Shipping Book #3 - Percy Jackson Edition (Plus Magnus Chase)

Solangelo (Will Solace X Nico Di Angelo)

Picture by MonsieArts on DeviantART

Suggested by MeridaHaddock2

Here's another chapter that's bound to piss off the fans, even more so than the Caleo one, because Solangelo is pretty damn close to beating Percabeth as the fandom's OTP. And I'm seriously hoping that does NOT happen, because if there's a ship that does not deserve to be a fandom's OTP, it's Solangelo.

There was a time where I tried to make myself ship this, entirely because hey, Nico can finally be happy! Isn't that great! I FORCED myself to ship this so damn much, I just HAD to ship it right? I couldn't possibly be a real Nico Di Angelo fan if I didn't love Solangelo to bits. But I DIDN'T really love Solangelo, I never did. From the minute I read that horrible scene between the two of them, I had that bad feeling in my gut that Rick was forcing a bad couple together for his grand philosophy of romantic love is the only love, the one that cures all. What scene am I talking about? This one:

"I don't want a place in their camp," Nico snarled. "Or in yours. When this war is over, I'm leaving both camps for good."

Will Solace made a sound like he'd been punched. "Why would you do that?"

Nico scowled. "It's none of your business, but I don't belong. That's obvious. No one wants me. I'm a child of –"

"Oh, please." Will sounded unusually angry. "Nobody at Camp Half-Blood ever pushed you away. You have friends – or at least people who would like to be your friend. You pushed yourself away. If you'd get your head out of that brooding cloud of yours for once –"

Jesus, this scene STILL makes me want to throw up. 

Everything about this scene is dismissive and disrespectful. Will Solace, a total nobody who didn't have any interaction with Nico prior, believes that he has any say in what Nico feels. Hell, he thinks he has the right to accuse Nico for brooding, aka. the fancy way of calling Nico an emo. The guy who is supposed to 'heal' Nico (GAUGH!) pretty much demeans him for his insecurities.

Flashback time! Remember when Nico lost the only person that ever loved him? Remember all those times the books showed that people felt uncomfortable around Nico? Remember that  the children of Hades didn't have a cabin until Percy requested it after the Kronos war? Remember when Nico was locked up in a jar waiting for somebody to save him and loosing every bit of hope that he had, right after he fell into FUCKING TARTARUS?!?! AKA. HELL?!?! Remember when he had to feel the pain of seeing the guy he was madly in love with for four years go through the same place, with his girlfriend, knowing that she would be the only person that could keep him for loosing all hope and sanity, being the light that Nico always wanted to be for him? Remember when he was forced out of the closet by Cupid, in front of golden boy Jason Grace? 

Clearly, Rick doesn't remember. Because he writes that horrendous scene and makes Will seem like he's in the right about Nico not having gone through any shit and just being a mopey guy. Hell, Solangelo just cuts to when they're already perceived as The Couple of the Year (that fights a lot) in Trials of Apollo, without any other interaction in between, so we're suppose to believe that their interactions in BOO were a 10/10 because fuck any other development, the ship's already perfect!

Another moment between them that pisses me off:

"You can't help out a friend? Maybe cut bandages? Bring me a soda or a snack? Or just a simple How's it going, Will?"

Gotta love how Will just....guilt-trips the depressed kid into hanging out with him.  Wow, Nico, you sure know how to pick them! Percy Jackson who? Will's the real dream boat!

I'm not sure what does Rick find adorable in this ship. If I was Nico, the last thing I would want after being judged is being MORE judged by my boyfriend. Relationships should be about COMMUNICATION, about LISTENING to what the other has to say, and do your best to understand them, not dismiss them! Gay kids suffer constantly having their feelings invalidated by homophobes. Isn't a relationship suppose to steer away from that? Shouldn't gay kids be understood the same way straight people are understood by their lovers? I wouldn't say this ship is abusive, not quite, but that mentality of  'I know more of how you feel than you do' IS prevalent in abusive relationships, and makes this couple pretty unhealthy and SO uncomfortable for me, it makes me angry. 

Solangelo is not the worst ship ever, or in this fandom, even if I do sound angry, because I am. If this helps gay kids feel validated and supported, then that's fine, I'm not one to the judge, in the same way Solangelo shippers are not ones to judge when gay people DON'T feel validated or supported by Solangelo. 

In a way, this is better than Caleo, since it's at least TRYING to be a good ship, for Nico's sake and for those gay kids that want to feel that a relationship is attainable to them. But this book is about how I feel, and for me, I'm just thinking of how badly I want Blitzstone to be canon and get what Solangelo was trying to do RIGHT.

Rating: 2.5/10