#ship crit

[evilkitten3]

Longtime e*****m** shipper here and I absolutely agree with u on all of what you said (I was actually checking the tags for the ship bc I don't want to be the one to add it to my blog that features that ship bc I would die. badly.)

The fandom treats it as the standard and it really isn't. Real e*****m** enjoyers know that while yes they are friends in canon that it could very easily just be close friends or even a strained friendship because of the traumas and such.

Plus the implication that e***** walked away from his friendship with m** for a few years when they were young can really play into a strained friendship and coworker situation that I find 2000x more interesting then "haha e***** is the dad m** is the mom and here are their two children" like bro shut up they are 30 and have been obvious messes to anyone who paid attention to them since the beginning of the damn series. Because refer back to it: they are 30. Also stop making the workaholic of the two a damn housewife.

Signed: someone who has been fixated on those two characters for years, not just bc of shipping but bc I find them really interesting characters with an interesting dynamic and I like to see accurate representations of them

(thank you for helping me avoid the Wrath of Shippers lol - and no judgement for wanting to avoid it yourself, i definitely understand what you mean)

yeah it's quite frustrating bc back when i was still into that series i was fond of both characters and had nothing against the ship itself, but the fandom acted like they didn't exist outside of each other, which just,,,,, a) isn't a good way to appreciate characters, and b) isn't even remotely true. they're not married. they're not in love. from what i can recall, they're not even on a first name basis. and while none of that means you can't ship them, it's a little bizarre to act like there's a set canon status quo that must be adhered to when there just.... isn't.

like at some point i just start wondering. do you even actually like the canon characters? bc i'm looking at what your version looks like at that,,,, isn't them. i have no beef with aus but i typically prefer the ones that are self-aware

[undead-knick-knack]

[localapparently]

as long as we have each other

[oddthesungod]

that one silly photo meme,.... but make it greystorm

[aroaceleovaldez]

I was reading a post about CoTG and I realized: Rick has seemingly started to write every character pairing with the exact same dynamic, and he's not good at writing that dynamic and it doesn't make sense for 90% of the characters he writes it for.

It's that very specific dynamic of one half of the pair who is almost aggressive to the other party - "teasing" them constantly/insulting them, affectionately punching/judo flipping/maiming/etc, seemingly almost always exasperated with the other - and said other party usually just accepts this treatment or blanketly views it fondly, and may generally be framed as more incompetent than their partner and a little bit of a doormat (particularly relating to being insulted/teased/etc by their partner).

We start seeing this dynamic in HoO with Percy and Annabeth, as a sort of semi-inconsistent twist on their rivals-to-friends-to-lovers dynamic from the first series. Then the dynamic pattern develops further with Leo and Calypso. Then Magnus and Alex. Then Nico and Will, particularly in TSATS. And now in CoTG, it's Percy and Annabeth again but even more in this direction.

I know people have talked about Nico and Will's relationship over the series rapidly being shoehorned into Percabeth Two™, and it's extremely apparent in TSATS that Rick's doing it on purpose (including directly quoting Percabeth scenes but minorly tweaking them to be Solangelo). But recognizing it as an overarching trend in Rick's later books honestly reminds me a lot of how Rick started trying to apply the "Percy Formula" so-to-speak to nearly every protagonist in HoO (and then try to replicate similar character archetypes with Magnus and Apollo's narrations - moreso Magnus in being jaded and sarcastic, very much trying to be first series Percy. He only sounds unique because Rick failed at making him Percy 2. Apollo is more akin to later-series Percy characterization of being goofy and incompetent. Apollo [and Zeus] even got retconned to give Apollo a more similar backstory to Percy's). Rick seems to have decided that he thinks the audience wants this specific dynamic but 10 times over, except he's not good at writing it the first time because it's a bastardization of the time he did a different thing okay.

And Rick also seems aware of that too! Because he retconned Calypso and Leo at the end of TOA, probably because he realized how absolutely awful it was reading when they were written with that dynamic of Calypso just functionally hating Leo and constantly being aggressive towards him! The only time Rick's actually made the dynamic even semi-successful was with Magnus and Alex, because it actually fits within their characters, their dynamics with each other, and their environment. Alex beheading Magnus on the regular works out fine because there are no repercussions to that in Valhalla, Magnus will be fine, so it does genuinely come off as humorous. And Alex has been effectively established to be abrasive at times but have her genuine feelings shine through regularly, and that meshes well with Magnus' jaded-and-aloof-but-quietly-very-empathetic character. And Magnus has been established to, yes, not be great at combat, particularly compared to Alex. They are the only time that flavor of dynamic in that form was effective and cohesive.

Percabeth is no longer rivals-to-friends-to-lovers badasses on equal levels with shaky pasts who finally found some form of permanence with one another. Now it's super smart doting and affectionately aggressive girlfriend and her silly goofy 50%-of-the-time incompetent boyfriend who she judo flips/pushes off cliffs/etc - but affectionately~! Solangelo is trying to riff off of the early series "Poseidon & Athena are enemies" dynamic that Percabeth had but with Apollo & Hades being "opposites" but learning to accept each other, except it ends up with Will just coming off as a huge asshole and Nico being retconned to a complete doormat about it - when prior to that those characterizations would be completely contrary to their established characters (even just from TOA!). Calypso in HoO gets retconned from her PJO characterization to being snooty and aggressive, and Leo's false persona gets merged into his just normal personality except he just also becomes a doormat but more goofy than Nico with occasional haha-dark/depression-humor! Which Nico also got. Which was also a bastardized Percy trait that got redistributed.

It's exhausting. Rick write more than one relationship dynamic you can do it I promise

[johnnyspells]

[Marion]: I hate you, but I love you. [Sean]: But I love you.

[mmyashas]

after seeing the tropes trend on twitter ive realized how much people mischaracterize the hispanics on the qsmp on here (and other places too) ........Like quick describe qmissa w anything other than "wet cat" or qmariana without being tied down to qslime

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

ngl the "im white so i dont talk abt any characters' race ever bc im afraid of accidentally saying something racist" approach to fandom is like. very weak. imo.

like first of all: i get that "i dont incorporate race into my media analysis because i'm afraid of messing up" comes from a different place than "i don't incorporate race into my media analysis because I Don't See Race 😊 there is only The Human Race." but it has the same functional effect, right? that effect being that your analysis of [INSERT MEDIA HERE] ignores the very real way that race impacts people.

second of all: it feels kinda lazy! like ur saying "i dont know enough abt race to feel comfortable commenting on how race affects this show and i dont care enough to learn." the only way to become more comfortable discussing race is to actually practice discussing race. but when i see people saying this it feels like they're saying "i'm white, which means i don't know how to talk about race, and i don't have to know how to talk about race, and i don't ever have to know how to talk about race, so i'm choosing to never learn how to talk about race."

third of all: just because you don't openly talk about race doesn't mean you're any less likely to accidentally say or do something racist. implicit biases run deep, y'all. it's probably already there in your interpretation of the show. but the "i don't want to accidentally say something racist" implies that you are positive that your interpretation of the show isn't racist. and i'm not saying you're wrong. but i'm saying that if a person of color tells you that something you said about [INSERT MEDIA HERE] was racist, you better be prepared to actually listen and not just brush them off because "i can't be racist! i purposefully never talk about race just to make sure i'm not racist!"

which brings me to my final point: if you do accidentally say something racist... literally just apologize. if someone says you've been doing something racist, apologize and stop doing that thing. it's literally not that hard. i've done it. i've seen other people do it. "i'm scared of being called racist!" is such a weak excuse im tired of it. getting called racist is not the end of the fucking world. calm the fuck down and grow a spine. jesus.

[rosabell14]

Everyday I wake up and my mood sours as I remember that Richard Riordan thought It was a good idea for New Rome to have a death penalty.

Hazel tells Percy that since she stood up for him, both of them could be killed for any mistakes that Percy makes.

Jason says that the Romans would have the right to kill any demigod that commits the heinous crime of...lemme check my notes... Crossing the mare nostrum.

Reyna thinks about how Bryce Lawrence would have been executed for getting his centurion killed, had she been able to prove it. She is also convinced that she would be killed for the crime of patricide. Even though 1- her father was already a ghost. 2- she was defending herself and her sister. And 3- this happened before she even joined the legion.

What is going on in this dystopian city? Like I get it, we want to give stakes for the characters just like New Rome as a concept only exists because Rick wants his protagonists to be teens. But at some point you have to think how these things translate in universe.

[lady-menrva]

PJO Meta (1 of ??)

DISCLAIMER: I don't mean to offend anyone. I am a ship and let ship person. Please note that criticism =/= hate. Lastly, if you're a solangelo shipper who doesn't wish to hear any criticism regarding their ship, please scroll away.

Ever since it's first appearance, solangelo has been a massive fan favourite. I, however, don't have a favourable opinion of the ship. Here is a brief explanation of my reasons for the same. (I apologise for my inarticulation)

Characterization:-

Nico-

Honestly Nico's writing in the trials of Apollo was terrible even by the usual character assassination standards- in the hidden oracle, he legitimately read as a gag charater who served no purpose apart from being "Will Solace's Goth/Emo Boyfriend". Things were hardly better in Tower of Nero, where he was basically just "Will Solace's traumatized Goth/Emo Boyfriend" who happens to be lazy PTSD rep.

Will Solace-

Can't say much. He was never a character of his own, and probably never will be. His substance as a character is comparable to the quantitative mass of an electron in Kilograms (9.11x 1/10³¹) i.e, negligible.

Nico's Healing Arc (or lack of the same )-

After what was essentially two series worth of fanfic-esque trauma bombing, Nico should have received a proper healing arc. Unfortunately, there was no such arc for him (courtesy of solangelo), because Rick has this earth-shattering, inspired-by-Disney idea that relationships can fix everything. So guess what? Nico's years' worth of emotional baggage, pain and trauma simply volatalize into oblivion .

Some shippers may argue "Oh but he got better off page"-but that it is bad writing per se; Nico's struggles, grief, fears, unhealthy coping mechanisms etc. are more pivotal and relevant to his character than a nascent, one dimensional relationship with an insignificant side character. He is much more than just his sexuality, after all.

Cliché and one dimensional:-

Solangelo is firmly rooted in the "opposites attract" trope, which is simply unrealistic in nature.

Also, newsflash: "Opposites attract" is a law specific to physics and chemistry; It's all fun and games till people who are poles apart sit down to take serious decisions, or share opinions. Friction between them can be rather intense.

(Oh! wait... I think Nico was described to be a Nitride anion {or was he Azide? No, I think he was Nitride} and Will was a Tungsten cation. So, they are basically Tungsten Nitride... Boy! They have so much chemistry between them/s)

Anyways, I totally understand why people prefer jasico, valdangelo, percico, nicobaster etc...

[wisebeth]

why does the pjo series have to unnecessarily villainize goddesses (hera & athena) or show them as silly ladies (aphrodite & demeter) BUT posiedon and apollo are somehow shown as the coolest/most likeable gods, even though arguably, they're right after zeus on terms of corruption?

ares shown as the worst god after zeus and hera amuses me. last time i checked, he was the patron god of amazons and literally killed a man for attempting to rape his daughter but guess who cursed women for rejection? apollo. guess who raped women when they said no (aside from zeus)? posiedon.

[ruegarding]

No one can make me hate Perc/abeth more than Rick Riordan himself, because wotg especially has me hoping that they just break up 😭 Like please! No more misogyny directed at Annabeth and what I can only describe as vitriol towards Percy (and suprise, both of these issues contain hidden ableism)!

you said it! why are we retconning them like this?!

[undead-knick-knack]

POV: You're Ashton Greymoore

[ninainthetardis]

Given that it's completely beyond me how a character like Jason Grace can be hated by so many people within the fandom, I've decided to try and figure this absurd bullshit out. It turns out it's not just an unnecessary desire to boost Percy by diminishing Jason's character. A thing that I hate, because I think that diminishing/bashing some characters to appreciate others is quite the opposite of validation, as I believe a character can only be truly defined by their own actions/words/personality and hence, should be appreciated for those aspects, not by unnecessary/non sensical comparisons with other characters.

So I'm currently rereading HoH, and I've just noticed that, basically, all the Jason haters simply use Piper's words about him and take them for granted. Which speaks volumes and is also one of the reasons why I've never liked them together.

And no, it's not that "she knows him better than anyone else" because that is bullshit. She never even bothered to really get to know him. All she wanted was to make that Mist induced fairytale their reality, mainly because she thought he was hot, and strong and cool, and liked the Mist version of Jason. A version that was not even real. She knew that, yet she was constantly making comparisons between that and reality, and whining about it. And this in particular would be even fair if she wasn't the one out of the two of them who was completely obsessed with getting together for real in the first place, despite knowing he might have someone waiting for him at Camp Jupiter. A thing Jason constantly thought about in TLH.

We don't get to see how they really start their relationship. All we are shown is Piper threatening Drew - and by association anyone else in cabin 10 - and saying that "Jason was hers even if he didn't know it yet" (seriously, what would you think if their roles were reversed?).

But somehow, they got together later on. We don't know what made Jason change his mind about them. Piper gave a tantrum every time he mentioned Reyna (even when he was just talking about information that was useful for their quest and hence, you know, saving the world). And then we even get the "boys are so stupid" line when it's actually Piper who is being unreasonable here, letting her own insecurities put their mission to save the world at risk. Insecurities that are legit and prove she is aware that she pushed things between her and Jason when she should have just realised the damn memories she had were fake and let go. And that's on her, not on Jason. She was pushing from the very beginning. He was holding back because he wasn't sure it was the right thing to do, considering he didn't remember anything.

Again, think about all this as if their roles were reversed. Doesn't look good, uh?

Piper also knew she was potentially putting an end to something that could be meaningful for Jason, yet she kept pushing anyway despite being pretty clear that she was just obsessed with the idea of him/having him as a boyfriend.

And then she just went and blamed Hera, saying she forced them together because of the Mist thing. Bfr.

She wanted that from the very beginning and during all the time they have been together. Her povs were almost all about that, for most of the time.

She never truly took into account Jason's feelings, or the difficulties he was going through due to his memory loss, completely disregarded his trauma and his insecurities, and she even influenced his thoughts and emotions with her powers because she was scared of his past life. As if him being in a vulnerable position when she did all she could to get together with him wasn't bad enough without her use of her charmspeaking abilities. And she admitted multiple times of using it on him and the other demigods on the Argo II, deliberately and unintentionally. Even Jason, in his own pov, suspected she used her powers on him, making her the only thing he could think of whenever he mentioned Reyna. This isn't normal. This isn't romantic. "He supposed it was not the worst sort of revenge". Boy, you shouldn't even be blamed for having a pre Piper life at all!!!

So yeah, she didn't know him. How could she, when he didn't even know himself?

It's also the way she describes him: boring, distant, rules centred, closed off, always serious. She even compares him to Percy, and their relationship to Percy and Annabeth's. A weird way to describe the guy you claim to love. A weird way to prove your love to someone, complaining about him "being distant" when you know damn well he's trying so hard to retrieve his memories. A way bigger, existential deal to cope with than romantic drama, don't you think? Hadn't she pushed so hard, I'm not sure he would have started their relationship at all.

Anyway, we then move back to Jason's pov and he claims that he doesn't like rules, that they actually annoy him, that he's always tried to change things a Camp Jupiter but had to take it slow due to the Romans' attachment to tradition, that he always does the opposite of what he is told/suggested (except, clearly, when it come to be summoned for a quest). And he claims all that on the basis of the few memories he got back. And he makes jokes, too. He has sarcastic comebacks, too. THIS IS THE REAL JASON, these are the elements that need to be taken into account when trying to figure out who he truly is, not Piper's biased perception of him. And people would know those things, if they had actually read his povs.

Also, I don't think that reading the rest of the books (ToA) will change my mind about any of this. Honestly, it is too much to get past to. And I don't even want to do that. I think it can only get worse, from the few things I know about ToA.

[ahoyimlosingmymind]

all I'm saying is that if Fitz treated Sophie the way she treated him while they were together in regards to Keefe, ya'll would have hung him

and I mean the emotional cheating with his best friend. The keeping secrets. The dodging questions. The lying. Secret missions. Keeping him a secret from friends. Letting said best friend's bodyguard insult him in front of the whole room and not coming to his defense. Secretly agreeing with the insults and denying it later. Letting his traitorous brother go without consulting him, even though it really mattered to him. Going and getting with the best friend like five seconds after the break up, after giving him the impression that she wanted to make it work with him.

listen- they're all messy as hell, and they make mistakes, but boy am I tired of acting like she was a saint in that situation.

He was unreasonable. I'm well aware.

But so was she.

she made him her first choice and then proceeded to treat him like her second.

Just bc she felt hurt by him in her POV doesn't mean she was automatically correct. And same goes for him (only difference is we never get his POV fully)

[my-pjo-stuff]