#chthonian au

[carp-from-space]

Saint of Song

Third sibling. Honeyed words and comforting thoughts as the storm threatens to drown. It may not save you, but you can part with ease.

Pose by @nyxnaiastock

[yonemurishiroku]

We are talking about a Chthonian Camp as if the troglodytes didn’t just construct a civilization in the Underworld under Hades’ nose. With a council and all. The Lars could never.

[gutsybitsies]

WIP draft from my Chthonian AU. This takes place after Tua famiglia, Mia famiglia. Timeline wise, this is after Annabeth arrives in Camp Jupiter and takes the quest, but before she returns victorious.

Ethan sighed and rubbed his forehead, trying to stop the incoming migraine. Around him, the dryads and underworld nymphs argued about scheduling conflicts and activities room reservations. Half of the camp was still under construction, meaning that the dryads who taught Music Theory and Ancient Greek are competing with each other for activities space. Nico’s eyes had glazed over, meaning that even though he looked to be paying attention, he was fast asleep. 

Ethan frowned as he pulled Mabel and Oakely off of each other, why were underworld nymphs so ready to fight all the time? For the past few months, ever since Annabeth disappeared and that demigod Jason appeared, Nico had been gone longer and longer from their camp. 

Last night, he had mentioned privately to him and Alabaster that things were not looking good in the Underworld, and that he had to help out Hades ever since the Doors of Death were open. 

“Let the gods burn themselves! Who cares about the Giants, about Gaea, who cares about any of them?”

Nico groaned against the flat palms of his hands, squeezing his face as he tried not to fall asleep. The dark circles under his eyes looked haunting. “He’s my father, Al.”

“We are your family!” 

“This place can’t exist if Gaea wins, she’ll destroy us all.” 

“Not if we side-”

A tendril of shadow shot out and slapped itself against Alabaster’s lips, silencing him. 

Nico’s tired eyes had turned almost molten with darkness, and he turned to Alabaster with a dangerous glare. “I am the leader, I make the decisions, you listen to me, you report to me. And I say this: you don’t make any unauthorized decisions, you don’t step a foot outside the camp unless it’s been approved by Ethan, and you fucking. Shut. Up.”  

“If you ever so much as breathe a hint of what you were about to say just now,” Nico said quietly, as Alabaster struggled against the tendril of shadow keeping his mouth shut, “This camp would be burned to the ground before this new war is even over. You can’t be this fucking stupid, after everything we’ve been through to have somewhere we belong?” 

He broke free of the shadows, “I want victory-” 

“And I want everyone alive,” The shadows around the room moved ominously, before Nico gritted his teeth and consciously pulled back his powers. He kneaded his forehead, looking tiny and overwhelmed as he sat on the throne of sharp, sharp swords. “Fuck, Al. I just need you and Ethan to helm this place and keep everyone safe, okay? I can’t be worried about you causing someone to smite this place down because you can’t control your tongue.” 

Ethan kept his face calm as he nodded and gestured for Alabaster to calm down as well. 

“Don’t worry about us, Nico,” he said. “Go and do what you need to. But remember,” he tapped Nico’s shoulders. “Get to the infirmary and have your checkup.” 

Which led to Nico falling asleep with his eyes open during activities meeting. Eventually the exhaustion must have caught up to him, because he finally slumped over his chair and his head thumped onto the table.

After a healer mandated and Clovis supervised nap, Nico’s dark circles looked a little better, and there was even a hint of color back on his cheeks. He pulled Ethan aside to his cabin for a meeting before he had to leave again. 

“Ethan, I need you to watch over Al and the rest of the campers,” Nico said. “I don’t know how long I’m going to be gone this time, I have to go and find the Doors of Death. I can’t have him lead an uprising here or run his mouth off and get everyone killed. I’m going to have a meeting to tell everyone about Gaea and the Giants so that they don’t hear it from any other source.”

Ethan nodded, “Go easy on Al, he’s worried about you. He doesn’t want you to run ragged doing missions that no one will appreciate you for.” Ethan gave Nico a handful of charms that Alabaster threw at him. 

Nico rubbed his hands over his face, before taking a deep breath and putting on a determined look. “I know. All the more reasons to keep everyone safe. Rally everyone up.” 

After Ethan left him to be alone in his room, Nico sighed again, he’d been doing that a lot recently. He had just returned from New Rome and found an amnesiac Annabeth wandering around there. Her steely gray eyes tried to place him in her memories, and her normally neat dreadlocks were in a state of disrepair. Mars had given Annabeth a quest to free Thanatos from his chains, but there was more to do if they wanted to avert disaster. Nico was the only one able to go and find the Doors of Death, no one else would be able to go through the Underworld as freely as he could. 

Jason was giving him a hard time, as well. Ever since he figured out that he was a Roman demigod after his quest, he was trying to reach out to Nico as often as possible because according to him, "there was no way I haven't seen you before." Nico didn't know what to tell him, he definitely heard about Jason in New Rome, and Hazel had mentioned him before, but he truly had never stopped in New Rome long enough to actually meet the guy. He tried to explain that as much as possible, but Jason still found time to Iris message him as much as possible "to get his memories back." Nico definitely didn't enjoy their conversations, not at all.

He thought back to Jason's worried face when he told him about his journey to the Doors, and how it almost mirrored Ethan and Alabaster's expressions. One more person to care about him, one more person to worry about leaving behind. Things were so much easier when you could die alone on the streets with no one looking for you.

There was a knock at his door, he could tell it was Alabaster. 

“Come in.” 

Alabaster’s footsteps were hesitant. 

“I’m not angry at you,” he said, sitting down on a beanbag chair that Nico stole from the recreation room. “I want you to know that.” 

“Are you going to be dramatic and say that you’re angry at yourself?” Nico replied drily. 

“No, I’m angry for you,” Alabaster frowned. “Why are you so insistent on becoming a gopher for the Olympians? You have us, are we not important enough to stay tied down to? Why go traipsing around the world and get yourself killed for people who don’t even know your name?”

“My father knows my name,” Nico said. “And why do you think that I’m not doing it for this place?” 

“We have a good defensive barrier, and we’re more hidden than Camp Halfblood, we don’t need to do anything even if the Gaea wins.” 

“You don’t. I’m not asking you to do anything,” Nico twisted the ring on his finger anxiously. “Al, I need to know that you won’t get yourself in any trouble if I die.” 

“Easy fix, don’t die. I’ve been hearing whispers, too. About the other camp, the Romans. Clovis and Lou Ellen mentioned it. That’s the camp that Jason is from, right? Let them handle this. The Olympians have two entire camps of demigods who worship them, they don’t need you. We need you.”

“And I need you, Al,” Nico leaned closer to Alabaster, oblivious to the hitch in Alabaster’s breath. “I need you to be on my side, to keep the camp under control while I keep you guys safe. Can you do that for me?” 

Alabaster looked away, “Fine.” 

“Thank you,” Nico smiled, his bright white teeth (the only healthy looking feature on his face) gleamed. “Now, isn’t that a lot easier than me strangling you with shadows?” 

..........

The campers gathered together in the rec room. Some sat on the ground, some found purchase on the beanbag chairs, every one of them was tense, as if they knew that they were about to hear some bad news. 

Ethan took out a remote and lowered a projector down (no expenses were spared in creating this camp, most of it financed by Nico’s black companion Underworld credit card, courtesy of Hades). Nico whispered, “When did you find time to create a powerpoint presentation?”

Ethan rolled his eyes, there’s always time for a powerpoint presentation. 

He clicked the control, the plain powerpoint presentation began, with a comic sans “New News: It’s Bad” appearing on the screen. 

“I’m sure that everyone’s heard the whispers already, there’s a new adversary on the rise.” 

He clicked another button, “Gaea.” 

“As most people know, Gaea is the mother of the Titans, one of the first deities in existence. The information that we have right now, courtesy of Nico, is that she is awakening and attempting to destroy Olympus. As most of us know from experience, she won’t be able to do that without extra help, haha,” Ethan tried to give a dry laugh. Some of the campers laughed along with him, others groaned. 

“You try to overthrow the divine monarchy once, and they never let you live it down,” someone in the crowd muttered. 

“Her plan is to reawaken the Giants, who can only be killed by the gods and demigods working together. Unfortunately, the gods have closed off Olympus,” Ethan continued. “Yes, Mark, you have a question?” 

A five year old demigod sitting on the lap of his older sister was holding up his hand. “Can I go to the bathroom?” 

“I-Mark, can you hold it in? You need to know this,” Ethan pinched the bridge of his nose. “No bathroom breaks until the end of the announcement, okay?”

“Mark, are you going to ask to go to the bathroom when Giants are attacking us?” Alabaster asked. 

“Hey,” his sister responded, “He has a small bladder!” 

Nico sighed, and remembered whenever he’d be called to a senate meeting when he visited New Rome. No one needed impromptu bathroom breaks there. “Mark, you can go. But get your sister to fill you in on what’s happening later, okay?”

“‘Kay, Coco,” Mark clambered down his sister and waddled to the bathroom. 

Ethan coughed, trying to get the gravitas back, but it was gone. 

“Okay, so what are we supposed to do?” Someone called out from the crowd. 

“Do we have any quests?” Someone else asked. 

“Whose side are we on?” 

“Ethan, I need to go to the bathroom, too!”

Nico gave Alabaster a glance, and gestured for him to take over. 

“Quiet, quiet!” he yelled. “We do nothing, we stay here, and continue building our activities center, shrines to our parents, and look for more demigods to bring to camp.” 

“Whose side are we on?” Someone else asked again. 

Alabaster grimaced, but he looked at Nico, whose liquid dark eyes turned on him with a quiet glare. 

“No one will be lifting a finger for this unless they want to,” he finally said, forcing down a blush when Nico looked at him approvingly. “But we can’t side with Gaea, the Giants will bring utter destruction to demigods. And I don’t imagine that she’ll be happy with us since we technically defected from her children.” 

“It’s not defecting when we’ve already lost, it’s surrendering,” someone called out. “We’re losers, not defectors!” 

“Ethan’s the defector,” Someone, Miriam, said. “He defected before we lost.”

“And you’re welcome for that, Miriam,” Ethan pointed at her. “Also, you’re welcome for the time I saved your ass from getting eaten by your sergeant in the Titan’s army. Look, we can’t ally ourselves with an army of creatures who want to eat us anymore, okay?” 

“Very bad idea,” Nico added. “Plus, summer’s in full swing and we have so many activities planned. Don’t let Gaea distract anyone from the improv classes and the Chariot Races.” 

“I wanna win the Chariot Race!” Little Mark had finished going to the bathroom and was running back to his sister’s lap. “Coco, how many more days till the races?” 

The rest of the campers’ faces melted as they watched little Mark cuddle up against his sister. He was the youngest camper there, found during the quest of punishment that the Olympian gods forced the surrendering Titan’s Army demigods to undertake after their defeat. Most of them carried a mark, a scar, some sort of disfigurement from that harrowing quest that Olympus decreed necessary. 

Alabaster looked up at Nico’s tired face, and remembered him pushing out from behind Hades’ shadow to stand in front of them, putting himself between the wrath of Zeus and the scared and injured demigods that were about to be annihilated. A quest, he’d asked of Zeus. Some journey of redemption, just like the one that Heracles had when he committed a grave error. He was a war hero who lost the chance at any honor for himself because he chose to throw his lot in with the losers. 

All because of Percy Jackson, Alabaster thought bitterly. Because “Percy would’ve wanted amnesty.” He hated the fact that he had to thank Percy Jackson for his life now. He hated the fact that Nico would consider this camp “Percy Jackson’s legacy,” instead of Nico’s own legacy that he almost killed himself for. Alabaster wished that Percy Jackson was alive so that he could show him exactly what he thought of his hypocritical ass. 

“I’m going to be heading to the Underworld to find the Doors of Death,” Nico announced. “No one is allowed to follow me. If Camp Halfblood comes here to ask for help, let them in and show them hospitality, but I’ll trust that you all follow your judgment on whether or not to help out. But no one is allowed to aid Gaea or ally with any of the Giants, capisce?” 

The campers that joined later or were from Camp Halfblood originally said “aye” enthusiastically. Ethan nodded, leading to more campers saying “aye.” Alabaster looked like he was swallowing a lemon, but he nodded, and his friends joined in as well. 

Nico sighed in relief. “Good, now. Meeting adjourned.” 

[ace--of--swords]

Capra ex machina

[thomas-life]

A scene from @gutsybitsies fanfic “Tia famiglia, Mia famiglia” where-in Alabaster wants to install a chocolate fountain in the agora and Jason was being supportive of his dreams…Nico, not so much. This made me laugh way too much!

HTTPS://archiveofourown.org/works/45183892

[gutsybitsies]

😁😄🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 nico!!!!!! i love how badass you made him!!!! thank you so much omgggg

@gutsybitsies Cthonian camp AU has nico with a Stygian Iron arm and it was such a cool idea I had to draw it.

I even wrote fanfiction for the fanfic bc I loved it so much. It’s so cool!

Here the link to their fic:

If you love Titan army (alabaster and Ethan) they are in it!! XD go read it you won’t be sorry 😆

[jadetheblueartist]

(Mini comic for context)

Salutations, fellow camper! It is I, Captain Hamato Donatello from Feral Casey AU and Cabin 5, here to give you a testing sample of my patented Chthonian. Used to treat feral kraang-hybrid children but it also has the effect of turning you into the exact opposite of who you are!

Want to know what your opposite looks like? In one hit, you can find out!

*Effects wear off within 24 hours after use. May last shorter depending on patient's intolerance to mystic elements.

*Warning: Do not use when taking or on any other medications, including OTCs, alcohol, and recreational drugs. May cause brief discomfort sensations such as bone marrow decay or blood temperature reaching boiling levels. Do not use if allergic to mystic energy. Do not use if intolerant to pain. If brief transformation discomfort lasts more than 120 seconds, seek medical attention immediately. If experiencing organ failure or if heart melts into your lungs, seek medical attention immediately. Store chthonian in a warm incubating environment when not in use.

@tmnt-fandom-family-reunion

This looked similar to Camille’s potions. She wasn’t really listening to what the other turtle said, so who knows what it actually did. Maybe experimenting with it would show her something-

Something, something, since she didn’t inject it, it only affected her surface level :)

This was really fun to draw, thanks for the ask!

@tmnt-fandom-family-reunion

[yonemurishiroku]

I vote the snakes. I like snakes.

Also. If I may suggest: All of these creatures are extremely friendly with the underworld children but would bite everyone else’s head off if they so much as set one unallowed foot in the camp. You would not want a spider on your face.

And flowers. Persephone would be very displeased if there’s nothing to honor the Queen. I vote asphodels. Asphodels are actually the underworld’s flower btw like. i think i read somewhere about the shining flowers that lead you to afterlife or st like that.

And do you know that there’re mushrooms that glow in the dark? Bc they do. It’s called ‘bioluminescent’ or some sort. Absolutely stunning.

Imagine the Chthonic Camp has this. entire hallway decorated with glowing mushrooms and tall, beautiful asphodels. Yes some are toxic. But who cares. Imma jump into it so fast yall would have whiplash.

So at the Cthonic Camp place can we agree that there are plants and animals everywhere?

Not like, daisies or tulips or anything like that, but all kinds of mushrooms and lichen growing over the walls. Pitcher plants and Venus fly traps growing through cracks in the sidewalk. Sundew plants growing in windowsills

Spiders and beetles and scavenger butterflies and flies and dragonflies and moths! Foxes and vultures and ravens and raccoons roaming all over the place. Massive black rams grazing in the fields. Owls and bats making their homes on cabin roofs. Jackals and hyenas cuddling with the demigods

Worms and snakes everywhere! And maggots crawling around certain areas (that are quickly avoided by most campers)

I just really like the idea of the ‘death camp’ being full of life that intermingles with death

[carp-from-space]

Dream devour

[yonemurishiroku]

We are missing the delicious Nicobaster angst that is the gods being displeased with the fact that Nico is making friends with Alabaster - an exiled, who’s supposed to be cut off from all kinds of support from the Camps.

They see Nico helping a traitor is an act of betrayal, too. It must be - why else would he help a former lieutenant of the Titan Army? To build a new Camp, no less? It’s a seed of a threat.

So what do they do?

Eliminate it before it blooms, of course.

[gutsybitsies]

made a list of my and @thatshortangryperson various nico di angelos

chthonian au nico: oh boy....hes so stressed.....hes got so much pain ahead of him....his first crush is dead his arm is gone he doesnt know that hes about to fall into tartatus....he needs a nap...

omg roommates nico: he doesnt know what hand towels are and at this point he's too afraid to ask

tiktok italian husband nico: he a little confused why his husband jason keeps asking him to do tiktok challenges but he'll go along with it

big 3 friendship camp au nico: middle child syndrome (both bianca and hazel are alive), has decided his favorite person is the roman son of jupiter because jason gives him ALL the attention and has never called him annoying.

UAR nico (as yet unpublished): someone get this boy a union rep and a good employment lawyer 😔😔

[yonemurishiroku]

Indeed, the original idea stems from a post of @/gutsybitsies, and after that @haiseiscute333 - at least, the version wherein Nico and Alabaster being amongst the leaders, as there’s another fanfic about Camp Underworld that runs the same line and is pretty much older than my blog. Happy built something similar but it’s not quite a whole new camp? So we’ll leave it for another day lolol I digress. Before guts all I bad is some here and there thoughts which I failed to articulate so that doesn’t count lolol. I merely build if up from the foundation of what these two proposed before gradually growing out of it to make my own for a Nicobaster fanfic.

Purely just to solidify my “Nico is a bad, bad leader” agenda. Anywayyyyy Mother Nico sounds so cute awww totally not bc i see Nico is the mother of the Cocoa Puffs rather than a dad in TSATS Darkness really births everything as it is.

I see that both Alabaster and Nico are seen as parental figures in this, and provided that Nico is the mother, would I be right to assume Alabaster is the father? 🤣🤣🤣

Bc I have this whole thing about them acting like an old married couple and I’m not letting it go.

Also curious as where does Claymore fit in all of this. 👀 In my AU he acts like a counselor/ similar to Chiron that keep Alabaster in check, but I’d love to head yours. :3

Give it to me (alright)

I haven't done rants n stuff for a while. Give me some (can be reblogs, can be asks, I don't care). Very passionate about Anti Lore Olympus and Nico (everything with nico. Can be ships, can be Nion, can be me analyzing the fuck out of NicoBaster, I don't give a shit)

[ravioliravioliravioli]

(Mini comic for context)

Salutations, fellow camper! It is I, Captain Hamato Donatello from Feral Casey AU, here to give you a testing sample of my patented Chthonian. Used to treat feral kraang-hybrid children but it also has the effect of turning you into the exact opposite of who you are!

Want to know what your opposite looks like? In one hit, you can find out!

*Effects wear off within 24 hours after use. May last shorter depending on patient's intolerance to mystic elements.

*Warning: Do not use when taking or on any other medications, including OTCs, alcohol, and recreational drugs. May cause brief discomfort sensations such as bone marrow decay or blood temperature reaching boiling levels. Do not use if allergic to mystic energy. Do not use if intolerant to pain. If brief transformation discomfort lasts more than 120 seconds, seek medical attention immediately. If experiencing organ failure or if heart melts into your lungs, seek medical attention immediately. Store chthonian in a warm incubating environment when not in use.

@tmnt-fandom-family-reunion

I've got my eye on you

You better not screw this up because I will find you and break you myself

@tmnt-fandom-family-reunion

[delicatechildwitch]

(Mini comic for context)

Salutations, fellow camper! It is I, Captain Hamato Donatello from Feral Casey AU, here to give you a testing sample of my patented Chthonian. Used to treat feral kraang-hybrid children but it also has the effect of turning you into the exact opposite of who you are!

Want to know what your opposite looks like? In one hit, you can find out!

*Effects wear off within 24 hours after use. May last shorter depending on patient's intolerance to mystic elements.

*Warning: Do not use when taking or on any other medications, including OTCs, alcohol, and recreational drugs. May cause brief discomfort sensations such as bone marrow decay or blood temperature reaching boiling levels. Do not use if allergic to mystic energy. Do not use if intolerant to pain. If brief transformation discomfort lasts more than 120 seconds, seek medical attention immediately. If experiencing organ failure or if heart melts into your lungs, seek medical attention immediately. Store chthonian in a warm incubating environment when not in use.

@tmnt-fandom-family-reunion

Casey held the syringe in his hands, staring at the golden liquid. It matched his eyes.

"Oh, we're good. Thanks anyways." Tello says, putting a restraining hand on Casey's arm.

Casey sighs, reaching forward to put the needle back in the hands of the Donatello that looked so much like his own. He palms it rather than hand it over.

Tello doesn't appear to have noticed.

~~

Casey pulls off the cap, clenching it in his teeth as he pulls off his glove, looking at the veins in his arm.

Was he sure about this?

Casey thinks about every despicable thing he's ever done, and reassures himself. Being the opposite of himself was a good thing.

Everyone would thank him later.

He hoped it would make him forget too. He really did.

With nothing else to it, Casey takes a strip of fabric from his pouch, using it to slow blood flow to his arm and make the veins easier to see. He tugs at the knot with his teeth.

He slides the syringe into his veins, carefully. He had done this a thousand times, but never to himself.

Casey winces, the cold liquid going through his veins. He carefully sets down the cap into the grass, pushing into it with the syringe.

Then he twists it off and looks for somewhere to throw it away.

But that's when the pain starts.

He feels like he's melting. Like his blood was boiling and his bones had become rubber.

Casey Jones had a high pain tolerance, but this easily beat it.

Still, he somehow manages not to scream, only groan until the pain subsides.

Casey felt different. More emotionally resilient. All of the guilt and pain from the apocalypse had vanished.

He felt like he fit in. Like he was finally the kind of person who could stay with April and not agonizingly wait for some action, for the Kraang to show up. Back in the present, he had learned to handle and survive in the apocalypse, only to go to the past and realize he couldn't survive peace.

But with this serum, maybe he could survive peace.

"Hey, kiddo? Where are you? We're going to meet with Three and the rest." Tello says, looking around for Casey.

"Oh, yeah. Sure." Casey says, and he laughs internally as Tello's eyes suddenly focus on him in surprise. "Sounds like fun."

"Case ..." Tello says, heartbreak evident from his voice. "What have you done?"

Chthonian Casey (the blonde) versus normal Casey.

[drksanctuary]

More Chthonian AU sketchies!!

Cthonian Jasico~~

And Al being a lil shit bc he’s jealous of Jason.

Al saves Jason, after a time period of Al being bitchy to him for a reason Jason doesn’t understand:

Jason: you…you just saved my life

Alabaster: ugh, yes. My mistake

Jason: thank you

Al: um…I suppose I could say your welcome but, but that might give off the impression that-

Jason: *puts a hand on Al’s shoulder and with a voice so genuine it makes Al wanna cringe* really, I’m very grateful

Al: /….shit he’s so….nice ;:/ no wonder nico likes him… / you’re welcome *also genuine*

I like this AU a normal amount ok

@gutsybitsies ‘s Chthonian Camp Au

[iobsesswaytoomuch]

(Mini comic for context)

Salutations, fellow camper! It is I, Captain Hamato Donatello from Feral Casey AU, here to give you a testing sample of my patented Chthonian. Used to treat feral kraang-hybrid children but it also has the effect of turning you into the exact opposite of who you are!

Want to know what your opposite looks like? In one hit, you can find out!

*Effects wear off within 24 hours after use. May last shorter depending on patient's intolerance to mystic elements.

*Warning: Do not use when taking or on any other medications, including OTCs, alcohol, and recreational drugs. May cause brief discomfort sensations such as bone marrow decay or blood temperature reaching boiling levels. Do not use if allergic to mystic energy. Do not use if intolerant to pain. If brief transformation discomfort lasts more than 120 seconds, seek medical attention immediately. If experiencing organ failure or if heart melts into your lungs, seek medical attention immediately. Store chthonian in a warm incubating environment when not in use.

@tmnt-fandom-family-reunion

Ajagavcaghjamajaha this drawing sucks but ehhhhhhh... Good enough

The big boi became smoll and smoll boi (who's clothes somehow didn't break) found out he was smoll😔

Meanwhile the twins are having an existential crisis because they didn't know they were twins XD