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marvelettesassemblenow · 2 years

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A Love Like Ours

Pairing: Stucky x female reader

Summary: 40s fic: Steve, Bucky and you – there was barely a moment when the three of you weren’t together. A friendship like that was rare and you were all looking out for each other. But with ups came downs and then Bucky had to leave for the war – and Steve followed.

Word Count: ~4.2k

Warnings: angst to fluff with a happy ending, mentions of war and possible death, mentions of losing weight (its not described how the reader looks though, just that the clothes are a little bit more lose) due to side effects of war and me not having a clue how it really has been

A/N: This is for @motsdouxdejanie Forget-Me-Not creative challenge. When I saw the prompts I knew immediately that it had to be a 40s fic and then I couldn’t decide if it should be a Steve or Bucky fic, so this happened. Thank you sooo much for beta reading this @jenniweaslee and the prompts I used were:

Snowdrop = friend(s) in need / consolation / “I promise I’m always here for you.”

Heath = healing from within / “Wish me luck.” / wishes coming true

Holly = “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten?”

Ivy Geranium = “May I have the next dance?”

Having a friendship with Steve Rogers and James “Bucky” Barnes was one of the best things that could have ever happened to you – even though it was hard sometimes. Like right in that moment. “Steve, open up!” your fist hammered against the door. You were sure that Steve’s neighbour would come out and complain soon, but you hadn’t seen Steve in two days and his spare key wasn’t where it used to be.

After a phone call with your other friend who also had not seen the young blonde in days, you were on your way to check in on him. Both of you were concerned with Steve’s health, especially now that Steve was living on his own. “Steve Rogers, you open the door right now, or else!” You stopped, as you didn’t know what to do then. You would have to call Bucky so that he could break open the door, but that would mean that you had to either bike home or to Bucky’s place. Which would mean that your plans for the evening would be ruined. Asking Steve’s neighbour if you could use her phone was out of question, as she didn’t like you. She was old and she was a firm believer about women not going unchaperoned into a man’s apartment.Your family didn’t share the same opinion and it was even less of a problem with them, since you have been friends with the two guys since you were little. “Steve,” you tried for the last time and then you heard the faint sound of footsteps and the clicking before the door was opened. “Oh Steve,” you said, once you got a good look at him. “Why didn’t you call us?” You pushed him softly out of the way, so you could enter the apartment.

“It’s not that bad,” Steve croaked as you closed the door and pushed him towards the small living room with the kitchen.

“It is freezing in here, Steve.”

“I’m out of coals,” he mumbled and you pushed him towards the couch.

“Okay, we’ll work on that. Bucky will bring some and I’ll make you something warm to eat,” you promised and went into his bedroom to grab a blanket and an extra pair of socks. After wrapping him in two blankets and struggling to get the socks on his feet, you went over to the phone. Steve couldn’t make out what you were saying, as sleep was taking over.

The next thing he knew was that he felt warm and he smelled something nice. He could also hear hushed voices. “He should move in with one of us. He is sick and no one knew! It was freezing in here and I just don’t know why he didn’t call for help,” he heard your voice say.

“Come here,” that must have been Bucky. “We’ll figure something out, but first we need to get Stevie back to health. I’ll check in on him, see if he can eat some of your soup.”

“Hey punk,” he heard Bucky’s voice before he saw his head in front of him. “You scared us. Want some soup?”

“I’m sorry,” Steve’s voice was quiet and so he just nodded to show he was up for something warm. Not long after that he was squeezed between his two best friends, sharing their blanket and body warmth. “Did you came from work?” he asked Bucky when he took in his attire.

“Yup, I brought some coals on the way,” he confirmed and slurped his soup loudly.

He looked at his other side and only noticed then the styled hair and the make-up on your face. “Oh no, your date,” Steve said, ashamed.

“Don’t worry, Steve,” you patted his leg over the blanket. “I cancelled. I’d rather be here anyway.” He saw you shrugging but he remembered how excited you were when you were asked out. And that was exactly why Steve felt guilty. He kept his best friends from living their life.

“I don’t want to be your pity date,” Steve grumbled and you threw your hands in the air. This man would be the reason for you to get your first grey hairs!

“Okay, good. I’ll ask someone else then,” you huffed and walked away. You were annoyed! Steve’s mood was bad. Since Bucky got his orders and he wasn’t accepted, Steve kept trying and it was exhausting. Doubling that with the worry and fear you had for Bucky, made you miserable as well. But this was Bucky’s last night here and even if you could do nothing else, you wanted him to have a nice memory to look back on.

You and Bucky had begged Steve to move in with you when Bucky’s letter came. Even your tears hadn’t helped. Why did both of your friends have to be so stubborn? That night had ended with a sleepover with the three of you, everyone touching, afraid that it would never be the same again.

“Is the punk causing trouble?” An arm was slung around your shoulder.

“He is in a mood. Don’t know how I will keep him in check without you here,” you admitted. “You better come back to help me out,” you added and slung your arm around his waist and squeezed before you let go again.

“You’ll manage, you always do. Will you bring someone tonight?” he asked.

“I asked Steve, he said he didn’t want a pity date,” you answered and he picked up the sad tone in your voice. “I’ll find someone. If not, I’ll come alone, it won’t be a problem.”

“Okay, I could always,” he started to offer to come alone too, but you interrupted him immediately, telling him he shouldn’t have to do that and that you’d see him later in the day.

And so a few hours later, you were at the Stark Expo with your two best friends. You didn’t ask anyone to come with you, simply because it was Bucky’s last night and you didn’t want to divide your attention. While Steve didn’t want to be your pity date, he sure didn’t have a problem with the extra girl that Bucky brought along. Although she did not seem as excited as Bucky’s date. You were walking with the four of them and when you saw a photo booth, you immediately got excited! And while the girl on Bucky’s arm seemed excited too, her smile faded once her date grabbed you and Steve by the arm and pulled you along. You actually never really saw the picture that was taken as Bucky pocketed it once he was handed it. He offered to take one with his date afterwards and she seemed pleased at that. You noticed though that this time he handed her the picture, but the one of the three of you was still safely in his new military uniform.

You had a good night – until you came across the military propaganda. Then the usual fight broke out again, but this time you didn’t hold back.

“Why are you so determined to get killed?” you yelled at Steve when he wanted to try to get into the army again.

“I know I am sick, you don’t have to remind me every chance you get. That’s why I want to do it, I want to give something back. I want to help! I am useless here, I can’t provide for anyone.”

“So getting killed is better? It’s okay that Bucky has to leave? And you’re so set on leaving me too? What do you think will happen there, Stevie? What will you do when it gets cold? Your body can’t handle the cold here, how will it handle it in a war?” You were so angry, tears started to gather in your eyes. “What is so wrong with staying here and staying safe? We help from here too! This,” you pointed at the stupid sign that you hated so much “will be your death. Whether you want to hear it or not. And I simply don’t want to lose you!”

When you looked into Steve’s eyes, you saw that his opinion hadn’t changed and it was your cue to leave. You needed to get away for a while.

You never went to bed angry at each other. If you had a fight, you would apologize and so you expected to see Steve that night. But when only Bucky stood in front of your door, you started to cry again. Your tears soaked Bucky’s new uniform. “He’ll come around. I told him to keep an eye out for you. You have to promise me that you’ll look out for each other!”

“I will, if you promise to take care of yourself.” He promised and when he left, you saw tears in his eyes too. You knew that he would shed them once you were out of view. You didn’t really sleep that night and Bucky told you not to send him off, so you made your way over to Steve to clear the air and suffer together. Before you could go inside or knock, you spotted an envelope with your name on it at the door.

You don’t have any idea how hard it is for me to write this letter. You might think that I don’t care about you, but that couldn’t be further from the truth! That’s why I’m writing to you – because I know if I looked into your eyes, I wouldn’t be able to go. I need to do this, I need to do it for myself. I know you say all the time that we look out for each other, but it always feels like just you and Bucky are looking out for me. I have an opportunity to prove myself now – for you, for Buck, for me. Please don’t cry, I promise I’ll come back to you. I promise I’m always here for you. I’ll write you as soon as I can.

Yours always,

Steve

You came to talk to your friend, hug it out and be there for each other. Now your heart was breaking even more because you’ve also lost Steve. For over a decade, it was always Bucky, Steve and you. And now without them there with you, you felt lost. Letters started to arrive from both of them. Bucky’s letters were more about your wellbeing and advice and telling you to not take the job at the factory. Then suddenly his letters took a turn. They were full of memories that the three of you shared and your heart ached, because you couldn’t be there for him. You were sure that he wasn’t feeling his best, as he never mentioned anything going on over there.

Steve’s letters were something else. Mostly because Steve was different in some aspects. He told you all about what he went through. You had to read the letter at least four times before you could comprehend that that stupid punk had let himself injected with something to make him stronger without thinking twice about it. But his letters were more optimistic and at least he was happy that he could finally do what he had always wanted.

You haven’t gone dancing in ages. Simply because there hadn’t been a reason for you to go. However, with the men slowly returning from war, the dance halls were getting more attention. And so you hadn’t found a reason to say no to your coworker when she begged you to accompany her that night.

Your shoes were uncomfortable as you hadn’t worn them in ages. Your dress was a little bit more loose than it should be, but that was a problem most people had these days. Looking in the mirror reminded you of Steve and how you and Bucky were always determined to bring back home more food, so that his clothes would not be that loose anymore. Your thoughts went to your best friends and your heart ached, but that wasn’t unusual. You hadn’t heard from them in a while. Before you could suffer more, you grabbed your coat and went to pick up your coworker.

The dance hall was pretty crowded when you arrived. The men were doing rounds to dance with as many women as they could. After two dances you went over to the bar to grab a drink. It was also crowded there, but suddenly most of them left and went in the direction of the door. You quickly ordered a drink since you now had the attention of the bartender.

“May I have the next dance?” a voice next to you asked. You were about to decline when you turned around and saw the face of the man asking you. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten that you promised me a dance before I left?” He smirked and you threw yourself at him.

“Are you for real?” you asked. You stepped back without letting go of him just so you could get a closer look at him. “Are you really here?” Maybe your eyes were playing a joke on you – it wasn’t the first time you daydreamed that your guys would come back but this felt so real.

“I’m here, doll. I came back to you,” he confirmed. “I brought Steve too.”

A breath of relief left your lips. “Where is he?” You looked around. The group of people were blocking your view, but you couldn’t spot Steve.

“He may look a bit different now.” Bucky turned you around so you were facing the crowd without his arm leaving your waist. “Maybe a bit taller too,” he pointed at a tall guy looking overwhelmed until his eyes met yours.

“No way,” you said, but the smile that grew on the blonde’s face told you that it was really your Stevie. The crowd parted as he walked directly towards you. Your name left his lips and suddenly you were in an unfamiliar hug.

“I missed you. I missed you so much,” Steve repeated and didn’t let go of you, not even when someone cleared his throat repeatedly next to him.

“Excuse me,” someone said.

“No, I’m sorry. Can’t you see that there's a reunion happening here? You’re interrupting.” You heard Bucky’s voice, but Steve didn’t seem to care and neither did you as you couldn’t process that both of them were really here. When Bucky is about to shoo another person away, you finally let go of each other.

“What is going on?” you asked Steve and put a hand on his face that was oddly familiar and still strange at the same time. “What do they want?” Your eyes wandered from Steve’s face to Bucky’s and you noticed the crowd that had gathered around you.

“Can you tell us the story how your saved the life of almost a whole garrison?” someone asked.

“Imagine we get to hear the story from Captain America himself!” someone whisper yelled.

“Captain America?” you asked confused. Of course you had heard about him, the placards were everywhere but you didn’t really look at them. You tried to ignore everything, especially the stuff that tried to get even more people to join the war.

“Can we get out of here?” Steve asked you and you nodded. You told them you had to use the bathroom before you could leave and you promised to see them outside. There were two women already in the bathroom as you went into an empty stall.

“It’s not fair,” you heard their voices over the faint music that was coming from the hall. “They didn’t even look at anyone else.”

“They’ve been friends forever. Of course they would stop to see her first. You better get on her good side, they won’t even look at someone who can’t get along with her. Kind of annoying, but if that’s what I have to do, I will. I would have never thought that Steve would get more attractive than Bucky, can you…” the second voice cut off as they left the room. You were confused what you had heard. Is this what people thought about? You quickly finished your business and washed your hands and went outside to find your friends.

“You ready to go?” Bucky asked you as soon as you stepped outside and fastened the belt of your coat. Just to your right were two women touching Steve’s arm. You nodded towards Bucky. “You coming, punk?” He yelled and put your arm through his as if he never went away. You started walking in the direction of your apartment and only a few steps later, you felt an unfamiliar hand on your back. You turned around to take a look and saw Steve – the new Steve with that strange but oddly familiar face.

“Do you still live above Mrs. Hudson's place?” Steve asked and you nodded. At least his voice hadn’t changed at all.

“She will be glad to see that you both made it back. She was always fond of you,” you replied. The walk to your apartment wasn’t long and it was filled with a silence that was unusual, but somehow you felt that the talk the three of you had to have would be better suited to be held inside. And you were all well past the part where you would do small talk, but it still felt good to have both of your guys touching you.

The guys followed you into the flat and pulled of their shoes immediately and put them next to yours. You didn’t know what it was, but the sight of their shoes next to you was your breaking point. Suddenly you started to sob and two arms wrapped around you before you could even realize what was going on.

“We’re here. We’re okay,” Steve’s voice said into your ear and he mumbled promises and assured you that they were both back until you calmed down. You almost apologized, but then thought better of it. There was nothing that you needed to apologize for. Steve guided you towards your living room where your old couch stood. Bucky had already filled a glass with water and held it out to you while Steve dabbed your tears away with a tissue.

Suddenly there was knocking on your door. Bucky and Steve shared a glance that you missed, as you were wiping the last tears away with your hands when you stood up to open the door. It was kind of late, that meant it could only be one person. It was confirmed when you heard your name through the door.

“Hi Mrs. Hudson,” you greeted your landlady at the door.

“I heard some noises and wanted to make sure that you’re okay,” the little lady said but stopped when she saw your face. You knew that she wanted to ask, but was afraid to do so. There had been too many tears lately, but then her eyes grew wide when she looked behind you. “Your boys are back? Oh, this must be happy tears then.” She made a motion for them to come nearer, but when they took too long, she stepped around you and hugged first Bucky and then Steve. She didn’t comment on their appearances. “I’m happy you guys made it back! I tried to look out for your girl, but she’s a stubborn one. Oh, I forgot who I’m talking to – I'm getting old and I tend to forget things, but you both know her way better than I do. She helped a lot around here and I hope that I will see her smiling again soon.” She patted both of their hands. “I will let you alone now, I bet you have a lot to catch up on.”

Before she walked through the door she turned towards you again. “See I told you these two would come back to you. Not even a war can break a love like that.” Then she walked down the stairs and you stood at the door with your mouth wide open. A love like that?

“What’s with that expression?” Bucky asked and closed the door as you were still standing there. “Don’t tell me you only realized it now?” he laughed, but when you didn’t reply, he turned serious.

“This isn’t a talk we should have in the hallway,” Steve’s voice came from the background. And so you found yourself again on your couch with the two of them.

“This is a lot,” you finally said and closed your eyes for a second. “Where are you guys staying? They gave away your flat,” you patted Steve’s leg and stood up to disappear in your bedroom. Under your bed was a box that you took out. You tried to blew the dust of the cover but gave up soon. “I managed to sneak in and rescued a few things.” You placed the box on his lap and stared expectantly at him. Slowly he opened the lid. Inside were a few things: A small bottle with perfume, almost empty, but it still smelled like his mom, his mom's book with recipes, a sketchbook from him and a few pictures.

“I had to take them out of their frames because it got so heavy and I didn’t have as much time as I wish I had. But I thought it was important to save these,” you apologized. Slowly, Steve put the box between him and Bucky on the couch. He then got up, closed the gap between the two of you with one step, grabbed your shoulders and pressed his lips to yours.

“Steve,” you heard a complaint, but you didn’t really care. “Come on, we talked about this.”

Steve’s lips left yours and instead his forehead pressed against yours. “I love you,” he said without an ounce of a doubt.

“Now you’re throwing the whole plan away,” you heard Bucky and this time you didn’t ignore him.

“What plan?” you asked confused.

Bucky came closer and put his hand on your back and his other on Steve’s. “Oh, we had a plan how to tell you that we’re in love with you. We actually wanted to go easy on you and not kiss you without a warning,” he was looking at Steve now, who didn’t look guilty at all.

“You’ve already kissed her,” Steve retorted.

“Punk, we were nine and it didn’t even count. We were just jealous that you had your first kiss already and we didn’t.”

“And now you’re jealous, because I kissed her and you didn’t.”

“Guys!” you interrupted them. Both of them looked sheepishly at you. “You love me?”

“So much!” Bucky affirmed. “We just didn’t really realize what it was. We had time, so many long nights when we were away and we talked and asked ourselves why we were so blind. It has always been you and Stevie for me.”

“I always thought you would end up with Bucky. I didn’t think you’d want me, but now that I am healthy…I hope…,” Steve added.

“Steve Rogers, you stop there right now! You always had a chance, you donkey.” You could hear Bucky snicker. “In fact, I asked you to go on a date with me and you refused. Whatever this is,” you stepped away to point up and down his body, “doesn’t change who you are. I don’t care about your body, I care about the caring, stubborn human inside. You broke my heart when you left. Bucky had to go, but you had a chance to stay and you decided to leave me.” You stopped for a moment and looked at both of them. While you had stepped away from them, they had stayed close together with Bucky’s hand wrapped around the taller one’s back. “Did you... did you leave so you could look after Bucky? I can’t believe you’re doing it again! Every time you’re do something reckless, you give me a reason to not stay mad at you.”

“He wouldn’t be Steve, if he didn’t,” Bucky confirmed. He came closer. “Can I kiss you too?” He asked and you nodded. How could you not? Bucky’s kiss was softer, more like he treasured the moment, while Steve’s felt like he would burst if he didn’t get the contact he wanted. “I love you too, so much,” Bucky mumbled against your lips, not ready to lose the contact yet.

“And I love you,” you grabbed his face and stroked his cheeks with your thumbs.

“So, about where we’ll stay… We would have crashed at my mom’s place, but it’s already late. So maybe we could stay here?” You hit his chest, as you knew that was his plan all along.

“Hey careful,” he said and you stopped, afraid that you had hurt him. “There’s something important there.” He pulled out a photo. Bucky had told you that he had carried it everywhere and handed it to you. It was the photo you had taken on your last night together. While you smiled at the camera, Bucky looked at you full of love and Steve was looking at Bucky as if he had hung the moon.

“Yeah sure, it might be a bit tight, but you can stay here,” you said, your gaze not leaving the picture and missing the relieved look the both of them shared.

When Steve said your name, you finally looked up and saw the two of them holding each other while facing you. “We won’t leave you again, we promise,” he said and you placed the photo carefully on the table before joining them in their embrace. You could talk about everything else tomorrow, or the day after that, because now you were finally together again and you felt whole.

I actually enjoyed writing this so much! If you made it this far and liked it - it would make my day to see a reblog or small comment! <3

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#stucky x reader #Forget Me Not Campaign #stucky x you #stucky fanfic #stucky oneshot #40s fic #steve x bucky x reader #stucky #avengers fic #marvel x reader #steve x reader #bucky x reader

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aroaceleovaldez · 4 months

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i hope this doesn't sound like a silly or weird thing to send you, but i'm autistic and have long thought of nico and a handful of other riordanverse characters as autistic and i love your posts about why nico in particular seems intentionally autistic-coded. but i've been thinking, if rick did intend for any of his characters to be autistic, why wouldn't he say so outside of the text at least? i can't think of a good reason why not, when he goes out of his way to be explicit about so many other characters' various marginalized identities and has confirmed things like reyna being asexual outside of the original text. so it gives me this nagging sort of doubt that maybe rick just made nico come off as so extremely autistic coded by accident, somehow. if it wasn't an accident i do kind of wish he'd say so because there's next to zero explicitly stated autistic representation in, like, any media so it'd be nice to have here even if not strictly necessary. either way though, like i said, i love your posts and i agree with you 100% about autistic nico! some others i like to think are autistic are annabeth and leo.

(Most of this is gonna be kind of a tangential ramble to your point and i apologize in advance just bear with me)

This actually touches upon something I've been meaning to do a write-up on recently, which is: depending on the coding, that is our explicit statement. In most coding, actually, that's kind of the point. (Also something something Death of the Author.)

You may have noticed a recent trend across media of characters saying things directly rather than expressing them in a natural way, and often this includes incredibly stilted dialogue of characters explaining things in very politically correct, wikipedia-esque descriptions and terminology that make absolutely no sense for the characters' personalities or mannerisms. This is born out of the idea that if something is not stated in explicit terms, no amount of evidence below an outright direct exact statement will ever count - if two characters of the same gender have an explicit kiss and wedding on-screen, it doesn't matter because they never said the word "gay," etc etc.

In PJO, prior to more recent books, we get plenty of examples of characters explaining parts of their identities without direct statements. Percy never needs to say in outright terms that he has PTSD from Gabe - and it doesn't make sense that he would! He's 12! He's never been diagnosed for that. He probably doesn't even know what PTSD is really. But we, the audience, know without a doubt he has PTSD, because it is clearly expressed to us. That is coding. Tyson is coded as having down syndrome. Nico is coded as being autistic. It doesn't make sense for Nico to turn to the camera and explain that he's autistic and what that means, because he definitely never got diagnosed for it and probably doesn't know what that means cause the diagnosis literally did not exist when he was growing up - and heck, autism terminology was still kind of getting sorted out back in 2007 when TTC was published, so it's unlikely we could have feasibly gotten any exact terminology wink-wink-nudge-nudges short of something like how Percy outright mentions other students called Tyson the r-slur in Sea of Monsters. And in fact we see that same exact style of coding with Nico later on in the series. Nico never turns to the camera and says word-for-word "I am gay, I am mlm, here's me wearing my exact pride flags" (until TOA/TSATS, which... did the exact thing i mentioned about characters speaking like theyre trying to get a good grade in therapy, or giving a powerpoint presentation). But it is never unclear that HoO is telling us outright that Nico is gay. It's not just hinted at. It's there, in your face. But entirely because no one ever outright says "gay" specifically it's technically still only coding. We know he's gay, we know the characters have trauma/ptsd, etc etc. We don't need it spelled out - that's just kind of condescending. It's like if you said describing a character with "eyes like moss" means they were "green-eye coded."

Nico being autistic-coded isn't hidden. It's not a secret. It's very overt. If you know what autism looks like, well, yeah, there he is. Even if you only know very vague 2007 media presentation of autism, Nico in TTC is easily recognizable enough as autistic because that's the point. Tyson is easily recognizable as being coded as having down syndrome and it's very clearly very intentional! It's just never spoon-fed in exact terms to the reader because it's not necessary! You've already been told the information necessary to tell you what is up with this character, so just plainly going "oh they're [x] in exact terms" is very much telling-not-showing and feels redundant. And while there are places for that kind of thing, most of the time it's very unnecessary. Sometimes coding is subtle, sometimes it's obvious, and yeah there are times where writers code characters unintentionally, but the textual evidence is there, and that's the whole point.

And that's what Death of the Author is about - it doesn't matter what the author intended at the end of the day, because if it's in the text it's in the text. You can look at author intent to try and figure out what that text means, but the text is the text. A Separate Peace is a very classic example - author John Knowles denies there being homosexual subtext, and meanwhile one of the protagonists living in 1942 puts on a pink shirt while saying he doesn't mind of people think of him as gay. What the author says after the fact doesn't matter - if it's there, it's there. So Rick saying anything outside of the books is completely irrelevant. And Rick talks about this a lot - he actively tells people that his statements outside of the books are just his own thoughts, but what's in the books is what's in the books, and if the text supports it then that's all the evidence you need.

Nico specifically is a case where yeah, he's clearly autistic-coded. It's very obvious and very obviously intentional when he's younger, and as the books progress it remains a background trait of his but is still notable (except for when it gets forgotten in TOA/TSATS like everything else, including the adhd/dyslexia, but i digress). It's a clear pattern within the first few books that Rick is intentionally including. It doesn't make sense, especially for the year the book was published, for the reader to be directly told in explicit terminology that Nico is autistic, because the reader is already being told that Nico is autistic.

And yeah, Rick doesn't mention Nico being autistic-coded outside of the text, but he also doesn't mention Tyson being coded as having down syndrome. He also said one time that Percy doesn't have PTSD at all, which is very incorrect starting from book 1. Again, Death of the Author. Whatever Rick says outside of the books does not matter, because he already said it in the books. And there's plenty of other stuff in the books that Rick doesn't touch upon, particularly relating to character identity - did you know Leo is Native? Sammy mentions that the Valdez family is Native in Son of Neptune but we don't get any specifics and then it's like never brought up again anywhere. That happens all the time in the series - and outside of the series - Rick can't possibly address every single point to confirm/deny everything from the books. That's what analysis is for! And that's why my blog exists 👍

#pjo #riordanverse #nico di angelo #autistic nico #analysis #ask #Anonymous #long post //#tone indicator just to be sure cause i know i used a lot of italics: this is all non-agressive/not mad i prommy #im just very passionate about this topic (coding & fandom concepts surrounding ''canon'' + death of the author)#also controversial opinion cause i know some people have talked about wanting the use of the r-slur in SoM censored #but i think it should stay because. well. yeah no that was still very commonly used in 2006 #trust me i heard it a lot. i was there. in fact it was commonly used after that point. for awhile.#it wasnt until like a bit into the 2010s iirc that campaigns started to go ''hey maybe. dont use that word.''#like that was RECENT #and yeah! these books are not old! TLT is only just coming up on 20 years. thats not super old for a book!#and yeah! that term was considered a-okay terminology to be used in a middle grade book in 2006! which is startling to think now!#but that's also why it's important to not erase that #because otherwise you forget that up until very recently that word was considered Perfectly Acceptable #and in SoM it's even specifically acknowledged to be used in a hurtful way! Percy is actively condemning it!#like. dont put it in the show or whatever. obviously. replace it with a different indication/coding to explain Tyson's struggles #not that i think Disney would put the r-slur in their show. but like. dont erase it from the book??? from 2006??????#i am frightened to see how the show will handle tyson though. its not gonna go well i can feel it in my bones #anyways man i should post that excerpt from A Separate Peace though #just cause that scene has lived in my brain rent-free for years

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