#reyllo

Sorry for taking so long to answer btw. I already had a draft talking about this very thing and I had to rewrite it in a way that not only answers your questions but also gives my insight into the ship and the fandom’s (overexaggerated) reactions, if you don’t mind. You wanted my opinion, so I had to make sure it’s detailed enough and conveyed everything I had in mind. I wanted to write a post about these two for so long after all. I hope it’s a satisfying answer ^^

So here is my draft (with some modifications) :

Warning : don’t read this if this ship is your utlimate NOTP and/or cannot handle different opinions.

So, I’ve seen a few posts talking about how bad and horrible this pairing is and what I noticed is that it gets far more hate than it does deserve. It actually has so much potential and they both can be GREAT for each other even without overlooking the entire mortal/god issue. You might dislike what I’ll say, but I’ll say it anyways. At first, I disliked the ship with a burning passion too, but my fav character x my fav god appealed to me later on.

So, the first thing a certain part of the fandom seems to believe in is that Apollo, being bi, “is better off with guys” which is blatant bi erasure, guys. Apollo x Any-mortal-guy-he-had-the-slightest-crush-on doesn’t steer any outrage, their “mortality” takes the backseat and no one seems to mind. Yet the moment he’s shipped with a girl, this part of the fandom seems to *loudly* disagree. I really get it, LGBTQ+ rep is very much needed, and I’m tired of heteronormativity just as much as the next person, but guys, this is not “straight rep”. Dating someone of the opposite gender doesn’t suddenly turn the bisexual part involved “straight”. Bisexuals have every right to date any of the two (or more) genders (or lack thereof) they feel attracted to. Bisexual guys are a rare species in fiction, even rarer than bi girls, yet once we have one, we turn him gay. This is not different from the usual belief that bi girls “choose camps” at some point. But guess what? There is no camp to choose from. Apollo is and remains as bi as he was in all 3 previous book and will date the person he feels attracted to, regardless of their gender. Sorry if this came off as rude or preachy, but being bi myself, I just couldn’t help it.

The second thing held against the ship is Apollo’s godhood. It’s believed that once he goes back to Olympus, he’ll return to his frivolous ways… Seriously? After all the emotional maturation he went through in the last book? After all the whining he does over Daphne and Hyacinthus? This guy literally craves being loved and actually deserves it. And also, I do not think Reyna needs/craves an everlasting love story, or a promise of permanence alltogether. And no, I do NOT want her to face heartbreak or be used by a god for a few months and then thrown away. On the contrary, I believe she’ll get the most “serious” and emotionally poignant relationship in the entire books, BUT, not in the way most canon ships are. The fandom’s main problem with the relationship is that many seem to need each and every character to get into a happily-ever-after everlasting relationship that ride into the sunset, grow old and live forever together in elysium. They can’t stand seeing characters break up, much less characters entering relationships that have a slight “forbidden” flair, forbidden as in “Not gonna last forever, people, that’s some seriously rocky road you’re stepping in”. But what most forget is that Reyna is NOT another Annabeth. Her fatal flaw is probably independance imo. And hey, even in case she wishes for a long-term relationship, she does not seem to be the overly possessive and jealous type. You catch my drift right (and my craving for poly -or just an open relationship- rep) ? And you know, relationship or not, Reyna will always be Reyna. She’s not a princess in need of a prince, she’s a queen. She’s so aptly named. She’s complete all by herself. But guess what? She has the right to wish for a relationship, lasting or not. A relationship won’t won’t change her core or the way she is.

Now onto Venus’ prophecy. Reyna’s heart healing is gonna be a tough process. It won’t be through “someone saving/protecting her” but through being heard and helped and loads of sharing and caring and advice. And why tf not have the literal god of healing help her? Whyyy? xD

The third issue is mortality… huh? sorry? This issue is ridiculous for it can be mended through Reyna becoming immortal which is, mark my word, so going to happen because of Bellona’s bloodline prophecy. Reyna is an even better goddess than the actual divinities. She has all the required qualities, kindness, authority, bravery, brains, beauty, maturity, leadership, diplomatic skills. She has values the gods seem to lack of. And guys, that’s REYNA we’re talking about. Rick respects her far too much to turn her into another Annabeth ((and before you ask, yes, I do have many things to say about the way Annabeth turned in HoO)). I mean, he’s the one who said that she’s her own better half and he only ever speaks highly of her. Do you really think he left her relationship in last only to put her into another I-just-had-to-pair-everyone pairing like some other canon couples I won’t even bother to state?  If anything, it’ll be the “power couple” of the whole series.. And honestly, it was pretty obvious she’ll end up with someone immortal or at least Someone "Important". Venus did not appear in person to give her a prophecy for her to end up with a legacy or a mortal. Meh. It was obvious (or so I hope) that her love story will be every bit as beautiful as..say, Psyche and Eros. And a god/mortal relationship is basically the entire sub-theme (or sub-plot name it as you please) of the books, yet never had one ever happened in-screen. So.. why not?

So to sum up these last few points, what I’m really implying is that Reyna’s not seeking to crush on someone and feel butterflies, she seeks companionship. She needs something akin to a confidante, not that cheesy romance most of the canon couples seem to involve. And a hormonal 17 yo teen CAN’T give her that, sorry. She needs, as stated in the prophecy, to HEAL her heart. She needs all the help she can get over her awful past, and grow into a better version of herself. Help in any shape or form. She deserves a happy ending, but her own ending involves her being happy in the first place, finding help, and a relationship is just going to be an external element contributing to that happiness, not the root of it. She deserves to be loved, adored, worshipped, and no, it doesn’t mean she’ll sacrifice her independant self. Quite on the contrary, she’s definitely one for being the ‘dominant’ of her relationship. Though I totally see why people wish for her to stay single. Relationships in MG/YA novels often involve females that unexpectedly turn from powerful role models to damsels in distress (this concerns hetero or heternormative pairings especially, not to say only.) which is frustrating and oh so wrong and it’s sole purpose is to stroke some very fragile masculine ego. So yeah, the fandom wanting her single is very understandable because after reading so many books were a relationship equates losing your strength and your independance, you unconsciously start to think that a relationship MEANS losing what makes you who you are to become another person’s subordinate. And hell, we have some examples in the Riordanverse, the most blatant being Percabeth (I know that Percy aka th masculine part is being subordinated and disrespected most of the time, which is just as wrong as the other way around, but some excrutiating “manly” stereotypes start to show up in HoO), so why not change the grounds? Why not stop making romantic pursuits the most important thing ever to the point where EVEN staying single is a mere rebellion against it? Why not treat it like.. idk.. a freaking normal concept that happens every once in a while and that’s all? Reyna dating someone is just that. Reyna dating someone. Not Reyna losing her identity. Not Reyna becoming someone’s ‘half’ *cringes and shudders with disgust*. Am I drifting off-side again? Very much, yes. Now back to the actual topic. Oh.. Reyna’s type seems to be another “issue”, right? Well guess what.. Reyna’s type is stated nowhere in the books. Headcanons =/= canon. Think about it, she was canonically attracted to two guys. Jason and Percy. And, hello, these two are everything but carbon copies of each other (I'm a Jercy shipper for a reason, buddy). They are exact opposites. Just because they both are heroic, loyal and “powerful” does not mean they are alike. So here, if she was attracted to both, that means she has MORE than just a type. And even if Apollo isn’t her type, that’ll only make it better. Because that’s one very realistic message the readers would get. You don’t have to end up with “your type”, if you ever have one. Don’t limit yourself to a few options when the world has so many different kinds of people to offer. Anyway, back to topic. Reyna is a not only a leader, she can also lend people her power. She’s like.. a human powerbase. And not only that, she can see/send emotions when sharing her strength with someone. That’s how she bonded with Nico in BoO. That means she sees the more emotional, inner side of people. Their emotions, how they actually feel, what they are like on the inside. Do you think a girl like her would be superficial and only focus on what appears on the outside? Pfffffft…Now that I’ve talked enough about Reyna, let’s talk about Apollo. Mythologically speaking, he has been known to be ridiculously attracted to independant people. Cyrene is the one that reminds me the most of Reyna tbh, and she eventually turned immortal. Even if their relationship wasn’t “eternal”, it still lasted for a long while before she ditched him for another god, Ares. Also, something I deem as very important, is that in most myths, he doesn’t “leave” his lovers. They do, they leave him (Cyrene, Coronis). That is, if he ever had his chance with them to begin with (Daphne, Cassandra). Or they die in a super tragic way or/and get turned into plants (Daphne again, Hyacinthus, Cyparissus, Dryopê). And a few more example, but let’s stick to the famous ones. Way to make your personality more complex and hard to grasp. Which makes me wonder.. why is everyone convinced that Apollo is an utterly ridiculous, idiotic and happy-go-lucky god with close to no wisdom? Like he’s arrogant, kinda annoying and self-centered, but definitely not unwise or stupid. Canon-wise, Piper even asked him, I quote, “are you sure you’re not the god of wisdom?”, he also was the one who taught Chiron, and one of his many domains is knowledge and according to some sources, intelligence. The guy can be very mature and wise *when* he wants. So all in all, he does deserve a break, doesn’t he? So even if these two might seem like opposites at first, underneath their differences, so many similarities can be found. Their backstories kinda overlap.

Continuing off of this (a little, not a lot)

Reyna looked at her camp as everyone went throughout their day. Her eyes went to the entrance of the camp, awaiting Apollo to come through. 

She received a notice from a  grain spirit that Apollo was on his way here. She didn’t want to seem too excited but she was excited to see the former god. 

Their communication has been limited since Iris Messages have been completely down and the grain spirit  is way too slow. 

But Apollo will be here at any moment. And she was way too excited for her own good. 

It’s not that she was in love with him. No, they’ve been communicating a lot and they have been getting to know each other a lot more.

As her eyes scanned the entrance to the camp, she saw two people walking in; one whom she was excited to see. 

She quickly walked across the camp to greet the visitor. Her heart slightly pounding from excitement and nerves. She couldn’t wait to meet up with Apollo.

“Good afternoon Lord Apollo.” Reyna greeted. “How was your journey to our camp?”

“Hard. Took too long.” He sighed. “I don’t understand how mortals think traveling by ground is efficient. It’s so much easier with a sun chariot.”

“Not all of us can travel by chariot all the time.” Reyna replied. “But I can provide you some comfort after your long journey.”

“Thank you Reyna.” He smiled. “Helpful as ever.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reyna looked up as she felt someone’s presence in her office. She smiled a bit as she saw Apollo standing there. The mortal god walked over to the praetor. 

“Yes Apollo?” Reyna asked. “Is there something I can help you with?”

“No, I just wanted to talk in person. Our communication hasn’t been that great since we started talking.”

“I know.” She smiled. “So, what would you like to talk about?”

Her dogs Argentum and Aurum stayed close to her as their eyes landed on Apollo. She gently pet Argentum telling him that it was okay.

Apollo walked over to her and sat in the chair next to her. He sat down and looked at his hands. He never felt so nervous talking to a girl in his life. Of course he had a crush before, but as a mortal and on the most powerful woman in New Rome. 

Strong beautiful women were attractive to him. So Reyna wasn’t going to be an exception. He secretly couldn’t wait for a response from her when they were communicating with her. 

“How are you doing?” He asked with a small smile. 

“Good.” She replied. “I’m really glad that you’re here. This is so much easier than using the grain spirit.”

“It is.” He agreed. “But Peaches is a good grain spirit.”

She nodded and looked at  him. “Peaches? The grain spirit has a name?” 

“Yes. It’s not my grain spirit. It’s my friend, Meg’s. You remember me talking about Meg.”

“Ah yes. Your little master.” She chuckled. “Is she doing well?”

“Yes she is. She’s at Camp Half Blood at the moment.” He told her. “She’s helping with the strawberry plants.”

They chatted for hours. The two of them relaxing as they talked about everything and anything. Their voices filling up the room along with laughter.

It was getting late and Apollo got up to leave. He took her hand and gently kissed it. 

“I will see you tomorrow.” Apollo smiled. “Good night.”

“Good night.”

Headcanons! These relate to Trials of Apollo,

Reyna is not impressed when she first meets Apollo. This all powerful god looks like…well a loser. But she still gives him the respect a god should have.

Just being around him, Reyna could see how he could be a powerful god. He was caring but yet was ditsy like more Greek gods, in her opinion. 

But Reyna helps him with the quest he’s on and gets dragged along with him.

She could tell that he wasn’t very happy to be in New Rome. He was trying to avoid Octavian at all times.

Apollo liked Reyna, always have. She was tough, thoughtful, and an amazing leader. Things that Apollo liked in a girl.

He tried his best to impress her but he thought he looked like a fool since he wasn’t his all powerful self but he noticed a smile when he was trying to make her laugh.