#also i think the thing with Percy would funnier if not actually related

[smallraindrops-blog]

So completely unrelated to Poseidon?

Shame I was gonna say Despoena or something

Snapdragon Anon

Hmm. I would say while the parents are not an offspring, they certainly run in the same circles.

Also dunno this would make you feel better but when I was building yn's lore, Despoena was a very strong option and I almost went with her

(note: I double checked the family tree just in case and far as I can tell... Both of them do have some family in common with Poseidon. )

[berenshand]

oh hell yeah apology accepted and i would absolutely love to elaborate on this but i'm gonna put it under a read more because it uh. got long:

Firstly (and I'm trying my best not to be super harsh here because I really do accept your apology), the problem isn't a lack of tone indicators on your post. The problem is you, an allo person who doesn't know me, saw a post about asexuality and decided it was a haha funny post that you could make funnier. What about it made you think it was a joke? Because I used the words 'fun' and 'enjoyment'? Or because it wasn't sad and angsty?

I have 4 criticisms of her as ace rep. Two are more to the 'not my taste' end of the spectrum, the third is 100% a criticism of the writing, and the fourth is a writing and a moral issue.

1) In the first book, Monty, despite his many stupid moments, is introspective and self-reflective, and tries to handle feeling angry and ashamed and scared and joyous about his sexuality all at once. Felicity is much less self-aware, and that's an authorial choice and a difference in character. I'm not critiquing that as bad writing, I just don't like it. I particularly don't like it as ace rep because it never felt like Felicity's sexuality had the same nuance of emotion as Monty's. She was nearly always angry (which I have no problem with), but I didn't get much of any other emotion, and while she is accepting of her own sexuality by the end, I never got that sense of overwhelming joy like Monty had. I'd love to see an ace character that finds joy in their sexuality, instead of it always being tinged with bitterness like we're missing out on something (because even at the end of the book, Sim is still talking like Felicity is missing out).

2) I knew going in that Felicity was ace. I love a gay romance too but she's the main reason I read the series at all, and I waded through SO MANY Monty-is-horny-again moments that squicked me out in Gentleman to get to the ace rep in Lady and it didn't feel worth it. I know different aces have different views on sex, so I'm sure there are plenty of ace people who didn't care about that, and yes, listening to people talk about sex is a normal part of life regardless of your sexuality, but it was like 'here's ace rep! you only have to read 12 foreplay scenes to get to it!' (I say foreplay bc despite his best efforts, Monty never actually has sex in Gentleman) and it was exhausting. It felt like ace rep for allos, not ace rep for aces. In Lady, the Percy/Monty moments felt like fanservice, didn't always work from Felicity's first-person perspective, and they were almost completely irrelevant to the plot. It would have made more sense for Felicity to spend more than a few sentences thinking about the events of the first book than to have her, the ace character, describing a mushy Monty and Percy moment. It made it very clear who the author's real darlings were and that she couldn't figure out how to write a story without romance (which also applies to the Sim-falling-in-love-with-Felicity thing). (Okay, I lied, this is also partly a critique of the writing).

3) I don't mean her sexuality was 'tacked on' in the sense that it wasn't addressed or wasn't clear. It was clear. I literally could not care less that the word 'asexual' is never used. What I mean is her asexuality is irrelevant. There's a difference between writing a story that has ace characters and writing a story that is about asexuality. If your story simply has ace characters, casually making a reference to them being ace (again, you don't even have to use the word) and not going any deeper is fine, imo. Not so much when it's trying to be a story about asexuality, which is what Lady is. It's trying to do with asexuality what Gentleman does with bisexuality, but it lacks the depth and personal connection. I should have been able to relate more to Felicity than to Monty, but it was the opposite because, like I said in #1, Monty's feelings wrt to his sexuality were described with more nuance. I have plenty of critiques of Gentleman as well, and I'm not going to claim Monty as good or bad bi rep when I'm not bi, but to me, his emotional introspection at least felt genuine (probably because the author was writing from experience, and because all of Monty's conflicted emotions are tied up in his relationship to Percy). It felt personal. Lady doesn't feel personal. It reads like an allo person went over the asexuality wikipedia page and then googled 'how to talk to ace people', so it includes fun talking points like 'kissing is just something people do' and 'I don't need to have sex to know I don't like it', which are fine, but... that's it. I never felt like Gentleman was explaining to me what bisexuality is, but Lady felt like Baby's First Introduction to Asexuality. Again, it felt like ace rep for allo people who barely know what asexuality is, not for ace people. Even when Felicity talks about marriage and how unfair of an expectation it is, the focus is much more on gender than on sexuality. Of course wrt marriage, sexuality and gender are intertwined, but even so, you could remove all the ace stuff from the book, make it totally about gender/feminism, and the story would be pretty much the same. In fact, that would probably improve the story because it would remove the Sim-falling-in-love-with-her plot (I hate that plotline more than anything else I've listed here ngl).

4) When I say the book is racist/islamophobic/sexist, I'm aware that the sexism is addressed by the narrative, but I don't think the others are. I am white and not Muslim, but Sim doesn't strike me as particularly positive representation. Felicity's initial distrust of her is unclear and flimsy because a) Sim is with Scipio, whom Felicity does trust, and b) the rest of the book acts like Felicity's distrust is because of Sim threatening that guy on the docks, even though it started before that. I have a problem with Sim, as a queer Muslim woman of colour, being the most scary/violent character out of the three mains. I have a problem with Felicity removing her hijab and using it as a bandage while Sim is unconscious (especially when neither Sim nor Felicity nor the story itself ever addresses that, especially when they later use a petticoat for a treasure map, so the whole 'we don't have anything else' excuse was weak). I have a problem with Sim's family being portrayed as violent and closed-minded. I have a problem with them being portrayed as wrong for wanting to keep white people from changing their way of life. I have a problem with Sim and Johanna doing most of the work to combat Felicity's 'not like other girls' nonsense because it's not the woman of colour's job to fix the privileged white woman. I have a problem with Sim announcing she has a crush on Felicity when Felicity has treated her like garbage. Imo, enemies-to-lovers shouldn't manifest as 'this white girl used to be problematic but I fixed her'. Sim's crush is only there because a) the author couldn't figure out how to not write romance and b) to prove that Felicity isn't an asshole anymore. The story treats Sim like a tool that enables Felicity's character growth rather than a person. I can't in good conscience celebrate a story with any of that just because the white woman in it is ace.

I think that's it. I hope it makes sense and I'm sorry to dump on a book you like; I know how disappointing that is.

why is it that out of the whole.... 3.... books i've read that are specifically supposed to be about asexuality the ace character is the most boring and/or unlikeable person ever

[littlx-songbxrd]

@how youre doing ohhh! Thats nice!!

So I listened to wildflower and OMG IT WAS GOOD!

I CAN SEE HOW ITD HAVE PICTURES!!!!

Tbh its not my writting music style but I still really liked it!!!! Keeping it around for later

YOU SHOULD 100% WATCH LOVE VICTOR OK @anarmorofwords BACK ME UP WHEN YOU WAKE UP LELA SHOULD DEFINETLY WATCH LOVE VICTOR

FIRST OF ALL ITS AMAZING

SECOND ITS SO WHOLESOME

So dont go in expecting this live changing thing its not BUT ITS SO GOOD. AND ENTERTAINING

AND IT HAS COMMUNICATION!!! AT LEAST SECOND SEASON ITS GOING GREAT WITH THAT

Victor is super relatable, FELIX IS JUST UGHHHH HES MY FAVORITE

Benji is adorable

I BELIEVE IN PILAR SUPREMACY

ANYWAYS YEAH JUST REALLY GOOD COMMING OF AGE PLS WATCH IT

Indeed hermes😌

JAJA i go kinda insane so I guess I can see how otd be entertaining. Its funnier real life I've been told I start actually jumping

OMG IF YOU HAVE A DENIM JACKET YOU NEED TO PUT PINS

IF YOU WANT PIN RECOMENDATIONS LET ME KNOW

Tbh pins really is what you want and like

Personally for me my "likes" include astrology, history, music and coquís

"bee weird" YEAH I SAW IT AND WAS LIKE YEAH I LOVE THAT AND IT HAS A CARTOON BEE DRAWING AND I JUST

Ty would wear that

So instant buy its now in my bag

AS YOU SHOULD EVERY DAY IS THINKING ABOUT P FKN R FROM BAD BUNNY

Pls that and cántalo by the holy trinity of Ricky Martin, residente and Bad Bunny make me wanna do things I shouldnt

Oh yes! (Btw ik i post a lot about astrolgy so if you ever want be to tag those so you can block it let me know!) But ohhh cool! Your the same sign as ana!!!!

I usually get a long with capricorns truly 100/10 sign I love y'all

Also capricorn moon Alastair me thinks

LEOOOOOO

HES MY FAVORITE PJO CHARACTER TBH

ALSO YES HE DID HAVE THAT!!

Like im sure Leo knows jack shit about astrology BUT HES A GOOD CANCER-

At least in my lil cancer heart

JAJA YEAH

Also I just realized i have this other friend who has percys birthday so 🤠

Yeah I can totally guess

Tag games with zodiac signs? No i like to call those

Guess mutuals birthday so I can wish them a happy one

Ziaaaaa I’m boreddddddd. Tell me something! Anything! It can be completely random! Pleaseeeeeeeeeeee

Hi i just saw this but lets go

First of all how are you???? Everything alright?

I wish I had a lot to offer but truly for the past hour I've been watching love victor and before that I was listening tu la máquina patinaba by mima and having my brain juice go brrrrr

Like

That song is made with drugs I swear

Its making me see things lela

No I can see it

I CAN SEE AN ENTIRE STORY AND I SWEAR IM NOT MAKING IT UP I AM NOT MAKING A STORY THE GODS HAVE A STORY AND THE ONLY CARRIER OF THIS STORY IS THIS SONG

I am but a messanger from the gods

And its so weire cause this is a remix of a traditional song

And in old culture, the practice this song comes from which is Plena WAS A STORY TELLING METHOD-

In the XX century it was said to tell the story of of the people and act a newspaper to the people that couldnt read

Jibaros couldnt read or write but they could sing

Most our old myths and stories are through Plena BUT THINGS REMAKE-

the original songs are LOVELY but THIS SPECIFIC ONE

I HAVENT HAD THESE BRAIN JUICE FLOW MOMENT SINCE I LISTENED TO WILLOW TREE MARCH BY PAPER KITS

IDK IM RAMBLING BUT THIS SONG IS

Its smth else bro its smth else

IM SEEING PICTURES IM JUST IM NOT MAKING UP ON PURPOSE

I sent to my friend AND SHE CAN SEE PICTURES TOO LIKE-

Also i got a frog and bee pin today

And im really happy about that

Tbh I really need a denim jacket to wear my pins with

I have a coquí (native frog here) pin with a bee pin saying "bee weird" i had another from nyc my mom got me, some with some cool designs i got on sale, a music one with a pentagram and a ravenclaw one. Like Im seriously looking for a denim jacket for these But im broke and stubborn so :,(

Besides this id love one with the revolutionary Lares flag (stands for a free Puerto Rico) one with a sun "semi" and a bi and ace flag pins respectively

Sadly gotta remember outside online im fairly closeted but oh well one can always dream

Ohhh and sun and moon pins

I love those theyre always so pretty

OH AND ID LOVE ONE WITH MY ZODIAC SIGN CANCER

Like the constellation

Also cancer season approaches im excited

I actually saw the cancer constellation a few days ago

You wanna know whos my favorite canon cancer character?

Leo Valdez from the pjo series

Idk

I've always related to him and all the time someone thinks of cancer its all crying and playing victim and I loved leo so

Jaja funny that his name is Leo and hes a cancer

There are a lot of cancers in the pjo series damn Jason Annabeth Leo-

I actually have a friend whos birthday is the same as Jasons

I actually remember his birthday a lot cause of Jason sorry friend

I also know a lot of my mutuals are cancers so THEYRE birthdays are comming up

Watch me attempt to guess birthdays the next few days