In House of Hades, Bob came for Percy but not Nico, who's supposed to have befriended him, in person.

Percy mentioned his name - he didn't even call - and Bob came jumping into Tartarus.

But he didn't assist Nico when he was half-dying (or had probably died and just self-resurrected with the DoD's absence) in there.

Why?

I don't think Bob, innocent and simple as he was, would refuse to help his friend.

So it means that Nico didn't call.

Huh. I wonder why.

Did he not call because he had been alone for so long that he'd forgotten? Did he not call because he didn't expect help, nor did he want it? Because he didn't want anyone he held dear to be in there, even when it meant being with him?

Oh. How lonely it must be to feel like that. You would go to the burning Hell for your friend, but you have no one to call when it's you who has fallen into one.

My dandelion, why did you forsake yourself.

the gays with small bob <3

you’ve heard of Percy “makes every immortal hate him by roasting them ceaselessly” Jackson now get ready for Nico “every immortal loves him for some reason” di Angelo

It's honestly wild to me that ToA went through so much trouble to emphasize the fact that Will did not magically fix all of Nico's problems and was explicitly not Nico's only doctor.

Only for TSATS to have Will fix all of Nico's problems and have Nico be entirely reliant on him the entire book and literally helpless without him and LITERALLY have Nico's problems be magically removed.

Listen when people say they want Percy to go on a villain arc most times I see it as they want him to go dark, want him to start murdering, maiming, going full Luke, etc. And I support that. If anyone deserves to kill people it's this kid.

However, let us be realistic for a moment, because I quite like the other alternative. Villain arc Percy usually entails "he's finally had enough of the Gods bullshit & will do things his own way". Let us think on this. What would Percy most likely do in this situation? Would it really be murder right off the bat?

I think he'd be the pettiest, annoying little shit there is. And because one can't usually threaten the Gods in a way that truly matters, but they can make them sweat really hard.

This goes beyond ignoring their calls and leaving them on read. He refuses to give food offerings unless it's the nastiest shit known to man. Bribes the cyclops into hucking huge objects up Mount Olympus before they all scurry off. Finds the olive tree Athena gave to Athens, and while he wouldn't have the heart to destroy it, he'd for sure rip off a branch & mail it to her (Annabeth nearly had to put them in witness protection).

Eventually it gets to the point he has Nico on speed-dial and offers him a shit ton of fast food & a 'get out of Percy's quest bullshit free' pass if he could hop into the Underworld and yoink up some annoying spirits or dead monsters to piss off the Gods. When the Gods get pissed at him Percy just silently pulls out some safe-for-demigods phone like "hang on I wanna see how many happy meals I owe Nico for bringing Typhon back up". They know he is not bluffing.

Could the Gods counteract him? Yeah, sure, Hera gave him amnesia and it was like 90% effective for a while. However, he kind of went off the rails, everyone else went off the rails, and then they had even more Roman nonsense to deal with. If anything it both solved but also made even more problems. And a much angrier Percy. So, frankly, they're very confident it could work, but they're a little worried about what the aftermath would be.

Ares suggests just killing him. Poseidon takes offense to this. Artemis scoffs and says even Ares couldn't beat him. Everyone stops for a moment. The question is not asked verbally. But it is seen in the darting eyes and shifting seats.

Can they kill Percy Jackson?

Well, sure, they must be able to. He's a powerful kid, no doubt, with powerful allies, but they are Gods. Of course they can kill him. So that's not the real question, they wouldn't dare really entertain such a thing to ever confirm if it was true, but this is rather the layer of frosting hiding the real atrocity of a cake underneath it.

What will they lose trying to kill Percy Jackson?

What will remain standing in the face of some 18-year-old who lived one of the hardest knocks of life, loves so much it makes them sick, is so completely unaware of his own strength not even they know its full extent, and currently has absolutely zero fucks to give about the end of a reign longer than he will ever understand?

They decide to quietly shut the lid on that whole fiasco and let Percy do whatever he wants.

Unfortunately, they can't exactly ignore everyone else. And everyone else is who Percy cares about the most. So, think of it more like leaving a grenade in a locked box in the attic. Just hope and pray you've moved out before something gets curious and starts rummaging around up there.

OKAY BOOK COVER REVEAL

Now, the description Rick gave in his blog might be worrisome:

But I think Will can survive. My theory is Nico will give up his powers. As much as I love him being the most powerful demigod, his powers are hurting him at this point so I wouldn't put it past Rick to have Nico give them up partially or even entirely.

I believe Will Solace can pull through!!!

Also:

𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕤.

Annabeth: The Stars sure are pretty tonight.

Rachel: Yeah.

Nico: Y’know what else is pretty?

All three of them: Percy Jackson.

Meme by @definetelysaidatua

Rereading the house of hades and realizing Bob mentioned how he misses the sun and the stars has me tearing up. “I would like to say hello to the stars again” my heart 😭😭😭😭

Nico visits Bon Dylan, Paris 1965

“I didn't know what to expect when we met. Bob Dylan was like a God to me. He spoke a lot that first time. He arrived in Paris where he stays with the French singer Hughes Aufray. At first, he's very open, then suddenly he will go back into his shell. He doesn't put himself out. And he never tries to change anyone. He accepts or rejects them as he expects them to treat him. He is scared of being alone. He could cut himself off and write even with a lot of noise around him. During the week we stayed together, he wrote many songs – including It Ain't Me, Babe.”

Just thinking about how Jason is loved by Camp Jupiter, Percy is loved by Camp Half-blood, and Nico is loved by troglodytes and a Titan.

Nico saying he and Bob were “melancholy about their mutual ‘friend’ Percy Jackson, who never seemed to remember they existed” HAS BROKEN MY HEART bc I don’t want this sentence to exist but he’s spitting facts ykno

guys u got percy genuinely apologizing to nico i am feeling unwell

i stand by that a better, more sensible, and more intriguing plot for TSATS would have been, instead of retconning literally everything:

Bob is dead (because he was very explicitly absorbed/killed by Tartarus Himself in House of Hades, alongside Damasen), and nobody is going into Tartarus to save him. He made his sacrifice and is gone. However. Remember how the Titans, including Bob, were just kind of kicking around for several years? Particularly. On a cruise ship full of mortals. And Bob happened to be kicking around in general for an extra year versus all the other Titans. And he mythologically sometimes has a mortal demigod son who partook in the Calydonian Boar Hunt (Dryas of Calydon). Yeah.

So turns out, Bob/Iapetus leaves behind a demigod (demititan?) child. And because Nico was pretty much his only friend, he named Nico his child's godfather. And while he's not being left in charge of the child, as a son of Hades and godfather to this kid, Nico is duty-bound to fulfill Bob's last will and go find this like 2 year old to make sure they're safe. So Nico has to undertake this very unusual quest (that raises many questions, such as "demititans are a thing?" and "DOES THIS MEAN THERE'S POTENTIALLY MORE-?!" and "SHOULD WE BE CONCERNED ABOUT THIS?") and is kind of freaking out because. He's the son of Hades! He's notoriously bad with living things, and animals, and definitely small children! Even if he does find this kid and assure they're safe, he is the last person who should be undergoing any kind of quest involving even potentially having to babysit. Fortunately, his boyfriend is the human embodiment of sunshine and calmness and good vibes, and also once helped a nymph give birth, so he feels Marginally More Confident in theoretical demititan babysitting and offers to come along on this Epic Journey of Figuring Out What In Hades' Name Is Up With This Demititan Baby Business.

Proceed with wholesome epic shenanigans quest of Nico and Will scurrying around trying to locate this random OP baby while Nico has an existential crisis about the nature of his powers because he doesn't want to let Bob down! Both for Hades Kid Honor Reasons and because Bob was his friend! But what if he's destined to fail this quest just because of who he is? Because he's simply not built for hanging out with the living/mortals? And Will reassuring him that He Will Probably Not Traumatize The Weird OP Titan Baby And It'll Be Fine, and simultaneously getting a peek into the weird other life Nico leads hanging out with immortals much more than the average demigod, which Nico considers his norm. Bonus shenanigans of both of them getting caught off-guard and culture shocked from where each other's respective worlds (Nico's mostly-immortal versus Will's mostly-mortal) cross over and learning to navigate those for each other - Nico finally starting to make some mortal connections and get glimpses at modern mortal American life, and Will trying not to get his brain literally incinerated while Nico's happily casually catching up with some of his old friends who happen to be literal gods.

I believe this is the German cover for the Sun and the Star (it’s on Mark’s insta story).

Some things I noticed (all very obvious lol):

-There is a cat?? Small Bob?

-Will has his hood up, so I’m just assuming that’s him. He’s not wearing open toed shoes! But he is wearing cargo shorts :( I love him so much.

-he’s smart enough to bring a bag to Tartarus! Nico, you should know better.

-Lowkey reminds me of Wizard of Oz, but…in hell.

-Birds 🦅

I’m so excited man