xgaster holy shit xgaster please ao3 authors i beg of you stop making him a predator HE DONT EVEN HAVE A DICK PELASEEE

am i trashing rick riordan?

the answer is maybe.

look, I’ve read just about all of Riordan’s old stuff. haven’t read Trials of Apollo or anything after the second Magnus Chase but I don’t need nor want to. he’s great. love the diversity and the cute jokes and the approach to growing up in a completely fantastical world that kids enjoy reading about.

but hOLY SHIT IF YOURE OVER THE AGE OF FIFTEEN STOP WORSHIPPING THESE GODDAMN BOOKS.

I kind of understand where the majority of the fandom is coming from. hey, they were part of my childhood too. I looked up to Annabeth and Sadie and Alex alongside everyone else. I got my first taste of the lgbtq+ community in House of Hades. they’re a part of me too.

but if I see one more fan account with childish text posts worshipping the fictional ground that Leo and Nico walk on, I think I’m gonna throw up.

unpopular opinion — Leo is annoying.

he’s not that great. oh my goddddd his mom dieddddd he never knew his fatherrrr he’s been through sooooo muchhhhh he’s so pureeeeee.

fuck off.

I kind of understand wanting to stay in this world. it’s an escape. it’s a way to make the world around us make a little more sense. but ITS TIME TO MOVE ON. we are morally mature now. we have learned all that we can from that universe. not that riordan is a bad writer, but he writes for KIDS. I genuinely don’t understand how y’all can still sit through that. the writing isn’t technically immature, but again, it’s meant for KIDS. the next generation of little humans who suffer from bigoted opinions thrown their way are next. that’s who riordan is writing for. he’s NOT WRITING FOR US ANYMORE.

we’re adults. it’s time to grow up. it’s time to recognize that we need to make way for the kids who don’t know what we know. we need to stop putting out content that warps riordan’s original message because that affects how the next ones read these books. I agree that there are so many important lessons in these books, but the content that I see that ADULTS, LITERAL ADULTS are producing is ruining the experience for the kids who are young enough to keep following riordan for a little longer.

y’all worship these characters and present them either in a light where they can do no wrong or all the wrong. that’s not how riordan wrote them. every single character has flaws. every single child in the future who reads these books should be able to view those flaws without the glass you stick in front of them that glorifies those flaws. because that’s what y’all are doing — glorifying flaws. the characters in these books overcome their flaws when it is needed, but that doesn’t make them go away. I know the comment I’ll get next — bUt tHeYre aBOuT ceLEbraTIng fLaWS. sure, they are, in a way. but flaws in characters are SUPPOSED TO BE DEBILITATING. that’s the whole point of character flaws. the syndrome y’all suffer from is that of God-Character Complex, which I just made up. in the most unironic of senses, none of the characters are gods, and y’all seem to think they are.

so I guess I’m not hating on riordan at all. just the fandom. wanna argue? go for it. I’m definitely smarter than you, and you will lose, but go for it anyway. I like a challenge.