#am i flawed?

[rulamantic]

I will become my ship's #1 supporter once I grow the balls to actually draw them kissing and being lovey together.

[malenjoyer]

WE'RE SO BACK

[twinkle-art]

two sides of the same coin

[bennetsbonnet]

I've seen it posited that Mr Darcy didn't actually mean to be cruel to Elizabeth with the comment he made about her at the Meryton assembly. That Darcy just didn't like dancing that much and a lady would have to really be something for him to overcome his discomfort in social situations and dance with her. And you know, Elizabeth wasn't as good-looking as Jane and improved upon acquaintance, so that explains why she couldn't 'tempt him.'

People really tie themselves into knots trying to defend him or go on quests to find hidden meanings in his words that simply aren't there. They convince themselves that he didn't mean for her to hear, or that he just misspoke... but really it was all a big misunderstanding! He's just a sweet shy boy with social anxiety who made a little social oopsie...

That's very nice and all, but that's demonstrably not the character that Jane Austen wrote. In the novel, Darcy's intention is unequivocal. I think that a lot of the misinterpretation stems from adaptations... because each one I've watched has never quite got it spot on.

I am b e g g i n g for just one book-accurate depiction of the insult Mr Darcy very deliberately aims towards Elizabeth at the Meryton assembly because I think the consistent misrepresentation of this single moment has caused so much misunderstanding of Mr Darcy's character. The interaction is so important for grasping his motivation and character at the beginning of the novel.

It's absolutely vital to the story to grasp that Elizabeth doesn't inadvertently overhear his insult. She isn't looking for gossip or drama and then overhears this poor, socially awkward 🥺smol bean🥺 who chooses his words poorly and accidentally affronts her.

No, Elizabeth is sitting there, minding her business... when this rude, conceited and thoroughly unpleasant man insults her in a manner which leaves her under no illusion that he intended for her to hear him:

Elizabeth Bennet had been obliged, by the scarcity of gentlemen, to sit down for two dances; and during part of that time, Mr. Darcy had been standing near enough for her to hear a conversation between him and Mr Bingley... ... 'You are dancing with the only handsome girl in the room,' said Mr Darcy, looking at the eldest Miss Bennet. 'Oh! She is the most beautiful creature I ever beheld! But there is one of her sisters sitting down just behind you, who is very pretty, and I dare say very agreeable. Do let me ask my partner to introduce you.' 'Which do you mean?' and turning round he looked for a moment at Elizabeth, till catching her eye, he withdrew his own and coldly said: 'She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me; I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men.'

It could not be more unambiguous that Darcy both knows that Elizabeth can hear him and intends for her to know he wouldn't degrade himself by dancing with the likes of her...

AND YET... it is so frequently represented as Elizabeth somehow simultaneously being miles away from Mr Darcy, yet still close enough to hear... but not close enough for him to see her and know she's listening... because he never catches her eye before he says it and that allows the doubt to seep in! It's so frustrating.

Still, even though no adaptation has quite captured Darcy's unambiguous intent and featured him looking at her, his words are more than bad enough to make you dislike him! I don't think you could reasonably ever defend them, unless you secretly hate Elizabeth Bennet... but more than what he says, it's the manner in which he delivers him, the way Darcy deliberately makes sure she has heard him that is so callous. If that aspect is missing it makes Elizabeth's prejudice against him less comprehensible and leads to a man who absolutely does not deserve to be defended being excused for his awful behaviour...

[unknownhyperial]

Everytime I see a take saying that they have no sympathy for Ragatha because shes toxic and was horrible to Jax this episode I want to bash my head into a wall /silly

I think a lot of people are misunderstanding what she meant by "Not anymore...". She didn't mean "Oh lmao his friend died" she meant "After he became an asshole everyone stopped wanting to be friends with him" yet Jax misunderstood it as the former. You can tell thats not what she meant because she says as much when she notices him death glaring her. And no, its not an excuse because she "thought he wouldn't hear her". She knew he could probably hear her and expected a different reaction because she meant something different.

I'm so tired of people calling her horrible for making a couple mistakes towards someone whos been blatantly an asshole. I love Jax. I love him a lot, but he doesn't deserve all the sympathy here. Ragatha isn't some secretly evil and toxic person. Shes a person who's fawning as a response to trauma and is making mistakes.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

The most Nefarious of Overtures.

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[phantomrose96]

Pride is the funniest deadly sin for the fact that it's the one sin that, by its definition, makes people not wanna admit to it.

Like a primarily wrathful person may, for their own reasons, not wanna own up to being wrathful. But that has nothing to do with the wrath itself. You know? Wrathful person can absolutely own up to it like "yeah I go into every situation guns-blazing."

But a prideful person hates owning up to being prideful. Because that's owning up to a flaw. Which they don't wanna admit to having. Due to being prideful.

Like we've got lust, wrath, envy, sloth, gluttony, greed, and guy who doesn't really like labels.

[taitavva]

body swap

[lilislegacy]

So here’s the thing: Percy is my guy. I’ll defend him till the day I die. I adore everything about him, and you guys know that. So this post might shock you because I’m about to call the fuck out of him.

I am so SICK of receiving ask after ask after comment after ask about Annabeth being the only goddamn issue in their relationship, meanwhile Percy gets made out to be some saint. You want to call out Percabeth? You want to be all heroic and talk about bad behavior? Allow me to join you! Let’s fucking talk about it!

The number one thing people complain about in their relationship: Annabeth making jokes about his intelligence. But let’s actually talk about this: we all know Percy is extremely intelligent, but why are we so hellbent on denying it when he DOES act like an idiot most of the time? Like, why is Percy saying things like he can’t tie his shoes or phrasing stuff to Annabeth like an 8-year-old when he’s nearly a grown adult? And now tell me this. Why is it always on ANNABETH to translate and explain everything when we know Percy can figure stuff out for himself? Why is it always on ANNABETH to make the plan? Why is it always on ANNABETH to figure out how to fix things that Percy and Grover usually messed up? 

After Wrath of the Triple Goddess, I spent so much time being angry at how Rick wrote Annabeth bossing Percy around. But then I took a step back and realized: it’s because he also writes Percy as always being so heavily reliant on Annabeth when she’s there. Instead of asking, “Why is Annabeth acting like his mom?” why isn’t anyone ever fucking asking, “Why does Annabeth feel like she HAS to act like his mom?” Because she doesn’t act that way with people like Thalia, Jason, or Reyna. So why is her boyfriend putting her in a position where she feels like she has to explain everything to him and tell him what to do?

You know, in The Demigod Diaries, Annabeth says she’s always known Percy isn’t dumb and that he’s actually very intelligent—but that he just ACTS super dumb. Then she says she thinks Percy does it just to annoy her. Annabeth has called Percy smart on several occasions—including one of my favorite moments in MoA where she calls him brilliant and kisses him—and yet she still makes those comments about his intelligence. So considering all that, let's think about it. Have you ever met someone who’s super smart but acts so dumb that they actually convince themselves they’re dumb? It’s infuriating. So imagine how that must feel to a daughter of Athena. And don’t you dare go, “Well, it’s because of Percy’s childhood and his abuse…” because Annabeth is ALSO fucked up from her childhood and suffered from abuse, but that doesn’t ever excuse HER, I guess. So why does Percy get a pass? 

Oh right, I forgot: because we must always blame the woman for “nagging” and “being controlling.” Silly me for forgetting.

It’s ALWAYS “God Annabeth is so controlling all the time” and NEVER “how come Percy puts Annabeth in a position where she always HAS to take charge and keep things under control?” How come he low-key DOES act dumb and useless (and then complains about it) when they both know damn well he can be smart and resourceful when he wants to? Let me guess. “He’s insecure 😔😔.” YEAH, NO SHIT, SHERLOCK. So being insecure makes it all okay? Because Annabeth NEVER gets that benefit of the doubt. Or let me guess, “It’s Rick’s fault for writing him that way” okay cool, well then it’s ALSO Rick’s fault for writing Annabeth the way she is. You don’t get to pick and choose.

(Quick pause—does anyone else feel like Rick finally started writing Percy as a confident, secure, and assertive person in Heroes of Olympus—and found it so refreshing—only for Percy to regress back into his self-hating, insecure 12-year-old self again in the new books? Because it’s infuriating to me that he lost that character development. Anyway… resuming discussion.)

People are always so worried about Percy feeling inferior in their relationship, but never about Annabeth feeling frustrated when Percy doesn't act like the equally contributing partner that she knows he can be (and that he is a lot of the time). I mean, we know from her POV in MoA that Annabeth tends to feel like she has the weight of the world on her shoulders and has to figure things out for everyone else. And that she feels useless sometimes because everyone else, especially Percy, has all these amazing powers, and all Annabeth has to contribute is her knowledge. And yet, when she "shows off" with her intelligence, it's a "superiority complex?"

And another hot topic: Anti-Percabethers are always talking about Annabeth “bullying” and “physically abusing” Percy. (Despite him never feeling pain, flinching, or even expressing an ounce of discontent—in fact after she judo-flipped him, he laughed and smiled). And yet they never seem to want to talk about the fact that Percy has made Annabeth cry and been extremely insensitive to her on several occasions. And you wanna talk about physical violence? Let’s talk about how Sally, Paul, and Annabeth were all extremely nervous and tense when telling Percy that Sally was pregnant. You know why? It’s explained that they’re scared because his temper is brutal and they never know how he’s going to react—because he previously blew out the pipes of the entire apartment building when he got upset about something. How come everybody is SO worried about Annabeth playfully smacking his shoulder and him not caring, but NOBODY wants to talk about the fact that Annabeth is scared of making Percy mad because he can’t fucking control his temper or keep the world around him from blowing up? This is the guy who’s been kicked out of military schools for fighting. This is the guy who’s thrown his skateboard into a wall out of rage. This is the guy who got so mad at a goddess that he got pleasure out of torturing her. I’m not saying he’s wrong for any of that, but I am saying that Annabeth has never once done something like that.

Let’s talk about Piper’s perspective of him. I used to hate Piper because she was critical of Percy, but then I grew up. She is one of the few people who actually gives us an unbiased view of him, and you know what she says? She says she doesn’t know how Annabeth deals with Percy because Annabeth is constantly having to keep him under control. Annabeth keeps him from attacking/yelling at Leo after the canon incident. She has to diffuse his stupid, pointless “who’s is bigger” competition with Jason. She’s not there to keep him from pissing off Bacchus, and Percy rapidly escalates the situation and nearly screws them all over. I mean, in Wrath of the Triple Goddess, she had to tactfully handle him after Grover drank the strawberry potion because Percy was so angry that he was literally shaking (and btw Annabeth had to figure out the plan to fix everything that time, too). When she’s not there, Percy talks back to gods and superiors and gets everyone around him into bad situations with his temper and disobedience. Annabeth CONSTANTLY has to calm him down and keep him from losing his shit. Do you know how exhausting that must be??

So tell me—why is the blame ALWAYS on the woman here? Why is Percy made out to be some poor, abused wittle baby being picked on by big bad Annabeth? He’s a big boy. A grown man now, even. He is the most powerful demigod alive. He can fucking take care of himself, and so can Annabeth.

If you don’t want to like Percabeth? That’s fine. If you don’t want to like Annabeth? That’s fine. But STOP making it out as if Annabeth is the only one who causes problems in their relationship and Percy is completely innocent. Percy is just as bad—arguably worse, actually. Because despite everyone saying how bad Annabeth is to Percy, he never actually gets hurt, scared, or offended by her. Meanwhile, Annabeth HAS cried because of Percy’s words AND has been scared of him and his temper. So… what the FUCK?? How is Annabeth the one being villainized here??

Now, I can actively defend every single thing Percy has done. I love him for his flaws and they make him such a complex character. And I can do and say the same thing about Annabeth, but for some reason that’s “excusing bad behavior.” I love them both and think they are extraordinary people who’ve been dealt really crappy hands. They deal with things the best way that they can in the moment. But they BOTH mess up and hurt each other, and they BOTH have things to work on. They are very flawed characters, and we can point out and discuss those flaws while also being fond of those flaws because it makes them more realistic. 

Now, some of you might be thinking, “Lili, I thought you loved Percy and Percabeth.” I do. I love them so much that I pretty much have a whole blog dedicated to them. But I don’t love them because I think they’re perfect. I love them because, despite being extremely flawed, they make each other better. They love each other unconditionally. They build each other up and protect each other in the darkest of times.

They are best friends. They are battle partners. They are lovers. They are warriors. They are heroes. They are EQUALS. But they are NOT perfect. Not even a little. And their ability to overcome and work through those imperfections together is what makes them so extraordinary.

And yet, when Percy plays dumb, it’s blamed on Rick’s bad writing and excused as him being insecure because of his abuse. When Annabeth calls him out for it and jokes about it, she gets called an awful person who doesn’t value him. And when Percy loses his temper and acts out and gets everyone into bad situations, he’s excused because he inherited Poseidon’s temper and he can’t help it. But when Annabeth is extremely prideful and acts like she’s smarter than other people (which she inherited from Athena) she’s a selfish bitch who thinks she’s better than anyone else? 

How does that make any fucking sense? 

If you want to criticize Percabeth, criticize both of them. But don’t keep doing this “selective reading” bullshit so you can see Annabeth as the villain when she spends half her life cleaning up Percy’s messes and taking care of him. Percy is extraordinary and I adore him, but he is not a “saint” for “dealing with Annabeth.” He is damn lucky to have her, just like she's damn lucky to have him. 

Either be honest about both their flaws and cut it out with the double standards, or don’t bother pretending you care about the truth at all.

[prlssprfctn]

I think we don't talk nearly enough about this part of UTRH. I think we don't give nearly as much thought to this moment as we should. Because this declaration ("I am no one's son") is not dramatics, not another hyperbolised, theatrical line Jason loves to throw at his opponent. This is a desperate acceptance.

Because in a way, before his death, Jason's journey essentially was about finding a family; a parent, who cares, who loves. All he did as a Robin, he did it for love. He took the cape not because he was seeking revenge, not because of the necessity or a sense of rightness — first and foremost, he took the mantle for love. I said that once or twice there, but it is my favourite way to simplify the whole thing: Robin gave Jason magic, and magic in its core (for him) was safety and loving dad.

So, in a way, Jason (as a Greek character, if you squint) had his own journey from the beginning; a one that seemed fulfilled, once Bruce took him in. And then shit hit the fan, and he lost that in a way. That is where he goes in an adventure to find his mother, to become someone's son again. He finds his mother, he finds Sheila — except, everything goes wrong again, and she turns her back on him.

And then the journey ends. And Jason is back after many years.

And that's what he gets out of it. Accepts bitterly.

He is no one's son. And he hadn't been anyone's since Catherine Todd died.

[frodo-a-gogo]

Let us be brutally honest with ourselves and with eachother for a moment. If he weren't obese you motherfuckers would be capable of percieving evrart claires sexy sexy moral ambiguity and complex charms

[lovesodeepandwideandwell]

Fills me with RAGE that the Trinity Santos thinkpieces are about "wow we hated her because she was a jerk and suspected our favorite white boy of stealing meds but she was RIGHT and that blew all our minds! Unpleasant women can be right too!" And not "wow this interesting character who builds fraught connections with half the people in this building and has a weird relationship with male authority was revealed to have been molested in a scene where she protects someone else from the same thing, what a complex heroine"

[todayis-snowy]

Noel ✦ The Cursed Curiosity

“Careful, receding waters will always reveal jagged rocks.”

Running away from a murder committed 5 years ago, Noel has arrived in Eridia carrying more emotional baggage than physical. Oh, and there's the cursed touch, can't forget about that.

Every relationship Noel's been in has been brief and ended with mild disaster, maybe you could be the one to change this unlucky streak? 🥰

[valtsv]

idc about "toxic traits" or "red flags" whats your fatal flaw

[basil-does-arttt]

'beyond all ideas of right and wrong, there is a field

i will be meeting you there'

[yeyinde]

thinking many thoughts about a therapist reader stuck with price after he gets himself written up for mandatory anger management sessions by laswell…

he'd fight that on every level imaginable. poor reader. in storms this burly bear of a man who is uncommunicative (at best) and aggressively pacing around the room like a caged tiger, ripping apart the fundamentals of your profession (at worst).

i see Price as a mix of his traditional upbringing and someone struggling to circumvent some of the uglier aspects of these values that he doesn't believe in. on one hand, he can respect therapy as a whole. but on the other, when it comes to him and his problems, it's pseudoscience. a man of many, many contradictions. he's very much a "respect is earned, not given" kinda guy in my head and i don't think he really holds any love for what he sees as someone trying to change him (even if it's for the best).

but also. i love pairing him up with smart, ernest people. i think the juxtaposition between him (eternal grump) and them (burgeoning sunshine) is just spectacular. and his therapist having that easy-going, i'll split my hard earned cookie in half so everyone gets a piece/yes, i did bring enough gum for the whole class i'm so glad you asked! temperament would be impossible for him to deal with. anyone else and he'd just blow up. leave. throw his impressive weight around to get what he wants.

but then he's faced with this competent person (which he respects) who is just genuinely trying to help him because they see something in him that he doesn't want to admit is still there, and ahhhhhh. i'd love to see him flustered. uncomfortable. and i think that'd do it. (plus. i love throwing a person at him who is the model of his speech he gave Gaz, which i 100% believe was ALL bullshit. i think he felt Kyle slipping away and needed something to reel him back in, and also; it's Cope. he prescribed himself a serious dose of Cope, and it's so obvious. UGH. what a dumb, emotionally stunted, manipulative man. gimme him RIGHT NOW. and then you pop up and it's a slap in the face against everything he pretends to believe in!!!!)

anyway!!!! the first thing he says when meeting you would be some eclectic mix of disrespect and grumpy old man yelling at clouds.

"this might work for other people, sweetheart, but it won't work for me." and you just sit, stunned, and try to wrap your head around that.