suddenly hit by another intense wave of 'my writing is garbage and none of it is worth reading so why bother writing' :) !!!

The cat did it better 😳

Percy and Nico’s Canon Relationship

Alternatively, things that people forget ignore about Percy and Nico’s relationship and are also totally ignored in Heroes of Olympus.

This is all 100% in the canon and doesn’t have to be shippy unless you want it to be.

Percy spoke up about Nico when Bianca was deciding to join the Hunters, because he felt terrible that she was leaving her little brother behind

Percy took full responsibility for all of Nico’s (questionable) actions during Battle of the Labyrinth because he blamed himself for Bianca’s death 

Percy stepped up and claimed the Great Prophecy as his own at the end of Titan’s Curse so that Nico wouldn’t have to do it

Percy lied to Chiron (and everyone else) about Nico being a son of Hades so that Nico wouldn’t be in any more danger

Nico cursed Percy and ran off after Bianca’s death, and Percy responded by scouring the country for Nico

Annabeth and Grover are both uncomfortable with Percy searching for Nico and claiming the prophecy, probably because they don’t want Percy to be the prophecy kid because he’s their friend and they don’t want him to get his soul reaped, and Grover even protests that “this kid hates you and wants you dead” like, maybe you shouldn’t go looking for him? And Percy shoots that bullshit down so fast and immediately defends Nico and convinces them to keep searching for Nico throughout the next couple months

Percy offered for Nico to stay in his cabin at the end of Battle of the Labyrinth

Literally nearly all of Battle of the Labyrinth somehow involves Percy fussing over Nico’s safety

Percy is constantly thinking about Nico all throughout that book, and every time he hears of danger, his thoughts immediately turn to Nico

Percy finds a fast food wrapper in the Labyrinth leftover from Nico summoning the dead, and takes off running through the Labyrinth, which is insanely dangerous, with Annabeth, Grover and Tyson struggling to catch up to him, because he’s so desperate to find Nico

Percy begs Nico to leave Geryon’s ranch and come with them on the rest of the quest. Nico refuses, and Percy only accepts this because Eurytion promises that he’ll look after Nico

Bianca straight up tells Percy that the reason she felt like she could join the Hunters was because she knew Percy would take care of Nico

Bianca sends Percy Iris-messages about Nico’s whereabouts in the beginning of Battle of the Labyrinth because she trusts that Percy is going to track down Nico and talk some sense into him

Nico runs away from Geryon’s ranch and back into the Labyrinth because Minos convinces him that Percy is in danger and needs his help

Nico passes out after summoning skeletons to help fight the Battle of the Labyrinth, and Percy immediately rushes over to his side, kneels down next to him and tends to him until he’s confident that Nico is fine

When Nico shows up on Percy’s fire escape on his fifteenth birthday, Percy feels really sad for Nico and wonders if he’s ever had a birthday party before or ever been invited to a birthday party, and then invites him inside for cake and ice cream

Nico is the one who convinces Percy to take on the curse of Achilles, because he’s so worried about Percy’s safety in the upcoming Titan War

“I’m sorry if I’m being too pushy, but two years ago my sister gave her life to protect you. I want you to honor that. Do whatever it takes to stay alive and defeat Kronos” more like stay alive because I care about you and I want you to live

Nico panics when Percy climbs out of the River Styx because he thinks that he’s hurt, and right before Percy’s about to go in Nico gets really nervous and tries to talk him out of it, even though it was his idea in the first place

Nico breaks Percy’s trust by turning him over to Hades in Last Olympian, and spends the entire rest of the book trying to earn it back. And he really honestly was trying to help and didn’t want to betray Percy; Hades even tells Percy that, “I’m afraid Nico was quite sincere in wanting to help you. The boy is as honest as he is dense.” Hades definitely knows that Nico has a colossal crush on Percy and that’s what he meant by “dense,” I guarantee it

Percy and Nico obviously kept in touch between Battle of the Labyrinth and Last Olympian because Percy knows that Nico has been searching for a lead on his family and like this is an extremely personal subject that Nico doesn’t talk to anyone else about

Percy and Nico are friends?????? Like, actual friends who laugh and talk about real stuff?????? Like, Percy knows Nico well enough to tease him about stopping in to visit Juniper, and teases him about needing to take a nap after he shadow travels, and Nico has this sarcastic sense of humor that he quips back with? “With great power comes… great need to take a nap. Wake me up later.” Like this is witty and funny??? Nico doesn’t talk like that to anyone else

NICO DESIGNED HIS OWN CABIN. this isn’t really relevant to their relationship but it annoyed me that this was apparently forgotten.

Like even after they save Olympus and the battle ends and everything, even after Percy and Annabeth start dating, Percy still keeps an eye out for Nico. He takes note that he’s sitting at the base of Hades’ throne during the council after the war, because he cares about Nico. He also talks specifically about Nico’s cabin being built, because he’s been trying for years to get Nico to stay at camp.

Because Percy cares about Nico. Like, Percy is a complete mother hen about Nico and doesn’t ever pretend to be otherwise. Did I mention that he literally cannot stop talking about Nico’s safety for all of Battle of the Labyrinth, where, simultaneously, he was also worrying about Annabeth and Tyson and Grover and Camp Half-Blood, but still finds lots of time to worry about Nico, because Percy cares about Nico

Percy and Nico are friends. Like, they don’t have a “rocky relationship” anymore, like it says in Mark of Athena. They had some rough patches and they worked through them, and Percy was mildly miffed that Nico didn’t tell him who he was in Son of Neptune, but holy shit like Nico went missing and almost died and Percy thinks about this, like, maybe twice, which is totally out of character for him

So you’ll have to excuse me if I really don’t accept that Percy was sort of indifferent to Nico going missing and getting trapped in a jar guarded by two giants, because if Percy was actually in character, he would have spent half of Mark of Athena obsessing over Nico just like Hazel

I’m eternally annoyed that Percy didn’t say anything to stick up for Nico when Jason and Leo were like, “Hey maybe we shouldn’t go searching for him because he might be a traitor” because, like, Percy always sticks up for Nico and it’s really not like him to just shrug his shoulders and not care that Nico is in danger

And I absolutely will not take the excuse that Percy was too preoccupied with other things to obsess about Nico because Percy is always preoccupied with other things and still finds time to obsess about Nico

EVERYTHING THAT REYNA, JASON, HAZEL, WILL AND WHOEVER ELSE DOES TO HELP NICO IN HEROES OF OLYMPUS WAS ALREADY DONE FIRST BY PERCY. PERCY SAVED THIS KID’S LIFE SEVERAL TIMES OVER, AND EVERYONE LOVES TO FORGET THAT PART. ESPECIALLY RICK, APPARENTLY.

And you’ll really fucking have to excuse me if I don’t accept “Not my type” as a way to close out their relationship because THAT IS MOTHERFUCKING BULLSHIT, THEY’RE FRIENDS, AND THEY CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER, AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS A LOT MORE COMPLEX THAN THAT STUPID ONE-LINER MADE IT SEEM

Me drawing Annabeth: intelligent, stunning, intimidating, how could she *not* be half goddess???

Me drawing Percy: he tripped over nothing on the sidewalk and faceplanted. Annabeth holds his brain cells hostage because he cannot be trusted with them. Both of his parents are gods in their own right but it doesn't show like 98% of the time

idc what yall think but nico being slightly annabethphobic is actually a really fucking hilarious concept to me

Hi op your post inspired me to make my own playlist so I hope you don’t mind me linking it here

I really hope the entire soundtrack of the Percy Jackson show is entirely made up from songs from the late 2000s to the early 2010s

What is omniscient readers viewpoint about? I tried to check the tag but all I got was violence and mpreg?

Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint is a bit hard to sum up, in the sense that I'm trying to avoid spoilers for a lot of you, but also because it's a very meta novel in a lot of ways, BUT BASICALLY: An average, unremarkable salaryman type of character (Kim Dokja) has been hyperfixated on a webnovel for the last ten years, of which he is the only reader. On the day of the final chapter's posting, he gets a thank you from the author, a downloaded text file of it, and WHAM suddenly the novel's events are happening in real life, he has been reverse-isekai'd into this post-apocalyptic novel coming to life. This allows him to understand the video game style rules of this new world from the start, this allows him to know what kind of scenarios (basically "quests" and "subquests") will be thrown at him, allowing him to gather a team of people that will help him survive and allow him to gain a ton of in-scenario currency and "win" all the scenarios thrown at him (because he abuses his knowledge horribly), all while avoiding the protagonist of the novel (Yoo Joonghyuk) who is a regressor, which means he's lived through these scenarios before and is SUPER powerful and is tunnel-visioned about surviving them, so he will kill anyone who gets in his way. Meanwhile, Kim Dokja (who has been alone all his life, who has a terribly sad and tragic backstory) slowly starts to actually care about the people he's gathering to him, they come to love him, so he has people who genuinely love him for the first time in his life, who don't want him to just sacrifice himself for them (and this is a big, big theme in the story), so you get some really good found family dynamics in there, too. This is all just set-dressing, the real plot of the story is about the nature of readers and our relationships with fiction, that it's a complicated but ultimately so meaningful dynamic, that we the audience are "part of" the story we're reading, all dressed up in a SUPER "this isn't BL, but you'd be forgiven for thinking it was at first" dynamic between the two most prominent characters. (Because Yoo Joonghyuk is the protagonist of the novel he read, the character that Kim Dokja felt he traveled with side-by-side for ten years, the character that allowed him to continue getting up and living one more day, to see the end of his journey, so even if he's a murderous bastard, he's also the character that Kim Dokja felt he literally lived for.) It's a funny story (because Kim Dokja is actually a horrible gremlin, he's awful and I would die for him), the webtoon is beautifully done, it's found family, it's meta commentary on readers and stories, and it's intriguing worldbuilding.

their argument over Gabriel and how they "resolved" it set up the Final Fifteen of ep6 and is a microcosm of their relationship issues

The fight between Aziraphale and Crowley about Gabriel goes like this:

Aziraphale believes that it's Safest for them to deal with the gabriel situation by being involved and solving it together.

Crowley believes that it's Safest for them to get as far away from the Gabriel situation as possible, either by removing gabriel from them or themselves from him.

Aziraphale also believes that it's Right to help Gabriel, because Aziraphale believes in the innate goodness of everyone and everything.

Crowley believes that it's Right to not help Gabriel or frankly to care about him at all, because Gabriel hurt Aziraphale repeatedly over millennia and then tried to destroy him.

They approach this issue with such a difference in their core beliefs and values that they have to disagree, it's inevitable. And that would be fine. Except that the way they resolve this argument is utter bullshit.

First off, Aziraphale responds to Crowley with an ultimatum: do it my way or leave. (Which, hello, trauma from being cast out of heaven? Wtf Aziraphale. )

Crowley responds by telling Aziraphale he'll have to do this alone, and then predictably leaving.

Crowley only changes his mind and returns because he learns that Aziraphale is in real existential peril. Then they do a series of Things, none of which actually revolve their big disagreement.

Crowley offers a sort-of apology ("can we take it as stated?") but doesn't say what he's apologizing for. He doesn't tell Aziraphale what he thinks he got wrong (spoiler: because he absolutely doesn't think he Was wrong, and his belief is reinforced by the threat of destruction hanging over Aziraphale's head). It's "I'm sorry for whatever I said, get in the car" all over again.

Aziraphale doesn't even apologize lmao, and why should he? He must be right, because Crowley's back! And Crowley's doing their ritualistic "apology" dance that they use in place of actual fucking conversation. So Aziraphale doesnt need to acknowledge anything about his line of reasoning or his belief system, they can just carry on.

Especially because, crucially, Aziraphale doesn't know that Crowley was actually right! And helping Gabriel will put them both in extreme danger! And he doesn't know this, because Crowley didn't tell him!

Crowley didnt tell Aziraphale about the Book of Life punishment because he believes Aziraphale is Safest not worrying about that, and that it's Right for him to protect Aziraphale from that hurtful, harmful knowledge.

They literally do. not. discuss this issue ever again. They have no idea, or none that we're textually shown anyway, why the other reacted the way they did to Gabriel. They simply move forward with the problem, without even an iota of enlightenment about each other's points of view. They think they already know each other perfectly, right? They've been talking for millions of years, Crowley loves rescuing Aziraphale, etc.

So then we get to ep6. And it's really the same fundamental disagreement:

Aziraphale believes they will be Safest with their hands in the game.

Aziraphale believes it's Right to force Heaven, through what he has been manipulated into thinking is his new authority, to do Good (actual moral good, like he and Crowley do).

Crowley believes it's Safest for them both to stay as far away from the machinations of heaven, and by extension hell, as possible.

Crowley believes it's Right for him to reject Heaven as they once rejected him, to reject their whole dichotomous system in fact. He believes it's Right for Aziraphale to reject Heaven too, because Heaven tried to destroy Aziraphale.

And once again, Crowley doesn't tell Aziraphale of the danger they're in - Armageddon the Sequel, plus Archangels being demoted and having their memory wiped.

They still do not and cannot understand one another's motives and beliefs here. Because they have never had this freedom of choice before these last few years, and in that time they have never talked about this openly. Weirdly, Gabriel's arrival gave them a chance to hash all this out. In another world, maybe they knew exactly what the other wanted, and could therefore choose each other at this critical juncture.

But that's not what happened.

(cue my "the irony of the serpent of Eden protecting someone he loves from knowledge" tag).

Edit to say, I have Thoughts about Why they communicate like this, which I'm trying to gather for another post.

mango moment

When Hell Freezes Over

Chapter 16/?: Objective: Be a Good Brother Pt 2

Natsuo keeps digging himself into the hole of Worst Brother Ever, while Fuyumi just wants to build her new bookshelf in peace

Latest chapter | Read from the beginning

Story Summary:

During Natsuo’s first semester at uni, he receives a text from an unknown number:

While youre out get me a headset too        

The one i was talking about

In one universe, he ignores it.

In this one, he feels just bored and impulsive enough to reply to it.

yuzuriha!!! [id in alt]

The curse of modern fandom is that it has allowed fans to get even closer to artists, but they won't view the artists as people.

Human limits, human mistakes, human feelings, human needs, are never ascribed to artists, and when other fans rightfully point out, "hey, humans are making this, maybe don't harass them or demand they cater to your personal tastes," it gets shut down under, "uh, people who make popular mainstream things are automatically Public Figures who are also probably rich, so eat the rich and destroy artists over every perceived minor fault. <3"

Even though there's, y'know, a really big strike currently going on because those artists are very much not rich or influential or in control of the bullshit.

Can white Hindus wear saris?

Yes.

in another life, fuyumi does not become a teacher because she gets scouted on the side of the street.

some old tenko and touya from 2021

Australia qualify for the semi-finals after beating France on penalties