#and show Percy thinking something is wrong with him and that he needs a mental evaluation of some kind is

[decaffeinatedpartymuggoop]

Okay, we all know being a demigod is a shit position. Its scary and gets you killed in really nasty ways. But I feel like being a Big Three Kid has to be the shitiest position in all the shit positions.

Like, imagine being Thalia Grace. Your dad is king of the gods, lord of the skies. Led a war to get rid of a tyrant. And the only thing you get is his scorned wife AND brother, who both try to kill you (with one technically succeeding), a drunk of a mother, and brother who you thought was dead. Oh, wait, he’s not dead! No instead he was used as an offering to appease your dad’s wife and help fight in a war and prevent mass destruction.

Or maybe you can imagine being Percy. Son of the sea god, the stormbringer, the earthshaker. You get to live with a disgusting, abusive man for around 6 years. Who smells like literal shit. All because your scent as a demigod is too strong, BECAUSE of who your father is. You see things that you aren’t supposed to see and do things that people can’t do and go years thinking something is wrong with you. That your the problem. Then you get to the one place where you’re supposed to be save. But! Here is the kicker! You’re not! Your uncles hate you and you’ve been accused of stealing a symbol of power. A series of events that will kick off a war, and guess what. You’re a center point for it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood.

Mhm, but then there’s Hazel. Daughter Pluto, god of the underworld and riches. But that doesn’t really change anything does it? She’s still living in 1930s America, in a red state. One where confederate flags still hang if you go deep enough into the city. She go to a school where the kids are supposed to be just like her! They still don’t like her tho. She’s got no idea who your father is, only that he left her with a parting gift. Only it’s not really a gift. Sure, she can pull rubies and diamonds from the earth, all worth millions. But anyone who’s ever gonna touch it will die. She lives with her mother, a woman gone so mad with greed it kills her. And Hazel, by the way. Laying dead Alaska, inhaling oil. But it doesn’t end there! She can’t have her mother suffering for eternity, can she? The answer is no. Hazel gets to spend the next 70 years in the Fields of Asphodel. It still doesn’t end! Because when she’s brought back to life, she gets to fight in a war against giants, her sad story seemingly never ending.

Nico’s a son of one of the Big Three, one of the most ancient and most powerful. But most people look at him as something bad, something not worth taking a second glance at. Something too look away from, mostly. He’s from the 30s, spent years in a magical time casino with only his sister at his side. She doesn’t stay for long though, she dies soon after they discover their heritage. And he doesn’t remember his mother much, a name without a face. A face without a name. He survived an attempted assassination at 2, though it wouldn’t be the only time his was life was threatened. He clings to his sister, even though she’s dead. He’s the son of the god of the underworld, is he not? There had to be a way, and there is. Only she won’t talk to him, she seems more concerned with communicating with the guy who got her killed instead. She chooses rebirth, and he decides to lay it to rest. She’s not coming back, and he has a war to fight in. (He gets stuck in a jar and forcibly outed a few years later, but that’s a lot to get into for now.)

Jason Grace is a pillar of New Rome, their golden boy, their American boy. He’s a son of Jupiter, a natural born leader. He’s been at camp for as long as he can remember, he wants to be praetor soon. He’s had a rocky start, but maybe he’ll be one of the lucky ones. Retire a veteran and live a long life with Reyna in New Rome. Only that never happened. He has no idea where he is, there’s a girl holding his hand, and she’s cute but it feels wrong. They get attacked and people come in and call him a Greek demigod, familiar, yes, but still wrong. It doesn’t feel right. It doesn’t put things into perspective the way it does for Piper and Leo. He’s goes to a quest to rescue Hera, the name sounds wrong. He nearly dies but at least he remembers who he is. He spends the next 6 months trying to get back home, even though he isn’t too sure on where or what home is. He gets there, eventually, but it doesn’t stop there. He’s dragged on quests and battles and fights in the war but at least he survives it, he’s still there. Apollo needs help, he and Piper give him aid. He gets dumped. He doesn’t get to he a veteran in New Rome. Not with Reyna, not with Piper, not with anybody. He doesn’t get kids or grandkids. No, he gets shot down, another demigod buried.

You could be any one of them, really. Pick your poison, but I guarantee you won’t like any of them. Spending years trying to find a place where you belong, where you feel safe. Only for it to never come.

Percy, who, if you really look at the books, isn’t really all that well liked until he’s at least 2 years into camp. Only to then be sidelined because the courages, brave, fearless daughter of Zeus is back from the dead. Nico, the son of one of the most feared and hated gods. Who has death written all over him, who excludes it so much animals can smell it and humans can sense it, who’s been ostracized and pushed off to the side since he was 10. Hazel, who was treated like disease as soon as she stepped foot on camp soil. Who’s gone her whole life looked as something that’s cursed, that will only bring misfortune, a bad omen.

Shit positions, all of them.

[kingdom-of-sins]

Ares (God of war) x mortal!reader

Okay but imagine Ares, the god of war falling in love with a beautiful mortal. It wasn't just love at first sight or he was looking so godly that she was immediately attracted. It was more like enemies to friends to lovers. Ares totally wanted to avoid catching feelings. But it was inevitable.

Imagine she had a successful career and everything, but here she was fighting with this dude at a diner who mistook her order of cheeseburger as his. And she had no idea he is a god.

Imagine both meeting again at the same diner a couple of days later and it's a complete coincidence. Ares is grumpy because he did something to piss off Zeus and as a sign it's raining heavily with thunder and lightning. She felt bad about the fight the other day and judging from his look he need some sort of comfort or assurance. All she could think about it buying him a cheeseburger. And then she left.

Imagine them turning into friends in their next meeting. And then within weeks falling in love. Ares is just like "I am screwed" because he has never loved a mortal so much.

Imagine Ares confessing and proving to her that he is a god. She is strong both mentally and emotionally but still he feared that she will run away. But she didn't, although she took some time to process it.

Imagine the weather getting worse and worse as the relationship progressed. Zeus is pissed. Ares doesn't care.

Imagine Ares showing her the amazing world hiding behind the mist. Both going on long rides on his motobike. Spending time with each other every chance they get.

And then eventually she fell pregnant. A very happy occasion for both of them. Ares vowed to always protect her and the child.

But them nothing last for ever. A prophecy. The child will grow up to become a threat to someone as powerful as the gods. Zeus thought the prophecy spoke of him. He immediately forbidded Ares to never see the child or the mother of the child again. Ares fought but at last he had no choice.

Imagine a very emotional scene. Ares assuring her that she is strong enough to raise their child, the demigod. Promising that he will always be around to protect the two of them but she just won't be able to see him.

She did her best to raise their daughter. A very powerful demigod with a urge to fight anyone.

Imagine she raised the demigod to be kind and just, taught her right from wrong. Told her about her father. But the daughter still ended up hating Ares. What kind of father abandon his daughter and the woman he claims to love.

Imagine father and daughter coming face to face years later when Ares and Percy Jackson are about to fight. Ares totally emotional to see his daughter again. His daughter however looking forward to make his father pay for leaving her mother.

[xoxochb]

hiii!!

can i please request apollo!reader who is kinda like the head healer or something x percy jackson? (they are the same age please!)

so, he's been a regular at the infirmary bcs of all the...yk he's been in, so reader gets kind of annoyed that she sees him in the infirmary practically every two three times a week

and percy is like “fix me, i guess?”

⋆·˚ ༘ * a band aid and a kiss

warnings: mentions of injuries

pairing: percy jackson x head healer! daughter of apollo

“no, no, no”

you shake your head and walk back to the previous camper you had been healing. you instruct them to be careful on their journeys and send them out of the infirmary. percy jackson follows you around like he’s never been here before- which is extremely untrue, he takes visits to the infirmary at least three times a week, a new cut, a new wound every time. how does this boy always get hurt? It’s like he does this on purpose!

“you’re gonna let me bleed out?” he gasps

“it’s a small cut. get a bandaid and leave”

“It’s more than a small cut, I’m getting dizzy and I see stars. I think I’m dying, sunshine”

you huff “sit down then”

percy smiles in victory and gladly takes a seat on one of the many infirmary beds, holding out his finger to show you the microscopic cut, not even bleeding either. nonetheless you open a drawer filled with varieties of bandaids, when you begin to pick up the regular beige ones percy freaks, hands frantically waving to stop you

“no, no! I want the iron man one”

you roll your eyes. ��I should have known. you act like a child you get a children’s band aid” you pull out the marvel band aid box and search for an iron man

once you find it you unwrap the packaging then you take the band aid and wrap it around his finger where his imaginary cut is placed

“where’s my kiss, sunshine?”

you mutter curses under your breath and place his band aid-covered finger to your lips

“are you satisfied now?”

“I guess. I think I should stay here a little longer though. y’know, just incase I start getting dizzy again”

“yeah, don’t want you passing out or anything” you play into his nonsense

“yeah, you know what I mean. but maybe another kiss will help and I could be out of your way”

you kiss his forehead

“thanks, sunshine. I think I need a kiss here now” he puts a finger to his lips and your cheeks go pink

“why there?”

he shrugs. “so I don’t throw up”

“what the hell is wrong with you?”

“I’m nauseous. you let all your patients suffer like this?”

“only boys name percy jackson”

“I’m waiting”

your face turns red this time when you realize he is indeed serious about the kiss

“you really want this?”

“never wanted anything else”

you mentally prepare yourself and place a small peck to his lips. he frowns

“what was that?”

“that was your kiss”

“one more” he tangles a hand in your hair when his hand reaches the back of your head and he kisses you longer this time

maybe all those visits had been worth it

[princessofghosts-posts]

Grudges

It's been a while since I've done a long post,but finally here it is. I'm going to talk about Nico's fatal flaw and why Riordan misused it (coming from a girl that hold a lot of grudges,even for the stupidest thing ever from when she was a child-).

So,first off,having grudges means holding onto feelings of resentment,bitterness,or anger towards someone (usually because you feel they have wronged you in the past). These feelings are persistent and can last a long time,causing ongoing negative emotions and potentially impacting relationships and mental well-being. In some cases,they can also lead to a desire of revenge.

Now,a great part of Nico's development is the growth he had during BotL,where he decided to stop holding Percy accountable for his sister's death. His character arc in this book is basically him starting from having a grudge,towards Percy,to accept reality how it is. It's not bad,especially considering that we are taking about his fatal flaw (and Nico himself has a big golden heart),but the way it got solved is totally wrong.

Nico's grudge towards Percy start at the end of TTC because of Bianca. It's uncalled for because Percy wasn't a fault here but Nico wasn't thinking this logically,he was a kid that got to know that his only living relative is now dead and he is now alone in a world he doesn't know well enough. Blaming Percy,another kid that actually felt responsable for her death (also uncalled because Bianca knew what she was doing and could happens)for this was also extremely horrible but from Nico's point of view that's the only thing he can do.

When people are hurt,because of something out of their control,they usually tend to blame someone for their suffering. Percy was the only one Nico could blame at the time for this,grieving his way through it. Was it ok? No. Was it right? Also no. Was it fucked up? Extremely. Was it a child natural respond to a tragic event? Yes. Am I justifying him with this? Nah.

Anyway. Nico's feelings about Bianca's end are pretty strong from the start,he literally opened the ground to the Underworld and used his powers out of grief and rage for her (there are still a fear factor,about him thinking the skeletons where going to kill him,and a feeling of betrayal,towards Percy and their "promise",that also play here). And that was only after he just found out.

The months prior to BotL and the halfway through it,Nico turned into almost a murder,while also being suicidal. I saw few people pointing it out,but we actually needs to talk more about this because this is an eleven years old that already tried multiple times to exchange his soul for his sister's,at fucking 11. And the same child almost become a murderer because he wanted his said sister back (while being also manipulated by Minos). Nico lost his morality there for a good part of the book before the arc could end in "let go of your grudges because they are our fatal flaws". Which is stupid.

Nico "letting go" of his grudge because Bianca asked him to do so,was only a demostration of how much he cared about her (not like it's reciprocated) and how big his heart is. While it's a good way to show Nico's kindness and willingness to forgive someone once he let go of his anger (and isn't being manipulated by a very scheming ghost),it's also....not how grudges works in general???

It doesn't take a "stop it before it destroy you" type of talk to stop holding grudges –especially if they are linked to something deep. I hate Bianca,but her death was an important part for Nico development (and a good wake up call because things were starting to get actually real) and Nico obviously cared about her. His reaction to the news was devasting and so is his grief (not to talk about how much Bianca answering for Percy,instead of the little brother "she raised" made it worst). But he still ended up forgiving himself (and her).

Now,one of the few thing that is a bit misleading about this subplot is "Nico blamed Percy for Bianca's death". AT THE START it was like that,Nico was hurt and needed to put the blame on something or someone,and unfortunately that person was Percy since he was the one to tell him the news (he also probably felt hurt about their "promise" and how it was "broken"). But that's a distraction for what the real deal was here: Nico was projecting his own feelings on Percy. Nico blamed himself for her death because he wasn't good or strong enough to do something,but since he couldn't accept that,his mind made sure to project those insecurities and his view of the situation on Percy. He was angry at himself because he wasn't enough (something that Bianca and Hades both amplified),he was angry at Bianca because she left him,and he was angry at the world for taking his sister away from him. The "It's your fault that my sister died" to Percy is just a facade for all the other things unsaid. Still,doesn't excuse his behavior towards the guy,since Percy was in a similar position. Bianca truly traumatized both of them in the same way.

Got a bit sidetracked here,sorry. Anyway! Going back to the main topic-

The way Nico's grudge got "solved" that way was extremely lazy writing. You go on about how grudges are Hades's kids fatal flaw,then you have a character that hold one and puff,it vanish because another character he cares about said to do so. I'm sorry,but as someone that is a very resentful person,this isn't how "solving" your grudges work.

First off,when you hold a grudge against someone you actually take time to hate their guts (it's sound extremely petty and immature but it is how it is). You don't let go of them in the span of a conversation or 2 because you built the resentment for that person for a lot of times,it could be weeks,months even years. The time-skip between TTC and BotL is of 6 months –of which Nico had all the time in the world to build said resentment (especially with Minos around). And you are going to tell me that 6 MONTHS of resentment are wiped out like nothing? I'm sorry but that's is impossible. You don't spend so much time building negative feelings towards someone or something only to change your mind last minute,because someone told you to do so (it wasn't even from him this realization,but from Bianca???). There are so many negative emotions to unpack there that it will takes time,like,a lot of time. Ence why it doesn't work.

Having Nico slowly realizing that his own fatal flaw was destroying him and the few connections he tried to build (Percy,CHB,the campers,etc...) would have be much better,because it was something that would have begun from him. Because Nico himself realized it was wrong. Also,having him try to change his attitude towards the people he was holding grudges against would have be good,starting with Percy especially. Learning also how to forgive himself and letting go of his guilt and fatal flaw,without being rushed,would have been actually healing for him. But nope,one book he is all "It's your fault!" (with all the hidden feelings) and the next one he and Percy are pretty fine with each other.

Listen,I love BotL and TLO because of their strange friendship development,but it's still lacking when it cames to Nico's fatal flaw. It's impossible that after so many months projecting on him and "hating" Percy,Nico wouldn't feel awkward with him or trying to not involve himself much at the start. Not to talk about the whole fiasco with Hades's plan (fuck him for that). And even after that,he tried so hard to make Percy see he could still trust him,because he changed from before and was different from his dad,but Percy was still hurt from what happened before (which was misleaded because Nico didn't knew shit and Hades even said so). Those two are a mess,when Nico isn't holding a grudge against Percy,Percy doesn't trust him enough and viceversa. While I liked how Nico wanted to show that he is trustworthy because he is that stubborn,be taking into account the fatal flaw that should be at play......meh.

Again,Nico here should be still trying to let go of his resentment,which is very effective because he and Percy are ok now (keyword: should). But he should definitely feel resentment towards Hades because of what he pulled and said (but he doesn't,and if he did we never knew about it) and Percy too,because the guy first tried to kill him and then didn't trust him anymore even tho Nico got him out of the palace and helped him to get to the Styx. Realistically,Nico's past feelings towards Percy (the negative ones-) should have resurfaced but they didn't. Another thing about working through grudges is that,sometimes,even a single thing can tackle you off. Especially if you spent so much time disliking them. That's why it isn't simple and it takes time. But here? 0,nada,nothing,Nico is the one that is acting like he did something wrong,which he didn't because he didn't knew. He should be angry and have every right to leash out,especially with his fatal flaw,but he didn't (idk how to feel about that-). Hades and Percy on the other hand...

I feel like Rick totally missed the shot with Nico (what's new at this point) when it cames to his fatal flaw. It got said multiple times that grudges are children of Hades fatal flaw,but then you have Hazel that doesn't hold any (idk if for children of Pluto it's different) and everytime Nico does it's not even permanent like a grudge should be,it's just there for a while and then goes away.

I'm not saying that Nico needs to be a resentful person and have grudges forever,just that we should actually see him struggling with his fatal flaw. But that's something that's not only about Nico,because in general everyone fatal flaw is kinda just there in the background without weights (looking at you Percy in BoO),expect Annabeth's because hers actually had consequences in the narrative multiple times (and Thalia's when she almost gave up and killed Bessy).

[happyk44]

Grover getting busy and swamped with Lord of the Wild duties so he prefaces this to Percy early because he knows Percy gets worried when he's not as present. So it's just a quick text of "hey, I might be unresponsive for a bit, swamped with work, don't worry, love you" and Percy gets it so he sends back a thumbs up and a "love you too!"

Then time passes and the reality of Grover's silence begins to sink in. And it pokes and prods at Percy's borderline traits, makes him stressed and angry, frustrated and scared, terrified of being left by his best friend to the point of him vomiting up his feelings.

And Grover calls him a few days in and he's half panicked but also thrilled because certainly this means it's all over and Grover is back and talking to him and everything is okay, but it's not because the empathy link is strong and Percy's vibrant swirling emotions are make Grover dizzy, so, "hey, Perce, could you just relax for a bit, or put up that mental block you made me show you how to do after you carried the weight of the world on your back a few years ago"

And no no no no no. Percy's insides are imploding. Blood and guts and bile boil on the back of his tongue. He's a horrible friend, he's a horrible person. He doesn't deserve Grover. He just keeps hurting him.

Grover hisses sharply over the phone. "Percy, relax."

"Relax?" The words slip out of his mouth like a whimpering hiss. Anger cuts through him with a red hot blade. Self-loathing fills his wounds and replaces his blood with its cold sticky ooze. "I- You-"

"Okay, I'm going to put up the block," Grover says.

And no no no no no. Percy needs to know how Grover's feeling, needs to know he's okay, but the moment he tries, he's denied, left with something vague and uncomfortable. My fault, my fault, my fault, he thinks, a broken record.

"Percy, you can't panic every time I get a little quiet on you," Grover says, and Percy hates himself. "It's not fair to me."

"I'm sorry," Percy breathes. Don't leave me, don't leave me, don't leave me.

"I know." There's a quiet sigh and then, weakly, "I'm just kinda tired of..." He doesn't say what.

Percy's heart shatters. His throat swells and sticks. Air feels impossible to breathe in. He's choking. Dont leave me, don't leave me.

"Look, I love you, okay? We're bonded for life, man. I'm not going anywhere," Grover promises. "So just. Try to settle, okay? I'll let you know when I'm free and we can catch up then. It's not gonna be forever. Just... a couple weeks."

A couple weeks should be doable. But Percy knows that there's a rottenness inside him that won't be able to handle it. Will get simmering and bubblings until it spills into all his bitter cracks. It'll leave him angry, rude. Desperate.

He wipes away the tears threatening to spill over the edge of his eyes, and tucks himself closer into the wall. "Yeah, yeah, that's fine, G-man, I'll be cool."

They both know he's lying.

Grover exhales so soft, this weary tired sound, and the shattered remains of Percy's heart that float endlessly in the void of his soul shatter even more. Why can't he just be normal? Why can't he be a good friend? Why does he keep ruining everything with everyone?

"Okay," Grover says. "I gotta get back to it. Bye."

The immediate end of the call after Percy's "bye, love you" crests through him like a tidal wave. Slams hard and heavy, cold and furious. He throws the phone across the room. It's not satisfying enough.

What is wrong with him, what is wrong with him? Why is he like this - needy, angry, pathetic? Why can't he chill out? Go with the flow? Relax on an inner tube and float idly with the current and the gentle waves.

Instead he's a rolling hurricane, destroying everything in his path. Island dwellers who've grown up dealing with it for so long just sigh and make preparations and shelter it. Newbies less so, cowering from his torrential rains and shattering winds. The ones used to it, they just tiredly sweep up the pieces when it's done and move on. They'd be fine, happy even, if he stopped coming around. If he stopped blowing their things around and breaking windows.

But others - the howls of wind, the threat of floods and lightning - it's too much. They're scared and in the aftermath, they nervously step around, unsure of how to handle the debris he leaves behind. They don't know to avoid the sharp branches, keep an eye out for broken glass, that the eye of the storm is a breather, not an end.

But the island dwellers do.

No wonder Grover is so tired.

[darkfictionjude]

What if in a AU were Dr. Madorna and MC were a couple, the first comes to the town to visit her lover. How would the ROs in deep crushing stage and family with Orla react.

Damn nonnie this au came completely out of left field (I keep getting doctor Madorna AUs which is odd since she only showed up once 💀)

although if they were lovers you bet the doctor is losing her licence because that is professionally immoral 😭 (there’s also that she knew mc since they were around 16 and she’s like in her late 40s…)

Let’s say mc is in their 20s

Imre:

Immediately when they see this he begins looking into her professional history. He comes over and debates her over proper medical care and diagnoses. Then someone calls the medical board about an inappropriate relationship between a certain doctor and her patient. Oops, if mc needs comfort he’ll be there.

Nia:

She’s gets a deep puncture in her chest and to get rid of it she decides to find other patients of the doctor’s and pay them off to tell the police some “creative embellishments” about how inappropriate the doctor was to them and look at that the doctor gets arrested but Nia feels so sorry for you, she wonders how this could’ve happened *wink*

Lorcan:

He at first tries to tell the doctor that she needs to stay away from mc or something bad will happen but somehow the doctor ends up having a therapy session with Lorcan and he leaves the house so disturbed about being so throughly analyzed he keeps coming back for therapy. He decides not only will it help him but the more he keeps the doctor away from mc the better.

THE CROWNS

Victor: who is this? Your doctor? Is this gonna cost me? No? Well as long you take care of them I don’t care (and no he doesn’t mean he’s happy mc is being loved more so he’s happy he doesn’t have to take care of them)

Prudence: she hates doctors, especially ones who deal with mental health issues. She thinks anyone who goes into that profession must have something wrong with them. Also it’s embarrassing to date your own doctor. She bans her from the premises.

Sally: he smiles but it doesn’t reach his eyes. He thinks this is unhealthy. He thinks the doctor is taking advantage of you. But… you’re happy so he gives his blessing.

Percy: *cue dr. Frankstein and his monster jokes* and then he asks if they can give him a prescription for adderall

Orla (alive era): she makes sure everyone knows so they can make fun of you. And tries to break into the doctor’s briefcase for personal files

[burntoutwaxwings]

Disliking Fictional Media

Guys... it's time we have "the talk." No, not that one. We need to talk about how disliking a character is different than disliking them as a character.

Note: before we go all pitchforks and torches, this is not me saying these are bad characters. This is me saying I don't like them. Except for Captain Marvel. I just don't like her. I think, in the MCU, she's a bad character. (I have not read her comics, nor will I. Too much money. I'm sure she is much better in Comics.)

Let's shoot off the definitions I will be using. A character (for disliking a character) is as follows: a person in a novel, play, or movie. Disliking a Character means disliking a person in a novel, play, or movie. Disliking as a Character is different. The definition of character has changed. It now is no longer a person, but their mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual.

Here are two Characters I just dislike: 1. Captain Marvel. 2. Draco Malfoy.

Here are two characters I dislike and dislike as a character. 1. Augustus (from the book Citadel by C.M. Alongi) 2. Lucius Malfoy.

Here are two characters I like, while disliking them as a character. 1. Loki (specifically from the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series) and 2. Luke Castellan (from Percy Jackson and the Olympians).

Let's start with the first two. Draco Sucks (as a person). He's rude, vindictive, and mostly just a jerk. Captain Marvel is a Nepo Baby who had *everything* handed to her and why is she smug? Because she did the right thing (stopping an extinction level genocide) to break through societal expectations. A.K.A. I don't like how they act.

Next two. Augustus is an evil motherfucker who deserves every single warcrime on earth to happen specifically to him. I'm going to leave it at that, go read the book, it will show you exactly what I mean. Lucius Malfoy. He's a wizard nazi. I don't need to explain myself here.

And finally, the last two. Loki is well... Loki. Norse Mythologies bad guy, fluid as water, stiff as a snake, morally ambiguous. He literally has a human he mothered, and well... he almost started Ragnarok but he was too much of an insecure bitch to start it (in the books). Now we have Luke Castellan. Morally, he is kind of in the right. He's competing directly with Magneto for the "I JUST WANT PEACE AND SAFETY FOR MY PEOPLE" award, but like Magneto, goes about it the completely wrong way. Also, He was attracted to Annabeth. Alright, I think that's done. Luke is a cool character. I like him. Until we find about him *as a character* and he fucking sucks. He's a backstabbing traitor with a god complex and a grudge he refuses to let go.

Also, It's important to note that characters can change from Movie to Movie. Like Wanda was an exceptional character in WandaVision. Loved her. In MoM? She sucked. Her character had been torn to shreds. She went from a grieving mother trying to do what's not only best for her and her children, as well as who she was surrounded by, to someone who so desperately needed children to love that she went on a murderous rampage in which she would replace herself as as mother to her own kids. She had no sense, and I hated it. It was so much better when she was grieving Vision and brought him back to life as a shell (and then WandaVision shenanigans ensue). "I'm a mother, not a monster" dgaf, you were a literal monster in Multiverse of Madness.

Oh gods I hope I explained this well. "A character" and "as a Character" might be too confusing. There just feels like too few English words to describe them. Dammit, guess I just gotta learn Japanese, or something. (I'm already learning Norwegian. Jeg lærer allerede norsk. [it took me way too many tries to get that right. I almost put Jeg er allerede lærer norsk, which translates to "I already teach Norwegian" when I put it into google translate. For all my Norwegian Speaking/Reading Tumblr Users out there, is google translate accurate? I use it to double check. I promise I am not using it to write in Norwegian as a baseline. and the only line. I also put in the guitar and vocals. {pun, for you musicians out there}])

[bleue-flora]

Oh for sure, great minds think alike. ;) I’ve actually talked about the same thing [post] <3 and to be honest can’t get the image out of my head of Tommy sitting in the snow just staring at Techno’s house for hours…

Having said that, I don’t know if we can say for certain that Michael and Tubbo’s husband are gone or anything because we only really know that he’s selling bees and Tommy gets to see him sometimes. We know that people left and Tubbo’s still around and that’s about it so you know whether or not he has moved on or is no longer married or has healed or anything, I feel like we just don’t know enough info (which I think was likely on purpose because ccTommy and ccJack didn’t want to define Tubbo’s lore because that’s for ccTubbo to do) to really determine anything besides hypotheticals or making up our own endings. Really all we have is this:

As for Jack, we do have more information about what he’s been doing which is that for the past years he has been gambling for his own thrill in order to “win big” even if he already has access to all the money anyways.

Suffice to say, while he says he’s happy, he’s been gambling for years alone so… ya know that can’t be the healthiest lifestyle (gives Percy Jackson Lotus Casino vibes tbh). However, he does mention how he’s changed and likes the person he is now much better than the guy he was back in the day so that’s interesting.

Does that actually mean it’s a happier or better ending for Jack? Not really in my opinion as there is still no resolution, at least the other finale leaves it open for you to theorize if he got validation for his pain and what he strived for. As far as healing goes, he didn’t walk the path to Exile with Tommy like you mentioned shows he has grown because that was the same path he died on [vid]. Instead they actually took the path to Techno’s [pic below vs pic from Jailbreak]

Even so, I do think the fact that he doesn’t even mention it or bring up how Tommy killed him or wronged him in any way in that entire conversation, instead asking at the end “are you happy?” shows to me that he has healed and moved on, even if not in the way you thought.

No longer does he want to kill Tommy, but he wants Tommy to be happy, that’s quite the contrast and shows true character growth. On the other hand, Tommy in that conversation manages to sneak in jabs and comments about how Jack blew up his hotel more than once.

Clearly, showing that he is still holding on tightly to the past. He still hasn’t forgiven Jack or let it go, even when it’s been years, and as Jack highlights - he technically tried to blow up everything with the nukes anyways.

This is one of the things that to me highlights how Tommy is not in a progressing mental state and details a dire picture. One of the other things, I think is perhaps the most notable when looking at whether he is healing is, as you said - being alone is no way to heal. Furthermore, I think a part of Tommy’s healing requires people. Sure Exile and him losing canon lives took a physical toll, but more than that, it took a mental toll. One that left him isolated towards the end where he remains now. And this mental toll includes trauma yes, but also his relationship with Wilbur or Tubbo weren’t exactly healthy either (and those are the more positive ones he had), something that certainly helps to paint a picture of his poor relationships with people as a whole. So to me, yes as you said, his path to healing needs to be supported by human contact and people to help him, but also I think part of the healing itself needs to be through actually forming healthier relationships with people and/or fixing old ones.

Plus, despite what he says, we already know being alone isn’t healthy for him. We’ve already seen him alone, in the finale we see his mental health take a dive as he’s wandering around the smp invisible where no one has seen him in months. And most notably in Exile. A large part of the mental decline of Exile was him being alone, that’s the larger piece, that’s the thing he mentions over and over in those streams, that’s why Dream could even do what he did because Tommy was so affected by being away from his friends to begin with. Tommy has (for the most part even with certain antagonizing factors) already had the opportunity for peace and quiet, but that didn’t make him happy and that isn’t what he wants because if it was, he would have moved far away before back during the dsmp. Instead he stays because he wants a community and to be loved by people, as he says in the finale, he "just wants to have friends" [clip].

And if that’s the case, than an ending where he’s all alone, is the most tragic one possible. An ending where he spends hours staring at Techno’s house instead of going in and mending his relationship, is the most tragic and sad it can get. An ending where all he has is his sheep and a cabin far away with occasional visits with Tubbo, isn’t better just because he can remember what happened.

Sure he’s not in war, he’s not afraid of an active threat, but peace doesn’t equal happiness or healing, it only means that he’s no longer being actively hurt, but it doesn’t mean he’s healing those injuries from before. Yes, time heals all wounds, but you have to actually keep wounds clean and in an environment where they can heal, otherwise infection will occur. And I just don’t think Tommy’s environment portrayed in this stream is conductive to healing.

Plus being alone isn’t just unhealthy and not helpful for healing because in general being alone isn’t gonna help anyone heal, but also because I think in order to truly heal and be happy, he needed to heal his relationships with people. He needed to be able to form actual strong bonds and be able to trust people again and be able to get over his fear of being attacked and betrayed. In order to grow as a person, he needed to be a good friend and support the people he cares about. Giving up the discs for Tubbo’s life in the finale and seeing Dream as a person was just step 1 on a larger journey of growth towards contentment. But he can’t do that because as he says “everyone went away”

He doesn't talk to people besides occasionally Tubbo. There is nobody left and so he's unable to heal things with everybody. He didn’t heal things with Technoblade. He didn’t heal things with Wilbur or Phil and grow those relationships, because a reasonable implication of his statement about everyone leaving is that perhaps they left him behind. And if that’s true then he's probably never going to be able to heal. Part of Tommy’s growth is dependent on other people in the same way that part of Dream’s growth and healing from prison is dependent on other people. Dream would not be able to go into the woods and live by himself and be able to heal from what he experienced either. Sure he could heal from his physical wounds and maybe even some of his mental ones. But alone he can’t heal the biggest pieces that were broken in prison, that destructive betrayal and trust and fear and the realization that people- his friends, really do see him as less than and deserving of such cruelty. So, I think part of Dream’s healing needed to be him being shown that he still is a person, who deserves to live and find happiness. But that’s only gonna get validated and instilled in him through other people, like he can’t really determine that for himself. It was other people who hurt him so thoroughly and other people have to be involved in undoing some of that damage and healing him. Plus, like Tommy, Dream also has that same desire for community and friends and family - to be loved by others and never be alone.

In this way, both of them are very similar, a fact highlighted by the finale (that’s true even if you retcon it). Neither of them would’ve been able to heal and grow on their own (nor with their one best friend who is unable to meet their needs) even if the circumstances were perfectly blissful. And that’s why I think, regardless if you like or accept the finale or not, this second finale isn’t better for Tommy. It’s just sad. I just get the picture of Tommy sitting in the snow getting cold and soggy, staring at Techno‘s house for hours, not going inside and talking with Techno and fixing that relationship, but just staring.

In other words, the way I see it, in order for Tommy’s statement of he’s “Getting there.” to actually be true and actually be comforting and actually be a better ending he would have to not be alone, to have grown his relationships and learned to trust people again. But instead of any of that, we get that he lives far away in a cabin with a sheep named Mareep, the very opposite of that path to healing and contentment in my mind. Sure, there’s no war. Sure, he has his memories. Sure, he’s not living in fear from a specific target or person (especially Dream), but he’s still alone, unable to let go of his grudges, of his pain, of his past, and yet unable to face it as he moves far away and avoids returning to the dsmp main area...

Is that truly a better ending? Do we honestly hate the idea of new beginnings and Tommy being Dream’s friend so much we prefer a far more tragic ending of Tommy not healing and not getting his simple happy ending of playing around with friends, where for years he tries moving on but he can’t? Because to me, I don’t think it’s a finale of Tommy “Getting there.” but one showcasing how he never got there, even years later, even removed from the bad circumstances and the past environment. In the end, we never get to see Tommy grow and move on and heal from all that happened, which is a far more depressing and hopeless ending and theme, than the finale's theme of understanding each other, new beginnings and uniting in the very human goal of just wanting to be loved...

And maybe the past 4 years of living by myself provide me with a more in depth insight than others. Because I did exactly what Tommy did, I moved away and I left my shitty friends behind and then covid happened and I was suddenly alone. And yeah in some ways I love the peace and quiet it's why I choose to still live alone, but the difference is I go to work and run errands. I still see and talk with people and then go home to the nice quiet, but from what I can tell in the way he talks about not having talked to anyone in so "looooong" and his repeated gratefulness for seeing a familiar face, he doesn't get that social piece at all. Just like I didn't during covid and I can tell you from personal experience, being alone, even if you see one or two people every once and a while, takes a toll on your mental health and I wasn't even trying to recover from severe trauma like Tommy. I was in a good mental place relatively speaking before and then covid isolation happened, while taking some of the hardest engineering courses, and 4 months later I was in one of the most stressed and depressed times in my life where getting out of bed seemed like too much effort. And just like Tommy, I too told people I was okay and "getting there" but it was lies. Lies I told them because I was ashamed, lies I told myself that I could handle it on my own. I lied to everyone for months until I finally let them know I was struggling and only when I finally got help from people was I able to improve. I couldn't do it on my own, I had tried for so long but just managed to get worse. And I guess I can't help but think that is how it is for Tommy too. I can't even imagine trying to heal from PTSD, substance abuse, paranoia and such while isolated, college was hard enough as it is...

I think that c!Tommy’s ending was not the best for his character. What I mean is the new ending from Jack’s stream. I see many Tommy fans talking about how this ending was “better“ or it was them “moving on“. I really don’t think it was them moving on. I mean Jack is alone in the casino, gambling all the time. Tommy is alone and goes to techno’s house a lot. I think Tubbo might be there, but I’m not sure.

I don’t think Tommy moved on at all. Like, look at how he’s still there when either everyone else “died” or moved on and left. I mean, even though he has his memories and he still alive and the same Tommy that we all know, it just feels wrong for him to still be there. Especially without anyone else there. I just don’t get how being alone and honestly having no one but Tubbo who I believe he only sees occasionally if he’s even there at all, I wasn’t entirely sure, can be seen as “moving on”. Not that I’m trying to make a dig at anyone else, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

I mean, nobody is there to help and support him anymore. If the nukes really didn’t blow up, it makes sense why people would move away. I personally wouldn’t want to be there any longer than I had to, especially with such hard memories etched into that land. It just feels kinda hopeless even though Tommy says he’s getting better or he’s getting there whatever the quote was, can you really move on from everything he’s experienced by yourself. Again, this is all just my opinion and the way I see healing and moving on.

being alone, in my opinion, would make you worse. There’s no one around like I’ve stated before. To me, it makes sense that only those three would be left. It feels like those are the three that would have the hardest time moving on. The ones who still need to heal from everything that happened. We saw that Niki chose to try and move on instead of killing Tommy, since she joined the syndicate. Jack from what I’ve seen, but to be fair, I haven’t watched a lot of his content lore wise, it’s always seemed to me that he would be the one between those two to not move on.

Well, yes, he talks to Tommy and he has grown and healed slightly for he trusts Tommy, he lets Tommy lead him on the exile bridge in the nether. I believe that’s where he died at one point. Tommy pushed him into the lava yet he still allows Tommy to lead him on that bridge again. I’m not trying to say that they haven’t healed at all, that they haven’t tried to move on. Jack came back from hell out of pure spite, I don’t think it would be easy to move on when you’ve been motivated for that long out of spite.

Tubbo, I’m not really sure about in the case of where he is during this lore stream. However, if he is there, which I’m assuming he is somewhere, he lost his husband, I’m assuming Michael is gone, which leaves him alone or in this case only with Tommy. Not that I’m saying that’s a bad thing, but it must feel impossible to move on with that sort of grief.

Tommy, I mean, where do I even start? Tommy has been through hell. He suffered a lot and that wouldn’t be something he could most likely heal from on his own. Sorry, I’m kind of rambling, but I just wanted to put my thoughts out there. All in all, I just feel like this ending isn’t as happy or satisfying as a lot of people make it out to be. Again, this is all my thoughts and opinions. I’m not really looking to argue with people about this. If you want to be civil, you can drop by my ask box and let me know what you think. I just currently don’t have the energy to argue with people. I hope you all can respect that.

[saphirered]

Percy and Bad first times? I love these asks thank you!

I do not know why it took me approximately an eternity to write this but I finished it. I hope it will have been worth the wait. 😘

(Percy)

The moment Percy walked into your life you thought he was very much the egotistical rich kid. First impressions weren’t great as he concluded that wether or not you came from money or status, you rebelled against the social norms of high society. You two were polar opposites and anyone who said opposites attract; you were the proof against that claim for the longest time.

At the realisation you wouldn’t be leaving any time soon Percy tried to school you in manners for his sake correcting your behaviour and even words like you were some insolent child. You did not take this well and the argument that followed, unavoidable. Many things were said, some neither of you are proud of and you didn’t speak for days unless it were some snide remarks.

Then it came to a job to interact with high society people and you got to show Percy how wrong he was as you properly addressed the people, held your posture correctly and picked every word eloquently. Taken aback by your complete 180 in behaviour a conversation was in order. You got the pleasure telling Percy his ‘lessons’ had nothing to do with this and unlike some people you’d rather not be a pompous ass with a superiority complex like some people.

This lead Percy to dive into some research trying to find your name and family name, tapping into all resources at his disposal to figure you out telling himself you might be a threat if you were hiding things. He was not prepared to find out what happened with your family and faced you with the fact he found your past. The first one on one you had was Percy quite literally cornering you so you couldn’t avoid him. Admittedly not his proudest moment. You needed to talk so talk you did.

Telling Percy your story and trusting him with it might have been the first time you’ve told anyone since you left your home. In turn to set the record straight he told you what had happened with his own family. You came to the conclusion you’re not so different after all. A mutual understanding and trust formed between the two of you, though your arguments did not end with you disagreed on a matter. Rarely did you give the other the silent treatment and instead came to an agree-to-disagree conclusion if compromise was not an option. In time, they’d cease to be arguments all together and simply turn into conversations.

At this point you might even have considered yourselves friends. You found yourselves spending more time together. Percy was raised the so-mani-eth child extremely unlikely to be the heir of his family but with the tragedy that befell them, only he and his sister remained. You were raised to continue your family’s legacy but had lost everything. When Whitestone was returned to the surviving De Rolo’s you promised to give aide in any way you could.

Vox Machina, taken in a different direction you stayed behind with Cassandra. You took no titles or lands no matter how many times, Cassandra and the council offered them. In his time away from you and his home he came to realise he’d begun missing your company, the conversations and having to be the smart and semi-responsible one of the group. Not only that, you’ve been a rock in the current that’s his chaos and with you away he feels he’s more likely to fall to the temptations placed in front of him. Proof of that; the trip to the city of Dis.

When this realisation hits Percy he’ll take any opportunity to spend more time with you. He doesn’t inject himself into your daily life but any time there’s a reason for him to be present he’ll take it. Him coming clean about the contract and handing it to you for safekeeping trusting you that no matter the circumstance you’ll never give it to him, you absolutely go apeshit on him. How could he be so damn stupid. A deal with a devil? Really?! All the what ifs… It made you realise your anger and disappointment came from a place of affection.

You made Percy promise he’d tell you when he’s thinking of doing something stupid he’ll tell you before doing the thing. Before he leaves for another adventure or comes back from one you’ll go on a walk, have dinner or just relax somewhere. Sometimes you’ll talk, sometimes sit in silence, whatever you feel like in that moment. You’d begun holding hands, hugging or a kiss to the cheek before departure or upon return, tiny displays of affection.

You were informed Percy had died, but as Grog told you, he got better. Reasonably so you freaked out but you were also aware of the risk of the adventurer lifestyle, more accurately the lifestyle of someone with enemies like Percy. That didn’t mean you didn’t feel like your heart just shattered in that moment. You cared for Percy until he recovered. It’s the first time you truly saw Percy weak, not of mind wavering to a pact with an entity or the likes, but mentally done.

Percy first realised he might hold more than affections for you when you promised him that you’d always have one more thing for him to do. No matter how messed up the world looked, there’d always be a place for him with you. He’s not stupid enough to think this doesn’t come out of a deep affection of your own but he can’t be too sure it’s love either. It’s obvious you care for him, and maybe you do love him but are you in love with him? He’s not sure. Is he in love with you? He’s unsure. He knows he cares about you immensely and loves you just as much and that’s enough for him.

Percy is a man of impulse. This comes in especially handy when someone lacks courage to do something. He doesn’t approach you for your first ‘official’ date. It was just like any other outing you’d gone on or time you spent together except for the fact Percy asked you out, letting slip it was a date. If just asking you this was already so difficult he definitely would need a bottle of courage or two admitting his feelings out loud.

You’re clever enough and know how to read people enough that you weren’t oblivious to Percy’s recent changes in behaviour towards you. You were also clever enough to place them and, when courage fails you’re not one to beat around the bush. You called him out and half fearing you’d turn him down, he was proven the opposite when you pulled him in by the ascot and kissed him. Surprising but not unwanted.

Seeing no need in defining your relationship for others, you also didn’t ease the others into this development. Watching you kiss Percy passionately before he was off on another adventure leaving everyone around very surprised. So surprised they missed the mark on Keyleth’s transport via plants. Bombarded with questions about when or how this happened Percy didn’t want to indulge them with answers and instead spent more time with you.

Of course you had shared sleeping spaces before. You weren’t strangers to sharing a bed but you can comfortably say, it became much more comfortable after you first shared your bed together as lovers in the afterglow, waking up like a sweaty mess. Sharing baths after became the norm to freshen up and relax. The perfect excuse to spend more time together and have everyone else gagging after the look you’d share when asked why you missed breakfast… and lunch…

It took a long while before you first found yourselves able to exchange I love you’s but when danger came knocking at your door and you were thrown back into the fight for Tal’Dorei with Vox Machina’s allies it was now or never. Seeing things go south you got the pleasure of teaming up with a brass dragon to kick some undead ass.

“Before we both do something incredibly stupid I want you to know I love you.” Simple and efficient and to the point.

“I am tempted to hold these words for myself until after we’ve saved the world. Call it motivation to stay alive but since you made such an effort already. I love you too, dear.” Asshole. What did you expect. The feeling was mutual.

(Caduceus)

The first time you met Caduceus you’d killed someone in not too far out from Shady Creek. The down side, you killed someone important. They came after you, you protected yourself but then you had a body to deal with. You heard about the cursed place, and decided to just bury it there. You didn’t expect to find a dopey pink haired firbolg to be living at the heart of the place. He was surprisingly helpful in burying the body you brought to the point you were almost sure you’d be buried right next to your victim soon. Luckily for you you were proven wrong.

You couldn’t really return to Shady Creek and it’s not like you had much of a home there so you wandered the forests hunting and gathering for food and warmth at night avoiding the cursed places and dangers as much as you could. You couldn’t and returned to the safety of the Blooming Grove. So you made a deal, you’d stay with the firbolg, help him out at his graveyard, cemetery, whatever it is and he’d give you a place to sleep at night.

You resorted to staying inside the small temple sleeping on the floor but soon enough, Caduceus invited you to just take one of the beds in the house and stick around instead of leave at dawn to find food, removing some weeds, watering some plants, and return at dusk. No more wandering you fell into more domestic tasks solidifying your roommate life with the man. It had been a while since either of you were in (good) company so you appreciated anything that could talk and wasn’t trying to murder you.

In your time spent with Caduceus you heard bits and pieces about his family but what didn’t add up for you were the beds and belongings he didn’t touch or did so with care to keep them clean. When you got the courage to ask Caduceus told you the story of Clay, Stone and Dust and how his family left to save the Grove and perhaps even the Savalirwood as a whole. It felt odd to actually talk to someone about them that’s not him to himself. He appreciated your compassion, telling him that they’d come back home and with the stories he told you hope you’d get to meet them one day.

Caduceus’ expert prepping of meals left you wanting to be able to do the same. Of course he was happy to teach you and with his guidance you cooked your first meal. It wasn’t the best but definitely beat anything you could make on the road by yourself. The spices are to die for. You found yourself falling into the habit of cooking together; a nice way to end the day.

You were having a particularly tough day and ready to just curl up and let the world consume you, there was no hiding from your friendly firbolg roommate. He knew what’s up but gave you a chance to come to him. You didn’t so he came to you. He didn’t say anything, just sat next to you with a cup of tea, set another one in front of you and stayed quiet until you were ready to talk or get back to your business if you didn’t. He wasn’t going to pry in personal matters unless you asked him.

An encounter with a nasty creature you were unable to scare off and away had Caduceus pinned to the ground. With enough courage and some knowledge of physical combat you managed to get the creature off and injure it enough so it fled. Pulling Caduceus to his feet you were engulfed in a hug with a thank you. As is common knowledge Caduceus hugs are the best hugs you found yourself asking for more. Caduceus wasn’t at all opposed to keep this a thing as he’d always enjoyed hugs.

With the two of you growing closer, living together you decided to sit down and talk about what you had and where it was going as neither of you wanted to accidentally lead on the other or set expectations that could not be met. Neither of you were looking for romantic love or romance at all. Some might refer to you as bestest of friends or life partners but that didn’t really seem to fit. You’re just you and Caduceus is him and you liked hugging and spending time together, going through the motions of life and that’s all you needed.

When the Nein came along looking for help, Caduceus offered for you to stay behind, the Blooming Grove was just as much your home as it was his but you went along anyway. You’d never left the forest. Never travelled south either but many adventures found their way to you and you’d be spending them with you with Caduceus through all the ups and downs. The Nein got so used to your dynamic they never questioned it. It was just something that existed and was happening and quite frankly, one of the few normal things about you and the firbolg.

When the day came you found the Clay family you got to be there for Caduceus as he had for you. Meeting them for the first time they lived up to the stories you’d been told. The Clays were very happy to meet Caduceus’ friends but upon learning about your connection to him they were relieved he hadn’t been all alone for all those years they were gone and had some company. They offered you to come back with them but just like Caduceus, there was still some unfinished business and these people, the Mighty Nein still needed your help.

Then, when everything came to a close, you returned to the Blooming Grove and spent the rest of your days there living content. It had been your home and would continue to be your home. The Clays became your family and for the first time in forever you could see yourself content at home leaving with Caduceus to travel at times but always return to that little spot in the Savalirwood.

[the-ghost-king]

About the cupid scene, Nico was forced to come out, but its also made very clear that Cupid is the bad guy. So is Aphrodite to an extent. They have a twisted and fundamental misunderstanding of love and how it works for mortals. I get that people could be mad about how Nico was forced to come out and putting him through more emotional trauma, but I also think its very realistic in showing how callous and cruel the gods understanding of love is.

I am reminded of the quote by Madeline Miller, "There is no law that gods must be fair..."

I also understand why the scene might be traumatic for other young LGBTQ+ readers, I've seen a lot of people talk about the fear of being outed in regards to them reading that scene as a kid. I completely respect their feelings on that, and I understand that as well. However, as someone who had been forcibly outed once before reading that scene, that scene really helped heal me. I don't think the Cupid scene is inherently homophobic, and I'm often bothered by the lack of nuance regarding around how it's handled.

I recognize it's a very emotional scene, and that people may have a hard time fully separating their emotions from that scene, but at the same time if there's a group of people saying "hey I understand why you disliked this scene but it was really helpful to me as a child because of the different experiences I had" maybe slow the breaks and hear what others also in the community have to say before determining if the scene is homophobic. You don't have to like the scene, and yeah maybe the scene did hurt you but that doesn't make it homophobic.

I want to specify on my word choice there a little closer, because of course outing someone is an act of homophobia, and the scene is homophobic in that sense. However often times the conversation about homophobia in this scene goes to "Rick was homophobic for writing this" where personally I would say this scene toes the line at being too far without ever crossing it. Some people may think this depiction crosses the line into "Rick was homophobic for writing this" which is fine, but just because something depicted homophobia and hurt you doesn't mean it was homophobic. Something doesn't have to out rightly be stated to be bad, in order to be read as bad*, and the Cupid scene does a wonderful job of depicting this.

I talk here about how Nico is shown what love is, and how love is treated by Nico, and how it affects his character. I think it's important to note that Nico's entire storyline can essentially be encompassed in an Orpheus-like or Odyssey-like tale. Nico's undergone this huge emotional and physical labor all in the name of having some form of unconditional love. I think that post is a really important read in the context of this one because I very carefully outline how love shapes Nico and how Nico shape and chooses his own definition of love, but I want to specifically dig into the Cupid scene on this post.

The big criticism often seen is "it's homophobic" which I covered above, and I want to clarify I'm not upset with or mad at or trying to tell anyone they can't dislike it or even say you can't say it's homophobic (my words on my one post are a bit off I'll admit) but the problem I have is when people believe they hold a moral high ground for thinking it's homophobic, or they remove all nuance from the discussion with "it's homophobic". Which is frustrating and annoying because it's a very complex scene, and it really changes Nico's arc and personality and it does help characterize him.

The big reason it shapes him so much is because of the other largest reason the scene is criticized, Cupid's behavior. What often fails to be recognized in those scenes is that Cupid is intentionally painted as the villain, this is very important to the scene.

In the context of this scene Nico makes an unspoken choice, a choice of "what is love to me?". I talk about how Nico claims his narrative in BoTL when he overcomes Minos, and he partially peaks that arc by convincing Gods to join the final battle of TLO. Following that arc however, Nico falls into his second arc, his crush on Percy was important in PJO, but not as important as it is in HoO.

By HoO Nico's entire character revolves around Percy, how to help Percy, how to aid Percy, etc. All of this has to do with Nico's crush on Percy, but also as an act of repayment because Nico hurt Percy- Nico lied to him about knowing him at New Rome in SoN, and he goes to Tartarus shortly after... This mirrors what Percy did after Hades tricked Nico... Percy choked Nico because he was upset with him, so Nico tried to win back Percy's affection by bathing him in the river.

The Cupid Scene is the resolution of Nico's arc, he is essentially given a choice- Cupid or Jason?

For this reason, we do see Nico recognize love for what it has been vs how it could be.

Cupid is there to represent what love is, to Nico love is brutal, and painful, and a lot of hard work... Nico has made himself utilitarian in love simply because it is the only way he can find any affection. Love to Nico is about flaying yourself for the benefit of others, to trample any and all parts of yourself simply to appease those you care for, because you want them to love you so much as you love them. The parallels I could draw between Nico and Orpheus, or Nico and Odysseus... I'd be here a long while...

In that scene Jason represents the alternative form of love which Nico chooses after his interaction with Cupid.

Jason says during the scene that he "preferred Piper's idea of love" which has to do with kindness and caring, etc, and then Jason becomes the embodiment of that idea during the scene- which showcases the alternative of what love can be, thus making Jason a personification of love in the context of that scene.

Jason looks to Nico, he doesn't ask for more, he simply looks to Nico with understanding and acknowledges him for who he is, and he does the exact opposite of what Nico expects:

Jason loves Nico where he is, without conditions, without forcing Nico to become something more. Jason didn’t force Nico to say more than what was necessary for him to understand, Jason looked at Nico and he called Nico brave.

Cupid is a more volatile form of love than Aphrodite, Cupid shoots arrows that makes people animals, that can make a god grow insane, but Aphrodite's form of love is about acceptance and humanity (think to how she picked Ares over Hephaestus even if it was perhaps "wrong")- both are about truth but one is about force and the other about acceptance.

When Nico walks out of there, he makes his choice- he is forced to come out yes, Cupid is wrong for doing this, but Jason again stays a figure of love in Nico's life. Jason basically says, "Good job, I know that was hard, thank you for sharing and let me know if you need anything, people will care about you and understand you," again and again and again to Nico, he doesn't tell Nico he has to come out, and he agrees to keep it between them for now. Jason is love as acceptance, Jason is the first person who unconditionally loves Nico, and that's the choice.

Will Nico accept unconditional love? If the answer is no, then Cupid wins and Nico is denying himself. If the answer is yes, then Jason and Nico win, and Nico no longer needs to make himself utilitarian in love in order to be loved.

The choice is made with Reyna and Hedge, most specifically Reyna.

When he accidentally comes out to them, and they accept him without making a big deal of it, without show, just that acknowledgement and "thank you for sharing" and Nico accepts their words and friendship still- Nico made his choice then to accept the love he was being freely given.

“He carried so much sadness and loneliness, so much heartache. Yet he put his mission first. He persevered. Reyna respected that. She understood that. She'd never been a touchy-feely person, but she had the strangest desire to drape her cloak over Nico's shoulders and tuck him in. She mentally chided herself. He was a comrade, not her little brother. He wouldn't appreciate the gesture.”

This is where we see the slow and steady, and healthy, end to Nico's arc in regards to love really grow into itself, and he begins to heal. He no longer sees such an intense need to make himself utilitarian for love, and he begins to heal from his internalized homophobia too.

(Internalized homophobia discussions with Nico also bother me too often times, people too often assume you can't date while struggling with internalized homophobia or at least very heavy handedly imply that which is just not true... You may have some issues in your relationship, but you can work through the internalized homophobia while building a new relationship and be just fine. Also to assume someone has an unhealthy relationship because of internalized homophobia is weird and lowkey reinforces the idea that "broken" people don't need love, but also does a huge disservice to so many LGBTQ+ people who are happily married/themselves but still struggle with these feelings, and to see a healthy relationship depiction despite someone in that relationship struggling with internalized homophobia is fine and good actually. As long as the individual can recognize what they're dealing with, and work through it in a healthy and constructive manner, then there's nothing wrong there...)

When I started this post to be honest I thought I would have a lot more to say, it's a scene that touched and changed me so deeply as a person, and beyond that in a more objective experience it completely changes Nico's character, by turning his arc around and beginning his healing process. To be honest, there probably is more to be said on it, I just haven't found the words yet... I know parts of this post are clunky and in a year I'm going to read this and see all the places it could be better but for now I'm content with it.

Whether or not someone considers the scene homophobic is a subjective experience, but I think this is a very well written scene purely for the characterization and symbolism, intentional or otherwise. I don't really care that much to debate if it's truly a homophobic scene or not, I can see both why people say it is and why people say it isn't and that can be culminated into "people have different needs" and "minorities aren't a monolith". Personally my much larger complaint is the complete lack of nuance and insight scenes like this are handled with, not the matter of personal opinion an individual reaches on the scene.

*the post uses the word "adult audience" and yes, fair point, children should not be able to decipher symbolism to the extent adults can. But older children and young teens, which the RRverse series are sold for, is when critical thinking skills and media analysis do begin to become parts of classroom curriculum. The scene does an excellent job of not outright stating Cupid is evil, but of depicting that in a very clear cut way.

[algumaideia]

An analysis of Octavian

This post was actually going to be an explanation of why I think Octavian is an antagonist, but not a villain. But it ended up being an analysis of his character. 

SPOILERS

And as always feel free to disagree with me, just be respectful. 

Sorry, because it wasn’t well-written, I’m incapable of writing good texts. 

Backstory

I think it is important to say that since we don’t have any information about his backstory most of the thing said in this part of the review are what I think is his backstory. It is a mix of the facts stated in the books, the way Octavian acts and my interpretations. Besides the things I’ll make clear that were said in the books, the rest is not canon. And you don’t need to agree with me that this was his backstory.

His family is one of the richest of New Rome- In the books he also seems to act without fearing the consequences while taking the privilege/money of his family as garented. Octavian acts like someone that is seeking attention. It is so weird how he just do whatever he wants without fearing consequences when his family is right there in New Rome. For that to happen I think or his family neglects him or they are those kind of people who think the children can do no wrong and are all my baby didn’t do that. But I think that if they were the latter, they would be more present in Octavian’s life, but they are never there. 

He is an augere and feels very proud about it. I don’t think there is too much to add about it besides that I think he likes to be an augere because it makes him important and necessary.

No one likes him and this isn’t something new. In Son of Neptune, Hazel says half of the camp hates Octavian and most of his friends are bought. So, Octavian is a lonely child. And he is aware of this. He is a bad person, people dislike him for a reason. But it seems people have been disliking him for some years and he is a child. According to his wiki he was 10 years old when he came to Camp Jupiter for the first time, and he spent his tweens and teens years in a place where people did not like him. I don’t think this was a good place to grow up.

He is really smart and manipulative. I think that those traits are a little inconsistent. Because in the beginning of the SoN Percy says how Octavian is really good at manipulating people with words, but then in the ending of the book and in MoA everyone is shutting Octavian up. Isn’t he this kind of master of words, how he isn’t answering people back? 

We also know he’s been at camp jupiter for quite sometime. I’ll talk about it in another part of the post.

He is anemic and mentally ill. I’ll talk about those things in the Camp Jupiter, Treatment and Ableism parts. 

Other thing that I would like to say is that this post is not an attempt to ignore the bad things Octavian did and pretend he is not a bad person. It is just me trying to understand his better and show why in my opinion the fandom hasn’t treated him fairly.

Camp Jupiter

Camp Jupiter sucks and it does for a lot of reasons. Some of them being the fact they have a city full of adults and most of them were demigods trained in the camp, which means they have trained adults but instead tweens and teens are the ones who fights. Hazel said that if Percy dishonored the legion they both would be executed. Hazel also says that sometimes people die in the war games. There is also the fact that people are dying all the time in missions/wars. The Camp Jupiter also expects perfect behavior for its demigods, to them all know the rules and to do not commit mistakes and I don’t have adhd but this doesn’t seem to be a good place to people that has the disorder. There is too much preassure to do not do any wrong, apperently no emotional support and the punishments seems to be crazy. It’s not a healthy place to a chldren grow up.

Other point is how they value physical strenght, hand to hand combats and offensive approache more than a lot of things. Frank said how he wasn’t treated well because he was an archer, and this was seem as cowardice. Octavian is anemic, he doesn’t have physical strenght or energy to be able to fight. The only way to be respected in Jupiter's camp is to be a good fighter, and he cannot be that because of his illness. As I said Octavian is someone that is often seeking attention and validation by his peers, and I think that this is why being an augere is something so important to him. He cannot make himself important in the traditional way and by being an augere he is necessary to the camp. People cannot just dismiss him. He buys friends, he manipulates people, he becomes a centurion, he is always dominating the senate. He makes himself impossible to be neglected. 

Yes, Octavian is power-hungry. Yes, he is bad. But a lot of things he did during Heroes of Olympus was just Roman things (he was also mentally ill and his mental health was getting worse in each book). When Hazel says that Octavian will kill Percy if the greeks atack New Rome, but in the next sentence she says that Romans take oaths very seriously. However it is all written like it is Octavian being a horrible person. But it is not. The Romans are very harsh with their punishments, they seem to be violent, physical. When Octavian says the Romans should fight the greeks, he is just acting like a Roman, like someone who was raised in a enviroment that encouraged violence responses.

Treatment

Octavian wasn’t treated nicely by the narrative and other characters. I mean, this guy was the centurion of the first cohort and an augere. But no one seem to respect him. No one enters the legion without him saying yes (I know it is acording to what he sees) but he is treated like he isn’t important. He is the one that is responsable of saying what the gods wants, but no one seems to have problems mocking him. I mean fi he decides to give you a wrong information about what a god want you are dead. 

Hazel said how “obsessed” with the sibylline books Octavian and it was framed as him being irrational and dumb. But in the end he was right, if the legion listened to him Ella would have been save way sooner. But no, it is just Octavian being  “obsessed”.

Percy acts like Octavian doesn’t have any prophecy powers, but he saw the lighting in the Jupiter Temple. Then when Octavian is mad because there are three preators he acts like he is overreacting, and Jason and Reyna do nothing. And this is weird because it was made very clear that rules are very important to Camp Jupiter. 

When he decides to attack Camp Jupiter he is always villified and not seem as a mentally ill boy that has been getting worse doing the Roman thing. 

He is always dismissed, mocked, villified, ignored.

And the fact Luke was treated with sympathy, but Octavian not. Luke, who tried to kill Percy, a childre, a lot of times. Luke, who used Annabeth feelings and emotional attachment to manipulate her. Luke, who was 19-22 years old and groomed Silena, who was 14-18 years old. Luke, who poisoned Talia’s tree. Luke, who had no regards for Grover, the satyr that saved him. Luke was treated with sympathy. But not Octavian. Not the mentally ill child who was losing the touch with reality during the series. Not the guy who was just doing what he was raised to do. 

I mean, I don’t even like Octavian and I cannot stand it.

Gwen

Guys, Octavian did a lot of bad things but killing Gwen wasn’t one of those thing. It is so no sense for a lot of reasons. 

As we talked before he is anemic and he is also smart. This intelligent man, that is full aware of his physical limits, thought it would be a good idea to get in the midle of a chaotic fight? I don’t think so.

Some pages before that Percy hit Octavian and he fell like a straw man (according to the text, the first time I read it I thought he fainted). 

Octavian always makes things because of a purpose, he isn’t just being mean because. He does bad things because his actions will give him something. Killing Gwen wouldn’t help him with anything.

Frank for some reason decided to look to Octavian during that mess and that doesn’t make any sense. He is in the camp for a month at this time the guy should’ve already known that Octavian doesn’t battle, he only commands. He saw Percy fighting for a couple of seconds during the war game and was already able to say how he fought.

Octavian was without his knive, but just minutes before he fainted, he could have lost it when he fell.

Frank said that Octavian seemed interested and not worried. But this is not enough to blame the guy, this is not enough to assume anything execpt that maybe Octavian has low empath. 

Greeks

Octavian was a roman. To the romans the greeks didn’t exist anymore, and they were the enemy. 

So, a random greek shows up, spends some days at the camp, becomes preator, and two of your most important gods appear and give a lot of attention to this greek. This is really suspicious. This greek also says that the romans should work with the greeks so they can defeat Gaea. And why you should trust this dude? He doesn’t show respect for the Roman culture. Then this huge war ship appears and this suspect greek guy says that they all come peace and the romans should not attack. Obviously you don’t believe it, and what happens they attack! As the good roman you are, your answer is to attack the greeks back. 

The romans answers things with violence. This is why Reyna asked if Annabeth was a roman after the judo flip. This is why Hazel said she and Percy would be executed if he did a mistake during his period of probatio. Octavian was being roman. He was trying to protect and revenge his Camp against a long time enemy. 

Not saying everything he did about it was logical, but this is because of his upbringing and his mental health. 

Goals

I think it is really interisting the fact that Octavian main goal was to be a hero, not more powerful. Apollo didin’t say Octavian would become preator, he said Octavian would save New Rome. 

I mean, since Octavian wanted to be preator and then became the pontifex maximum, so the logical think it would be to him wants more power. But no he wants to be a hero. A hero is someone that is respected, admired, liked and even loved. All the thing Octavian isn't. Don't get me wrong, Octavian is a bad person, there is a reason people dislike him. But he is also a lonely child that is hated by most of the camp.

Ableism

Octavian is often described as crazy, mad, insane. In his first appearence Percy said Octavian had madness in the eyes, and this was the way of the narrative warning us he was one of the bad guys. He is obviusly mentally ill, his mental health is obviusly getting worse, but everyone ignores it. Everyone ignores it, execpt when they are describing how insane his laugh is, how crazy he looks, how intense his gaze is. Everyone ignores it, until they need to remind us he is one of the antagonists. 

Ending

The ending was terrible. 

Octavian was obiously having a psychotic break, he was stumbling, laughing “in an insane” way, and he didn’t realize his jewelry was in fire. And then what happens? Michael Kahale, the person he most trusted, his problaby only friends appeared, saw the situation and did nothing.

Octavian didn’t kill himself. He didn’t know his clothes were tied in the onager. It wasn’t a sacrifice. It was an aciddent. 

Nico stopped Will Solace who was trying to warn it because some “deaths are inevitable”. Nico, also a mentally ill character saw Octavian in the vulnerable state he was and did nothing to help him. And when Nico was seeing Octavian lunch himself to the sky he thought that this was a relief. No one was sad, no one thought this was a tragedy, no one cared. Octavian was dead and that was a relief. 

The guy was so desperate to be the hero and no one even cared about his death. It is horrible.

Another sorry for the weird tense of the text.

If you want to read this is my post about Octavian and Azula and how their mental illness were treated differently.

Best regards,

Me. 

Ps. We need to start talking how the way Bryce was written was ableist.

[romeoandjulietyouwish]

in your ballet au I was thinking about how keyleth probably struggles/you or someone mentioned her having self worth issues, maybe sometimes it gets Bad, maybe one time her and Percy were having some private practice time, and he could tell she was just having an awful day cause she couldn't sleep at all and forgot to eat something and was just pushing herself too far but wouldn't listen to him when he suggested just going home and resting. and maybe she made a quiet comment about how they have something big coming up and she just, needs to be, Perfect. and something in him just freezes up, and all he could see was Cassandra working days on end just to be perfect enough for Ripley, and how much is mentally and physically destroyed her. older brother instincts kicking in Hard and him forcing her home, to eat something, being there till she sleeps, and telling vex and Vax cause he's just Scared and Worried.

oh my god absolutely!

I think that he knew something was wrong when she didn't immediately open her bag to offer him a snack. When he asked if she'd eaten breakfast that morning he just received a quick shake of the head before Keyleth put on her pointe shoes. And the dark bags under her eyes spoke for themselves. I think he immediately thought of how so many of the girls looked at the Briarwoods' company but shook it off. And after an hour or two he asks her what's wrong and when she tells him that she needs to be perfect he is reminded of 15 year old Cassandra fainting in rehearsals and with her feet torn to shreds and the weight she felt on her shoulders.

He doesn't allow Keyleth to argue as he brings her to their apartment and opens up a container of take out and shoves it into her hands. And he puts on a random tv show that always gets her to fall asleep and when she's out, he calls Vax just shaking because he doesn't know what to do and he's freaking out a little because he doesn't want Keyleth to ever go through what he and Cassandra did.

Vax calls Vex who calls all of the others and before Keyleth wakes up, all of their friends are in their apartment with food and alcohol and all assure her over and over that she has nothing to prove to them or to Allura. And Vex pulls Percy aside at one point, just hugging him because he's still a little freaking out about what happened.

[buoyantsaturn]

I’m all eyes (1/1)

summary: So, obviously, if Nico was wearing Jason’s sweatshirt, then they must be dating, right?

word count: 1,871

read on ao3

Will didn’t think he was the jealous type. Jealousy required some amount of anger, right? But he wasn’t angry - maybe just disappointed. And really, he didn’t even have all of the facts, so he shouldn’t let himself get worked up over it anyway. 

It’s just that, well. It sucked to always look over at the Big Three table to see Nico in that giant purple SPQR sweatshirt. Or, it didn’t suck - it was a good look, and purple was definitely Nico’s color, as much as Will would prefer to see him in camp orange. The part that sucked was that Jason was always sitting beside him, and that sweatshirt definitely looked like it was Jason’s size. 

So, obviously, if Nico was wearing Jason’s sweatshirt, then they must be dating, right? And on the one hand, it was exciting, because that meant Nico was into guys, which meant that Will might have a chance with him (and bonus points because he, too, was tall, blond, and blue-eyed). On the other hand, Nico was taken, and Will wasn’t a homewrecker (or whatever the fifteen year old version of a homewrecker was).

Anyway, Will had a lot of mixed feelings about seeing Nico in that sweatshirt. And he kept having those mixed feelings when he started to see more and more of Nico around camp. He would come by the archery range while Will was practicing with his shotgun (on his own target that he’d made specifically for shooting practice). He had started going to campfires (where he would pull the sweatshirt over his knees and turn himself into an adorable purple blob). He’d even started coming by the infirmary every few days so that Will could make sure he was keeping his fading in check (so, to be fair, Will had asked him to stop by occasionally, but that was for purely medical reasons).

On one particularly hot day in September, Nico entered the infirmary sans sweatshirt, and Will’s heart jumped in his chest. Sure, he’d seen Nico without that sweatshirt on a few times before, but he’d reacted the same way then, too. He tried to act normal, checking Nico’s solidity and making sure that his arms and legs still cast shadows, but the second Piper stepped into the infirmary, Will’s mind went blank.

She was wearing a giant purple SPQR sweatshirt, the one that looked just like Jason’s that Nico always wore. And hadn’t Jason and Piper been dating before they set off on the Argo II? 

“Is that Jason’s sweatshirt?” Will’s mouth asked before his brain could stop it.

Piper paused and glanced down, like she’d forgotten what she was wearing. “Oh, uh, yeah. Nyssa’s got the AC blasting in the bunker, so I snagged this from Jason’s cabin on the way here.”

“Oh.” Did that mean they were still dating? Or maybe they just had a really amicable breakup? Or...Nico, Jason, and Piper were all in some sort of polyamorous relationship? Not that there was anything wrong with that, of course, but the three of them together certainly made for an odd bunch. “Sorry, did you need help?” 

She shook her head. “Nah, just came to see what was holding Nico up. He’s been helping us try to track down Leo.” 

“Really?” Will asked, glancing at Nico in surprise. “That’s...nice of you.” 

Nico shrugged. “I’m just gonna make sure he stays dead this time.” 

Will grinned. “Ah. That’s more like it.” 

“So, am I good to go?” Nico asked. “I’d like to track Leo down before Thanatos does.” 

Will rolled his eyes fondly. “Yeah, go ahead. But as a bit of medical advice, murder might not be best for your mental health.” 

Nico scrunched up his nose. “I don’t think you have to worry about that.” 

“Sure, Death Boy,” Will said, brushing off his reply. It was probably a joke anyway. Right? “Get out of here already. I’ll see you later.” 

As Nico started toward the door, Piper threw an arm around him, which Nico immediately tried to shove off, albeit unsuccessfully. Once he was sure they were gone, and once Kayla returned from her snack break, Will snuck out the back entrance.

He went to the cave under Half Blood Hill, announcing himself as he pushed the curtain aside and walked in. He found Rachel the way he usually did, one bare foot holding a paintbrush as she worked on her current project. “Hey,” she greeted, not lifting her eyes from the canvas.

“Hey,” Will replied moments before flopping down face-first onto a pile of overstuffed pillows. He was pretty sure it was the space that Rachel pretended was her bed whenever she stayed the night at camp so that Chiron wouldn’t realize that she snuck into the Apollo cabin every night to sleep on one of the spare bunks. He’d gotten close with Rachel since the end of the Titan war, seeing as he was usually the one to catch her when she collapsed after giving a prophecy. It had helped them bond. Now Rachel felt like something of a sister, except Will’s only experience with siblings were his godly siblings, who always just felt like close friends. So, anyway, Rachel was somewhere between Will’s newest vaguely-related sister and a close friend. Which meant that they had a good enough relationship that they could sit in silence without it being awkward, which was how the next few minutes passed.

Then, Will lifted his face off of a pillow and glanced to the side, spotting a familiar shade of purple. He picked it up - an oversized SPQR sweatshirt. “Whose is this?” 

“Huh?” Rachel barely glanced away for a second before turning back to her easel. “Oh. That’s Nico’s. He must’ve left it here last night.” 

Will’s head snapped up. “Nico was here? Wait, you hang out with Nico?” 

Rachel shrugged. She leaned forward and pulled the brush out from between her toes, apparently deciding that Will had become too much of a distraction for the time being. “Yeah, we go way back. We both helped Percy and Annabeth with the Labyrinth, remember? And then after that he would check in on me sometimes to, like, make sure nobody came after me. It was kinda creepy at first, you know, because he just sort of appears out of nowhere sometimes? But as soon as I started feeding him, he opened his mouth and never really shut up, so the creepiness kinda faded.” 

Will smoothed a hand across the fabric. It was soft, and big enough that it would fit him easily. And Rachel said it was Nico’s, not Jason’s - not that it could be, since he’d just seen Piper wearing Jason’s about ten minutes ago. And if Rachel and Nico were friends, then she would know-- “So Nico’s not dating Jason?” 

Rachel blinked, clearly taken aback by the question, and then laughed. “No, definitely not.”

Will’s brain was moving too fast for him to process anything. “He-- I--” He scrambled to his feet and gathered the sweatshirt in his hands. “I gotta go!” 

“Uh, bye?” Rachel called after him as Will took off out of the cave. Piper had said that she was with Nyssa at Bunker Nine, so Will took off toward the woods. He was grateful for his long legs that carried him across camp so quickly, leaping over fallen branches and thankfully not tripping up on any roots. He found himself outside Bunker Nine in no time, and it wasn’t long before his eyes landed on Nico. He sprinted up to the other boy, hunching over for half a second to catch his breath before he said, “Can I talk to you?” 

Nico nodded, his eyes wide in obvious surprise at having Will suddenly appear in front of him. (Served him right for doing the same to everyone else for the last few years.) Will led him out of the bunker and away from listening ears, and then handed over the sweatshirt.

“Oh,” Nico said, sounding almost disappointed. “Um. Thanks.” 

“Rachel told me it was yours, so I...brought it,” Will told him. “I always thought-- I mean, I assumed-- You and Jason are just so close, and I figured--” 

“I don’t like Jason,” Nico said quickly, defensively, and his cheeks began to color. “Not… Not like that, I mean. He just got this for me because he was sick of me stealing his all the time.” 

“No, right, of course,” Will replied as his heart sank. “I mean-- Oh gods, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to assume you liked guys-- I never should’ve--” 

“I do,” Nico cut in, and Will’s mouth snapped shut. “I, um. I’m...gay.” 

“Oh. Oh! Cool! I mean, I am too! Or, uh, I’m bi, but, uh. I like guys, too.”

If Will’s arms weren’t frozen at his side, he probably would’ve smacked himself for babbling like a total idiot. But maybe it was worth it to see the way Nico’s cheeks continued to grow red.

“Cool,” Nico said softly, dropping his gaze to his shoes before rapidly looking around at anything that wasn’t Will. “Would you, um. Would you maybe be interested in sitting with me at the campfire tonight?” 

Will was pretty sure his soul had left his body, but he still managed to ask, “Like, as a date?” 

Nico scuffed the toe of his shoe against the dirt. “If… If you want.” 

“Yeah!” Will said quickly, and then, “That would be, um. Cool.” 

“Cool,” Nico repeated. He started fidgeting with the sweatshirt in his hands before he suddenly held it out to Will. “You should take this. It’ll probably be cold tonight, so…” 

Will barely managed to stop himself from saying, it’s okay, I have my own. Instead, he forced his hands out to take the sweatshirt back. “Cool.” Did he know any other word in the English language besides cool? “I’ll, um. See you tonight then.” 

Nico smiled, and Will’s heart soared. “Yeah. See you tonight.” 

When Will arrived at the campfire later, happily yet nervously showing off the SPQR laurels on his chest, he made his way straight to Nico, relieved to see that the other boy had shown up in just a t-shirt. 

“Hey,” Will said, smiling brightly as he sat down in the open space beside Nico. “You know, it might get cold this far from the fire. Maybe you should borrow this.” Will held out his own neatly folded orange camp hoodie, one with a large 7 on the back and a red cross on one sleeve - a sweatshirt that was unmistakably Will’s. 

Nico smiled down at the sweatshirt, and then up at Will like this was exactly what he’d been hoping for. “Okay,” he said as he took the sweatshirt and pulled it on over his head. 

“It might be a little big on you,” Will warned, but Nico only smiled brighter when his head popped out of the neck hole. 

“That’s okay,” Nico replied. Just the very tips of his fingers stuck out the ends of the sleeves, and Will got the sudden urge to hold Nico’s hand. Maybe he would try later, when Nico didn’t have all of his focus directed at Will. “That’s how I like it.” 

thanks for reading!!

buy me a coffee

[zazzander]

Nico di Angelo: His Arc in BoO and why he should have joined the Romans, part 5

Let's talk about the moment the arc goes off the rails & how I would change it.

The Moment Nico Riordan Changed his Mind

Sure, Nico had mixed emotions about the camp. He’d felt rejected there, out of place, unwanted and unloved… but now that it was on the verge of destruction, he realised how much it meant to him. This was the last place Bianca and he had shared a home - the only place they’d ever felt safe, even if only temporary.

They rounded a bend in the road and Nico’s fists clenched.

Page 411, BoO

The motivations are very limited. Bianca was a Hunter. Besides Nico has a sister whom he loves and a surrogate sister who he has just bonded with, both of whom are Roman.

Instead of being upset about the Greek’s position...

Nico should realise just how much he’s come to care about the Romans, and by extension, the legion.

He discusses their mentality, how it's about working together, holding each other up, being one big family. They don’t divide each other based on ancestry - they are one legion.

Also, Nico has been working through his isolation and his rage. He’s been warned that his rage will make him lonely. But he has also have realised that his anger isn’t “wrong” either. He can still be accepted by people despite the “darkness” inside him.

Additionally, while he’s managed to open up to Reyna, we see in this section he’s still prone to feelings of rage (“Nico’s fists clenched” is a physical manifestation of this). I think this should stay, but it should be shown as an uncomfortable thing - because Nico's arc isn't over yet. He still needs to learn to forgive.

Nico & the Centurions

Unforunately, it’s also around here that Nico stops feeling so close with the two centurions. He closes himself off a little. Especially in the way he departs.

So instead, in this scene, I would have:

Dakota explaining why so many of the legionaries follow Octavian. Discuss their rage at the Greeks for the attack - people injured, some severely, and how Percy had promised them so much, just for that to be broken. On how the Titan War had left many of them scarred. They're longing for peace - and Octavian's promises.

Perhaps Nico questions Dakota’s previous loyalty to Octavian, who then justifies himself and the others.

Basically, Dakota says, “It’s more complicated than you realise”.

He explains how Reyna, Jason, and Octavian were the leaders who got the camp through the Titan War. Both then Jason disappeared and returned on the side of the Greeks. Then Reyna left them for the ancient lands. The only one left was Octavian.

The divide between Reyna and Octavian had been getting worse and worse since Jason disappeared. So when Nico suggest Dakota and Leila make a distraction, Dakota isn’t so keen to force the final break. He doesn’t want to seen the legion fight itself.

Nico starts to realise why the Romans are so angry. And that he’s felt a similar rage himself. He knows how consumed by anger he had been when Reyna had been threatened and injured by Bryce; but how can he hope to show the Romans violence isn’t the answer when he himself turned to it so quickly?

The Sabotage Sequence & My Changes

In the original, Nico shadow-travels away from Dakota and Leila with little warning. I would love to change this - having a proper departure.

It goes something like this:

Nico states that he feels he must join the Greeks.

Dakota questions that choice: “You aren’t staying with us?” and “Reyna ordered us to work together”.

Nico is confused, he’s not a Roman, after all. He’s never been to the Wolf House nor has he sworn an oath to the legion. Dakota says, “Does that matter?”

But Nico doesn’t want to consider the implications of that idea. He thinks about the "other choice" that he had been searching for, but he doesn’t have time to consider that. So he shakes his head, wishes them good luck, “I… I have another part to play.”

He shadow-travels to Half Blood Hill. He still considers assassinating Octavian. He then runs into Will and co. And they sabotage a couple of the onagers.

At which point, Octavian shows up.

It goes something like this:

Octavian explains his thoughts more. This would be a continuation from Dakota’s reasoning. And we, the readers, along with Nico, start to understand where Octavian is coming from. Which is basically: Octavian is fueled by the desire for revenge. He wants peace for New Rome and believes that the only way he can get that is by destroying the Greeks.

Octavian still offers Nico a place within Rome. But this time he actually echoes the same thoughts Nico has been having. Nico is thrown by the fact that Octavian, Reyna and Dakota all seem to think he belongs among the Romans. Especially when Octavian is saying it.

Will interrupts the moment - saying that Nico would never turn against the Greeks. But Nico recovers enough to say, “It’s not about being Greek or Roman.”

Will is surpirsed by that statment. Because they're at war. "You can't be serious. Being Roman means working for this loser." And Will points at Octavian.

But Nico fights to point. Then he turns to Octavian.

Nico tries to reason with Octavian, telling him the Parthenos plan. But Octavian scoffs at the idea - saying that the Romans had been fighting the Greeks long before the statue was stolen, that they inherited the legacy of Troy from Aeneas. And that a conflict between them would surely start again. The only way to guarantee the safety of New Rome is to wipe out the Greeks and turn the gods into Romans permanently.

Octavian might even have a line like, “I refuse to be Cassandra, doomed to watch her city burn and be powerless to stop it!”

At this point, Nico understands that he’s being hypocritical. What caused him to open up to Reyna wasn’t being rejected for his darkness, but being accepted despite it.

He sees the exhaustion in Octavian’s face and knows it mirrors his own. They have both been harmed by pushing others away. And scarred by the horrors that they faced in the Titan War.

Nico reflects on the brief time that he knew Octavian; the strange augur who always hung around Temple Hill rather than the legion. Despite being a member of the legion, Octavian faces his own form of isolation. He sympathises with Octavian (who is the manifestation of the resentment and hatred many of the Romans feel).

Nico realises his own quest is more than just bringing the Athena Partheonos. His mission is to help the Romans forgive. That’s why his father sent him to Camp Jupiter in the first place.

And Nico starts to express his understanding to Octavian, admitting his own flaw of wrath - that he knows what it’s like to hold a grudge. And he sees Octavian hesitate, a flash of understanding and connection passes between them.

But their meeting is interrupted, possibly by Will, possibly by the other sabotage crew. And the opportunity is lost.

Octavian says something about it being "too late" and launches the onagers.

The Pre-Gaia's Awakening Sequence & My Changes

The sabotage works still and Octavian is upset. This time, in his panic, Octavian starts talking about the future that he knows is coming. That New Rome is doomed. That “this is only the beginning” and various other ominous stuff.

Octavian still sounds shrill and lacks the force of charisma that Jason has - but listening to his words, Nico realises just how scared Octavian sounds.

Will questions Octavian though. Will doesn't believe Octavian's predictions, much like the other characters in the story. No one can see the future at this time - not even the Oracle. But Octavian says that Will doesn’t understand anything.

Before that can be explained further, Dakota and Leila arrive with their cohorts. Nico shares a look of camaraderie with the two centurions.

Octavian is upset that the two cohorts are following Reyna’s orders, once again, but Nico actually listens to what Octavian is saying, and Octavian is also generally more clear with his wording. Reyna left them, she’s the outlaw that abandoned them! Also, keeping the stuff about saving Rome.

This time, Nico recognises the feeling of being abandoned and betrayal that not only Octavian, but the rest of the legion, hold towards the Seven & Reyna. How Reyna’s choice to go on the Parthenos quest also meant her leaving them behind. He recalls Dakota’s words about how Jason and Reyna had been important in getting the legion there, that no matter what either of them did, the legion would always respect them. But how they ended up following Octavian because he's the one who stayed.

His actions might not be moral or correct, but many of the legion will forgive that - like how Dakota forgives Reyna for breaking the ancient laws. Nico understands the means of much he can show the Romans i.e. Octavian, how to forgive the Greeks.

But then, the Greek army arrive.

It was an impressive sight, but all Nico could think was: No. Not now.

BoO, page 430

We keep this! It fits better with such a scene because Nico is starting to think that his task isn’t just to bring the Parthenos. It’s to help heal the wounds between the two camps. As well as between the two sides of the legion. The Romans had followed Octavian for a reason. Many of them still do.

So even as the Athena Parthenos arrives, Nico knows it won’t be enough. He meets Octavian’s gaze across the battlelines and sees the rage within them. The unadulterated hatred for the Greek fighters. This Octavian is among his soldiers, much like he was in the battle against Polybotes. But it’s actually acknowledged.

Reyna gives her speech. But instead of everyone joining Reyna, the loyalties of the legion are split down the middle. The two factions suddenly solidify.

And then Gaia starts to wake.

At that moment, Octavian loses it - as he does in the original. He runs and Nico wants to follow, but he can't. They have a bigger fight.

It’s too late, he thinks. And realises Octavian had said the same thing just a little while earlier.

The Final Fight Sequence & My Changes

Switching out Nico’s POV, we still have the big fight, but significantly, Jason sees Nico fighting among the Roman demigods, not the Greeks. He doesn’t understand why Nico is doing so at first, but then - because he’s Jason - he realises that Nico might have found his answer. Much in the way Jason has.

Regardless, Will comes to Nico and points out Octavian loading an onager. Nico is the one to try to talk Octavian down. Not Will. We switch those roles, because that honestly makes more sense in how they were characterised up until that point.

Nico tries to reason with Octavian, saying that understands Octavian’s rage, but that they need to work together.

But Octavian just starts talking about having “run out of time” and such. It’s less about “stealing my glory” and more “I hate how you delayed my plans and now all of this is your fault!”

And, because I’m an Octavian fan and I think it would round out Nico’s arc really well, Octavian doesn’t die. They come to an understanding, moments before the end - but Gaia still needs to be taken down. And Octavian still believes it must be him to do it. Mike shows up and Octavian uses Mike to resist the two demigods.

But! When Octavian launches his onager, Nico uses his magic to summon a skeleton. Controlling the skeleton, he holds Octavian down as the onager goes off.

He sees Gaia fall just as he feels himself disappear. And, out of the smoke, the stunned figure of Octavian staring at him.

We have a moment where we think Nico is dead - gone for good. But to his surprise, he wakes up.

The Resolution Sequence & My Changes

Will and Octavian, both descendants of Apollo, have worked together to bring him back. Will uses his healing powers, Octavian uses the unicorn draught that the narrative established earlier. Their combined healing is strong enough to bring Nico back from the darkness.

Anyway, with that job done, Octavian stands up. He thanks Nico for saving his life, saying something about taking Nico’s words on board - or something suitably Octavian-esque.

Yet, as he moves off, he collapses. Mike holds him up. Octavian is unconscious from the pain and the emotion of it all. Mike says thank you, both as a translation of Octavian's words (because there's no way Octavian would actually say thank-you) and also from himself. He knows that Nico could have easily let Octavian die (in this version, Mike didn't notice the tangled robe situation).

He moves to carry Octavian away, but Will makes them stop. Mike is suspicious and Nico braces for conflict, but Will insists on healing Octavian. Octavian’s arms are laced with burns. He wakes up and there is a very brief moment of peace between them all, before the rest of the armies arrive and everyone pulls away.

Nico doesn’t know where to go in the next few days. He hides out in the Hades cabin but it doesn’t feel like home. What he does know that while on the surface everything is fine, they’ve won the war, there’s still tension in the air. The Seven are dealing with the loss of Leo. And the Romans are also dealing with the Reyna vs Octavian faction.

Both Reyna and Frank are outraged by Octavian’s actions. They want him brought to trial. Meanwhile, Octavian also wants them to be brought to trial. He doesn’t accept Frank as praetor.

Nico tells everyone that he wants to join the legion. Hazel is super happy. But, Nico reveals that he wants to be ratified in the “right way” i.e. by the augur. None of the others really understands this - but Nico insists that Octavian does it. He believes it will be the best way to remove the divisions in the legion. After all, the Third and Fourth cohort did turn on the rest during the fight. Even if they were following Reyna’s orders, that just means there is more resentment between the “Reyna faction” and the “Octavian faction” than ever.

Nico Joins the Legion

So at the celebration dinner, post the various funerals. We have a moment between Octavian where Nico helps Octavian forgive the Greeks, especially Percy. But also Reyna.

Before the crowd, Octavian announces Nico to be a member of the legion. Nico takes the oath. Reyna and Nico have their big hug:

She gave Nico a big hug and the crowd roared with approval. For once, Nico didn’t feel like pulling away. He buried his face in Reyna’s shoulder and blinked the tears out of his eyes.

Page 475, BoO

However, because it’s important, after the dinner, Octavian and Nico talk. Nico asks what Octavian was talking about during the battle and Octavian warns Nico about another threat. This is not explicit because we want to keep the ‘mystery’, kind of like how Rachel ended PJO with a prophecy.

Octavian admits he knows about it because he’s been working with the threat for years - “None trusts me, di Angelo. And that’s without knowing that I’ve been working with the enemy.”

“Why would you? Aren't you loyal to Rome?”

“Because… because family is complicated. I’m sure you know that better than most.”

Anyway, Octavian isn’t fully “redeemed” here. But instead, he’s taken his first step on the path. What happens here is that he’s humanised. And in a way that facilitates the character development of a main character and hero: Nico di Angelo.

If we had the ending like this, Nico stops just being “death boy”. His pain and suffering, his anger and his mistakes, they mean something - and the love that he finds with Reyna, Hazel and Jason allow Nico to work past it. To become the hero that can save people, not in the way the Seven do, but more on a psychological level.

[thejudgingtrash]

can we pleeeease talk about how rushed the whole Nico and Will relationship was? They talked for 2 minutes, don't see each other forever and boom they're together. Like ??? When did that happen? Certainly not in the books? (okay I haven't read the books in ages, but it felt so forced and extremely rushed or is it just me? I'm queer myself so I'm all for LGBTQ+ representation, but that's not it)

Alright let’s tackle this! Sorry for answering so late, I always answer asks that will be longer super late ^^ anyway. I’ve sorta received this ask twice but the other one has more focused on Nico with a little bit Solangelo on the side so I’ll just fully tackle the Solangelo side on this one.

I have three simple issues with Solangelo.

Age

Substance

Fandom

Alright. Let’s start off with the first point or problem. Age. Or rather time. As in timeline. Because we all know that Rick Riordan basically spins a wheel whenever it comes to his timeline and I won’t go fully into the maths because I’m terrible at it and I’m not in the mood for embarrassing myself in that metier. Anyway, let’s proceed. My question is: what is their canonical age? The one from Will and the one from Nico?

I’ve caught glimpse in a group convo at the fact that Will was supposed to be 18 actually if you pay close attention to pjo? And I mean Nico is like 15 or something? Which is also sorta wrong? Because Riordan made him younger than Hazel who was 14 in the Herpes of Olympus saga. 14 and 18 is a fuck no from me, son. I guess Riordan forgot that HOO essentially took place in two days or something.

Riordan aging his characters down or rather refusing to let them age (looking at you, Percy and Annabeth!) because it doesn't convenience him isn’t something new. So, should they be mathematically speaking have that much of an age gap, yeah. That is problematic. That’s Frazel level kinda problematic. Even worse. I know that people are more inclined to look past age gaps in same-sex relationships but I always wondered why? There’s still a disproportionate level of maturity + a mighty power imbalance. So yeah. Watch out for that. Also they’re kids. So there’s no need in tying the knot and popping expensive champagne for their wedding just yet.

I mean I don’t have a problem with the time traveling aspect as in Nico still being mentally and physically a kid/teen. A little odd, sure. It’s not like Nico and Will are Edward and Bella and Nico’s goth ass is mentally aging along and stalking Will’s sorry self. It’s still weird because it’s so unbelievable? Nico is barely struggling finding his way into the modern world, chills at Hades and calls it a day? Now that’s something I have an issue with. I need more struggle. I need more vocab mix-ups. Nico’s brain exploding at the modern world. The difference between the 1940s and the late 2000s is massive. That isn’t just oh, weird little haircuts and why are women wearing pants, it would be not being able to comprehend things and questioning every new little object. Will could’ve been an amazing support character for such an arch, buuuut I’m deviating from my actual point. The timeline/age-line in the Riordanverse is for sure more on the concerning part for all new characters + OG side characters.

Second point. Substance. The thing you’ve touched in your ask.

How and when did Nico and Will become a thing? My memory is terrible and I’m too lazy to browse the wiki. The only thing I remember was Will being a nagging bitch in Blood of Olympus after Nico essentially said “I've got to move on and be who I am, I just don't belong here, I hope you understand, we might find a place in this world someday, but at least for now... I gotta go my own way...” to Percy who just went ??? That marked the beginning for this ship. Basically. I think. Well... I said before in my Percabeth ship roast (more like ship analysis, I have to redo that, that was way too mild and unfunny, omfg): most of the romance is in your head because there’s barely anything romantic in Riordan’s books to begin with (which we all should actually be thankful for!). This applies to essentially every goddamn ship in this series but especially Solangelo. Holy fuck. Y’all are pulling out the wildest stuff out of your ass based on... what exactly? I mean props for creativity!

It is abundantly clear to me at least, that Riordan didn't write Nico with the intention of being gay. There was no real indication in the Percy Jackson series (and I refuse to believe that he was this sort of mastermind, that plotted about doing all of this behind Disney’s back to get the gays and latinos in. There’s a market for everything and diversity was a coming trend in the 2010s).

One could say: Hey! Isn’t it great that Nico wasn’t labeled as being gay? It normalizes homosexuality and makes sure that the lgbtq+ community isn’t something abstract but rather folk like me and you. And to that I’d say yes, I mostly agree if the follow-up arch is believable and plausible. Which it isn’t in my opinion. We jump from the Heroes of Olympus saga to The Trials of (Mo)Lester I mean Apollo and we’re having this HUGE jump? From barely knowing each other to being soulmates, sitting next to each other, hanging out, going on in their business, having the picket white fence, two kids, three dogs, living in a gentrified neighborhood and baking cherry pie on Sundays? HOW IN THE ACTUAL FUCK DID ALL OF THIS HAPPEN?! That is incredibly rushed. 

Aren’t...you shippers....Mad? That’s so cheap? I’d say so? Wouldn’t you like to have more pre-existing relationship and plausible development? With Percabeth you at least have a five book long progression, Solangelo is Riordan basically taking a dump on your plate and forcing you to eat it. And no, Riordan teasing the last Apollo doesn’t count.

Additionally, wouldn’t it be way better to still have a character say “Yeah, I’m gay. Pass me that salt, will ya?” without it being gimmicky or a foil or something for woke points? Just showing kids: “Hey, if you think this is a label that suits you, it’s fine! It’s perfect even! No worries!” (Also, the “coming out scene” with Jason and Cupid wasn't it, my loves. That was horrifying and insulting imo).

I mean. Show and tell are powerful tools in narration and telling more than often resolves unnecessary conflict/dialogue. And whereas season one from Percy Jackson had barely anything in that direction with Nico’s identity, season two didn’t make it any better. And season three is a complete cluster fuck.

Yeah. For me, the ship is super rushed.

Final point. The fandom.

I have to inter-subjectively state that Solangelo shippers are fucking crazy. I know Percabeth shippers (including me, helloooo) and especially the Annabeth stans for some odd reason are insane, but Solangelo shippers take the fucking cake and then some. There’s already a disconnect between the age groups in the fandom and it’s clear that more of the older teens and adults center around the Percy Jackson story and some in the Heroes of Olympus sequel, but from what I’ve seen the Trials of Apollo fandom is super young and on a whole different level. Might be the reason why facing some criticisms seems harder, because the minute you open your mouth to say something about Solangelo, you have people attacking you left and right. Chill guys, it’s not that deep? And it’s definitely not a personal attack on you. After all, I don’t know who you are and tbh Idgaf. 

Talking about the lack of substance, fanon will automatically come in and fill the gaps. Which is fine and something we all do, but I really have to wonder about the levels of extremes that some take?

We all center around certain tropes and what not and while the trope and dynamic behind Solangelo isn’t particularly something for me, I really have to ask why people are behind it. Don’t get me wrong. My question is touching on more on M/M fetishization because I think that is mostly the driving force for some people rather than liking the actual ship? I see more people projecting things into Nico and Will and it’s really turning their characters into something they aren’t? Especially with Nico, who gets turned into this 5 ft. UwU punk princess which is hella strange???

All in all, I don’t have anything against the ship apart from it’s overrushed nature and Riordan’s wacky timeline. Do whatever you want with it (apart from fetishizing and sexualizing the ship), no one’s stopping you from liking it. But I do believe there are some things to look out for, especially in the fandom.

Take it easy, guys.

[missdawnandherdusk]

MuggleBorn Dating a Disaster Twin Weasley Extensive Headcanons:

A/n: So, who thought that this was a Draco only blog? Well, GUESS WHO WAS WRONG? me. It was me. But I’m a softie for a few other HP characters, of which are the Weasley twins. Thanks for the request @peachesandpinks!!! 

Also, this is super long again. I apologize for nothing. 

Okay we’re going with George here because he’s a bean so is Fred but ya know.

McGonagall is the one who delivers your letter and explains everything to you and you’re parents and you about have a mental breakdown because “well, of course, I noticed I do some weird stuff but magic are you serious?”

McGonagall is just not having it. Especially when she realizes that this is also the twins' first year as well because good lord more Weasleys??

Anyway, you’re in a train compartment by yourself because you don’t really know anyone and you can’t find your cousin who also attends Hogwarts so you’re just provolone

You’re about asleep when your compartment door slams shut and you jump up, seeing two boys with bright red hair grinning and hiding

“Um hello?”

They both shush you and pull you down with them. You hear yells and a very angry voice walk right past your compartment and the boys snicker

“Oh Percy, when will you realize,” “you can never escape us,” they’re grinning like madmen and you’re just so confused

“Um... guys?” You squeak. “Oh, right,” one says. “Sorry about that,” the other replies. “Fred and George Weasley,” the first hold his hand out for you to shake. You do. Hesitant.

“Who’s who?”

“What do you mean?” The second asks. “Who’s Fred and who’s George?” You clarify slightly annoyed. “Fred, George, respectively.” The first—Fred—grins. “And the prat out there is our brother Percy,” George flashes the same smile.

You study them, trying to pick out the differences between them. You can’t find anything except—Fred has dark brown eyes and George has slightly greener ones.

“Oi. What are you doing?” George asks.

“Trying to tell you two apart?”

That baffles both of them because let’s face it— it might be a joke but even their own mother has a hard time at that

You’re eternally grateful that you’re sorted into Gryffindor with them

You become their new favorite person. Especially after they find out you’re Muggle-born. Fred tries to corrupt you with fake facts and sometimes so does George. Most times you can tell if it’s real or not but on the occasion you can’t, you’ll look to George and his either nod or shake his head

They also bombard you with muggle based questions asking what it’s like and how you do certain things

They’re just goofballs and it’s nice to not be so serious all the time. When you’re studying and fretting over your first Potions exam George comes in and asks if you wanna see something cool and then you meet up with Fred and proceed to prank Filch who had it out for you the moment you were late for class. Not that it’s your fault you don’t know where you’re going and everything looks the same

Whenever you’re falling behind on spells or charms, George is the first to volunteer to help you out because let’s face it he’s brilliant with magic But not so good with facts and memorizing, so you help him out with History of Magic and Herbology

It’s always a game to see if you can still tell them apart. “Geroge,” No I’m Fred,” No you’re George, I just spent the last hour studying with Fred,” “no that was me!” “Ha! The past hour I was working on Potions alone! You are George!” Maybe he sulks a bit because you outsmarted him but part of him wonders did you really know it was him?

Of course, you knew it was George. His eyes crinkle when he smiles and Fred’s don’t

You might not be good at pranks, but you are brilliant for thinking out all the flaws and lying your way out of just about anything which makes the three of you quite scary and unstoppable

When you do get caught, McGonagall lets you all off easy because you three remind her of another group of mischievous Gryffindors

Their mother totally sends you a Christmas sweater

Over the holidays you actually miss your friends. You had more friends than just the twins, but it wasn’t the same without them.

Second-year comes and the twins make the Quidditch team and insist that you learn how to fly on a broom

“Oh come on!” “It’ll be fun!”

“Guys really, I don’t like heights and I’d rather keep my feet on the ground,” you insist.

They grin at each other and George grabs you and kicks off the ground and suddenly you’re very high and terrified. You scream and cling to him and he’s laughing but you’re just so scared and it’s not funny which maybe makes them laugh more because it’s just a silly prank

When you stop talking to them for a few days they realize that “oh Merlin we messed up.” Well, George realizes it first when you’re having trouble in Transfiguration but you refuse his help and take the failing grade

He tries to apologize. A lot. But you never quite seem to be in the right place at the right time.

So he puts his inventing skills to good use and charms a paper into a snitch and it lands on your desk. Begrudgingly you open it.

“I really am sorry. Please don’t be mad. I didn’t know, I won’t prank you ever again. ~George”

You thaw a little and smile at him.

And maybe you do show up at his first quidditch game despite swearing you’re not going

His heart soars when he sees you and Fred has to whack him to make him pay attention.

You keep going to their Quidditch matches... begrudgingly. You’re still a bit sore after their prank on you and you’re not one for Quidditch, to be honest but you go because it makes them George happy and smiles

To be fair it is one of the most stressful things you’ve seen because quidditch is dangerous even more so than muggle sports and you don’t care how many potions or spells are out there it’s not safe they think your rants against quidditch are cute and you just huff and storm away

The point is proven in third year when George gets knocked off his broom by a Slytherin and nearly falls to his death. You scream in terror and are the first on the field next to him

He makes a joke about “falling for you” and you want to hit him with a burning passion but he’s hurt so you refrain. For now.

You fall asleep on his hospital cot because Pomfrey insists on keeping George overnight to make sure the bones reset correctly

You wake up and see the same familiar smile and his hazel eyes crinkle and you’re heart flutters when he’s healed you do hit him and scold him about being reckless. Everyone in the Great Hall laughs because he gets the same lecture from his mother in a Howler

Everyone totally ships you two and Fred has tried many a time to get you two to admit your feelings for each other. He even tried to trick you into thinking he was George but you knew the difference. Of which he will never understand how you just know

With third-year coming means it’s the first year with their little brother Ron and their older brother Percy is a prefect and you can tell that the twins feel a little lost in the middle of it

So you start to plan very elaborate pranks for the twins

You’re their “godfather” of the prank operations with aid of the marauders' map then you have to explain what The Godfather is and finally you have to make them sit down and watch the movies

With a mini projector, you bring from home and charm so that it'll work because good lord you missed watching movies. The entire Gryffindor house gets in on movie nights and other muggle-borns are so hyped for a bit of normalcy

Fred has the ideas but Merlin, George can make them a reality and it just baffles you on how his mind works because he’s absolutely brilliant and it’s not fair

Sometimes George comes to you needing muggle ideas or perspective. Fred finds you two geeking out late at night in the common room and maybe hugging when you two figure out how to make something work. It’s awkward and blushing and Fred is not helping

Fourth-year comes and it’s the first year with their younger sister Ginny and she absolutely enamored with you because you’re like a sister to her

When the Chamber of Secrets opens George flips out and tracks you down because this thing is taking down Muggle-borns. Now you hardly go without having a protection squad of the Weasley twins and you just want a moment alone

Which means you go off on George one night “Just leave me alone! I’m fine! Nothing is going to happen to me!” You shout. “And what if something does happen! Do you think I could live with myself knowing you got hurt or worse!?” He yells back. “And why do you care!? What difference does it make!?” He just stammers and storms away and you stare after him wondering what the hell just happened. 

You find yourself in the Astronomy Tower alone. “Merlin Y/n!” You turn and see Fred. “Okay, I know that you’re great at pranks but this is really not funny,” “What do you mean?” You wipe the tears off your face. “George is going mad with worry right now! He thinks that you’re dead!” “Why would he care?” You mumble. “Oh, you two are impossible!” Fred exclaims and walks off. 

You hear someone else come up to the tower and you think it’s Fred again. You tell him to go away. 

“I thought you knew the difference between us?” 

You look up and see George. You cross your arms and look down. “Come to yell at me some more?” You mumble. He sits down beside you. “Sorry,” He mutters. “I didn’t mean to yell at you,” A silence falls between you. “You... you’re my best friend, other than Fred, and I don’t want anything happening to you...” “You’re my best friend too, George, but... I can handle myself. I... I feel like you don’t think I can do it on my own when you step in. I know you’re trying to protect me, but... I feel like you think I can’t measure up because I’m a muggle-born.” “Never! Stars! I would never want you to feel like that!” George is horrified. “I’m so sorry that I made you feel that way,” You nod and lay your head on his shoulder. 

He lays off on being so overprotective and you don’t snap at him as much when he does get protective over you. Fred is dying inside because you two are so blind and Merlin you’re both his friends but he wants to lock you in a closet and not let you out until someone confesses something

Can you imagine the pun wars between you two? You once were up to a hundred cat puns in front of McGonagall that she actually gives you two detention because she also ships it and maybe some alone time together will get you two together. It doesn’t work

Fred being Fred hatches a plan with the rest of your friends to get you two to confess your feelings. It’s a ‘casual’ game of seven minutes in heaven. Fred totally bewitched the bottle to land on you when George spins it

You are absolutely red when you realize that you have to spend seven minutes with George in a wardrobe. But you’re not backing down and neither is George because damn it if you’re going to let Fred be smug about this or taunt you

But now you're very close to George in a dim space only lit by your wands and you’re both redder than his hair

“Look, we don’t have to...” He stammers. “It’s just a...” “Yeah,” You blush deeper, really noticing the green in his eyes. And he smiles and there’s that crinkle in his eyes that you love and then you’re kissing him. You’re kissing your best friend in a wardrobe while his brother is snickering outside. 

He pulls away, baffled. “You uh,” “Yeah,” You breathe out. “You wanna...?” “Just kiss me, red,” “Red?” He smirks and you roll your eyes pulling his tie to kiss you again. 

Seven minutes is a lot shorter when you’re having the revelation that you’re in love with your best friend and now he's kissing you in the dark. Fred pulls the wardrobe door open and George slams it back in his face and you burst out laughing and lean against him, feeling safe in his arms

Fred will not shut up about “I told you so!” as you’re curled up in George’s lap in the common room, studying for Transfiguration.

okay off-topic but George gets the entire Gryffindor team to choreograph “Did I Mention” from the Descendants after his next Quidditch game and you’re just laughing at your goofball and grinning because he’s just so ridiculous and Merlin you love him

George is the sweetest boyfriend ever. You’re still best friends but now he gets to kiss you whenever he wants and hold your hand and now he has an excuse to be protective. “I’m your boyfriend! It’s my job!” 

You hex him and remind him that you can handle yourself just fine and he just loves you more

“Georgie / Red / Pretty boy” and “Sunshine / Smiles / Beautiful” Just all the nicknames

You scold them both when they start prototypes for their theoretical joke shop because it’s dangerous and you care about your boys and man are they babies when they’re hurt. Not that you have a problem with taking care of them

Geroge invites you to the Burrow for Christmas and is super nervous and tripping over his words because he knows his family and that he doesn’t have the nicest things and he wants to give you the world but he knows he can’t but you roll your eyes and ruffle his hair

Mrs. Weasley absolutely adores you. “No, please dear just call me mum,” She ushers you around the Burrow and scolds George for not being a proper gentleman, and when he starts to say he’s Fred you give him a look and he grumbles. Mrs. Weasely doesn't understand how you can tell them apart and asks for your secret. You admit that their eyes are different and that George’s eyes crinkle when he smiles

“How in the stars did you figure that out?” George asks. “The day on the train, our first year,” you admit. “Remember you asked me what I was doing?” Everyone watching just “aww”s and you’re blushing

Mr. Weasely asks you about a thousand questions about being muggles. Your shirts, your books, your pens, your dishwashers... When you’re overwhelmed with questions, both George and Fred are defending you

You’re mystified about how magic works in a domestic setting and you want George to explain everything and all his fears about not having the best or newest things fades because technically everything is new to you and your little muggle self

When George visits you over the summer your parents absolutely love him. Somehow he knows how to be polite and a gentleman and your goofball is mature and charming and you’re not so nervous anymore and wow you love him especially when he’s still a goofball when you’re alone 

Your muggle tech and home mystify him the same way that his home mystifies you and he gets it. He loves your lava lamp and Star Wars and Grease the Musical 

When it comes to his family, of course, you love Fred, you haven’t met Bill, but Charlie is a darling and you both geek out over dragons because dragons. Percy still gets on your nerves but you think that it’s just second hand from your boys, Ron is best friends with the “chosen one” which doesn’t mean a lot to you because you didn’t know about “Harry Potter” until you got to Hogwarts. You and Ginny go out every once in a while as just girls to get a break from the testosterone you love George but sometimes you need a break

You think that fifth year it’s a good idea to give Harry the map because of Sirius Black and convince the boys to give it up. They sulk about it but agree

As you grow older, your pranks grow a lot more elaborate and better executed but you always make sure that they stay safe for everyone involved

You’re still wary about George and Fred playing Quidditch, but one night George knocks on your window, riding his broom, grinning. 

“What are you doing!?” You hiss, looking around to make sure no one can see him. “Fly with me,” He offers his hand. “George,” You whine. “I don't like-” “I’m not going to let you fall,” His voice is so soft and sincere that you give in and now you're clinging to him, as you soar over the castle. You don’t dare look, but with his arms wrapped tightly around you, you’re not so scared anymore. And maybe you do look. He beaming at you and looks so happy that you can’t help but smile back. You never want to fly on your own broom, but you don’t mind riding with George not and again

You comfort George when Ron becomes a prefect, and the comment from his mother really gets to him. “Just a twin,” He mutters, “No,” You retort. “You’re George. My George. Whose eyes have green in them and crinkle when he smiles. Who has more freckles than Fred and is better in class even slightly. You’re brilliant and an inventor and deserve the world,” “How do you know I have more freckles than Fred? Are you looking at him too?” He jokes and you laugh, knowing he feels better and it’s not a defense mechanism because you really do know him. 

Your parents meeting one another is just hysterical. At first, it’s in a public setting in the wizarding world because your parents aren't used to magic just yet. Mr. Weasly has another thousand questions and both moms fawn over the two of you as a couple and it has you both bright red.

You don’t see him the over the next summer because you get a muggle job and he picks up odd jobs so that you two can have date money of which you insist on paying for half of because he might be your boyfriend, but you can handle yourself and well, it’s not the middle ages anymore

 But Merlin, sixth year his hair has grown out and he’s grown about half a foot and you are a lovestruck goner. Everyone can tell the twins apart better this year because their hair is different, but nothing changes for you, you still look for George’s smile. 

You help them perfect their age spell to get their names into the goblet, knowing full well it won’t work, but it’s cute to see them try. 

He’s so awkward and fumbling over his words when he asks you to the Yule Ball and you laugh and ask him to the Ball instead Promposal style 

“You might be a Beater but I’m Seeking a Ball date and you’re a Keeper”

He’s bright red and everyone in the Great Hall cheers. Now there are cheesy muggle Promposals everywhere and you’re damn proud of your influence 

You get your drivers license along with your Apperating license “Why would you get a driver’s license? You can Apperate!” George points out. He shuts his mouth when he sees you pull up to the Burrow on a Harley motorcycle and he bloody loves that you have a license because damn his girlfriends is hot and also a very bad influence on Charlie who gets a bike too and you guys now have matching dragonhide leather jackets

Dolores Umbridge has met her match with you. “There’s nothing in the rules that says I can’t dye my hair bright blue,” “I’m sorry, Professor, can you go over that again? I don’t quite understand what you mean by that wand movement... must be my stupid muggle background,” “My apologies ma’am but can you please explain your exact problem with me being here?” She fears the days you raise your hand in class it’s your senior year and you don’t really give a damn. A lot of educational degrees are your fault and now it's a game to see who can get the most between the three of you

Whenever Malfoy or his friends try to insult your blood status you laugh because it's like being threatened by a chihuahua even though everyone else is furious and ready to hex the crap out of the little prat

You are absolutely furious when Fred and George get banned from the Quidditch team that you actually consider joining to spite Umbridge

George rolls his eyes and pulls you close because he knows you’ll never get onto a broom. 

Except for the day that he and Fred quit school. You follow their lead and you’re gone, leaving Hogwarts behind you. George is furious, but you shrug. You never wanted to pursue a Magic job, you were quite okay living with the best of both worlds and besides, they needed someone to do the professional/design side of their new business

You go to a muggle university after working it out with McGonagall on how to get your grades transposed over. You study the classics and Latin and broaden your horizons and think of starting a muggle/wizard school

But then the war starts. You join the Order of the Phoenix and put uni on hold until your Wizarding world is safe. You work with muggles and muggle-born kids at Hogwarts underground, making sure they’re safe too. 

You, George, and Fred are hardly seen without the other. It’s always the three of you in the shop or at the Burrow, or anywhere. “The Twins” now includes you. 

You and Tonks are a forced to be reckoned with. They thought the Twins were bad? It has Remus and George in a mix of fear and awe at both of you

You visit your parents at least twice a month, after moving them to West California far away from the war. You don’t explain everything but they’re not exactly complaining about a condo on the beach paid for by your savings from co-running the joke shop

You and George share a bed at night because you both need the reassurance and you have terrible nightmares that only George seems to know how to calm you down from and make you laugh after

When you get the summons to appear in court to Umbridge to prove that you’re a wizard, you walk in, hand in hand with George, in your Bon Jovi cropped t-shirt, bright blue hair, Converse trainers, throw your family history on her desk and walk out, flipping her off on the way off and George almost proposes on the spot

You wait with Molly the night that they transport Harry, waiting for your boys to come home and you nearly have a heart attack when you see George is hurt and you're about sobbing and Fred is holding you and then George makes a stupid joke to make you two laugh

You refuse to leave his side after that and he pokes fun at you “I remember a certain someone arguing about when I hovered over her because I was afraid she was going to get hurt,” You pout and he laughs, pulling you into a kiss. “This is different,” You grumble. “You are hurt,” “And thanks to you, I’m healing quite well,” He grins. You still hover. Just in case 

At Bill and Fleur’s wedding, he does get all nervous about the idea and Fred breaks the ice saying that "When I get married, I won’t be bothering with any of this nonsense. You can all wear what you like, and I’ll put a Full Body-Bind Curse on Mum until it’s all over." and you laugh holding onto the hope that one day the world might be safe enough to actually get married and settle down

You co-host Potterwatch and figure out the charms to the radio so that it does change channels and requires a password you also really get into healing magic because you know a war is coming, and though you’re not much of a fighter, you have a knack for fixing things as well as mixing muggle and magic for better results

The Battle of Hogwarts comes and both twins try to convince you to stay back but hell if you’re letting them stop you “I’ll be sick with worry, you’ll be worrying about me, and it won’t be good. We need to stay together,” You whisper to George one night. 

Something breaks in you when you watch Fred die and maybe it’s the notion you had against killing someone with a “muggle” gun, because the pistol just feels so right in your hand as you take down the Death Eater. The gun was your dad’s. He gave it to you when you told him there was a war coming and you cried when he did and always carried it with you

The fighting seems to be over and the Death Eaters are gone or dead but you’re still on edge. You hear someone come up behind you and you raise the gun and your wand but it’s George. He’s bloody and bruised but alive and you drop the gun and your wand and run into his arms. 

He holds you tightly and you both break down sobbing and join the rest of the family as you mourn over the ones lost. 

The day someone dies isn’t the worst, and the next few days aren’t so bad because there are things to do... it’s every day after when they stay dead.

You and George do get married. You’re in a t-shirt and jeans, he’s in about the same. It’s a quiet affair and no one can argue because it’s all for Fred. 

It’s a year later and you and George finally reopen WWW, knowing that the world needs to laugh right now.

You both get muggle tattoo’s in Fred’s memory and name your first son after him because of the deep brown that his eyes are and the lack of freckles.

You live not far from the Burrow in a mix of muggle and magic. You get a cat named Peeves. You eventually finish Uni and the whole family comes to your graduation.

It’s never quite the same, but it’s better. And the sun still shines.  

.

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