#chthonic demigods

[mrsoftthoughts]

I feel that the fact of Nico being seen as Creepy and untrustworthy should have extended to the other childs of cthonic deity's ( let's pretend that rick never brush that under the rough at the end of hoo)

probably most of them would be ignored at the start, yeah they're kinda "weird" and for that a lot of people would prefer to let them behind, but there's nothing more on top of that

at least that's how it is until any of them shows something that could be considered a treat ( also knows as: the equivalent of demigod rage that probably has been seen in all the campers at least once but put down the filter of "their mother/father is a underworld deity and that's creepy") everyone is gonna over react, and in the spawn of a few days you're gonna presence a whole cabin being ostracized, people talking at their backs and rumors running around ( maybe even brought Alabaster for the Hecate cabin )

(And this also opens a interesting world with the Hermes kids, Hermes is both an Olympic but also a cthonic as a psychopomp ¿Maybe the hermes cabin having a instructions manual of what to do when one of their siblings leads more towards the souls guide, how to deal with that and how to avoid them being discriminated by the camp?)

[audreyscribes]

Do you think children of death-related deities (Anubis, Thanatos, Macaria, Hades, etc) see ghosts as what they once were? For example, someone else see a spirit as this translucent being with haunted eyes, but children of death still see them with flesh, proper eyes, actual clothes, all they once had before they passed.

a/n: 'death-related' > chthonic; 1.) of or relating to the underworld; 2.) Pertaining to the earth, earthy 3.) dwelling within or under the earth Disclaimer: mentions death, decomposition, spirits

Yes….and also no…this is pretty complicated since this is a touchy subject, so this’ll be a personal answer.  

It’s not that they can’t, on the other hand, it’s just they just typically don’t? This is because they’re the children of death-related/chthonic deities, so it feels a bit disingenuous to their godly parent realms and their identity. This means they should see spirits of the dead with the marks of decomposition and anything death related because that’s part of death.  On the other hand, they are able to see what they looked like in their prime, because that’s their soul and are able to set an environment. 

Personally, the middle-ground answer is really that the spirits appearance is based on the state of their soul which influences how they appear. Children of Chthnoic deities are able to see and influence their appearance as either more living-like or more death-like because that’s part of their domain.

[maxarat]

Chthonic Kids and their partners!

Hypnos, Nemesis, and Hecate are included because they can be. Left to right up to down is Bianca and Nico di Angelo (Black and Italikim mixed), Ariel Brown, Lou Ellen Blackstone (Ottowa), Hazel Lavesque, Lavinia Asimov, Ethan Nakamura, Clovis (Black and albino), and Malcolm Pace (Lenape)!

[aroaceleovaldez]

Got a new ship idea. looked it up on ao3. There are only 16 fics and i cant read any of them i feel like god in the worst way is this how apollo felt in trials of apollo

i feel that. i wish some of the ships i have had fics. as far as i can find there are exactly zero Lou Ellen/Clovis or Drew/Will/Paolo fics on ao3. i get they're extremely niche so whatever but. sigh.

[snowthegoth]

On Gods and Demons: Benevolence and Malevolence

Introduction “Whether a spirit of the four elements, the seven planets, the ten heavens, the 12 signs, the 16 figures, the 24 hours, the 28 mansions, the 360 degrees, or any of the infinite stars in the nighttime sky; whether a spirit of the dead, the living, or the unborn-undying; whether a spirit of humanity, a spirit of those who were once human, or a spirit who was never human at any time…

[hail-our-lady-underground]

Makaria, glorious keeper of a blessed life beyond. Tender of the garden, the heroes, the roses and the legacies, we give you eternal praise.

Playlist link here

[yonemurishiroku]

I know we all love the god/deity Nico. But just consider. Nico mistaken as a god.

Why? Because srsly, just imagine it.

You’re a new camper. You’re 8,9,10,11—idk, and your siblings are giving you a tour around Camp. You guys reach the Big House, and there’s Chiron, Mr.D, and then him.

This kid - not so much older than you’re - who wears all back, a sword by his hip, a distinctly powerful around him, sitting at the same table with Dionysus and Chiron. They have been talking when you arrived. He greets you with a silent nod.

Later that day, you see him again at lunch/ dinner. Still sitting with Dionysus. His plate is empty. They talk through out the meal. Perhaps he doesn’t need to eat.

You notice he has a private house all for himself, not so close to other cabins. Maybe he doesn’t like others trespassing in his place.

He’s also the quiet and reserved type, you figure.

He doesn’t talk much. But when he speaks, everyone listens. Whatever he has to say is usually impactful.

He usually sits with the goddess Hestia during the campfire. Rarely someone joins them. Will Solace does sometimes, probably bc the guy’s friendly with just everyone.

You see him in the Arena. His power is absolutely terrifying. Like. God-tier.

You take note of the fact he sometimes leaves Camp for days on a mission or an errand. Something about ghosts and Underworld. As far as you know, no one else in camp does that kind of task. And you absolutely didn’t expect the Underworld to be so easily in and out of. Not for a demigod, at least, because even the mighty Percy Jackson dislikes going there.

He talks about Cerberus and the Furies and Charon and calls Hades “dad”. He must be a chthonic deity. That explains his attire.

And the name di Angelo. It certainly sounds someone to take souls to the afterlife. The name Nico should be the equivalent of Apollo’s Lester.

When another god, Apollo - or Lester, comes visit. You see how the Olympian playfully jokes around and laughs with the Kid. In response, the Kid acts completely relaxed around him, despite not being one of Apollo’s children, whereas you’re there being like Omg it’s a God!. You figure that’s how fellow gods treat each other.

Nico di Angelo must be a God, right?

[enehana]

Chthonic Gods' Cabins Headcanons

Children of Hades, Persephone, Nyx, Hypnos, Nemesis, Hecate, Thanatos, Eris, Geras, Selene, etc. Any God that lives in the underworld or is a child of God that lives in the underworld.

They refer to themselves as Hellspawn endearingly.

They are so much more loyal to each other than to children of other Gods. They're all united by the underworld.

They have sleepover in the Hades Cabin. Chiron doesn't know, and he wouldn't allow it if he did. The Hecate Cabin masks their presence so others can see, hear, or sense them.

They treat children of Hades like royalty. They're all the pretty princesses of the underworld. They put a pink, fuzzy crown on Nico one time. He didn't particularly enjoy it, but he didn't stop them.

They make homemade candles and hold rituals in cemeteries and abandoned playgrounds.

They always make sure Hazel is welcome at camp. She is a queen. She can't be uncomfortable or unhappy at camp half blood.

They held a grand funeral for Bianca. She has a beautiful burial plot. Fresh flowers every week.

Sometimes they go frolicking through the underworld, holding hands and skipping. Purely for the irony.

They kind of consider Will one of them? They're a bit iffy about him because he's a son of Apollo, the sun god, but they appreciate how happy he makes Nico.

The underworld children that can summon spirits (Mostly Hades children. Children of Hypnos can make dead people appear in dreams. Few children of Nemesis can control vengeful spirits. Few children of Ares can call upon dead soldiers who lost their war. Thanatos children.) will gossip about the spirits they spoke to. They'll also work together to try to summon a lost friend or family member, to give one of them some form of closure.

The Hades cabin leads their little clique. Planning outings and meetings.

The Hypnos cabin regulates their dreams, making sure everyone sleeps relatively okay. They keep their dreams not terrible for the most part.

Children of Selene will use their powers to radiate moonlight, effectively making other children of the underworld slightly more powerful.

Children of Nemesis act as their regulators, their judges. If someone wronged one of them, the entire Nemesis cabin will get revenge for them.

Children of Nyx are their guards. All they have to do is look at someone, and they'll think a million times before they even interact with one of them.

Children of Persephone will grow flowers and fruit for them. They keep their lives bright and meaningful. A symbol of peace, even if only in short periods.

Children of Hecate will enchant anything for them. Magical weapons mean more security. And Tarot readings. A small glimpse into the future will calm them down so much.

Children of Geras will give them wisdom. Old age comes with experience. And experience leads to knowledge. An excellent guide for young, inexperienced demigods.

Children of Eris will remind everyone of what someone has done. Never forgetting someone's blatant wrongdoings. They warn everyone when they hear about something someone has done, trying to keep them out of trouble.

[freddie-77-ao3]

Some More Random Worldbuilding for PJO, this time, Mythic Metals

*Note: this refers specifically to metals that Greek and Roman demigods can use. I'm not including other pantheons*

*Most common in this sense refers to most commonly used by demigods*

So we, of course, have the canon Stygian Iron, Celestial Bronze, and Imperial Gold, but in addition, we also get Adamantine, Orichalum, Artemisian Silver, and Apolloin Gold.

Starting off with more facts about the basic metals (ones known in the series):

Celestial Bronze: most common mythical metal. Primarily used by Greek demigods, however anyone within the two pantheons can use a celestial bronze weapon. Can't kill mortals.

Imperial Gold: equally as common as Celestial Bronze, only "rarer" among demigods because Roman Gods are the ones who control the mining and usage of the metal, and these gods are stricter regarding privledge to use the metal. Primarily used by Romans, however anyone within the two pantheons can use a imperial gold weapon. Can't kill mortals.

Stygian Iron: third most common mythical metal. However, stygian iron can only be used by chthonic demigods, gods, and other underworldly creatures. If stygian iron is used by non-chthonic demigods, it weakens their life source and can take years from them. If used by a non-chthonic god, their powers are weakened for many years. Stygian iron cannot be used by mortals-- it kills them near instantaneously. Stygian iron can kill mortals.

Now into my own ideas:

Orichalum: tied with Stygian iron for third most common mythical metal. Mined in Atlantis, orichalum, like stygian iron, cannot be used by all beings. Instead, orichalum can only be used by aquatic gods, demigods, and creatures. In this sense, aquatic refers to both the ocean (Poseidon, Oceanus, the Nereids, etc), but also all other bodies of waters like lakes and rivers (river gods, nymphs, Naiads). Riptide is not actually made of celestial bronze, it is made of orichalum. It's effects on non-aquatics are similar to that of stygian iron. Orichalum cannot kill mortals. Sort of bronze-ish looking.

Apolloin Gold: the fifth most common metal. This can only come directly from Apollo or Helios, as the metal is quite literally ored from the sun. Technically Eos and Hemera can also give it out, but they have many fewer connections with mortals. As such, should it be one of the rarer metals? Yes. It's more common than it's parallel, however, because Apollo used to hand the metal out quite frequently-- to mortals who impressed him, his lovers, his children, and the metal just made it's way into other people's hands. Can be used by anyone. Cannot kill mortals.

Artemisian Silver: the sixth most common element-- or second rarest. Artemisian Silver can only come from Artemis, Selene, or Hecate. As Artemis is the main goddess of the moon at this point, artemisian silver most closely represents her other domains, and as such can only be used by girls and women, *except in cases of Hecate's boy children or those blessed by Artemis*. Artemisian silver can harm werewolves, which is where the silver werewolf stereotype came from, and why Reyna's pocket knife, although silver, did not work. Cannot kill mortals.

Adamantine: rarest of all. This metal is most closely guarded by the gods, and only a few known weapons remain in demigod weaponries. Bright, almost blinding white, the metal looks like a cross between diamonds and silver. Completely unbreakable, and cannot be bent or harmed in any way after being forged. The only demigods who can use adamantine are children of the Kronides and Aphrodite (eldest gods), although even many of these demigods have to dilute it to use the metal. It burns through other demigods and mortals until their hands are ash if they touch it. The full olympian council must decide to give any demigod an adamantine weapon. It can hurt mortals.

There's also, of course, Drakon bone, although that's not technically a metal. Drakon bone is the only well known bone weapon in the series, however, divine bone from any being can be forged into a weapon that can kill monsters. Has to come from a spoil of war, as the being will dissolved if killed, and as such, is never seen outside of Tartarus, with the exception of Annabeth's sword.

The titans also had their own metal, similar to adamantine. Some call the metal Everlasting. Rarely known, never wielded anymore.

[eddieisashifter]

Headcanons that are canon in my PJO dr!

While gods tend to look very human, the chthonic deities (Hades, Persephone, Charon, Hypnos, Thanatos, etc...) are the ones that actually look and dress like gods. Funnily enough, they also tend to be the most helpful and kind towards heroes

The gods have absolutely no idea how humans work and the fact the demigods are still kids doesn't compute in their heads

All the main cast (including me!) have subreddits dedicated to us (like buzzfeed unsolved type cases [think The Jackson Files on ao3])

After the events of HoO and the battle with Gaia, Camp Half-Blood takes a page from Camp Jupiter's book and builds a "New Athens" for adult Greek demigods like New Rome

The Athena Cabin as a pet owl mascot named Daedowlus

Clarisse is 80% responsible for Camp peace because she doesn't tolerate bullshit (she has no idea though and we've all made a pact not to tell her)

There is a Cabin 0 at Camp for Hestia and all the unclaimed demigods stay there :D

There's campfire singalongs led by the Apollo cabin (with help from the Dionysus theatre kids)

[readriordan]

Happy Halloween!

A day of ghouls and specters, there isn't a better time to be a chthonic demigod - aka a demigod of the Underworld! So let's check in on some of our favorite chthonic kids and see how they spent their holiday:

Nico di Angelo

"I'm not exactly the most popular kid in Camp Half-Blood most days, but Halloween is different. We didn't really celebrate it back in my day in Italy, but I almost feel obligated now. I mean, I'm king of ghosts, I think that means I win Halloween, right? Anyways, I turned Cabin 13 into a haunted house for the other campers this evening. I've even got skeletons roaming around, and Jules-Albert is giving out candy. Usually people would be screaming about that, but the other campers love it. It's nice to be seen as cool for a change."

Hazel Levesque

"Camp Jupiter is busy during the holidays! Everybody's going trick-or-treating around New Rome. In the legion the cohorts are giving out candy to each other and holding a competition to see who can get the biggest haul. Even the lares are getting in on the fun trying to prank campers. Frank and I are on duty in the praetors' offices for any trick-or-treaters who come by. Usually some of the houses in New Rome stay open a little bit later though for the centurions once they get off of door duty, so we'll still have time to go wandering later. Plus, we get all the leftovers anyways, so we'll have plenty of treats regardless!"

Clovis

"Oh, Lou Ellen and I made a deal for tonight - she's going as Kiki from Kiki's Delivery Service, and she said if she can turn me into a cat for the evening she'll split her candy with me 50/50. And I get to nap the whole time. Not too bad of a deal for me, honestly. If I want I could honestly probably make the rounds again for seconds, since nobody would know I was already there. Total win-win."

Lou Ellen Blackstone

"Clovis probably already told you about my costume, but what he doesn't know is that my cabin is going all out. We're not gonna let Cabin 13 win spookiest haunted house, at least not without a fight! Sure he has skeletons and ghosts, but like, c'mon! That's gotta be cheating, right? Us Hecate kids take Halloween very seriously, of course. Especially trick-or-treat. Let's just say we tend to prefer the trick half a little bit more. We'll see how many campers get turned into animals by the end of the night. Unfortunately, Clovis doesn't count towards that."

Alabaster Torrington

"Well, normally I would be spending Halloween with my family, but seeing as the gods exiled me, I can't. That's alright though - I have a plan. You see, me and Dr. Claymore are gonna go scam campers out of their candy. I may be exiled, but as long as I stay outside the borders of Camp Half-Blood, I'm not breaking the rules, and they never said anything about Mistforms. And I might be able to say hi to my half-siblings while I'm there. Just as long as nobody rats me out to Chiron we're good. I'm sure I can convince them to keep quiet in exchange for king-sized candy bars. Oh, someone's coming - gotta go!"

What a spooky bunch! We hope you all had a happy and safe Halloween with plenty of treats.

[thek1ngtalks]

Meeting...

Percy Jackson

Youre a bit of an oddball in camp. You were 15 when you were found, completely by accident. A saytr protecting another kid ran into you and that's the only reason he noticed you were a demigod.

You're,,, painfully normal, actually. Which, in a world of demigods and monsters, is in itself weird.

Being normal isn't a bad thing though. It's kept you and your parent safe, which is why they didn't put you on an immediate evac out to camp.

Sadly, your no monster streak was ruined as a frizzy red headed girl and a boy who looked like he tried to skate as a job while graffiting walls on the weekend broke into the band room you were trying to practice in

Great way to start off your highschool years, I assure you.

The redhead gives you a once over but deems you unimportant and starts trying to wedge herself between the wall and a bass drum.

The skater glanced between you and the red head before reluctantly joining her, hiding behind a bunch of bongos. They start whispering to each other, though it fails since you're pretty sure the red head's never whispered before

Your face pinches as you listen to them talk and like any normal person, you assume they're both crazy. Greek myths, what a joke.

Then, as the skater boy is about to reveal whatever big secret he's keeping, two cheerleaders step into the room. You vaguely remember them welcoming you in, although they called you a fish and stared at you funny.

Blah blah, they attack you, the skater boy– who the evil vampire ladies conveniently tell you the name of, Percy saves you both and then the school is on fire. Whoops?

Anyways, Percy brings you with him to camp, very shortly shows you around before things start getting crazy. Some centaur dude is on trial, Percy leaves for a quest and is dead for a little before he crashes his own funeral, overall a weird couple weeks.

After hiding in the Apollo cabin during the fight, handing things to the healers as they work, things seem to settle for a little.

He does come to see you to apologize for not being a very good guide and offers to show you a more detailed, and far more fun, intro to camp

That's when you start getting to know Percy more. His quirks, his skills, even his odd love of blue food.

He seems to seek you out often, answering only once that it's because you make everything so average.

You realize that with Percy's luck, everything is in extremes. When you're around though, he gets a break. If you can give him even a few minutes of peace, you don't really mind him calling you average (okay you still kinda do)

When you both inevitably start dating, no one's surprised. A few seemed disappointed they lost the apparent bet on Percy's love life, but no one was shocked considering how much Percy doted on you when you were around.

He also called you his good luck charm more than a few times, especially when you weren't around

Nico Di Angelo

You were a young mortal, emphasis on were. You had been a follower of the Chthonic Gods and with a life devoted to them, you got a bit of a cushy death.

You became a servant to Persephone, who had only needed a few extra hands temporarily and didn't care to dismiss you when things calmed down again. Obviously you don't remember much of your life but you were living a good death, so you weren't upset.

You had become an almost right-hand to her majesty, still a strong devote to her husband gave you a bit of a leg up in that regard.

And as her right-hand, she often gave you tasks she knew you could handle, you just weren't expecting to have to take care of a dandelion.

It definitely isn't one of the harder tasks she's had you do but it is more confusing. She had expressed that if one petal were to fall from it, Hades himself would send you to Tartarus, which is definitely NOT on your To Do List, so you've wisely took them to heart

You made sure to take it with you everywhere, taking care to keep the soil moist and talking to it often. You're not sure if it's helping but not a single petal has fallen yet, so you're positive that you're doing something right.

It's only after two weeks of this schedule that Persephone calls you to her room and tells you to bring the plant. Of course you listen

You're more than a little embarrassed when she turned the dandelion back into a broody teen, one who refuses to look back at you as he begins arguing with Persephone

Persephone dismisses you and the brooding boy takes that as his cue to leave with you, still avoiding your face

He thanks you for taking such good care of him and offers his name —Nico— but nothing else before he shadowtravels away

Over the next few weeks you find small trinkets from the overworld left in your room, in the spot you had left Nico's dandelion form.

After a month of this, you are walking with Persephone as she heads to her garden and are faced with 3 demigods

Your eyes meet Nico's and he seems embarrassed again before he begins arguing with Persephone again

You are ordered to help them navigate the underworld in search for Hades's newest symbol of power and Nico actually starts looking at you, talking to you, and being normal

He's quite nice and he doesn't seem to hold anything against you, which is nice. You get along a lot better when he can actually respond and after retrieving the sword, you ask Nico to drop his gifts off in person so that you can actually see him more.

It's barely a few years later when Nico leads you out of the Underworld in the midst of Thanatos being missing, apparently having already gotten Persephone's permission but oddly tight-lipped about how (he coughs up petals for a week)

As a human you begin aging again with small parts of your past coming back. Nico is delighted when you remember your name and makes sure to say it to you at least once a day in case you ever forget it again.

You follow him wherever he goes, even to Tartarus, and all of his friends are surprised when you announce your dating, only because they thought you already were

Nico has apparently been horribly obvious in his adoration of you and you're much the same

{《☆》}

[I was supposed to write a platonic soulmate shortfic with like 10 characters and accidentally wrote this instead. Congrats, I guess. (I'm still gonna write the other one, you can't stop me)]

[L0v3, k1ng]

[audreyscribes]

do you think Ariadne accepts Dionysus's children as hers too? She is very loyal to her husband, so I only see Castor, Pollux, Dakota and any other child born to Dionysus being automatically "adopted" by her too or "I'm going to mess with my husband (⁠ ⁠╹⁠▽⁠╹⁠ ⁠)" and claim his children as her right after him do the announcement (poor kid)

i.g:

Dionysus: this one is mine, don't worry *see the sign in the kid's head* ... My grape!

(they're both extremely cute together and the kids suffers with this)

Oh yeah, I can imagine that being the case. Between her and Dionysus when Ariadne was still mortal, apparently they had a lot of demigods; so in terms of demigod children, she probably understands this is just him being a god and still loves her greatly, so it’s just probably filling a need once in a while; why else we see only a literal handful of Dionysus demigods.

So yeah, I can imagine Ariadne accepting Dionysus’ demigods as her own in a way, much like Poseidon’s godly wife, Amphitrite, being very cool to his demigod children. Heck, Amphitrite made cookies for Percy! So it’s not out of the question.

Thus insert the amount of godly shenanigans just between this husband and wife that the Dionysus’ demigods are subjected to. It's also been confirmed by Percy that Ariadne has a strange sense of humour, so yeah I can see that scenario happening a few times, which is practically all the time

What’s also nice to know is that Ariadne is the Cretan Goddess of Labyrinth and Paths, right before she was absorbed into the Greek pantheon. So you can imagine there’s some connotations…afterall, if you’ve ever been in a Labyrinth before, you probably have gotten mad trying to get out…but most importantly, just imagine getting minor blessings or gifts from Ariadne, especially those that involve weaving because of her iconic magic ball of yarn, she is considered the goddess of weaving in a sense. Prepare to get a lot of blankets/quilts, sweaters and socks for Winter Solstice/Christmas from her. There’s also a stretch to say Ariadne is to connected to her roman counterpart, Libera, is a minor goddess of wine with chthonic attributes too, so like can you imagine seeing the floating grape floating above the kid’s heads, and people thinking oh Mr. D is straight up claiming them normally, and him inwardly sighing at his wife’s antics. So very, “MY GRAPE!” 

It’ll be a very confusing but fun times ahead. 

Thanks for the ask and I hope you have a nice day! ヾ(•ω•`)o

[happyk44]

Thinking about Frank telling Percy that after the war he had to ask Pluto's permission to date Hazel. The war gave him some leeway and reason for not doing so, but after it ended, Pluto showed up after a few days and asked Frank why he had not requested permission.

Percy is kinda surprised Hazel doesn't look annoyed. Sure she's from the 40's but he thought permission to marry was the common request. Wasn't permission to date outdated, even by 40's standards?

And Hazel shakes her head and explains that historically a lot of children of Pluto/Hades would be courted by other demigods as a trick or a trap. If a child of the Underworld asked her out, permission would be implicitly granted. If a mortal asked her out, permission would be implicitly granted.

But a non-Chthonic demigod, especially an Olympian one and one of such high rank like Mars, requires permission so Pluto or one of her siblings, or even Proserpina, may assess that this person is someone safe. Even friends can betray you in the end, she notes and Percy hates every single word of what she's said.

Years later when he comes to terms with his feelings for Nico, he agonizes about it. He knows Nico likely won't give a shit if he doesn't have permission, and Hades won't do anything to Percy besides maybe yell at him if he refuses to ask because killing him would upset Nico, but if he's going to date Nico he'd like to be on somewhat good terms with Hades for once. Neutral terms, even.

Frank may have lucked out with near immediate acceptance - why, wouldn't he? Hazel was his world. He would rather die than hurt her - but Percy was a thorn in Hades' side from the moment they met, and he was well aware getting permission would be a long process to go through. Probably some more stupid quests to prove himself.

And he'd do them. He hate it but Nico was worth it.

But part of the reason of living at the Nome these days was to stop having to do quests. To stop have gods interfering in his life to the point of standing on the ledge of the apartment roof and staring down at black asphalt and garbage bags shoved into a corner.

But Nico is worth it. And Percy - well, he'd like to think he's safe for him now. That he won't hurt him accidentally anymore. That they're good. And he's pretty sure Nico likes him back. When he visits, he always gravitates towards him. Sits by him when he's finished training with Walt. Takes him outside with Carter or Zia so he doesn't develop agoraphobia, and holds his hand the whole time so he "can't run away". He strokes the back of Percy's hand every time they're standing still.

He blushed when that one lady thought they were a couple. Didn't correct her either. Didn't ask why Percy didn't correct her. Didn't let go of his hand.

He hasn't interacted with a Greek god in the last four years. At least not in person. His dad and step-mom send letters every few months through Hermes, who hands them off to Nico to deliver. They're nice letters. Hoping he's doing well. Updating him on how the castle repairs are doing. Telling him about quiet spots in the ocean he can visit at a certain time if wherever he is doesn't have access. He's used a couple of them, with Sadie lazing about on a shitty rowboat far above his head.

It's nice to just lay there on the sand. The first time he'd been worried it was a trap. That some sea god would whisk him away for some adventure that would leave him more torn than he already was. But Phillip had sat with him, wand at the ready, his penguins casually swimming above them and it had been fine. No sea gods, no sea monsters, no animals other than the penguins.

So Hades will be the first Greek god he sees in person. It reminds him too much of his first quest. While Ares has been the first, Hades had been the second and Percy had stood in front of him, feeling too small, everything at risk, and someone he loved dearly on the line. If he failed then, he might never get her back.

If he failed now, Hades might enforce ways to keep them apart. To make sure Percy couldn't ignore his lack of permission and date Nico anyway.

What terrified him the most about not earning permission was the implication he was still dangerous to other people, to Nico. He was sure he was safe now. He didn't freak out at the little kids. He didn't wake up screaming. His gut instinct wasn't to pull Riptide out at every single loud noise. He didn't dissociate as much as he used to. He wasn't on edge all the time. He trusted the other people around him.

He didn't want to die nearly as much as he used to.

But what if it meant nothing? Therapy, medication, avoiding the things that caused him stress - what if it wasn't enough? Yeah, he has attacked Nico once but that was years ago, Percy had been extremely stressed out, and Nico hadn't even cared about it when he apologized. It took him a few seconds to even remember what Percy was talking about.

Aside from that one instance, Percy liked to think he'd always been safe for Nico. But then he remembered Bianca and his gut churned viciously.

Still, Nico was worth it. Nico was something he wanted. He'd do it for him. He'd do a lot of things for him.

Grover stood with him at the entrance of the Underworld. Mrs. O'Leary was splayed out, catching the rays of sunlight and rumbling happily as Annabeth gave her a couple treats and belly rubs. She joined Percy's other side and pinched his arm.

He still loved her. He always would. Their relationship to each other wasn't something that could be killed off, even with the distance and Percy running away. Same with Grover. Either one of them could vanish for years at a time, and when they came back, it would be like no time passed at all. They were clicked into one another like a necklace with interlocking friendship charms.

"You got this," Grover said with a clap to Percy's back. His hand drew up to Percy's shoulder and squeeze. "And we'll be right there with you."

"Or just outside the door," Annabeth adds. She flashes her wrist, a shiny watch on it. "And I have a battering ram if needed."

Grover's face went pinched. "That's not helpful."

"It's realistic!" Annabeth argued. "When has he ever come out here peacefully?"

"He's only been here twice!" Grover said in a gritted whispered shout. "You need at least three times to indicate a pattern."

The two of them stepped back ever so slightly so they weren't shouting through Percy, and continued their bickering on what constituted a pattern indication and whether or not it was helpful or supportive to indicate a fight might break out.

The noise helped clear the sound of his own voice in his head. He zeroed in on Grover's words clashing against Annabeth's opposing side, and breathed steadily. The two of them knew him so well. Hopeful realism.

"Guys," he said as clear as he could.

They went silent immediately and drew back to his side. Grover looped his arm around Percy's, pulling him close in by the elbow. Annabeth squeezed his hand once before letting go.

"You ready?" she said.

He nodded and reached for the doorknob. "Let's do this."

[aroaceleovaldez]

my notifs recently got me thinking about the very random concept of "what if there is a second, secret CHB. directly below normal CHB." and i ended up brainstorming it in the discord.

context for how this originated: one was just a random notif on my post talking about the tunnels under the Hephaestus cabin, and the other was some tags from @drksanctuary on my fake readriordan article mentioning the idea of a chthonic demigod camp.

so. my brilliant (read: "smashing my 2 brain cells together") idea: the elaborate and seemingly infinite tunnels under cabin 9 are remnants of an abandoned underground CHB that exists directly underneath camp. It's basically just normal CHB except in a big cave system, probably connected to the labyrinth somewhere and has the separate tunnels, and instead of the Olympian cabins it has chthonic cabins. there's probably also some infernal nymphs and etc down there too. since all chthonic demigods can learn to shadow-travel they probably used that to get down there, and a lot of chthonic demigods probably have geokinesis just by nature, ergo the tunnels (for when they don't want to shadow-travel, or can't).

in brainstorming with the discord we decided it could be cool if some of the cabins lined up with the above-ground cabins, either for thematic purposes or associations or whatever. Like there's maybe a Hermes and maybe Poseidon cabin in the chthonic CHB too that just link to the above-ground ones, but also like Persephone cabin lines up to Demeter cabin because of course it does. and maybe Hecate cabin lines up to Cabin 8 cause Artemis is sometimes 1/3rd of Hecate. Maybe Angelos cabin is beneath Cabin 1, and Zagreus cabin is beneath Cabin 12. Things like that.

The other ones i thought of were either Hypnos or Thanatos cabin lines up with Apollo, because twins, and the other is just right beside it (because twins). And Charon's cabin is beneath Cabin 9, ergo why the tunnel system connects to it (because Charon. Ferryman. Surface access. It makes sense in my brain).

[fostydosty]

List of Cocoa Puffs headcanons you can pry from my cold sleeping hands

They are nature spirits, physiologically at least. Born from the whim of a primordial. Born as children rather than fully grown. Needing to eat. Presiding over a Very small domain (the Underworld and Nico’s mind)

Will helped Nico build 15 baby cribs that now fill the Hades cabin. The CPuffs have to sleep in the Hades cabin to recharge their chthonic energy (like a nymph whose been away from her tree for too long).

During the day, the CPuffs usually go to whats functionally a nature spirit daycare, headed by Juniper Underwood whose obsessed with the little guys. When being rocked to sleep, they typically get fed a mixture of nectar and Lethe water (from the Hypnos cabin) through a bottle, and use Styx water as like a spicy dipping sauce for meals.

They can shadow travel, and tag is a full on training exercise for Will and Nico. Will illuminates the shadows away before they can teleport, and Nico chases them through it.

All the CPuffs use neopronouns (Internalized Homophobia uses shi/hir specifically)

When they grow up, the CPuffs will have a variety of powers. Most of them are able to produce chthonic river water in the same way dryads produce nectar, each one having a connection to a specific river.

They grow up to look more or less like satyrs, but with whatever animal they were based off of rather than goats.

They’ll also get a number of different jobs as adults. Some will stay with the dryads at camp, bottling their chthonic water for demigods to use offensively. Some will work outside of the camp like satyrs, using their inherent detection of negative emotions to sniff out demigods of the Underworld (Hades, Hypnos, Hecate, Nemesis, etc) and bring them back to camp. Some will return to the Underworld to meet their mother.

They take on a more dignified name in adulthood, like the Chthonades (kuh-thon-ah-deez), and are encouraged to pick their own individual names as well. Most of them choose virtuous names seemingly antithetical to their emotional domain, using their powers to help people express that emotion in more healthy ways, and alleviate the pain of it. Internalized Homophobia names hirself Pride, for example.

Do to their biological similarity, Chthonades can copulate with other nature spirits. Their hybrids are typically Deep Dryads or something along those lines— like nymphs for the trees of Persephone’s garden, but growing in the shadowy parts of the forest around camp. They are still considered Chthonades, and take on various animalistic appearances, as well as resembling their trees.

When Nico dies, the Chthonades will feel greatly pained, but the roots they’ve planted in Camp Halfblood (both figuratively and literally) are able to sustain them in spite of his absence.

That’s all I love them and you should too