees Percy because he's so excited 😂😂

- 😭💖

- k, ik Clarisse isn't perfect but tbh if i was a child of Ares whose father was disrespected and hated by my fellow campers (ares deserves it but still) and that disrespect trickled down to how the other campers treated ME (which if Percy is reliable here, it obviously does) then i would also be irritated at being used for muscle and nothing else? And just expected to fight with the people who act as if they'd rather not have Ares kids around the rest of the time. Like Clarisse isn't totally wrong - Percy reading the prophecy, seeing he's meant to die and just being like 'i do not see it' and refusing to outright think about it makes me so sad for him - (but it taints every action after and he's super reckless afterwards bc of it- including finally breaking and accepting the Achilles Curse) - (also him taking this as the last straw and finally beginning to show Annabeth how he really feels, cause fuck it, he's dying anyway) - Give me more info about Rachel's backstory and family Rick!! -  how did i forget Percy willingly eats chocolates that taste like cardboard because 'i didnt have anything against cardboard' like sir? Ik Silena didn't want them but still? - 'she'd always been cute, but she was starting to be seriously beautiful' STOP, MY HEART CAN'T TAKE IT - Percy staring at Annabeth and forgetting what they're talking about cause hes so distracted 👌🏻

- hmm yeah... For some strange reason.... - i forgot how Percy totally bombs this convo bw them and now want to cry 😭 Annabeth is trying to talk about what's important and Percy, you sweet oblivious man, you're shooting her down without even realizing - love that they're both on the same wavelength tho. Percy two lines before, hmm it's cool to date ppl from other cabins, wonder why im thinking that around Annabeth, my best friend in the world, and then Annabeth a beat later, hmm, let me bring up Silena and Beckendorf and how it's important to be with the people you love when you have the chance, no way Percy will miss this huge hint right? - they're the best - k i honestly forgot Percy full on physically intimidates Leneus like that - luke telling his mom if he ran away the monsters wouldnt get her..i can just imagine luke crying when he says good bye before running away because he thinks it's his fault his mom is like that and he cant take care of and protect her anymore because it's too hard - uh oh now i have angsty pre-lightning thief luke fic inspo... Him, Thalia and Annabeth on the run... The ANGST -  Rick holds absolutely nothing back in this book and i am in pain - HESTIA!! 💖💖🥰 - actual loml - i love that Rick titled this book after her and that he wrote such a great series about the importance of family (biological, found or otherwise) and home, and that he said actually Hestia is the most important bc shes the most humble and keeps the peace and knows when to fight and when to yield and you protect what you love, which is your home - i just... Adore Hestia - Grover! Missed you babes - Hades is so so horrible to Nico, always comparing him to Bianca :/ - but i do love Hades, Persephone and Demeter together they make me laugh - oh god the River Styx - Achilles 🥺 - Annabeth being Percy's lifeline is, and continues to be, A Lot™ - 'my name was Percy Jackson. I reached up and took Annabeth's hand.' LOL Why am i crying? - Like the fact there is no Percy without Annabeth, and that remembering her literally reminded him of who he is in his very soul... It's fine im fine - i won't even get into the parallels of her being his lifeline now and then later when Hera takes his memories but leaves the memory of Annabeth for Percy to fight to get back to (anyone who wants to yell about it with me... Feel free to message) - badass Percy is my fav Percy tbh - him defeating Hades?? Like? Hades is arguably the most powerful god, okay - i feel bad for Nico but if i was Percy I'd do the exact same, Nico, sorry man but this is a high stakes time crunch deal and Nico is literally the only hope of persuading Hades and distracted by his own internal stuff - flashbacks to Luke, Thalia and Annabeth hurt, ow - George and Martha are the best - damn i forgot Hermes full on nearly kills Percy here, yikes - Luke stop cockblocking Percabeth challenge

- i love!! Percy's love for New York!! So much!! - Percy leaving to live in New Rome in HoO is a lie and this is all the proof i need for why - the fact the entire last half of the book is the battle and aftermath... Such great buildup and pacing. All the tricks and twists and battles in this War of Manhattan? I would not take out a thing, Rick, you legend - of course then the final battle in hoo with the gods is what? Two pages? Ugh, don’t talk to me about my hatred for BoO and HoO - 'no detours you two' is still the cutest thing!!! - THE HUNTERS!! Thalia i missed you - good job Percy, you finally spent your sand dollar - Minotaur!! - 'dont i get a kiss for luck? Its kind of a tradition right?' Percy finds out he's gonna die and is out of fucks to give and honestly I support him - also Michael just standing beside these two while they're flirting like umm 👀 👀 while a monster army marches towards them, nbd - Annabeth taking Ethan's knife meant for Percy!!! Cause she just knows his weak spot without him even telling her! They literally invented love - Feral Percy is so scary omg, i love how well Rick incorporates the Achilles Curse in this novel, with the whole heightened weaknesses and stuff ans the parallels to Achilles arrogance being what killed him and Percy's loyalty, fierceness and protective instinct being his own heightened weakness - the fact that Percy is the one who inadvertantly kills Michael Yew tho, I'll never recover from that - the fact Hades offers Maria di Angelo a golden palace by the Styx like how Poseidon offers Sally a palace under the sea tho. Let's talk about that parallel - the entire talk with Prometheus is so so good - not me picturing young Luke hiding in the closet to get away from his mom when she has an 'episode' -i love callbacks in stories and all of the callbacks to the rest of the series in this book make me very happy (medusa, minotaur, the underworld, Rainbow!! My baby!!, Daedalus and more) - Percy summoning a wholeass hurricane against Hyperion - the Party Ponies! They're so chaotic, i love it - Dionysus! 😁 I can't help it, i love him - Percy absolutely losing it when he sees Sally and Paul asleep in the car 🥺 - Rachel telling Percy he's not the hero screws with him so much :( poor bb - although i really really love how Rick wrote this, it's so refreshing to not have one chosen one save the world, but a combination of people - the drakon, Silena and Clarisse make me cry - the Patrochilles references, im not okay - Annabeth giving up on Luke after hearing what he did to Silena and Percy telling her that doesn't make him happy 😭 that whole interaction makes my heart ache - Percy giving Hestia Pandora's pithos 🥺 - and Hades, Nico and the others coming for a final attack is so badass, i love it - listen im glad the og trio were the ones to confront Luke on Olympus but the fact Thalia got so close and then pinned by a statue of HERA makes me so sad. Ik her and Luke were finished and she coped by cutting him off completely and giving up all hope but i would pay money to know what they would have said to each other to say goodbye - Ethan 🥺 - Poseidon joining the fight against Typhon is so cool, such a great scene - 'PEANUT BUTTER!' - Annabeth you brilliant badass you - RIP Luke, you werent great but you werent the worst either - the gods just rolling up seconds too late, wondering wtf happened in Olympus and who the dead body is - the chapter where the Olympians meet and give out rewards is one of my absolute favourites (again i am incensed we didn't get anything like this in HoO) - will Percy turning down immortality ever not make me scream in glee? No? Alright then - Annabeth being relieved like Percy was relieved at the end of Titan's Curse tho - oh Hermes :/ - its so hard reading all this and knowing what comes in HoO... Like it's such a cathartic, earned and mostly happy and peaceful ending and then HoO comes along and undermines it all - aww Rick let Paul see Olympus somehow pls, he deserves it, he killed a dracanae - (i would also love to see it) - Percy being more upset Rachel took his pegasus than her going to Camp and possibly dying, lol, priorities dude - i honestly think that Rick had other ideas for the second Great Prophecy and how things would go down in BoO, cause the prophecy like... Barely applies to BoO, Doors of Death are in book four, and explabations of it is all so unclear when Rick is usually pretty good with that stuff - PERCABETH - lol Percy complaining about privacy when he and Annabeth are caught kissing literally in the middle of the very open and public dining pavilion, okay - BEST UNDERWATER KISS OF ALL TIME - that's it and im a glass case of emotion - very happy to say that this series remains my favourite of all time 💖

 If anyone ever wants to come gush about anything Riordanverse related feel free, because as you can see I have a lot of thoughts about it all

[rickriordanfandam]

opinions on riordanverse ; my edition

a lot of people have been doing this so i decided why not right. probably gna lose some followers or smth but anyways. pls respect my opinions! if u disagree, thats fine, but please be polite. unless any of my opinions strikes u as morally wrong then pls point it out to me respectfully. thanks!

- i actually liked drew. im so sorry to everyone who hates her but full offence, why. think about it this way ok, first of all drew became hc because silena died. silena was the traitor, the one who betrayed chb, yet after she died campers celebrated her as a hero? and then drew suddenly has to replace her and live up to idk that legacy she left behind,, when all of a sudden this girl named piper swoops in and takes her place. idk abt u but i wld be salty abt that too. not only that, but as an asian, the chances of drew having faced racism/bullying as a child is pretty high (she studies at brooklyn academy). which means that when she finds out shes a demigod, and arrives at chb where most of the campers are white (this is an assumption btw), she’d obviously be scared of being bullied for her skin color right?? so the first thing she wld do before the campers get to bully her is to bully them before they can do so. (sentence structure here is wack i apologize) ofc this might not even have happened, drew could have had a perfect childhood && was a b1tch for no reason, BUT EVEN THEN HER ROLE AS A BULLY WAS PRETTY VITAL BECAUSE THAT FURTHER SHOWED THE CONTRAST BETWEEN HER AND PIPER,, HIGHLIGHTING PIPER AS A HERO//GOOD CHARACTER,, AND THEREFORE MAKING READERS LIKE PIPER MORE. anyway stop hating on drew please. ALSO WHY IS THIS SO LONGA SDFJHG

- jason isnt bland, the fandom just kinda erased his backstory (thanks to @pjohoo-memes for the phrasing lol)

- reynabeth wouldnt have lasted/would have broken up several times. idk i just see them as two extremely powerful characters who have firm opinions and will definitely clash at some point. in a platonic relationship,, i can see them as really good friends but as lovers? idk i just think theyll break up

- PIPABETH

- i dont really like jercy,, i see them as better friends than lovers. also idt jason and percy were that close..?

- the dam and not my type jokes are srsly cringey and were never funny. ik that seems hypocritical since my username literally makes use of the dam joke but honestly i dont actually like the joke. its not funny to me and has never been funny

- the seven were not best friends. they definitely argued,, and honestly probably werent as close as the fandom makes them seem. like ure dumped with 6 other people, out of which u only know a few. my introverted ass would have jumped off the argo 2 quicker than leo valdez could bomb camp jupiter up. also leo was a dick to frank. so what if frank is bigger sized?? thats not a valid reason to tease him

- the fandom needs to stop hating on octavian while worshipping luke. if u hate luke and u say u hate octavian too, then okay. but if u tell me ure a luke stan but u despise octavian?? imma disagree w u. luke was worse than octavian im sorry. first of all, octavian being a dick was kinda justified. hes been after the praetor position for so long, and everyone keeps saying to “wait for jason” when suddenly this dude, whos a son of NEPTUNE (neptune wasnt liked much by romans), and the camp decides to make him praetor?? dude i would be pissed off big time. and then afterwards, he finds out that greek demigods are real and the dude they made praetor is greek. AND THEN GREEK DEMIGODS COME TO CJ AND ONE OF THEM BOMB IT UP?? octavian has been told all his life that greeks are scum and this dude called leo valdez attacks cj. sure it was an accident, but did octavian know that? no. so it was honestly justified that he was such a salty prick im just saying. also some of yall be hating on octavian for cutting a teddy bear open and thats the funniest shit ive ever heard i swear 

- luke didnt go to elysium

- travis and connor stoll r way too underrated. the two have been head counselors of the hermes cabin since luke was revealed as a traitor, can u imagine the stress? luke, the person they probably looked up to as a brother, betrayed them. and they didnt even have time to process this when they were  thrown the roles of being hcs. that would have been so stressful and i would probably have broken down if i were them. the stoll brothers taking turns to wake up at ungodly hours because a new camper is crying and homesick and terrified, the stoll brothers having to comfort and take care of new campers, having to deal with the amount of people in that cramped space because not enough campers are being claimed fast enough. having to resolve issues between campers in the hermes cabin all the time. the stolls arent just comedic relief, and we need to stop treating them as such

- tratie shldve been canon idc idc

- demigods of the demeter cabin arent talked about enough and i love the fact that meg was demeters kid. like she isnt the child of one of the big three yet shes so powerful.

- we need to hype clarisse up more her character arc was phucking amazing 

- rachel is overhated. sis found out greek gods exist and regularly come down to earth to fuck around and went “ok cool”. queen shit behavior methinks

- the floor 19 crew of mcga is srsly underrated. like do u even remember halfborn gunderson, mallory keen, tj, etc??? bc i feel like we only remember samirah, magnus, alex, and sometimes blitz and hearthstone

- sadie (tkc) was kinda annoying at first. i like her more now tho but i rmb not liking her for a phat while

- tkc and mcga need more love

- carter kane and jason grace arent boring. theyre just really sweet boys who are too good for this world and yes yes yes 

- hazel and frank (especially frank) need to be hyped up more. i hardly ever see anything about them. also yall seem to forget that frank was literally made praetor and that even hecate admired hazel and was willing to fight beside her because of how powerful she was

- frazels age gap is kinda sketch but i still think theyre really cute

- nico definitely had trauma from going to tartarus on his own

- GROVER IS PERCYS BEST FRIEND

- annabeth isnt smarter than leo but neither is leo smarter than annabeth. ive seen a lot of discussions about who is smarter and heres my hot take on it: neither. theyre equally smart, just in different ways. leos a genius mathematically speaking. he has no issues solving math problems meant for people much, much older than him. annabeth on the otherhand, is great at strategies etc. she can make an army of 1000 more powerful than the enemy, even if theyre outnumbered. so in my opinion, both are equally as smart//u cant compare their intelligence, because their talents lie in two different areas.

- while i do agree rick riordan isnt a god and that hes bound to make mistakes,, AND that hes given us a lot of representation,, if the representation offends the people its sposed to represent, then theres a problem. im talking about piper as a poc and wearing feathers in her hair. im not a poc, so i cant speak for them on whether or not its wrong, because i dont know either. HOWEVER, i have seen multiple posts BY pocs talking about how they didnt really like rick’s representation of piper, and thats an issue. pocs have been and are still oppressed and discriminated against by many. as a white cis man, we cant really blame him for not knowing (tho he could have done a research,, asked some pocs,, idk), but by representing pocs in that manner, hes influencing impressionable kids/teens into thinking “oh pocs wear feathers in their hair all the time” etc, which isnt true. the pjo/hoo series is extremely successful, and kids who read the books will probably start forming inaccurate opinions on pocs. the amount of fan art that depicts piper with feathers in her hair dont help either. “but rick said so in the books, so its canon” yeah well rick isnt a god and he can get some things wrong at times. im not saying we should cancel him, im saying we should start educating ourselves and not spread false info like pocs wearing feathers in their hair all the time. also that snake song shit where she sang Summertime was just- yeah. bc heres the thing you can be racist, and still include minorities, but portray them in a racist way. And even then, ignorance isn't a thing to admire. Getting those facts wrong still has a major impact. It continues to perpetuate racist stereotypes.

“ With the feather thing, I looked it up myself; it takes less than five minutes to figure out that Cherokees don't braid feathers into their hair. I didn't grow up in the country where my parents are from. I have many other first/second generation American friends who have also been through that, with a bit of a disconnect from their culture. But something that most of us have in common is that when we didn't know something, and when our parents weren't that big of a help, we looked it up. We sought out resources online and through other people from our culture to be able to connect more with where we came from. Some of that took a Google search. So I find it hard to believe that Piper, a girl who Rick's trying to portray as someone who is attempting to connect with her culture and is totally against racist stereotypes, wouldn't know that eagle feathers aren't supposed to be braided into your hair casually. She may be disconnected from her culture, but she's also shown to want to connect back to it. Piper wouldn't be casually braiding feathers into her hair while also telling off people for being racist. It makes no sense.” - reddit thread (down below) 

for those of yall who wanna know more please please read this, it has a lot of things i wanna add in here : https://www.reddit.com/r/camphalfblood/comments/gy3gl2/piper_mcleans_portrayal_is_innacurate/ 

as well as https://finding-my-culture.tumblr.com/post/189422373260/maxie-ratties-and-cattie-finding-my-culture 

i will be posting screenshots of these in future posts so if ure viewing this on ig and u dont have tumblr,, dont worry 

- the fact that most of the strong female characters in the series refuse to be “girly”, and ngl i dont really like that. just because ure girly doesnt mean u cant be strong. 

- piper would have been a great way for him to start making the strong characters act girlier, but instead he went with the “I’m not like other girls” trope which is quite obnoxious to hear constantly, and I don’t think it’s necessarily great for younger girls to read that idea growing up.  the closest we've ever had to a strong female character who was also into "girly" things was Silena. when I was younger I admired Piper's "I'm not like other girls" thing, but then I got older and realized that the whole mentality of "not like other girls" is super obnoxious, and a little bit toxic

i have a heck load more that i cant rmb rn but yeah feel free to add more 

[cartoonfantic8]

Nico Di Angelo AU - Part 1

Spoliers for the entire Percy Jackson Serise. If your not caught up do not read.

Disclaimer - I don’t own the characters or any of the books plot. That is owned by Rick Riordan not me I sort of own the idea. There is other people in the internet who have this idea, this is just my take. Also I got most of the information of the plot and details thanks the the Fandom Wiki so credits to them.

AU - Nico Di Angelo was the child of the prophecy instead of Percy Jackson. Pretty much the serise as a Solangelo cannon instead of Percbeth. Some things are different but most things are kinda the same like the quests.

P.O.V - So in the orignal series it’s all in Percy’s POV but I got the idea that it switches POV’s like “Heroes of Olympus”. This is switched between Nico,Will,and Bianca

The Lightning Thief

Arrival at Camp

A twelve year old boy and thirteen year old girl were taken out of there military school by a lawyer (Alecto in disguise) to go to a Camp for them to be safe. There names were Bianca and Nico Di Angelo.

On the way they were attacked by the Minotaur which was chasing the limo.

Alecto told them to run to Percy’s tree and tell the people at the camp there that there haftbloods. Bianca and Nico ran towards a big pine tree but the Minotaur caught up to them. To protect her brother Bianca killed the Minotaur with her bare hands and somehow survived. Bianca and Nico fainted by the pine tree and before Nico passed out he yelled Help.

A camper immediately saw them and rushed them to the infirmary.

Nico woke up and saw a cute blonde hair boy (Will) rambling about how Bianca killed the Minotaur with her bare hands and how these kids are powerful. The boy noticed and got him a glass of water. Nico asked “Where am I”and “Where’s Bianca”. the boy said “Your okay and your safe” calming him down. Another boy (Lee Flecher) came in and told Will to take Nico to Mr.D and Chiron.

The blonde hair boy took Nico to two men both in there late 40s and Bianca who Nico immdently hugged. The men introduced both as Mr.D and Chiron. Chiron asked the blonde hair boy who he called Will to set up a place where Bianca and Nico to sleep in Cabin 11. Chiron explained to them about the Greek Gods and how there real. Nico was in shock while Bianca thought that it was all fake. Chiron asked them if they had ADHD or Dylexisia, if they’ve had an absent parent figure, or if werid thing have happened around them.

They both said yes and we’re taking it in. Chiron asked if they had any parents. Bianca responds with “Are mother died and are father was never around but after are mom died, are dad that we never met sent us to this hotel for a few weeks and then to a miterally school.” Chiron said “That’s strange, the records say - never mind there probely wrong. Mr.D told them to go to Hermes Cabin which Luke led them to since he was passing by.

Nico saw Will and went over to him. He thanked him for fixing his arm. Will blushed and told him that he didn’t and that was Lee. Will said that he really wants to be a child of Apollo because he loves working in the medicence field and that Lee let’s him help sometimes. Will asks him that if he knows the game Mythomagic and Will teaches him

Over the next few days Will and Nico became inseparable and did all there activitys togther. Until a few days before the Capture the Flag game a Aries camper was roughhousing with there sibling, which resulted in a wound on there arm. Will quickly fixed and healed with magic (Like Magnus Chase’s healing magic) and was claimed by Apollo. Nico was heartbroken. His best friend was claimed. Will and Nico still spent there free time togther but it wasn’t the same and Nico was all alone execpt he had Bianca

The Claiming

On the Capture the Flag game the captins were Athena and Aries. Athena took the Hermes and Apollo cabin while Aries took the rest. Nico and Will were on border patrol being kids but Will was asked to help in the infirmary as an Apollo kid so Nico was alone. Nico heard something in the woods and went to go look at what is was. It was a hellhound and it almost attacked Nico but Bianca stopped it and the hellhound backed away. Everyone saw what happened and were shocked. Bianca hugged Nico and made sure he was okay and then they were claimed by Hades. Everyone had fear in there eyes including Will.

No one talked to them after that and if they did they had fear in there voice. Everyone treated them differently as they were the black sheep of the camp. Chiron ended up letting them stay in the big house since the Hermes Cabin were terrified. He also gave them a new schedule so most of the time they wouldn’t be with the other campers.

One day they went to the forge to make weapons with Cabin 9. The Hephaestus kids were all terrified. Becknodorf didn’t care there were children of Hades and told them if his siblings gave any trouble talk to him. Bianca made a sliver bow and arrow and Nico makes a black Celsetial Bronze sword.

The Prophecy

Later that night in the big house. Nico couldn’t sleep because he heard noises from the room above him. He went to check it out and the Oracle started to speak to him and gave a prophecy to him.

“You shall go west and face the god who has turned,

You shall find what was stolen and see it safely returned,

You will be betrayed by one who calls you friend,

And your journey shall be a fight till the end”

Chrion finds a terrified Nico and tells him a prophecy has been issuied. He calls a councilor meeting instantly. It was pretty much all the oldest campers in the camp with the exception of Annabeth because the head counselor for the Athena cabin was in the infirmary thanks to a grusesome sword fight with Clarisse and she went instead.

While taking Bianca decided to go on the quest since she could not leave her brother alone. Even though Annabeth has been waiting for her chance she decided not to go because two children of the big three will result in a “death trap” which Luke whispers in her ear something about being nice. Nico tells them the lines of the propchey and they all unpack it. They also explain to the Hades’s kids about what happened at the solstice and what’s at stake in which Nico is internally freaking out since the fate of the world is on his shoulders

They still needed a third quest member. Nico asks Becknodorf but he declines since he’s needed at camp. Bianca thinks that no one wants to come since there children of Hades but Nico still has some hope. The next day Will gives Nico a “Quest kit” packed with ambrosia, necter, a first aid kit, and money. Will tells him how this quest is important and he’ll do great. Nico dosen’t and says “I can’t. The fate of the world is in my shoulders and I don’t even have a third quest member”. Will calms him down and tells him he’ll go and Nico hugs him and says “Thank you”

Nico and Will tell Chrion and he announces it at Breakfest. Bianca is shocked but happy. Most of the camp is shocked that a son of Apollo is going on a quest with two children of Hades. The Apollo cabin is mostly mad execptially Micheal Yew.

After breakfest Will goes to his cabin to grab a few things before the quest. Micheal Yew is infuriated and yells at Will on how he’s going to get himeself killed and how he can’t trust children of Hades because there evil. Will yells back and tells all of his siblings how Bianca and Nico are good people and how there all judging them for their dad which is stupid. He leaves the cabin and is off to Percy’s tree. Before he leave Lee tells Will he’s proud of him for standing up for his friends and that he’s going to do great on the quest.

Bianca, Nico, and Will are by Percy’s tree off to find Zeus lighting bolt. Before they leave though Beckendorf gave Bianca a magic rope he made, to help her in tricky situations.

Starting the Quest

After Nico, Will, and Bianca are driven into town, they take a bus into New Jersey. When they get on the bus, Zeus send monsters after them which Bianca defeats with her bow and arrow

They escape to Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium. After they are served food, Aunty Em wants to take a picture of them to use as models for her statues. However, she tries to turn them to stone instead of using them as models because she is Medusa. Nico cuts off her head, and they leave. They find a lost dog, return it, and get $200. They buy train tickets with that money and get off at the Gateway Arch.

When Nico is alone on the top, Echidna reveals herself, along with her pet, the Chimera. Nico battles the Chimera and is poisoned during the fight. Before he “dies” he prays to his father that Bianca and Will will be safe on the quest. Before Echidna kills him Nico accidentally shadow travels away ( there were shadows around him. I know it dosen’t make sense but I have to work with it) to the ground beneath him.

Going Futher West

Weaken, Nico tries to find Will and Bianca in which he dose. Will and Bianca are crying because Nico is on the verge of death. Will tries to use his healing magic but it isn’t enough. He was sobbing at that point and his tears healed him and took away the poison. They all cry happy tears and Bianca punches Nico is the shoulder and told him not to do that again.

The trio gets on the train and are taken to Denver.

They get off, and go into a diner. Ares comes in and tells them to get his shield at Waterland, and, in turn, he would give them a ride west

They go to Waterland and find out the ride was set up with a trap by Hephaestus. They get out with Aphrodite's Scarf and go back to the diner, and Ares shows them a Kindness International truck

Las Vegas

Once they reach Las Vegas, a bellhop from the Lotus Hotel and Casino invites them to come in. Bianca is a little  skeptical and says this place is familiar. The bellhop insists and says it’s okay. The argee and went in. The receptionist asks for there names and when Bianca says them. The receptionist says that Nico and Bianca have a room and asks if they want to renew it. Bianca didn’t trust them but ends up going so Nico and Will are safe.

Nico, Will, and Bianca are given a room. After they enjoy the perks of staying in such a luxurious suite, they decide to go down to the arcade.

Will finds a boy, Darrin, who thinks the year is 1977. Will asks a few more people what the year is, to which they answer 1985 and 1993.

Will finds Nico and Bianca and they immediately leave the hotel

They are relieved to find out from a newspaper that it is still the same year. However, 5 days have already passed, leaving only one day to retrieve the lightning bolt.

The Night Outside

That night they decide to camp outside so they can get some rest. Nico decided to take first watch while Will and Bianca slept. Will woke up in the middle of his shift from a nightmare.

Nico asks if he was okay and Will said yes. Nico knew he lied and asked him again. Will said he dreamt of Nico dying in arms like he did before. Nico promised him he won’t do that again.

Will saw there was something wrong with Nico and asked him. He blurted it out of how he hates being a child of Hades. How everyone thinks of him as an outcast and that they wouldn’t cared if he was dead. Will told him he would upset if he was dead. Nico was his best friend.

Nico thanked him and also thanked him for coming on this quest. They stared into each other eyes for a moment and then Nico quickly looked away. He asked Will why is the pine tree on the hill called Percy?

Will tells him the story of Percy Jackson the other child of the big three. A group of haft bloods and a saytar were chased by a Cyclopes. There names were Annabeth Chase, Luke Castellan, Grover Underwood, and Percy Jackson son of Posiden. He was very loyal and did anything to protect his friends. They were about to reach Camp but the Cyclopes caught up to them. Percy sacrificed himself to save his friends. Posiden was upset his only son was dead and turned him into a pine tree. That tree watches over the camp and once you reach it you know your safe.

Bianca who wasn’t sleeping the whole time but the boys didn’t know that, decided to take watch. Nico and Will fell asleep and Bianca defently knew something was between them.

Reaching the Underworld

While searching for the entrance to the Underworld, they encounter Procrustes. Since Posiden is mad that Hades had two children breaking the oath twice, he sends his son Procrustes to trap Nico and Bianca. He traps Nico and Bianca using his signature technique — causing them to lie down on a bed while being stretched by ropes until they are exactly the same height of the bed

Will tricks him into lying down on one such bed. Procrustes is killed, and the trio proceed to DOA Recording Studios, the cover place for the gates to the Underworld, then enter. There Charon lets Nico and Bianca being children of the Underworld but doesn’t let Will in. Nico says that if he dosen’t his father will hear about this. (Please tell me someone got that reference)

Inside, they discover that the entrance to the Underworld proper is being guarded by Cerberus. Bianca tames him and then Will plays with the giant dog by using a little red ball to keep him distracted, giving Nico and Bianca enough time to pass to see there father

They walk through the Fields of Asphodel and pass by the path to the pit of Tartarus. As they approach the entrance to Tartarus, Beckendorf’s rope try to pull Bianca into it, but she manages to slip out of it. They get into there father’s place.

Nico confronts Hades who believes that he and Bianca were just some spawn and that he dosen’t care about them. He only cares because he needs them to clear his name. Hades says that’s not true and that he cares he just dosen’t have a good way of showing it. He then explains there past of how he put them in the Loucas Hotel for about 70 years to protect them from Zues. He also explains about there mother Maria Di Angelo and how he begged her and there children to live in the underworld which she declined. He also explains how Zues struck her with a lighting bolt and how he needed to protect them. Nico and Bianca were surprised but understood.

While Hades was taking, Nico realizes that Ares has tricked him when he discovers the Master Bolt is in his backpack. He and his friends were teleported by Hades out of the underworld

Fighting Aries

Hades return Nico, Bianca,and Will back to an ocean. They reach the shore, meet Ares, and confront him. Nico then challenges him to a fight.

He uses his sword to battle Ares. Nico eventually stabs him in the heel and Ares starts to bleed ichor. He is about to kill Nico when an evil force in the form of a dark aura convinces him to not strike Nico.

Ares then leaves, giving Nico the Helm of Darkness. Nico tosses it to the Furies, and they take it back to his father

Ending

Nico,Will,and Bianca fly back to New York City to give the lightning bolt to Zeus, despite the dangers of flying.

He proceeds to the Empire State Building and reaches the top, where Olympus is currently located. Zeus accepts the bolt and decided not to kill them. Hades was there to congratulate his children in not dying. Nico and Bianca have a short talk with there father before returning to camp.

Nico bumps into Beckendorf who reveals that he stole the bolt and helm for Kronos and then calls out a poisonous scorpion which stings and nearly kills Nico. Nico is unconscious after the attempt to kill him. Beckendorf manages to escape and leaves Camp Half-Blood. Will cures Nico and they, along with Bianca and Chrion discuss Beckendorf betrayal.

The camp beads are awarded, and the bead for this year - Nico, and Bianca’s first year is a white bead painted with a black helmet in the middle. Will’s was a black bead with a golden sun in the middle. Will leaves Camp Half-Blood to visit his mom Naomi Solace. Nico and Bianca stay at camp year around. The camp slowly learns to accept them and relized there kind, caring, funny people and didn’t judge them on there parentage. Sure some camper still have them dirty looks or talked behind there back but they didn’t care. They found a place where they belonged.

How was that? I worked pretty hard on it and I think it was great. This is going to be a serise and I’m planning on doing PJO and HOO but not TOA because I do not know how to write around that. I hoped you enjoyed that, I tried my best to make it different and tried for it to make sense. Thank you for reading.

@thatlitpollostan

[lifeofroos]

Part 26.  I thought this would be a good title because it is a lot like the title I used way back for chapter one. This chapter is the last chapter D.L. (During Lester), so the world will be a little different in the chapters after this one. 

In short: Nico gets therapy from Dionysus. In this chapter, Nico tells Dionysus that the voices in his head have gotten worse. The rest is on AO3 and FanFiction.net! (And also Tumblr tags like Nico di Angelo, Pjo, Fanfiction etc.)

Chapter 26: Demeters’ Divine Orange Juice. 

I did not expect a juice box to appear during dinner time, but I wasn’t surprised either. While the others got up, I stayed at the table. I looked up at Will, who was standing next to me. ‘I said I would help you with the mental health talk during campfire hours…’ Will leaned over and kissed me on my forehead. 

‘It’s okay, Nico. This is more important. It is going to be okay.’ It will not be okay. Not until you get down here, where you belong.

When they were all gone, Dionysus came over and sat down on the opposite side of the Apollo table. ‘Hello, Nico.’

‘Hello?’ I picked up my juicebox. 

‘Did your boyfriend tell you that he spoke to me yesterday?’

‘Yes.’ Of course he did. ‘He… he would not keep something like that a secret.’ How do you know? You can’t tell what he keeps secret from you. That is what they are secrets for. Naïve child. 

Dionysus looked at my pained expression. ‘The voices are taunting you, aren’t they?’

I nodded. ‘Yes. They… they actually quieted down after I got to terms with being able to turn stuff to bones. The only time when they really rose again, was when I was in distress, like when we talked about Bianca. But now… they are there all the time again. They have not been back for long, that is why I didn’t tell you yet. I… I hoped they would just leave again.’ I shrugged. You shouldn’t have told him. You shouldn’t have told anybody. No one here is trustworthy and neither are you. Shut up. 

‘Right. However, next time I’d rather see that you tell me immediately.’ I shrugged again. I did not know what to say. I knew he was right. 

‘Do you think there is a reason that they have flared up? Aside from it being just a random thing for a few days.’ 

I nodded. ‘I have two ideas. One is that something is going on in Tartarsauce, or at least in the underworld. I hope not. What I think is more likely is that it means something is going to happen to Apollo. Maybe they… if I can call them they…’

‘That is actually good. That way they are not a part of you, but something else that needs to get out.’

We are a part of you. We will never get out. ‘They refer to themselves as ‘we,’ so I always thought of them as they. But anyway, maybe there is something cosmic changing and that is why there is a flare up.’

Dionysus nodded. I put in the straw and took a few sips out of my juice carton. It dawned on me that I never actually drank a whole carton of Demeters’ divine orange juice, even though it was the drink that I associated with therapy. 

Dionysus stared at the camp. ‘About every ancient creature already showed its face in the last couple of years. The only one still out and about is the snake, so… I more or less hope that you are right. Well, you are still here. You are quite the menance, won’t you say? You hear voices from Tartarus. ‘The other option is a lot more likely.’  

‘Apollo is coming this way of course. They defeated the second emperor in camp Jupiter, so their last stop will probably be camp Half-blood, to collect a team to aid in defeating Nero and the snake,’ I finished the train of thought. 

A little absentmindedly, Dionysus nodded a couple of times. ‘Listen, Nico. You had a big role to play during the Titan war and the Giant war. There is a chance that Apollo might ask you for help.’ As if anybody would want your help. ‘But I... I think it would not be a good idea to go along with him. You shouldn’t built up any more trauma.’ 

‘I cannot blame Apollo if he asks.’ There is only one person to blame in this situation. 

‘Hm.’ 

‘I mean, he has come far, but he is not there yet. He probably wants all the help he can get.’

‘And it might be best if you let someone else do that this time.’ I looked at the ground. Dionysus sighed. ‘However, I won’t hold you back if you decide to go. You should make that decision yourself. And, well, if the prophecy demands it, I guess trying to stop it will only do more harm. All I can do is tell you that I would rather see you stay in the camp.’ 

I did not answer. I knew I would probably go if asked. Mostly because Apollo would probably also ask Will and I couldn’t let him go alone. 

‘Nico?’

‘I… I know, and I understand.’ 

He gave me a sad look and sighed. ‘I also want you to know that if you do decide to go, it doesn’t mean that I stop helping you.’

‘Yes.’ He will. ‘But, eh... we are talking about a hypothetical.’

‘I have a sneaking suspicion that you already thought about it, a lot. I might even go so far as to say that you have already made up your mind. That makes it more than just a hypothetical.’ I shrugged and took a small sip. The juice tasted like mud. 

For a little while, we were both silent, until Dionysus scraped his throat. 

‘We need to see what will happen. To a certain extent, you are correct. We are arguing about a hypothetical. Until we know better what is going on, you should keep using the strategies I taught you to keep the voices under control.’ I nodded. Keep us under control. Idiot. 

‘Yes.’ Don’t trust him. ‘Eh, one more thing: the voices are more specific if I am talking to someone or doing something. Then they usually try to make me think I am doing everything wrong. However, if I am just, eh... being, it is more… ominous chanting. Come to Tartarus, free our lord, that sort of stuff.’ I shrugged. ‘Not much different from what I had way back in January, when you first reached out to me.’ 

He nodded a few times. ‘Alright.’ He stared at the strawberry fields. The sun had almost completely set at this point. ‘Nico, can you promise me that you will say it if it feels like you can’t handle it anymore?’

‘Yes.’ I nodded. I could say that, although I thought I could not say it with confidence. 

‘Good. If there is nothing else, than you may go.’ 

I slowly drank the juice I had left. ‘Yes. Thanks.’ Don’t thank someone who wants to hurt you. 

‘I think I’ll go join the others at the campfire. I promised Will to help with the mental health speech.’ 

‘Yes, go do that. Perhaps I’ll even join you. I am curious to see what Solace made of it. It can’t be much good, but you know, maybe it is pasable.’ 

A/N: No joke, putting the voice outside of yourself is how they told me to handle my eating disorder. 

Also I like to think Chiron lets Will and Nico sleep in the same cabin, because it helps both of them sleep better. 

After this, the story will be A.L. (After Lester), as I already said. There is already a lot planned, It will be a long time before I run out of story to write!

I reread some parts from tower of nero and realised that I veered off canon here and there. Whatever, Rick Riordan can’t even keep his own canon straight. In the last Olympian, he states that Hades met Maria di Angelo in Washington, which would mean they never were in Italy. However, in The tower of nero, it is said that Nico went to school in Italy. I’ll make of it what I can. 

[greatneedtotakeanap]

i binge read

the finale, episode 15 - the tower of nero

!!!SPOILER ALERT FOR THE TOWER OF NERO!!! this post under the cut will be completely riddled with spoilers, as it is a personal account of my views on the book as a whole. 

it will be spoiled!!

(obviously.)

I’m almost too heartsick to write this omg. It’s been such a long, heartwarming journey, and it came to such an electrifying ending.

I’m quite proud of Apollo. I knew I was going to be, but the way he realized it, the way he realized everything... how Nero’s abuse mirrored Zeus’ and affected him just the same, how much of an asshole he’d been because of it. He made the conscious choice to change, and he decided he could love. He was capable of true love, he was capable of moving forward and being better. And he was. I was just,,, I was so proud of him. Seeing him mature was a really eye-opening experience, especially in this book, when he talked so much about the small complexities of Nero’s abuse, how every move was calculated and how it affected Meg. We’d seen wisps of discussions of abuse before, mostly in the lightning thief (smelly gabe) but we’ve never before gone into the complexities of emotional abuse. The way it was described was fantastically clear, in a way that undoubtedly painted Nero as the true villain, but also gave us the chance to see him try and convince his children that he was good. Apollo breaking down his every move was good for the audience to distinguish the meaning behind his words. Fantastically portrayed. The way it helped him realize his own abuse, too, was good.

And Meg. My sweet darling Meg. What an absolute baddie, I swear. She made the same decision - she went back to Nero to fight him, to test her own strength and power of will. Her decision to drop her rings and refuse to dual wield anymore was strange to me at the very beginning, but I understood it later. It was her refusing to use the weapons he forced her to use, to even defend herself against him. It was her turning her back on the methods he’d armed her with and deciding to take her own path. “The Beast is dead” is the rawest f-ing line in this entire novel, the Beast representing Nero’s psychological abuse. “I killed him” - she liberated herself by believing she was better. I’m so insanely proud of that girl, too. She’s come a long way as well.

Okay. After that analysis, let me just say:

THE GAYS WON.

I spent this entire book terrified that Will Solace was doomed. There was a line in the prophecy about the terrible ending of ‘Apollo’s flesh and blood’, and I figured that meant his offspring - his son, rather than his human form. I kept muttering to myself ‘Will’s gonna die Will’s gonna die and it’s gonna BREAK Nico’. I was just so worried. I didn’t think anyone, even William Andrew Solace, could survive Rick Riordan’s patented Blond Boy Curse.

But he was fine in the end! As fine as you can be. Solangelo boyfriends lived to fight another day. And their development as a couple was also quite nice. I loved their dynamic. We only saw a little of it in the hidden oracle. Though it was great there too, we were able to go more in depth and explore how they truly function. Nico’s dry sense of humor combined with his whole lord-of-the-darkness aesthetic x Will’s genuine compassion and joking nature combined with his glow-in-the-dark-ness was fantastic to see.

Speaking of Solangelo - they not only got stronger as a couple, but as individual people as well. To be completely honest, we really haven’t seen much in the way of Will Solace. He healed, he was nice, yeah, sure, but what about him? What was his personality like outside from other people? In this book we find out. He’s kind, compassionate, easily flustered, overly protective. He craves parental approval, hence him repeatedly referring to Apollo as ‘dad’ and being so watchful over him. He gets embarrassed when asked to glow on command and upset when people mistake him for a lamp. He’s impulsive and a little hypocritical - he follows his instincts (being led off into the tunnels by a random voice) but gets very worried when Nico pulls the same thing. He’s a fantastic character, and his contrasts to Nico and the rest of the ton crew were great.

Nico - he seriously was the hero of this book. Or at least the secondary hero. He saved them all so many times over - he took everyone through shadow travel away from the bulls, he met the troglodytes, saw an opportunity, prepared an offering to said troglodytes because he saw an opportunity, became an underground ambassador, later saved Apollo’s life again by turning a germanus into a skeleton. He led this quest, and you can pry that from my cold dead hands. And that one paragraph about him enduring all this shit?? MASTERFUL. He’s had such a boatload of trauma and still he stands. One of my very favorite consistent Nico traits is this: no matter where he is or what he’s doing or how he feels, he ALWAYS takes the chance to talk with those who feel alone, because he knows what it’s like to be truly fighting one’s battles alone and he’d never wish that on anyone. It’s consistent, too: him being the only one to talk to Hestia at the hearth in Camp Half Blood, him talking to and befriending Bob the Titan, him talking to the troglodytes. And I have really gotten to see his progression firsthand, sped up - I read the Titan’s Curse in my binge read series maybe two weeks ago, back when he was this hyperactive ten-year-old with a Mythomagic obsession and now he’s this prince of darkness saving people with an adorable glowstick boyfriend and man. I love this kid. If he wasn’t my favorite character in this universe, he is now.

Also, even though with this book Rick has closed the gateway to this world (sad), the end alluded to a possible journey through Tartarus again to look for what’s been calling him, but this time he’ll have Will. Rachel Dare even whispered a prophecy at the end, probably pointing to it (but we’ll never know for sure). Will and Nico through the depths of Tartarus - now that’s a series I’d want to read for sure. It’s really too bad we’ll never get to see it in canon. Sigh.

SPEAKING OF CANON.

Another way the gays have won: Piper Mclean.

She has a canon girlfriend!! We really struck gold. I figured she was aro//ace when reading the Burning Maze - her whole monologue about being forced into love - but it turns out she’s just wlw!! I love this, I love this. We seriously won with this book.

Other noteworthy thoughts I had while reading below:

- The scene with Apollo defeating Python and hanging on the edge of Chaos was great. Especially when the goddess Styx came out. I was wondering how all of his broken oaths would serve him and come back to haunt him. It was quite well portrayed. A serious rip to the Arrow of Dodona though. I always loved it,,, a lot. It made me laugh and sometimes grind my teeth in frustration, but it was always a nice presence.

- Apollo’s return to Olympus was better than anything I ever could have hoped for. I was really hoping that returning would give him a new insight, not just of being mortal, but of Zeus as well. And it did. It did! I’ve said it before but I am quite proud of him. His new perspective on the Olympians was refreshing. You can really see the change in narrative if you go back to the Hidden Oracle.

- It is always always always nice to see Sally Jackson. Woman of many talents, including novel writing, blue chocolate chip cookies, and excellent seven-layer dip. She was my favorite character at the beginning of this binge-reading frenzy (as stated in the first post). Now she is still very up there. Definitely top 5.

- Why does Estelle have Percy’s green eyes?? I thought Percy had his father’s eyes????

- Grover knew about Jason dying. If Grover was on the cross-country field trip with Percy and Annabeth, and they didn’t realize Jason was dead until they got to New Rome, then was he just sitting on Jason’s death this whole time??? Rip to Grover, he must have been seriously traumatized for THAT to have happened.

- The last two chapters were basically just Apollo making his rounds and wrapping everything up, so Percabeth isn’t just in a perpetual cross-country ride and Piper doesn’t live out her life forever in a grief-stricken taxi. I’m glad those chapters were there, though. Nice to see everybody again in their element.

Okay but you don’t understand the fear in my heart. I seriously thought Will Solace was a goner. I cried out of relief because he DIDN’T die. It just makes me love the two of them all the more.

This post has been way too long already, but I gotta add an obligatory outro - I read these books once as a little kid, and the past two weeks has been amazing getting back into them. It’s been magical and wonderful, falling in love with these characters, and I’m so sad to leave it.

[pastabrand]

Unpopular PJO/HOO/TOA opinions

This is gonna be wordy but I’m not sorry for it.

Percabeth is hella overrated. It’s nice, but I would prefer other ships over it and some of y’all Percabeth shippers are scary as hell

I love TOA. A lot people don’t like it because it doesn’t include the main 7 and another topic that I’ll mention later but honestly, I could care less. I’m glad that the others aren’t there other than cameos. It means they’re getting a chance to heal after everything and honestly, good for them. People like to cast TOA as an unnecessary spinoff that didn’t need to be included yet it gives y’all the type of character development you scream and beg for in other books. It’s literally the perfect character development trope you crave, yet puts a good spin on it.

Some of you haven’t even READ toa and say you hate it. Like what? How is that supposed to work.

PJO was way better than HOO. TOA sits in the middle of the two.

I love TOA because it shows Apollo’s character growth from one of the most arrogant, cocky, and prideful gods. And even then, he doesn’t go from that to a helpless mortal loving fool, he stays arrogant and prideful but less so. Not to mention more understanding of mortals and demigods live and what they go through. He doesn’t go from one extreme to the other, but one extreme to more of a center balance. It’s more natural that way.

While Jason’s death in TOA was sorta cheap, it goes to show demigods can die at the least expected times. If Jason had died during the war, then it would be “oh, well, that’s what war does. It kills people. Nothing new.” Compared to Jason going about life as normal and one small mission is his end. It’s more impactful and realistic that way. It goes to show that life as a demigod is always dangerous, fighting or not.

Jason’s anger to Percy for not noticing Nico’s feelings towards him is absolute bullshit. Fuck that as a whole. Nico acting cold and hateful towards Percy doesn’t and shouldn’t equal “I like you, notice me please”. The internalized homophobia should be Jason’s focus, not Percy’s lack of attention at Nico’s feelings.

Same for Leo about Calypso. Not to mention they both shove the blame onto Percy like its his fault when it really isn’t. Having your memory forcefully wiped mere months after a war isn’t gonna help when remembering stuff like that. Not to mention the Gods are bums who will try to do as little as possible and leave the rest to demigods. It leads to one sided anger and unnecessary confusion and guilt on the other side. Bad writing on Rick’s part tbh.

People need to stop acting like Jason didn’t die. That’s clinging into a ghost and not letting it move on. I hate to be the one who says it, but Jason is canonically dead and acting like he isn’t won’t change shit. It’s gonna lead to unhealthy habits in the future, trust me. You can’t write a fic post TOA then be like “oh yeah, Jason’s alive because I want him to :)))” because that isn’t how life works sweetheart.

People also need to stop pretending TOA doesn’t exist. You might not like it but you have to acknowledge that it is actually there and it follows the PJO/HOO timeline.

Paul was just a card to give Sally a nice man to lean on when it wasn’t necessary.

Percy should’ve been wayyyy more suspicious of Paul when he was first introduced. 6 years of abuse from a “father figure” isn’t just gonna go away because “oh he’s nice.” Guess what? Gabe was nice at first canoncially (even if it was for a very short amount of time).

Percy. Has. Serious. Anger. Issues. He’s sassy and stuff, sure, but he’s also got some severe anger problems that he both inherited from Poseidon and developed and festered over time from living with Gabe for 6 years.

Percy is the type to act like Hades or Apollo, attack a lesser being(s) because he can’t go after the big shot without fear of punishment. I wouldn’t be surprised if some his expulsions were from beating up various kids and/or teachers.

For the first half of TLT, Percy did not like Camp Half-Blood or consider it his “home” other than Grover and Luke. The camp treated him like shit because he was a noobie at first and then because he was a son of the Big Three. He hated Poseidon for his lack of care and lack of help when he and his mom were abused under Gabe. Had Luke talked to him during that time period and/or Kronos spoke to him in dreams, he would’ve joined the Titans. His loyalty for the camp didn’t form until near the end of TLT.

Nico and Percy basically had somewhat personality switches. Nico was an excitable, happy, laid back, and naive kid while Percy was a quiet, angry, and irritable kid. Nico’s switch came from Bianca’s death while Percy’s was more gradual. In the end, Nico became the quiet, irritable kid and Percy became the more happy, laid back kid.

Stop ignoring the fact that Nico, a literal 14-year-old, traversed into Tartarus. Alone. There’s always fics of Percy and Annabeth recovering or suffering from the after affects of the fall and war while Nico is relatively normal. The boy is not and has not been okay. His life has been one shitshow to the next ever since he was ten.

Both Percy and Nico have incredibly dark sides to their powers that they seemingly enjoyed that was fueled by anger. Percy with Achlys and Nico with Bryce. Percy admitted to liking torturing the goddess and Nico, though more subtly, seemed amused by Bryce and his attempts to justify his crimes and then frantic attempts to stay alive. Bryce literally says “I’m Bryce Lawrence! I am alive!” And Nico casually responds with “Who are you?” as he turns Bryce into a souless husk of a person. You cannot tell me that he wouldn’t have tilted his head innocently and cracked a small smile at that.

Piper’s portrayal as a Native American. Do I even need to go into that?

Percy. Liked. Luke. The boy knew the son of Hermes for what? 1 week? 2? Yet considered him to be a friend, possibly a close one at that. It probably went the same route Nico’s crush did. Hero adoration to actual romantic feelings but godspeed. Not because he just wanted to like a boy, but because, other than Chiron, Luke treated him with kindness, patience, and understanding as a male figure, something Percy didn’t really have growing up. Not to mention Luke helped Percy when no one else would. As a 12 year old, those type of feelings were bound to develop.

People who make the characters treat Percy and Leo as dumb, oblivious, or one dimensional sassy bois™️. Percy and Leo would be offended and/or defensive of such a thing because of childhood trauma. How many years do you think they can to endure that when they were younger from people they were supposed to trust or respect? You seriously can’t think they would be fine with it because their friends. Maybe a reference once or twice, but constantly? Absolutely not. Old habits die hard.

Solangelo seemed forced to me. I dunno, Nico’s whole confession felt like a ruse to get him set up with Will right away. I felt as though there wasn’t any real “connection” between the two prior to them getting together. It all felt rushed and out of place for the setting they were in. I’ve never understood it nor liked it and usually try to avoid it. That and Caleo seemed like a way to put all the characters in relationships so that they were “happy”, portraying that they needed to be with someone to achieve their happiness. Leo and Nico would’ve been better off single and learning to love themselves before loving someone else. Same applies to Sally.

Nico and Thalia would never get along because Thalia would be a reminder of what Nico lost (Bianca) and how easily how she could be replaced.

Demeter kids need more respect. I feel like that’s what Meg is for. To show that they can also technically be considered “Big Three” material because, if you forgot, Demeter is a child of Kronos as well. That means Demeter’s kids are cousins with the Big Three kids as well.

Aphrodite’s kids also need more respect. Aphrodite in the PJO universe is literally older than all gods, as she was born from Uranus’ gentials in the ocean and arose from there. Their powers could be exapanded wayyy more if they were focused on more.

Not to mention Poseidon kids could possibly gain attibutes of what would be considered Aphrodite’s powers since she was born from the ocean and vice versa. The possibilities are endless there.

That’s all I could think of for now! Lemme know what you guys think though.

[idontcare4030]

Hunter!Nico Au

the background of Supernatural basically matches the Rickrordanverse. Rick has the background of if you believe it, it's true while supernatural has the background of Everything Is Real even if it's not if you believe enough and it will be. I believe that this could be interpreted as they all happened in the same verse.

When Nico was first joining The hunting business he was simply doing jobs for his dad and as I said before during the "fighting analysis," he slowly started finding jobs for himself. This one can be simplified to, he became a hunter. He quickly became a very famous Hunter both for his young age, he wouldn't be that much older than 12 at this time, and that he has no problem hunting down monsters. While he wasn't the best at killing them at first, he quickly became very good at it. He became a source, kind of like Bobby was, where hunters would contact him about questions or getting resources.

He got the ability over time to hide objects in the shadows so if a person came to him asking for a weapon to kill such and such he would simply grab something out of the shadows and give it to them, of course he would go into a different room first so that no one knew that he was literally getting them out of thin air, but he was getting the weapons from a storage that only he and his sister could access. the knowledge from his own little library of information, books, and lots of experience made it so that people would often call him, ask him a question about a case that they are in (sometimes in the middle of a fight) and he would respond without questioning give them an answer and any advice he had before hanging up on them and going back to what he was doing.

This made it so that not only does he have more connections than a person can dream, but he also is very powerful in many circles that he shouldn't even be a part of. An example of this is how well he is at finding old cursed objects, especially ones that were lost for a long time. Because of this and the fact that after he would kill monsters that we're living a double life he would make it so that all the properties, money, and items would belong to him he would  Have a very large, very confusing, and very unnecessary collection of many many things.

 In his later years (AKA whenever he actually settled down and stop doing all this) he would give some property, some money, Etc to half-bloods who are trying to live a normal life. He wouldn't lie to them he would tell exactly what happened on the property or what happened to the objects but normally it would be enough for them to start a life. At this time though he would normally just let the objects sit and collect dust. he rents out a few of the properties and houses to people who need a place to stay for very low rent and he does use some of the places.

One of the places that he uses is a very cluttered old house that he refers to as simply the cursed place. This place is very full of cursed items and he uses it to contain all of them, he has a Enchanted table of sorts that he uses to bring in cursed objects and take them away from Everyday People therefore stopping problems before they start. He doesn't often stay there but it's full of possessed objects as well so he has plenty of reasons to be the one to keep all of them. Whenever a person wants a cursed object or a possessed object they have to fully explain why and what they're going to do with it to Nico before he even considers giving them the Items. A lot of the time people would come in and be very confused by the extremely cluttered house and would be asked questions in the living room before they go to the specific place where the object is. Here he gives directions such as don't touch it with bare skin, don't be left alone with it etcetera. But if you don't return the item when you say you will without a proper reason he will hunt you down and forcibly take it from you though everyone knows not to disobey his rules after what's happened to the last ones.

Because of this he gets calls in the middle of meetings or when he's talking with people that sound frantic to people in the room with him but Nico is very passive and calm during the whole thing because he's used to it by now. As they start to spend more time with him they become more wary of this and end up asking him straight forward what all this means and why he keeps getting these calls to which he explains without even hesitating the whole situation. I forgot to state that "they" are the 7 +

Whenever it comes to connections this makes it so no matter where they are or what mission they are doing Nico and the 7 plus very likely to run into one of his friends who call him a different name every single time which has started to become a betting game between the 7 plus to see who can and guess what the next name is going to be.

No Hunters at all know that Nico is a Half-Blood or that half-bloods even exist, this means that they often get in confusing situations when they're hunting with Nico. Well they expect that he isn't fully human they have no clue that he is truly that powerful and he could tell what their intentions were the second he gave them a drink the first time you met them and accidentally grazed their hands. By this I mean he learned to take a peek into their past to see how they got into haunting since it is most often a death or a family business as this happens he also looks to see how they have responded to the grief if they were were the type that got into it by losing a loved one to monsters. Surprisingly this can tell a lot about a person's reasoning behind what they do. If he has more time, if he's shaking their hands there's more time than if he accidentally grazes the person's hand he will look into past cases to see more about the person. At first he felt bad doing this but over time he learned how important it was to know a person's true intentions before agreeing to work with them

This is one of the many many many reasons he doesn't like touching people because there is a chance that he will accidentally look into they're past and he doesn't feel comfortable doing that unless necessary. 

As he met more people he gained more and more information that he shouldn't know at such a young age such as how to dismantle a gun how to clean one and how to tell the difference between them using bullet holes. He also gained a lot of knowledge on how to be on the Run though he who has been too smart to make it traceable so as he is 15 it's only just being placed together that there is a possibility that these cases are attached, it takes 4 plus years to say for certain that they are connected and they never find the true culprit both this very very large serial killer. He does learn and embrace the not so legal ways of making money that Hunters are famed for being perfect at. He does take a different route then credit card theft though. For the most part the most illegal part of how he makes money is that hes way under the legal age for getting jobs, let alone at places like casinos which is where he mainly worked. His shadow traveling made it so he was a master at sleight of hand making it so he was a never losing card player though he barely had to cheat as he was simply very good at the card games themselves anyway. He learned very quickly how to find tells and how to use the fact that he was in fact a tiny to his advantage by making it so he was underestimated by people in the casino. He was also very good at picking out the people who are the most addicted to gambling but the ones that are also very high up in scales so they would have enough money to lose and they always lost. It was not the most legal Casino which is how he ended up getting a job there simply because there was so much crime going on already what was a little bit more and he was also a very promising worker considering that he already knew exactly how to play the most famous games that they had there.

He was very often treated as a Cryptid even by hunters and as a person that you only contact under very dire circumstances and its said he will keep up his end of the bargain as long as you keep up yours and if you don't then things will go bad very quickly. But whenever he started going back to school things became a little weirder. When he first started going back to the school that he might as well have been kidnapped from, people were excited to see him but could tell that he change. Before and he had left him and his sister basically ran the entire School. It wasn't as much of a dictatorship and more like a they have the power here you do what they say and follow their rules. Their rules were more along the lines of if we see you bullying someone else then you will disappear and if you are pushing someone that is too weak to fight back then Nico will fight you. It was never really questioned that much after the first couple weeks of it since it wasn't a very sudden thing. As all this went down it wasn't surprising that they were shown the most respected people in all of the school. This was at a point where the principal who had been slowly getting worse and worse to the students over time suddenly disappeared they didn't question it and simply turned towards the siblings. By the time Nico started going to school again the school had gone downhill without any of the enforcers there. Almost immediately when he returned those who had been there the same time as he did started to immediately get back into what they were doing before but not that many of those people were left after so many years. As he slowly forced people back into the way they were before they had to readjust to him, this time they stop treating him as a normal person and treated him as if he was a Cryptid, just not in the same way as the hunters. Their way was leaving small objects, getting out of his way when he walked around campus, and coming to make “deals” with him. The deals were often simple things such as tell me what blah blah blah is saying behind my back and in return they would give him small valuable items such as jewelry or other items that are valuable in different ways such as vintage books and important items on a Sentimental level. The more expensive ones would be the ones where he specifically had to jump in instead of Simply listening into some things going on. This could be talking to a specific person or standing up against a person who was being rude to the buyer. These things would often be paid for in more expensive items or more important stuff then the smaller jobs. There is only one case of a person giving him fake items, and let's just say there is a reason no one even tries to do that anymore. If he understands where you're coming from, respects it, but is unable to do it he will return the thing you paid him with and speak (which is a very rare thing from him) and explain the situation. He lives in the same dorm he did back then but now there is a mailbox nailed into his door that he empties out every day to find small objects like I said before. These can be scraps of cloth, bones, jewelry, food, money, or any such items. When Will transfers to this school he is immediately caught off guard by how Nico was treated but as he explained to him what goes on to be treated this way, will understands. If he sees bullying he responds the same way he did as a child and the person either will not be seen, will not be seen for a short amount of time before returning, or he will simply fight them then and there and they always lose. To school over time becomes a kind of sanctuary for Half-Blood kids as he makes it sure that the teachers are very trauma-informed and know how to treat kids with ADHD Etc. He also makes it so that it's very obvious to tell what is an accident and what was on purpose considering how even the teachers know what's going on with Nico and his Cryptidness. I know that this seems like a long shot, the school part of this au-ish thing, but I think it's a very interesting thing to imagine And a not very common a way you can make a character be treated and still stay in character.

Thats all thank you for reading!

[alextriestowritestuff]

House of Hades Read With Me

Hey everyone, I’m back with an update. If you haven’t been following this thread, I’ve been reading the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan. I read the first three books in this series back in 2012 and never finished. If you want to know my background with the PJO series and my thoughts on the Son of Neptune (I started my re-read with that book because Lost Hero is trash imo), you can find that here. My thoughts on Mark of Athena is here. So let’s get into the House of Hades 50% update that will include spoilers so you’ve been warned. 

Okay so I’m going to use two images to convey my thoughts on this book so far:

Okay so let’s address the first image... um. I’m fucking terrified. I’m scared of Percy and I’m scared for him and Annabeth (She told him that she loves him ahhhhhh, I need him to say it back tho). My past read with me’s have been pretty harsh on the HoO series so far but I really like this book so far. Dear gods, please let the other half of the book be good! Rick you’re doing amazing sweetie (kind of-we’ll get into it). So far, I’ve cried at Percy and Annabeth thinking about each other and how tired and hungry they are. And when Percy and Annabeth were surrounded by Kelli and the other empousai and I really thought it was done for them (I know they don’t die but the fear I felt was real) then Bob came in and saved them. And when Percy was surrounded by the Arai and Annabeth was temporarily blinded by a curse. Like he literally says, if I’m going to die, I’m not going to let them hurt Annabeth and he went out fighting (out meaning unconscious in this case) ughh my heart. It was torn out of my chest!! 

Brief pause because the Arai said that Calypso cursed Annabeth because Percy left her and I just can’t really emotionally deal with that fact because Battle of Labyrinth is my favorite PJO book BECAUSE of Calypso’s appearance. I’ve held a torch for that girl to find happiness for years and to think she cursed Annabeth (Obvi she didn’t know it’d actually affect Annabeth years later), that shit kills me. But I remember thinking in the Last Olympian why Percy didn’t ask for some sort of amnesty for Calypso when he was telling the gods to claim their kids, etc. So I’m glad he realizes he f-ed up there but ugh why Calypso?? It’s okay, I know that her and Leo get together so she’ll be happy eventually. I just have to wait. 

But let’s also talk about the fact that I’m starting to feel bad for monsters? Annabeth and Percy have been reflecting on what it’s like to be sent to Tartarus by a demigod and slowly reforming. And all the curses the Arai gave Percy were manifestations of how he killed those monsters so he felt their deaths which seeing him in pain, put me in pain. Like Rick don’t do this to me. I don’t want to feel bad for monsters but I do. I’m curious to see how this experience will change Percy and Annabeth’s willingness to kill monsters in the future. I really like this presentation of the monster’s perspective, I think it’s very interesting. In relation, I’ve noticed HoO is a lot darker in theme (even before this book) just by the way they phrase things. Like the demigods will say ‘kill monsters’ or ‘kill’ very easily compared to PJO where I felt that death was sugar coated because it was a middle grade genre. Most deaths were off screen (off page?) like Beckendorf’s. Or not very grim. And this series is much more in your face about it, especially in House of Hades. It was hard to get used to at first but I think it shows maturity, it’s well within the realm of YA to kill off characters and explicitly say so it’s just strange going from PJO to this imo. 

Moving onto the next image, the slowly being seduced one. AHAHA Um can someone tell me why I was briefly seduced by Frank and Percy?? So Percy, I’m always seduced by, that’s not new. But him being scary makes him 100x more attractive. Like imagine if Percy had been on the titan’s side? The gods wouldn’t have had a chance. Here’s some quotes:

(This is after Percy kills Arachne, on pg 6) Percy kicked the dust on the rocks, his expression grim and dissatisfied. “She died too easily, considering how much torture she put you through. She deserved worse.” Annabeth couldn’t argue with that, but the hard edge in Percy’s voice made her unsettled. She’d never seen someone get so angry or vengeful on her behalf. It almost made her glad Arachne had died quickly. “How did you move so fast?”

Then when Percy convinces Bob to kill the reforming Hyperion, Annabeth thinks this: 

How was he keeping his cool? The way he talked to Bob left Annabeth awestruck…and maybe a little uneasy, too. If Percy had been serious about leaving the choice to Bob, then she didn’t like how much he trusted the Titan. If he’d been manipulating Bob into making that choice…well, then, Annabeth was stunned that Percy could be so calculating.

He met her eyes, but she couldn’t read his expression. That bothered her too (22). 

Like what?!?! Please come pick me up, Uncle Rick. I’m scared. What’s happening to Percy?? I need them to get out of there STAT! I have no theories as to why he’s acting like this (maybe it’s the energy of Tartarus) but I’m excited to see where it goes. But Scary Percy is also right up my alley so ugh, I’m conflicted. 

So next, Frank. Rick did something hella problematic here but before I get into that, here’s the line where I was slowly being seduced by him:  

Frank was faster. He lunged at Trip and slammed him into the wall, his fingers locked around the god’s throat.

“Think about your next words,” Frank warned, deadly calm. “Or instead of beating my sword into a plowshare, I will beat it into your head” (19). 

Like ngl, that choke thoo?? I’ve never been attracted to Frank but my god, the dangerous tone, the threat. I had to put my hair up and get a cold glass of water when I read that. Frank was the last person I thought would do something like this but I am not mad at all. Very Ares of him.

What I am mad about, however, is the fact that after this scene, Frank (or it’s Hazel that notices) notices that he’s becoming taller and better built. Because Mars/Ares gave him a little ‘grow spurt’. Now let me say this: I’m not one of those people who think that everything problematic was meant to be intentionally offensive/stereotyping/harmful. I know that Rick has had his fair share of controversies ever since he’s been incorporating diverse characters. That comes with the territory of writing marginalized character-I’m black and I still have watch myself in how I portray black characters. He has do the research and I don’t he did it. Sorry. 

And I’m sure I haven’t even caught half of the problematic things brought up in HoO (there’s times where Hazel’s hair or skin is described as cinnamon, like food when other non black characters don’t get that kind of description. Also the fact that her name is Hazel like Hazelnut has always bothered me but I digress). Back to Frank’s growth spurt. Prior to that, other characters have described him as a bit on the chubbier side, baby faced, ‘big guy’ (that bothers me tho but that might be an internalized societal mentality that any word like fat or big = bad. And that’s not always true but I personally don’t feel comfortable calling someone that), etc. And he’s of Asian (spec. Chinese) descent. For what it’s worth, I’m not Asian so this may be out of lane to talk about but from my personal life experiences, Asians tend to be on the smaller end of the scale when it comes to size. I am 5″7 ish, size 6 and I would be considered overweight in mainstream Asian stores but in Western stores, I’ve never had an issue fitting in something or finding my size. I also tend to have a lot of options fashion wise. I have an Asian friend (Lmao I feel like one of those yt people who are like I have a black friend so I can say this and that. sorry I’m trying to get a point across) and she is plus sized. She doesn’t fit into the straight sizes in America so by Asian standards, she’s considered anywhere from moderately to morbidly obese. And she faces a lot of judgement from her Asian relatives because of it in addition to the fatphobia that has infiltrated American society as well. 

My friend doesn’t see a lot of representation for Asians her size. If she does she sees Asians that isn’t as thin and small, it’s people with my size who are considered thin by Western standards but ‘big’ by Asian sizing. My problem with having Frank be given a growth ‘spurt’ is that it’s erasing that plus sized Asian representation. This wouldn’t have been a good thing to do to ANY character that was plus sized but do you see where it’s even more problematic to do because of his Asian ancestry? It would’ve been fine if at the end of the series, he got hella fit and happens to be more in shape because of all the fighting he’s done but to be given that growth spurt implies that there was something wrong with his size in the first place. And so far, the other demigods have been taking him more seriously (Frank notes that Leo has stopped teasing him as much) which is kind of thin privilege esque to me. Frank may not be my favorite character but he deserved respect, no matter his size. I think this growth spurt aspect was hella problematic and Rick shouldn’t have done it. It was also unnecessary as hell. He looked fine before and could do everything the other (thinner) demigods could do just as well.

This is getting long so let me get to my last couple of points: Nico and the many, unnecessary POVs.

As y’all know by now, I think Nico deserves rights. He deserves friends and place to call home where he belongs. Both Frank and Jason didn’t want to be alone with Nico because they thought he was creepy and I can see where this is a set up to eventually have him fit in but damn, he’s just a kid. Be nice to my son. I feel like one of those mom’s who just wants their kid to make a friend at school. Will Solace as his love interest please come sooner. Again, I’ve been spoiled to this. I’m interested to see how this pans out and if this relationship will be a kind of aside mention like the fact that Grover and Juniper are dating or will it be given the same focus as opposite sex couples like Percabeth and Jasper. And I already knew Nico liked Percy but I didn’t expect it to come out in the way it had. It makes his relationship with Percy make a lot more sense. And I see how Nico could view him in that sense after Percy saved him and Bianca in Titan’s Curse and how he was like the real life version of his Mythomagic games (also I totally forgot he played that, he’s not that excited little boy anymore ugh, his innocence left ever since Bianca died). Overall, I think Nico being gay was handled well-Jason’s reaction was very straight but supportive so he gets a pass there. My point is Nico deserves the world. That’s all. 

The POVs. Again, I don’t know if people who aren’t writers would have an issue with the POVs in this series but I do. So far, we’ve had Hazel, Leo, Frank, Annabeth, Percy, and Jason narrate. I said this before, Rick needs to stick to 3 or 4 POVs because this shit don’t make sense. Annabeth and Percy are in the same setting together, they can’t even go on side quests because they’re in Tartarus so like why do we need both of them to narrate?? If they separate at some point, maybe. Don’t get me wrong, I love their narration but it’s jarring as hell to keep bouncing from POV to POV. I also saw somewhere that they don’t get a narration POV in Blood of Olympus in which case, I sure as hell don’t want to be reading the POV in the HoO characters who I don’t really jive with except Leo. So Hazel is going to be important to the Mist thing whatever, it makes sense she gets a POV (and she hasn’t had one since tSoN/same with Jason but the Lost Hero instead) but Frank and Leo? And I really thought since it’s 5 demigods (Percabeth in Tartarus) they’re going to be able to do side quests with all 5 of them that we didn’t need so many POVs but guess I was wrong. Idk it’s driving me insane, Rick should’ve done third person omniscient (Think Harry Potter and it can still follow different people like Percabeth in Tartarus). 

Damn, if this is how much I have to say about the first half of HoH, I’m really excited to get back to reading the last half. I’m HELLA looking forward to have Reyna join the quest temporarily (where I left off, she is on her way to the 5 demigods). I want the Piper/Reyna/Jason thing to be resolved (a lil drama would be nice) so Piper can stop being annoying and insecure. I want to know who Coach Hedge has been talking to and is he a good guy? Oh and another thing that’s been bothering me is Gale, Hecate’s polecat? It just farts all the time. And I have to remember I’m 20 and this books isn’t targeted to me so juvenile humor isn’t funny to me anymore but it’s just kind of gross and unnecessary?? 

Anyway, I’m going to have to start a new post for the last half of my HoH read with me because this thing is long. But you guys, I am invested into this book. It is on par with my love for PJO books so far. I could give this book a 4.5 stars (despite some faults) if it keeps going this way. Thanks for reading! 

[fatedsong]

Heroes of Olympus Ending

I wanted to write my thoughts and impressions of the last part of the series before I start Apollo Trials. I don’t really have much complains, just things I would had liked to be included or things I think could had been developed better, a few things did bother me, but I do have a lot and more things I liked. In general I am pleased with the ending, but on some parts it felt unsatisfying. It did feel a bit felt a bit weak for the ending, it was alright, but it could had been so much more. It also felt odd that for the last book it was the shortest. I would had thought it would have more pages.

I think I have a lot to say about Percy and Annabeth and I might have an obvious bias, but they deserved so much more and it would had been so satisfying had they at least had the narrator's voice once. Also a few things on how everything tied up for everyone at the end.

- Percy & Annabeth POV post Tartarus. I mean in the first place I believe the last book would had felt more satisfying if Percy or Annabeth had gotten the narrator voice at least once. The two characters who started the journey don’t get at least one word makes the book feel incomplete. Percy and Annabeth went to literally hell for days with only each other. They were exhausted, terrified, injured, in pain, weak, but they still had to keep moving thought a place designed to kill them in every way possible. They kept getting close calls with death, when Percy got poisoned, Annabeth went blind, the river making them lose hope and almost drowning, wounds that didn’t heal, just out of pure starvation and having to drink pure fire to survive. Without Bob the Titan and Damasen they would had died. They just went through so many painful experiences every few minutes and we saw glimpses of the worst in them. They didn’t have just to fight the monsters, but the darkness within them. We literally saw glimpses of Percy’s darker personality and his capacity of how cruel and merciless Percy could be. Percy was so angry with Arachne on behalf on Annabeth, that in that moment Annabeth was glad Arachne had a quick death. When Annabeth realized how calculative and manipulative Percy could be if he wanted to and it left her unsettled. Then finally when Percy started choking Akhlys with her own poison even mentioning how he wanted to see how much the misery the goddess of misery could take, the only reason he regained his senses was because he noticed how scared Annabeth was of him. Finally meeting Tartaros and knowing they had no chances of ever defeating him, the hopelessness they felt for the first time in their lives. Percy even dropped his sword because of how terrified he was and later on Annabeth mentioned to Piper how much it still affected her. Then lastly having to sacrifice Bob and Damasen to escape Tartarus. After such intense passage we don’t see how much it affected them. We could had seen the effects it had on both of them. They just went through the most traumatizing experience in their lives. Do Annabeth and Percy still have nightmares about Tartarus? Do they wake up paralyzed in fear? They did mention how every time they closed their eyes they could still see Tartarus. How is Annabeth dealing with seeing a different and more terrifying side of Percy? Did Percy and Annabeth ever talked about it? How is Percy dealing with his experience? When Percy went with Jason to fight Kymopoleia, Percy got poisoned and the whole time he thought he deserved it for what he did to Akhlys. Percy felt guilty about how good he actually felt when he was torturing Akhlys and how he terrified Annabeth because of it. In Tartarus Percy realized how much he can lose control in pure rage and now the possibility of  losing control over himself scares him. Lastly how much Tartarus changed the relationship between Percy and Annabeth, it became so intense in comparison to the PJ series, that their biggest fear was being without each other. First Percy and Annabeth were separated for eight months and Annabeth was miserable and worried sick about him and as  for Percy he was walking on pure hope he would see Annabeth again because he was the only person he remembered. Their need to be with each other had gotten so intense and being thrown to Tartarus escalated the feeling because they were close to losing each other over and over again. When they finally come back from Tartarus how much anxiety they had over being apart from each other again the first few days. Percy didn’t even want to let Annabeth go with Jason and Piper to investigate and asked Jason to keep an eye on her. I know we didn’t see much of it, but it must have made him nervous because it was the first time separated from her since Tartarus. Then once again when Piper tells him about her vision that she and Annabeth had to go underground again, Percy protested and accidentally, out of his pure feelings, exploded all the plumbing. We could had seen their separation anxiety. There was so much we could had seen.

Also this is just personal, but Annabeth finally visited Athens she had dreamt of the whole time and it would had been nice getting her point of view on that. Lastly it was the first time Percy said “I love you” to Annabeth, after 10 books and they made out and it would had been so satisfying to my heart to had seen it from their own point of view.

-Percy & Annabeth and New Rome. I think it makes sense why Percy would think that far into the future, their lives as demigods places them in danger all the time, their future is never certain and from the moment he found out he was Poseidon’s son he had been in so much more danger even more than other demigods. Percy was constantly at the mercy of his destiny of having to fight over and over just to survive and protect the people he cared about. Percy was in constant stress about it, especially knowing he had the responsibility of the world upon him with the prophecy and not even knowing if he would live. Percy is just done with everything and all he would want is a peaceful future with his family, friends and Annabeth, but he had never gotten the luxury or even the option for it. The way his life has been would make him think more seriously about his future than possibly mortal 17 year olds. So when Percy sees New Rome he finds out there are older demigods, living a full life, going to college, having a family, being happy, he sees a future he could have with Annabeth and that gives him hope. My thing is that I wouldn’t be so sure if they would go study at New Rome. It feels uncharacteristic for both of them because Percy would want to stay close to his mother and Half-Blood has always been their home, so I’m not sure how I feel about them leaving to New Rome. Not to mention Percy loves New York. If they did I can only  imagine for college I can’t really see them completely settling there to live forever. 

-Percy & Annabeth Blood. It kinda bugged me in the whole series Gaea kept changing what blood she wanted to wake up with and then eventually deciding on Percy and Annabeth, but it wasn’t really specified why and I wanted to know. If it was because they were the ones who defeated Kronos and saved Olympus and then if she woke up they would had been responsible later for its downfall. If it was because it would had been ironic that in the place Poseidon and Athena’s rivalry started, their children who are lovers and made peace with each other, considering the whole world knows they are a thing, would die and sealed the world's fate. It’s already ironic that Poseidon and Athena’s child are dating in the first place.

-Percy’s Fatal Flaw. This is one of the things that kinda bothered me the most. The first time it was mentioned it was back in the Percy Jackson books from Athena she mention his fatal flaw was his personal loyalty and that it could be deadly. Kronos constantly used his inability to ever abandon his friends against him. Percy does struggle with it, but it wasn’t given that much attention in the PJ as they did on the Heroes of Olympus. It kept being mentioned by various people that Percy’s greatest flaw would cost him the world and put on the line their chances of defeating Gaea. It made it seem like a huge confrontation between Percy and his friends was coming. Rick Riordan made it seem like Percy, the original hero we all saw grow up, the one who saved everyone, this time was going to ruin everything. Even Jason mentioned he was worried that Percy would make it harder for them when the time came. Then Ares literally told Frank about Percy’s weakness and that he would had to make a decision Percy would not be able to make and depending on that was the success of defeating Gaea. So this was build up throughout the 5 books and then when the time came it was literally resolved in like two pages. Percy wanted to go with Jason and the rest to defeat Gaea and Jason just told him he had to stay and Frank just grabbed Percy’s arm and told him he couldn’t go because of the prophecy and that was it. It was resolved like in five sentences and it was kinda disappointing. 

-Percy’s Achilles Curse When Percy got the Achilles Curse in the Last Olympian, it was such a huge deal and sacrifice for Percy and then he just simply lost it by crossing the mini Tiber River. When Nico told him about it, Percy was afraid of the idea, he kept delaying the choice of going through it for a whole year. When Percy had to accept he couldn’t fight Kronos without the curse, he gained the courage to go through it because it was the only option. The curse made Percy invulnerable, but at the same time vulnerable. In an unlucky coincidence, a simple mistake with just getting hurt on his weak spot, he dies. We saw that when Annabeth got stabbed trying to protect him. Percy was this close of dying. Then he just kinda lost it in like this first few chapters of the Son of Neptune and it made a bit insignificant. I know it was because he would had been too overpowering in comparison to the rest of the seven and Rick Riordan wanted to put him on equal grounding with Jason, but it kinda bothered me such a big thing got sacrificed for it.

-Percy & Sally’s reunion. It was missing. I understand that Percy was busy with the whole quest, but Percy had been missing for eight months, imagine how Sally felt through it all. We know from the first book how much Sally loves Percy, to the point she would marry and stay with an abusive man for years just to protect Percy from monsters. It took and effort from Sally through the books to let go of Percy and accept he was a demigod and that he would always be in danger, but she had to let him walk his own path in life. Imagine Percy coming home every summer with more stories of his quests of how he almost died, seeing him go through more painful experiences every time and having no choice but to step back and let him make his choices. Not to mention knowing Percy had the duty to defeat the strongest Titan of all time. The anxiety she felt and then finally relief when it was finally over, thinking at least Percy would have a more peaceful time, only to have her son missing for eight months and no one knowing where he was. In the Battle of The Labyrinth Percy was missing for two weeks and despite what they told her, Sally believed Percy was alive, now he was missing for eight months how much she tried to keep faith he would come back home. Sally would meet every week with Annabeth just to cry and give each other hope Percy was safe and  that they would find him. As soon as Percy got his memories back he did left her a message, but such a loving relationship between them needed a reunion.

-Percy & Groover reunion. Groover has been searching for Percy for months now without no luck. No matter how many people Percy meets Groover has always been Percy’s best friend and they share such a strong bond. How difficult it was for Groover knowing he had an empathy link with Percy and had the best chances of finding him, only to being unable to for months. It would had been nice for Groover to have more appearances. Honestly we needed at least a few sentences between them.

-Percy & Poseidon reunion. What exactly did Poseidon do in the whole series? From all of the important gods he was just kinda there. At least from what I remember he didn’t even play a big part in the quest. Then when he finally saw Percy there wasn’t like even “Hey son! Glad you got your memories back. How you been? What’s up? Sorry for going MIA for more than eight months lmao” It would had been so great at least get something.

-Percy & Blackjack. Did Percy ever find out Blackjack was injured? The last time they met Blackjack had to knock him out unconscious. This friendship is so underrated. Percy literally mentioned Blackjack is his pegasis and even got annoyed when Rachel took him and said that was his pegasis and no one takes his pegasis. I would had liked to know his reaction and fate.

-Percy & Half-Blood. It would had been so great to see Percy finally going home, reuniting with his friends, with Chiron who has always been his mentor. Percy has been away from everything he knows for months, having no memories and meeting new people every time. The only person he originally knew the whole book was Annabeth. When Percy regained his memories he missed Half-Blood,so I would had loved Percy POV when he finally goes home, seeing the place he loves, finally familiar faces after so long. Also the campers reaction to Percy, we all know they love Percy, they have been growing up with him, although they are all independent fighters Percy has always been their guide and leader. It was with him that they went against the impossible war against Kronos, so imagine their relief of seeing Percy who has always been their backbone finally with them. It would had been great to see that.

-Percy & Calypso. Honestly it kinda bugged me it made it seem like Percy was at fault for Calypso still being stuck on the island. Like I mean Percy was probably the only hero in years who tried to free Calypso from the island and he requested to the gods to free her and made them swear it on the River of Styx which is their most sacred oath. How was Percy supposed to know the gods wouldn’t keep their promise? Percy could had go back and make sure the gods kept their promise, but it wasn’t his fault, although he did took the full responsibility for it like he does with everything. Literally four months had passed from the war against Kronos and Percy thought he could at least have a peaceful time with Annabeth and soon after he was switched with Jason and left without memories for eight months. Maybe he would had eventually remembered with time, but he was literally in cloud nine. I just find it unfair the narrative made it seem like Percy was completely at fault. Not to mention Calypso kinda cursed Annabeth which she must have made unknowingly it was going to actually hurt Annabeth.

-Percy & Jason. I didn’t have an issue with their rivalry and I think they both felt more assured they had found someone who was more equal to in terms of physical power and leadership. They understood each other in that sense and how hard it is to try to do everything by themselves and wanting to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders. The only thing was that I would had loved a badass scene between them, Nico/Hazel and Thalia in the battlefield, like the kids of the big three would had been awesome.

-Annabeth & Athena. I mean they literally had such a bad fallout that you wouldn’t expect from them. Their relationship got very strained and there wasn’t any words or resolution between them at the end. Annabeth was still angry and resentful over her her mother sending her to a find the Mark of Athena. Not to mention Athena basically told her how disappointed she was of her and that if Percy sided with the Romans he deserved to die. Athena has never shied away over her disapproval  of her relationship with Percy. Annabeth asking for her help and hearing such words after Annabeth doing everything she can to find Percy definitely hurt her. Annabeth has always been so prideful of being Athena’s child, she adores her mother, respects her and would do anything to please her, but seeing her act so angry at her, confused on who she was, forced a quest on her, hearing how despite everything she has done was disappointed on her, wouldn’t help her with Percy, the one deeply disappointed and hurt was Annabeth. This literally broke her pure adoration for Athena. Not that she wouldn’t go against Athena if she needed to, but in general they did have a good relationship until this moment. Then when facing Arachne she even began to doubt Athena had won the contest and that there was a possibility Athena had unfairly cursed Arachne out of pride. So this problem wasn’t even addressed at the end and I think it needed to. 

-Nico’s crush on Percy. I have always thought Percy was a special person for Nico, but I was pretty surprised when it was revealed he was in love with Percy. Their relationship had always been complicated. For Nico, Percy was the first person he trusted after Bianca and he felt betrayed when Bianca died, then he made it seem like he hated Percy, but it was just that he was hurt and resentful towards Bianca, although eventually they did made peace after Bianca explained to him what had happened and that it wasn’t Percy’s fault and Nico gave up on trying to revive her. Then I believe Nico kept trying to help Percy in his way, but would go at  it the wrong way and it didn’t really help when he tricked him into meeting Hades in exchange for information about his mother, leading to Hades locking Percy in a jail and trying to kill him. Percy who values loyalty above all had trouble regaining his trust with Nico, but he did not hate him because he still believed Nico had good in him. When it got revealed Nico had always had a crush on Percy the value of each scene he had with Percy over every book was much more meaningful to me. It made sense and I got a bigger understanding of Nico’s character. It made sense to me why Nico would like Percy. To him Percy was the personification of what he considered a hero, he admired him, he wanted to be with him, gain his favor, he was the closest person he had for a long time, but at the same time he hated that part of him, he couldn’t accept it and the secret suffocated him. I could see how his love for Percy was rooted on his admiration and why he would move on eventually. Honestly the chapter were Cupid exposed Nico’s love for Percy was too cruel, it made me cry, because no person should have to go through that. Nico was literally shaking and almost brought to tears when he had to admit out loud he had always loved Percy. The feeling of shame and embarrassment was transmitted to the reader.  We see how much Nico had always loved Percy, it was literally years, it was his biggest secret. I did notice that once it was revealed, Jason supporting him and not judging him for it, his love for Hazel and the time he spent with Reyna it did seem that it wasn’t just her healing her own heart, but also Nico as well. It did feel like he was letting go of Percy little by little through the quest. The thing is with Will, was that it kinda felt last minute, I don’t mind him ending up with Will at all, if anything it makes me happy he has someone who would help him heal and be by his side, but I would had liked a bit of more foreshadowing from earlier books. Like maybe Nico associating with will in the last PJ book. It just felt like after seeing how deeply Nico felt about Percy it felt kinda sudden that a love of so many years would quickly go away. I think we could see Nico’s attraction to Will, but at the same time still having more gentle and tame feelings for Percy, still there, but slowly starting to fade. That being said it just how I wish it had been, but I’m okay if this is how it ended.

-Leo’s Conclusion and Calypso. I love Leo. He became my favorite after Percy and Annabeth. He was just so relatable and his characterization made him feel so real. Leo’s trauma and insecurities being hidden with his sense of humor was relatable. The way way he coped with his stress, his hurting, his loneliness with always smiling and joking around, even when he didn’t feel happy was heartbreaking. The one who looked the most easy going kept hiding everything with a smile.The struggle he felt associating with his friends.I felt so bad when he mentioned how hard he worked on Argo II wishing and expecting that this would make him closer with everyone and be appreciated, that it would make a place for him. Then only to have the damn ghost use him and causing a war between Romans and Greeks. All he wanted was to have a place of belonging, but everything kept going wrong and was constantly told he would never find a place with his friends and would always feel left out. That being said Leo knowing all that he kept being loyal to them and would reject anything from Gaea. It was so courageous of him putting himself as the one who died to save his friends, not really knowing if the cure would revive him. My issue, more like what I think would had been better was that Leo’s fate to his friends would had been known. I think it would had given closure had Leo not been separated from his friends. Leo wanted to feel appreciated by his friends and it would had gone full circle if he had seen everyone’s feeling towards him and gain recognition for his actions because this was specifically Leo’s main problem. I would had wanted Leo been with his friends at the end, gain recognition like Nico, who also struggled and felt loneliness, feel like he finally have a place between them and then tell them he had somewhere to go and go on his journey to meet up with Calypso telling him he is late. Leo and Calypso being a thing was surprising to me as well as the 180 in her personality, although maybe she was just completely done with everything and it wouldn’t had mattered who it was, she would had gotten pissed either way. Having hopes of being freed only to be disappointed, constantly filled with heartbreaks, then being sent someone who didn’t physically look like a typical hero ,was probably insulting to Calypso, because now it felt like they were just sending anyone to her and she had to fall in love with them or they can’t leave. I don’t have much of an issue with Calypso because I felt Leo’s attraction with Hazel was more on the fact that she was probably the second girl he had deeply associated with besides Piper and she treated him with more respect than the girls he had met, not to mention her past with Sammy made them closer, but he wasn’t in love with her. So meeting Calypso and falling in love with her, because he spent time with her, wasn’t that bad. Sudden and surprising but not bad. My issue with Leo was just his conclusion.

- Jason Characterization. I really do like Jason, but he wasn’t really my most favorite of all the characters. I feel like for being Percy’s Camp Jupiter counterpart he had a bland characterization and was quickly overshadowed by other characters and their arcs. I just wish he was given a more complex narrative, not that he isn’t a complex character, but for some reason it was difficult to get into his character arc. In general though I do like him and I do think his story did a full circle when he accepted himself as both Greek and Roman as well as meeting Thalia and Zeus. Jason always felt like he was restricted and felt the pressure from being perfect and a leader, so when he learned his background, met his mother, Thalia and Zeus he became more rounded, he didn’t hesitate anymore.He became more of what he wanted to be. 

-Frank. I thought he did develop well gaining confidence, learning about his heritage which he dismissed before, understanding his mother’s choice on why she died and making up with his grandmother. The only thing was that Ares and Hera kinda made it seem like he would be the key to stopping Gaea and in the ending he didn’t do much, like he became praetor, but I thought his role with Gaea would had been different considering Gaea wanted to specifically kill him. Not to mention it seem like he was gonna have a throwdown with Percy with how Ares made it seem. So that was my only problem.

-Hazel. She was a sweetheart and her character development was good. I thought she was gonna die a lot of times, but I’m glad she didn’t. I thought it was and alright closure for her. Overcoming her guilt for almost waking Gaea, accepting her powers, dominating the mist, riding Arion, the conclusion with Sammy, making peace with her mother, she just gained so much confidence in so little time. Her story was good and I don’t really have complains about it.

-Piper. I don’t really have an issue with her characterization. I love her and her putting Gaea to sleep was iconic considering she felt the most useless of them all. I just felt it was great Piper had always been true to herself and although it took time to come to terms with her Cherokee side and being Aphrodite’s daughter she didn’t lose herself. Despite everything Piper was a key and a mediator in the group and did save them many times. Piper is such a compassionate character. I think her putting to sleep Gaea and gaining confidence, especially in her charmspeak, as well as her relationship with Jason ending with a true kiss was good and was a good conclusion.

-Reyna was a queen the whole time. She was great so I don’t have any issues with her characterization conclusion at all. I felt sad she took everything upon herself, she was as lonely as Nico, but she continued to act on what was right despite objection and acted like a true leader. I love her. I felt sad she felt like she needed Jason or Percy to heal her heart, she was so lonely, so when she began to do so herself I was moved.

I mean I loved the books I could make another post of what I loved about them. It had a good start, the characters are endearing, they had precious and iconic moments. I loved the relationship between characters. I just had a few problems with the ending, it’s alright I do like it, but I think it could had been more. 

[takaraphoenix]

Phoe’s Advent Calendar: Day 17

Closer and closer to presents-day with each post! This one, prompted by @sylviasnow89, I hope you like it. ^o^

Title: Advent Calendar Project – Lost at the Mall

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus

Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Rick Riordan for he created the awesomeness that is Nico di Angelo. And everything else related to Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus. Aside from the Gods, they belong to the old Greeks. This fanfiction and its OCs on the other hand are entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Warnings: shounen-ai, fluff, Christmas fluff

Main Pairing: Nico/Percy

Percy Jackson Characters: Perseus Jackson, Nico di Angelo, Piper McLean, Annabeth Chase

Summary: Percy got lost at the mall and finds himself at a pizza restaurant, waiting for his friends to find their way back. Nico's father runs a pizza restaurant.

Links: FFNet | AO3

Lost at the Mall

Percy frowned thoughtfully as he looked around the mall and walked slowly. Everything was beautifully decorated for the holiday season. He had gone here with his two best female friends Piper and Annabeth. Only that he had somehow lost them. Or they had probably lost him, he didn't really know. All he did know was that the mall was huge and the last time he had seen them, Annabeth had exclaimed something about a new book from one of her favorite authors, tugged on Piper's hand and gone they were. There were three bookstores in this mall and Percy kind of really didn't like bookstores too much so maybe it would be okay if he'd just let them do this on their own and he'd go and find them later on? After all, Annabeth could spend hours in bookstores. It was awful, at least for Percy and his attentionspan. So instead, he was just going to wander around a little, maybe use the chance to go and buy presents for Annabeth and Piper. It was a little hard to do Christmas shopping for someone while said someone was also there.

...Maybe he could do the shopping a little later, because the scent of delicious pizza filled his nose and there was just no getting back from pizza. Licking his lips greedily, Percy instantly changed directions and headed toward the booth that claimed Hades' Pizza Place – Where the pizza tastes divine. Percy grinned broadly at the dumb pun – he loved dumb puns.

"Ciao bello, welcome to Hades' Pizza Place. What can I get you?"

"You", blurted Percy out doe-eyed, staring at the handsome Italian behind the counter. "To go?"

Nico – as the name-tag claimed – laughed, a warm and pleasant sound. His dark eyes sparkled as he wiped his dark curls out of his forehead. Nico dragged his eyes up Percy's body slowly.

"I'm afraid I'm on the job and can only sell pizza", chuckled Nico. "Can settle for that?"

For now", frowned Percy, eyes wandering to the menu. "Oh. Mh. Yeah, I'll be fine settling for one of those bad boys. The prosciutto and peppers one, please."

"On it", replied Nico and got to work.

Once he got his pizza, Percy sat down at a table with the perfect view on the counter and ate what he considered the best pizza he had ever eaten before. He watched Nico interact with customers for a while and then Percy returned his attention to the gifts he had already bought. He started sorting them, checking who he had covered and who was still missing. Grover was easy – Percy, Annabeth and Piper had pitched together to donate to the rain forest in their name, knowing that was what would make Grover and his fiance Juniper the happiest.

"Christmas shopping?", asked the pleasantly accented voice from earlier.

Percy looked up and watched how Nico slipped into the seat opposite him. "I... yes. Uhm...?"

"I'm on my break", grinned Nico. "And you're cute. Did you seriously hit on me or was it just a reflex and you talk to the guy behind the counter like that all the time?"

"You are gorgeous. I was so serious, though I did not mean to blurt it out like that", grinned Percy.

"So, what's your name, pretty?", asked Nico curiously, arms crossed on the table.

"Percy", replied Percy with a pleased smile. "But please continue calling me 'pretty'. I like it."

Nico laughed at that, eyes sparkling. "You're cute. So, big family...?"

He motioned at the heap of presents. "Lots of friends who count as family to me. Though I got my parents, stepfather, half-brother Tyson on one side of the family and half-brother Triton on the other side. I just... really like making the people I love happy, you know?"

"That's... sweet", smiled Nico softly.

"You? Big family?", asked Percy curiously.

"Not big. Papà, mamma, two sisters", replied Nico. "All running the family business."

"And what's with the pun? Not that I don't love it, but wouldn't like... Hestia be a better call, or Roma?", inquired Percy, tilting his head like a curious kitten.

Nico smiled at the adorable look. "My father's name is Hades. Yes. Really."

"Ouch", laughed Percy. "Well, you can be glad that he didn't continue the naming tradition."

"True enough", hummed Nico, a content half-smile on his face. "Are you all done with shopping?"

"I'm afraid not", sighed Percy. "I'm here with two of my friends and we're barely through half our list. But I kind of... got lost. I have a short attentionspan. Tend to get distracted."

"Lucky me that you got distracted then", smiled Nico with warm eyes. "Because I got to find you."

"So. Since you're currently working and I can't take you out... When are you not working?", asked Percy boldly and leaned forward some. "Because I think I should go and try to find my friends."

The smile on Nico's lips was way too pleased and way too endearing. He grabbed a pen from his apron and scribbled a number down on the napkin before pushing it toward Percy.

"How about you just text me when you got time and we'll... find a time and day?", suggested Nico.

"That sounds nice", grinned Percy pleased as he got up. "It was nice talking to you, Nico."

"Likewise, pretty", replied Nico with a wink.

"Perseus Jackson! How dare you just slip out from us to eat pizza!"

Nico jumped slightly and blinked as he turned toward the angry blonde who came storming toward them like a Fury. Next to the blonde was a gorgeous native American girl, looking at Percy in amusement. Percy's friends, Nico concluded. Though... Perseus?

"Perseus?", echoed Nico, turning to Percy.

"Ye—eah. As I said, you can be glad your father didn't continue the naming-tradition", drawled Percy with a deadpan. "My parents thought they were being 'cute'. It was not cute."

"Percy, you can't just up and disappear in a crowd like that."

"Pipes, I didn't disappear. You did", countered Percy with a pout. "I was looking at something blue and shiny in a window and the next moment, you were both gone."

"Blue and shi... You are such a cat, Jackson", grunted Piper amused.

"Meow", grinned Percy broadly. "Oh, but I totally found something you can get me for Christmas!"

"And what might that be?", sighed Annabeth exhausted.

"Well. I want to say the blue shiny thing I saw in the window, but then I found this one and I think he'd look really good in a blue bow", mused Percy, looking at Nico.

Nico sputtered at that, staring at the boy in surprised. "You are... something else."

"Ye—eah. Get used to it", nodded Piper gravely, patting Nico's back.

"Anyway. Can we continue this trip now? I have my stepbrothers to shop for", sighed Annabeth.

"Su—ure. See you later, gorgeous", grinned Percy, winking at Nico as they left.

~*~ The End ~*~

[christhebish]

Pick your top ten ships without looking at the questions…

1. Solangelo (Nico/Will, PJO)

2. Destiel (Dean/Castiel, SPN)

3. Malec (Magnus/Alec, Shadowhunters)

4. Eremin (Eren/Armin, SnK/AOT)

5. Romione (Ron/Hermione, HP)

6. Deamus (Dean/Seamus, HP)

7. Fierrochase (Alex/Magnus, MCGA)

8. Spideypool (Spiderman/Deadpool, Marvel)

9. Valgrace (Leo/Jason, PJO)

10. Theyna (Thalia/Reyna, PJO)

1.    Do you remember the episode/scene/chapter that you first started shipping 6? I actually started shipping these two way after my first read through the series,, mostly because I was very young when I did so. Only at my fourth or so reread, when I already was deep into the whole fandom stuff, I noticed how in love they are. But if you go after this, it was the third book.

2.    Have you ever read a FanFiction about 2? Have you read my .url? I’ve read more than I can count.

3.    Has a picture of 4 ever been your screen saver/profile picture/tumblr avatar? Yes, it has been my phone background for quite a while.

4.    If 7 were to suddenly break up today, what would your reaction be? I’d probably sit in a corner and cry for a while. Then I’d remind myself that they’re just angsty teenagers, and that they have literary the eternity to figure out they do in fact still love each other.  

5.    Why is 1 so important? a) It was the first canon gay relationship I came across in media. b) Nico was my favorite character way before Will showed up, and it just makes me so happy that he is happy.

6.    Is 9 a funny ship or a serious ship? For me it’s pretty serious actually, but sadly there’s way not enough content of it out there on the internetz, and most of it is in a funny style. Apparently no one craves the angst that leos death inflicted as much as me.

7.    Out of all of your ships listed, which ship has the most chemistry? I’d probably say Spideypool. I’m just a hoe for this constant bickering and all the sexual tension. These two characters go so good together because theoretically they shouldn’t go together at all. And that’s what makes it so interesting.

8.    Out of all of the ships, which ship has the strongest bond? Romione and Deamus, definitely. Both couples went through so much together and also grew up as friends. They’re just years in front of everyone.

9.    How many times have you read/watched 10’s fandom? I’ve read the Heroes of Olympus series 7 times.

10.  Which ship has lasted the longest? Romione, since it was my second big ship (the first being James and Dana from Top Secret)

11.  How many times, if ever, has 6 broken up? Never, and they will stay together forever.

12.  If the world was suddenly thrust into a zombie apocalypse, which ship would make it out alive, 2 or 8? That’s hard bc both ships got a practically immortal being in them. But if it comes hard on hard I’d say Destiel, because Cas is still an angel after all.

13.  Did 7 ever have to hide their relationship for any reason? I don’t think so. I think the most accepting friends are still the gay hobo adoptive parents.

14.  Is 4 still together? Of Course they are. Not even the inevitable death that comes with being a titan-shifter will separate them.

15.  Is 10 canon? You’ve gotta ask uncle Rick for that one. In  my eyes, yes. Maybe in later books, if Thalia is willing to give up her life with the hunters like the two lovely ladies from the new toa book.

16.  If all ten ships were put into a couple’s Hunger Games, which couple would win? Once again I have to put my money on Dean and Cas because, ya know, Angel and stuff, as well as Deans mad fighting skills. Although I think Malec would have a pretty good chance aswell.

17.  Has anybody ever tried to sabotage 5’s ship? Well, Lavender Brown and Victor Krum tried, but thank god they didn’t succeed.

18.  Which ship would you defend to the death and beyond? Valgrace and Deamus. I just wish my poor gay babies would be appreciated more. Also, the angst. Don’t you dare downgrade them.

19.  Do you spend hours a day going through 3’s tumblr page? Yes, I do. And I’m proud of it.

20.  If an evil witch descended from the sky and told you that you had to pick one of the ten ships to break up forever or else she’d break them all up forever, which ship would you sink? Gods, my heart. But since the writers already do that enough, it won’t make that big of an impact on Destiel anyways. I’m sorry guys.

[graciepiefinale]

The minute I read the first line of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, I was hooked… Because who doesn’t want to be a demigod? Admittedly, I was introduced to Percy Jackson through the first film (starring Logan Lerman), and I fell in love there and then… Little did I know that the books would be so much more and pretty much take me into a world that I return to it almost as often as I return to Harry Potter.

As I said, I was late to party when it came to reading Percy Jackson, the entire series had been out for a while and a second movie was being made. Now fans of the books are not necessarily fans of the movies. The movies changed the storyline too much to be forgiven by the fans of the books, in fact, don’t even mention the movies to them unless you wish to be given a death stare worthy of Medusa. But I think, what has been agreed upon in the fandom, that Logan Lerman was an excellent choice to play Percy Jackson…. even if they aged the character up a bit. I actually found (through my obsessive scrolling through Pinterest) that someone had found images of Logan when he was younger and compiled them in order of the ages that Percy should have been in the films.

Whilst the movies don’t do the books justice, the fans have answered the call. Just look up the fan art. My personal favourite (and a lot of others’ favourite as well) is an artist called Viria (follow the link to see more of her work). She has often be dubbed the unofficial official artist for the fandom, because of how well she seems to capture the characters, I have even been reduced to tears because of how perfect her work is.

Art by Viria, Percy Jackson

Where the films seemingly failed, the fans took up the call and produced some amazing art work – be it scenes from the story or just interpretations of the characters. Here are some more examples  (it is incredibly difficult to choose from the amazing art so be sure to look some others up yourself):

If we take a step back and look at the actual story and characters that Rick Riordan has produced, it is pretty easy to see why the fans are so dedicated and protective of the series. Percy Jackson really exemplifies the message that the Disney film Hercules produced: “For a true hero isn’t measured by the size of his strength, but by the strength of his heart.”

Percy’s fatal flaw, as we are constantly told, is that he is too loyal to his friends (and family). It’s his fatal flaw that we, as readers and fans, make us fall in love with him time and time again. That and his sass when he is speaking to the gods. I honestly could go on and on about Percy, but there is more to this series than the main protagonist. Because what is Percy without Annabeth or Grover or Luke? Each character that Rick introduces us to, teaches us a lesson (something I find lacking in a lot of YA/children’s novels).

Grover: a satyr. Grover introduces the readers the importance of nature, and why we need to take care of it. His journey to find Pan, and his witnessing of Pan’s death was one of the most heart-wrenching moments in the series, but its message was clear: it is not up to a god to save the earth, it is up to each and every one of us.

Luke:  a fallen hero. Talk about a redeeming character. Luke was a reminder about how bitterness can turn into something ugly if you cannot learn to get passed it. Luke almost destroyed the world because he hated his father… But it was his family (Annabeth) who brought him back to the light… He proves that a hero isn’t someone who has done great deeds, it is some who learnt from his mistakes and tried to make things right.

I had to add this, because it’s true. Sea of Monsters was not loved by the fans at all, but this moment almost made up for it

Nico: the adopted baby brother of the fandom. Nico represents the difficult task of accepting yourself. Nico is a child who is seemingly in the era. He grew up learning that being gay was wrong, something to be ashamed of. He seems to hate Percy with everything he has, but in truth he loves him so much that it hurts. He thinks people will turn away from him because of who he is, so he doesn’t let himself get close to anyone. Which is why Will Solace is so amazing, he doesn’t let Nico feel sorry for himself, he doesn’t let him lock himself again… (I know I fangirled so hard in Blood of Olympus)

Annabeth: what can I say about her that you don’t already know? She is Percy’s other half. She keeps him from making an complete idiot of himself (most of the time, it’s a difficult job okay?) Her relationship with Percy is the most cherished thing in the series (aside from Percy himself). It grows from her disliking him (seemingly) to them falling in love. They work well as a team and complete each other. It made perfect sense that the daughter of Athena and the son of Poseidon would fall in love, because of the feud between Athena and Poseidon. Their relationship helped heal the divide between the two gods. Percy learned from her, he became better because of her.

When new characters (Jason, Piper, Leo, Hazel and Frank) were introduced in Heroes of Olympus, it was difficult not to compare them to the original characters.

Jason: our new hero…. my first thought when I met Jason in The Lost Hero was he is no Percy. He is respectful, follows rules, is neat, polite and able to control his temper. But I loved him any way. He grew into himself, discovering that just because his dad was a Roman god (Jupiter) did not mean he had to conform the one set of rules. He brought together the two sides together. Maybe it was because we traveled and grew with Percy that we could never really love Jason as much. But in a way, he still under estimated the strength of the Greeks as this post from pipercyofficial.tumblr shows.

   Leo: the humorous best friend…. I loved Leo. But again, he was no Percy. It seemed to me that Rick divided what we loved about Percy into two characters. Leo was a perfect example of how people try to hide their pain through humor. Better to appear happy than allow people into your pain.

Frank and Hazel: I’m putting these two together because I don’t really have much to say about them. Hazel was brought back from the dead and used her second chance to save the world. Frank… the nicest child of Ares/Mars…. depicts how looks can be deceiving. He possible has more power than any of the other demigods, but is the sweetest and most caring out of all of them. He is riddled with insecurities that make him endearing, but he is also proof that sometimes you can only become who you are supposed to be by accepting who you are and proving your worth to yourself.

Piper: She was my least favourite out of the new characters. Every time it was her turn to narrate, I had to suppress a scoff… It wasn’t that she wasn’t brave or intelligent or powerful… It was that the only thing that appeared to matter to her was Jason… And I just could’t get passed that… Or maybe it was that one of the first things she said about Percy (after meeting him) was that he was unimpressive compared to Jason… I was like: “Excuse me girl… You’ve known him (Percy) for what 5 minutes and you are judging him because he doesn’t look impressive? And you called Drew shallow…”

And then there are the gods… I think this is Rick’s most important lesson… You can believe in whatever higher power you want but without you, they are nothing. Gods cannot interfere with the lives of mortals but they need the mortals to believe in them to remain powerful. It makes sense that the children of gods would feel abandoned if they had no contact with their parents or their parents won’t help them no matter how many times they might ask. It shows that BELIEF is a powerful thing. Believing in yourself, in others, in higher powers.

On the subject of the Greek gods, I have to say that Poseidon is my favourite. Out of the three “big”  gods of olympus, Zeus is actually the weakest. Hades controls the legions of the dead and Poseidon controls the oceans (it helped me realise how powerful the ocean actually is). Zeus controls the winds and lightning… But he struggles to admit when he is wrong and needs help. In the Battle of Manhattan (The Last Olympian), Poseidon was the deciding factor when it came to defeating Typhon and the demigods would have been defeated had it not been for Hades’s help.

One of my favourite things about the fandom is that the fans want Percy and Annabeth to be happen… When Rick threw them into Tartarus, the fandom exploded!!!! Like “you just separated them! Made Percy forget everything except Annabeth and then they finally are reunited and you do this????? Just leave them in peace!!!!!” But when Rick releases a new book (or series) the first question is: Is Percy in it? Is Annabeth in it? How can you write a book without them?

Percy Jackson is a series that is timeless. It is well-written, easy to read and for all ages (I’m looking at you, the people who classify it as a children’s book). Rick Riordan and his fans have a wonderful relationship (if you don’t believe me check out his twitter or just look at the dedications for House of Hades and Blood of Olympus).

Maybe if we are really good, we might live to see an accurate television of movie series of the books… (*fingers crossed*)

[Repost] Look, I didn’t want to be a Demigod….. The minute I read the first line of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, I was hooked...

[unpredictable-easty]

Unwinding Destiny Chapter 2

I forgot to tell you that this thing is my NaNoWriMo project. Coincidentally I had realized on 1 Nov that it was The month. Though I had no inclination to start this story anytime soon yet time and chance brought me to this. I am posting as I am writing. Updates would be weekly, I hope. Now that I gave out this random, utterly useless information to you, you can start the next chapter. I hope you enjoy this.

Disclaimer: None of the characters yet belong to me. They are property of Rick Riordan and Masashi Kishimato.

Naruto felt adrift in his surroundings. As he unpacked his bags at last, he thought about what his life was going to be now.

He was out of Half-Blood Camp at last. He was now on his own, making his own life. It felt surreal to not think about next year camp, or looking for next quest. Walking through the campus and knowing that for a few years, this was his life, not the camp where he had learnt how to survive. Truthfully, he missed it a lot. Everyday adventure of Half-Blood Camp was now ingrained in his nerves and living a life of a college student was probably going to seem dull infront of that. Even then he knew it was time to move forward, he couldn't always live in the camp, he had to move to college, find a job and live a life. It wasn't like monsters would suddenly stop attacking him but there wouldn't be a camp to return to after fighting with a monster or Chiron to ask for advice when he wanted.

He remembered his first day at the camp. He had known all his life that he was a demigod. His mother, Kushina had met his father, Apollo while she had been performing the mouthorgan to her friends. She had told her that it stayed with her all the time because there was nothing she loved more but to play out different tunes. Apollo had heard her and paid a personal visit to her. He didn't know what ensued after that but he was conceived. His father had told him that he loved his mother but he never got to know their love story. Apollo had told her what he was and she had accepted that she would have to be a single mother in the end.

Apollo hardly visited after that, or as much as he knew from what his mother told him. He understood now that all Gods were like that in the end. His mother had given a good life to him. Though the first two years of his life, his mother had difficult time balancing her life but a chance meeting with Tsunade had changed that.

"Naruto?" He blinked at the call.

He looked at the person who has just exited the bathroom.

"Are you already missing your parents?" Sasuke asked while smirking.

"Not like you miss your big brother, wittle Sasuke." Naruto shot back.

Sasuke scowled but before he could reply, Sasuke's mobile buzzed and he picked it up.

"Itachi" He said.

Naruto laughed as Sasuke flipped him off. Sasuke was an alright guy, he had a bit of cheek to him. He showed his assholish side now and then but otherwise they had exchanged just a few sentences and he seemed like being his roommate wouldn't be that bad.

Deciding that he would finish his unpacking later, he checked his key, wallet, and mobile to be in his pocket and walked out of the room while Sasuke conversed with his big brother. There were a few students lingering in the hallway looking like they were going out to party. He walked past them and wrinkled his nose at the strong perfume emanating from them. As a fresher he probably should have also gone to some kind of party or for socializing but for his first day, he just wanted to adjust to this new life.

As he was turning to go down another flight of stairs a guy knocked into him. He stumbled but got his balance back. As he glanced back, he saw the guy giving him an evil eye like it was Naruto's fault that they had collided. Naruto assessed him; he had silver long hairs bound with a rubber band and as he watched him walking away, he felt he should be wary of this guy. Being a survivor of all the years of camp, he had learnt long ago to trust his instinct and he was definitely going trust them now too.

It was part of his last year training. Chiron had drilled in all of them how important it was to keep their eyes open for dangers. Living all the time in outside world while you were a Demigod resulted in a lot of attacks. They had also been told to look for children like them. Everyone knew that children like them tended to run away from their homes and make it on their own. There had been some examples of that in their camp; famous of all was the example of Thalia, Annabeth and Luke. An older demigod finding other children was rare but it was good luck because it was easier for them then to be protected.

Naruto remembered his own good luck at that. A monster was going to eat him when Tsunade had killed it. She was also a daughter of Apollo and was master of medicine. Kushina and she had hit it off from the starts. Tsunade as like other demigods was bitter toward the Gods and had been adamant about protecting him. Considering he was kind of a younger brother to her, she felt a duty toward him. It helped that they lived rather close to each other. By the time he had been five, he was already sitting with Tsunade, picking herbs and making medicine. It helped he was a son of Apollo so it came naturally to him. He had been told about his lineage when he was 10 years old and was fit to go to camp.

Naruto tried to shake away the memories of his first year, he wanted to live in the present now, not dwell in the past. On the other hand, he wanted to go back to the camp, sit with his friends and eat his dinner. Offering some of his food to his dad, singing songs later and going to sleep with his brothers and sisters.

He walked through the pavement build on the ground, looking at the people around him. He was not the only one checking out the campus apparently. Couples roamed almost everywhere, group of friends were their mostly heading to some direction or the other. At least it looked like they had some kind of plans going on for them. It felt weird being so mellow considering he was the one who was always happy and cheerful. He knew that it would pass as he make friends and go out with them but for today, it looked he would only remember his camp.

Having a habit of watching the stars at night in the camp, he was happy to repeat the ritual again. He walked around the buildings, went through the small space between buildings and jumped some fences looking for a place where he could be alone in his contemplation about the stars. He finally found it around the third building in the campus. He had to skip over some rocks and jump over a fence before he found a clearing full of greenery. It was mostly grass, trimmed and a few spots of trees. He inhaled the air around him, taking in the smell of nature. His lips twitched into a small smile and walking toward a tree, he lay down near it. He pillowed his arms behind his head and just looked at the scene above him. The sky was open before him, stars and moon shone brightly enough. Because of the magic of camp, he had been able to see the sky fully, here because of pollution it was a bit unclear but still better than what he had in the city.

He missed Shikamaru, son of Athena and Tenten, daughter of Hephaestus. Though he had a good bond going with his brothers and sisters in his camp yet they were really his best friends. He had gone to 4-5 quests with them. The first time he had met Hades was on one of those mission. He remembered the mission like it had happened yesterday. There had been a monster that had escaped Hades realm and they were chosen to take him back. Shikamaru, the brilliant tactician had come up with a rather stupid plan, at least that's what he thought so. They had decided to steal the pomegranate seeds from Hell and make the monster eat it. That way the monster wouldn't have been able to come back to the surface ever.

Of course, Hades being a prick, he didn't like it that there were Demigods roaming around in his place. He smiled remembering the stupid fight that they had gotten into. Thus, the time when he had tried to drown Naruto into the sea of souls. He remembered screaming at Hades about how he had thought Hades was the coolest of the lot but how he was disappointed by his behavior. That had given Hades a pause at least.

He closed his eyes remembering the conversation between them.

"What do you mean by that?" Hades had asked after his declaration.

This had led to a pause in every fight around him. Tenten had been managing three guys at a time, fighting with her sword and moving like a blizzard while Shikamaru had been using a spear, long distance weapon, better suited for his style.

"Well, I don't know. Anytime someone bullied me in school or anyone did anything to my mom, I got angry. There was this old lady that worked in a store. She once told me that they all would answer for their sins. I asked her how and she told me that death was a fair judge. Everyone gets punishment according to their crimes and rewards according to their good deeds. When I got into the camp and knew that Gods were real, I thought 'Wow, Hades would be such a cool God.' I mean you know people think that being king of underworld makes you evil but if you punish those who get away with their crime then you can't be that bad." Naruto had said all that in a breath which resulted him in doubling over, catching his breath.

Hades had stood straight at hearing all Naruto had said. There had been an inner glee on his face.

Naruto remembered how flattered Hades had been hearing all that. He had given them seeds without any problem. After their quest had been over Nico, son of Hades had come round his tent to talk to him. Apparently Hades had asked him about the blonde, snotty kid. There had been a weird relationship building between them since then. He never said it out loud but he had started wishing that Hades was his dad. His father Apollo would blow him to smithereens if he found out what he was thinking.

He remembered his sadness over going alone to college. His mother had died of cancer four years ago, an ironic twist. He wished that his dad would save her; he was God of healing so he would have been able to do it but she had died. His chest panged at the remembrance. Tsunade had been there to console him then. Though his last crutch has left him a year ago. For all the way a demigod could die, Tsunade had come infront of a car. He had spent a lot of time in Nico's tent in those days after her death. His tent held some kind of comfort in those days. He knew her to be probably in the place for heroes but at that time he wanted her to be at his side.

Hades had come to him at that time. Though he had told him that he had come to warn him against living in some other God's tent for such a long time yet he had a feeling that it was to comfort him. Though his talks felt like sermons at that time but now he felt comforted remembering them.

He hadn't known that Hades was coming along with him to college. He had been sadly ready to go to college alone but he had come in a car with two of his zombies in tow. He was embarrassed at the tears that had escaped him. He was a demigod, he had gone through many trials but at that time he had felt so fragile. Hades had told him that he already had a conversation with his father about the arrangement. Though Apollo didn't like it himself that another was filling in for his guardian yet he had agreed. Naruto didn't know how but he felt like it was better he didn't knew. It was the matter between Gods and it was not like Apollo and Hades were enemies or something. Considering soon they'd probably hear the bells for their kids wedding helped a lot.

Naruto smiled a little at remembering Will and Nico. He felt good knowing that Nico, a person who hadn't fostered any hope for his happy ending had gotten it. It said something about Aphrodite perhaps. Considering there would always be a kid of love goddess shrieking at the sheer cuteness of both of them. Though it had been a few years since he had witnessed that, Will getting into a medical school two years ago.

Naruto sighed; he should get back to his room. It felt so good to just lie there but he would have classes tomorrow and he still had to finish unpacking. Indulging himself to five minutes of idleness, he got up. He dusted himself of the blades of grass that stuck to his jacket and grimaced at the moisture he felt on his clothes. He retraced his steps back and got into the main campus. It was a surprise but there were more people out now. He shrugged thinking it to be normal for college students. He had another glimpse of the silver haired guy but this time he was far away from him, talking to another guy.

He climbed stairs still in contemplation and was surprised enough when he got to his floor. He hoped he was in better mood tomorrow.

When he entered his room, he found it empty. He supposed Sasuke would have also gone out to look at the campus, probably to a party though that didn't suit his personality much. He looked at his luggage and groaned. He didn't feel like unpacking now that he was in his room. He decided to forgo being responsible and went into the bathroom. He had already put his stuff in there so in a short time he showered and fell on the bed.

He closed his eyes, feeling for the familiar weight of his mouthorgan on the bed. He clasped it in his hand and brought it to his mouth. An image of his mother leaning over him as he put his head in her lap came to him. There was a piece of music she always played before putting him to bed. He felt the pang again, remembering her soft smile. She had been force to reckon with but in those private moments, she had been like an angel, a presence that gave you peace and contentment. He let himself feel the sadness. Sometimes it was better to remember rather than trying to forget. Sometimes memory kept the precious people alive and he wanted her to live in his memory as long as she could.

He breathed in the mouthorgan and started giving life to a piece of metal and wood. The tune flowed around him, filling him with remembrance. His eyes pricked though he didn't know if it was the sadness or remembrance of her. Tears escaped his eyelids and traveled through his cheek, making a slow descent toward his ears. He focused on the music and let himself feel every emotion that came during the darkness of night only.

He didn't knew when but he did fell asleep with another dream waiting for him.

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