Set Of Holographic Stickers Dedicated To The Holy Trinity.

I bet the person who said to the TV Producer “Hey, let’s let the unknown guy from Kazakhstan go first. How bad could that turn out?” got fired so hard for this. Turn on the sound. You will NOT regret it. For those who don’t know, this is a singing competition in China in 2017. They brought in the best singers around China and decided to bring in a “Wild Card” to spice up the competition. That wild card was Dimash Kudaibergen. No one was ready for him. And the look of absolute SHOCK on the other contestants faces is a joy.

It doesn’t matter that Harry is gone. People die everyday. Friends. Family. Yeah, we lost Harry tonight but he’s still with us, in here! And so is Fred. Remus. Tonks. All of them.

SO HERE IS THE WHOLE STORY (SO FAR).

I am on my knees begging you to reblog this post and to stop reblogging the original ones I sent out yesterday. This is the complete account with all the most recent info; the other one is just sending people down senselessly panicked avenues that no longer lead anywhere.

IN SHORT

Cliff Weitzman, CEO of Speechify and (aspiring?) voice actor, used AI to scrape thousands of popular, finished works off AO3 to list them on his own for-profit website and in his attached app. He did this without getting any kind of permission from the authors of said work or informing AO3. Obviously.

When fandom at large was made aware of his theft and started pushing back, Weitzman issued a non-apology on the original social media posts—using 

his dyslexia; 

his intent to implement a tip-system for the plagiarized authors; and 

a sudden willingness to take down the work of every author who saw my original social media posts and emailed him individually with a ‘valid’ claim,

as reasons we should allow him to continue monetizing fanwork for his own financial gain.

When we less-than-kindly refused, he took down his ‘apologies’ as well as his website (allegedly—it’s possible that our complaints to his web host, the deluge of emails he received or the unanticipated traffic brought it down, since there wasn’t any sort of official statement made about it), and when it came back up several hours later, all of the work formerly listed in the fan fiction category was no longer there. 

THE TAKEAWAYS

1. Cliff Weitzman (aka Ofek Weitzman) is a scumbag with no qualms about taking fanwork without permission, feeding it to AI and monetizing it for his own financial gain; 

2. Fandom can really get things done when it wants to, and 

3. Our fanworks appear to be hidden, but they’re NOT DELETED from Weitzman’s servers, and independently published, original works are still listed without the authors' permission. We need to hold this man responsible for his theft, keep an eye on both his current and future endeavors, and take action immediately when he crosses the line again. 

THE TIMELINE, THE DETAILS, THE SCREENSHOTS (behind the cut)

Sunday night, December 22nd 2024, I noticed an influx in visitors to my fic You & Me & Holiday Wine. When I searched the title online, hoping to find out where they came from, a new listing popped up (third one down, no less):

This listing is still up today, by the way, though now when you follow the link to word-stream, it just brings you to the main site. (Also, to be clear, this was not the cause for the influx of traffic to my fic; word-stream did not link back to the original work anywhere.)

I followed the link to word-stream, where to my horror Y&M&HW was listed in its entirety—though, beyond the first half of the first chapter, behind a paywall—along with a link promising to take me—through an app downloadable on the Apple Store—to an AI-narrated audiobook version. When I searched word-stream itself for my ao3 handle I found both of my multi-chapter fics were listed this way:

Because the tags on my fics (which included genres* and characters, but never the original IPs**) weren’t working, I put ‘Kara Danvers’ into the search bar and discovered that many more supercorp fics (Supergirl TV fandom, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor pairing) were listed.

I went looking online for any mention of word-stream and AI plagiarism (the covers—as well as the ridiculously inflated number of reviews and ratings—made it immediately obvious that AI fuckery was involved), but found almost nothing: only one single Reddit post had been made, and it received (at that time) only a handful of upvotes and no advice. 

I decided to make a tumblr post to bring the supercorp fandom up to speed about the theft. I draw as well as write for fandom and I’ve only ever had to deal with art theft—which has a clear set of steps to take depending on where said art was reposted—and I was at a loss regarding where to start in this situation.

After my post went up I remembered Project Copy Knight, which is worth commending for the work they’ve done to get fic stolen from AO3 taken down from monetized AI 'audiobook’ YouTube accounts. I reached out to @echoekhi, asking if they’d heard of this site and whether they could advise me on how to get our works taken down.

While waiting for a reply I looked into Copy Knight’s methods and decided to contact OTW’s legal department:

And then I went to bed.

By morning, tumblr friends @makicarn and @fazedlight as well as a very helpful tumblr anon had seen my post and done some very productive sleuthing:

@echoekhi had also gotten back to me, advising me, as expected, to contact the OTW. So I decided to sit tight until I got a response from them.

That response came only an hour or so later: 

Which was 100% understandable, but still disappointing—I doubted a handful of individual takedown requests would accomplish much, and I wasn’t eager to share my given name and personal information with Cliff Weitzman himself, which is unavoidable if you want to file a DMCA.

I decided to take it to Reddit, hoping it would gain traction in the wider fanfic community, considering so many fandoms were affected. My Reddit posts (with the updates at the bottom as they were emerging) can be found here and here.

A helpful Reddit user posted a guide on how users could go about filing a DMCA against word-stream here (to wobbly-at-best results)

A different helpful Reddit user signed up to access insight into word-streams pricing. Comment is here.

Smells unbelievably scammy, right? In addition to those audacious prices—though in all fairness any amount of money would be audacious considering every work listed is accessible elsewhere for free—my dyscalculia is screaming silently at the sight of that completely unnecessary amount of intentionally obscured numbers.

Speaking of which! As soon as the post on r/AO3—and, as a result, my original tumblr post—began taking off properly, sometime around 1 pm, jumpscare! A notification that a tumblr account named @cliffweitzman had commented on my post, and I got a bit mad about the gist of his message :

Fortunately he caught plenty of flack in the comments from other users (truly you should check out the comment section, it is extremely gratifying and people are making tremendously good points), in response to which, of course, he first tried to both reiterate and renegotiate his point in a second, longer comment (which I didn’t screenshot in time so I’m sorry for the crappy notification email formatting):

which he then proceeded to also post to Reddit (this is another Reddit user’s screenshot, I didn’t see it at all, the notifications were moving too fast for me to follow by then)

... where he got a roughly equal amount of righteously furious replies. (Check downthread, they're still there, all the way at the bottom.)

After which Cliff went ahead & deleted his messages altogether. 

It’s not entirely clear whether his account was suspended by Reddit soon after or whether he deleted it himself, but considering his tumblr account is still intact, I assume it’s the former. He made a handful of sock puppet accounts to play around with for a while, both on Reddit and Tumblr, only one of which I have a screenshot of, but since they all say roughly the same thing, you’re not missing much:

And then word-stream started throwing a DNS error.

That lasted for a good number of hours, which was unfortunately right around the time that a lot of authors first heard about the situation and started asking me individually how to find out whether their work was stolen too. I do not have that information and I am unclear on the perimeters Weitzman set for his AI scraper, so this is all conjecture: it LOOKS like the fics that were lifted had three things in common:

They were completed works;

They had over several thousand kudos on AO3; and

They were written by authors who had actively posted or updated work over the past year.

If anyone knows more about these perimeters or has info that counters my observation, please let me know!

I finally thought to check/alert evil Twitter during this time, and found out that the news was doing the rounds there already. I made a quick thread summarizing everything that had happened just in case. You can find it here.

I went to Bluesky too, where fandom was doing all the heavy lifting for me already, so I just reskeeted, as you do, and carried on.

Sometime in the very early evening, word-stream went back up—but the fan fiction category was nowhere to be seen. Tentative joy and celebration!***

That’s when several users—the ones who had signed up for accounts to gain intel and had accessed their own fics that way—reported that their work could still be accessed through their history. Relevant Reddit post here.

Sooo—

We’re obviously not done. The fanwork that was stolen by Weitzman may be inaccessible through his website right now, but they aren’t actually gone. And the fact that Weitzman wasn’t willing to get rid of them altogether means he still has plans for them. 

This was my final edit on my Reddit post before turning off notifications, and it's pretty much where my head will be at for at least the foreseeable future:

Please feel free to add info in the comments, make your own posts, take whatever action you want to take to protect your work. I only beg you—seriously, I’m on my knees here—to not give up like I saw a handful of people express the urge to do. Keep sharing your creative work and remain vigilant and stay active to make sure we can continue to do so freely. Visit your favorite fics, and the ones you’ve kept in your ‘marked for later’ lists but never made time to read, and leave kudos, leave comments, support your fandom creatives, celebrate podficcers and support AO3. We created this place and it’s our responsibility to keep it alive and thriving for as long as we possibly can.

Also FUCK generative AI. It has NO place in fandom spaces.

THE 'SMALL' PRINT (some of it in all caps):

*Weitzman knew what he was doing and can NOT claim ignorance. One, it’s pretty basic kindergarten stuff that you don’t steal some other kid’s art project and present it as your own only to act surprised when they protest and then tell the victim that they should have told you sooner that they didn’t want their project stolen. And two, he was very careful never to list the IPs these fanworks were based on, so it’s clear he was at least familiar enough with the legalities to not get himself in hot water with corporate lawyers. Fucking over fans, though, he figured he could get away with that. 

**A note about the AI that Weitzman used to steal our work: it’s even greasier than it looks at first glance. It’s not just the method he used to lift works off AO3 and then regurgitate onto his own website and app. Looking beyond the untold horrors of his AI-generated cover ‘art’, in many cases these covers attempt to depict something from the fics in question that can’t be gleaned from their summaries alone. In addition, my fics (and I assume the others, as well) were listed with generated genres; tags that did not appear anywhere in or on my fic on AO3 and were sometimes scarily accurate and sometimes way off the mark. I remember You & Me & Holiday Wine had ‘found family’ (100% correct, but not tagged by me as such) and I believe The Shape of Soup was listed as, among others, ‘enemies to friends to lovers’ and ‘love triangle’ (both wildly inaccurate). Even worse, not all the fic listed (as authors on Reddit pointed out) came with their original summaries at all. Often the entire summary was AI-generated. All of these things make it very clear that it was an all-encompassing scrape—not only were our fics stolen, they were also fed word-for-word into the AI Weitzman used and then analyzed to suit Weitzman’s needs. This means our work was literally fed to this AI to basically do with whatever its other users want, including (one assumes) text generation. 

***Fan fiction appears to have been made (largely) inaccessible on word-stream at this time, but I’m hearing from several authors that their original, independently published work, which is listed at places like Kindle Unlimited, DOES still appear in word-stream’s search engine. This obviously hurts writers, especially independent ones, who depend on these works for income and, as a rule, don’t have a huge budget or a legal team with oceans of time to fight these battles for them. If you consider yourself an author in the broader sense, beyond merely existing online as a fandom author, beyond concerns that your own work is immediately at risk, DO NOT STOP MAKING NOISE ABOUT THIS.

Again, please, please PLEASE reblog this post instead of the one I sent originally. All the information is here, and it's driving me nuts to see the old ones are still passed around, sending people on wild goose chases.

Thank you all so much.

SITTER'S LOVE - Nico!Babysitter, Percy!Teacher-father - Chapter XXXI and Chapter XXXII

Previous chapters: CHAPTER I / CHAPTER II / / CHAPTER III, CHAPTER IV e CHAPTER V / Chapter VI e Chapter VII / Chapter VIII e Chapter IX / Chapter X, Chapter XI, Chapter XII e Chapter XIII / Chapter XIV / Chapter XV / Chapter XVI e Chapter XVII / Chapter XVIII and Chapter XIX / Chapter XX and Chapter XXI / Chapter XXII and Chapter XXIII / Chapter XXIV, Chapter XXV and Chapter XXVI / Chapter XXVII and Chapter XXVIII / Chapter XXIX and Chapter XXX

Chapter XXXI

By the time they got home, the sky was already dark. They climbed the few steps to the porch; Percy opened the car door for Nico, helping him out of the Jeep, and once again, Percy led him from behind, as though he didn't know the way, like he would run away if Percy took his eyes off him. Maybe Nico was tempted to do just that, maybe tonight had been a bit too much for his confused mind. In the end, he let himself go, let Percy open the door to the house, take the blazer from his shoulders and hold his hand, just like Percy would do on any other day. But unlike what was usual for them, Percy kept walking and Nico continued to follow him like a puppy on a leash. He yawned and followed him up the stairs, turning right and then entering a long hallway that led to the same room where he had slept every other time; next to Percy's room and further away from the children's rooms.

That's when Nico wondered what he was doing there, or why Percy came in with him and opened the closet door, showing him the clothes hanging there.

"If you want to change. The clothes you were wearing are here.”

He took out a hanger with a pair of jeans and a dark t-shirt and Nico finally understood, someone had washed his clothes.

"You didn't have to.”

“Yeah, I didn’t have to.” Was all Percy said, his eyes intense on him. Nico hated it when Percy did that. Why was it so hard to look at him in those moments?

Yes, that was exactly why he lowered his head and pretended that there was some dirt on his Italian shoes and pretended he had no idea how much they cost. He bent down and undid the lace, then did the same with the other foot and took off his sock. Okay, he had to change, right? Take a shower first? He decided to start with the buttons on the light-colored shirt and reached his hands down to the soft fabric. He pressed and the first button slid away from the hole, he pressed the second and then the third, before he saw that there were no more buttons and only his pants were left. He unbuttoned the last button and pulled down the zipper and--

"What are you doing?" Percy questioned him, stopping his hands in the air. He didn't have the courage to look him in the face, so Nico kept staring at Percy's broad shoulders.

"What does it look like I'm doing?”

"Asking for sex?”

"I'm changing. Can I take a shower?”

"Nico, I didn't-- this wasn't how I expected the night to end.”

“And what did you expected?” He found himself laughing even though he didn’t find it funny. Percy never knew how to apologize.

"I'm sorry, okay! What do you want me to do? Can you look at me?”

No, he couldn't. If he did that, the moment he looked at Percy he would be tempted to try to comfort him.

"I forgive you." Nico murmured, fixing his gaze on the right side of Percy's neck, watching how his throat bobbed, how Percy looked nervous and frustrated, his hand clenched into a fist at his side. It was strangely amusing to see him so out of control, knowing that Percy felt the same way he did. In the end, Jason was right, he wanted every single person who made him suffer to suffer the same and in the same way.

"Nico, please." Percy begged, his voice almost tearful.

He sighed and stared at him, bracing himself. Nico knew what he was going to find, even when the man looked defeated and vulnerable, Percy still found ways to manipulate the situation. And he fell once more, it was inevitable, irresistible. Nico brought his hands to Percy's face and got closer, a force pulling him towards him and making him hug him by the neck, ending up with his mouth against his neck, close to Percy's ear.

"It wasn't your fault. I know you didn't mean for that to happen. It's okay.”

“You promise?” Percy murmured back, very close. His arms wrapped around Nico’s waist and his lips whispered against his earlobe.

He had fallen right in, hadn't he? Still, knowing all this, Nico sighed once more, shivering as the heat slowly crept up his back, waist, and groin, stopping where Percy's mouth met his skin.

"Will you forgive me? I promise…" Then, Percy held him tight against him and a moan escaped him. "I promise this won't happen again." Percy finished with his face buried against the hair on the back of Nico's neck.

That... that wasn't fair... why... why was it so easy for Percy? Why was it so easy to forget everything and let himself go like that when, even with Will back then when he treated him well, Nico never had that urge that was slowly destroying him?

"Nico…" Then, an almost innocent little kiss was placed against his neck, in that little part behind his ear that made him… ah… "Are you going to visit me?”

"I-I…" He stuttered, still stuck in a trance. "I… I can't… you have to--”

"I don’t have to do anything." Percy said it decisively, but at that moment it sounded like the sweetest love poem. "I can wait for you.”

"Percy, I don't…”

"Don't what? Don't want to deceive me? Hurt me?" Percy pulled away slightly and grabbed Nico's hair, making him look at him. "Do you want to be sure? Do you want to have other experiences? See if someone else can make you feel the way I do? I don't care about any of that.”

"I couldn't.”

"Baby, you're the only one for me. So beautiful and so perfect. I love your smell, and when you moan I want to hold you and never let go. I want you to be happy. But only with me.”

"Percy…" he whimpered, closing his eyes. Why was Percy doing this to him?

"It's quite simple. I want you to live and make all the mistakes a college student could make. When we meet again, don't ignore me. If you've changed your mind by then, I'll do everything I can to win you over, but if you don't want me, I won't bother you.”

"How could I ask for something like that?”

"I also need some time to sort things out." Percy smiled at Nico and stroked his hair, lulling him into that false sense of security. "Things with Annabeth don't seem to be going anywhere and I'm tired of my parents. I promise you this, when we see each other again everything will be better. Do you trust me?”

"I trust you.”

"So I want you to have fun and not regret anything.”

Percy kissed Nico's cheek and he finally relaxed, as if the weight of the world had been lifted off his shoulders.

***

Percy kissed Nico's cheek and he finally relaxed, as if the weight of the world had been lifted off his shoulders.

Yes, he felt light because Percy was holding him, keeping him safe. 

“Oh!” Nico couldn't help the moan that escaped his lips; Percy's hands moved up his back, caressing slowly and entered inside his open shirt, eliciting another moan from him. Percy's lips slid to the side and then, they were there, at the corner of his mouth, kissing and nibbling and-- No! He knew exactly what Percy was doing! Percy wanted him to lower his head, to agree with everything while Percy had his fun. Percy wanted him to wait until the man felt the urge to see him again. He refused to let another man manipulate him, even if it was through the best torture tactic.

"No, I can't do that." Nico said, letting go of Percy. He took a step back and a deep breath, and said more forcefully: "I won't! Do you think I'm going to stay quiet while you do whatever you want?”

"Nico, I said you can--”

"You don't own me! I don't need your permission!”

"Nico, of course not. I'm just asking for a chance to work things out.”

"I don't want-- I never wanted… you… you're just like all of them!”

Percy didn't seem to hear him. Percy took a step forward and he took another step back, then another and another until his back hit the wall. The strange thing was that Percy didn't do what Nico imagined, not like Will usually did, cornering him and making him feel suffocated. No, Percy took his hands and tried to smile, but it was such a shaky smile that Nico found himself stopping fighting Percy.

"It's okay, baby. Can you breathe with me?”

"Breathe?" He asked without understanding.

"Please.”

Percy looked on the verge of tears, so he complied. Nico took a deep breath and let it out, slow and easy, and only then did he realize how tense he was, and he calmed down immediately.

"I… I was having a panic attack?" Nico asked. Percy nodded and tried to smile at him again.

The interesting thing was to realize that Nico didn't feel bad like he usually did. No, Nico felt light and calm. That's why he didn't fight this time, he let Percy take him to the bed and help him put on sweatpants, a loose t-shirt came next and socks too. Percy dressed him, item by item, and he found himself lying against the bed frame, his head resting on Percy's shoulder and a movie playing on the television in front of the bed. He knew Percy was saying something, that his head was resting on his, that his big, warm hands were massaging the back of his neck in a pleasant way that made him want to sleep instantly.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I never meant to make you feel this way. I'm the worst of men. I'm so impulsive. Annabeth's right, I'll never... I'll never be able to--”

"Der?" Nico found himself mumbling. His head was too light to understand what was happening. He just wanted Percy to feel what he felt right now.

"Are you okay?" Percy said in the same miserable tone.

"Hmm. Sleep with me." Nico crawled down on the bed and rested his head on Percy's chest, under his heart. His hands found Percy's waist and Nico closed his eyes once more, feeling himself melt. Nico loved the way Percy smelled, the way Percy always seemed to run hotter than him, most of all, he loved those rare moments when Percy showed that vulnerability, that uncertainty, usually so well hidden.

"Nico, I need--”

"Tomorrow. Tomorrow you can say whatever you want. Today, we sleep.”

Nico closed his eyes one last time and sighed, soon he could hear nothing but the sound of Percy's heart slowing down.

Chapter XXXII

That was another morning where everything seemed like a distant and fantastical dream. The light entered weakly between the blinds, birds sang softly and Nico felt himself floating, comfortable, being hugged from behind, very tightly, in the way he would never admit he liked the most; it was Percy who breathed against his neck, while the blanket kept the cold away, giving a greater touch of illusion.

So this was it, right? This was what he could have if he chose to… what?… Stay? Wait for Percy? No, this was the goodbye, sweet and treacherous, giving Nico a taste he knew he couldn’t have.

“Are you awake?” Percy murmured softly against his earlobe, brushing his lips over the sensitive skin.

Nico took a deep breath for a moment, feeling himself go from zero to one hundred, and let it out slowly. It wasn't fair. Maybe he had moaned, or maybe it had been Percy; it was hard to tell when Percy was so close to him, pressed against his back, the thin clothing between them not stopping Nico from feeling all of his desire, so close together, in that almost too intimate way, even their breaths came out synchronized, fast, almost panting, almost...

"Now, I am." He then murmured, trying to control himself.

“Good,” Percy told him, his sleep-husky voice telling him everything he needed to know. Percy was never satisfied. A kiss would never be enough, a touch would do little to quell his restlessness, and the shiver that ran up Nico’s spine even less so, none of it would make him happy until… No, Percy needed to hear it, needed to taste the pleasure against his skin and experience… oh… experience his hands moving down Nico’s shoulder and down to his abdomen and…

"Percy." He warned, panting but holding his ground like Nico rarely did. Even if he felt Percy was as anxious as he was or if he wanted, perhaps more than Percy, for this between them to happen, this damn torture would finally end.

“I wanted to apologize,” Percy said again, as if nothing had happened mere seconds ago. “I never meant to put you in this position.”

"I know." Nico sighed, exhausted and anxious. Excited. He turned, relaxing, and looked into the eyes he loved to watch so much.

But this was the end, the farewell, and for that reason, only for that reason, he allowed himself to have what he wanted; he let his body lean against Percy's, molding them together like a puzzle that was finally complete, once again trying to fool himself, wishing he didn't know that all of this was wrong; only if Percy really insisted, forced him just a little more and they both let the blame fall on Percy, just this once, giving him that false reason and allowing his rationalization to convince himself that all of this was Percy's fault and never his own, so Nico could finally, finally...

"Nico. Matt. Teo. I think I like Teo more." Percy was smiling, that small, genuine smile that somehow always broke his heart and made him want to stay by his side for the rest of his life.

Percy touched his face and then everything self-destructed, a house of cards crumbling, that smile squeezing his heart, making juice out of what was left.

"You're horrible. I hate you." But even that sounded false.

"I love you too." Percy said. A whisper, a confession. Something that seemed true in that intimate stillness translated into the form of a caress, in the touch of Percy's fingers that intertwined in his hair and of his lips, wet and firm, that finally touched his.

It wasn't at all what Nico expected, this attitude didn't seem to come from the one who spent the last two months chasing him until he couldn't think of anything else. No, they were the most gentle and careful that Nico had ever tasted; sweet and soft kisses, pressed against his in a way so light that he didn't know it existed, brushing slowly and nibbling them just to make him sigh, encouraging him to open his mouth so they became even slower, slowing down their cadence and stopping, but keeping their lips glued together.

Percy didn't try to force anything more intense or try to ease the situation, as was his custom. Percy just kept smiling and stroking his hair, looking at him with such affection that Nico had no choice but to stare back. There was no safe place he could hide from this fact; he loved Percy Jackson and he was leaving him before that feeling could even finish blooming.

That was how his last morning at the Jackson-Chase house ended, with a cuddle, a kiss and a tight hug, Percy's hands massaging his hair and lulling him into that false sense of security until the time for lunch with the family approached, taking Percy away from Nico, leaving him frozen in a desert he had never felt before meeting Percy.

But it was all right, he thought, wiping away the tears that were falling, the last ones that would fall because of him. Nico finished putting on his clothes, fixed his hair and washed his face. He picked up his backpack that had been lying on the floor since the day before and left Percy's room, entering the room where he had stayed during those nights to finally pick up his clothes scattered on the floor, returning the ones he had borrowed and going down the stairs where the children and Annabeth were waiting for him.

***

“Can’t you stay a little longer?” Alice said, catching him off guard. She rarely asked for anything, so independent and unaffectionate, but always attentive.

"It's getting late. I need to wake up early. You understand, don't you?" Nico touched her long black hair and looked into her green eyes that were now filled with tears. "You can visit me whenever you want.”

"It won’t be the same. We won’t eat together or watch TV anymore. Dad will be sad and Logan will whine for a whole month.”

"Don't be like that. Everything will be fine. It's part of growing up. Not everything goes the way we want.”

"Grandma keeps saying that. You two look so much alike.”

Nico smiled at Alice and ran his fingers through her hair, very doubtful.

"Don't you trust me? You can visit me as soon as I'm done moving.”

"Do you promise?" She looked at Nico with her eyes wide open and wet, all tearful, in the perfect example of innocence.

Yeah, it seemed like the whole family had manipulation in their blood. Which made him smile even more.

“I promise.”

He reached down and hugged Alice tightly, feeling her squeeze him back with all the strength she had.

"Enough." Annabeth's voice reached them, she was walking in her high, thin heels, strutting elegantly. She was carrying a sullen Logan, while Percy followed them at a safe distance, looking at his own shoes and seemingly oblivious to everything that was happening around him. That was what had happened during lunch; Percy had been by his side and, at the same time, had been somewhere far away from him.

"Come on, say goodbye to Nico. He has to go.”

"I'll miss you. Don't forget your promise." Alice told him, now looking like a clone of her mother.

Alice gave Nico another tight hug and pulled away, forcing Nico to blink his eyes, his throat suddenly tight. No, he said he wouldn't cry anymore. But then Logan reached out and, still in Annabeth's lap, wrapped his small hands around Nico's neck and sobbed.

"Logan, don't do this. I'm going to live even closer, isn't that good?”

"No! You won't be our mother anymore!”

"Er… when was I your mother? Isn't she right here?" Nico looked at Annabeth and she just rolled her eyes impatiently. It seemed like he was the one who was most uncomfortable with this whole conversation. So what came next was what really ripped his heart out of his chest.

"You… you don’t have to go… you can be our second mother and no one has to leave.”

This time even Annabeth gasped, and Nico found himself frozen in front of the exit door.

"Honey, Nico isn’t leaving because of you." The implication of whose fault it was was pretty obvious. But even so, Percy said it all calmly and softly as he moved closer to Logan, trying to comfort him.

"So… so… he’s leaving because of you!" Logan practically shouted.

Nico felt like he was losing his breath, although it was different from other times. Percy was calm, while Annabeth didn't seem to know what to do. Relieved, he saw Percy pick Logan up and simply start rocking him, massaging his back and lulling him slowly. He didn't think he had ever seen Logan, much less Percy, act like this; Percy seemed to be on autopilot and Logan turned into this rebellious teenager right before his eyes.

“Say goodbye, Logan,” Percy murmured in that soft, gentle voice, and finally looked at Nico.

"I’m sorry, Nico. Dad’s right. I…" he gasped as a sob escaped, trying to smile. "… we’ll miss you.”

At that, Logan and Alice waved as Percy tried to smile. Percy turned with Logan in his arms, grabbed Alice's hand, and marched into the house, not turning back until he was gone down the hallway.

Silence, only silence remained and a strange tightness in his chest, an unfamiliar vacuum, a feeling of emptiness like he had never experienced before. And of course, Annabeth. She still watched everything silently, but she didn't mock; Annabeth didn't even seem happy now that the obstacle had been removed. She seemed as shocked as he was.

“I know this won’t fix things.” She held out a small velvet box to him, and Nico accepted it. “It’s a gift from me and Percy to show our gratitude.”

He opened the box and found a silver and gold watch, delicate but still masculine. Nico had no idea how much it cost.

"Thank you. You didn't need to." He said mechanically. There was no room for anything else.

"I hope you can keep in touch with the children.”

"Of course." Nico felt better talking about them. "I was serious.”

He took the bag from his shoulders, unzipped it and took out a piece of paper. With a pen he wrote down his phone number and handed it to her.

"It’s better if you call me? I should be ready in three days. If they want…”

"Of course." Annabeth smiled at Nico and accepted the note. All he could do was nod quickly and turn his back on her. The faster he got out of there, the less he would be tempted to change his mind. The good news was that Ethan was already waiting for him, he would take him to the exit for the last time towards his future.

Bonus

I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. I wished I didn't have to do this. Why couldn't I just hop on a bus and go to my interview with the college dean? But no, first I had to be a good boy and say goodbye to my family. But who was making me, hmm? Was there a force pushing me and keeping me in place? What if I--

"Look who showed up.”

Now it was too late. The one who opened the door was Hades. He had his arms crossed and was looking down at me, his almost two meters of height and eyes as black as night judging me as always, disappointed with what they saw.

"Yeah, I'm going to college tomorrow. I thought I'd pay a visit.”

"At least you still have responsibility to your family.”

Hm, interesting. But that was all we both said. I looked at Hades and Hades looked at me. That is, until he stepped away from the door, allowing me to see my brothers who were right there, hidden behind Hades. When they saw me, Bianca and Hazel came running and hugged me tightly at once, knocking the air out of my lungs.

"You came!" Hazel said.

"Finally." Bianca murmured more restrainedly.

"Come in. The food will get cold.”

And so, I was pulled into the house, where Maria and Luke were waiting for me with open arms.

Hello, how are you? We've finally reached the end of the first story arc! I'm going to take a break for two or three weeks, and we'll be back with the second arc soon. While we rest, how about leaving a comment? It could be the chapters you liked best, a specific scene or a comment or suggestion about the characters. Your opinion is always very welcome.

hi im bitter about people not commenting on fics. im sad seeing all these authors get so discouraged because no one comments. it takes like 5 seconds! just do it!! dont know what to type? me neither! heres some handy pre-written comments for you! “I dont know what to comment! That was great! thank you for your hard work!” “That was lovely! I really enjoyed this chapter/fic.” “How dare you?” “AAAAAAAAAAAAA” “Extra kudos because one is not enough!” if you read a fic and dont know what to say, leave the tab open, come back later! see if theres a line you really liked! tell them if it reminded you of something dumb! tell them if your roommate saw you crying while reading it and now your roommate is reading it!!! SHARE WHATEVER. BE INCLUSIVE! everyone wants to hear SOMETHING. silence kills passion. show authors you care! show artists you care!!!! 

Reblog if you've ever read a fic that was better than published books

"You say too late to start, got your heart in a headlock, I don't believe any of it." Design from Young Gods AU by @/velinxi

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME - PERCY/NICO AU HIGH SCHOOL - CHAPTER XX

I hope you enjoy it.

CHAPTER I / CHAPTER II / CHAPTER III / CHAPTER IV / CHAPTER V / CHAPTER VI / CHAPTER VII / CHAPTER VIII / CHAPTER IX / CHAPTER X / CHAPTER XI / CHAPTER XII / CHAPTER XIII / CHAPTER XIV / CHAPTER XV / CHAPTER XVI / CHAPTER XVII / CHAPTER XVIII / CHAPTER XIX

Percy felt like he had gone back in time. He remembered as if it were yesterday, the long, tortuous days and the whispers wherever he went; the desire to disappear was also there, the disconnection with reality, as if no one could break his bubble of self-blame and depression, feeling the emptiness that hit him when he least expected it; the feeling of inadequacy telling him that he would always be that lonely, violent boy who didn't deserve what he had or the love of others. In the end, no matter how detached he felt from reality and how unprepared to deal with life, time waited for no one. When Percy blinked, they were already at the end of first quarter of the year, which brought him to that verymoment, barely able to focus on what was right in front of his face. A surprise test, a piece of paper that would tell him if he had a chance of passing the first assessments or not.

"Per?" Nico whispered beside him, still writing. "You didn't study at all, did you?" 

Could anyone blame him? The guilt was still eating at him up inside, paralyzing him, fighting against the urge to do exactly the opposite of what his conscience was asking him to do. Nico being around him twenty-four hours a day wasn't helping, making him want to break that bubble of anguish and, at the same time, tempted to stay exactly where he was just so he wouldn't have to make a decision. Percy still woke up in the middle of the night tense and without remembering why, forced to get out of bed to calm down or get some fresh air on his face. Because he had to--

"Don't worry, we'll figure it out." Nico touched his shoulder and showed him one of the sweetest smiles he had ever seen, making Percy relax immediately, feeling like there was a light at the end of the tunnel. He watched Nico pick up both of his answer sheets, walk over to the teacher and hand them to him, who smiled charmingly at Nico.

No, he wasn't going to go down that path. That was why Percy had gotten himself into such trouble. He was committed, he would be a better person even if he died trying. So, Percy put his things in the bag and took a deep breath, counting to thirty.

1… 2… 3… 4… 5… 6… 7--

“Let’s go?”

Percy looked up and there was Nico, sweet and smiling, holding out his hands to him. The fear of worrying Nico was the only thing keeping him on his feet at the moment, if someone gave him a nudge Percy would crumble immediately; he couldn't accept the fact that... that in the end he was the monster people accused him of being. Feeling on automatic mode, Percy picked up their bags and held the hand Nico offered to him, barely missing the disappointed expression on the teacher's face.

Usually Percy liked this class and it wouldn't need much to get a high mark, but what could he do if his obsession was right in front of him, wanting his attention all the time? The bad thing was knowing he would sink into this obsession if the world around them didn't remind him of what a mistake this would be. Sometimes, Percy asked himself if what he felt was love or was just a codependency, a crutch to help him deal with the problems and traumas that not even the best psychiatrist could fix.

“Is everything okay? Do you need a break?”

They had become masters at creating barriers that weren’t there before, useless and cruel barriers that only served to hurt both of them.

If Percy were honest, he would say it’s exactly what he needed, although it wouldn’t make anything better. The longing would only increase, the pain in his chest would spread and that bad feeling in his stomach would grow stronger, making him act impulsively. Basketball practice would be a good excuse for his issues if the coach hadn’t banned him from practicing until he could focus on the game.

“Do you want to come with me to band practice? We’re going to play at the dance.”

Gently, Nico held his arm with both hands and kissed his cheek, making Percy forget about his inner demons for a brief moment, warming the emptiness in his body. “Come on, it'll be nice. You can join in if you want.”

“I didn't bring my guitar.”

“The teacher can lend it to you.”

“I don't know…” After all, there was a reason he didn't join in the group practice.

“I've been thinking about what you said... that I don't have many hobbies. You were right.”

“Was I?” It’s good to know he’d done something good.

“In Verona, I went out with my friends, drew, played and sang, wrote and cooked every day with my grandmother and cousins. I just... I feel like I don't need to do all those things when I'm with you. Now I understand the problem with that. You are doing the same.”

Well, that was exactly the problem. They were an obsessive, compulsive couple who were obsessed with each other. It was hard to see the rest of the world when the person he loved the most was so close, but for that reason it was so wrong to want those things. His desires became so intense that everything ended up being somewhat toxic.

Percy wanted to say all of this to Nico, but if he did, it would only encourage him to stay with him in this intense and traumatic bubble they had created.

“I’m glad you understand.”

“That’s exactly why I want to show you something. Will you come with me?”

He would do anything Nico asked.

Luckily, Nico was too kind to demand anything of him, or that was usually the case. So when Nico asked, Percy would be happy to oblige. He took Nico’s hand once more and they headed towards the music department, letting Nico lead him for the first time in his life. Maybe it would be a good change for them.

***

“Nico, where have you been these days? We couldn’t find you anywhere!”

Percy now remembered why he didn’t like coming to band practice. Because the one who had gotten up and ran towards them was Lou Ellen, the most fervent defender of the defenseless and oppressed, and according to her, Percy was one of those who oppressed other people.

Lou stopped in front of them and crossed her arms, looking him up and down. Percy chose to pretend he hadn't seen her, this was another ex-member of his fan club. 

Percy may or may not have gotten involved with her, he may or may not have used her and then thrown her away. It wasn't his fault if people put expectations on him when Percy didn’t promised anything, not even love or friendship. In the end, people believed what they wanted, but he wouldn't be the one to stroke their ego.

"I get it. Why did you bring that psychopath here?" She mumbled, as if she had eaten something sour, and turned to Nico. "Nico! We're late. Did you get the song?"

"Better yet, I wrote one." Nico, like the angel he was, ignored what she had said and held his hand tightly; Nico knew very well what Percy really wanted to be doing.

Instantly, Lou Ellen's face transformed in the blink of an eye, from frowning to glowing.

"Perfect! Are you going to show us?”

Lou hadn't given Nico time to answer, she pulled him along and Percy had no choice but to follow them into the music auditorium where less than ten teenagers were waiting. He remembered at some point in the past being among them, he must have been what? Twelve years old? But since music had always been something Nico liked, Percy choose to focus on other things, like sports, something that could give him a better future.

Percy didn't say anything or greet anyone, he followed Nico to the center of the stage and watched from afar. Nico picked up a guitar provided by the school and sat down on the floor, where the other people approached and sat around Nico, looking at him with admiration and something else he would rather not question. Honestly? Percy couldn't blame them, Nico looked even more handsome with a guitar on his lap and that look of contemplation as he strummed a few notes on the guitar strings, his sweet and velvety voice coming right after, echoing through the room, words and notes that Percy didn't recognize, but he also didn't make an effort to pay attention to their meanings, letting the music surround him like a sweet caress that insisted on flowing through him only to leave him throbbing and wanting more. 

He couldn't resist, Percy put their bags in a corner and got close to Nico, sitting directly next to him, placing one of his hands on Nico's back. 

Nico merely turned his face towards him and continued singing, perhaps in a slightly lower tone, a little more intimate, as if those words were meant for him and no one else. Nico smiled, then, calmly, and finally when the song reached its end, the sound of the guitar echoed for a few more moments, waking him up with its ending

Looking only at him, Nico asked in a low voice:

“Did you like it?”

“It was really good.” Because it was true. Even if he hadn’t paid attention to the words, the song itself spoke enough. “What’s it called?”

“There’s no place like home.”

The people around him applauded, stealing Nico’s attention, who thanked them, making something inside Percy rage. Who did they think they were!?

“Nico, we recorded it. Is that okay?” Lou said from somewhere in the audience. “It's perfect. Can I share it with the others?”

“I… I put it online? Can I send in the chat group?” Nico said, feeling unsure. Of course, Percy thought, as if they would deny it when the people around seemed to love him.

“That’s great,” Lou said again, excitedly.

“Excellent, Nico. Thank you for sharing something so personal with us. Can we use it for an exercise?” Euterpe, the music teacher, congratulated him. When Nico nodded, she continued. “For the next class, I want you to create an arrangement for the band. Re-record the song and also bring suggestions for other songs to perform at the dance.”

With that, the auditorium exploded into activity, people organizing themselves into two or three groups while the two  remained where they were, leaning towards each other, with Nico still holding the guitar and Percy holding Nico's waist.

"Do you want to play?" 

Percy accepted the instrument when Nico offered it to him, although he hesitated for a moment. It had been a while since he had held a guitar, long enough to almost make him forget how to position his fingers. But as they say, there are things in life that we never forget and that’s what happened when the first note sounded, clean and firm on his fingers, the fingering exercises coming back with full force, making him remember the long hours in that same auditorium, one of the few things that kept him in touch with reality when Nico had left. One of the thousands of crutches he carried through life, but that kept him standing on his feet. 

Percy concentrated for a moment and let himself go, lowered his head and allowed himself to remember, felt his fingers fly over the strings and allowed a strange calm to take over him. And for long minutes that’s all he heard, his breathing and the sequence of fast notes, that is, until his sequence came to an end and he found himself embraced by Nico.

"That's beautiful. Why didn't you tell me you could play like that?" Nico said calmly, not as if he was demanding something but as if he had received a valuable gift.

"I was busy with basketball. And with the teenage drama." Well, Percy was never good at making jokes. So, he wasn't surprised by Nico's attitude, who just kissed his cheek and rested his head on his shoulder.

"Play some more. Everyone liked it.”

“Everyone?" Percy looked around the auditorium and saw that people were indeed watching him in silence without the usual mockery. And he could swear that there were more people in the room than before.

"What do you want to hear?" 

"A romantic ballad." 

That's what he did, the notes coming out slower and simpler. Imagine his surprise when he heard people singing along with Nico, clapping and swaying.

Well, what could he do? Maybe not everything needed to be drowned in drama and angst.

***

“Sorry.” Percy said, admitting defeat. Sometimes, he forgot that Nico couldn't guess what he was thinking and, if he wanted their relationship to work as it should, Nico wasn't the only one who needed to be honest.

“You didn't do anything wrong.”

A few days had passed, but that moment in the music room had stayed in his mind. Percy knew he had a tendency to get lost in his own thoughts, imagining how the whole world was against him, when in fact, no one cared e he shouldn’t either; gossip was fleeting, these things had no effect on his life and not everyone had something bad to say about him. Nico was the reminder of that, that he still had a family, friends and someone who would stand by his side unconditionally.

To repay all the effort Nico was making, Percy had sat next to Nico on the couch at home and hugged him tightly, pulling him onto his lap. He kissed him back, but not the innocent little kisses they had grown accustomed to over the past few weeks, but rather open mouths and tongues intertwining, hearing Nico moan, sprawled and surprised in his arms.

“What was that?” Nico gasped, still in his lap, holding onto his neck.

“Thank you for being patient.”

Nico blinked slowly at him, his cheeks flushed, breathing fast, an obvious bulge in his pants. Percy knew this was Nico trying to reason through the excitement that was suddenly invading his brain.

“You know I love you, don’t you?”

“I know.” Percy said, feeling truly content.

“Sex… it’s not important. You’re my best friend, my partner.”

“Nico.”

“I could go without sex for the rest of my life, but I never want to be without you. I can wait.”

“I’m sorry.” And Percy really was, especially seeing the frustration on Nico's angelic face, seeing that Nico was ready to beg at the slightest positive sign.

The truth is that celibacy was not for him. It was a torture every day that he didn't touch Nico, he was afraid that if he allowed himself to do what he wanted, he would go back to the same bad habits. Although Percy had been questioning himself if all of this was wrong or if it was all inside his head due to the guilt of not having paid more attention to what was happening with Nico.

“Enough. I don't want to see you like this. I don't want to hear that you're sorry and that you're going to change. I don't want you to change, I mean... you don't have to do all these things because of me.”

Nico was practically pouting now, angry, it was beautiful to watch as Nico tried to convey the seriousness in his words. Nico kept trying so hard to make sure he was okay that Percy felt like doing something crazy; it could be anything. What he really wanted to do was throw Nico on the bed and make him forget the worry written all over his face. Maybe he should? Just to see if he could control himself?

“I understand. I won’t apologize again.”

“You won’t?” Nico tilted his head to the side, like a confused puppy, and that made Percy smile. He grabbed Nico by the hair and kissed him once more, feeling Nico melt against his chest.

“You deserve a reward. Do you know why?”

“Why?” Nico moaned, shifting in his lap.

“Because good boys deserve the best things.”

“Am I…? A good boy?”

“The best.”

Percy felt like he was at a tasting in his favorite restaurant. He stared at Nico’s burning face for a moment and finally allowed himself to do what he wanted. Slowly, to see what Nico would do, he took his hand from Nico’s waist and brought it to the boy’s groin, touching him gently over his jeans. Like a flower, Nico spread his legs and moved his hands out of the way, looking up at where Percy's hands were going, moaning softly when Percy finally covered his member over his clothes.

"Is it okay if I do this?" Percy asked, stopping his movements.

"Yes, please." And then, as an afterthought, Nico said: "Thank you!"

"Hmm, good boy." 

Then, as he had promised, he opened the button on Nico's pants and lowered the zipper, seeing the small bulge over his underwear. Even more slowly, Percy massaged his member for a few moments and pulled it out of his underwear. He couldn't deny it, Nico was beautiful everywhere; his dark skin, his sweet voice, his soft body. Down there he was all of that too, the member that fit in his hand, the reddish and wet head right at the tip, the  thin, well-trimmed hair at the base. Percy felt like devouring him and would only stop when Nico came all over himself, in pleasure, on his hands, on his knees, surrendered at Percy's feet. 

But not today, today Percy would take everything as calmly as he could.

“Please!” Nico whimpered, tears welling up in his eyelashes.

Percy closed his eyes for a moment and focused on his breathing. It was that heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach that was taking over him again, that possessive, controlling voice telling him that if Nico was his and he was offering himself to him like this, Percy could do whatever he wanted.

"It's okay, baby," Percy murmured, barely recognizing his own voice as he heard Nico moan. He hesitated only a moment to pay attention to Nico's reaction.

Oh, his sweet Nico. He was staring at him with wide eyes, pleading, showing so much trust in him that Percy had to move. The hand that had been near Nico's groin finally found its way and wrapped around his throbbing member. He had almost forgotten the feeling of touching such an intimate place on someone else’s body. Percy tested the waters by holding around Nico and then brushing one of his fingers over the tip, collecting the pre-cum and bringing it down, fingering the length to wrap it around him completely again, applying a little pressure.

"Like this?" He asked.

Well, Nico didn't answer him exactly, but the way Nico was leaning against his chest, moaning shamelessly, should have been a good indication.

Suddenly, Percy felt curious. After so long he felt like he had forgotten the shape of Nico's body. He used his other hand and wrapped it around Nico's lower belly, caressing his belly. He moved up a little further and found his abdomen, his ribs and chest, touching the hard nipples, where he lingered for a few moments.

"Percy!" He heard Nico whimper, rubbing himself against him.

"I know. I'm torturing you."

Keeping Nico pinned against his chest, back against shoulders, Percy continued his exploration, going down and massaging between Nico's legs again.

"Could you... lower?" Then, Nico murmured, all docile and obedient.

"Here?" His curious fingers did as Nico asked, passing over Nico's testicles and finding Nico's entrance. A light touch told him what Nico wanted.

“Have you been having fun without me, hmm?”

“I didn't know if… when… ah!…”

Well, he was still curious. Slowly, Percy brushed one of his fingers around the entrance and soon Nico opened like a flower. And even dry, his finger entered, almost without resistance, going all the way in. Percy could bet that while he was trying to give Nico time to think, Nico was having fun without him.

“Is this what you did when I wasn't looking?”

Percy tried to put another finger in and surprising him, the finger entered almost without resistance again. Nico bent over in a way that seemed painful and screamed at the top of his lungs: “It's all your fault! I tried… I tried… it's not the same!”

Oh, that made him want… no! Not today. Today, he would settle for touching and watching, who knows, maybe in a few days Percy would feel strong enough to move forward. 

So, Percy did what Nico so desperately asked him to do. He watched Nico's member throb, without anything touching it, while he continued to massage Nico's insides, moving his fingers slowly around, opening them very delicately until he found the right place. Nico shuddered and moaned for a long time, arching his spine and like magic, he saw Nico expelling, jet after jet, Percy without having to touch anywhere else.

"I hate you!" Nico groaned as he finally collapsed against Percy's chest, an expression of exhaustion and ecstasy still etched on his features.

Well, Percy believed in Nico. Sometimes, he hated himself too, especially when he had to control himself like this.

"I love you too." Percy continued to hold Nico against his chest and only moved when he was sure that Nico would no longer hate him.

So, how was today's chapter? I'm trying to develop their D/s relationship in a way that feels natural. Percy may know a lot about the bdsm world, but knowing isn't the same as understanding or practicing. Like, there's something called domdrop, you know? The guilt of doing something that socially might be discouraged, like taboo fantasies and kinks. Just like Nico has or will have some kind of subdrop too. It's not all roses and I wanted to show this side of this kind of relationship in the story. I hope you enjoyed it. Likes, reblogs and comments are always welcome. Suggestions too.