Stormy

This is literally them

Nico comes out two times. None of which was (fully) by his own will. Both of which include someone getting outed (Nico and Will, respectively).

Yeah I'm not happy about it either.

Ngl I question the plots sometimes... Like. I've read many good come-out scenes of Nico in fanfics. It's... actually not that difficult, you know? Rick even has Mark as a co-author. You can't possibly tell me they couldn't think of something not... controversial.

If Ricks wants to show a Nico who's comfortable enough to express himself publicly, what's the problem with Nico did have his picnic, asking out Will, sharing a nice moment, and then gradually managing to publicly come out later? It's soft, purely sweet, and has more chances of sending a positive message to those struggling? I'm pretty sure it wouldn't bring such discourse like this.

it’s interesting that Will’s monster nemeses are Stymphalian birds. They’re like, the perfect opponent to prey on his weaknesses as a demigod.

Because how did Hercules defeat them in his labors? With a bow and arrows.

Will’s inability to use a bow and arrows (and his insecurity over feeling useless as a healer) come up in Blood of Olympus. And in TSATS when the birds are attacking him he says he wished he’d trained his archery skills more.

however

it is really disheartening to me to see so many people say “it reads like fanfiction” as though that’s the lowest insult they can think of. mark oshiro and rick riordan are not gonna see your negative posts, but fic writers in the fandom are seeing them and it’s extremely hurtful to see people talk about fic like it’s garbage.

we are getting a clear message that people in this fandom think fanfiction is not real art, that attempting sincerity in writing is cringeworthy, that nothing is more humiliating than sharing imperfect writing with the online community.

not only do fic writer share their work for free out of a passion for the source material and a desire to connect with others over their art, but sharing writing is such a uniquely vulnerable experience. And honestly, mark oshiro is so vocally proud of their work in this book and it’s incredibly discouraging to see people deride it so harshly. you don’t have to like tsats, and you are free to critique it like any other work, but ridiculing it by saying it’s like fanfiction is harming our community.

i’m honestly not sure why the pjo fandom is so largely negative about fanfiction but it really sucks and i needed to say something about it. it is so mean spirited and contributes to cringe culture in a way that is poison to art. please think about what you’re saying when you openly deride fanfiction and how your words might affect fic authors that see them.