As some of you may know, I've had a special interest in Percy Jackson and other books by the same author for several months now. With that interest, I've been trying to give the books some diaper art and recently decided to add some background to a certain item that's appeared in some of my earlier pics.

My first Riordanverse diaper pic was of Nico di Angelo, and in it, I gave him a doll that resembles his late older sister, Bianca. I initially thought of it as just some rag doll made to look like her, but as I've thought more about what being an AB demigod would be like and how the gods, or, more specifically, Hebe, might cater to them, I thought it would make sense for the doll to have some kind of magical element, especially given its resemblance to a voodoo doll. This may have been further cemented by me drawing Magnus Chase, star of Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, Rick Riordan's Norse mythology series, with a similar doll resembling his mom.

I might as well bring up a few things I've thought of that the comic doesn't mention. For starters, Voodoo Lovies are given out to demigod Littles for a parental figure, be it a parent or a grandparent, uncle/aunt, older sibling who took on a parental role, et cetera, whom they lost way too early and whose loss greatly impacted their lives. A demigod Little wouldn't get a Voodoo Lovie of, say, a close friend who wasn't necessarily a parental figure or a grandparent who died of natural causes while they still had their mortal parent to take care of them.

For another thing, keeping in line with the "voodoo doll" aspect, I imagine the dolls would, in fact, be spiritually connected to whomever they resemble, though these dolls inflict warmth and love, rather than pain. The comic mentions that they contain a bit of the person they resemble's spirit; given up voluntarily, since they're dead anyway and have no more reason to care if their child or younger sibling does something like this. In Natalie Chase (Magnus' mom)'s case, for instance, she's stuck in Helheim, so at least this way she gets to feel joy again and have her baby boy back. As for Bianca, since Nico is now older than she was when she died, this way she gets to be his big sister again.

I know what some of you might be thinking. If you've read Heroes of Olympus, then you know Bianca chose to be reincarnated. For what it's worth, we see Bianca's spirit in The Sun and the Star; apparently it's supposed to be a left over bit of her consciousness. The bit of her spirit used for the doll might be taken from that left over bit of consciousness, or it could've been collected before she was reincarnated.

Anyway, unlike a typical voodoo doll, the spirit on the other end wouldn't register every little thing that happens to the doll; if the doll is washed, stepped on, torn, et cetera, they wouldn't feel it. They would only register the warmth and love the Little gives the doll, be it through playing with it, hugging it, or carrying it around for comfort. They might even register the Little's emotions; whether the Little is happy and ready to play or sad and in need of comfort, they'll feel it and maybe channel their own joy or comfort back through the doll.

I've said a lot. Let me know if you have any thoughts.

Characters belong to Rick Riordan and Disney: Hyperion