#more rick riordan critical but

[rosabell14]

The fact that in house of hades Annabeth is like "Nooo Percy 😭 what you did wasn't good some powers should never be used like that 😰" and then the narrative actively decides to prove her wrong in Blood of Olympus? By having Percy listen to Annabeth's ideology and nearly get killed for it in his fight against Polybotes? He doesn't use his control over poison and nearly dies from it. Had Jason not convinced Kymopoleia to help them, Percy would have died. Listening to Annabeth would have killed Percy.

(and then Percy says that he deserved to die for what happened to Akhlys and Jason is like mood bro and it's never brought up again 😑)

And THEN, in the same damn book Nico literally turns Bryce Lawrence into a ghost and Reyna who has trauma associated with ghosts goes: yeah it was scary and reminded me of my dead abusive dad, but Nico we all have darkness inside of us and we should get to release it. Plus you saved us soooo ☺️

[autism-alley]

look obviously i don’t know the guy but i feel like 2009 rick riordan would fist fight 2024 rick riordan

[aetsiv]

What do you think about Percabeth or Perachel?

hi, thanks for the ask!

i personally prefer perachel over percabeth. my main reasoning for this isn't that i absolutely despise percabeth, i in fact think there was a lot of good potential in the ship and richard just messed all up. i could get by some of annabeth's treatment to percy in the early books since they were still rather young but i feel she just didn't mature that much throughout and kept calling stupid and what not and generally not showing much appreciation to him.

once again, i don't believe annabeth to be a bad character but instead a product of riordan's shitty writing for female characters. i honestly won't even get into the whole judo flip scene and everything percabeth had going in hoo because there were so many problems with it-- if you want to see anything relating to problems on hoo relating to percabeth, I'd recommend checking the "anti percabeth" or "hoo crit" tags as there are tons of posts relating to that. the most i'll say about percabeth on hoo is that i feel like annabeth generally got somewhat more abusive and possessive, starting treating percy even more so like he's stupid, percy's character was for the most part reduced to him being annabeth's boyfriend.

like i already mentioned, i much prefer perachel. i mainly enjoy it because rachel and percy's relationship both platonic and romantic is so healthy. percy enjoys being around rachel and feels like he can relax around her, doesn't have to worry all the time about what she'll think if he says or does something. rachel sees percy's intelligence and doesn't constantly berate him for small things, shares things in common with him (unlike annabeth and percy mainly only bonding over being demigods), and sees him as more than a demigod. they also have a well developed friendship and have actual bonding time unlike percabeth who only bond when they're forced to go on quests (i.e. them going to the beach).

i don't have anything against percabeth shippers (unless you think the judo flip was cute and romantic) and i think people should be able to ship whoever they want since it doesn't affect anyone else. i'm really sorry if this is a bit incoherent or has mistakes in grammer and sentence structure, i'm pretty tired right now so i'm not exactly thinking straight.

[counting-stars-gayly]

Lord, give me strength. The PJO discourse has begun, and no one starting it has read the books in the last five years.

[zazzander]

Octavian: *being the piggy in the middle between four (maybe even five or six) immortal deities all using him to achieve their goals*

Riordan: as you can see, he's clearly a bad egg and everything horrible that ever happens in the next however many books is all his fault

[witchhazelevesque]

Frank and Piper were done so dirty in Blood of Olympus.

Frank’s journey of bringing the family full circle by returning to Pylos was built to be a major element of his and his family’s story in Son of Neptune, and was foreshadowed and set up during his rise to praetor in the House of Hades. But in the final book, it happens:

Off screen

In Piper’s PoV

Isn’t even the main focus of a single chapter

Isn’t even the focus of six pages

Literally, Piper and Frank are in Pylos for only six pages. Only three of those pages are about Frank’s visit with his family or how he feels about it. To add insult to injury, Piper’s main conflict of the novel is introduced here too! She had a conversation with Aphrodite about the integral role she would play in defeating Gaea. Cool. Only:

It happens off screen

It’s not the main focus of the chapter

It had much more weight on the entire plot of the book than Frank’s story line but it still isn’t given the proper time

God, it’s like RR thought to himself, ‘hey, let’s kill two birds with one very ineffective stone and not think anymore about it!’

Like, just say you don’t care about Frank and Piper and go.

[tleeaves]

The art is lovely and now I'm gonna ramble because that's what I do when I care about something.

For the love of women, please PLEASE can fan artists remember to add muscle to their Shadowhunter ladies? I'll commend Bowater for cleverly giving James that sculpted and lean look without making him a beefcake (nothing against beefcakes, I'd love to hug them), but Cordelia is once again suffering from Arms And Shoulders Too Slender It's Hard To Even Imagine Her Picking Up A Sword. There is some there, yes, but artists shouldn't be afraid of giving particularly Female Main Characters weight and toned muscle. Cordelia is supposed to be nearly the same height as James as far as I can remember, and she's curvy, and full, and she wields a sword like it's second nature to her. Please explain why she looks so tiny in James' lap.

Also I'm pretty sure marriage runes are supposed to go over the heart whenever possible (thinking about Will's parabatai rune being over his heart instead -- he didn't get Tessa to draw over the scar, did he??) and... either I'm looking at the picture wrong or James' rune is not over where his heart should be.

For the matter, where are their other runes and scars?? James' Voyance rune isn't even on his hand. And I'm pretty sure he's right handed. I could have that wrong though.

Another thing: no one can ever decide what Cordelia's hair looks like and it's the funniest thing to me. This is what happens when all you do is vaguely say the colour is like fire but also like rose petals but also a flowing river of those things but also is Red (probably for redhead, but then from there I never understand where the rose petal analogy comes from considering the typical rose is a deep bloody colour -- I do acknowledge the existence of those light orange varieties though which might more closely resemble red hair). In the end, I'm glad readers can infer what they want and imagine the characters how they like.

Anyone else think James looks like he's built like a tennis player? Oddly specific, maybe, but it was a thought I had. Mostly the arms and somewhat narrow body.

James' hair is nice, his eyes are an interesting take on gold in the shadows. Bowater managed to also make him look closely related to his father, so bravo for that.

In the end, the focus is obviously on the marriage runes and not other physical aspects outside of it being clear that this is James and Cordelia. Bowater's style is very beautiful and elegant. Love the way fabric and lighting is done too. I'll add also that it is possible to be a smaller person who is slender but still strong so I mean Cordelia's not necessarily done wrong, I just interpret her appearance differently. Obviously, they're both hot and they're both attractive and I have my qualms with the series, chronicles, and author -- the fandom I am so-so on, though I'm still here, aren't I? And I'm taking the time to ramble about my thoughts on a piece of fanart -- but this is good. Gorgeous, even. Both James and Cordelia are beautiful.

[theloneliestblackgirlblog]

tbh it’s not the renewing of PJOtv for season 2 that is impossible I think that people should be concerned for any season past that.

1. Tv show cancellations are frequent and getting worse post strike. Even though Percy Jackson pulled in good numbers who’s to say Disney won’t just pull the plug. Networks aren’t really allowing shows to build a base and Percy Jackson is largely relying on fan base support, which leads me to…

2. Fans are overtly critical even now, the season isn’t even over yet and we have a lot of complains.

3. It’s very clear that ever since casting was announced a lot of fans were not going to like the show. You may think I’m talking about the overt haters, I’m not. I’m talking about the ones who tune in every week yet only leave with criticisms.

4. People who like to pretend that they weren’t trashing the movies when they came out now all of a sudden are just filled with praise for the film.

I’m not saying this to be a negative Nancy or say that people don’t have valid criticisms, I’m saying this to say that I kinda think wonder if this show is going to go past a season 3.

THIS ISN’T A SPACE TO HATE ON ANY OF THE CAST AND CREW BTW. I WILL BLOCK IF YOU DO.

[festus-eats-tabasco]

*guy afraid of change trying to be normal about change voice* the percy jackson fandom will never be the same after this and that’s ok. you’ll never be able to see the books and the characters quite the same again and that’s ok. there is no reason to be sad. there is no reason to mourn the familiar when this change is so wonderful!!!!!!

[wanderingmind867]

The Greek Afterlife:

Elysium: A Gated Community for "morally righteous" people.

Isles of the Blessed: The gated community within the gated community. I bet it's snobby there.

Fields of Asphodel: Wheat Fields like Kansas or Saskatchewan. The wild fields of the prairies.

Fields of Punishment: Pretty much just Hell.

You know of all these options, I actually like Asphodel the most. I'd still prefer my own interpretation of the afterlife, but Asphodel is better than Elysium (Which is clearly just a snobby gated community) or the Fields of Punishment (which is inhumane and should be abolished). This is my exact problem with the Greek Afterlife. And I give props to Rick Riordan for presenting it faithfully, but it also sucks so much I wish he had changed it. I really do.

[softmoonlightmelody]

My Problems with HOO

Yes, this is a particularly long post, and mostly for the rant.

The complaints are mostly about Percabeth, Frazel, Nico's coming out, Caleo, and a little bit of extra things like Rachel and Grover.

First things first - Percabeth. I hated it in HOO. Honestly, it felt that if you made it the Six instead of the Seven it would've worked fine, because no one could tell the difference between Percy and Annabeth anyway. I really wish they were allowed to grow and be their own characters. I honestly preferred scenes without Percy for Annabeth's character. Percy felt flat to me. Also, I hated the judo flip and the continued use of 'Seaweed Brain' and 'Wise Girl'. Both nicknames feel immature to me, and Percy is smart. He shouldn't be constantly told by someone who should 100% be on his side about most things that he is dumb.

Frazel age gap? How about no. Including the entire love triangle with Leo. Personally, I love Frazeleo, but only if the age gap is fixed and/or they get together when they are all over twenty years of age. If I wrote HOO, Hazel would've been fifteen.

Nico's coming out sucks. Period. Reading back on it, I cannot believe it was approved for publishing. First off, it's hugely triggering and really terrible to be outed to someone you aren't close to. Jason and Nico are not close, and I don't exactly feel like they'd ever be super close. Jason is, as stated by Reyna in the books, an 'all-American boy' and he's very straight in most interpretations of the books (although not in my own, but that doesn't matter). He's literally the last person I would ever consider coming out to. Logically, we all know Jason isn't really homophobic, but he is a personification of the ideal blonde-haired, blue-eyed Anglo Saxon, and that creates a lot of hesitancy. It's stereotyping, but it is very true for a lot of people. I would've preferred Nico come out, on his own terms, to Hazel, his sister. Hazel's not the ideal blueprint for homophobic, not like how Jason is, and Hazel is really close to Nico.

Caleo. I can never state how much I hate Caleo. On paper, I like it. It's really cute and I like that kind of thing. But in practice, oh my gosh. I hate it. For one, neither Leo nor Calypso gets a satisfying arc if they end up together. Because Leo is struggling with a seventh-wheel, and he needs to accept himself as enough without a partner. Likewise, Calypso always feels left behind. She needs to realize she doesn't need a partner to be fulfilled in life. Rick really disappointed me with both Leo and Calypso, due to their incredibly unnecessary romance. I mean, I get why Rick liked them together, but they definitely didn't need to be.

Lastly, little things. I loved Coach Hedge, but I would've vastly preferred it if he was replaced with Grover. Rachel was underappreciated, she could've provided real insight to the Seven. Plus, she's great friends with Percy.

In conclusion, HOO is a pretty good series, but it has many glaring flaws such as Percy and Annabeth's fusion, the Frazel age gap, Nico's coming out, Caleo, and smaller things like Grover and Rachel. No book is perfect, and that is all the more evident in series like Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan.

[oversandalyzer]

Having read Secret Project 3, I started thinking about why SP3 works so well while The Burning Maze felt off.

The reason Yumis ending works so well is that her arc was about learning to live for herself. Had she died, her arc would have been unsatisfying bc she would have started and ended in the same place, sacrificing herself for everyone else. Her arc starts with her sacrificing everything for others. Her arc ends with her choosing to live for herself.

When it comes to Jason's death, it felt more like Yumi's fate ending with her noble sacrifice. He starts off a soldier. Sure, he tries exploring who he is for a bit (through the lens of greek or roman), but post break up, he falls about and falls back on being a soldier. He dies as a soldier fighting for what is right. He is remembered as a hero.

Sure, Jason fought fights, but the one that mattered to him was ignored. No one cares about his struggle to find himself. No one cares about the person underneath the mask. If they do, they don't get any screen time to mourn him properly. Jason is turned into a martyr for that which he tried to avoid and leave. The tragedy isn't that he died. It is never that he never got to live. For me, that's the most unsatisfying part of it all. Even to his author, his self exploration was something easily dismissed. No one mourned who he could be. They had to mourn the only role he was allowed to take.

While his death is a pivotal moment in the series. While Apollo's grief is tangible. It still feels like it misses the mark in terms of what the real tragedy was and thus fails to make it a fulfilling character end.

[dovedrangeas]

someone: jkr is horrible-

me: yeah, i completely agree with you there

someone: -which is why you should stan uncle rick rick riordan instead :)

me:

[agnimybeloved]

the tonal whiplash between “the sun and the star” and “a nico di angelo adventure 😋” is kind of insufferable... it just sounds so goofy for lack of a better word. like the least nico di angelo thing you could do to a title. but also i think its really funny for that reason like i don’t know what the necessity is for that additional tagline but i’m glad rick riordan continues to not take nico completely seriously LOL 

[c3dricsluv]

"I gave up on the percy jackson series" stfu.

Uncle Rick worked hard on a production that represented everything he originally stood for: his son.

He did not create this world for us, he did not create these characters FOR US. This was his way of helping his son. He made this world, the books, the show, for his son. Not us.

All Uncle Rick ever has been is an amazing father and an amazing writer.

"The casting and show didn't meet my personal preferences" then stop fucking watching. It's not for you. The entire reason this world exists is because a father loved his son so much that he felt he deserved more than just what he loved, but deserved something entirely new created for him.

I'm so sick of people acting as if the riordanverse should meet up to their personal standards. In uncle Rick's eyes, the series is already as perfect as it could possibly get. He is the reason for all the changes, because not only is he trying to make a remake to represent everything it was originally created for, but he's also trying to accommodate for the current media and viewers out there. He is doing everything in his power to make this a good thing, and yet every week there is a new article with the title "Rick Riordan faces criticism on new Percy Jackson Episode". Like did he put all that fucking work in for nothing?! You guys have been begging for an accurate adaption for years, you finally get one, and all you do is scrutinise it? It's just so fucking stupid.

Okay, rant over now, goodnight.

[autism-alley]

hi originally posted this at the end of a long thread of back and forth, here’s the og post if you want full context but i feel like this needs to be its own post especially bc i keep seeing this argument being made—the argument that the kids (in this case it was annabeth) SHOULD just know the monsters are monsters and who they are and how to defeat them before ever encountering them, that it’s a problem if they don’t.

the problem is not if 12 year olds should recognize a trap when they see one, even if they’re smart 12 year olds, and if that’s realistic. that is entirely beside the point.

the problem is rick riordan wrote a book series whose formula is bringing myths to the modern age and he’s not sticking true to that in the show—percy jackson and the olympians’ Shtick is taking these classic, ancient threats and giving them a new face. these traps work because these kids are not walking into a cave marked with Get Out and getting ambushed by monsters—the monsters are disguised as harmless mortal human beings, in harmless mortal human being places (for the most part) and i think we—and more importantly, the show—are all forgetting the mist, the magic involved here. it’s not just that medusa is a “creepy lady with her eyes covered” it’s that there is ancient magic at work here, magic that, like the systems of abuse pjo exists to criticize, has been evolving and continuing its malevolence for millennia. it’s formulaic, that’s the point. it’s the same trap you’ve learned about all your childhood, the same trap a thousand children before you learned all their childhoods, and still, it works. you fall into the trap. because that’s how generational abuse works. it’s a trap. it isn’t enough to learn monsters exist, what they look like from a second hand story that originated thousands of years ago. if you want to escape alive, you have to adapt as quickly as they do, recognize their face, and ultimately, beyond any individual trap, the game itself has to change. real, generational change.

so. the problem is rick riordan wrote a series with a formula for action that perfectly captures the overarching, systemic conflicts he was commentating on, and then threw that formula out in the show because it was “unrealistic”. i don’t give a damn about realism when it works to the detriment of the story. this is a story about generational abuse, yes, but it’s told through ‘a tale as old as time’ and that’s why it works so fucking well. and when it comes to basic storytelling, if your characters know the threat before they even walk in and you do practically nothing to then make up for the stakes you have removed, that’s a flaw. now you’ve lost the entertainment value for your audience, on top of also lessening your themes.

something else that is so. honestly soul-crushing as a writer and a creative, is that to me this is reflective of the way we are now afraid to tell earnest stories. stories where we care not for listening to the people who want to pick apart fictional, mythical, fantasy stories for not being “realistic” instead of aligning with our target audience who acknowledges reality is not what makes a story. think of your favorite movie, show, book, comic, what have you—has the reason for your favoritism ever been because it is the most reasonable, the most grounded, the most practical out of any you’ve seen? or is it because of the emotion? the way it speaks to you, to your life and the person you are? the journey it takes you on? is the percy jackson and the olympians book series so good because it’s inherently realistic?

the secret to storytelling is, very simply, focus on your story. everything else is secondary. if it’s written well, it doesn’t matter to me that the characters walk into a trap that, to the audience, is obviously a trap. because i can understand how the characters don’t know it, and how the story falls apart if the narrative just tells the characters it’s a trap from the jump. that’s what dramatic irony is—first used in greek tragedies! this is literally a tale as old as time in every sense except for the end—where it’s happy. and it’s not earned if we don’t first see, over and over, the status quo as a tragic trap.

it’s not about if annabeth (or the other kids) is “smart enough” to not walk into a trap, or about if she’s just too prideful to not walk into what she knows is a trap (or any reason that could apply to the other characters), it’s that annabeth, at the end of the day, is a character. she is a storytelling tool for the messages of the narrative. that doesn’t make her any lesser. in fact ignoring it reduces her, because it reduces what she represents. it’s about how rick riordan, or whoever else at disney, has fumbled the storytelling bag so ridiculously hard that they can’t take the simple, effective formula outlined from start to finish (by good ol 2009 rick himself) and adapt it to the screen without answering the most unimportant, derailing, anti-story questions.