June Jordan, “Resolution #1,003.” Haruko/Love Poems

I WISH THAT I’D BEEN BRAVE.

richard siken, crush // christopher healy, a hero’s guide to saving your kingdom // the amazing devil, ruin // j.d. salinger, raise the high roof beam // susan sontag, as consciousness is harnessed to flesh: journals and notebooks // claudia rankine, don’t let me be lonely: an american lyric // the avett brothers, i wish i was // frank bidart, the war of vaslav nijinsky // nicola toon, everything, everything

Joy Sullivan, from "Long Division", Instructions for Traveling West

just finished the new percy jackson book, the chalice of the gods and i'm curled up into fetal position, crying my eyes out— because this book was truly written for us, the ones who read the series at 9 years old and were absolutely taken with the sassy hero who loves his friends too much. the ones who are now in their early years of adulthood and inheriting a world of uncertainty.

the themes of growing up, trying to figure out what that means in this world, and desperately wanting to live a good life. rick wrote it with that boyish charm that percy has always had but he knew his audience has grown up and he told this story for them, the twenty-somethings who will never forget opening that first book about a boy who never wanted to be a demigod.

A traditional blessing or toast, used in Armenian culture, to wish a couple a long and harmonious marriage is "Մեկ բարձի վրա ծերանաք / Mek bardzi vra tseranaq" / "May you grow old on one pillow"; it is a wish that two lives become so entwined, they are forever inseparable. This phrase enchants me with its visual charm, for it vividly conjures an image of perfect unity — two souls resting each night on the same pillow, side by side, breathing dreams and sharing whispered secrets until the end of their days.

The original percy jackson series is about cycles of abuse and neglect, right. Were introduced to percy as a kid who has clearly been left behind by a school system that has given up on him, restless and unengaged and self-defetist because hes been given nothing that works for him and no one even tries to meet him where he is. Then hes told no, listen, your neurodivergence is amazing and you just need to be given something that actually utilizes your unique palatte. And thats obviously the uplifting idea rick wanted for his kids, right. But once we get to know chb the same cycles are happening there too. There are kids "left behind" there too for one reason or another, because their parents dont want to claim them, because their parents werent important enough to get a cabin. Do you get it, all the kids who dont fit the most common neurotypes get shoved into the same closet. Kids are being left in a cruel world to fend for themselves without the tools they need. Theyre dying because no one bothered to accommodate them. Its such an obvious parallel that the first chapter introduces a teacher whos written to be especially hard on percys disability and she turns out to literally be one of these monsters trying to kill him. Meanwhile sally jackson tells him she named him after Perseus because she wanted a redemption for a hero whos story ended in tragedy. Meanwhile every book in the series replicates a greek myth step for step until the moment they break the cycle. Annabeth, playing Odysseus, is talked down from her hubris and grounded by her friends. Percy, playing Heracles, meets someone wronged by the original Heracles and rights his wrongs by refusing to go down the same selfish path as him. Monsters are reborn because they are--as the books explicitly call them--achetypes. These kids are stuck inside the cyclical nature of mythology because thats what happens to mythology, it gets retold over and over again. But these are the kids who have to live it. The series ends with percy being offered immortality and he rejects it because he wants to use his godly favor to force them to break their cycle of neglecting their kids. The series ends with a declaration that we cant keep letting this happen. The very first book offees the same choice. It ends with percy refusing to keep the head of medusa as a spoil of war, refusing his heroic reward. He lets his mother have the head and use it to kill gabe. Isnt that fucking crazy for a kids book? Gabe wasnt a Monster. He wasnt going to Turn to Dust and Disappear in a narratively convenient way. He was a living breathing mortal dude and percy and his mom killed him without remorse. Break the cycle of abuse!!!! Dont let this happen again!!! Anyway thats why the original percy jackson series is Hey where are you going with our breadsticks

I love the idea of jewelry being passed down in a family. The stories that it tells, the bodies that have worn them. I find it so simple yet so pure.

D.H. Lawrence, from "The Plumbed Serpent" in The Complete Works

i think that percy and annabeth's relationship is so healing for both of them. like, our girl has severe abandonment issues but managed to pull the guy whose fatal flaw is unwavering loyalty. and our boy has severe self-esteem issues but managed to pull the girl who consistently chooses him. i love these two so much.

i love the implication that annabeth just gets approached and asked for autographs often by fans - dryads, naiads, satyrs, other demigods. she has her own little fan club and resident member percy jackson didn't even know about it but was like "yeah that makes sense" when he found out.