[image id: the first image is an anonymous ask that reads, “This kinda of spoiler but piper is sapphic, she got a gf in ton I-” and then cuts off. the second image is a digital drawing of piper mclean from the trials of apollo series with her girlfriend shel. they are two indigenous teenagers sitting down and holding hands with their heads resting against each other. piper is wearing a sweater with shorts, and shel is wearing a t-shirt with a skull design, a high-waisted belt and pants as well as bicep length black and white striped gloves. shel is also wearing thick black eyeliner along her entire eyelid and black lipstick to match, and has a pixie undercut. above them it says “gay rights piper!!!”. the third image is the same as the second, only without the words and overlaid with a warmer tone. end id]
I finished reading Tower of Nero and I’m so not-over how cute Solangelo are there. I desperately need that rumor about a Nico (and Will) -centric novel to be true
Nico di Angelo was ten years old when his life went to hell. He never felt so devastated, so ruined. The only person who cared about him, his family, his everything was gone.
Nico hated all of them. He hated sister for leaving him behind, as if he was nothing, just to die afterwards and leave him completely alone. He hated those stupid huntresses of Artemis for taking his sister away from him. He hated Annabeth Chase, whoever it was, for falling off the cliff and making them go on this quest. But most of all he hated him. Percy Jackson. The ultimate hero, so strong and cool. He hated everything about him. He let him down. Percy Jackson let his sister die.
It was already a month since Bianca left this world. A lonely, cold month. Grieve still strangled him. This month has passed in a blur.
Nico passed an empty street, not even bothering to lift up his head. Snow was falling from the white sky and Nico shivered slightly from the cold. He needs to find some warmer clothes.
The city clock struck twelve, sound cutting through the silence. Another day has come. As if Nico cared. Suddenly he stopped, absentmindedly looking at the date on the billboard. 28th January.
Nico titled his head. He didn’t even know his birthday was coming. He always loved his birthday, so excited to modestly celebrate it with Bianca. Bianca…
A lonely tear rolled down his cheek, followed by another. Nico didn’t bother to wipe them, letting them fall.
“Happy Birthday to me.” He said in a shaky voice, sitting in the snow right in the middle of the street. Nico buried his face in his palms, trying to quiet down choked sobs.
Nico di Angelo was eleven years old when he lost himself.
*
Nico di Angelo was eleven when he started to chase the dream of making his sister come back to life. He was obsessed with the idea, almost going mad in the company of hurt and angry ghosts.
Minos had promised him that he’ll see Bianca again. And Nico believed. What else he could do. He was alone. He was hurt.
Why can’t she talk to him? Why she doesn’t want to show up? She doesn’t want to see him. She despises him. She doesn’t want him.
Nico heard rustling sound under his boots. He picked up the newspaper, catching the date with his eyes. 1st February.
Well, another year passed. Nico didn’t care that he missed his birthday. But a little ache didn’t want to leave his heart as he remembered how Bianca smiled at him the day he turned ten.
And then, months later, she showed up, just to say him that he has to let go. Just to make Nico know that this plan wouldn’t work. Minos was a liar. He used Nico. His only hope was trampled.
Misery was what Nico felt. The weird, nasty feeling crawled up to his throat.
Aside from that, one image didn’t want to leave his mind. His face lived in his head, not wanting to leave. His stupid smile, green eyes, tousled hair. Why Nico keeps thinking of him?
Why did she want to talk to him, not Nico? This stupid guy, with his annoying grin made Nico want to- What?
Nico freezed, trying to finish this though. Did Nico want to kill him? Hurt him? No, it was something else. He felt weird every time he heard his name. Percy Jackson.
Nico di Angelo was twelve when he started to realize something about himself.
*
Nico di Angelo was twelve when he wanted to rip out his own heart. Abnormal, disgusting. He was sick of himself. He felt nauseous at the very thought of it.
It can’t be true, no. He’s mistaken.
He was lying on his bed at his father’s castle, staring at the ceiling. He couldn’t sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw his face. Those gorgeous green eyes, goofy smile, tousled black hair. His mind was ranting: Percy Jackson, Percy Jackson, Percy Jackson.
Nico felt like he was about to cry. Why is he like this? Is he broken?
He looked to the side, at his night table. A bouquet of red roses stood there. An hour ago Persephone strode to his room with these flowers and a weird expression on her face. She silently put them in a vase and went back to the door. She stopped there, turning her head a little to look at him.
“Happy Birthday.” Was what she said. Then she left.
So it was his birthday. He’s thirteen now.
Nico stared at the flowers, a little bit shocked. She remembered about his birthday. His father didn’t even bother to check up on him.
Hades only cared about their deal. Nico was very hesitant about that. But after all, he agreed.
He just thought that if he does that then maybe Percy would… Like him? But he didn’t.
Percy Jackson hated him. He screwed everything up. It was horrible. He had to fix it.
So he did the best thing he could. He had to prove to Percy, to his father, to everyone that he is worth something. He was just a kid and the battle was scary. He was scared. But he was a hero.
Everyone respected him, some people wanted to be his friends. He even wanted to stay at camp. Nico was happy but only for a moment.
Days after the battle the whole camp started talking about how Percy and Annabeth finally kissed and got together.
Nico left without a warning. Not like he had anyone to warn. Not like anyone cared.
Nico di Angelo was thirteen when his heart was broken.
*
Nico di Angelo was thirteen when Percy Jackson had gone missing. Annabeth Chase went feral. And Nico promised to help. Of course he did.
He was actually worried. What could happen to him? Nico only knew that Percy was alive. It was somewhat reassuring.
Something bad was about to happen. Nico knew it. New demigods at Camp Half-Blood. One of them is a son of Zeus. That was a bad sign.
And now that Nico knows about romans…
Today was 28th January. His birthday. He already got used to ignore this day. Nico just marked the fact that he was fourteen now.
The door of his room swung open. Nico sat up on his bed, seeing his father in his usual black robes.
He stood there in silence for a minute or so, awkwardly staring at his son.
“Um, did you want something?” Nico said, nervously fumbling with the ring on his finger.
“Yes.” Hades came closer to his bed. “Well, not really. It’s just…” Lord of the Underworld sat on the corner of Nico’s bed. “It’s your birthday.”
Nico blinked, processing what his father was trying to say.
“Yeah, I know. Thank you for reminding me.” He finally said, scowling at his father. Like he ever cared about Nico anyway. “If that’s all you wanted to say-“
“No.” Hades looked strangely awkward. “You made me proud this year, you know?”
Nico’s eyes widened. Was his father trying to praise him?
“I wanted to say that I’m… Grateful. You made me make right choice. And what I said about you before… I’m sorry.”
Nico was more than shocked at this point. He felt awkward and Hades didn’t look better.
“Anyway, I vaguely know that mortals usually make gifts for the day one came from mother’s womb. And I thought that maybe you should spend time with your… peers?”
“What are you trying to say, dad?”
Hades took a deep breath, as if he was nervous.
“I want to give you a present. So that you will be able to go wherever you want, in those places where teenagers usually spend time.”
“You want to give me a car?” Nico asked, puzzled.
“No, you’re too young for that. I’ll give you a chauffeur, he’ll be helping you go to the mall or something. Because, well… I’m not able to do it for you.”
Nico blinked again, titling his head to the side.
“A chauffeur?”
Hades looked embarrassed for a moment. Then he put on a stern expression, standing up.
“Objections are not accepted. You should be grateful.” He strode off to the door. Then he stopped. “Happy Birthday, son.” He closed the door, leaving Nico alone in the dark room.
Nico di Angelo was fourteen when he received his first birthday present.
*
Nico di Angelo was fourteen when he met him. Will Solace.
It felt like a dawn after long, cold night. Will was his blessing, his salvation. And Nico didn’t know what did he do to deserve someone like Will.
They’ve been dating for a couple of months, wonderful, amazing months. And Nico was genuinely thankful for everything Will had done to him.
Nico woke up at the knock on his door, blinking through the gloom of Hades cabin. He didn’t know if it was morning already, because black curtains prevented any gleam of sunshine from crawling into his cabin.
Still, Nico knew exactly that it was early and he knew exactly who was outside, because there was only one person in this world who dared to wake him up.
Nico got out of bed and staggering came to open up the door.
Will Solace stood on the threshold. He was wearing his usual winter jacket and a scarf, a blinding smile on his face. He seemed to be particularly happy today and, judging by the flush on his face, he was running.
“Hey, Neeks.” He ruffled his hair and came in, closing the door behind him as Nico shivered from the cold winter air.
“Good morning.” Nico mumbled, still half asleep. “What time is it?”
“7 a.m.”
“Why did you need to wake me up so early?”
Will looked him in the eyes, taking Nico’s cold hand with his warm one, which is weird, considering Will was the one who had a walk on winter air.
“Do you know what day it is?” He looked excited.
“Um, no, to be honest. I don’t pay attention to the calendar.” Nico sat down on his bed, wrapping himself in a blanket.
Will looked shocked.
“Are you serious?! I mean… It’s 28th January!”
Nico’s brain needed a moment to process what exactly Will wanted from him.
“Yeah. So?”
“So?! It’s your birthday!”
Nico sighed.
“Guess I’m fifteen now. That also explains this.” He pointed to his bedside table, where black envelope was perched on the top of black box. “Probably from my father.”
Will looked at him, then at the envelope.
“So, like… Happy Birthday.”
“Thank you.” Nico got up again, reaching for the box. “Now go so I can change.”
“Ok.” Will strode off to the door, a strange expression on his face. Though Nico didn’t pay much attention to it.
Nico opened the envelope. There was a thick wad of money and an invitation for a dinner. Nico will come, of course, but not today. In the box lay watches and a book in Italian.
The day went by as usual. Nico had a walk in the woods with Will before breakfast, then they were busy with their camp activities.
In the evening, right before they were about to go to the campfire, Will took his arm and told him.
“How about we won’t go to the campfire today?”
“But you like-”
“I don’t need to go there everyday. Especially today. Come to your cabin in twenty minutes.” And he hastily strode off in the direction of the cabin thirteen.
Nico came in after twenty minutes to be met with dozens of candles around his room. Will was standing in front of him, holding a cake with fifteen lighted candles perched on it.
“Make a wish.” He whispered as Nico came closer.
Nico looked him in the eyes and didn’t know what to say. So he just did what he was told. Will smiled brighter.
“I baked it myself.” He said proudly. “Well, Cecil helped me.”
He put the cake on the table, now fumbling in his pockets.
“I have something for you, actually.” He said, pulling out a small box from his pocket. “I don’t know if you’re going to like it but…”
Nico didn’t hear what Will was saying as he opened the box with trembling hands. He pulled out a sun pendant on a thin gold chain. The sun looked just like the tattoo on Will’s shoulder.
Nico couldn’t hold back a tear that rolled down his cheek. Will watched him attentively, stopping his ranting when he saw it.
“Nico, what’s wrong-”
The next thing Will knew, pale arms was wrapped tightly around him, Nico’s face buried in Will’s chest.
“Thank you.” Nico said in a small, shaky voice before pulling back. He placed the sun pendant on his palm, watching it glisten in the candle light. Tears still rolled down his cheeks.
Will looked at him, his eyes filled with warmth and understanding. He always understood. His sunshine was so alone, for so long. All Will wanted was to make him happy.
Will moved to embrace Nico in a tight hug, kissing the top of his head and then lifted his head with long, gentle fingers on his chin.
“I love you so much.” He said. “You’re such an amazing person. You’re brave, gorgeous, smart, brilliant. Beautiful.” He wiped the tear from Nico’s cheek. “I will love you with all my might. I promise.”
And with that he gently kissed Nico, making him smile while the tears of joy kept rolling down his cheeks.
“I love you, Will.”
Nico di Angelo was fifteen when he found his happiness.
Soooooo, I’m alive guys! sorry for the lack of posting! I’l try to be more active again on tumblr!!!!! by the way, let’s start the year with…a Solangelo mini-comic ( an old one that my lovely Patrons already saw)! I’ve kept this comic as much as generic as possible, so I don’t spoil anything from the Trials of apollo saga. - -
- - ‼️‼️‼️ SO, if you haven’t read the books you should skip the explanation below ‼️‼️‼️:
This comic is set between the end of The Burning Maze and Tower of Nero (before Apollo comes back to camp half-blood). after learning Jason’s Death, Nico was so hurt and sad. So, this is a moment in which Will tries to comfort him .
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I’ve made also a full process video of coloring a full page of this comic! You can find it on my patreon page with the Onigiri Tier ! If you like what i do and would like to see this kind of content before anyone else, please consider to support me on patreon (https://www.patreon.com/alessiatrunfio) !
Ok so in Tower of Nero, when Apollo and Nico and Will visit Rachel in Brooklyn, she mentions her weird neighbors who live in a mansion that Apollo can’t see and occasionally has penguins on the front desk. Remind you of anything?
That’s right, the Kanes are Rachel’s neighbors. This has so much great crossover potential, I love it.
I LOVE THIS IDEA WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME THIS SOONER WE NEED A CROSSOVER
“Will Solace strode confidently across the room, barking “Out of my way!” to the Germani. He marched straight to Nico and helped the son of Hades to his feet. Then he dragged Nico back to the entrance. No one tried to stop them.”
This is because I’ve been really into conspiracy videos recently but technically hollow earth is cannon in the riordanverse. Like in the tower of Nero they meet the troglodytes which is proof that there’s a bunch of tunnels under the earth and even entire population of lizard people (which is a conspiracy theory in and of itself). Some interpretations of hollow earth is that it’s completely hollow and that there’s an entire world under us (which in some way could be Tartarus ?? That’s only if it’s actually underground and not just another realm). Other interpretations are that there’s massive tunnels that have another species living in them (in pjo’s case the troglodytes).
Basically what I’m trying to say is that things that happen in the riordanverse are conspiracy theories in our world which is really funny to me for no reason.
Like for example giants and even seeing visions in dreams and being able to travel in your dreams.
(Also the triumvirate is lowkey kinda what we theorize the Illuminati is so there’s that)
Lester stans are either new to the social media side of the fandom and in a sense, new to the pjo fandom itself- or have been on pjo insta/tumblr etc for years and resonate their 12 year old self with him. Sure in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd book he’s an egotistical, immature child who would rather children die than come to terms with his mistakes; by the end he’s deeply wised and saddened by their loss and has become a responsible, respectful person actually capable of strong empathy. Part of you might miss childhood, or maybe you lost someone important to you.
I’m going to be honest, it was hard to do this but that is because you guys stick to yourselves and don’t tend to participate in pointless discourse such as whether Nico is gay or not *news flash hes very, very gay* and for that I have a lot of respect for you.
However, you tend to get hated on by the fandom a lot especially those die hard HOO stans (ironic since when HOO came out pjo tumblr/insta hated on the seven just the same). You seem like an animal person and maybe you feel misunderstood.
You definitely have a great sense of humour even if people mistake your sarcasm for honesty. Your favourite book is Tower of Nero and you ship Solangelo and sometimes Caleo .
rick riordans books are children’s books that somehow have the most interesting and inspiring themes and most intricate plot lines and that’s why I love them so much. they are some of the greatest books out there and have grown to include so much representation and reading them has inspired me so much. I will forever be thankful for rick and this world he created.
bruh ever think about the fact that Apollo is now canonically a caring, compassionate god that is fully invested in the lives of his demigod friends and children. I mean I tend to pick and choose what I consider to be canon BUT I AM FULLY ON BOARD WITH THIS.
Cue him absolutely spoiling Nico and Will at every given opportunity aND BEING AN OFFICIAL (albeit weird af) FATHER FIGURE AND WANTING TO BE INVOLVED IN THEIR EVERY LITTLE MILESTONE YES PLS GIMME FANFICS
i keep imagining cinematic flashes between these really intense sequences in tower of nero and then percy, annabeth, and grover just obliviously jamming out on a super fun road trip to california
i just love how during tower of nero sometimes there will just be scenes where “nico squeezed will’s hand” and “will squeezed nico’s hand” when it wasnt even stated beforehand that they were holding hands, so in conclusion, if its not stated just assume will and nico are holding hands
Things about Tower of Nero that I want to highlight to remember them forever:
Lu being an absolute badass woman, I just love her too much
Piper McClean being canon wlw, she was actually kissing another girl, we really fell in love in october
Chaos being canonically female (just chaos being mentioned as a deity rather than what’s below tartarus)
nobody DIED, like no one on the good side at least?? yes plenty of beings have died throughout TOA, but nobody died in TON?? so many died in TLO and BOO, I expected to mourn someone and I didn’t have too??! it made me so happy
solangelo. that’s it. solangelo makes me happy.
will being incredibly supportive of nico, and instead of stopping him, going with him on dangerous adventures because he doesn’t want to leave him alone. also them treating Nico’s PTSD for what it is
WILL SOLACE CANONICALLY GLOWS IN THE DARK. HE’S A GLOWSTICK BABY.
also will just appearing at the gates of the throne room, glowing in rage because someone touched his boyfriend (and tried to kill his dad), and him just marching through everyone (everyone else letting him), just to pick up his hurt precious boyfriend and take care of him.
meg McCaffrey got her happy ending. she’s baby, she deserves her family and her happy ending. also Lu being the mother and the 12 children being siblings?? that’s one hell of a way to tell nero to fuck off and right his mistakes. we love meg.
dionysus being the best olympian after apollo. the duo content we needed, and now will never get
nico mentioning bob and how he wants to go look for him, because he can still be in tartarus
rachel still being a Total badass and hitting people in the eye with her blue hairbrush thus being iconic
meg acting as lester’s anchor and only reason why he didn’t let go of the ledge, not falling into chaos, is top tier ‘reasons why I cried reading’, because if you think about it, Meg is the first ever friend apollo ever had, and them being best friends is everything to me
also apollo choosing to go looking as lester rather than apollo because lester feels like home is on top tier 'reasons why I cried reading’ too
again, the only thing apollo did in the end (once he was god again) that could be described as 'godly’ was be in several places at once, fly his chariot, and get meg her unicorn
but apollo shooting fucking fire out of his hands is crazy asf, it was so cool. he really got amazing godly powers this book.
rick being bold enough to showcase abusive parenting knowing that a huge porcentage of his readers are minors, helping many realize that they could be in abusive households, and giving them a tool to reach out for help
apollo defeating nero was so satisfactory, because you realize in the end, that nero wasn’t really a monster, he was monstrous, but still very much human (if only with some godly power), and pretty useless once he couldn’t hide behind props and weapons, his being wasn’t powerful, he was just under layers of protection
the jackson/blofis scene was so warm and loving, they really are willing to put their family in danger, baby estelle in danger, to help 'percy’s friends’ even tho she knew percy didn’t like apollo, but she still takes in everyone who needs help, and paul being a loving and accepting husband
sally working on her SECOND novel, she really is having her best life
none of the big heroes from other series having protagonism, besides nico and will, instead giving the other kids from camp halfblood their chance to show they’re just as worthy as the “heroes of olympus”
(still I would have loved to see a scene with everyone else, like the heroes of olympus guys, fighting together one last time, just for nostalgia’s sake - I legit hoped to see percy and annabeth arriving with chiron in triumvirate tower, but yeah)
the arrow of dodona may have been a dumb, cringey, and slightly ridiculous thing at first, and I personally rolled my eyes everytime it said anything, but it knew what would happen from the start, and without its sacrifice, apollo would have achieved nothing. we stan one arrow
nico wearing a white cowboy hat. idky but it makes my heart swell with joy. he a gay cowboy
y'all know I love Apollo’s arch, and I just gotta point this out. his trials, his time as lester, started with him falling to earth, and ended with him getting up after purposely throwing himself off the earth, towards tartarus, almost falling to chaos. that’s really clever writing.
the olympians watching over him, and some actually being concerned for him rather than his progress.
poseidon not really giving a fuck about the world or council meetings anymore because percy’s not there anymore
athena being the only one apart from artemis who trusted apollo could do it makes me warm fsr
lester deciding that the best way to retell his adventures is by singing is hilarious to me, he really thinks it’ll solve everything
Grover not telling percy and annabeth jason died seems so funny to me, he really said “nah it doesn’t matter much, field trip, yes”
“hey man” my heart broke in twenty million pieces. like I don’t know where I expected to see jason. but that wasn’t it. and it hurt me as much as it hurt apollo man.
(also I kinda hoped we would see nico summon his spirit or smth, but I’m actually happy nico realized that jason went by his own choice, and he was in peace, so he decided not to summon him, because it was alright. that hurt too)
kinda love how lester passes out after literally every battle. it reminds you that even tho he’s apollo, his body isn’t. I’m sure we all would pass out too if we did a quarter of what lester did in the span of 4 days. his body isn’t made to endure that, it doesn’t even have a halfblood endurance, it’s a weak mortal body
the trogs were fucking hilarious. their screeches and grrs, idk there’s something ridiculous and so childish about them, it’s so fun
really happy that apollo never had a /real/ love interest (reyna doesn’t count), cause that wasn’t what his story was about. instead he got to make so many friends, and have quality time with them and his children, it’s amazing
apollo being thankful people were telling him he’d grown, and was more human, because he realized that was the best thing he could have learned from his time as a mortal
also him saying fuck you man to zeus and his speech, like “no asshole dad, I did learn, I’m not going to see this as punishment, it was a great time in which bad things happened but I enjoyed it.” yes, we love apollo not letting zeus win
getting to see what everyone will do now. nico and will figuring out rachel’s prophecy, probs saving bob. rachel living her best life away from her parents. leo doing what leo does, always helping those who have no one else. the hunters’ open storyline about this fox, possibly hinting at content? piper settling down in a quiet life is what she deserves tbh, she’s earned quiet life with a cute gf, wish her the best. Frank and hazel being the best praetors, and I bet they will continue to be so. And annabeth and percy, who chose their happiness over all, at last
kinda wish we got to see someone still really miss jason after apollo becomes god again tho lmao like apollo missed jason more than the others, nico and piper being the exception. I mean, leo is fine and dandy, hazel and frank are okay, percy and annabeth are done mourning… I just we got to see any of them really mourning, rather than reading they mourned. it would have made it feel more emotional
the last conversation and the last words in general. “the sun always comes back” and “we’re friends now. call on me. I’ll be there for you” that shit got me sobbing my heart out. rick really managed to do right by the books and end it like he should have, unlike BOO. he took what made TLO good and used a similar formula. it’s very different from “and for once I didn’t look back”, but it still fills you with warmth and the feeling that even though it’s over, it’s okay.
I’m just really emotional, this is all I can think about, but you bet I’m gonna add more when I remember
okay but my favorite thing so far in ToN besides Solangelo???
the fact that Dionysus and Nico have this bond to talk about Nico’s mental health.
I don’t know why but i just love this duo so much. i love that despite how “rude” Mr. D sounds, he’s still here to take care of a camper’s mental health. he might not like them, but he’s not going to watch them suffer like this.
i just love that so much. im not saying Mr. D is like a GREAT person, but I appreciate that he’s taking the time and being patient with Nico, because being the god of insanity, i’m sure he understands the stress that someone with PTSD can go through.
speaking of PTSD, i am actually really happy to see that Riordan included Nico’s mental health issues after tartarus. im REALLY glad he included that and im glad Nico’s getting the support he needs.
