BOOKS

[theophobick]

percy dreaming of rachel in tlo……take my hand and squint with me. rachel with her clear sight being able to see percy there similar to how kelli was able to spot percy when he was dreaming. percy and rachel hanging out while he’s sleeping. percy being able to travel to her dreams…or something i don’t know

[romanceyourdemons]

sex position: you, sitting on your throne. me, standing behind you, resting my arm on the back of your throne and sniling so sneetly at your ministers like i have any right to be there

[saladscream]

Merlin, that you?

[fostydosty]

Does Sally Jackson ever flinch when her husband Paul raises his hand to grab something from the top shelf

Does she stop breathing when his arms lace around her to hug her from behind

Does she have to hold back a panic attack when she sees minotaur costumes on Halloween

Do they make her feel like she can’t breathe, like its hands are still wrapped around her neck, squeezing

Did her postpartum night-terrors wake the baby every night

Does she cry when Estelle spends the night at a friend’s house, worried she’ll never come home again

Does she cover her ears during thunderstorms

Does a tear roll down her cheek when she drives by an airport

Does she prefer to strain her eyes over getting reading glasses, because wearing them reminds her too much of being gaslit as a child

Can she even let Estelle attend public school, or have Percy’s stories about cannibal English teachers finally gotten to her

How does Paul comfort her

How could Paul comfort her

This wasn’t his world. He only half-understood it, and he wanted to understand it For Her.

Does Paul insist on cooking because he doesn’t want Sally to see him as the scumbag who made her do everything

Do Percy’s demonic enemies send Paul nightmares, trying to convince him to abandon his family

Does he brush his teeth in the car after a night out with friends, worried Sally will recoil at the scent of alcohol on his breath again

Does he keep (what Percy assures him is) a celestial bronze gun in his classroom, in case he needs to protect a student he suspects to be a demigod, even though all he can see is a watergun

Does the terror-stricken look in Sally’s eyes when he accidentally asks her for something—that Gabe always wanted—eat him up inside

Has he ever had to kill someone the mist made him think was his friend, in order to protect a demigod in his school

Do Sally’s nails dig into his back when she’s having nightmares again

Can he ever get the mental image of Percy killing Kelly right in front of him out of his head

Did Paul put Estelle back to bed at every midnight cry, to make sure Sally knew she wouldn’t be alone this time

Does she require hourly check-ins when he leaves the house, to make sure he hasn’t been kidnapped by any queens or giants, and that he hadn’t left her like Poseidon did

That he wasn’t just another tidal wave that would crash over her and wash away; that he would be her rock in the hurricane. The shield to her sword, a loving father to their children.

[azhagu]

poseidon showing up to the jackson apartment like two seconds after paul tells percy he wants to propose to sally… a very messy man 10/10 no notes percy gets it from his daddy

[starlightshadowsworld]

Headcanon:

I love the idea of Percy encouraging Jason to do little rebellions. That he gets him to show up 10 minutes late to sword practice and to have a bit of a lie in.

Nothing earth shattering or anything but for someone who was essentially taught any deviation from perfection was life or death, it’s a lot.

Percy wants to show Jason that’s not true and that he can be imperfect. The world won’t end if he deviates from the script and he’s not a person for it either. Jason is just a kid so Percy gives him the space to be one.

And the second Jason falters and says this is all too much for him is when Percy stops. He doesn’t push him nor does he even think to ridicule him for it. He helps Jason fix everything and reassures him that it’s okay.

It breaks Percy’s heart to watch Jason fall apart because he performed slightly worse than usual and genuinely think he’s going to be torn apart for it. But he feels hopeful at the progress Jason makes no matter how small.

One day he’ll convince Jason he’s more than just his camps pawn.

[maxknightley]

"it would be so good if it was good" will haunt you but "it's extremely good, except for the one or two parts which are so bad it's genuinely kind of insulting" will straight up drive you insane

[from-and-for-nerds]

you hate Luke because he went against the gods, I hate Luke because he asked Annabeth if she was interested in him.

we are not the same

[aaaaalice]

Biggest mistake I think Rick made writing the Seven-Plus-Two:

- Reyna: I love aroace representation but for Reyna it smells like a retcon where Rick slapped on the label to score woke points but didn't actually intend her character to be that way. She had a crush on Jason, and Percy, and in the same book where she says she's ace she also says she doesn't want to risk her friendship with Thalia. You could explore how maybe Reyna had a lot of respect for those people and an allonormative society made her think what she felt was a crush, but is that what happened?

- Nico: My knee jerk reaction is the toxic aspects of Solangelo, but I think the biggest issue is Nico's character basically getting reset between PJO and HoO. By the end of PJO, he's reconciled with Percy, made peace with Bianca, and Percy is making a concerted effort for Hades kids to be more accepted at camp alongside the children of the minor gods. At the beginning of HoO, Percy and Nico aren't close at all, Nico revived Hazel because he couldn't bring back Bianca, and he feels unwelcome at CHB.

- Frank: Having his body type get magically changed and having that be framed as a good thing. I can absolutely see Mars/Ares doing this to him as a reward, but the narrative frames Frank being fat as a problem that needs to be fixed or a weakness that needs to be overcome. I'd love to see something about Frank feeling conflicted about his new body because it's a gift from his dad and everybody seems to subconsciously respect him more, but it's not HIS body.

- Hazel: Hazel is only from the 1930s when she's having flashbacks to the 1930s. Nico at least has the excuse of being memory wiped and living in the casino, but Hazel's POV doesn't reflect her background in the modern era in a serious way. He certainly could have written Hazel worse, but ultimately being born in the 30s feels like a fun piece of trivia and not a core aspect of her character.

- Piper: Rick cannot decide how he wants Piper's relationship to femininity to be problematic. Is she a tough tomboy who's better than her sisters because she doesn't wear makeup? Or is she another Aphrodite girl who's focused on her boyfriend and didn't want to learn how to fight until she was already in the Mediterranean? You can see how neither option is great, right? Also, shout-out to charmspeak for being the most inconsistent and lazily written deus-ex-machina in the riordanverse.

- Leo: On the surface, Caleo, but I think the root of the issue is him being the PG-13 version of the Latin Lover stereotype. Maybe if it was approached as Leo feeling insecure in his masculinity because he's significantly scrawnier than the other boys in The Seven so he compensates for his insecurities with these loud displays of flirtatiousness to assert his manhood, and the solution was Leo becoming more confident on his own rather than desiring validation from having a girlfriend. But instead it's just "ha ha, Leo flirts with everyone until they yell at him and the solution is for him to date a titaness."

- Jason: I think the biggest problem with Jason, and why so many people say he's bland and boring, is because he's supposed to be the Roman equivalent of Percy at the beginning of HoO. We've had 5+ books of development for Percy, Jason gets like, a few paragraphs. But the narrative treats them as equals, and maybe in-universe they are, but to the reader, no way we treat Jason and Percy the same. Of course we think Percy's childhood with Sally and Gabe is more interesting and impactful than Jason being raised by Lupa, we saw Percy but were told about Jason. Of course we care more about Hyperion than Krios, we saw Hyperion. There's lots of other issues with Jason, but I think the biggest is expecting him to be treated the same as a character who has so much more previous content than him.

- Annabeth: She has some significant personality changes between PJO and HoO. I think the biggest one is that PJO Annabeth likes, respects, and trusts Percy. They have their arguments and disagreements, but Annabeth follows him into battle, is willing to take a knife for him, and shows no signs of being afraid OF him when he does things like blow up a volcano, knock down a suspension bridge, or battle Hyperion one on one. In HoO she joins in with everyone else in making "dumb Percy" jokes and has the "some things aren't meant to be controlled" thing. There are other changes, too, but I think that is the one that has done the most damage.

- Percy: At the end of PJO, Percy passes up on godhood and makes the gods promise to be better. Hermes straight up asks Perxy if he really thinks the gods can change, and Percy says yes. And every book after that has proved Percy wrong. Every demigod left ignorant and vulnerable like Leo and Piper, every callous disruption of someone's life by giving them amnesia and a 6 month coma, every child who dies fighting their parent's battles proves that Percy was wrong and that all the suffering he and the other campers went through was for nothing. The gods can't change and Percy would have done more good if he had ascended and focused on being "one of the good ones" rather than trusting the gods. Of course, Percy wouldn't do that because it goes against everything he is, but still. With every book, Rick retcons The Last Olympian into a tragedy.

[aaaaalice]

This was originally going to be sons of the big 3 vs daughters of the big 3 and pointing out the differences in how they're treated by Rick and the fandom but I couldn't even pretend like the boys were that well written either so now it's rr crit with a side of "stop sidelining the girls!"

"Hi, I'm Percy Jackson! I battled the Minotaur, Medusa, the Chimera, and Ares himself, and that was just in my first book! Since then, I've gone on all sorts of quests; I saved the world twice, and even let myself fall into super-hell to stay with the love of my life! This did not have any lasting effects on my because I'm dumb, not weak!"

"Hi, I'm Thalia Grace. I got turned into a tree to be an evil white boy's tragic backstory, but I got better, so I became a real character who got to be an equal Percy! We had a cool showdown in capture the flag, I helped fend off the Nemean Lion, I Spartan-kicked the aforementioned evil white boy off a cliff, I, uh... I swore a vow of chastity, completely disappeared for the next book, and then in the one after that I only showed up at the end, and still couldn't be there for the climactic showdown. Okay so maybe in the first series I was ultimately just an accessory to Luke and Annabeth's story, but the second series introduces my long lost brother! Surely I'll be much more important and fleshed out in- we have one forgettable reunion with no impact on either of our characters? Oh. Cool."

"Hi, I'm Jason Grace! I was raised by wolves (when it's funny to mention that, not when it would make me noticeably different) and killed a titan with my bare hands (don't ask me how, just trust). I've been treated like a tool by the gods even more blatantly than everyone else, but I'm not gonna think about that, I'm just gonna keep on keeping on. Eventually I die, but after defeating titans and giants, it's probably to some legendary monster or angry god. Maybe Typhon, or- wait, Caligula? I got killed by the Roman Emperor, Caligula? The one who appointed a horse to the senate? That Caligula? I get killed by that guy?"

"Hi, I'm Hazel Levesque. I died stopping Gaea's rise nearly 100 years ago, but now I've been brought back to- what? Well yes, I am short, but I don't see how that's important. I raised and killed the giant Alcyoneus, and I- yes, I am the youngest member of The Seven if you don't count when I was dead, but not by that much, again, I don't see why it matters when they all treated me like an equally capable teammate. Yes, you could say I'm like a sister to Percy, and yes I'm younger than him by most metrics, but don't say little sister like that, it's not like I need him to protect me or take care of me!"

"Hi, I'm Nico di Angelo. My powers are dark and disturbing, so I'm an outcast wherever I go and I need to learn to let go of the past while the demigod community needs to learn to accept me. Then, in the next series, I'm an outcast wherever I go because my powers are dark and disturbing, so the demigod community needs to learn to accept me, while I need to learn to let go of the past. Then, after that, I get a boyfriend."

"Hi, I'm Bianca di Angelo, and I- hold on, I think I got the wrong script? This just has a single bullet point that says 'Nico's inciting incident.'" *gets squished by Talos*

[stillnotsquashed]

Tim: Hey, Dick, what's my surname?

Dick: Drake?

Tim: No, I mean as Robin. I have to fill out these forms for a new hero team but it won't let me submit it without a surname and they don’t know who I really am yet so...

Dick: Oh, it's Knight. That's actually Bruce sanctioned.

Tim: He agreed to it?

Dick: Not exactly. He had to full name me in the field once in front of Lex Luthor and said 'Robin the Boy Wonder Knight, if you do not get down from there this instant...'

Tim: Does he use it?

Dick: I think so. After I started using it. He's sentimental like that.

Tim: And it has nothing to do withthe fact that it means he can write alias: Batman, forename: The Dark?

[chaosspelledwrong]

The solution to any love triangle is always either polyamory or aromanticism. Both if you're brave enough. I don't make the rules.

[teathattast]

[kateammann]

Happy Pride Month to all of my fellow aces!! 🖤🩶🤍💜

[gabeofcrows]

its kaz brekker holy fuck

[nefarious-616-necromancer]

[papayafromtv]

currently thinking about a Bruce Wayne who somehow manages to last well into adulthood before finally having to get his wisdom teeth removed, and when he does he is left high as a kite in Alfred's care, except Alfred then has to leave for some reason and it takes him a good twenty minutes to do the genuinely difficult mental math on which of the kids he should call and trust to take over on babysitting duty without pulling some bullshit while Bruce is vulnerable.

his first thought is Tim, until he remembers all the shit Bruce put Tim through under the excuse of 'training exercises' during the dark era, and he can't risk that 3-seconds-away-from-becoming-a-villain seventeen year old seeing a drugged up Batman and deciding 'ok my turn'.

his second thought is Jason except no it's not, not a chance, absolutely the fuck not, moving on,

third thought is Dick, but Dick has a childish streak in him and is the one that treats Bruce the most like a partner rather than a guardian figure. that's dangerous. if Dick's in a bemused and bored mood then there's a very good chance Bruce will end up naked on a raft in the middle of Gotham harbour while Dick livestreams from the bridge above.

so the final decision ends up being Damian. still young, yes, but also the most proud of his position as Bruce's son. Alfred comes to the conclusion that Damian wouldn't pull anything too bad because, well, it would reflect badly on his own family line. so he calls Damian out of school and asks him to watch his father for the night, and then he leaves only minorly worried. unfortunately for Alfred, Damian is thirteen years old and currently experimenting with the freedom that comes with not being a public heir to the Demon's Head, because as Jason told him, 'he needs to learn to fuck about without being paranoid about the consequences of his actions'.

Damian proceeds to put Bruce in the batsuit and set him loose in Gotham just to See What Happens. Bruce has to wake up the next day to footage all over the internet of 'Batman's drunken speedrun of Gotham while Robin holds him via toddler-backpack-leash', and for a split-second he genuinely considers sending Damian back to the league. Damian's brothers have never been more proud.

[teaboot]

Can I be honest with yall I don't want to hear SHIT against cishets at pride this year

[teaboot]

"But it's not FOR them!!!" The biggest military power in the world belongs to a christofascist nation overseen by a felon found guilty of 34 federal crimes and has greenlit a gestapo with more direct funding than the entire military of Canada for the purpose of ethnic cleansing. Let Hetero Jessica throw some biodegradable glitter at a municipal parade

[teaboot]

At this point if anyone is trying to exclude anyone benignly pro-queer from a pro-queer space I'm just going to assume you're a fed or something idk like something something destabilize the movement from within or whatever

[somethingrandomwatzit]

Not to mention that you literally cannot tell by looking at or even talking to people whether they are cishet or not. They could be questioning or in the closet. They could be bi but with their opposite sex partner. They could be supporting their partner who is bi. They could be on the aroace spectrum.

Even if they are cishet, they might be there supporting a loved one who is queer. The only way to know is by interrogating everyone who shows up at pride and that kind of policing is explicitly against what we stand for as a community.

Everyone is welcome at pride except cops.

[derinthescarletpescatarian]

[derinthescarletpescatarian]

This phrase has already entered my vocabulary re: media criticism where like. The viewer has a concrete view of what they expect a story to be based on the tropes and cliches they're used to seeing together, and when that doesn't happen, they judge it as a failed depiction of what they assumed it was going to be instead of judging it as what it actually is.

"This show is problematic because the hero didn't kill the villain at the end": When does he steal the bread?

"These two characters who were close friends throughout the series don't kiss at the end! What the fuck?": When does he steal the bread?

"This feels like it's missing a conclusion! Like, the protagonist does bad stuff and because of a critical decision he makes as a result of his major character flaws, meets tragedy in the end! Where's the part where he learns better and brings is love back from the dead and becomes a good guy and gets a happy ending?": When does he steal the fucking bread??

[thetetra]

I heard this out as "When criticizing something, you must judge it for what it is, not what it isn't"

[derinthescarletpescatarian]

#this is why so many of us urge people to get a wider diet of stories