smartest...

[leianaberrie]

Alysanne Targaryen: Male or female, first born is first born! How dare Jaehaerys deprive my grand-daughter of her birthright because she’s a girl! What kind of chauvinistic 4th century BC bullshit is this…

Rhaena: I am first born.

Alysanne Targaryen: I can’t read suddenly. I don’t know.

[smartestpersonintheroom]

Did we all collectively forget how Rhaena supported Jaehaerys in the beginning and did not press her claim or want to press Aerea's? She changed her mind years later but in the beginning, she didn't want to have anything to do with the Iron Throne or the Red Keep. For good reason, considering her trauma.

Also, Rhaena was 20 years old and a dragon rider for almost half tha time when Aegon died in the Battle Beneath the Gods Eye in a one-on-one dragon fight against Maegar. Do you know what would have made a difference in that battle? A second dragon.

Alysanne was 12 years old when she rode Silverwing alongside Jaehaerys to storm the Red Keep. (Yes, Rhaena rode with them but they were going to do it anyway).

Rhaena, I love you, but Alysanne didn't steal your crown. You lost it when you left your brother to die in battle.

[leianaberrie]

I wonder how many people would ship Rhaena and Aemond more if the show Velaryons were cast with white people

Second daughter / second son and both feeling like they're second-rate.

Their cradle eggs not hatching and both growing up in the shadow of a dragon-riding family.

Both having a connection to the same dragon and Rhaena playing a pivotal role in the night that Aemond exchanged his eye for a dragon.

The biggest joke is that it's the show that sets up this dynamic. None of this stuff was in the books. But the show-writers decided to turn Rhaena into a joke instead because why not and fans would rather ship Aemond with his sister.

[closed-third-eye]

I support every devastation coming for the green’s. They think their blood is superior, let it spread let us all bask in its glory.

People who stupidly claim rhaenyra should declare her sons as illegitimate then legitimise them are either dumb or don’t realise they’re watching a show set in middle ages. A man eg-corlys in the same story, can do that for a woman to do that would mean execution for her children and herself, viserys did a lot of things wrong but ignoring his daughter’s kids parentage was the right thing.

[rhaenyragendereuphoria]

You all nailed it.

It’s horrifying that people would watch this scene, which clearly shows Aegon’s contempt and how hurt Rhaenyra is, and react to it by agreeing with him that we should shame the “whore” and dehumanize the bastards, that they deserve it despite society being wring, even though WE ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO.

Holy fuck @la-pheacienne if these weirdos watch Les Mis, do they just cheer when Fantine gets what they would consider she “deserves”?? That’s such an insane thing to conceptualize yet this is what they’re doing here.

[horizon-verizon]

I can’t believe that I didn’t remember Rhaenyra’s face here (probs bc I have no respect for this show). My god, this is ridiculous! Why are we “supposed” to wish death on children who by all accounts did nothing and have been pretty sweet? Especailly in comparison to those Green boys?!

[smartestpersonintheroom]

I mean it’s sad and all and let me be clear, I am not Team Green. Seeing Alicent lose her marbles after watching every single one of her “pure” children and grand-children (also notice she didn’t have any problem with ‘queer’ Targaryen customs when she married her children to each other) die violently is something I’m looking forward.

That said…

They are bastards. They are illegitimate children - and worse , blatantly obvious illegitimate children - in a society where it’s literally treason for them to exist and that’s not their fault but it’s their reality.

The only person in this story who’s responsible for the way these children are maltreated is Rhaenyra.

[horizon-verizon]

Let’s play with this a little.

Besides the fact that it is only Alicent and the Greens protesting Rhaenya’s children’s existence and status (literally no one else cared enough):

A)

It is “treason” for them to exist because Rhaenyra hides their parentage, having them pass as children born from her husband, Laenor. Treason because she is supposed to have lied to Viserys the King. That ius what would have made this “treason”.

However, Viserys already knows. Corlys knows. Laenor knows. Here is why Viserys keeps it a secret anyway. You’re welcome to read but if you don’t just know that you’re missing vital info.

Also, for illegitimate people to be officially legitimized, they need the King officially and publicly legitimizing them. 

But the issue is that that would be showing the world that Rhaenyra cheated on Laenor and “committed” adultery. 

So what the hell is a “bastard” exactly? It has no “truth”, no logic, no consistency.

Men can and often cheat on their spouses all the time and produce illeg.s all the time. Examples are Robert Baratheon, Aegon III, Aerion Targaryen (Aegon I’s father), Corlys Velayron. 

This tells us that, illogically, women giving birth to bastards are treated as a far more serious matter than men are. Rhaenyra’s adultery is not the same as a man’s, and is therefore misogyny against her. And blood purity against her children.

It is not Rhaenyra’s fault that her kids are treated as less-than and HAVE to be passed off as legitimate to preserve their very lives. It is the society that you are defending and which GRRM criticizes. You seem to have forgotten Jon Snow and Catelyn Stark’s abuse of him.

B)

in real life, what determined a child’s legitimacy in Europe was nebuolous right from the start and had to do with porperty and changed according to the needs of the people involved. In Wales–before the Norman conquest of it and its incorporation into “England” around 1093–had “bastard” meaning a child whose father doesn’t acknowledge and all children acknowledged had equal legal rights. That included the right to share in the father’s inheritance. The real-life House of Tudor, Elizabeth I’s house, was a house that ruled England after Henry VII took the throne through conquest and after presenting himself as a candidate to those opposed to the Plantagenet York House. The Tudors weren’t a “big” house compared to these houses. And yet it produced notable people…. including Elizabeth I. William the Conqueror was not mocked for having unmarried parents, but for his mother not having a good or illustrious lineage

In Westeros, riverman Benedict Rivers/Justman/”the Bold” and Orys Baratheon (last one rumored bastard) loyally or dedicatedly lead armies for other lords or lead loyal soldiers themselves, completely negating the idea that bastards are inherently “monstrous” or “treacherous”. Benedict Rivers, a bastard born from a Blackwood and a Bracken, became a King over all the riverlords and lead the riverlords into years of prosperity and peace. Orys founded the very house that currently rules Westeros (the irony is not lost on me, but that’s because Robert himself is a fucker and patriarchy)

C)

@the-king-andthe-lionheart also details in full the “reality” of bastards:

“With regard to royal children, the only consideration more important than their kingly blood was the monarch’s self-interest.  Many kings acknowledged children they knew had been fathered by someone else. Often, kings did not want to cast doubt on the paternity of older children they knew to be their own. In the case where the king could not father children, sometimes court factions heartily desired the queen to bear bastards in order to stabilize the throne and cement their own interests.

Fortunately, the queen’s complete and utter disillusionment with her husband usually set in after the birth of the heir.  And so it was not deemed worthwhile to lose international prestige, throw the nation into tumult, and question the paternity of all royal children, simply to deny the one cuckoo in the robin’s nest.  In the early nineteenth century, the last son of King John VI and Queen Carlota Joaquina of Portugal was extremely good-looking and slender - unlike either of his parents - and happened to be the spitting image of the handsome gardener at the queen’s country retreat. Other than a few snickers behind painted fans, no one said a word.”  (Sex With The Queen by Eleanor Herman)

–AND–

It was never adultery alone that did in a queen, or the fact that she did not resemble the Virgin Mary, or that she had polluted the royal bloodline.  It was politics.

If the queen followed the traditional pattern of bearing children, embroidering altar cloths, and interceding for the poor - pious duties that the Virgin Mary would likely have approved of - even if she took a lover she was usually left in peace.  There was rarely reason to shoot down a political nonentity at court.  But an intelligent ambitious woman who spoke her mind and built up a faction was always open to the accusation of adultery by her political rivals, whether the accusation was true or fabricated.

Adultery charges offered the accuser many benefits.  The very mention of adultery suddenly cast doubt upon the legitimacy of the offspring of a suspected queen, possibly rendering them unfit for the throne and opening the door to other ambitious candidates - usually the accusers themselves […] (Sex With The Queen by Eleanor Herman)

Final Note

It is not a coincidence that Alicent and the Greens want to protest Rhaenyra–they are the ones who could gain from her deposition.

All of this is to say that you are helping the victimization of children and misogyny when you still try to make Rhaenyra to person who did a “bad” thing in having sex with Harwin while married to an unreceptive gay man.

You say: “They are illegitimate children - and worse , blatantly obvious illegitimate children - in a society where it’s literally treason for them to exist and that’s not their fault but it’s their reality”.

But the true “reality” is that bastardry only exists as a way to control women’s bodies and to gain political power, and is thus subject to the desires and whims of the people around said illegitimate children.

[smartestpersonintheroom]

I promise I’ll take the time to read all this and reply more but I just want to add this at the end:

It is not a coincidence that Alicent and the Greens want to protest Rhaenyra–they are the ones who could gain from her deposition.

No shit Sherlock. What you don’t do when you’re fighting a war against hundreds of years of tradition is to give your enemies a legitimate reason to oppose you.

[rhaenyragendereuphoria]

Can you just fucking read what people were patient enough to painstakingly explain to you before you comment?

[smartestpersonintheroom]

Can you actually read what I’m saying or are you just mad that I don’t 100% give Rhaenyra a pass for everything?

[rhaenyragendereuphoria]

Why the fuck should I or anyone even care about anything you have to say when you just stated that you haven’t even watched the show, and the fact the Greens are the villains who usurped a woman solely on that ground is even more obvious in the book? Or do you just hate this one woman so much you can’t turn off your misogyny for a few minutes?

[smartestpersonintheroom]

Because the show is not canon. The show made Alicent 10 years younger than her actual age to make her sympathetic. The show changed the dynamic leading to Vaemond’s death - from Rhaenyra demanding his head to Daemon executing him in “gallantry” - to make her sympathetic. The only misogyny at play here is the show writers who apparently have a problem portraying white women on both teams as villains and the fandom that eats that sh-t up.

[smartestpersonintheroom]

Remember when I told fandom that the show was misogynistic by whitewashing these morally dubious women and I got jumped?

Good times.

[closed-third-eye]

I support every devastation coming for the green's. They think their blood is superior, let it spread let us all bask in its glory.

People who stupidly claim rhaenyra should declare her sons as illegitimate then legitimise them are either dumb or don't realise they're watching a show set in middle ages. A man eg-corlys in the same story, can do that for a woman to do that would mean execution for her children and herself, viserys did a lot of things wrong but ignoring his daughter's kids parentage was the right thing.

[rhaenyragendereuphoria]

You all nailed it.

It's horrifying that people would watch this scene, which clearly shows Aegon's contempt and how hurt Rhaenyra is, and react to it by agreeing with him that we should shame the "whore" and dehumanize the bastards, that they deserve it despite society being wring, even though WE ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO.

Holy fuck @la-pheacienne if these weirdos watch Les Mis, do they just cheer when Fantine gets what they would consider she "deserves"?? That's such an insane thing to conceptualize yet this is what they're doing here.

[horizon-verizon]

I can’t believe that I didn’t remember Rhaenyra’s face here (probs bc I have no respect for this show). My god, this is ridiculous! Why are we “supposed” to wish death on children who by all accounts did nothing and have been pretty sweet? Especailly in comparison to those Green boys?!

[smartestpersonintheroom]

I mean it’s sad and all and let me be clear, I am not Team Green. Seeing Alicent lose her marbles after watching every single one of her “pure” children and grand-children (also notice she didn’t have any problem with ‘queer’ Targaryen customs when she married her children to each other) die violently is something I’m looking forward.

That said…

They are bastards. They are illegitimate children - and worse , blatantly obvious illegitimate children - in a society where it’s literally treason for them to exist and that’s not their fault but it’s their reality.

The only person in this story who’s responsible for the way these children are maltreated is Rhaenyra.

[rhaenyragendereuphoria]

This is a serious question: why are you accepting and embracing the reactionary viewpoint of the villains? Would you shame Fantine and Esther Prynne? Would you say their mistreatment, and that of Cosette and Pearl, is justified? Why do you choose to agree with the viewpoint that's not just obviously in the wrong, obviously misogynistic and bigoted, but also what the author himself believes is wrong and is painstakingly trying to prove in Rhaenyra's and Jon's stories?

Bastardry does not exist: it's a patriarchal concept created to control women's bodies. It doesn't matter if the law in their world says adultery is treason because the law can (often) be wrong. Marital rape isn't a crime in their world, yet you can see that what Viserys does to Alicent in that one scene is precisely that. Why can't you extend the same courtesy to Rhaenyra's children?

In our world, the law permitted the punishment of adulterous women, the ostracism of natural children; the law also permitted slavery, then segregation. The Nuremberg laws were laws. Have you considered that maybe, just maybe, there are things you should question here? After all, though adultery is no longer a crime in most of the Western world, it still somehow is in 16 U.S. states. Think about the very definition of the word used for children born out of wedlock: illegitimate means illegal. There is no such thing as illegal humans, whether they're children or immigrants.

Glancing at your blog, you don't look like a conservative: so why are you using their words?

[smartestpersonintheroom]

I’m not embracing the villains’s viewpoint because they’re not the villain’s point. They’re the law in the world she exists. It’s the law that allows Rhaenyra to be Crown Princess, that protects her rights to succession because the law of illegitimacy prevented her father (and his ancestors before him) from passing on their inheritance to the children they prefer over the children they had with their legal wives. If you can’t see the double standard in Rhaenyra’s actions then I don’t know how to explain that to you.

[closed-third-eye]

Yeah you say that's the world but when push came to shove, more than half the realm United behind rhaenyra and jacaerys more than they did for the so called "legitimate" kids.

Not a single person outside the green council cares who was the sperm donor for jace, luke and joff. If they objected to her reign it was because she was a woman eg.- borros .

Lord of winterfell was pushing his hier onto jace's kid and manderly pushed his daughter on joffery.

Saying their bastardy or the rumor of it matters is actually the green thing because they are the only ones who cared. In the show they make it a big deal only in the red keep because that where the most green influence is.

They couldn't show their parentage meaning anything to anyone outside of the kinglanding because no one cares. Vaemond does not count he wanted to inherit the driftwood throne over his brother warn body.

[smartestpersonintheroom]

And the other half fought for Team Green so obviously the entire realm wasn’t ok with Rhaenyra’s choices or the Dance won’t have happened, at least not on the scale that it did. Again I’m not Team Green, but I’m not going to ignore Rhaenyra’s own decisions (having obviously illegitimate children and marrying Daemon) contributed to the mess.

[closed-third-eye]

First of all dance happened because the greens not only usurped rhaenyra but also murdered her child. And before that no banner man declared till they were called for war and given something for their loyalty>marriage pact to borros, cregan and manderly or accepted immediately > arryn

Again no one cared about the parentage of jacaerys, her being a woman is the major obstacle for them. I'm seriously confused if you haven't heard show otto spell it out: "she could be jahaerys reborn himself and people still won't follow her" > long before she had kids

And In the book other Lords too only mention their issue with rhaneyras gender not her kids. Only person to use her kids as an argument officially to Lords was cole in his kingmaker speech, and then too people who weren't in on the conspiracy to dethrone rhaenyra didn't accept the points in his speech i.e. Lord beesbury, and other Lords and ladies.

[smartestpersonintheroom]

I honestly haven’t watched the show that much. I turned off it when they made Alicent Rhaenyra’s age so that they could remove her agency and turn her into some kind of victim. I have a vague idea of the changes but not the details like this one you mentioned about Otto. That said, that’s just Otto’s opinion, given when he stands to gain from that mentality. Otto is also the person who pushed for Rhaenyra to be declared Heir because he didn’t want Daemon on the Throne. Clearly he wasn’t worried that the people won’t follow her then. The “she’s a woman” card is something that the Greens weaponized just as they weaponized her illegitimate children. The problem was that being a woman wasn’t a crime - having illegitimate children that she insisted were not and put in the line of succession - was. I legit don’t know how anyone can argue that Rhaenyra didn’t shoot herself in the foot with that one.

[rhaenyragendereuphoria]

OH MY GOD YOU HAVEN'T EVEN WATCHED IT???

Why the fuck are we even bothering.

[pontmercii]

@smartestpersonintheroom the fact that literally nobody in the entire book apart from the greens ever gave a fuck about the children's parentage apparently flew right over your head. The fact that the children had a name, the Velaryon name, that was given to them by the Velaryon family, also flew right over your head. The fact that the greens started slandering Rhaenyra and had a clear plan to usurp her long before she had any children also flew right over your head. The fact that GRRM has dedicated approximately, idk, 5.000 pages explaining why women are unfairly denied positions of power and how bastards are unfairly ostracised also flew right over your head. The fact that the same writer specifically created the "bastards" to be genuinely positive and honorable characters as opposed to the "legitimate" princes also flew right over your head.

But sure it's the LaW, the sAmE laW thAt ALLOWs RhAenYra to be cRoWn pRincEss. Lol. That's such a smart argument, I admire the long and thorough thought process that led to that.

[smartestpersonintheroom]

Vaemond Velaryon and his tongue-freed sons flew past your head, I guess. Or to be technical, his head literally flew.

the fact that literally nobody in the entire book apart from the greens ever gave a fuck about the children's parentage apparently flew right over your head. The fact that the children had a name, the Velaryon name, that was given to them by the Velaryon family, also flew right over your head.

[pontmercii]

Yeah Vaemond Velaryon gave a fuck. Vaemond was a dude who, if I remember correctly, planned on usurping the throne of Driftmark while his brother, lord of Driftmark, was ill and on the verge of dying, going against his brother's will (he same brother who specifically considered the Velaryon boys, you know, Velaryons), bypassing not only the Velaryon boys but also the Velaryon girls, for his own personal interest. If you think that Vaemond Velaryon's fate is where the core idea of this story is found, think again. Vaemond occupies one page in the entire 700 pages.

Your next point will be that the Greens started planning Rhaenyra's usurpation while she was a literal child because they foresaw that Vaemond would eventually try to use Westeros' bigoted ethics to serve his personal agenda while his brother was incapable of defending his throne. Well the Greens are certainly so responsible and put the stability of the realm above all, don't they. Oh but it wasn't about that, it was about Rhaenyra being a woman. With the same logic, Rhaenyra should never become heir and then queen because there would be people criticizing that and that would cause instability... Oh wait.

[smartestpersonintheroom]

The Velaryon girls

There are no Velaryon girls in the story. Last I checked Rhaenyra wasn’t an Arryn girl.

You know if Rhaenyra was really fighting for women’s rights to inherit by virtue of being first born, she should have been championing for Baela Targaryen to claim Driftmark in her own right as the first born Laena Velaryon’s first born daughter. But depending on whether you go by book or show, Rhaenyra was more interested in using her as a tool to cement her sons’ claim.

The point was that you claimed no one else had a problem with her son being illegitimate and I just pointed someone who did (and got murdered got it. Just you know, typical tyrant things…)

It’s ironic that you call Vaemond Velaryon an usurper who deserved to die for expecting the rules of succession to apply to him but the person who goes down in history as an usurper is Rhaenyra.

[bluecrocss]

Yes. You are racist. (Buckle up, this is gonna be a long one)

So approximately half a year since the premier of the Disney+ Percy Jackson show, and almost two years since the announcement of the Trio's casting, I would like to take this moment to look back at the insane racist and anti-black backlash that was launched at Leah Sava Jeffries and a few other cast members from the PJO fandom.

I'm not concerned with the trolls who are openly racist, who resorted to racist slurs and outright threats, everyone agrees that they "took it too far". I want to talk about the rest of you, the "I'm not racist, but.." people, the "What's wrong with wanting book accuracy?" people. Just to let you know, for the unasked question... yes, yes you are.

I've noticed the Percy Jackson fandom has been lording some weird superiority complex over a certain *unnamed* fandom that has fallen out of favor due to their recently outed bigot of an author. But honestly, y'all are not much different. The amount of vitriol and anti-blackness I have seen from this fandom (beyond just bullying a 12 year old girl), y'all don't have a leg to stand on.

Below is a breakdown of the most common arguments I have seen used to justify y'alls absolutely insane bigotry. I am going to explain why none of these justify the amount of anger and vitriol y'all have sent towards Leah, Rick or any of the cast.

I am not here to argue, and this is not a democracy. I am giving you a chance for some self-reflection and to understand that this pattern of violence directed towards POC actors (mostly black women) has never been justified in the name of "book accuracy"/"comic book accuracy"/"ending forced diversity" or whatever other excuses y'all try to make up.

If you still try to justify or argue further for any of these points, I will just block you. I am not coddling you through your racism. If anyone has seen any other dumb arguments floating around that I might've missed, feel free to sound off in the comments.

She's not book accurate:

Neither is Percy, Luke, Grover, Dionysus, Poseidon, and just about every other named character.

Rick already made it clear that physical features were not the priority with casting, rather it was actors that embodied the role. So why are the biggest complaints about Annabeth and Zeus? 🤔

What? You're gonna say everyone else got backlash too? I see you trying to obscure the main issue by playing dumb 😉

See my friend, yes, there were one or two comments about how Percy's hair should be black or how Luke is supposed to be blonde, but as soon as Leah was cast, none of those actors got any significant backlash. In fact, Walker and Charlie literally have an army of fan girls at their beck and call, calling them the perfect Percy and Luke, despite neither being "Book accurate". But then again, have we not observed the pattern of White boy of the month vs WOC to hate for the year? (Yes, I know Charlie isn't white. Further adds to the irony, doesn't it).

Why include character descriptions if you won't stay true to them, you cry? Well, my dear sweet moron, see, books and TV are two different mediums. Because in literature, you can't *Literally* SEE the characters, the author has to add descriptions to paint a picture in your mind, in TV... that's not an issue. So unless the character's appearance is necessary to the plot (like Luke's scar, or Nico being Italian) the show runners can actually focus on more important things.. Like ACTING and PERSONALITY.

2. It's just not how I imagined her:

News flash, babe! ANNABETH ISN'T REAL. None of these character are. They are concepts that originated from the brain of Mr. Rick Riordan. It doesn't matter how YOU imagined her. There are millions of people who read these books that imagined her several different ways. When the creator of the character watched Leah's audition and said, 'Yes! She embodies the character I created!", your imagined version of Annabeth ceased to matter. And guess what? The books still exist... they have not been burned. Your version of Annabeth has not disappeared. Go read the books.

3. Zeus can't be black/Gods have to be Greek/*Insert Character* can't be black:

Y'all did not read the books, I swear. Just bigots looking for an outlet for their rage.

The gods move based off the center of western civilization. They change their forms/environment to reflect the culture they are occupying (they did it with Rome, now they're doing it with America). The gods change forms all the time. How we see them is not their true form as a mortal would disintegrate if they were to see their true form.

America is a cultural melting pot (specifically NY where Mount Olympus is now based). If the god's choose forms that reflect the current society they inhabit, they could literally be any race (keep in mind NYC is only 33% white).

All of this is literally SPELLED OUT in the Lightning Thief.

Furthermore, if you're going to push the ethnically Greek thing... Poseidon is British with a British accent and Hermes is Latino. The only ethnically Greek actor is Dionysus (who still doesn't look book accurate). Y'all are sounding like some white supremacists because do you forget that race is a social construct?

Before the advent of the transatlantic slave trade, I can promise you that the Greeks and the Anglo-Saxons did NOT view themselves as the same people. Why are y'all not taking issue with Poseidon's actor then?

Also, Percy Jackson has canonically had a slew of explicit black demigods since the second book (including Harriet Tubman, which I have mixed feelings about 😭), so I genuinely have no idea where some of y'all are going with this point.

4. She was our smart blonde representation:

Don't pmo. I swear to God!

White, blonde women have NEVER been excluded from Hollywood. Representation is not something you lacked. The dumb blonde stereotype was a simple branch off of a larger misogynistic "dumb woman" stereotype. It has not truly been relevant since the mid 2000s outside of childish jokes.

This iteration of Percy Jackson will probably not go beyond the first 5 books, based off pacing and the age of the actors. So here's a fun game: 5 bucks to the first person who can find me a quote in the first 5 Percy Jackson books, where Annabeth laments her insecurities about being blonde (hint: there aren't any).

Also, her blonde hair does not hold her back at Camp because she is head of the Athena Cabin who are highly respected (and guess what?), ARE ALL BLONDE!

Her insecurities about her hair color are two or three lines at most in the later books, not this fundamental core part of her character y'all all of a sudden wanna pretend it was. And guess what, as a non-blonde black girl, I was able to read those scenes of Annabeth feeling undervalued because of her looks and relate to her even if she didn't look like me at the time.

Why all of a sudden can y'all not do that with a black Annabeth? By every metric black girls are undervalued for their intelligence in academia more than white girls are, regardless of hair color. So your little representation of a woman undervalued by her looks would still hold. Do y'all dehumanize black women so much, that you are incapable of empathizing with show!Annabeth's plight in the way I could with Book!Annabeth simply because she doesn't look exactly like you?

Your issue isn't that she isn't blonde, it's that she is NOT WHITE.

Furthermore, Becky Riordan had tweeted previously (before the show was even cast) that Annabeth never needed to be blonde (probably recalling the BS y'all put Alexandra Daddario through), so even if they cast a white Annabeth, the blonde hair was never a guarantee. the author's and producers all agree that it was not a significant part of her character. It's been a non-issue since day one.

Also, stop acting like smart blonde's are rare in media... Go watch legally blonde, Iron Man, zack and cody, liv and maddie, captain marvel, Shera, Buffy, etc. etc.

5. It's not about race, but...:

Yes it is. It was always bout race. No other actors got as much hate as Leah. Her grandmother and other family members on IG had to mute their comments because they were getting so many threats.

Alexandra Daddario had to come to her defense on Twitter. Rick had to put out an official statement on his website. This girl has endured years of psychological torment for simply having the best audition. No one else is book accurate, no one else is ethnically Greek (except Jason Mantzoukas. Walker literally has British and German ancestry).

Why was she being called racial slurs on reddit and in youtube comments?

I know what you're gonna say, "I actually had a problem with all the casting", "I actually had a bigger issue with Walker's hair color", blah blah blah. Then why aren't you in Walker's comment sections? Why are you only making your displeasure known on posts defending/advocating for Leah? Why is she always your first example of 'wrong casting"?

Well, she "looks the most different"... Look up the term "scapegoating".

"Oh, I don't agree with the harassment. I just don't like the casting." Guess what? She's already been cast. They are not going to uncast her. What do you get out of still complaining about it.

All the vitriol you're stirring about her when you complain about her on Social media, it is directing people to send her hate, even if you're not writing it directly. It's is not enough to "not agree" with the racism, it is your duty to actively prevent it. And btw, these are young gen z actors, they are active on social media. They see the edits of themselves (even comment on it) and they most likely see these little "harmless" complaints you're posting. Are your upset feelings really worth contributing to the racist dogpile on this poor girl?

6. Why couldn't they atleast give her blonde braids?:

Why should they? Y'all wanted blonde because of the "dumb blonde" trope... that doesn't apply to POC.

A blonde black girl is gonna be viewed the same as a non-blonde black girl (or at worst, someone might decide she's "ratchet" or some shit for wearing colored hair). What difference would it make?

Why shouldn't Walker dye his hair, then?

7. Annabeth has Gray eyes:

Less than 3% of the global population has "gray eyes". Even if they cast a white actor, they would've needed contacts. Her being black is not the reason Annabeth's eyes aren't gray. Simply put, it is a plot element they removed, like the whole "names have power" system, or Ares having flames for eyes, or Dionysus using his powers to grow strawberries at Camp.

That's how adaptations work. Unnecessary plot elements are cut to save time and budget. This has nothing to do with her casting. They probably also didn't want to make child actors wear contacts (not a new practice).

8. Even if Rick chose her, he was wrong/Disney is forcing him to be okay with it:

Where do I start? Rick created the character. He can't be wrong. Do y'all have no self-awareness? Death of the author has no place here, because y'all are hung up on an aspect of the character that is not relevant to her arc or development.

Y'all's justification for wanting a "book accurate" Annabeth is that she was such an inspirational and important character growing up, and yet your behavior is so in conflict with the character you claim means so much to you. You're narrow minded, dismissive of bigotry and injustice, disrespectful to the wishes of the creator of your favorite character, everything that Annabeth would never be. Y'all were never genuine fans of the books. You're bigots that needed an outlet for your rage.

Keep in mind, Rick has said countless times that PercaBeth directly mirrors his relationship with his wife. Y'all think he would have allowed them to cast someone who doesn't live up to the woman who has been by his side for decades? The mother of his children?

Regarding Disney forcing him, show me one piece of direct evidence that proves Disney in anyway pressured Rick to cast her. Cuz if you can't, that's baseless speculation. And if you have to resort to baseless speculation, maybe try to examine why it's so important to you to hold on to that belief.

9. So, I'm racist because I hate "race swapping"?:

To start, there is a difference between "race swapping" and "color blind casting". Often times, when y'all complain about the former, you're actually mad about the latter.

It would be "race swapping" if Rick and the team decided ahead of time that they wanted a black Annabeth and ONLY allowed black actors to audition. But the actual reality was that they accepted auditions from everyone (there were white actors and non-black poc that also auditioned for the role) and chose the best person who embodied the role. They didn't "make Annabeth black", they didn't "make Zeus black", they cast black actors to play the roles.

Y'all think you're being slick with your wording. Dismissing that is implying that they did not earn their roles fair and square. Which is racist. It's the equivalent of going up to a black college student and telling them they only got in because of affirmative action. You're dismissing the achievements of a person solely because of their racial background.

For all you people complaining about "unfairness" and "forced diversity", I would think hiring based on merit would appeal to you 🤔

71% of theatrical Hollywood leads were white in 2024 in comparison to 29% POC and you still think "black washing" is a thing? You still get this angry over a black person fairly earning a role because you think in a time where Hollywood only knows to do remakes and adaptations, that the majority of lead roles still *have* to be reserved for white actors?

Once again, white people have never been excluded from Hollywood for being white. Representation has never been something you lacked nor is it something you can lose. Your anger comes from seeing a black face where you think they don't belong. Because you feel you are owed a disproportion of representation in Hollywood.

10. Woke agenda/DEI/Forced Diversity:

If you are unironically using any of these terms in a negative light, it's already too late for me to reason with you. Look up the term "dog whistle". If you are sharing the same terminology with Elon Musk and his fanboys, maybe reevaluate some things.

POC are objectively underrepresented and have been historically excluded through actual laws and policies in Hollywood. There is no such thing as "forced diversity", you have bought in to a right wing conspiracy theory.

"Woke" is a term that was intentionally appropriated from the black community. It originally meant being aware of injustice and systematic threats to the community and is now being weaponized by bigots. Good job.

Diversity and inclusion is a good thing.

11. But POC deserve to have their own stories told:

We do. And we have been fighting for it for over a century now, and we've made great strides, no thanks to y'all.

No thanks to y'all gaslighting us about how little representation we get or that representation matters at all. No thanks to y'all pushing the idea that POC can't sell globally and obscuring POC actors in international promos. No thanks to y'all continuing to whitewash even to this day (Bullet train, the beguiled, gods of Egypt, atla, every portrayal of Jesus ever, etc.). No thanks to y'all calling every piece of media that has more than one black lead and more than one queer couple "woke". No thanks to y'all throwing a fit every time a black person in a fantasy setting isn't a slave.

Fact of the matter is, y'all never cared about POC "getting their own stories", you're only parroting our own words back to us now as a politically correct way of saying, "leave white roles alone" lmao

Well fun fact, actors of color getting opportunities to play lead roles and allowing poc to "tell their own stories" are not mutually exclusive. If y'all cared that much, instead of bullying a 12 year old actress, you could actually support up and coming independent POC writers, directors, studios 😱

12. Studios need to stop "setting up" actors of color:

Do me a favor and google the term DARVO.

Your racism is not the fault of the studios for giving a POC actor a role that they earned. It is not up to the rest of society to tiptoe around racists to avoid their vitriol. It is our responsibility to hold them accountable and protect minorities from unwarranted hate. At most, you can say it's the responsibility of the studios to provide adequate support to POC actors who face this backlash.

At the end of the day, Hollywood only allows very few spots for POC actors (especially WOC), while simultaneously pushing a new white boy every month to put in everything. Putting minorities in these roles that are usually closed to them, usually opens the door to more actors of color than before.

Brandy being cast as Cinderella did a lot to push her into the mainstream (yes, she was already extremely famous in the black community atp), Halle Berry being the first black bond girl literally shot her to icon status, even going back to what Anna Mae Wong did for Asian American actresses with her "femme fatale" roles.

At the end of the day, even with the backlash, some rep does more good for POC actors than no rep. The solution to racist backlash isn't to take away those opportunities, but rather not be racist??? 🙄

Also, for everyone that claims that "POC race-swapping" is just as bad as "white-washing", despite white washing having a longer history and objectively causing more harm, note how the backlash to white washing never lasts as long as the harassment that POC get.

Like, no one brings up Scarlett Johansson's ghost in the shell role anymore, but you can best believe Candace Patton is still fending off racist trolls. As much as people hated the atla movie, people moved on quick from Nicola Peltz playing Katara since she was just a kid that accepted the role (re: daddy bought her the role), but y'all would not have any of that consideration for Leah Sava Jeffires.

But I digress...

13. What if we made Tiana white? Wakanda white? Hazel white...:

Ah, my favorite inane point. I was excited to get here :)

See, I could start out by pointing out how "White washing" and casting a POC actor as a traditionally white character are not equivalent.

I could point out the history of hollywood ACTIVELY excluding POC actors and POC stories. I could point out how grossly over represented white people are in hollywood. I could point out that POC characters are so few in comparison that whitewashing them causes actual harm, where white people have never lacked rep.

I could point out how, because poc characters and stories are so often tokenized that their racial/cultural background is often directly tied to their character's identity, in opposition to a lot of white characters, since hollywood treats white as the "Default".

See, I could make all those points, but the thing is, the people who make this argument already know all that. They are trying to waste time by drawing me into a pointless circular argument that will sum up to "fair is fair", while ignoring all the context and nuance I previously provided.

So you know what, forget it. Let me play your game.

I am actually fine with a white Tiana. Would it make sense, for her and her family to experience Jim Crow era racism, in the south while white? No. But we can look past it. Disney was never known for historical accuracy anyway 🤷🏿‍♀️

However, in exchange, the live action frozen will have a black Elsa and Anna, live action Rapunzel will be black, live action Merida will be black, we're re-filming Cinderella and Beauty and the beast to cast a black belle and Cindy, snow white will need to be recast as black, and we also get aurora whenever the live action sleeping beauty is announced. But then y'all can keep Tiana, deal?

You want a white T'Challa? Fine! (I'm partial to Ryan gosling), in the meantime, we'll be recasting Iron man, Captain America (Steve version), Bruce banner, Thor, Loki, hawk eye, black widow, ant man, captain marvel, Bucky, Peter Parker etc. All the avengers and their side characters, then y'all can have Sam Wilson, war machine and the whole of Wakanda (will it make sense that a sole, hidden, African nation is randomly made up of white people? who cares, we get the avengers).

You want white Hazel? You got her! I hope you have no problem with us taking Percy, Nico, Will, Poseidon, Jason, calypso, Rachel, Sally Jackson, Hades, Hepheastus, ares, etc. But y'all can have Hazel and Beckendorf.

If we're gonna do this, let's commit all the way. Fair is fair, after all.

14. Movie Annabeth was "prettier":

I wish I could say this wasn't a genuine point I had read, but when all else fails, of course we will attack a girl for her looks.

Now first of all, I have a rule that I will never judge black women by white beauty standards. Our hair will never be long and silky enough, our nose will never be narrow enough, our skin will never be fair enough and our eyes will never be light enough (Might I recommend Toni Morrison, when you get the chance?). But Leah is gorgeous idc what any of you say, and you're not gonna have me use my defense of Leah as an opportunity to bash Alexandra either because she is also beautiful. These two queens slayed to the best of their abilities within this toxic ass fandom.

I find it funny, however, that so many of you harped on the "blonde" issue because you thought it was important that Annabeth be seen beyond just her looks, but quickly devolve to bashing an actress's looks when it comes to why she's not right for this role 🤔

I would also like to sincerely apologize that the 13 year old girl they cast in the show, wasn't as sexually attractive to you as the 24 year old woman they cast in the movie and sexualized through like 25% of her screen time (I'm actually not sorry. You're very weird if this is an actual point for you).

15. I don't agree with sending hate to the actor, but she's just not right for the role:

Once again, what are you doing by complaining about her casting on no other basis than her race?

The creator of the character said she embodied the role. She has already been cast, and Disney would be in a legal/production hell to "uncast" her atp. Just because you're not directly leaving comments on her social media doesn't mean you're not part of the hate mob.

No matter how you look at it, your issues with her casting come from a very narrow-minded world view. When you join in on these dialogues you are bolstering a sentiment that pushes people to harass this teenage girl. When you leave these "harmless" complaints, on fan posts or posts defending her, she's liable to read them because the cast regularly interact with fans online.

What do you have to say that is so important that it trumps protecting a young girl from the long-staying trauma of racism, of being told she doesn't deserve something she worked for because of what she was born as?

16. I can't even criticize the show without being called racist:

Get. Over. Yourself.

Y'all are not the victim. Have fans of the show gotten protective of Leah and the young cast? Yes.

With good reason. This fandom is unbearably toxic.

Racism outweighs your need for a "perfect adaptation", sorry.

If you explain yourself properly and keep your critiques fair (like, even I don't think this was a perfect season, and will be sharing my breakdown shortly), no one is gonna call you racist.

You're preempting with that because in all honesty, you're probably planning to use your "critiques" of the show to pivot to one of the many points that I just outlined, and you want to pre-empt the criticism.

If a black Annabeth is the end all be all for you, just don't watch the show, no one's holding a gun to your head. Geez.

17. I'm Black/POC and I don't agree...:

Hey, Candace Owens... No one gives a shit.

First of all, for all the "I'm POC and I don't agree" people, you don't speak for us. Anti-blackness is rampant in just about every culture globally. You being not-white doesn't somehow make you less prone to hating black people.

But for the "I'm black and I don't agree" leftovers (assuming you're not just a 👩🏼‍💻 behind a keyboard). Black people are not a monolith. You're not obligated to think a certain way because you're black.

But consider why you're putting yourself up as a barrier to protect this hate mob. It's one thing to just state why you don't like Leah's casting, but to start off your spiel with "I'm actually black" as a way to weaponize the very identity politics you're critiquing... very strange. Not to mention, what are you defending?

The black community is coming together to defend one of our own, a kid who has been receiving death threats since she was 12, and this is when you feel the need to back the opposition?

I mean whatever... sometimes the house slaves would snitch to the master. There will always be some of y'all in the woodwork. It is what it is. But when the exact ideology you defend is turned against you, when a Baltimore elected official is being accused of getting his job through "DEI"... when conservatives are claiming that they wouldn't "trust a black pilot"... don't decide that's where you'll finally draw your line in the sand.

All that being said, Enjoy this video of Leah, posted by @/waleahhasmyheart on TikTok:

May every tongue that rose against Leah Sava Jeffries Shrivel and die in 2025 🙏🏿 My girl will keep winning ❤️

[sayruq]

If you, for some reason, still have a subscription to the Atlantic, cancel it

[myblossom17-blog]

What is cute ? This is cute ! 💙💙💙

[mcqraw]

*sad clown music playing in the background*

[purryle]

this will never not be funny

[mydairpercabeth]

[forasecondtherewedwon]

soundtrack to a tooth alignment

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians Rating: G Word Count: 967

Summary: It's just a dumb song. It'll end eventually. (But also, what is love?)

If Percy had to explain his quest strategy, he’d say it’s pretty much “attack now, think later”—like, days later—so if this particular quest ever gets commemorated in song, or on an urn or something (do they still do that?), he hopes they include the way he just neutralized the Thrill Ride O’ Love situation by bringing up the orthodontist. Because that was a tactic. Everything is totally not-weird now. Here in this dark tunnel. With Annabeth.

Percy puts his hands on his knees like it’s school picture day and squeezes.

She doesn’t reply to his orthodontist anecdote, and he doesn’t have a follow-up comment. If he opened his mouth right now, he’d probably say something else about the song that’s playing (blasting, honestly—is this torture? Is this a heroic trial? Percy’s trying to remember whether any of Hercules’s labours had this sorta unhinged Valentine’s vibe), and he’d probably borrow words from his mom’s vocabulary when she’s listening to old music on the radio—words like “funky” and “groovy.” Annabeth’s never even seen a movie and she’d probably look at him like he’s the one who’s out of touch. He can’t risk it. Words are overrated anyway, right?

That’s probably why the guy singing keeps using the same ones over and over.

Percy wonders if this is a record for the most times Annabeth’s heard the same question without answering it. Could the singer calm down with the “What is love?” already? Instinctively, Percy starts tapping his foot to the rhythm, but then he realizes Annabeth can probably feel his shoe striking the bottom of the boat and glances at her nervously. Yep, she’s giving him a look.

Laughing self-consciously, he observes, “Sounds like he’s trying to control a bunch of horses.” Annabeth frowns. Percy points vaguely upwards (because this tunnel is creepy and grungy, but no visible speakers? Alexa?) and hears himself singing along in explanation: “Whoa whoa whoa whoa-o-ah…”

Her frown deepens and he cuts himself off with an awkward cough, looking away into the water, his only ally here who won’t judge him for being so embarrassing.

Ok, maybe this guy does have to constantly ask himself “What is love?” because what else is he gonna do, talk about his feelings to another person? Percy’s getting the theme of this theme park now, not so much the devastating rejection part, but definitely how uncomfortable it is to have a crush on somebody. Man, if he liked somebody like that, maybe he’d go build a haunted amusement park about it too. Luckily, he’s—

He’s somehow staring straight at Annabeth.

Swirls of coloured light are reflecting up off the water that’s lapping the sides of their boat, making her glow purple and blue. Percy doesn’t have to be a son of Athena to know Annabeth’s pretty, but it’s never been, like, relevant. She’s super smart and careful and focused and good at planning. Percy was never gonna point out that she had this talent for prettiness unless they were in a situation where somebody needed to have really sparkly brown eyes or a face he’s kinda itching to cup in his (suddenly sweaty) palms, at which point he could save the day and be all, “Hey, Annabeth, you’re pretty! Why don’t you take this one!” And they wouldn’t think he liked her, just that he was resourceful.

But here she is, being pretty when the only crisis is that his heart’s beating a little too quick and he can’t scootch away from her without threatening to capsize the boat. Backup plan: look at his hands.

He’s making it weird, and it’s not, it’s not weird. Two people in an abandoned amusement park isn’t weird. It’s brave, and adventurous, and just because the song just said “love” for the millionth time doesn’t make it romantic! You can love lots of stuff. Hephaestus probably loved building this ride. Percy loves his mom. Loved his mom. Loves his mom. He’s curious what the word makes Annabeth think of, his gaze drifting sideways.

She’s looking at him. Percy’s eyes widen. Panic mode.

“Do you think Ares is really gonna eat all those burgers?” he blurts out.

“What?”

“At the diner.”

“Well,” Annabeth says thoughtfully, “why else would he order that many?”

“Intimidation.”

Her eyebrows raise.

“Ares is already the god of war.”

“And what’s a meal like that other than a war between a man’s mind and his stomach?” Percy reasons, feeling deep. If they survive this quest and Chiron’s looking for a Camp Philosopher, Percy could do that job. He has insights now. Would he have to wear a toga though? He’s seen that “Death of Socrates” painting at the MET, and those guys were going full bedsheet.

“But why would he bother?” Annabeth wants to know. “I think he’d be expecting us to be intimidated by him anyway.”

“Maybe he’s secretly insecure.”

“Maybe he’s just hungry.”

“Do you think everybody else could see how many burgers he had,” he ponders, narrowing his eyes, “or were they hidden by the Mist?”

“The Hamburger Mist? They were normal burgers, Percy.”

“Then explain why no one seemed surprised!” he demands. “Or impressed!”

“The thought of someone eating a stack of burgers that high doesn’t impress me.” Annabeth’s face scrunches in disgust. “Just makes me a little nauseous.”

“That could be seasickness from the boat.” And because another of his strategies is “speak now, think later,” after a second, Percy asks, “What would impress you?”

Her expression shifts into something like determination but softer. Yeah, with a little bit of a smile.

“Somebody who’d take on the Chimera alone so their friends could get to safety. That’d be pretty cool.”

That’s my story, Percy almost says, but he follows Annabeth’s gaze up the wall to watch Hephaestus’s play out instead.

[leabethchase]

If you don't follow Leah on Instagram already please do! We wanna get her to 1 million!

Some racist idiots keep getting her tiktok banned, and the app isn't taking measures to protect her. So we wanna do this to hopefully make her feel better and show that people love and support her!

[shaynesthetic]

Thrill Ride O' Love

Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase | ♫ What is love? Baby don't hurt me. ♪

Forgot this was in my wips oops.

[yenvengerberg]

PERCY JACKSON & ANNABETH CHASE Episode 8: The Prophecy Comes True

[claire-kie]

percabeth studies from the finale

[claire-kie]

“the folk adore cardan, and they’re terrified of my sister. two excellent things.”

[rylandsgrace]

#They will look at each other for the rest of their lives

[notebookqueenofnarnia]

You know what would be hilarious

instead of someone uses Medusas head on Gabe

he just sees the box on the table and opens it himself because he clearly had no boundaries with Sally’s stuff

[silvershewolf247]

I see what you're saying, I raise you, she leaves it out on purpose because she knows he'll do that.

[silvershewolf247]

Sally: Oh, Percy's father sent me a package, it's nothing, could you toss it out for me

[thehyperfixationspeedrunner]

I have some news for you