#jfc if i see books that are very specifically about bi women and girls - like S P E C I F I C A L L Y

[lesbienneanarchiste]

I stg 90% of the time, people will ask for lesbian recs for things and y'all recommend stuff that features explicitly bi characters. If i wanted a general f/f rec i would say so. I want lesbians and so do people who ask for lesbian recs. Just say you dont read books about lesbians and move on.

[weaktoad]

Everyone strap in for the ride because, spoiler if you haven’t seen my latest post on instagram, I’m pissed. The post in question was written by pjo-hoo-toa-freakazoid about Percy being bisexual/biromantic (a very common head canon) but a few people in the comments got upset about this, arguing that he’s straight. From their point of view, he’s straight because he’s in a relationship with Annabeth.

First off, I want to point out that there is no canon statement in the books or by Rick himself that Percy is straight (if there is, I’ve missed it and someone can dm it to me, but I’m 99% about this). Therefore, any head canon about his sexuality is fair game, excluding gay because he’s dating Annabeth and has very clearly shown interest in girls. I will respect head canons about him being straight, but I will not stand for people shitting on head canons of him being part of the LGBTQIA+ community. I will say this time and time again: straight is not the default.

One of the main points for the argument that Percy is bi is that he has called a few men attractive, which shows a little bit of interest in them. Nowhere does he explicitly say that he wouldn’t date a man. Nowhere does he explicitly say that he would date a man. Which is why this is a head canon and it’s reasonable to speculate that he could be bi, pan, or any other sexuality as long as it includes attraction to women. Just because he is in a relationship with a girl doesn’t mean that he can’t be bi, that’s very plainly biphobia to say that he has to be straight. Someone can still be bi even if they’re dating the opposite sex and it wouldn’t mean that they’re gay if they were in a relationship with the same sex. This is common stigmatization against bi people and it’s disgusting.

As a counter argument, Percy’s sexuality was compared to Nico being gay which a different situation. They had said that if someone argued that Nico was straight or bi we would “have a fit.” Which is true but for different reasons. For one thing, Nico’s sexuality has been very specifically stated and canonized that he’s gay, both in the story and by Rick himself (an easy example is the popular “honey he gay” meme that Rick made on his Twitter). Nico has also expressed that he’s not attracted to women (his distaste to the idea that people thought he liked Annabeth). This argument is problematic (read: homophobic) because LGBTQIA+ have been hated on for not being cishet since forever and it keeps happening. That’s why we would “have a fit.” Because it hurts to see that when many of us have had that same hate thrown at ourselves for being part of the LGBTQIA+ community. Trying to say that this is the same level as having a head canon that Percy isn’t straight is the same is incredibly insensitive. Once again, I can respect someone’s head canon that Percy is straight. In return, I hope that you can respect our head canon that he’s bi. But you have to remember that he doesn’t have a canon sexuality.

However, since I’m writing this, it’s clear that people are having trouble respecting this head canon. The main thing that I want to point out is that if you’re annoyed at people finding comfort in the idea that Percy could be bi, you’re homophobic. There is no hate on straight people when using this head canon. In fact, if anyone were to hate on someone for having the head canon that Percy is straight, I would be just as mad. I will not condone any sort of behavior like this, especially on my page. I’m not here to spread hate, I’m here to share our love for the series and the characters, no matter what their sexuality is. Having that said, if you’re “tired” of seeing people speculate and have head canons that defies “the norm” (flashback to my instagram posts about Percy being BIPOC and the rant I made then jfc), then you’re the one who’s problematic, not us. Maybe we read into things to much, but we’re enjoying ourselves. What’s wrong with that? What’s wrong with trying to see ourselves in the stories we love? There’s such a lack of representation in media (especially decent ones) and when we see hints of it, of course we’re going to take it and run with it. We’re deprived of seeing ourselves as the main character and heroes, not just a background character that appears for .1 seconds that Disney can pay themselves on the back for adding.

On the other hand, it’s becoming easier for queer creators to create LGBTQI+ characters and we’re finally getting some representation. But because of this, homophobes are getting annoyed and saying things like “suddenly everyone is gay.” Like, no lol. Even if there were some piece of media that every character was queer, saying it’s unrealistic, that’s bullshit. You don’t get to say that when for decades we’ve had to sit through media where every person is straight. Where every relationship is only with the opposite sex. We’ve sat through it so obviously you should be able to do the same. When you say that we already have plenty of characters in the riordanverse that are part of the LGBTQIA+ community, we can easily feel the same way.

Another thing I want to bring attention to is the comment that Percy is straight because he doesn’t say that he’s straight. AKA he doesn’t have to say it because straight people don’t have to announce their sexuality. Because it’s assumed to be the default. So here we go again: straight is not the default. One of our goals in the LGBTQIA+ is to make sure that’s known, because coming out is one of the hardest things we’ll ever experience, something that some of us don’t want to experience. Let me offer you this thought: bi or pan should be the default. Why? Let’s use food as an example: on the table in front of you, there’s a cake and a pie. Some people would rather have the former, some would rather the latter, some don’t care, some like neither, some like both, or maybe they like both but have a preference on which they’ll eat. However, maybe you’ve never had either before. You don’t know if you’ll like it or not unless you try it. Or, maybe you’ve never had cake but you don’t care for it because you like pie too much to not choose it. But if you’ve never had it, it’s unfair to assume that you only like cake because it’s the most common thing. Maybe the people who like pie aren’t speaking up because they’re yelled at for liking it and not liking cake or liking both. It’s the same with sexuality. It’s easier to start off with weighing all your options before you start to cross them off.

No one in the riordanverse is “obviously straight” in canon. There are few characters in the riordanverse that exclusively like the same sex in canon. We are allowed to have head canons. Be respectful.

This was something I especially didn’t want to see during pride month but of course I can’t live my life without seeing hate on the LGBTQIA+ community. If you’re straight, you’re able to avoid the hate that we rarely live without. This is why we have pride month. This is why we have pride month. This is why we have pride month.

That said, happy pride month! I give all my love to everyone and I hope you know you’re valid. Bi people, I hope you know this especially. Biphobia is rampant even in the LGBTQIA+ community, please stay safe, lovelies. Love yourself and love loving other people. I will do my best to create a safe community and promote kindness. After all, that’s why I made this account, to share the love we have for the Percy Jackson series and make everyone smile.