Nico is the definition of “strict parents/teachers/authority figures only make sneaky kids/teenagers”. Nico is a teenage degenerate. He’s finally living his best life without the worry of being cruelly punished.
Nico has complete disregard for the camp rules. (And rules overall in general). He does whatever he wants whenever he wants. Part of it is because he doesn’t really consider himself to be a camper because he never truly feels like he belongs there. Part of it is because camp halfblood has the cushiest and weakest punishments compared to every other school he’s ever been to. (1930s Italian military school was the harshest and Westover wasn’t all that nice either).
Genuinely he does not care about getting caught. And when he does get caught it’s no big deal. He’s great at lying on the fly and coming up with actual good believable cover stories because of his upbringing. He’s used to having to lie to authority figures for his own and Bianca’s safety. He usually gets away with stuff. But even when he doesn’t it’s no big deal.
Oh he has to scoop poop out of the Pegasus stables because he was caught hanging out outside after curfew? No problem, scooping poop is a walk in the park compared to the punishments dealt to him in childhood for lesser defiances. He’ll just make the skeletons scoop the poop anyway.
Oh he doesn’t get any desert and has to wash the dishes because he sat at his friends table at dinner instead of the Hades table? No problem, the dishes aren’t that bad and he could make the skeletons do it anyway.
Even if he has to do it himself with Chiron there watching him that’s still not that bad of a punishment compared to the literal physical and psychological torture he got for punishment as a kid.
Also back in that day nobody knew the dangers of drinking and smoking so Nico probably has a very normalized view on it and possibly drinks and smokes on occasion. (It wasn’t discovered until the 1960s that that stuff could be dangerous). Probably a lot of adults around him as a kid smoked and drank a good bit all the time and Nico just grew up thinking that was always normal. He grew up in the age where parents were giving their kids spoonfuls Brandy (alcohol) when they were sick to make them sleep. And Nico’s generation of kids grew up to give their own kids brandy when they’re sick and just told them it was cough medicine.
Nico has been caught stealing from Dionysus’s cellar several times. He claims the stuff helps him sleep it makes the nightmares seem less real (it kinda does at first but he eventually build up a tolerance and keeps stealing it but he won’t ever tell anyone that). He’s also been caught stuff that is clearly not from Dionysus’s cellar nobody knows how he got it (walks into any store with alcohol discretely slips a couple bottles into his giant jacket pockets and walks out all smooth and calm like.
(Shoplifts a bunch of other stuff too he’s never been caught lifting stuff from stores).
He somehow scores several packs of cigarettes every time he goes to the mortal world. Nobody knows how he’s getting them. (He’s using his dream powers to put the clerks to sleep and unlocking the thing himself and grabbing a whole bunch to shove in his jacket pockets and dips.)
Nico is giving himself eyebrow and lip piercings with sewing needles and ice. Nico is getting tattoos and drawing with markers all over his body until he can get said tattoos. He is swearing like a sailor (as long as there aren’t any adults or small children around). He’s a great actor. That “polite and distinguished gentleman” act that he was taught growing up? 99% of it is just an act.
He’s a classic teenage dirtbag and I wish more people would acknowledge that.
Rise is really good with how they handle the character’s relationships even in the smallest moments
Raph: Dad!?
Mikey: Draxum!?
Donnie: April!?
Leo:…Foot Recruit?
In Battle Nexus New York when Splinter, Draxum, April & Cassandra break free of the orb each Turtle yells out a different name & the name they call out actually has a lot behind it (at least for Raph, Mikey & Donnie)
Raph’s relationship with Splinter is a little complicated, as the eldest son Splinter put a lot of responsibility on Raph but Raph constantly wants to make Splinter proud. Raph’s shown to worry about making Splinter disappointed & was the one who convinced his brothers to take the Hamato training seriously for Splinter’s sake. He’s also the one who learned the most about Splinter’s past being the one who saw the memory of Splinter loosing his mother.
Mikey is the one closest to Draxum, the boy practically carried Draxum’s redemption on his back. Mikey was the first one who acknowledged Draxum’s place in the family as the boys creator & is the one who pushes Draxum to make connections with the other members of the family as well.
Donnie & April are best friends, Donnie trusts April enough to be vulnerable with her about his insecurities & April believes in Donnie to the point where he’s one of the first people she goes to for help as seen when she calls him for help when the Albearto at her work place breaks down. There have been a few Donnie & April solo episode together which really show how much they trust & believe in each other as well as how comfortable they are around each other as well.
Leo calling out Foot Recruit I think is just the writers having a bit of fun over the fact that before Karai appeared & Foot Recruit was revealed to be the Rise version of Casey, so many people thought that Foot Recruit was going to end up being the Rise version of Karai so whenever writers did Q&A’s on twitter a near constant question that was asked was when would Leo & Foot Recruit interact or if they would have an episode together ect so I think Leo calling out Foot Recruit was the writers doing a little nod to the people who kept on asking for Leo & Foot Recruit interaction.
Though Leo did end up being the sensei to Cassandra’s kid so they must have ended up friends at some point
May 28, 2024 - Protesters against the Israeli genocide of the Palestinian people attacked the Israeli embassy in Ciudad de México, and the lines of riot police protecting it, with flares and molotov cocktails. [video]
The Smiths, The Cure, Alex G, Mac DeMarco, TV Girl, Artic Monkeys, Current Joys, Mitski, Kate Bush, McCaffrey.
Leo listens to what is considered male manipulator music and his brothers absolutely make fun of him for it but it's not his fault male manipulators make good music okay??!
He also listens to Mitski because Reasons
MIKEY
Beyoncé, Doja Cat, Shakira, Rihanna, Megan Thee Stalyon, Tyler the Creator, the Hamilton soundtrack, the Heathers soundtrack, the Mean girls soundtrack, the Dear Evan Hanson soundtrack
I'm pretty sure he mentioned Beyoncé in the beginning of the movie so I just ran with that, also he's a theater kid through and through andyou can't convince otherwise
RAPH
Drake, Eminem, The Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar, Mindless Self Indulgence, The Offspring
Since he mentioned Drake in the beggining of the movie I also just ran with it and I feel like once he meets Casey his gonna start listening to more punk music
The Panthers used to ride around and follow the police.
So the cops would pull over some sorry black person, and get ready to rough him up, but then there were the Panthers right behind them. Watching, armed to the teeth, and citing legal statutes. It’s inspirational.