#wellyboot

[chalkrub]

son we celebrate wellyboot wfriday in this household

[perseas-wellyboots]

The Luke Castellan problem in PJO books and Fandom

I just finished rereading the pjo series for the dozenth time and I have so many thoughts about Luke and how the fandom woobified him.

Like no Luke did not have the right idea and executed it in the wrong way. He wasn't a misguided victim, although there is no doubt Kronos manipulated him. But him being manipulated does not absolve him of his wrongdoings. Hurt people can still hurt people, you can be abused and still become an abuser.

Most of Fandom's idea of Luke being a 'hero' because he did the right thing in the end is extremely doozy like ok he killed himself to stop Kronos but that does not absolve him the blame of killing innocent people.

While Luke's main goal was the destruction of Gods, that was not because he wanted the demigods to have better lives. He actively killed demigods.

In the Sea of Monsters, when Percy, Annabeth and Tyson snuck into Princess Andromeda; they saw 12 year olds being trained how to kill a 'dummy in camp half blood tshirts'. He was actively exploiting children and manipulating them into killing other children and saw nothing wrong with it.

He only considered deflecting from Kronos when he found out that he was going to be possessed by him.

He only worked and cared for him, he was so lost into power and revenge that HE became a monster.

"Oh but he cared for Thalia and Annabeth!!" I'll get into that later too

I think Luke's fatal flaw contrary to the opinion of fandom is The Urge to Prove Himself.

He had one conversation with Hermes which made him angry and bitter and Thalia even notes that after that conversation Luke got into more and more fights with monsters like he had something to prove which Annabeth didnt seem to see as a problem since he was her hero. They got into more skirmishes because of his recklessness, fighting more monsters since Luke wanted to pick a fight with each one he came across.

(Conversation from PJO, The Last Olympian)

His fatal flaw being to Prove Himself would explain why he took the failure of his quest so hard that the night he returned from the quest was the same night Kronos started speaking to him for the first time. It didn't help that when he returned from his failed quest, the campers treated him with pity.

He wanted to pull Olympus down stone by stone because He failed his quest that he didn't want to do because it was already done by Hercules once. 🥴

His endgame has nothing to do with wanting to help ANYBODY. He wanted to take down gods because he had a grudge against them and wanted to Prove that he could do it. Everything else comes secondary if it fits his agenda.

This is one of the reasons why it bothers me so much when people say that Luke had the right idea or that Percy would have joined Kronos if Sally had died like you fundamentally misunderstood the character of Percy if you think he would have joined Kronos.

He talks about "driving humanity back into caves, all except the strongest - who would serve him" THIS IS LITERALLY FASCISM???

(According to Merriam-Webster, Fascism is a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression)

Now onto the topic of Thalia, Annabeth and Luke

First of all, I absolutely hate that 'Thalia and Luke had a thing before she got turned into a tree bit' because Thalia was 12 and Luke was 14 when they met and Thalia was 15 and Luke was 20-21ish when they meet again in TTC ugh hate that.

Now TTC, where to begin, here I used to believe Luke had already bathed in river Styx as there are some narrations where Percy notes that Luke looked worse and like his scar was reopened and would certainly explain how he survived the cliff fall but on my rereading I realised that Thalia and Luke fought when Percy was holding the sky and Thalia injured Luke so nvm then.

It is however in this book that Luke began to realise Kronos's plan for him as it is implied by the General and he starts to fear for his life.

Mind you, what did Luke think would happen if Thalia did agree to join Kronos when he knew Kronos was looking for a host of body...

Luke is many things, he is cunning, manipulative, a great swordsman but what he is not is stupid. If Thalia would have agreed then Kronos would have used Thalia as a vessel 😬

And oh boy the can of worms that is Luke and Annabeth. I've seen many Luke fans/apologists deny that there is no canon evidence of Luke being romantically interested in Annabeth BUT THERE IS?? they refuse to believe and call Annabeth an unreliable narrator because otherwise their uwu white boy would be a Pedophile. Even if he wasn't a Pedo, he manipulated Annabeth so many times to make her sympathise with her and use her emotions against her.

(excerpts from various books: TLO, TLO, BoTL, MoA annabeth's pov)

^ Annabeth was 15 almost 16 or already 16 I believe when Luke asked her to run away with him in a romantic sense and he was 21-22.

also another evidence adding to the theory of his fatal flaw having proving himself.

Now, onto the topic of CHB and Luke:

Luke being hesitant to attack camp half blood in BotL has less to do with him suddenly growing a spine (as some fans suggest) and more to do with the inevitable possession.

When Kronos informs that he will himself lead the attack, Luke advises to use Hyperion instead because he knows for Kronos to attack it in person, he would finally possess Luke.

(first one is from TTC, the other two from BoTL)

One of the last things I wanna talk about is Silena Beauregard & Luke and Luke's portrayal in the new Percy Jackson series:

Luke was 17 when Kronos started speaking to him and 19 when he left the camp. Silena was 17-18 when she died which makes her 13-14 when Luke left the camp in TLT and 11-12 when Kronos first started talking to him. Adult Luke charmed an underage girl, and promised her that she was helping the demigods and then when she tried to stop, he started blackmailing her. [excerpts from TLO]

According to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children UK, Grooming is when someone builds a relationship, trust and emotional connection with a child or young person so they can manipulate, exploit and abuse them. The relationship a groomer builds can take different forms. This could be: a romantic relationship, as a mentor, an authority figure, a dominant and persistent figure. They might use blackmail to make a child feel guilt and shame or introduce the idea of 'secrets' to control, frighten and intimidate.

So canonically, Book!Luke is a fascist groomer pedophile.

Now on the new Disney+ Percy Jackson show, it seems that Rick Riordan is subtly rewriting the character of Luke and removing the more problematic aspect of him (pedophile and grooming). Let me explain why I think that:

Even though in TLT the book, Luke describes Annabeth as his little sister we know how well that lasted but I don't think they are keeping Annabeth's crush on him on the show from what I've seen (though I could be wrong).

Secondly, the casting of Dior Goodjohn as Clarisse puts Clarisse on the same age range as Luke, maybe a year or two younger but in the first book Clarisse was 13-14 and she was 17 in TLO, so they have aged her up. It is my assumption that they will also age Silena by casting a 17-19 yr old actress as her.

And they have made Luke far more sympathetic in the show than the books (him not calling a hellhound during capture the flag and no pit scorpions in the finale), but we wouldn't know how sympathetic or villainous they are making him until season 2 comes out. Charlie Bushnell gives an excellent performance imo

Though this again reflects the double standards it comes to PJO, they have given much grace and praise for the changes made to Luke's character and little to no complaint for ageing up Clarisse but the hate Walker and especially Leah are given is so cruel. Leah has been so much racially targeted though I think she's an excellent Annabeth, just something to think about.

Also, before I forget-

We don't give enough flack to Rick Riordan for writing two weird age dynamics without recognising as grooming and pedophilic nature. (Lukabeth and Caleo/Capercy)

The characters are never made to realise (especially Annabeth) that an older person having feelings for them as a minor is not a normal behaviour.

Especially in regards to Calypso who may take the form of a 15 year old but is actually more than 4612 (according to the riordan wiki) and her having a crush on 14 year old Percy and 15-16 yr old Leo Valdez, not to mention how rudely she treated Leo. Also her cursing Annabeth because Percy left her. Not only is it plain nasty but she's never called out. Its actually so disgusting🤕.

Anyways this turned into a long rant but I would love to read your opinions, especially on Luke's fatal flaw.

I know for some people it may seem like I'm too hard on him but this is just my opinion.

IMO I have no problem if you like a morally bad or gray person, an antihero or a villain as long as their bad deeds aren't swept under the rug and pretend they never happened or glorify their good deeds.

I actually think villian's bad things make them more interesting.

Luke is an antagonist and a villain of the PJO series and a part of being a villain is that some people are going to hate you and that's ok.

Me personally, I was never a fan of his and that's ok.

I know some people are going to bring up the fact that Percy in MoA sympathises but the PJO characters are complicated and Luke was very skilled at making others think of his reason to destroy the Gods the way they would sympathise the most and we see that multiple times.

[imminent-danger-came]

—Antigonick, tr. by Anne Carson

[metfell]

scarlet wellyboots.....

[sunnescribbles]

Hi everybody! I may have spent Artfight opening week out of the country, but that didn't slow me down at all. Here's my first 10 attacks :)

Palm: dalex

BUBBLE: serialexperimentlain

Light: @spirits-art-blog

Sock: Killachee

Catepillar Steve: crowflux

Wellyboot: @chalkrub

Worm: @olitheworm

Cryptic: @leethetrashpage

TNT: mysterywinged

Raan: Genisis114

[pistachi0art]

*Gently leaves the song Wellyboots by The Amazing Devil on your doorstep* For if you wanna cry more about ghost Gordon cause boy howdy I sure do

[sortyourlifeoutmate]

On a lighter note my child also saw a White Dwarf with a sister of battle on the front and pointed and said "She got wellyboots!".

In a manner of speaking...

[methed-up-marxist]

after years of "gumboots" an d "wellyboots" bullshit im very happy to have "botas de agua"

[forgivcness]

NAME: mary leila macdonald AGE: 25 BIRTHDAY: 10/03/1961, pisces GENDER: cis female, she/her BLOOD STATUS: muggleborn PREVIOUS SCHOOL: hogwarts, gryffindor

full bio under cut tw: domestic abuse

she would water the plants in her mother’s greenhouse until the water filled the pot and spilled over onto flower print wellyboots. her mother would laugh, sweep her up and tell her that there was such a thing as giving too much. mary would nod like she understood but do the very same thing the next day. the plants needed water, so she would give them all the water she could.

the house was always in shadow when her father was home, that’s certainly what it felt like. a creeping darkness climbing over one’s shoulder. there wasn’t the laughter, the joy, that the house swelled with when mary and her brothers were home with just their mother. with him there, silence reigned, broken only by the occasional crack of a punishment harshly delivered. mary and her brothers would sit on the staircase in the darkness, the silouhette of their mother crying just visible through the railings, the domineering force of their father always lingering.

hospital lighting was always too bright for mary, so overwhelming, especially after the noise of riding in the ambulance. another broken bone and bruises for her mother, another night spent half asleep in waiting rooms for her and her brothers. she should have been too young. too young to see what was happening, too young to be told to lie, too young to have to sit and repeat that her mother really had just fallen down the stairs again.

scotland was always cold, but the funeral made everything feel arctic. her brothers helped carry the coffin, but mary was too small to do anything but watch, holding onto the new nanny’s hand. she didn’t cry, just laid the flowers she had picked from her mother’s greenhouse. she knew when to stop watering now. she knew to never fall in love. mary watched her father cry through his eulogy, and she swore to herself to never forgive him. that was when the paper he was reading from had caught on fire, and mary knew she was different.

school was everything to mary. her brothers had talked about boarding school with groans and annoyance, but hogwarts was different. everything was coloured with promise and opportunity. she blossomed with the spring term of her first year, not shy, not quiet, bombastic, and happy and all too eager to be friends with everyone she smiled at. her school house, just like mcgonagall had promised, had become her family and she got swept up in participating in everything she could. when she found that she had no talent for flying, she became one of the quidditch team’s most vocal supporters, nothing could keep her down.

then there came teenagerhood, with all the hormones and the anxieties and the madness associated with it. her head was turned by boys, the way they looked at her when her skirt was a little too short, the ego boost they seemed to get when she asked them for help. the give and take seemed simple, she felt like she had power because they wanted something from her. flirtatious became her default setting, and if she had to pretend she was dumber than she was, that was a hit she was happy to take. she got all the attention she had craved since her mother died. boys told her she was pretty, funny, cool. mary was happy to be just pretty, funny, and cool. she kept her heart out of matters, saving the love she couldn’t help but overflow with for her friends. it wasn’t worth wasting it on stupid boys.

of all the fun she had with boys, it was nothing compared to the fun she had with her friends. trouble followed mary, but it was the gentle kind, nothing to shake her from the happy daydream she felt her life was. sometimes she saw the way certain students looked at her, the word they used with venom in their voices, and sometimes it scared her. it would play around in the corners of her mind when things got too silent, when she had moments for her brain to let the darkness in.

then he happened, and the darkness seeped into every corner of her life, but it moved so slowly she never noticed she had let it in. because he saw her, saw into her very being, and in return she saw into him. she had vowed to never fall in love, but with him it happened as fast as being struck by a lightning bolt. it was a secret, of course, and a doomed one at that. but she was filled with such hope, the joy of being in love for the first time, that she didn’t let herself see the way it would inevitably end. it ended the only way it could, in pain, destruction and in a piece of herself forever lost.

mary was different after. how could she not be? she wouldn’t play dumb anymore. she would fight. she hasn’t stopped fighting since. fighting to be taken seriously, fighting with her own reflection, fighting with a world she has long since stopped thinking of as a daydream.

there are glimpses sometimes, of who she once was, in the softness which comes out with her patients and her friends. the flirtatiousness of her smile when she’s had one too many to drink. the laugh that seems like it comes from her entire body when someone amuses her. life just continues to harden her, letting less and less of her sunshine out each day. yet still, there is a plant in her flat, always surrounded by a puddle of water.

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Awake awake you children bold

by Perrythequeerplatypus After Kon's death, Tim almost loses it. Sleep deprived, tired out of his mind, he still somehow manages the impossible. Cloning his best friend/crush.   Or, just another typical tim cloning Kon stories because there are surprisingly not that many of them. (title from the Amazing Devil's WellyBoots) Words: 1328, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, DCU Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: M/M Characters: Tim Drake, Kent Connor, Bruce Wayne, Original Child(ren) of Tim Drake and Kon-El | Conner Kent, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Damian Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain Relationships: Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, Tim Drake & Alfred Pennyworth, Cassandra Cain & Tim Drake Additional Tags: Tim Drake Clones Kon-El | Conner Kent, Tim Drake-centric, Protective Tim Drake, Parenthood, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort via https://ift.tt/3gwyuvB

[paulinecordiner]

Well today was our last week in Aberdeen’s primary schools as tutors for SC&T Youth! Cornhill Primary School – thankyou for your amazing enthusiasm and wonderful singing!

Once again, pupils from three classes had 4 hours – only 4 hours! of tuition in penny whistle, clarsach, guitar and … Scots Song!

Despite my ever-worsening laryngitis, the pupils of P4, P4/5 and P5 learned to sing The Silver Darlings, The Fisherman’s Lassie and The Barnyards of Delgaty as well as learning all bout the history of the songs and how they describe life in the North East of Scotland. I’ve posted in greater detail about all of these songs in the past few weeks, but I’ve not yet posted about the songs the pupils have been learning for their grand finale! It is of course Billy Connolly’s The Wellyboot Song – which probably doesn’t need much of an introduction! One of the teachers managed to find this recording of Billy singing it in 1976 -which I can share here cos there’s no swearing!

Noo I’m aff tae nae spik for a wik!

[chalkrub]

tonight’s follower doodles!! these were super super fun - I hope I did justice to your requests/characters...i’ll be doing more tomorrow!

1) (highly stylised) weevil dude for @bowelfly FEATURING my favourite weevil, the noble giraffe weevil, doing some knitting

2) synthe for @pumpkin-bread

3) juno for @tacidem

4) wellyboot “solving” a sudoku puzzle for @igneous-croc​

thanks again guys MUAH

bonus weevils:

[perseas-wellyboots]

People are like Rick Riordan is such a great author who's not afraid to change status quo and ignore major flaws in his stories like JK Rowling and I'm like are you sure?

That sentiment might have worked if PJO was the only series in Riordanverse but with the addition of HOO and ToA it rings entirely false.

In PJO the major problem that needed to be tackled storytelling wise was Gods not claiming their children and their neglectful nature along with rise of Kronos.

Both those issues were ignored by Zeus and then in the end when they swore an oath on Styx, we assumed that it will be better.

However straight into HOO series from The Lost Hero, we see that Zeus did not change at all and instead made a bigger mess of events by closing Olympus and forbidding Gods from leaving Olympus. So we learn that not only does he ignores a problem that could potentially end the Gods twice???? but he's actively part of the problem.

The Gods could be better as a whole if they had someone competent in charge.

The Trials of Apollo series however changes the status quo entirely, the previous both series were from POV of demigods, so they and along with them we could only assume how Gods work and that the Gods neglecting demigods is a choice by them. But in ToA, Zeus goes from zero to hundred, not only is he a incompetent paranoid leader but he's also a tyrant and abuser. He abuses all his children and any disrespect results in huge punishment.

The Gods like a human family are stuck in a cycle of abuse but unlike in human family their abuser would not just die naturally one day. He is with them forever.

Apollo even identifies himself with Meg and thinks Zeus as a Beast for himself and yet no resolution is found at the end of the series and we just go on.

The Sun and the Star and The Chalice of Gods only continues the status quo.

True change of status quo and revolution would be Zeus being overthrown. In the root of both wars the major issue that causes high casualties is Zeus's carelessness.

I would love a book from Apollo's POV where he recruits his siblings and plans a revolution to overthrow Zeus because the immortal and mortal world and demigods, all of them would benefit being free of him.

TL;DR: Most of RR's writing has very similar problems as JKR's writing and even though I enjoy the PJO series more than HP series, I think RR fans should stop preaching holier than thou attitude.

JKR is problematic outside of her poor writing in HP (racism transphobia) and so is rick (with his neutral stance on genocide in palestine and playing both sides card, using this to promote his book, his islamophobic writing and not to forget how badly piper was wrote in TLH and she did not get much better until ToA)

[flimandcookies]

the reason my wellyboots oc animatic is taking so long is because I cannot think about that song without crying

[sparkler-sleet]

9:24PM

Things go wrong but the rain still falls from the clouds. Trees still rustle as sun still edges between the leaves. Together they make a rainbow appear in the sky; a little girl still gasps in wellyboots too big for her and points at the colours. Streets still bustle and cafes still close.

If bad things were so bad, the whole world would stop and look.

But they don’t.

So I keep going in hopes that one day, when I am fine again and my reason to get up in the morning comes to me without searching, someone else will see me and know that if their problems were so bad, I would have stopped and looked.

[alunclewe]

My second Art Attack.  Uh... guess I don’t have too much to say abot it.

My goal is to make at least one “attack” every day for the rest of the month.  We’ll see how well I manage to keep up with it.  Tomorrow I’ll be working on set, so that’ll be a bit of a challenge, but... well, I’ll see how it goes.