#but that's not fatal for percy! that's what makes percy dangerous *to the gods*

[ruegarding]

i never understood ppl claiming percy has never suffered the consequences of his loyalty. you're talking about percy "i know the prophecy said my friend would betray me but these are my friends they wouldn't betray me" jackson, who walked into a remote part of the forest with luke and almost died in book one. you're talking about percy "kronos told me point-blank there was a traitor but i can't imagine any of these ppl betraying me" jackson, who decided to stop looking for the traitor and moved on. you're talking about percy "nico is acting suspicious and very clearly hiding something from me but he's my friend and i trust him" jackson, who walked into nico's very obvious set up and almost got himself held hostage during the titan war. percy is so loyal that he cannot fathom betrayal until it's happening, and it has nearly killed him multiple times.

[darkcrowprincess]

Percico thoughts:

Nico frustrated at Percy: Percy I know loyalty is your fatal flaw, but have you ever stopped to consider what you actually want? Not what everyone else wants for you?

Percy confused: What do you mean?

Nico yelling at this point: What do you want Percy? What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about what you want out of your life? Not what the gods want for you, or Chrion, or your mom, or fucking Annabeth!

Nico: What do YOU WANT?

Percy says the first thing that comes out of his mouth without thinking: You.

Nico confused: What?

Percy as if a dam has finally broken and water has finally rushed out with all of his unspoken words and feelings: I want you, and a apartment in New York. I want to make you blue chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast just like my mom makes me. And I want to show you Montauk beach where my mom took me all the time as a kid. Where she met my dad. And I don't want to be a hero anymore, or go on anymore stupid dangerous quests where the people I care about die! I want to go swimming for as long as I want and sleep on the beach and not have to worry about a monster attacking me. I don't want to go to college in New Rome with Annabeth where I have to struggle again with school and everything! I want you in my bed everyday, morning and night. I want everything in our apartment to be blue. But I'll also let you pick some spaces for color if you want because it be ours. I want everyone to stop calling me stupid or thinking all my worth is that I'm this big hero of prophecy, or part of the golden camp half blood couple with Annabeth. I want to have dates with you in our apartment playing video games or watching movies while we eat McDonald's. I want to be normal. But I also want you there. Even if normal is not what you want and you want me to live in the underworld with you. I just want you besides me. In whatever way you can have me. Because I do want you Nico.

Percy finally finished, breaths hard as if he's run a marathon. Still staring at Nico.

Nico worried: Are you ok.

Percy: I don't know.

Nico nervous goes to hug Percy: I don't usually do this. But you need it.

Percy hugs Nico back hard.

Nico whispers into Percy's ear: I want you too.

Percy smiles and kisses Nico on the lips.

(Don't like don't read. Post hate and I'll block you)

[cynthiav06]

Do you know something that I find really curious?

Is that in Ancient Greek, Greek Mythology, and Hellenic Polytheism, even tho we don't actually have the idea of "sin" there are a few things they and therefore, hellenic polytheistics shouldn't do, but interestingly enough the only thing that is likely, highly not encouraged to do, and mostly unforgiving in Hellenism, is Húbris.

I find it really interesting and curious, because I bet Rick knew about it when he wrote PJO and still decided to give Annabeth, one of his main characters, a fatal flaw that was the closest thing of what could be considered a "sin" in Ancient Greece (the society he was basing his story on).

I'm not saying "whoa, he wanted to make something." My personal opinion is that he just doesn't care, just like he doesn't care to make a better adaptation of the Gods, but I still find it interesting enough to rant about it.

+ it is really concerning see people treating her fatal flaw as something positive and to be cheered on, even in the literal book narrative, when in fact, It is not.

Excessive pride can be a sign of a narcissist behavior, what can lead to dangerous situations or to toxic relationships. And I see Rick playing too much with this edge in Perccabeth dynamics.

(I'm not saying she is narcissist, tho. I believe I have to make this as clear as possible here. There is a difference of having a trace of narcissism, and be diagnosticaded with it.)

Just to finish my thoughts, when I realized Perccabeth lost all the sparkle for me was when I've read one meta about someone who didn't like Annabeth's behavior towards Percy a long time ago. At that time I was an avid Perccabeth shipper, but I basically sat and tought about it, and made a mental exercise: If Percy was a woman, and Annabeth was a man, would their interactions still be considered cute and perfect in a relationship?

That was when I realized, no, it wouldn't be. And that was it for me.

No, I completely get it. I myself was a Percabeth shipper, I think everyone was at one point as most of us read these books at a young age. I am glad that all of us are seeing massive problems with the many canon relationships and other aspects of Riordan's terrible writing.

You give Rick Riordan too much credit. If you have checked out any recent pjo books, you can see how terrible the continuity is and how one dimensional the characters are becoming. So he certainly did not take into account the gravity of Annabeth's fatal flaw, it's repercussions or even it’s connotations in Greek myths.

Annabeth is, as I have said before, a character that always devolves through the lack of change in her attitude and the behavioral inconsistencies. She admits to her fatal flaw and how it endangers her in some instances but then never brings it up again. Doesn't do anything to actively improve on it either.

Her overall attitude remains condescending, judgemental, and heavily hypocritical. And that is putting it mildly.

The fact that she made Percy apologize for getting kidnapped against his will and then having his memory wiped out.

She repeatedly made negative or demeaning comments on his intelligence.

This should be enough of a giveaway in the first place.

Not to mention her horrifying treatment of Rachel and lack of remorse for it. Not a single apology made for it either. Or to Percy for acting as if she owned him.

Furthermore, her consistently violent actions. Now, even if they don't hurt Percy, it's still an extremely unhealthy manner of expressing her emotions.

Her repeated defense of Luke despite him putting Percy in mortal danger and attempting to kill Percy each time. Before anyone quotes they had a bond, they were family, I know, I do but by that time she had seen him do so multiple times and Thalia was family too, she understood right away that Luke was too far gone.

I also dislike the tendency of Rick and, therefore, the fandom to put Annabeth on a pedestal of she can do wrong. I have made multiple posts highlighting how Percy is canonically a better strategist than Annabeth and how Annabeth is certainly not the smartest demigod. Most knowledgeable, perhaps, but not the smartest.

To all the shippers, everyone agrees that the closest we get to absolutely perfect characterization of Percy is in Son of Neptune and Son of Sobek and the short story The Stolen Chariot. And the most obvious common thing between all these is the lack of Annabeth.

I am not saying Annabeth would ruin the book, but she does ruin Percy's character. Rick is so busy hyping her up for no absolute reason that it ends up demeaning Percy irrationally and illogically. And it happens every time.

Even if you blame later book characterizations of Annabeth on Rick Riordan's terrible writing, her early characterization had the same flaws. They are just now overtly apparent in the most recent books.

If the genders were reversed, this would be the paragon of a toxic relationship. I understand that there are excruciatingly few balanced heterosexual relationships that actually do it right and that the extreme nostalgia makes it hard for us to acknowledge any flaws on it but that's no reason to falsely advertise it as the perfect relationship. Not even close.

Not just due to these reasons but also because they have nothing in common nor do their goals align, and it's also a bit of a case of trauma bonding. Again, I have made individual posts on almost all these points

I don't think there's anything more that needs to be said on this matter, really, but feel free to ask.

[aprill-99]

I was mulling it over today, and I think we haven’t talked enough about how the kindest Gods in the PJO show are the lonely outcast ones.

Think about it, the gods we see on screen are Poseidon, Zeus, Hades, Ares, Dionysus and Hephaestus.

We spend the most time with Dionysus and he’s arguably the most well socialized, but he isn’t shown to actually care about the campers. Ares is at best manipulative and capable of being manipulated and at worst short cited, violent, and cruel. He sends children into a known trap and dresses it up as helping them, then tries to start a war (whether or not it was his idea).

Zeus, king of the gods and always surrounded by them, is portrayed as controlling with a childish need to win no matter who else suffers or how stupid the game. He won’t agree to stop a war that would tear the world apart until Poseidon will admit he’s won, even after hearing that Kronos has returned.

Poseidon is portrayed as being more alone and separate from the other gods. He has his own realm, and while that makes him more powerful, he’s also more isolated. He shows care for both Sally and Percy. Particularly with Sally, she feels alone and like she has no one to talk to, and he comes as soon as she calls. Percy is in danger and he directly intervenes against Zeus and lets his pride take a hit to save him (in direct contrast to Zeus).

But Hades? Hated and feared god of the dead. Even more isolated than Poseidon and only allowed to be with the rest of his family once a year with a wife gone half the year and his children far away. The moment he hears what is actually happening, what does he say to Percy? “Ask me for sanctuary.” Then he follows it up by offering to keep his best friend and only family safe too. The last person Hades offered that too was probably Bianca, Nico, and Maria. Hades’ default move when the world is fraying is to put the innocent kids somewhere safe. Batten down the hatches, get any advantage you can for sure, but for the love of Hestia hide the kids until they’re old enough, until that’s not an option anymore. He doesn’t doubt Percy for a second. He just gives him a way out and offers Perseus -fatal-flaw-is-loyalty- Jackson, a way to keep his only true family safe. I think if Percy cared less about the rest of the world (remember he has other Camp friends and Annabeth is already gone) he’d have seriously considered it.

Hephaestus, (coup de gras) a god cast out of Olympus, married to a wife who hates him, crippled by his parents, and kept around for being useful. What does he end up telling Annabeth? “You’re a good kid, Annabeth.” Said to the girl whose own mother gave her a hat that makes her invisible - the girl who’s greatest wish is to build something that last forever - who wants acknowledgment and feels like she has to prove herself.

And he tells her she’s a good kid. Good already for being who she is now, not for whatever she might be later. Guy is really out here breaking cycles of abuse all over the damn place and he had like, 4 minutes of screen time!

Anyway I’m supposed to be studying for the Bar, but this was haunting me…..

[kastalani123]

Since my Percabeth Parent Swap Au has recently been infesting my brain a little, I wanted to share some other ideas for it!

Sally got the invisibility cap from Athena in Percy's cradle and gave it to him before she was taken by Hades in PJO

(ig Hades would maybe get some minor prophecy connecting Percy to the lightning bolt to the point he wants to leverage Sally against him?? Or maybe he assumed he was Poseidon's kid bc he likes the sea and he was just. Wrong)

Annabeth obv grows up in Cabin Eleven so she's a bit more of a thief and trickster, but also better understands Luke's and the Titan Army's motivation on a more personal level

She also doesn't have that thirst for a quest since she doesn't want to draw attention to herself, and is internally warring between wanting to leave Camp to see the world and wanting to stay because of how strong her scent is

Annabeth and Percy get claimed around the same time to tie them closer together and give basis for Annabeth choosing him as a questmate

Probably in the same game of Capture the Flag, I'd say? Annabeth comes in to help Percy out when he's getting his ass kicked and they get claimed

(their parents are pissed that they chose the same claiming time)

Annabeth has to live alone in Cabin Three, which. Sucks

Percy gets to have siblings tho!

Annabeth gets Riptide

(the two soon swap their godly gifts for the one they like better)

Also Annabeth doesn't have that same devotion to the gods/her godly parent so she doesn't see Percy's disrespect as so outlandish

The TLT prophecy would probably be different, though probably still include a line about Sally

Annabeth is also dealing with her biggest secret being aired out at the worst moment, as well as going from "random unclaimed kid" to "child destined to save/destroy the world" in one day

Luke tries so hard to get Annabeth to come with him and she almost does but she doesn't want to be what everyone fears

She doesn't go back to Frederick and Co. because they decide it's too dangerous for all of them, at least until the prophecy plays out. They try to keep in touch, though

Tyson is Annabeth's brother. In her Cabin. She gets to deal with that, too

Zöe sees parallels between herself and Annabeth (girl gives Riptide to a hero she's enamoured with (even though Annabeth is "more" of the hero)) so it takes her a bit longer to acknowledge Percy's trustworthiness

(no idea if Annabeth would still be the one kidnapped in TTC or if it'd be Percy)

With Mt St Helens, I'd say Percy tricks Annabeth into blowing the volcano up while he's still in it? Like, he didn't mean to still be inside but it turned out like that, I dunno. Annabeth never gets over the guilt of killing her best friend, even if he turned up alive two weeks after the fact

Unbreakable Annabeth. Can you imagine? Annabeth with the Curse of Styx? Esp a Cabin Eleven-raised Annabeth? She's tossing herself off the Big House because the Stolls dared her to

(she has the same curse as her brother! How wonderful, isn't it?)

She's the one that has to make the cursed blade choice with Luke. She has to give her dagger, gifted to her by her brother with a promise of family, to her brother to kill himself. She is. Very far from okay after that

Her bitterness against the gods wins out over her hubris to get her to refuse immortality

Annabeth is the one taken in HOO. Do with that what you will, I don't remember the books well enough to go into detail

Meanwhile Percy gets to go on the Mark of Athena quest and fight Arachne, which is all very nice for him

Annabeth gets to go feral in Tartarus. And I mean feral. As in, we're throwing out that "afraid of poison-bending" thing because Annabeth is the one losing her mind here and Percy is. Well, his fatal flaw is loyalty, and Akhlys had messed with his best friend (after Grover) and girlfriend. He's not telling Annabeth to stop until he thinks she's completely lost it

Also! Annabeth is not suddenly dumb, nor is Percy suddenly serious! Annabeth is still into architecture and STEM and books! She's still a skilled strategist, it just comes more from her experience and practice than an inborn talent! Percy still loves Montauk and skateboarding and joking around! But without the worry of being a Big Three child, he could more easily get the environment needed for him to explore learning, so he more obviously enjoys it! They don't just swap personalities and interests because they have affinities for some different things now.

[squiggle3worm]

So maybe a weird question to ask but a lot of Greek Heroes kinda operate as reverse Femme Fatales. Using their whiles to seduce women to achieve their goals. It ranges of levels of grossness from story to story, but the list does have alot of the big names, Hercules with Hippolyta, Odysseus with Circe, Theseus with Ariadne, Jason with Medea, Ect.

Percy would never betray Annabeth, even when mind wiped.

That being said, I think it would be funny if Annabeth, totally secure in their relationship, came up with a plan that requires a enemy to be distracted.

So she turns to the love of her life and say. “Okay so hear me out.”

Don’t know why but Annabeth willing to weaponize her boyfriend’s hotness is hilarious to me.

Not in a gross way, in a strictly PG-13 method.

Thank you so much for the ask!

Yeah! That is such an interesting trope that they have in Greek Mythology. It's interesting that over time we switched the trope to women who were the seducers in modern media. I guess misogyny plays a part in both versions since women are the ones seen as the villains regardless even if they were the victims in some of the cases.

Rick also used the reverse femme fatale trope in The Titan's Curse with Heracles and Zoë Nightshade. Heracles used the fact that Zoë liked him to his own advantage then betrayed her just like with Theseus and Ariadne. (I never really thought about the parallels between them until now lol since they both had a god or goddess to "save" or "cure" them from heartbreak. Dionysus marrying Ariadne and Artemis offering a Zoë a place with the Hunters.)

Yes! I agree that Percy is so loyal to Annabeth that betrayal wouldn't even cross his mind.

I also agree that Annabeth would be more willing to weaponize Percy and his hotness if the plan calls for it lol She seems to believe that ends can justify the means. I'm not sure if you read Chalice of the Gods yet, but in that Annabeth pushes Percy off a cliff so he could continue their quest. Percy says, "Find someone who loves you the way my girlfriend pushes me off a cliff. Without hesitation. With full confidence in your abilities, with the rock-steady that your relationship can handle it…" That said, I don't think that Annabeth would consider a full betrayal or anything that would go too far. Percy says that Annabeth knew that their relationship could probably withstand a trick like that, but I don't think Annabeth would take it any farther. She cares too much for Percy to put him in more danger than he could handle.

Also, Annabeth still has morals and she knows when enough is enough. If she wanted to, she could've let Percy defeat Akhlys in House of Hades but she knows it's wrong to kill a goddess and that the ends don't justify the means in this case. Like what would the consequences of killing a goddess be? Even if she is evil and is trying to kill them? The mental turmoil, question of morality, and consequences on Olympus don't guarantee their safety in the long run, so she stopped Percy from hurting her anymore.

I can 100% see her distracting an enemy using Percy and his hotness if it worked in her plan as long as it doesn't make her make her too jealous lol I also agree that she wouldn't take it too far lmao

Thank you again for the ask this was so much fun! :)))

[aroaceleovaldez]

I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on the Percabeth parallel (can you call it a parallel if it is the exact same thing happening twice????) in TSATS (also the travel brochure thing)

The entirety of TSATS is very clearly trying to make Solangelo into Percabeth 2 and its one of the fundamental flaws of the entire novel.

Because immediately, Solangelo and Percabeth are such drastically different relationships and characters to one another that trying to make Solangelo into a cheap mirror of Percabeth results in Solangelo feeling so horrifically warped and out of character that it constantly makes you wonder if either author actually had any idea what Will or Nico's personalities and personal themes are supposed to be going into the book.

(Putting the rest under a cut because it got VERY long)

The plot itself is obviously a very direct mirror in trying to repeat the emotional effect of Percabeth falling into Tartarus, but right off the bat it doesn't work because the contexts of each situation are so different. Particularly the thematic elements to it - Percy and Annabeth are both pulled into Tartarus due to their fatal flaws (loyalty and hubris, respectively). It's emotionally charged, it's unexpected, and it's coming right off the heels of Nico returning from Tartarus and us seeing how absolutely horrible it was for him, which sets us up to have this huge impending fear of how this will impact them because we have zero information about what Tartarus is like besides how it impacted Nico (with no further details). Plus, it has a cliffhanger (literally), so it builds suspense so much better because you LITERALLY have to close the book and open another one to find out what happens. Meanwhile for Solangelo, not only is it physically impossible to hit those same emotional notes or suspense, especially within a singular book, but... the quest itself is entirely pointless. With the Doors of Death and Tartarus in HoO, the main point is a.) Nico entered Tartarus willingly to search for the Doors of Death because the gods couldn't because Gaea's army had found it and taken control of it, b.) Nico located it, but he was the only one who knew where it was, the gods didn't. He was able to pass on this information to the rest of the Argo II crew, and c.) Percabeth did not intend to enter Tartarus, but when they realized they were going to against their will, they knew that was going to be their only way out and that they would attempt to solve the problem while they were there anyways. With Solangelo in TSATS, a.) We know that Hades is in control of who can and cannot leave Tartarus on a general level, and is able to release individuals from Tartarus at will, and b.) basically everyone in the Underworld knows that Nyx is holding Bob prisoner. This is literally how Will and Nico learn of this information in the book. In fact, Hades himself is fully aware of the situation Bob is in, and we are directly told that Bob is an employee of Hades' whom Hades views favorably. There is literally no reason for Nico to have had to go to Tartarus. And before anybody says "But Nyx!" - Nyx's interactions with Nico were entirely retconned/fabricated for the sake of this narrative. Bob was not originally stuck in Tartarus because of Nyx- he was stuck in Tartarus because of Tartarus. They even somewhat acknowledge this in TSATS. Also, Nyx shouldn't be able to affect Nico's dreams like she does when he's in the Overworld, because she's too far away to impact any of the demigods (or else Percy and Annabeth would also still be in danger) and Nico in BoO is established to have very strong dream powers. Also, why was Bob reformed but not Damasen? Bob is a titan, he's supposed to reform extremely slowly. Damansen is supposed to reform very quickly, that's his entire thing, because he's constantly fighting the serpent in Tartarus. Literally no part about the plot itself makes sense with what has been previously established, it's all manifested entirely because we needed an antagonist for some extremely poorly executed heavy-handed metaphors.

Then there's Nico and Will's actual personalities as presented in the book and other random details - the most notable one being Nico giving his ring to Will (which seems extremely ooc to me, personally), which is very obviously supposed to be a nod to Annabeth wearing a ring on her necklace, alongside the coral on her necklace she received as a gift from Percy. Will and Nico repeatedly referencing gifts they gave each other in the most shoehorned-in way possible is also meant to mirror Percy and Annabeth, except they're cramming about ten books worth of relationship development into one. I suspect this may also be why Will is characterized as such an asshole throughout the book - they were gunning for the Percabeth "loving but frequently bickering/sarcastic" couple dynamic, but ended up with it just coming off as Will and Nico almost hating or being extremely antagonizing towards one another but seemingly putting up with it and dropping arguments frequently for no reason - Nico in particular frequently getting more shit from Will than he gives in return, and feeling hurt about it! But then randomly forgetting about it immediately, which is probably supposed to be like how Annabeth frequently gets annoyed by Percy but finds it endearing, except they did it entirely wrong. I'd bet this is also why Nico is so characterized as helpless, weirdly sarcastic and "dark humor"ed, and randomly completely ignorant about Greek mythology (and maybe even his random boat knowledge, despite completely forgetting about his pirate special interest and the fact that because he grew up in Venice that he'd almost definitely know about boats, since the book claims the only boat Nico's ever been on was the Argo II) - because it was trying to shove Nico into Percy's position, with Annabeth/Will being the exposition (which is Percabeth's dynamic in the first place because Percy is the stand-in for the audience as the POV, so Annabeth has to act as the exposition to teach the audience what's going on through the POV. This doesn't work for Nico because when Annabeth isn't able to be the exposition, that role actually often falls to Nico, so it's extremely difficult to put Nico in a situation where he's supposed to be the POV and teaching the audience new information that he is usually the source of. There's no reason he shouldn't know it, so they have to randomly make him ignorant of stuff he should know, which results in him being completely OOC). If you're trying to make him the POV, you can't make him the type of POV that has a secondary figure doing all the exposition for the audience to learn through, because you have to basically make him forget all the information he logically should know in order to excuse him not previously knowing it (this is actually why, on a meta level, Jason and Percy have their memories wiped at the beginning of HoO, because they cannot reasonably function as that format of POV protagonist otherwise). The annoying thing is that you can have Nico be a POV protagonist, it just requires that you use a different format. First person limited would have actually worked great, because then we would not only get Nico and Will's internal voices, we would also get to see how they interact with the audience. It would have also allowed Nico to explain concepts to the audience rather than not know them for no reason (give me Nico struggling to not infodump excitedly to the audience about the Underworld every 20 minutes). I particularly take grievance with this when they're in Tartarus, because not only should Nico logically know about Tartarus before he goes there the first time, but by the second time he should definitely know the landscape rather than him seemingly being lost both times. There's exactly zero reason for Nico to not know Underworld stuff. You can make that excuse with Percy and Annabeth, or Will, but not Nico. If they wanted to play up the feeling lost in Tartarus thing, then they should have tried to stay in Will POVs for Tartarus!

I could honestly go on about even more details that just clearly spell out this being a cheap Percabeth 2 rip-off that's a complete disservice to both Nico and Will's characters, but this is already so long and I've gone over my main points.

One more thing - the travel brochure thing in particular pissed me off, and actually I have the perfect video to explain why it pissed me off (and why I've disliked a lot of the writing in recent Riordanverse books) - Overly Sarcastic Production's video on bathos. The Riordanverse, particularly since HoO, has had a really bad problem of overusing bathos and rarely allowing scenes of emotional sincerity. The travel brochure thing is one such example of this - we're at a very big emotionally charged moment... and immediately it's broken because we jump into a joke. And because we overuse that format so much throughout both this book alone but also the series in general, it just completely ruins the effect of the scene. And this happens multiple times throughout the book! It's downright aggravating.

[11queensupreme11]

Me, the beginning of the chapter: OMG! Bel and Percy dancing! So sweet, now everyone has to know they are great together 🥺❤️

Me, end of the chapter: my girl has 0 rest and the fates are the worst sharing news, 0 stars to their service, please stoooop

(also, very curious about all of Bel's situation, Percy is strong but not so strong... Yet)

Of course, I know they're going to end together and just want to push her to make that decision but she's loyal (fatally loyal)

She needs something that makes her stay, forcing her to decide them. We know the yanderes are more than happy to do it but also something like saving the world/humans can make her stay

Sincerely, waiting for how you're going to do this queen, both ways look good but wouldn't be the first time you surprise me so I'm letting this on your hands

(no pressure tho, write whatever you want whenever you want. First are you then the rest ❤️)

Hera, the other way...

For one second, just a minute where I was truly sad for here, a gigantic work for a solitary woman

Then she made me remember the reason why she's alone and I was over it lol

Good luck traveling, when you find her she's going to have a lot of packages that are going to kill her for that.

You are scared of Gea? They're going to be nothing compared to them, fully massacred and your territory colonized or erased no other options for the sin of stealing Percy

My girl is too loyal, she'd keep trying to go back home but now she has 5 gods ready to make her. She can hate them for a few centuries, one day she'd get over it and they'd be ready to love her.

Is one of the things I love about your fic, you really make them so good that we let our guard down just to attack us (and Percy) with the facts they're gods and gods aren moral or anti moral, they just don't have a moral like the human and you can force them to have it (if a animal eats their babies because of instinct it means they're bad? Or is their world different from ours?)

Percy has seen it, with Hades/Persephone and with Poseidon and his behavior. But I don't feel like she has fully understood what it means.

All of them are ready to ignore her and her decision because they CAN'T lose her. Loki would kill her only if she could come back. Beelzebub probably would lie to her about bifrost if that means she stays by his side. I don't have to say anything about Poseidon, Hades and Apollo, they're greeks, house of tragedies.

She's suicidal? Beelzebub too bestie, you both can go together to therapy.

No saying they (Beelzebub and maybe Like) aren't going to try to help her but like. One sign of her soul being hurt? No looking back we're going to see what we do about consequences later

(Loki LIKES when she's upset and his actions are chaotic enough to just make her divine and fight her for centuries)

How can Percy keep so firm against them? I'd be weak cause they are so good with her (incest no mention) and they appreciate her how they original universe never did. There she's safe, loved and cared for, where in PJO she's the one doing the hard work and fighting for gods that would kill her having the chance and just use her while they can.

Of course, she has Sally and her friends but... Wouldn't they want that she be happy and safe? We know Sally was prepared to lose everything to secure that, so I think she'd like her to live in a world where she doesn't worry about monsters or money.

Her friends also weren't in active danger, of course there is the prophecy but that doesn't mean they're the ones dealing with it

She deserves to be happy and living without worries.

But I'm a lot more egoist than her so who knows?

The only thing sure is Mnemosyne is in danger for that book and Antonius is dead, no opportunity for him even if Percy asks cause when she turns her head puff, he's gone

(little remember that Nico is amazing and also very good to traumatize :D and that fact is canon! :D so if you put in ROR he's going to fit just fine as Percy! And imagine just how cute he'd look at the side of Thor 🥺)

(Really, maybe it is the lack of sleep but they look cute in my mind now)

i just love writing about percy's dilemma of "should i stay or should i go?" cuz the best answer is honestly to go back BUT her desire for her father's love and a life where she doesn't have to fight constantly is what makes her hesitate

on one hand, in the ror verse:

there are no wars for her to fight, and if there was one, she'd be ordered to stay back because the gods here are actually ALLOWED to directly fight

her godly family can spend time with her because zeus isn't a tyrant that makes interaction illegal

she has friends and family here that she cares about too

they don't want to fucking kill her 💀

etc

BUT ON THE OTHER HAND IN THE PJO VERSE

everyone she loves is there, her friends, her family, and ofc pjo!poseidon

no yanderes

she's not being sexually abused and raped 💀

she can still have a normal life and future aside from the demigod stuff

she's not stuck living in a misogynistic society where she's her father's property nor will she become her husband's property should she ever marry

etc

i cannot wait to stress her out even more hehehe >:3

[lukecastellanshandholder]

Ok so, as I said yesterday I'm rereading Sea of Monsters and I've gotta admit, there are a lot of parts that I didn't remember from it that deserve more appreciation.

(Long post incoming! 😅)

One of them that I really want to talk about is after Annabeth listens to the siren song and learns that her fatal flaw is hubris. When she was listening to the sirens, she saw a scene of her father and Athena happily together, along with Luke all sitting in central park. Surrounding them is a new Manhattan that Annabeth has built and it looks so much better than the western civilization that the gods have built.

When she's telling Percy about her fatal flaw, she talks about how the west represents a lot of the greatest things to ever come from mankind, but how your view starts to change when all you can see are the bad things. She says that would make someone start to think more like Luke. That if she could tear everything down and start everything a new, that she would be able to run and build things better. That if she could rebuild it, the world wouldn't be as messed up. There would be no more war, nobody homeless and left on the streets to fend for themselves.

And this is absolutely correct, this is essentially why Luke is doing this all to begin with. This is his core goal (purely Luke's and not Kronos). To make a better world for everyone. Where no one would have to go what he and countless others had been through. So that maybe others would be able to see the good in the world after all his life he had only been shown the bad.

But then there are these couple paragraphs after that. Those are super interesting to me and it gives so much insight on the universe and how certain people think.

"She (Annabeth) gazed into the distance. 'I'm not sure. But we have to save camp. If we don't stop Luke...'

She didn't need to finish. If Luke's way of thinking could even tempt Annabeth, there was no telling how many other half-bloods might join him."

First thing to remember, this is all from Percy's perspective. These are all his own thoughts and how he thinks about things. So I think the way Percy speaking about Annabeth in the last paragraph kinda shows how he tends to think of her as strong for not thinking like Luke. Like Luke is kind of weak for thinking the way he does about things needing to change and rebelling against the gods. But also like Luke's way of thinking of his envisioning of a better world without the gods in control is, in itself, something dangerous.

Now, to the other demigods, if the gods were to fall and those demigods were to join Luke's/ Kronos's side, then... It really wouldn't be that dangerous for them. At least not much more dangerous than it is for them now with the gods ruling over everything. Because the gods and Titans are very much the same.

But ultimately, my main point is, Percy seems to have this underlying fear and aversion to anyone doing anything to go against the gods. But why? Why when we see that he is to his core, more on the rebellious side? Much like the ocean, Percy doesn't like to be restrained.

Because, he's been influenced by the gods and camp (especially Chiron). He's been steered to believe that even the thought of going against the gods is wrong and shouldn't be done. He's had Chiron who's been telling him that the gods falling out of power would be the worst thing to ever happen. One god in particular (ahem, Hermes) has used Percy's strong sense of loyalty and family to lead him, to manipulate him farther and put in his head that turning his back on his family (in this case the gods) is something that you should never do.

And it's not just Percy who has been raised to think this way, it's a lot of the other demigods at camp who stay loyal to the gods until their final breaths. Who stay loyal to them even as they watch their siblings die left and right before their eyes.

And Kronos is doing this exact same thing to Luke. It's the same thing that Kronos would've done to his subjects if he would've won the war. There is no difference between the gods and the Titans and, once again, Percy and Luke showcase that perfectly.

And people who believe that the gods are better than the Titans like to bring up the line from TLT when Luke says something along the lines of "the ones who serve Kronos will be treated well and be powerful, the others who don't will be killed."

Yeah, the gods do the exact same thing. They kill or torture anyone who defies them, and gives power to the ones who serve them. We have plenty of examples of this, two major ones are right in the last chapters of The Last Olympian. Luke rebelled against the gods, as he was fated to, and he died as he was fated to, along with most of the other traitors. And Percy, the one who had served the gods the most, he was offered godhood. Power. So yeah, there really is no difference between them.

But I just think it's so interesting how those two paragraphs can give so much insight into how Percy views things. And this is just from the second book. And the book that tends to be most people's least favorite book in the series.

[crossdressingdeath]

One thing that I find both fascinating and deeply sad in TSatS is that when Will asks if they're going to Percy's house to ask him to come with them to Tartarus Nico says no on the grounds that he doesn't want to involve Percy in it... but when asked why Bob wouldn't ask Percy for help, Nico's immediate thought is that Bob didn't think Percy and Annabeth would help him. Like, that's his one and only theory. I suspect that there's a part of that where... Nico thinks to himself that Bob doesn't think Percy and Annabeth would help so that he doesn't have to think that he doesn't think Percy and Annabeth would help. In other words he's thinking it's Bob who didn't call for Percy and Annabeth because he didn't believe they'd help him, because the alternative is for Nico to say "I'm not asking them for help because I know they would say no and I don't want to face that refusal". And it's not that he wants them to come! If Nico had had his way he would've gone alone, he doesn't want to put anyone in danger, it's just that he managed to find the only demigod as stubborn as he is and made the mistake of telling Will what his plans were. But it's one thing to not want to involve people in something incredibly dangerous; it's quite another to know that if you asked for their help, and in this case their help saving the person they owe their lives to, they would say no. I'm sure they would be properly apologetic about refusing, they do seem to feel genuinely terrible about forgetting Bob (which... good) and "I'm not going to superhell again" is a perfectly understandable boundary to have, but I think Nico just... doesn't want to admit to himself that he was willing to go to Tartarus for Percy but Percy would never do the same for him. Hence him leaving it at "I don't want to make him do this" when asked if he'll ask Percy to help for his sake, but thinking quite openly to himself that Bob probably didn't think Percy and Annabeth would help, because Bob helped them out of loyalty to Nico so it isn't devastatingly sad to admit they'd never do the same for him the way it would be for Nico to admit that Percy would never go to Tartarus for him despite him going to Tartarus largely to help Percy.

Also, it's deeply disappointing that it doesn't come up again later in the book because please for the love of god Rick can we please have a discussion around Nico's fatal flaw being his "will literally go to hell and back for people who he knows would never do the same for him" level of loyalty and not holding grudges, and also how literally the only evidence even his own sister could offer for holding grudges being his fatal flaw was that he's the son of Hades and also was still upset about his sister dying six months after it happened. Now that he's got someone as loyal to him as he is to everyone else (Will refusing to not follow Nico to hell is so good after so long of Nico constantly being prepared to give up everything for others and getting next to nothing in return) it's a great time to get into how despite basically every other POV character going on about Nico being creepy and morally dubious actually his most consistent character trait is being the most loyal character in the whole series (and possibly the whole Riordanverse, honestly) no matter how many times that loyalty burns him.

[twoidiotwriters1]

Daughter of Olympus (Leo Valdez xFem!Oc)

A/N: I won't elaborate on my fancast for Leo it explains itself -Danny Words: 2,152 Series' Masterlist Previous Chapter / Next Chapter Listen to: 'Polaroid' -by Imagine Dragons

VII. Save Money on Valentine's Day, Become Unlovable

"What Luke told you back on the Princess Andromeda, about starting the world from scratch... that really got to you, huh?"

Annabeth makes a face. "My fatal flaw. That's what the Sirens showed me. My fatal flaw is hubris."

"That brown stuff they spread on veggie sandwiches?"

She sighs. "No, Seaweed Brain. That's hummus. Hubris is worse."

"What could be worse than hummus?"

"Hubris means deadly pride, Percy. Thinking you can do things better than anyone else... even the gods."

"You feel that way?"

Annabeth takes a moment before replying. "Don't you ever feel like, what if the world really is messed up? What if we could do it all over again from scratch? No more war. Nobody homeless. No more summer reading homework."

"I'm listening."

"I mean, the West represents a lot of the best things mankind ever did—that's why the fire is still burning. That's why Olympus is still around. But sometimes you just see the bad stuff, you know? And you start thinking the way Luke does: 'If I could tear this all down, I would do it better.' Don't you ever feel that way? Like you could do a better job if you ran the world?"

Percy and I look at each other. "Um... no," he admits. "Me running the world would kind of be a nightmare."

"I agree," Percy gives me a playful glare, but I add: "No, I mean, I don't have what it takes. Leaders have stone-cold hearts."

"Hubris isn't your fatal flaw, then."

"What is?" Percy asks with curiosity.

"I don't know, Percy, but every hero has one. If you don't find it and learn to control it... well, they don't call it 'fatal' for nothing."

I shiver at the thought of having a weak spot that could kill me, but what can be dangerous for a girl like me? As long as I stay out of everyone's way, my flaw has no reason to put me in danger.

When Leo says he wants to look for Festus, Ara decides to join him. It's obvious he doesn't want company, but she won't let him go alone, not when something's after them.

She's half expecting the walk to be awkward. However, Leo's asking so many questions now that it's just the two of them again that she gets comfortable rather quickly. It doesn't feel like she's talking with a stranger, which is weird, not even Percy felt this way so soon into knowing him.

"So, what's your deal, exactly?" He fidgets with a couple of screws. "What does it mean, being the daughter of Olympus?"

"That I protect Olympus."

Leo gives her a sideways glance. "Your job isn't to fight monsters and do quests, then? Is it something more important?"

"You got it backward," she sighs. "That's exactly my job. The gods hand me tasks directly, or used to before they shut down Olympus... I go on quests and lead their armies."

Ara almost sounds bored when she talks about it, but she's only trying to hide how anxious it makes her, to have all that control over her loved ones. She didn't want to boss around her friends, she wanted to be their dependable hero.

"What happens if you fail?" He asks, the screws in his hand are ignored for a moment.

"If I'm breathing and can move, I gotta keep going."

"But my question is what happens when you can't continue a quest?"

Ara stares at him blankly. "If I fail, it means I died, there is no other option. I may be called the daughter of Olympus but the gods are not my caretakers. It hasn't happened though, lucky me."

Leo's amusement quickly vanishes. "Man, so you could die if we fail this quest?"

"Yeah. But I agreed to this."

He hesitates. "You might be a little too insane for my liking, and that's saying a lot..."

"Maybe I am," she heaves a sigh. "But I did it so they would stop using my friends..."

"How old are you?" Leo frowns.

"Fourteen... and a half," she adds as an afterthought.

"What!" He raises his voice. "And you're a General? I don't even have a driver's license!"

"And that's such an impediment now that you're flying a dragon," she replies sarcastically. "Don't be dumb."

"If that's an order, General, I'll have to transgress it," he taunts her. It's crazy how quickly Leo can switch from being upset to acting all funny. "That's the one thing I do perfectly, don't take my dumbness away." 

Ara sighs again, not sharing Leo's easy-going attitude. He tries again, he doesn't know why, but he likes listening to Ara's voice. It soothes him and makes his mind go slower. "So... why did the gods say yes? Why not choose someone older?"

Ara's brows knit together, she's heard this question many times before and knows that it makes sense, but it still annoys her. "I was the only one asking for it. Percy made his wish, and I still had mine, so I used it for this. The children of Olympus had been er... discontinued. I brought them back."

Leo tries to ask the following question without sounding rude, it's not coming easy. "So were you... powerful enough? Is that why they said yes?"

"I was good enough, yeah. It's a slow process, years and years of training. I convinced them 'cause I had a special set of skills."

Leo's hands are back to fidgeting. "What skills?"

Percy hides our ship behind a large rock wall, so in order to get to the top, we have to climb.

"Okay. Who first?"

They glance at me, of course they'd want me to go first, keeping an eye on the weakest link is the wise thing to do, but I'm not looking at them, I'm examining the wall.

"There's a path," I inform my friends.

"What?"

"You're hallucinating, Birdy..."

"No. Follow me."

Usually, when I insist there's something I can do, they let me try. I hold onto the nearest edge, and after that, I just keep going up. I stop only when I hear someone calling my name many feet below me. I look down to discover I don't have vertigo. 

"Why aren't you coming up?" I frown. "It's safe!"

"You're moving too fast, we can't see where you're stepping!" Annabeth pants.

"I'm fast?" I look at my hands. "Cool!"

"You don't use the lava wall back in camp, do you?" Percy raises his voice so I can hear him.

"Silena doesn't let me, she thinks I'll get hurt!"

"Well, I think she has to reconsider!" He grunts.

Festus landed on a pile of portable toilets, and both teens stare at the mess in disgust.

"Talking 'bout good fortune, huh?"

"If we had one of those cranes here it'd be easier..." Leo looks around with a scowl.

"I can climb his back," Ara steps forward, then stops. "Maybe throw snow on it before we..."

"What?" Leo puts his hand on the dragon's surface, then he jumps back. "Oh, right—ouch," he says in a not-so-convincing tone. When he notices the way she's looking at him, he tries to make up an excuse. "I'm very sleep-deprived."

"Stop that."

"Stop what?"

"Lying," she steps closer to him.

He smiles like he finds the conversation absurd. "Doll, I really got no—"

"You may think I'm an air-headed Barbie, but I can tell you're full of shit," Ara seizes his wrist. "I'm tired of you and Piper hiding things from me. Tell me what's your deal, or I'll lock you up in one of the squeezed-out toilets."

Leo complains loudly as Ara squeezes his wrist. "Okay, okay! Dang, you're stronger than you look!" He scoffs. "You have to promise not to freak out, alright?"

"You better be honest," she lets go of him. "Don't worry about me, I've seen a lot of weird stuff."

"Okay..." he rubs his wrist. "I... I make fire," Leo scowls at her. "Now's when you point fingers and call me bad names."

Ara stares at him, her gaze is calculating. "Nyssa told you their superstition, didn't she?"

"No, I just guessed I'm an omen of tragedy and bad fortune!" He replies sarcastically.

"So rough life for you too, huh?" She tilts her head, ignoring his defensive tone. 

Leo nods once, still scowling. "Good ol' demigod life."

"Well, it's not the end of the world, and I would know that. I witnessed like, three of those," she tells him. "Can you make fire out of nothing?"

"Yes," he opens one palm and small orange flames envelop it. "But I don't do this trick at parties, y'know? For obvious reasons."

"Yeah, because you don't get invited," Ara reaches out. It is real fire. "It's okay. Chiron will know how to help you."

"You think he'll want to? Because I'll be honest here, I need the training."

"I'll do it if he doesn't. You won't get better if you don't practice, and I owe it to you," Ara stretches out her palm. "Deal?"

The fire dies on Leo's hand. He stares at her unblinkingly. "You sure? I can be really hard to handle."

"I'll manage," she decides to tease him into shaking her hand. "What, afraid of getting cooties?"

Leo smiles. "Afraid of passing them, actually, but if you insist..." 

He reaches for her hand and shakes it. 

Tyson invites me to help him build Percy and Annabeth's chariot and I'm happy to assist him. We work side by side, and Percy and Annabeth win the race.

"We couldn't have won this race or got the Fleece or saved Grover or anything! We owe our lives to our friends, to..." Annabeth pauses and looks at the Cyclops.

Percy catches my eye and his smile widens. "My baby brother and sister! Tyson and Ara!"

Before I know it, I'm being lifted on someone's shoulders and Tyson's holding my hand. When we reach the winner's platform and I'm placed between Percy and Tyson, I feel accepted unconditionally.

Percy reaches for my hand and squeezes, I make a promise that I'll treat him as my brother forever. "We should talk later," he says under his breath.

He has a strange glint of determination in his eyes. You know when someone says "later" but they mean "never"? Well, Percy isn't that type of person. Later meant fifteen minutes forward.

Chiron and him are waiting for me in the Big House, and Percy's holding a phone. "You have a call, Birdy."

"Did I do something?" I look at Chiron without understanding.

He points at the cell phone. "Don't keep them waiting."

"Hello?" I speak in a little frightened voice. 

"Hi, Ara," my heart does a somersault, it's Sally Jackson.

"Hi!" I reply, too excited to even question why my friend's mom wants to talk to me. "Did Percy tell you about the rock wall? I'm the fastest climber!"

"I heard you helped Tyson build a chariot, too."

"I helped Percy sail a pirate ship too! And I used my Charmspeak with Polyphemus before he could rip off—" My friend shakes his head frantically, so I change the subject. "Why are you calling me?"

Sally takes a moment. 

"Well... Percy and I talked..."

I glance at Percy. "Yeah? About what?"

"You liked staying with us during Christmas, didn't you?"

"Yeah! Can I go this year too?"

"How about staying the whole year?"

I'm sure I misheard that. "Sorry?"

"I've talked to Chiron, and he can help us with the paperwork to make it happen. Percy and I agree, having you around felt right."

"Wait, make what happen?" My heart's crawling up my throat.

"We want to adopt you, Ara."

"I-I'm not an orphan," My face is getting redder.

"We know."

"I told those things to Percy 'cause he asked, I wasn't trying to—I didn't use charmspeak!"

I'm embarrassed. I mean, when your friend hears your sob story and suddenly he's like "Suprise! I'm giving you this thing you told me you wished more than anything!" It kinda feels like he's just shutting you up. I didn't want it if it was out of pity.

"Ara," Percy intercedes. "We have more than enough to welcome a second regular-size kid into our home. Having Tyson around made us realize that."

"But I can't protect you like Tyson," I insist.

"We don't want that," Sally says. "Having you is enough."

They're asking me not only to stick around but also to use their name. Be part of their family forever. 

I look at Chiron with hopeful eyes. 

"Can I?"

Their bodies light up in a golden hue as soon as Leo holds her hand. Ara snatches her palm away in panic, looking at the boy as if he's got two heads.

"What?" Leo stares at her anxiously. "Did I burn you?"

"I'm fine!" She replies high-pitched. "Good talk! Let's—let's fix Festus now!" Ara turns to face the dragon so Leo can't see her blush. 

Gods, if her friends could see her now... No. This is not happening. That was not golden.

"Dammit!" She kicks the snow. 

Leo's climbing the dragon but he stops halfway. "What?"

"I'm having a moment, stay out of it!" She snaps.

The boy stares at her, half-amused and half-worried. "Why are the prettiest girls always so crazy..."

"Shut up!" Ara blushes even more.

She's dreamed about this moment for quite some time, but Leo's timing is downright inconvenient at this point, so denial it is. Ara isn't gonna make things easier. It will be the slowest slow-burn the Fates have ever had the misfortune to witness.

Next Chapter ->

Taglist.

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[artist-issues]

hey so i see that you’re a fan of pjo and i had questions about what you thought of percy’s characterization in the show.

to be upfront, i’ve only watched the first 3 episodes so far and while i’ve enjoyed it, i found percy to be a lot angrier than I remembered in the books and when I reread The Lightning Thief i thought “yeah, see? he wasn’t this angry”

do you have thoughts? i do like the fact that the fatal flaws are being made a more “in your face” thing instead of a thing that gets brought up every now and again. but i do feel like they sacrificed some of the silly middle-grade vibes in favor of the heavier themes that, while showcased, didn’t really become prevalent until later.

i hope this made sense, but i love your analyses and was wondering if you had any ideas

You’re very kind to ask! I don’t get to talk about Percy Jackson often, and it was one of the songs making up the medley of my childhood, not to be dramatic!

I think you nailed it. I don’t have much to add. Percy wasn’t as angry in the first series because, as you said, Rick Riordan’s writing style kept the books pretty light. I also think that’s what contributed to why we all like Percy Jackson; he is angry and he is rebellious, but Rick Riordan doesn’t just outright say all that. Those are characteristics that, if they were just said outright, would make you think of less-appealing characters that try too hard to be broody. Like Nico Di Angelo or Shadow the Hedgehog or something. He says it with lines like:

“His face had that same brooding look that had always gotten me branded a rebel.“ (When Percy sees Poseidon for the first time.) But that’s the thing. Percy looks brooding, but we’re inside his head, so we know he doesn’t think of himself that way. He doesn’t take himself that seriously. He’s pretty upbeat, in his own head. But yeah, of course he’s also got a lot of anger and the snark is coming from actual resentment, etc.

Anyway, you nailed it. The show is definitely going for a more serious vibe. But the problem with that is, Walker Scobell and Percy himself are more suited to something that doesn’t take itself too seriously. So that when serious moments happen, they’re that much more impactful. You’re used to seeing Percy and Annabeth save each other from getting turned into Guinea pigs or stuck on sleazy salesmen’s stretching mattress sales, so when they do more serious things, like choose to jump into Tartarus rather than be separated, or he holds her back from a vision of everything she wants with the sirens, it hits harder.

You’re so used to seeing these characters make light and find quirky solutions to zany dangers that it engages your feelings when something truly horrible happens to them, or they really worry about something that’s relatable and real, like whether or not their parents value them.

So I think this show loses a lot of that..l don’t know what to call it…emotional pacing?

Specifically with Percy’s characterizations, so far the best moments of the show (and we all know it) have been when Percy is petting a lizard and dancing in the forest or making Annabeth and Grover laugh with the song or the jokes. The only serious moment I think they’ve gotten right, with his characterization, so far, is when he shoves Annabeth down the stairs and takes her place fighting Echidna.

But those are just moments. I think some of the new stuff they’re doing with Percy that I don’t remember being in the books—AT ALL—I like that whole “the gods and demigods are all about glory and one-upping each other, but Percy actually cares about people, he’s built different” thing—are really good. Because you can look at Percy from the books and get there. You can say, “well yeah, his fatal flaw is that he’d sacrifice the world to save his friends. Of course he taught everybody to care more about each other as people in the first series—he gave up being a god when he had the chance, for that reason.”

So that’s basically my take, not just on Percy’s characterization, but the whole show so far. “You can look at the books and get to the show.” It’s different, darker, and the focus is different…but it’s not contrary to the books. And there are enough little touches in there that we think of Book Percy when we see Walker Scobell’s portrayal, anyway. Is it confirmation bias? Are we seeing what we want to see? Maybe a little.

(P.S. - As a side note, I will say there is one character who is totally out-of-character with very little remaining of his original self—and it’s Grover. The Grover in the show is not the Grover in the books, even if you tilt your head and squint. If Percy seems too troubled, Grover seems way, way too troubled. It’s fine, whatever, cool character named Grover, but that’s not the Real Grover.)

[howtotrainyouragents]

Agent H's Book Reactions

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan

Percy joins a dangerous quest to find the missing Annabeth and goddess Artemis only to discover the end of the world may be sooner than he thought.

I was totally sane yesterday, why do these books make me so insane

I was wondering why exactly we all love Percy so much. And maybe part of it is that he feels so real. He's an underdog always fighting to be valued, his flaws are on full display. He acts the way we would in the situation. Yeah, he's funny and can be goofy, but he's also someone who's been through shit and is very serious and grounded and is just trying to find his place in the world...like a lot of kids feel. AND THEN, there's the fact he's just such a genuinely good person. Like he always befriends the loner kids, does nice things for people because they ask him to, sacrifices himself over and over his friends. He has such a good heart, he's someone I think we'd all want to be friends with

The fandom is also right in that he's also a sarcastic shit who really does just talk back to the gods

I'm thinking about Percy's fatal flaw (which is identified for the first time in this book) vs Bianca's death. Like, Nico telling him he broke his promise to protect her is about the worst thing you could ever tell Percy. Did I want him to put up more of fight against her taking down Talos? Would he have if they were closer? Does this decision effect later decisions? Idk, I'm just thinking thoughts.

Continuing my point about Percy's Hero's Journey, this book obviously reflects Hercule's story with the Nemean Lion, Erymanthian Boar, Ladon and the Golden Apples, and Atlas. Hercules is THE Greek hero, and that's why it's important in Percy's journey that he rejects Hercule's path (and the path of previous heroes in general) and decide to forge a path of his own

Which leads me to my next point. This book's themes is about how being a hero is not about doing it on your own, your own ego, or your own needs. It's about love and friendship and family and that is what is going to save the world. At the beginning fo the book, Percy is failing a lot, trying to do things on his own. He's jealous of Thalia and the others. But what Percy excels at is saving his friends, working together, leading. He becomes the bait for the skeleton soldiers to save his friends. He puts himself in danger constantly and comes up with solutions to protect his friends. He cares for his friends' feelings. He protects Bessie. He sacrifices himself and chooses to be the child of the prophecy to protect Nico. This is what Percy is best at. This is the kind of hero he is

Perceabeth has a fanatastic explanation on how this book is about love (Sally and Paul, Annabeth and Percy, Dionysus and Ariadne, Zoe and Hercules) and I love it so very much and agree

Continuing my point about the five-book arc: This book is definitely the turning point. Percy's comfortable with the mythical world, his skills, his powers now, and now he has to push himself in new ways, esp emotionally and mentally, to level up. We also see the pieces on the chessboard, Thalia, Nico, Bessie, Mount Tam are clashing together for the first time and creating repercussions. We're still a bit away from the final showdown, but we can see the battle on the horizon. This book is so much more serious and signals what's to come next

I really love how Aphrodite is used here to explore Percy and Ananbeth's growing relationship. Like Percy/the writing are not the type to sit and wax about feelings. Instead we see the Hunters representing the anxiety about their relationship as they grow up. The scarf of Aphrodite showing how much Annabeth thinks about him as he does her. Aphrodite interrupting the quest to call out Percy on why he's really doing this. Aphrodite calling it what it is, a love story.

I mean, Bianca's death is devastating, but I do really like how it's because of an act of love, you know? Like even if she doesn't want the responsibilities of taking care of Nico, she of course loves him . She takes the Hades figurine, knowing she shouldn't, because she loves him and wants him to be happy. I just...I can't fault her

So, I'm not sure how much we talk about this, but I think prophecies will always be fulfilled but they can be fulfilled in multiple ways. Like, there's different ways the "land without rain" gets applied and there's different people who's parent tries to kill them, and it's because of them trying to reason with the prophecy, even prevent it, that the events happen the way they do

In other news, I think this book has the most Olympians introduced to us? Apollo, Artemis, Athena, and Aphrodite

My favorite cover of the series (maybe along w/ TLT). It's an understated scene, but it's the scene directly tying to the theme of the book. Mr. D is calling Percy out for being like all the other heroes, and Percy must now decide if he will be or won't

My current ranking of the series: TLO>TTC>TLT>BOTL (I decided I should be nicer to it)>SOM

The battle at Camp Half Blood is foreshadowed here, and I never caught that!! They said the first step was to take out the heroes!!!

In terms of awe factor, these books have held up over the years very well. However, as a kid, having the cabin counselor meeting in the Big House around the ping pong table was so cool and all, and now as an adult, I'm like...someone get these kids a decent table and snacks lol

To answer my previous post's question, Tyson's shield does come back into play! And there's a reason I don't remember it here!

Book 2 has so many iconic scenes, but I think a lot of personal favorites are in this one, including: the Erymanthian Boar, Nereus, Hoover Dam, Smithsonian

My personal favorite scene is him choosing the prophecy for himself (imo, the book should've ended with that as the cliffhanger but I digress) because the amount of courage and love Percy has to do that is incredible. Close second is the reveal of Nico as the son of Hades. Like, I think I'm so used to him being the son of Hades now, that I forgot HOW BATSHIT INSANE THIS REVEAL WAS

I know we learn what Clarisse found on her secret mission, but I don't remember what it is (Also shoutout to PJO Riordan bc I have so much faith that the little references he drops do matter, whereas in the latter series I read, I don't have that same confidence)

Speaking of reference, Nico talks about resurrecting the dead early on, ooohhh~

Percy Jackson bought a toy rat from a rundown store in a rundown town in the middle of nowhere in the middle of a very dangerous quest just because he felt bad for the store clerk, and that is why he is better than all of us

[cynicalclairvoyantcadaver]

Percy Jackson's fridge horror

What gets to me about Percy Jackson and the sequel series is that there's so much fridge horror in it.

For those of you who don't know, fridge horror is something that seemingly innocent but has very disturbing undertones.

Like the climbing walls in CHB. What do you MEAN that they clash together, hurting the campers who haven't reached the top, and that there's also fucking lava which BURNS THE CAMPERS, NO LESS. And that Chiron allows it?

AND THAT HE FUCKING INSTALLED IT?

And there's lava below? Do you know how serious fucking lava burns are? They're horrible. Campers might have even died before.

And there's a full lava and earthquake mode too, and boulders roll down on the campers, which is pretty serious and can make for some fatal injuries. Jesus, Rick, what the hell were you thinking?

I wonder if Luke saw the horror of this and if this was a small part that motivated him to join Kronos. I really do wonder.

And in ToA, the Three Legged Death Race?

Chiron wants to reward who come back..........alive. Because it's so dangerous that it has fucking exploding Chainsaw Frisbees and iron orbs falling from the ceiling. And apparently it's so dangerous that you can find fucking Python in there too. Oh hey Python, wazzup old mate-AAAAAAHHHHHHH-gets swallowed and painfully digested.

And this is all because a MILLENIA OLD TUTOR WHO SHOULD KNOW BETTER AND A FUCKING GOD WHO'S SUPPOSED TO PROTECT THESE CHILDREN couldn't say no to a fucking eight year old who came up with the terribly dangerous and impractical idea for this race. An eight year old, folks.

Chiron is........a terrible person for this. No, fucking seriously. He sent those kids in knowing that they might die and have serious trauma if not. How anyone can like Chiron after this is beyond me. No wonder Luke joined Kronos. Such a shame he lost, though.

And Paolo Montes' limbs just casually being ripped off and then reattached? What the fuck was this, Rick? A child's limbs, that too, sawed off! Dismemberment is so comedic, especially when it happens to an unprepared child!

FUCKING NEWS FLASH, RICK, THAT'S NOT WHAT HAPPENS! DISMEMBERMENT IS SERIOUS AND PERMANENT TRAUMA! IT'S NOT JUST REATTACHING LIMBS AND OH EVERYTHING IS SUNSHINE AGAIN.

Rick Riordan can be a sick, sick bastard at times. I'm serious on this one. How this flew past anyone is beyond me. I really don't know.

I think I forgot a few things so I might edit this later, feel free to add your own fridge horror from PJO!

Tagging everyone because I NEED PEOPLE TO SEE THIS AND REALISE HOW HORRIFYING PJO CAN BE

@rosabell14

@lady-menrva

@justaneedle

@my-pjo-stuff

@hermesmyplatonicbeloved

@cynthiav06

@forgechildofheph

@automaticcatsandwich

@deliajackson

@riptidefromzoe

[shady-scripter]

Whumptober Day6

(Recording)

I also know I’m two days late

This is pretty short and definitely microwaved, but :)

“I got it going!”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes!”

“Okay! How do I end it?”

“You aren’t going to end it.”

Percy looked over to his wife, she shrugged with an amused smile.

“Papa!” The little girl patted Percy’s thigh to get his attention.

“Yes, little love?”

“The video is going!”

“Oh!” Percy fixed his posture. He wasn’t really sure why he did. He actually didn’t care about how the Olympians perceived him. “Hello you all. I guess that it’s been a while, but hi.”

He glanced over at Annabeth, who was muffling a laugh. He found that his cheeks felt very warm. When was the last time he said “you” and “all” as two words?

“I’m redoing this,” he concluded. He heard Annabeth giggle.

Percy relaxed his posture. They were just going to have to deal with it.

“Mkay! Rolling!” His daughter shouted.

“Dear Olympus…cut that.”

“Rolling again!”

“To the Olym…restart.”

“Going!”

“Dear Olympus, how about we make this video as short as we can? I’m done with your prophecy shenanigans. I’ve fought two wars, lost plenty of friends, and put my family in danger multiple times. However, should my daughter become a victim of your tomfoolery, I will become the next subject of a war,” Percy paused. Gods, did he really just say that? Well, yes, and he was keeping that in the video. He’s fought gods before. He’s won that fight all, if not most, of the time.

“It’s fairly public what my fatal flaw is, so I hope that you take this seriously enough. Not only that, but I doubt that a large sum of fellow demigods would even raise a shield to me. Do not even dream of touching my daughter.” He looked back over to Annabeth. “Anything to add?”

She hummed, “Maybe that you and Thalia could embarrass Zeus? It’s just a thought.”

“Are you just now thinking of that? I thought that we agreed on that already,” Percy chuckled and shook his head. He turned back to the camera. “I guess that’s it, but I ask you to actually believe me when I say this and to not take it as a challenge, because I will start if provoked.”

Percy turned back to his daughter who made a very confused face. “Can you turn it off?”

The girl nodded and pressed the red button. “What was that about?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“What’s a fatal flaw? Why do you have one?” The girl patted his thigh again.

“I have one because I love you.”

[couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name]

perhaps when athena told percy his fatal flaw is he would sacrifice the world to save a friend...it was less about the actual world and more about the gods world. he’s not loyal to the gods, he’s loyal to the people in his life. that’s what makes him ‘dangerous’ for a prophecy hero, they have no means of control over him like they do other demigods