Tower Of Nero - Tumblr Posts

Here’s my thing.

So, I don’t know about Catholics SPECIFICALLY (I grew up going to lots of different Christian churches as a kid, but you’d probably consider them all Protestant...) but I do have a general understanding of Christianity

And there’s like three MAIN rules

You believe in god

You don’t lie, steal, murder, etc, etc

And you don’t worship false idols

Which means you don’t believe in or worship other gods and you don’t worship people, things, etc

So by that definition... and if other religions are the same way... demigods like... can’t be religious...

Cause of course they believe in/ worship other gods, what kind of weird fucking denial would you have to be in to not to.

Is Catholicism like... less weird about that shit??? Cause I read that Rick said nico was Catholic and it didn’t sit right with what I currently know...

(Also, side note, I haven’t read toa, I’ve just been seeing a lot of stuff on here- so please don’t be a dick in my comments if I’m off on something...)

*deadpan look * Two types of people.

Annabeth: Why do you guys like being in the rain?

Percy: I like splashing in the puddles!

Nico: I'm trying to get hit by a lightning

Random Pjo Meme(2 of ??)

Me and my homies every time someone strips down nico’s entire character to “gay” or “edgy”:

(Look, I get that nico wallows quite a bit in self-pity, and that his homosexuality is an important part of his character, but for god’s sake, can we acknowledge that he was genuinely well-written [atleast in pjo and hoo, that is])

Miscellaneous Percy Jackson Post (1 of ??)

PJO Meme Dump (2 of ??)

DISCLAIMER: These memes are merely comical, exaggerated representations of my opinions. I don't mean to offend anyone. I'm extremely sorry if these came across as offensive to you.

(If I see another post on reddit which goes "character xyz is the most/not the most tragic", followed by some inane discussion....)

Meanwhile, on tumblr:

(A lot of people on pjo tumblr tend to romanticize autism, mental illness, disabilities etc in the name of representation. No offense intended to the few who actually want representation and don't romanticize any of it)

Miscellaneous PJO post (2 of ??)

This is a completely random poll, but...

PJO Meme Dump (3 of ??)

DISCLAIMER: This post is merely a comically hyperbolic expression of my personal observations and anecdotal experiences. I don't mean to offend anyone, and sincerely apologise if you feel offended.

So depending on how Tumblr is feeling today, this might be my best post, or my last one... we'll find out 😅

The entire fandom is getting slandered with this one...

Leo fans after Rick crapped up his character for the sake of an ephebophilic and one-dimensional ship:

Percy: *is neck deep in a pool of plot armor, plot contrivances and deui ex machina*

His Fans:

(Hey! Not throwing shade at the man himself...but let's not act like he doesn't have excessive amounts of narrative devices working in his favour...)

Nico fans on their way to "protect" their ✨SmOl BeaN✨:

(Please, people, stop infantilizing Nico. He is not the type who needs to be stuffed into cotton wool and bubble wrap.)

Reyna and Thalia fans after their faves got shelved as the hunters of Artemis:

(As a Reyna fan, I hate how she was shipped to the hunters out of the blue. Rick could've done much better with her. Ditto for thalia)

Grover, Rachel and Clarisse fans waiting for these characters to get a notable appearance after the Last Olympian:

Rachel and Grover fans when that finally happens after more than half a dozen books:

Clarisse Fans:

(Well, you may be tempted to argue that Clarisse is a side character, but she is an important side character and should have had a more important role)

*Someone making a valid criticism of Annabeth*

(Some) of her fans pulling out the "She's a traumatized teenager card"

(I don't hate annabeth, and some annabeth fans are nice. But, in a substantial number of fans, there seems to be a visible inclination towards making excuses along these lines to absolve her of blame ,fault and even criticism as a character.)

Frank and Hazel fans watching their beloved characters being neglected by Rick for the umpteenth time in a row:

Luke fans reading about the other "villains" Rick wrote:

(Don't get me wrong, Luke is a terrible person. But the other villains are way too poorly written for people to not give him some credit as a villain. He's the only decent one Riordan ever wrote.)

Jason and Piper fans performing mental gymnastics when they realise the two were wasted potential and victims of bad writing:

(Not all fans. And no hate to Jason and Piper; they were decent in my eyes, and certainly had potential to emerge as exceptional)

Smartest Percy Jackson Fan:

(More often than not, pjo fans simply aren't the brightest crayons in the box, and that's putting it rather lightly.)

Least petty Percy Jackson fan:

(Again, I don't mean to generalize, I just wish to express that the fandom is disproportionately petty.)

Shipping wars in a nutshell:

(It's completely fine to criticize. Just ship and let ship, please.)

How vitriolic do you want your posts and interactions to be?

Some fans

(The number of death threats and kys messages I've seen people send is astounding. And for those who didn't understand this meme: the first gif is copper sulfate as solution, popularly known as blue vitriol. The second image is ferrous sulfate, popularly known as green vitriol. Both of these chemicals are toxic. So yes, you can consider this meme to be a very bad chemistry joke 🥲)

Thank you, dear reader for your time. Please keep in mind these memes were just in jest, and don't intend to offend anyone, or spread hate. Have a great time ahead. None of these gifs or images belong to me.

PJO Headcanon (1 of ??)

I headcanon Nico to be a gay ace (homoromantic asexual); for those who don't know, romantic and sexual attraction are two different things. So, yeah... that's it. That's the post.

PJO Meta (1 of ??)

DISCLAIMER: I don't mean to offend anyone. I am a ship and let ship person. Please note that criticism =/= hate. Lastly, if you're a solangelo shipper who doesn't wish to hear any criticism regarding their ship, please scroll away.

Ever since it's first appearance, solangelo has been a massive fan favourite. I, however, don't have a favourable opinion of the ship. Here is a brief explanation of my reasons for the same. (I apologise for my inarticulation)

Characterization:-

Nico-

Honestly Nico's writing in the trials of Apollo was terrible even by the usual character assassination standards- in the hidden oracle, he legitimately read as a gag charater who served no purpose apart from being "Will Solace's Goth/Emo Boyfriend". Things were hardly better in Tower of Nero, where he was basically just "Will Solace's traumatized Goth/Emo Boyfriend" who happenes to be lazy PTSD rep.

Will Solace-

Can't say much. He was never a character of his own, and probably never will be. His substance as a character is comparable to the quantitative mass of an electron in Kilograms (9.11x 1/10³¹) i.e, negligible.

Nico's Healing Arc (or lack of the same )-

After what was essentially two series worth of fanfic-esque trauma bombing, Nico should have received a proper healing arc. Unfortunately, there was no such arc for him (courtesy of solangelo), because Rick has this earth-shattering, inspired-by-Disney idea that relationships can fix everything. So guess what? Nico's years' worth of emotional baggage, pain and trauma simply volatalize into oblivion .

Some shippers may argue "Oh but he got better off page"-but that it is bad writing per se; Nico's struggles, grief, fears, unhealthy coping mechanisms etc. are more pivotal and relevant to his character than a nascent, one dimensional relationship with an insignificant side character. He is much more than just his sexuality, after all.

Cliché and one dimensional:-

Solangelo is firmly rooted in the "opposites attract" trope, which is simply unrealistic in nature.

Also, newsflash: "Opposites attract" is a law specific to physics and chemistry; It's all fun and games till people who are poles apart sit down to take serious decisions, or share opinions. Friction between them can be rather intense.

(Oh! wait... I think Nico was described to be a Nitride anion {or was he Azide? No, I think he was Nitride} and Will was a Tungsten cation. So, they are basically Tungsten Nitride... Boy! They have so much chemistry between them/s)

Anyways, I totally understand why people prefer jasico, valdangelo, percico, nicobaster etc...

PJO Meta (2 of ??)

DISCLAIMER: This post reflects a subjective opinion and should be treated as such. If you don't wish to hear criticism regarding Rick's "diverse representation", please scroll away.

Hot Take: I don't think Nico was good queer representation, and here are my reasons for the same.

Internalized Homophobia

Let me start by saying that his internalized homophobia was well-handled in House of Hades and early Blood of Olympus.

The part of his Pov, where he recounts a tale from Plato about romantic soulmates and wonders where that leaves him, is a moving, poignant, critique of heteronormativity.

Nonetheless, it becomes hard to take his internalized homophobia seriously after it simply sublimates affer meeting Will Solace - He develops an infatuation for the latter and the rest is history.

I am not saying that he should struggle with self-acceptance for the rest of his life. I am simply suggesting that he should receive proper closure for the same. i.e, won't it be much better if he learns that homoromantic attraction is completely normal, natural and healthy? Instead, the narrative never even mentions his struggles with self-acceptance after his meeting with Will, let alone give him proper closure.

His Feelings for Percy

On a similar tangent as the aforementioned argument, Nico having feelings for percy started out as a good thing. It gave Nico's character and actions an extra layer of depth.

However, his love (yes, love) for Percy - simply disappeared to make room for Solangelo (which, with all due respect, is a subpar ship). The OoC confession did not help anything either. Nor did the fact that he got over his years-long love in a moment, somehow.

Coming Out:

I do not think this requires a great deal of explanation. Most readers unanimously agree that it's not okay to drag a severely traumatized teenager through another incredibly traumatizing event, esp. when other alternatives were present.

For eg- he chooses to come out to Hazel because he can't take the weight of his feelings any more. This could have also been an important moment for their relationship.

Lastly, outing your queer character (by forcible outing) in such a way is obviously very problematic.

Ostracization

Nico was clearly set-up to be the outcast all the way from the Son of Neptune to the House of Hades . The "He pushed everyone way" plot point did not make a concrete, tangible appearance until Blood of Olympus.

His ostracization arc is important as it is directly tied to his internalized homophobia and is significant to his presence as queer representation. Yet, by having this poorly retconned to "it was all in your head"(unsurprisingly, for solangelo), Rick did a dis-service Nico as a character and as queer rep. (The pushing everyone away schtick could have worked. Just not the way it was in canon.)

Conclusion

Since so many indispensable aspects of Nico's identity as a gay character are poorly handled, it becomes very hard to lake him seriously as good LGBTQ+ rep.

Miscellaneous PJO Post (4 of ??)

DISCLAIMER: No offense intended to anyone. Will Solace fans if you don’t wish to hear jests against him, please scroll away.

In Blood of Olympus there was a line stating that nico’s tastebuds seem to have phased out. Well, I don’t know about his taste for food, but his romantic taste definitely disappeared. There’s no way one simply goes from being in love with THE brave, heroic Percy Jackson to being infatuated with some yellow, solar-powered, street lamp called wilt shoelace (Will Solace), unless their romantic taste went out the window.

WHAT THE FUCK RICK. YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE SLICK second titan war: ON PERCYS BIRTHDAY. second giant war: we can reason that since trials of apollo is six months after the giant war, it was in august. from evidence from the books, it was A FEW DAYS BEFORE PERCYS BIRTHDAY. tower of nero: IN FUCKING AUGUST TOO. (six months of trials, starting in january. ending in august.) RICK WTF YOU GOT AGAINST PERCY HE CAN NEVER CELEBRATE HIS BIRTHDAY AGAIN BRO

Very (in)patiently waiting for my copy of Tower of Nero.

I FINALLY GOT IT!!!!

Still sad its ending, this universe carried me when I was low since I was like 9 but hope I this book will be a fitting conclusion. Thank you Uncle Rick!

Very (in)patiently waiting for my copy of Tower of Nero.

“I…” he faltered. “Scusatemi.” He hurried down the steps and across the lawn, his bare feet leaving a trail of dead grass. ( Tower of Nero- Rick Riordan)

So umm just finished reading the Tower of Nero. Trials of Apollo book 5 and I have no words.

"You might think as the ex god of poetry I would have found the words but words failed me" Oh Apollo 😢😭

Apollo will always be my faviroute Olympian no matter what.

Wait. Titans respawn in Tartarus.

Apollo's mom Leto respawned in Tartarus. Apollo is half Titan.

Where was closest to Apollo when he passed out at the edge of chaos? TARTARUS.

All I'm saying is there was a reason he was regenerating so fast down there, gaining powers, and somehow went on even when his body died.

Did Riordan mean 2nd and 6th?

in canon, apollo invented the honey, he gay meme. not only is this one of the most meta things across the entire franchise, the way he phrases it makes it sound like in the pjo verse, the meme actually went viral. apollo is canonically a fucking memelord and i could not be happier