suddenly struck with thoughts about the devastating concept of Jason Todd
because he was good. because he had a bleeding heart despite every reason not to. he loved school and was good at it. he was the first to be adopted, with little pretense of guardianship. he did everything he could to be a perfect Robin and live up to an impossible ideal. he only ever wanted Bruce and Dick to like him.
because he met Bruce in the same place and on the same day that Bruce's parents died--the single defining moment of Batman's existence. and he made Batman laugh. he hit the Dark Knight, Terror of Gotham, with a tire iron. he wasn't afraid of the man who turned fear into a weapon.
because he couldn't save his mother from herself, but he tried. because he was too good not to try and save the woman who gave him up. too good to play the Joker's game. the crowbar didn't kill him, the bomb did. he died knowing he wouldn't make it and tried anyway. he died a hero.
because other Robins have died, but none of them put an irrevocable tear in the mythos of Batman. because Jason Todd always dies, in every universe. he dies for the sins of his father. he was put to death by popular vote, sacrificed by the crowd. doomed by the narrative and doomed by the audience. the boy who only ever tried to prove he was good enough--wasn't good enough.
because he has every reason to be angry. because he didn't ask to be murdered, didn't ask to be brought back, and when he did everyone acted like he was better off dead. Bruce tried to kill him and nearly succeeded. he's blamed for his own death and blamed for his resurrection. he can never come home because the house is haunted by his own ghost.
because he's been the hero, the victim, and the villain. because his family and his writers and his universe don't know what to make of him. they don't know how to look his tragedy in the eye. and how can you?
it hurts to look at the hero who cannot be good enough, the victim who will only ever be angry, the villain who can sometimes be right. the audience hates to feel complicit and, in this exceptional case, they are.
finding out that James Somerton steals literally everything in his videos and the little things he actually writes in his videos are constantly degrading towards women is such a fucking let down
the other day I had a conversation with a guy who said sibling friendships don't really count bc that's family and I'm just like, ??? yeah that's my family but I can also like my sister as a person and have a friendship with her. So I'm just curious to see what the general vibe here is.
btw the "it's complicated" option is for ppl who are either estranged siblings, parenting their siblings, or some other issue they've got going on not any weird freak shit(ifkyk)
Anyways choose your option and if want you can explain in the tags
'Troubled kid' literally just means 'autistic kid who faces peer abuse and even adult abuse for it'.It's Percy's entire character and lingers into his adulthood
Was a bully beater and stayed that way no matter how many times he got expelled
Ass at school but really smart in every other area
Has his intellegence insulted nonstop his whole life and just takes it despite what a strong backbone he has because he thinks he deserves it
Anger issues and general emotional regulation issues
Mama's boy who's mom dosen't quite always understand how he works or why he is the way he is but loves and is good to him anyway and considers his differences from normal people a gift instead of a flaw or something that needs to be 'cured'
Canon safe food(blue food)and Resting Bitch Face(the 'scary default expression' he inhereted from Poseidon)
Dosen't even try to understand social norms because he thinks they're stupid as fuck
Super kind and earnest in a way that gets on normies' nerves both in-universe and irl because they think he's 'corny' and 'unrealistic'
Has a beyond weird as all fuck sense of humor that's just natural instead of actively trying to be funny and always lands
Wears layers/heavy clothes all the time
Complex feelings on morality leaning towards chaotic good but he's done some fucked up shit that was technically justified in the contexts but beats himself up over anyone even though the others deserved it
Dated Rachel because she made him feel normal for once and he specified what made him love her was her brutal honesty and enthutiasm that gave way for healthy communication on both ends
Hates traditional masculinity and wants to be free of it and acts a lot like a trans femme egg,including finding hypermasculinity on men gross and unappealing and often wonders what makes people attracted to boys(Gender fuckery and also even just binary transfeminity are common combos with autism)
Very goofy,silly,chaotic and unrestrained with kiddy interests and a digust towards 'true maturity' but also loves punk shit
Can never tell when someone is attracted to him but when he loves them back he's Rizz City
Anarchist who hates the rich,privilege and power and does activism and direct action both in the mythos world and the mortal world(the former onscreen/the aformentioned bully beating and implied to participate with Rachel in her protests and charity events)
Gets along so well with younger people he basically adopts them as younger siblings and pseudo-kids(P*rcico shippers please stop being jesters,Nico and Percy are peak transmasc 4 transfem and autistic 4 autistic found family realness,they're the BLUEPRINT for it and y'all wildin' for thinking Hazel's not autistic too like hellooooooo she's literally a creepy cute middle school weirdgirl who was outcasted from other kids,even the fellow black ones?Ofc she's autistic)
Dare i say.The fandom's denial of his blatant autism is in of itself proof he HAS autism and is audhd.They're always calling him stupid and insisting it's meant affectionaly when he's stated a millions of times he does NOT like it,they turn his special interests that's so important to him for coping growing up and now too into him being a childish ass mf with no culture(that is also racist with how popular afrolatino Percy but they don't care just like they don't care about making him actually look black lmao),defang his anger issues and meaness and brutality and anti-authority mentality to turn him into nothing but an idiot and give all the credit to Annabeth(and that's misogynistic cause it makes her boring)and finally infantalizing him as if HE'S not fatherly one in the mcs.I don't even mean making him younger,i mean making him act like a little kid and his friends literally parenting him.It's all textbook rethoric and bullying tactics to irl autistic people and they only say he's allistic so they don't gotta feel bad instead of growing tf up and being nice to mentally disabled folks they can't relate to perfectly and to develop senses of humor outside of John Mulaney bits
Is literally the protagonist of a book series that's ultimate purpose is representation for neurodivergent kids as their role model that grows up with them and showed us we can live good lives like he is now????????The idea of allistic Percy is genuinely incomprehensible ong
'Good Kid' from the musical?Yeah,it's literally a song about an autistic kid who can't mask and gets abused by everybody for it no matter how hard they try to be good
I'm exactly like Percy Jackson and always have been and i'm autistic.So,autistic Percy Jackson is canon.End๐๐ผOf๐๐ผDiscussion!!!!๐๐ผ๐๐ผ๐๐ผ๐๐ผ๐๐ผ๐๐ผ
People complain about Rick Riordanย โbeating a dead horseโ but HE CAN BEAT ALL THE DEAD HORSES HE LIKES.
Rick Riordan has actively added diverse characters in all of his books to represent more kids. Characters in his books include:
a Arab-American, Muslim Valkyrie (Magnus Chase)
a deaf/mute elf who uses sign language (Magnus Chase)
a Hispanic son of Hephaestus (Heroes of Olympus)
a half-Cherokee daughter of Aphrodite (Heroes of Olympus)
a Chinese son of Mars (Heroes of Olympus)
a bisexual God/Teen (Trials of Apollo)
a happy and loving gay couple, Nico and Will (Trials of Apollo)
a black male dwarf that loves fashion and design (Magnus Chase)
a black daughter of Hades (Heroes of Olympus)
a genderfluid, transgender warrior of Odin (Magnus Chase)ย
kids with ADHD and dyslexia (All greek/roman demigods in Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus)
POC siblings of mixed heritage, Carter and Sadie Kane (The Kane Chronicles)
and thatโs just off the top of my head! This is not at all a conclusive list!!
When Rick Riordan first revealed Nico, a son of Hades in his best-selling Heroes of Olympus series, as gay people asked himย โwhy?โ and he said because he wanted kids to see themselves in his books and that all kids need to be able to see themselves in literature and find reassurance that theyโre fine just the way they are. HE PORTRAYS ALL OF THESE KIDS AS HEROES. This is SO SO IMPORTANT
So unlike some people who beat dead horses and donโt even try to be diverse (*cough*JKROWLING*cough*) at least Riordan is constantly adding more and more young heroes and heroines that are diverse, well-rounded, and important.ย
THATโS GREAT AND I WILL BUY EVERY SINGLE ONE OF HIS DEAD HORSE BEATING NOVELS FIGHT ME
Enjoy this written piece? Consider buying me a coffee.