#and in the narrative this is totally fine

[thatblackstarinleo]

Tomorrow marks Day 1 of my two-week work trip, so I'm not sure how much I'll be able to interact here over the next little while. But I can't wait for you all to read the next few chapters! Just wanted to give you a heads-up since I probably won't be as active.

In the meantime, though, here's a little snippet. It's been so tough picking a fragment from Chapter 8 that won't spoil everything, but this one just felt right. With Worlds happening right now, Macklin being bratty as hell, and Will totally whipped? Honestly, it's like it was written for this exact moment. 😐

Enjoy 💕

"Evening, teammate," Hutson says with the self-satisfaction of someone who knows exactly how fucking annoying he is. He's grinning like he already knows Will was watching. Like he thinks it's fucking funny.

Will stares at him. Considers his options. Wonders briefly if Team USA would notice if their defenseman came home with a broken nose and a vaguely Will-shaped bruise on his face.

"Didn't realize Team USA was letting mascots try out," Will says flatly.

Lane snorts. "Guess they needed someone to babysit your line."

Beside him, Macklin makes a low, amused sound, biting down a grin like he knows better than to get involved but can't help it.

Will turns toward him, narrowing his eyes. "What?"

Macklin shrugs, mock-innocent. "We were just talking about how me and Lane have to be enemies now. You know. For the narrative."

Will catches his hand before he can make some dramatic little gesture, threading their fingers together instead. "At least Hutson doesn't have to sleep with the enemy. That's real pain."

Macklin raises a brow. "Who says I'm letting you sneak into my bed?"

Will smirks. "You won't sleep without me and you know it."

"I sleep just fine," Macklin replies. "Me and my white noise app are very intimate."

Will opens his mouth to respond, but Macklin's already cutting in.

"Besides," he says breezily, and Will can feel it coming before it lands, "you won't fuck me, so technically, no conflict of interest."

Hutson chokes so hard on his own spit Will thinks he might die right there on the sidewalk. Good, Will thinks. Serves him right.

"Jesus fuck," he mutters. "Okay. Goodnight. I'm out. Enjoy fucking, or not fucking, or whatever. Fuck off, Smith."

Will watches him disappear with zero guilt.

Macklin leans back in his seat like nothing happened, arms folded across his chest like he's fully at peace with what he just said.

"I'm just saying," he says after a beat, tone perfectly even, "kind of hard to be rivals when one of us is a coward."

[bigskydreaming]

To be clear, though I'm aware that technically this all falls under the umbrella of fanon, whenever I disparage fanon in any fandom, I'm not talking about things like widely accepted or popular headcanons that fill in the blanks left by canon, resolve or explain an inconsistency, provide an off-the-page explanation that adds to a personal or widespread interpretation of a character or scene.

That stuff I'm fine with, because its additive. Its generative. It takes what exists and adds something new, creates a new angle of exploration or explanation or interpretation, it allows for MORE.

That's not the fanon I have issue with.

The fanon I hate is the lazy stuff. The stuff that falls apart under the slightest scrutiny, that you shouldn't even NEED knowledge of canon to tell when something is fanon because its self-contradicting, riddled with inconsistencies, is generally superficial or lacking in depth or else exists entirely of one or two superficial details that have been magnified to a ridiculous degree as if to try and act like there's substantial characterization or development in what was actually just a throwaway line.

That fanon I hate because the ONLY reason it gets as widespread as it does is because it validates or caters to what subsets of fans simply WANT to believe or be true of canon. It can't actually hold weight or bear exploration because its not designed to, its more of an aesthetic than anything else, and it COULDN'T spread wide throughout a fandom without people willingly shutting off their critical thinking skills in order to NOT pull back the curtain and look too closely at the total lack of anything real, accurate or substantive behind the fanon.

Its not a coincidence that so much of this kind of fanon hinges on or spins off from racist, homophobic, ableist and other varieties of shit-takes, and neither is it surprising that its so often defended not by actual arguments, evidence or laid out lines of thinking, but instead by just turning up the volume, circular logic or obstinate repetition.

Transformative or additive attempts to pick up where canon left off or rewrite aspects of it into something more cohesive or with greater internal logic or adherence to existing interpretations or characterizations? Great! Excellent! More!

Illogical, counter-intuitive, self-cannibalizing reductions of canon or characterizations or papering over them with an illusion of transformed material or an alternative narrative that can't actually explain or account for even half of the plot points or character interactions it claims to link up to? Bad. Fake. Why are you trying to murder critical thinking. What did media literacy ever do to you.

[lucyskywalker]

Talking about the books, alright?

About. The. Books.

Not the TV Show.

I find it really amusing people hating on PJO!Gods for something that the pjo!gods didn't do on the story.

My biggest example: Calypso.

Calypso is not hated for something she did on Rick's story. She is hated for what she had done in the Odyssey written by Homer.

For everything that we know of, she never SA Ody in Rick's story, because Rick's characters are very, very different from the original source.

What supports this thesis is the Trials of Apollo.

Apollo didn't skin the satyr alive, but people still believe he have done that.

What makes sense. It is a children's book.

You won't make a character be the closest version of the myth, you won't make the director of a camp filled with children of different ages be a rapist.

Rick was inspired by Greek and Roman Mythology, but not everything that happend on the myths, happend on PJO storyline, actually, Rick changed a lot of myths to fit his writing. Again, TOA is a proof of that.

I have read a fic where the main theme was a friendship bound between Hermes&Percy, and there were comments like: He would never be friend with a rapist.

But the fact is: Percy is, canonically speaking, Hermes's friend. It is literally written on the book, word by word.

I find it really interesting, read fics rated as M to explore more of the dark side of the myths, I really do, and these fanfics are mostly written by adults to another adults.

But that is what they are: Fanfic. It is not canon. In pjo canon the gods are very chill compared with the original source. And that is OK.

It is like comparing illiad!achilles to tsoa!achilles.

They are not the same. I would dare to say tsoa!achilles is a sweetheart compared with what he actually is in the illiad. But Achilles still is romanticized regardless of what he have done in Greek Mythology in favor of a novel written in the XXI century by an American author.

The same way a lot of people like to actually rewrite the myth of Poseidon and Medusa on Athena's Temple, as it was an actual Greek myth (and it isn't. It is a Roman Myth with Netuno, Medusa and Minerva written by Ovid years and years later) Rick also can write a fictional book where SA didn't happen or is not adressed, since uk, it is a children's book.

Modern fictional books inspired by myths will be very different from the real myths written millenia ago. And that is OK.

[nicollekidman]

it’s so. good. that buffy has to feel self loathing about what she’s doing with spike specifically because the underpinnings of the show require that vampires be Bad Monster Creatures who Cannot Feel and are just Lifeless Demons otherwise everything comes into question. about everything. except that spike is the crack in the foundation of the show itself and in that, he makes the show better! he’s the only end that makes sense for her because he sets her free!!!

[princessofghosts-posts]

I think having multipovs chapters in HoO narrative was one of the main catalyst for the quality's downgrade of Riordan writing.

Riordan isn't an horrible writer,there are ups and downs in his books and he really really needs to acknowledge that maybe it's time to step ups his writing style,let the books grow with his audience (let's address all of the trauma),and put back the quality over quantity principle (which is something that totally flew out of the fucking window in the last years). Especially if he still want to write books in the future,since we understand that he won't let his characters rest anytime soon,either with the books or with the TV serie.

His stongest serie is probably PJO,I haven't read MC or KC so I don't know how good they are,but from what I understood they are all pretty good (I also love Egyptian Mythology ever since I was a child,so I'll probably read KC after I'm done with the Nico's serie). All of them are wrote in first person,with the protagonists narrating everything that happens. I think it was KC that introduced more than one narrator,since in MC and PJO there is only one (Magnus and Percy),while KC has Sadie and Carter.

The thing is,that when it came to having only one narrator,Riordan is pretty good at what he writes. Because he needs to focus on only one character,while he can expand and development the others. It's a bit difficult when there are a lot of side characters,but the main focus is always the main protagonist (Percy) and every other characters they interact with most of the time (Annabeth,Grover,Thalia,Nico,ecc...).

You also need to remember that the characters get shaped with their PoVs. We don't know them,and this isn't a movie/serie that let us see what it's going on. So,it's important that in books the PoVs reflect the characters. Take Percy for example,he is humble,sarcastic and very down to heart,othen than having a low self-esteem and being an unreliable narrator. His PoVs is extremely different from a Piper that just entered this world and don't have the same experience,is still founding her ground and trying to accept her nature.

And it's ok because it help to shape not only the main character,but also the others. But it also need to be different for each character,otherwise is like writing the same one all over again with only different struggles. All of them have low self-esteem and don't believe in themselves enough for a reason or another,so it's a bit difficult to organize them and make sure that they are unique one from the other.

Anyway. Rick also didn't had a problem with 2 narrators,since I read a couple of positive review on KC. But I'll see for myself when I'll read it. (These days I'm going to start ToA,but since I have a lot to do for school and my final exam I don't think I'll be able to read all of it). He also didn't had a problem with 3 narrators since TLH was pretty ok,especially with balancing for the first time 3 PoVs of 3 new different characters and dynamics; and SoN is probably one of his strongest book from a writing prospective,and one of the backbone of HoO. I also think that 3 narrators are good enough for a book,because otherwise it can get really messy. And I say this as a fanfic writer that has a fanfic with more than 7 narrators in a multichapter povs. It's hell to write all of them down and I need to establish an order where I write 3-4 for each chapter (there are 7 main characters,yes-),and then add the eventual others PoVs from the side characters. I'm extremely regretting my choice,but I unfortunately can't change it since I'm already writing it. Fortunately is in third person,otherwise I was going to cry. Never again in my life. Thanks to this I can kinda understand a bit of Riordan's problems for HoO,because it's a stuggle trying to fit a lot of PoVs in a books.

I firmly believe he should have stopped at 3 (maybe a fourth if he can) and rotated them for all the other books. Because the real problem started with MoA,where we got 5 narrators,and the quality started to go down the drain,both for the story and for the characters themselves. Some of them (read: Jason because Riordan could care less about him,and Piper because he never tried to do something with her) are really underdeveloped,others turned out straight up toxic (looking at you Annabeth for even thinking that your boyfriend was stupid when you know how smart he is,and Leo for your horrible coping mechanism) and some where completely pushed in the back (Frank,Hazel and Percy himself). And having to add 2 other PoVs at the end of the serie really took from the Seven,but it was unfortunately something Riordan couldn't avoid since Reyna and Nico both entered the main character stage in HoH,and were important to their mission (their PoVs kinda saved BoO ngl-). There is also an inconsistentincy with the PoVs because there were more greeks than romans,and during HoH the order,and how many chapters they had,went down the drain too.

If he struggles to do more than 3/4 PoVs,which is completely valid,he shouldn't add more. Focus on them based on the importance they have in the current book. MoA is literally Annabeth's book,then add Jason PoVs since it's where the whole Romans Vs Greeks conflict started,put Hazel PoVs too since she was Jason's friend and doesn't know what's going on with him,and either choose between Piper (for the same reason in the book) or Percy (same reason as Jason).

HoH? Percy PoVs needs to stay. Add Frank (for the same reason in the book) and Leo so he can have a bit of development and find his place in the Seven instead of making him fly to Calypso,and then choose between Piper (give her that development) or Annabeth (she was in the same situation as Percy so hers doesn't really matter since we saw her in Percy's)

BoO? Nico PoVs needs to stay because it carried 50% of it. Put Piper (for the same reason in the book),Hazel so she can finally grow in her powers (not talking about the mist-) and then choose between Reyna (for the same reason as Annabeth in HoH,we see her all of the book in Nico's) or Jason (same reason in the book),and give the last chapter to Percy so we don't actually know if Leo is dead or not for having a better plot twist later on.

This is only my opinion of which PoVs should be better of course,you could have a different opinion. Not a problem at all. Riordan in the end of the day it's the author and this was what he wanted,completely fair too,but I think it would have been better if he balanced 3 or 4,instead of going for 5 or more.

Probably would have been better if the whole HoO had more than 5 books,maybe one for each main character and then have a final one where they rotated PoVs for each chapters (not 3 each) and add Nico's or Reyna's. The last one would be a little more than the usual 300+ pages (probably closer or a bit more than 500),and should be splitted between the Seven in Athens and Nico and Reyna at CHB,the conflict between the camps and the final clash with Gaia should be more than 10 pages.

It should probably go like TLO: put a couple of chapaters as introduction of the final plans for the war,then have the Seven battling the Giants in Athens while Nico and Reyna take care of the conflict between the camps, rotate PoVs between them (so we feel the hype and anxiety) for the rest of the book,and spend like 50-60 pages only about the final shout down with Gaia before going on with the aftermath. This way it doesn't feel rushed like BoO felt and,again,the last chapter should be Percy's,or if not him then Jason since it's like we end his story.

It already sound better like this,and all of the characters should already have all of their development,so that the last book can be centred only on the final conflicts,instead of traveling for more than 300 pages and doing everything in the last 80. That's not how you do a war arc,and TLO is a good example of Riordan's writing of it. He can put a lot of quality in his works (manifesting this for his recent books) but he needs to lock in already knowing what he needs to focus on,and what he need to do for having that type of climax. If he did it in PJO he could have done it in HoO too,specially because we had HoH,a literally masterpiece,before the last book in the same serie. It's not like he lost his sparks after PJO since there are some good books in HoO too.

Of course there are a lot of other issues too,the characters themselves are a mess and some of them stay a mess without having time to grow (*cough cough* Piper,Jason,Reyna,Leo *cough cough*),but that's mainly Riordan's fault since he doesn't know what to do with most of them. And then in ToA he literally throw them under the bus,some more than others (read: Jason,Piper with whatever he thought he was doing right and Reyna being in the Hunt after she fought so hard for CJ). But I think the various PoVs from different characters,most of which new,really did a number on his writing.

[heartslobbf]

hater alert! far too many people say that juri’s character arc ‘isn’t about her being sad about being gay, it’s about being sad about unrequited love that happens to be gay’ and. well. that is not true and by saying that you are completely flattening the brilliance of juri’s character arc which literally culminates in her being able to accept her own lesbianism despite her unrequited love, despite all her shame and self-loathing, despite this pursuit by Some Fucking Guy to try and ‘save’ her from these feelings. like if you think juri’s entire character is just ‘sad about shiori’ how do you appreciate even a modicum of the emotion packed into that final juri duel. it is both about shiori and, even broader, her lesbian identity and what that means to her intrinsically as a person, removed from romantic relationships and just purely as like. you know. Who She Is. the idea that even when juri’s locket is cut from her neck she is still a lesbian that’s still who she is and she cant change that and, crucially, she doesn’t want to even as she is agonised by these feelings. that’s why she forfeits the duel!!!! she’s clocking out she’s quitting she’s saying no!!!!!! this is me and ive got to be ok with that this is me and i can accept that this girl might not love me and i can keep living despite that. like. god im so normal arisugawa juri im so sorry that no one understands you and your intrinsically unapologetically lesbian storyline like i do

[just-some-guy-joust]

hello chonny jash fans. do you have an image of The Whole i can use cause the only one i could find looks like ass EDIT: RESOLVED THANK YOU

[tearlessrain]

I mean years ago I really hoped that we might get some coherent dalish lore in this game that actually treated them with some measure of respect, and I was trying to give the benefit of the doubt that maybe people were right and the weird handling of their culture and beliefs thus far was a setup that would pay off when the veil crumbles and shit goes down and we see more of both the dalish and tevinter, and then we'd get some cool deconstruction of both the dalish gods AND the maker/andraste.

but that was years ago and by roughly the third time they re-announced the game I was starting to suspect that development had passed out of the hands of anyone who would give a shit about lore and setting and story payoff long ago.

and based on what people are saying so far it looks like that's true.

[applepixls]

I think theres a certain level of heart break to jimmy's secret life episode 4 title that hasn't been acknowledged

it is titled "Its happening again" and in that episode jimmy and martyn become the first 2 reds on the server

every season before secret life jimmy had died and been out of the series first which we call the canary curse around these parts

so with that background knowledge theres this element of dread about that title, like he thought this might finally be the season where he broke the curse and didn't die first. yknow?

this sounds really stupid but i personally have a sort of curse? i don't believe in a higher power but I've noticed a pattern with my friendships where i tend to run away or everything tends to crumble around me between 3-6 months after going skating with the group? its really stupid and I'm just drawing connections between things that arent connected, they're coincidences. but the reason I'm saying this is because i genuinely feel a bit cursed. so its like... i know the dread; each time i make a new friend, become part of a new group. i feel like a ticking time bomb like its my fault everythings blown up before and i ought to warn them it'll happen again. i just have a big sense of dread each time i make new friends, feeling like i want to stay away, to not get so close so maybe I'll not feel so bad when it inevitably falls apart but eventually the momentum of a friend group, they pull me into their orbit and i jump full in almost like i don't remember the curse

jimmy each season says "i'm not going to be out first, I'm going to play it safe" but be it a soulmate getting blown up or just a series of freak accidents he always ends up first out. so the pure dread and knowing he can't escape being doomed by the narrative in that title has kinda come back and punched me in the throat.

great work everyone.

[grabby-smitten]

Exes poll answer

Caleb would be my ex because he actually reminds me wayyyy to much of my RL ex. His controlling nature combined with the talking down to and treating me like I'm still a child, I just can't do it. As someone with PTSD because of said ex, its too much. While Caleb thinks he means well, it'd push me so far away from him I'd be about 10 seconds away from getting a restraining order. Me leaving him I don't see him taking it well despite the outward control he shows. I can see him trying to manipulate others and those around me to try and find me after, as I'd keep my cards close to my chest. This way he has minimal information to go on and I can try and control which info he gets. And if/when he finds out I'm with Sylus, I really don't think he'd take it well given that Sylus is the leader of Onychinus and everything that comes with that.

Current LI being Sylus, I have no doubt he'd ensure the N109 zone is and continues to be a reinforced fortress where I can feel safe despite what can and does go on there. He's already protective, and I can see him being even more so after I show up on his doorstep after being in Skyhaven shaken and upset. He'd definitely do whatever he can to keep tabs on Caleb and ensure that something like that never happens again and I never feel powerless again. As for TLC from him, words of comfort, affirmation of what I'm feeling is valid, etc would be common as well as words of encouragement to prove Caleb wrong and rub it in his face.

This isn't to say I hate Caleb. I don't by any means. I find him as a villian type fascinating as I know a lot of it stems from trauma and whatnot which I can empathize with. He just hits a bit too close to home for me right now. I'm hoping as the story progresses this'll change enough so I can enjoy him more.

Oh? I understand and loved to read the reasoning behind your decision. A reminder is a reminder, we are unable to avoid that. I get it.

As you describe this whole situation, I see Sylus as the right choice in these circumstances too. He has the means to keep you safe and that’s comforting. A whole “city” to keep you out of harm’s way? There’s no better place to be. You’d be untouchable.

Exes poll

[dearweirdme]

On one hand, jk is heavily implying that he sees and knows more about what goes on in socials than people think he does and then on the other hand, he stays setting tae up? Telling him to get lost and acting like his presence alone is interrupting a serious conversation about music--- then when the switch up comes it's not about how Tae might contribute to discussing the music, it's once again about his looks and how either his visuals or shippers will bump up the view count, and ppl can pretend otherwise but his energy towards tae was real low in that ep.

It's getting exhausting trying to make excuses for this shit now 🙄 he pulled this shit with vmin the other day too---like he was too busy with 'serious business' to be bothered by them.

And yeah he validated the snowboarding trip but still couldn't help but set Tae up for his sad solos to call him a bad friend and question Taekook.

And all the pics you're all FFFFFF over are JK basking in the attention and affection but not really giving shit in return.

He gives the bare minimum, like a bit of dancing to a song, while tae is openly glowing about and praising his stuff and y'all are like 'oh, he's been busy' like tae has been on the sofa all day watching TV or something and has all the time in the world to devote to jk--like he doesn't just make time for him and jk couldn't do the same in reverse if he wanted to. He has time to do all those lives trying to convince delulus that he's singing about them in Seven but not to hype tae's stuff without being asked to by fans?

You can call me an anti or hater or a joker if you want but I'm not. I'm a taekook shipper too who is just fed up of seeing Tae giving all that energy and it not being matched and even not being appreciated. These guys are not approaching each other on the same level and you all know it because you keep making all these excuses for it; about how it's just jk just being to shy and cautious and tae being too bold and impulsive, when all its really covering for is a lack of respect and consideration and a sense of dismissiveness undermining and even passive aggressiveness towards someone who is, at best, supposed to be his boyfriend and at worst, supposed to be his best friend.

Haters out for tae's blood are having a field day with the chum that jk keeps throwing in the water for them so he's either dumb and doesnt think about the shit he does and says or he just doesn't care that tae keeps taking the heat for it.

I want this ship to be real and I still do think its real but he needs to course correct because right now, he's barely managing to pass 'supportive friend' nevermind 'supportive boyfriend'

It's giving 'tae deserves better' on both fronts.

Hi anon!

I don’t actually think the term Taekook shipper applies to you. Because in essence ‘shipping’ means you like the two persons together and you feel they would make a nice pair. You don’t actually think they make a nice pair, because you don’t feel Jk treats Tae well. Leaving aside that you are imo very wrong in interpreting the way Jk reacts to Tae.. seriously like.. how do you not see 🙈.

I’m seriously not going to go into how I disagree with your take on Jk. In my opinion you just don’t understand or get him.

Wanting a ship to be real isn’t the point. It’s either real or not, our wanting has nothing to do with it. I think you are a Taekook believer, but not so much a Taekook shipper (anymore). Maybe your ideas about what a relationship should look like differ from what you see, but realize that we will never get to see them as actual boyfriends.

[warthogreporter]

Thinking about how in Merfight almost every character's ending where they become the new Arctic Monarch has their friends and family refuse to abandon them. Gigi making a point of checking in on Odon in his ending, Bolt's father relocating the factory to be with him in his ending, Atlas promising that he won't leave Naeco again.

And how Arctina's way of getting revenge on Rho is refusing to let him see anyone, which is what led to his current state. How in her own Arctic Monarch ending she's left all alone with only a clone that functions as a symbol of everything she was trying to escape for company.

[akechigoroactual]

i just have to make it CLEAR (SLAM), that it's DIFFERENT (SLAM), with ougi and archer they're DIFFERENT (SLAM) they're DIFFERENT (SLAM) they're DIFFERENT (SLAM), archer is cool and epic but he could NEVER be as cool and epic as ougi. thank you

[krytus]

a week ago i was ready to give up on kings blood and today i just finished outlining each new chapter of the restructuring/rewrite im doing 😌.....

[thatiranianphantom]

Being happy for someone is great! But you literally don’t know these people?

[myinterestsvary-writes]

Tell me how Bisco Hatori really set up the two least eligible bachelors to be the romantic rivals that Haruhi had to choose between. Hikaru and Tamaki both with their complex family issues and emotional immaturity. Poor Haruhi, thank god she wasn’t made to fix either of them however. Sure, she acted a bit like their therapist or was expected to and had no choice but to do emotional labour particularly in Tamaki’s case to keep the relationship going but ultimately, she did her part as any friend would in influencing them to change for the better and wasn’t the primary catalyst of it. They sort through their messes themselves and then they grew together as people as a result. But honestly, this is why MoriHaru, KaoHaru and KyoHaru appeals to me and so many others as well. They’re easy and good loves for Haruhi along with being interesting and inspiring in what seems to be good, well rounded growth. To a lot of people, she didn’t have to change so much for her love story to work (I don’t think she has to change much for either Tama as shown in canon or Hika, just to put more effort in appreciating them and connecting truly to them but that’s a subjective view). Those ships also weren’t expanded on in the series nearly as much as her relationships with Tamaki and the Hitachiin Twins so it’s left up more refreshingly to our imaginations. Haruhi doesn’t change to reflect her partner more in a way that doesn’t feel unexpected or potentially forced as people typically do in relationships, as she has seemingly less in common naturally at a surface level with Hikaru and the least with Tamaki. She fits more easily with those other men in a lot of aspects.