#the pjo au would also take a long time to write

[lokislytherin]

oh i am so fucked

[11queensupreme11]

I started writing the Loki is Sally Jackson AU and would like some thought because I feel like I am having trouble pinning Loki down as a PJO fan first and a ROR one second.

"Loki Pov (6 months post-banishment):

He would be the first to admit that he perhaps did not take it as seriously as he should have. How could he when this world seemed to operate on farcical principles? Gods relied on humans who were not even permitted to know of them. Others who weren’t even truly immortal had to rely on fruit, some of whom even bore his own kin’s names. What a jest!

So, perhaps, he had been a little lacking in his preparations. And, as the mortal “nurse” attempted to coach him through “the options available to a young woman in your situation”, he could feel the cold tendrils of unease starting to wrap around his ribs as he considered what it would mean to bear the child of such a being. Not that he regretted this dalliance by any means. He did not consider himself someone who should know the meaning of the word regret, after all, was he not a trickster god? And Poseidon, the Poseidon of this world that is, was hilarious. An absolutely delightful distraction from the boredom that set in after he invented Sally and overcame his initial disgust with this world. The god had produced more bastards than Zeus while wearing Birkenstocks. Truly a god lacking self-awareness and shame. Exactly what Loki needed (and honestly falling for him was well within Sally's established character …He was just so charming while she was a young and “inexperienced” woman, who could blame her. and Loki? Loki needed an in to start gathering information on the gods of this world and their convoluted system). At least he was going to get a good laugh the next time he looked at Poseidon standing in Valhalla’s halls from these memories.

But…buuuut (now he was getting annoyed, how long could this go for, was she going to start praying for his chastity? Oh what he would give for the ability to kill these filthy mortals without consequences, alas the American healthcare system had managed to come up with tortures that would surpass Beelzebub at his most creative) there were politics. Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon had a deal going from what he could grasp, children too powerful, needing to protect mortal lives, Zeus murdering his brothers' spawn and lovers for sport, and a lot of other drivel he had ignored (they also seemed to be pretending the other Pantheons did not exist, he should poke at that some more, not using Sally though, too risky). See! He did understand actions and consequences, uncle’s stupid punishment was completely unnecessary, and nothing he was learning here was of value (wait what was an epidural? He gave birth to a horse; how bad could a human pregnancy possibly be? Stupid oath. Stupid Styx )

His biggest concern was the baby, the little alien-looking shrimp thing keeping him locked into Sally’s form. Poseidon had apparently sired gods before (He married a daughter of Nereus! A woman no better than a slave as his queen if he remembered correctly. Had the old fish managed to cling to power somehow? How funny, Poseidon the Emperor would sooner castrate himself than let a rival live like that) but most of his children were half-bloods, children seemingly cursed with more drawbacks and difficulties in exchange for their divine blood. Loki was starting to suspect he was missing quite a bit more important information than what this useless woman was babbling about… (What was Medicaid and SNAP? Now this insect was just making up words).

Ah, he was getting out of character. Sally was, of course, delighted to have her child and would love them regardless of the difficulties they would face. She, of course, wanted to know more about the assistance programs the city was offering to single mothers. Please go on. (And Loki, Loki was mortal and lacking most of the powers. Loki was starting to feel unease.)"

Thought? I like world building so I was planning to use Loki to explore the differences between RORs world and PJOs. I feel like he is very critical but I also wanted to capture how silver tongued and tricky he can be. I also feel like he is a caring parent which is another layer of complication to his character. So I have been really struggling with his voice (Odin's internal monologue is even worst the man has so little dialogue and I'm pretty sure Thor's head plays Wii music when he's not fighting, at least the Greeks have personality)

THIS IS THE BEST THING I'VE EVER READ DUDE

NO SERIOUSLY UR WRITING IS MASTERCLASS

I LOVE THE AMOUNT OF HUMOR YOU WERE ABLE TO PUT IN THIS TOO

"The god had produced more bastards than Zeus while wearing Birkenstocks. Truly a god lacking self-awareness and shame"

"alas the American healthcare system had managed to come up with tortures that would surpass Beelzebub at his most creative"

"What was Medicaid and SNAP? Now this insect was just making up words"

this is so fucking perfect dude, YOU ARE SO GOOD LMAO I LOVE THIS

also, i 1000% agree that he is a caring parent! he's a silly little guy but he loves his babies (he's just super embarrassing about it). he's definitely the type to grant his kids a lot of freedom too. but i feel like, sine percy is half-human, he'd be more paranoid and worried about her especially since her universe is pretty harsh towards demigods. so i think he'd be struggling a lot about the fact that:

he's supposed to entrust his baby to a camp full of psycho kids (thats how he sees them lmao) that could kill her???

she's gonna be sent on QUESTS

a bunch of gods and monsters want her dead???

THEY'RE SENDING HER TO WAR????

and "where's my child support????"

the rules and restrictions the pjo gods face are also very baffling to him too

rip loki, good luck raising percy 😔

ALSO, i got a recent ask from an anon that i haven't replied to yet, but they wanted to know what ur ao3 account is!! i wanna know too cuz i really really REALLY wanna read your works once you're finished (you're the one who asked to make an ao3 fandom tag for arsenic blues right?? if not, pls ignore this oops)

[wowyoulikeflowers]

since the ideas I come up with at times of night in which I should be deep in slumber (as evidenced by hhnah) seem to be my best, I shall propose this poll:

I plan on writing a majority of these; all the PJO ones are WIP and taking up my google storage, but I'm unsure which one I should focus on for my 'coming back'. I also, evidently, have fallen into the world of dead gay wizards, and would enjoy a foray into that world (fuck JKR, though).

have a lovely day/night <3

[rosesradio]

the archive//pjo vigilante au

⚠️ long post warning ⚠️

for all intents and purposes, the gods were dead.

at least, that's what they want you to think--for their safety lies in a secrecy so strong, it leaves the mortals below with hardly any acknowledgment of them.

but what do you do when there are no gods, no explanation, and you one day find flames dancing along your fingertips, or shadows bending to allow you passage through darkness?

do you become a hero, the same way you would in any other universe? or do you use your abilities for gain, as you were left with nothing?

for all intents and purposes, the gods were dead.

but their demigod children were very much alive.

so this is an au i’ve not really talked about a lot—it was my side project, my “scrap fic” that was giving me a much harder time than my “main fic” (ivory rain).

It’s been giving me such a hard time, I’ve decided to “retire” the au, aka post it publicly. this is to open it up to conversation and opinions, as well as open my inbox to any potential asks or even drabble requests for any aspects of the au that spark an interest. this is not opening up this au for everyone to write. please do not take my ideas. i am positive i’m far from the first person to come up with a pjo vigilante au, so if that’s of interest to you, feel free to explore your own ideas for what that au would look like.

at this point, the main reason i am posting this is because i don’t see myself writing a full fic with it. i won’t say never—under certain circumstances and intense revisions i may piece something together, though it’s highly unlikely. i plan on sharing most of my ideas, though for the sake of exploration i will keep a few to myself (such as spoilers on who dies in my original concept, etc).

with that out of the way, let’s get into the meat and potatoes—the au itself:

warnings: grooming mention, homelessness mention

in this au, the gods have zero contact with mortals or demigods other than to perform their duties (such as Apollo with the sun chariot). in the event that they come down to interact with mortals to, uh…hang out (movie!grover voice: hookup!), they go by an alias, so no mortals know about the gods’ very real existence. like most things that suck, you can blame zeus for that one.

that being said, camp half blood does not exist. heroes must train relentlessly on the streets, seeking out others like them with no label for what they really are. the gods have been too weakened by the disbelief of mortals to do anything as monsters ravage the earth. the demigods must survive, form alliances, and protect the citizens of New York.

as the demigods don’t know they are demigods, they are labeled into two categories: “Empowered” and “Bugs”.

Empowered experience all the demigod symptoms with powers to match, and they are often revered as superheroes if they happen to use their abilities to defend mortals. Examples of Empowered include Percy with his water powers, Leo, Jason, etc.

Bugs also experience the symptoms of being a demigod, though they have no visible powers. these demigods are sometimes looked down on as “weaker”, and some debate if they even are special, or simply mortals with the bad luck of attracting monsters. Examples of Bugs include Annabeth, Luke, Reyna, etc.

the demigods are also in two different groups with rivaling ideals:

the vigilante side includes: Percy, Hazel, Frank, and Nico. This side believes that the origin of their abilities does not matter as much as using their abilities to protect the people.

the researcher side includes: Annabeth, Luke, Piper, and Leo. This side believes that the origins of their abilities/the mysteries of the monster attacks hold the key to stopping the attacks. They will do anything in their power, even breaking the law, in order to find answers.

the other side of town: in my mind initially, Jason, Thalia, and Reyna were staying on the other side of town, not getting into the rivalry in the city and just doing what they could to stay alive. this of course can & probably should be altered for other interesting dynamics. i probably would have to keep Thalia out of the main plot of Luke and Annabeth, but i’ll get into that in a minute.

now, for the dynamics & histories:

percy works with his mom at Sweet on America. He is moved out in this au, even though he’s still 16. He does this to protect his mom, though she is not a fan of the arrangement. he also protects the people under his blue mask, using the alias Riptide.

Percy and his mom also volunteer at a homeless shelter, where he met and befriended Frank when he needed a place to stay.

Hazel, Frank, and Nico live with Percy, using their apartment as a base of operations, like the teen titans. Hazel is known as Jewels, Nico as Necromancer, and Frank as Captain Creature (for the bit).

at one point, Nico and Bianca were on Percy’s team, until Bianca was killed on a mission. Nico then went off on his own, joining Luke & Annabeth & Piper in a quest to find answers and get his sister back. After a period of time on the researcher side, Nico began to have second thoughts on their methods and escaped. He was eventually welcomed back by Percy, though a slight distrust remains at Nico’s double-agent trip.

in an effort to bring his sister back to life, nico accidentally brought Hazel back. Hades, being too weak due to erasure and lack of mortal interactivity, remained unable to do anything about this (and perhaps he did not want to).

nico’s latest curiosity is the researchers’ newest team member, someone he’d never met while working with them. unlike most of them with their cheap eye masks, this newest member has an Iron Man level suit, as well as a knack for blowing things up.

———

on the researcher side, annabeth, piper, and leo live at luke’s apartment, working odd jobs to afford the rent. one side of the building was damaged in a monster attack, so they get a discounted rate (lol). also, leo fixes things for the landlord here & there to get a further reduced rate.

Piper first sought annabeth out in school, noting her as an award-winning academic researcher for their school. she offers her money and anything else she might want in exchange for finding her mom. this side quest helps a friendship form between the two, and eventually Piper runs away from home after a monster attack to live with her (much like Percy, she does this in part to protect her dad).

Leo is the newest member of their group, and he built himself what is essentially an iron man suit to do work for the researchers—“work” being things such as robbing banks, intense interrogations, etc. he knows who Nico is in and out of the mask thanks to his team already knowing his identity. He meets Nico when he saves him from a monster attack as Necromancer, and the two form a tentative friendship. Nico often visits him in disguise to talk to him (the researchers having moved apartments to stay undercover as nico knew their previous location), and Leo hides his secret second identity as The Inventor/Pyrotechnic/man of many names etc in order to glean more information from him…and also maybe get closer with Nico, what’s it to you 👀

Annabeth and Luke’s dynamic…sigh. this is where the darkfic vibes come in, cover your ears.

annabeth and luke have much of the same relationship as they do in the books, though over the course of this au, it takes a turn. Annabeth’s crush grows stronger and luke, seeing this, takes advantage of her trust and innocence. he grooms her into a romantic and (borderline) sexual relationship. now, seeing as she’s a 16 year old teenager and he’s a 23 year old man who practically raised her as an older brother figure, one might see how that’d be several layers of toxic & wildly messed up. but that’s darkfic for ya! this is why i’d keep thalia from meeting luke and annabeth the way she had in the books, otherwise she would hunt luke down for sport with all of us cheering in the background lol.

this arc also coincides the push by luke to become more violent and harmful in the research effort. Soon enough, it’s obvious that he is uninterested in research of a potential higher power. Instead, he wishes to eliminate all threats to his intention to rule over all demigods and establish his own system.

potential big spoilers aside, i planned on ending the au with both percabeth & pipabeth, where annabeth dates both of them (piper and Percy would probably be platonic, but i’d be open to them all three dating depending on how that dynamic would work). annabeth’s story ending with her healing, whether or not she “officially” ends up with better partners, is crucial for the kind of hurt/comfort i have in my fics.

i was also open to valgrace in this and kind of switching out jason in nico’s role, though it didn’t take long for me to realize it wouldn’t really work, and valdangelo is a better endgame narratively.

so, that’s all i have. terminology, history, dynamics. i have a handful of drabble-length scenes written, though i really wasn’t getting the right feel for them. i hope you guys like this au either way, and feel free to send me an ask about it if anything interested you. thanks for reading this far <33

[wrongcaitlyn]

about your series dear reader, will we ever get to see Nico having a collab or featured song in the future... heehe... love your work btw

thank u for the ask!! and thank u for reading i’m so glad you like it <3 i’ve actually thought abt this quite a bit!! the thing with collabs, is that either i could use an irl celebrity, or i could make a character a celebrity and make them work with nico—so here are my thoughts on both options:

1) a real celebrity - i try to stay away from involving real life people in the fic, as in interactions, because i don’t know any of those people irl and i would hate to, like, mischaracterize someone or write positively abt someone who eventually gets revealed to be like a shitty person, yk? the most i’ve ever done, i think, is that one time i mentioned nico taking a picture with lorde - but even then, it wasn’t him talking abt her, it was just a picture that was posted. that, and the absurd amount of taylor swift name drops that i have, which i will never stop😭

basically, though i have considered it (my mind is literally CONSTANTLY imagine collabs of nico and other celebs/other songs), i literally have a playlist of them, i don’t think i would ever include it in the fic. simply bc of the concerns mentioned above :/

(however, i would like everyone to know that ive been imagining nico as a surprise guest on the rep tour, and having him featured on rep tv, for like- literally as long as ive had this au in my head. ill never write him collating with taylor (bc again idk i just feel strange writing abt real ppl) but in my head, it’s canon)

2) creating a new celeb - this one is hard, pretty much bc i’m… out of characters.

like, i still HAVE characters to use, but i already have plans for most of them and a majority of them aren’t actually part of the music industry. i could justify a collab between alex and nico bc she’s like the only music person i have written, but i also don’t wanna force that

if i ever do, which i doubt, bc i don’t have any plans to at the moment, it’ll be a pjo character, i just don’t have any idea of who that would be :/

oh and! last reason why i’m hesitant to add a collab - i feel like nico writing music is so engrained with him working with apollo as a producer, and their studio dynamic. obviously, it’s good to step out of your comfort zone, but i think that it’s also some sense of caution and comfort between them, that they’re the same people who will work on every nico di angelo song and album.

either way, i have seven albums outlined in total. the time span of greatest of luxuries goes from 2018-2024. that may be subject to change, but im feeling pretty confident abt it (it used to be 2028 btw😭) and anything PAST that time range is completely up to the reader!! i have lots of ideas of what could happen beyond that seventh album, and i have an idea (and a playlist) of the eighth album, but i can definitely imagine a lot of features in the future as he branches out. (and also him on rep tv. or ttpd. will update when ttpd comes out if i think there’s a specific song he’d slay as a feature on)

and lastly, for features. yes. he is on the hunger games tbosas soundtrack bc i say so‼️

(i imagine yellow flicker beat by lorde, even tho that was written for mockingjay, i just feel like it fits his vibe, but also, can’t catch me now works perfectly too)

[takaraphoenix]

Alabaster Torrington for the character ask post?

MY BOY. Oooh, I've been having a severe case of Missing Alabaster Torrington for like the past two weeks, how did you mindread that?

Thanks for playing and asking about him!

Favorite romantic ship(s): PERCY!!!, Ethan, Nico, preferably I'll take them in an OT4 too :D

Favorite platonic dynamic(s): also Ethan, but I actually made up this whole alt-reality dynamic for him and Bianca, I love the idea of those two becoming really good friends, plus also the obvious of Lou Ellen because I love her and I have that brother-sister dynamic made up in my head too and it means A Lot to me

LGBT+ headcanon(s): gay, so gay, definitely 100% gay. I see him as the "I do not understand heterosexuals they bewilder me" kind of gay

Job headcanon (in an AU/or future): Mh. Trying to remember if I ever had him have a job in a mortal AU beyond a "necessary cast" (like a fire fighter AU where they're, duh, fire fighters, or a mob boss AU where he's, duh, a member of the di Angelo Family). Generally, I like to lean into his magic nature and I'd love to see him actually have like a... magic shop? Selling crystals and giving tarot card readings and such

Animal shifter headcanon: Long-haired, dark-brown haired cat, potentially a Norwegian because these are my favorite kitties

Favorite canon thing about them: ...that he lived? I'm sorry that sounds lame, but also Riordan Senior famously killed off literally every single "traitor" or "bad guy" demigod who was a named character with story - Luke, Ethan, Silena, Octavian (Chris lived but I'm not entirely counting him since he 1. deserted early, 2. spent like months severely mentally fucked up which felt like "penance" or "punishment" for his choices on a meta level, like, he avoided actual social or even juridical consequences because "hasn't he suffered enough?" coupled with "dating a main character from the good side" which is generally seen as a 'gets out of jail free' card) - to avoid having consequences happen, so I'm deeply in love with the fact that Alabaster was on the rebel side but lived and we got to see what the consequences for the demigods who chose to rebel actually are in the now-time. I love this story. I think Haley Riordan should actually write more about Alabaster, first and foremost, but also generally in the Riordanverse? Like, I would love him to write about the Titan War but from the rebel side, even if it's just one standalone book. I would devour that

Least favorite canon thing about them: That he hasn't returned to me yet ;-; I am REALLY hoping the PJO tv show will feature him, because... obviously wasn't he in the PJO book series since he was created after the fact and not by Riordan Senior, but since he exists now, and since Riordan is involved in the show, I really hope that Alabaster will be featured among the rebels in the tv show. Since they definitely will need more than three and a half rebels? Literally just for visual reasons and if you cast em, give em names (so I am generally hoping for the creation of more rebel demigods due to the tv show but it'd be a real missed opportunity to not feature Alabaster in it)

Character Ask Game

[daisychainsandbowties]

coming off the high of 17776 au so... 17 and 6 (pjo au)? also i know it's a sequel so this may be cheating but 18 (orbital mechanics)? many thanks 🙇

i’m glad you liked that first bit of 17776 au it spent a whole day incubating in my head before i wrote it so… chaos of conception is = to chaos of execution 😌

17. what highly specific au do you want to read or write even though you feel like you might be the only person to appreciate it?

i answered this already but the aus are unending so… i would LOVE to read a how to train your dragon au where ava gets to bond with a night fury and bea can?? help with the design for the rig to help with its damaged tail and you know i love hiccup and toothless because they’re canonically disabled so i think that would be an AMAZING au to read or to write 🥰🥰

sidebar but i’m also forever grateful for the alien bea au because i wanted to read something like that so bad ever since i read Axiom’s End (what a book what a book what a-) and then it was just!!! there. and there’s a goat in that fic called daisychain 🥹 and its the BEST goat so ha!

6. what’s one fact about the universe of pjo au that you didn’t get a chance to mention in the fic itself?

because it’s not finished there a bunch of stuff i can’t WAIT to mention i have so many ideas for it and details and scenes i can’t wait to share. but.. sadly writer’s block is killing me (plus thesis 😔) right now so i’m chipping away at it

but!!! i would have really liked to actually write the scene where ava first steps into the ocean. in the same spirit as the infamous beach run scene from s1 of warrior nun

i just think it would have been,,, so beautiful. obviously we get her and chanel in that early scene. ava getting to just barely be in the ocean, but oooo there’s something so different about ava getting to step into it and feel her body fully for the first time in a long time. that would have been i think just so much fun to write. i might still do a flashback to it but… nothing beats the narrative going there on its own you know?

18. if you wrote a sequel to orbital mechanics what would it involve?

oh! well i have ideas actually for a few more chapters of orbital mechanics, especially after playing a lot of Jedi: Survivor and the.. very very intriguing possibilities that raised.

i think it would actually be amazing to take the orbital mechanics iterations of my girls and put them in situations. imagine the clumsy familiar tendinous way they’d fight, how absolutely batshit lilith and ava would go (together) if… say… bea was captured.

plus i want to explore long term chronic pain with bea - maybe the idea of replacing the horrid black wires in her arm with a gentler kind, or bea thinking about amputation which is you know a valid approach and the her choice of it really compels me.

so!! yea h! i am trapped in want to write too many things land 😭😭🥹

[celestialepiphany]

20 Questions Writer meme

I was tagged by @sappho-of-space and highkey i really like these lmao so this was fun to do!

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

14, technically 12 because two of them I was the artist in a reverse big bang!

2. What's your total ao3 word count?

65,828

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Just Percy Jackson, but I really hope to spread out soon once my grad school apps are done lmao

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

(not counting the reverse big bang or the round robin)

1. you take me to all the places i could never reach on my own

2. and when my veins run with ichor our eternity begins

3. like a moth to a flame, i'll pull you in

4. how you so cold when the sun is blinding

5. wrapped up in all the choices you're not giving to me

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do try to sometimes I don't I usually try to respond to comments in my long fic rn because I'll have people ask questions or something but I usually do really like responding to them!

6. What's the fic you wrote that has the angstiest ending?

hmm i haven't written a lot of angst as of right now i do want to change that but probably "wrapped up in all the choices you're not giving to me" or "you knew who i was with every step that i ran to you"

7. What's the fic you wrote that has the happiest ending?

I have a lot with happy endings, so I'll answer with one of my favorites, which is "got me feeling like its all too much (am i dreaming)" ! was a lot of fun to write

8. Do you get hate on fics?

no thankfully and i hope it stays that way

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

no but i probably will one day

10. Do you write crossovers?

no and probably wouldn't in the future-- id do like au's of another world, like i have with my botw!pjo fic "an iliad for everyone who couldn't be saved"

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

hm don't think so

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

nope but i wouldn't be against it

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

hm there might be one in the future ! but no not really - i've done a round robin which was a lot of fun so a co-author would be fun

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

probably spideypool, or a naruto ship really depends on the day on which one lmao

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but don't think you ever will?

i have two published right now which i will finish !! and then in my wip, i have a few files which i don't think are ever gonna get finished like a percy death fic protecting the campers but i'll probably end up recycling parts of it in a future fic !

16. What are your writing strengths?

hmm i've had a lot of people comment on my dialogue and pacing which i feel pretty confident in my dialogue, at least where i can also agree its one of my strengths but pacing is always something i watch out for so i'm glad people have liked it so far !

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

actually getting stuff published lmao if theres no deadline lighting me up it will take forever to get done because i always end up pushing back the fun stuff (fic) for life :( its why i join so many exchanges but i hope to change that i have a lot i want to push out

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

i actually have already but it had a non-english alphabet so i had to sound it out phonetically using the english alphabet don't know how much i succeeded but i liked it

19. First fandom you wrote for?

a naruto fic that never got past my best friend's eyes lmao

20. Favorite fic you've written?

i actually have a lot but i really enjoyed "like a moth to a flame, i'll pull you in" a lot more than i thought i would writing it since it gave me a headache tryna write out their interactions together but the answer could change on any given day lmao

thank you for tagging me and i now nominate @caffeinated-croissant

[mrthology]

Do you mind explaining why you include references to Delphi and Poseidon, or Percy and prophecy in your fics? I'm aware of the sources you've mentioned, and i'm assuming you've included them in the fics you have because of the ship and character, and you've mentioned general fascination with them, but would love to read your take as well! I recently reread Long Ago, That Current Caught Us, and loved it even more this time.

Thank you <3

Of course! 🧡🧡🧡

I first read something referencing Poseidon and Delphi when I was definitely too young to really get any nuance, and latched onto it, so to speak. I've not really explored it as much as I want, but enjoy referencing it (as well as multiple other sources, themes I love, and just general imagination) and love how that particularly little tidbit could weave it's way into the world of Percy Jackson and how I see things. I'm very much not saying Poseidon is the God (or was ever) of prophecy, or that Percy will be, get's any prophetic abilities from him, etc... just exploring themes and references I love, and weaving them into fic when I can (and honestly just when I want to, I'm writing fic for fun!).

I have played with Percy having prophetic abilities within several fics (the main one is a series called Citizens of Glass, though I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it in passing in other things as well), but that's very much unrelated to Delphi, or Poseidon, or anything like that. It's an AU, and me playing with themes I adore and storylines I want to write. I've used a lot of historical sources from Greece, Rome, and beyond, and also made things up haha. In "Long Ago, That Current Caught Us" the line regarding Delphi is from Percy's POV and his thought process, rather than a clear statement on historical record. Because I'm writing Percy/Apollo (and Icarus/Apollo) in that fic, I love playing with what Apollo's domains could mean in regards to Percy, and prophecy of course comes into play at times! That particular fic also plays a lot with choice, the sea, fathers, fate, and more.

At the end of the day, I include them because I want to and find the whole idea fascinating in the context of PJO, and what it could mean there.

I hope this makes sense, and please let me know if you have any other questions!

[highvern]

hiii cam 💓

for the ask game, 3, 14 and 19

3. How long is the longest fic you have written so far?

i think the longest one i have that's all in a single go is home for the holidays (~24k). but the actual longest is teach me at 30k which i didn't even realize until i checked for this lmao

14. Share a headcanon about one of your fics.

rough and soft cheol are the same universe which is also the stonerverse series im coming out with hehehe

19. What’s a fanfiction trope that you haven’t written yet, but you could imagine/are planning to write?

planning to write: anthropology/archeology au with namjoon that is stuck in the research/drafting stages. im taking my time bc that man is my husband and i want the fic to be perfect imagine writing: a greek mythology/PJO au? ive talked about demi-god mingyu & jihoon in a head cannon but a full fic of dryad reader and demi-god mingyu would be so fun (and evil)

send me a number!

[riddlerosehearts]

🐍No worries! I'm likely going to be slower at responding too since school's getting busier again, but I always enjoy reading your answers!

Oh man I didn't even remember that part about Athena kids (it's been really long since I last read the series) but yeah that'd make things even more complicated... especially if like, Jamil has to learn to fend off these monsters on his own since a young age and be able to take care of Kalim, I'd think he'd have to quickly learn to be just far away enough from Kalim so that if any monsters attack, he'd be the only one harmed instead of Kalim, which is just awful. I love your suggestions for their godly parents though, they all fit so well but nemesis kid jamil is like extra angst: he's a child of revenge, he probably wants revenge for his life being the way it is, yet he's bound by his position and can literally do nothing about it unless he snaps from the pressure.

I went through your valdangelo tag and there's so much good stuff there! The heavy focus on romantic relationships in HoO felt like Rick just really wanted to pair everyone off before everyone had a chance to develop as an individual or explore other types of relationships with the rest of the cast. I found myself disappointed in several characters and longing for what could've been, even though the pjo series is dear to me. But the beauty of fandom is people can fill in those gaps or rewrite things and the valdangelo stuff definitely counts.

I think Leo wouldn't be putting tons of outward accessories on his uniform but he might add several secret pockets to stores things in, since in this AU I assume he doesn't have the toolbelt. If it's hotter outside he might just wear the vest unbottoned and no blazer, just bc I don't think they allow students to wear zero dorm colours haha. I do think he's likely the type to roll up his sleeves a lot though! And he likely enjoys the PE uniform far more than the usual one. Speaking of which I think Leo'd enjoy the lab classes more since they involve getting hands on and making stuff! And Nico might enjoy the ceremonial robes while Leo'd find them too bulky and stuffy and be on his way out to change the moment any ceremony is over.

I feel like I'm running out of interesting questions to ask about the AU (curse my lack of writing creativity) but I'm starting to work on some doodles and hope to show you eventually! In the meantime if you have any more headcanons for either of Leo or Nico or literally any other PJO characters in TWST please feel free to share them/make posts! I don't get lots of posts on my dash these days so it's easy to find yours, I'd love to hear more of your ideas. (Did I mention I was living vicariously through your PJO reread since I want to do it too but just can't make the time? Your commentary is great ❤)

sorry this reply took even longer LOL, if you've seen me keep posting but not replying i hope it didn't seem like i was ignoring you. just gotta find the time/energy to answer asks and messages sometimes.

yeah, annabeth talks about it when she's telling percy how much she hates her dad and her stepmom in TLT and it lowkey made me feel sympathy for frederick chase on my reread, just because i really don't know what i would do in the situation that athena put him in lol. of course, he still should've done better to make sure annabeth felt loved and secure even if he hadn't wanted a baby. but i also got to thinking about how that would affect riddle and i feel like it'd be so rough because it's like, at first his mother might think it's good that her child is blessed by the goddess of wisdom because he'll be a natural genius and easily be able to become a doctor just like she wants. but then monsters would start to attack and she'd see it as him bringing danger to their family and anyone else around them. just imagine what it would be like if when he sneaks out with trey and chenya, they get attacked and she finds out about it... also agree with what you said about athena kid jamil. nemesis kid jamil would also be crazy though, because just look at the list of powers we know nemesis herself has:

and while we've only ever seen two nemesis kids in canon, one of whom we know basically nothing about, we do know that ethan nakamura may have tychokinesis because as also explained by the riordan wiki: "this might explain his lucky hit to percy's weak point, which nobody but percy knew at the time."

so like, imagine if jamil inherited that ability too and he knew that in theory he could give himself just a little bit of good luck or give kalim a little bit of bad luck, just to get a tiny bit of revenge, but he doesn't know what exactly might happen and his position makes it too risky to try anything.

honestly, i think i would've been happy if every single romantic relationship in HoO (aside from percabeth of course because it was pre-established. and i guess maybe jasiper too just because it has relevance to piper's arc) had just been developed as a friendship, with hints of it becoming romantic toward the end. like how blood of olympus hints that nico and will like each other, but they really aren't clearly established as actually dating until trials of apollo. and speaking of trials of apollo, i know all of rick's post-PJO series are kind of contentious in the fandom, but i love TOA and this is a big part of why: while there is some solangelo and caleo stuff and of course apollo's past romances are discussed, the platonic/familial dynamic between apollo and meg is by far the most important relationship in that series. and i wish the friendships between the seven were written as well as i feel like theirs is. they all just don't feel nearly as close as they should for the most part.

this discussion about how nico and leo would wear the school uniform reminded me that i once came across a chart of how all the canon students wear it. i went back and found it just now: link. and from the looks of it, yeah, everyone, even kalim and jamil despite how much extra stuff they've added, wears either the blazer/coat or the vest so that their dorm colors are visible somewhere... except for idia lol. even ortho basically wears it post-book 6 but idia is the only student who literally wears just absolutely none of the uniform except for the pants. i agree with everything you said about leo! also, i love the cermonial robes, they are peak aesthetic. i had ceremonial robes idia on the home screen for weeks when i first started the game.

if you wanna ask me about anything else related to pjo or twst or other things i post about feel free to! i'm glad you don't have trouble finding my posts because i usually post so much that i worry about anons i reply to getting buried haha. also, glad you're enjoying my silly little commentary on my reread LOL. i've been going a bit slower than i'd like because i've had some stuff going on irl + started reading another book at the same time as well. but i'd been wanting to reread the series for a while and finally got started because i felt disappointed at all the stuff the tv show left out or changed. somehow the lightning thief musical still prevails as the most accurate adaptation.

hmm, as for other thoughts about the crossover... i just remembered that in one of my earlier replies i said i wanted to sort luke castellan and alex fierro into dorms but couldn't decide where to put them! so, here's some thoughts on that now:

luke - based on the dorm analysis i linked before, i keep getting the vibe that savanaclaw makes the most sense for him. he certainly has the tenacity, ambition, and athleticism to fit in there, and with how admired and respected he was at camp half-blood prior to his betrayal, i could see him becoming dorm leader. i also feel like to mirror PJO canon he would eventually overblot... and probably die from it in an incident that the school would absolutely try to cover up.

alex - she's genderfluid and is a girl most of the time but again we'll let her into NRC for AU purposes. alex is very clever, cunning and sharp-witted and is even associated with snakes. so i initially wanted to place her in scarabia before remembering that she's also pretty reckless and hotheaded lol. not exactly the embodiment of scarabia's emphasis on careful planning and deliberation. he even canonically hates big parties. i actually think he'd also fit well into savanaclaw! i can see him getting along well with ruggie.

and another random thought i had about nico: i bet he loves what a big deal halloween is at NRC. whether he stays in ignihyde or goes to ramshackle, he's going to be so ready to go all out with decorating the dorm and picking out costumes. and i can imagine him hanging out with the ghosts, trying to give them the best halloween they could have.

[at-thestillpoint]

For your fic writer ask meme: 5, 20, 22!

[ask me things!]

5. What’s a fic idea you’ve had that you will never write?

THERE ARE SO MANY. There's the Rory says yes to Logan and they figure out how to do long distance when they're in their early 20s fic that I dream about but won't ever commit the time to. There's the one that explores the year (see what I did?) after Logan finds out Rory didn't tell them about their kid that I want to get to someday, but it's going to take so many words, and we've seen how long it takes me to write things. I have couple half-written post-season 6 explorations for Seal Team (I am decidedly un-immune to military propaganda shows) that would break my heart to finish at this point. And it's looking increasingly unlikely that I'll ever finish my F1/ballet modern AU of Little Women, but I'm still holding out hope for myself on that one.

20. What’s a favorite title for a fic you’ve written?

In a time-honored AO3 tradition, I steal song lyrics and make them lowercase for my fic titles, so I don't actually feel that attached to any of them. Various snippets of Cowboy Take Me Away ended up being even more perfect for this universe than I could have imagined, so maybe that? I do have a silly habit of naming every fic before I really get into writing them, though, and I love the title I gave the Rory-doesn't-tell-Logan fic: bold alone among the wreck. For that reason alone, I might push myself to actually write it someday.

22. Do you know how your fic will end before you start writing?

Almost always! (This is, perhaps, the beauty of writing ship-focused fics.) A lot of the time, it's a vague sense of where I want things to end emotionally. Other times, the ending is actually incredibly defined. With as high as you can into the wild blue, I actually had a very big chunk of the last chapter written before I'd written anything else. I also twisted myself into knots making sure I could keep "transitive property of home" in the last line of texas man. With my first foray into PJO world, the last lines, "Yes, the Sea God means but does not say. Yes, of your mother, and of you." were the second and third sentences I wrote. The first was the first sentence of the fic.

So I usually know where I'm starting and ending, and it's a matter of figuring out how to get from point A to point B realistically and with emotional logic. I used to do a lot more plotting of the journey, but that ended up with me not writing at all, because I couldn't think myself past plot holes or emotional needs. I've gotten better at writing myself through those now, but in general, I need to know where I'm going to be able to do that.

[gay-flyboys]

WIP WEDNESDAY

Uhhh it’s been a while, I’ve been busy doing drawings for the PJO au that @read-and-write- @inexplicablymine and @happiness-of-the-pursuit have written. Thrilled to be a part, and y’all should go check it out if you haven’t.

Anyway, since it’s been so long, I’m giving two snippets, because hopefully I’ll be able to divest some of my time into writing more now that I’m out of school for a month, and putting stuff out encourages me lol

First: The "Not Threesome Fic”, a 5+1 that was meant for threesgiving but obviously didn’t happen

Dio turns to him, face suddenly a lot more open and sincere than Alex ever sees on the man. “Question.” Alex quirks a brow, but matches his position so they’re face-to-face. He finishes doing the button on his jeans, thankful his apartment is close because denim on plain skin is not pleasant. “Shoot.” “Would you be open for a threesome?” Alex isn’t quite sure what he was expecting, he never really knows what to expect with Dio, but that was certainly not it. He stumbles over his words, mouth opening and closing like a fish gasping for air as he chokes out a couple of “uhs,” and “ums.” He’s not not into the idea. They’ve made the occasional comment about being shown off in the midst of the moment, mostly due to Alex having a voyeur/exhibition streak. But it had never left the comfort of the bed, or couch, or kitchen–any of the surfaces they may reside around, really.

Second: Is the sequel to my fic Oxidation (pls read I put so much energy into that one lmaooo)

 “Sit on the bed, sweetheart,” Henry says. His voice leaves little room for argument. Alex shivers, biting his cheek, but does as Henry instructs.  The bed is obscenely comfortable, but that’s to be expected by a guy who seems intent on surprising Alex in every financial way he can. It’s plush with not too much give, and Alex is pretty sure he’s got one of those fancy cooling mattress toppers that Alex is desperate for.  Unsure of what to do with himself, Alex crosses his ankles and places his hands on his thighs. He glances up at Henry, who’s watching him with unflinching attention. Alex flushes under the scrutiny, but doesn’t drop eye contact. Henry smirks, quirking his head. Henry’s arms are crossed, leaning against the wall directly opposing the foot of the bed. Alex is also greeted by a mirror, to Henry’s right, wider than it is tall, hanging on the wall above a dresser made of fine, warm, dark brown wood. He glances at his reflection, then at Henry, whose smile widens into a proper grin.  He takes a few steps forward, tapping Alex’s legs with his knee. Alex gets the message, opening the limbs so that Henry can situate himself between them. He’s holding his breath. It catches in his throat, his eyes glancing between Henry’s gaze, and the hands he’s bringing to Alex’s jaw.

This’ll be an open tag because I’m posting it late-ish my time, so I KNOW it’s late for other people. Also because it’s been forever lol

[rosesradio]

in the midst of ivory rain...

in the midst of ivory rain, i've been working on another fic. i've called it my "scrap fic" due to most of the chapters being relatively short and quick. it is also in an entirely different format than what i am used to writing--some of the chapters are in regular chapter format while others are "transcriptions" of audio files, official forms, and notes left by a variety of characters.

it is an au that entirely reshapes the pjo world, and is mostly told from the perspectives of percy, annabeth, leo, and nico. i don't want to give away too too much (though i'm about to anyway lol) , though i thought i would share some snippets to see if anyone is interested in seeing how the story would unfold.

This is the archive:

To whomever this may concern,

If you do not immediately understand the full context behind the archive, destroy it immediately for the gods' sake.

Actually, if you do understand the full context of the archive, you know you need to destroy it anyway.

---

Annabeth Chase: Hello, this is Annabeth Chase. I am a sixteen year old investigative researcher from San Francisco, and now I live in New York. I, uh...for years, I have been unraveling the larger story around isolated events. As my assistant—as my friend, Leo, said—we, like most, have been the victims of rampant monster attacks. Whenever anyone tries to take a picture of these monsters, it never turns out. It's...blurry, or dark, or comes across as something entirely different than what it is.

---

[The following is a torn newspaper clipping originating from The Manhattan Mirror.]

Amongst the conversation on the origins of these events, religious leaders have drawn a unique conclusion. They have stated these attacks and heroes are indicative of the second coming of Jesus Christ, among other religious implications. @ PeterTheDeciple received backlash for his post on Twirler last week stating: "If you have been the victim of a monster attack, sorry, but that is the price of your sins. I have never been attacked by a monster, but you know who has? My ex-girlfriend, who engaged in pre-marital sex (with someone who was not me). It's better to accept your fate, because God is coming soon, and He will only accept those who accept Him in their heart. I have a course for the low-low price of $99.99 that will show you the light...[Thread Continues]"

---

Just like that, someone like Riptide could take off the mask and blend in with the rest of New York City. Other kids like him, ones that could mess with other elements or fight off the monsters, could be at the grocery store or in Public School #831.

The kid was right. The attacks have been getting worse. Even before that kid's time, the world was a wasteland. But as long as they had heroes to protect them...maybe things wouldn't be so bad.

[starlit-bawka]

20 Questions For Fanfic Writers!

No way I got tagged by the really awesome @h4mm132l1c3, and ill tag a couple of other people too probably

1: How many works do you have on Ao3?

Currently I've got 59 things on AO3!! There are a couple more on my long-defunct wattpad though, and I've got a bunch of December whump I need to catch up on too so there will be more

2: What's your total Ao3 word count?

72,774!! Wow!!! And like...90% of that is oneshots! Go me!

3: What fandoms do you write for?

Currently writing for DSMP and QSMP the most atm :O I also write for the PJO fandom, Homestuck, and DR on occasion, too. I get very tempted to write for Stardew Valley and Scott Pilgrim, and I have been. More than tempted to write CareBears stuff too. I'm in deep chat

4: Top five fics by kudos?

(Un)Lifetime Achievement Award, Take Your Secret Son to Work Day, Las Nevadas and the Frozen Fox, Alone I Began, and Of Lost Gods!

5: Do you respond to comments? Why/Why not?

For the most part yeah! I don't get too too much interaction and I just get!! So excited when I get comments! I love seeing what people say and I love to respond! But sometimes I don't, often cause I don't know what to say lol

6: What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

hmmm,,,good question! Probably Why Do I Cry? or maybe Famous Last Words? Gone are the Joys I Knew? I don't really know! I write a lot of sort of mopey sad fics ig LMAO

7: What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

mmmmmmm,,,,not sure for this, either! My Fundy Fluff Week stuff is all supposed to be sorta fluffy which is probably happy

8: Do you get hate on fics?

Not hate, per say, but comments on the accuracy of my characters, which kinda stabbed my ego a bit lol. It was a nice comment! But the way it was worded was so ouchie!

9: Do you write smut?

I've. Been tempted. As of right now I haven't, though!

10: Do you write crossovers?

Another one of me being tempted!! I haven't yet but I LOOOOVE to read them and so I'd love to write one sometime. (We aren't counting my old VLD Steven Universe au.)

11: Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so! Fingers crossed it hasn't happened lol I doubt it would

12: Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope! But if someone were to want to, I would say go ahead! Just send it to me so I can see :D sounds so cool!

13: Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Very recently was my first time doing a proper co-write/collab, which I did with my lovely friend Seven! I would love to do more they're so fun (and probably one of the only ways I'll easily end up writing a multichap KEKW)

14: What's your all-time favorite ship?

ouuuuu ive got a lot of pairings I really really cherish. Jercy my beloved, uhhh Valgrace is so silly, I like to consider myself one of The Kamuegi writers ever, and Pumpkinduo kind of holds an insanely special place in my heart

15: What's the WIP you hope to finish but doubt you ever will?

(Un)Lifetime Achievement Award as sad as it sounds. I love it so much and I'm so insanely proud of it and I love the story but there's soooo much planned and the person I was planning it with hasn't spoken to me in a while. I have hope that I'll finish it someday! Or at least get another two chapters out!

16: What are your writing strengths?

Uhhhhhhh,,,,I don't. actually know! I do a lot of flowery sentences ig? and I think I'm pretty good at angst and similar things

17: What are your writing weaknesses?

Making (and completing) multichap fics, getting ideas to write, finding the motivation to write, and I am definitely bad at planning things out in advance

18: Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I've done it pretty sparingly in the past, because I want to incorporate other languages and loooove language, but don't know any of them very well aside from English. But I try to do a lot of research before I add something in, and am 100% open and insistent that someone correct me if I messed up, or if there's another way to go about saying what I'm trying to say, or just to tell me more!

19: First fandom you wrote for?

Never published because I was a kid and it was. So Bad but !!! It was actually for the Minecraft Roleplay series Mary and Dad's Minecraft Adventure (MADMA) back around 2011-2013. I've been in mcrp hell for. a LONG time jesus christ

20: Favorite fic you've ever written?

ohhhh good question. Fullbury Records is very special to me and I'm ALWAYS thinking of what to add to that series, and (Un)Lifetime Achievement Award ofc is also very special to me. I think Heart to Heart is going places once I get back to writing the next chapter, too But I'm also veeeerrry proud of Famous Last Words, and it's very special to me as a projection piece LMAO

Tag time!!

@dyke420-69 @sparrowsong07 and anyone else who sees this and wants to do it lolol be sure to tag me so I can see :D

[depressedacadamia]

Drunken Dares

Prompt + paring: Tattoo Parlour au, ‘night’ + Solangelo 

A/N:  Hellooo- i had the choice between a tattoo parlour au or a flowershop au but I'm already writing a pjo flowershop au so I thought I'd spice it up with a tattoo parlour au! I kinda wanted there to be a part two becuase I wanted a bit of bonding between the two so maybe if i remember, that may happen? Anyway- enjoy  <3 from phi phi!

Read on A03         Writersmonth 2021       Masterlist

“Do I really have to do this?” Will groaned slightly. It was late at night and here Meg was, pushing him in a tattoo parlour.

“Yep!” She hummed as she pushed him forward.He tripped over his own foot as he flung through the double doors. He was about to continue reluctantly before realising the short minion who had forced him here was no longer by his side.

He turned around and frowned. “ Meg? Why aren’t you coming in?”

“I’m underage,” She hummed.

“You know you can just stand to the side?” Will asked, a slightly desperate undettone to his statement which Meg noticed. He was begging her not to leave him in the scary dark tattoo parlour which was full of buff, scary people.

“Sorry- but I must not break the law!”

“Last week you happily started trying to drive my car!” Will yelled at the glass doors. Alas, his yells were ignored as Meg blissfully ignored him as she continued her walk home, leaving William Andrew Solace in a tattoo parlour.

What was he meant to do?Walk up to the guy at the counter and tell him that he wanted a tattoo? He should have never gotten drunk and played truth or dare- he should have known that the first thing Leo would dare him would be to taint his beautiful freckled skin. The worst part ultimately was the fact that he had to get it on his chest.

Perhaps the gods above saw Will’s freak out or perhaps Leo was simply being extra nice when he saw Will in the middle of the parlour looking so out of place it was painful but either way, the next thing Will knew, he was being taken by the wrist towards the counter by none other than Leonidas Valdez; the very bastard who had gotten him into this mess.

“I’m surprised you actually came,” Leo commented.

“Meg forced me,” Will grunted.

“So,” Leo sighed as he tapped at the cigarette in between his fingers, “ Do you know what you’re getting?”

“Uhh… no, not really., How does this work? You tell them what you want and then they stab at your body with a needle?”

Leo let out a small scoff which had smoke billowing out of his lips and nose as if he was a chimney. “ No, darling- they shave, sanitise and then they stab at your body with a needle.”

“That made me feel so much better.”

Ignoring the evident sarcasm, Leo simply smiled. “ You’re welcome, blondie.”

Wil, ruffling at his hair, mumbled, “Shut up.”

Leo, who was significantly enjoying teasing Will, was cut off by Piper- one of the last people Will expected to see at the tattoo parlor. But on a second look, the tattoos on her abdomen spiraling up to her breasts and arms made Will wonder why he never noticed them.

“Oh Will- you’re actually here?” Piper's surprised voice rang out.

“Unfortunately.”

“Well the artist is ready for you,” Piper ushered him towards the dark room, only illuminated by the UV lights.

Will visibly gulped. Leo and Piper couldn’t help but interlock eyes and snort a little- after all, it was simply adorable at how nervous this newbire was.

Will took small steps and the second he passed the door, it slammed shut.

What the fuck- do the doors here have a mind of their own?

“Come in- take a seat,” A voice commanded. Will, who didn’t really have any choice but to listen to what he was being told, fumbled around, trying to figure out where he was meant to be going. It seemed that Will, in his internal chaos, did not notice the tattoo artist's leg propped up to the side and therefore, when Will finally did notice the leg- it had been the hard way.

He tripped and the next thing he knew, his wrist had made a new best friend. Bruised and swollen, Will’s wrist heavily ached- forcing him to let out a small groan of pain.

“Fuck, are you okay?” the voice rang out. Will heard a relative amount of fumbling and heavy footsteps and suddenly the room was flooded with light.

The face that he was met with was not one he was expecting. The boy had mid length hair- while it wasn’t really long, it was flowing over the nape of his neck slightly and it looked like it really got in the way of his eyes. He watched as the boy seperated the pieces of hair covering his eyes, creating an effortless look.

His face radiated an emotion that Will couldn’t describe- sadness? Or was it simply the face of someone who was content with little?

“Are you okay?” The man asked. Will watched- he had never seen such dynamic expressions and the way this man's face morphed into an expression of concern had him wrapt with all.

Will could only nod stupidly, his hand still clutching at his bruised wrist.

“Dya mind if I have a look at that anyway?” The artist insisted as he grabbed a med kit and sat on his spinning chair before wheeling himself towards Will who now sat on the chair that he was originally appointed.

He gently cradled Will’s wrist between his fingers, turning it round and round. His face contorted between emotion of worry and concern.

“It’s okay,” Will re-assured . “ It’s not sprained or broken, just a bit of bruising and swelling. Should be gone by tomorrow morning.”

“You sure?”

“I’m a doctor.”

“Ah,” He smiled slightly. “ I shouldn’t question you, Dr..?”

“Solace- but Will is fine. How about you?”

“Nico- Now let's have a look at what you want huh?” He closed the notebook he had been creating designs in before Will walked in and pulled out a collection of the most popular designs so far.

“These are the trending ones currently but I can always pull out something else if you want. Or if you have your own design that you wanted, I can try with it,” Nico offered. He pulled out a cigarette and flicked his lighter.- once, twice and a third time before grunting and pulling out a different one. Will watched, hypnotized, as Nico lit the cigarette.

Nico looked up and caught Will staring and shyly asked. “ You don’t mind do you?”

“No… but you should try and refrain from smoking. It’s really, really bad for you and I say this as a doctor.”

“You’re the 4th person today who has said that.”

“I’m alarmed that you managed to smoke that many times today,” Will said with concern.

Ignoring what Will had said, Nico continued. “Anyway, have you chosen anything yet?”

Will let out a heavy breath. “ Ah, no. My friends kinda forced me here but nothing here really matches… me.”

“What about this flower? Or the skull? “

Will shrugged. “ I don't think I’d want those on my skin permanently”

Nico nodded and continued smoking, while Will flipped through the latest designs. Nothing seemed to catch his eye as much as something he could have sworn he saw earlier. It was a stylised sun tatoo- nothing necessarily special but it reminded him of his mum- and his home.

“Excuse me,” Wil started, causing Nico to put his cigarette down in the ashtray, “ I was just wondering if the designs in that were available?”

Will pointed to the notebook That Nico had closed earlier. He watched as Nico hesitated. His face seemed to be stuck between wanting to let Will sneak a peek but it also seemed to want to tell him to stop.

However, his hand simply made up his mind and shoved the book across the table in Will’s direction.

Daintily, with the utmost care, Will opened the first page and his eyes almost watered at the immense detail and beauty poured into these designs. It looked like the heart and soul of the artist had been etched into every little petal, every small ray and eventually after gaping at each page he found the design he had spotted earlier.

The sun wasn’t special but it held Will’s eyes so much that Nico told him, “ Close your mouth. You’re practically drooling.”

“This one,” Will pointed to the stylised sun, “ I want this one.”

Nico scanned his eyes over it before humming and nodding. He put out his cigarette and got up.

“Where d'ya want it?”

“Chest- left side,” Will blurted out. He didn’t know why he wanted it there- perhaps because he wanted the thing that reminded him of his mother to be as close to his heart as possible.

Nico nodded as he prepared everything. Then he turned to Will. “ You realise you’ll need to take off your shirt?”

Will blushed and looked away as he started unbuttoning the top of his shirt. Meg had dragged him out of the hospital as soon as his shift had ended and thrown him into the tattoo parlour and therefore he was still wearing a crisp white shirt.

“Do I need to take off the whole thing?”

Nico took a quick look at Will. The sight that met his eyes was surprising- he used to seeing the chest of his clients but for some reason the sight of a very attractive and intelligent young man before him was very different. He seemed to be looking away as a blush graced his cheeks and ears. His shirt was unbuttoned just enough for Nico to see Will’s muscled chest.

How did a doctor have enough time to work out like that?

“Uh... just a bit more, I don’t want the needle to catch on the side of your shirt.” Nico reiterated, even though he was lying.

“Okay, so now, I'm just going to clean the area and then I’ll trace the sketch before tattooing it on. Do you want red or black?”

“Uh- you can choose,” Will sighed, desperate to get it done and over with.

Nico nodded. He slipped on some gloves and wiped at Will’s chest with an antiseptic. Will flinched at the cold wipe and the soft touch of the artist before him .

“Sorry,” Will murmured, “ It’s cold.”

Nico simply nodded as he began sketching the outline of the tattoo. Will tipped his head back, unable to meet the eyes of Nico ro even look at what was happening. He could feel the tickly touch of the pen on his skin and the soft brush of Nico’s glove on his skin every once in a while.

“All done. Now for the painful part. You may feel like you’re getting stung by a bee a lot,” Nico warned. “Try not move a lot, it will make it harder for me.”

Will, who couldn’t formulate words at this point, simply nodded. “I’d let you squeeze my hand, but unfortunately- I need both,” Nico smiled as reassurance.

He heard the buzzing of the gun and braced himself. The needle poked and prodded as he expected and at times he did wish he had stolen some morphine from the hospital beforehand but all in all, he managed to get the tattoo without bursting into tears and without ruining hids tattoo.

“All done,'' Nico said as he covered the tattoo.

“When do I get to see it?” Will asked, curiously, happier that it was over.

“In a few days- it just needs to sink in.”

Wil sat there, unsure of what to do next. He had paid and was now just sitting in an empty room with his tattoo artist. Was he meant to just say goodbye? Wasn't that kind of harsh?

But Will realised, had this been anybody else or any other appointment- he wouldn't want to be staying for any extra time. Did he want to be friends with this guy? Maybe it was that- yes, it would be that. As someone who was socially awkward, Will knew that he liked hanging out with people; he simply wasn't very good at it

Just as he was going to ask for his number, Nico passed him a slip of paper. “ Here’s my number. Call me when you’re free.”

With that and a wink, Will was left in the empty tattoo room.