BOOKS

[the-early-wyrm]

thinking about the difference in how lucy was treated at jacob's company vs. lockwood and co (especially in episode 2)

because jacobs blamed her for a traumatizing event that was entirely his fault, escaped all legal consequences, and led everyone in town to believe that lucy got her team killed. keep in mind that this is after she worked for him for three years straight.

and then with lockwood, on her VERY FIRST CASE (first in the show, and one of the first in the books) she:

burns a house to the ground

illegally steals evidence from a crime scene

jumps out a window

escapes the hospital

accidentally summons a murderous ghost INTO HIS HOUSE and has to wake him up in the middle of the night so they can fight her

gets caught as an illegal worker, getting him into legal trouble

puts them all into immense debt

and lockwood's like "I think you mean WE burned a house down🤨" "this is my responsibility because my name's on the door" "I'll get us out of this"

insane that a 15 year old boy is winning employer of the month over this grown adult man after knowing lucy for like one day. he saw her angrily eating biscuits and making threats against the health and safety of his best and only friend and went. yeah. she's my responsibility now

[soni-dragon]

they make me sick

[denhams-lilliesofthefield]

"I asked chat gpt" well I asked a moldy old skull and he told me to beat you over the head with that laptop

[the-early-wyrm]

i wish we had gotten the later seasons of lockwood and co for many reasons, but a big one is that show!george deserves to know that if he ever got hurt his friends would go kill 4 senior citizens about it

[d3ad-bvshes-bi]

That's so true

[dracaelus4pjo]

Remember all those times in HoH when Percy did feats so amazing Annabeth couldn't understand how he was able to do so, but we never got to see Percy's narration of these events, and he and Annabeth never got to talk about how exactly he was able to do such things?

Well, I would like to show you something from SoM

First, we have Percy and Clarisse fighting Polyphemus, and barely scratching him. And then:

Mind you, Polyphemus is described as being at least fifteen feet tall.

Percy's anger in this scene seems to unlock something in him, allowing him to do things he wouldn't normally be able to. Or maybe he already could do that, but didn't know he could, or didn't know how to?

Is Percy stronger than he thinks he is? Did his anger make him stronger, or did it simply allow him to forget that he was "hopelessly outmatched", and attack without limiting himself?

There are a few moments during the saga where you get to see Percy doing things that require a greater amount of strength than what you would think he possesses (all while not being in contact with water)

From tBotL:

From HoH:

What I find interesting about these scenes is that, in the fight with Polyphemus, despite knowing how impossible what he just did is, Percy either refuses to think about how the hell did he just defeat this giant cyclops all by himself, or he refuses to tell us what he thinks about it.

Then, in the fight with Antaeus, Percy seems to be trying to play it off, reasoning that his mother always said he had "a gift for getting stuff tangled up" — which doesn't explain at all how he had the strength to do any of it — and also implying that this was an extraordinary situation, since he was "desperate to save [his] friends", so, obviously, that's not something he could do in a normal context, right? Right.

Then, in the scene he kills Arachne and Annabeth asks him how he moved so fast, you can't really tell if he is deflecting the question on purpose. And at last, the most interesting thing about the jump scene isn't even the jump itself, but rather the fact that Percy knew that somehow he would be able to pull it off. It seems to me like at this point, Percy is finally able to admit to himself that he is capable of doing more than what is expected. In his narration we so often see him saying that the idea of doing something is "impossible", right before he does that exact same thing.

From TLO:

(I also like this scene bc Percy is still deluding himself into thinking he's not as powerful as he is but Michael knows he can do it)

From HoH:

When Percy allows himself to try, he always seems to be able to do impossible things. And I don't think he is comfortable with this idea, going so far as only letting himself attempt to control poison bc a) he was dying and b) well, surely that's only possible bc he's in Tartarus right? That's certainly not a power he has access to on a daily basis...

But I feel like as time goes on, Percy is less and less able to continue telling himself he isn't more powerful than he thinks he is.

[phoenixystix]

Forget Percy wanting to meet Hercules. We all know canon Percy would only care so he can bully him for abandoning Zoë. No, no. Hercules should be asking to meet Percy.

Hercules sitting on his island, being bitter, hating his life twiddling his thumbs, and then the kid who has been absolutely gunning for his reputation just rolls up on a ship and doesn’t even come say hi. The kid they say has surpassed him. The kid who fights with HIS SWORD. The only demigod who turned down immortality, the only one who has had it offered since Hercules took it. While Hercules is being miserable because he’s immortal, Percy’s just off the hook from this endless loop of suffering.

Like Hercules wouldn’t ask to meet him? Please.

[phoenixystix]

Let’s review, shall we? In canon, like Hercules, Percy:

Strangles vipers in his crib

Fights with the sword given to Hercules by Zoë, which she regretted giving him, but told Percy she was thankful that he carried it. Quite literally being honored by Hercules’ ex girlfriend.

Kills the Nemean Lion

Captures the boar

Kills that giant crab

Cleans Geryon’s stables

Kills Anteus

Wrestles Nereus

Beats Ares

and then he fights Kronos and wins <3 and the gods offer him immortality and he turns it down <3 I swear it’s like his entire life is designed specifically to piss Hercules off. He quite literally gets Hercules’ Disney movie ending that Hercules explicitly tells us he hates

[sheespi]

one thing I will always dissagre with is that percabeth is a slow burn. they were already catching feelings in book ONE and completely head over heels, keeping tender photos of each other, going crazy when the other isn't around in book TWO. you're biased because we're in Percy's mind and when it comes to romance, everything goes right over his head. this isn't a slow burn, Percy's just slow for his very-good-friend-Annabeth

[sharedoff]

What if, after the Poisoned Chalice incident, Merlin hears about Arthur's acceptance of his little magic light, of his belief that someone guarded him through it, and...

Whenever Merlin needs to magic them away from some danger, or to lead Arthur somewhere, he just sneakily summons the light and - poof - it has Arthur's complete trust!

Bandits? Magic light ball knocks them out. A strange ravine? Well, magic light ball did it. They're trapped somewhere? Don't worry, Arthur would tell his knights, a magic light ball will rescue us.

It goes for longer than it should, years and years of mishaps and miraculous rescues.

Until Arthur asks the light ball to heal his father and sees Merlin's eyes lighting up when the ball touches the wound.

[uncivilcivilservice]

Uther watching his son's unarmoured, untrained twink be the only one to return with Arthur time and time again when he sent out dozens of highly skilled, armoured warriors with them

[dracaelus4pjo]

I'm such a sucker for amnesia stories where there's a visible difference between who the person was bf the memoryloss and who they became during the memoryloss, and even after they get their memory back they just become a third different person, instead of simply returning to the person they were bf the experience.

It would've been something insteresting to explore in SoN with Percy bc we have known him for 5 books already, so even small differences would be significant to the readers, like him going by Perseus instead of Percy or small stuff like him not particularly caring about the color blue, since he doesn't have the memories that make it mean something to him, or not having beef with Marte since he doesn't remember his deal with Ares.

Rick cheated a lot by having him have strong feelings about stuff, but I think it would've been interesting if he truly only had muscle memory to go by.

This would also have been interesting with Jason, bc we could learn stuff about him in tLH and later find out that it wasn't true.

Imagine seeing Percy do something we know the old Percy would never do, or having him hear a story about Jason from the roman campers that contradicts everything we know about him from tLH?

[justaz]

i want to apply this to all demigods but i can’t think of how so. just take it with these three. thank you. percy’s eyes being the color of the closest body of water and matching the mood of said water so his eyes are either a gentle green or a raging blue of the sea and you can see waves crashing violently in his eyes. jason’s eyes matching the sky he’s under (sky blue jason and electric blue thalia truther) so on nice days his eyes are a pretty blue and they get darker as the sun goes down and at night his eyes are a deep indigo or violet. it starts storming and his eyes literally cloud over and appear dark grey with flashes of lightning within them. hazel’s eyes alwayssss changing color with every step to match the closest metal to her feet. that’s why her eyes always appear gold because of her sword. but let her control silver and her eyes are. well. silver. she controls a plethora of metal at once and her eyes are ten different colors at once.

[justaz]

apollo kids + jason’s eyes being the shifting colors of the sunrise and sunset as they happen, changing with the sky like their own miniature heavens.

also. jason having stars in his eyes at night too. forgot to add that. if there’s high light pollution, you can barely manage to find a couple stars. if there’s no light pollution, his eyes will literally have the milky way in them to match the sky above him.

demeter kids’ eyes usually being the green of the grass at their feet ringed with the brown of the earth. the green in their gaze constantly shifting subtly like leaves in the wind. as they use their powers over plants like flowers, pinks and yellows will bloom in their eyes within the green. the green in their eyes shifting to yellows, oranges, reds, and browns as the seasons shift to fall to match the trees. their eyes growing yellow and lifeless as the seasons change to winter and settling into an icy white color until spring comes back around and green begins to bloom in their gaze again.

all hunters of artemis having reflective eyes at night. depending on the phase of the moon. if you catch them under a full moon, the reflective light of their eyes is full and bright as well. if you catch them under a new moon, their eyes are completely dark and blending in with the shadows.

hephaestus kids’ eyes having lines of a red hot glow like embers of a fire and that flow like lava constantly.

aphrodite kids’ eyes being an exact replica of their mortal parents’ eyes because those are the eyes aphrodite fell for when she had them. their pupils are shaped like hearts. when they get close to the coast, their eyes will become ringed along the outer edge to match the ocean, similar to percy’s but his matches the water while theirs matches the shore where the water meets the sand and the waves crash to create the sea foam. or in fewer words, their irises being ringed with the sea foam of the nearby coast and constantly shifting a little with the waves so their eyes will grow and shrink faintly as the water crashes and recedes from the shore.

dionysus kids having eyes that have a more physical effect on you as the observer. you look into their eyes and you start to get lightheaded and dizzy. the longer you look, the more drunk you feel.

iris kids have the kaleidoscope eyes. with crazy unnatural colors. neon yellow, lavender, hot pink, etc. they look like a spinning color wheel the more excited or energetic they get.

hecate kids’ eyes pulsing with a glowing green light that occasionally forms little runes for spells like actual magic is swimming in their gaze. their eyes also reflective the stars at night. and having the reflective properties the hunters of artemis have at night.

[hessadv]

I mourn will,Freya and balinor's deaths so fucking much especially in the later seasons not only because they were great people and deserved so much better but also Merlin was in 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 need of characters who cared about him without 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 caring about Arthur Pendragon.

Merlin is Gwen's best friend but Arthur is her husband. Lancelot and gwaine are absolutely Merlin's knights first but they are also loyal to and duty bound to protect Arthur. Gaius,while having Merlin as his first priority,again is sworn to Arthur and also loves him. Elyan, Percival and Leon are Merlin's Friends but their loyalty is to Arthur.Even kilgarrah -𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒂𝒉- who has no love for any human(except Merlin) much less a Pendragon,is invested in Arthur's safety because it's only after Arthur becomes the once and future king,that kilgarrah can get his true freedom. Hell hunith(𝑀𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑛'𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 ) even does this,when she told Merlin that his place was by Arthur's side Infront of his 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅'𝒔 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒚𝒓𝒆(ma'am you knew will his whole life and that blond man a week, please get a grip).

Merlin is very loved. But he has no one in his life that loves him and 𝑖𝑠𝑛'𝑡 beholden to Arthur Pendragon in some way,shape or form.

It's why they wouldn't challenge statements like" he's worth a 100 of me". It's why they wouldn't stop from sacrificing himself and risking life and limp to protect Arthur, because 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 would also not hesitate to sacrifice themselves for their king. It's why none of them,as much as they love Merlin,will say "hey your life is just as valuable,you don't have to sacrifice it for him".

And all of them (unintentionally )push Merlin deeper into the pit of "Destiny",of believing that his life holds no value compared to Arthur's and everything he'll one day accomplish ( peace,a united Albion, freedom of magic users) that his magic and his only purpose is to protect Arthur until he can make all of that happen.

Which brings me back to balinor,will,and Freya. Hell I respect gilli immensely for leaving before the narrative could doom him(I think Merlin should have taken that as a sign and dipped too)but I think he should have stuck around as well,if only so Merlin had someone that it would challenge Merlin serving a regime that is opressing him and his people (even though he fully believes that by doing so he's making the golden age happen). These are all Characters who I fully believe would have body tackled Merlin anytime he tried to do another self sacrificial thing in the name of Arthur and the future of Albion because they love Merlin and either loathe Arthur or couldn't give less of a shit about him if they tried. They would have gone" you are worth 100 of him. Stop trying to throw your life away" or did their damnest to help so Merlin wouldn't have to be put in that position,even though they don't like nor care about Arthur. I fully believe will especially would have had zero problem telling destiny and kilgarrah to go fuck themselves. They would have teamed up to kidnap Merlin for breaks and to get him away from Camelot for a bit. Will might honestly just kill Arthur himself and save everyone the trouble.

They deserved to live and Merlin deserved to have them in his life dammit.

[hessadv]

Came across a post complaining about Merlin's powers being very repetitive in the later seasons and I agree completely I'm not saying they're wrong.

But it got me thinking,... Merlin isn't really portrayed as all powerful as we 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 he can be. And I think there's a reason for that.

It's to keep the stakes as high as they are. If Merlin was allowed to tap fully into his power—there would be no story. He would have a solution to 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 and I mean every problem,more so than he already does in canon. That's what happens when you're essentially a god(nature deity Merlin for the win!).

I've also noticed that the writers have a habit of giving Merlin a certain ability that works for a plotline and then never mentioning it again afterwards because it makes him 𝘵𝘰𝘰 powerful.

It's why Merlin's ability to stop time never makes a reappearance post ep 1—because 80 percent of the show straight up wouldn't happen if Merlin could do that. Even just on reflex and he never learns to actually control it.

It's why Merlin trading nimueh's life for Gaius and 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥, something he managed on instinct,𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 using the cup of life,𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 Gaius had been dead for a bit 𝘢𝘯𝘥 in the season where Merlin is objectively at his weakest,is never mentioned again. Because he would have absolutely done the same for Freya,balinor Lancelot and Arthur. And then those deaths would be undone,just like that. They wouldn't have the narrative impact they're meant to.

It's why the show hilariously avoids anything resembling protection spells or wards like the plague.

It's why even though we hear that corenileus sigan -the strongest sorcerer before Merlin - could allegedly "control the tides and turn into night into day" we don't see Merlin do anything close. And mind you Merlin beat him while still not as his strongest.

It's why the closest Merlin ever gets to controlling the weather is that lightning he called down to kill nimueh which he 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 never uses again afterwards,even though I can think of at least 5 different times it could have helped tremendously to save the day.(No what dragoon does at the battle of camalan is different. He wasn't calling it down from the sky and he needed the sidhe staff to do so)

The show does show us some glimpses like Merlin being able to feel the magic coming from the enchanted bracelet Morgana gave Arthur and the cup of life, being able to create life out of nothing (the butterflies in the cave), being able to feel the magic in the disir but overall it barely scratches the surface of what being the strongest sorcerer that will ever walk the Earth,what being 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 would really mean.

Because for the plot to move forward the way it does, Merlin's power 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 to be very limited by the narrative.

[phoenixystix]

Iconic how HoH really took Percy’s face in its hands and told him “the scariest thing that you will face in Tartarus is yourself”

[phoenixystix]

It's really interesting too how both Percy and Nico seem to have beheld the full horror of Tartarus whereas Annabeth (I would argue) never did.

When you read the first few chapters, P & A are actually BOTH coming to the realization that the place itself is alive/is the body of Tartarus and they never talk about it because they don't want to scare the other one, like Annabeth is hoping Percy hasn't noticed this disturbing detail and vice versa.

But then we get this narration from Percy:

Percy realized that what he saw of Tartarus was only a watered-down version of its true horror - only what his demigod brain could handle. The worst of it was veiled, the same way the Mist veiled monsters from mortal sight. Now as Percy died he began to see the truth. The air was the breath of Tartarus. All these monsters were just blood cells circulating through his body. Everything Percy saw was a dream in the mind of the dark god of the pit. This must have been the way Nico had seen Tartarus, and it had almost destroyed his sanity.

Annabeth never has a moment like this and this revelation explicitly links Nico and Percy's experiences - somewhat telling, because I think they are both much more visibly messed up and have a much harder time recovering than Annabeth does. Yes, Annabeth is clearly shown to be struggling in BOO, but not to the same degree as the boys - Percy is narrating that "Nico’s eyes looked like shattered glass. Percy wondered sadly if something inside him had broken permanently." Interesting connection to the Ahklys scene where Percy "concentrated so hard that something inside him cracked - as if a crystal ball had shattered in his stomach." (Could be a coincidence in language choice. Probably is. But the 'shattering' language is significant all on its own!)

Then in BOO Nico's rage is exploding and he's putting himself in a coma from unleashing all his pent up emotions. And in Piper and Jason's perspective you get the sense that Percy is like quite literally on the edge of a complete breakdown in BOO. IMO Annabeth's struggles read a lot more like run-of-the-mill PTSD and feelings of helplessness, not that she's on the edge of insanity or considering harming herself.

I also think it is noteworthy that Percy has that revelation before his encounter with Ahklys. And that even in the encounter with her the reason he is actually able to control the poison is because 1. something inside him breaks 2. he realizes that, "Tartarus had its own rules. Fire was drinkable. The ground was the body of a dark god. The air was acid, and demigods could be turned into smoky corpses."

Like he is quite literally using the knowledge he acquired of just how much of this place is an illusion in order to bend the laws of the natural universe. It's almost like he hacks the system, becomes self-aware within the simulation. He realizes the only thing holding him back is his understanding of his own limitations, but the 'rules' are different in this place. It seems to me like this breakthrough is made possible directly BECAUSE of his revelation as he is dying.

After this point too he does his INSANE like 500-yard leap from the Mansion of Night (which Annabeth literally cannot fathom how he was able to do!) and I think (we're never told how he did it) that he was using the same logic that he uses in the Ahklys fight and his powers responded to it. And before this revelation he also can't control the rivers in Tartarus, and after it he can and does with ease.

Anyway! I think the psychological horror element to Tartarus is its strongest and most pervasive weapon and Percy is substantially and significantly worse off than Annabeth because he saw this horror unmasked

[icanthaveyouplantingseedsofdoubt]

Percy Jackson is overpowered and i love it

“there is nothing i hate more than overpowered percy and no same treatment to the rest of the big three kids”

“percy is great and all but he is not all that”

“arguably nico is the STRONGEST of the big three kids”

“Jason is the STRONGEST he’s the son of jupiter”

“Thalia is the STRONGEST of the big three kids”

“ Hazel is- ” “ Bianca Could-”

Percy Jackson is the strongest of the big three kids and he is incredible weird, not only can he do things he isn't supposed to, but even when you think he can't get any stronger, he does, he gets faster, more agile, more durable, in ways that seem highly unusual even for demi-gods 

He is utterly strange, and i wish rick would have commented on it in HOO instead of watering him down, i wish rick would have had the other big three kids comment on how strange he is even for a big three kid.

I so very wanted Jason to be the better swordsman during their fight and overall be better with weapons then percy ( but it being balanced out with percy powers so they’re equal) since he had trained so much longer

but after the fight we get jasons pov of him being completely weirded out over percy improving while they were fighting and that the atmosphere around Percy was unsettling when fighting but alas i cant get everything that i want.

I want people to be completely put off by Percy's powers, he is not normal, it isn't normal .

and i want percy to realize and hate himself for it.

[justaz]

pause. are they implying riptide is made out of the same metal kronos's scythe was made out of? or did poseidon literally carve kronos up with riptide millennia ago? in the pjoverse, zeus uses his scythe to dismember him and cut him into a thousand pieces, and now percy is claiming that riptide was used to "kill" kronos millennia ago. so like. riptide being made out of the same metal as the scythe? crazy lore but alright

[mmavverickk]

can you imagine the scythe being divided between the brothers and hidden in their domains only for zoe to find a beautiful piece of metal that reminds her of her uncle and turn it into a hairpin. and them she gifts it to a mortal she thinks she could befriend before he discards her and she goes on to find purpose with the hunters and then millennia later this little boy destined to kill or aid kronos in a new titanomachy shows up wielding a blade made of his own weapon. maybe it wasn’t handed down directly but this boy is zoe’s family the way he is kronos’ family and heracles’ family and he is destined to be better or worse than all of them.

can you imagine the trust necessary to allow him to continue using such a powerful weapon with such a meaningful history?

[justaz]

wait the concept of the metal of kronos’s scythe that was used to topple ouranos and kronos being disbursed all over the world millennia ago—out of fear of its power and continuing the cycle of toppling the rulers—eventually becoming part of riptide, thalia’s spear, and nico’s stygian iron sword…………

[hessadv]

I came across a post that was comparing how Merlin sent off Freya and Lancelot (boats filled with ferns and flowers)with how he sent off Arthur (bare as a rock) and it was hilarious but it got me thinking..

Where the 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 did Merlin get those boats from???

Did he build them himself? Was Merlin DIYing a boat while his dead loved one lay nearby? Did he magic them? Does Merlin just have a spell up his sleeve that creates little boats? I mean he had one for juggling.

Did he steal them?? Are there fishermen nearby who have dedicated their lives to catch this thief and/or think they're being haunted by a ghost because every few years one of their boats goes missing never to be seen again. And no one had noticed 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨??