#no longer a pjo fan

[astral-reg]

Will shot a gun once, accidentally hit a bird and then proceeded to cry in his room for 4 hours straight and became vegan for 3 weeks

[my-pjo-stuff]

*YAPPING AHEAD, THIS IS LONG*

As someone who has circled through a LOT of fandoms, you know what differentiates the PJO fandom from most of the others? Their raging hatred for what normally would be a very popular character archetype. "Who's that character archetype then" you ask? The answer is Luke Castellan. Unirnonically, I'm complety straight with this.

Luke Castellan is one of the most popular character archetypes in most other fandoms I am/were in.

Now before I get further into this meta, we should establish what archetype Luke actually is and what the criteria are. To me, Luke is the classical Sympathetic Fallen Hero. Someone who only wanted what's best at the end of the day who was wronged by an unjust system, and pushed into straight-up villainy and evil deeds in a desperate attempt for revenge or justice. Oftentimes that push happened by him joining up with a larger, more evil figure who manipulated his hatred into serving this larger, evil goal. Generally also has some deep-rooted trauma in the form of a DARK backstory.

Like literally, that guy is TEXTBOOK. He checks all the boxes. -Someone who only wanted what's best at the end of the day

Check. His goal was a "golden age" for demigods, a future where they would no longer have to die during quests or would be abandoned by their godly parents.

-and pushed into straight-up villainy and evil deeds in a desperate attempt for revenge or justice.

Check. Luke wanted both revenge and justice, which led him to form the Titan Army and all the bad stuff he did. Some include attempting to kill Percy multiple times and leading attacks on camp. The obvious superiority the gods would have over a demigod army led to Luke allying himself with Kronos and other evil forces. (Thus the "desperate" part)

-Oftentimes that push happened by him joining up with a larger, more evil figure who manipulated his hatred into serving this larger, evil goal.

Check. On multiple occasions has it been mentioned that Kronos punished and pressured Luke, using fear tactics to get him to do what he wanted. I mean- Kronos himself said that he would have preferred Percy because he "did things easier" referring to taking the CoA ("I had to pressure Luke in many ways(.....)")

-Generally also has some deep-rooted trauma in the form of a DARK backstory.

Check. His mother went insane when he was still an infant. Hermes practically abandoned them, leaving Luke to be raised by his mentally unstable mother having episodes that scarred him so bad he hid in closets. He proceeded to run away at 9, living on the streets completely alone before meeting Thalia. From then on he went around with her having to deal with monsters. Hal happened, they met Annabeth and Luke started to get parentified/parentified himself. He proceeded to watch Thalia die as he attempted to get to camp at 14. At the same age he had his quest, which he failed and got himself a nasty scar. Luke proceeded to get no discernable mental help or sufficient support to deal with the mental strain resulting from that. Instead, he was put into a caretaker role for younger children not only showing him the results of the system's neglect first hand but also effectivley robbing him of any semblance of a childhood. Once Kronos got to him he continued to the plagued by nightmares.

All that being said, we now established that Luke in fact is a textbook example of what I call the Sympathetic Fallen Hero. (SFL for short from now on) Now onto my point that the other fandoms generally really love the SFL archetype that Luke is. That I will do with examples. Before I list these examples, a short disclaimer. I HEAVILY shortened and abridged the plot and storylines on here as to not make this post overly long. I definitely recommend checking each of these media/characters out for yourself.

Anyway, here we go : STAR WARS :

A big part of the fandom LOVE Anankin/Darth Vader whom they view as a SFH. (Even though him not really being a SFL in the way that he checks all the boxes. But I'm going with the majority fandom view here so ig Vaderkin counts. For those who want, I made a post on my main comparing him to Luke here and how Luke is what the star wars fandom pretends Vader is.)

MY HERO ACADEMIA/BOKU NO HERO ACADEMIA:

I want to talk the Villain Deku AU. Which is basically just an evil version of the MC who also checks all the SFH boces. The AU is hugely popular in the fandom with tons of fanart, animatics, cosplays and even a fan song. Honorable mention to the main anatonigst from the League of Villains, but especially Shigaraki and Dabi. They may not check ALL SFH boxes but an overwhelming majority. They are very popular with the fandom and generally regarded very kindly. Another honorable mention goes out to Stain. Also doesn't check ALL the SFH boxes, but most, and is also regarded generally positivley by the fandom.

THE PROMISED NEVERLAND

Norman, one of the main trio, spends a good part of the later manga seperated and leading his own resistance group against the main bad guy race (of monsters eating human brains- long story but I recommend the manga(don't watch s2 of the anime tho, it's basically the pjo movies for the manga)). Later on it is revealed that the main bad race isn't pure evil. Norman however got to the point where he wanted to commit a straight-up genocide against the race. Women, children, and elderly included. Bit of an outlier for a SFH, since he has no higher figure manipulating him into wanting to commit that genocide- but I'll let it slide. I did use the words "oftentimes" and "generally"- he also get's "redeemed" at the end/stopped from committing said genocide. Again the fandom regards him positively, even having him as a fan favorite.

NARUTO CLASSIC/NARUTO SHIPPUDEN

..... I mean most of the villains are SFH in that show. To the point where we would be here ages if I wanted to list them all. The two main examples most popular with the fandom tho would be Pain and Sasuke. Pain is a main villain whose home got destroyed, partially because of the MC's own home village. He watched his own parents die, and later lost one of his two best friends which finally pushed him over the edge (among others). Pain is also an outlier in terms of a SFH since he didn't have a major bad guy to manipulate him, instead leading his own evil (basically) terrorist cell. His goal was to achieve world peace by harnessing an ancient power, wanting others to suffer as much as he did so they recognize the value of peace. He killed a BUNCH of people. Pain did later revive a good chunk at the price of his own life however post redemption by the MC. Sasuke is the secondary MC and rival of the protagonist. Honestly he has so much going on I couldn't possibly mention it all. Basics are that his family got killed by his own brother due to difficult politics, he was the only survivor. His drive for revenge against his older brother caused him to join up with the main bad guy of Naruto Classic who rly only wanted him as a vessel (flashbacks much). Sasuke betrays his home for the bad guy to get the power he needs to take revenge. All that was stoked by the main bad guy and his comments. More plot happens, turns out the brother rly wasn't entierly bad and was also just used by other higher powers. Sasuke switches sides again and kills OG bad guy and joins up with Pain's previously mentioned terrorist group. The main goal from there is to destroy his home village who used his brother. He was not shy to kill ppl at that point, and was also basically ready to just commit a genocide on his own home. More plot happens, he get's redeemed eventually. Again in both cases the two are CRAZY popular with the fandom.

PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS

I talked about this once already on here, but the fandom seems to LOVE AUs where dark!Percy just opts to straight up overthrow Olympus. I don't think i have to elaborate more on that tbh, but for those that are interested: Here's the post I made about the fandom's hypocrisy concerning dark!Percy and Luke.

And those were only 5 examples, there are many more SFL examples LOVED by the fandom I haven't mentioned here. I'm sure of that.

Seeing this pattern really makes me wonder why Luke seems to be so despised. Logic would dictate him to be rather popular.

My personal theory ? It's a mix of a few factors. Those being : A) The fandom over-sympathizes with Percy Jackson

Percy is easily the most popular character in the fandom. He is the MC afterall. The fandom tends to take his side no matter what, without properly and honestly empathizing with his enemies. It's similar to having rose tinted glasses with a relative or friend. You take their side no matter what- not even wanting to hear out the other side. The fandom seems to have an inherent bias towards Percy, those nice to Percy are viewed positivley. Those having more negative interactions (,even if the interaction is relatively low on the nagtive scale, like a character being critical of Percy for example,) are generally viewed more negativley.

B) The First Person POV of the books and the average age of the fans when they first read the books.

This relates to the first factor in the way that the very Percy-centric set up of the fandom AND the books influence the fandom's perception of characters. The books where Luke appears in are all in Percy's POV. Luke as a character in very complex and needs a lot of empathy and reading between the lines to properly understand and analyze. The books being in Percy's POV hurt Luke in the way that Percy's opinion of Luke is omnipresent with him. Any First Person POV is inherently unreliable, thus Luke often gets presented as a rather one-dimensional evil since that's what Percy views him as for most the book. Luke lacks his own POV, meaning he doesn't really get the chance to truly explain himself. Then ontop of that is the fact that everything he does is filtered through Percy's eyes which are inherently hostile towards him ost the time. Such delivers a wrong first impression of Luke throughout the books. The fandom, due to their attachment to Percy, often do not take their time to objectivley reevaluate his POV or confront the fact that he's an inherently unreliable narrator. Especially for Luke. Furthermore, from what I have seen are a lot of the fans in the fandom "old timers". People who read the first few books as young children and were children when their opinions of characters formed. Them having been so young when first getting introduced to the characters saw them often unable to even really realize all I said above. It also further glorifies Percy as he get's the nostalgia bonus. People generally do not like to challenge their own believes, so large parts of the fandom never took their time to reevaluate Luke and his story once they got older and learnt about the concept of Unreliable Narrators.

C) The fandoms views Luke as a threat to Percy and Percabeth.

This relates to both factors above, while also including the popular false narrative of Luke being a "pedo" or "groomer" If you read the first five books you will see that besides his last question to Annabeth at the end, nothing Luke does can be even remotely read as pedophilic or grooming of nature. Quite the opposite acctualy! He has stated on multiple occasions canonically that he sees his relationship with Annabeth as platonic. The ONLY canonical romantic relationship he had was with a grown monster. He's only ever portrayed having interest in adult women (monsters) , and even that romance plot is just barely there. The fandom, again, is overly attached to Percy however. And they do not like it when other characters challenge him. Luke however is the MOST challenging character for Percy. Not only does he serve as main antagonist, but he also serves as a narrative foil to Percy. He is what Percy could become. He's the canonical dark!Percy AU. He's the other side of the coin toss. Furthermore, Luke also challenges Percy not only on the physical department (fights) but also in terms of morals. At the end of the day Luke was right afterall. One could argue that Percy wasn't really fighting for the "good guys"- he was simply fighting for the "lesser of two evils" Luke brings moral challenges to Percy. He doesn't allow Percy to be a wholly good , squeaky-clean hero. Percy was fighting for the upkeep of an oppressive system. (If U wanna argue with me on the gods being oppressive, take it up with the offical wiki article first : found here) Percy killed other demigods. Percy had flawed views. The fandom who over sympathise with Percy didn't like that Luke was an active threat towards the "goodness" of their favorite. The easiest way out eliminate that "threat" was to demonize Luke. Thus making his points "invalid" as he now was a pure evil villain only aiming to hurt. (Same for the entier TA btw) Percabeth is just as popular as Percy. Annabeth had a deep and important connection to Luke- at the time of the books arguably even deeper and more important than her connection to Percy. Throughout the book has Percy expresses annoyance at Annabeth's insistence in holding onto Luke. This combined with the points above saw Luke being viewed as a possibly threat, due to him being arguably the most important person of the other gender in Annabeth's life. And an obvious point of contention between Percabeth. Inorder to lessen that "threat" the fandom turned to demonizing Luke (again). Annabeth's and Luke's relationship can easily be swept away by saying that Luke was interested in her romantically thus making him a pedo, no ? As for the grooming....... honestly? People just used a buzzword there, because if Luke truly had groomed Annabeth she would have been on his side on the books. All I can say there is please you guys, read a dictionary and know what words mean before you use them.

D) Rick fumbled HARD writing Luke

Luke may just have been the biggest continuous mistake Uncle Rick made in terms of writing. His characterisation in the first two books made him seem VERY evil and unlikable, which is bad as a first impression for a character such as him. SFL like Luke need a lot of focus and insight aswell as sympathy to get behind them. In most examples I mentioned for SFL they backstory was known very early on and they had a lot more focus outside of villainy. Rick simply didn't give that. The backstory reveal with Luke happened far too late, he was far too evil with too little insight for a SFL in the first two books. His "redemtion" was a bit rushed. We got basically nothing on his relationship with his army. His goods sides and his doubts weren't really highlighted enough early on. His last words and questions to Annabeth were frankly said stupid. It broke the themes of family between Luke and Annabeth to some degree and only served as fodder for later accusations. The fact that it was (apperantly) later confirmed that he romantically loved Annabeth was just straight up stupid. It wasn't in character at all and just broke the themes even more, not to mention that it goes against everything we previously saw or heard of Luke. Not to mention that it also just served as further fodder for the fandom to demonize Luke.

Thanks for everyone who stuck around to read this absolute giant of a meta XD Probably was the largest Tumblr post I have written so far.

[alishiastardust]

Percy Jackson, son of a fish!🐟🌊✨

[ima-ghost-art]

Guess who finally got around to drawing their post-war Leo design!!! I think after exploding it doesn't make much sense that Leo would still be fully in one piece, to ofc his siblings made sure to help kit him out with some cool new celestial bronze limbs plus a monster-grade hearing aid!!

ALSO sketches of Frank just loving his small bf

[annabethpursuit]

going through the percy jackson tag lately has been like one continuous he would not fucking say that and then theres some really cute fanart and then a fun headcanon and then he would not fucking say that

[cabin14]

ugh we’re back to having 14 year olds and younger in fandoms and producing fan content again I ha- bitch you thought I am SO excited to see younger teenagers/older kids embrace fandom and creative outlets. that’s literally how we all started too. let the kids have fun!

[cjbolan]

I got the most epic idea for a Percy Jackson AMV. But I’m torn on whether to start making it now, or wait until all Season 1’s footage is available .

[apollosgiftofprophecy]

I think another reason why I get rather annoyed when people hate on ToA Apollo is because how hypocritical their criticisms are.

I just saw a post talking about how great it is that Annabeth gets to show a lot of emotion, especially by crying. I also recall moments where she got frustrated or angry, and I found myself absolutely agreeing!

But then my thoughts turned to Apollo, another character who shows a lot of emotion.

But you know what he’s called for being frustrated, or upset, or for crying?

Whiny. He’s called whiny.

Apollo gets frustrated when he’s unable to perform something (archery) he used to be extremely good at. He’s upset that he can no longer use a bow correctly.

And people call him whiny for that. Apparently, those people have never experienced, let alone heard of The Gifted-Kid, something all Gifted-Kids (hello, tis me, Gifted-Kid since 4th grade RIP) can relate to Apollo over.

You were really good at something but all of a sudden you can no longer perform it as well? You’re not hitting your usual mark?

Well too bad, according to the fan base, you should shut up and not be so awfully whiny! It’s just archery!

(That was obviously in jest but you get my point.)

Additionally, Apollo never complains about important things. He complains about having to walk, but not the injury that’s literally turning him into a zombie and physically tormenting him.

That post really made me think about this, and then I asked myself; “Why? Why are people’s thoughts so different on Annabeth v Apollo showing emotion?”

It became apparent rather quickly, if you ask me.

Annabeth is a woman. Of course she should be able to show emotion! also maybe deep-seated sexism of ‘women are emotional’

Apollo is a man. And God forbid men show emotion I guess smh so also sexism

Because think about it. How many of the RRVerse male protagonists were allowed to cry? To be fully, and undeniably, upset?

I can only remember Frank crying on the plane after his grandmother’s presumed death, and Grover sniffling/getting teary-eyed in PJO. I don’t recall Percy, Jason, Leo, or Nico ever crying, or really having powerful bursts of emotion.

Yes, yes, Percy and Nico have both gotten mad and unleashed their fury upon someone, but that’s not what I’m talking about here.

I’m talking about letting them feel, letting them be emotional.

Not a burst of anger. But real, genuine character-driven emotion.

The fact that I can only name Frank and Grover from the previous two series is truly saddening.

Apollo gets to feel. To let his emotions flow freely. He whines, yes, but he also gets frustrated, he gets upset, and most of all he cries.

That all makes him a real character, someone people can relate to.

I’ll admit I’m a rather emotional person too. I have a quick temper, and more often than not the water-works come on real quick when I get upset. It’s a normal emotional response, but it can be difficult to work with, especially when you’re trying to stay calm.

Apollo is the first RRVerse protagonist to be allowed to have feelings— strong ones, even. And I can relate to that. There’s a reason why Apollo, Reyna, and Annabeth are all favorites of mine, and that’s because I see myself in them.

Annabeth is prideful. I can be too. She gets obsessed over her work. I do that too. Hates spiders? Oh hell yeah.

Reyna gave me someone to connect with over my sexuality. Ignore that Rick mixed what aro and ace are for a moment please She really gave my demiromantic self somebody to relate with, because the lack of aro rep is criminal. and no the Hunters are not aro rep

Apollo is emotional. He’s made mistakes and wants to do better.

Who wouldn’t see themselves in him? I certainly do.

And yet, he gets called whiny for having the literal rug pulled out from under him again and again, and he doesn’t even let himself complain over what he should, absolutely complain about!

Idk. I think there’s a lot to be said about how this fandom treats emotional characters, especially based on gender.

I guess this is all to say don’t judge a fictional character, because you’re judging a real person too.

And real people have feelings, you know.

[lateatnewyork]

AFTERGLOW PT 1

charlie bushnell x reader

warnings: fluff, smau

fc: isabella sermon

summary: you and charlie star in the afterglow mv

a/n the 30 pic limit caught upto me so pt 2 is here

liked by ynln, iamcharliebushnell and others taylorswift surprise coming your way tonight 🤭 🩷 ps there’s gonna be cats!!!!!!! view comments

user34 NEW ALBUM???? ➔ taylorfanpage dude i don’t think so it’s coming out tonight 😭 yn.ln 👀 ➔ iamcharliebushnell 👀 ➔ sabrinacarpenter 👀 ➔ honeymoon 👀 ➔ gracieabrams 👀 hearts4yn low key why is the aesthetic so lover tho queentay CRUEL SUMMER MV?? ➔ taylorswift close but not quite

liked by percyjackson, rickriordan and others celebnews yn ln has been confirmed to star in pjo season two as silena beauregard comments are closed

liked by iamcharliebushnell, leahsavajeffries and others yn.ln working in multiple projects>>> view comments

leahsavajeffries SO EXCITED TO SEE UUUUU ➔ yn.ln SAME BAEEE dior.n.goodjohn MULTITASKING QUEENN ➔ yn.ln SAYS YOU walkerscobell not u quoting my book ➔ yn.ln since when was it ur book?? ➔ walkerscobell im an og fan ➔ yn.ln last time i checked i’m older so i’ve known the series for longer ynloml IS THAT TAYLOR SWIFT IN THE FIRST PIC hearts4yn TAYLOR AND YN????

hearts4yn they’re literally dating ynfan i got butterflies watching this pjofan UM THE KISS HELLO??? taylorfanpage wish they were an offscreen couple user56 🤩 fandomedits NEW CLIPS TO EDIT???? ynismywife IN LOVEEEE user07 my three favourite people fangirl best onscreen chemistry goes to… ➔ynmyfav and offscreen ➔ lovepjo they’re not dating?? are they? ➔ charlie&yn she’s been posting a guy who looks a lot like charlie

liked by iamcharliebushnell, taylorswift and others yn.ln their first acting job was with the TAYLOR SWIFT??? view comments

ynloml stars of the mv right there hearts4yn they literally stole my heart the first time i saw them aryansimhadri i think i like ur cats more than i like u ➔ yn.ln valid 😔 iamcharliebushnell i love your cats ➔ yn.ln thought you were more of a dog person? ➔ iamcharliebushnell i can change for you 😉 ➔ yn.ln 🤭 taylorswift you should bring them around more ➔ yn.ln will do 🫡

liked by taylorswift, iamcharliebushnell and others yn.ln lil photo dump from the past month 😘 view comments

iamcharliebushnell I GOT A FEATURE??? ➔ dior.n.goodjohn you got three acc and i got none ➔ yn.ln ILL DO A POST WITH JS YOU IN IT BBG walkerscobell i’m literally so pretty user45 taylor is literally so gorgeous ➔ yn.ln realll ynloml SOMEONE NEEDS TO CAST CHARLIE AND YN IN A ROMCOM PLSSSS ➔ yn.ln that’s the dream

seen by iamcharliebushnell, leahsavajeffries and others

liked by iamcharliebushnell, leahsavajeffries and others yn.ln lil blue appreciation post cos i’m in pjo 🤪 view comments

hearts4yn i bought her the flowers 🤭 ➔ iamcharliebushnell erm actually they were from me 🤓 👆 ➔ hearts4yn CHARLIE ??? HELPP ynismywife that looks a lot like charlie in the last pic🤨 walkerscobell i got forced to take the last pic ➔ iamcharliebushnell u literally volunteered ?? leahsavajeffries ONE MORE WEEK TILL WE SEE U ➔ yn.ln YAYAYAYAYAAY user02 that underwater kiss is so pjo coded user56 miss js finished working with taylor swift and now is in pjo LITERALLY ASPIRE TO BE LIKE U ➔ yn.ln omg ur too kind

ALL THE REP TV EASTER EGGS IN THE NEW AFTERGLOW MV !!

The first image shows a graveyard that we saw in the background when actors Charlie and YN were walking down a path, it’s the same one from the LWYMMD music video. When they were on a date at Olive Garden (which was included in NBNC and this song has a rep feel to it) YN’s phone has new year’s day playing and one of the rings on her hand is a snake ring. The black and white colour scheme of the heart on the building is the same as the reputation colour scheme. The TS written in the sand was first thought to be a Debut (Taylor’s Version) hint but after the overpowering reputation hints perhaps it means reputation (Taylor’s Version). There was a bracelet in the background of YN and Charlie’s kiss in the mv (which took place in YN’s bedroom) where in the background there was a black bracelet among the pink colour scheme that said “REP”. The paper on Charlie’s desk littered with kisses from YN had lyrics to So It Goes… on it.

NEXT ARTICLE: ALL THE CLUES THAT SHOW CHARLIE BUSHNELL AND YN LN ARE DATING

a/n stop i loved writing this

[losergender]

pjo / hoo headcanons i have collected since my hyperfix came back

ignore the huge amount of nico and will. six years after reading the series i'm still obsessed with them </3

nico helps cabin 11 steal candy from the infirmary because everyone knows will can't stay mad at him for longer than 5 minutes

the apollo kids gifted nico a bunch of mythomagic packages after learning he had burnt his collection so he could start a new one. he thought it would not be as exciting but turns out he really really missed collecting them from zero because he had gotten used to getting doubles all the time

on the same note, cabin 7 (and specially will) try to learn to play so he has someone to play with. will and him always exchange doubles and sometimes he sacrifices good cards for mid ones just so will doesn't have a mid deck

nico once got a double perseus card and gifted it to percy

the first times nico played his favorite music to hazel she was flabbergasted by the emo genre but didn't want to be mean so she smiled and said it was "very cute"

leo calls will "güerito"

connor stoll owns a nintendo switch that used to be his and travis' (mostly travis') until he accidentally almost destroyed it and it became only his (the screen has a sepia filter to it, one of the joysticks needs adhesive tape to stay in place, it works slowly and the screen has cracks on it). when he can't sleep (because who in camp half-blood can sleep properly?) he plays pokémon until he falls asleep. he is also a big fortnite and minecraft fan.

lou ellen knows how to do balloon modelling

nico once asked chiara about what has italy been doing the past century and she showed him winx club like it was the most important thing italians did (and it is)

percy and will love teen beach movie

austin lake takes it upon himself to show nico all the music he missed during the past decades + the reason cabin 7 learns nico doesn't know any song from after 1942 is that they invite him to play a letter association game and he opts out because of this (the game is forgotten right after because having him listen to the classics is more important). no one suspected he didn't listen to modern music because 99% of his clothes are band shirts he got from percy and thalia.

will was obsessed with hannah montana / miley cyrus as a child (the climb is his favorite song)

connor didn't go to college with travis because he doesn't know what to study yet but instead he spent the year getting his driver's license

each cabin gets a "call home" day every other few days (initiative promoted by the iris cabin)

children of tyche's fatal flaw is impostor syndrome because they are constantly afraid everything they have is undeserved and just a product of their godly heritage

will's favorite dessert is texan sheet cake , nico's is panna cotta

the aphrodite cabin didn't like that nico was the only one with a personalized camp shirt (they are so done with the color orange...) so they started an initiative to get every cabin personalizes shirts with a representative color voted by the head counselors and their cabins number.

the iris and hermes cabins got together to start a camp half-blood magazine released monthly for year-rounders. they do a gossip section about couples at camp (for which they "hired" a child of aphrodite as their correspondent), interviews to the seven or to popular campers, the athena cabin added a crossword section...

[demigods-posts]

hey! i’m pretty new to pjo tumblr (ive been a fan longer tho dont get me wrong 😬) and i need a bit of help finding good pjo accs like you to follow, fanart, theories, or whatever. thank you!!

Firstly, thank you for that boost of confidence! I needed it lol. Secondly, some of my favorite pjo accounts are:

@happyk44 - an amazing story teller. i literally went through the majority of their discography on ao3. not even joking.

@helpallthenamesaretakenblog - this person just gets me. truly. like. if you like my blog. you'll like theirs.

@lilislegacy - i love reading their pjo posts. always so intriguing. one of a kind.

@fairytalepsuedonym - always has amazing takes. everytime they show up on my feed. or in my asks box. i'm always looking forward to an interesting discussion.

@modawg - they have amazing headcanons. and textposts. like. they show up on my feed. and i just have to stop whatever it is i'm doing. because it's not as important as what they have to say.

Hope this helps! And, shoutout to the people previously mentioned :)

[bluecrocss]

ANY BLACK PJO FANS OUT THERE?

Tbh, the greater fandom has been unbelievably draining lately. I feel like I'm fighting for my life just with all the rising anti-blackness. I get that we're supposed to act all impervious on the internet. All sardonic and above it all, like nothing gets to you. But call me a snowflake or whatever, I kinda need a safe space rn.

We've been reading these books just as long as any other fans, without any meaningful rep until HOO, and now these new fans are acting like we don't belong... like we just got here... like we have to prove we earned a spot.

I had no problem seeing myself in Annabeth, even when I thought she was a blonde, white girl; but now that she's black in the show (still the EXACT same character), they can no longer "see themselves in her"? Sometimes, I forget that they fr see us as subhuman...

And you can't even reason with them because as long as they're not dropping the N-bomb they think they're not racist:

"I'm not racist" "I just hate this woke shit" "don't pull the race card" "I just want book accuracy" (but they only take issue with the black actors. Not the other POC actors or the white actors who are also not book accurate) "give other poc a shot, why do only black people get the roles?" (while only referring to the 1 or 2 characters that have been fancast as black, and none of the many, many white ones). It's intentional.

But yeah, with all the horrible things happening in the world, especially to BIPOC, it's so draining to look for an escape in what was supposed to be a harmless childhood fantasy and see all the worst parts of people reflected here too. And even the author that they love so much isn't enough to deter them. They hold on to their hate and bigotry with an iron grip, because it matters more for them to exclude us than to enjoy the series they claim to love.

So idk... if you're a black pjo fan, feel free to use this post. Share your thoughts about the world, about the books, about the fandom, your favorite character, your favorite fan theories, your thoughts on the show, whatever you like. I'll block and delete anyone outside of us that tries to butt in with their input ❤️

[tossawary]

I've only seen 3 episodes of the new "Percy Jackson" show so far and my main complaint with the first two episodes was pacing. I thought the pacing in the third episode was much improved and overall very good, but a lot about the first two episodes felt rushed to me.

I think episodes 1 and 2 both could have been two episodes each to slowly introduce us to Percy, Grover, Sally, Mr. Brunner, Mrs. Dodds and the Minotaur, and then to the Camp, to Annabeth, Luke, Clarisse, the satyrs and the different cabins, etc.. I mean, I think what was there was pretty solid! I like the actors! I don't think it's badly written (I think making Luke show Percy around the camp was a good choice to make later things hit harder, since we will have more time with Annabeth on the quest itself later), but I would have liked more breathing room scenes, like when Percy burned the blue jellybeans, for things to settle in, and I blame the studio for not giving this show a longer season to work with.

As it stands now, the first two episodes felt more intended for existing fans, rather than for onboarding new fans. I feel like a frog being thrown into boiling water instead of the water coming up to a boil around me. If you're not familiar with this religion & lore already, if you don't know who the Twelve Olympians are, the introduction to the Camp doesn't give you much of a foothold, which is quite unfortunate when PJO was many people's introduction to this stuff.

The blue food is not really explained. The tension of the mystery with Mrs. Dodds kind of gets thrown out because it all happens so fast. There's no time to slowly build a feeling of normalcy and then wrongness. Percy's relationship with Chiron is undermined by how little time they get together. Percy finding out who his father is happens SO QUICKLY that we don't have a proper understanding of what's wrong about his claiming when it happens. The camp looks cool and I want to see more of it! How it functions is barely explained! We barely get to meet anyone! It feels like Percy is there for less than 48 hours before he's leaving on a quest again, so there's very little time to build up his attachment to it. I have less emotional investment in Percy's conflict with Clarisse because we barely get to understand what daily life at Camp Half-blood might be like (although I understand putting less focus on Clarisse now knowing that you'll be able to play catch-up during future storylines).

I think the show is making pretty good choices with the time that they have, I just wish they had MORE time. I don't think that they have to include every little detail and scene and character from the books. I like a lot of the changes they've made just fine. I just feel like the writing and acting is being undermined by the fact that there's very little time to set things up so that you can knock them down, and that it takes more time to show something visually than it does to read a sentence. Everything in episodes 1 and 2 is moving so quickly that some of the magical aspects feel... less magical to me because there's less time to develop contrast. And the show doesn't have as much time to potentially develop cool NEW things, to slide in more new funny character interactions, because it's all so smushed down. I want more time to see these actors shine together.

(Although, admittedly, it is VERY funny to feel like Percy is stuck in some sort of speedrun version of the story. Every day is a new rollercoaster of Percy not knowing what the fuck is going on and going with it because he's not given the time to ask questions. Sure! This might as well happen next! His life sucks already. That part feels very true to the books, although I think the feeling could still be preserved if the show was given more time.)

I'm tired of 8 episode seasons. I don't know if I think that PJO needs a full 20+ episodes to tell the story of the first book, probably not, but being constrained to only 8 instead of at least 10-16 feels disappointing.

[11queensupreme11]

Hey queen. I wanna ask you something.

How dark will this story go.

Will this go similar to like Tsunami and BloodFlood.

Yes I know Percy will unfortunately go through a lot later on in the story. But right now Percy is still unaware I guess you could say.

I wonder how she will change as a person. Like for now she is sunshine and rainbows.But what she will be in the future. A person filled with hatred and despair.

Cause Jack warned her about getting involved with gods. That it will only lead her to ruin. She even knows before all of this in her own universe about mortals getting involved with gods and them getting a fate worse than death most of the time.

Percy is VERY VERY vulnerable and it doesn’t help that she is dumb. She very lucky nothing REALLY BAD has happened yet. But her luck will go out one day and I doubt it will be pleasant.

I remember you put in a post once that Percy will go through many things that happens to Mizuhime and even more so.

What I wanna know how all of this will affect her and the bonds she has and will have for others.

I want to know how this will affect her relationship with Anthonius.

Cause I know without a question of a doubt she will fear the concept of love. After all the Yanderes hurt others, kill others, and hurt her all in the name of love.

Percy will not come out of this the same person as she went in. I won’t lie she is strong but there is so much a person can take.

I know im talking quite realistically that something doesn’t happen in story but still.

I hope you can answer my question.

so in terms of darkness it's essie series < tsunami/bloodflood <<< arsenic blues; so it'll be very dark ESPECIALLY once we get to act 3 where the yanderes' actions become irredeemable as i warned before

there's going to be a lot of rape, a lot of brainwashing, and a lot of psychological mindfuckery basically

it's gonna be a lot worse than what mizuhime's going through because mizuhime can at least fight back, but percy going up against gods??? gods who are crueler than the pjo gods???? she does not stand a chance; she has no physical, emotional, or psychological protection up against all-powerful beings who are amoral and don't care if they gotta hurt her to make her theirs

when she gets yoinked back to the pjo verse in act 4, she gets the mercy of having her mind wiped at least, so she gets some time to make genuine bonds with good people like frank and hazel (and there's also the vague traces of anthonius that she'll cling on that helps her keep going), so she at least gets that

she won't really be afraid of love per se, but more so afraid of the yanderes. she'll see other people like anthonius, grover, sally, other demigods that she travels with as figures of safety, so she won't be afraid of loving them and them loving her, just of the yanderes because she KNOWS that her friends/family would never hurt her.

she has the tendency to suppress her trauma (as you've already seen before) so her trauma with the yanderes is something she'll definitely try to suppress when she's out doing the quest and bonding with the others....... but when the yanderes actually make themselves known is when shit hits the fan for her because the pjo verse, the place she once thought she'd be safe from them, is now no longer as safe as she once thought...

[doevademe]

something that's always confused me in pjo fanfics is nico's age- in my fuzzy memory (haven't touched the books in over 10 years) I swear nico is mentioned to be ~4 years younger than percy and annabeth back when he first appears, but in most of the percico fics (even ones set in canon) I've read they're ~2 years apart? do you know where that came from?

I think I vaguely remember some pjo fans talking about rick fucking up nico's age/birthday in hoo (which I'll have to admit I haven't read) but when I tried googling for it I couldn't find anything

ps I swear I am not an anti, this is just something that's been a bit of a headscratcher to me and from the sounds of it you've been involved in the fandom for a lot longer than I have so I'm just curious whether you have more info on this

Oh boy... well, as a certified fandom oldie™ I can actually answer this question... but it will be very unsatisfactory.

Short answer: Math is hard, timelines are too, and Rick Riordan is not the best keeping them consistent. The latest canonical information is that Nico and Percy are ~2.5 years apart, meaning that Percy is 3 years older from his birthday until Nico's birthday. Afterwards they are 2 years apart. (as of the newer books, Nico is canonically 15 and Percy just turned 18)

Long answer: There has been a soft retcon regarding Nico's age, where originally he was 3.5 years younger than Percy, but starting with the side material between PJO and HoO he was aged one extra year, making him 2.5 years younger than Percy.

Riordan is notoriously bad at keeping up Nico's timeline consistent, to the point where he actually has two birthdays and even the year of birth doesn't add up with the text.

Nico, at the start of The Last Olympian was stated to be 12 while Percy was 15 going on 16, but in Heroes of Olympus, which takes place a year after TLO, Nico is suddenly 14, when he should be 13. In a since deleted instagram post Riordan stated that Percy got it wrong. PJO is narrated in first person, and the narration (Percy) states that Nico "looked 10" when they first met, not that he was actually 10. Percy just assumed that was correct and never really asked Nico his age, when he was actually 11 during the Titan's Curse. That is the in-universe explanation for the age discrepancy.

It's not just Percico shippers though. Everyone kind of goes along with the retcon because it's fairly minor, and making Nico older only helps writers when characterizing him as a teenager earlier on in canon, so it kind of stuck.

Nico is explicitly stated to be 2.5 years younger than Percy in all material after PJO, (16 out of 22 books), most of the time by omniscient narrators, so it makes it easier to accept since the change happened relatively early in the series.

[wit4writ]

PJO: Episode 1 Detailed Review

The first two episodes of Percy Jackson and the Olympians has dropped on Disney+ and I have OPINIONS. I’ve been scrambling to shove my thoughts back in my brain like they’re snakes escaping from a basket. *pushing lid down* I’ll let you guys out once I can wrangle you into a coherent, easily comprehensible form, okay?

Here are a few disclaimers: I am not an expert in any way, shape, or form. This is meant only a critique with changes I would have personally added, and I will be highlighting things I liked as well as disliked. If you disagree with me, that’s fine, just be respectful. There will be tons of spoilers. Also, I have no issues with actors based on their looks/ethnicity.

Before I delve into it, I will say that overall, the episodes aren’t bad. They do a decent job of introducing us to the world and our protagonists. The setting, costume design, special effects, and lighting were well done, and the actors did a good job of portraying their characters.

However, the entire thing feels rushed. Almost as if someone at Disney freaked out and tried to push something before it was ready to please fans and investors. (I’m not saying this happened, I just wouldn’t be surprised if it did.) Transitions between scenes were choppy and/or long. Instead of letting us get to know the world and characters organically, such as through dialogue and interactions, it forced characters into being exposition robots instead (more so in the second episode). Examples will be highlighted as I get into the detailed review.

So, let’s begin with episode one!

The beginning was great. I loved the voiceover as we introduce Percy and his past. I enjoyed the changes that were made to translate the book to the screen in this case, as it was condensed into a watchable form, but it still was able to tell us important details: Percy has been seeing weird things since he was little, he’s an outcast at his school, and he has a best friend, Grover, who’s being bullied.

Next was the museum, which was also good. Mr. Brunner’s speech was great. Percy looking at the page and seeing all the letters rearrange themselves was a literal “show, don’t tell” that worked well. The flashback with Sally explaining Percy’s name and the story of Perseus was amazing. I loved we got more of Sally and Percy’s relationship here, as well as the emphasis that not all heroes look like heroes and not all monsters look like monsters.

The sudden shift back to reality was a great transition, especially since it highlights how his ADHD can make him daydream. We see the same girl who bullied Grover make a nasty comment, and I think a response from Percy would have been great here (“Shut up, Nancy!” etc.) so we naturally get to know her name and justify Mrs. Dodds’ warning to Percy. Mr. Brunner’s intervention was a good move and I liked how he gave Percy the pen, though if he tried to make Nancy apologize to Percy it would’ve been more impactful. If Nancy blew him off and Mrs. Dodds defended her, we’d see this was an ongoing problem and we’d get some characterization. If Nancy did apologize, she’d have a reason to resent Percy beyond bullying him for the sake of it, and we could connect it to her actions of going after Grover.

Grover’s conversation with Percy was good, but it should’ve been longer. We get told they’re friends and saw them hanging out in the introductory montage, but beyond that, we don’t get much of them actually being friends before everything blows up.

When Nancy goes after Grover, it’d make sense for her to antagonize Percy more, to highlight her nastiness and their ongoing problems. We’ve only seen two incidents of bullying, three if we count her throwing food at Grover, and it felt very cold and unemotional, like someone pulled real-life bullying incidents and put them in a training video. Her just walking away after doesn’t make sense. She knows she’s made Percy angry, and she has a chance to provoke him further and indulge in the rush of power that bullies get when they torment their victims. A back and forth between Percy and Nancy would have gone a long way to showcasing their history and Grover and Percy’s dynamic. For example, after Nancy throws the food at Grover:

// Nancy: “Oops.”

Percy stands up.

Percy: “What’s your problem?”

Grover grabs him and tries to pull him back. Classmates start to notice.

Grover: “Percy, don’t.”

Nancy: “I’m not the one with problems here.”

Percy: “Look, can you just back off?”

Nancy: “Aw, does wittle baby Percy wanna whine to Brunner again?”

By now, their classmates are surrounding them and laugh at her comment. Percy looks around, but the teachers are nowhere close. //

In my ideal scene, there’s a few more barbs from Nancy as we focus on Percy’s reaction to the bullying and humiliation, and as his temper roars, and there’s screams, water sprays, and Nancy’s in the fountain.

The impact of him just walking up and “pushing” her into the fountain was lackluster. Part of what’s great about this in the books is that not even Percy himself is sure what he did, so when his powers emerge at Camp Half-Blood it hits even harder. Also, the way she just flew into the fountain made it look like he had telekinesis, not hydrokinetic powers.

The pen vibrating when Mrs. Dodds started coming after Percy…I’m neutral on that. But the menace of her just getting closer was amazing, and the fact no one noticed was cool. When Percy started backing away, I was sure he was going to run, and then the confrontation would take place somewhere more secluded. I was disappointed when that didn’t happen, because the whole thing felt too short. This is his first monster encounter, and it was over in a matter of seconds. There was no sense of stakes (Stakes are used to engage your audience and make them care about the characters/their problems), it was more like—that happened, okay, everyone move on. This moment would have benefited from us staying in it longer.

Percy fainting/blacking out after the fight was a choice I also don’t agree with. The effect of him not only surviving his first fight but being able to walk away would’ve given us a sense of a couple different things: there’s more to the world and him than meets the eye.

The old lady with Nancy during this part needs clarification. Readers of the book know that she’s the “new” teacher, but she could also pass for a concerned citizen. This could have been clarified by Mr. Brunner saying something like, “Mrs. Kerr, take Nancy to the gift shop and get her a new shirt.” Then, when Percy freaks out, they drop the bomb that Mrs. Kerr is their teacher and Mrs. Dodds doesn’t exist.

What followed was a four second darkness transition (felt too long and took me out of the viewing) and the scene in the principal’s office. Honestly, that entire scene could’ve been shortened or maybe even skipped. It didn’t make sense, which I could go deeper into, but for now, I’ll just say that we don’t need the added scene of Percy getting beaten down by this. We’ve already seen him bullied and almost killed. Ideally, I would have the scene go something like this:

// TRANSITION

Percy is zoned out, still thinking about the fight, and the principal calls him.

Principal: “Mr. Jackson? Mr. Jackson, are you listening?”

Percy: “Yeah, sorry.”

Principal: “As I was saying, you have been on thin ice since the term began.”

Percy: “So it’s my fault that Nancy’s bullying me and Grover?”

Principal: “You should’ve informed a faculty member.”

Percy: “I tried, but none of you listened!”

Principal: “Nevertheless, pushing Ms. Bobofit into a public fountain was a step too far.”

Percy: “So how many detentions do I have this time? Or is it a suspension?”//

Then we cut to Percy packing his bag and heading out.

Grover betraying him was unnecessary and cruel. We did not need the extra angst and that kind of behaviour ruins the trust in a friendship, no matter the reason. I’d have them sharing a short, yet heartfelt goodbye before Percy goes out to wait for his ride and talks with Mr. Brunner.

The interaction between Eddie the super and Percy was great in adding some context to the apartment dynamics. Gabe was so slimy, and it was nice to see Percy’s sass come out more here. I appreciate the callbacks to the book in that he’s playing online poker and later on, during his conversation with Sally, Sally promises him food to get him off her back.

I was confused why Sally Jackson was standing out on her balcony in the rain. But I liked the interactions of Sally, Gabe, and Percy. Sally was sweet and understanding, and her attitude with Gabe made me laugh. These moments were what I was craving, where interaction and dialogue revealed more about the characters.

Another four second darkness transition (sigh) to Percy’s first weird dream. I liked this sequence, but it felt out of place. Starting with Percy and Sally’s interaction in the car would’ve been better, and showing them running into the house, then Sally dismissing him to get dried off. It was an abrupt transition to suddenly jump to him in the bathroom.

Percy talking to his mom was sweet, but the dialogue could’ve been tighter. That’s how I felt about a lot of dialogue bits. For example, when Sally talks about how his dad was a man unlike she’d ever met before, she said it three times. If it was delivered in a more rambling way it might have worked, but I think saying it twice would’ve gotten the point across.

Sally telling Percy about his dad and the gods was an interesting choice. I liked how they did it, but it felt like there were, again, sentences that could’ve been easily cut to make it more succinct and improve the flow, because she came close to becoming an exposition robot, which is a term I use to describe a character who has become a narrative vehicle to spout huge chunks of exposition at the audience and in doing so sacrifice their personality and characterization.

Percy asking if Sally fell in love with Jesus was a great comment.

Sally and Grover’s interactions were incredible, I loved it. Also, the reveal of Grover’s legs was so well done, I laughed out loud. This, like the previous scene in the Jacksons’ apartment, allowed the interactions and dialogue to reveal more about the characters, allowing for revelation without dumping information.

Grover almost became an exposition robot in the car. If we cut the whole betrayal arc, we could’ve devoted more time to the actual explanation and made it flow better. Also, if we’d established that Percy’s been protecting/trying to protect Grover from bullying, like in my rewritten scene at the fountain outside the museum, that line where Grover said he was Percy’s protector would’ve made for a greater contrast.

I liked the action sequence with the Minotaur and car running into each other, but it was cut abruptly. If it showed the car going off the road, then Grover kicking out the back window, it would’ve allowed for a smoother transition.

Sally getting Grover to swear to protect Percy and her talk with Percy also took too long, considering there was a Minotaur after them. I would’ve cut a lot of it and made everyone speak faster. This moment needed to be shorter to reflect the fact time was literally running out and Percy was in actual danger (thus raising the stakes). Something like this:

// Grover points at a pine in the distance.

Grover: “We’re almost there. Once we get past that tree, we’ll be safe.”

Sally: “Good. Percy, give me your coat.”

Percy automatically obeys and Sally takes his coat.

Percy: “Uh, why?”

Sally: “He tracks by smell. If I go one way and you go the other, it’ll be enough to confuse him.”

Percy: “What? No! We need to stick together!”

Sally: “Grover, you swear to me you’ll take care of him.”

Grover: “I will, Mrs. Jackson.”

Percy: “Mom, what’s going on?”

Sally: “I can’t go into camp. It’s not a place for…mortals.”

Percy: “Whoa, no. I’m not leaving you out here by yourself. What if the monster gets you, what if you get lost, what if—”

Sally: “Perseus!”

She hugs him.

Sally: “Remember you’re a miracle, and my son.”

She pulls back to look him in the eye.

Sally: “I love you.”

The Minotaur roars—they’re out of time. //

Sally facing off with the Minotaur was well done. Though I would’ve had Percy start running back the moment he saw the Minotaur grab her, then stop when she vanished. It would’ve communicated his desperation then devastation as he failed to save her.

I was confused why Percy’s pen started vibrating here. At first, I assumed the pen was some sort of monster detector, but seeing it vibrate at this point seemed to refute that. Now it appears that the vibration serves as a reminder to Percy that he has a weapon, which I don’t like. It takes away Percy’s agency and acts like a sword ex machina. Letting Percy keep the pen from the museum onward was an interesting choice, but I think it’d make more sense to not have it or have him search his pockets beforehand (like at the cabin), discover it, and suddenly remember it during the fight.

The fight between Percy and the Minotaur was all right, but I’m not sure why the music cut out then came back later. Music serves to elevate the emotional intensity of scenes like this, and I think it would’ve heightened the scene to have the music continuous to the end of the fight. A moment of silence, followed by the music returning or blood pounding and/or tinnitus ringing noise could’ve worked too.

The ending was okay. I think showing Percy and Grover struggling to walk through the forest, then collapsing once they pass the pine tree would’ve been better, followed by the last scene playing. Instead, we were given two fainting spells/blackouts, which was two too many for my taste.

This is a big world with lots of lore, but it feels as if we sacrificed characters for info drops. Nancy Bobofit and Mrs. Dodds fell flat, and I felt ambivalent towards them, which isn’t great for antagonists. The changes I outlined would have served to give them characterization in their brief appearance, so they felt more like people rather than plot devices. Also, I don't think we ever shown/told that Mrs. Dodds was his pre-algebra teacher, which seems like an odd omission considering the title of the episode.

My favourite parts of the episode were when characters were allowed to just be people and talk to each other. There are times when I don’t mind exposition, but not when characters are sacrificed for the sake of it.

I liked this episode, but I wanted to love it.

This got far longer than I anticipated, so I’ll be making a separate post for episode two.