#the demigod files of cabin 7

[apollosgiftofprophecy]

COMFORTEMBER DAY 18 COME GET YOUR DADPOLLO!!!

[ma1dita]

now that we're older

a 'partners in crime' installment - luke castellan x dionysus!reader

words: 3.5k

summary: (established relationship) The one where he asks if you can stay the night even if all of cabin 11 makes fun of him. Luke is tired of the routine. He just needs his girl. (Luke Castellan x fem!Dionysus!reader)

a/n: its really something about me always posting at 4am.... listened to three songs on a loop while writing and they were all called ‘older’. 5sos-> gracie abrams-> lizzy mcalpine—this works for the trajectory of trouble & luke if you give it a listen; anyways you guys deserve the fluff. PLEASE TELL ME THIS IS HAPPY (ignore the...tinge of angst) BUT THIS IS HAPPY RIGHT? RIGHT? scream at me in the comments & enjoy <3

(posted 3/26/24, semi-edited)

—

Luke lets you love him in the nighttime. 

It’s not to say that you don’t love him every second of the day and then some, but he’s much softer at night, weathered down and stripped of the many roles he carries. Maybe it’s the weight from the responsibility of being an all-star cabin counselor or the bone-deep ache of being camp’s best swordsman, perhaps even the ailment of being Hermes’ favorite forgotten son—but he endures until the night where he can lay it all down and be nothing but yours. 

And you let him. 

The mask usually starts to fall apart during dinner when he comes to sit at your table— besides the extra space, Luke likes intentionally knocking his knees against yours, the hand not holding his fork squeezing the inside of your thigh. He’s more open and receptive to your doting by the time the sun sets, fiddling with the hem of your camp shirt on the walks to the bonfire, letting you hang off his arm as you sidestep each other’s feet, hip to hip in hushed giggles. Whether it be chatty campers running through attempts at kisses, Chiron and Mr. D accidentally interrupting your loving glances, or occasional interference from the gods above, there’s only so many ways to be together in the in-between.

Tonight he’s yawning as he places his head on yours from behind, the both of you watching all your campers file out towards the amphitheater. A gentle smile graces your face and he’s warm all over, arms caging around your chest as you lightly sway against the summer breeze.

“You okay, angelface?”

Humming in response, he lowers his cheek to yours and whispers a proposition.

“Wanna skip the bonfire? Like how we used to…”

Turning to face him, your nose bumps against the scar on his cheek, and he feels the teeth of your smile on his skin as you mumble, “That was before cabin 7 needed an understudy for special requests, babe.”

“You could still sing for me. I’ll even clap if you want,” he muses before warbling out a few off-key notes to your favorite song until you’re a mess of giggles under him, fingers reaching up to cover his lips.

“That’s terrible,” you say between fits of laughter, until your eyes meet Percy and Grover’s wandering ones, “Hey! You two ready for your quest tomorrow?” Luke’s hold on you falters into an afterthought, fingers playing with your belt loops as the boys walk to the center of the clearing to meet you two.

He thinks about his little sister going on a quest to prove herself to her mother, even if it’s not her own cross to bear. He thinks about the satyr risking his life to protect another demigod who follows in his footsteps, and finally his dark eyes land on the sandy-haired boy destined to get caught in the crossfire. Luke’s feet feel heavy as if they’re cemented to the ground, and when you step away to greet the boys, he stays where he is. You misinterpret it for his fatigue, which is only part of what’s weighing on his mind.

“Luke? Go on ahead, I’ll cover for you. Get some rest.” But he can’t sleep without you; the times he’s tried are met with a touch of darkness only you can will away. He wants to hold on to you for as long as he can— Luke’s always been more vulnerable in the nighttime, with or without you.

Later he finds himself staring at the ceiling of his cabin, thrashing in the twin bed against the back wall as he rests his eyes and tries to get comfortable. There are reminders of you wherever he looks, gauzy white curtains strung up around his bed like swirling clouds, pictures of the both of you pinned to the worn walls of Hermes’ refuge for the unclaimed, and though he’s always known his heritage—the way he can pick out your voice through the sound of all the others that file in reminds him who his heart belongs to. Luke shuts his eyes until he feels your lips on his forehead, balmy from your berry chapstick with a hint of your smile. He murmurs your name sleepily, but your hands tickle his torso as you lift the hem of his shirt up.

“Woah there, keep it PG. There are children here!” Travis says mockingly, and the sound of giggles and shuffling sheets fills the room as everyone gets ready for bed. There’s a resounding thud that follows and that makes him open his eyes.

“Mind out of the gutter, Stoll! You know your brother overheats at night,” you mutter, and his hands are already ghosting your hip in silent confirmation. Tearing your lavender gaze from Travis who’s spitting out feathers from across the way, you look down at him and mumble, “Sleepy, angelface? They’ll do cabin checks soon and then it’s lights out.” 

“Don’t wanna sleep without you. I can wait,” he slurs, saying your name slowly like he’s writing  it out. Luke looks at you blearily when he sits up, rubbing the drowsiness from his eyes as he pulls his shirt off from the nape of his neck. When the orange fibers lift from his vision, he sees you in sleepwear (all stolen from his closet, just the way he likes it) and your face shiny with skincare. 

“Was gonna get you ready for bed, babe. Got Lee to cover for me tonight and Beck and Katie are on morning shift. Wanna go to mine?”

He knows he should. The both of you never play hooky, not since taking up your counselor positions 3 years ago. Luke doesn’t remember the last time either of you were in bed before midnight and up before 6 the next morning. Never on purpose at least—the surprise jolts him awake a little as he cocks his head at you curiously. 

“Got off the hook, trouble?”

The question makes you bite your lip, “You’re acting surprised. Something told me you needed it.” He flops back down on the worn mattress, far too soft with age that his back tweaks a little when he moves over for you and pats the space you’ll take up. It’s his though—even if it doesn’t have his name on it, and for once he just wants to sleep in here with his girl like everything is right in the world (and ignore that he’s about to tear it all up). He thinks he might actually miss this cabin, the sound of his scuffling siblings, the way things quickly disappear and reappear at the change of hands in this community of outcasts, but most of all, he’s going to miss you and how you can settle them down with a single hush.

“Can we stay here tonight? Too comfy. Never get to admire the little setup you made for me here since we’re in 12 so often.”

“M’not going anywhere, my love,” you whisper as you push back the curtains, climbing into his bed to cuddle against him, but he shifts so that his head is on your chest. Luke’s hugging you like he’s a weighted blanket, and he strings a garland of kisses along your collarbone leading up to the space over your heart. Running your hands through his hair, you sing to him quietly until lights out, not even noticing the change while you’re looking at each other eye to eye. No one laughs at your lullaby, the sound of your voice tucking the rest of the cabin to sleep.

Almost losing consciousness again, his cheek shakes with the giggle that rises from your chest as you whisper, “Didn’t know you put our camp prom photo up on your wall. We look like we hate each other.”

“You were so mad because I kept stepping on the bottom of your dress. Had to get your attention somehow,” he chuckles, before tightening his hold on you, “I knew I liked you already by then, too. Wasted too much time trying to get Chiron in a prom dress with the boys that I didn’t get the chance to ask you to dance.”

“Ended up on a bead though. Is that what that memory tells you, angelface?”

“You’re my favorite memory, trouble,” he sighs, muscles relaxing at the feeling of your fingertips tracing stars into the planes of his back. Then hearts. A squiggle of something you tell him is obviously a centaur, which makes his brows furrow, before he kisses your chin when you spell out your name. Slowly, like you want him to remember it. He does.

“I’m still here, silly—pretty sure to be a memory, time has to take me away first. Not letting that happen. Me and you forever if I can help it,” you say breathily, voice tinged with sleep and so much love for him that feels like it chokes you, but that might just be the angle of your neck as you try to look down at him again. Dopamine lines your system at his words, and you let out a strained sigh—lovesick and heady with the feeling.

“I know but you’re in all my favorite ones too. When I think of you, everything’s better. Like I didn’t eternally fuck up my fate before I even turned 20,” he jokes, and like a lot of them, they fall flat. You hope that by wrapping your legs around him Luke will know how much you want to crawl into his skin and hold his heart to protect it. That with you, he won’t ever have to be alone. Words are never enough, after all. Even if you have nothing you need to prove, it won’t stop you from trying to show him.

“Still a few weeks off, so don’t try your luck. There are worse fates than falling in love with you, Luke Castellan.”

He turns from the wall at the sound of that, wanting to disagree, but you kiss him before he can protest.

“I’m the lucky one. Sometimes I think loving you was the only thing I did right,” he murmurs, before drifting off. You’re the last thing he looks at before he goes to sleep, the way he likes it—like a longstanding memory he gets to keep before he’s vulnerable again in his dreamstate. He’s the strongest when you’re with him, and his brain goes quiet. No one dares to break him when he’s with you like this. 

Not a dream, nor a titan.

You can't imagine sleeping another night without this crick in your neck with his name on it, the shape of him pressed into your body. With only the moon as your witness, you whisper words of devotion, sneak featherlight kisses wherever you can reach, and hope that they get to your love, wherever his mind is right now.

“I love you, I love you, I love you…”

—

You let him love you in the mornings.

Even unknowingly, it seems. On a normal day, your alarm would ring and you’d sleepily pat Luke (his face, chest, whatever part of him you could reach with your eyes closed) so he could shut it off. He’d let you sleep in a couple extra minutes (somewhere between 5-10) before pulling you from unconsciousness with a hug. 

This morning, with no alarms ringing in his ears Luke finds that he wakes up a little before you anyway. Down to his circadian rhythm, you’ve affected him, and he takes it with an upwards quirk of his lip as he squints at the sunlight through the sheer curtains that brush against your arms. He watches you delicately, even with the sounds of a lively morning filling the cabin—everyone up and ready for the day while you two are wrapped in your little bubble. It’s a stupid thought that crosses his mind, but a coherent one nonetheless; jealousy fills his chest at the sight of sunlight kissing every inch of your skin that he can only try to reach. He runs his hands from where they’re tucked underneath your waistband to the expanse of your back, and over your shoulders until you’re humming under your breath, midway out of a dream. 

Luke takes an extra moment to admire the way you latch onto him and he finds it almost frustrating how everyone from the gods above to the demigods at Camp Half-Blood down to the powers that damn him to Tartarus know you’re his biggest weakness. It’s almost unfair how you’re his strength too— the sheath that reminds him not to cut, the control behind his unbridled rage that heats up the back of his neck like a brand but instead of feeling fire, he feels sunlight.

You search for him in every sunrise, light refracting through your irises until a smile settles on your cheeks like you want to say, “Yes, I’m here with you. ” 

“Good morning, pretty girl.”

The both of you shifted during the night, almost as if in a dance of limbs and dreams, and somehow you’re nestled against his side and using his bicep as a pillow. It flexes as Luke raises his arm to brush the hair away from your face, when you kiss his scar and mumble, “Did we miss breakfast?”

“Almost over, but we can just grab something from the kitchens. Surprised everyone left us alone, actually,” he says thoughtfully, “the kids might’ve already left for their quest.” He likes watching you reorient yourself into the land of the living, before you step into your boots of being head counselor, before you put on the facade of being the perfect demigod—the protector and glue of Camp Half-Blood.

“Mmhm… was gonna offer my lighter to Percy and them last night for protection, but he was wearing your shoes. You gave them to him?”

Luke wipes drool from the side of your lip, watching you kiss his thumb in thanks with no thought as it was as easy as breathing. A half smile splits through the scar on his face as he says, “He’s gonna need them. For luck.” You lift your upper body up and look at him, hair forming a halo around your face and you sniff, “But you loved those shoes. Gift from your dad aside, I know they’re one of your prized possessions.”

He coaxes you back into his arms as he shifts up and leans against the wall. Prying eyes would think you’re hugging, sitting heart to heart on the small mattress.

“Annie didn’t take your lighter?”

He knows you’re rolling your eyes against his shoulder, feeling your fingers clutch at his curls to pull him away to look at you. You look at him knowingly and say, “Stop trying to change the subject. Anyways, Annie said if we help them anymore she’ll think we don’t trust them enough to come back alive.”  

“I mean it when I say you’re all I care about. Shoes…None of it matters.”

“What I care about is how you used to love flying around in those things. Even if you pissed me off a lot with them too,” you say, and the both of you laugh. They were a consolation from his dad after his quest, probably the closest thing to an apology (or even a “hello, glad you’re alive!”) he’d ever gotten from Hermes. Though the scar on his cheek was more than enough of a reminder of that—he didn’t touch the shoes until a few months after, when you taught him how to drive. Luke propositioned you promising to take you out on a spin once, and you thought he meant the car…

“You loved them more than I did,” he grins, and you recoil and slap his chest.

“You flung me onto the roof of the dining pavilion, Luke.”

“It was an accident! Plus it did make cabin checks go faster…Once I got the hang of them,” he snorts, deciding to pull you to stand. Batting away the curtain, he’s sliding into his slippers and Luke helps you step onto his feet and you groan into his chest, “What are you doing? M’gonna break your toes, Lu—”

“Shhh…I’m the strongest guy you know. Can handle anything for ya.”

He backs the both of you up to the center of the cabin, spinning you in slow circles to an imaginary beat. One hand around your waist and the other interlaced with yours as your smile feels like sun beaming through a window as you ask, “How did I ever get so lucky to fall in love with you, Luke Castellan?” 

You’ll never tell him, but that’s the only thing you’ll be ever grateful to Hermes for.

He shakes his head in astonishment as he whispers, “I love you, you know that?” It hurts his head if he thinks too hard—how does a love so intoxicating manifest as something so gentle? How can he be powered by your love but still fueled by hate? How can he be both damned and saved by you? Luke wonders if his thoughts even break the surface of how busy the mind of a daughter of Dionysus is—to know insanity in love, and still be able to welcome it with open arms.

“Beats prom, huh? Am I a good dance partner?” 

You tilt your head, tongue in cheek as you gaze at your boy like he’s said something stupid, and though it’s been a year and change, you hope the fluttery feeling Luke gives you will never go away. With him, you never have to pretend—never needing to mince your words or soften the blow. You’ve never felt more yourself than how you feel hand in hand with him.

“We’ve always been good partners, me and you.”

He sways you in the momentary quiet of cabin 11 as you step away and hold the bottom of your (his) shirt out like the frills of a skirt, and Luke raises your arm overhead and then you’re spinning, spinning, spinning…

The front door swivels open, and Chris peeks his head in.

“Hey lovebirds, sorry to interrupt but Sword and Shield is starting soon, and Clarisse still has your names on the roster…”

You both sigh.

“You signed up for offense?”

“And you signed up for defense, so don’t look at me like that, trouble…”

Instantly the two of you harden your stances, parrying at each other’s torsos with hands as your swords until you try to make a run for it and drag Chris behind you to use him as a human shield.

“Hey! Oof—”

Moving as quick as a bullet, Luke accidentally knocks the wind out of his brother who’s now hunched over as you laugh at him like a madwoman.

“You two are going to have weirdly violent children one day,” Chris huffs, before stepping back towards the door, “See ya in 30!”

Cheeks reddening at his brother’s comment, Luke crosses his arms and takes a good look at you, bathing in the light of the open doorway and looking like the rest of his life.

“Well, back to work. Bit too good to be true, huh babe?”

“For now,” he says thoughtfully, “Summer will be over soon though. Gonna get quieter around here for sure…”

You’re already stepping off the front porch walking backwards as you grin, throwing your arms up in the air as you make your way across the path to your cabin to get ready for the day. You’d hate to leave camp—it's as true as your love for performing, caring for others, and most especially, him. He knows it because he knows you, and unlike most things, that’s never going to change.

Not if he can help it.

“Summer doesn’t last forever. But we’ll still have the fall, the winter, and whatever’s next…me and you.”

You’re yelling to him over the railing of your porch and he nods his head at you, turning away before you speak again, “Maybe one day when we’re older!”

“What was that baby?”

Looking at Luke like you already have it all planned out in your head, you say softer, “Kids. If that’s what’s in the cards for us. Though I do like practicing…”

Instantly he cracks up but nods, because there’s no future he can conceive without you being in it. There’s a serious turn in his response and it makes your heart beat out of your chest.

“Anything you want. You know I don’t leave anything up to fate. Not glory, not you.”

Everything you touch turns into gold, and he hopes somehow he would too. Two sides of the same coin, striving for a good ending, one worth remembering—one to last forever.

You get to love each other in the in-between, when time can’t get in the way. The clock is always ticking though, rattling against his brain as a reminder. 

Luke just wants to make sure there’ll come a day where there’ll be no more interruptions.

—

“When is a monster not a monster? Oh, when you love it. Oh, when you used to sing it to sleep.” Caitlyn Siehl

 ½ luke taglist: @kissingyourgrl @dorcas4meadowes @lorarri @andrewgarfldsgf @noodlesketchbook @10ava01@poppysrin@ashisabitgay @timhalamet @liv1104 @leeknows-wife @mxtokko @bugcuti3 @luvvfromme @midmourn @2hiigh2cry @yuminako @niktwazny303  @lukecastellandefender @intergalactic-padawan @iliketopgun @annybah @dangelnleif @thegrinningghost @alyssajunelle @obxstiles @m00ng4z3r@visndcaitswhore @b0ok-lover @elegant-face-tree @this-barbie-is-having-breakdowns @amortencjja @idonevenknow1359 @maliaaaa @targaryenluvs @sakyira @dhdjdjjdhsjdiri

[bluefox4]

What are these numbers, Rick?

Ok, so, I was going through the first Percy Jackson book trying to figure out how many campers would be in each cabin at the start of the series before the war. And just, the numbers that Percy gives the reader are weird? I guess?

Ok, so in “My Dinner Goes Up In Smoke“ Percy gives the reader of how many campers there are at camp with the following line:

“In all, there were maybe a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen assorted wood nymphs and naiads.“

Ok, that’s a lot of demigods. There are 12 cabins so it makes sense that there would be a lot of demigods. But Cabin 1-3 are empty as is Cabin 8. But these numbers wouldn’t be so weird if Percy didn’t give us some numbers for the other cabins.

In the same chapter he gives the reader a rough idea of how many campers are in Cabin 11 and Cabin 6.

Cabin 11: "The whole cabin, about twenty of us, filed into the commons yard."

Cabin 6: "Annabeth sat at table six with a bunch of serious-looking athletic kids, all with her gray eyes and honey-blond hair."

Cabin 11 is an estimate so not concrete and a bunch when referring to people can mean 5 or more from results that the internet gave me when asking what a bunch refers to.

He also gives us more information in “We Capture a Flag“. We get concrete data points for Cabin 12, 9, and 5.

"From what I'd seen, Dionysus's kids were actually good athletes, but there were only two of them.”

"Hephaestus's kids weren't pretty, and there were only four of them, but they were big and burly from working in the metal shop all day."

That of course, left Ares's cabin: a dozen of the biggest ugliest, meanest kids on Long Island, or anywhere else on the planet."

Whereas the remaining cabins we aren’t given any concrete data to work with. He mentions Demeter and Aphrodite kids, but only that he doesn’t think that for Capture the Flag that they will be a threat. Nothing about how many kids each of them have. Only Apollo gets a mention about the size.

"Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins."

So, here I am trying to figure out just how big these cabins are. So, if we take the estimate of a 100 campers as the number of campers at camp that is our starting number. Hermes and Apollo are the biggest so no one else can have 20 campers since that is how many Hermes has roughly.

So, when we take Cabin 11 out of the equation we have 80 campers left to distribute. Unknown how many are in Cabin 7 just that they have a lot. Taking out Cabin 12, 9, and 5 that takes 18 campers out of the equation leaving us with 62 campers to figure out which cabin they go in. As I said, a bunch seems to refer to 5 or more when referring to people. And when Percy was talking about a bunch in relation to Cabin 6 it was Annabeth and a bunch of her siblings. So, she wasn’t included in that initial number. So, I’m going to go with Cabin 6 having 6 kids. At least for the purposes of trying to figure out how many are left to divide between the three remaining cabins. So, take 6 campers out of 62 campers leaves us with 56 campers.

56 campers being divided between the three remaining cabins seems like a lot. Cabin 4 and 10 aren’t being mentioned have having a lot of campers, but they also aren’t really mentioned as having very few campers either. I’m not sure if I would say either of them would have a dozen campers either though. If I just assume that Apollo has about 20 campers then dividing the remaining 36 campers would get 18 campers in Cabin 4 and 10, which seems like that would be too many for Percy to dismiss their cabins no matter what their skill levels are like. If I go with about 10 campers in Cabin 4 and 10 than that means that Cabin 7 would have 36 campers, which seems like too many campers for one cabin.

There is always the case that Cabin 6 and Cabin 11 actually have more than I assume that they have as well. And there is always the case that there are less than a hundred campers at camp as well. Just a hundred is the number that Percy gives out so that is naturally the number that I want to start playing around with.

Just, Rick gave us numbers and I am of course trying to figure out what these numbers mean and how to divide them up among the cabins.

[stephofromcabin12]

Masterpost:

All the links you might want/need for the best Little Camper experience :>

READ LITTLE CAMPER HERE: 🍇

News:

🚨6/5/24 Little Camper chapter IX pt I, II, added on ao3 🚨

‼️ (2/5/24) Caroline Wynnes, mother of C&P, mood playlist added ‼️

Contents:

Info

Status update

Playlists

Q&A/Frequently asked questions

INFO:

A03: Painfullypisces

Tiktok: Frogbeemakesart

Instagram: Frogbee_illustrations

Artblog: @frogbees-artblog

Spotify: AMES

Commission info: linktree (Commissions open!)

Status:

Little Camper: Writing/Editing [PUBLISHED]

READ LITTLE CAMPER HERE: 🍇

A guide to the cabins at Camp Halfbood: Writing pt II [Published]

The Demigod Files II: Writing/editing [Not yet published]

LC Word count: +50k

PLAYLISTS:

Little Camper:

Official Little Camper Soundtrack: 🫒

About the playlist: A (mostly) time accurate soundtrack consisting of mostly popular music in the years 1998-2009. Some are from earlier years. The playlist also (mostly) is chronological, so it follows the whole arc of the story. Have fun trying to solve the mysteries within, Athena kids ;)

Could You Be Quiet? I'm Trying To Read: 📖

About the playlist: Sometimes while both reading and writing, I find that listening to music with lyrics is distracting. To combat that, I made a playlist of soundtrack instrumentals. It used to be my writing playlist for Little Camper, so it has all the music that helped inspire the writing on it (all of it that is without lyrics, that is) and is intended to be listened to when you're reading Little Camper but have grown fatigued with the 2000's party bangers.

Mikrí Eliá Character playlist: 🍇

About the playlist: In celebration of Little Camper being out, this playlist asks the question: "What would Stephanie's life sound like, according to Stephanie?" and the answer is: "Vibes, Vibes and nothing but Vibes" (Some of these also contain eastereggs)

Castor and Pollux playlist: ♊️

About the playlist: Nothing but vibes (its what they would’ve wanted)

(New!) Caroline Wynnes’ Playlist: 🧵

About the playlist: All the vinyls she played during that “short moment of domestic bliss”

Mr D playlist: 🍷

About the playlist: Mr D has a lot of time on his hands. Might as well mess around with the age old magick known as “making a mixtape” - expect divorced dad energy and maybe a few easter eggs (bc the gods are like that)

Rhonda’s CD player: 📀

About the playlist: Rhonda’s powerful 90’s teen mom anthems for a woman who got it together*

*She does not have it together

Christmas at Whitland - A Little Camper Christmas Playlist: 🎄

About the playlist: Exactly what it says on the tin. Ever wanted to spend the holidays at North Carolina's biggest, oldest, very fictional Vineyard: Whitland? Well here's your chance to! Sit back, close your eyes and let the nostalgic christmas tunes carry you away to the winery. Smell the mulled wine. Hear the people chatting. Meemaw's made cookies and they're shaped like christmas trees. Come on in and warm up.

Cabin 12's Psychological Warfare Mixtape: 💽

About the playlist: Listen at your own risk. Guaranteed to drive romans (and others) into madness in record time.

The Cabins:

All the playlists were made based on how I think the cabins 'sound' in terms of aesthetic, themes, instrumentation and various lyrics that strike me as particularly 'cabin xyz'

(Hera doesn't get one as they're made to match "A guide to the cabins at Camp Halfblood" – sorry Hera)

Cabin 1: Zeus

Cabin 3: Poseidon

Cabin 4: Demeter

Cabin 5: Ares

Cabin 6: Athena

Cabin 7: Apollo

Cabin 8: Artemis

Cabin 9: Hephaestus

Cabin 10: Aphrodite

Cabin 11: Hermes

Cabin 12: Dionysus

Cabin 13: Hades

Cabin 14: Iris

Cabin 15: Hypnos

Cabin 16: Nemesis

Cabin 17: Nike

Cabin 18: Hebe

Cabin 19: Tyche

Cabin 20: Hecate

Trials of Apollo reread playlists:

THE Lester Papadopoulos playlist: 🏹

Meg Mcaffrey you will always be famous playlist: 🌱

Frequently Asked Questions/Q&A:

"What is Little Camper?"

Little Camper is a Percy Jackson fanfic, spanning the years 2002-2009. It follows Stephanie Olive Overbaum as she navigates life as a young demigod, which turns out to be more difficult than expected, due to the uprising of Kronos and campers turning to his side to fight the gods. It's a coming of age story mainly focused on the themes of Family, Mythology, Friendship and, well, War.

"Will Little Camper be canon compliant?"

Yes! and no!

I am trying to keep it as consistent with canon as possible, however the story includes original characters I made up (because most of the campers we know and love are too young to have been at camp since 2002. Don't worry they begin to trickle in as time goes on) as well as some minor deviations from the plot and slight changes in relationships and ages.

The ages are mostly because Rick never really specified them, so I kind of just tweaked a couple of characters' ages by one or two years, nothing drastic. You probably won't even notice it, because it's not really that important to the plot, in the first place – merely a logistical thing. It is fanfiction, though, so there are bound to be things that will be based on my own headcanons and ideas that popped into my head while reading these amazing books. On that note, I've tried to steer clear of other people's headcanons, just because I don't want to accidentally incorporate someone else's ideas and not be able to give credit bc I've lost track of the original post, so if you've sent me headcanons it's very much appreciated, and I can't wait to read them when I'm done writing (probably years from now, considering the pace I'm going) and if you see something in Little Camper that aligns with someone else's headcanons that is completely unintentional.

"Is it going to be written like the pjo books?"

Kinda? It is written in the third person, so probably closer to HOO than PJO. I don't care for reading first person fanfiction personally (unless it's used for a really good reason), so it'd be pretty odd for me to write it. Also I might as well disclaim that I can never be Rick Riordan lol

Instead I've settled for keeping the general tone and feel of the books in Little Camper. So no (explicit) swearing etc. But hopefully at the very least some of the humor will come through, even if it's with my own twist on it.

"Is Stephanie a self-insert"

No. While I have nothing against self-inserts, Stephanie isn't one. She's intended to be an original character, in the traditional sense that she's original (ie. Not part of canon) but she isn't a stand-in for anyone, except maybe the reader of the story–So that would be you. But not moreso than Percy is meant to be a stand in for the reader through his story. We follow Stephanie and get her perspective on it. She isn't meant to be anyone, other than just Steph.

Whether an author is ever truly separated from a character they make and whether we give them traits from our own lives etc is always a fun debate to have but to clear things up: Yeah I probably *did* give her a couple things here and there that were, more or less, inspired by me–Nothing major, because I'm a big fan of subtetly when constructing characters, I'm pretty sure her preferance for collecting jewelry, despite rarely wearing it, came from me? but we're talking that level of reference.

She did start off as a joke, after all, so she had some pretty "interesting" traits and skills in the early beginnings of Little Camper. For example, there was an early draft of her character sheet that mentioned she plays the drums. Why? Because I've always wanted to play the drums. But that's a thing of the past.

"What do you mean Stephanie started as a joke?"

What an excellent question, totally real person asking all these questions who is not just me, trying to infodump and provide context for the story I'm writing!

You see, Little Camper is a joke. Or it's one of those things that started off as a 'hahah wouldn't it be funny if...' inside jokes between me and my friend, Sofie, who also beta-reads (when she has time), acts as professional 'idea-bounce-backer' and ensures the quality of my work is above 'unreadable'. Basically she got me into pjo and I got sucked in, as I always have been, and decided I'd make a lil guy– a little camper, if you will. And thus Stephanie was born sometime between my first read of book one and three. I'm pretty sure I made her between the first two books but I don't remember exactly. I know it was before book 4, because I proudly showed off her picrew (see below)

and very basic character sheet to Sof with the promise of making Stephanie my first ever oc who wasn't going to be traumatised and have a tragic backstory and all that jazz...

And then I read The Battle Of The Labyrinth and that really derailed everything. Canon event for cabin 12 kids, I'm afraid.

But she really started off as a bit of a joke. I didn't take her very seriously and it definitely showed in her design, her backstory and the silly nick-names I gave her grandparents. If you're curious about this 'early-prototype' Steph I can reveal she had a clowncore phase, was obsessed (with a capital O) with 90's cartoons a la spongebob, played the drums and had zero idea what to do with her life, bouncing from part time jobs like a disney channel character. She worked at zoo's, bookstores, restaurants, schools, icecream shops– anywhere you can imagine a miserable teenager biding their time, Stephanie had worked a month or two before quitting because 'it wasn't the right fit'. Oh and Rhonda was based on ghibli mothers. Still is, deep down, she just got better development.

And no. I didn't intend for it to be named Little Camper, and arguably far too silly name for what it ended up being. Never. Ever. Give your early projects a placeholder name. It sticks.

"What about Stephanie now? What can you tell me--without spoilers-- about her?"

I am working on polishing all my oc's character sheets. I made it as a mini 'demigod files' - yk - age, name, place of birth, favorite song etc and she's featured there. But for the sake of answering the question:

This

Is Stephanie Olive Overbaum. She's about 9/10 years old at the start of Little Camper. By the end of it she's gonna be 17/18.

Fast facts:

From North Carolina, USA. Born to Rhonda Overbaum on July 17th, 1991. Rhonda was 19 and had just started her business as a wedding planner.

Family Meemaw (Debbie) and Peepaw (Christopher sr.) Overbaum own Whitland Vineyards, which is the oldest and largest of it's kind in the state of North Carolina. Possibly the entire south, but that's too long to write on their postcards. Other family includes Jeremy, Rhonda's brother, his wife Jennifer and their two children: Christopher jr (called simply 'Topher' by the family) and Maisie.

Noticeable physical traits: Stephanie has two scars that you might notice. The most prominent is the one on her lips. She got that bc she'd seen a cartoon character picking his teeth with it and decided to try it with a steak knife. Don't do that. It went very wrong. The other one is less noticeable. She got that fighting a monster but I really can't say more (ooh suspense!)

Hobbies include: Drawing (poorly), not dying, eating, watching cartoons, swordfighting, music (listening= well, playing=poorly), theatre (assigned theatre kid by godly parentage), playing pinochle, not dying.

Fav food: Anything and everything italian. Partial to bread in all it's forms, preferably with either just plain or with camp's strawberry jam.

Fav beverage: Coke. Full fat. Not diet.

Powers: [REDACTED]

"How long is Little Camper– And why is it taking so darn long to write it?"

Currently I have a little over 50.000 words written to be edited down, polished and published. That's mostly the first year of Little Camper (the story is parted up into 'years' for an easier overview and each part is a collection of chapters taking place within that year ie. Year one is 2002. The chapters in year one span from June-December. Other years vary the months more). I tried to do the math based on the chapters I have planned (if an average chapter is 4000 words max, and I have x chapters planned), and it came out to be around 260.000 words. And that's simply an estimate. Will it actually be that long? Maybe, maybe not–That really depends on what it gets boiled down to when I edit it. Also some chapters I have planned might not end up being published, if I change my mind about them as I go along. But I have the general story planned from start to finish, and a little extra on the side, so there will be no abandoning the project, even if it takes a while to finish.

Why it takes so long is due to several things. For one, I'm not a fast writer. I never have been and I don't really think I'd like to be one. I like sinking my teeth into a story if it means it gets to be the best it can be. Another reason is that I, like so many other people who felt seen by and related to the Percy Jackson books, have adhd. And until extremely recently, I was undiagnosed, and unmedicated. I'm still figuring out how to work with my adhd rather than work how I used to assume I 'had' to work. Then there's the fact that I don't have all the time in the world to write, even if I'd like it. I work and I have other hobbies I'd like to spend time on, so writing doesn't always come first for me. I'm really sorry if you're getting impatient, It's probably not going to get better, I'm afraid– But once I start updating the fic, you'll get lots of content at a time, which should keep you busy while I work on the next part.

"Yeah okay, but what's it like–actually about?"

If I told you that there wouldn't be much intrigue to it...Put it this way: In one way, its a story about Luke Castellan. In another way it's a story about a father and daughter's strained relationship. In a completely different way it's about gods, and fate. In a simple way, it's a comedy. In a more complicated way it's a tragedy. In a more subtle sense it's a lovestory. Chapter wise it's slice of life. It is many things. You'll just have to read it when it comes out to find out if you like those things.

"I don't like ocs/some other thing you mentioned"

That's fine. You probably should read something else, though. I can't help you there! That's kind of my whole thing.

"Hi. Calling in from the future. I read it and I didn't like it >:("

Sorry to hear that. But I think now is a good time to remind you this is a story that started out as an inside joke between a friend and me. It was never really inteded to have other people read it. I'm glad you gave it a shot, though! That was very nice of you.

And: Please don't tell me if you didn't like it– I really don't want to know, nor do I really care whether you like it or not, as per the last point.

"I have a Percy Jackson oc too! Can I tell you about them/ Can you feature them in Little Camper?"

Sadly I already have far too many demigods to manage (they are very difficult to manage), and so I can't really add more – at least not right now! But I'd love to hear about them, I have no doubt they're great!

"Can I ask for your advice on writing, making ocs, etc etc?"

Sure! My inbox is always open. I can't promise I'll be much help but I'll leave whether I seem worthy of questions be up to you lol

Updates/changes due to happen as I go on :0

[zizz-asdf-re-r-o-u]

Alternate Nico Di Angelo Ships

Ok so arguably the most popular Nico ships: Will, Jason, Percy, and then Leo & Reyna for no good reason. I think I would support Will if their storyline was written better, but at the moment I do not. So what are some other options?

Connor Stoll: So way back in Titan’s Curse, Connor and Nico had a blink & you’ll miss it friendship. Could’ve been developed way more if they kept in communication, especially since Connor knew what Nico was like before all the trauma. Although I don’t think he’d make a good boyfriend- just a good friend if they kept in communication.

Michael Kahale: WHAT? Ok hear me out. He has barely a personality and barely any page time, but he has a good moral core & flipped from trying to arrest Nico to being ok with Nico letting Octavian die. Although, the real reason I put Michael here is because I think he has potential as a better anti-stereotype to Venus/Aphrodite kids than Piper is- a guy, real combat skills/training, shows off the war side of Venus. And I feel like this would be a more interesting cross-camp ship than Jason/Piper, especially since Michael & Nico might’ve interacted when Nico was in Camp Jupiter. (Heck, I sometimes wonder what it’d be like if Michael had charmspeak and was the part of the 7 instead of Piper.) Also, potential Pacific Islander rep? 

Mitchell from the Aphrodite cabin: WHAT? I’d say he’s a good contrast to Michael, as a son of Aphrodite. Even less page time, never interacts with Nico. Of all the characters here, I think his compassionate non-aggressive personality is actually best suited to be supportive of Nico, WITHOUT the “healing” implications that Will has. If we saw him more, I can picture that he’d be like a male Reyna, and honestly Reyna is the best friend Nico has in the entire series. He doesn’t canonically have charmspeak, but if he did, I feel like his moral core would be better than Piper’s regarding charmspeak usage since Mitchell is not a combat person. Because they never interact, I’d have Mitchell be introduced alongside Silena (since his only other personality trait is believing in Silena, lol) or Silena’s burial in The Last Olympian, possibly with Nico comforting him.  Also, reading between Aphrodite/Venus’s (and Cupid’s) lines (and based off original mythology), I think it’s kind of implied that Venus/Aphrodite kids should be more sex positive and that is something Nico needs in moderation (to clarify- NOT to be sexually active NOPE NOPE NOPE, but to be more open-minded about non-hetero relationships). Also, according to the Demigod Files wiki, supposedly Aphrodite kids can shapeshift. I think Silena is the only one shown to but supposedly Mitchell can as well even though we never see it. Wouldn’t it be cool if either Michael or Mitchell were transguys who could shapeshift?

Leo: Ok I know I literally said Leo was a bizarre option that doesn’t make sense- but it only doesn’t make sense in canon- in canon they would not even be good friends, because Leo’s rude to Nico and not in the concerned bickering Will does. I personally headcanon that Leo probably has some repressed gay/bisexual feelings (Richie Tozer-style), and unlike Nico, he would be willing to experiment given the right circumstance. (I say unlike Nico because Nico would’ve never willingly come out on his own.)

Ethan Nakamura: First up, he shouldn’t have died in The Last Olympian. Anyways, if he survived, I think he and Nico would’ve made an interesting friendship. Both were outcasts from the main gods/camps, both are gray area characters/flipped sides frequently, both are frequently misunderstood/received misleading influences, both hold grudges but want things better in the long haul. I think they would’ve been able to empathize their struggles more than Will would to Nico’s struggles. And although Leo has similar struggles, Leo’s canon personality would not jive well with Nico. Ethan had so much potential, but alas he was wasted. Also, having a queer disabled Asian character that’s still badass & not perfect would be cool.

Pollux: In case you forgot who he was, he’s the last living Dionysus kid in Camp Halfblood (Castor, his twin, died, and in Camp Jupiter, Dakota also dies). Ok so I hesitate to put him here because he doesn’t have a lot going for him, BUT it’s possible he fought alongside Nico throughout Last Olympian and maybe ran into each other in the old labyrinth in Battle of the Labyrinth. (I think it’s more likely for Pollux & Nico to interact, than Nico & Will in those books). Like Connor, I think it’s more likely that they’d just be friends, but he’s another option. And like Will, though, there’s that awkward implication of healing mental illness/madness, but i don’t think Pollux would pull the “doctor” card. 

One problem I’m encountering with all these guys is age. Except for Will and Leo, everyone is vaguely 14-17years old. Despite the fandom/wiki saying Nico’s 15, Riordan’s official Hades/Nico interview confirms that Nico is 83 years old. (The fandom is grossed out by Frank/Hazel for the wrong reason- it’s not Frank that’s too old, Hazel is like 80-something years old too. Calypso/Leo and Apollo/any mortal human also have age gaps that are WAY too big.) I dunno if there’s a solution to this.

Anyways, what are your thoughts?

[sides-of-demigods]

Updated Character Profiles

------------------------------

DOWNLOADING....

FILE DOWNLOAD COMPLETE...

ENTER PASSWORD: _________

ACCESS GRANTED...

OPENING CAMPER FILES.....

------------------------------

ROMAN AUGUSTUS PRINCE

Status: Alive

Role: Camper (Summers)

Godly Parent: Apollo

Age: 16

Appearance:

Hair: Short and curly; brown

Eyes: Green

Race: Mixed (Venezualan and Caucasian)

Height: 5’10

Other: A lot of freckles on his face and body. A large, jagged scar on his chest from a serket

Abilities:

Skill with ranged weapons

Tied with Virgil Cannon for best sword fighter at Camp; they can only train with each other

Can charm people with his singing voice

Can cast spells with songs, though it requires energy

Extensive mythological knowledge

Fluent in Ancient Greek, Latin, and Spanish and near fluent in French

Weapon(s):

Enchanted Imperial Gold sword with red hilt and red detailing on the blade(s)

Primarily double bladed, though can also transform into two separate swords, one single sword, or a spear

Origin: Unknown

Bow

Family:

Mortal Parent: Anne Prince

Sibling(s):

Remus Vadekar (Step-brother; raised as twins; estranged)

Chidi Huynh (Older godly half-brother; Lead healer)

Rest of Apollo Cabin

Backstory:

Born July 25, 2003

Knew he was a demigod even as a child, though was unaware of his parentage until being claimed

Mother married Simon Dux April 7, 2004

Arrived at Camp in 2009 (Age 6)

Was claimed by Apollo upon arrival

Rejected Remus when he was claimed by Eris and the two have had a strained, near hostile relationship since

Previously was prejudiced by people’s godly parents. Has since improved after a penultimate event in the woods with Virgil Cannon (See: The Forest Incident)

Other:

Currently dating Virgil Cannon

VIRGIL JASON CANNON

Status: Alive

Role: Camper (Summers, though is known to occasionally come to camp for a few weeks throughout the year)

Godly Parent: Phobos

Age: 16

Appearance:

Hair: Short and curly though he frequently straightens it; brown with dyed purple bangs

Eyes: Brown

Race: Mixed (Korean and Caucasian)

Height: 6’3

Other:

Small scars on face from various training incidents and fights

Abilities:

Can cause fear

Can force people to see their worst fear

Can sense fear

Can sense what people are afraid of

Tied with Roman Prince for best sword fighter at Camp; they can only train with each other

Fluent in Ancient Greek

Weapon(s):

Enchanted Stygian Iron Sword: θύελλα (Thýella) aka Tempest

Always exactly as sharp as he needs it to be in any situation

Origin: Gift from Phobos

Enchanted Stygian Iron Sword

Indestructible

Origin: Gift from Phobos

Family:

Mortal Parent: Josie Cannon

Sibling(s):

Heather Marie Lambert (Older godly half-sister)

Skyler Lee Worthington (Younger godly half-sibling)

Backstory:

Born June 28, 2003

Discovered he was a demigod when retrieved by a Satyr (Joan) on his 13th birthday (2016)

Arrived at Camp a week later

Was claimed one month after his arrival by Phobos arriving in person

Was involved in exterminating a colony of serkets from the woods (See: The Forest Incident)

Other:

Currently dating Roman Prince

Somehow manages to always be wearing a black Camp Half-Blood shirt rather than an orange one

LOGAN TODD BRADFORD-HAYES

Status: Alive

Role: Camp Counselor (Year-round)

Godly Parent: Athena

Age: 17

Appearance:

Hair: Afro textured, normally in locs, box braids, or cornrows; black

Eyes: Brown

Race: African-American

Height: 6’0

Other:

Small scar on cheek after an encounter with an Orthus during Capture the Flag

Abilities:

Even smarter than most of the Athena cabin

Encyclopedic mythological knowledge

Best strategist at Camp

Fighting with daggers and knives

Fluent in Ancient Greek and Latin

Weapon(s):

Twin Celestial bronze daggers with long, thin blades

Family:

Mortal Parent: Spencer Bradford

Sibling(s):

Athena Cabin (Godly half-siblings)

Backstory:

Born December 27, 2002

Is part of a long line of Athena’s legacies

Arrived at Camp Half-Blood in 2014 (Age 12)

Was claimed by Athena upon arrival

Once during a game of Capture the Flag Logan was attacked by an Orthus and saved by Patton Hailey

After the extermination of the serkets in the woods was unanimously elected the new counselor of Cabin 7

Other:

Currently dating Patton Hailey

Southern accent he suppresses

PATTON NOAH HAILEY

Status: Alive

Role: Camper (Year-round) Healer

Godly Parent: Hebe

Age: 16

Appearance:

Hair: Medium and wavy; strawberry blonde

Eyes: Gray

Race: Caucasian

Height: 5’8

Abilities:

Can manipulate age and suck the youth from anything living with one touch

Wears gloves to prevent doing so accidentally

Gifted Healer

Fluent in Ancient Greek

Weapon(s):

Slingshot with celestial bronze spheres

Has a magic pouch for the spheres that can hold more than it appears

Origin: Hephaestus Cabin

Family:

Mortal Parent: Gene Hailey

Sibling(s):

Dennis Hailey (Younger mortal half-sibling; estranged)

Hebe Cabin (Godly half-siblings)

Backstory:

Born February 14 2003

In 2013 Patton and Janus escaped their neglectful and abusive father

They were found by satyrs and escorted to camp, arriving three weeks later

Was claimed two months after his arrival and neglected his brother by accident in his enthusiasm to meet his other siblings

When Janus was claimed he cut off his relationship with Patton completely

Other:

Currently dating Logan Bradford

JANUS DENNIS HAILEY

Status: Alive

Role: Camp Counselor (Year-round)

Godly Parent: Apate

Age: 14

Appearance:

Hair: Short; black

Eyes: Gray

Race: Caucasian

Height: 5’5

Other:

Has a large scar across his face from a fight with the nemean lion before being found by satyr

Abilities:

Can lie flawlessly

Can blend into crowds

Can sense weakness, motivation, and lies

Mimicry:

Can transform his appearance into someone else’s, though can get small details wrong

Can mimic speech patterns, voice, quirks, and mannerisms

Cannot replicate memories

Gifted fighter with knives and throwing knives

Weapon(s):

Celestial bronze rapier with a black and gold handle

Throwing knives

Family:

Mortal Parent: Gene Hailey

Sibling(s):

Patton Hailey (Older mortal half-brother; estranged)

Lillian Reyes (Younger godly half-sibling)

Backstory:

Born November 3, 2005

In 2013 Patton and Janus escaped their neglectful and abusive father

They were found by satyrs and escorted to camp, arriving three weeks later

Was claimed four months later

Afterward he cut off his relationship with Patton completely and began going by his middle name, Dennis

Other:

Previously dated Remus Vadekar

REMUS ANANYA VADEKAR

Status: Alive

Role: Camp Counselor (Summers)

Godly Parent: Eris

Age: 16

Appearance:

Hair: Straight and long; Brown (dyed dark red with lime green streaks)

Eyes: Gray

Race: Mixed (Half-Hindi Half-Caucasian)

Height: 5’10

Other:

Various small scars from pranks gone wrongs, usually involving monsters

Array of freckles on face

Abilities:

Stronger in times of chaos

Can manifest an enchanted golden apple people fight over

Can cause fights between weak-willed people

Strife Storm

Causes random objects within its radius to go flying, break, change, and/or warp

Weapon(s):

Celestial bronze mace

Painted black and green by Remus

Family:

Mortal Parent: Daas Vadekar

Sibling(s):

Roman Prince (Step-brother; raised as twins; estranged)

Backstory:

Born July 25, 2003

Knew he was a demigod even as a child, though was unaware of his parentage until being claimed

Father Anne Prince married April 7, 2004

Arrived at Camp in 2009 (Age 6)

Claimed by Eris a few weeks after arrival

Upon arrival began to change, becoming chaotic, cruel, and mean

Was rejected by Roman when he was claimed

Unleashed Serkets into the woods

Released an Orthux that attacked Logan Bradford

Upon research from Remy Dormir it was revealed there was a curse on the children of Eris that would drive them slowly to insanity, most of them

Received a prophecy that seemingly cause him to finally snap

Brainwashed boyfriend Janus Hailey and attempted to murder Patton Hailey before fleeing into the woods and creating the rift

Other:

Previously dated Janus Hailey

[frankpanioncube]

20 First Lines

Rules:  List the first line(s) of your last twenty stories. See if you find any patterns. Tag ten authors to pass it along.

This seemed like an interesting one to do, so here. And I won’t tag but I encourage you to do it as well if it seems interesting to you. Some will be fanfiction, some will be original fiction

1. You and Sans had gotten off to a rocky start.  - Like Looking into a Mirror (Undertale ReaderxSans dramedy quasi-parody fiction)

2.  Daniel and Miranda first observed the symptoms shortly after their child's sixteenth birthday. (One Monstrous Idea - Chapter 3 - Original Story)

3.  "Just. Pick. Some-thing Pap-yrus!" Undyne punctuated each syllable of the statement with a abdominal crunch, dangling head-first off the side of Papyrus' bed. (Story in which Undyne and Papyrus get very very very drunk and do...things they wouldn’t normally do. With eachother. Yes - that kind of something)

4.  “IS EVERYONE READY TO HAVE A FUCKING GOOD TIME?!"  - Dust Metal AU Drabble  (In which we let Papyrus swear. With unnecessarily proper grammar for a death metal concert)

5.  The letter arrived on a tuesday by regular mail, mixed in with a bill from the Capital for his Core Power usage and a flyer for Fiona Bun's general store. - Unpublished/Unfinished Papyrus/Grillby fanfiction that I’ve been working on

6. “HOLY SHIT!” - A Vignette about The Being (original) showing up at @smallpersiankitten ‘s workplace to mention that their entire kitchen has been infested by Cofeve - aka the parasitic demons responsible for shitting out Folgers crystals. Seriously don’t drink waiting room coffee.

7.  Dimension hopping was beyond a skill, it was practically an art form. - The Being’s origin story standalone

8.  Aliza took a mere two steps forward before she sank to her knees, a great sob heaving out of her unbidden. (Horrortale Fanfiction second chapter I happen to be working on and have been for...awhile.)

9.  It was with some difficulty that Steven extricated himself from the tangle of arms and legs that embraced him, doubly so if you included Amethyst shapeshifting her arms around the lot of them in a double knot.   (Steven Universe fanfiction, unpublished)

10.  Grillby lay back comfortably on the bed, catching a rare moment of comfort and uninterrupted rest in the the peace of his hotel room. (She’s a Gem - Unpublished Dust Metal AU Story)

11.  The knock at his door was loud and frantic and persistent. - Unpublished Dust Metal AU Story

12.  "Okay, but what's stopping you from say, going to a dimension where you discover the cure for cancer or...going back in time so you’re the one to write Harry Potter?" - The Being (Original) because if you have a primoridal dimensional evil willing to answer your questions then you ask those questions.

13. Huddled  behind a wall of cardboard and a propped open book of fifth edition Wyrms and Warriors, the current President of the Universe sat scribbling away, pen skating across the paper with incredible speed, and free hand balancing a d4 that refused to behave for anyone but her on one point. -- The President of the Universe....plays D&D with her staff.

14.  The woods in Ebott were always sort of creepily still and you relished the silence and the dark as you pulled yourself up onto a the flat part of a rock that made for a natural seat. - Reader x Papyrus Underfell AU fic

15.  There was presently an insurrection in the Dethklok IT department.  - In which Murderface being Murderface makes assumptions about gender. 

16. "There must be some way to get blood..." -- Original, in which fortunately for Darren, having a PhD and lacking a mortal soul doesn’t necessarily help you bleed out a demigod

17.  Darren was sitting quietly in his cabin in Sweden, alone and willing the fire to climb higher in the tiny grate. -- In which Darren pays a visit to the homeland of some particularly hardcore gods.

18. Officially, the motto of the Underground was: ‘Kill or Be Killed’. - There’s a couple of chapters of this fic but - it’s the Breast Milk fic. UFPapyrus and Underfell Sansby. Just happens to be in one big file. 

19.  You groaned softly into the pillow under your head, squeezing your eyes shut. -- A Night With The Being, in case you ever wanted to feel nervous. (original)

20. If being the literal personification of armageddon paid better, or at all, Darren would not be driving a moss green Peugeot.  - Darren and his clown car (Original)

[loisinherlane]

Title: Monachopsis

Summary: It’s been a year and a half since Bianca joined the Hunters. A year and a half since Zoë Nightshade died and Thalia Grace took over. A year and a half since Nico di Angelo came to Camp Half-Blood, and year and a half gone unclaimed. He never expected this.

Notes: This is somewhat of a snippet from a fic I will at some point develop fully. Basically, the premise is that the prophecy in the Titan’s Curse went a little differently, and Bianca didn’t die. (Don’t be too happy yet. She does still die. :( But I have another AU in which she lives that I’ll probably delve into eventually.) In this, Nico has lived at Camp Half-Blood year-round and grown up a bit. Because this does involve changing the timeline a bit, imagine this as the beginning of the Battle of the Labyrinth. At some point, I’ll establish the timeline more neatly, but for now, don’t worry about it too much. I’ve left it a little rough, as I wanted to get it out today, so forgive me if anything is off. Dedicated to @rainelinde @adreamingsongbird for her birthday, because we both relate to Will in this fic.

The day started off like any other. Like every day, the Hermes cabin seems a little emptier.

When Nico first arrived, people had warned him that the cabin was perpetually crowded. “It used to be worse,” Connor Stoll had confessed, “but a few people have followed--”

No one at camp ever said his name directly. It was like they were scared of invoking something. Nico figured it was a weird Greek thing anyway, the avoiding of names. Reminded him a lot of Harry Potter, in a way. (Percy had brought those books during one of his visits, saying he couldn’t quite get as into the story as before, being the whole potential prophecy kid. Nico got it a little, but he also thought Percy was doing the same thing Annabeth did, trying to replace Bianca as an older sibling figure. It didn’t work, but it was nice enough.) Nico went along with it though. He never knew the guy, and the whole rhetoric didn’t affect him much.

It did affect the older campers, the ones who’d waited longer to finally be claimed, the ones who felt left out and cast aside. Nico understood their pain, but he didn’t understand why they’d give up all of their friends at camp. The gods may not have been good, but camp was. Nico loved camp.

Mainly because he had great friends. Cecil and Clovis both stayed in the Hermes cabin, though Cecil was the only actual Hermes camper in their crew. Somewhere in the past few months, they’d picked up Will Solace from Cabin 7. A lot of their stunts usually ended with some sort of injury, and Will Solace was the one to patch them up most often, so in spite of the healer’s standard to hang out with older kids, especially his siblings, he’d been roped into a few schemes from time to time.

Nico really liked Will, even though he was kind of stuffy half the time. When he smiled, things seemed to light up, and occasionally, he relaxed, and then he was just the most fun to be around. Unfortunately, that wasn’t often, and besides, he normally stuck with his cabin for camp activities. Most of the time, Nico was stuck with Cecil and Clovis, in the sad little Hermes cabin where he didn’t even have a real bed.

Maybe he’d get one soon, though. That morning, Nico saw a few of the mattresses on the floor were completely empty. Travis and Connor seemed to notice as well, but they didn’t say anything.

“Rise and shine, kids, it’s time to canoe,” one said, to which the other added, “And we don’t mean canoodle, so stay away from the Aphrodite cabin.”

Nico winced at the terrible pun. Cecil laughed. Clovis yawned.

“Morning already?”

The cabin was always in a rush to get ready in the morning, but it didn’t take too long until the entire camp was lined up at the dining pavilion. Will had to sit with his siblings, but Nico, Cecil, and Clovis got to sit together and talk about the day--or more accurately, bug one of the Stoll brothers into telling them the rest of their schedule.

They didn’t succeed. They were dragged off to canoeing, where Clovis and Nico tipped their canoe when Clovis fell asleep. Next, it was time for sword practice, which Beckendorf taught. Nico loved that. Swords were about the only thing in camp he could handle. The day continued in the same manner, just as always, until the Hermes campers were released for free time, and Cecil dragged Nico and Clovis to walk around in the forest. Cecil was talking a lot, like he always did, but Nico could hardly pay attention. His mind was wandering off once more.

That feeling was back. The feeling that he didn’t belong.

Camp Half-Blood was the greatest place on the planet. It was basically Mythomagic come to life--minus the ancient Greek aesthetic and fashion sense, plus the camp tradition of friendship bracelets. (Nico currently had five: one from Cecil, one from Clovis, and three from Will, because Will had seven on each arm, and he didn’t want Nico to feel left out.)

Fighting with swords, riding pegasi (even though they didn’t seem to like Nico), exploring the forest, Nico loved it all. Being the kid of a Greek god was awesome.

Except that he had no idea who his parent was. That would have been nice. For as long as Nico could remember, it had just been him and Bianca. Without Bianca he was alone. Knowing a little more about his family would have been nice. But Nico couldn’t really complain. He had good friends, and when the Hermes cabin was overstimulating, Will’s brothers Lee and Michael didn’t mind if Nico hung around.

Really, Nico loved camp. So it sucked that he had that feeling.

Nico had first mentioned it to Grover privately on the trek to camp. Maybe Bianca was a demigod, and Nico was her entirely normal half-brother? But Grover had dismissed his worries.

“You and Bianca both smell very strongly. You must have great powers.”

Besides, that theory was completely destroyed when they arrived camp and Nico could pass through the barrier. Both di Angelo siblings were half-bloods, and half-bloods belonged at Camp Half-Blood.

If only it were that simple.

When Nico spoke to the Stoll brothers, they just assured him that most new campers felt like that. Finding your got parent made things easier. You knew where you belonged. They didn't mention that some were never claimed.

Will usually just advised Nico to find something he was good at and stick to it. “I was claimed when I reattached Drew’s pinkie toe,” he confessed. “I promised her I wouldn't tell, but it's okay, ‘cause it's you, and no one can tell it came off anyway.”

Nico had to try really hard not to stare at Drew Tanaka’s feet the next time she wore flip-flops.

In any case, none of this really helped Nico figured out who his godly parent was or why the camp didn't feel right to him. Nico just grew used to the camp not feeling quite right and enjoying life.

Maybe if he'd paid more attention, he wouldn't have been caught so off-guard.

Nico made a face.

“What's wrong?” Cecil asked.

“My ear is ringing,” Nico said. He reached to cover his ear to see if that would help. It didn't.

Clovis mumbled something sleepily.

“Oh,” Cecil said. “Is it that bad? Can we keep going?”

Nico was about to nod when a sudden pain wracked his body. He clutched his chest and tried to catch his breath. Something was wrong. It wasn't that he didn't belong. It was worse.

He heaved and stumbled forward. Cecil tried to catch him, yelling, “Clovis! Help!”

She was on a boat. The boat rocked enough to make her seasick. She'd never liked water. Strangely, this water didn't make her feel ill. It was calm.

“You said said my passage was completely paid for?” she asked for the third time--just to check.

The boatman huffed. “Yes, miss. Two gods vouched for your passage. There was absolutely no leaving you on the other side.” He sounded a little put out, as if vouching wasn't payment. She wished she had something to offer, but she always used all of her coins to message her brother. All she could do was tug at her braid and hope for the best.

“Will! Will!”

Nico came back to his senses just in time to see Will Solace stumbling over from the stables where his cabin was having lessons. Clovis’s arms were wrapped around Nico’s waist, and Clovis seemed surprisingly alert. Cecil dragged Will down the hill.

“Something's wrong with him, see?”

Nico vaguely recognized that Cecil was gesturing at him, and he absently narrowed his eyes, wanting to protest that he was fine, and Will Solace totally didn't need to check him out, when the ringing resurfaced and his chest tightened.

“We’re here, miss,” the boatman said. She maneuvered through the crowd on the boat--they part for her, really--and hopped off onto the shore.

“Where do I--?” she asked the boatman, but he was already turning around.

“I’ve played my part, miss. You had your passage. You’re not my problem,” he said shortly. The already dark cavern seemed to lose its light. He winced. “Wait right here, miss.”

She frowned. “Wait? For what?”

“Your father.”

“Nico? Nico, deep breaths.”

Will’s voice was already cracking, a little deeper than most of their friends, but at the moment, it was smooth, soft, soothing. He was shining his pocket flashlight into Nico’s eyes, and he winced and blinked. Will gave a tiny breath of relief.

Cecil glanced at him. “Do you know what’s wrong with him?”

“You said he didn’t have any blunt force trauma?” Will confirmed. “He’s not quite responsive, but I think it’s just a panic attack.”

“What caused it?”

Will shrugged. “It’s hard to determine the triggers. He might want to speak to one of my siblings about mental health. His file says he and his sister were in an accident and lost their their memories. It could be some of that resurfacing. But that’s just speculation.”

Clovis remained silent behind him.

Will hummed as he tucked his flashlight away. “Nico, can you speak? If not, just shake your head. We’re in no rush,” he said, voice as warm and perfect as ever. Nico almost thought it was better than Percy’s.

Nico took a rough breath. “Bi--”

Will’s smile faltered. “What?”

Nico doubled over.

A tall man pushed through the thousands of people making their way forward. Most took care to avoid him, but a few bumped into him and practically recoiled. She didn’t feel the same urge to back away. In fact, when she caught his eye, she saw the same look her little brother got when he was ready to a win particularly tough match of Mythomagic.

His face was colder though. He didn’t smile, even as he approached. She straightened her back, feeling so bare without her bow.

He opened his mouth.

“Nico,” warm, breathy in his ear. Whose shoulder was he leaning against? Clovis was a bit back, dozing on a tree. Cecil was--

Fluffy blond hair brushed his cheek. “Hey, breathe. Everything is okay. We’re at camp. We’re safe.”

“Bianca, my only daughter,” he said sadly.

Her throat caught. “Papà . . . .”

“You died a hero. I will give you three options,” he said.

Nico lurched away from Will Solace and ran farther into the forest.

Bianca.

Bianca.

She was dead. Papà--

He let out a yelp.

“Nico?” Worried. Hopeful. They were looking for him. He had to go farther. Beneath his feet, the grass turned brown, then froze over. The death rolled towards the trees--the dryads. No. He had to rein it in.

Nico continued running until he smacked into a wall, catching himself with his hands against the stone.

Suddenly, he knew what to do. He opened the passage and stepped inside.

The passage was dark, but he knew where to go. He walked to the end of a hall, where a ghost smiled to see him.

“Master Nico,” he said brightly. “Your father has sent me to guide you.”

-

When he emerged from the labyrinth, Nico only had to take a few steps before someone caught him. It was Charles Beckendorf. They must have sent all the head counselors to look for him. Great. Just the attention he needed.

“Nico,” Beckendorf heaved. “Thank the gods. The forest can be pretty dangerous.”

“Yeah. We saw the trail of a monster,” said Katie Gardner, walking up behind him. Her face was beet red, and she placed her hands on her knees to catch a breath. “You should know you’re not supposed to run off on your own.”

“He had a panic attack,” Will Solace piped up, running up behind his older brother Lee. “He can’t be held accountable for poor decisions.”

“That’s not entirely true, Will,” Lee warned--his specialty in healing was mental health, and he always seemed to be on Will’s back any time he tried to say anything on the subject. “But since this is his first, I think we can agree he didn’t know what he was doing.”

Nico bit his tongue. No. He couldn’t tell them what he say. Not a thing. Anything he said would just make it worse. It was better to let them worry he had issues than to admit the truth--the truth he’d tried to avoid for so long.

He had no place at Camp Half-Blood.