#heroichalfblood

[doevademe]

So I’m still on my dark Percy kick so here is another one. High school au where Percy and Annabeth are the golden senior couple, having been together since their early junior year. However, what no one knows is that Percy is cheating on Annabeth with Nico, shy sophomore who just transferred to their school. Percy isn’t public out as bi yet but when he saw Nico, just wanted him all to himself. Nico isn’t fine with being his dirty little secret though and gives Percy and ultimatum, breakup with Annabeth and then they can be together, or break up with him and keep his golden girlfriend. To his surprise, the next day Percy gets up in front of the entire school during lunch and comes out as bi, breaks up with Annabeth, and even states that he had been cheating on her with Nico. Also Percy is a very possessive lover, always marking up Nico’s neck with hickies and bites, so even if no one knew who is “boyfriend” was, they knew he had one.

"It's just you and me, angel."

"It's not. It's never just you and me."

"Angel?"

"I'm done, Percy."

Nico couldn't help the waves of disappointment and self-hatred that coursed through him.

Yes, he had done the right by stopping his... relationship affair meetings with Percy before they became a problem. However, even now he couldn't help but long for the older teen's smile, for his touch, even if he still had his marks all over his neck from right before Nico had broken things up with him.

Well... 'Broken things up' is a bit of an overstatement but...

Let's start from the beginning, shall we?

It had all started a month or so ago, when Nico had transferred from the sunny paradise of Veneto all the way to the concrete jungle of New York City. Without any friends but his distant cousin Hazel and her group of friends, he had wandered into Dr. Thorn's office and risked expulsion when he caught him in a bad mood, only to be saved by the coolest senior ever, one Percy Jackson.

The boy was perfect, and all he asked in exchange for saving his sorry behind from Dr. Thorn had been a lunch together.

A lunch turned into a walk on the Park, then dinner, then movies. Before he realized it, he was being ravaged by Percy Jackson almost on the daily.

They kept their meetings a secret. Percy wasn't out and Nico... well, nobody knew who Nico was, let alone if he liked boys or girls. He thought it didn't matter. Their relationship was theirs and not the whole school's business.

Hazel and their friends had noticed, though. It was difficult to hide the hickies from them, what with them being all the way up to his Adam's apple. He had just told the truth, that his beau wasn't out and that he preferred to keep it a secret. They had understood. Everything was going well.

Then Jason mentioned Annabeth Chase.

Intelligent, Athletic, president of the debate team, shoe-in for class valedictorian... and Percy Jackson's girlfriend.

Nico hadn't known what to think. He wasn't protecting Percy from dirty looks and sneers by keeping quiet, he was just making sure he could keep his girlfriend while getting some action on the side.

It ashamed Nico that it took him almost a week to ask Percy about it. A week where he swallowed his guilt, his morals and let himself be swept up by the swimming team's ace's smiles, words and touch, only to be told that he was working on it, and that what they had was too good to stop.

Percy wouldn't stop, so Nico had to be the one to step up.

"I'm done, Percy," he had said. "I won't be your dirty little secret anymore."

"Nico, please–"

"I'm not asking you to come out," he had assured him. "But I won't see you anymore if you have a girlfriend. I won't be a homewrecker."

"So you're saying it's you or her?" Percy had asked, eyebrow raised.

"Take it however you want," had been his last words to the boy that made his heart race.

Now it was the next day. He had spent most of the day evading Percy, either by hiding behind Jason (who was built like a fridge) or by taking the long path to his classes so he wouldn't pass through any of the hallways where he loitered in-between periods.

It was easier this way. There was no world where Percy Jackson would choose Nico di Angelo.

Now came the trial by fire. He and his friends happened to share the same lunch period as Percy. He didn't know what he would do when he saw the boy of his dreams acting all mushy and in love with his girlfriend.

Yet when he entered, the cafeteria was a complete chaos. Students where all muttering amongst themselves as they looked at s table near the lunch line.

"Poor thing–" "He just went and did it–" "Right in front of everyone–!" "And for a boy!"

Nico and his friends followed the crowd's line of sight and Nico's stomach dropped.

There, standing on top of his usual table, was Percy Jackson, looking proud of himself and looking around, while behind him, Annabeth Chase looked as if she had been punched in the gut.

His eyes met Nico's, and he broke into a grin.

"Nico!" He shouted, happily hoping down and running to him. The crowd parted to give him space, gawking all the while. "Did you hear?"

"I... I just got here."

Percy's face fell, but he recovered quickly.

"Pity, it was a grand gesture and everything, very romantic, if I do say so myself."

"What are you talking about, Percy?" Nico asked, confused.

"Yesterday you said I had to choose, you or Annabeth," he explained, shrugging. Nico looked over his shoulder. The blonde girl was glaring at him, tears in her eyes.

"I... I didn't–"

"So that's what I did!" he interrupted. "You are mine now, Nico di Angelo."

He kissed him in front of everyone. He expected anything. Jeers, whoops, even slurs. Anything would be better than the deadly silence around them.

"And now, everyone knows," he whispered against his lips. Nico could feel his smirk. He bit on his lower lip lightly, making him jump. "Mine."

The growl was low, gutural, it was probable only Nico heard it.

But he did hear it, and the world around him disappeared. He didn't care if the whole school was watching. In the haze that was Percy kissing him, only one word echoed in Nico's brain.

"Yours."

[p5x-theories]

Since we have all these new party members, how would you rate them and their personas’ designs? Are they all hits or are some of them misses? Give the people your thoughts! *holds up microphone patiently*

Aw, I'm touched you want to hear more of my thoughts on the party member and Persona designs! Alright, sure.

Same as the last posts, I do really like all the newbies! Actually, this might be some of my favorite Personas yet, in particular.

And same disclaimers as last time as well; For thieves, I'm just commenting on what the design looks like it's doing/trying to do, and whether I think it works and I like it. For Personas, I'm not really taking into account how well they do (or don't) represent the figure they're supposed to be, just how well I think the design gets its concept across, and does (or doesn't) match its thief.

Starting out with Bui and Apseudes!

I love Bui's whole vibe, honestly. It feels lightly sci-fi/futuristic, and a little unreal, which is perfect for a teammate who's based on their video game avatar rather than their real real-world self, without being too much. My favorite part is easily the rollerskates! She gives me a vaguely Jet Set Radio Future vibe with them, though I wouldn't say she literally looks like a JSRF character, haha.

I do wonder about those... hair decoration... bunny ear things she has going on? She has them as Yui as well, but I'm very curious if that's a game thing or just a distinctive detail they chose to give her. It's not a problem, per se, just slightly strange in the way where looking at it, I feel like I want an answer for what it is/does? Same with that partial ring/collar thing that floats around her neck. It looks kind of unreal/sci-fi, sure, but it can look a little strange if you focus on it, and raises that same "what does this do?" question for me.

As for Apseudes, I do have to say, I love that it also mirrors her weird hair decoration/bunny ear-shaped things. Also, big fan of the hexagon half-dome thing, and the whole hydroelectric arms and legs thing she has going on. I'll admit, she looks notably more sci-fi than Bui, but I think they get away with it, because she also sort of looks like a power plant or something, which kind of goes with Bui's tech (as a power source), and also clearly reflects Apseudes' element.

Next, Puppet and Nemertes!

My favorite parts of Puppet are probably her visor, that strap thing going around her back and the little forked (almost coat tail-like?) thing around her waist that it appears to hook onto, and the thick, kind of water shoe-like soles of her shoes. Especially with her "weapon", she immediately gives the kind of sea explorer vibe I'm sure she's supposed to, so I think they're very successful on that front.

I do think her design can come off as just a tad boring overall? I think the grey on black isn't the best for helping someone to immediately notice the details. But we don't know her that well yet- this might honestly be fitting for her, for all I know right now! I think the only thing I actively dislike about her outfit is the sort of... grey fabric thing stretched over her chest that ends like halfway over her breasts? It just looks weird to me, like if her shirt was riding up or something, haha. But that might just be my personal opinion, I don't know if that's really a problem.

(My biggest question about Puppet is actually why her codename is Puppet, honestly. I really like it as a codename, I just wish I had more context for it!!)

Now, Nemertes compliments her sea explorer vibe perfectly, as far as I'm concerned. She does admittedly look a little more like a car wheel than a submarine, but the sea creature-theming and water around her more than makes up for it, at least for me. That's definitely my favorite part of her, actually- the tail and fins, along with those pink eyes (or eye-like) structures, and the shape of her head. Those pink eyes, along with the silvers and whites on her, also help to make Nermertes stand out actually a bit more than Puppet does, which ultimately makes sense when you consider Puppet spends basically all her time inside her Persona as a navigator.

On to Riddle and Daeira!

I really love Riddle, she's cute, immediately comes across as a prospector/miner (which, while this joke was probably not intended, makes it really funny that she's the youngest minor on the team), and also still feels entirely competent despite being much younger than the others, especially with all the machinery she wields. My favorite parts of her design are probably her mask (which doesn't make me think "miner" on its own, but somehow really works with the rest of the outfit), her clunky boots and gloves, the double collar going on (probably a shirt underneath the suit), and the puffy sleeves and shorts.

There's really just one detail of her design that bugs me- the weird gap between the tops of her socks and the end of her shorts. It's certainly not as bad as it could be, because her skintone at least isn't a major contrast that draws your eyes to this random bare skin on her thighs (as opposed to Violet in P5R, who does do that), but it still just feels unnecessary. I guess maybe it helps sell the idea of her shorts as shorts instead of pants, but... I don't know, it just bugs me a bit I suppose.

Daeira, then, is interesting because her colors are different from Riddle's (a lighter pink, more orange instead of yellow details, and then a dark blue instead of dark brown), but it still works with Riddle overall. I think it's because of two main things: 1) the pink and orange make Daeira feel a bit brassier, which matches the vibe of an old-fashioned prospector/inventor's big robot that she pilots around, and then 2) it makes Daeira feel a bit more like a big robot toy. I wouldn't say they're the best aesthetic match of the entire cast, but they definitely work together better than it feels like they should.

Last but not least, Sepia and Gorgyra!

Sepia's the one thief out of these four that I don't feel like I can immediately get a beat on what they were going for. He sort of has a gentleman... highwayman... vibe to me, maybe? It feels vaguely cowboy-era to me, and yet I wouldn't call him a cowboy. And the super fluffy cape collar seems to just throw off anything I'm thinking, haha. I like the design (other than maybe the extent of the cape fluff), I just can't quite read what the intention with it was. Maybe he's meant to be some kind of charlatan? He sort of gives the impression of someone a bit overconfident, but maybe not entirely infallible... I'm not really sure, though, so I think whatever the goal was could have been a bit clearer.

I do like the silver/copper lining on his outfit, though, and the hints of purple that are kind of subtle compared to the red gloves and tie (despite the fact that even the red gloves and the tie are desaturated compared to the other thieves). He does absolutely feel like a teammate who would use curse skills to me, even if I don't know exactly what's going on with him.

Sepia aside, I love Gorgyra's design. The pointed glass bottle shape, the scrolls of pink-purple text wrapped around it, the huge hat, the glasses and grin. It's so fun and distinct! It feels like some kind of literature wizard, but also that grin makes it seem just a bit less than trustworthy... I'll admit, I don't quite understand how all this is meant to go with Sepia's outfit, but they do at least share a similar color design (though with Gorgyra being lighter overall), so against the odds, they manage to feel like they go together anyway.

-

Aaaaaand that's everyone! I do really like these four, my individual nitpicks aside. I wish we got to know them better in this beta!! But I suppose that's something we'll have to look forward to in the future, at least.

[dragynkeep]

You know, it would have been so interesting if the RWBY vs Jl p2 movies was actually 2D animated, in a comic book style, to show the difference in universes as well as we can see what a (better animated) 2D rwby would look like, plus in general it would just look nicer

but how would they show off the failed abortion known as their maya models if they tried a different art form :(( i've said it before but i can't believe dc's animation legacy is going to be tainted by this dogshit.

[travelling-on-the-octopath]

I really wish this game gave us Duke Galatea, common on IS, finish the Faerghus Four Fathers Edition by showing us Ingrid’s dad and what his relationship to Lambert, Rodrigue, Matthias and heck, even Rufus. Out of the all the mentioned dads that you have appear in this game, why does he h e to be on of the ones excluded?

Well he does get mentioned and named in Rodrigue and Shez's B-Support!

He seems to be Gustave's age, in that he was older than the rest of the previous Faerghus Four generation by quite a bit; in fact, Ingrid is far younger than her two brothers as well, which reads to me like poor Ingrid was something of an accident for a middle aged couple 😭 she gets my empathy, because same. I do agree that we could have seen/heard from him quite a bit more, but we got his voice, if I recall, in the demo, and we have bits of his dynamic with Matthias, Rodrigue, and Lambert; I'd call that a win by miles.

[incorrectpercicoquotes]

Percy and Nico are that one couple who are fairly smart on their own with some dumb moments here and there, but together they amplify both their intellect and their dumbass energy. You never know if one of their plans are going to be a stroke of genius, a disaster, or both

lmao THIS! As it happens with their good plans, they agree with each other’s dumb plans too, and bad ideas seem good too. 

Percy and Nico are both playful at heart and would go ‘heck, whatever, let’s try this, YOLO’. They both entertain each other’s whims and what-ifs and instead of ‘that’s so dumb’ they feel ‘that’s so cute’

All the younger campers would go: Percy, hero of Olympus! So powerful! scary! and Nico di Angelo! Son of Hades! So powerful! Scary!  But getting to know them, it’s so obvious that they are geniuses with stupidly uptight morals and have lots of love to share

(Still in half the fights they rely on muscle memory haha)

[ryouverua]

My super serious attractiveness tier list, subject to change, and with a surprise dark horse winner.

[itsclydebitches]

So I plan on making a RWBY rewrite (I say that but at the moment it will be a cliff notes of changes) and I would like to ask if you would be alright if I spit ball some ideas to you. My rewrite would be a massive departure from the original and I would like someone who is just as knowledgeable about RWBY’s faults who can give me some thoughts and ideas. This is all if you are alright with it though. Sorry for bothering you! 🥺🙏

Absolutely! I can’t promise anything revolutionary, but random RWBY faults? I’m always available for that lol. Especially with a potential rewrite in the future! 

Sending in asks, chatting with the message app - whatever and whenever you’d like ^_^

[deedeli-liveblog]

One thing I will say about My Hero, every character, every single one who even gets even a lick of attention, had more depth to them then most characters in other series. Even if it is not explained right away why a character is they way they are, it will and it will change how you view the character from that point forward. I know there were tons of characters hat I was pretty neutral to, but after getting to know them, some of them shot up to being some of my favorite characters of all time!

Honestly I love stuff like that. There’s nothing better than having your whole perspective changed on a character cause you get to know them more.

I’ll be sure to give it a listen when I get to the OST later down the line. I try to keep my liveblog experience as close to how I watch shows in general and I avoid stuff like that until I catch up.

[p5x-theories]

Since the first batch of phantom idols seem to have alternate code names int the coding, do the second batch have alternate code names? And if they don’t, do you have any ideas for their code names?

One does- Rin is also "Tirara"! ... Whatever that's intended to mean, haven't really have a chance to look into it and there isn't an immediately obvious meaning to it to me, hah.

Hmm, if I had to come up with alternate, more codenamey codenames for the others... (uh, cut me some slack with these haha, I'm not great at names):

A Fletcher is someone who attaches those fins/feathers to the ends of arrows, which helps stabilize the arrow and make it more dynamic. Might be kinda cute for Kotomo, especially since it'd kind of loosely go with Closer (both are roles, which end in -er)?

Something like Priest would probably be the most obvious one for Kii, although naming him Merrin after the priest in the movie The Exorcist might be a fun one that's slightly less obvious, or Cross (as in, a religious cross)? Though Cross would result in the full Phantom Thieves having, uh... Kurou, Kurouzaa, and then also Kurosu, as written in Japanese (Crow, Closer, and Cross in English), so maybe that'd start to get a little crowded... Crux? Cross but in Latin? I dunno, I've spent way too long on this one, haha.

Deco might be kinda cute for Okyann? As a reference to decoden, which is the Japanese/gyaru term for decorating stuff (phones in particular) with all those rhinestones and etc. like hers are. It comes from the English "decoration" ("decoden" is the deco from that + den from denwa, or phone), so it'd fit in as a codename I think.

Something like Hero would probably be a bit too obvious for Leo, haha. Star would be kinda fun, though... also similarly maybe a bit too on the nose if he's still the Star Arcana. Those are honestly the best I'm coming up with at the moment, though, haha, and I've sat with this ask for like... three hours. Whoops.

Um, there you go...? Would love to hear anyone else's ideas, if they have any, though!

[p5x-theories]

They probably won’t do this, I don’t know even know how they could, but imagine you encountering “white mask” version of the different persona idols as boss encounters.

We don’t fight persona users that often in their franchise and it would be an interesting way to spice up the formula, like after palace/shadow self boss you get one or two corrupted persona idols to fight.

What would be insanely cool if after you beat them initially, they go into a second phase where their persona becomes a shadow boss similar to the shadows selves from p4.

Again, the likelihood of this happening is practically zero, but at most I can kinda see them having at least optional boss fights. You could fight Makoto and Yu in Royal so who knows!

Oh, that would be really cool! I agree, probably pretty unlikely to happen within the actual story (or at least, maybe not until the final boss/closer to it), but it does actually seem somewhat more possible as bonus fights within the Velvet Room, similar to the fights with the P3 and P4 Protagonists.

[p5x-theories]

Since you talked about the phantom thieves already, what do you think of their personas and their designs and aesthetic and who well do you think they match up visually to their respective phantom thief?

(In reference to this post)

I'm flattered you actually want to hear more of my design opinions, hehe! Sure, I can talk about the Personas too.

TLDR here is that once again I do just think they're all neat overall! There's fun stuff going on with all of them, and I enjoy the details put into them, even if sometimes maybe there's a few details I'd change slightly to make the designs that extra bit more coherent.

Also, I'm probably not going to really get into how well I think they fit the historical/mythological figure they represent, because I feel that's less the point of Personas (as opposed to sort of... representing that figure through the Persona user's vibe/aesthetic/will of rebellion, if that makes sense, haha?), and also because I'm unfamiliar with nearly all of these figures so I'd have to do a bunch of extra research to even try to get into that aspect, to be honest.

Let's see if Tumblr actually keeps my formatting this time...

Starting with Janosik!

Overall, I kinda like him! He has an extremely distinct design, even besides his predominantly white palette that's uncommon in P5, haha. His head... hat... thing? Is a little weird, but it's weird in a way that I kind of like, because it makes his head stand out from the Personas with more human faces. He feels humanoid, but not human, which is a good middle ground for Personas to be in, I think? I also really like the jacket off his shoulders, and the way the red inner lining of it makes his white legs stand out even more. And his little braids are a fun detail.

His torso and upper legs are... okay, I'll admit, not quite completely sure what's supposed to be going on with all those details. But it at least feels like a "not quite sure what's going on here" that's familiar to the Persona series, if that makes sense? So it's fine, I guess. He feels like he belongs in this series.

As for how he matches up with Wonder... honestly, he feels like the Persona, across all the Phantom Thieves in the various P5 games, that matches up with his respective Phantom Thief the least, to me. He and Wonder really only share the red- Janosik has whites and golds while Wonder has blacks and silvers- and I guess maybe you could argue their weird foot/shoe shapes, haha. While Cendrillon (Violet) and Pandora (Sophie) also don't directly resemble their thieves much, in both their cases I feel like they differ in ways that say something about the thief in question, whereas I'm sort of hard-pressed to figure out what the visual difference between Janosik and Wonder says about Wonder. Maybe that'll be more obvious once we know more of P5X's plot, and then I'll feel differently?

All that to say, I like their designs independently of each other, and at least they (somehow) don't feel like they actively clash when they're next to each other, but they don't really feel like a matched pair at all, which is a shame.

Awilda!

I actually really like Awilda's design- she may be one of my favorites in P5X! The sharklike hood/cloak thing is so distinct both as a clothing article and for Awilda's silhouette, and it's easily my favorite part, but I also like that the rest of her outfit feels loosely piratey without going so far as to seem like it's encroaching on Captain Kidd's territory in my mind.

I'm not entirely sold on the hat... thing? And ponytail? That she has going on, but I don't think they actively detract from her design as a whole, and that one might just be personal taste.

As for how she fits with Closer, I think Awilda's a good example of a Persona that doesn't feel quite identical in vibe to her thief, but doesn't look out of place with her, either. Awilda seems a bit less athletic and a bit more refined (or professional?) than Closer does, but her color scheme feels like it was expanded from Closer's (the blue coming from Closer's eyes, and the white from her hood's drawstrings), so there's a sort of unity between them anyway. They could maybe be a bit closer (hehe), but it does work as-is, I think.

Rob Roy!

Mechs aren't really my thing, but I do like how Rob Roy feels relatively unified even for all the individual parts. I like his weird talon feet, because they sort of tie him back into being a bird's Persona even if nothing else about him really registers as "bird" for me. I guess the black part on the top of his head maybe is intended to be reminiscent of Cattle's feather tuft things, as well?

I do get a vague samurai sort of vibe to him, with the head shape loosely reminding me of a samurai helmet, and the pattern on his upper legs reminding me a bit of that style of armor? But I also think that kind of helps me process what's going on with his design overall (makes it a bit easier to pick out the broader strokes of what's going on, rather than getting caught up in the details), so I don't think that's strictly an issue.

His color palette does a nice job tying him to Cattle without feeling like a complete mirror of how the colors are balanced in Cattle's design, which really helps in immediately identifying him as Cattle's Persona. The white face, with the red piece kind of mimicking the point of Cattle's beak in between his eyes, adds to that. Aesthetically, I'm not sure he directly connects to Cattle? But the fact that he's a mech, and Cattle's a little guy, sort of makes my brain fill him in as resembling a big toy to Cattle's little kid vibe, as much as I don't think Cattle would appreciate that description, haha, so I think they work together all the same.

Mandrin! (Switching to game screenshots now because the datamined Persona transparents have weird lighting and are rarely full body, haha)

Mandrin's a little funny to me because the single pop of blue is such a thief color design thing for them to do, and yet he's a Persona. But that aside, I like the hat + coat + glove combination he has going on! Those, with the noose, make him feel like a dangerous outlaw, which is befitting of a Phantom Thief's Persona. The sharp teeth pattern, which feels sort of like a mask he's wearing but also sort of like it's just his face, also helps him from feeling completely human, so that's a nice touch.

The spiked cuff on his right hand (which isn't super visible in either image I have here, hah) does feel just a little out of place to me, especially because his design (minus the weapon, hat brim, and a few little details) is very symmetrical otherwise, but it's also not something you really notice unless you're looking for it, so I think it gets a pass. The lightness of his upper legs, though, is a little weird- he's wearing some kind of pants or extremely tall boots, and the tops of those being lighter than most of the rest of his design brings a weird sort of focus to them? It's, again, not disastrous, and at least it doesn't feel like the color itself is out of place on him, it's just a bit odd because if you squint your eyes to see what stands out the most, the impression is that his teeth, noose, and upper legs are being framed by the darker jacket.

Alongside Soy, his shirtlessness at least seems to sort of "explain" the strange thing going on with Soy's top a bit (as I mentioned in the other post, haha). They go together quite well, with similar but not completely identical vibes and color schemes, though because they're so similar it could be argued that it draws more attention to some of the parts of Soy's design that don't match Mandrin (ex. the icy blue gloves that stand out more than Mandrin's black glove, the blue chest that stands out more than Mandrin's dark grey chest, etc.) and therefore could be a bit detrimental to the impression the two of them give off together. But they do go together, and you'd immediately be able to guess that Mandrin goes with Soy if you saw a lineup of all the Personas, so I think they really fulfill that aspect at least.

Prosymna!

Prosymna's design is another one I really like. The weird, slightly alien arms and hands immediately make you think Psi, and there's a sort of fishy aspect to the pattern on her headdress, scales on some of the silver metal, and flowy lower dress that really appeals to me. The harp strings also feel really well-integrated in her design, adding to the strange/alienness of it while still being recognizable as a harp.

It could be said that there's a little too much going on with her, especially around her head and lower torso, but I think overall her body underneath is readable enough that you don't get totally lost on what's going on with her. You can still pick up the sort of alien harp fish lady thing that's going on, and process her pose without too much trouble.

Her and Kotomo's color schemes go together, so she has that. I'll admit, I'm not sure why Prosymna has the alien/fish/harp thing going on when none of those seem to really be reflected by Kotomo? I assume some of it must tie into Prosymna's mythology, but it does make them feel a little aesthetically mismatched, even if the color scheme saves it in the end. They look like they go together until you start inspecting what's going on with Prosymna a bit more closely, so she can sort of sneak by, even if that could have been tied together a little better.

Cleodora!

I like the very regal, kind of "queen bee" vibe that Cleodora has going on. I also think it's funny that the massive base she has reminds me a bit of those spinning fairy toys (if you're not familiar, google that phrase and you should see what I mean, haha), but is probably more intended to be Okyann's dance stage. She coveys a royalty vibe very clearly, and I don't really have any notes on anything about her that I actually dislike!

At least, in and of herself. Admittedly, the fluffy collar, and face, do remind me just a little of Terpsichore, but they're so visually distinct otherwise that I'm not sure it's really that much of an issue, and honestly may just be me haha.

Persona-wise, I do have to admit that her vibe doesn't really go with Okyann's outfit or demeanor? I guess there's almost loosely a connection that my brain wants to make between a sort of "queen bee"/popular girl and a gyaru, but I'm not sure that really exists or that I can actually articulate it really, so it feels more like a disconnect than anything. Her colors work fine, even with the added touches of blue, but Okyann feels more like a late 90s/early 2000s pop star, befitting of her gyaru theme, whereas Cleodora... does not. I guess maybe it could tie into some aspect of Kayo's personality we haven't really seen as much yet, but at least from the surface level, it is a little dissonant. If she were still regal, but toned down a bit/otherwise reflected Okyann's outfit a bit more, I think that'd solve it?

Syke!

I'll admit, hands down my favorite thing about him is that he has a book like we see Kii with in his AOA (and also as a confidant). Not the exact same book, but it doesn't need to be- it's just cute to me that that's reflected so directly by his Persona. Anyway, that aside, the flaming tree situation Syke has going on is honestly pretty fun. He sort of feels like if a tree's leaves were consumed by flames, and then that tree, still on fire, got turned into a guy? It's a silly way to describe him, but that's kind of the impression I get from him, even as he looks like sort of a serious guy, haha. I really like the orange cloth trailing off his shoulders, because it kind of contributes to the "flame" impression without literally adding more fire (which would start to get excessive, if they had added more fire).

I'm not sure I really have any notes on him? Maybe that the boots being white sort of pulls attention away from his upper half a bit, but that feels like it reflects Kii's outfit enough that I'm willing to excuse it.

As for how well he goes with Kii- even aside from the book thing, he's an interesting one, because he's actually a lot more colorful than Kii himself, with the kind of stained glass look he has going on, but it works, because it supports the exorcist/priest thing that Kii has going on in the first place. It feels like it adds more context to Kii's outfit when Syke stands behind him, which is what Personas are doing about 95% of the time, so it honestly really works even if their aesthetics aren't quite identical. Syke feels like his aesthetic complements Kii's, rather than strictly reflecting it, which I think is part of why I like him so much!

Erytheia! (Or Ekedena in the files- still not 100% sure what's the right translation, but that's neither here nor there right now haha)

I like what he has going on! To the point where, if I'm being completely honest... I actually think he pulls off the vibe Leo's supposed to be going for better than Leo's outfit itself does, haha? It's very asymmetrical, but it doesn't feel too complicated or unbalanced, and honestly even the green belt kind of works because it feels like it's more a combination of the blues and yellows (rather than just a random chunk of green in a sea of dark colors) because of the patterns that Erytheia has.

Of course, I don't think literally recreating Erytheia's outfit would be the right call for Leo's outfit, haha. It's a bit more gladiator/Greek mythology than I think would be suited for Leo himself, but I think it really conveys the concepts and vibe overall in a more effective manner.

Which is to say- I think Erytheia actually goes very well with Leo! Similar color schemes and patterns, but a level of distinction between them, makes them feel very much like a pair that goes together without being literal twins. If Leo's outfit were a bit more cohesive, I think Erytheia would fit in perfectly as a slightly more historical hero, while Leo would look like a modern hero. As it is, like I said earlier, I think Erytheia currently conveys the goal of Leo's outfit better than Leo does, haha.

Meng Po!

I think my favorite parts of her design are the huge shoulder armor things, how those woven-looking strips wrap around her, and of course, the way her skirt attaches (?) to her torso, because it sort of makes it look like her skirt's another bowl of soup that she's sitting in, just a little. Admittedly it's a little silly to describe it like that, but that's honestly what I enjoy about it.

I do think there's a little too much going on in the way of colors with her. Just blue or just green would've been enough (maybe combine them into a single teal instead, even?), but as it is there's sort of a weird conflict of attention between the various blue and green bits that feels just a little disorganized, and a little too much when set alongside all the red on her design. The blue in her bowl, of the tassels, and in the lantern (?) pulls my attention around like competing magnets, and away from her face, while the green bits are all roughly the same shape and kind of in a line going from her face to her mid-torso to the end of her skirt, so my eyes kind of zigzag across her rather than processing what's actually going on.

These two aspects may just be my personal preference, but the way the woven strips attach to her head, and the lack of anything else immediately around or above the top of her head, do also make her look a bit bald, and I'm not a huge fan of those red things around her eyes and the way they curl at the ends, either.

As far as fittingness for Rin, I think the overall red-white-black-gold works, and even (if adjusted) the blue/green could work, because it gives a somewhat more embellished/ethereal look to Meng Po which works for her as a Persona and goddess. As it is, the blues and green are a little much to have both of behind Rin, but I think if those were adjusted like I was talking about above then it'd solve that.

While (that aside) her look works with Rin's, though, I think her demeanor seems just a bit too peaceful for how energetic Rin is? Personas do tend to look a bit more serious/detached/etc. compared to their users, throughout the series, but Meng Po looks very happily poised and calm in a way that even knowing that does still strike me as a bit odd in comparison to Rin. Or, in other words, Meng Po's design fits Rin, but her attitude sort of makes me start to wonder what it is about Meng Po that actually makes her represent Rin, as opposed to seeing Meng Po is Rin's Persona and going "Oh, okay, the fact that they're a little different expands my understanding of Rin as a character!" Though, again, maybe I'll understand that better once we get to know Rin as a confidant?

Terpsichore!

I feel like I like aspects of Terpsichore more than the overall look. The dark hat and mask make her golden eyes pop very nicely, and make her feel just slightly menacing and otherworldly (which is always a good vibe for a Persona design, if you ask me, haha). I also like the icy cloak/cape and tutu-like thing going on around her waist, because they really sell the winter vibe she has, befitting of an Ice Persona belonging to an ice skater. And the ice skates she has, themselves, are a nice touch.

I do, however, feel like there's a bit of a disconnect between the head + hat and the rest of the outfit? The extremely top-heavy hat, which I love on its own, doesn't seem suited to the more delicate, literally ice crystal skater that her frilly skirt and lower body seems to convey. This might actually be as easy a fix as making her cloak also a dark color like her hat, and possibly the ice skate boots as well? Spreading that around would put less of that heavy emphasis on her head alone, though if they wanted her to look like a light, delicate ice skater, then it probably would've been better to forego the hat entirely (which would be a shame, because I love it). She also has, like, a lot going on on her lower legs out of nowhere? There's some blue lines that trail down from her tutu, and a white fuzzy thing at the top of what appears to be fishnet over that, and then a dark blue... something past that, which ends in a different white fuzzy cuff at the top of her ankle boot ice skates. I think maybe simplifying that area a bit- probably cutting out the fishnets and the first fuzzy things at least?- would go a long way.

She does feel suited to Mont, though, in terms of vibe. It's a little bit of an easy win, I think, since going for a refined ice skater kind of vibe is of course going to mesh well with Mont, but it does work. It just... sort of makes me wish Mont has some of those fuzzy bits and/or the dark hat and mask as well, haha... But the fact that I like Terpsichore's design a little more than Mont's aside, I think it gets the job done, and they fit together without feeling identical.

Sytx!

Styx is cool. She sort of feels like some kind of clockwork soldier? Or, you know, an Anti-Shadow Weapon, which is sort of the same thing on a base level, hehe. She feels a bit like an intricate doll, but not quite so fragile as the words would imply, and there's a variety of things going on with her design but I think they go well together. The asymmetry of the white is nice without being too attention-grabbing.

Probably my biggest question is why there's that blue part on her hammer? Why isn't it that dark purple like literally everything else that isn't black, white, or that dull gold on Styx? Her hair also sort of strikes me as a bit odd, but hair color not matching the outfit is a little more normal for human characters, and it's at least still a muted color that sort of helps draw some attention to her face without drastically standing out. Why is there a random blue bit on her hammer?? Why not at least make it a brighter shade of purple than the rest of the design?? I just feel like I'm missing something??

Her connection to Yuki's aesthetic is also a little loose to me. There is a sort of dignified air and general shared color scheme (though Yuki lacks the dull gold), but I guess the clockwork/machine aspect doesn't quite mesh with Yuki's sort of twist on the Phantom of the Opera look in my mind? Admittedly I'm not super familiar with the Phantom of the Opera, and maybe it would click better for me if I was, but as much as I like Styx she's another one that feels like a bit of a disconnect from her thief to me.

And last but certainly not least, Leucothea!

I love Leucothea. Leucothea feels silly and over the top, but not to the point where I can't take him (I know the mythological figure's female, but since Seiji's a guy and it's the series standard for the teammate and Persona's genders to match, I'm going to use he/him here?) seriously as a Persona design. This may have become obvious over the course of this post but I love giant hats. I love that Leucothea's has that birdcage built into it. I LOVE the floofy feather tails. I love the gigantic white flower. It's all over the top without being too much or feeling unbalanced.

I think if I had any complaint, it'd be the tufts on the side of the shoes? The shoes in general are fine, and I think the white color works, but something about the shape just feels a bit off to me relative to the rest of the design. Maybe that it looks more like smooth wisps rather than the feathery shape of similar details on his outfit? Not sure exactly, but I guess that'd be my nitpick if anything.

As for fitting with Seiji- it feels like they got so close. Admittedly Leucothea feels more like an aristocrat while Seiji feels more like a revolutionary, but I think as stated above that that sort of distinction does work to an extent given the nature of Personas as mythological figures that come from the Sea of Souls to represent a human's true self? As much as Leucothea's a bit over the top, it's not in such a way that it feels disconnected from Seiji aesthetically.

It's really... really... just the color scheme. I don't understand why Seiji's gloves are bright blue! It could work as a nice contrast against Leucothea, but that solid, saturated blue is not the right shade to do that if that's what they were going for, and Leucothea has so much more gold/yellow/red going on, compared to Seiji's almost complete monochrome, that his gloves just jump out at you for how they don't match. If Leucothea was blue (and maybe green?) instead of the yellow + red, or if Seiji's gloves were gold, or red, or maybe even just a less saturated yellow-green, I think they'd go together much better immediately. Even straight up Wind element green gloves would make more sense at least for the element match. It seems like such an odd decision to me, for a pair that otherwise works very well, to have the colors in their otherwise monochrome outfits be so different.

-

I hope that's what you wanted! It was fun to think about how the Persona designs go with their thieves, especially since that's something you don't really get to do with the Persona games before P5 as they didn't get special outfits with them. Besides character design, I also love character analysis, though I tried not to go too deep into that here when we've only seen the first two Palaces of the game and barely know most of the teammates outside of how they function in combat, haha.

[p5x-theories]

So since there are probably going to be 7 palaces, from all the datemined stuff, can we figure out or at the very least see who they are? There is the baseball guy and also Okyann’s shadow? I think? But has there been any other shadows in the datemine?

I've seen enough in the files to suspect the second Palace ruler isn't Kayo (AKA Okyann), but the appearance of a full Shadow model for her does seem to suggest she will be one of the Palace Rulers somewhere, so I think that's actually three so far (Kiuchi (baseball guy), second guy who should be in the second beta, and then Kayo)?

So far I haven't seen any other new Shadows in the files (I'm only 20% through them though, so it's not impossible there will be somewhere), and have no idea who the others are yet. I doubt all seven of them are in the data, as Shadows, however, since there'd really be no reason to have all of them in for a beta that probably now only goes through the second Palace.

Not directly your question, but I have also seen Shadow Kamoshida and Shadow Kaneshiro in the data, probably related to whatever those new challenge things that appear to be set in their Palaces are?

[doevademe]

So, here is a kinda fun question, are there any other relationships in other media that in some way remind you of Percico? Either the general relationship or how the characters in the relationship act.

Hmm... Damian Wayne and Jon Kent, maybe? But like, treated seriously rather than the tired "Sunshine boy x Grumpy bear" dynamic, With Jon showing off his insecurities and darker qualities, and Damian being more than just a tsundere.

Oh, there's also Damian and Anya from Spy x Family. Their dynamic where only one of them is obviously in love but in denial of it while the other obliviously makes them fall harder reminds me a lot of Percy and Nico.

That's all that comes to mind right now. I've heard Buddy Daddies also has a similar dynamic between the main characters, but I haven't watched it, so...

[doevademe]

So here is an idea with a slightly dark Percico, during the time where Percy has amnesia, rather than deny knowing him, Nico in a moment of weakness says that they are dating that he missed him so much. Percy goes along with it, seeing no reason not to trust Nico and something about him being his boyfriend just feeling right. Eventually they reunite with Annebeth who is pissed at Nico for lying but can’t convince Percy that he is, making Nico into even more of an outcast, only for Percy to reveal that has already gotten his memories back long ago and now that Nico has lost most of his friends Percy has him all to him. Now they can be messed up possessive people together

Nico couldn't take it anymore.

The glares, the disappointment, everybody looked at him like he was a monster, and not even for the reasons they usually did.

If it was about being a son of Hades, Nico would at least feel outraged, like he didn't deserve what was happening to him, but this time it was different, this time he deserved the scorn of those around him.

"What's wrong, babe?" Percy asked, concerned. Nico bit his lip.

It had been a moment of weakness. Percy had just said he was important to his nonexistent past, and Nico had just said 'Well, as your boyfriend I sure hope so!' He had planned to dismiss it as a joke soon after, but Percy had just nodded like it made all the sense in the world and kissed him as an apology.

Nico hadn't been able to come clean after that.

"Percy, we need to talk," Nico said softly.

"Is Annabeth giving you trouble again?" he put his arm around him protectively. Nico saw a dark shadow fall over his eyes. "She really needs to stop that. Like I'd ever go for her when I have you."

Yes, things had only gotten worse once Annabeth had landed on New Rome. Nico had been sweating bullets. Surely seeing the actual love of his life would return Percy's memories. Then Percy would hate him for lying and taking advantage... again.

Yet what happened was even worse. Percy had rejected Annabeth, saying that he knew they were friends, but that he had rejected her to be with Nico. Percy weaved a story from the half-truths Nico told him and his own imagination, but the way he had talked made it sound as if Nico himself had been feeding him all those stories.

Annabeth had tried to claw his eyes out, and had only been stopped by Percy. The daughter of Athena had demanded him to break whatever spell he had put on Percy, but her boyfriend had refused to believe her.

"She has calmed down a lot," Nico lied. After Percy had remained 'loyal' to him, Annabeth had tried to prove their relationship with pictures and witnesses, and everyone had believed her, even his sister... everyone except for Percy. "It's about um... us."

Nico was now not only the untrustworthy son of Hades, he was also a homewrecker, an oportunist who had bewitched an amnesiac man into forgetting his girlfriend out of sefishness.

Everyone had turned their back on him, except for Percy, who kept kissing him and complimenting him like nothing was wrong.

"Did I do something wrong?" Percy's voice had a tint of worry as he looked around. "Was I too clingy? Or too clueless?"

Yes, Percy had been, but that was not the problem. If anything, Nico felt guilty over how much he enjoyed Percy's affections.

"No, it's not—"

"Is there someone else, then?" Percy's gaze turned possessive, even darker. At that moment, he was reminded of Poseidon being the god of storms and earthquakes. "Don't think I don't notice."

"N-notice what?" Nico couldn't help but stutter. When angry, Percy was almost a force of nature himself.

"Jason Grace and Leo Valdez, they look at you sometimes," Percy said dangerously. "Everyone should know that you are mine."

Nico blinked. No. There was no way that Percy was that oblivious.

"They look at me with nothing but disgust!" he finally exclaimed. "And they're right to do so!"

Percy's face softened as he turned to hug Nico properly, combing his fingers through his hair.

"Nico, there's nothing wrong with you... with us," he said. Nico wanted to scream in frustration. "If they can't accept us, we're better off without them."

"It's not about acceptance!" Nico sobbed. "Annabeth was telling the truth. You are her boyfriend, not mine!"

"Nico, you don't—"

"I lied Percy!" Nico screamed into his shirt. "That kiss you gave me on Camp Jupiter was our first. You've never seen me as anything but a friend or a traitor. I took advantage of you!"

He just wanted it to stop. To at least mend the relationship with his sister, even if everyone else, including Percy, hated him.

The son of Poseidon just hugged him tighter.

"Oh, Nico," he said, sounding disappointed. Nico braced himself. "I already knew."

Nico's eyes widened, he tried to pull away, but Percy just held on tighter.

"What?"

"My memories came back during my quest with Hazel and Frank," Percy explained. He caressed the top of his head. "I have known you lied since before Annabeth came back."

"But then why—?"

"Honestly, it was pretty hilarious to see her all mad," Percy laughed. "I almost cracked then and there, but I needed to keep at it, until everyone took her side, at least."

Nico shivered. It had all been Percy's ellaborate plan. To alienate Nico from everyone who could be on his side. To make him even more of an outcast. All to get back at Nico for lying about their relationship.

He didn't know the son of Poseidon could be that machiavellian.

"I guess I deserved it," Nico whispered. "I'm really sorry, Percy."

"Sorry for what?" Percy asked. He seemed honestly confused. "You know what I remembered when I got my memories back? How devoted you are, how many times you have saved me, how much you're willing to do for me. How utterly perfect you are."

Nico wasn't understanding. What was Percy getting at?

"You even lied to have me for yourself." Percy's voice was filled with amazement. Nico felt the hug tighten once again until it was almost painful. "But I also remembered all the people who could take you away, just as I realized how precious you were to me."

"Percy!" He struggled to get out, but Percy didn't let him.

"People like Connor Stoll and Will Solace, always looking at what's not theirs," he continued, almost snarling. "I knew if I wanted to keep you, I needed to make sure they wouldn't look at you twice."

Nico's heart was hammering in his chest. The worst part is, he wasn't sure if it was from fear or excitement.

"You did all this... so I'll stay?"

"I remember Nico, you have a knack for just leaving," there was a reproach in Percy's voice. "But that's in the past. Because now you know how much I love you."

Yeah, and now there was nowhere else that would take Nico in.

"It hurts, being hated by everyone," he admitted quietly. Percy's hug became slack.

"I know, and I'm sorry." Percy at least sounded sincere. "I know I made it worse but... I couldn't lose you."

And it was like something switched inside Nico's brain. Like everything made sense now. He had always been an outcast anyway.

But now he had Percy.

"You'd never lose me, Percy," he said, giving him a kiss. "Because I'm as yours as you are mine."

And Percy smiled like Nico had just told him the moon really was made of blue candy.

"I'm glad we both think the same way."

Nico nodded and kissed Percy again.

The whole world could hate him for all he cared. Percy was his, and it was more than worth it.

[doevademe]

Here is a “fun” idea, say during the events of House of Hades, everyone gets stuck in Tartarus, meaning everyone see Percy bend poison and almost kill a goddess. Everyone is freaked out by this, and keeps their distance from Percy, which makes him feel miserable. The only one who keeps by him, at least until everyone kinda gets over it and apologizes to Percy for treating him badly, is Nico, who is used to people being freaked with his scary powers. This really can happen whenever, it just would be interesting to see the Seven see this side to Percy and become scare of him while Nico is just like “he’s not scary he baby”

Percy sat away from the rest, hugging his knees as the rest discussed what to do now that they were out of Tartarus. Everybody kept glancing at him, as if worried he'd suggest joining Gaia or something.

After all they had been through they only saw him as a monster.

Well, with one exception.

"I'm going to leave soon," Nico informed him. Percy looked at him, worried. "If we want to stop the Roman attack, the Athena Parthenos needs to be brought back, but you guys are needed to stop Gaia."

Percy didn't want that. Nico was the only one who approached him without fear. The only one to actuslly tslk to him after... after the incident.

"You're going to Shadow Travel all the way to Camp?" Percy asked.

Nico shook his head.

"Doing that with the statue would kill me," Nico explained. "I'll make shorter jumps, and rest between them."

"I'll go with you," Percy offered. He didn't want to be alone with the rest of the crew. All judging him and too scared to even see where he was coming from. "You need someone to have your back while you rest!"

"You are one of the Seven, Percy," he said. "You have a role in this. Reyna and Coach Hedge are the ones who will go with me."

"I didn't vote on that!" He argued. Nico gave him a sardonic smile.

"You'd be outvoted," he said simply. "Come on, I plan on eating as much as I can before my first jump."

"So you can go farther?"

"So I don't pass out."

Percy chuckled, only to curl on himself again.

"You go," he said. "I don't want to ruin everyone's meal."

Nico stood up and held his hand. Percy observed it for a while.

"Take it," he ordered. Percy did as he was told. "This has gone long enough."

Before he could protest, Nico was dragging him to the picnic table where Piper had set a feast using the Cornucopia.

Everyone stopped eating as they approached. Nico didn't acknowledge them, just sat by Hazel's side with Percy on his right.

Reyna and Hedge looked around, confused, but the rest where looking between them, wondering what to say.

"You know," Nico started, his voice loud as he picked a piece of shephard's pie and put it on his plate. "I get it if you're wary of me."

"What?" Hazel asked. "Nico, it's not you—"

"I mean, child of death, creppy zombie powers, the ultimate outcast, I totally get it," Nico continued, ignoring his sister. He pointed at Percy, who gulped. "But him? He's one of you."

"You saw what he did down there, dude," Leo said quietly. "We all saw it."

Even Annabeth put her head down, and that hurt Percy the most. Nico frowned.

"Well, I'm sorry, next time he'll make sure to just burn down a warehouse with his mother inside." Nico's voice was full of venom. Leo looked as if he had been smacked.

Jason and Piper stood up, glaring at Nico.

"That's too far, di Angelo," Piper said dangerously. Jason glared at him.

"Oh, so now the girl who brainwashes others with her voice and the guy who can zap people out of existence claim the moral high ground," Nico said sarcastically, standing up to almost reach their height. "The dead talk, you know? I know what each of you has done."

"Nico, please..." Percy tried. Nico gave him an apologetic smile before turning to the others.

"See? I'm creepy, I'm unnerving, but you?" He pointed at them. "Each of you can be just as scary as Percy. Among this merry group we have deadly curses, accidental matricide, and a walking consent nightmare, and I know for a fact that most of you have killed more than just monsters."

Percy looked at Nico, feeling nothing short of admiration for his friend.

"Percy's only dangerous to his enemies," Hazel said quietly. "That's what you said, right?"

"We just didn't realize what the extent of 'dangerous' was," Frank added quietly, probably scared of Nico bringing up something he had done too.

"Well, congratulations on finding out," Nico said. He sat down and bit into the pie. "Most of you are older than me, so act your age, accept that Percy saved us, and get over yourselves."

Nico may or may not have muttered 'bunch of hypocrites' as he munched on his food. Percy would never tell.

"You are not unnerving, Nico," Percy said. Nico raised an eyebrow. "I mean, you can be, when you want to, but you're also very kind, and giving. You protect your friends and family with everything you have."

Nico blushed a bit. The others watched the exchange silently.

"This isn't about me, Percy," Nico said. "You guys need to work together, or else Gaia will rise and then it's game over." He gestured at the rest of the table.

Percy looked around and realized the others were deep in thought. Nico was right. None of them, except maybe Frank, could truly claim to be innocent.

Nico had made himself a target of the Seven's contempt for him. It felt like his chest was going to explode from feeling both sad for his friend and touched by his actions.

They continued eating quietly until Reyna approached them, telling Nico she would help him with the statue.

"Stay safe," Percy called. He had a new appreciation for the Son of Hades.

He hugged him, making Nico squeak.

"I won't be alone," he said against his ear. "And by the look of things, neither will you."

Nico pulled back. Percy turned and saw Annabeth approaching him hesitantly, guilt all over her face.

"Hey Seaweed Brain," she said, wincing. "I think we all need to talk."

Percy didn't know what to say, so he just nodded dumbly.

"See you later, Percy," Nico said behind him.

When he turned back, the son of Hades was already talking to Reyna as she helped tie up some ropes from the statue to Nico's back.

For some reason, his heart rate picked up at seeing him.

[doevademe]

Sweet sappy prompt: it’s been a few years since Percy and Nico have seen each other, they talk sometimes via iris messages but haven’t actually seen each other face to face. Nico has been off doing whatever chore Hades makes him do and Per y has been trying(and failing) to live a semi normal life, including learning how to braid his now four year old sister’s hair. One day Nico pops in saying that he is going to need him for a quest in a few days and Sally and Paul force Nico to stay over in the mean time. Nico sees Estelle’s braids and compliments Sally, only for him to be surprised that it was Percy. Right before they go on their quest, Nico asks Percy if he can braid his hair since he has been so busy that he hasn’t cut it in a while and it got fairly long. They both don’t know why they are so embarrassed or why their hearts are racing so much over braiding hair.

It was strange how life worked out. When he was 16, he never thought he'd ever truly get close to Nico di Angelo, and that his friendships with other demigods would be forever. Yet, here he was, 22, a college dropout working as a cashier and still living with his parents and dealing with monster attacks every week or so. Most of his friends had moved on and had their own lives now (or in Annabeth's case, were too pissed by his dropping out and their break up to keep contact).

The only person from his past he talked regularly with was Nico.

He knew he was mostly a dead man switch, though. Nico would call twice a week. If he didn't, it meant he was in trouble and Percy would go rescue him (not that it had ever happened).

Speaking of, Nico was supposed to call that day, wasn't he? Percy wondered if something happened.

Well, nothing said he couldn't be the one to call for once, right?

Decided he opened the door to the apartment and almost had a heart attack.

Nico, in the flesh, was on the other side, looking serious.

"I need your help."

"Di Immortales!" Percy swore. "Give a heads up when you do that!"

"Nico, I'm done!" His younger sister called. "Come here!"

Nico sighed and turned around, putting on a soft smile as he sat by Estelle and her construction block tower.

"Impressive," he praised. Now that his back was to him, Percy noticed how long his hair had gotten. It reached below his shoulders. "It's almost as tall as you!"

Percy shook his head at his sister complaining about how tall she actually was and went to the kitchen, where his mother was finishing dinner.

"Hi, mom," he said and kissed his cheek. "How long has Nico been here?"

"Just an hour or so," she answered with a smile. "Said he needed to tell you something in person."

"Huh," he said. Now that was a surprise. "Need help with anything?"

"Just set the table, honey, I'm almost done."

Percy nodded and set to work. Nico was sitting at the table, resting while Paul took over playing with Estelle.

"She really knows hows how to tire people out, huh?" he teased. Nico grunted and opened an eye. "So, what do you need help with?"

"It's nothing dangerous," he said. "But it's a quest that kind of needs two people... I need to settle a dispute between two minor gods, but they won't speak directly to each other... Or to someone who spoke to the other. It's a mess."

"Couldn't you sent me an IM for it?" he asked. "Don't get me wrong, it's great to see you in person after so long, but this doesn't seem that urgent."

"One of the gods is Iris so..." Nico shrugged. "Anyways, the actual parlay will be tomorrow, so I just came to ask if you would help. I'll be on my way soon."

"Tomorrow, you say?" Sally's voice made them jump a bit. "Then please, stay. You can sleep in Percy's room!"

"That's really not—"

"I insist," his mom said in her cheery voice that left no space to argue. "It seems like you haven't had a decent meal in a while."

Nico turned to glance at him, but he just nodded encouragingly. It would be nice to have Nico around.

"Sure," he said. "It'll be my pleasure."

---

"Your hair is so pretty and long," Estelle said in wonder while they ate. "Mommy keeps mine short."

"Well, yours is much better kept than mine," Nico said. Percy would have never guessed his friend knew how to deal with children. "Your mom braided your hair so nicely."

Estelle giggled and shook her head, while their parents chuckled. Percy could only blush as he hid behind his fork.

"What?" Nico asked, bemused.

"Mommy didn't do that! It was Percy!" She said loudly. Nico turned to look at him and he tried his best to avoid his gaze.

"I... picked it up after dropping out of college," he muttered.

"Percy watched around 80 videos on it," Paul piped, making Percy shrink in embarrassment. "Fashion influencers, how to videos, I think even a mom youtuber."

"Okay, so I looked it up!" Percy exclaimed loudly. "I wanted to pitch in with my sister in some way while I got a job, sue me!"

"I'm just kidding," Paul said, raising his hands. "We appreciate you helping us with Estelle."

"Yeah, I love my braids!" the little girl declared. "No one does them like Percy!"

"Yeah, it's cute," Nico said, giving one of his rare, small smiles.

Now Percy was blushing for a whole other reason. Did Nico mean Estelle's braids or...?

"So, Nico, you were telling us about Lisbon?" Sally asked, sensing Percy's discomfort.

He sighed in relief as Nico went back to explaining his last quest, tracking missing souls through Portugal.

---

"Percy?" Nico whispered so low the son of Poseidon might have missed it if not for the fact that the inflatable mattress was right by his bed. "You awake?"

"Yup," Percy whispered back. To be honest, something about Nico being in his room made him too alert. He had been awake for an hour already.

"I was thinking... I don't look the part to mediate in a godly conflict, do I?"

Percy wanted to reassure Nico, but he had to admit he looked like a cross between a hobo and an 80s metalhead.

"Well..."

"I've been busy, okay?" He snapped. "I haven't had time to cut my hair. That I shampoo at all is a miracle as it is!"

"You were the one to bring it up, not me."

"Well, since you seem to be an expert I was wondering if... if you could braid my hair like you did with Estelle..."

Percy coughed. The request somehow felt personal... intimate.

"You sure?" he asked. "My only experience is my little sister, so I don't know how good it'll turn out."

"Anything's better than this," he said, pointing at his hair.

"A-alright," Percy said, swallowing. "Just... sit with your back to me, I'll do my best."

Nico obeyed him wordlessly. Percy's hands were trembling as he took the first strand of Nico's hair and started combing it with his fingers. The son of Hades tensed for a second before relaxing.

As Percy worked, he couldn't help but think of how different this felt from when he did it to his sister. It felt like Nico was letting him inside in a way he never allowed anyone else.

It made him feel special. Like he was showing Nico how much he... cherished him, or something.

The seconds became minutes as Percy worked on Nico's hair, his heartbeat increasing every time Nico sighed or moved.

What was happening to him?

"There, done," he forced himself to say after a while. Nico stood up and saw himself on the mirror Percy had on his desk that he never used.

Nico reminded Percy of those statues of young, beautiful men from Ancient Greece, and Percy couldn't help but think no one would doubt the existence of demigods if they saw Nico right then.

"How do I look?" He asked uncertainly. And Percy could feel his heart pick up the pace like he was running the marathon.

Percy tried to shake his head, to get a clear head. It was still Nico, his friend, the guy who once said he was not his type. Even if he was feeling... something. This was something that had no future!.

"Perfect," he still said, because there was no other word to describe Nico.

The son of Hades smiled gratefully, and Percy knew he was lost.