cynthiav06

Latest Posts by cynthiav06

Do you think Jason and Percy's "friendship", which everyone portrays in the fandom, is overrated? Frank seems TO BE LITERALLY PRESENT HERE! And, I admit, is Jason not exactly the character that hooked me? That is, from the "lost" trio (Piper, Leo and Jason) No one got me hooked. I didn't give a damn about them, and now I don't care about them. But Frank and Percy's friendship is in the book son of Neptune.🛐 . I would like to ask you about this

I will be the first one to admit that out of all the glaring problems of HoO, the most overlooked one is that there's no proper exploration of interpersonal relationships between all the characters especially when it comes to Percy. But I swear, soN relationships were done so well. The trio of Hazel, Frank, and Percy is absolutely phenomenal. (Hot take: I like this trio more than I like Percy, Grover, and Annabeth's og trio. Go figure). Anyways, let's do this one by one. [This is going to be long cause let's admit it the entirety of SoN is just Percy, Frank and Hazel bonding and it's the best thing Rick has ever written]

Only Frank and Hazel are ever stated to be his best/good friends, and they openly interact that way throughout the books. It's the only consistent thing in all or HoO. The fact that Percy and Frank's Riordan wiki has them both in each other's family sections and labeled brotherly is one of only redeeming things about the wiki.

Up until House of Hades, Percy's interactions with Leo are practically nil, nor does he have many opinions on Leo other than the fact that he makes good inventions. Then post HoH, there's this ridiculous conflict shoved between them over Calypso that is so absurd I won't waste my breath talking about it. Leo didn't much appeal to me either because of some of his obnoxious behavior and the way he treated Frank just pissed me off. And then him blaming Percy for the Calypso thing was just the final straw. The only thing I like about Leo is his genius and loge for inventions.

The same goes for Percy and Piper. Percy practically has no opinion on her aside from the fact that she is an ally of his. Piper, on the contrary, has MANY opinions on Percy, most of them wrong. Especially the part where she says Percy needs to be leashed and Annabeth's the one to do it and Annabeth just fucking agrees? But never mind, let's move on. My thoughts on Piper are complicated and she is one of the characters I can say I actively disliked. But that could be a whole separate post.

Then there's Percy and Jason. They are paralleled a lot, but their differences are quite prominent as well. There's a two-way insecurity/envy there, and it is never properly resolved. Percy has decent information about Jason's past. Jason has little to no information on Percy's past, just like everyone else. Aside from that moment underwater in BoO there's little positive interaction between Jason and Percy; their one or two prior conversations are either neutral or combative due to them being pit against each other either by the narrative or their own conflicting opinions. But their relationship has the most potential; Jason I do like a lot and the things he could have been. He and Percy could have been very good friends if they had shown any such inclinations but the way Jason was left un-nuanced in terms of his buildup and depth at times and their relationship being left underdeveloped and raw really got in the way of any developments. But the fandom's reason for hyping them likely has to do with the unexplored depths of their paralles and their contrast in choices, motivations and end results of their struggle. That and they are a recently popular ship so their's your answer for the hype.

So, to sum it up, Percy considers the lost trio to be allies/friends at best or, at worst, he has no much opinion of them. But there's more of a link between Percy and Jason than there's between Percy and the other two members of the Lost Trio. Which is that Jason is Thalia's brother. Thalia is one of Percy's close friends and his cousin and Jason is HER younger brother which makes Percy slightly more inclined to think of Jason as a closer friend than the other two, not necessarily because of his own relationship with Jason but because of who he means to Thalia. Percy "fatal flaw loyalty" Jackson taking it up on himself to keep Thalia's brother safe is something extremely plausible and very in character for him despite barely knowing Jason.

Now to the main point: I love love Percy and Frank's relationship. Like they are so fucking iconic as best friends and no one even talks about it. And I have been wanting to make a post on this for ages. Thanks for giving me the extra push for it, Anon.

The way Frank and Percy meet and just immediately have each other's back; chefs kiss. To me Frank and Hazel are the two people who immediately return Percy's loyalty while Percy's first meeting with anyone else is always about them being suspicious of Percy. Percy saves both Frank and Hazel from the monsters soon after their introduction. Frank is absolutely in awe of Percy and grateful to him for saving his life. For the first time ever, Percy's good act is instantly rewarded when Frank offers to vouch for Percy in Camp Jupiter before Reyna cuts him down. Percy, despite learning of Frank's low rank and not so good reputation, is completely unbothered and fully supportive of Frank.

1]Now, if you remember, Frank takes the vials of gorgon's blood that technically are Percy's by right because Frank thinks one of them might help with his curse. He is so guilty about it from the start. He doesn't think Percy noticed that he took them, but obviously Percy did, and he later brings it up with Frank not to criticize him but to ask him to keep it safe for him. Frank is so completely moved. Because he believes no Roman given the chance to have these vials for themselves would give it up and especially with Percy's mind and memories being in the state that they are, he definitely needs them more and yet he willingly gives those up.

I just love that interaction. Cause for once, someone doesn't think the worst of Frank or look down on him, despite how powerful Percy is. In fact, Percy even actively believes Frank did it to protect Percy, showing Frank that he thinks the best of him. Frank is so extremely guilty, and he immediately makes sure that he won't use the vials for himself or for anything else until he has Percy's say-so.

2]Just before that interaction is the one where Frank confides in Percy about his mother. His first instinct is to lie, but then he looks at Percy and is unable to [its practically canon that people just divulge their secrets and innermost insecurities when Percy is looking at them and it's the absolute funniest thing everytime.] He tells Percy the truth of what happened to his mother Emily and how she died in the war. And is immediately relieved cause Percy doesn't offer any platitudes or words of consolation. He just listens and nods, and knowing Frank doesn't want to linger on the subject, he immediately changes it.

3]Frank is the one to base their whole plan on Percy. When even Percy, because of his memory loss, isn't sure he could control the cannon, Frank believes in him, and Percy immediately backs up Frank. And when Percy does succeed in exploding the cannons and Frank looks at him to lead, Percy immediately tells Frank that it was his plan and that he should be leading the attack and gives Frank all the credit. The trust these two have in each other is insane. To have a friendship like these two.

4]Later on, when Mars arrives, everyone but Percy kneels and only and only when Frank asks him to kneel does Percy kneel. The whole segment of Mars talking and Percy being snippy and Frank's entire inner monologue about not wanting Mars to kill Percy and being so fucking worried about Percy and confused as to why Mars isn't immediately furious was just so hilarious.

And the way Frank just asks Percy if Riptide can do a grenade form after he sees Mars turn his grenade into a ball point pen and Percy is just so fucking offended and asks Frank to shut up has to be one of the funniest interactions in the book. Like look at this; Frank is so hopeful and Percy is so insulted that he would have anything in common with Mars. I don't know why but I absolutely love this interaction.

5]Percy doesn't want to go on the quest, but he doesn't want to leave Frank and Hazel alone, so he tags along immediately. Not because Mars asked but for Frank. Despite receiving the message in his dreams about Annabeth asking him to stay put, he immediately prioritizes his their safety over his own reunion and memory recollection and if that isn't Percy being Percy then I don't know what is.

The way all three of the SoN trio just completely hit it off almost immediately and the way they mesh together so well for such a treat to read. The whole book is just all of them being iconic individually and then as a trio. The best book in HoO by a landslide no questions asked. Some parts of HoH come close but overall it's the best book, in terms of writing as well as character consistency.

6]The way Percy hates Spartus monsters, but when Frank is the one controlling them, he is okay with them after one assurance from Frank. Percy is also completely amazed when it beats the Laistrogonyans. My point being that even before Frank got his gift, Percy completely respected him and his judgement and was completely supportive of Frank's plans and his leadership.

There are so many subtle as well as obvious signs. Percy being proud of Frank for making centurion, worrying if Frank got hurt when he got his mural, being concerned for Frank's grandmother and consistently bolstering Frank's self-confidence. He makes sure Frank understands how much he and Hazel need Frank and appreciate his leadership. And the way Percy is so proud of being related to Frank.

"You singlehandedly took out three basilisks while I was sipping green tea and wheat germ. You held off an army of Laistrygonians so that our plane could take off in Vancouver. You saved my life by shooting down that gryphon. And you gave up the last charge on your magic spear to help some defenseless mortals. You are, hands down, the nicest child of the war god I've ever met… Maybe the only nice one."

-Percy to Frank, SoN, pg.348

Coming from Percy who hates war gods especially Ares/Mars enough for it to overpower Hera's memory curse, this is extremely high praise. The way Percy is absolutely ready to throw hands with death to protect Hazel and Frank is just so important to me.

Frank being absolutely in awe of Percy, and having full faith in Percy's power even when Percy doesn't have it and Percy mirroring this behavior back is my Roman Empire. They are both the most suicidal characters in the book. I don't think we talk about how often Frank thought of dying and Percy is almost always suicidal (since 12 years old) but the way they both make sure the other won't die on their watch...it's the best written relationship in the entirety of HoO and you won't tell me otherwise.

The way Frank and Hazel both look up to Percy, how Frank was absolutely against Percy gambling is life and the fact that he is so proud of Percy that Frank points out the way Percy beat his father Mars to Mar's face with just so much sass is like the only proof you need. My guy was ready to back Percy till the end no matter what.

7]Obviously there's a reason why only Hazel and Percy know about Frank's curse initially and the fact that Frank trusts Percy so naturally and explicitly. Percy asks him to turn into a dolphin for the sake of his plan? Frank turns into a dolphin, no hesitation. Frank looking to Percy for silent acknowledgement whenever he tries something new with his powers and the fact that we know Frank wants to make Percy proud is just so fucking gut wrenching. These two are absolutely the inseparable best friends and I will forever hate Rick for not doing them justice.

8]Frank has seen Percy at his low when he is panicking and suffocating in the aquarium when they are captured and how he immediately does what he can to comfort Percy. He doesn't judge Percy for being so shaken by the whole situation, he completely understands and is so fully on Percy's side. The whole of SoN at times Frank was the one more fixated on returning Percy's memories than Percy was. The absolute devastated state that Hazel and Frank are in after Percy falls into Tartarus and Frank focusing on what Percy would want them to do. No one is doing it like them in the whole pjo series.

9]Also the whole Percy being slightly jealous and so in awe of Frank's ability and Frank just gaping at him cause to him, his gift is nothing compared to Percy's and that whole conversation is so hilarious. Percy calling Frank beast yet again but this time to tease him about how on the nose he was and Frank being flattered and embarrassed and immediately shutting it down gives me life. It's one of my favorite interactions ever.

All in all, Frank and Percy have similar issues and the way they mirror each other's positive and encouraging behavior to dispel each other's insecurities and the innate protectiveness for each other and the fact that they are both so proud they are related. The peak of brotherhood. The best friendship in the pjoverse to me. You cannot get better than this. Not to mention they both care so much for Hazel and are so protective of her and the way Hazel looks upto Percy always and relies on Frank for support. The best trio that ever trioed (could only be beaten by Lockwood, George and Lucy from Lockwood and Co.). There's not enough acknowledgement for these guys and the fandom really is missing out on the awesomeness of Frank Zhang.

I hate Rick for butchering Frank's character development in HoH that way. Frank so absolutely deserved to be Praetor but it should have been on his own merit, not because the blessing of Mars changed him the way it did. It's shit writing and just an awful message to give in general. The way Rick is fucked up all these golden opportunities and character potentials. To me everything after HoH is mostly non-canon anyway.

Hades is just uncomfortable cause Percy beat the shit out of his army and had him at swordpoint. But there's no way he has any right to bear a grudge when he was the one who detained Percy. Plus, considering Percy vouched for Hades and his children in his wish, there's no way Hades won't show gratitude. As Poseidon says, even the Lord of the Dead pays his debts.

If that wasn't enough, Percy was one of the instrumental people in saving Thanatos, Hades's right hand in the Underworld, the god of death, so there's that. There's also the fact that Percy is super close with Hazel, who looks up to him like another brother. Bianca herself trusted Percy enough to leave Nico to him and again Percy was also the one who got Nico out of the jar along with Jason.

So I don't see why Hades would have a beef with Percy considering Hades sort of owes Percy for so many things. But I see why one might think so cause Hades has complex feelings when it comes to Percy given the things Percy has done and the stuff Percy knows.

Percy is one of the few people to know that Hades cursed the Oracle of Delphi. And the reasons behind it. I don't remember whether Apollo knows who cursed his Oracle but I am sure that won't go over well with either Apollo or any other Olympians; after all the Oracle is always under the sacred protection of the King of Olympus and Olympians themselves. So it's definitely quite punishable to curse the Oracle.

And if you remember the short story, the Sword of Hades where Persephone fucks up by going behind Hades's back and trying to create another great weapon for him and forces Percy, Thalia and Nico into a quest. The punishment for an Elder God forging another weapon of power is enough to incur severe consequences from the rest, especially Zeus and Poseidon. While Hades wasn't directly at fault, it was under his name that the weapon was being made. Thankfully, neither Thalia nor Percy snitched on what Persephone was upto and so only five of them knew. And if that got out, it might become very problematic for Hades.

Which is another reason why he has complicated opinions on Percy, a demigod to whom he either owes quite a bit to when it comes to his children and someone who knows things about Hades that he rather not have anyone know. But either way he definitely won't be petty to Percy in terms like the ones op mentioned, cause there's Poseidon to think of and Hades knows that Poseidon loves Percy enough to take actions like Hades banning Percy from entering the Underworld as a slight against himself as well. I just find it so funny that all of the Big Three have a very uncomfortable relationship with Percy. Hades because Percy knows some of his secrets and he owes Percy for everything he did for his children; Poseidon cause he is trying to be a better father and mend his relationship with Percy, Zeus cause he wants Percy dead so bad; like that so called all powerful God is so fucking hellbent on wanting Percy's demise, so paranoid and afraid of what Percy might do. I swear if Zeus saw half of what Percy did in Tartarus, he would sentence Percy to execution then and there and the war it would cause. I honestly want to see that happen just for the sake of it.

I like to imagine that Hades is real nice to Jason, yknow? Partly out of spite cuz he doesn't like Percy and partly to genuinely show he appreciates how well he treats Nico and looks after him. And I think that would make for some hilarious conversation like Jason goes "Yeah Hades is pretty neat I had to pop around a cemetery for a quest and he showed up out of nowhere, said he was just passing through, ended up helping me out and even bought me lunch" while Percy is just "he threw me in a dungeon once". ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I mean we know Hades picks favorites and is capable of learning to be a better father/uncle sooooo.

Nico: Hey can I invite Will to our scheduled dinner next week?

Hades: I'm sure we can find an extra seat for him.

Nico: Can I also bring Meg?

Hades: Demeter would enjoy seeing her daughter.

Nico: Can I bring Jason?

Hades: Of course you can bring Jason.

Nico: Can I bring Per—

Hades: No.

I have made so many posts on this, and I am so glad many other blogs are pointing this out. Percy is way better at Annabeth than strategizing, and that's a pill that the fandom can't seem to be able to swallow. Let's go over some of them (I might have missed a few):

1. Tricking and trapping Crusty using his own creations

2. Figuring out Ares's scheme

3. Figuring out Luke's plan

4. Figuring out the use for Hermes's gift in SoM

5. Procuring proof for the camp of Luke's betrayal by tricking him into confessing it

6. Tricking Atlas into lifting the weight of the sky

7. Figuring out Kronos's plan

8. Planning the entire strategy of Battle of Manhattan

9. Tricking Gaea into helping him over Phineas

10. Tricking Chrysaour and his entire fleet into fleeing for their lives

11. Outwitting Geras

12. Outwitting Octavian in front of the entire Roman Senate

13. Manipulating Bob into siding with them over his own brother

14. Planning the strategy of dealing with Polybotes and executing it singlehandedly

15. Figured out how to kill Antaeus in his own arena

16. Convinced the river gods into offering their allegiance to the Olympians

No matter what situation you put Percy in, he always adapts. He is almost never operating with full intel on the situation or his opponents, and yet he manages to survive and even defeat them because of his quick thinking and battle iq.

I know most people remember the books as Annabeth and Percy working together, but it's almost always Percy going solo after Annabeth's plans fail and her scolding him for actually getting the job done, which is ridiculous.

Now, I don't think I need to quote Darwin on how adaptation is the key to survival and evolution, but you get the gist of it. No one in the entire series thinks better on their feet than Percy, no one.

Annabeth has all the knowledge, sure, but it's worth very little if she can't apply it. Knowledge by itself isn't power. Applied knowledge is power. Annabeth rarely has any concrete feats in this regard or even in the category of wisdom. She is extremely emotional and impulsive, more so than even Percy, which people tend to forget.

Annabeth gets worked up and gets them trapped with the Sphinx after the puzzle isn't what she expected and because someone else solved it over her, letting her pride rule her.

She underestimates her opponents. She once again let her emotions take over when they needed Rachel's help on Annabeth's own quest but she didn't want it out of jealousy.

Despite repeatedly having proof of Luke being hell bent on killing Percy and destroying CHB and after having been tricked by him herself, she still repeatedly lets her emotions cloud her judgement and dismisses any proper advice given by Percy about Luke as him being jealous and him being angry at Luke for no reason when Luke's literally tried to kill him multiple times.

Then, once again, she judo flips Percy, a Roman Praetor in a diplomatic setting in front of all the Roman legions because she can't control her emotions.

She lets it happen again in MoA when her pride takes over and she sits wrapped up in webs instead of cutting them off her and escaping first because she is too busy reciting the tale of her quest to the rest of the Seven.

And again in Tartarus, when she almost gets herself and Percy killed because she stops Percy from defending himself and her in front of Akhyls.

She is said to be a leader, but we never ever see her display any proper leadership qualities. Percy is the one who leads the camp during the fight at BoTL, during the actual second Titan War, during the fight in Blood of Olympus and even during Son of Sobek the campers all follow his orders and advice, showing how much of a natural leader he is. Even the seven during the pirate attack all follow Percy's lead, Annabeth herself included, and Percy in Son of Neptune is the de facto leader between himself, Frank, and Hazel. We only see the Seven following general orders from her on Argo-II, but it's never during times of crisis.

I know Annabeth is a teenager and prone to emotional outbursts. But she is supposed to be a child of Athena and her literal power is supposed to be being level headed in times of danger, being clever and wise and getting herself out of them because otherwise she is hopelessly outmatched against everyone else who has powers. She could have been so iconic if she had been just a smidge better written. Literally just a smidge. But she displays neither of the qualities she says she possesses nor any she should be displaying as an experienced strategist or a strategic fighter.

I'm not saying she's stupid but...

(I swear she should've had more good feats. Show her making amazing plans with actual back-up plans, not just references. Display her war strategy more. Make her opponents smarter and not brick-dumb)

A big part of the fandom doesn't deserve to have Percy as a protagonist because of how they treat him and mischaracterize them to make their own favorite characters "better", more sympathetic or more tragic. Can they stop blaming Percy for Bianca's death? No offense to her stans but what was Percy to do when SHE was the one who stole from a fucking junkyard where they were specifically warned not to touch/take anything? Plus isn't she the one who basically abandoned her brother and joined the Huntresses? Can they stop acting as if Percy is stupid when he is actually better at coming up with strategies where no one gets hurts or killed *cough*unlike a certain blonde*cough*? Can they stop excusing Annabeth for being such a shitty person to Percy and anyone interested in him romantically or platonically? Can they fucking understand that her "cute nickname" to her boyfriend "Seaweed brain" is actually an insult and not a cutesy little token of love? Can they understand that judo flipping him, punching/hitting/etc him and liking to make him anxious is what typical toxic and abusive partners do? I don't care that she was abused and neglected as a child, having been abused is an explanation never an excuse. Percy was also abused by his stepdad and yet he doesn't act like her. Also another thing (and this one might be heavily controversial but) Sally Jackson is a loving mom, she tried her best for her kid but she is not a good mom, she was selfish in her love and got herself and her kid stuck with an abusive bastard for years despite the fact that she had safer options. At this point I feel like we didn't even read the same books or that these people didn't even read the series they just watch youtube and tiktok videos that are mostly filled with misinformation and headcanons.

I know I am extremely late in my response but hopefully not 'late to your own funeral' level of late. It was partly due to health problems and back to back exams I had and partly due to my procrastination habits. Which is why now that I am considerably free, I am trying to answer all the asks in my inbox.

I absolutely agree with most of the things you have said. I myself am extremely tired of repeating the same things over and over again to the fandom but I am under no delusions that any posts debunking biased takes, character assassination headcanons and absolutely baseless assumptions will actually stop anything or even change anyone's opinions.

These posts are just for people with similar mindset to interact with something that finally meets with their pov and aren't led to feeling isolated in the fandom due to monopoly canon ships and other such topics have in fandom posts. Sort of to create a safe space cause I myself was spared of the worst of the fandom's wrath due to there already being an established anti percabeth community, small but reliable and supportive. I even had to the fortune of never receiving a single death threat, at least in this fandom, and I want to make sure that any new mutuals I have get the same experience.

For the whole Percy being blamed for no absolute reason and for completely made-up reasons for the Nico-Bianca situation, I have already made a post here.

Percy being more strategic than Annabeth was something I have stated in multiple posts but mostly here. And Rick himself did give us proof, too, both about Percy getting better grades than Annabeth and how Seaweed brain is, in fact, an insult.

I really believe that Percy and Annabeth's lack of nuanced emotional interactions, contrasting goals, and really conflicting fatal flaws all make up for a doomed relationship scenario. Percy finds himself unable to share about any of his trauma with Annabeth, and he also seems very insecure about their relationship and believes he can't live up to Annabeth's expectations or is being a bad boyfriend. Annabeth doesn't seem to be able to pick up on any of this, and without proper conversation, they are both chafing. Not to mention, Annabeth's toxic habits are not something Percy will ever address, and eventually, they will both just end up resenting each other. I had an idea about Percabeth break up and why and how it would occur, and I have posted about it here, and that's all I really want to say on that matter.

As for the Sally Jackson bit, I am actually planning on a Sally centric post. I have read so many takes on her and Percy's relationship and I am in the process of making it. Will definitely tag you in that.

Though what I will say is that, while Sally's love for Percy was very selfish, I think it was realistically rooted in her own trauma, the two way abandonment issues between both her and Percy and a mother's desperation.

Because for all the trauma Percy suffered under Gabe, you have to remember Sally suffered twice as much. She sent Percy off to boarding schools to spare him most of Gabe's influence while she suffered both physical and mental abuse throughout the six years she was with Gabe. The fact that Sally was willing put herself and Percy through the trauma of Gabe's abuse should highlight just how desperate she was to keep Percy with herself. And how despite all of Gabe's abuse he would face at home if he stayed, Percy resented Sally for sending him away to boarding school.

There's such an intricate codependency and deep-rooted trauma, maybe even generational trauma there. I really want to explore all of that cause I think Sally had very simple motivations and put herself and Percy through such complex methods to try and achieve those motivations permanently.

So yeah, there will be a post on that soon. I will tag you in that one, and there's another one I have to get to just before that. It's a Frank and Percy centric post, and I really loved that idea and I think I have most of my thoughts ready for both these posts. So expect them by the end of the week for sure.

Let's look at this rationally. I will be considering feats, raw power, abilities and their versatility, variable experiences, training environment, and last but not least Percy’s realistic motivations for gaining more and more power while Jason's powers stifling due to a stagnant environment, all based on the amount of information provided to us.

(I am not considering the fight op is talking about, because they were both being controlled by eidolons and the fight was prematurely interrupted and contrary to op's opinion Jason was also very biased to himself after the fight and if we are considering unreliable narrators, Piper whose pov we have for this fight is infatuated with Jason and that also counts as grounds for unreliable narration)

Percy has got Jason beat in feats before they even met, and especially after they met. Cue Tartarus. As for Jason, we know very little about the things he did and what other feats he has. We really don't have much to go off of regarding Jason's expertise in either hand to hand or power based combat but I assume everyone is leaning towards Jason in terms of hand to hand because he referenced that he fought Krios with his bare hands. Percy had wrestled with Geras, the very personification of old age who is impossible to overpower and managed to hold his own.

So the hand to hand combat is a maybe. But Jason isn't a solo fighter. Percy is, and also Percy's way better at thinking on his feet. Percy has had a very non-linear approach of learning about the demigod world and his own powers, almost all through practical experience with little traditional training. Which make his mindset towards battle superior to Jason's as Percy has no preconceived notions about domains and their limits and can actualize most things he visualizes while Jason is a bit hindered by Camp Jupiter's approach towards training for the betterment of the legion, more so than honing individual capabilities. This makes Percy terrible at teamwork and synchronized fighting as his experience lies mostly in going solo in combat while Jason is much better at the former than him.

We have also seen that Greek demigods have more volatile powers than Romans do; Thalia, Nico and Percy all show a strong innate raw power as compared to the Roman aspects as evidenced by the Gods themselves saying that their Roman aspects are much more restrained and disciplined while their Greek aspects are more wild and primal. Another canon evidence for this is how Greek demigods have such strong scents that monsters hunt them for childhood, leading to much lower life expectancy as compared to Roman demigods.

Percy has probably the most volatile as well as versatile powers. He can heal himself something Jason can't do, something no other demigod can do. Most fictional magic systems almost always associate the water attribute to healing, so it is unlikely that Jason will be able to self heal, even after unlocking his full potential.

Not to mention, Percy's abilities might not be the best[Hades children have better abilities], but in terms of raw power, no one is close to Percy. Blowing up an entire volcano, lifting an entire river off its riverbed, holding the weight of the sky, jumping an impossible distance to get to the House of Night, causing hurricanes, storms, a tidal wave so great the God of War was smothered, summoning water by will, going toe to toe with Chardybis in her own domain, and then some.

And sure, Percy seems less experienced than Jason, but he has been in more life-death situations than Jason in such a small amount of time that he had to adapt far more. Then, he has the added experience from Tartarus. And even without it, Percy gets the edge cause in mere span of 5 years of being in the demigod world, Percy has killed almost every monster that walks, fought Titan, fought minor gods and even a god. Fought and won.

Even without sea, Percy has higher raw power, more versatile abilities, and has experimented more with his powers than Jason. The latter has not even honed the lightning aspect of his powers. He has killed multiple titans, fought Kronos to a standstill, fought giants singlehandedly, fought a protegeneoi, and won against it in her own domain. That scales Percy on a level that is unattainable by any current demigod in the verse. Not even a god to our knowledge of Riordanverse has bested that feat.

I love Jason as much as the next person, and I always consider Jason to be a stronger demigod than Nico, who is generally scaled after Percy. Cause of stamina reasons. Nico’s powers are beyond exceptional, but they have limited usage time while Jason has higher stamina reserves than Nico and is a better combatant than Nico. But you can't apply this metric to Percy. Percy disarmed Luke in their first fight with little knowledge of sword techniques. Luke, who was considered the best swordsman in the last 300 years. And Luke taught Percy after that, too.

I know everyone likes to cry plot armor over Percy's powers, but technically, it is his series. There would be no point to it if he didn't get stronger. That's literally the definition of a main character. And not to mention that every time Percy gets stronger, it's always due to a strong emotional, physical trauma, or an equally terrible price that is a result of a curse/blessing. Moreover, Percy has realistic motivations to try and grow stronger since he did all he could to survive since he was 12 and was basically thrown uninitiated as a bait to the strongest monsters and was repeatedly told his birth was a mistake so much so that gods voted on whether to keep him alive. Percy has to be strong in a world where everything is out to get him. The literal head and commander of the Titan Army was out to kill Percy since he was 12 and quite dedicatedly, and if that wasn't enough, he was wanted in multiple states for a false terrorism charge. And if you remember, he was rather ostracized at camp until after Titan's Curse.

Jason was the head of a legion, a praetor, revered by his comrades and already strongest among those he led or worked with. He had little exposure to any other extreme life death fatalities or any experience with being persecuted aside from the usual monsters and the legion training.

In conclusion, Percy beats Jason on land with a considerable margin; Percy beats Jason in the Underworld by an even bigger margin since Jason can't do much in the Underworld while Percy can control all the rivers of the Underworld and is used to the noxious environment present there. My apologies, but the near the sea comment made by op is practically delusional; Percy could literally sic any sea creature on Jason to take him out, doesn't even have to do it himself. Percy absolutely completely demolishes and disintegrates Jason near the sea.

Hot take. Jason is actually stronger and better at fighting than Percy. If they fought each other, Jason would win, even if they were at sea. Reading them fight together I'm now convinced. Percy making us believe otherwise is just him being an unreliable narrator

It was Annabeth's own quest, too. She is just jealous that she has to do stuff like punch Percy and tell him to ask her for a dance, stalk him all the way to his home to get to know stuff about him and find a quest to spend time with him, while Rachel just meets him twice and immediately gets his trust.

She gives him her number and Percy memorizes it, accepts her painting of him as a gift and shows initiative in spending time with her and going on a date with her, while Annabeth's wondering how Percy could be so blind and hurtful to her and her advances. The said advances include her being aggressive with him, passive-aggressive with him, demeaning his intelligence; constantly defending his enemy and not hearing his side of it, and immediately blaming him for things he had no control over.

Like Rachel who has met Percy for barely two minutes knows Percy couldn’t have done anything about being attacked at school and offers to cover for him while Annabeth immediately gets angry at him and puts the blame on him when she knows the situation could not have been instigated by Percy. This is one of the many examples.

I know Percabeth is considered a gold standard among ships, but I will never be able to see it.

Annabeth: *calls Percy impossible for not being in the mood to empathise with a guy who's tried to kill him multiple times the last time being five minutes ago and then immediately insults the girl who's risking her life to help them just because she's territorial over the guy she refuses to confess her feelings to*

I heard some discourse over whether the Curse of Achilles counts as immortality, and I am pretty sure it doesn't. The curse gives invulnerability, but I am unsure as to whether it stops natural aging. Does anyone have any reliable source they could cite, which either proves or disproves this? Cause Ogygia definitely counts as at least a pseudo form of immortality, I think, but whether the Achilles curse does or not is up for debate, I think. @deliajackson @ogjacksonsimp @fourcornersofcreation @fate-of-the-envious

If I had a nickel for every time Percy Jackson turned down immortality/godhood, I would have two nickels. Which is a lot, and it is absolutely iconic that it happened twice!

can i just like vent for a second? i just saw an anti percy take that just pissed me off so bad bc i forget not everyone separates percy's real characterization (pjo books and son) and throw out the very terribly written one boo and post hoo books like i do. percy antis can only speak of his character from the text where rick decided percy needed to suddenly be this horrible character and friend (to this day i hate that the narrative genuinely blamed percy for bob and calypso) and the nico thing gets so misinterpreted and was a total retcon to percy and nico's canon progression in the og books. everyone is allowed to have their opinions obviously but there's this thing in the pjo fandom where everyone wants to take a single moment in which the author's writing was so weak and turn it into an actual real character moment when all prev texts in past books show that it's simply just character assassination

You are not the only one, anon. Thankfully, all my mutuals are of similar opinion, so I rarely am alone in my frustrations over this. I have made posts on most of the points you mentioned, but I swear the reading comprehension the fandom has is akin to a bottomless bag. No matter how many facts, rational explanations, and canon examples you feed in, it will all just fall down in vain. The same old incorrect takes and terrible biases will keep circulating and spawn even worse, zero comprehension takes, and "headcanons." I would say you could play a drinking game with it, but you will be dead not even quarter way through all the misinformation.

At this point, my media literacy test in pjo fandom is the opinion someone has on Percy and Nico's relationship. At least Nico has the excuse of being a literal hurt child for him lashing out at Percy and misplacing his anger on Percy, but I wonder what's the fandom's excuse. I have disproved everything I believe wrong about that take in my post here.

What I think has happened is everyone in the fandom has read these books years ago and hasn't bothered rereading the source material properly after when they got older or have only reread their favorite "shipping scenes." And during this time everyone in the fandom has been over indulging themselves on fanfics and now there is a large disconnect between the actual character in the books and the fanon version everyone has affixed in their heads. And no amount of external feedback will convince anyone to rectify and authenticate their version. Same with the ships. Especially with the ships.

Throw in some childhood nostalgia and a bit of projection, and you have a bunch of extremely single-minded opinions from people who would rather resort to death threats than actually acknowledge any other point of view exists. And gods forbid, an alternative ship exists, and people don't like their ship; the fandom which claims to hate itself is perpetuating its own miserable condition. Either way, my advice? Stick to tags you like. Try and ignore the monopoly in the fandom. Find a circle that shares your niche interests. And you will have fewer frustrations to deal with, at least usually.

As for Percy, he has become such a face of iconic and epic character and obviously the heart of the series that Rick thinks for any other character to be good, they somehow need to be better than Percy in some way or that he needs to put Percy down in some way to uplift others. And he has been doing that post Son of Neptune till today, and Percy is still the absolute fan favorite. Imagine the author and half the fandom doing everything they can to soil a character's arc and achievements and still not succeeding, hah.

I recommend you 'Percy jackson supremacy' or 'Percy jackson defense squad' tag on tumblr. At least half your frustrations will settle down. I recommend the first tag personally. I use that tag so often in my own posts, and it's the one Percy tag page where I am sure the posts will not disappoint. Those two tags with a side of powerful Percy jackson and smart percy jackson are the only fandom tags worth scrolling. Take my advice on it.

The monopoly in the fandom is so bad that if you block percabeth tag, then almost three quarter's of fandoms content is inaccessible. I checked into this and realized that posts that have absolutely nothing to do with shipping or even Percy and Annabeth are tagged with it for the sake of larger exposure. It's absolute bullshit. So now you need to check every percabeth tag post so see if it's actual ship content or just general content tagged that way.

I have no delusions of changing anyone's mind in the fandom. But a few years ago this place was even worse and death threats were almost a common situation for everyone outside popular takes and only now is there a relative safe space for new blogs to make anti posts about popular media in the fandom and not get absolutely flayed for it. Just trying to contribute to that circle. Cause I didn't have to deal with the absolute worst of the fandom because of older blogs that kept on making enough content for there to be a community by the time I joined two years ago. Would like to do the same to some extent. Cause here if you are in any unpopular branch of the fandom, then you will have to make your own content for it. That's just how it is.

Most people now however are getting more and more into alternative opinions and ships and rightfully criticizing Rick for not only character assassinations but the stereotypical things he perpetuated by selling them in the name of diversity and representation.

As I said, the fandom has more problems than it has people, lol. But you just need to find one niche group that fits with you and see if it lasts. By the looks of it, I am not going to be too active in this fandom for very long either. Doesn't seem to be worth it. But you can vent on here anytime about anything. It's definitely the sort of space for that. And I like seeing people finally vent out their frustrations, so you are welcome anytime.

If I had a nickel for every time Percy Jackson turned down immortality/godhood, I would have two nickels. Which is a lot, and it is absolutely iconic that it happened twice!

If Riordan refuses to let Percy go could he at least write him like he did in the Son of Sobek

And the fact that everyone in his new reality kept throwing in his face that he shouldn't exist. The people in the place that was supposed to keep him safe ostracized him for what he was. The first person to be civil with him (Luke) turned out to be a traitor out to murder him and everyone who stands in his way.

All the while being on the run because his abusive stepfather had framed him wrongly and the police was after him. All the supernatural troubles notwithstanding, Percy was still in a situation that could not have got worser.

Now add in the fact that the Lord of the dead sent his own executioners after a 12 year old[Furies], the king of gods also sent his torturer/executioner [Echidna], the god of War was out to get him while he was simultaneously fighting the oldest of Greek monsters like Medusa and the chimera. And we haven't even covered the trip to hell yet.

The strongest forces in the world were beefing with a 12 year old, giving him physical, mental and existential crisis all the while he was in actual mortal danger 24/7.

And Percy still managed to come out alive mostly by his own wits and out of sheer spite against the gods. And people have the audacity to say he has plot armor. He bloody well should if he's dealing with this shit. I swear Percy should just crash out at everyone at Camp Half Blood. He has earned the fucking right. Even at Grover and Annabeth. He's totally earned it.

When you think about it, Percy had one of the most, if not the most, traumatic introduction to the gods and the divine world in general

Rereading that scene as an adult is like. damn. This kid was gaslit for a whole semester, questioned his sanity, woken up in the middle of the night, in the middle of the worst storm that year, chased by one of the worst monsters in mythology, still knows nothing about anything, suddenly the car flips, lightning hit the car, it’s a terrible crash, probably his first and definitely his worst, he could’ve died his friend could’ve died his mom could’ve died, there’s not enough time to check if everyone’s alright because they’re still being chased by something, nothing makes sense, his friend isn’t who he thought he was and a creature out of a storybook is coming after them. He’s separated from his mother but not before he watches her die, just watches her get squeezed to death, and his friend passed out and is in immediate danger, and he has no choice and he’s filled with so much grief and the world is splitting itself open around him and he kills it somehow and his friend is still unconscious and he so tired and hurt that he’s crying out for his dead mom while helplessly dragging his friend uphill because what else is there to do? He makes it to the top with his friend and passes out for three. Whole. Days. Only to wake up and find out that he was the target of the chase and someone, a god, is out to kill him

I don’t think anyone had such a violent introduction to the divine world where everything that can possibly go wrong did

The entire Fandom needs to listen to this:

Percy having a thing for Rachel was so absolutely deserved like he should have been head over heels for her. Here's why:

First meeting? Runs her through with Riptide, and where anyone would have spent the whole time yelling and arguing, Rachel quickly gauged the situation, helped Percy hide, deviated the skeletons from their orignal path all at the same time.

Percy is so awed and he should be and Rick Riordan doesn't do justice to the whole thing.

It ends on Percy saying he owes her one, almost an indication that they would meet again.

Yet Percy is terrified of running into Rachel again because he isn't sure if he could answer all her questions, most definitely because he doesn't want to drag her into the whole thing. So much so that when he sees her at Goode, he calls her "my redheaded nightmare " .

Not only has he thought of her since they last met, but he may or may not have dreamed about her, not to mention he remembered her full name after listening just once.

When he does meet her again she yet again warns him about monsters hence saving both of them.

The most important thing is Percy, who all his life has been judged blamed ridiculed, and mocked is for the very first time understood so instantaneously by Rachel. She who has been put in mortal danger every single time she meets him doesn't blame him, doesn't judge him for it, and openly takes the blame for the burning school. Even Annabeth's first response to seeing the smoke is blaming Percy despite being around him and knowing well enough for 3 years; she chooses to blame him as if she doesn't know that it's never Percy's fault. Yet Rachel, someone who he has met only twice and that too for meager few minutes, understands him and his situation so well.

All the people in the Fandom ask yourself this: Will Percy Jackson not for all that he is be absolutely head over heels and in awe of someone like that?

He can barely give her any answers at the moment, but she agrees to a death quest to help him save the world.

Throws a literal hairbrush at the Titan King and stands her ground.

Stays by him and comforts him through his depressive thoughts about dying due to the prophecy.

Falls in love with him despite knowing he has little time left.

Does her best to help him while still keeping his mind off from spiraling into dark thoughts.

Rides a literal helicopter mid-apocalypse to get to him just to warn him of the dangers?

Percy would be so absolutely over the moon in love with Rachel, were Uncle Rick not so fixated on Percabeth agenda.

The last bit is for toxic Annabeth stans:

Rachel is a genius too.

She is ambidextrous and can draw with both hands and legs; probably has exceptional memory, and her composure and quick thinking are on par with Percy himself.

I hate bringing this to looks, but I will if I get to shut up toxic fans. Annabeth is certainly beautiful, and her grey eyes are quite unique, but Rachel is the most underrated and definitely the most beautiful out of all Percy Jackson females.

The woman literally won genetic lottery with red hair and green eyes, and the only reason Uncle Rick doesn't rave about her beauty is to not make Annabeth insecure.

Also, for those overly concerned about the Oracle celibacy thing, I will address that in my next post and how it's not a problem at all. (Now posted link is here:

Expect more Pjo-centric posts along with Perachel headcanons and more.

A friend of mine pointed out that people tend to date those with similarities to their parents.

When I started poking around the PJO franchise, my brain screamed that when I looked at Annabeth and then Gabe. And now I'm thinking about how Rachel may have similarities to Sally.

Please share Perachel thoughts.

This is so GOOD. I am only mad I didn't make the connection first. Percy is a mama's boy, so it's obvious his first girlfriend is a reflection of Sally. Bear with me, this is going to be LONG.

I am going to gloss over the bit about Annabeth and Gabe because it's not as much of a comparison as it is an analogy.

[Before anybody gets mad at anon, he wasn't saying Annabeth is like Gabe, he is paralleling them because Annabeth's form of mistreatment against Percy is so subtle but so deeply unsettling that he hasn't noticed it himself and if he has been feeling suffocated he hasn't yet connected the feeling to Annabeth.]

I feel compelled to clarify a few things in Gabe Annabeth comparison and why it's unfair.

Gabe was in no way, shape, or form Percy's parent.

Percy despises anything remotely related to Gabe like alcohol or poker, so Percy would never be with someone who, even for a second, reminds Percy of Gabe.

Gabe was exploitative of Sally, heavily so with no love or affection attached to it.

Annabeth, on the other hand, does love Percy. She, however, does not love him the way he deserves to be loved because her fatal flaw and a few toxic traits get in her way. For example, Annabeth has a habit of taking Percy for granted and is not appreciative of his efforts. She shows toxic possessiveness over him and almost always gets physical with Percy due to her lack of control over her emotions and not knowing how to express them well enough. She has consistently shown a poor understanding of Percy's motivations and his choices and has a habit of putting blame on Percy in several unnecessary situations. Character development would have served us all well but it doesn't seem very likely because Rick is Rick and Annabeth's fatal flaw is hubris, which means she is unlikely to acknowledge her toxic traits.

Now, back to our main point. Let's look at some direct or indirect parallels between Sally and Rachel and some things that deviate from the mold of Sally's experiences.

Rachel, I think, has always paralleled Sally. She is a mortal born with the sight, something that Sally herself has gone through. Rachel is Sally's past, and Sally is Rachel's future in a way, at least when it comes to their sight. Yet their final choices contrast each other, which is very fascinating.

Sally is a writer, and Rachel is an artist. They both have creative interests and aspirations. They are both naturally compassionate and kind but also very strong-willed.

What Poseidon was to Sally, Percy is to Rachel, and I think I really like that parallel. Maybe in another life, Sally would have said yes to Poseidon's offer, and in another life, Rachel would have turned down the Spirit of Delphi and pursued Percy, and Percy would have pursued her.

(They represent the pathway to an entirely new world to both Sally and Rachel, and its a feeling you cherish forever.)

Remember how being in the rain or near the sea makes Sally look younger and healthier, I think Rachel has a similar connection to the things Percy is connected with. After meeting him, she does seem to like beaches more. Considering her vacation spot was a beach and she also went on a beach date with Percy.

(You might think Percy chose that date spot, but it was obviously Rachel cause Percy is a gentleman who would definitely let his partner choose the date spots and then prepare the date for them as they like)

Her visions begin revolving around Percy, and Percy himself begins dreaming often of her. Not just visions but in general. It is stated in Botl that he dreamed of running into her again and not being able to answer her questions.

Another thing is that Sally parallels Rachel in case of emotional nuances between her and Poseidon and Rachel and Percy. Even after all these years, Sally trusts that Poseidon will not abandon Percy and will protect him when it comes to it, even after her death; especially after her death. The same way Rachel is comfortable in calling Percy whenever she is in trouble or when the visions are bothering her [I think we get a mention of how Percy has met with Rachel's father in The Last Olympian and how Rachel's father TRUSTS Percy's word about keeping Rachel SAFE.] And for the shippers, he has already met the parents and they approve lol.

The trust goes both ways, too. Cause we know Percy is an extremely private person and doesn't like to share anything about himself unless he is obligated too and even then sparingly. Even after being friends with him for so many years, Annabeth and Grover are in dark about a lot of things about him but Rache who has canonically had visions about Percy and his experiences, who has the power to tap into Percy's past and Percy is just so chill with that. Like he knows Rachel knows cause he has had several visions of his own about her, but he just lets it go.

Percy Jackson of all people TRUSTS Rachel enough to let her peek into his past experiences, hell it's because of her that he uncovered the true meaning of the prophecy and then TRUSTED HER WORDS ENOUGH TO STAKE THE FATE OF THE WORLD ON IT. We all know he hates Luke like no one else has hated Luke ever and yet GIVES Luke the knife, not cause of Annabeth's or Hermes's trust in him [they have both been wrong before] but because RACHEL SAID SO.

Another thing that's reminiscent of Sally's relationship with Poseidon is the fact that Sally was in no delusion of who she was with. No delusion of Poseidon being anything other than what he was, a force of nature and a god. He was kind and soft with her, but she was not disillusioned to his other natures. The same goes for Rachel.

Rachel doesn't expect Percy to be some tamed down version of himself or for him to suppress his impulses or nature. He is soft and nice to her. She appreciates it, but she doesn't expect nor want him to be anything other than what he is. As evidenced by the lovely painting she gives him of Percy looking fearsome against his battle with Antaeus. It was such a sight that Percy himself was jarred, but Rachel said he looked good. She was totally fine with his darkside, accepted it, and understood it.

Rachel also has a very positive relationship with things Percy is passionate about. She has a keen sense for environmental conservation as we see her participating in a charity work (actual volunteering) in BoTL and we know how sensitive Percy is on rivers or oceans being unclean.

She also seems to have a great bond with Percy's companions. Like you are telling me Blackjack, who has trauma of his time with being captive on Princess Andromeda under Luke, and who is fiercely loyal to Percy, let Rachel just order him into going to CHB like that. Obviously, Blackjack likes her enough to let her take him without Percy's explicit permission and without informing Percy because he knows his boss cares about her. I don't know how we, as a fandom, moved on from that scene. It's so beautiful that Rachel is able to connect to Blackjack so seamlessly. And how one of Percy's first thoughts is worrying about Rachel's well-being as soon as he finds out.

Don't even get me started on how him, including Nico and Hades in his wish and demanding justice and respect for children of Hades, is what broke the curse on the Oracle. I think Percy knew what Rachel was going to do or what her role was due to him seeing the visions of May Castellan, and don't tell me he didn't include Nico in his wish for that reason as well. And he was still so panicked when Rachel swore the oath to Apollo, despite the curse already being broken.

There's also a point of how they are both very integral part of Olympus and quite above the others in terms of hierarchy. Percy is the twice savior of Olympus. Several gods owe him a favor, and he is the prince of Atlantis. Rachel is the vessel of Spirit of Delphi, a force that has existed before even the gods. The Olympians need her, the demigods need her, and she is under the protection of Zeus himself. The two most important people in the world exempting gods and other immortals are literally them.

This is why it bothers me when people say Perachel is a big what if. Perachel isn't a what-if. It already happened. It simply didn't last. Not because they didn't want to but because the choice was taken from them. But both Percy and Rachel chose to save the world and chose to do the duty expected of them over dooming the world and being in a relationship. Destiny is inherently unjust as it were. The only what if's are what if they chose to defy expectations and rules and got back together anyway.

The Savior of Olympus and the Oracle of Delphi are a perfect match, but fate would not let it be. Perhaps in another world, they would have cared less about the fate of the world or less about defying Olympus. Maybe when Percy becomes immortal, he will finally get a chance to be with Rachel. In my headcanons, that is how it goes. I admit I like the dynamic of the strongest demigod ever and the Oracle herself teaming up. It's not like anyone can top that duo. The power couple that they would have been, the fandom is not ready for it.

Percy Jackson is a highly empathetic and compassionate character who shows kindness and loyalty to all kinds of people no matter what their background or story is. It didn't matter if they were mortals, immortals, gods, demigods, titans or monsters. He has shown kindness, compassion and loyalty to:

Tyson (his half brother, a cyclops, who he protected from bullies before and after knowing what he was. yes he faltered once but that was more of him feeling bad that he was once again the odd one at camp. he made up for his negative feelings about tyson being his brother by continuously saving him, standing up for him and finally recognizing him his brother. Percy believes so much in Tyson.)

Grover (his best friend, who he protected from bullies before finding out grover is a satyr sent to protect him. he defended grover vs the council of cloven elders, when they labeled grover as a liar regarding his news of Pan)

Rachel (his first mortal friend, who's bravery he admires. His thoughts about Rachel are very positive and he is constantly impressed by her. He has voiced out his respect for her on many occasions.)

Briares (ancient Hundred-Handed One, who was set free from his prison by Percy and his friends. He was abused and so afraid to the point where he wanted to fade like his brothers but ultimately saved chb b/c he was inspired by Tyson's faith in him. and who showed Tyson how to be brave and stick up for those in need? Percy.)

Blackjack (a pegasus who he saved from luke's ship and was so grateful to percy for it that he's always offering percy his help)

Mrs. O Leary (he adopted a literal hellhound for a pet and is fiercely protective of her. he once hesitated to kill hellhounds in TLO b/c they reminded him of mrs. o leary)

Cerberus (literally tells Hades "it wouldn't hurt to play with cerberus once in a while. he likes red rubber balls")

Bessie the Ophiotaurus (sea creature with the potential to destroy the gods but who percy advocated for in front of the 12 Olympians and asked them to save Bessie b/c you shouldn't kill an innocent creature on the basis that they might or might not destroy you)

Other sea creatures (he would lose hours of sleep doing rescue missions)

The river naiad from Geryon's ranch. He literally says he didn't want to be that kind of guy that puts his weight on being the son of Poseidon to get what he wants. He saw that she was scared and was only putting on a brave front to protect her ecosystem. She is one of the reasons why we have Percy embracing what it means to be a son of the sea god - the sea is within him.

He showed her compassion and in turn she tells him a secret. She showed him a way to save his friends.

Calypso (an immortal titanness punished for siding with her father Atlas and the other Titans. He felt extremely bad for Calypso, told her that it wasn't fair that she got punished for siding with her family and asked her how he could help free her. He couldn't stay in Ogygia but he did directly ask Zeus to release her. He also planted the moonshine plant she gave him like she asked "build a garden for me in Manhattan." He remembered her.)

Zoe Nightshade (hunter of Artemis. They had mutual respect after seeing a different side of each other.)

As soon as he figured out it was Hercules who had abandoned Zoe, he threw out his lion-skin cloak, which had been very helpful in keeping him safe from harm. He proceeded to trust Zoe and her judgement and he mourned her death. He actually didn't want to accept that she was dying at first, asking the others to give her more nectar and ambrosia and asking Artemis if she could heal her with magic.

Thalia Grace (the first person to hold her when she was resurrected, who yelled at the other campers to help her and to get her nectar and ambrosia.) For all the times they fought, he also felt protective of her:

Percy put his pride aside to beg Mr. D for help because he looked at Thalia and decided he didn't want to put her in a position where she would die to protect her friends again. Because how could he let that happen to her? He won't.

Clarisse La Rue (felt sympathy for her despite being bullied by her when he first got to camp b/c he recognized what kind of dad Ares was to Clarisse. He gave her the golden fleece, trusting her to complete the quest and save camp:

This even impresses Annabeth. Percy genuinely liked seeing Clarisse happy. He smiled when he noticed her and Chris Rodriguez hold hands at the end of botl.

Artemis (took the sky for her, which they both knew would have killed him, so that Artemis could help Zoe fight Atlas. In turn she vouched for Percy and Thalia when the gods voted on whether they were too dangerous to be kept alive)

Bianca di Angelo (he felt bad for the di angelos. they were taken out of the casino, hunted by monsters and soon after discovering that they were demigods bianca was asked to join the hunt. That is A LOT to process. Percy was the only one who asked her to consider other options before joining the hunters. He also reminded her that her brother couldn't go with her.)

He later was the first to voice out his support as long as she was happy and placed himself in her shoes to better understand where she was coming from:

Percy is the only one who saw Bianca's decision to join the hunters from both her and her brother's perspective. After asking her to consider her options and expressing initial disappointment at her decision, he adjusted his way of thinking and directly asked her how she was doing. How was she settling in with the hunters? How was her life with Nico prior to being discovered? He understood where both siblings were coming from and he tried to comfort and reassure them both (Nico at camp during capture the flag and Bianca during their quest.)

Ethan Nakamura (they were forced to fight to the death in the arena and while Ethan was trying to kill him, Percy only knocked him down and told him to run when he saw an opening. He later asked Ethan to come back with him but he refused. Percy's choice to not kill Ethan and letting him go literally led to Kronos rising b/c Ethan pledged himself to the titan lord right afterwards. Ethan was also the one who figured out Percy's vulnerable spot. He would have killed Percy had Annabeth not taken that knife for him. Percy, even after feeling "betrayed" by Ethan, STILL remembered and considered him when turning down immortality and literally asked for the minor gods to be given recognition - which was what Ethan wanted for Nemesis - and for the gods and demigods who sided with Kronos to be forgiven. Ethan also got his own shroud:

Nico di Angelo. Yes, Nico. Percy spent six months looking for Nico after he disappeared at the end of ttc when percy broke the news to him about Bianca with the goal of wanting to make things right with him. In the labyrinth, he said he felt Nico was close and he ran towards his direction, leaving annabeth grover and tyson running to catch up with him. Nico was double crossed by the owner of the ranch, Geryon ("you should've made me swear on the river styx") and got taken as prisoner to give to Luke Castellan later. It was Percy who bartered for his release:

Percy and his friends were free to go! What does Percy do instead? He makes Geryon a deal to make sure that Nico got out safely.

Also, I find it kinda interesting that Rick Riordan went the "percy talks shit about nico behind his back" route in HOO because this is Percy talking about Nico when he's not there in the og series:

Percy Jackson told the Queen of the Gods that she only cared about her perfect family, not real people, because she didn't secure Nico's safety passage through the ranch. Percy and Annabeth both made a bad impression with Hera because they disliked her attitude towards Nico di Angelo (there's more complexities to this scene but again I won't dive into them).

Percy also literally prayed to Poseidon to help him with Nico:

More of Percy caring about both Nico and Bianca di Angelo:

He claimed the prophecy so that Nico wouldn't have to. To save Nico from more suffering. He hid Nico's parentage from Chiron and the rest of camp because he wanted to prioritize his safety.

More on Percy having compassion towards Nico:

He told Nico that he could come with them on their quest, even if dangerous, because he didn't want to leave him behind. Nico refused. He asked Nico to stay at camp and even told him he could sit with him and Tyson at the Poseidon table (which is against the rules). Again, Nico told him no and instead said he needed to find out more about his past. Percy told Nico to keep in touch. At the end of the book, Percy invites Nico in for blue birthday cake b/c he felt bad that Nico had probably never been invited to a birthday party before.

Percy is later rewarded for what he did for Nico. Nico tells Percy that he found a way to help percy survive against Luke/Kronos as a way to thank him for what Percy did for him in Geryon's ranch (we later find out it's also because nico was crushing on percy but I won't get into that).

Another scene to add to the Percy Jackson Caring About Nico di Angelo list:

Hades had quite literally planned to imprison Percy in the Underworld a few chapters before this. For as much as Percy's trust in Nico wavered after that, he STILL found it in his heart to mention Hades and Nico by name in front of the other gods, requesting that they have a place at camp. Wishing for them to not be left out. Imagine that? Zeus was the one who killed Maria di Angelo, who nearly killed Nico and Bianca di Angelo had it not been for Hades. And Percy still rejected his offer of immortality and included Hades and Nico in his wish. Here was Percy, who offended the gods by rejecting immortality and by making them swear on the river styx to do good on their oaths, who had demanded a lot from them already, asking for Nico and Hades to be recognized after being cast aside and ignored by the gods.

Even his own dad, Poseidon, told Percy that he asked for too much. He did it for them. The forgotten, the unloved, the side lined demigods and minor gods and "peaceful titans" that sided with Kronos. Because that is who Percy is. Empathetic, compassionate, kind.

Chiron. Even the immortal mentor of heroes. Percy helped clear his name when he got accused of poisoning Thalia's tree (by tricking Luke into confessing via Iris Message)

Charles Beckendorf (one of his first real friend at camp besides annabeth and grover. Besides Percy and Nico, Beckendorf was the only one who Mrs. O Leary trusted enough to get close to her at chb. Percy thought of him when turning down immortality)

Silena Beauregard (felt angry on her behalf every time he saw how she looked grieving charlie. he never once told anyone she was the spy and thought of her when he made his wish at the end of tlo)

There are many others Percy is seen showing kindness and compassion towards, including HoO (that i won't get into because percy's character becomes less himself rip character assassination) and crossovers (Magnus Chase, Carter and Sadie Kane) but this is already long so I'll end it with this:

Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang. Two Roman demigods who started at the bottom of the legion. Percy saw two underdogs and went "they're under my protection now." He even promised Hazel that Thanatos wouldn't take her back without a fight. Even after Percy got his memories back he never once cared about greek vs roman beef. These are his friends, his people.

Percy Jackson is usually awarded for his loyalty and compassion (see: Blackjack, Rachel, the river naiad, Nico) and sometimes it gets him nearly killed (see: Ethan Nakamura and his achilles spot, Nico both walking him into a trap because he trusted him and later saving him). He doesn't usually ask for anything in return.

In Rachel's case, he asked for her help in the Labyrinth because they needed a clear sighted mortal to lead them, but he emphasized how dangerous it would be and that rachel didn't have to do it. He also apologized to her for getting her involved and reassured her when she felt bad that she seemed to have led them to a trap even though she was sure that was the path they needed to go. Percy could have died but he never held that against her ("Don't feel bad, I'm usually about to die"). His faith in Rachel never wavered.

In Nico's case, he asked him to convince his dad Hades to join the fight and to lead the the seven to the doors of death (a task that he only trusted Nico with to successfully lead).

Percy Jackson inspires loyalty for good reason. He considers people, he sees them, understands them, encourages them and he either helps them or he lets them make their own choices (which he learned from Sally Jackson - "if my life has to mean anything I have to live it myself"). They are made better for it. Percy is made better for it.

His first instinct is always to fight for those who can't or don't have anybody else to stand up for them. You don't have to prove your worth because to percy, you already are worth it.

He is either "I love you so I will help you" or "I love you so I will let you go" and to him it does not matter who or what you are.

Which is exactly why the only takeaway I or anyone else sane has had from Rick's latter books is that Percy Jackson is the best character he has ever written and will ever write. His writing peaked with Percy and only peaks with Percy[his authentic characterization]. And this is the fact that everyone in the fandom and Rick more than any other despises to the bone and have hence been trying and failing disastrously to bring Percy down.

Cause clearly despite starting so many ridiculous, untrue and downright disgusting takes around Percy's personality, Percy's experience with Nico, or his experience in Tartarus, or his intelligence and so on, he is STILL THE MOST FAN FAVORITE CHARACTER AND WILL REMAIN TO BE SO. Remain angry, people, remain angry.

(And here's a small reminder: Almost all your faves have been saved by Percy enough times for all your anti Percy takes to seem pathetic in comparison.)

I will never get over the fact that rick riordan's favorite way of uplifting other characters is to tear percy jackson down

Not this again. Where are the Percabeth stans finding their audacity?

How insecure, jobless, and incorrectly wired must you be to go around looking in other people's business and then have the gall to invalidate the value of life by saying this over a fucking fictional ship opinion? And then double down on it by saying you mean it literally?

I find it funny that Percabeth stans do all this in the name of defending their ship but are instead further debasing its already heavily diminished value by engaging in such disgusting actions.

You did NOT just compare Annabeth and Gabe to each other.

I swear to god you anti Percabeths are the dumbest, most incomprehent people I've ever met. I seriously think you should just kys honestly the world would be a better place off without you.

No I don't think it's wrong you're anti Percabeth so yeah

I did, in fact, compare Annabeth to Gabe!

I don't think that Annabeth is as bad as Gabe (nope nope nope) but I do think that she's very toxic and that she hurts Percy. I think that they need to break up and heal alone. Her lack of character growth is very frustrating.

The lack of specificity in your death threat is annoying. If you do want me to kill myself, you're going to have to be more particular-the necessary tools, how long it'll take, how painful it'll be, etc. I take painless methods only.

I do think that not much would be changed in the world if I killed myself, but it would probably be a somewhat worse off place without me because I have people who love and care for me and I'm not doing anything bad to the world, so there's that.

When I came into this fandom, people told me that Percabeth stans would be rabid and hateful, and I don't think that's the case for the majority of them, seeing as that period already passed and they seem more mature now (or maybe it's just Tumblr) but you seem to be an exception. I wonder if you're the same anon as last time? I'll never know.

In any case, I'd like to thank you for your use of better grammar than the last one, though your not adding a period at the end of the last sentence irks me. I'd also prefer it if you didn't use the abbreviation of kys and said kill yourself. I dislike it when people use bad grammar, though that's just a personal preference.

Your morality is interesting-I forget the exact term for it, but you think it's bad to tell your side to kill themselves but have no problem telling the opposite side to kill themselves just because..............they're your enemies. Which is a terrible reason. Not surprising from a Percabeth stan, though.

I don't tend to think of people whom I disagree with as automatically bad people-that is a very harmful mentality to have. I have fought with some people, but they're not bad people-we just disagree on certain things and I know that they produce great content and have good morals just like me. Please adopt this mentality and the world will be slightly better, because every change is a change, no matter how big or small.

Anyway, I will be the bigger person and I hope that you sleep well tonight! Au revoir!

This is not even close to how bad she gets. Annabeth would be dead in this quest without Rachel and Percy. They both literally did all the work while Annabeth was being absolutely unreasonable and bitchy. I understand this is Rick's attempt at portraying jealousy but at this point in time, Annabeth and Percy aren't even dating. She is being toxic and showing unhealthy possessiveness to Percy.

Also, doesn't Annabeth pride herself on her intellect and wisdom? And her knowledge of myths? She knew how in the orignal myths, Ariadne's help was paramount in crossing the Labyrinth and yet she still refuses to accept it. Rachel the only one who can save them and help them has benevolently offered aid despite Annabeth's horrible demeanor and yet she has the audacity to be absolutely ungrateful. We don't even get a single apology.

At the start of Botl when the school blows up due to fighting, Annabeth who has known Percy for at least three years immediately jumps to accuse and blame Percy for it even though she knows it's almost always due to monster attacks and rarely Percy's fault. Rachel who has known him for like five minutes is the one jumping to his defense, offering to cover for him at the cost of her own reputation and school record and take the blame for something she is the not one bit responsible for. Because it was necessary. That's the difference between Annabeth and Rachel. One is practical and compassionate, while the other is prideful and self-centered.

So many other things happen in Rachel and Annabeth's dynamic that are horrible and toxic but the ace is that Annabeth has the audacity to consistently bring up Rachel, (who at later point is a close friend) to make Percy uncomfortable and keeping him on his toes, even in literal hell, so much so Percy is scared to talk to Annabeth about Rachel or even think about her near Annabeth which is absolutely completely disgusting behavior and the fandom just glosses over it like nothing. What the hell?

Annabeth, you know you're half mortal, right? You can't just pretend that isn't a part of you.

Didn't even remember that this was an aspect to the Annabeth and Rachel dynamic, but it really supports all I've been saying about how Percy and Rachel are so much more compatible, because they build their own world. Find the in-between of the mortal and the godly together. Ground each other in the half of themselves they feel disconnected to. And then there's Annabeth, who buys into the godly propaganda so hard. Annabeth who doesn't get along with her mortal family. Annabeth who's spent more of her life at Camp than anywhere else. Annabeth who wants to rebuild Olympus. Annabeth who wants to go to college in New Rome, a city absent of mortals. Even if I didn't think Percy and Annabeth's relationship was toxic, I still wouldn't ship them because they're just fundamentally incompatible.

It's really simple. The boon for one can be a curse for another is the phrase that comes to mind when Jason and Percy are involved. All the things that Jason deems as boons are akin to a curse for Percy. Things Jason wants and Percy does not want are denied to the former and thrust upon the latter. Destiny is inherently unjust to both of them.

Their lives are quite literally inverse and parallel of each other simultaneously.

Percy was initially hated and ostracized for what he was, while Jason was honored and revered.

Jason became the image everyone forced on him in hopes of finally earning genuine love, respect, and approval but was instead seen as doing what was already expected of him and was rewarded with even more expectations.

Percy who broke all preconceived and hateful notions about him by breaking records and creating miracles that the demigod world did not know existed and cemented himself as someone who would never be forgotten. He paid for all that in blood and pain, but at least he was rewarded with the love and loyalty of his peers for it. [Jason would call this a gift, a reward while Percy considers the price of love, respect, and loyalty of his peers was unjust and should have been given freely]

Percy's name is a gift and a prayer. It's the earnest symbol of Sally's need to keep her son alive and safe. Percy may be a symbol of a god's mistake once up on a time; but he is not a regret. No, he is a blessing in disguise.

Jason's name is a curse and a sacrifice. It is also a symbol of a god's mistake and, more importantly, a god's regret. He himself is a tool, a peace offering, and a sacrifice disguised as a gift. He can never be anything more in the eyes of his makers.

Percy is a symbol of love for both Poseidon and Sally. Jason was a symbol of status to Beryl and a bargaining chip to Jupiter against Hera. Poseidon would go to war with Zeus for Percy's sake while Jupiter would see Jason dead for his own agendas. And he did.

Jason desperately wants to be a legend that was woven around him while Percy wants to escape the legend he became and created.

Even their definitions of freedom are inverted.

To Jason, his freedom is being able to help the gods and his camp in whatever way he can and not be judged for it. His freedom is in the genuine love and respect of his peers and the approval of his father.

To Percy, his freedom is being left alone, without the watchful eye of gods on him, being able to do what he wants, whenever he wants. He cares not for earning the approval of any gods, instead he is the one that judges them to be worthy or unworthy of his respect.

Jason wants to be a leader while Percy is doomed to be one.

But by the end of it Percy is now the one saddled with responsibilities and expectations that he does not want ,drowning and chafing under the weight of such restraints that go against his nature while Jason's death despite it's unjustness has finally freed him from his shackles.

Jason is free, and Percy is not. Jason sees his death as punishment while Percy would think of his own death as freedom even though Jason's death is the actual freedom, while Percy's death would be the true punishment, after all he was so close to escaping his fate.

Their dynamic was perhaps the one with the most potential in the entire series, followed by Percy and Luke. The parallels, the contradictions, the mirrored philosophy, and mindset. All that golden potential and Rick squanders it on a superficial rivalry and poorly fleshed character motivations.

Jason who everyone believed would be great and Percy who knew that everyone except his mom believed he wouldn't amount to anything unless he proved himself. Percy who chose to make the Great Prophecy about him so Nico wouldn't have to bear more burdens after losing his sister. Jason who chose to confront Caligula alone so Piper would live after the oracle told him he or Piper would die.

Percy who believed he would die at 16. Jason actually dying at 16.

Imagine if Percy and Jason actually had the chance to have a genuine conversation about how being sons of The Big 3 hurt them in different but similar ways bc of what was expected of them and bc of how they were treated by people. Percy and Jason knowing that they can't really show weakness or insecurity or ever say that they were scared bc everyone at their respective camps were counting on their leadership.

Percy and Jason who had their own distinct journeys to be the heroes they became and both journeys were valid and important but did Jason and Percy ever believe for a second that they were important not for their parentage and achievements but because of who they are and actively chose to be

comic commission for @scribesynnox: a what if au. what if percy hadn’t been in agonizing pain while taking atlas’ burden

The way I totally glossed over that despite having read MoA a few times. There's so many instances that should have been Jason chapters but were given to Piper instead. And even to Leo. There was absolutely no reason to give them so many povs in this book. Jason, Percy, and Annabeth should have been key players, yet only Annabeth was done right by. [Hell, she had too many chapters by my count. The quest for the statue was such a small part of the book that there was no reason to shove Annabeth in so many extra pov chapters.] The Pov Distribution was really terrible in the HoO series. With the exception of SoN and HoH, every other book had considerable pov distribution problems. The same treatment was given to Percy later on. The way that Percy doesn't have a single pov chapter in Blood of Olympus even though he was the one who awoke Gaea and was involved in other pivotal moments is insane.

A Jason and Reyna reunion? Jason's feelings on returning to his once home? Jason meeting Percy? The giant fight? One Argo ii deck meeting scene? We were certainly robbed of quite a lot of nuance in MoA.

jason grace not having a pov in mark of athena is WILD. that's literally supposed to be a book centered around him and reyna, and camp jupiter (in the beginning of the book, atleast). and you're telling me he had no.... pov? like hello? this is peak level of insane writing 😭

No. Just no.

Annabeth bringing up Rachael when they're in Tartarus is ass backwards.

Girl, you and your boyfriend are trapped in Tartarus (you being ONE of the reasons due to your hubris). A place where misery, STRESS, anger, and evil roam and consume. And what do you decide to do? Bring up Rachael with the intent to stress him out.

What the fuck is wrong with you.

Percy is already stressed, tired, and in pain, and you want to ADD to it.

It has me thinking. Call me dramatic or biased. IDC.

Annabeth wants to hurt Percy.

This pattern has not changed. Before, she hit and kicked him to the point he expected and feared her. She insulted him. When asked to not be called that, she doesn't, and he grows used to it. She judo-flipped him because she was angry at him, but she didn't just flip him. She pressed her knee on his chest, pinning him on the concrete, and threatened him. What makes this worse is that she flips him on his fatal spot knowingly (luckily, he doesn't have it anymore). She makes HIM apologize for what happened despite him being innocent.

On with Tartarus, she tells Percy right after he saves both of their skins never to use that power again. Instead of helping him control it, she demonizes it and forbids him to use it. The lack of gratefulness is astounding. I understand she's afraid, but instead of talking with him, she speaks with Piper, and Piper kind of paints Percy as a monster by saying he needs to be chained. Annabeth is still afraid of Percy.

She agrees with Reyna that Percy is stupid instead of taking up for him. She further insults his intelligence even though she knows he's not stupid.

I can go on and on.

I know certain stans don't like it when I or others criticize Annie and 'paint her as a villain!' but seriously... Annabeth does that herself. It's not like I'm misconstruing things or Annabeth's being held at gunpoint. She CHOSE to do these things! She doesn't APOLOGIZE! She chooses to NOT CHANGE. RICK CHOOSES TO NOT CHANGE HER.

You're upset about how we talk about her, you should be upset at Rick for how he wrote her and continues to write her. Could you take it up with him, not the ones who put her flaws in a magnifying glass?

Anyway, that's how I feel. Does Annabeth care or love Percy? I like to believe she does because she wouldn't stay with him if she didn't. However, I also think she likes to have a sense of control over Percy a bit, along with having a deep-rooted jealousy because he outperforms, especially in wisdom and strategy. These things she does come from a sense of anger and jealousy.

Alright, see you later.

I need others to understand that none of the incorrect quotes centered around percabeth are actually farfetched or inaccurate and that you can find evidence for all of them in canon every time. These aren't some great exaggerations. They are just conversations made around context clues and implications that are already in the books or downright direct quotes from the book.

No one is making any effort to make your "golden ship" unhealthy because that's unnecessary. It is already unhealthy, and the books are littered with such interactions, but the shippers are willfully blind and those that aren't romanticize such interactions. I am not sure which is worse.

And if these sort of quotes annoy you, then in general, pjo incorrect quotes including all the constant dumb Percy takes and character assassination of Percy is just as annoying if not far more annoying for the rest of the community.

@ogjacksonsimp @berrybore would love your thoughts on this.

Percy: Hey wise girl, can you stop encouraging all your friends to think the worst of me? Piper thinks I need to be controlled, Reyna thinks that I can't find my way out of a paper bag and now your architecture classmates don't think I'm good enough for you!

Annabeth: I don't encourage my friends to think the worse of you, seaweed brain. I tell them how it is.

Percy:

Percy: Wait you think I'm not good enough for you? I literally fell into Tartarus for you! I went through hell for you! I went on a whole quest and risked permanent banishment from camp half blood - my only safe place - for you! I even did a mission for a god after I retired to get a classy date for you! What more do you want?

Annabeth: The bare minimum, seaweed brain. You only did those things once, and you missed our 4th-11th month anniversaries. You have a lot to make up for!

Finally, thoughts on Percy beating Iapetus when they met? This boy managed to control the Lethe even while dying of a deadly poison and maintained that control even while tackling a Titan into it, resulting in the Titan becoming an amnesiac. And he was still injured throughout the whole fight!!

do not get me started because that is...

iconic behavior.

anyway, this is why i have such strong feelings about percy being a part of the ocean. i love love love how nico and thalia are doubtful that he can control the river lethe, and then he just. proves them wrong in the best way possible. there are just so many moments throughout pjo that leave everyone like 👁👄👁 when they see percy do some freaky impossible thing with his powers, and this scene with the big three trio is the perfect example of that.

nico and thalia are both powerful in their own right, but their powers leave them drained all the time. they can only use their abilities sparingly. percy, on the other hand, gets invigorated by water. and it’s glaringly obvious how powerful he’s become, because even other bodies of water that aren’t the ocean obey to his every command. and like, the fact that he could keep up the fight with iapetus, wash away his memories, and maintain control over the river just goes to show much more intrinsic his connection to his godly side is—unlike nico and thalia, whose powers and strengths are superficial, albeit more advanced than those of the average demigod. how percy is this way is still a mystery to me, though i do think that @posallys miss taylor knows the answer. but it’s still something so strange, for a demigod to possess so much control over their godly parent’s sphere of influence, although poseidon’s sphere of influence is one of the most primordial ones amosngt the olympians so. there’s that. it’s genuinely so cool, and i get why the gods are scared :)

I really love the fact that Camp Half-Blood didn't give Jason, Piper, and Leo Pegasi for their quest in The Lost Hero, despite the fact that they didn't really have an alternative for air transportation at this point in time, and only had four days to save Hera, solely because they used the pegasi to search for Percy.

Like, priorities were set, and Hera was not on the top of that list.

My Response

Since I can't reblog, I'll respond this way.

THIS IS NOT TO ATTACK BUT TO SHARE MY REASONING FOR DISAGREEMENT.

I won't lie. This tweet really bothered me. Same annoyance and sadness with 'You can't criticize percabeth because it's based on Rick's marriage.' I'm not saying you said that, but I see that comment often.

Anyway, I'm going to remain respectful.

You are NOT erasing Percy's character's strength by pointing out the toxicity and abuse of Percabeth. Yes, Percy is not afraid of calling out people's nonsense. HOWEVER, he does that with people he DOES NOT like. Of course, it's easier for him to call out people he doesn't like because it wouldn't affect him.

However, when it comes to people he cares for, that's another story. When it comes to Grover nearly fucking up Percy's quest because he didn't want him or Annabeth to leave him, instead of calling out his selfishness, Percy bites his tongue and BLAMES HIMSELF for making Grover feel that way.

What about when his mother admits she was selfish by not letting him go to camp? Despite being a safer option, she didn't want him going to camp. Percy had every right to be mad. This could've saved him from Gabe. But instead, he still adores her. He doesn't hold it against her.

Lastly, with Annabeth, she's done all sorts of things, like punching him in the gut, judo flipping him with the intention of hurting him, and blaming him for leaving her even though he was kidnapped.

Did Percy lash out? No. There wasn't a retort either. Instead, he laughed it off, and they haven't spoken about it. If anything, he felt the need to make it up to Annabeth. He felt GUILTY for something that was not his fault.

What about when she calls him seaweed brain, a name he doesn't like? A name similar to 'brain boy,' something smelly Gabe calls him to demean his intelligence. A name that ANNABETH finds insulting too, and doesn't want to be called. Does he tell her to stop or call her mean names back? Kinda, but he later GIVES UP and bites his tongue.

What about when Reyna says he 'couldn't find his way out of a paper bag,' and Annabeth laughs and agrees with her. Percy may have said 'hey!" but that's it. Was it talked about? I don't think so. It was brushed to the side.

Percy may be brave enough to stand up to bullies, but he doesn't stand up to his loved ones when they truly hurt him. His fatal flaw being loyalty to loved ones, even when they fuck him over, prevents him from doing that.

Annabeth is nowhere near like Gabe, but that doesn't mean she's not hurting Percy, and you're not degrading Percy for calling this out.

I was in Percy's shoes. I stood up to bullies and people I didn't like. Uncomfortable? Scary? Hell yeah, but I did it anyway. I know what that's like. However, just like Percy, I also brushed off the pain my friends and loved ones caused me. I brushed off my 'friends' fucking me over, even took the blame for them. Why? I didn't want them to leave me. I overlooked when my loved ones would unintentionally say hurtful things. Why? Because I love them and didn't want them to leave me either. Also, I tried to appear strong, too. It's okay now that I had therapy and stuff.

Guess what? Percy does the same thing, and that's worth calling out. Victims of abuse tend to overlook their loved ones hurting them.

I'm not 'minimizing' or 'erasing' Percy's strength and courage for calling a spade a spade, and I can not stand when percabeth stans try to sweep toxic things Annabeth does under the rug. Again, is she abusive and like Gabe? No. BUT she does things that remind me of Gabe, like calling Percy mean names to insult his intelligence. She hits, kicks, and hurts him when he does something she doesn't like. Gabe doesn't do this, but Annabeth would sometimes play mind games or make her boyfriend anxious just for the hell of it. (Bringing up Rachel to make Percy uncomfortable). I'll stop listing.

But I have to say. You said it was 'insulting' to Annabeth to call her actions 'abusive'? I say it's insulting to act like what she's doing isn't abusive or toxic. All that I've listed, she didn't do this playfully or in a lighthearted manner. Annabeth did this angry or annoyed and with INTENT. It wasn't an oopsie! No, she wants it to hurt, especially the judo flip scene. So, do I care if I insult Annabeth? Sorry, but no. I don't care because she's in the wrong. Not always, but MOST, and I don't feel guilty because of her actions and how she hasn't learned (and doesn't want to).

Overall, I hate that these types of arguments become popular. I understand you don't like your ship being called horrible things, and I'm not trying to be mean. Most of us are not. However, we can NOT sweep over some of the things Annabeth or Percy do, mainly Annabeth.

I'm sorry for dumping something heavy. I'm not trying to make this about me. My point is that you're not discarding Percy for calling out Percabeth's toxicity. That's it.

Night

Edited: March 18th, 2025. I wanted to add a little more and correct grammar and typos.

Will and Nico weren't built to be major characters we've gotta put 'em back

I am in love with this post. Because I have been screaming the same things for so long, and yet the fandom is as willfully blind as ever. Annabeth is more knowledgeable, but knowledge is nothing without practical application. Percy is quick on his feet, extremely adaptive, and has good instincts and has way higher emotional intelligence (people reading skills, people assessment skills) and is also a far better manipulator. Ergo Percy is smarter than Annabeth. There I said it. Plus, in knowledge and studies, which is Annabeth's supposed field of expertise, she still lost to Percy when Percy began putting in effort. So again, Annabeth's got nothing on Percy. Also, this is the entry op is talking about:

There's just so few people who are willing to acknowledge genuine character flaws instead of mindlessly defending their own skewed opinions. Everyone in the anti percabeth community or anti Annabeth chase community has been hounded with labels of being a misogynist, death threats and other complete and utter bullshit arguments lacking common sense like that one time someone told me, "But Percabeth are inspired by Rick's relationship with his own wife. So you can't critique them." I am sorry, what? If anything, that's more concerning.

Now that Rick's marketing trilogy is out and Annabeth's flaws are glaringly visible, like flashing neon red, everyone rushes to blame Rick's writing but given Annabeth's toxic traits and flaws have existed since the orignal series at least at some point readers need to admit that Rick was definitely framing the character persona like this since the start and everyone else has just been glossing over it for the convenience of their "golden ship" and "strong female character."

Annabeth out of every other character needs to be critiqued the most, given how redundant and devolving her character keeps getting. Like not only does she not get character development for her past mistakes and flaws, SHE SOMEHOW GETS WORSE WITH EACH BOOK AND EVERYONE JUST GLOSSES OVER IT.

Come on, people, even the fanfic authors change her personality to suit the idea of their golden relationship. Obviously, everyone is playing trail and error with Percy's personality anyway. Listen, if you have to change two characters completely to be able to ship them, then you aren't shipping the original characters, you are shipping oc pairing. And to all the proud Annabeth stans, if you really loved her, you would call her out on her bullshit and love her despite that. But you ignore that the flaws exists implying that you don't love the character itself but whatever altered version of her is in your head.

Okay, this is just a quick (lies, this ended up so long) and dirty articulation of why I don't like Annabeth Chase from PJO, her relationship with Percy, and what I think could fix it. (It got too long so I cut that bit. I'll write it if someone asks, but right now this is just a deconstruction of how, in my opinion, Annabeth Chase is not a well-written and compelling character.) This will be rambling and scattershot but hopefully it all makes sense, even if you don't agree.

First of all, Annabeth Chase has a lot of potential. I'm about to talk some shit, but I want to be clear, I see a lot in her character that could be interesting. I attribute most of my problems with her to Rick's writing, which, for all its good qualities, is not the strongest or most consistent imo. This isn't intended as a hate piece, just a way to organize my thoughts. I'm doing this all from memory, and am open to feedback, disagreement, or correction if I make a mistake so long as it's done in a civil way. Thank you.

I think my biggest frustration with Annabeth is that I simply don't believe her intelligence. I would LIKE to. But I think we are told that she is smart far more than we're shown, which makes the praise heaped upon her somewhat galling.

When I think about great strategies in these books, Percy comes to mind first. In The Last Olympian, he's the one who plans out the destruction of the bridges to frustrate Kronos' approach, including making diplomatic deals with the river gods and strategically deploying demigods to get it done. He's the one to realize that Poseidon is critical to success, find a way to get his attention in the middle of a war, and convince him to take heavy losses in Atlantis — and lose that battle which was very personal and precious to him — in order to win the ultimate war against Kronos. It is also Percy's strategy which is successful in defeating Typhon. Percy is constantly thinking up strategies in high pressure environments, such as fights. For example, in the Labrynth, when he realizes that his half-brother is healed by earth so he concocts a method with what he has around him to keep his brother suspended so he can be killed.

Now, other demigods also make important contributions in The Last Olympian. Wasn't it Nico who convinced Hades, Persephone, and Demeter to join the fight? And Annabeth activated Daedalus(??? spelling) statues in defense as well. But Percy is one that we are most often shown being strategic. I think it just goes under the radar because Percy does not have a high self esteem and does not praise himself internally for a lot of the clever stuff he does.

Annabeth most often contributes by knowing something. She often serves as exposition; she'll recognize a myth first, and explain it to Percy. But not only is prior knowledge and memorization not a replacement for actual strategy, BUT PERCY GETS BETTER GRADES THAN HER. I think it's in that Demigod Files book?? All Riordan's stuff has at least a month's waitlist at my library or I would double check my source, but I distinctly remember an entry where Annabeth is like, "Seriously, how is Percy getting better grades than me?? I'm the one who taught him how to put an essay together and now he's breezing through them??? Wtf." I find this intensely frustrating. Because what do you MEAN she's not even more successful than Percy academically? It's just, it's frustrating, because she's supposed to be so super smart, and I'm struggling to see where that actually gets expressed. If her only advantage is an earlier exposure to the Greek myths than Percy and a good memory, then her value as a character is highest near the start of the series and can only decline from there.

Even her encounter with the Sphinx highlights this. She had the trivia knowledge to answer the questions but not the wisdom to just, do that and not start an unnecessary fight in the middle of their quest.

I can think of several times in the books where Annabeth stutters, trying to think of something, while Percy improvises something that might be a little goofy but it WORKS.

Actually, Percy is by far the better manipulator out of the two of them. He is insanely good at reading his enemies, figuring out how to convince them to ally with him if possible, or defeat them if not. His big vulnerability is he can't do that for shit with people he cares about. Percy is actually very conflict avoidant in his personal life, I've noticed? And he's very quick to empathize with a friend and try to see things from their persepective (like when Grover kinda SABOTAGED his college applications and Percy heard him out and supported him in his emotional struggle with Percy leaving).

By contrast, Annabeth doesn't seem interested in the emotional wellbeing of her friends?

Annabeth often insults Percy's intelligence and his strategies. She says his head is full of kelp, seaweed brain, outright calls him stupid at least once (during that quest for Hermes, if I recall; was that in the Demigod Files as well? It wasn't in a main book I don't think). Everyone says that Annabeth is so smart, she's the daughter of Athena she's the architect of Olympus!! Meanwhile, the person I see actually implementing successful strategy is the person Annabeth constantly insults. She says that he's lucky, that he needs help to do anything, couldn't think his way out of a paper bag without her????????

That's what drives me crazy about Annabeth. Nobody ever calls her on her bragging or her putting down of other people. She doesn't learn. Not even when her carelessness and overconfidence gets her DRAGGED INTO TARTARUS. I'm so sorry, but is it not embarrassing for a daughter of Athena to be defeated like that??? All you had to do was keep an awareness of your environment, put two and two together that you're covered in webs just like the spider who just fell through the floor, and realize you'd better do something about that ASAP. And, like. Look. My issue isn't that she was pulled into Tartarus. My issue isn't even the way it happened. It matches with her fatal flaw.

My issue is that, like with everything else she gets wrong, she never seems to learn or grow from it. Like when Luke tricked her into holding up the sky. That to me is a perfect opportunity for a genuine character moment. It's so humbling, and would leave you so shaken. A moment for an unwanted but desperately needed reckoning between who she wants Luke to be and who he is. I'm not even saying she should have given up on him. I don't mind that she couldn't or that the whole thing was so messy and painful for her, but the way that it was expressed in the book made me feel like Annabeth was either willfully blind or untrustworthy. Her denial of Luke's worst aspects, her defending of him, her refusal to hold space for other characters feeling differently to her, all of it fostered suspicion in me when I first read the PJO books.

I remember when I first read the scene where Percy reveals his Achille's heel to her. My hair stood on end. Something about the way her eyes are described as "distant" when she asks where it is, and how Percy hesitates. In that moment I was screaming for him not to trust her. I did not want her to know. I thought his fatal flaw was going to kill him. Percy is a character who cannot anticipate betrayal.

Of course I was wrong about Annabeth there. Or was I? Other people before me have noted that when Annabeth judo flips Percy onto his back in New Rome, she does not know that the Mark of Achilles has been lifted. I don't think that the throw would have necessarily killed him if it hadn't; he lands on a flat surface. But it was certainly DEEPLY careless and foolhardy of Annabeth, EVEN BEFORE you take into account that it was, strategically, a STUPID thing to do. It makes me want to scream how dumb this moment makes Annabeth look. It's the tense, fraught first meeting in years between ancient enemies. You're the leader of your group, the diplomatic ambassador from Camp Half Blood. It's imperative that this goes well, for the fate of the world. And your emotions run so high upon reuniting with your kidnapped boyfriend — who was stolen by a god and has been through you-don't-know-what kind of godly fuckery — that you take it out on him, the VICTIM, and physically attack him. Didn't she put a knife to his throat?? If PERCY hadn't defused the moment, handled it, Annabeth would easily have destroyed the Greek-Roman alliance right there, no ghostly possession of Leo needed. With friends like her, who needs enemies?

Her relationship with Percy…I've never understood why they're the golden couple of the fandom. Annabeth seemed more interested in Luke than Percy, and when she was interested in Percy it was always…like, okay, Annabeth was vulnerable with Luke. I don't think he ever had a thing for her, but there was a tenderness to how she'd interact with him. When she interacted with Percy — think of the school dance, or how she handled having Rachel on a quest — she refuses to be vulnerable with him. If she has a crush on Percy, she hides it under glares, insults, and demands. Annabeth won't ask Percy to dance with her, she'll hit him and call him stupid for not asking her. She will not let her guard down with him.

This is a throughline in their relationship; even in Tartarus, she's thinking about how she likes to keep Percy on her toes. Yeah, Annabeth, we know. It was obvious when you manufactured a whole drama around your "one month anniversary." Which, no, that's not a thing, and it's completely normal of Percy not to anticipate that you would want him to do something special for it. I hated that whole story (it's in demigod files, I think). It's just Annabeth dangling Percy over undefined consequences if he doesn't read her mind and figure out what she wants and needs. He does all the work and she judges it. It's not cute or fun.

I do place most of the blame on Riordan's writing. What's that scene where Annabeth pushes Percy unexpectably off a cliff, triggering a very sensitive and dangerous encounter that he had to negotiate under time pressure while Annabeth watches? How does that scene start? "Get you a girlfriend who…" It's framed as a positive that Annabeth will just shove Percy into dangerous situations without warning when she absolutely does not have to do that. Isn't she supposed to be strategic? Why can't she think up a strategy and tell him, instead of shoving him at the problem and just, putting it on him to find a solution? "Give the problem to Percy" isn't a strategy worthy of Athena, I'm sorry. But my point is, Rick genuinely seems to think their romance is good and these red flag moments are cute and flirty. He is not writing Annabeth as an asshole on purpose.

I tend towards death of the author analyses myself, but Rick's writing is not consistent enough for that. You kinda just have to identify what he was trying to do, see where it failed, and decide how you wanna interpret that. And when it comes to Annabeth…I just want to either burn her relationship with Percy down or rewrite her character.

What else is there? Oh yeah, does anyone else feel like the way her family is written makes her seem…overdramatic? Like, meeting her dad and stepmom…it's an anticlimax. This girl was so unhappy she ran away from home as a child. She chose to become homeless in a world where monsters hunt her down, AS A CHILD, rather than stay with her dad. There's a deep unhappiness and loss to that. When she talks about it, she talks about being unwanted, a burden that her dad was unable and unwilling to handle, not being heard, not being believed. She is describing victim blaming. In that house, she, a six year old child, was seen as the problem.

And after that build up, we meet her family, and they are…well, they're fine, aren't they. Her step mom is concerned for her. She and Annabeth's dad (no i don't remember his name rn) seem to want the best for her, to help however they can. Mr Chase—is his name Frederick maybe???—Mr Chase takes the initiative, after Percy and his friends let him in on a sliver of what's going on with Annabeth, to melt down old weapons to make bullets and FLY A HELICOPTER to come save his daughter.

I'm honestly at a loss about what we're supposed to think here. At the end of Titan's Curse Percy gently suggests to Annabeth that she give her family another chance. If I recall, she says some things can't be repaired, but it's implied that she does actually try again with her family later. This always seemed to me to undermine Annabeth's entire narrative…the way she describes being treated simply does not match what we observe for ourselves in Titan's Curse.

I could go on but I'll cut it here. Maybe I'll make a post about I'd rewrite her if I could, because I do WANT to like Annabeth. There's a lot interesting that could be done with her. Probably not though bc all the Annabeth stans are gonna block me for this one I fear. Maybe I'll post my criticisms of other PJO couples instead lol (I won't. if you've read this far you'll find this claim dubious, but I actually don't enjoy being a hater. anyway i don't have nearly so much to say about any other pjo couple). Thanks for reading.

Percy walking in with a Greek hero’s name and a different Greek hero’s curse and the most famous and looked up to Greek/Roman hero’s sword into camp Jupiter …

I love seeing them together 🌊⚡️

Another old art I did from last year

exploring Percy's canon interactions with Nico from botl and onwards on the level that I am for my fic is making me have a whole new perspective on percico and their relationship...

like Percy. oh, Percy cares for Nico so much and it's subtle at times but he's constantly reaching out at him, checking he's okay, making sure he's safe, inviting him to sit with him, asking him to keep in contact.

yet each time he does, Nico shuts it down with his own logic or brushes him off. there's nearly always something else he needs to do instead of going with what Percy suggests, and Percy always respects that.

at the end of botl, Percy respects Nico's need to leave camp, even if he does try and suggest options on how Nico could be welcome there, and then let's him go without any bitterness or other negativity (he even lightens the mood and makes Nico remember he's still a kid under there).

Percy accepts Nico for who he is and lets Nico go at his own pace. He doesn't push him or drag Nico's feelings down or blame anything on Nico's own actions.

also, at the end of the sword of Hades, Percy respects and understands Nico's need to stay in the Underworld while still offering out his support (by letting Nico know he's there if he needs anything).

Percy understands Nico's need to find out information about his family, get closer to Hades, stay in the Underworld & be one with it.

then, to top it all off, Percy uses his reward from the Gods to make sure Nico has a home, a safe place to go back to, somewhere where he can be accepted.

Nico is part of Percy's loyalty and honestly, I feel like if the two of them had simply got a chance to talk then Nico would have realised just how much he does mean to Percy.