#i'm kidding. Mostly. they are flawed i acknowledge that but they're also /so in love your honour/

[nectaric]

i really cannot think about zeus and hera anymore tonight because i will have a crisis, aka me weeping openly about how much they love each other

[sapphic-agent]

So someone on twitter said they like NATLA!aang more than cartoon!aang and someone else followed it up by saying that they didnt like how cartoon!aang was acting towards the water tribe food in that Bato episode, and now aang stans are excusing it with “he’s a kid!! He’s 12!” “characters aren’t allowed to have flaws now? Lol”. So when Zuko was disrespecting aang’s culture in the Southern Raiders episode, the fandom rightfully calls him out for being disrespectful…but ofc when aang does it as a comedic gag towards another culture ofc the fandom will scramble to excuse him.

I'm so sorry, I didn't see this!

I haven't seen NATLA in its fullest, but I actually did start taking a liking to NATLA Aang myself. Mostly because unlike with original Aang, they seem to be hammering in that Aang can't run from his responsibilities. It's setting him up for great character development. His feelings towards Katara are also way more platonic, which I love. Do I like him better than original Aang? Can't say yet, but I definitely see where they're coming from.

So, my response to the excuse that Aang is twelve is, "So you agree? He's not mature enough to be with Katara?"

Not even just for his actions in BOTWT either. Aang stans have a nasty habit of excusing all of Aang's actions with "He's 12/13!" And yes, that's true. And yeah, we can make the argument that he deserves leeway for that. But if Aang is too young to be respectful of Katara's culture, mindful of his emotions around her, and conscious of how his actions effect her, he doesn't need to be in a relationship with her.

Aang stans need to realize they can't have it both ways. Either Aang is too young to understand his actions and too immature to be in a relationship with Katara, or he's mature enough to be in a relationship with her and needs to be held accountable as such.

(The third ideal option would be that he has the capacity for growing and learning to be a good partner- not just for Katara, but anyone- he just needs to acknowledge and own his actions and make that change himself. But of course, that didn't happen: not in Book 3 or the comics)

But yeah, I hate the excuse that he's a kid. Not only is everyone else also a kid, using that as an excuse for his actions instead of a reason for him to learn to be better is doing Aang's own character an injustice

[epickiya722]

You are so right. For the first time ever, I block quite a lot of my moots in twitter and tumblr. I can't believe all the things they said about BNHA (especially Izuku). Personally, I love all the events until now. Do I have complain here and there for a certain characters? Yes, of course I do, but that does not made me hate BNHA. Izuku is a great character and one of my favorite protagonist from all media....Also, as BKDK shipper, I love all the canon moments between Izuku and Katsuki (sorry if maybe you're a fan of Izuku but dislike bakudeku ship).

You know I don't hate IzuOcha ship (I think it's kinda cute) but I do dislike most of their fan right now. One of my ex moots said, "Damn with this events in BNHA. F*ck, at least Midoriya will end up with Uraraka. If somehow Midoriya don't end up with her and only thinking of Bakugou, damn I don't follow this series for the gay sh*ts...."

Like, I'm mad and sad when reading that... For me, I wish Izuku don't end up with anyone at the end of the series (as much as I love BKDK ship, I know it's impossible to be canon). Don't you think it will be funny if there is plot twist and somehow Ochaco end up with Shoto?

That very last bit right there. "... I wish Izuku don't end up with anyone at the end of the series", that?

I've felt that exact feeling since I got into BNHA.

You and I mostly do have the exact same feelings.

Starting with the ships, neither I have a problem with. I have ships just as much as the next problem, but the past year or so has taught me that when it comes to ships, some people don't actually see the characters as individuals and only seem to care about that characters for the sake of their ship.

Which sucks because I feel that takes away a lot of understanding the story. When you don't understand the character's story from their personality to their backstory to their growth, most likely you're not going to understand the overall story.

I hate seeing things like "Well, at least Uraraka will end up with Midoriya" because that just tells me that the person is maybe here for the shipping and that's it and don't care about either character.

Like, why are people so eager to see Uraraka become a wife and have kids? She is a, what, 16 year old girl who wants to be a hero! I want to see her be a hero!

And look, I know BakuDeku got some amazing moments together and some really would make someone go "I ship it". I don't hate it, some of you who followed me long enough know I don't. But at the same time, let's acknowledge they are separate characters. Yes, they're almost like a package deal because they've been in each other's lives since forever. They're going to be intertwined like that.

But come on! How about individually?? Midoriya became my favorite easily and not because of Bakugou.

Like, again, I'm for shipping. I got my ships. But it's not the ships that annoy me (unless otherwise like... *shivers*), it be the shippers.

And yeah, sometimes for any story I read I may have a complaint or two, but I will never understand people who built their whole blogs around "critiquing" and nothing else. Like, damn, how fucking perfect you want the story to be?

In fact, write a story that doesn't get anyone coming at you with something they don't like about it. Impossible. Because someone is going to have something they don't like about it.

Those people will have "takes" and then I just know they have read the story at all. They would miss details or misinterpret the characters how they want them to be looked at and still have no idea what they're talking about.

This fandom, some of the people can be fuckong switch ups, I swear.

So first, Midoriya is too emotional and a crybaby and it's obvious that his flaw was just emotional driven he can be. But now it's a fucking problem he's expressing his emotions at an appropriate time? It's a damn issue he isn't crying for a gag?

Y'all got to be fucking kidding me. This is the same fandom who at a time didn't give a damn about the villains. Who were like "they don't deserve redemption, they should die" even after learning their backstories. And now y'all want to advocate for them? Actually mad even though the story is not even completely done yet?!

I wouldn't say I'm an expert on BNHA or any story I read up. At the end of the day, I am just a fan who happens to be very entertained. I'm here to have fun. But the way this fandom, that fandom and every other fandom be acting makes me feel like I'm reading some whole other manga, watching some different copy of an anime.

[Note: okay, I did giggle at the thought of Horikoshi doing that with Uraraka and Todoroki. I doubt it would happen and I'm not saying it should... it's just funny to me because just yesterday I was thinking something similar with two different characters.]

[raspberry-vinaigrette]

for the ask game .. 🎥 💢

THANK YOU FOR THE ASK RAAH

🎥- oh my god i LOVE LOVE LOVE the dsaf3 good ending scene with jack confronting davetrap in the saferoom. i have brought up this scene to my sister + best friend like five separate times and analyzed it so agonizingly hard. ohhhh jack having all his internalized beliefs confirmed in that one moment? the fact davetrap is likely talking completely impulsively to get under jack's skin and hoping to make him cave and admit he still wants davetrap around (at least as i interpret the scene) but all it does is make jack believe he's irreversibly fucked up and the only way to save davetrap is to kill them both? the fucking "you can't move on." in pink text ??? it makes me lose my mind. and also i have a lot of thoughts on the switch from first-person reality segment style into the top-down pixelated style from a narrative perspective. i know it's probably just to make the cutscene run smoother, but there's just so much to pick apart in that one scene. i'm also a HUGE sucker for the dsaf2 good ending cutscene with jack doing the speech to the spirits of the dead children, it's just... so beautifully done. and the hug with dee at the end? blackjack's "i'm proud of us"? god. they're both EXCELLENT scenes that i have rewatched multiple times <3

💢 - i consider this mostly a consequence of the fact i'm pretty sure doggo considered every dsaf game to be the last but i feel like the flipside/happiest day stuff could've been conveyed better. how did the machines come to be? did henry make them or did he not get to before being dragged into the void, and if he didn't, do they come to be just by proxy of jack's promise, or... what? and how does jack rewire the happiest day arcade machine in DSAF3 to let him into the entire flipside? it's insinuated he has very little clue on what the flipside is or what he's doing, but then what was his plan there?? it's a bit confusing and you can kinda fill in blanks from context clues but it's ultimately a reader-interpretation thing. there's just a few too many loose ends compared to some interpretation stuff in dsaf though and i would've liked a little more to work with.

also there's the weird discrepancy of where in dsaf2 fredbear is like "hey the animatronics who are possessed shoved you in a suit, sorry" before having jack make the promise, but then in dsaf3 jack specifically says "henry killed me" (or well... doesn't say. it's one of the greyed-out options in dsaf3's legacy ending when jack says his real name)? ive seen some people take this to mean jack got springlocked in a suit twice but that just feels weird to me, and i think having jack springlocked by the animatronics possessed by children (who are presumably at least semi-conscious of their actions, given what we see of the possessed animatronics) kinda takes away some of the pathos of jack choosing to help these kids. and also its just never acknowledged by dee or any of the kid spirits outside of that one cutscene. so i think itd be easier (and more narratively sensical, since the rest of the dsaf3 rpg party died due to henry in some way) to just say henry triggered the suit on jack and work from there.

i may just be missing some textual stuff so if im missing smtn let me know! either way i dont count it as a writing flaw on doggo's part, the narrative and tone shifted greatly across the trilogy and things were bound to get a little mixed up LMAO

[kitkatt0430]

Hi! I've been making my way through your Neighbours and Butterflies series since you posted a snippet of Chrysalis, and I'm really enjoying it!! I’ve just finished Rampage now. All the references and extra characters you've woven in—Frost, Black Lightning (!!), Oliver (!!!)—mental health being acknowledged (!!!!) (I love the Arrowverse shows, but they're. not the best in that regard :/). I also love how you've written Eobard. And Singh knowing!! 1/3

I really like how you’ve written that whole story with the old captain and Ralph!! I’m not the biggest fan of salt, but I understand it here, and really appreciate how you've handled Joe (/gen! I really hope that doesn’t come across as offensive!) Oh, and Roy Bivolo!! (clarifying Bivolo because we have like three Rays and two Roys) I loved that episode in canon mostly because of the crossover (read: the Olivarry! :D), but I really liked how you’ve characterised him here and developed him. 2/3

I think the backstory you’ve given him is really cool too!! The only tiny thing I didn’t like was his use of the term “Asperger’s”, as that’s a bit outdated. (Again, I really enjoyed the fic and your worldbuilding and hope I’m not being too rude by saying that! /g) Anyway, thank you for writing and sharing this lovely series; I’m off to read the next parts! ♡♡♡ 3/3

I completely forgot to say that Len finding the bugs is so fascinating!! (and for anyone reading this, I'm talking about cameras and microphones, not insects!) ♡

Took me a bit to get around to these, but first off thank you so much for all the lovely compliments Anon. :D It's always great to hear from someone who enjoy's my fics.

I think one of the things I really enjoyed about the Arrowverse was how interconnected it all really feels? It was a bit stilted at first and took some growing into, but they took something that I previously associated the most with Star Trek or CSI - an interconnected tv-show verse - and really set the bar high. So it's always fun for me to try and maintain that interconnection in my fics.

And yes, so many Rays and Roys in these shows. And the number of Noras in the Arrow-verse... or even just on The Flash alone. They've definitely averted the one Steve limit, that's for sure. :D

Joe is definitely one of those characters that I love, but sometimes in a bit of a tough love sort of way since the man does have his flaws that he struggles with. And I do like to give Barry and Iris the space to call him out on those, which can be a bit of a balancing act to write sometimes. But ultimately what I like about him so much is that he genuinely loves his children and wants the best for them - so he expects the best of himself in being there for them. It doesn't always work out and sometimes he goes a little too far in one direction or another (overprotectiveness with Iris, being too much of a friend than a father w/Wally at first) but how much he loves his kids is just really nice to see. And this series in particular was one where I wanted the low points of his S1 behavior called out with while giving him plenty of space to learn from his mistakes and actively do better. Writing his PoV for the Thanksgiving fic was a lot of fun.

With Roy Bivolo, I think if I were to write that fic now then I'd leave out the word 'Aspergers'. I know more about it's history now and... yeah. Not great. It's something that I might address later with editing. Or I might address it in universe? But... i'm more likely to edit and leave a note about it. My reasoning at the time was that when Roy most likely would have been diagnosed, it's a term that would have come up as part of his autism diagnosis - if not the official diagnosis itself. I wanted to show Roy's experiences with autism as being notably different from Jerrie's once I finally have her show up - admittedly not for a while - and to have part of that being their experiences with being diagnosed itself. And while that still stands... I can still have them demonstrate their varied experiences as being diagnosed-autistics (Hartley is definitely undiagnosed but he masks too well for his own good and I haven't actually mentioned that in text yet and dunno when I will) without having to continue using the term aspergers. So thank you for reminding me that I do need to figure that out when I return to this series.

Len finding the bugs was a lot of fun for me to write. I knew I wanted to give Len more to do in the series, but also that a bit of a teaser/cliffhanger would be fun to do too. (I am a bit of a mad scientist cackling maniacally when I write cliffhangers. ^_^ ) And that epilogue scene was an excellent place to indulge both impulses. There's also now a direct line from Len finding those bugs to Len deciding he needs to do more to protect Barry and that'll be something Barry both appreciates and is annoyed by in turns as the series progresses.

[elljayvee]

I loved this show when it was in first run, for reasons I (a baby bisexual) did not understand at the time. I adored Michael & Joey's relationship. Looking back on it as an adult, part of what I liked was that it (almost certainly unintentionally) casually depicted bisexuality and aromanticism, and also part of what I liked was that it also (...probably more intentionally) depicted a world with much lower homophobia and missing the AIDS crisis.

You're supposed to read Michael & Joey's relationship with each other as a couple in some ways, but not in others. They're practically married (the show makes this point several times, most clearly in "Joey's Mother-in-Law"), but they're (probably) not having sex: they're having sex with women, but they're Super Weird about it -- this is partly Sitcom, partly Dated Sexist Nonsense, but also partly Inherent To This Particular Family Setup. It ends up feeling to me very much like two men who aren't...really...sure how to deal with feelings for each other that are sexual/possibly romantic when they clearly feel attraction to women. Do you know how many bisexuals go through this. For years. For decades. Sometimes I, a bisexual who has been out since the 1990s, ask myself if I am "really" bi. It's a fucking brainworm that so many of us have. This show, in its own way, laid that problem out before me as if someone out there understood it.

As for the aromanticism, Joey says in the pilot that Marcy is the last woman he loved. He has a whole relationship with a different woman not because he loves her but because he wants to dad her kid. This man is sexually, but largely not romantically, attracted to women. (Is he in love with Michael romantically? I don't know! Maybe! He's definitely in Kinda Obsessed with Michael, though.)

And then....it's in a kinder, gentler, less homophobic world where no one is dying. And that's....almost certainly just a product of it being a sitcom from the 1980s. You weren't going to address those topics in a sitcom about "what if the Odd Couple had to raise a kid lol", but as a result, for me, I get a combo of Powerful Nostalgia Bomb and Everything is Beautiful And Nothing Hurts from this show. It's not that other characters don't react to two men raising a kid together, because they do -- but mostly they are a little puzzled about it. No one is hateful. No one attacks them over it. The only times that judgement of the relationship is more than a passing event ("Joey's Mother-in-Law" is yet again an example), the person being weird about it is dealt with firmly and clearly.

It has its flaws (....1980s sitcom....) but oh. it has its joys.

(I refuse to acknowledge the final episode, though: it's up there with HIMYM for betraying the show before it. I'm convinced that was the network just being like "well. we can't have the show's finale be. they continue to live together." in my heart they continue to live together. they don't talk about it ever until Nicole leaves for college and then they both panic and agree obviously. they can't split up. where will Nicole go for winter break if Michael moves out? Joey panics and has sex with way too many people about it while drawing 3 million pictures of Michael in his sketchbook. Michael dates like normal but feels weirdly sad every time he kisses his dates. It's fine. It's all fine. Nicole comes home for Thanksgiving and is like. Dads. What is up?? Joey's art is depressing and Michael is working 80 hour weeks? Maybe you two should get a dog. Three weeks later Joey comes home with a three-legged golden retriever and Michael has a sobbing breakdown into its fur and falls asleep in Joey's bed. No they do not get it together after this, they are both disaster bisexuals, this goes on for SEVERAL more years.)

“My Two Dads” was Simply Ahead of its Time: A Short Essay by an Offspring of Same-Sex Parents

In 1987, the show “My Two Dads” premiered on NBC, staring Paul Reiser, Greg Evigan, Staci Keanan, and Florence Stanley. Nicole Bradford (Keanan) is a 12-year-old girl whose mother Marcy Bradford dies suddenly, and she is “willed” more or less to two men her mother was once in love with, Michael Taylor (Reiser) and Joey Harris (Evigan), who were lifelong friends before they fought over Nicole’s mother. Despite attempts at blood tests, the paternity of the child was never confirmed, and after a rocky start, Michael and Joey agree to live together and raise Nicole as a family.

What we have here is a simple, relatively family friendly, prime-time sitcom that shows a very positive interpretation of a kid with same-sex parents. And it is delightful.

I am speaking openly as a queer person raised by two mothers (now four w/step-moms). When I decided to try this, I was bracing myself for the absolute worst most offensive thing I’d ever seen.

And I swear to God, what I got instead is one of my new favorite shows of all time. The characters are lovable and well-rounded, the acting is great, the humor is actually funny, and, whether this was intentional or not, is one of the most progressive shows of its time.

I keep seeing people throwing around the word “homophobic” with this show, and I’m here to politely and firmly disagree with that. Instead, I will opt for the word “dated.” “My Two Dads” was still a product of its time, so I firmly believe many of the choices regarding Joey and Michael’s dating life were made to appease the censors. I never felt like any decision was made in malice to target the queer community. (Not to mention, I could/will make a whole LIST of reasons why Michael and Joey are 100% in love, if not an active couple, despite many attempts to convince the audience they are straight.)

I spent a good chunk of the show laughing to myself and saying “it’s like homosexuality doesn’t even exist in this universe” for how much NOBODY cares about Nicole having two dads or questioning why the dads live together. (Them being potentially gay is only questioned ONCE in the series.)

In the 90s and early 2000s, people never shut up with the questions once I told them I had two moms. I somewhat think this exclusion was also a writing tactic, not wanting Nicole to have to constantly repeat what the audience already knows.

There are jokes that haven’t aged amazingly well, but I feel like it was much more that the writers were ignorant as opposed to being active bigots.

I also really appreciated this show’s depiction of a kid who has a great and loving relationship with a parent she may not be or isn’t biologically related to. Nicole doesn’t care who her biological father is, and loves Joey and Michael equally. Again, as someone with two moms, I get really defensive over the notion that someone isn’t your real parent unless their DNA matches yours. (Side note, always say “biologically related to” as opposed to “REAL parent” whenever asking someone about their parentage. Please. It hurts every time.)

If I admittedly had one qualm about the show, I’d say it hasn’t aged amazing in terms of sexism. Throughout the whole show, it always felt like the women Michael and Joey dated were either complete jerks or bimbos. With the women they finally end up with being boring and rushed. And they also at one point have a female boss, and…it’s pretty bad. Nicole and Judge Margaret were great (Judge being my 2nd favorite character, behind Michael.), but other female characters not so much.

But overall, I really do love this show. It’s one of those really nice warm & fuzzy shows, too (Think “Full House” with slightly funnier writing. Yeah, I said it!). I really wish more queer viewers would try it.

[piperslovebot]

This is going to sound dumb, but one reason I love T90sS despite acknowledging its flaws is how real it is? Like as much as I enjoyed One Tree Hill, The Vampire Diaries and other more polished teen dramas, there's just something I love and relate to about the fact that these kids don't look and act like they're all supermodels in their very late 20s, they don't go to fancy galas and black tie events like middle-aged adults at least twice a week (TVD, I'm looking at you!), there aren't super melodramatic events like constant stalkers, shootings etc and the kids aren't hospitalized every other episode due to near fatal accidents lol. It's just a group of teens who look and act like real teens and mostly they just hang out and do the stuff real teens do, and it makes the show so cozy and relatable to me! Totally fine if you don't agree, just wanted to analyze why I love this dumb show lol.

No dw <333

I totally agree! They’re teens trying to adapt to the real world. I also love this about T7S. They’re teenagers trying to make the best of things and making mistakes while still trying to have fun.

[deusluxuria]

Probably the only ship I like that I refuse to type into any search, since people have different ideas about what Doppio's age is! I personally can't see him as anything other than an adult.

There are contradictions in canon about his age, making me wonder if Araki changed his mind a few times, had a semi-accurate depiction of DID here and there (where Doppio is a child alter with the host being 33 years old), or if he forgot.

I don't write Doppio as part of a DID system - I don't know enough about DID, and I'm not part of a system, so I can't rightfully reclaim the flawed representation.

Doppio is my #1 comfort character and I project my own traits on him a lot. I can't *not* depict him as an adult, and also just the concept of him being a kid in canon makes me uncomfortable for a number of reasons. But that's just my own interpretation.

***

I love this ship because Doppio and Risotto are (in canon) in a similar situation, being kept on a tight leash by Diavolo, who doesn't value them and is just using them; but Doppio is the only one who still believes in Diavolo.

I write fanfiction but never finish any of it lol. I have a few AUs where Doppio is part of La Squadra, but they're not very interesting.

One scenario I think about is, during their fight, Risotto acknowledges that they wouldn't be at each other's throats in the first place if not for the boss.

Infuriated that his teammates (his closest friends, his family), were all slaughtered because of Diavolo's destructive selfishness, he spitefully rants about it out loud to Doppio while they're fighting.

"You think he's selfish...?" Doppio asks.

Risotto explains the Trish situation... which leads to Doppio making the connection that Trish is his own daughter. He tried to kill my daughter.

Devastated, his knees give out, and he can't bear to fight anymore. But after this revelation, he and Risotto are on the same side. Risotto joins him sitting on the ground, and neither of them speak, for ages.

Until Risotto says, "What if we run away?"

Furious, hurt, and lost, Doppio agrees almost immediately.

I haven't figured out the rest yet, or how it would even work with the same-person thing going on, but the overall idea is a slow burn to romance.

I think of Risotto as being an extremely caring, compassionate person. And Doppio is kind of helpless and sporadic, but loyal.

I think of their relationship as being mostly wholesome, but with conflicts such as Doppio not feeling deserving of Risotto's immense love, and Risotto not knowing how to help Doppio every time he has a meltdown.

To me, this ship involves a lot of hugging and crying lol

But also softness. A lot of it. Number One Soft Ship.

[perseusjackson-jasongrace]

Hi C!!! It's meeee

Anyway I don't know why but I just kinda want to put this out in the world. You got me on Jercy (I'm not kidding I hated Jercy before you) but Percabeth is my OG ship like they started me ok fanfics and they're like my first real ship period. And I hate all the hate Annabeth gets because I really love her so I just wanted to ask you if you could go more in depth with why you aren't big on her/Percabeth please

Love you!! ❤❤

Hi my Gretch seeing your username (on any of the platforms) makes me forever and eternally happy. Okay onto this beautiful, intense ask:

First things first: I love Annabeth. Like Annabeth as a character? wonderful, incredible, unreal. She is so versatile and full of so many things that make us human and I see her character and character arc as a complex web full of intricacies and weaknesses (yes i said web on purpose).

My favourite things about her:

1. She always has a goal, whether it be long term or, I'm just trying to stay alive in this second. For people like me who kind of go through life on vibes and a vague sense of what they want it is awing to read about and meet people who have solid, planned goals that they live, breathe, and perform by.

2. She is proud of her friends. Since her fatal flaw is pride it is very easy to see the downfall but there is also an upside in that she uses that well of pride as an extension of her and it reflects on others. We know she is proud of Percy, and grover, and Thalia, and why Luke’s betrayal hit so hard for her

3. She continues to break stereotypes. Not just as the dumb blonde (which was admittedly a big thing at the time of the book’s release) but also in her being a girl who saves herself, who goes on the dangerous quests, who isn’t helpless. I never had a lack of female role models in my life but adding Annabeth to the mix only did me more good.

4. She thinks things through: I am kind of impulsive when it comes to certain aspects in my life and I have some thought process for other parts but Annabeth is not impulsive. As much as she has ADHD, in which impulsivity is fairly common, she doesn’t present with it. And it’s refreshing and exciting to see this character that thinks through plans and decisions and tries to predict the outcome, not only so she can change it if need be but also to prepare herself for what is to come. Narratives (especially at the time of those books) were full of impulse and quick decisions and always being on the spot. Hell Percy was exactly this kind of narrtator. And while I love dit because I mean what ten year old doesn't love fast-paced intense excitement? it was so truly wonderful to read about someone who thought further. It allowed you to connect to the next page, chapter, book. 

5. She is a complete badass. And I love it. I love badass women. I could never get enough of them and I think they should rule the world. And I love smart people. I love them. Smartness, intelligence, is so attractive to me. Because it means you have passion, and the ability to think beyond your surroundings. Annabeth Chase is hella smart.

What I've been having a crisis over for the last few years is Percabeth. It is summed up most accurately here but just to continue my thought:

Rick changed the percabeth dynamic so much in HOO that it became almost unrecognisable. I think in the bid to have this whole, everyone is a couple and everyone deserves someone (which boosted Leo’s narrative but was also the cause of great conflict in everyone else’s narrative expect percabeth) he forgot to make them friends. And that was the basis of percabeth. It was the reason percabeth were so godsdamn cute in PJO. Because they were friends who ended up becoming a couple. In HOO they were just a couple. And it sucked out the life of their friendship so that we could only focus on their relationship.

And unfortunately it is Annabeth’s narrative that really brings this home for multiple reasons (all of which we can blame Rick for):

1. This is the first time we got other points of view beside Percy which means everyone’s flaws were much more obvious. Annabeth’s fatal flaw specifically was really played (the entire reason she went on that Mark of Athena quest; why  they landed up in Tartarus). it made focusing on her harder especially because Percy’s Fatal flaw is loyalty so he spent a lot of his narrative focusing on others. this one is mostly my bias as I prefer to have a character’s narrative that also focuses on the happenings of others with the characters personal thoughts. Annabeth was the kind of narrator who focused on herself first. 

2. The entirety of HOO was about relationships. Rick didn’t bother to form any actual friendships with any of the characters (something he was undoubtedly great at in PJO) so when we got to percabeth scenes it was things like: Piper being jealous of them; Percy being worried about them; Annabeth being worried about Percy as a person or herself in her quest; Leo being sad that he was alone; etc. It made liking any of the couples extremely hard.

3. As you (and my other Tumblr babies) may know I don't believe Percy and Annabeth’s fatal flaws work well together. I think Percy is often the one to sacrifice himself and Annabeth sacrifices her wants (material things) and it is not the same. Percy is loyal to Annabeth. But Annabeth’s pride continues to rule her life. For example, if Percy had gotten in the way of Annabeth rebuilding Olympus I fully believe she would have attempted (at the very least) to get rid of him. I don't necessarily mean kill him I just mean he wouldn’t have been in her life. Don’t get me wrong this does not mean she did it or there was even a possibility that she could have. but the reason for that is because Percy is loyal to her. So he wouldn’t have gotten in the way of her dreams. And I think there’s something fundamentally dangerous about sacrificing yourself for someone else’s dreams. If Percy became loyal-to-a-fault towards Annabeth and she then decided to join Luke’s army he would not have stopper her. In fact it’s quite possible he would have joined her. And Annabeth has so much pride for Percy, but her pride-to-a-fault does not lie in people it lies in material things. So she would have gone after her own goals if Percy did not follow. It just seems like it’s luck that they continue to work well together. Percy sacrifices himself. Annabeth sacrifices herself. But only cause their goals align. What happens when they don't?

Please do not make the mistake of thinking I hate percabeth because I don’t. I cannot hate them when those books were the heart and soul of my life for so many years. Percabeth was such a big part of them, to hate the ship, would mean to hate the books and that is absolutely not the case. Annabeth and Percy’s friendships is so important to me. 

TL:DR I love Annabeth she is an absolute badass; I am not a fan of the percabeth dynamic especially in HOO; my bias is present in everything I do. I acknowledge it and try to work to bring all the facts together.

I hope this answered your question Gretch! And do not hesitate to ask if you want me to elaborate on a anything further.

I, of course, also welcome dispute from anyone but remember we do things nicely on this blog.

[moonssugar]

🌼 🌿

🌿 describe your narrative style, multiple POVs? Present or past tense? 1st person or 3rd? Why did you choose that for your WIP?

for me its multiple povs, present and past tense (i'm a mess) and 3rd person. when i first started reading novels i really couldn't stand 1st person pov for some reason? it annoyed the hell out of me so i refused to write it ever since but i can't say it still annoys me in the present day unless its done right (lots of character inner monologue, i love it and stories feels incomplete without it to me). this is probably also due to my favorite books all being in 3rd person. my reason for using multiple povs is that i need to know what's going on inside everyone's head and my brain keeps supplying me with ideas for what they're thinking/feeling when i'm writing anyways. it doesn't matter if they're the main character or not for me. for the present and past tense…don't ask i don't know what the hell i'm doing.

🌼 pick an OC and put them on blast. Call out their flaws, complain about what makes them difficult to write, etc.

lmaoooo okay Sam goes first 

he literally doesn't talk often enough. Sir, fucking Kaid talks more than you. where the fuck is your dialogue. also you should get into the habit of talking shit more often too, especially when these dumbass kids are bullying you. when i say 70% to 80% of his dialogue is internal. sam knows two whole languages and won't say shit in either of them 💀he's just not a shit talker and his mom is definitely a shit talker and i wish he inherited that trait instead of quietly judging people and being conflict avoidant like his dad. this isn't necessarily a bad thing its just that i have to tickle him to get him to say something and he's the main character??? boy say something?? i think i need to accept having a introvert main character once and for all and acknowledge that its okay. but also, sam needs to get mad more often. stop being so nice all damn the time go apeshit. please. at least he says the fuck word. lastly, i need a way to profoundly change you by the end of this story and i haven't fucking found it yet because he keeps getting away from me the rascal. everything else is fine about him just please talk kid.

aubry: you are mentally ill no but seriously her journey from point A to point B is what makes her difficult to write but also fun as hell to write because i love when a character completely changes? getting all her mannerisms right is actually like trying to solve a rubix cube and play chess at the same time though. how do i keep track of all that. i say characters changing is a good thing but her base character and basic personally has changed i don't know how many goddamn times since inception in very small ways and sometimes in huge ways. but i feel like im finally getting somewhere. after 2 years. she is very (ironically) set in her ways i swear she's like a small boomer sometimes. she needs to come out of her shell and live a little. also how do we forgive her for being an asshole sometimes and also make her lovable and make that realistic? how do i figure out how to write that? damn aubry, you make things difficult. 

Chelsie: she's insane and perfect, she is the second coming, she is a girlboss, she is never going to die, nothing bad to say about her. sike, actually you know how Sam never talks but has terabytes worth of inner dialogue? well Chelsie talks a lot. she thinks as she talks and talks as she thinks (i love this about her). the issue is she's so guarded that all her inner dialogue has mysteriously gone missing! what's going on in that wonderful noggin of yours, Chells? her inner dialogue is mostly what she feels and does as a result of it unless its particularly about solving a problem. i guess she is one of those people that don't talk to themselves inwardly a lot? but that makes it hard for me to understand her and her journey inwardly. not surprisingly…she has problems opening up to other people in the text/story and doesn't understand her own emotions. so yeah 💀that tracks. she is wonderfully contradictory too but i can make that make sense if i try hard enough. and sometimes she'll shove sam into oncoming traffic and declare that she is the main character. i am sending her directly to therapy after this is over.