#percy is the absolute WORST friend to nico and i WILL be dying on this hill

[crossdressingdeath]

One thing that I find both fascinating and deeply sad in TSatS is that when Will asks if they're going to Percy's house to ask him to come with them to Tartarus Nico says no on the grounds that he doesn't want to involve Percy in it... but when asked why Bob wouldn't ask Percy for help, Nico's immediate thought is that Bob didn't think Percy and Annabeth would help him. Like, that's his one and only theory. I suspect that there's a part of that where... Nico thinks to himself that Bob doesn't think Percy and Annabeth would help so that he doesn't have to think that he doesn't think Percy and Annabeth would help. In other words he's thinking it's Bob who didn't call for Percy and Annabeth because he didn't believe they'd help him, because the alternative is for Nico to say "I'm not asking them for help because I know they would say no and I don't want to face that refusal". And it's not that he wants them to come! If Nico had had his way he would've gone alone, he doesn't want to put anyone in danger, it's just that he managed to find the only demigod as stubborn as he is and made the mistake of telling Will what his plans were. But it's one thing to not want to involve people in something incredibly dangerous; it's quite another to know that if you asked for their help, and in this case their help saving the person they owe their lives to, they would say no. I'm sure they would be properly apologetic about refusing, they do seem to feel genuinely terrible about forgetting Bob (which... good) and "I'm not going to superhell again" is a perfectly understandable boundary to have, but I think Nico just... doesn't want to admit to himself that he was willing to go to Tartarus for Percy but Percy would never do the same for him. Hence him leaving it at "I don't want to make him do this" when asked if he'll ask Percy to help for his sake, but thinking quite openly to himself that Bob probably didn't think Percy and Annabeth would help, because Bob helped them out of loyalty to Nico so it isn't devastatingly sad to admit they'd never do the same for him the way it would be for Nico to admit that Percy would never go to Tartarus for him despite him going to Tartarus largely to help Percy.

Also, it's deeply disappointing that it doesn't come up again later in the book because please for the love of god Rick can we please have a discussion around Nico's fatal flaw being his "will literally go to hell and back for people who he knows would never do the same for him" level of loyalty and not holding grudges, and also how literally the only evidence even his own sister could offer for holding grudges being his fatal flaw was that he's the son of Hades and also was still upset about his sister dying six months after it happened. Now that he's got someone as loyal to him as he is to everyone else (Will refusing to not follow Nico to hell is so good after so long of Nico constantly being prepared to give up everything for others and getting next to nothing in return) it's a great time to get into how despite basically every other POV character going on about Nico being creepy and morally dubious actually his most consistent character trait is being the most loyal character in the whole series (and possibly the whole Riordanverse, honestly) no matter how many times that loyalty burns him.

[ladynicte]

I really wonder if it's ever stated how close were Bob and Nico as friends, because if they were really close, as in, close enough for Nico to choose to go back down to Tartarus, which he very much describes as the worst thing that's ever happened to him, just because of the slight possibility of helping Bob out.

Then wow, Percy coming over to him, to quickly, and almost casually remark that: Hey, you see how you barely have any friends, or family, and how what little you do have, you keep losing to quests and the whims of the demigod life, well there you go, you just lost another one, and once again you weren't even there, and once again, there's absolutely nothing that can be done about it.

You see how your older sister died protecting me, well yeah, that again.

Good luck not dying while transporting a giant marble version of Annabeth's mom, see ya.

Must have felt like a stab right though the chest and then taking the blade out.

[charlie-is-a-nerd]

Hi I would like a probably very niche percy jackson x the bright sessions crossover bc IMAGINE HOO COOL IT WOULD BE!!!

Tl;dr: Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus characters go to therapy

(Will contain Trials of Apollo spoilers, none from Tower of Nero)

Percy rocks up to Dr Bright's office and tells her that he literally went to Tartarus and tortured an immortal being by controlling the water in her body. Joan is doing that therapist thing of trying not to be shocked but being absolutely terrified. While he's in there, percy explodes some water coolers by accident and starts fiddling with the water in his glass by controlling it into shadow puppets.

Annabeth shows up to Dr Bright's office and tells her that she went off on her own mad quest to find her mother's worst enemy and had to trick her into weaving her own track and them she came back to life and tried to kill her and that she too went to Tartarus and her boyfriend tortured an immortal being. Also that she feels unwanted by her father and stepmother and her uncle hid the fact that her cousin was homeless for 2 whole years and then she rocks up to his funeral and he shows up alive and explained absolutely NOTHING. Joan is immensely confused and very impressed when she looks at what Annabeth has built out of desk items.

Hazel shows up and goes "I was born in the 30s and I can control precious gemstones." She talks about how she was forced to raise a giant from the ground at the age of 13, Leo and Sammy, how her previous stones were cursed and shes afraid they wont stay safe. She also talks about Arion and how frank died but also didnt die. Joan watches as Hazel manipulates the shape and size of different precious metals and is slightly afraid of this small kid in front of her.

Nico shows up and tells Joan that he can control the dead. Joan is very afraid.

Nico and Hazel make some weird and very close friendship with Mark with the whole time travel, being stuck in the past thing.

Will talks about how he doesnt think his powers are as useful as his friends' or his siblings' powers. He's not as good with a bow as they are, his only musical talent is that whistle that screws people's ears up for a while. But he also talks about how he helped his dad when he became mortal and how he helped all his friends. Joan watches as he glows slightly when he talks about his friends and Nico and how that dims totally when he talks about how he doesnt feel like he has good enough powers. He reminds her of caleb.

Frank tells joan about how he sort of died, sort of didnt. How he killed a whole hell of a lot of katoblepanes(?) to save his girlfriend and her brother. While talking, Joan watches him closely. She doesnt quite believe his story about changing shape until he does it. He flips into the shape of a bulldog to calm him down and Joan is just shocked.

Leo rocks up and cracks a load of jokes and then gets real quiet when joan asks about the real stuff. He talks about how his siblings didnt think of fire users as good people and hoe that weighs on him day to day. He doesnt feel wanted by his friends, only needed as a repair boy and flaming valdez. Leo talks about dying. He doesnt talk about Calypso. Joan does actually manage to teach him some exercises to control the fire when she watches his nose go up in flames.

Piper reminds joan of Damien. Shes afraid of Piper at first but then realises she's not like damien at all. Piper talks about her father and her charm speak and how she doesnt feel wanted or noticed. She talks about making friends with annabeth and how her relationship with jason was built on lies. She talks about jason a lot.

Reyna opens the door to Dr Bright's office and tells Aurum and Argentum to wait outside. She tells Dr Bright about her ability to share her strength and the feedback she gets from it. She tells her about New Rome and how she left for the hunters and why she left for the hunters. She talks about the prophecy from Aphrodite. She talks about her father. She talks about Percy and Annabeth on Circe's island. She talks about Percy and Jason. Reyna, who has never cried in front of anyone sheds a tear while talking to Joan. She hears Aurum and Argentum whining at the door to help her. Joan teaches her lots of Caleb's techniques to lessen the impact of the feedback she receives from people when she uses her power.

Thalia rocks up super dubious of what Joan could do for her. She talks about blasting percy with lightning when they were kids. She talks about Jason. She talks about losing Percy for 8 months. She talks about her friendship with Reyna and how she went to her aid when she was needed. She talks about helping Apollo. Joan listens, she notices the weather outside becoming stormy during some of the darker bits they discussed. Thalia feels guilty for telling Joan so much of it and leaves before she can give her any advice.

I have more for other riordanverse characters

[theartofimaginaryfriends]

Sleepless Nights

Character: Percy Jackson

Premise: Percy can't fall asleep, and thinks about the friends he had lost in the battle against Kronos

Content warning: grief and loss, dealing with trauma

Masterlist

Word count: 1,067

A/N: This shit hurt to write and I'm absolutely not okay, so I gotta share it with the world. I do, however, really love this piece. We as fans often get so stuck in fanon that we forget how traumatized Percy actually is, and how he has never actively worked through everything. Song used for the fic is Empty Chairs at Empty Tables from Les Misérables

There's a grief that can't be spoken,

There's a pain goes on and on.

Empty chairs at empty tables,

Now my friends are dead and gone.

Percy found himself unable to sleep for the fifth night in a row, not being able to stop thinking about the sacrifices each of his friends made. He carried the burden of the prophecy so that Nico wouldn't, and was named the hero at the end of the day. Glory was supposed to come along with a title like that, but all Percy felt was hopeless and tired.

The Gods expected Demigods to do their dirty work, causing their children to be stuck with a heavy burden on their backs for the rest of their lives. Such grief and pain never truly goes away. That's why Percy turned down immortality. It wasn't worth it if he was going to be carrying that burden while he watched his friends die one by one. Instead, he found a wish that could be easily done. Now, the camp was filled with new demigods and more arriving every day.

Still, he couldn’t help the dread that came along with waking up every single morning, and facing the camp again. Every day, he didn't see the future of Camp Half-Blood, he saw loss everyone had to face collectively. The damage that the war caused both physically and mentally, not only on himself but on his fellow campers.

Here they talked of revolution,

Here it was they lit the flame,

Here they sang about tomorrow and tomorrow never came.

Staring up at the underside of the top bunk, he thought of Luke Castellan. The son of Hermes wanted to be recognized by his father, he wanted all the Gods kids to know who their parent was. Luke's anger towards the Gods drove him down a path that caused him to lose himself along the way. Percy knew that Luke understood a long time ago that he had made a mistake by helping Kronos, but he couldn't help but still feel angry with him.

Luke was a hero in the end. That was what Percy had told the camp. Did he believe it himself? He wasn't completely sure. His first friend at camp became the cause of countless people he considered to be family to fall to their demise. He was the reason Percy carried a burden that – quite frankly – no one wanted.

He recalled the months leading up to the final battle. The demigods were scared, but many were also excited for a battle. A motivation to win sparked through the whole camp, overpowering the general worry every kid had around death. Many were confident, and some had died because of it. These kids never got to see the success of the battle, and Percy hoped they were all in Elysium where they belong.

From the table in the corner,

They could see a world reborn,

And they rose with voices ringing,

And I can hear them now

The very words that they have sung

Became their last communion

On this lonely barricade, at dawn.

Voices were haunting him constantly. Of Luke, Beckendorf, Silena, and many others. Percy often felt like his friends would join him in the Dining Pavillion, despite them not physically being there. He remembered their voices vividly, as if he had just wished them a goodnight before heading to his cabin with Tyson. It worsened his pain, the demigod wishing to forget the sounds of their voices.

Visions of them training at camp wouldn't leave his mind, and he kept seeing their ghosts wherever he went. It made Percy feel even more lonely than before, reluctant to get close to anyone else at camp. In front of Annabeth and Grover, he put on a brave face. There was no way he'd admit to his true feelings, especially to his two best friends. Worrying them was the last thing he wanted to do.

Oh my friends, my friends forgive me

That I live and you are gone

There's a grief that can't be spoken,

And there's a pain goes on and on.

The worst part about the sleepless nights was the guilt that ate at him constantly. He felt like he didn't deserve to live, that he didn't deserve the title of hero. The people he cared about were in the underworld while he got the luxury of continuing to live. A luxury he hated having.

Training at camp was supposed to help the Demigods learn to keep going if a family or friend died in battle. It was supposed to teach them how to move on when experiencing a loss that great. What it didn't help the Demigods prepare for were the flashbacks and the nightmares. The fear that went along with the guilt. The pain that never left no matter how hard they tried to push it down. It was an unexplainable pain, one that Percy knew he would never be able to describe to anyone outside of the camp – especially his mother.

Phantom faces at the window,

Phantom shadows on the floor,

Empty chairs at empty tables where my friends will meet no more.

Oh my friends, my friends don't ask me

What your sacrifice was for

Empty chairs at empty tables

Where my friend will sing no more.

The few hours earlier when the campfire took place, Percy felt the pain and suffering that the campers experienced collectively. He could picture Beckendorf and Silena cuddled up as they sang along, and even Luke's smile as he tried to get the Stoll's to be at least somewhat serious. He could see the ghosts of the kids who's shrouds they burned that night, watching as the campers tried to hold back tears as they mourned for what felt like the millionth night in a row.

The Apollo cabin sat closer together than usual, the pain apparent in their voices as they led the camp through melancholy tunes. Even Percy joined in on the singing, too depressed to care that he sounded like a dying cat. The ghosts of his friends began to sing along to the songs with everyone, but Percy couldn't hear them. He wasn't even sure if what he was seeing was real.

He couldn't tell the difference anymore, but he didn't care. Percy just wished he could slip away, and forget about everything for a while.

[canarhys]

Honestly, after his life and death, Leo would absolutely be traumatized.

The dude died and he said it was the worst experience he felt in his life. Like hell he’d get over it easily:

he was so used to heat, but for once in his life, he actually felt like his insides were churning from the inside out

this led him using his fire powers less than he already did

he even begins to be afraid of fire, the one thing he’s immune to

also he gets easily scared by loud noises

he nearly becomes deaf because of the experience, and when his friends talk to him they had to repeat what they said several times

but after his hearing heals, he still remembers the loud bomb of the explosion and was forever scarred

he cant even handle balloons popping without screaming

everyone makes sure not to scare him with loud sounds

he just works on quiet projects since he cant handle loud noises anymore

he also has a great fear of explosions

whenever it’s chariot racing time he sits alone with festus in bunker nine because he cant handle the bombs and crashes

one time there was an explosion in the forges and he had to be calmed down by everyone

or in the alternative: he becomes deaf

he cant hear the sweet banging in the forges or the voices of his best friends

all he hears is just SILENCE and it’s horrible

his friends use sign language until he learns how to read lips

he works to make his own ear aid

he also lost his own left arm in the explosion

although he easily made his own prosthetic

however he worries that maybe he’s cheating when he makes or repairs new machines because of his new arm

everyone doesn’t let him think that way and says its because of his brilliant mind that he created so many beauties

he cant handle things staying still for too long

he goes to sleep late and wakes up so early since he hates having dreams or just plain darkness

he’s not as loud or joyous as he was before

he’s still afraid

at first he’s quiet and paranoid, still shivering from death’s cold touch

he becomes afraid of death

he hardly went on quests or even participated in normal camp activities

he doesn’t like hearing rumors or actual news about someone dying

after the war and especially after his death, he suffered more immensely from PTSD, BPD, dependent personality disorder, bipolar disorder, and even PPD

he touches his scars at night that reminded him of his abusive foster homes, life on the streets, and the whole quest thing

i forgot to mention, but he also has a few burn marks for some weird reason - probably a punishment for cheating death

every time he looks at them he just curls up into his bed and cries

also as a headcanon, as punishment for cheating death due to Asclepius resurrecting him, he gets sent to tartarus

after that shit, he hardly smiled

he hates going out into the mortal world but he also hates staying copped up in camp half-blood

hes at that point where he just wants to drown and disappear

especially when during his death he thought he heard his mama call out to him

it broke him

he wakes up every night, whimpering and calling out to his mom and saying sorry

hes still not over her death and still thinks he killed her

I feel like ya’ll are sad by now, but fear not:

finally he’s so fucking done with everything, with the war and monsters and the voices inside his head

he could still hear gaea in his head and it makes him scream

so he decides to run away

he packs his shit and everything and leaves - or, tries to

turns out nico’s there nearby thalia’s tree and stops him

leo tries to get past him but nico knows what he’s doing and tries to help him but leo is just pushing and screaming at him to leave him alone

nico’s only saying comforting words and holding to his hand with no force but leo even goes as far to try to punch him

after what seemed like hours leo finally calmed down and slowly sat in front of the pine tree and nico sits next to him while the latino boy cries

leo finally spills

he starts talking/signing about everything he’s been feeling and experiencing ever since he came back from the dead

about how much he wants his mom back and he hates his dad to leave him on the streets and the stupid gods for making life so fucking difficult

he’s at a crossroads where he wants to die but he’s afraid of death and it just makes him feel so alone and insecure and he just cries until his throat is raspy and his eyes are incredibly puffy and red

nico’s crying too

suddenly, he’s shocked when nico talks/signs about how his life was messed up too

he’s still horrified at bianca’s death and blames percy so much and he’s still not over his crush on him

like he hates him but he idolizes him, and its tearing him apart

he just wants a normal love life but instead he got unrequited love and it slowly tore him apart to where he became even more cold and quiet

and then he talks about how his life on the streets were too, how he hates how his father kept secrets from him, how bianca left him more than once times, how his trek in tartarus left him with scars and intense nightmares

he’s afraid of death too

and he knows how leo feels, to be trapped and sorrowed by our own lives and dreams

but he stopped running away

he tells leo that his friends are here for him, even though it must not seem like it

hes felt what leo’s felt and refuses to let him deal with it alone

he knows leo’s still paranoid about being left out as the seventh wheel and says that without the seventh wheel the car wouldn’t be what it was today

he dealt with his pain alone and it ended with him feeling like an outcast, so he cant leave leo to take it on himself by running away like he did

and he makes a promise on the river styx that he’ll help him

leo’s just quiet and aghast

then silent tears come down his face, relieved that he isn’t alone in this world

that he doesn’t have to be only one to carry his burden

he asks nico if hes alright with helping someone as miserable as him, and nico nods, saying he didn’t make a styx promise for nothing

and even if leo still has horrible nightmares or anxieties or if he even goes insane, he’ll stay with him

and leo for once feels at ease

he lays his head on nico’s shoulder and for once hes at peace

nico doesn’t mind

after that, leo slowly recovers

hes not okay but hes getting better

he finally got a hearing aid and almost cried of joy when he could hear everything / he starts to talk a bit louder and isn’t as scared as he was with loud sounds

his nightmares and visions and voices are still there but he talks about them with nico and his best friends

he still has several disorders and is far from getting over them but luckily he has people behind his back

he gives prosthetics and other useful items to disabled kids in camp

he hangs out with his friends a lot more and actually laughs for the first time in a few months

he joins the rest of the seven + nico and reyna to talk about happier times before and after the quest

he sometimes talks with chiron about his problems since the old man is loving and kind and deserves more respect

he even finds new friends that he never thought would happen (thalia, drew, will, the stolls, clarisse, etc)

him and nico never actually talked before the little half-blood hill thing, but afterwards they started to get to know each other better

they talked about their problems and interests and everything that happened in their lives

leo never felt this kind of feeling of freedom and hope and love with anyone

eventually after several years they got together and honestly they couldn’t be happier

finally, leo and his mom

his wonderwall let him have a small, limited talk with her and leo was incredibly anxious

so nico summons her and its the most heartbreaking event ever

leo tries to hug her and esperanza tries too but they realize theyre in different worlds whoops

so they just express their deep love and missing each other, and leo talks about everything thats happened and even talks about how he blamed himself for her death

esperanza doesn’t let him think that

she tells him he was the best gift to her in her whole existence, and she wants him to always remember her - but not kill himself for her

she wants him to be happy, and she wants him to always remember her existence

and leo feels so much weight lifted from his chest

leo might have illusions and dreams and visions and voices and disorders that still horrify him

but he also has an amazing soulmate, great friends that are with him forever, a loving mother, and a bunch of demigods who share his pain and will be with him till the end

his life isn’t perfect

but its still beautiful

You all can add more!