#like part of me is so angry people don't like it more like ARE YOU DUMB???

[the-bonfires-ember]

fuck it ill do it myself

Being in a Relationship with Someone with NPD for Dummies

**I would like to open with the preface that if someone is not willing to work on their NPD or to work through elements of their mental illness that strains your relationship, then they are not ready to be in a relationship. I got super lucky in that my partner was over-therapised tbh and so is able and willing to make the accommodations I mention here but that will not be the case for everyone. Think it through carefully. Everyone deserves love, but they should never feel like they need to sacrifice their own wellbeing to give it and get it in return. Be safe and look after yourself**

This is written for people in romantic relationships but with some editing, it could be useful for platonic relationships also

So, the first thing I want to explain is Narc crashes. Maybe you've heard about them, maybe you haven't but understanding them is, I think, the most important piece of groundwork you could have. Think of NPD as a hard shell over something very soft and gooey. Anything can cause the shell to crack, even the most gentle of taps. And those cracks can vary in size, so that sometimes only a little bit of the insides ooze out, and sometimes a lot pours out all at once. Someone with NPD has built their ego and external image to shelter a typically very young and fragile version of themselves. And when that shell breaks, it can feel like an attack on that weaker part. NPD crashes look different depending on the person. For me, as an example, I get this overwhelming feeling that I am going to be discarded and left alone. Which is particularly unhelpful in a romantic relationship but we'll get there. For other people, depending on the severity, they could lash out, get very defensive, or start having ideas about self harm and suicide. I don't really get that bad anymore, but I also haven't crashed so catastrophically in recent months.

On to specific advice!

Make a plan of what to do in the case of a crash. This can be anything from, 'tell me that you still love me and that you aren't going to leave' to 'leave me alone, I can't regulate around other people'. It could be physical comfort, it could be getting them something sweet to eat when they are calmer, or it could be a bath. Have a conversation about it when you are both in a good mental state and make a plan. Keep in mind the differences in severity so that you know what to do and how to react.

When you have a problem, bring it up gently and carefully. When they are doing something that you want to question or ask for them to do differently, remember that they will take it badly if you handle it wrong. I don't mean 'just let them do whatever they want forever'. That is both unhelpful and unrealistic. Of course there are going to be things you need to discuss. Just be cautious about your words being interpreted as a threat to them. This can be another thing you discuss together ahead of time so that you can formulate a way of phrasing such things in a way that they feel more comfortable with.

Keep your emotions under control. If you are mad at your partner with NPD for something, get a hold of that anger by yourself first and then bring it up with them when you are calmer. Getting angry at someone with NPD creates a loop of them feeding off your anger, getting anxious and overwhelmed by the perceived aggressive nature of the conversation, and immediately going into defense mode - which tends to make you angrier and then it just loops around again and no one benefits from that. I mean, I think this applies to all relationships but taking out your own emotional responses on your partner is especially damaging when they have NPD. It hurts us much more deeply and for much longer.

To break those things down to their base components, you need to have a lot of patience and emotional maturity. Which is a big ask, and I'm sure there are people out there who have made it work somehow without those things. I don't know of any personally, but I'm sure it has happened before. Either way, make sure that the relationship works for you too. If you have to go to all this effort for the one you love, they should be willing to do the work for you too.

People with NPD deserve to be loved, but no one deserves having to hurt themselves to keep loving the one who is doing that harm in the first place.

Mental health is complicated. Personality disorders are complicated. Frankly, people are complicated. Maybe some of what I've said is valuable to you and your partner, and maybe none of it is and you are still able to be in a healthy relationship, even if it looks different to mine. And that's great! As long as it works for you both, do whatever you want forever.

Just be safe and take care of yourself first and foremost.

[amalthea-13]

Got my nightcore blasting in one ear and still mad about Mastermind so I'mma just info dump here. If you are a Blitz Stan or Defender please understand I do love Blitz, he's honestly one of my favorite characters and Stolitz is my comfort ship. However, disliking things he does doesn't mean I don't like him. I can feel frustrated or struggle with things he does. A complex character makes you feel complex things so it just is a testament to the writers on this show doing a good job with their cast and writing them perfectly. So before going on a rant defending Blitz, just hear me out.

I'll be honest I did not like how quickly Blitz turned lovey-dovey after the trial. The shit hit me like a fuckin chancla to the head and gave me whiplash. The reason I have this issue with Mastermind is purely because it felt so- unfair. Stolas has been struggling to feel validated and seen by Blitz for SO long. I mean that man gave him an Asmodean Crystal, fought to treat him with respect by changing many of his behaviors from S1 to S2, no longer teasing him or calling him pet names. He goes to hell and back multiple times, nearly being killed by Striker and couldn't even get a solid text back from Blitz.

However, the MINUTE he lays his life down, loses his daughter, and gives up any sense of a decent reputation suddenly Blitz gives a fuck. Losing his home, his powers, his family, EVERYTHING, and suddenly Blitz cares about what Stolas wants or needs. It genuinely makes me wanna rattle him around and yell:

"YOU COULD HAVE BEEN HEALTHY AND NICE TO HIM BUT YOU WAIT TILL HES CHRONICALLY DEPRESSED!?"

Like fuck me dude, but he never cared for Stolas before. He consistently dismisses his humanity by cognitively distancing himself from Stolas by just boiling every part of him down to his wealth, stripping him of any and all humanity he remains to have.

Suddenly when Stolas is a husk of his former self and his depression can no longer be hidden by magic or pills, suddenly Blitz cares. I just- I don't know if it's'cause of my own personal trauma, but I hate when people wait till you are at your lowest to give a fuck.

How much more did Stolas have to give for him to care? Or did it have to be his own life? My issue with this part is it perpetuates that Blitz can ONLY humanize those he hurts if they are sad and miserable like him. That the only time you can be loved or seen by him is when you are sad and pathetic, beneath himself. I really hope ya'll are picking up what I'm putting down because I am BEGGING ya'll to stick with me.

Blitz still has his family, his life, his friends, but Stolas has none of those things and SUDDENLY Blitz is further interested in him. Now that he has some pseudo-surperiority- he finds him attractive? He's interested? He wants a deeper relationship?

You can't tell me that doesn't feel so- so backwards right?

Like yeah, wait till the sweet owl man looks like THIS. Oh, yeah, ain't that just fuckin attractive? He's miserable and tried to OFF himself, but no, no that's healthy. It's fine, Amalthea, it's fine that this is the SUDDEN moment Blitz cares. That suddenly he gives a fuck. /sarc

Don't get me started on the fact that before he got to know Stolas he was COMPLETELY fine wrecking a perfectly good (from the exterior) home without considering Octavia, despite being a fucking father himself.

Blitz waits till Stolas is miserable to actually show him an OUNCE of humanity or love or reciprocity.

Yet everyone excuses ALL of his behaviors and problems on his trauma and the pain he has been through, but those same people will call Stolas a deadbeat and terrible person just because he is an awful flirt and a literal DV victim recovering from being COMPLETELY repressed due to the fact that the system that gives him his wealth has worked against him to the point he has no autonomy.

No one seems to ever get why I'm so angry and it's just because- these two have so much potential to work, but at every corner Blitz will make the shittiest decisions and the fandom writes it off as trauma or hurt or whatever, but god forbid Stolas mess up IN SEASON 1 he has to pay for it in Season 2 and be burned at the stake yet while burning at the damn stake the only person he wants to care or worry for him ONLY cares when he is actually set on fucking fire, not bothering to douse the flames or care when he wasn't about to get burned.

I love Blitz, I really, really do, but Mastermind reframed so many of his behaviors for me and made me step back purely because I realized he REALLY does not care unless he can have a false sense of superiority to someone.

I initially said both Stolas and Blitz were at fault for the Full Moon episode, but rewatching the argument I fully blame and fault Blitz for the arguement. Sure Stolas wasn't perfect, but instead of I dunno yelling at the owl man, why don't you- I dunno ASK HIM FOR A MOMENT???

People act like Blitz is some 16 yo teenager, but no thats an ALMOST 40 YEAR OLD MAN WHO CHOOSES TO POORLY COMMUNICATE. He literally could have been uncomfortable and said; "Stolas, this is a lot to process... can I have some time to think? I just- this is a lot."

Stolas wouldn't have forced him to stay! He was willingly letting him go! Blitz complains about the class differences between them but when he tries to fix it suddenly it is a fucking problem?

"But Amalthea, Stolas was hanging his livelihood over his head. He was abusing his power."

See I'd validate that argument and agree with it- IF IT WASN'T ALSO STOLAS'S LIVELIHOOD THE FUCK???? That grimoire was just as important to Stolas as it was to Blitz, more so since it gave him his STATUS, but he WILLINGLY sacrificed all that for Blitz.

Stolas did his due diligence to protect BOTH of them, but yet there is STILL a problem?!

"Stolas made him believe it was just sex between them!!!"

You wanna try again? Do you REALLY want to believe Blitz is so oblivious to this man's advances?

Then explain why he knew Stolas would accept a date to Ozzies. O_O. If Stolas was really just some "ditzy blue blood" to Blitz why would he get dolled up and ready for a date with some measly imp? Why would a Goetic Prince go in public with an imp?

Unless Blitz was FUCKING aware he'd've accepted because he feels so deeply for Blitz. He's so desperately in love he'd do anything to be around him again. Blitz KNEW what he was doing. He KNEW Stolas felt this way, he just chose to be dense and overlook it until it benefited him.

Blitz's insecurities blind a lot of you to the fact he is a CALCULATED and SMART man. Sure, he is a dork who makes us laugh, but he's a CALCULATED dork.

Also I hate to bring up how these two sweetpeas met, but WHO BIT WHO? Who SLEPT WITH WHO WHILE DRUNK?

"But Stolas was flirting with him! He wanted Blitz to sleep with him!"

Yes and no. Initially when Stolas flirts and realizes Blitz wants to sleep with him, he immediately says NO and steps away!

See that kids, that's called a headshake, which means what? Let's all guess now?

NO! IT MEANS NO!

I hate to drive my point this far home, I REALLY do.

Another layer of this is ALL the advances are made my Blitz after Stolas says no.

"Amalthea it's hell! What are you on about morals and consent!?"

Literally because in this situation Blitz had the power. He had the ability to walk away, but started all of this just for his buisness and despite how it all started, Stolas supported him through it all.

It is also before Blitz knows about the abuse and knowing Stolas is a father, still chose to homewreck a family even after Stolas said no.

My point in all of this- anger and frustration is that Stolas has put up with so much of Blitz's BS and stupidity, but only now is Blitz concerned. Only now he gives a damn.

You break into a mans home, sleep with him, rob him, then ruin his life, but you only feel bad when he's lost everything? Sure, that's cool. That's awesome. That's totally fine. /sarc

... this arguement is always hard for me to make, because i just have to watch Stolas be traumatized over, and over, and over and he is always still so sweet and loving to a fucking prick of a man.

Rant over, Amalthea out.

However if you have questions, my ask box is open loves.🩷

Edit 1: While you all can comment, I strongly encourage utilizing my ask box. Moving on I understand ppl may disagree with me. That is okay you're a beautiful individual with your own thoughts and opinions which is fine by me. However please refrain from insulting my intelligence. You can always block me, doesn't hurt my feelings anyway.

[waterparksdrama]

has anyone got a summary of daph or jawn’s lives i can’t find anything abt them anywhere

i don't think i can even summarize jawn's live without getting angry or just repeat him talking in circles trying to victim blame and embarrass daphne with intimate information along with his friend who was getting very inappropriately giggly with (you kinda catch a. weird vibe from them together i think you can put two and two together especially with the information daphne gives later). his friend literally says "there are actual victims out there and i cant stand when people pretend to be a victim when they're not". like ????? she was also consistently feeding him things to say typed out on her phone and they would continue their whisper sessions. daphne went live during this and jawn's demeanor went dark as he was presumably told what she was saying through a phone call.

he went on a second stream without his friend about an hour later where he can't keep his story straight and shares more irrelevant and intimate information while shedding crocodile tears before finally logging off.

this is a photo of jawn uh...crying during the second stream.

now for daphne's live, it also contains incredibly sensitive information and she had tears down her face throughout and someone in the room comforting her as she spoke. i do not want her to feel that we are putting words in her mouth and i don't think it's right to show her in such distress so i will provide the transcript of what she said below as i feel it is important that these are her words and her story below the cut:

Daphne: --cry on here, so please forgive me. This has been something that I have sat on for a very, very long time and it really, really hurts to see people that were previously a part of my life, like Melanie [the friend who joined Jawn on stream] and Miranda talked down so quickly of me when they were there. For a lot of it.

And they saw the things that happened, or heard at least about some of the things that happened to me.

Jawn never physically abused me. And I will say that up front. And I'm very, very sorry if that is the impression that anybody got. But there are many types of abuse, like emotional and mental abuse. And that is something that I had to go through for an extremely long amount of time.

And I don't tell a lot of people about it for a very long time. And I opened up to Melanie and she sympathized with me and felt terrible for me and even encouraged me to leave Jawn. Somebody that she knew longer--she knew Jawn longer than she knew me, and she even encouraged me to leave the situation, and I did.

And then whenever I did leave, I had no more support from her and no more support for Miranda and a lot of people that were in Jawn's inner circle. This is not information that I ever wanted to share, because honestly, it is embarrassing for me and it is still very, very sensitive.

Jawn cheated on me countless times. Was the worst--I can't believe I have to say this out loud.

[friend]: You sure you want to?

Daphne: I have to, he's dragging me online. I have to. And Melanie's over there speaking a bunch of bullshit.

[friend]: Okay, well, share what you're comfortable with.

Daphne: Jawn and I were going to have a child back in 2022.

And…I ultimately made the decision to not keep the child because of the things that were happening in our relationship. And during that time, he was talking to other women and emotionally cheating on me, which was a consistent pattern of his for years.

And during that time, I've never felt so alone and so isolated from somebody that I thought I could love and somebody that I had their support going through with this decision on. And I have never felt so degraded in my entire life, except for when that happened.

There are many other instances of things that he's done, like he's--he's sent videos of me to his friends of us being intimate together. That is--I hate--I hate that I had to do this. I thought it could be very vague and just leave it at that, but clearly that's not the case.

And I--I wanted to move forward, being friends with him. And I thought. That maybe we could get back together. And I know he's talking about that, but it's making me seem fucking stupid. But when you're in a cycle for really bad relationship, I stayed. I thought that things would change and they just never did.

[friend]: You're just getting supported.

Daphne: I know, but I just…But I don't know what else to say. Well, he never physically abused me. There was a lot of emotional abuse, but I endured for years. And he's never treated me with respect or ever been honest with me about a lot of things.

And I hate this is--I hate that I have to be doing this right now. I thought that just by posting a story in response to…in response to the stream last night, that that would be enough. But clearly it wasn't.

I don't think I need to say anything else, so I'll keep this brief, but that's all I have to say at this time. And it's unfortunate that it came to this point, and I did give him a time limit to say something because--we have been on a break, and I told him that if boundaries had been crossed again, which they were, that--*light chuckle of disbelief*

[friend]: Literally every boundary that's ever broken--

Daphne: Every boundary ever, ever broken…that I would no longer be able to support him and defend him and do all these things which in the midst of all of this, I continued to support and defend his character, including the grooming allegations which I still stand by. He never groomed me. That is not that was not anything--a part of any--like none of that ever happened.

But in the midst of all of it, this is just where we're at. So I'm very sorry that this had to happen. And I'm sorry to anyone else involved in this, but *reads comment* "And I sent threats to his friends?" What the fuck? *light laughter of disbelief* I don't send threats to his friends, what are they talking about?

[friend]: Yes. We agree he shouldn't be airing out this business like this. That's why this live happened. Thank you, everyone, for sending mostly love. Some very, untruthful, random things are being sprinkled in here, but mostly love for our girl.

Daphne: *reads comment* What blackmail?

[friend]: And I have no idea what that is about. But…we appreciate your support. And Daphne is the best person on the face of this earth and all love. And just want to move on. That's all.

Daphne: I only ever wanted to be able to remain friends with him and keep--keep things good between us.

[friend]: And we see that he's showing text messages and everything. And at the end of the day, I don't think anyone wants to see the back and forth of a tulmultuous relationship. So let's just put it out that it's not fun for anyone that's not mature, that's not adult. Let's move forward. That's not what we're going to be doing. *reads comment* Thank you Daph. Other Daph.

Daphne: Um, yeah. Thank you guys. Okay. I don't have anything else to say.

[friend]: You don't have to say anything else.

Daphne: *lightly* Bye.

[anothanobody]

The Distrustful Aftermath (Risks Sequel)

Premise: After everything went down by uncovering the truth, Mikasa leaves, needing time for herself to heal and recover from the heartbreak. Eren for once has been left behind, life goes on like a blur.

ok so, risks. welcome back, my first baby, my first serious fic.

it's going to be tough for eremika but the sequel is coming, don't expect less angst than the first part, because no. a lot will go on that are all the consequences of the their past together and that relationship.

Few key points down here:

Eren's life has become a routine, he still has the penthouse, there are too many memories with mikasa there so he won't stay elsewhere. Ash is with him.

He's also settled a fair amount for the stuff that happened with Freesia, her recordings and photos, breaching their contract. He hasn't spoken to many people since mikasa left, leaving many worried, he works from home and gets everything delivered.

Like always there will be flashbacks, but unlike risks where they portrayed their flawed relationship, this time it will be the memories of the days they were together, quality time and stuff, eren reminisces about those days.

Reactions from the parents are a must, most of them are entirely confused by the situtions, guilty and angry that they didn't notice this for months.

Mikasa is abroad, in Japan staying in a house gifted to her. you'll get to know of her decision about the baby, there's going to be some heavy thoughts.

She goes back, things are still tense and with Zeke's help she stays hidden a bit more while in the city.

Mikasa has unfortunately developed trust issues towards everyone. so that's a blocked road, there will be a lot regarding this.

eren knows she’s back, he’s tracking her and cannot let go, he goes to see her outside her house but refrains from approaching her till she calls for him as they arranged.

mikasa refuses to be even a friend at the beginning or thought about that. but at the end she still had mixed feelings.

Jealousy go well with trust issues, mikasa worried of him with someone else, doesn’t trust him, while he’s always on the fence that mikasa could leave him at any point.

now, listen to me. it’s a healing fanfiction, they need to heal to end up together or i’m going to have them split. k don’t want that. eren is in love with her fully at the end of risks and the heartbreak only makes his feelings deeper.

there will be smut. moment of weakness or something at the start. it confuses them when it happens and it will make them fight and stuff

the angst isn’t over, eren still has his tendencies of money spending to make up for shit, he’s trying to get rid of that. or rather actually acknowledge his wrongs without excusing them. mikasa still has boundaries, she never had them with him that’s why he was able to hurt her so much.

jean, sasha, connie and nico make their appearance in this second part after their brief cameos. mikasa needs support from who isn’t acquainted with eren at all. so they come in so mikasa can have her own world.

do you guys have thoughts about it?

[ashyjingles]

hi i see all your points and they're all valid but i disagree with some of them but also agree with some (regardless of how much i agree with them though your points all absolutely have an undeniable foundation)

disclaimer i haven't watched the show or read the books in a while

1) the pacing was ABSOLUTELY off. nowadays companies don't want to 'waste' money on anything that could be filler episodes, but those filler episodes are crucial to us getting to know a character both under times of extreme stress, but also maybe some more relaxed moments (as relaxed as a quest to get back your dead mom back can be at least)

each chapter in the books had something unique to it. when you mash them up into that few episodes, it gets loud and muddled. stuff happening ALL the time tired a viewer out. it also makes them so focused on the big plot points that they don't get the chance to notice the finer details, thus removing the ability for good world building via show not tell. you're right, everything feels too explicitly given to us. we're supposed to be learning the world with the characters! it's part of the struggle. but instead their struggles and characters are undermined by making it too easy

2) i actually don't think percy trusted poseidon at ALL at that point. they've had no contact until that point, but the fact that poseidon was his father alone got sally killed. percy resents him for that, and for not once showing up throughout his childhood years. i like the fall rather than the jump because it shows an apprehension to trust him (which is a large part of his character! he doesn't trust authority figures right away! not after all his shit teachers! not after gabe!) and a pleasant surprise that poseidon is actually so strongly advocating for percy

i like percy as a parallel to luke. angry at the gods and their treatment of their kids, and of opinion that things need to CHANGE. because that's part of what makes him fighting against the titans so significant. he's not fighting AGAINST the gods, he's fighting **for the demigods**. that requires him to fight for the lesser evil

i also like percy and annabeth as a sort of foil. annabeth had a terrible experience with her mortal family, so she turns to her godly side. and they've been there for her since a very young age!

percy meanwhile has had only good experiences with his mom. the problem is that those good experiences are ONLY with his mom. it's them two against the world to him at first. they're both suffering gabe's abuse, and his dad, who's supposed to be a god with insane powers, just lets it happen? the sally dies because of her association with poseidon. percy's angry at him for not protecting her.

3)

a) GROVER I LOVE YOU. you're supposed seem lowkey pathetic at first BUT THEN PROVE YOURSELF. my shayla 🥺😔

sorry anyways

b) we never got to see annabeth prove how smart she was! we never got to see her just be a normal annoying 12 year old! we never got to see her just be a softie! or a kid!

and i cannot express how much i agree with what you say about her being there at luke's fight. her realization that he can't be saved... doesn't really happen until the very end for her. why is happening here?

however, i think that her crush on him can be nuanced. i don't care for the crush one way or another. i think it works with or without. an infatuation with an older brother figure makes sense! i'm not a younger sibling so i don't know it first hand, but my little sister adored me and would follow my every word or action without question. i like that representation of luke and annabeth's relationship because i adore familial ones. but kids getting 'crushes' on people they look up too also makes sense i think. i'm aroace tho so. take that with a grain of salt lmao bc idk how that works

c) abuse is abuse, and none should be "better/worse than the other." BUT. different types of abuse lead to different trauma responses. that changes their character. what i'm trying to say is that i agree with you lol

d) i think that it was reasonable for sally to get frustrated in difficult moments. i think the issue they had was they lacked any moments that showed her true character. we only see her worst moments, not her best. based on pattern recognition alone, she does come off as a bad mother. badly treating percy, badly treating percy, oh the museum scene is cute! badly treating percy... you see how that reads

you're also right about how it was too much for her character. even in her frustration, i find it hard to believe she would treat her child that way. you could of course argue that percy sees her through a lense because she's the only thing he has (and he routinely has to deal with gabe) but routinely throughout the books she is shown to be a great mother, even with any possible lense removed. it's jsut. bad writing

okay i'm done

please don't think any of this is disrespecting your opinion!! i think your opinions are all valid even if im technically disagreeing with them. i'm just sharing my own thoughts :)

UNPOPULAR (?) OPINION

(pls don't attack me for this 😭😭)

THE PERCY JACKSON SERIES WAS A PISS POOR ADAPTATION!!!

I would like to start by saying absolutely no hate on the actors!! They were perfect for their roles <3

I'm not just gonna be complaining the whole time, there were some things I did like and I do mention them as well.

1) the pacing was all off. I get that they only had 8 episodes to cram all that info and action into, but it really was WAYY too fast paced. The fight scenes didn't feel like fight scenes coz they were over in seconds, and just a lot of the info you're supposed to find out gradually or just know from context clues is outright said instead of shown and spaced out.

Also, just some of the dialogue was really cluncky and weird/unnecessary and made it very awkward to watch at times.

And then the only two long fight scenes dragged on and ended in ways that just completely disregarded a major character moment. Which leads me to no. 2

2) The arch scene. I actually really liked how they changed it to a shrine of Athena's in the show, it really showed how much Annabeth trusted her mother, and when Echidna was able to pass through anyway, the betrayal was a nice touch which really showed how much trouble they were really in.

HOWEVER!!! What I DIDN'T like, was that last fight scene with Echidna and the Chimera, which actually really upsets me coz it was our first decently lengthed fight scene. I didn't mind the fight overall, but the ending was a cop-out.

The scene in the book where he jumps out of the arch is supposed to show how much trust/faith he has in the gods and his father. He trusts that Poseidon will catch him. And yes, ik, Uncle Rick "thought it was closer" and didn't realise the river didn't go directly under the arch, but surely the fact that it wasn't closer holds that much more weight if he had jumped?

3) They completely butchered Grover, Annabeth, Sally and Gabe's characters.

Grover is supposed to be this scared but BRAVE and LOYAL satyr who loves nature and whose entire purpose is to PROTECT young demigods and find Pan (the god of the wild).

Instead, we get this guy who rats out his friend for doing something he didn't even do, AGREES WITH ARES about fucking WAR of all things (I get it was a ploy to get information but I'm still not really vibing coz it was just so out of character), and WAITS OUTSIDE till the fight is finished before running in and asking if it was over yet. And if all that wasn't bad enough, they've turned him into the exposition guy. Uncle Rick, does show don't tell mean nothing to you?? He deserved a lot better than what he got.

Annabeth in the books had so much depth and character dimension; she wanted to break free from her stereotypes (dumb blonde, girls can't fight/are weak etc); she had a lot of faith in the gods (especially her mother - I'm really glad this was shown in the show); she wanted a way to prove herself to the gods.

Instead her character is moulded down into a singular trait. 'Mean'. I personally think it's a step up from her movie counterpart's singular trait of 'girl', but they could also just do her one better and give her an actually fully fleshed out personality.

I understand that, due to her appearance, they obviously can't do the whole dumb blonde thing (which I really don't mind), but they could throw in some struggles about her race and the 'girls are weak' thing too. Obviously they'd have to be careful to handle it respectfully but it's definitely doable. Like, there are so many thing they can do with her character and all they did was make her mean.

I would have liked it to have been more obvious that she wanted to prove herself to the gods, because it's such a big reason why she chose to be part of the quest. Like, the bathroom scene should've made it more obvious that she was scoping him out to see if he was the leader of the quest she was prophesied to be in, instead of that stupid janky line about capture the flag.

I did, however, like that they got rid of her little crush on Luke, because the fandom ruined their sibling relationship because of that. (I can already see the arguments THATS gonna bring up lol). I interpreted her little crush on Luke as something similar to like when you'd have a teacher crush on primary school. A silly little crush because "they're pretty and were nice to me" kinda vibes. A platonic crush if you will ?

ANYWAYS, I'm glad they fixed that up, but I really would've liked to see her and Luke act more like siblings before he left. Like, half the confusion the first time round was coz we didn't get any proper sibling moments before (or after really) Percy came to the conclusion that Annabeth liked Luke. It just would've been a nice touch.

I also really didn't like the fight with Luke at the end (they changed WAYYYY too much) but the thing I dislike the most was that Annabeth was there. She wasn't supposed to be there. Half her struggle through the rest of the books was that she couldn't come to terms with the fact that Luke was on the Titan's side, and tried to hurt/kill them multiple times when they got in his way. It's supposed to be a slow process for her, but having her there would (realistically) speed up that process, and undermine her feelings and struggles from the books.

On another note, I didn't like how they dealt with Cerberus. It felt so unfeeling, when it was supposed to be a more emotional interaction. Annabeth loves dogs, and that was supposed to be one of the moments you learn more about her. It was supposed to be sad when they parted, but instead it was more of a "that thing is going to kill us, we need to get the fuck outta here" kind of situation.

One last thing for Annabeth coz this is getting long. The Fields of Asphodel scene was rubbish. If there had to be one of them stuck there, it should've been Grover. I truly believe he'd have the most regrets out of the three (eg. Thalia dying under his care, losing the teleportation pearl, trusting Luke, regret for ratting Percy out perhaps? Etc). But realistically they all would've planned roots. They each have regrets weighing them down. Anyways, I just thought it was stupid

Gabe is meant to be the absolute worst. He's meant to be an abusive asshole who couldn't give two shits about Sally and Percy. He's meant to be demanding and messy.

Instead we get this somewhat likeable guy whose worst crime is sitting in his chair for hours at a time. We're supposed to hate this guy, so why am I finding him kinda funny? Like yes, he's still kind of a dick, but he's not so irredeemable as he once was, and this version of him DEFINITELY doesn't deserve to be turned into a statue 😭😭

Like, miss ma'am, just divorce him, move out, turning him into a statue was so unnecessary in the show 😭😭

And I hate to say it, but the movies actually got him right.

And that leads me into Sally's character. In the books she's this brilliant woman with a heart of gold who loves her son more than anything. She married an abuser to protect her son from worse things, so he could grow up with a relatively normal childhood without fear of being hunted by monsters 24/7.

She's supposed to be a bit timid, a bit scared of Gabe because HES AN ABUSER. Sally isn't supposed to have her girlbossness yet! She hasn't gotten to the point where she can leave him (both because she's staying to protect Percy, and also because after being with someone like that for a prolonged period of time, it starts to get to you)

Side note - she's also not supposed to keep contact with Poseidon?? It kinda defeats the purpose of keeping Percy underwraps?? (I'm talking about that one flashback in the diner, it doesn't really make sense)

ANYWAYS!! Instead of some quality character development/growth, we get a character who unrealistically doesn't need it coz she isn't really a victim in the first place. They took away part of her character by taking away her trauma. The way that Sally and Gabe are portrayed really takes away from Sally, and the point that her character is at in the show doesn't make sense to her situation in the show's current timeline.

Also, the way Sally treats Percy in some of the flashbacks is fucking disgusting. THAT is NOT my Sally Jackson. My mother is emotionally/vocally abusive and neglectful, and that is exactly how she treats my neurodivergent younger brother. Maybe I'm projecting or looking into it too much, but seeing that in the show from one of my favourite characters in the books was so jarring, I almost started crying.

Because Sally is supposed to be the best mum, everyone loves her coz she's such a wonderful human being, and that's how she's been treating her son. It just makes me second guess how bad my own mum really is. Obviously everyone has their flaws, but getting angry and yelling at a child because he's scared/upset/doesn't want to do something has never been one of hers.

Alrighty, I'm gonna stop yabbering on coz I feel like this is WAYY too long, but I have a lotta thoughts and feelings about this coz PJO is my comfort fandom lol.

Please gimme any thoughts/opinions you like to share <33

[asgardian--angels]

keep fighting the good fight against this weird misconception that vik is somehow stoic and unemotional, bestie 🫡 cause idk where the hell people picked that up lol

thank you!!! fandom is always gonna fandom, reducing characters to two-dimensional tropes to make them mix-and-matchable. it's especially unfortunate when the characters we're given in Arcane are so rich and nuanced. the best antidote is to go back and rewatch the source material imo lol.

thanks for enjoying my tags also!! I used to write actual meta many years ago but at some point lost my nerve or lost the time. now it lives in the tags. I don't know many people in the jayvik fandom here, it seems mostly active on twitter, but I'm glad to be noticed by at least a couple people here :) your blog is great!!

[uncanny-tranny]

I jokingly thought before that reading Junie B. Jones as a kid turned me into a feminist, but unironically, it kind of did.

I honestly think it comes down to the fact that Junie B. was not only allowed to be "weird," but her character arc never concluded like other girl characters would. In other media featuring "weird girls," the girl always ended her arc tamed - by force or convince, she would be prettied up, she would smile and be polite, and she would never speak out of turn. She would be perfect then, and would shed her veneer of individuality with the freedom that is conformity. As a kid, I noticed that girls weren't permitted to be "weird" like boys were. So when I read Junie B. Jones, I loved that she was frankly just fucking weird. She said things out of turn, she was rambunctious and imaginative and she was a realistic portrayal of a little girl. I loved reading those books because the narrative taught her lessons without punishing her for being weird, if that makes sense. So often, narratives punished weird girls for the crime of being a socially unacceptable girl, not for any true wrongdoing like lying.

Anyway, I just think it's interesting, because I watched and read a ton of books and shows and movies featuring girls and women, but none of them truly empathized with (or even tried to empathize with) weird girls on their own merits and capabilities and terms, or embraced the idea of a "socially inept/unacceptable" girl without punishing her in some way for her supposed ineptitude.

[krems-chair]

Oh cool you're a gamer? Normally I'd claim such a chill and nebulous label for myself, but thanks to a helpful anon I now know instead that the proper term is "piece of shit"

[lighthouseas]

ok i am probably just on my period and overreacting but can people stop interrupting me whenever i talk.

[birdmenmanga]

guy who has only read kekkaishi, watching interstellar for the first time: wow this guy is soooo sumikocore

[catfishofoldin99colours]

low-key feel like I'm losing my mind not liking arcane S1 and every single fucking person in my life saying it's the greatest show ever written

And like yeah it's interesting in some places and has unique ideas and the characters are fun but like it never delivers on any themes in a satisfying why and doesn't actually say very much at all and misses so many opportunities for character development that would help the story feel organic and real instead of rushed and like they're just Tryna hit plot points that ultimately fall flat cos there was no build up or development to make them have any weight!!!! Am I the only person who thinks this????

Like I'm not even mad people like it, my friends love shows I don't and vice versa but I feel so fucking confused with people saying it's amazing and I'm honestly not seeing it?

It's gorgeous to look at but that's the most impressive thing about it and honestly!!! A story that is just pretty pictures is not a story that is an art book and brother I am tired of pretty pictures with no substance!!!!!!

I still haven't seen S2 but honestly I feel like all the problems it had stem from S1 being what it is and I am. God I'm confused and kind of upset about not getting it???? Like I wish I could just think it's amazing and see what everyone else is seeing but I don't and I feel so stupid for it like!!! What am I missing!! Am I just a big stupid cynic who's too intellectual to enjoy things anymore??? Am I too politically engrossed and care too much about the real world to turn off my brain for a bit??? Am I a stupid little hater??? I DON'T KNOW ANYMORE AND ITS REALLY MESSING WITH ME!!!!

[astranauticus]

i'm not even done with the new rwd episode but. spoilers ahead

anyway funny thing. i wasn't like, super on board with the professionals when i was first binging through the first 3 seasons and especially once we got to season 3 i tunnel visioned on VR-LA and MR-SN super hard (as is probably extremely obvious from my art) but like. 4.5?? the exchange they had??? the fucking breakup scene???? yeah. yeah i get it now. i have no idea why or what changed but i have now Gotten It at the worst possible timing. what the hell

[marklikely]

these tumblr boycott protests are always a mess but this latest one has to take the cake. you tried to blaze this?? you tried to give tumblr money. to protest tumblr.

[cougar-crossing]

Two is so . Hey man

[neverendingford]

.

[medicinemane]

Few things piss me off more than when I'm researching something, and I find someone asking the question I want answered, and the response is just "you shouldn't want that, just do this instead"

Today, it's me trying to look up a build for this witch farm concept that uses raid captains to manipulate the witches ai instead of using redstone

"Just use the shifting floors farms, they're just about as good" people respond... you stupid prick, that's not an answer to the question actually asked. I don't know about these guys, but me, I want it cause it's novel and there's no redstone, and I like putting bespoke prestige projects on my server... you might have noticed I tend to do form over function on a lot of my farms... so this is about form, the function is just a bonus

Second example, I wanted to see if there was any way to make Terra Invicta load faster, "just don't save scum"... you idiot, one that's just stupid advice, people can play games however they want, but two this once again doesn't answer the question

Like yeah, how dare people want to know if there's a way to make a game load saves faster when loading takes like 1 minute

If they at least phrased stuff like "sorry, I don't know how to do that, he's an alternative you might try", it's not helpful but it's at least polite

But man... I just get tired of people not answering the question being asked and instead answering the one they've decided was asked

(Actually, a legit real problem in the real world such as... with doctors who don't listen to their patient and decide they know what's really being asked. Don't do it, answer the asked question, or at least ask questions to confirm what's being asked before going off pig headed)