#a rick and percy dynamic is something I never expected

[bored-ent]

I agree with the core of this post, especially the need to critique Rick’s writing rather than blaming Annabeth for the flaws in how she's portrayed. But I think it’s important to point out that the issues with Annabeth’s characterization don’t begin in Heroes of Olympus. They’re already present in Percy Jackson and the Olympians, just less obvious because of the limited first-person structure.

Annabeth works in PJO because she functions well within Percy’s narrative. She’s his foil, the clever and rational counterweight to his impulsiveness, and that dynamic is effective. But if you look closer, almost everything we know about her is filtered through Percy’s admiration. She’s described as the best strategist, the bravest, the most capable, but largely because Percy tells us so. Her role is defined in relation to him.

Outside of that, there’s very little built into her character. Her friendships are underdeveloped, her inner life is barely explored, and her interest in architecture often feels like a shallow attempt to give her a “quirky” but respectable passion, rather than something organically tied to her arc. It’s surface-level depth, not something the narrative ever truly invests in.

When the series shifts to multiple POVs in HoO and Annabeth is expected to carry scenes on her own, the gaps become obvious. It’s not that her character becomes inconsistent. It’s that the structure that made her feel complete in PJO is no longer doing the heavy lifting, and the lack of independent development becomes clear.

All of this is frustrating because I do like Annabeth. The concept of a normal girl surviving in this world through intelligence and strategy alone is compelling. But I’ve never been a fan of Percabeth, and I’ve come to actively dislike Percy, especially in HoO. Without the tight focus of his own POV to frame him sympathetically, his flaws are more grating and harder to ignore.

So yes, absolutely call out the misogynistic patterns in Rick’s writing. But let's not pretend that Annabeth’s writing only went downhill later. The real problem is that she was never given the depth to stand alone from the start.

extremely telling when people are capable of assessing how ooc percy is/isn't in post-pjo book depictions of percy but annabeth/percabeth haters (usually the same people) wholeheartedly believe that 1. post-pjo annabeth is infallibly accurate annabeth writing 2. post-pjo percabeth is an infallibly accurate depiction (or a good continuation) of their original dynamic. you can hate any character or ship for pretty much any reason but many people who attempt to articulate and justify their hatred in logical reasoning end up making it clear that their grasp on those characters/ships is too flimsy and biased to be making those assertions and criticisms in the first place, nor do they understand that many of the actual problems with the way annabeth (and percabeth) are written are rooted in rick's misogynistic writing - and instead of calling out rick, they blame the fictional woman for it

[flicklikesstuff]

My boy messed with the police a total of TWICE

And I-

*sniff*

I have… never been much more prouder- 🥺✨✨

[once-upon-an-animation]

I’m still working my way through Wrath, but I think one thing that continues to irritate me about the way Rick writes Percabeth is that it’s always being re-iterated to us that Percy feels insecure/inadequate regarding his role in this relationship, but we don’t usually see Annabeth worry this much about whether she’s ‘good enough’ for Percy.

On the one hand, you could probably say that it’s her pride that prevents her from worrying…….but I also don’t buy that because Annabeth has been demonstrated to ruminate over her relationships with others and whether they’re going to last. But we’ve never seen her worry about whether she is doing enough to ‘serve’ the relationship; it’s always about what the other person is doing.

I think why this annoys me in particular is because it feels like more missed opportunities for Annabeth to finally tackle her fatal flaw (hubris/pride), learn what it means to actually do some meaningful introspection/self-reflection (a very important part of being a truly wise individual), and make more meaningful demonstrations of humility. I’m not saying she needs to hate herself or anything, but if I can be honest, self-hatred is NOT the definition of humility and it’s disingenuous to treat it as such (for all you people who are inevitably going to complain about “omg11!1!!1 Suggesting that a female character should show humility!!?!?? How sexist!!!1!!1!).

Humility and introspection are important parts of being wise because despite your unwillingness to admit this, sometimes your problems are not always caused by others and/or external factors. Sometimes, your problems are in fact your own fault, or at the very least, some of your behaviors are exacerbating the problem. Sometimes, you’re not doing the best that you could be doing in a relationship, or there are some behaviors that learning/unlearning would benefit the relationship a lot. And it demonstrates a lot of courage and maturity to be able to admit that about yourself.

I bring this up in relation to Percabeth, because I’m a little tired of reading about how Percy always worries about his inadequacies in the relationship, but we never see Annabeth question herself about whether she’s being the best girlfriend she could possibly be. We don’t see any examples of Percy making a new friend who seemingly acts like/questions whether Annabeth is a good match for him. It makes the dynamics of the relationship feel unbalanced, like the responsibility is solely on Percy to service the relationship; Percy does most of the giving, and Annabeth does most of the taking.

When was the last time Annabeth sacrificed something that she wanted to do/say to make Percy happy, the way he often does for her sake? When was the last time that Percy’s traumas and emotional struggles were given front and center spotlight in a conversation of theirs? When was the last time that Annabeth realized that there was something she was doing wrong that was maybe hurtful to Percy, and maybe she should change that behavior? Why is the onus always on Percy to pull it together for the relationship, when his girlfriend has ways in which she could grow too? Why does it often feel like Percy is expected to do most of the emotional legwork?

[twinsarekeepers]

I’m curious as to your honest thoughts on the show? Like I love pjo and all but the show was a bit of a let down writing wise. There’s always the point of “it’s an adaptation, not a carbon copy” like yes but this new writing isn’t exemplary better than the book just because it’s rewritten by the author himself

I think the show is well-written not because Rick is attached to it, but because I actually like the way the writers are approaching adapting the source material. I have a lot of issues with the original books in terms of writing quality because frankly speaking, I don’t think Rick is a very good writer. He has a lot of interesting things in those books that he never explores or drops within the first two and this fandom gives him and the books too much credit imo.

This is why I’m not very moved when people try to ascribe meaning to a certain scene or choice he made in the books to get mad at the show for changing. As an example, one of the main things people were upset about was the kids “knowing everything” in the show when they were getting tricked left and right in the book. Many posts were dedicated to how the book version is superior because it illustrates how they’re just twelve years old kids so of course they’ll make mistakes and get tricked by monsters.

That’s a perfectly fine interpretation but I was twelve years old when I first read tlt and I was able to anticipate almost every single trap, despite being pretty gullible and naive at that age. My knowledge of Greek mythology consisted of Disney’s Hercules, maybe two Google searches, and my second grade teacher’s reading of the kid friendly version of the Odyssey. No where near the level of Percy who’d been learning for a whole year in an established class on the topic with Chiron or Grover who was literally a satry born into the world or Annabeth, who spent the majority of her life dedicated to studying specifically quests and Greek mythology and was also on the run fighting monsters for a good portion of her childhood. Like twelve year olds can be dumb but those three stumbling into every trap was asking me to suspend my disbelief too far. I remember being upset that they weren’t able to figure it out because it was obvious that Rick wasn’t making that choice to show any personality flaws or character dynamics (because he would’ve had them learn and grow but they never did they just kept being not smart), he just wasn’t able to figure out a way for them to fall into those traps organically so he had to dumb them down.

I think the show was able to get across the characters’ childishness without compromising their established backstories. Yes, Annabeth knew it was Medusa right away because that makes sense for a kid who has experience with running into monsters. But, she still acted very much like a child in her interactions with her (and throughout the episode and season). She lashed out and called her a liar and wouldn’t listen to her side of the story because it painted her mother in a bad light. That’s peak twelve year old behavior.

Yes, Percy figured out Kronos was behind everything, but it makes sense because Percy knows Greek mythology and where Kronos resides. He still very much acts like a child when he asks Hades to give him back his mom in exchange for nothing because it’s the right thing to do.

There are dozens of examples like this for a lot of complaints of the show. And this is not me saying that the show is perfect: every single show has flaws. For me, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the dialogue or the exposition dumping. It didn’t hinder my enjoyment though because I don’t think it was egregious (and wrt the exposition dumping, I expected it because the book did it and there’s really no way to “show not tell” Greek myths). I also didn’t like that we didn’t get to really see the huge clashes between Zeus and Poseidon in the weather (we got references to it through news reports but I would’ve liked something more). I was able to look past it because I really liked the storytelling and the themes the show was pulling out of the original source material.

I loved Medusa-Sally parallels and Medusa-Annabeth parallels. I loved the juxtaposition of Pan’s quest to manifest density. I loved Percy and Annabeth’s opposite trajectory in respect to their relationships with their godly parents. I loved exploring Sally’s choice to send Percy to school instead of camp. I loved explicitly coding Annabeth as autistic. I loved Luke’s backstory being brought earlier into the story. I loved the deadline passing and Poseidon surrendering to save Percy. I loved Persues-Andromeda and percabeth parallels. I loved fleshing Grover out. I loved glory vs home seeking being the central theme of the show.

And lastly, I was able to understand that with a limited number of episodes and run time (due to the nature of child labor laws!), they did the best they could and I feel like they did a pretty good job for a first season.

These are not ALL of my thoughts on the show because that would be a very long post. I gave one detailed example of why I think the show succeeded in something the fandom tries to ascribe the books and it was like three paragraphs lol. Anyway this is not the post to try and convince me that the show is bad for whatever reason you have cooked up. I’m not going to change my mind and I doubt I’ll change yours. Here’s to a season 2 that builds on a solid season 1!

[ramblings-of-lola]

June '25 Wrap Up

I have a tag list for when I post wrap ups! If you want to be added to or removed from it, please let me know!

I read so much this month!! I'm so happy about this and it's mainly due to getting into audiobooks (they make so many mundane tasks enjoyable). It feels so good to fly through books again and not view reading as a chore.

The Ship of the Dead (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #3) by Rick Riordan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I listened completely on audiobook and really enjoyed it. I loved the way Magnus defeated Loki, it was so heartwarming. The grief aspects with Magnus and Hearthstone's characters were well written. I liked that the Room 19 crew characters were involved more and I got to learn more about them, especially Mallory. I also thought the inclusion of religion with Samirah during Ramadan and her dynamic with Magnus as an atheist with interesting too.

2. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (The Chronicles of Narnia #3) by C.S. Lewis ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I nearly cried at the ending, it was so sad with the Pevensie's saying goodbye to Narnia and Reepicheep going to Aslan's country. I loved seeing Caspian develop as a king and leader over the course of the story. I liked the allegory thoughout but at some places I was thinking "this has to mean something but what?". I was probably overthinking it though. Every time I read a Narnia book, I'm always surprised how Aslan is written so well. I love his appearances in the story to guide the characters. I also listened to this on audiobook and the narrator did wonderful for Reepicheep and Eustace's voices. Reepicheep's high pitched voice and Eustance's snobbish tone made me laugh a lot. I loved Reepicheep's bravery and loyalty throughout too, it never wavered.

3. The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H.G. Wells ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

This was a recommendation from @novelmonger for the Book Rec Exchange (if anyone else wants to participate in this, I'd love to exchange recommendations). I liked the literary analysis of various stories and fiction in general. Charley was very lovable and sweet as a character. I liked the various fictional characters and how they were portrayed in the book, like White Witch riding a motorcycle into battle. It did remind me of Inkheart because of the fictional characters that are brought into our world by a reader. I thought it was interesting the author chose to have Rob, Charley's brother as the narrator, not Charley himself. The ending was good, I loved how Rob saved Charley. Overall, it was a good book, but had a slow pace for me.

4. The Faithless Hawk (The Merciful Crow #2) by Margaret Owen ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I loved this book, it was much better than the first one. The character's were so well done and I loved the friendship that developed between Jasimir and Fie. The plot twists shocked me a few times too and that's always an awesome feeling. The espionage parts of this were fun and the banter had me laughing out loud at many points.

5. The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1) by Suzanne Collins ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I was on the edge of my seat and couldn't put the book down once I got into it. It did take me a little while to get used to the writing style. It was so suspenseful and disturbing with the Capitol and how this awful thing is like a reality show. I hope the characters and world are fleshed out more in the next book.

6. The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo #1) by Rick Riordan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I also listened to this as an audiobook. I loved Apollo's arc through this book, how he is humbled, loses his godly pride, and forms friendships. I loved his friendship with Meg. And Percy's cameos were good too. I'm not sure how I feel about the villain in this book, it was a twist I wasn't expecting. Nico and Will's banter was good too, it made me laugh a few times.

7. The Silver Chair (The Chronicles of Narnia #4) by C.S. Lewis ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Yet another audiobook I listened to. The ending made me so emotional because of how Caspian and his son were finally reunited only to be separated again. I was also emotional when Eustace finally got to talk to Caspian again. I loved Puddleglum's character, his faith in Aslan while being pessimistic was interesting. I liked Jill's characterization and how Eustace still very much feels like the same character he was in the last book, while being slightly kinder. I liked exploring a different part of Narnia and the Underland too.

Tag list: @thatrandomlemononyourcounter1 @qylinscafvne @jinxed-starry-pages @sunflxwcrs @iwasonceabookworm

@thoughts-of-caly @brb-on-a-quest @partlysunny15 @marinaslibrary

[justaneedle]

Fifteen — twenty two chapters of The Lost Hero

No, really, what the hell Rick have against Barbie?

Yeah, sure I don't like Piper who instantly assumes that others are shallow when she doesn't know these people at all. And no, I don't care that she was just often treated badly: I know what it looks like to expect the worst from people around you — not like that (btw, I'm playing in the game there MC has similar situation and her hostility is different and much more understandable, well written. Besides, we had Percy's reaction on being the new kid in CHB, and that one was better, too).

…also thinking of getting into other people's things with her hands, Piper, what the fuck!

Oh, of course, there's another rare (for some reason) ability that the main character certainly has.

…"a duel"? Really? That's sound like shit. Anti Camp Half-Blood, I guess.

Mm-hm, I certainly don't care about Piper or Drew the same way I don't care about others ‘hardly a character’ of Rick. Drew has every right to be mad about Silena, but she's still a bully. And I certainly don't like how Rick trying to make her shallow at the same time.

Rick and his hate for Aphrodite.

Double standards, I guess, right, Piper?

There's something charming about Leo, I admit.

I certainly can relate to Leo to some degree. Interesting.

Leo's backstory really ruin logic. I mean, Gaia began to awaken because her children (the Titans) were hurt again. The idea that she was doing something even before the fate of the Titans was decided doesn't make sense.

Leo and Piper's dynamic is kinda cute.

“I read sometimes, okay? Just because Aphrodite claimed me, doesn’t mean I have to be an airhead.”

Rick, I fucking hate you. And Piper. Because of you.

Rick's attempts at a humorously mocking narrative with Boreads are straight-up bad. Has it always been this bad?

A carry-on bag-dragon… I'm not sure why I don't like everything connected with Festus so much. But I'm certainly don't like it.

I have plenty of problems with Jason calling these two strangers "his friends". Meh. Tho, his sense of responsibility in the quest is kind of endearing.

The king shrugged. “Aeolus cannot take out his anger on the gods. They are his bosses, and very powerful. So he gets even with the demigods who helped them in the war. He issued orders to us: demigods who come to us for aid are no longer to be tolerated. We are to crush your little mortal faces.”

There was an uncomfortable silence.

“That sounds… extreme,” Jason ventured.

Correct me if I'm wrong, that sounds not extreme, but wrong. "Wrong" not in a morale way.

…I feel like I will have some BIG problem with Piper's charmspeak. I assume we won't get some actual practice, improving and problems with charmspeaking some more powerful creatures.

“She’s the goddess of snow,” Jason said. “What’s she going to do, throw snowballs at us?” But as he said it, Jason had a feeling Khione could do a whole lot worse.

My honest reaction: Jason is dumb. Never. Fucking never underestimate the snow. Would be fatal for such hairless creatures as humans.

What had happened up there? Jason wasn’t sure. Boreas had turned into Aquilon, his Roman form, as if Jason’s presence caused him to go schizophrenic.

…Rick. Fucking. Riordan. This is an incorrect comparison, even in an absolutely ignorant, dumb way.

Oh, and by the way, I'm completely indifferent to Piper's traitorous feelings. It seems so cheap to me. She thinks about the guys she just met (the demigods of CHB) with almost the same concern over the betrayal of Leo and Jason, people who are not strangers to her (not really with Jason, but still. She thought she knew him).

“Trust me, man,” Jason said. “Snow may be pretty, but up close it’s cold and nasty. We’ll find you a better prom date.”

Snow is a very dear thing, shut up. Sorry, personal shit. Would never trade my snowy winter for something warmer.

[ottpopfic]

It probably isn’t helping that Leo isn't wearing his ring. Well, he is, just not on his finger. Because of his work and violent ADHD Leo tends to put it on the chain of his mother's necklace and then forget to put it back on his finger at the end of the day. It's still with him at all times, he just really doesn’t want to have his finger chopped off in a dumb accident or lose it in a bin of washers. Everyone should know he’s extremely taken at this point

Or at least he thought, because the new guy is not letting up. If anything he's getting worse

---

Three weeks out from the wedding some new guy decides to be a creepy idiot

-

A month and a half out from their wedding Leo tells Jason he can't give him any more hickies 

“I will not be a walking bruise in the wedding photos” he insists 

“But-” Jason whines, looking like he just got told Santa Claus isn't real “ But -”

“You can mark me back up after,” Leo nudges, climbing into his fiance's lap in his desk chair “And you can be a good boy and hold off till then, right?”

“Yeah,” Jason gives in, easy as always with Leo’s wants, starting to get stars in his eye by the close proximity and touching “Yeah I can be good”

And he has been good, perfect even as the current bruises yellow and fade. Jason might be extra affectionate, but it could also be the coming wedding. The Way Station has been a bustle of activity with the planning and impending date, they are holding the reception there after all.

So more cuddles and smelling and clinginess are expected, and Leo is enjoying it. He's enjoyed planning too, or really the lack thereof. They don't want a ceremony, just the closest family and the judge, but the reception after is going to be an affair . The Way Station and its residents offered their gift to be the gathering. All Jason and Leo had to do was send out invitations and remind the moms that Frank is lactose intolerant. They're still part of some of the party planning, or Jason is because he's having more fun with it, Leo is helping cook way too much food. 

However, Leo also understands that the no love bites rule bothers Jason a little. Jason can be possessive and protective of who he thinks of as ‘his’ (’pack dynamics’ Piper likes to tease), and that extends extremely to Leo and their godkid(s). It's that ferial hindbrain ‘I killed a squirrel with my bare hands and ate it when I was three’ kind of thing. Leo understands that's where the smelling and marking and shit come from, and the fact that Jason doesn't mask that with Leo anymore isn't something he ever takes lightly

But the tux he found with Piper is lace backless and he does not want the hickies to show, he already has the staining permanent half-bruises half-scars from getting crushed to death to deal with

It comes to a head three weeks out from the day

They have finally gotten a demigod into The House On The Rock in Wisconsin so it can be assessed if it is acting as a temple and, if so, to whom. Jason has gone on a three-day round trip to help with the assessment, most of which needs to happen after hours to keep the mortals from interfering. It's a pain in the ass it being as close to the wedding as it is, but it's a short trip, and Leo is kinda excited to see what snowglobe Jason will bring him back for their growing collection 

The trip isn't the issue though, the issue is fucking Johnathan 

Johnathan, some fucking blond-ass lanky-ass son of Nike around Leo’s age, has stopped at the Way Station as he passes through. He got in the evening after Jason left, and has decided to stay a few days to “admire the scenery”

The scenery apparently being Leo

It's not like Leo is encouraging it, but he's never been the best at turning people down. For all of being a big flirt, nothing makes him want to run more than being on the receiving end of unwanted attention. He's gotten better about shooting down people trying their hand, especially because his man tends to spark when jealous, but it's exceedingly difficult and brings up all those feelings of inadequacy he's still working through well into his thirties

It always feels like those mean games kids used to play, making friends ask you out on a dare or flirting with you because you're an easy target who is so unloveable that you would take anything. And Leo knows in the rational part of him that he is no longer in the seventh grade and malnourished skinny with shitty hand-me-down clothes and a bad haircut because his current foster family took him to the whitest salon in town. He's thirty-fucking-two and a goddam superhero about to marry another even hotter superhero, like the Incredibles but gay

But seventh-grade Leo is still a part of him, and seventh-grade Leo is having his knee-jerk reaction to the overly pushy flirting and it's making it very hard for thirty-two-year-old Leo to put his foot down instead of avoiding the problem 

It probably isn’t helping that Leo isn't wearing his ring. Well, he is, just not on his finger. Because of his work and violent ADHD Leo tends to put it on the chain of his mother's necklace and then forget to put it back on his finger at the end of the day. It's still with him at all times, he just really doesn’t want to have his finger chopped off in a dumb accident or lose it in a bin of washers. Everyone should know he’s extremely taken at this point

Or at least he thought, because Johnathan is not letting up. If anything he's getting worse

Leo has a feeling that Johnathan would still press even if he saw them making out. He sure hasn't backed off after Leo told him he has a partner, is cooking for a wedding, and that he is not interested . The dude looks to think of it like it is some kind of challenge 

Calypso is incredibly pissed on Leo’s behalf. They never would have worked as romantic partners, but partners in crime are another thing altogether. This makes the Titianis very protective of Leo, and while it goes both ways Cal is always way more ready to stab a bitch over stuff like this than Leo is. 

“Are you sure you don't want me to step in?” she asks after breakfast the second day “I can bury him in the roof garden, Lit would help”

“Cally it's fine” he insists as he works through the dishes as Cal cleans the stove “I told him to back off”

“And he's not listening,” she presses “He is a guest and you are uncomfortable”

“Exactly, he's a guest he's gonna leave”

“You don't deserve to be uneasy in your home,” she insists “Remember that”

It's creeping towards dinner the day Jason is supposed to get back. Leo is trying to finish up some more detail-oriented projects before they have to fold the WorkShop away for the party, not wanting the delicate mechanisms to get damaged after needing to be moved and stored. Georgie is in the kitchen making herself a snack and helping Calypso brainstorm about the new fabric she's working on, bouncing what weft and fiber would work best to help a kid with static issues in New Rome. 

The girls are pleasant background noise as Leo works, setting delicate gears into place through the magnification of his ring light in the crook of where the tables make a corner. He's so in the zone that he doesn't even hear the son of Nike sneak up 

“What’tch ya’ working on?” Johnathan asks right in his ear, scaring the shit out of Leo so badly that his tweezers fly out of his hand taking the micro spring he was trying to set with them. 

“Hopping Hephestus dude don't do that to me” Leo complains, putting his hand on his rabbiting heart as he turns on his stool

“Sorry, sorry,” he doesn't look sorry, the taller man looks like he finds it entertaining to sneak up on people like that, “Thought you heard me”

Obviously, Leo didn't, and he's not really in the mood to engage this guy right now. He spots his lost tweezers by the other man's foot, sliding off the stool to pluck them up.

“You know,” Johnathan continues “You’re real cute when you startle like that”

Somehow he's even closer when Leo straightens up, almost spooking him all over again. Leo backs up a step until his back hits the corner where the benches meet, nowhere else to go

Johnathan pushes forward even closer, propping himself up with an arm on the table right next to Leo’s hip. Leo’s hands go up immediately, trying to put some distance between himself and the other man. The guy is ignoring his body language, just leaning over Leo further with a huge grin

There's a flurry of movement and sound. The scrape of a chair as Calypso rises to help, Georgie’s pissed cry from the kitchen, but first and foremost is Jason bodily pulling the other man off of Leo and planting himself firmly between them

“What the fuck do you think you're doing !?” Jason snaps furious, the tightly wound tension in Leo’s body easing a micrometer with his fiancee’s appearance 

Johnathan, who Jason had all but thrown out of Leo’s bubble, recovers quickly “Hey man,” he tries “I don't think you need to worry ‘bout-”

Jason bites at him, Jonathan only keeping his arm by pulling back in time. Jason’s teeth make a loud clack as they snap close around air, staying bared in a wolf-like snarl like he's daring the other blond to try it again

Leo knows this pose on Jason; stance wide, head low, eyes sharp and ahead with teeth bared. He's sparking at his hands, little visible bits of electricity dancing between his fingers as they twitch like he's ready to grab a weapon or just go bare-knuckle, which evers faster. 

Jason is ready to fucking kill a man feral style, full-on Titian takedown, and as hot as it is Leo really does need to reel him in before he gets blood on the running resin printer. Fortunately, his moms come to the rescue 

“Break it up!” Emmi barks, snatching Johnathan by the neck of his shirt and pulling him out of lethal zapping range. Leo sees his opportunity and grabs Jason by the belt on both sides of his hips so he can't follow 

“The hell is going on here?” Jo asks the room from the other side of the saws

“Jason came home and caught the new guy being pushy with Leo” Georgie supplies from the kitchen

“He had him cornered ” Jason seethes, teeth still flashing

“That dudes fucking crazy ” Johnathan cries back, pointing at the other blond kinda terrified

“And you are a guest ,” Emmi replies, hulling him over the red gaffer tape line that shows the edge of the workshop. It puts her between Leo and Jason, telling Leo that his moms are not impressed with the situation “Do not think that the Way Station has not been reporting back to us about your escapades”

“ Escapades !?”

“Leo told you he was not interested,” Calypso supplies, propping her hip on the big table “Multiple times in fact”

“Has he now!?” Jason interjects, if looks could kill Johnathan would have been cremated in the spot, the air becoming so electrically charged that the static is visible 

“ Cielito ” Leo tries, resorting to the pet name he keeps just for them “Cm’mon mi cielo it’s okay”

“It's not ” the blond snaps back, but it's lacking some of the previous heat now

“I'm okay and you're okay” Leo attempts to placate, just wanting out of the situation and to not have a dead idiot on his hands “Let's go and cool down, the moms can take it from here”

It takes a few kisses on Jason’s spine and the visual of the moms tearing Johnathan a new one to convince his man that they can vacate the WorkShop safely. Jason leads him out by the hand, and once they are free of the sphere of elder lesbian tongue-lashing he scoops Leo up in a fireman's carry and stomps off for the hall

“You alright?” Calypso checks as they pass, arms crossed and watching the commotion with satisfaction 

“I'm good” Leo reassures “Save us some dinner?” he calls to the kitchen as he's carried off, Georgina boos him

Leo knows it's particularly bad because Jason doesn't bring them to their room, he brings them to his office, heading straight for his nest cave thing under the filing cabinets and throwing Leo into the pile of pillows and papasan before laying on him with a growl.

“Put your ring back on” Jason barks into Leo’s shoulder, not moving his big blond head out of the way to let Leo take it off the chain. Leo gets it eventually, running the back of his knuckles against his fiance's cheek so he can feel that it's on. Jason immediately relaxes incrementally, his glasses digging into Leo’s skin

Leo can tell he really wants to bite him, he can feel bared teeth through his shirt, but Jason is being so good about not marking him up. Leo starts in on kissing all over Jason’s head and face, anywhere he can reach, the blond still griping and growling into his shoulder 

“You smell wrong” Jason eventually grumbles

“I smell wrong?”

This isn't a new conversation, Jason has a thing about smell that's half left over from his time with Lupa half just his own neurosis. He also has such a weirdly good sense of smell even for a demigod (something Leo finds he shares with the other big three kids, along with extra strength and like night vision or whatever) that when Leo was using unleaded solder when he was making their rings it almost blew his cover. It's endearing, but does involve complaints if Leo changes his shampoo or deodorant without warning. 

“He was wearing something” Jason complains upset  “You smell like it”

“Would taking my shirt off help?” Jason does a growl whine posture that tells Leo it wouldn't hurt before stripping it off him himself in one fluid movement. Leo is able to get his fiance's glasses off before Jason slams himself back into his chest and neck, forcing an ‘oof’ out of him

“Better?” Leo asks, but the tension in his man’s body tells him it's not

Time for scratchies 

Scratchies turn into puppy nuzzles, and puppy nuzzles turn into kissing, and slowly but surely Leo is able to convince his man that he's fine and that they're both okay. It works to settle Leo too, the comfort of his Jason being home alleviating his fried nerves from the encounter 

“M’ sorry” Jason eventually says, pressing their foreheads together with a dejected sign

“‘Bout what?” Leo asks, feeling better than he has in days now that he gets to bask in the easy affection of his fiancee 

“About going all freakazoid on a random dude”

“You mean pulling a jerk off of me who wouldn't take no for an answer?”

“I tried to bite him” Jason pouts

“You almost got him too,” Leo starts playing with Jason’s hair, Cirro has been offering to give him a trim before the wedding and Leo hopes they don't take it down too short “Shame you missed”

“Leo I'm serious ” Jason hides his face in Leo’s chest and squeezes him a little tighter “I can't just go ferial werewolf man-”

“You'd make such a sexy werewolf man”

“-on any person looking at you weird”

“How is cornering me against my workbench ‘looking at me weird’?” he asks genuinely confused “Especially after I've said I was taken like five other times”

“But like,” Jason flounders “Autonomy and shit”

“Baby if you didn't pull him off Cal would have,” Leo admits, really not seeing the issue here “She was already trying to convince me to let her turn him into fertilizer”

Jason whines and grumbles and tries to find more English words about how he's in the wrong about being a gentleman, and that's not really gonna fly in Leo’s book

“Jason,” he interrupts the worry spiral “Your home, so I'm okay”

Jason studies Leo's face to try and find the lie, but Leo knows there isn't one “If you're sure” the blond relents

“I'm sure,” he brushes a lock of blond hair out of his fiancee's face, then starts to run his hands through “Also it's hot when you get all sparky scary at people”

Jason frowns in that cute way he does when he's a bit embarrassed about the ways Leo is thirsty for him “ Shut up ”

“What!? It gets me going” Leo fans himself with his hand to prove the point “That one time you exploded the transformer outside Nena’s school, whooof ”

Jason is a naturally protective person, and people fucking with his puppies brings out this feral part of him that has scared Katie’s school office on more than one occasion. It's very sexy if Leo is to be honest, but he's not a good judge of hotness levels when it comes to his man (at least says Piper, but what does she know)

There's something about Jason biting the head off of school officials with their kid on his hip that does something to Leo, makes him wish he could get knocked up for a split second. He should be reeling his man in, but fuck the public school system and fuck people messing with his kid Jason can eat them for all he cares 

And also getting to watch his sweet gentle caring man snap on people, especially for Leo and his, something about it makes Leo want to go feral on him in return

“Oh man, and that time you blew out all the lights when that barista wouldn't catch a hint” Leo bites his lip and kicks what he can of his feet like a schoolgirl, Jason may have gotten jumped before they got home after that one “And when you-”

“Okay okay” the blond interrupts peering up at him from his chest “I still don't get it though”

“I like you being all puppy possessive, makes me feel safe” Leo pauses the hair petting to daydream for a moment “And I like that crazed look you get in your eye”

“Crazed look?”

“Oh yeah,” Leo bites his lip again just thinking about it “Makes me wanna get you jealous more”

Jason's brows furrow “Were you trying to make me jealous?”

“No,” Leo goes back to playing with his man’s hair “I know you don't like it, even if you're super sexy when you are”

“I don't like it” Jason confirms

“I know,” he presses a reassuring kiss onto his fiancée’s forehead “That's why I don't do it on purpose. But it does make me feel safe and wanted when you get like that”

“Me trying to bite people who are overstepping makes you feel safe?”

“ You make me feel safe”

“If you’re sure”

“Oh, I'm sure” 

Leo plays with his fiancee's hair for a little, feeling content in a way he hasn't since this whole kerfuffle started. Usually this also relaxes Jason into a pre-goo state, but the blond still has this uneasy energy under the skin

“What's up?” Leo asks, clocking Jason’s mood “You're still all upset”

“I wanna bite you”

“I am aware of this yes”

“But also like,” Jason pulls his lips thin in that way he does when he's trying to verbalize some wolf shit into a proper concept “You're not wearing me, and someone was an asshole, so now I'm anxious”

“‘Bout what part?”

“About uh,” Jason's nostrils flare as he works to find his words “About that your mine, I think - no, its uh” he does a little snort through his nose to change the train of thought “I don't know, I guess it just makes me want to marry you harder”

That makes Leo laugh, bursting out of him like a firework with just how much he loves this man. He kisses his fiancee for lack of something else to do with the sudden giddiness, three weeks can't go by fast enough

“I love you,” Leo tells him, there's really nothing else to it “I'm so excited to marry you”

“Wanna do it now ” Jason whines, pressing kisses across Leo’s collarbones in lieu of marking him up

“Yeah but if we elope our sisters will tar and feather us,” he reminds “And I really don't want to see a Thalia and Georgie team up”

Jason shudders at the idea “Gods they would be horrible ”

“Cm’mon let's go take a shower” Leo suggests instead of the very tempting idea of taking that risk “Bet it will get us smelling right and everything”

And if a shower turns into Leo getting his brains fingered out of him, so fucking be it

[lucyskywalker]

I wouldn't have a problem with Annabeth having those flaws, if it was actually adressed by the narrative and her violent actions, specially towards Percy, were called out by other characters or even by her own conscience after she calms down. Annie could have grown from this insight and have a great, if not the best, character development throughout the series if it was done correctly. This actually upsets me more than makes me angry. I can see how Annabeth could have been great if she was allowed to grown and change her behavior, instead of Rick constantly putting her on a pedestal and not allowing her to change. I feel that sometimes she remains the same 12yrs girl during the new books, but she is almost on her 20yrs and her behavior is cannot be excused anymore by mere age, and I never liked the "trauma" or "they're demigods" excuse either.

First of all, it is not because you have your trauma it gives you an excuse to be mean with people around you. Of course, it is understandable, but not excusable. And if you end up being mean, what can happen, we are all human, you apologize for your behavior. Annabeth never did that, not with Percy and not with Rachel.

And second: "They're demigods so it is fine the way they behaeve" is not a fair excuse either. We never see Percy hitting Annabeth. We never see him calling her names, or pointing out her lack of powers as if she was useless on a fight comparing her to the other demigods. Actually, he always praises her: Her intelligence, her strength, her combat skills.

But Annabeth always says his head is full of kelp, call him stupid and makes him feel stupid, not only that, genuinaly believes he is stupid, which when he gets hiegher grades than her, she is extreamly surprised and in denial about that fact.

She laughing when Reyna said that Percy needed help to get out of a paper bag was really a neon flag, the Judo flip was another.

It seems for me, as a reader, that physicality and verbally degrading your partner is only allowed in Rick's eyes if it comes from a girl, making that kind of behavior acceptable and praised in the narrative. Which is problematic, to say the least.

I have many, many problems with HoO writing, but the decline of Percabeth dynamic was the biggest one in my eyes, and what made me the most upset. After all, I was reading because of them.

Started expecting something like Hiccstrid and ended up disappointed.

I cannot say I totally hate percabeth, it still is part of my childhood after all, and they do have their cute moments, but I can't see them as a golden and perfect couple anymore.

Eitherway

Fanon Percabeth: 🔛🔝

Canon Percabeth: 📉📈📉

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.

[epitheterasedgen]

when Percy and Rick inevitably meet in EE, I desperately want their dynamic to be:

Rick: would you like to be….. FRIIIIIIIIENDS?!?!

Percy: of course. it is always valuable for one’s mental health to make new social acquaintances. :]

and then they proceed to act like they’ve been best friends forever and it weirds everybody out because “you literally JUST met” and they all expect Rick to do something terrible to Percy but he never does. they’re just weird pals who hold hands and go out to lunch together and eat things that should be inedible. they are best wizard friends and have literally zero conflicts or problems because neither of them has ANY social awareness that declaring yourself someone’s friend and immediately acting super close is not how friendship works

[artsybookworms]

A pointless thread in which I rate the HOO books:

Warning: If you love this series and don’t want to read any complaints about it, just keep scrolling. This is not a personal attack on people who think the books are great. Obviously, I still love the series or I wouldn’t have stayed a member of this fandom for 7 years (and counting)💀 but yeah just fair warning that I’m a bit harsh in these reviews, but on the whole nostalgia has me in a choke hold and they feel like dear friends even if they annoy me *cough* a lot *cough* sometimes.

6/10: Listen, it’s an okay book. I actually really liked Piper when I first read it (although I know now that a lot of things about Piper’s character are… problematic), and the plot is interesting enough. I read it a second time and enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. But like,, after //five years// of being invested in a completely different set of characters, many of whom grew up with them as each book came out, expecting readers to be invested in a brand new trio is a lot to ask. I just will never understand why people act like it’s unreasonable to be upset that the protagonists of PJO are barely in TLH. I uh,, was not intending this to turn into a rant, but basically, this book wasn’t a terrible first book; it was just very ambitious and I’m not sure how well Rick pulled it off.

7.5/10: In my heart, this book is a 9/10. I loved seeing Percy interact with Hazel and Frank, two of my favorite HOO protags. However,, I realize that I’m very biased, and it’s likely SON is not much better than TLH. I just like the characters more. On the whole, I enjoyed the plot and getting to know the new campers. I think I also just like Percy’s type of humor over Leo’s, so I enjoyed the quips in SON more. I was not a fan of Frank’s “transformation” at the end or the Frazel age gap (although I genuinely think Rick was just really out of touch as a grown man trying to write from the perspective of adolescents). But overall, it’s a comfort read for me. I also really liked Reyna :)

8/10: We stan Annabeth in this household!!! Now that everyone’s together, the dynamics get a lot more interesting. Sure, there are a lot of rivalries that I feel like should’ve either been omitted or explored further, but maybe that’s asking for too much. It’s an enjoyable, fast-paced read, and that’s honestly all I want at this point. Also,, the ending. What a power move Rick. You got me.

9/10: Tartarus was such an interesting setting to explore!! We got to see a completely new side of Percy and Annabeth, which added even more depth into their already complex characterization. Ngl all I remember was just waiting until I got to the Percy/Annabeth perspectives lmao

4/10: To put it bluntly, BOO was a pretty disappointing conclusion to the series :(

I’m gonna get this first point out of the way because y’all knew I was gonna say it: there were no Percy or Annabeth perspectives. We’ve been with them for TEN years now and they literally went through hell and back in the last book, forgive me for being greedy and wanting the final conclusion to their story to include,, well,, them. It was also just very underwhelming. Like, the final battle against Gaea lasted like a page and a half (compare this to the finale of PJO which was much more developed). Also, the romance between Calypso and Leo felt shoehorned in, as if having a love interest will always solve everyone’s problems. I’m glad Rick decided to develop their relationship further in TOA, but at the time it left a bad taste in my mouth. It also felt like Rick ret-conned Calypso from PJO and turned her into a completely different character. Also also, I hated that scene where Percy tells Jason about having suicidal thoughts and Jason is just like “I feel that bro” and never asks him about it or tells anyone. What kind of message is that supposed to send?? Not to mention it just felt rushed overall, Rick might have been getting close to a deadline or something. By far my least favorite book of the series, although I did like getting a Reyna perspective.

[leonardovaldezz]

What would u do if u could change anything about anything in the series?

I’m gonna assume you’re talking about Hero’s Of Olympus, since I want to talk about it. Let’s start with the relationship each of the 7 had with one another/character dynamics.

Percy. We know who he is, we’ve met him before, we’ve lived through his adventure with him. He’s a shithead, we love this about him, but he’s also kind and loving. Percy would’ve made an effort to get along with everyone, to be friends and goof off to help everyone feel better. Which is why all of this shit Rick created with Jason being his Roman counter part and them being rivals, the two “macho men fighting for power to lead the pack” makes NO goddamn sense. And quite frankly smells HEAVY of toxic masculinity the entire series could’ve gone without. They would��ve been friends. Maybe not the best of friends because Jason has Leo but they would’ve been those two dumb jock friends and that narrative bettween them would’ve made the story so much more fun and interesting than pitting them against eachother.

Annabeth. The trope Rick created with Annabeth being a know it all, smartest person in the group is a disservice to her character and makes her shallow. She’s the daughter of a goddess of wisdom, wisdom recognizes intelligence when it sees it, and the fact that all Annabeth thought about Leo during the entire book was that he was annoying is VERY dumb. They could’ve had a really good friendship, two nerds playing off of one another’s intellect to create things that could benefit everyone on their journey. Or even Leo just convincing her to help him make stupid shit like a toaster that can toast eight pieces of bread at once. I would change how rigid Annabeth is, loosen her up just a little bit and make her friendship with Leo the type of thing where they constantly feed off of one another.

Piper. Her entire character arc revolved around being beautiful, being Native American, and Jason. Firstly, we’d have to throw away all the stereotypes and general horrible things that Mr. Rick Ross (read: Rick) did to her character. Like the whole feathers in her hair thing. There are better way to incorporate Piper being Native American, there were so many missed opportunities to intertwine Greek mythology and Native American beliefs. Secondly, in order to get rid of the. Frankly, shit, way Piper dealt with beauty is to first address the way the Aphrodite cabin as been treated through the entirety of the PJO universe. Instead of writing Aphrodite children like frilly little things that can’t stand to get their hands dirty and Piper being “not like other girls uwu”, I would’ve written them as deceptivly beautiful. Deceptive in the fact that no one expects them to be strong, cruel, to be able to hold their own. Knights you mistake for damsels in distress, and before you realize you’re wrong they’ve already defeated you. You can be strong and feminine, and femininity isn’t the only way to be beautiful, so I would’ve explored that too. And Pipers arc on beauty would’ve been different in the sense that she realizes she doesn’t have to like pink and glitter in order to be beautiful, and that even if she did like those things, that’s okay. Let girls be feminine without demonizing them for it.

Hazel. God Hazel was done so dirty. First, she’s thirteen, so no Frazle shit, jot that one down. Her and Frank being really good friends would’ve been so much better and allowed her to grow as a person without throwing her into some serious romantic relationship so young with someone so much older. I would’ve written Hazel as very cautious, specifically around her white friends. She comes from the 40’s of course she wouldn’t be buddy buddy with them immediately, and I think that would be a valid concept for the books to explore. And besides, her realizing later on that things really are different and times really have changed would be such a heartwarming thing to experience. Her breaking out of her shell and leaving that shit behind her to be unapologetically her. Actually exploring the racism and prejudice in the world instead of ignoring it and erasing the experiences of black people and black youth in this world is problematic and we won’t be doing that here smh. I wouldn’t make it the core of her character because that’s wack but it also wouldn’t be something that’s just never talked about. That being said, I would’ve made her relationship with Leo SO GREAT. They could’ve been dumbasses together running around the ship playing stupid games like hide and seek. Once again, instead of that romance shit, I would’ve built their friendship. Let the girl have fun, she’s 13 for gods sake.

Jason. The essence of his character was to be Percy Jackson’s Roman counterpart, which IS WACK. It made him VERY boring and one sided, so away with that! The Jason I had hopes for and wanted to see was, in simple words, a blond Himbo Jock!!! He loves his found family (Piper, Leo, and later the rest of the seven) and he PROTECT!! He and Percy would get in mock fights and wrestle sometimes because Percy says something very stupid and Jason simultaneously wants to laugh and shake him and he and Leo have the type of friendship where even the last few barriers come down and they are unapologetically themselves with one another. Jason learning that he doesn’t have to be a grown up and that he doesn’t have to have such a rigid sense of responsibility and that it’s okay to have fun sometimes, things Leo and Percy teach him. He grows into himself and realizes that he’s not JUST a son of Jupiter, and he doesn’t have to be a leader all the time. It’s okay to let go of the reins, and be stupid.

Frank. Rick made him... so forgettable. Firstly, the fatphobic blessing of Mars shit. We can hit next on that shit: the blessing of Mars but Frank goes from chubby to chubby with muscle because believe it or not a lot of fat people have muscles!! The arch with him wanting to be a child of Apollo is VERY interesting and something that should’ve been played up more within his arc until he realized he didn’t have to prove to anyone how manly he is, that you don’t HAVE to be aggressive and manly to be a child of Mars. Once again: Rick was on some toxic masculinity shit. Frank being okay with being a big teddy bear is enough for me. Also fuck the burning stick of life things stop putting a time limit on teenagers lives that’s bullshit. His relationship his Hazel was rushed and shallow, and quite frankly (ha) they should’ve just been friends.

Last but not least: Leo. Leo’s relationships with EVERYONE could’ve been better. He was treated as the comic relief, an annoyance, someone everyone could barely stand to be around, and instead of bettering his relationships with everyone Rick thought killing him off and then bringing him back with a love interest was the best thing to do. He was the treated as an emotional whipping board and then gave his life to save everyone on some sacrificial lamb shit which is a fucking cop out. In my head, Leo would’ve remained single, he would’ve felt like an outcast in the beginning, yes, but his friends would have actually noticed and reminded him that they value him as a person. I would’ve also built Leo’s arc so that he realizes the only validation he needs from anyone is himself, and that he wasn’t responsible for his mother’s death. I would’ve also written him realizing he has a support system amongst his friends, and he doesn’t need to overexert himself trying to fit because he’s already one of them. Leo has an inferiority complex and that was the core of him sacrificing himself, he felt like, if anyone, it would be him. He felt that he wasn’t as important as any of the other 7. He wouldn’t have died so other people could live, his life would’ve mattered to everyone including himself.

[perseusjackson-jasongrace]

Hi C!!! It's meeee

Anyway I don't know why but I just kinda want to put this out in the world. You got me on Jercy (I'm not kidding I hated Jercy before you) but Percabeth is my OG ship like they started me ok fanfics and they're like my first real ship period. And I hate all the hate Annabeth gets because I really love her so I just wanted to ask you if you could go more in depth with why you aren't big on her/Percabeth please

Love you!! ❤❤

Hi my Gretch seeing your username (on any of the platforms) makes me forever and eternally happy. Okay onto this beautiful, intense ask:

First things first: I love Annabeth. Like Annabeth as a character? wonderful, incredible, unreal. She is so versatile and full of so many things that make us human and I see her character and character arc as a complex web full of intricacies and weaknesses (yes i said web on purpose).

My favourite things about her:

1. She always has a goal, whether it be long term or, I'm just trying to stay alive in this second. For people like me who kind of go through life on vibes and a vague sense of what they want it is awing to read about and meet people who have solid, planned goals that they live, breathe, and perform by.

2. She is proud of her friends. Since her fatal flaw is pride it is very easy to see the downfall but there is also an upside in that she uses that well of pride as an extension of her and it reflects on others. We know she is proud of Percy, and grover, and Thalia, and why Luke’s betrayal hit so hard for her

3. She continues to break stereotypes. Not just as the dumb blonde (which was admittedly a big thing at the time of the book’s release) but also in her being a girl who saves herself, who goes on the dangerous quests, who isn’t helpless. I never had a lack of female role models in my life but adding Annabeth to the mix only did me more good.

4. She thinks things through: I am kind of impulsive when it comes to certain aspects in my life and I have some thought process for other parts but Annabeth is not impulsive. As much as she has ADHD, in which impulsivity is fairly common, she doesn’t present with it. And it’s refreshing and exciting to see this character that thinks through plans and decisions and tries to predict the outcome, not only so she can change it if need be but also to prepare herself for what is to come. Narratives (especially at the time of those books) were full of impulse and quick decisions and always being on the spot. Hell Percy was exactly this kind of narrtator. And while I love dit because I mean what ten year old doesn't love fast-paced intense excitement? it was so truly wonderful to read about someone who thought further. It allowed you to connect to the next page, chapter, book. 

5. She is a complete badass. And I love it. I love badass women. I could never get enough of them and I think they should rule the world. And I love smart people. I love them. Smartness, intelligence, is so attractive to me. Because it means you have passion, and the ability to think beyond your surroundings. Annabeth Chase is hella smart.

What I've been having a crisis over for the last few years is Percabeth. It is summed up most accurately here but just to continue my thought:

Rick changed the percabeth dynamic so much in HOO that it became almost unrecognisable. I think in the bid to have this whole, everyone is a couple and everyone deserves someone (which boosted Leo’s narrative but was also the cause of great conflict in everyone else’s narrative expect percabeth) he forgot to make them friends. And that was the basis of percabeth. It was the reason percabeth were so godsdamn cute in PJO. Because they were friends who ended up becoming a couple. In HOO they were just a couple. And it sucked out the life of their friendship so that we could only focus on their relationship.

And unfortunately it is Annabeth’s narrative that really brings this home for multiple reasons (all of which we can blame Rick for):

1. This is the first time we got other points of view beside Percy which means everyone’s flaws were much more obvious. Annabeth’s fatal flaw specifically was really played (the entire reason she went on that Mark of Athena quest; why  they landed up in Tartarus). it made focusing on her harder especially because Percy’s Fatal flaw is loyalty so he spent a lot of his narrative focusing on others. this one is mostly my bias as I prefer to have a character’s narrative that also focuses on the happenings of others with the characters personal thoughts. Annabeth was the kind of narrator who focused on herself first. 

2. The entirety of HOO was about relationships. Rick didn’t bother to form any actual friendships with any of the characters (something he was undoubtedly great at in PJO) so when we got to percabeth scenes it was things like: Piper being jealous of them; Percy being worried about them; Annabeth being worried about Percy as a person or herself in her quest; Leo being sad that he was alone; etc. It made liking any of the couples extremely hard.

3. As you (and my other Tumblr babies) may know I don't believe Percy and Annabeth’s fatal flaws work well together. I think Percy is often the one to sacrifice himself and Annabeth sacrifices her wants (material things) and it is not the same. Percy is loyal to Annabeth. But Annabeth’s pride continues to rule her life. For example, if Percy had gotten in the way of Annabeth rebuilding Olympus I fully believe she would have attempted (at the very least) to get rid of him. I don't necessarily mean kill him I just mean he wouldn’t have been in her life. Don’t get me wrong this does not mean she did it or there was even a possibility that she could have. but the reason for that is because Percy is loyal to her. So he wouldn’t have gotten in the way of her dreams. And I think there’s something fundamentally dangerous about sacrificing yourself for someone else’s dreams. If Percy became loyal-to-a-fault towards Annabeth and she then decided to join Luke’s army he would not have stopper her. In fact it’s quite possible he would have joined her. And Annabeth has so much pride for Percy, but her pride-to-a-fault does not lie in people it lies in material things. So she would have gone after her own goals if Percy did not follow. It just seems like it’s luck that they continue to work well together. Percy sacrifices himself. Annabeth sacrifices herself. But only cause their goals align. What happens when they don't?

Please do not make the mistake of thinking I hate percabeth because I don’t. I cannot hate them when those books were the heart and soul of my life for so many years. Percabeth was such a big part of them, to hate the ship, would mean to hate the books and that is absolutely not the case. Annabeth and Percy’s friendships is so important to me. 

TL:DR I love Annabeth she is an absolute badass; I am not a fan of the percabeth dynamic especially in HOO; my bias is present in everything I do. I acknowledge it and try to work to bring all the facts together.

I hope this answered your question Gretch! And do not hesitate to ask if you want me to elaborate on a anything further.

I, of course, also welcome dispute from anyone but remember we do things nicely on this blog.

[sonofsallyjackson]

Heroes of Olympus should have been in first-person.

@jo-march-is-a-lesbian​ wrote a really wonderful post about how “Percy Jackson and the Olympians is better than Heroes of Olympus…because it understood simplicity and character development.”  It highlights some reasons I also found HoO less rewarding namely that it was an overcomplicated story with limited character growth, lacked a common thesis, and was super jarring when it switched perspectives.  

And with that my little brain went: I can fix this.  Which frankly is ridiculous.  I can’t come up with a compelling thesis like “The idea that we should place our hope in our loved ones, our friends and our family, and if we do that, we won’t be tempted to give up hope again.”   But I can imagine a simple change that would have solved some of the issues and also played to Rick’s strengths as a writer:  Each book should have been written in first person and narrated by a different character.

With so many people on the quest, I often felt like I was watching a bunch of one-dimensional characters fight for their right to be the main character.  I didn’t know who to focus on but I was also dissatisfied.  There were all these new wonderful characters in front of me who I wanted to love, but I didn’t feel like I actually knew them.  I mean I don’t feel like I know the Stoll Brothers either, but I’m not concerned about that fact because they are side characters.  When everyone is painted as the main character,  I have certain expectations for growth, personality, and voice.  The story would have been better served if the characters took turns narrating the action, allowing us to settle into their perspective, see their growth, and better understand their personality.

Plus Rick kills first-person.  While I’m not particularly a fan of Trials of Apollo, it’s not because I don’t know the characters.  Apollo is so very different than Percy. Their voices, even though they can both be jokesters at times, reflect their different life-experiences, thought processes and provide massive insight into their characters.   If the Seven (and Nico and Reyna) got the same treatment, I would be absolutely giddy.  

I recognize that rewriting the HoO series in first-person is something a talented fanfiction writer with a lot of time on their hands could actually do.  But I am not talented like that and I certainly don’t have the discipline to actually write that much fic, especially if I was trying to keep the events vaguely the same just with different narration and pacing.  So instead I’ve included who I think should have narrated each book below the cut.  I’d love to hear any opinions people have regarding this idea, especially who they would have wanted to see to narrate each book.

In addition to picking the narrator, I’ve highlighted what should be the “quest” so to speak of each story.  Personally, MoA, HoH and BoO are kind of a blur to me despite reading them all recently.  It’s hard to distinguish what happens in each book because it’s all one massive quest with a whole bunch of mini-quests.    While the different narrators would obviously make the books more distinctive, splitting the series into seven books would also help simplify each book’s individual goal.  Eight books would have allowed for better integration of the plot to find the physician’s cure, but with the prophecy of seven, it seemed like seven books was the best option, if I was going to be doing something as blasphemous as splitting books.   

As a note, I ran out of steam as I went so not all opinions are fully fleshed out. 

Book 1:  The Lost Hero The Quest: Rescue Hera/Juno Narrator:  Jason 

Why this would be cool: 

He is literally Juno’s chosen sent on a quest to rescue her.  It’s poetic enough to give him the book.

Jason’s journey is just as much about rediscovering himself as it is about saving Juno.   Of the new characters, I feel like I understand Jason the least. Mainly because I felt like I was missing the entire first half of his story.  Jason, like Percy and Annabeth, is a hero of the Titan War. I know some of his accomplishments, but I don’t have any bearing on what his life was like or how he felt about it.   He doesn’t seem like the type to relish Praetor-ship since he doesn’t have the same intense need to get back to his camp as Percy.  Was he just hoisted on his comrades’ shields after killing the Titan without any real choice in the matter? Give me Jason’s memories coming back slowly over the course of the quest (with potentially a fractured memory of a mistake he made in the Roman’s final Titan battle that makes him doubt their ability to both rescue Piper’s dad and save Hero but he makes the decision to anyway because he can’t just hurt his friend like that.   Let me understand how Jason is the person he is today.  Give me glances of the Roman Camp with emphasis on the heavy expectations that have always followed him as the son of Jupiter and foreshadow why he eventually chooses to design all the shrines for the minor gods so he can have his own place in the world as a figure between the two camps.

Let’s dive into those feelings of anger/guilt/resentment when people at camp are disappointed with him for not being Percy or in Chiron’s case are nervous about what his presence means. 

I want to dig deeper regarding Jason’s feelings about reconnecting with Thalia.  He knows that if the gods hadn’t been determined to keep the two camps completely separate, he could have grown up with his sister. 

What does telling the narrative like this sacrifice:  

We miss some of the internal turmoil regarding the fact that Piper’s Dad has been captured and she must betray her friends. 

We also don’t feel the tensions of Piper’s relationship with Aphrodite. I don’t see Piper bringing up the conversation with her mom saying that her mist memories were so strong because she automatically sensed the potential of a romantic relationship with Jason.  

We don’t have any of Leo’s conflicted feelings regarding rescuing Hera or his fear of being made an outcast for his fire abilities.  Jason has to go with Leo to discover Bunker 9 and Festus.  

Leo doesn’t actively save the day with the Cyclops. 

We don’t know how Piper feels about her charm-speak or see her defeat Madea (as the boys are in their weird trance thing). 

Knowledge about Gaea’s involvement in wrecking Leo’s life will come later.  

Book 2: The Son of Neptune The Quest: Free Thantos Narrator:  Hazel

Why this would be cool: 

The stakes are so incredibly high. Hazel is literally risking her second chance at life by agreeing to go on this chance.  She’s going to the place she died to fight the monster she created. She also has to deal with the trauma of knowing she may have bought the world time with her first sacrifice but it now means nothing if she can’t succeed again.  

We get to see Camp Jupiter from the view of someone who loves it but doesn’t really fit in.  Hazel joined Camp Jupiter just after the final battle.  She enters a community that has learned to fight as a well-oiled machine but that has lost people.  Dakota or the others may remark to her about how things were before or the people who are missing.  Hazel sees a community that she’s not quite a part of both because she didn’t fight in the war and because she’s in the fifth cohort with a feared godly parent.

It would explore her relationship with Nico more (because I love their dynamic and I want more).   She knows she can’t replace his real sister, but she feels comfortable and happy at the opportunity to have a brother, especially one who is out of time like she is.   

What does telling the narrative like this sacrifice:  

Frankly, the largest pushback would be from the fans who expected this to be Percy’s book since we just watched Jason rediscover who he is.

Percy’s phone call to his mom doesn’t have the same intensity.  

Frank’s relationship with Mars and how desperate he was to be claimed but now he doesn’t think he can live up to his father’s expectations.  

Frank and his grandmother.  We aren’t in Frank’s head as he changes shape till later.  

Book 3: Mark of Athena The Quest: Close the Divide Between The Two Camps by finding Athena’s statue and Rescue Nico Narrator(s):  Annabeth and Leo

Why Annabeth: 

So I can have all the emotions at the reunion with Percy.  

Annabeth’s relationship with her Mom has never been great, but imagine beginning the book with Annabeth being given the Mark of Athena. They haven’t left for New Rome yet and her nerves are already all over the place.  Then Athena/Minerva comes, gives her an impossible quest, and breaks her hat.   Annabeth wants to prove to her mother that she’s worthy because despite everything she still values her mother’s opinions.  Also her fatal flaw of hubris makes her believe she will succeed where everyone else failed.

Much of the book already follows her in third person limited so we just get things with a little extra emotion.  

Why Leo:  

Leo has to grapple with the fact he started this war by being the one to fire the cannon even if he didn’t have any control.  He is motivated to fix it

If we’re going to include the Sammy plot, we need to do it now.   Leo doesn’t like being the odd one out on the ship but he certainly doesn’t like the feeling of being notable because of his grandfather.  

We still need to get into those feelings of abandonment and anger at Gaea for killing his mom.  

Nemesis 

Leo comes into his own with the discovery of the Archimedes sphere and the decision to value people over objects.  

What does telling the narrative like this sacrifice:

The aquarium shenanigans 

The fight between Jason and Percy in Kansas needs to happen differently so that the others are present and try to stop it.  

Neither of them went ashore to meet Hercules.  

I think we might need to move up the Calypso meeting to this book, but that also kills some of the suspense since Frank will have the fireproof coating prior to his adventures in Venice when he gains faith in his abilities.  It also might mean Leo opens the fortune cookie from Nemesis unless for some odd reason he doesn’t have it.  There’s a lot more narrative weight for it coming later, but in order to get in as many book events as we can in, it might need to come earlier. 

Book 4:  House of Hades Pt. 1

The Quest: Survive Tartarus Narrator(s): Annabeth and Percy

The first time I read House of Hades, I read it out of order (reading all the Percy and Annabeth chapters until they were on the elevator out of Tartarus before going back and reading the others), because I couldn’t handle the back and forth.  I felt like the tension would build, I’d be invested in this plot and then we’d switch to the other plot. Plus I was very concerned for my children.  So I feel fully justified in saying that there is more than enough material to give the two of them their own book.

I just feel like all the feelings would be magnified.  

Percy’s commentary slowly losing its humor because he can’t anymore.

Annabeth’s guilt at having pulled him in being extra loud.  

Downsides beyond adding an entire book: Just imagine all the outrage at two cliffhangers in a row, because you know the book would end with them in the elevator remembering Bob’s words about the stars.   

Book 5:  House of Hades Pt. 2

The Quest:  Close the Doors of Death Narrator(s): Frank and Hazel

Frank and Hazel experience the most growth on the quest to close the doors so this book is all theirs.  Hazel learns to control the mist.  Frank experiments with his transformations.  I want nothing but them growing into themselves and their abilities.  

The good thing about turning the two warring storylines from House of Hades into separate books is that we lose very little plot.  

Book 6:  House of Hades Pt. 3/Blood of Olympus Pt 1 (Personally I would call this one Ambassador of Pluto)

The Quest:  Unite the Gods’ Personalities. Narrator: Nico

To clarify what I mean by HoH 3, I just mean anything done with the intention of trying to cross paths with Reyna, including the adventure with Cupid, in addition to the existing Nico&Reyna plotline in BoO.  

Nico dealing with all the emotions and his most recent near-death experience.

He kept the secret of the camps so the world wouldn’t end in chaos, but now that the world is in chaos he will be the one to fix it.  

In the short time he’s on the Argo 2, Nico realizes that even though this wasn’t his quest; this is his family and he needs to protect them.  

The reader has a pretty good idea Nico is gay, even if the word isn’t explicitly said from the descriptions (his guilty Percy thoughts - he let down the man he loves even if he won’t admit it.) This means that Cupid’s forceful outing is potentially less surprising so the reader can be properly outraged at Cupid.  

Downside: Reyna definitely has adventures when Nico is passed out, especially the whole waking up with the Hunters, but I think it’s excusable for a whole book from Nico’s perspective.  

Also, the battle between the camps and gifting of the statue needs to happen in this book, but we shouldn’t find out if the gods have regained control of their forms yet.  We alleviate some tensions because Camp Half-blood is likely to be overrun with Octavian’s monsters instead of the Roman armies and Gaea could awaken any second, but there’s an odd moment of calm and an uneasy truce.  (Octavian is potentially taken under custody to be held for trial only to escape in the next book.) 

Book 7:  Blood of Olympus Pt 2 (and the aftermath)

The Quest:  Like The Last Olympian, the final book’s focus is entirely on defeating the series’ big bad, in this case, Gaea.  Leo’s quest for the Physician’s cure parallels Percy’s River Styx visit.  

Narrator(s):  Leo and Piper

Leo has his death hanging over his head.  He has decided that he will be the one to die not any of his friends.  He got the cloth from Calypso so the “fire” portion of the prophecy applies to him and not Frank.  (Yes I know you can’t control prophecies, but do you think that’s going to stop Leo.)  

It’s the ultimate revenge for killing his mom.  We can have memories of both the happy times with Esperanza and the fear he felt for thinking he caused the fire. 

Piper’s perspective is necessary as we need to be with her during the fight with the giants.   

This series began with Piper, Leo, and Jason.  It ends that way too with the three of them killing Gaea and the two of them narrating.  

Downsides: 

The Percabeth I love you-the feud is over scene remains in Piper’s perspective.  

Since we’re not following Reyna’s delivery of the statue concurrently we don’t know when to anticipate the healed gods appearing in the battle with the giants.  

The book can still get away with not showing us Percy’s reunion with Sally or forcing Leo to tell the others he’s alive so they’re all grieving. 

[a-dandelion-dreamer]

Word Wanderings Post #1 – The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

This is the beginning of a reread. I’ve loved this author for years and The Raven Cycle is a particular favourite of mine. Please note that if you haven’t read this book, this post will definitely contain spoilers!

The Raven Boys is the first book in a quartet and juggles a multitude of characters, including our four main characters (Gansey, Ronan, Adam and Blue) and our plus one (Noah). While it does have some external conflict, it is mainly driven by the characters and their relationships with one another. This book is complex and dense with detail, with a structure that is a little unusual. Most books or series have a driving hook that catches readers right at the beginning and is the selling tagline. For example, in the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan, it’s Percy finding out he’s secretly a demigod, which directly turns into monsters attacking him and his mom disappearing. In the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, it’s the existence of a game that forces children to fight to the death and then subsequently Katniss volunteering to take her sister’s place at the Reaping. In Six of Crows, it’s a crew of six misfits embarking upon an impossible heist.

Ostensibly, the hook of this book is that Blue is destined to kill her true love with a kiss. That’s what it says on the back of the book, and it’s certainly an overarching threat present for the rest of the series. Tied in as well is Gansey’s search for Glendower, a sleeping king Gansey believes is buried somewhere on a ley line. This is another whole-series thread. The real heart of the story, however, is the boys and Blue and their friendship and their interactions with the other messy pieces of their lives and their search to find meaning and happiness. This type of storytelling is not for everyone, especially those who might enjoy more action-driven tales, but it’s the kind of storytelling I love.

(And in writing and other personal creative projects, I think it’s important to let what you love drive you forwards).

Here are three points I took away from reading this book:

 Point #1: Keeping readers interested by embedding small mysteries

The trick is to make your readers want to know what happens next. This is something I have trouble with and therefore I’m particularly interested in seeing how other books handle it.

Each chapter in this book is written from a different character’s perspective. I’ll include the first and last lines (which I think are brilliantly done) in the form: (first line/last line). Following that, I’ll describe some mysteries that the chapter raises.

Prologue: Blue (“Blue Sargent had forgotten how many times she’d been told that she would kill her true love.”/”’You’re Maura’s daughter,’ Neeve said, and before Blue could answer, she added, “this is the year you’ll fall in love.’”) – pg. 1-4

We’re introduced to the idea that Blue will kill her true love if she kisses him

Which immediately raises the question: who is he? And how does she get from being determined not to fall in love to killing someone with a kiss?

We learn about Blue’s psychic family, which I think is super interesting

Blue’s half-aunt Neeve comes to town and really hits us with that: “This is the year you’ll fall in love.” Pay attention, that line says.

Chapter 1: Blue (“It was freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrived.”/“’There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve, Blue. Either you’re his true love,’ Neeve said, ‘or you killed him.’”) – pg.  5-16

Blue and Neeve watch for the future dead

Blue, the only non-psychic in her family, sees a spirit for the first time

The guy she’s destined to kill or fall in love with (or both)

His name is Gansey, and now we’re wondering who he is

Chapter 2: Gansey (“’It’s me,’ said Gansey.”/”’That seems obvious,’ he answered. ‘We find out who you were talking to.’”) – pg. 17-28

Brilliant cut to Gansey

This guy is very real and because of the previous scene, we want to know who he is

We learn about his quest, which adds another layer of mystery

Gansey also heard Blue, on his recorder, so now he’s wondering about her

We ask ourselves: how will these two meet?

Also, introduces Gansey’s friends Adam and Ronan

Ronan has a tumultuous relationship with his brother Declan

THEY HAVE A NUMBER FOR A PSYCHIC (guess who belongs to a psychic family)

Chapter 3: Blue (“Mornings at 300 Fox Way were fearful, jumbled things.”/”’Blue,’ Maura said finally. ‘I don’t have to tell you not to kiss anyone, right?’”) – pgs. 29-37

Introduces Blue’s house

Introduces Blue’s relationship with her mother Maura

Neeve scries and learns that something is strange about Henrietta

Again, we wonder how Blue and Gansey will meet. And also, is it possible to save Gansey from his fate?

Chapter 4: Adam (“Adam Parrish had been Gansey’s friend for eighteen months, and he knew that certain things came along with that friendship.”/”’Excelsior’, said Gansey, and shut the door behind them.”) – pg. 38-51

Introduces Monmouth Manufacturing

Delves further into Gansey’s quest (will Gansey find what he’s looking for?)

Adam is suspicious that someone is spying on their search

Develops tension between Ronan and Declan

Chapter 5: Whelk (“Barrington Whelk was feeling less than sprightly as he slouched down the hall of Whitman House, the Aglionby admin building.”/”It was possible that Czerny’s death wasn’t for nothing after all.”) – pg. 52-56

Adam was suspicious in the previous chapter and now here’s Whelk, being suspicious

What is this guy’s deal?

Whelk hears Gansey is researching ley lines and suddenly gets very interested

Who is Czerny and how did he die?

Chapter 6: Blue (“Blue wouldn’t really describe herself as a waitress.”/”Neeve had to be wrong. She’d never fall in love with one of them.”) – pg. 57-64

Blue goes to work at Nino’s, the same place Gansey and his crew are going

Blue’s mother calls: Gansey has scheduled a reading

THEY MEET! This is great. They meet and they both dislike each other. They immediately conflict and neither realizes the other is the person they’re looking for.

The dramatic irony is fantastic

Adam is interested in Blue and Blue is a little bit interested in him

How does Blue end up liking Gansey, who she currently hates?

Truly, a mystery

WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN THE TWO MEET AGAIN AT THE PSYCHIC READING???

I could do this for the whole book, but you get the picture. There’s always something the reader is left wondering, even if it’s something small, or a future interaction they’re looking forwards to.

A note: this is particularly effective when it’s tied to personal agency. You want to see what your characters will do, and this means more if you have dynamic characters who make choices.

 Point #2: Atmosphere and memorable locations

Another big strength of this book is the personality that it imbues its settings with. Take three examples: 300 Fox Way, Monmouth Manufacturing and Cabeswater.

 300 Fox Way – the chaotic, full-to-the-brim house where Blue lives with her mom and her aunt and her mom’s two best friends Persephone and Calla and a multitude of other psychic women, all showcased through background details. I love this house and its aesthetic.

              Quote: “Mornings at 300 Fox Way were fearful, jumbled things. Elbows in sides and lines for the bathroom and people snapping over tea bags placed into cups that already had tea bags in them. There was school for Blue and work for some of the more productive (or less intuitive) aunts. Toast got burned, cereal went soggy the refrigerator door hung open and expectant for minutes at a time. Keys jingled as car pools were hastily decided.” – pg 29

 Monmouth Manufacturing – the abandoned factory that Gansey, Ronan and Noah have made their home. They live on the upper floor and the description of the space really doubles as a character portrait for Gansey. Use settings to reveal and further describe your characters!

              Quote: “The high ceiling soared above them, exposed iron beams holding up the roof. Gansey’s invented apartment was a dreamer’s laboratory. The entire second floor, thousands of square feet, spread out before them. Two of the walls were made up of old windows—dozens of tiny, warped panes, except for a few clear ones Gansey had replaced—and the other two walls were covered with maps: the mountains of Virginia, of Wales, of Europe. Marker lines arced across each of them. Across the floor, a telescope peered at the Western sky; at its feet lay piles of arcane electronics meant to measure magnetic activity.

              And everywhere, everywhere, there were books. Not the tidy stacks of an intellectual attempting to impress, but the slumping piles of a scholar obsessed. Some of the books weren’t in English. Some of the books were dictionaries for the languages that some of the other books were in. Some of the books were actually Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Editions.” – pg 41

 Cabeswater — a magical, sentient forest. I love this forest so much. I love the overall portrayal of magic in this series and this forest is my favourite example of that. The trees speak Latin, time is fluid and sometimes the very air manifests your thoughts, so keep a watch on them.

              Quote: “The stream trickled sluggishly out of the woods from between two diamond-barked dogwoods. With Gansey in the lead, they all followed the water into the trees. Immediately, the temperature dropped several degrees. Blue hadn’t realized how much insect noise there was in the field until it was replaced by occasional birdsong under the trees. This was a beautiful, old wood, all massive oak and ash trees finding footing among great slabs of cracked stone. Ferns sprang from rocks and verdant moss grew up the sides of the tree trunks. The air itself was scented with green and growing and water. The light was golden through the leaves. Everything was alive, alive.” – pg 219

 What can I take away from this? Using small, specific details to make a setting unique and memorable can add atmosphere to your novel, showcase characters and make a reader fall in love with a particular place.

 Point #3: Evolving arcs

This story contains a lot of interwoven plot threads. This can be hard to balance (I know from personal experience) but I think this novel pulls it off. It’s very, very good at doing many things at once. The important thing to think about is a beginning, middle and end for different story arcs that you introduce. Here’s one example (of many) from this book.

 Example 1: Noah

Oh Noah. Noah is a brilliant example of an arc in this book and also one of my favourite demonstrations of the fact that sometimes you can hide things right in the open.

First mention (pg. 26). Noah goes out for pizza with the crew, but there is no mention of him going to school or otherwise having a life. This theme will continue: while Gansey, Adam, Ronan and Blue have conflict and fleshed-out internal worlds, Noah is a static character. The first time I read this book, I was like Gansey. I didn’t notice how much Noah was missing until it was explicitly called out.

First line of dialogue: “I’ve been dead for seven years,” Noah said. “That’s as warm as they get.” (pg. 47) (IT’S RIGHT THERE, but yet I didn’t pick up on it. Clever, clever.)

Noah’s room is also described as ‘meticulous’. As in, practically unused.

“Noah, we won’t make you eat,” says Gansey. “Need some more alone time?” says Ronan. More little hints.

The character descriptions are honestly so good, worth a study all in themselves.

Noah doesn’t come to the psychic’s reading or the helicopter trip, which the other boys do

Somehow, he has a canny knack for knowing things and sharing secrets.

“Don’t throw it away.” (pg. 165) (to Gansey)

Gansey calls for Noah but he’s not there (pg. 233)

“Blue permitted Noah to pet the crazy tufts of her hair” (pg. 238). Not particularly arc related but SUPER CUTE.

The gang visits Cabeswater again and finds Noah’s old abandoned car, a red Mustang (not that they realize it yet). In the trunk is a dowsing rod, a sign someone else is looking for ley lines. Noah throws up (from the trauma of his murder).

Blue and Gansey visit the old church and find a body. “The face on the driver’s license was Noah’s.” (pg. 274)

THE BIG SCENE IN WHICH NOAH IS REVEALED AS A GHOST (what a brilliant scene)

“Adam,” he demanded, “what is Noah’s last name?”

“Tell me,” Gansey said, “which classes you share with Noah.”

“When does he eat? Have you ever seen him eat?”

“Does he pay rent? When did he move in? Have you ever questioned it?”

These are all questions Gansey asks his friends, but are also questions we must ask ourselves. We have been fooled in the same way as they have.

“I told you,” Noah said. “I told everyone.” (pg. 278)

“The question is: Who killed you?” (pg. 279)

Noah acts like a real ghost (disappears, reappears, knocks objects off desks)

“Maybe moving it off the ley line had stolen his energy.” (pg. 298) (in regards to Noah’s body)

Noah appears, using Blue’s energy. “I want you to know,” Noah said, “I was…more…when I was alive.” (pg. 305)

“You were the sacrifice, weren’t you Noah? Someone killed you for this.” (pg. 307). It turns out Noah, the friend they didn’t realize was dead, was killed in a ritual similar to the one that is attempted at the end of the novel by their Latin teacher, and is the reason Gansey is alive.

Remember: “Someone else on the ley line is dying when they should not, and so you will live when you should not.” (pg. 271).

It’s all very circular and interwoven and very good plotting.

Noah said, “But you already know.” (pg. 309)  (In regards to who killed him) JUMPCUTS to a scene with Whelk

“I’m going to fix Noah. Somehow.” (pg. 335) (says Gansey)

She allowed him to pet her hair with his icy fingers. “Not so spiky as usual,” he said sadly. (pg. 353)

“Don’t throw it away,” Noah whispered. (pg. 371) To Adam, this time.

Noah warns Gansey that Adam is gone (he is now 100% a spooky ghost boy)

THE MURDERED/REMEMBERED SCENE (breaks my heart). They’re all in Cabeswater again for the climax of the novel and Noah, who doesn’t exist in bodily form, traces words into the dust on his old car

Noah’s funeral: “Please say something to them.” / “Mrs. Czerny, he’s sorry for drinking your birthday schnapps.” (pg. 406-407) (ouch, my heart)

They dig up his bones and rebury them on the ley line

“Can we go home? This place is so creepy.” … ”Noah!” Gansey cried gladly. Blue hurled his arms around his neck. He looked alarmed, and then pleased, and then he pet the tufts of her hair. (pg 408)

 Broadly, the arc looks like this (look how actions lead to consequences which lead to further actions):

The boys have a friend named Noah, who is sometimes there and sometimes not

LOTS OF FORESHADOWING

They find Noah’s dead body

They confront Noah and find out he’s a ghost

The police move his bones so he starts acting like a real ghost

They figure out he was used in an attempted ritual and also that their Latin teacher killed him

The dig up his bones and rebury them on the ley line

Noah comes back

Given what happens later in this series, it’s very important to me that we remember Noah.

 In conclusion

What this book does well:

Keeping readers interested by embedding small mysteries

Atmosphere and memorable locations

Evolving arcs

These are just a few things I noticed on my read-through of The Raven Boys. Stay tuned for further Word Wanderings posts and feel free to give suggestions for books you’d like me to analyze!

Personal Challenge: Pick a book you’re currently reading or an old favorite and try to figure out what keeps you reading, whether it’s little mysteries, character dilemmas or rising tension.

[annabethisterrified]

Book Review: THE TYRANT’S TOMB by Rick Riordan (The Trials of Apollo #4)

“Today, one way or another, the fate of New Rome would be decided.”

THERE ARE NO SPOILERS UNTIL YOU GO BELOW THE CUT!

Reeling from the loss of Jason Grace and the mounting danger of his mission to stop the evil emperors ascendance, Apollo (aka Lester) and Meg arrive disheveled and devastated in New Rome...with a coffin in tow. Getting into Camp Jupiter is tricky enough, and once Apollo and Meg get caught up to speed on the chaos that’s been wreaked in the Bay Area, they realize that the impending battle will be the culmination of everything they’ve been fighting for. Reyna, Frank, and Hazel’s leadership roles put them to the ultimate test as they scramble to prepare for their final stand against Caligula and Commodus. Together, Apollo, Meg, and the inhabitants of New Rome must mourn who they’ve already lost while simultaneously gearing up for the inevitable confrontation that will seal the fate of their home once and for all. 

The penultimate installment of The Trials of Apollo picks up on the heels of The Burning Maze’s tragic conclusion. Through Apollo’s perspective, the reality of what went down in the third book continues to weigh heavily upon the whole cast, but most of their focus is forced forward to an incredibly dangerous confrontation slated for the Blood Moon. Loose ends from the Heroes of Olympus series are tied neatly yet surprisingly, and the continued evolution of Apollo and Meg’s bond shines as the book’s true, gleaming heart. Apollo’s own recognition of his past failings, his father’s abusiveness, and the reality of what his humanity has taught him all come to a head, setting up what’s sure to be an impactful fifth and final book-- not just for Apollo’s journey, but as a capstone for what the whole saga’s implications about what it means to be a hero, and to be a human. 

The Tyrant’s Tomb is consistently entertaining and heartfelt, but the final third of the story proves to be the most deftly-crafted and meaningful. Though not as heavy as its previous installment, this fourth book gives plenty of focus on some lovely development from our main protagonist, priming the series for its finale next fall.

If you click below, there will be spoilers. 

Hello? Okay. You promise you’re good for spoilers...?

All right, just because of who I am as a person I guess, I’ve broken this down into like ten sections. Ooof. Generally, I will say that I was super pleased with how this story went. My only disappointment was that I’d hoped for more of a prolonged or “on-screen” unpacking of the effects of Jason’s death on the Camp Jupiter kids, specifically Reyna. However, I get that that’s kind of hard to do through Apollo’s perspective. I wasn’t totally sold on the idea that he sang a song haha, but I’m glad that Jason’s loss wasn’t just addressed at the beginning and then “moved on” from. It was threaded throughout, showing that grief is not something that you can check off a list. This is something that will always stay with these characters, and alter how they live and feel about things. It ebbs and flows. In addition, I think there could’ve been just a bit more action in the first half of the story, but it was never boring or aimless. And the concluding battle was expertly written and soooooo amazing omfg. Still reeling.

Anyway, let’s go.

FRANKLY, I HAVE NOTHING BUT LOVE

I’m so happy we got the chance to see Frank leading Camp Jupiter as praetor! He did such a good job, but also acknowledged that this is still a new role he’s transitioning into. I was so pleasantly surprised at how he managed to be both authoritative and gentle, and it was gut-wrenching to know that he intended to take Caligula down with him. When I imagined the fallout of Jason’s death, I always pictured Reyna being the one to tear down the emperors in revenge, which was why I was so affected by Frank’s commitment to honoring his friend. Not only did he order Jason’s designs to be built in like thirty hours, but he was so ready to avenge Jason that he was fully prepared to die. 

What. An. Arc. I LOVE HIM. I’m glad he’s finally free of his burden, and that he gets to keep doing an epic job as praetor (though hopefully during more future peaceful times). Camp Jupiter’s lucky to have him. 

SHINE ON HAZEL

Words can’t express how infatuated I was with Hazel in this book. She’s always been one of my favorites, but she really shone in this story. She was already so strong and developed at the end of Heroes of Olympus, but this book still brought her out better and smarter than she was before. She cannot be stopped. Hazel’s determination and grit make her formidable, and she definitely proved to be Rome’s greatest asset throughout the entire story. 

I think it’s great that she gets to step up and take on Jason and Reyna’s former role of praetor...alongside Frank, too! I didn’t expect her to react with anger towards Jason once she found out about his death, but it hit me hard. She initially took Jason’s death to be a reflection of the Seven’s failings as a team. Hazel loved how powerful the bond between them all was, and when Jason took on the burden of TBM’s prophecy alone without confiding in anyone, I can totally see why she felt like that was a betrayal. UGH hit me hard.

REYNA REYNA REYNA!

Reyna is just objectively an amazing character. I’m so so so glad we got to revisit her in this story, and loved where she ended up going. Starting this book, I had literally no idea how she would be handled. She’s always been the quintessential strong leader, which is awesome, but I’m glad we got to unpack the implications behind her very...layered...existence. Leaving Puerto Rico in a traumatic situation, going straight to Circe’s Island, escaping as a pirate, carving out her path in New Rome, getting roped into the Titan then Giant War? Damn. She’s been through a lot, and none of it of her own free will.

Like I mentioned earlier, I wish we’d learned more of how she dealt with Jason’s death. They were obviously really close growing up, and though it was clear she was devastated and things were referenced “off-screen”, I still kind of wish we’d gotten a bit more. Regardless, I liked that the focus of her presence in this book was about HERSELF and nobody else. 

And hello!!!!! She has a red truck!!!! and goes out hiking with her greyhounds??? makes me so glad. 

And yeah-- that ending, huh? I know it got mixed reactions. Personally, it felt pretty natural to me. I’m so glad she stayed in touch with Thalia after the events of HoO, and knowing that they’ll be on eternal adventures with a bunch of other wonderful girls....happy sigh. Reyna’s right-- this is kind of a much-needed vacation by joining Artemis’s team. No matter how long or short she stays with them, it’s important that she’s able to reclaim her destiny and figure out what and who she’d like to be. 

APOLLO & MEG

These two!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy shit. Their bond was so well handled and I loved seeing how it developed in this installment. They can communicate on an instinctual level-- they can call each other out, and recognize the abusive patterns both of their fathers have over them. They have so much in common, but also have so much to teach one another. I loved that they were both able to tell each other “I love you” and ughhhh yes the sibling dynamic is so epic. (Also, the whole Reyna and Meg ganging up on Apollo about Koronis bit was hysterical.) (And the “I thought you loved me?” “I’m multitasking.”) 

WHERE TO NEXT?

Just because I haven’t said this yet, but HOLY MOLY I adored Lavinia. Oh my god. She was amazing-- hilarious, presumptuous, go-getter, kind...what a star!!! What a joy to read!

Anyway, now it’s onto the fifth and final installment...THE TOWER OF NERO. I’m so happy that we’re going back to where this story started (in both Hidden Oracle and The Lightning Thief)....New York! And it sounds like also a potential field trip to Delphi, Greece? I’m down!

I’m assuming we’ll be able to tag up with Annabeth, since she’s the only main-player we haven’t yet revisited in ToA. And probably also Percy, Nico, Will, Austin, Kayla, etc. at Camp Half Blood. 

There’s a lot of ways this could all go down, but I think this book set up a heart-wrenching conclusion. I’m looking forward to Apollo and especially Meg standing up to their fathers and claiming their own lives. I’m not even sure if Apollo will want to be returned to godhood by the time his trials are up. We delved into some really interesting threads in this book-- he mentioned several times that he’d only ever felt comfortable and “at home” when he was human. What will that mean for his final trial? 

In either case, this book was fabulous and I’m so glad we got a chance to learn more about Camp Jupiter and New Rome...and I feel like a lot got resolved, so it felt like a satisfying way to say goodbye to the California crew. I doubt they’ll be in the last book, so it was bittersweet but fitting to leave them as we did!

Now, we wait. One last time! Thanks for reading this if you made it all the way down, haha!

[thebookishgoddess]

THE HIDDEN ORACLE (THE TRIALS OF APOLLO #1) BYRICK RIORDAN - 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

How do you punish an immortal? By making him human. After angering his father Zeus, the god Apollo is cast down from Olympus. Weak and disorientated, he lands in New York City as a regular teenage boy. Now, without his godly powers, the four-thousand-year-old deity must learn to survive in the modern world until he can somehow find a way to regain Zeus’s favour. But Apollo has many enemies - gods, monsters and mortals who would love to see the former Olympian permanently destroyed. Apollo needs help, and he can think of only one place to go … an enclave of modern demigods known as Camp Half-Blood.

Review type: Breakdowns and spoilers

                        “How do you punish an immortal?                                        By making him human.”

Uncle Rick has done it again. He never fails to impress me with his action-packed stories and witty humor. I thought that after Blood of Olympus that his Greek myth stories are done for. Thank the gods that it isn’t. I was so happy when I found out that the PJO/HOO (now PJO/HOO/TOA) fandom is still alive thanks to our ever-amazing author. And yet again, it’s still a good read as ever.

Apollo is a very, very, very pretentious god. That’s quite obvious in this book. There are a bit irritating lines to it, but I don’t expect less from a vain god and how Rick would portray him. Some gods truly are self-centered. Anywho, I still liked Apollo here. Not as entertaining as Percy would protrude or Leo would execute, but still just as good and decent. His character development here is actually amazing. I know a thing or two about losing something or having something important to you be taken away, so the whole five stages of grief jazz in Apollo’s case is a dust to dust.

Now the new character here, which happens to be Meg, a not-so surprising daughter of Demeter (just based off when she conjured up Peaches the karpoi, I already knew), was okay. I don’t particularly hate her, and I don’t particularly like her. She’s a whiny 12-year old and at times a bit annoying when she needs a lot of things up to speed. I can’t blame her, though. It would really have to take Apollo’s demo video for new campers to get her in line. I do like how she brings a certain dynamic to the story, and how she’s able to tame the great god Apollo. Sorry, Lester Papadopolous. She should be able to do that, though. After all, she and Apollo are bound to each other, no thanks to Apollo’s bloody punishment of being tied to serve someone as a mortal. Overall, she’s a good character and I don’t expect much from her except the high hopes that she doesn’t mess everything up especially after that huge plot-twist came to light.

Side characters here are great! I loved the new demi-gods. I expected to hate them, since I got so used to the old ones (like Clarisse, Connor, Travis, Chris, etc.) that I dare not accept new characters to come in. But I actually really loved them. Especially Apollo’s kids, Kayla and Austin. I really would love to see more of them in the future. The only side character I found greatly odd here was Rhea, the mother goddess (aka the Olympians’s [Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Hestia and Demeter] mom). The way Rick portrayed her felt really off. Let me put it this way. Hippie mom. Yeaaaaah, nope. I did not like that at all. I’d expect the Titan mother to be this classy lady, like Audrey Hepburn-ish. I guess that’s always been my vision for Rhea in Rick’s world (seemingly because I wrote a fanfic verse of Rhea), and Rick shattered it. But that’s not such a big deal.

Best thing that ever happened here was Leo and Calypso. OH MY GODS YASSS. I love Leo and he’s honestly one of my favorite characters in the series. The fact that yes, he’s still alive, and is now one of the important parts of Apollo’s trials makes this series ten times better because… Leo.Overall, this was an amazingly great read. Only took me two days to finish. It’s still action-packed, more or less. Not as exciting as the first installment (PJO) but I hope that’ll develop overtime. I highly recommend this to literally everyone who wants to see what happened after Blood of Olympus. THE FANDOM IS NOT DEAD YET. PRAISE THE GODS!

                 “That’s the nice thing about being human.        We only have one life, but we can choose what kind                                     of story it’s going to be.”