Lily, Appearing Out Of Nowhere: Regulus, I Am So Sorry

I’m still working my way through Wrath, but I think one thing that continues to irritate me about the way Rick writes Percabeth is that it’s always being re-iterated to us that Percy feels insecure/inadequate regarding his role in this relationship, but we don’t usually see Annabeth worry this much about whether she’s ‘good enough’ for Percy.

On the one hand, you could probably say that it’s her pride that prevents her from worrying…….but I also don’t buy that because Annabeth has been demonstrated to ruminate over her relationships with others and whether they’re going to last. But we’ve never seen her worry about whether she is doing enough to ‘serve’ the relationship; it’s always about what the other person is doing.

I think why this annoys me in particular is because it feels like more missed opportunities for Annabeth to finally tackle her fatal flaw (hubris/pride), learn what it means to actually do some meaningful introspection/self-reflection (a very important part of being a truly wise individual), and make more meaningful demonstrations of humility. I’m not saying she needs to hate herself or anything, but if I can be honest, self-hatred is NOT the definition of humility and it’s disingenuous to treat it as such (for all you people who are inevitably going to complain about “omg11!1!!1 Suggesting that a female character should show humility!!?!?? How sexist!!!1!!1!).

Humility and introspection are important parts of being wise because despite your unwillingness to admit this, sometimes your problems are not always caused by others and/or external factors. Sometimes, your problems are in fact your own fault, or at the very least, some of your behaviors are exacerbating the problem. Sometimes, you’re not doing the best that you could be doing in a relationship, or there are some behaviors that learning/unlearning would benefit the relationship a lot. And it demonstrates a lot of courage and maturity to be able to admit that about yourself.

I bring this up in relation to Percabeth, because I’m a little tired of reading about how Percy always worries about his inadequacies in the relationship, but we never see Annabeth question herself about whether she’s being the best girlfriend she could possibly be. We don’t see any examples of Percy making a new friend who seemingly acts like/questions whether Annabeth is a good match for him. It makes the dynamics of the relationship feel unbalanced, like the responsibility is solely on Percy to service the relationship; Percy does most of the giving, and Annabeth does most of the taking.

When was the last time Annabeth sacrificed something that she wanted to do/say to make Percy happy, the way he often does for her sake? When was the last time that Percy’s traumas and emotional struggles were given front and center spotlight in a conversation of theirs? When was the last time that Annabeth realized that there was something she was doing wrong that was maybe hurtful to Percy, and maybe she should change that behavior? Why is the onus always on Percy to pull it together for the relationship, when his girlfriend has ways in which she could grow too? Why does it often feel like Percy is expected to do most of the emotional legwork?

"Shipping Regulily is the same as shipping Snily."

No, it's not. And here's why:

Snape and Lily started out differently than Regulus and Lily. Snape was her childhood friend. While Lily probably had muggle friends, he was the only one to understand what she was going through when she had bouts of accidental magic. He showed her she wasn't a freak like her older sister was saying. Which is why what happened between them was a betrayal. He was already her friend, and he called her the worst racial slur possible against muggleborns (in public, no less), because he was embarrassed when she stood up for him like the good friend she was. Because it wasn't just about calling Lily names. It was the fact that he thought poorly about muggleborns, and Lily was just the exception.

And instead of taking that moment as a learning experience and turning neutral, at the very least, with the hope that they could restart their friendship if he shows he's actually changed, Snape doubles down. He joins Voldemort and moves up the ranks. There's a train of thought that if Voldemort hadn't killed Lily Potter, then Snape would have remained a death eater, and I agree with it whole-heartedly.

Compare that to Regulus, who was canonically kind to his house elf, a creature most are dismissive of at best and downright abusive to at worst, despite growing up in the Black House with Walburga of all mothers. Would he have ingrained prejudices due to his upbringing? Of course. But he is willing to change, and that is the difference. He sacrificed his life to betray everything his family wanted for him in order to help stop Voldemort.

The best part? He wasn't Lily's friend originally. Their relationship could start of with cool indifference and being coldly polite with each other. It's only after spending time with Lily does Regulus start to critically think about his prejudices. And Lily, who realizes this, is more than happy to show him that there is more to muggleborns and muggles than his family thinks.

Regulily is different than Snily because when Regulily gets together, whether romantic or platonic, Regulus has already faced his internal prejudices. There isn't an undertone of, "I dislike muggleborns, but I like you."

Of course, this is simply my opinion.

Headcanon that Sofia gives a card to both Roland and Cedric for Father's Day.

Whenever someone either says it loud, or posts in a comment section: "You can't ship them for X, Y, or Z reason," it makes me want to laugh until I pass out from the lack of oxygen.

Ships are (usually) between fictional characters. Who gaf if if they don't interact much? If they genuinely hate each other? If one of them canonically isn't into the other's gender? If the only reason why they're shipped is because people think they look aesthetically pleasing next to one another? That's not going to stop fanfiction writers, and rule 63 exists for a reason.

It's okay if certain things aren't your cup of tea, but that doesn't mean a person gets to dictate what types of ships people like.

Tim showing up to Wayne Manor aged 13 wearing a t shirt saying "I'm not the step Robin I'm the Robin that stepped up"

Early scenarios joongdok dynamic 🔥🔥🔥

It physically pains me that little kids are gonna rasd pjo for the first time and read these should-have-never-been-written-but-if-you-MUST-write-them-should-be-their-own-thing books and take them as direct continuations and therefore characterizations of pjo characters. Some little 11 year old is going to read this and genuinely believe that annabeth thinks percy is stupid and he's shocked when she compliments him even though she does it all of the time and theyre gonna think that annabeth has been the mom friend the entire series and think that she should be shocked when percy comforts her as if he hasn't been doing that since day fucking one. And we know that's not the case but most of us have the advantage of developed reading comprehension skills and knowing that's all fucking bull...these little babies reading the series for the first time....

Fyodor, gesturing to Nikolai: This is Reginald. He's a purebred doberman. He cost $2000 and I was on a waiting list for two years to get him.

Dazai, tackling Atsushi and Sigma: These are my babies Chonko and F*ck*ss. I found them in a dumpster and I love the more than life itself.

creature

Typical role dustribution