The same rules as the last poll apply. This has nothing to do with sexual intimacy or no. of romantic scenes. Which couples worked best together and had a natural understanding of one another.
Why was this ever a debate? I swear most non canon ships have better dynamics and relationships than anything the canon can ever devise. This is especially true in pjo fandom. Not a single good canon ship in the entirety of the ten book series and then all the other sequels/spinoff. And I mean not a single one. Percabeth and solangelo speak for themselves. Jiper and Caleo couldn't be more disastrous. Frazel isn't well fleshed out, and so on. No one's saying they couldn't have been good, but it's the truth that they aren't. Rick's writing plus certain tropes have ruined them completely.
Another point is that they are all teenagers with heavy trauma. They could have been fine without relationships. Rick could have focused more on their individual arcs and them overcoming their own traumas. There was no need for any ships. Rick acts as if a relationship is the solution to all the character's trauma and ptsd and the fandom is going along with this? Come on.
At this point after reading 10+ books about Percy if they still came to that conclusion despite having the context of the whole thing then they are just trying to pick faults, desperate to find something bad and negative about Percy but jokes on them there's not a single thing to find . The only thing wrong with Percy is his abysmally low self-esteem, and that's literally anybody fault but his.
This is like when someone gets an upper hand in a life for death situation, and their mind due to being high on adrenaline and emotions gives a perfectly natural sort of a hysterical response to the situation and everyone else going "Stop that, it's scaring me. You should have just died instead of doing that."
Say it with me. Percy choked Akhlys out of anger. Not sadism or enjoyment.
They are pivotal parts to each others journey. No person in PJO influenced Nico as much as Percy did, aside from Bianca, and no person represents Percy’s guilt and the responsibility he had to shoulder more than Nico does. The writing for both characters really suffers through this lack of a real satisfying resolution.
First to talk about what Percy represents for Nico:
Percy, first of all, represents Nico’s introduction to the mythological world
He is the first demigod Nico ever came in contact with
He saved him and Bianca from the manticore (somewhat)
Nico stated in Blood of Olympus than Percy had reminded of the heroes of his mythomagic game come to life
Nico wholeheartedly believed that Bianca would be safe, if Percy was with her and created this image of the perfect hero in his mind, putting Percy on a pedestal
2.
In Nico’s mind Percy is irrevocably intertwined with Bianca and everything that happened to her
Despite Nico naively believing, that Bianca would be safe if Percy were around, he was instead the last person to ever talk to her, and present when she died
Percy informed Nico of her death (Dead silence. I stared at Chiron. I couldn’t believe nobody had told him yet. Then I realized why. They’d been waiting for us to appear, to tell Nico in person, Titan’s curse)
Nico turned him into the scapegoat for her death, so that he could let all his grief and anger and bitterness out on him
Bianca sent Iris-messages to Percy, so that he would find and help Nico (“Percy has been worried about you, Nico. He can help. I let him see what you were up to, hoping he would find you.”, Battle of the Labyrinth)
Her ghost only appeared to Nico when Percy was with him
Percy is the only person Nico knows of, who also grieved for Bianca (“Bianca,” I said. My voice was thick. I’d felt guilty about her death for a long time but seeing her in front of me was five times as bad, like her death was fresh and new. I remembered searching through the wreckage of the giant bronze warrior she’d sacrificed her life to defeat, and not finding any sign of her. “I’m so sorry,” I said. Battle of the Labyrinth)
3.
Percy is the person who protected and cared for Nico more than anyone else in pjo
Tried to convince Bianca to think more deeply about her decision of joining the hunters, especially thinking of him (“Biance, this is crazy,” I said. “What about your brother? Nico can’t be a hunter.” (Titan’s curse)
Searched the woods in the dark for hours after he had disappeared (Annabeth and Grover helped me search the woods for hours, but there was no sign of Nico di Angelo.)
Didn’t tell Chiron about Nico’s parentage to protect him from the Gods. (I don't think Nico understands who he is. But we can't go telling anyone. Not even Chiron. If the Olympians find out—") Titan’s curse)
Decided to completely commit to the prophecy, solely so Nico didn’t have to bear that burden and go trough any more suffering(It was the last thing I wanted, but I didn't say that. I knew I had to step up and claim it. "I can't let Nico be in any more danger," I said. "I owe that much to his sister. I… let them both down. I'm not going to let that poor kid suffer any more." ) Titan’s curse)
Searched for Nico in the months after Titan’s Curse (Now, six months later, I hadn’t even come close to finding him. It left a bitter taste in my mouth. Battle of the labyrinth, chapter 3))
Saved his life on Geryon’s farm. (“Either way, you get my friends,” I said. “But, if I succeed, you’ve got to let all of us go, including Nico.”)
Always offered Nico a place at camp half-blood to the best of his abilities (“We missed you at dinner,” I said. “You could’ve sat with me.”“No.”“Nico, you can’t miss every meal. If you don’t want to stay with Hermes, maybe they can make an exception and put you in the big house. They’ve got plenty of room.”, Battle of the Labyrinth)
Invited him to join him on his birthday (“Is that… is that blue birthday cake?”He sounded hungry, maybe a little wistful. I wondered if the poor kid had ever had a birthday party, or if he’d ever been invited to one. “Come inside for cake and ice cream,” I said. “It sounds like we’ve got a lot to talk about.”, Battle of the Labyrinth)
Reminded him that he was still a child (I smiled. “Maybe it’s okay to still be a kid once in a while.” I tossed him the statue, Battle of the Labyrinth)
Helped him to get the sword of hades back to impress his father (Then I looked at Nico. Unfortunately, I recognised the expression on his face. I knew what it was like wanting to make your dad proud, even if your dad was hard to love., Sword of hades)
Acknowledged everything Nico did in The last Olympian and is one of the main reasons why Hades has a cabin at camp. ( “But your children should not be left out. They should have a cabin at camp. Nico has proven that.”)
4.
Percy was Nico’s first, and after Will, his biggest love
Nico had feelings for Percy, which didn’t leave him for around 2 1/2 years, and accompanied him throughout the most challenging parts of his life.
Feelings, which were so deep, the god of love personally acknowledged them.
Favonius even called Percy, the person Nico cares about most in House of Hades.
This was more than just a mere crush
Percy is so completely intertwined with most aspects of Nico’s character arc, in both PJO and Hoo, be it his feeling of ostracism, his relationship to Bianca or him coming to term with his own sexuality, that them not having a final interaction, makes his writing feel shallow and unfinished. Especially Nico coming to terms with his crush on Percy opens up the opportunity for a really heartwarming conversation and a moment of character growth and maturity for both of them, instead of it being wasted on one throw-away line.
And it’s the same the other way around. Nico is also a huge part of Percy’s journey.
He especially represents Percy’s biggest failure.
The first five Percy Jackson books are characterized by Percy having to take up responsibility and him being afraid of not being able to fulfill them. Be it responsibility for camp, the world, Bianca’s death, the prophecy, his friends, teh unclaimed demigods, or everything else. Most of the time, Percy was able to make sure everything turned out fine. He saved camp, he saved Olympus, he finished his quests, made the right decision for the prophecy, and he made the gods swear upon teh styx. But there’s one exception. And that is Nico.
Percy did everything in his power to make sure Nico would be spared any more hardships. He took up the burden of the prophecy, explicitly, so that Nico doesn’t have to go through any more hardships
He searched for him after Titan’s curse, kept his identity a secret and even risked himself, Annabeth, Grover and Tyson dying if it meant saving Nico
Still, Nico is one of the characters, if not the character, who has suffered the most in PJO and Hoo, even partly because of Percy (though, of course, Nico having a crush on him was not Percy’s fault at all)
He lived alone at 11 years old on the streets and in the labyrinth, while getting manipulated by an ancient evil spirit
He was isolated and ostracized at camp half-blood
He experienced the horrors of Tartarus completely on his own
He got captured by the giants and slowly suffocated to death in a small jar
He had to deal with internalized homophobia and his complicated feelings regarding Percy
He has been a vital part of two wars at only 15 years old
Had to admit his crush involuntarily in front of Jason, etc.
One of the things Percy battles with in Heroes of Olympus is this overwhelming sense of guilt. He blames himself for almost everything that went wrong over the last few years. Be it for Iapetus, Calypso, or especially Nico. Having Percy acknowledge this complicated relationship he has with him during House of Hades, but not allowing the two of them to talk it out is genuinely baffling to me, and one of the (albeit many) reasons why I really don’t like most of Percy’s writing during Heroes of Olympus, despite the fact that he is my favourite character by far. This could have led to a moment of character growth, where Nico helps Percy to aknowledge that he feels guilty for things he had little to no control over, while Nico himself realizes how important he actually is to Percy.
They are also so similar in terms of who they are and what they’ve been through, that even if you ignore their history with each other, it seems insane, that they didn’t interact in any meaningful way:
Both were ostracized at camp half-blood because of their parentage, and so far are the only two half-bloods we know of with that experience
They are (together with Hazel) the most powerful demigods in the Riordan verse, and have feats which far surpass anyone else’s
Both are in some way afraid of their powers
Both went through Tartarus
Both have relatively similar relationships to their godly parents
Both have gone through immense trauma and loss
And if you read heroes of Olympus, it actually very much seems to build towards a final resolution of their relationship
Percy and Nico were, aside from Frank, the two people closest to Hazel; both saw her as a little sister, and Hazel treated them both like her brothers
Nico was the first person Percy met from his old life
Percy was the one, who received the visions of Nico being captured
From everyone present, Percy trusted Nico to lead the others to Greece in his moment of greatest desperation
They both had introspections about the other in house of Hades, Nico having to deal with his crush and Percy with his guilt in Tartarus
But, in the end, after they met again, nothing happened. The only scene we really got was the “You’re not my type” line and Percy being surprised by it for a couple seconds. That’s it.
We saw no meaningful conversation between the two of them, no acknowledgement of what they’ve been through together, no lasting feelings. Nothing.
In regards to their relationship, Percy acknowledging everything that Nico has been through led to nothing. Nico acknowledging his feelings for Percy and finally letting go of this pedestal he had placed him on led to nothing. You could argue that their entire relationship, which has been built up since Titan’s curse led to nothing. And considering that they are so important characters for each of their character arcs, their characterization very much suffers from this writing decision.
The two of them, together with Hazel, are my three favourite Riordan verse characters by a long shot, but some very important aspects of both of their characters fall so flat to me through this lack of a satisfying resolution.
Both of them deserved so much better.
They are the friendship with the most missed potential in the entirety of the Riordan verse and probably the most fleshed out and nuanced relationship Rick ever wrote.
R.I.P. Nico di Angelo, and Percy Jackson, you will always be brothers in my mind.
What do you think of all the other ships of Klaus and Hayley?
Klaroline: The script writers were probably high writing that. The only reason Klaus gives Caroline time of the day is for the sick pleasure of stealing Tyler's girl. Then she plays hard to get which is new for him so he is mildly amused and humors her. Though when he realizes she is stringing him along and manipulates her into having sex, he doesn't give her time of the day after. Klaus isn't apathetic so obviously he shows mild care towards someone he pursued once upon a time. And the abrupt appearance of Caroline only worsens their relationship in S5. Cause here's a question for all Klaroline fans:Who do you think Klaus is going to save when it comes down to Hayley and Caroline? Certainly not the blonde control freak who strung him along, tried to kill him, showed no gratitude for his sincerety until he was going to sacrifice his life for Hope.
Klamille: Eh it could have worked far better as a friendship and they ruined it by making it romance. Klaus had no chemistry with her, no lust or want for just appreciation for a truly good soul that she was and such people come by rarely so he made best use of her to write his Memoirs. He cared for her but then she botched her own character by becoming a vampire by doing 180 on her own nature.
If Caroline was temporary fling, then Camilie was a temporary relationship but would have done better as a lasting friend.
What other Klaus ships are there?
Klaurora? Only mentally ill and delusional people like Aurora herself genuinely ship that. She did have chemistry with Klaus but her nature was so toxic and manipulative even Klaus was disgusted. Even if she got her redemption arc early rather than in legacies Klaus wouldn’t have looked at her twice.
Klefan? Bit unrealistic considering we have no evidence of whether Klaus swings that way but it has good memes and it only became a thing cause Joseph and Paul play off of each other well when working together.
The only time I will dedicate to thinking about other ships of Klaus. ( I like doing my research before I get into things so hopefully this review is satisfactory. )
(P.S: I do remember about your fanfic request. Give me another day or two love and I will get it done.)
This is gonna be an Anti-Percabeth/Annabeth rant so don't come at me if you continue reading.
Can't read HOO without Percabeth being shoved down my throat (at the point in life, I forgot everything in the books, hence why I need to reread them before starting CotG), like ffs, best Percy characterization in the series is SoN and it was TTC in PJO. Guess what they both have in common? Little to no Annabeth.
Honestly, maybe I should just shelf this entire series and give up? I don't understand why I saw Percabeth as the golden standard when I was younger? Have I really changed that much to the point that I hate Annabeth now when I used to like her? Like??? Who can stand this bitch irl? She's fictional and I roll my eyes whenever I see her name written on the page.
Don't even get me started on the Percabeth fandom. I'm reading a feel-good fic with Solangelo (because tsats does not exist for me, thanks) and these people just ask why there's no Percabeth??? This is a Solangelo fic??????
Supported/bought a zine and there's barely any art that has Percy in it with no Percabeth. Thought this was Percy Jackson and the Olympians? Does Percy have no character except for the fact that he's Annabeth's boyfriend? God, fucking hate this ship now, hate their fandom with how insistent some people are to smash our face with it too
THIS fucking close to just writing a character review on why I dislike Percabeth with my entire being and I am petty enough to do it in APA format. Just out of pure fucking spite.
Even if you eliminate the judo flip, it's still not the most concerning thing about the situation. She BLAMES Percy for getting KIDNAPPED AND BRAINWASHED BY A GODDESS, and fine, you would say she was super high on emotions, she didn't mean it. But then there's this:
Annabeth made Percy APOLOGIZE FOR STUFF THAT WAS COMPLETELY OUT OF HIS CONTROL. IT WAS AN ASSAULT ON HIM AND HE SHOULD APOLOGIZE??
This isn't the first time. She blames Percy in BoTL in the opening scenes for burning down the school, not even having enough trust in Percy to know he wouldn't do it. Not even after he tells her HE DIDN'T DO IT.
Also happens again in The Last Olympian. She gets angry at Percy because he is panicking over the prophecy that basically states [at that point] that he will die. SHE GETS ANGRY AT HIM AND YELLS AT HIM FOR BEING PANICKED ABOUT THE PROPHECY IN WHICH HE IS BASICALLY STATED TO DIE.
Like wtf. Why is no one pointing that out?? I swear if anyone comes along saying Annabeth was just worried so she got angry. It's like getting angry at a person for panicking before a life-threatening surgery because you couldn't handle your worry. And it's a multiple time occurrence.
Percy confided his worries in Rachel, too, and they were almost definitely dating. She didn't freak out or yell at Percy even though she was probably getting constant visions. She kept Percy company and did her best to lower his stress and get his mind off the situation.
Yet again Rachel shows more maturity and understanding than Annabeth. [Mind you Rachel was angry at Percy, if you remember he had a demigod dream where he found her throwing darts at his picture.] But never has Rachel had an outburst at Percy because she knows none of it is his fault.
Also, in BoTl, when Annabeth is basically calling Rachel a mortal like a slur and looking down on her and continuously insulting her, Rachel can tell exactly what's wrong with Annabeth, and she knows it's too stupid to even engage and Annabeth is left to being a short tempered girl yelling at someone else for no reason. Because again Rachel has more maturity than Annabeth.
I don't know why this turned into a Rachel post, but is anyone complaining?
The point is, there's an awfully long list of apologies Annabeth needs to get to, and Rick won't be doing it in this lifetime or next, so fic writers, would you like to take this one?
Finding a good blog to follow on pjo is so hard because you'll get like 10 good posts and then the 11th will have blatant abuse apologism and borderline victim blaming:
Do we really need to start reminding people that Percy had no control whatsoever over being kidnapped!? he barely knew what was happening!! He had his memories wiped!! How the fuck does he deserve to be physically assaulted?? HE WAS KIDNAPPED!!
Not to mention that like. the first time he went missing? yeah he nearly died. He would have died if Hera had not intervened and sent him to Calypso, who used her healing powers to save him. And then Percy returned to chb - returned to a building war and death sentence - as soon as he was recovered and physically able.
Hera deserved the judo flip. Not Percy. She took Percy twice. Annabeth, your anger is misdirected, please use your Athena given brains. You have them for more than one reason.
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!
I recently finished the Defy the Night Trilogy and I am so in awe and so overwhelmed with feels (that happens so rarely if at all when reading). It's just so good and I could rant about how everything clicks in place so perfectly and how every little relation is so well thought but that would take ages. It's politics centric but the plot just hooks you in so well and the characters are just such aptly fleshed out. And it just keeps getting better with each book. Like this is right up there with Shatter me series, Six of Crows Duology or the Folk of the Air trilogy and definitely worth multiple re-reads. Expect more rants about this series in the future until it gets the love it deserves. (I have finally found the perfect place to vent out the post-book high)
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.
Question.
Do you have any more Percahel Content or Anti Annabeth/Anti Percabeth Content?
Aside from all my current Percy Jackson posts no. But I plan to keep posting more of both so you can look forward to that .
If you or anyone else has any specific topic you want to me talk about, let me know.
Also, my next post is going to be on my favorite Perachel headcanons, which I will be posting either today or tomorrow!
I myself am really disappointed by the lack of any other content than percabeth or blatant Annabeth worship. Hopefully, now, with the show, new fans and readers will be open to other perspectives .
Though I am happy to see enough people post about how smart Percy is at last. The Fandom motto shouldn't be "Percy would be nothing without Annabeth," which is toxic, and such a falsehood. The Fandom motto should be "Everyone would be dead without Percy"
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