naytrate

[naytrate]

Merlin tries not to stare at the muscular, semi bare chest or the unfairly handsome face that was staring him down.

Barbarian King Arthur: [looks curiously at the hooded stranger]

Prophet Merlin: [bowing slightly] Queen Annis has sent me to aid you in lifting the curse upon your kingdom and the quest to find "Excaliber." [looks over the King's shoulder to stare at the wall]

Arthur hums before he grabs the stranger's chin to face him, his other hand yanking down the prophet's hood before it quickly unlaced the younger man's cloak, the cloth falling to the floor as the prophet's slender physique covered in green silk appeared under his gaze.

Prophet Merlin: [stiffens] Your majesty—

Barbarian King Arthur: [intrigued] You have the build of a bedwarmer. I do not need one.

Prophet Merlin: [flushed red] I am not a bedwarmer! And even if I were I most certainly wouldn't spread my legs for an arrogant prat like you!

Merlin wrenched his chin out of the King's hand huffing with embarrassment disguised as anger, to think he accepted his aunt's offer to be the representative for their kingdom and wearing these finery. Not many outside of the royal family knew that Queen Annis had a magical nephew one that was hidden from the public for his safety.

Both his aunt and his mother—excluding his overprotective brothers as they wouldn't have agreed to this plan if they knew—decided that it was time for him to travel outside the kingdom and fulfill the prophesy leading him to Camelot, a kingdom once known for harsh punishments against those who wield magic.

🍁───────•°•🧡•°•───────🍁

👱🏻💜🧑🏻 Next >>

[naytrate]

Okay so I've seen au's where Merlin is born earlier and when he comes to Camelot Arthur is like a little kid but he still ends up being his manservant. Let's switch that around.

Hunith gets really sick and cant do any of the farm work anymore so she and her 7 year old son Merlin move to Camelot to live with her brother Gaius (who also happens to be a physician, and well informed on magic)

Then there is 19 year old prince Arthur, doing his thing, being a bit of a bully and this random 7 year old comes up to him. He tells him to stop, calls him a jerk and a prat and tries picking a fight. Arthur, humoring him, crouches down to be eye level with him and goes "oh yeah, and how are you going to do that?" And the little feral shit Merlin is just smirks and goes "like this" before kicking Arthur in the balls.

The guards cant even get the chance to "arrest" him because they are trying not to laugh their asses off at the pure comedy they just witnessed and a smug Merlin just slips back into the crowd. (Later when he gets back to Gaius' tower his mom asked what he was doing and just shrugs and goes "making friends")

Of course Merlin still saves Arthur's life but obviously Uther cant appoint a literal child to be his son's servant so he just gives him a honey cake as reward. So Merlin learns the valuable life lesson that saving Arthur's life = free sweets.

Doesnt even need to have Kilgharrah tell him prophecy shit (of course Kil still tries and when Merlin follows the voice he is hearing and discovers a huge dragon under the castle he is, of course, in awe. Tho when Kil starts talking about destiny and stuff Merlin gets bored, calls him an old man, and leaves. Though he still comes back and visits regularly, not for advice but because "the grouchy old dragon is lonely and who else am I gonna show all my drawings to make sure they are good before I show them to my mom and uncle???". Merlin always gossips about the latest attempt on Arthur's life with Kil)

Soon enough the castle staff and even knights and nobles just get used to this sassy and surprisingly kind feral child wandering the halls (and mostly following the prince around). Merlin does indeed sneak into council meetings, he is small and quiet enough where he can just slip in, sit in the corner, and no one notices.

The first time Merlin follows Arthur on a hunt everyone is high key stressed and worried but no matter how many times he is told to stay in the castle or who they tell to watch over him Merlin always somehow ends up just... with them on the hunt, the little gremlin.

Arthur once sees Merlin use magic to heal a bird and he is like "so THATS why this child is unnaturally impossible to get rid of and never even has a scratch on him after dangerous situations" but otherwise he tells no one and helps cover when Merlin's lack of subtly come into play.

Even as a child Merlin is still Arthur's best friend and closest advisor (bc kids are brutally honest and usually dont have prejudices yet)

Arthur still has a problem with his servants needing to switched out like every two weeks. When Merlin is finally 17 (Arthur king now and 29) he is like "I'll be your manservant since you obviously still cant take care of yourself" but Arthur is like "no no no, go read your magic books a bit more, u gonna be my court sorcerer in a few years"

Child!Merlin does not fear death, he will fist *cough*magic*cough* fight any bad guys behind the stables at dawn.

Like imagine u r the villain of the week and your on your way to go kill the king when all the torches in the hallway go out and at the end of the hallway you see this little kid giving you the dead eyed fish stare. But whatever you can just use your magic to knock them unconscious. But it doesnt work. You try again. The kid is still standing perfectly fine. Then he starts slowly walking towards you. And you are like nope, not some of this possesed kid horror movie bullshit, not today. Lol all these assassins getting traumatised by a 7 year old. Let this be a lesson, never come between a child and their sweets.

So many hijinks can come from this au

[naytrate]

Crack Fic! Where Everyone thinks Merlin is the reasonable one.

Everyone loves Merlin and thinks he’s the sweetest person, who couldn’t hurt a fly. So, they’re all annoyed when they see how Arthur treats him. The King is constantly overloading his manservant with work, ordering him to do massive tasks and coming up with ridiculous excuses to keep Merlin from taking a break. So, the knights and others constantly try to find ways to pull Merlin away from Arthur’s side and give him a break but Arthur always finds a way to mess up their plans.

Gwen and the other maids sometimes try to help Merlin with his chores

Gwen: Arthur you can’t actually expect Merlin to clean the entire throne room by himself

Arthur: *shrugs* Yes. I’m hardly asking him much

Gwen: It usually takes five maids to thoroughly clean the throne room. It’s ridiculous to ask one person to do so much work and then, to place Lancelot as a guard to make sure none of us can help him. 

Arthur: Lancelot wouldn’t have to guard anything if you all weren’t so ready to disobey my orders. I said Merlin will clean the throne room ALONE and that is final

Gwen: I never knew you could be such a cruel person and to Merlin of all people

*Gwen storms off*

Gwaine, Leon, Percival, Elyan and some of the other knights try to steal Merlin away to the tavern to relax

Gwaine: Come on Princess. I’m sure you can survive one night without Merlin 

*Gwaine tries to pull Merlin to their side but Arthur grabs hold of Merlin and pulls him back*

Arthur: Need I remind you, Merlin is my manservant and doesn’t have time to play around. He still has very important duties to complete

Elyan: What could he possibly have to do at this time? Most servants have gone home for the day?

Arthur: Well Merlin is the King’s manservant as I keep reminding you and still have very important things to do

Gwaine: Like what?

Arthur: *pauses* For one, he needs to clean the mess he made in the closet

The knights: *trying to process the bullshit Arthur just told them* 

Arthur: *crossing his arms, 100% serious, daring them to challenge him*

Merlin: It’s fine guys really, probably next time *pulling Arthur and himself back into Arthur’s chambers and locking the door*

Or when something terrible happens to Merlin like the time he got kidnapped and everyone went into full panic

Arthur: *staring hard at Lance* Merlin’s been kidnapped?

Elyan: They ambushed us out of nowhere and before we knew it they were off with him.

Leon: Don’t worry sire, I’ll gather a search party immediately to have him found.

Gwaine: We’ll make them sorry they ever thought to mess with our Merlin

Arthur: *holding up a finger and turning to Lance again* Merlin’s been kidnapped?

Lance: ….. That is the story

Gwaine: Princess, have you not been listening. We need to hurry every second counts. 

Arthur: I heard, just wondering why he couldn’t have chosen a better day to get himself kidnapped

*Everyone gawks at Arthur in disbelief*

Basically, everyone thinks that Arthur doesn’t appreciate Merlin and that their cinnamon roll deserves better and formed a protection squad to help Merlin get the treatment he deserves.

Meanwhile in Reality….

Arthur knows about Merlin’s magic. He is fully aware of how powerful Merlin is and finally sees that his manservant isn’t an idiot. He’s just a bloody madman.

===In the throne room=== 

*Arthur and Merlin both staring at a dark purple swirling vortex on the floor*

Arthur: *takes a deep breath* Merlin, why is there a hole in my throne room?

Merlin: Well, it’s not a hole. It’s a sort of gateway to the dark dimension.

Arthur: Oh, okay. Why is there a gateway to the dark dimension in my throne room?

Merlin: ….. I can fix it

Lancelot: Arthur, I heard you- *looks down at the menacing purple gateway on the floor and then back to Arthur and Merlin* 

Lancelot: Should I go guard the door?

===After Gwaine, Elyan and Percival tried to take Merlin out for drinks===

Merlin: You know we both could use a break. I am a bit hungry. Been a while since I had a drink too

Arthur: Well maybe, we can join them after you explain why my Uncle is tied up in my closet

*Arthur opens his closet doors revealing a tied-up and gagged Agravaine making muffled noise*

Merlin: You told me to get evidence that he was working with Morgana

Arthur: And your solution to that was to kidnap him?

Merlin: What better way to hear it than from the man himself? 

Arthur: What’s going to happen when people realize he’s missing

Merlin: Don’t worry, one memory wipe spell and he’ll be back tomorrow in his chambers like nothing ever happened

Arthur: You told me those spells were dangerous

Merlin: *laughs* Well, yeah, I’m not using it on us

Agravaine: *making muffled and panicked pleads to Arthur*

Lancelot: Sorry, Arthur, Gaius told me that Merlin needed m- *sees a tied-up Agravaine* 

Lancelot: *nods* I’ll go stand guard

=== Arthur, the first to find Merlin after his “kidnapping�� ===

Arthur: *folds his arms and looks behind his manservant to see a trail of bodies* Kidnapped?

Merlin: Well they did try to kidnap me. I just decided not to resist. 

Arthur: *sighs* Is everyone dead?

Merlin: I was supposed to leave someone alive?

Arthur: *rolls his eyes* Come before I have to explain how my “innocent”, “weak” manservant took out a group of mercenaries.

Lancelot: *already standing guard* 

[naytrate]

Happy!AU where Mordred accidentally calls Merlin ‘Mom’ at the roundtable meetings and like ‘gdandhajsh i am so sorry the wordz Merlin and mom are so similar i got confused it s probably a druid thing everyone is one big family and since emrys is god of magic and magic is the nature that creates everything you are technically my mom anyway??? djdausj oh it is not like i saw you as my protector and wish you trust me and love me and are my mom or anything you kno what lets forget about this because arthur is here! HELLO DAD!’

at this point, he might as well just die now because he just calls the king of Camelot his dad (and out Merlin as Emrys and admits to being a druid in front of the entire council) so he shouts ‘I AM A SORCERER.’

To which Arthur replies, ‘Hi sorcerer, I am dad ’ as that meeting is held because they are officially lifting the magic ban in Camelot today, so, not even an execution can save him now.

The knights have to coax him out from under the table with the promises that Momlin is not angry at him and King Dad will teach him Camelot's secret sword move tomorrow. Mordred finally gets the happy life and one big family he deserves. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

[naytrate]

I want Daegal live! AU, where he survived and became Merlin’s apprentice and Merlin just particularly adopted him. Merlin ADORED the boy, and Daegal highly respected Merlin and helped him share the burden of secrets.

And it became unofficial known that people needed Daegal’s approval if they want to court Merlin, and Merlin was OBLIVIOUS to this.

Daegal, however, took his position seriously and became the ultimate gatekeeper. Not even the king of Camelot could get through him easily. Daegal also lowkey hated it when Arthur didn’t treat Merlin nicely because he knew about the behind-the-scenes stuff/ secret missions Merlin’d done for Arthur.

Arthur: where is Merlin? Tell him I am taking him to a hunting trip with me tomorrow

Daegal: Why should I let him go with you?

Arthur:

Arthur: I am the King of Camelot.

Daegal: Any remarkable skill from your job as the king that can tell me that you can make Merlin happy during this ‘hunting trip’?

Arthur: I AM LITERALLY THE KING OF CAMELOT AND HE IS MY SERVANT

Daegal: And?

Arthur:

Arthur: What the hell is going on I just want Merlin on a hunting trip with me.

Daegal: Merlin hates hunting. Come back when you are taking him to do something he actually enjoys.

Arthur: I AM THE KING OF CAMELOT AND I WILL NOT ANSWER TO THE LIKES OF YOU

Daegal: I saved your life once and this is how you treat me? I am telling Merlin you yelled at me and being classist.

Arthur:

Arthur: Fine! i will take him to a nice picnic next week?

Daegal: Do submit the trip’s proposal two days in advance

Daegal: Also, he cannot go on the hunting trip with you tomorrow because he hates hunting, and I don’t want him doing things he hates. I will be sick tomorrow, and Gaius is away, so he must stay to take care of me.

Arthur:

Arthur: YOU ARE INSANE

Daegal: THE KING IS YELLING AT ME. MERLI—-

Arthur (covering Daegal’s mouth): The proposal will be ready by tomorrow.

He was closed to Mordred as they shared great respect for Merlin. But Mordred is the number one Merthur shipper. So, they are like siblings, but one wants their parents divorced while another is convinced that their parents are soulmates. (Also, Mordred might be a bit bitter that Merlin took Daegal as an apprentice but kept avoiding him.)

Mordred: This is ridiculous, Daegal. Just let them go. Despite what you might think, Merlin enjoys being with Arthur.

Daegal: BUT HE HATES HUNTING AND THE KING INSULTS HIM EVERYTIME THEY GO HUNTING!!!

Mordred: You cannot take away their time together! You just don’t like it when Merlin is away. Stop being so CHILDISH!!!

Daegal: CHILDISH!? SAID SIR KNIGHT MORDRED, WHO ALMOST CRIED WHEN MERLIN DID NOT WAVE BACK TO HIM LAST WEEK! YOU CRYBABY! THIS IS WHY MERLIN DOESN'T LIKE YOU!

Mordred: MOTHERFUC——

Merlin: Sir Mordred, are you insulting my apprentice just because he is lower ranked and younger than you?

Mordred: No, Emrys, but this boy is trying to separate you from the king—-

Daegal: SIR MORDRED WAS THE ONE WHO BROKE YOUR FAVOURITE GREEN POT LAST WEEK. YOU WOULDN’T TALK TO HIM SO HE SNEAKED INTO THE TOWER TO SEE YOU AND KNOCKED IT OFF THE SHELF!

Mordred: BITCH YOU SAID YOU WOULD NEVER TELL—-

[naytrate]

CrypticGod!Merlin and Worshipper aka fanboy Mordred CRACK AU - Part 3

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Merlin learns that being a god in semi-mortal form is very difficult when having a strong follower like Mordred.

Mordred, like many who pray to their god as some kind of anchor, will often pray something along the lines of ‘Emrys, give me strength and courage’ or ‘Emrys, please be with me through this difficult time’ unconsciously.

Except, unlike the normies, his commitment and belief are EXTREMELY STRONG, so when he prays strong enough, HIS GOD ACTUALLY SHOWS UP:

Arthur, charging him during sparring: Come on, Mordred! You can do better than this!!

Mordred: (anxiously praying) Emrys helps me

Merlin, suddenly appears between Arthur and Mordred, with Arthur about to smash him with the sword: THE FUCK—

Obviously, he is banned from praying during sparring, but occasionally Merlin will still pop up out of nowhere when he is anxious, and the knights eventually have to get used to it:

Arthur: Today, the neighbouring kingdom’s knights will join us for the practice, and there will be some competitions. I hope all of you are ready to protect and uphold the honour of Camelot’s knights. Any defeat is unacc—-

Arthur:

Arthur: any defeat is understandable, for one must lose before learning true victory, so please don’t get too stressed, especially you, Mordred.

Mordred: How do you know I am stressed?

Gwaine, carrying Merlin, who pop up above his head the moment Arthur said ‘defeat’, on his neck : Yeah, I wonder how

As their relationship improves, the power of Mordred’s prayer gets stronger. Not only can Merlin feels his emotions and more in-depth thoughts through the prayer, it also affects Merlin’s power, in both endearing and also straight-up ridiculous ways.

Lancelot, whispers: You are very upset because of that Lord Asshole’s shitty comment toward the Druids, aren’t you.

Mordred, calm and composed: No, I am a knight of Camelot and a grown man, I will not be bothered by something so trivial. I am not upset at all.

Lancelot: You aren’t praying to Merlin now are you.

Mordred: How is that relevant?

Merlin: *BARGING INTO THE MEETING* *SHOOTING FIRE BEAMS FROM HIS EYE, DESTROYING THE PATH AS HE WALKS* *GRABBING LORD ASSHOLE BY A COLLAR THEN PROCEEDS TO GERMAN SUPLEX HIM ON THE TABLE*

Arthur, watching this happens for the third time this week:

Arthur: Mordred, we talked about this, you have to express your thoughts and feelings verbally, not by praying to Merlin

Merlin: Don’t force him Arthur! He will talk when he is ready!

Arthur: STOP SPOILING HIM YOU ARE JUST HAPPY YOU GET TO PUNCH NOBLES

Also, when he is extremely happy, he prays to Merlin as well, like ‘Thanks Emrys for all the good fortunes that happen to me today’

Elyan: Arthur complimented Mordred at training today didn’t he? Maybe saying something like ‘you are going to be one of Camelot finest knights soon’

Percival: How do you know??? you were not there today????

Elyan, watching Merlin’s skin glows, not even in an oh so beautiful ethereal way but like a radioactive sun way: It’s .. hard to miss…

The first time Mordred wins a tournament, Merlin radiates for three days straight. His voice also sounds godly with all the weirdly smooth echoes and harp melody complimenting his every word. Mordred is exhilarated. Arthur is going insane. Merlin finally officially bans Mordred from praying to him.

[naytrate]

Cryptic God!Merlin & Number1Worshipper!Mordred au - part 2

(Kinda an escalation of this post ) the Magic ban was lifted for a while now and they definitely has encountered a few weird sorcerers/Druids who is in Emrys cult.

So, when Arthur first meets calm and collected Mordred, a druid who asks to be knighted instead of licking Merlin he is very relieved like OH GOD YES FINALLY A NORMAL ONE

Arthur: I am so happy you are not one of those who starts hyperventilating and mentally screaming straight into Merlin’s head the moment you see him.

Mordred, offended: Why would I do that

Later, when Leon and Lancelot are giving him a tour:

Mordred: I understand why some people will get excited at the sight of Emrys, he is a god to us after all, but seriously, only immature fans get over excited like that; a real and veteran worshipper like me have a private hyperventilating session while praying to a personal Emrys shrine at night

Leon: You have a what in at what in what now

Lancelot: NOW, WE DONT HAVE TIME TO UNPACK ALL OF THAT

Merlin doesn’t like it when people treated him like a god and also not quite aware of the extent of his godly power himself, so, at first he avoids Mordred because even though Mordred appears calm, he can FEEL Mordred praying to him EVERY NIGHT.

Mordred: why do you fear me Emrys? I pray to you everyday. You are my idol.

Merlin: BECAUSE LAST NIGHT YOU PRAYED TO ME TO GIVE YOU STRENGTH BECAUSE GWAINE CALLED YOU A BABY AND MADE YOU REALLY SAD, AND TODAY I WOKE UP AND PUNCHED GWAINE SO HARD ON THE FACE BECAUSE HOLY SHIT YOUR PRAYER WAS SO STRONG???

Mordred: It works?

Merlin: IT WORKS. THAT’S WHY YOU NEED TO ST—

Mordred: does that mean if I pray hard enough, you will be able to shoot fire beams from your eyes like you do in those bedtime stories druid elders used to tell me?

Merlin: DRUID ELDERS USED TO TELL YOU WHAT!?!

Three days later, the knights encounter wild magical beasts in the forest during a patrol, as they are so sure they are kicking the bucket tonight, Merlin appears and shoots fire beams from his eyes, annihilating all the threats in 0.3 seconds. Mordred is overjoyed.

And at that point, Merlin has no choice but to adopt Mordred now because have you seen how the kid’s eyes lit up when he saw fire beams? This boy's puppy eyes will be his doom. If the kid asks him to shoot electric bolts out of his mouth, he will fucking do it. Merlin’s mom instinct kicks in yet again.

Arthur, while finally is relieved to see them getting along, soon realises that his hope to have Mordred as a Calm and Collected Magic user who will help his ex-manservant, current-Court Sorcerer, permanent-his idiot make less stupid decisions has flown out of the window, THE KID IS AN ENABLER.

Merlin: Imma punch that castle-size wyvern with my bare hands

Mordred: Yes. you can do it #king. This is going to be the best day of my life.

Arthur: NO YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO STOP HIM

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

[naytrate]

An AU where Merlin is literally a God in Mordred’s eyes. Like, a genuine God.

In this AU Mordred and Merlin’s relationship is not fucked up by prophecy. So, everytime, kindhearted Merlin saved Mordred without hesitation. And Mordred grew up in a Druid camp that reinforced the idea that Emrys was a literal god. So naturally, HE WORSHIPPED MERLIN.

Once Arthur became king and magic was legalised, Mordred came to Camelot to become a knight because that was the best way to serve Emrys.

But when he arrived at Camelot, he struggled to comprehend the fact that Merlin was… human???? A very clumsy one, in fact. The rest of Camelot, though might know about Merlin magic, did not know how great ‘Emrys’ actually was so they were just confused, concerned, and/or entertained by Mordred’s ‘crush’ on Merlin.

He would stare at Merlin the entire first meal they had together, and people would be like: awww, Sir Mordred is crushing on Merlin so hard!!

Mordred: Emrys??eats??food?Food??Is ?eaten?by? Emrys?emrys?consumes?meal????

Or when he saw Merlin tripped on the training field

Mordred: i think the area is cursed. Strongly cursed.

Leon: what—

Mordred: THEN WHY ELSE WOULD EMRYS TRIPPED?????

Arthur: So, how have you adjusted to life in Camelot so far? Is there anything that is bothering yo—

Mordred: Merlin

Arthur: Oh my gods, what did my stupid manserva- I mean Court Sorcerer do-

Mordred: I saw him drank water today

Arthur:

Mordred: He just drinks water????? From glass?????? Like?? He drank?? Water???? You know??? Literal water????????????? For drinking???HE??needs??water?to??live?why??

Morgana: Ok, I heard Mordred scream that you guys are trying to ‘Destroy his faith in his religion’. You knights better not bully him because he is a druid and has magic—

Gwaine: I just told him Merlin is not here because he needs to take a shit.

Lancelot: Hey, Mordred, I noticed that Merlin has not received the note I asked you to send him yet.

Mordred: But I already send the note to him?

Lancelot:

Lancelot: Tell me how

Mordred: I burned it at the altar

Lancelot: what altar—

Mordred: and pray to him as one should???

Merlin: WHY IS THERE SOMEONE SCREAMING IN MY HEAD THAT I HAVE AN IMPORTANT MEETING TOMORROW AT NOON!?

Or when they went on a long mission or hunting and Merlin, out of his old habit, made food for the knights

and Mordred was like: ‘this is the most excellent food ever had bestowed on me, I shall never forget about this Emrys. I will pray to you even harder. I am the luckiest Druid to ever live—-

Percival: … is the stew that good?

[naytrate]

Lancelot to Merlin: Merlin, did I do something wrong?

Merlin: ???

Lancelot: Do you hate me? Have I done something terrible to you that I don't know about? Have I insulted you?

Merlin: What??? Of course not, what are you even talking about?

Lancelot: So... if I did nothing wrong to you, why Merlin, why did you tell Arthur that I was your favorite person?

Spoiler alert, Merlin was just pissed with Arthur and said something mean to him.

Arthur take this a bit too seriously.

I can see Arthur training with the knights and take it really hard on Lance. Lance with shaky hands after the training "I don't want to be a knight anymore"

Lancelot: Arthur please, I'm not Merlin's favourite person. And he's surely not mine!"

Arthur: Are you saying Merlin isn't good enough to be your favourite person???"

Lancelot: I- I- no, I mean yes?

Lancelot, staring pleadingly to the knights:

The knights, shaking their heads: You're on your own, mate

The knights are having fun, Lance a little less🤣🤣🤣

[naytrate]

Zagreus!Nico posting again, because this is my life now apparently: Nyx getting mad about Nico not being all doom and gloom Underworld kid at all times and claiming he doesn't "belong" on the surface makes no sense if he's actually just a demigod. I've mentioned before that it doesn't make sense that Nyx claims that because Nico's an Underworld kid he belongs in Tartarus (short version, of the three Underworld kids we see only Nico actually lives in the Underworld at any point and there are no demigods at all—including Underworld kids—who belong in Tartarus because it's literally a hell pit for monsters), but there are layers to this nonsense.

When Nyx is talking about Bob it seems like she's mad about him changing because he's a Titan. He's Iapetus, he has always been and will always be Iapetus, Nyx doesn't think he should be allowed to change beyond being Iapetus because immortals do not change. She thinks this because she is the primordial goddess of night and has been for millennia; that's what she is, it's all she is, as far as she's concerned she cannot and does not want to change. But these two are immortal beings. Nico isn't. I can see why Nyx's belief that she can't change leads into a belief that Bob can't change, but it doesn't follow that she believes Nico can't change, because basically the only thing gods will even semi-consistently admit is an advantage demigods have over immortals is their capacity for change. Nyx has no reason to conclude that Nico can't change because she thinks she can't change, because demigods do change. That's a huge part of what makes them so valuable to gods, and while Nyx might not know that her children absolutely would, especially considering two of the three who appear in TSatS definitely have demigod children of their own (no confirmation either way for Epiales but given they're a demon rather than a god I'm going to assume no). Given Nemesis, Hypnos and Epiales are all very quick to point out when their mother is being an idiot, they have no reason not to point out that Nico is not an immortal and isn't bound to stay the same forever even assuming Nyx is right that immortals truly can't/shouldn't change or grow. It doesn't make sense for her to freak out so much at the idea of Nico changing because that's what he's supposed to do, Underworld kid or not.

Except, as my Zagreus!Nico posting always ends up saying, it does make sense if Nico is supposed to be a god. After all, a god is an immortal being who presumably, according to Nyx, should stay just as they are forever the same as she is. We know that immortals changing due to becoming temporarily mortal is considered a problem (see Apollo's nervousness that he's going to be in trouble for caring more about mortals than he used to); it makes sense that would apply even if the newly-mortal immortal doesn't know they should be immortal, and it also makes sense that a primordial goddess who's already paying a lot of attention to this kid would pick up on their former status better than other immortals would (especially since it's entirely possible that Zagreus's life and death would predate some of his cousins). Once again, I don't think this was the takeaway I was supposed to have but it is amazing how many parts of TSatS especially fit into the idea of Nico being Zagreus reborn with basically zero effort.

[naytrate]

I started drawing Dick with his mom and dad taking care of baby Dick after a nightmare... than it kind of went from there.

I imagined they had this big blanket his Mary treasured, but one day, Dick accidentally ripped it. So she cut off the damaged piece, fixed the edges, embroidered it, and turned it into a mini version just for him.

That got me thinking about how confusing everything must’ve been after his parents died, and how much must’ve been lost. I mean, I’m sure Bruce, Alfred, or even Haly’s Circus tried to return his parents’ belongings to him, but realistically, it’s hard to believe nothing got lost in all that chaos.

So… cue the angst.

[naytrate]

...♡

[naytrate]

One thing that's really fun about writing Nico in any AU where he's not a demigod is that the only thing making Nico immediately intimidating is that he's the son of Hades. Like, setting the outright supernatural stuff aside he's one of the best sword-fighters of his generation, he's utterly ruthless when he has to be, he's terrifyingly good at getting powerful people in his corner, all of that is intimidating! But also none of it would be apparent on a first meeting, because on the surface Nico probably looks pretty pathetic. He's consistently described as being skinny, frail, unhealthily pale and at quite a few points mentally just a little fragile; it's just that he radiates death and that's very scary. More mortal AUs should lean into Nico being this delicate little thing with big sad doe eyes and how that isn't even a little intimidating without the death aura to back it up... and then it turns out that he can in fact kick basically anyone's ass and will do so if pushed.

[naytrate]

You know, thinking about it, I was wrong before. Nico has more reason to trust Hades than Percy does Poseidon at the time of the incident in TLO!

If you think about it, Percy's only evidence that Nico should've known it was a trap is that "[Nico] know[s] what [Hades]'s like", but... Nico's view of Hades would be much different from Percy's. Remember, Nico has a room in the palace at this time; Hades couldn't send him to his room the way he does later if he didn't have a room to be sent to. He's been living there! Hades allows him to live there! At this point Nico doesn't know that Hades used to visit him, Maria and Bianca regularly or that he actively stepped in to protect Nico and Bianca from Zeus and keep them safe until the time of Titan's Curse, but he does know that Hades is letting him live in his palace. Gods don't do that. Percy has to nearly die to even get a brief visit to Poseidon's palace, and he very openly knows that Poseidon wouldn't have claimed him to begin with if he didn't need him. Not to mention Poseidon has that whole thing where he explicitly tells Percy he wishes he didn't exist, which... is the sort of thing that's gonna have a negative impact on how you view your dad.

So when Percy says that Nico knows what Hades is like, what he's saying is basically... "The Underworld is evil and Hades is evil, how could you not know that," which is kind of an incredibly shitty thing to say to the child of Hades living in the Underworld? I mean, it is kind of just "You shouldn't trust your father because I think he's evil and the Underworld is evil", if I was Nico I'd be very concerned about what Percy thought of me when he started spouting that shit. Anyway, while Hades is far from a good father at this point in the series Nico still knows him as the father who is letting him live in his palace because he has nowhere to go, stepping well outside the usual bounds of gods interacting with their kids in the process. Hell, unless I've forgotten something (possible), it's entirely possible that by this point in the timeline Hades has already told Nico about Camp Jupiter (which would show a huge amount of faith in him, again above and beyond any other godly parent). Hades can be kind of a dick because all gods are dicks to their kids, but Nico has no particular reason not to trust him! Especially given Nico has exactly zero other adults in his life offering him any support and at this point in the timeline he doesn't remember his mother, so Hades is basically all he's got and he has no points of comparison other than his also-a-child sister who kinda sorta abandoned him (not going into her reasoning here but it was A Thing that would probably influence the way Nico thought about... caregivers, I guess, for lack of a better term to describe the twelve year old put in charge of her little brother) and Minos (who is... Minos. Enough said). It makes sense that when Hades says "Do this small thing for me and I'll tell you about your mother" Nico believes him, because while Hades has been awful to Nico at times there's no evidence that he's ever lied to him. Why should Nico doubt his father who gave him a place to stay when he had nothing and no one just because that father happens to be Hades and the place to stay happens to be the Underworld?

...Also in hindsight knowing just how much Hades spoils Nico (for a godly parent at least) in the future makes the "You know what Hades is like" thing kind of hilarious. Ah yes, the guy who gives Nico a place to stay when he has nowhere to go despite gods Not Doing That, tells him at least some of the gods' most guarded secrets and essentially takes it on faith that he'll keep his mouth shut, lets him get away with breaking the law that the dead stay dead without even a slap on the wrist, promises him a place in the palace when he eventually dies (which may or may not imply that Hades intends to make Nico a god when he bites it, but it's certainly not normal procedure for Underworld kids), tells him to his face he deserves everything, and backs up that claim by fulfilling his wishes with no payment required or debt accrued just because Nico asked if Hades thinking he deserved everything meant he'd do so (because Nico is a little shit, we love to see it) despite Hades claiming that wasn't actually what he meant. Why would Nico trust that guy? (I know, I know, it's not proof of anything at this point because most of that hasn't happened yet. But it is funny how completely Percy's claim that Nico should distrust his dad is eventually proved wrong by Hades spoiling his kid rotten.)

[naytrate]

Send help, it's 3 AM and I cannot sleep because the concept of Nico being Zagreus—not the Hades character, the myth, although still from the version where he's Hades and Persephone's son rather than the version where he's a prior incarnation of Dionysus—reborn has entered my head and decided to set up shop for the foreseeable future. It actually feels incredibly fitting from what I know about the myth of Zagreus (which is admittedly not a lot) and aspects of the books like Nico's unique connections with both Dionysus and Hades in specific and the gods in general (and possibly Bob if we do some mix-and-matching of the myths, since Dionysus-Zagreus was dismembered and partially eaten by Titans on account of the Greek myths being A Time) and the whole "When the time comes you have to tell Will the truth about who you are" thing in TSatS that goes all sorts of nowhere. I don't know, obviously I don't think it's what Rick intended but I do think it could very easily fit into the canon of the books!

...Or possibly I'm just sleep deprived. Did I mention it's 3 AM?

[naytrate]

i know we all hate the “uwu sensitive gay boy” stereotype nico di angelo is thrust into. and believe me when i say i have a battle to fight with it. but what about the one where he’s overly mean. no he would not tell two campers to fuck off cause they looked at him. no he would not disrespect random leaders/people for no reason. no he would not be blatantly rude to everybody who approaches him. no he would not be an asshole. is he standoffish, awkward, a little creepy, and had a period in time he believed everyone hated him? yes! this does not mean he’s a smartass or enjoys hurting others. it’s perceiving him in a way that would probably make him nauseous. that boy is very polite, especially towards women, and the safety of others is dare i say one of his main priorities. he knows what it’s like to feel hated and would never inflict that upon someone else. i KNOW he holds the door open for people, helps old ladies cross the road, smiles at babies, and invites younger campers to sit with him if they feel out of place. he is an angel. ted talk concluded

[naytrate]