minutia_r

Bold as Death, Hard as Hell (11563 words)

“It’s called the Rite of Passage. How it goes is, you pick out a guy. You get him to fall in love with you, and then …” Nayra paused dramatically, reflected candlelight shining in her eyes. “You break his heart.”

When Silena was dating Charles Beckendorf, she spoke against the Aphrodite Cabin’s Rite of Passage. Her sisters and brothers thought she’d never taken part in it, and some of them believed that she died for her disrespect for Aphrodite. But none of them knew about Silena and Clarisse, or the true story of how Silena came to betray the camp.

Oh my god you guys I finished my Silena fic, and it’s up and everything.

lotrspnfangirl did the graphics! Also there is a soundtrack.

(Also I feel that I should emphasize that this is not in any way a fix-it, so be prepared for, you know, canon events.)

This is something I posted on tumblr in response to something there. It got kind of long, and I figured I'd repost it here for anyone who's interested?

Okay, so, this is something I’ve thought about a lot, and apparently now is when I’m going to say it? Even though I don’t think I’m going to change anyone’s mind and I may piss people off.

Here we go: It really, really bugs me when some Nico fans act like any problems between Nico and Percy are all Percy’s fault for being a big meanie.

So let’s break it down:

Problems between Nico and Percy: things that are Percy’s fault

Percy: You should come back to Camp Half-Blood! You will be safe and accepted there!
Nico: Yeah, right, do you think anyone really wants the son of Hades around?
Percy: …

Okay, that one’s a fair cop. Not your most shining moment, Seaweed Brain.

Problems between Nico and Percy: things that are no-one’s fault

Nico’s unrequited crush on Percy

Unrequited crushes suck! But Percy does not owe Nico kisses.

Nico’s internalized homophobia

Absolutely not Nico’s fault. I have a hard time even beginning to imagine how it might be Percy’s fault.

When they first met, and Percy thought Nico was super annoying

In Nico’s defense: he’d just been initiated into a magical world, and met a dreamy hero! Of course he was excited! In Percy’s defense: Nico was legit super annoying. But the thing is, we mostly know that Percy thought Nico was annoying because of his internal monologue, not because he was rude or dismissive towards him. He was a lot nicer than, say, Harry Potter to Colin Creevey under similar circumstances.

Bianca’s death

Nico’s grief and anger are perfectly understandable. But I was actually really impressed with how Percy handled this; it would have been so easy for him to say, “Yes, I am a big hero, I will protect your sister,” especially with a couple of successful quests where no one died under his belt. But he was 100% upfront about the fact that he couldn’t guarantee Bianca’s safety, he could only do his best. And he did.

The way—especially towards the beginning of their relationship—Percy saw Nico more as a responsibility and someone to be protected than a friend and an equal

I can see how this would annoy Nico. Especially since Bianca’s resentment of having to be Nico’s caretaker was part of what led her to join the Hunters, Nico probably didn’t want anyone to feel this way about him ever again. But at the beginning Nico was really a lot younger and less experienced than Percy. And Percy didn’t owe Nico friendship any more than he owed him kisses.

When Percy thought Nico wanted to kill him

It was an understandable mistake! And the important thing is that even though Percy believed this he didn’t go out and attack Nico pre-emptively or anything like that; he just wanted to find him and work things out.

Problems between Nico and Percy: things that are Nico’s fault

When Percy thought that Nico had betrayed him to his father, and then attacked Nico when he came to rescue him

You mean, when Nico actually did betray Percy to his father? I mean, yeah, Nico didn’t want Percy hurt, and probably believed that he wouldn’t be, but still. Nico could have said, “Oh, hey, before we go to the Underworld, you should know, my dad wants a chat with you. I mean, it’s cool, he promised not to kill you, but I figured I should tell you before you’re bodily picked up by a fury and taken against your will to Hades’ palace. So you still want to go, or what?”

That would have been not betraying Percy. As it was—this one’s all on you, Nico.

1. It was Charles who had stupidly said want to bet? when Nirupam claimed that Charles went through thesis advisors faster than the store Nirupam worked at went through witch's costumes during Halloween season. "You probably charmed all the kids into buying six-shooters and cowboy hats instead, just because you can't bear losing."

"Tell me," said Nirupam, snapping the note back and forth a few times (next time Charles would pay him with an old fiver), "in all those psychology classes of yours, did you ever learn about something called projection?"

2. Shaken as he was--he was even whiter than usual around the mouth and the knuckles--he had the presence of mind to moderate his language in front of his daughter, who he was still holding on his hip. Reyna didn’t really see the point. Kids who grew up around Camp Jupiter tended to swear like legionnaires as soon as they could talk.

3. They burned Nayra’s shroud, even though she hadn’t been at camp for a year and a half, and her body would be returned to her father once the coroners had given up on making sense of it. It was just Silena, Drew, and Laurel in the Aphrodite cabin that winter; Silena held the torch. Afterwards--even though that sort of thing was seriously forbidden--Drew smuggled a brazier into the cabin, and they burned a hazelnut truffle for Aphrodite.

I'd have liked to have had the three WIPs be from three different fandoms, but . . . I could cheat and call PJO and HOO two different fandoms? I am where I am, fandom-wise.

Here is what I got for fic corner:

A Sister's Love by flipflop_diva (Heroes of Olympus)

In which Nico really needs a hug and Bianca and Hazel give him one. My heart melted a little. Set during Mark of Athena, very slight allusions to sibling incest.

On a path, two travellers meet by Aeriel (Darkangel Trilogy)

Darkangel trilogy fic! Aeriel/Sabr! And also there is Roshka!

And here is what I wrote for fic corner:

The Village Witch's Ginger Hero for Jenn_Calaelen (Chronicles of Chrestomanci)

Featuring Marianne, Marianne's crush on Irene Yeldham, and the Folk.

The Wine Bowl for kristin (Chronicles of Prydain)

Mostly about Taran's love for pottery, but also could be described as the one where Eilonwy feeds the Argonauts laver bread.