Finally, Thoughts On Percy Beating Iapetus When They Met? This Boy Managed To Control The Lethe Even

What do you think about Perclarisse?

Perclarisee has been getting a lot of popularity recently. It's not a bad pairing, but i don't think it's best for the both of them given their nature's.

Percy is the child made and matured by war, while Clarisse is the child of war, seeking and living by its principles.

Clarisse probably is the person who most understands what the war has done to Percy and Percy is the person who most understands Clarisse's need for violence and how Ares's hypocrisy affects her so greatly.

They both, despite not seeing eye to eye, mostly have a great respect for each other.

But we come back to the point of healing from their traumas and insecurities. Percy and Clarisse talk in violence and in sparring. They need someone who would keep their pride aside and listen to their problems attentively without calling them out for their misgivings repeatedly.

Moreover Clarisse and Percy have a very distinctly different mindset.

As much as war plagues Percy he is no fan of it. He make not like war but the war likes him and it drives Percy insane.

There will never be a day he will get along with War Gods (but strangely, he is the only one who can say that he understands war more than anyone else) .

If it were upto Percy he would choose to talk his way out of everything because he knows if he fights he will leave nothing but pure destruction in its wake.

Clarisse on the other hand is a child of war. She lives and thrives on it. Violence is her language. She would resort to it each and every time.

She needs someone who makes her want to talk and bask in peace, not someone who keeps feeding into her violence hungry tendencies. (Chris has been perfect in that way. Both he and Silena have shown Clarisse how to manage her endless rage) .

But of course in some strange way if they did become a thing it would be interesting to see how they both change to understand the other and make an effort at changing their ways.

Percy needs to be more upfront about his rage instead of suppressing it while Clarisse needs to put a healthy bind on it and in that way I think they would be the perfect person to teach the other (if they stop to talk and don't just end up throwing hands).

The absolute highlight, however, would be Ares's reaction. Oh, Percy's going to have a blast annoying him. Imagine if Aphrodite and other Olympians join in. (I think Percy would do it just to spite Ares if he could lol aside from the respect he has for Clarisse).

It's a fun pairing, but I think it mostly works as close friends.

I am so sorry op but I think it's more on the inverse side. Percy's powers are so in tune with him that even with limited time, he was able to access a large arsenal of them. Sure he hasn't specifically trained to fine tune his powers but unlike the other big three children who have all experimented their powers before, he always ends up in mortal peril everytime he has to come up with something new. So unlike others who have kind of tried and tested and put a few limits on their powers, Percy just goes with it. He doesn't think about whether he can or not, it's always a case of "I must".

Iapetus is going to kill Thalia and Nico, so I have to find a way to stop him. But I am half poisoned and bruised, I can't fight him. Oh okay so I will just use the rivers in Underworld for help. They are water right?

Akhyls is going to kill me and Annabeth here, we aren't strong enough to fight a primordial. She is going to choke us with poison. Annabeth's going to die. I am going to die. Annabeth's going to die. Wait poison has large amount of water or even liquids. I can control it!

And each time he proves himself right he goes Oh cool, that's helpful. With no idea how world transcending his own abilities are. Were it anyone else they would have let their training and mindset of myths limit their imagination and their ability to fight. But Percy hasn't been trained traditionally, he has never put a limit on his own power. He does with it whatever he needs to and he doesn't let a pre defined set of rules or ways inhibit him. "What do you mean I can't overpower a Primordial in her own domain with her own poison? Of course I can. Poison contains water, it's liquid. I can totally do that."

I think Percy using less powers in the first series has more to do with his trust issues with it. See Percy has deeply internalized his self loathing and self esteem issues. He sees himself as a burden, a troubled kid who only causes problems. He doesn't want his powers to do that, to destroy everything in their path. So he keeps them coiled tight and shut. He needs it to do precisely what he wants, which it does almost always. He starts trusting them but but then at times when he he lets a leash loose, his powers do crazy shit like, blow up a volcano, lift an entire river bed from its roots, level a creek, start a hurricane or other disasters, so he keeps them tightly leashed.

We can see evidence of that with words like "a pull in my gut" "I felt something inside me break" "something uncoiled" and so on.

Whether he does it consciously or not, it only serves to benefit him because everytime his opponents foolishly think,

Enemy: I know all that you can do Perseus Jackson.

Percy: ........

Percy: Damn, even I don't know everything I can do. It's cool that you think you know all I can do though.

*obliterates the monster with something new he comes up with*

Percy: Ha didn't know I could that but boy am I glad it worked. See this is what I was talking about.

Either way I do agree with op on a few things like children of Hades have the most potent abilities, most broken ones but I think their lack of stamina does hinder them. And I mean Nico has known about his powers for even less time than Percy while neither Thalia nor Jason are very creative.

I think Hazel comes really close due to her versatility and creativity. Magic, mist and her own powers along with her fighting prowess. Her and Meg McCaffrey should have been compared to Percy more so than others given they were in similar situations and have such strong abilities. Technically Meg is a child of the Elder Gods.

I think Rick should have explored a bit more on the big three children and their powers.

The point I was trying to make is Percy is so powerful because of his lack of traditional training or traditional fighting knowledge. He learns by hands on experience, adapts on instinct and improves by finding loopholes or getting a better grasp of his already present abilities.

can we/rick talk more abt how extremely inexperienced percy is with his powers in comparison to many of the other big 3 kids

like it’s actually very interesting to think abt if you think abt the connection they each have as a scale to how connected they are to their godly parent (not like emotionally lmao but their godly heritage if that makes sense)

like if you think of nico and hazel those two are arguably the most like in tune with their powers both having used their powers since they were very young and being forced to kind of connect with their godly side much sooner/faster then the others

thalia and jason being second since thalia is literally the second in command to a literal goddess and as a soldier camp jupiter would definitely push jason to know his limits but they both haven’t reached that ease that nico and hazel have — thalia probably could’ve reached it if she hadn’t been snubbed at 15 and wasn’t scared of heights lmao and if jason had probably any type of support that wasn’t pushing him to just be better or focused more on his powers then physical strengths

both thalia and jason also started very young with using their powers yet both had that small blocker of other mortals/people around in comparison to hazel and nico

like hazel and nico are both so small that they’ve been taught to mostly use their powers not that they can’t fight but they rely a lot more on that rather then a sword unlike jason thalia or percy but i think that also just goes with the age that they are since their so young and were taught at that young age to lean on their powers that’s simply what’s easier

then you have percy who literally just found out half this shit was real like 5 years ago and knows nothing abt his powers like genuinely the amount percy leans more on his physical strength bc that’s all he’s had up until he was 12 in comparison to how much he leans on his actual powers is crazy especially if you look at the difference between how much jason or nico rely on their powers at their ages in comparison to how much percy did at those ages

it’s also interesting how that plays into people not taking him very seriously people see him as much more mortal and “weak” bc of it

not that any of them are doing it wrong obv it’s just very interesting to think abt

i think this also plays into percy’s morals a lot ? i recently saw a post saying nico wasn’t scared of percy when he was taking down an army and had hades with a sword to his neck yet annabeth was when percy was choking that goddess in tartarus even tho it was self defense which is all true but if you boil it down to those key points you can really see the clear distinction between the morality of nico and annabeth in those moments and how they know percy in that way as well

nico who’s on the cusp of godly hood in a way - being hades ambassador and spending most time in the underworld - he looks at percy as this hero who fights and kills and wins so that’s what he was letting percy do and he was watching it in awe

yet annabeth knowing percy stopped him yes in fear but in fear of the fact that that is simply not percy percy is the most mortal demigod we’ve met (him and piper tbh) he’s lived his life with mortal morals and he barely uses his powers bc of it so when he’s using his powers to literally kill a goddess like who tf is that ?? and who would he have been if he had gone through with it

i think that’s a pretty easy summary of why percy doesn’t really use his powers much as well he’s always seen himself as just some guy he doesn’t really like ppl calling him a hero he doesn’t really show off (on purpose/without reason) he’s just fighting to survive or to get shit done which is a very human trait percy is a very humble guy and it would just be crazy to see how much more powerful he’d be if he wasn’t bc ik a lot of that is what’s holding him back

also i think it’s interesting to point out the fact that percy used a sword when fighting hades in comparison to tartarus when he used just his powers id be interested to see what nico/annabeth would’ve thought if they were in each others shoes in those moments

also interesting that in both cases he doesn’t go through with it (killing a god/goddess) for 2 different reasons but what would they have done if he did …

i’m realising the purpose at the start of this is very different then what it ended in but i’d like to hear what ppl think if i’m just yapping or if anyone else knows wtf im talking abt lmao

This is so very true. I don't hate Annabeth, but the way she is portrayed later on doesn't fit so well with me. She knows Percy has low self-esteem, yet she also knows that Percy is both exceptionally strong and a great strategist, so her constant demeaning is bothersome. Almost all characters have taken this stance that Percy is some dumb guy with crazy amount of power but is useless without Annabeth which is bullshit cause as we saw in Son of Neptune that Percy can hold his own extremely well as much in battle of wits as he can in battle of power and the Fandom needs to start acknowledging this. No hate to Annabeth her character is fascinating, but there's no need to dumb down Percy to elevate her. There's nothing wrong with Annabeth playing a supporting role.

[In fact, it is actually a wise move to let the fighters fight while you dismantle the enemy's plan from the sidelines.]

Ok, I'm going to say something a bit dodgy, do take into account that my beef is with Rick and not Annabeth.

I might have been tempted to read The Chalice of the Gods (as opposed to anything after Staff of Serapis, which I've given a pass) if I didn't know that, as long as Annabeth is there as well, Percy won't be well-written. More specifically, he won't be written as himself.

When Rick wrote HoO, he had to figure out how to include Annabeth in the seven without having all these other powers dwarf her out. He did this by establishing a strict division of labour, according to which she was the strategist, and no one else. That has never been the case, at least not in such an exacting way.

Percy's saved their butts with his plans at the very least as often as she has. He's outsmarted his opponents, he's manipulated them, he has like a signature move that he pulls in almost every single book that basically goes "forget you're an almighty entity who could probably just ignore me without any problem and get down here and fight me at my level!" (tlt: Ares, Luke (unsuccessfully, since he refuses). som: Luke again (successfully, since he plays on his need to control his army's opinion of him). botl: Antaeus. tlo: Kronos. technically Gaia in son), he's been the one to figure out what they needed to from the prophecies (som: that they needed to send Clarisse to camp. ttc: the thing with Atlas's curse. botl: that Nico was the ghost king. I don't include tlo bc Annabeth figured it out first), he often comes up with the winning plans, like how he was the one who figured out how to get past Cerberus, even if it was Annabeth's expertise that allowed them to pull through (just like it was Percy's skill and weapon that allowed Annabeth's plan for Medusa to succeed) or tangling Antaeus on the ceiling chains. The scene with Chrysaor? Perfect blend of knowledge of myths, strategic genius and pure labia. For all the times we see him lose his cool or speak impulsively, we also se him go "wait, this person is trying to provoke me, I have to chill". I saw a comment a little while ago that Percy should've been dragging Giants to the gods feet for them to finish off -- that's what he did! Only he didn't physically drag them there, he planned them there. He tricked Polybotes into following him to Terminus, into pissing Terminus off so he'd agree to help, then killed him. While it was far from complex, he's the one who came up with the strategy to beat Otis and Ephialtes, so they only had to wait for Bacchus to step up.

I'm not saying Annabeth isn't smart. She has an impressive store of knowledge, which in itself is a clever thing to store, because it matches with her style of managing resources -- be they mental, like her facts, or physical, like her hat or things she finds in her surroundings, like the glass balls in Medusa's lair. Annabeth is probably the best at looking at a situation and going "okay, let's look at what we have. Ah, yes, a limitless credit card. Ah, yes, a store-full of clothes that no one's going to want back. Ah, yes, those weird-ass proteins that Hermes gave us, just like Hermes gave someone else food for a place just like this. Ah, yes, knowledge of how to fly a helicopter."

Here's the thing, though. When I read the phrase "Athena-like chatter", I almost broke something laughing. She's good with lies, hers are better and more believable than her friends'. When it comes to chatter, though... I couldn't even tell you how good she is, because I don't think I've ever seen her do something like that before MoA?

But, you know, okay, Rick has to spend more time in her head, she's been elevated in status to one of several protagonists instead of a deuteragonist as she was in PJO (he has to solve this oopsie - I don't agree with everything here, like how, except for her intelligence, Annabeth's other skills are "dump stats", but...), so he has her expand. Good for her. I think it worked alright in her fights in MoA -- a little bit of the old (impressive expertise in certain areas, management of resources), add a little bit of the new (a perceptiveness and gift of gab that she's rarely shown before, if ever, although you could argue she might have taken the "talk your enemy into beating itself" from Percy just like she learned to simplify from Frank).

That's not my real problem. It's this, from when they're fighting Akhlys:

Percy wanted to give her more time. She was the brains. Better for him to get attacked while she came up with a brilliant plan.

... What. Of everything that we've seen of Percy. That I've described just now. Makes sense with this? And please don't give me crap about "it's because his self-esteem is so low!" because 1) this isn't just about what he's thinking, it's about what he's doing, which is pretty much nothing while he waits for Annabeth to save them. He's never lacked initiative like this. Even while thinking, "wow, this absolutely crazy and dimwitted plan is so bad that it's going to get us all killed!" he still did it. ( 2) I've heard "it's bc of his self-esteem/ he plays dumb on purpose" to justify fandom's constant underestimation of Percy's smarts too many time to let it fly now.)

"It's because he trusts Annabeth's judgement more than his own, and he lets her do what she does best when she's available. Other times he's been forced to come up with a plan, it's because she isn't." Did he wait for Annabeth to shoot her shot with Ares before going in with his own plan? Did he keep quiet his misgivings about her level of preparation for the Labyrinth in BotL? Did he leave her to organize the battle plan in TLO? Did he give up after Chrysaor beat him twice in a sword fight and wait for her to come up with a plan? Absolutely not.

"Well, he still beat Akhlys, so I don't see what you're complaining about, it's not like he's useless or anything." True. It wouldn't be the first time he has to resort to brute force to get past an enemy he couldn't outthink (the telekhines come to mind) or that he never even bothered trying to outthink (Hyperion comes to mind), because it's not like strategizing is something that's essential to Percy's style, even if it does come up a lot. I said before that it's his actions that bother me and not what he was thinking, but there is some of that, too. That he wasn't thinking "I can't figure out what to do" or even too busy fighting to start to wonder about what to do, but "there's nothing I can contribute here but my fighting skills". It's sadly a dynamic that Rick has tried to encourage between them.

Sure, Percy only ever gets more powerful, but, even without Annabeth around, he loses any of his braincells. Look at his underwater fight with Polybotes. He starts off in the ship with an impressive display of power -- holding the ship together in the middle of a supernatural storm. Then he gets underwater and immediately loses to PB. The guy he would've one-shotted several times if he could kill him without a god's help. "He doesn't have experience fighting underwater," water not only gives him a strength boost, it gives him a skill boost, as we see in TLT. Besides, how much skill do you need to not swim directly into a cloud of poison? And really, he doesn't get to do anything but that.

Compare it to SON. He's fighting an almost-whole legion of dead people, with a mix of sword fighting and a whirlwind, and he might have won if they hadn't been able to reform. Recognizing that he was about to lose and to give Frank and Hazel a chance to fight Alcyoneus without having to worry about the army, he brings a whole end of the iceberg down to drown them all. And yet, you know what really struck me of all this? How smart Percy was, because he didn't just fight the legion. He aimed for the eagle, realizing that that would be the best way to keep them focused on him and not Frank.

If he's this capable, though, where does that leave Annabeth, who's a skilled warrior but whose most distinctive trait is thinking?

The whole power/smarts dichotomy is also the actual context of that line about Annabeth being the most powerful demigod. He's just spent two weeks teaching Magnus how to survive at sea, when it suddenly occurs to him that the most helpful thing for him to learn is how to "use what you've got on hand -- your team, your wits, the enemy's own magical stuff." Which is how, despite how often he's done just that, he concludes that Annabeth is the most powerful demigod and the best person to teach him how to survive. (Which is, sadly, all that that comment amounts to. Annabeth doesn't then get a chance to strut her stuff, teach Magnus, show off her smarts, play a part however small in his quest, give some insight into her mind -- nope! She says it was sweet of him and then just leaves with Percy.)

With a bit of luck, RR reread pjo to nail down the feel of it in order to write a book that's supposed to be a tie in for a tv show set in the early days (that's a lot of subordinates!), so he might've rediscovered the characters and found a way to balance that with the... way that he writes them now. I'm not optimistic, though.

(Also, if I have to read more of Percy being always afraid of Annabeth getting angry at him or her looking angry at the smallest of things and this being played as her being a girlboss, or how you "have to keep your boyfriend on his toes", I'll claw my own eyes out, but that's another topic.)

I have had up to here with people blaming Percy for absolutely no reason. How the hell is any of it his fault? Percy was all for saving Nico from the jar and agreed to help immediately. Don't spread misinformation. That scene and all scenes, including Nico's situations, involved Percy agreeing and worrying each time. Here are a few of those scenes. It's not all there's more, but these are the key ones:

Not the part about Sammy – that was still too painful to say out loud – but she told them about Gaia’s offer of a fake life, and the goddess’s claim that she’d captured her brother, Nico. Hazel didn’t want to keep that to herself. She was afraid the despair would overwhelm her. Percy rubbed his shoulders. His lips were blue. ‘You – you saved me, Hazel. We’ll figure out what happened to Nico, I promise.’ (Son of Neptune, Chapter 41)

I think my dad is turning a blind eye. I think – I think he wants me to find Nico.’ ‘We’ll find your brother,’ Percy promised. ‘As soon as the ship gets here, we’ll sail for Rome.’ (Son of Neptune, Chapter 52)

Huddled next to it was a dejected looking boy in tattered jeans, a black shirt, and an old aviator jacket. On his right hand, a silver skull ring glittered. “Nico,” Percy called. But the son of Hades couldn’t hear him. The container was completely sealed. The air was turning poisonous. Nico’s eyes were closed, his breathing shallow. He appeared to be meditating. His face was pale, and thinner than Percy remembered (…) “Nico,” Percy said, “where is this place? We’ll save you.…” (Mark of Athena, Chapter 13)

“He disappeared.” Hazel moistened her lips. “I’m afraid…I’m not sure, but I think something’s happened to him.” “We’ll look for him,” Percy promised. “We have to find the Doors of Death anyway.” (Mark of Athena, Chapter 3)

Percy pointed at Piper’s dagger. “Tiberinus said you could find Nico’s location…you know, with that.” Piper bit her lip. The last thing she wanted to do was check Katoptris for more terrifying images. “I’ve tried,” she said. “The dagger doesn’t always show what I want to see. In fact, it hardly ever does.” “Please,” Percy said. “Try again.” (Mark of Athena, Chapter 41)

He told them about his dream—the twin giants planning a reception for them in an underground parking lot with rocket launchers; Nico di Angelo trapped in a bronze jar, slowly dying from asphyxiation with pomegranate seeds at his feet. Hazel choked back a sob. (Mark of Athena, Chapter 14)

Piper dropped the blade. “What’s wrong?” Jason asked. “It was showing us something.” Piper felt like the boat was back on the ocean, rocking under her feet. “We can’t go there.” Percy frowned. “Piper, Nico is dying. We’ve got to find him. Not to mention, Rome is about to get destroyed.” (Mark of Athena, Chapter 41)

“We should wait for the others,” she said. “Hazel, Frank, and Leo should be back soon.” “We can’t wait,” Percy insisted. (Mark of Athena, Chapter 41)

The vision zoomed in again. Inside the jar, Nico di Angelo was curled in a ball, no longer moving, all the pomegranate seeds eaten. “We’re too late,” Jason said. “No,” Percy said. “No, I can’t believe that. Maybe he’s gone into a deeper trance to buy time. We have to hurry.” (Mark of Athena, Chapter 41)

Otis trudged over to the dais, stopping occasionally to do a plié. He knocked over the jar, the lid popped off, and Nico di Angelo spilled out. The sight of his deathly pale face and too-skinny frame made Percy’s heart stop. Percy couldn’t tell whether he was alive or dead. He wanted to rush over and check, but Ephialtes stood in his way. (Mark of Athena, Chapter 45)

At Otis’s feet, Nico shuddered. Percy felt like a hellhound hamster wheel somewhere in his chest had started moving again. At least Nico was alive. (Mark of Athena, Chapter 45)

Jason and Piper closed ranks on either side of Percy (…)“We’re here,” Percy said, which sounded kind of obvious once he had said it. “Let our friend go.” (Mark of Athena, Chapter 45)

“Okay.” Percy decided not to comment on the Hawaiian shirt. “Now, about our friend…” “Oh, him,” Ephialtes sneered. “We were going to let him finish dying in public, but he has no entertainment value. He’s spent days curled up sleeping. What sort of spectacle is that? Otis, tip over the jar.” (Mark of Athena, Chapter 45)

Percy was ready to slice this giant in half and get out of there, but Otis was standing over Nico. If a battle started, Nico was in no condition to defend himself. Percy needed to buy him some recovery time.  (Mark of Athena, Chapter 45)

Percy glanced over at Nico, who was just starting to move. Percy wanted him to be at least conscious enough to crawl out of the way when the fighting started. (Mark of Athena, Chapter 45)

This was all despite the fact that Nico knew who Percy was and that he needed help when he was amnesiac and in Camp Jupiter and didn't do anything. [Look at it from Percy's perspective. He has helped Nico in the past and considers Nico a friend, and still, when he was at his lowest with no memory and in middle of nowhere fighting for his life or in enemy territory, Nico did little to help. Sure, maybe he couldn't reveal himself, but he still could have tried to help instead of just pretending he didn't know Percy and them avoiding him. Even if there was nothing Nico could do there, look at it from Percy's or even a general perspective and tell me it doesn't look wrong]

Also, the whole Percy promised to save Bianca to Nico is fundamentally incorrect. Percy knew the quest was hard, and there would be losses. He promised to do his best. And he did. It was not enough, but it is in no way Percy's fault. Even Bianca herself knew that. Stop projecting on her with your own opinions.

Also, remember Percy himself was 13 years old; a child himself who had to tell another child his sister was dead. As if Chiron shouldn't be doing that himself and taking responsibility. Percy did the hard thing and Nico obviously a child snapped at him and ran. He ran. None of them are wrong and neither of them should be blamed.

Mind you, Percy took the prophecy upon himself to protect Nico. He also kept Nico's parentage a secret from Chiron, someone Percy greatly respects out of care and protection for Nico. He looked everywhere for Nico and never once blamed him for some of the choices he made. In fact, despite having not been at fault, HE STILL TOOK RESPONSIBILITY FOR ALL OF IT AND FOR NICO HIMSELF.

Percy was the first to try and understand Nico, didn't blame him, didn't even get angry, and did everything to help, and YOU ARE BLAMING HIM?

Bianca was perfectly right to speak to Nico in front of Percy and ask him to forgive Percy, of course she would. Percy Jackson who owed them nothing and bore no responsibility for them did everything to take care of them and protect them and did so to Nico even when he switched sides and was actively trying to kill Percy. Tell me someone else who would be able to look past that? No one but Percy did. He literally went above and beyond for Nico and even included him IN HIS ONE WISH IN WHICH HE COULD HAVE ASKED ANYTHING HE WANTED BUT CHOSE TO ASK SOMETHING FOR OTHERS, FOR NICO DESPITE EVERYTHING THAT HAD HAPPENED.

You all just need someone to blame, and everyone just picks Percy; the one character who has literally nothing to do with half of the accusations against him. It's almost funny how far people go to implicate Percy in stuff he had no involvement and, in fact, did everything in his power to help with.

i think bianca di angelo would be so furious that they lost nico after she died. that he was able to just run away and get manipulated. (i know they looked for him, but *still*.) even though she was promised the camp would be a safe and accepting place for him. and dont get me started on how mad she’d be that the 7 (except hazel, of course, my angel) hesitated to save nico from that jar.

Not to mention Apollo who canonically likes and respects Percy when got turned into the mortal Lester believes if anyone is worthy of becoming his master and commanding him (a literal god with huge ego) it would be Percy Jackson.

Even Hephaestus personally went to Ogygia to check on Percy and seems to like him well enough as he doesn't even get angry that Percy blew up his forge.

Athena, proud, Poseidon-hating Athena admits she was wrong about Percy to his face and backs up his analysis on how godly neglect led to the Titan War.

Also, to add another note to Hades's section, when Nico is trying to plead Hades to join the fight against Kronos, Hades says this verbatim, "“For demigods! I am immortal, all-powerful! I would not help the other gods if they begged me if Percy Jackson himself pleaded—”

He puts Percy in the same tier as the other Olympian gods, if not in a tier of his own.

In Crown of Ptolemy, Percy hosts the Egyptian goddess Nekhbeth without having a drop of pharaoh's blood, unlike Carter and Sadie, and Nekhbet comments that Percy is the strongest vessel she has ever inhabited.

Not to mention Kympoleia, a goddess herself sided with Polybotes, a giant that is Poseidon's bane just to capture and kill Percy.

Plus, Percy has canonically overpowered at least 3 river gods all by himself who all treat him differently with more respect than any other Poseidon child.

Even Gaea, the literal primordial earth, took a lot of special interest in Percy and wanted to wake to his blood spilling so much so that she killed one of her own servants over Percy because of his value.

Percy Jackson is either seen as a god, treated like a god, or considered as something more than a god. I swear no other demigod has an aura of power like Percy's. I mean Hazel, who is a child of big three herself thinks Percy is a god when she first meets him. Many characters have drawn similar parallels.

Can we talk about how interesting Percy’s dynamics with the Olympians actually is? Like, both on an individual and on a general level?

He and Ares have a rivalry. A genuine rivalry, based on mutual dislike. Frank described them in Son of Neptune as “two old war buddies talking trash” and Phobos described Percy in “Stolen Chariot” as a “sworn enemy” of Ares. That’s actually insane if you think about it. Those are the immortal god of war, and a sixteen-year-old teenager. Ares would have been fine with Percy becoming a god, because he looked forward to just fight with him or beat him up for eternity.

Percy is the only known male demigod Artemis respects, who won the friendship of not one but two of her lieutenants.

He is the demigod, who challenged Dionysus views on heroes as a whole, and that, as a son of Poseidon, half-brother to Theseus, the hero who betrayed and left Dionysus wife. The hero, who ignited Dionysus hatred of half-bloods in the first place. Still, Dionysus placed his trust in Percy to save both Olympus and Pollux in the Last Olympian.

He and Nico are the only two demigods to ever canonically acknowledge Hestia. Percy even sacrificed hope to her, which was probably the biggest sacrifice and the biggest sign of respect she ever received from a demigod.

Aphrodite takes a special interest in his love life.

Hermes and him are on pretty friendly terms. So far, that Percy even refers to him as a “friend” in the Staff of Hermes. He is also the only demigod to ever completely openly criticize him on how he handled Luke’s situation and doesn’t back down from a rather intense argument. At the end of the last Olympian, Hermes gives Percy a list of his children outside of Camp half-blood and asks him to personally escort them to safety.  

Despite Hades trying to imprison him and threatening him with death, Percy is, together with Nico, the reason why Hades and his children are accepted at Camp Half-Blood.

While Hera dislikes him, she still acknowledges Percy’s importance for her plans and describes him for one as “constant as a compass needle” when it comes to his friends, and also as someone who inspires loyalty in “Son of Neptune.”

Poseidon, centuries-old god of the ocean, who probably had thousands of children in his life called Percy his favourite son in Battle of the labyrinth. After a conversation about Antaeus, who, for over three thousand years has sacrificed people and monsters in honor of Poseidon. Still, it is Percy, who is his favourite son.

He is the only modern demigod to get offered godhood but chose instead to use their favor to create a better world for all demigods and to request forgiveness for the gods who fought on Kronos’ side, which changes some of the quintessential rules of their world.

Percy is blunt and not afraid to openly challenge them on their views and actions, but because he is probably the most powerful and accomplished hero to ever live, and because he has saved them and the world on numerous occasions, they can’t just ignore him or kill him off, and even have to listen to him on some rare occasions.

None of the other demigods really have that, at least to this scale.

It’s so interesting to me, how Percy’s relationship to the Olympians, both negative and positive, echoes more the relationship they would have to another god, than to a half-blood. 

a quick psa to anyone recently getting into greek mythology and is a victim of tumblr and/or tiktok misconceptions:

-there is no shame in being introduced to mytholgy from something like percy jackson, epic the musical or anything like that, but keep in mind that actual myths are going to be VERY different from modern retellings

-the myth of medusa you probably know (her being a victim of poseidon and being cursed by athena) isn't 100% accurate to GREEK mythology (look up ovid)

-there is no version of persephone's abduction in which persephone willingly stays with hades, that's a tumblr invention (look up homeric hymn to demeter)

-as much as i would like it, no, cerberus' name does not mean "spot" (probably a misunderstanding from this wikipedia article)

-zeus isn't the only god who does terrible things to women, your fav male god probably has done the same

-on that note, your fav greek hero has probably done some heinous shit as well

-gods are more complicated than simply being "god of [insert thing]", many titles overlap between gods and some may even change depending on where they were worshipped

-also, apollo and artemis being the gods of the sun and the moon isn't 100% accurate, their main aspects as deities originally were music and the hunt

-titans and gods aren't two wholly different concepts, titan is just the word used to decribe the generation of gods before the olympians

-hector isn't the villain some people make him out to be

-hephaestus WAS married to aphrodite. they divorced. yes, divorce was a thing in ancient greece. hephaestus' wife is aglaia

-ancient greek society didn't have the same concepts of sexuality that we have now, it's incorrect to describe virgin goddesses like artemis and athena as lesbians, BUT it's also not wholly accurate to describe them as aromantic/asexual, it's more complex than that

-you can never fully understand certain myths if you don't understand the societal context in which they were told

-myths have lots and lots of retellings, there isn't one singular "canon", but we can try to distinguish between older and newer versions and bewteen greek and roman versions

-most of what you know about sparta is probably incorrect

-reading/waching retellings is not a substitute to reading the original myths, read the iliad! read the odyssey! i know they may seem intimidating, but they're much more entertaining than you may think

greek mythology is so complex and interesting, don't go into it with preconcieved notions! try to be open to learn!

I've always wondered...

What if Percy was a Girl?

I've always been thinking of this but I just wondered.

Like instead of Perseus her name would be Andromeda Jackson.

Full name: Andromeda Rhea Jackson

Andy Jackson, Daughter of Posiden

How would everything look of Percy was female?

I've always wondered this.

Like everything stays the same Except Percy is Female named Andy Jackson

Pretty sure I have seen a dozen fanfics that go like that. Personally, I'm not a fan of gendebending, but it's a popular concept.

Several things come to mind, the obvious things.

Remember how Percy was gravely underestimated at the start? I think it would be a bit more prevalent here. I am not implying that certain characters are more misogynistic, it's more along the lines of not putting a young girl in even more danger.

I think more characters would be prone to sympathizing with a female Percy. Luke mainly, Annabeth too, other characters like Thalia, Jason to name a few.

The dynamic with Hunters and Amazons would be completely different. And a female Percy would drill in their heads the grave consequences of blind hatred of men and misandry and coming from a female, it would be more of a wake up call than anything else.

Percy and Zoe dynamic would have been even more interesting and closer than one in the books, albeit less meaningful since Zoe wouldn't be overcoming her stigma about men.

I think certain characters like Nico, Rachel, and Annabeth, who all have/had a crush on Percy, will explore a slightly different dynamic or an even more intimate one with female Percy. Nico might also not feel as disgraced or shamed by his own righteous feelings towards Percy.

Certain characters like Leo or Piper might be attracted to female!Percy (which they were originally not cause self explanatory).

The not so obvious things but more important things: (trauma coming your way)

Poseidon would be more protective and slightly more guilty if female!Percy ends up resembling Sally more. Cause now the sea god knows not only did he abandon his queen among mortals, he also abandoned his little princess, his only mortal daughter.

(Probably similar dynamics with Seafam. Especially Triton and Amphitrite)

Now, we come to Gabe. We know what a despicable human scum he is to Sally but a female!Percy, a young girl? Alone with Gabe and his friends? Since 6 years of age? I think we can all imagine the horrors.

Think of how all firstborn children of the big three, the direct results of oathbreaking, would then be female. All women. A new era of female led army of demigods, directly challenging certain misogynistic history of the Olympians. (Thalia, Andromeda(female!Percy, Bianca).

Think of how Zeus(other Olympians, too), with his unending ego and despicable nature, will fall at last at the hands of women. After how he uses women, as some sort of tool and a means of venting, a fitting end for him.

I may not like gender bending, but this has its merits as it becomes not only about changing oppressive ways of the Olympian Gods but also about defying patriarchy.

It would make some lovely additions to the essence of the series itself so it's not a bad idea at all.

These are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head. Will reblog if I remember more. But anyway, I'm pretty sure the fandom will be filling this up with headcanons anyway.

Percy is literally the most misunderstood, put down, and underrated character in the fandom. Despite being the literal main character. One of the best ever, too. I mean, people still think Percy is being overrated when the author is still actively sabotaging him. That's how awesome and hypable Percy is.

He has all the reasons to be completely smug and proud and arrogant about all he has done, to throw it back in the faces of the Olympians or even certain other characters, yet he does not. Percy has one of the worst, if not the worst, in the worst case of self-depreciation and almost non-existent self-esteem

So, for all the times, Rick failed to do right by Percy (which is many), and Percy himself didn't stand up for him; us Percy lovers got to repeat it often and louder so everyone can understand it crystal clear.

PERCY ISN'T JUST THE BEST CHARACTER IN THE FRANCHISE, HE IS THE FRANCHISE.

if rick riordan was a good writer he'd have percy be consumed by his anger at the gods after everything they put him through and going down luke's path (but worse) and nico would be the one to try and stop him like percy had to with luke (something something history repeats, the cycle continues, etc.)

I keep seeing the argument that Percy is plot armored and that other big three kids should be as powerful as him or more in the case of Thalia and Jason. I don't think that the inherent nature of their personalities is really taken into account.

The first argument is that Zeus is the king of Gods so his children should obviously be more powerful. This is a misunderstanding, Gods only ever transfer basic abilities to their children. Everything else that comes after is all a credit to the children themselves. (For e.g, how only Leo is able to summon fire even though there are many children of Hepheastus or how only Meg shows stronger, more deadly abilities of Demeter's domain.)

Percy's basic ability to control over water or earth comes from Poseidon but it's Percy's mindset, upbringing and motivations enhance and expand his abilities to the next level.

1)Thalia: She probably has more potential but is held back by her fear of heights and is therefore unable to exercise wind control. Her lightning control is way better and stronger but it's limited by her spite for Zeus or her overall fear of what ambition might do to her.(Titan's Curse subtly alludes to this)

2)Jason shows more inclination towards wind control more so than lightning perhaps because it's comes to him gar easier than lightning which requires rawness more so than discipline. His greatest downfall is his commitment to rules and his stern belief in doing things in a set way.

Jason is a lot of things, but he isn't very creative, nor is he a good out of the box thinker, so he just sticks to the rudimentary abilities he has and doesn't even think to explore Another good reason is that since Roman counteroarts of Gods are so disciplined, they do not indulge in the true raw nature of their power, and hence, Roman demigods are technically weaker in terms of raw power. (LOOK at the life expectancy of Greek demigods and how strongly they attract monsters).

He just doesn't have the touch of madness that sparks power in the big three children of Greek counterparts.

Jason is also not the type to damn the world for people he loves while we know the Jackson Family preaches the "do anything and everything under the sun to protect the ones we love. "

But mostly all of them, Thalia or Jason, believe there's a limit to what they can do or can be done and controlled while Percy has no sense of such predetermined boundaries. He is an open-minded and extremely adaptable fighter. He believes anything and everything could be used against his opponents, and hence, his fighting style is also better and far more unpredictable than usual. Percy also doesn't believe he is all that powerful, so he thinks there's always more to channel.

[It also helps that Poseidon favors Percy to the moon and back while Jupiter just gave Jason as a guilty gift to Juno.]

3)Now Nico has a good chance of being way more powerful than Thalia and Jason and isn't also very held back by moral concerns. His problem is that his powers are much too vast for him to control, and they always get the better of him. Raising the dead? Traveling through Shadows? Hands down Hades has the most op abilities to give. But this fact aside Nico also lacks the enhanced physical strength and the necessary experience to use his powers.

Last but not the least Percy is the most connected to his father's domain. He has sat on his father's throne, he has been in his father's secondary seat of power, Atlantis.

So overall, Percy is and will be the strongest demigod for a long, long time.

I love seeing them together 🌊⚡️

Another old art I did from last year