#IF YOU DO IT IS NO LONGER PJO BECAUSE THAT IS THE LITERAL CORE OF THE SERIES

[aroaceleovaldez]

The himbo, malewife, goofball -fication of percy jackson is such a crime by both the fans and riordan. It has made Mr not like percabeth as a couple because in all posts and in later books annabeth is such a girlboss, while Percy's dumb and can't fight his way out of a paperbag without her. All the posts are about how annabeth will be an architect and percy would love to be a trophy husband.

Even the humor in the books went from Percy's sharp wit and snark to 'my pancakes can't drown because I'm a son of poseidon.'

And now this recommendation letter bullshit.

Honestly now I'd wish percy just separated from annabeth (but they remain best friends.) He stays home with his family, becomes a camp counselor, helps young demigods, holds God's accountable and eventually becomes a social activist. (I also dislike him doing something marine biology related. It's clear he hates academics but he always wants to help people. Him helping demigods and mortals is such a wholesome profession for him.)

I fully agree with the first half of this, though I slightly disagree with part of the latter.

The later-series and fanon mischaracterization of Percy is at least a solid 50% ableism minimum, full stop. He's being warped into a very stereotyped ADHD character and the exact reason why he's being characterized as "dumb" is because of ableism. Percy is a very intelligent character! That's exactly why he's so in sync with Annabeth and they're such a strong duo! It's just generally Annabeth is more book/academically smart.

I disagree with where you say he hates academics - because that's one of the common misconceptions about his character. Percy doesn't hate learning or academic subjects! He's not even bad at them! We know explicitly that when he is in an accommodating environment he is interested in learning and gets significantly better grades! Percy only dislikes school because it is generally an environment that systematically he struggles with. It's literally just he has a learning disability (two, actually)! That's it! When his learning disability is accommodated for he does well! It's almost like that's what accommodations are all about! We know this from the first series! It's discussed pretty in-depth! Percy isn't a dumb character and he doesn't hate learning, he's just been let down by school systems so much that he's inherently distrustful of them. If they actually accommodate him though then he does just fine!

And that's exactly what CHB was all about and why New Rome University was supposed to be such a big thing for him! CHB is a learning environment geared for demigods. NRU is a demigod college. Both inherently imply an environment meant to cater to and accommodate students with ADHD and dyslexia! They are both systematically structured to be able to accommodate him! Heck, CHB and CJ even both address in the wider themes of the series a metaphor about how ADHD and dyslexia are commonly seen as childhood disabilities, and how it can be more difficult to find accommodations into adulthood because of that attitude but those disabilities don't just go away - that's why CHB is a summer camp but they talk about how demigods outside of CHB don't often fare well. The metaphor there is those who are not getting help or accommodations are struggling. Because that's how that works! This is a fully intentional metaphor from the first series! CHB is never framed as being perfect for demigods, because one of the entire central conflicts of the series is Percy and Luke going back and forth about this flawed system meant to help and support them but still letting people fall through the cracks. The "claim your kids by 13" thing is a metaphor about how acknowledging a child's disabilities (and possibly getting a diagnosis) earlier/as early as possible means they will have more time to learn and build up resources and support for themselves to be able to use later in life. One of CHB's major flaws is that it can accommodate demigods to a certain point, but it can only do so much before those demigods have to leave (the metaphor being accommodating school systems when those disabled students do not have any other forms of accommodations in their lives.)

And that's why Camp Jupiter was framed as being so revolutionary for Percy because it had an environment acknowledging that this is not just a childhood disability, adults with ADHD/dyslexia exist too and still need and deserve accommodations, AND is a place where those accommodations are available. That's why Camp Jupiter and NRU are treated as such special and important things to Percy, because it's essentially Percy being shown this type of thing can and does exist and it is available to him. It is an option he never thought was possible. Percy never thought he'd be able to go to college because he would not be able to go through school without accommodations, but NRU proves otherwise.

The part that's absolutely stupid is Rick then proceeded to retcon NRU so that apparently it's not a full college and Percy still has to take classes at normal mortal college which DEFEATS THE ENTIRE PURPOSE OF NRU EXISTING. Rick has fully retconned that demigods struggle past the ages of 16-18 when they're on their own (see above elaborated metaphors) and in doing so we have fully killed all symbolism in literally all of that. It's so stupid. And by having the plot of the CoTG trilogy entirely be that Percy is not actually allowed access to NRU in the first place because he is a son of Poseidon and has to do extra to even be accepted is stupid!

All that to say, I agree the marine biology feels like a huge cop-out and a disservice to his character by reducing him to just a son of Poseidon. The literal only reason why it's the default option people take for him is because oh, fish thing, fish guy. But I feel like everyone ignores the really obvious answer for what Percy would want to do which is - writing. Both his parents are writers/authors and he clearly admires that about them. Percy likes telling stories! He canonically is already a published author in-universe! That's what the books ARE in-universe! The first series fully exists in their universe and Percy is the author! This is explicit canonical information! Percy canonically has help physically writing it down (accommodations) but he is still the credited author! Percy is a writer! Already! Canonically! Why are we making him a marine biologist he already has a profession that ties into his character significantly more. Like you said, Percy likes helping people. That's what the books in-universe are supposed to be for! It's point blank at the beginning of the series! Book one! The thing everybody quotes all the time! The books exist because it is Percy trying to give advice to other demigods who don't know what's going on yet! It's Percy's writing down his experiences to help new demigods understand and contextualize their experiences so they can understand themselves better and figure out what's going on - WHICH IN ITSELF IS ALSO A METAPHOR ABOUT ADHD/DYSLEXIA! Because the core of the series has and always will be built around ADHD/dyslexia! Percy as a protagonist EXPLICITLY was created so that ADHD/dyslexic kids could see themselves as a hero!

Sorry that all was a very tangential rant but my point being: Absolutely. Percy in newer stuff in the franchise and in fanon is horrifically mischaracterized in ways that are functionally either fully ableist (shoutout TSATS for just outright claiming Percy is intentionally lazy and skips school out of disinterest, which is like the number one ableist attitude towards kids with learning disabilities) or a complete erasure of Percy's disabilities. Also I think he should be a writing major not a marine biologist.

[11queensupreme11]

QUEEN ITS LIKE 2AM HERE, AND I CANT SLEEP CUZ YOUR NEWEST CHAPTER IS STRESSING ME TF OUT STOPP 😭

When i read the TWs, my eyes literally bulged out hahwhwjwk

As a hard core posy fan, i was fed the finest of feasts this chapter <3 lol i already know pillow-humper, skin-licker, daughter-lover, vouyerism-fetishizing, daddyseidon is a bit freaky but aint no way his first major fatherly disciplinary action is TO SPANK HER, and mf was smirking too 😭

this is even more wild to think abt considering that blud has never had a child to discipline before, so im pretty sure this scenario was floating in his crusty ass mind for a while and now hes finally had the chance to act on it

Another thing, i thought the whole ichor tasting scene was the cause for the cannabilism TW and i was like oh ok 🙂 and then my jaw dropped 😭😭 BEELIE 😭😭

I was a beelcy stan from the very beginning. Still am. But his recent actions — him just not saying that he fcked up and shouldnt have made that deal w loki, his newfound jealousy and rage against anthonious (leave him alone, he sounded hella cute in that pov and in his other interactions w our loser stop😔), and lastly WHAT HE DID TO MIMIR theres no going back 😭 i feel like all the love ur giving to beel this act 1 is like our hook but then youre gonna make him such an unhinged and even hateable yan (tbh u've been hinting at that a loooong time ago but my delulu ahh kept coping, correct me if im wrong, yes im still coping). Like i have this feeling that by the end, beels gonna be one of the people percy would start to hate a lot, maybe even the most cuz, while i havent read or watched pjo, i know that his character has a lot to do w loyalty as a trait. This then gives way for other yans to swoop in and get close to her, i see you author 😡.

Sooner or later, all of beels advantages will be stripped away from him: (1) him not being related since now theres anubis and loki, (2) his knowledge of her identity/being someone she can talk to without having to be careful with her words, since loki already knows and eventually everyone else will know, (3) her friendship w him/the trust that he'll have her back because my god he keeps fucking up and all his problems will blow up sooner or later cuz he keeps bottling it up, (4) the possibility of maybe having a normal relationship w her since mimir squashed that down. There could be more but im too braindead to think rn

You're honor, i cant defend him no more 😭

As a beelcy fan, im rolling on the floor, puking tears. But as someone who has been craving apollo and hades, and is currently warming up to loki, im so 💙💙💙

Im supposed to be asleep so i can continue drawing later, but then you dropped this nuke on me and i dont know what to do w my thoughts 😞

"pillow-humper, skin-licker, daughter-lover, vouyerism-fetishizing, daddyseidon is a bit freaky but aint no way his first major fatherly disciplinary action is TO SPANK HER, and mf was smirking too 😭"

pls i'm crying at the names 😭😭 poseidon's no longer the god of the seas or god of gods, he's just.... pillow-humer, skin-licker, daughter-lover, and vouyerism-fetishizer LMAO I CONSIDER THAT AS AN UPGRADE 😂😂😂😂😂

and yes daddyseidon has been WAITING for the moment to finally 'discipline' her 💀💀 he just didn't think she'd try to risk her life for it, but whelp, she's okay now so he can spank her for it later 😂😂😂

and as for beelie.... 😔

oh beelzebub, whatever are we gonna do with you 🥲

for your sake, everyone should keep their expectations for beelzebub low. i mean technically, you should do that for all the yans, but beelzebub ESPECIALLY 😂😂

[kaleb-is-definitely-sane]

hardback or paperback: Hardback! Paperbacks break sooo easily and it’s annoying. 2 of my bibles no longer have faces. It’s ridiculous.

Borrow or buy: Buy. As much as I love libraries and think that we must do whatever we can to keep them open, i personally prefer to buy. I can’t be held responsible if i want to annotate or if my demonic angelic sisters rip a page,

fantasy or sci-fi: Fantasy 100%! Give me magic and foreign countries and magical politics and magic folks vs non-magic folks

love-triangle or love at first sight: Love at first sight. We do we need to pit women/men against each other. Have 2 people fall in love, deny it, and get pushed together by those around them (yes, i just read Much Ado About Nothing)

Wall shelves or bookcases: BOTH! I unfortunately have a (singular, one) bookshelf that my mom some how thought would be big enough. Like i told her i would help build it in order to assure it was big enough. But alas we haven’t reached that stage yet.

Bad plot with good characters or good plot with bad characters: I could care less about the plot. I love PJO. Not for the plot (though it is fantastic) but for the characters. How they interact. The themes they bring to the table. Make me fall in love with the characters i’ll stay for anything

Harry Potter or Percy Jackson: I have to go with PJO (srry Kate). It’s just funnier and the themes just strike me personally much harder.

Booklr or Bookstagram: Booklr. Tumblr is the only socials i have (does goodreads count 😂).

Contemporaries or Fantasy:

English books or books in your native language: My native language is english soo… 😂. I would like to read everybook in it’s authors original language tho.

Buy in a bookshop or buy online: Practically online is better. But if you’re a bibliophile you are (shockingly) definitely not practical! People think booklovers are these hyper smart, practical, sense (rather than sensibility) people but it’s quite the opposite. We’re emotional wrecks! The linger we live the more we know we’ll never know love or contentment cause we simply require too much. And we’😂 That’s a post all in it’s self. But yeah im definitely a bookstore person. I go in the store and I’m suddenly on a quest, sent by some benevolent ruler to find a book waste spend too much money on books and return home to please the ruler (myself) by reading rather than eating/sleeping/doing literally anything

amazon or book depository: Book depository

buy because of the cover or because of the description: Description. I go on goodreads. Read description. Read review and then i go to find the book. Never am I concerned about the cover. In fact i try to avoid thinking about it at all lest i chicken out cause i fear being made fun of for buying a book with flowers and women on it (i speak of little women. I saw this super cute cover with 4 girls and a floral design but i was scared of being made fun of and didn’t get it. I’m still ashamed.

Alphabetical shelves or colour coordinated: Neither! Organized by favorites.

different sized books or matching sizes: I prefer matching sizes cause if everything in my room will be a mess at least my bookshelf can be straight but alas… that’s not happening 😂

wait to marathon a series or read as they’re released 

movie or tv adaptations: TV always TV. Every (1 or 2) Chapter = Episode.

zombies or vampires: When you get to the core of it (and the origins of their mythologies they’re both sympathetic. Zombies had their spirits/souls taken captive by evil voodoo sorcerers (think The Shadow Man from Princess and Frog) and were made slaves. Devoid of an afterlife in heaven or hell. But whereas human slaves can die to escape. Zombies couldn’t die. And thus not even death — the great equalizer — can save them. Vampires meanwhile are immortal meaning they make themselves “heartless” in order to avoid getting heartbroken. Falling in love, befriending for year after year, age after age, watching them die time and time again. Immortality (on earth not in heaven) is truly a curse.

Reading indoors or outdoors: I mostly read indoors but i love to read outdoors as well. As long as it’s not cold. Which it usually isn’t (cause i live in the South) but strangely — or i suppose not so strangely #global warming — the weather has been getting colder and the rain has been weird so i’ll be inside.

coffee or tea: I drink water, darling.

bookmarks or random objects to mark your page: Why would i soend money on bookmarks (a mistake i made a few years ago) when im too lazy to use them anyway! Is that a sticker/phone/other book/pillow/pencil/pen/charger/acorn/string/leaf (♥️)? No its a bookmark

dog-earing or bookmarks: Bookmarks 🔖 ♥️

Be your favourite character or be their best friend: Be their best friend for sure!

physical or e-book: Physical all the way ♥️

Read in bed or on a chair: Anywhere. In a box. With a fox. In a chair. With sky blue hair. On a train. In the rain. In my bed. Receiving… uhhh… nvm

audiobook or ebook: Ebook

series or stand-alones: Series! It motivates me to read and it motivates me to dive deeper into a story.

Reading in the winter or reading in the summer: Probably winter. It’s colder so i can just stay in, cuddle, bundle, and read

@princess-paramour id don’t know why tumblr is heing stupid fkr me right now but i couldn’t post your ask so here it is

[antiloreolympus]

11 Anti LO Asks

1. TBH to me im also confused reading LO bc it both takes itself way too seriously but also not at the same time? like it wants us to feel like its this grand dramatic epic that takes serious issues and all, only to be so full of slapstick and juvenile "humor" and hip "relatable" humor that its like?? well which one is it then??

2. Im glad im not the only one who noticed, at least in terms of their relationship to hades, persephone and minthe are exactly the same. the difference is minthe has everything to lose, has no support and she doenst "deserve" him, meanwhile persephone has everything, gets everything, and "deserves" hades because she coddles him and she conforms to him & his wants, which minthe never do. im not saying minthe doesnt have her issues, but her not doing exactly what he wanted lead to her demise.

3. i love the excuse of constantly making lo persephone naked is "being accurate to ancient art" because one thats not how ancient art was?? only aphrodite and maybe amphitrite were depicted without clothes, but even that most of that was a post-antiquity/roman trend to show they could do anatomy correctly, but more so persephone specifically (minus the bernini statue which wasnt in ancient times) was always clothed? like yall just make up whatever to excuse rachel being wrong no matter what, huh?

4. LO is hardly the only romance comic to have this issue but it def runs off he fact the readers knowing theyll get together in the end to excuse its actual lack of developing them as a couple. rachel basically made two characters who wouldnt even talk to each other under normal circumstances and is just running off them being well known instead of making their relationship actually make sense. if we didnt know they were a canon myth couple, would anyone buy theyre in love? Probably not.

5. i see an excuse that LO's characterization should be excused because "rachel is making them complex" and its like ... the greek gods?? need to be made complex?? what are you lot on to think rachel is "improving" on the gods, esp when theyre just made into one note assholes with her deciding if theyre "good" or not depending on if they kiss persephone and hades' ass or not.  thats not complexity??

6. rachel literally cannot help herself to overemphasize how child like persephone is while also doing the same to emphasize how old and weird hades is and then still acts shocked people think its a creepy relationship? like you cant constantly make a point hes an old man lusting after a barely legal young woman and then be up in arms that people get weirded out by it.

7. oh my god the trial IS going into december and maybe even longer. she literally stretched it over months when it could have been at most three weeks. i hate it here.

8. RS is really just throwing whatever she can at the wall at this point isn't she. Here, now Hades has titan powers for no reason! He can turn into a spider now! Persephone made elysium now and has to teach him torturing the dead is wrong! Meanwhile other plots are either rushed (Daphne, Minthe) or that should be wrapped up by now or even have a little focus on them is just ignored, dropped, or retconned in some weird way, Like girl, take a month off and plan this out on a google spreadsheet.

9. the funny part about how pissed rachel gets at being accused of "stealing from percy jackson" is ... she unintentionally does? like PJO popularized "persephone was a b-tier nobody before marrying hades", promoted demeter was irrational helicopter mom, and also (incorrectly) popularized titans being literal giants, all of which rachel put in LO. now she probably only picked these up from tumblr posts but those are from PJO, so in a roundabout way she did kind of steal from PJO, just unknowingly.

10. this is nitpicky but i hate the in universe and fandom "joke" kore is some corn joke bc one) corn is from mexico, but so wouldnt wheat or barley be more accurate? but two) kore is not pronounced "core", its pronounced "core-ey", so the joke doesnt work on both a food or a pronunciation front. like this is supposed to be so well researched and accurate yet it doesnt know how to pronounce the main characters name or knows what actual food grows in greece and was connected to demeter.

-----FP Spoilers/Mention-----

11. FP// Hades being a grown adult and not realizing torturing the dead for eternity especially the innocent is in fact a bad thing to do is not cute, it confirms hes a deranged psychopath and having some random 20 year old having to "teach" him that is even worse?? esp bc that same 20 year old doesnt care about the dead, she only cares about her own conscious. idk how rachel took complex beings and made them straight up evil but expects her to "sympathize" w/ them but here we are.

[preppymayhem]

You make a good point about other characters being made worse so Dawson could look better. Though to be honest, the show did the same with Dawson and Andie in S3 so people wouldn’t turn on Pacey and Joey.

You’re definitely right about Dawson’s being protected by an armor because he’s a protagonist. Everything revolves around him and around his feelings. Characters like Pacey and Jen aren’t afforded the same treatment when they screw up. They get isolated. In S3 all of Dawson’s friends were there for him after Joey ran off with Pacey. And he didn’t deserve it. Kerr Smith, the actor who plays Jack, commented that it was hard to film that scene because right before that he filmed an emotional scene with his homophobic dad. It was like Dawson’s heartbreak took precedence over everyone else’s problems. The end of S6 followed the same trajectory. All of Dawson’s friends were there for him even though Pacey suffered the same fate. No one was there to help Pacey get back on his feet. Dawson screwed up just as much as Pacey. He shouldn’t have invested all of his money.

Also, Pacey payed for the repairs for Dawson’s house. That cost thousands of dollars. If Pacey hadn’t done that, all of Dawson’s income would may have gone towards those repairs. Funny, that Dawson didn’t blame Audrey for destroying his house. Audrey even pointed out that he’s not judgmental. All of Dawson’s judgment is reserved for Pacey. He doesn’t get jealous of his other friends’ success but he gets jealous of Pacey’s success.

The problem I have with Dawson is actually the same problem I have with Joey. She too suffers from protagonist syndrome - as I like to call it. Many of the female writers said they identified with her and the men in charge of she show seemed obsessed with her. Busy Philips (the actress who plays Audrey) commented that whenever she would forget her lines, she would be told “we’ll just cut to Katie, look at that pretty face.” Joey was turned her into a Mary Sue. She no longer was relatable. Every guy wanted her and every girl wanted to be her. All the female characters were sidelined in favor of Joey. She was every man’s first choice. Jen was reduced to a temporary option or second choice (especially in regards to Dawson and Charlie but also Pacey in Four to Tango). During the college years Joey she wasn’t given any obstacles and therefore wasn’t growing. She didn’t have financial issues despite the fact that she was a college student with no job (how did she afford a ticket to Pairs and all those fancy clothes?). In S6 She was literally offered 2 jobs out of the blue without having to work for them. Things seemed to come easy to her and everyone seemed to fawn over her.

I think you’re conflating a few things that are actually related Anon on, namely I don’t think either of those anecdotes about the actors actually relate to the treatments or story developments. I think any scene would have been hard on Smith if he had to do it after a big scene in which his character was much more centered, and the Busy Phillips anecdote relates more to a workplace thing then anything serious regarding the actors. Actors aren’t their characters and both those things aren’t really related to the subject.

Also I disagree re: Andie being made to look worse in s3, or rather the idea that she was made to look worse to prop up PJo the crap writing for her came early in the season before the romance plot was even a thing or set in stone. Through the actual back half of season 3, I think she came off really well (if anything she made Dawson look even worse by comparison). Same for the Jen & Pacey thing, that also ended basically right at the point that the romance started and Jen was never pushed over for it. I actually really liked her little romance with the freshmen quarterback (like not as a serious endgame thing), I thought it was cute.

That said I have a few objections and sort of clarifications on your ask, anon. First, I don’t think Joey is a Mary Sue, but then I also think Mary Sue is a baseless term born out of fandom misogyny and I don’t take it seriously at all as a way of analyzing or critiquing a character. I think you can argue that there is favoritism in how Joey is treated at different points, but I would say that I would favor more gender-neutral ways of critiquing.

The thing is I like Joey, I do think at her core she is relatable and she still comes across as human. Do the writers favor her? Yes, tho I’d argue that it is not her character’s fault that the writers short changed the other female characters in the show. And the thing is that I personally do not care about the majority of what happened in season 5 and most of season 6 that I don’t really factor either season into how I feel about the characters. I am very wishy washy on canon. And also it’s okay that you don’t find Joey relatable, but the idea that she isn’t relatable is not universal. Even with the late season and college years so lines there is still that is plenty relatable about her, and there are people who do like and have no issues with Dawson Leery, I just happen to not be one of them.

Which brings me right down to the clarification that I want to make which I am not nor have I ever really claimed that I am making these assessments from entirely objectively places. So the fact of the matter is at a certain level the truth is I like Joey, I don’t like Dawson and my feelings was that even if he didn’t have The Protagonist problem I still wouldn’t like him for the same reason that I don’t like Ross Geller and Ted Mosby and Xander Harris. Whereas I like the basis of Joey’s character and as such I am more tolerant of the writer’s heavy handed ness or idiosyncrasies with her character, but also less tolerant when it comes to Dawson because it isn’t like that was ruining a character I liked, it was against a character that I already had a bias against, and the writing problems never crossed a line where I ever moved to disliking Joey.

And also a lot of Joey’s worst qualities are alleviated when she is allowed to be more independent from Dawson’s storyline. As I said before he completely makes her worse and brings down her character and plot arcs.

[apolloappreciationblog]

What are your thoughts on how and why exactly Apollo's character has developed the way it has? Basically, on why Apollo starts out the way he does in the first book, and why he becomes more caring, empathetic, understanding, and selfless.

Thanks for asking! This is a great question…That has a really long answer because I’m the one answering. Incoherent philosophy and analysis below the bar!

Why does Apollo start out the way he does?

Apollo essentially starts off like that, well, cause he’s an immortal that lives in an immortal bubble , far removed from mortals, and deals with the guilt produced by his actions with mortals with an overblown ego that protects himself. You know, while still in the immortal bubble.

The gods are all at a distance from mortals in general, because of their immortality, and their position as mankind’s keepers. “Distance” is a lot of things. It’s the gap between a finite life and an infinite one, an existence as a collective concept or idea and one as an individual (or a thinking “sack of meat” if you will), a creation and creator, a parent and a child, it’s the literal existential difference between a god and a human.

Despite that distance and their positions, gods and mortals share thought, emotion, and their very personal nature to some degree, and their relationship is symbiotic. Because of this relationship the gods and mortals have and their similarities, both mortals and gods desire to close the distance between each other, knowing that that distance is not something that can ever truly be bridged, especially in regards to their roles. After all, when they try, it often ends in tragedy-gods and mortals just play by different rules, and honestly, mortals pretty much never win out.

The gods have to cope with that pain in some way. The gods on Olympus came to the agreement that lengthening the distance between them and mortals and really embracing the whole god thing to its fullest extent was the best way to cope with it, but making the distance wider creates another issue. One where the gods are so removed from the reality that mortals occupy that they no longer can see just how their actions affect them. And for a group of beings who are supposed to be mankind’s guardians or whatever you’d call the gods, that’s really not a good thing.

Apollo starts out the way he does because he’s lived in that crazy distance bubble for like, 3000 years give or take, and he’s been consumed by this cushy distant immortal life where he doesn’t need to take responsibility for his actions-yet he’s still deeply affected by the resulting guilt even if he doesn’t acknowledge it.

Though it’s pretty apparent that Apollo has always had a pretty big ego (classic myths and all that), he’s used that exclusively to cope with his guilt in this bubble to the point where his entire being revolves around his narcissism. After all, it’s much easier to feel less guilt or to forsake responsibility when you hide behind the made up fact that you believe everyone loves you and that you’re always right and so on (and he is a god-there really isn’t a better word someone so self absorbed could call themselves).

Which brings me to the next question!

Why does Apollo become more caring, empathetic, etc, etc?

Apollo at the beginning of the series suffers from everything described in that explanation above. Naturally as he’s forced to both cross the distance of god to mortal and confront the true circumstances of his actions, we see him change drastically. He isn’t protected by his immortal status anymore, he’s no longer held at a distance from mortals because HE’S MORTAL, and sorry kid, but there is no foundation under that inflated ego. All the falsities he was hiding behind are instantly shattered, and although it takes him a bit to really understand the gravity of this punishment, he has no way of running away from anything anymore, and thus, must confront it, and changes because of that. He’s shaped by truths of the reality mortals occupy after having been living in the distant immortal bubble of Olympus for so long. The truths or mortals being, you know, making friends and the value of life relationships and all that great stuff.

On a meta level, I think Apollo is really a stand in for pretty much everything about Olympus you’re supposed to hate reading PJO (and HoO I’d assume), which really is just the fact that they decided to fuck off instead of embracing mortals’ reality and you know, helping them out with a smidgen of empathy. It feels, to me, the whole takeaway of Trials is going to be Olympus’s reformation, something that was also at the core of PJO but never truly accomplished. Apollo is the perfect narrator for a series that’s going to try and do this, as he essentially represents Olympus as it is itself, but changes, something, I think, is supposed to represent how change for Olympus is also possible, despite the distance between the gods and mortals, and well, everything.

[aroaceleovaldez]

actually one of the details that frustrates me the most from TSATS, relating to how much the book completely erases or absolutely bastardizes neurodivergence, is how Percy's cameo is characterized.

One of the consistent things aspects of Percy's relationship with the education system throughout the series is that Percy is smart, and he does try in school, but he has a learning disability. The only reason he gets bad grades is because he has a learning disability and the way the modern american education system is built is inherently at odds with that. In the first series we actually have explicit references to Percy doing better in school when he's in environments that actually accommodate for his disabilities! It's not that he's not trying, he's disabled.

So it is so disheartening and horrible to see Percy characterized in TSATS as just being disinterested in school, and his failing grades being made a joke about implying him ditching classes because he just doesn't care. That's the number one ableist thing ADHD/dyslexic students hear! Implying that they "just don't care" and dismissing their disabilities. It is so horrible to see that joke being made in the Percy Jackson series of all franchises. Especially when you add that on to the rest of the quite frankly ableist characterizations in TSATS and how much the book erases Nico and Will's disabilities/neurodivergence.

[aroaceleovaldez]

I think one of the best examples of what went wrong with TSATS is from the book tour I attended -

At one point during the event, Mark Oshiro made a comment about Nico's card collection. Specifically, they joked that Nico collecting cards was a sign that he was gay, because clearly he was only collecting the cards to look at the men on the art (which ends up being a note made in the actual book itself).

I've said a lot that you cannot divorce PJO from neurodivergence and disability. You just can't. And I stand by that. If you remove the neurodivergence and disability aspects from PJO it is no longer PJO because that's the foundation the entire series is built upon - representing neurodiverse and disabled students and kids. If you do not understand that or try to ignore it you have missed the most fundamental aspect of PJO as a series and everything else falls apart. (This is actually a trend that begins occurring mid/late-HoO and throughout TOA and that's where I say the main series begins to feel like it's no longer itself, but that's a rant for another day.)

You cannot divorce any of the demigod PJO characters from being ADHD/dyslexic. It is a core part of their characters. You cannot separate Nico di Angelo from the fact that he is ADHD/dyslexic. If you agree with Nico being autistic-coded or not, he is explicitly ADHD, and MythoMagic as we're introduced to it with him is clearly his hyperfixation if not his special interest. It just is. MythoMagic with Nico is the main ADHD/autistic trait we see presented with him. You cannot erase that. You cannot say "Nico only collected cards because he's gay" because then you are removing the fact that Nico is ADHD and you have missed the entire point of the series. Failed step 1.

TSATS does things like this so often throughout the book. (Ex: None of the characters stim, ever. The closest we get is Will bouncing his leg in one scene, but that's heavily implied to purely be him feeling anxious in that moment and nothing else. Nico even gives up his most iconic stim object and it's replaced with a coin he explicitly never stims with. He only ever touches it, never stims with it.) The book refuses to acknowledge that Nico and Will (and Annabeth and Percy and Piper and etc etc etc) are ADHD and dyslexic (and autistic-coded, in Nico's case). And if it does even remotely acknowledge those themes, it does so in the most ableist ways possible (infantilizing Nico, blaming Nico for his own ostracization, magically healing all of Nico's problems, implying Percy is only bad at school because he's disinterested and lazy, etc). And that happens because they started on the wrong foundation. They treated the characters' neurodivergence and disabilities as secondary and optional rather than the literal foundations the entire series was built upon and it shows.