evermoreblog

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something I’ve noticed as I reread Percy Jackson and The Olympians is that in every interaction Percy has with his father, Poseidon actually does tell Percy he’s proud of him. I never paid much mind to those conversations as a younger reader- too entranced by the monsters and the half bloods themselves- but I think they’re actually really important to Percy’s character and his belief in the Gods. Those brief snippets of recognition from Poseidon are probably one of the most important factors in the way the prophecy plays out in the final book and I just think it’s interesting that I barely remembered them.

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"Poseidon was suddenly besties with Percy-"

NO. No. No no no. Are we reading the same books?!? Their relationship was clearly a slow build. Where are you getting this?

In tlt they started out curious and hesitant towards each other. They didn't really know what to make of each other - but Poseidon was still proud of this child and Percy was pleased with that.

In SoM they don't meet but they connect with each other through other people. Tyson, who Poseidon sent to protect Percy. Hermes, who Poseidon sent to help Percy realize that Poseidon has been paying attention and helping him out behind the scenes - as much as he can without breaking any laws.

In ttc Percy internally complains about how it's been far too long since he spoke to Poseidon, and Poseidon instantly makes him a fountain + gives him drachma to make calls. And at the end, Poseidon puts himself on the line and embarasses himself to vouch for Percy's friend (fated to destroy Olympus) and for Percy's life. He never even let it come to a vote for Percy's life - he shut that down before it even came up before the council, before Percy could see it.

In bolt Poseidon visits Percy on his bday, and Percy confides his fears/worries to Poseidon. Which is huge, because the only other person Percy has confided in is his mother - he never does with Annabeth or Grover or anyone else. Poseidon makes sure that Percy knows that Poseidon is proud of him and that Percy is important to him by telling him he's the favorite.

In tlo, Poseidon heals Percy's injuries (implied), takes time out of the war to comfort Percy about the death of his close friend (while hundreds of Poseidon's ppl are dying/fighting for their lives). He abandons his kingdom and puts all his hope and effort into Percy's plan. He invites Percy into living with him in Atlantis as a god. He hugs Percy - and it's the only moment that Percy feels safe in the entire book. Maybe even the entire series.

If you really look, this is a slow burn. Sure, there's jumps between all the books, but it's never 0 to 100. He starts slow in tlt, ramps it up in SoM, puts himself on the line in ttc, makes sure Percy knows Poseidon cares and is proud of him in botl and straight up opens up the potential for having a close father-son relationship, without their different species (demigod vs god) and Zeus's laws getting in the way.

It's a slow build. And that's the reason why it's one of my favorite parts of the PJO books.

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Every time Percy and Poseidon meet in PJO, Poseidon finds a way to compliment Percy and let him know that Poseidon is proud of him.

In the lightning thief, Poseidon tells Percy that he's a true son of the sea and that he's proud of him.

In the titans curse, one of the first things Poseidon says to Percy after the council meeting (where he put himself on the line and vouched for Percy) is you've done well.

In the battle of the labyrinth, I don't remember if Poseidon explicitly says he's proud/Percy did well, but he does say that Percy is his favorite son. Which is huge in Percy's POV - he calls it the greatest bday gift ever.

In the last olympian, Poseidon hugs Percy in front of the entire Olympian council, his cyclops army and the demigods and tells Percy that he's the greatest hero.

Which makes HoO so jarring - Poseidon doesn't show up to talk to Percy even once? He doesn't send messengers like he did in the lightning thief and sea of monsters when he couldn't go in person. He doesn't ask if Percy's okay after Tartarus, not like he did after Percy nearly got himself blown up in the volcano in battle of the labyrinth. He doesn't tell Percy he did well, or even say a single word to him. It's completely out of character for Poseidon. Rick Riodan has no excuse imo. It's inconsistent writing and character assassination. I will never forgive him for it.

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a lot of percabeth/annabeth stans will say shit like "well if I was Percy and my SO hit me like Annabeth does I'd be fine" and that's great!! you're not scared of your SO!! Percy is!! that's the whole fucking point!!!

You haven't written MULTIPLE books from your POV where you say shit like "and I was scared Annabeth would hit/punch/judo flip me," Percy has!!!

the thing is. if Percy didn't say that he was scared of her, or expected violence AND had a physically abusive step father who threatened to beat him into unconsciousness, the level of physicality between Percy and Annabeth would probably be fine??

but that's not the case. there are multiple books, multiple series spanning many years of Percy's life where he says that he's scared of Annabeth, and even quotes from Annabeth explicitly saying that SHE LIKES THAT HE'S ANXIOUS around her. because of her. THAT is why they're fucking toxic as hell.

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"ppl in this fandom overreact when someone so much as breathes on Percy-"

I'm sorry, my favourite 16/17 year old has been tortured half to death TWICE in the last 12 months, and no one, not a single character protected him, checked in with him emotionally afterward or provided any type of medical aid. no one. instead he's blamed to defending himself in the only possible way he could've, and HIS TORMENTORS are comforted right in front of him, BY HIS LOVED ONES.

yeah I think this calls for a bit of an extreme reaction, don't you think?

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Mal's real lucky that Ben found the whole "giving me a cookie you spiked with a love potion" thing, cute.

Because otherwise this would've been a very different movie.

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Okay so another thing about Mal that pisses me off to no end is when she says to Ben “It’s been so hard for me” right after she tries to take away his memories. Seriously what was that? Especially considering how literally no one told her to change. Like obviously the press was going to follow her around and stuff but NO ONE TOLD HER SHE HAD TO CHANGE!! She wanted to “fit in.” We also never see this with Carlos, Evie, and Jay even though they are friends of Ben and are quite famous so the press would be all over them too. Like yeah they’re going to be different because they come from the Isle but also no one was pressuring them to fit in. This was literally all Mal who wanted to change and I think she even said that (I may be wrong I haven’t seen that movie in a while). Ben is being so understanding and is even trying to help her but instead she just throws this line. It makes me so uncomfortable especially because they want us to believe that this was Ben’s fault even though this was all Mal’s fault.

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Every time I get reminded that Piper didn't think Percy was all that, I wonder. Is it because she thought Jason was the ideal man? And nobody could top that? Or was it because Annabeth talked bad about Percy, so Piper thought he was a dumbass and not all that.

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percy hating himself for wanting to blow up at grover is so funny. i think he should’ve blown up. i think he should get to blow up at everyone without consequence. this man has to deal with so much shit from the mythical world like monthly while he’s trying to live a normal life but the narrative keeps going “nope theres no point at getting mad actually.” he would not have taken the “they dont wanna take in a big 3 kid” thing lying down because fuck knows hes almost died for cj and new rome to keep existing at all. i think he shouldve stormed the nru admissions office and remorselessly threatened them at waterpoint until they admitted him. original series percy wouldnt have thought twice about it because original series percy never got anywhere by being nice and rational.

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one thing abt thalia and percy's dynamic that is often overlooked is that percy was punished for the same things thalia was rewarded for. there's a prophecy abt one of the big three kids? percy is treated like a liar and thief and ppl refuse to talk to him. thalia? everyone respects her (including gods!) and assumes she'll do a great job saving the world. thalia is accepted immediately at camp and threatens the place percy spent two years proving he deserves. percy wants to go on a quest to save his friend? he's an attention seeker and glory stealer. thalia? well, she's the obvious choice. thalia comes up w a plan to win capture the flag that's basically "leave everything to me" and percy comes up with a plan that's basically "if you see a good opportunity, go for it," but percy is viewed as the control freak.

what i'm saying is percy had every reason to resent thalia and he didn't. he chose not to. and thalia had every reason to look down on percy and didn't.

even when they were fighting, i never saw it as a power struggle. they were being pit against each other, and instead of doing what everyone expected them to (kronos was fully expecting thalia to kill percy), they chose to love and respect each other. because they're not their parents. they're just two kids who started cracking under the pressure but refused to break.

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If I screenshot every part of Ella that stands out to me I'd have HarperCollins suing me so to sum up Chapter One:

Gail absolutely nails writing Ella as a five year old, nine year old. Ella's delight in her birthday, her feeling special about having a fairy curse and then realizing how people can abuse it.

The fact that Ella didn't realize she had this "curse" until she was five!! That means Eleanor and Mandy (who does end up having a hard time not giving Ella "for your own good" commands) were parenting a preschooler without giving her direct commands!! They were consistently giving her choices!! While they probably did give her some commands (just spend five minutes with a two-year-old and you can see no commands would be impossible) the fact is that Ella didn't realize she was cursed until Mandy slipped up when she was five, so all commands were necessary to keep her safe and never to take away her choice.

The description of Ella eating slice after slice of cake and getting uncomfortably fuller and sicker with each bite is so visceral I feel my own stomach get bloated and pained every time I read it.

"If you commanded me to cut off my own head, I'd have to do it." You know this got the attention of every 10-year-old reading it. Stupid publisher. Also, yo, what high stakes here!

"I didn't know who my fairy godmother was." MANDY!!!

"Instead of making me docile, Lucinda's curse made a rebel of me. Or perhaps I was that way naturally." I've written about this before, but Ella doesn't give her mother the credit she deserves. Having this curse from birth means she could have been molded into a perfect little child. And we know from later on that Ella is far from the first child Lucinda gave this curse to. And I imagine that while the other parents were horrified and protective, they had to of used the curse to their advantage--and realistically, to different degrees of abuse. But Eleanor not only refuses to give commands to Ella, she eggs on the feud between Ella and Mandy! She is preparing her daughter as best she can to live in the world with this curse by using her wits. Mother of all time.

Ella and her mother sliding down the bannister, Ella so wanting to be like her, graceful but also fun! This book has Ella learning to develop into the woman her mother was and getting a happier ending.

Ella caring for her mother is so precious. Eleanor enjoying Ella's stories and encouraging her humor. Guh. I love that Eleanor isn't "elegant dead mother" but even in this one chapter is a full person. She's smart, funny, playful, regal, adoring of her daughter. I love her so much.

Ella's father. So absent, he doesn't know about the curse. Wasn't there for her birth. And so repulsive that Eleanor asks Mandy not to send for him when she's sick.

The candle grove as a nod to the hazel tree in some versions of the traditional Cinderella (including Grimms) where Cinderella makes a wish. Of course, Ella's in this case doesn't come true. :(

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I’m SORRY hugh dancy your character is a sweetheart BUT I hate what they did to my darling Char. Prince Charmont of Frell. a guy who comforted a weeping girl at her mother’s funeral even though he didn’t have to. a guy who bought her a centaur bc they had a sweet conversation about them one time. a guy who was so impressed and delighted by how clever and brave and funny Ella was at every turn. a guy who was able to capture a cohort of ogres BECAUSE of how ella managed to get them defenseless and asleep. a guy who admired her so much and wrote her so many letters and sent them all to Ella via the cook (Mandy) so it wouldn’t garner the interest of her step family. a guy who fell in love with Ella through almost a year’s worth of letters to each other, through her humor and her wit and her kindness and her insight and her cleverness. a guy who didn’t have any suspicions about her curse because he rarely ever ordered her to do anything despite being a prince. a guy who was up front about his own failings (loyal to a fault, difficulty forgiving after a betrayal) and loved Ella because of her flaws not in spite of them. that’s MY prince charmont.

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Klelijah shoulder touches throughout the ages.

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Lilo & Stitch is a great example of a story that has no villains. It has antagonists, sure, but most of them are well-meaning. The worst person in the film is that little shit Myrtle, but she’s not in the film that much anyway.

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Elijah Mikaelson's hands. That's it that's the post.

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one thing about the mikaelsons is that they don’t play about their love interests like yes family above all but they’re still completely obsessive and insane about the people they’re in love with and i think it’s beautiful <3