#annabeth chase crit

[fate-of-the-envious]

For those who want a list of anti-percabeth stuff:

Percabeth shippers do not enter! (I warned you)

Do not spread hate on people who like or dislike Percabeth, please. These are simply opinions on a fictional character.

How is canon Annabeth Abusive?

Concerning things in Chalice of the Gods

The Judoflip in HOO

How I feel about Annabeth Chase

Reverse Roles for Percabeth

Annabeth's and Percy's different life goals

Percy didn't give up immortality for her

The Concern with House Husband Percy

Percy isn't a person outside of Annabeth

The logical conclusion to Percabeth

If Annabeth had powers

Percy is wiser than Annabeth

Annabeth is not Penelope; she is Calypso.

Annabeth's jealously of Rachel

[cynthiav06]

A big part of the fandom doesn't deserve to have Percy as a protagonist because of how they treat him and mischaracterize them to make their own favorite characters "better", more sympathetic or more tragic. Can they stop blaming Percy for Bianca's death? No offense to her stans but what was Percy to do when SHE was the one who stole from a fucking junkyard where they were specifically warned not to touch/take anything? Plus isn't she the one who basically abandoned her brother and joined the Huntresses? Can they stop acting as if Percy is stupid when he is actually better at coming up with strategies where no one gets hurts or killed *cough*unlike a certain blonde*cough*? Can they stop excusing Annabeth for being such a shitty person to Percy and anyone interested in him romantically or platonically? Can they fucking understand that her "cute nickname" to her boyfriend "Seaweed brain" is actually an insult and not a cutesy little token of love? Can they understand that judo flipping him, punching/hitting/etc him and liking to make him anxious is what typical toxic and abusive partners do? I don't care that she was abused and neglected as a child, having been abused is an explanation never an excuse. Percy was also abused by his stepdad and yet he doesn't act like her. Also another thing (and this one might be heavily controversial but) Sally Jackson is a loving mom, she tried her best for her kid but she is not a good mom, she was selfish in her love and got herself and her kid stuck with an abusive bastard for years despite the fact that she had safer options. At this point I feel like we didn't even read the same books or that these people didn't even read the series they just watch youtube and tiktok videos that are mostly filled with misinformation and headcanons.

I know I am extremely late in my response but hopefully not 'late to your own funeral' level of late. It was partly due to health problems and back to back exams I had and partly due to my procrastination habits. Which is why now that I am considerably free, I am trying to answer all the asks in my inbox.

I absolutely agree with most of the things you have said. I myself am extremely tired of repeating the same things over and over again to the fandom but I am under no delusions that any posts debunking biased takes, character assassination headcanons and absolutely baseless assumptions will actually stop anything or even change anyone's opinions.

These posts are just for people with similar mindset to interact with something that finally meets with their pov and aren't led to feeling isolated in the fandom due to monopoly canon ships and other such topics have in fandom posts. Sort of to create a safe space cause I myself was spared of the worst of the fandom's wrath due to there already being an established anti percabeth community, small but reliable and supportive. I even had to the fortune of never receiving a single death threat, at least in this fandom, and I want to make sure that any new mutuals I have get the same experience.

For the whole Percy being blamed for no absolute reason and for completely made-up reasons for the Nico-Bianca situation, I have already made a post here.

Percy being more strategic than Annabeth was something I have stated in multiple posts but mostly here. And Rick himself did give us proof, too, both about Percy getting better grades than Annabeth and how Seaweed brain is, in fact, an insult.

I really believe that Percy and Annabeth's lack of nuanced emotional interactions, contrasting goals, and really conflicting fatal flaws all make up for a doomed relationship scenario. Percy finds himself unable to share about any of his trauma with Annabeth, and he also seems very insecure about their relationship and believes he can't live up to Annabeth's expectations or is being a bad boyfriend. Annabeth doesn't seem to be able to pick up on any of this, and without proper conversation, they are both chafing. Not to mention, Annabeth's toxic habits are not something Percy will ever address, and eventually, they will both just end up resenting each other. I had an idea about Percabeth break up and why and how it would occur, and I have posted about it here, and that's all I really want to say on that matter.

As for the Sally Jackson bit, I am actually planning on a Sally centric post. I have read so many takes on her and Percy's relationship and I am in the process of making it. Will definitely tag you in that.

Though what I will say is that, while Sally's love for Percy was very selfish, I think it was realistically rooted in her own trauma, the two way abandonment issues between both her and Percy and a mother's desperation.

Because for all the trauma Percy suffered under Gabe, you have to remember Sally suffered twice as much. She sent Percy off to boarding schools to spare him most of Gabe's influence while she suffered both physical and mental abuse throughout the six years she was with Gabe. The fact that Sally was willing put herself and Percy through the trauma of Gabe's abuse should highlight just how desperate she was to keep Percy with herself. And how despite all of Gabe's abuse he would face at home if he stayed, Percy resented Sally for sending him away to boarding school.

There's such an intricate codependency and deep-rooted trauma, maybe even generational trauma there. I really want to explore all of that cause I think Sally had very simple motivations and put herself and Percy through such complex methods to try and achieve those motivations permanently.

So yeah, there will be a post on that soon. I will tag you in that one, and there's another one I have to get to just before that. It's a Frank and Percy centric post, and I really loved that idea and I think I have most of my thoughts ready for both these posts. So expect them by the end of the week for sure.

[berrybore]

The cognitive dissonance of some of the Annabeth Stans should be studied seriously. They’ll write a long ass post about how badass and amazing she is while making her out to be a disgusting individual without even realizing it.

[cynthiav06]

Oh my God. How did I forget this one??? Peak Percy Jackson! I swear Son of Neptune was everything. Percy, Hazel, and Frank is the best trio. There, I said it. Yes, I like it even more than the original trio. And finally, Percy's getting the thirdwheeling experience, lol. Grover is glad.

This book and Son of Sobek have my favorite Percy characterization of all time. Not to mention short stories like Sword of Hades and The Stolen Chariot.

I know I have said the same thing before, but I will say it again, Percy's best and most consistent characterization comes from when he goes solo on something. [He almost always went solo in each book of the original series, and we got pure Percy based writing]. Others who have yet to reread these books, please do. They are so good.

At this point, Rick, if you want to recover, just give Percy a solo book again. By solo, I mean no Percabeth involved or Annabeth involved. Percy has been so undermined and twisted by Rick just to put Annabeth on a pedestal. What the hell kind of relationship is that anyway? Until Rick learns how to write both Percy and Annabeth properly in a relationship without being unjust to both of them, just give them solo books. Or drop the ship. Either way, just do one or the other.

cant believe the same man who wrote wottg percy also wrote THIS

people literally drowning out him out with applause when he tried to downplay himself?? making him walk around the mess hall because they wanted to be his friend?? "I want to be percy jackson when I'm older"??

take me back to when percy was characterised like this I beg of you rick

[miracumess]

i don't think some of y'all understand how significant it is that annabeth chase, the leading lady in an IP/brand as big as percy jackson, is played by a black girl. she is not some sidekick or comic relief. THEE annabeth chase, one of the wisest, intelligent, brave demigods and love of percy jackson's life, is played by a BLACK GIRL!!

but you're so hateful and caught up with book inaccuracies and changes that you can't even offer a sliver of hope for things to improve in continuing seasons, and instead immediately resort to wishing the show gets cancelled because they didn't do that specific thing in that specific scene in the books. makes me think there might be another underlying reason as to why you want it to fail.

and before someone starts, this isn't to say you can't have criticism, but if you really love percy jackson, why wouldn't your hope be for things to get better?

"i hope this show gets cancelled" yeah girl fuck you

[fourcornersofcreation]

SAY IT LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK

Annabeth stans are like "well characters are allowed to have flaws >:(" — like yes, characters having flaws is great, but if they're written as flaws. If the so called flaws are never so much as acknowledged as flaws within the narrative, maybe that's not the Deep Nuanced writing you all act like it is. "She's like that because of her trauma!!!1!" Maybe, but if a character treats people like shit because of her trauma and then never recovers from said trauma, that's not satisfactory writing.

The issue is not Annabeth having flaws or being traumatized or using unhealthy coping mechanisms or whatever. The issue is said behaviours being written as inherent to her character and not even being shown as flaws or trauma response, and her never developing to heal from her trauma or overcome her flaws. Rick never tried to make Annabeth get her shit together and become a better person because fans love her as she is and it gets him money.

[cynthiav06]

https://www.tumblr.com/lilislegacy/777117213311336448/httpswwwtumblrcomfate-of-the-envious74879588?source=share

Ah, that's a good one. The source post that is. Not op's take on it. Nothing against the op. They have some good Percy takes. I am not sure why anon didn't send this to @fate-of-the-envious themselves considering they would probably have a more apt reply for this as the source post is theirs. But I will do my best to break it down instead.

Before we begin, to those who have been sending me similar asks may have missed my recent post on going on a hiatus again soon. It would be beneficial for both me and the anons/followers to use the navigation bar on my blog page to search all the posts relevant to anti percabeth tag or any other tag you want. Because I assure you at least for anti percabeth whatever post you think you want made chances are I have already made it. I have made a lot of posts so a nav page is a bit hard to make, I am in process of making it but please until then utilize this method.

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Now, the post (which I implore you to check it out first) is about the scene in Chalice of the Gods where Annabeth pushes Percy of a cliff. Op links that to the Judo flip scene and says neither is abuse and normal rules can't be applied to demigods like Percy and Annabeth but she does agree that it was an inappropriate reaction from Annabeth both times so at least that’s something. Let's deal with this one at a time.

Let's get the Judo flip out of the way. I don't know why everyone focuses on the wrong thing with the Judo flip. Annabeth was high on emotions and the Judo flip was definitely a terrible response considering she was also unaware of whether Percy still had his Achilles curse or not given that she flipped him on the small of his back where his mortal tether is. Even if she knew the curse was gone that is in no way a response of someone who has been intensely missing their boyfriend and was in great pain without the said boyfriend. But I am willing to ignore all of this even because funny enough that's not the most concerning thing about the Judo flip. The MOST CONCERNING part of the Judo flip is that Annabeth BLAMES Percy for getting KIDNAPPED and having his memories BRAINWASHED. That's where I draw the line.

Also if op wants to point out the actual terrible implications in Chalice of the Gods about percabeth, not only does Annabeth do all of the above, she MAKES PERCY APOLOGIZE for what was clearly assault against him as evidenced by Percy's conversation with Grover.

She is putting her own distress at him being missing ABOVE PERCY'S PAIN AND PERCY'S SITUATION. We don't get a single scene where Annabeth comforts or consoles Percy about everything that happened to him. Being dropped in the middle of no where, constantly hunted by creatures that kept resurrecting, being in enemy territory with no memory and a thousand other horrible traumatic situations that PERCY HAD TO FACE.

Okay now getting back to the scene in Cotg where Annabeth pushes Percy off the cliff.

First, the op goes on about how Percy was unhurt and fine, and he is powerful so he can heal himself and so on. Yes, obviously, yes, he's bloody Percy Jackson. But I think everyone's missing the point. Just looking at the start point and the end point isn't enough. What happened in between is just as important. Yes Percy can heal himself, yes he is the strongest demigod but he is also just a teenager who feels pain just as acutely as a human [mentioning this cause op says that we don't know if demigods feel pain the same way] and it's not just me. Percy himself mentions this.

It was obviously painful. He goes far enough to call it worst case of heartburn. Sure it healed right after but it was very painful.

And let's get to the worst part. Percy was quite literally having a very traumatic experience especially if it made him feel like his child self, scared and powerless.

So we have disproved the first point which stated that he was completely fine and it wasn't painful. Yes he healed, but he wasn't at all fine and it was definitely painful. My guy was having a breakdown from it. Which part of that seems okay?

Now the op says that Percy had priorly said yes to a suggestion to jump, let me emphasize jump. Annabeth pushed him off without warning but I am sure she thought it was fine, Percy was a bit irritated but he let it go. We will let this one pass. What however should have been Annabeth's response is that she should have checked on Percy, she should have been at least a bit guilty that Percy was going to have to do all the painful stuff. Because as op says the river god was going to attack anyway and Percy was the only one who could deal with that but there's no acceptance on Annabeth's side for the gravity of what's she made Percy do. Because she was right there watching him being thrown around and beaten up heavily while having a tea party with the river god [not her fault it was a good distraction] but all she did was tap on her watch and tell Percy to hurry up. No consideration for his pain or what he was going through, not during the situation nor after it. Now Annabeth out of everyone should be attuned to Percy's emotional state. Given the sheer scale of his out of control response she must have been able to tell it was not an okay experience. Percy pulled the entire river bed off and completely rearranged it. So that should have been a clue but not Annabeth, she calls it GOING OVERBOARD later on.

Also let's go back to the part where she pushes him off. Percy wants to take it slow. He says he does but nope Annabeth just straight up pushes him off. Op says it's Annabeth being sarcastic or funny but it's obviously not what Percy wanted to do in that moment.

And we all have seen Annabeth repeatedly getting physical with Percy, and it's completely one-sided to the point where Percy just has to tolerate and get used to her hitting him. There are various books where he says he was afraid she was going to hit him. Now the problem with that is Annabeth's medium for expressing rage is also her medium for having fun with him and that's not a healthy thing cause Percy obviously has bad experiences with physical abuse and latent trauma from it and he shouldn't have to get used to Annabeth's unhealthy ways of expressing herself at his own expense. Annabeth loves him, so she should do better because Percy has gone above and beyond for her every time. surely he deserves Annabeth being soft with him and surely a relationship should have healthy and positive emotional expression medium between them. Shouldn't Annabeth as a person deserve to be able to move on with some of her unhealthy coping mechanisms as a sign of recovery from her own trauma as well? For herself and for Percy? Between Annabeth teasing his intelligence and hitting him constantly, we see zero to none.

So yes it may not be outright abuse but it is heading towards it because at what point are we going to acknowledge Annabeth has a very bad way of expressing herself to Percy and it has consistently involved violence and or demeaning remarks? She literally punches him in the stomach in The Titan's Curse because Percy doesn't ask her to dance when she was the one who wanted him to do so while not giving him any hint and or idea that she wanted such a thing.

I know why everyone in Percabeth community gets defensive over the word abuse as they should because it's not a small thing but surely we can acknowledge that there's some disconnect between what Annabeth wants to convey and how she conveys it that stands contradictory to her orignal intention and also that she fails to see the harm in this?

Now we might have different takes on how a relationship goes but I firmly stand by my own. I have nothing against those who ship it but that does no mean those of us who do not ship it are doing so on baseless grounds.

[starryxcore]

"controlling percys friend network and lowkey isolating him" JUST PUT THE FRIES IN THE BAG BRO 😭🙏

[fate-of-the-envious]

No hate to you op, but you took things out of context. But before I go into that, thank you for telling people not to go attacking others for having different opinions. I honestly don't care if you like or dislike Annabeth, it's just an opinion about a fictional character after all. However, what I do mind is you putting words in my mouth and saying I was giving false information and taking things out of context.

Literally on the next page, when you said they "planned" things out, Percy talks about wanting a plan.

Yes, they were running out of time, as Grover was in danger, but that doesn't make Annabeth pushing him off the cliff in any way okay.

Also, in my original post I never wrote the words "filthy" or "dirty" about the water, nor do I see how I manipulated the narrative when I clearly labeled my post "Concerning Snippets..." meaning it just shows snippets of the concerning stuff. And that is the context! Sure, water is Percy's element, but that doesn't automatically mean he'll be fine. In Sea of Monsters, Percy wasn't about to control the Charybdis' water, could only try to keep the boat from capsizing. And Annabeth was there, she knows that not all water is in his element.

This isn't Percy being babied or looked as weaker. This is looking at a TEENAGER whose partner seems to have little care for his well-being. Percy may be a powerful demigod, but he is still mortal. He can still feel pain and die. Even if Percy says it's fine AFTERWARDS, doesn't make the before okay.

Percy is a naturally forgiving person towards those he's loyal to, as his fatal flaw is personal loyalty. Like if Percy did that to Annabeth, she would punch his lights out for pushing her off a cliff with no warning (whether he trusted in her abilities or not). And imagine if Percy was watching her and tapping his wrist impatiently while she was beat up (even if she was magically healed) by a god. How is that showing love and care towards your partner? It's not.

Also, here are some great examples of the unhealthy relationship in Canon if you reverse the roles. Honestly, they really put the relationship into perpective.

Also, for a more in-depth breakdown of this specific post, another user and I go into this a lot more here.

https://www.tumblr.com/fate-of-the-envious/748795886289780736/concerning-snippets-from-pjo-chalice-of-the-gods?source=share

So, I'm neutral on Percabeth, but this post kind of has a point.

Do you have any counter arguments for these points? I want to keep an open mind and you seem like you'd have some good arguments.

Anon, thank you for the ask. I typically don’t respond to requests that want me to talk about someone else’s post, but I have some serious points to make here and I mean business. I am not trying to start anything or call OP out; I am just stating my own personal interpretation of this scene, along with other quotes that I will inform you all of, and the possible issues brought up. Nobody go attack OP. They have a right to believe what they believe and to post what they want.

For those who don’t click the link (though I think you should), the original poster is discussing the scene in Chalice of the Gods where Annabeth pushes Percy off the cliff into the water. The post basically says that Annabeth endangered him by not telling him what was going to happen, pushed him into dirty, unsafe water, and is responsible for him getting harmed and bloodied up. Then they say that this is proof that Percabeth is an unhealthy relationship.

So, I have two major thoughts on this post, and one major problem with it.

My first thought: I think it goes back to the same thing that the judo flip does. Was it the best way to do things? No. But was she abusing him? No.

I feel like people keep trying to act as if Percy and Annabeth are regular human beings. They are not. Can we as a fandom PLEASE stop acting like they have similar experiences, expectations, and physical limitations as regular people? As if they don't almost die on a consistent basis? As if danger isn't part of their everyday life?

The words “push him off a cliff” are alarming to us because we imagine a giant mountainside and immediate death. But that was far from the case here. She pushed him off a little hillside ledge into some water. Could a regular human get hurt from that? Sure. But again: they are NOT human. They are half-god. They are hybrids—humanoids, even. They don't get hurt or feel pain like we do. How many freaking times have they been slammed into concrete walls by giants? Pounced on by huge mythical creatures? Slashed, stabbed, and wounded by vicious monsters? Stuff that would immediately kill any one of us? A LOT. And each time, they are fine.

He is not going to get hurt like we would, and since she's the same way, she knows that.

My second thought, which I cannot stress enough:

She pushed him... into WATER. You know, his godly element—the thing that, when he's in it, puts him at his most powerful state; the same thing that heals any injuries he has; the thing over which he has total control and in which he spends most of his time.

By pushing him into the water, Annabeth put him in the safest possible scenario. Are people not reading the scene? The only way Percy was going to complete the quest (and it had to be him who did it) AND beat the river god was by being in the water. It gives him control over the situation.

Now for my major problem: The original post gives false information and takes everything out of context.

If you actually read the book, you’ll see that Annabeth KNEW he would be able to breathe because the water was not dirty where she pushed him in. In fact, right before he goes in, Percy states that the water below was “clear as glass, free of snakes, and just begging to be canonballed into” (pg. 126). Need I say more? (Don’t worry, I’m about to.)

THEN he says, “On the downside, it was ringed by sheer cliffs, with no obvious way down unless I wanted to ride the rapids downriver through Serpent Town.” So he knew he needed to jump in because that was the safest way for him to get there.

THEN Annabeth suggests, “You could jump in with the staff,” and Percy quite literally says, “Sure,” so now Annabeth knows he’s willing to jump down into it. But then Percy follows with, “The problem is climbing back up.”

However, Annabeth, ever so prepared, pulls out a rope. So Percy does have a safe way back up. She’s got him.

Then Percy remembers the river god and suggests that they take some time and make a plan, but then, from afar, they hear Grover start playing music, which means the deadly snakes were now all after Grover. Percy then goes, “The clock has started. Grover is in trouble.” And Annabeth says, “Times up.” That’s when she pushes him over.

He was going to jump in no matter what. That WAS planned. They discussed it. They were going to discuss a plan for what would happen if the river god showed up, but since their best friend was now in danger and both of their priorities were to protect him, they did not have time to make a plan. So Annabeth put the plan in action KNOWING that he would be okay in the water.

The only reason he got hurt—AFTER he landed safely and completely unharmed in the water—was because the river god attacked him, which was going to happen regardless when he tried to mess with the river. And then guess what happens IMMEDIATELY after the river god hurts him? The water—that Annabeth pushed him into, mind you—HEALED him. Just like it always has. Just like Annabeth knew it would if something were to happen.

The original post did not give half the information. It made it seem like Percy had no idea what was going to happen and that they hadn’t discussed it at all. The original post tells everyone that the water was filthy and that Annabeth didn’t know if he could breathe in it. The original post tells everyone that Percy was harmed BECAUSE of the jump. The original post tells everyone that it’s Annabeth’s fault that the river god harmed Percy—none of which are the case at all. The post is just a bunch of false statements coupled with out-of-context screenshots designed to manipulate people into feeling like they have to hate Annabeth Chase. It’s fine to not like Percabeth, but this post manipulates both the book and the viewers. Now, it’s fine to post opinions, but THIS aspect is not okay.

Now, could Annabeth have said, “Hurry! Jump!!”? Yes, she could have. That would have been the more gentle thing to do. But this was clearly a moment where a girlfriend thought it would be funny to push her boyfriend into some water—that he was about to dive into—instead of him jumping. No one here has ever pushed someone into a pool or off a diving board? Huh? I think it shows that their relationship is safe and comfortable enough that they can do things like that without it being a big deal. I feel like in most demigod relationships, this would not be seen as an issue. The only reason it seems to be on a larger scale here is because it's from a significant height, which again I'll remind you: doesn't get hurt easily + gets healed and powered by water = no injury happening. Annabeth also knew that Percy was comfortable jumping down into the water. It seems like a harmless situation to me. She made the decision knowing full well that he would be okay and safe because the water protects him. And all the negative and scary things that happened afterward were because the river god didn't want Percy to mess with the river. But Percy needed to mess with the river. Annabeth pushing him in did not cause that conflict.

Also, people are giving Percy no credit??? Why are we acting like he’s a weak little baby? This is Perseus Jackson, two-time Hero of Olympus, son of the brutal sea god. This guy is tough as nails, and Annabeth knows that and has full confidence in his abilities. People get mad when she is all soft and gentle with him because she’s “babying him,” but then when she treats him like an equal, capable demigod, they get mad because “she’s abusing him.” After she pushes him, Percy literally says that by doing it, Annabeth had “full confidence in [his] abilities” (pg. 128). She trusted that he could handle it because they are demigods and they HAVE to be able to handle things like this. She has seen him go through far, far worse than landing in some clean water and facing a minor god. She believes in him.

And isn't it somewhere around this time that Percy teaches Magnus, Annabeth's cousin, how to survive spontaneous deep plunges into icy cold water? Percy is such an expert on this that he teaches her cousin how to do it. Additionally, Percy and Annabeth quite literally fell into Tartarus—a slightly further drop than this—together, and survived because at the last minute they hit water, which protected Percy. And physically, he was fine then too. Plunging into water from heights is not a new experience for this dude. In fact, he's on the diving team at school—a little different, since that's coordinated, but still—the guy is very used to hitting water from heights. It's quite literally a daily thing for him. The only thing that shocked him here was the temperature of the water. And, mind you, this man has been to the bottom of the ocean. He recovered very quickly. Do people really think Annabeth pushed him in without the complete and utter certainty that he would be completely fine? I cannot stress how casual this is for him.

I would also like to add that Percy was in no way actually upset at her. A tad annoyed? Maybe, if you want to stretch things even more. But then, like, 2 seconds later after the river events, he's saying how cute she is, saying he loves her, kissing her, and they are laughing together. He is fine. They are fine. And if the roles were reversed and Annabeth was a daughter of the sea god and Percy affectionately pushed her off a ledge into some water, it still wouldn't be concerning.

I really do appreciate people like OP here wanting to call out harmful relationships in fiction, and I am never afraid to criticize Rick Riordan. I myself have said that I don't like how Annabeth acted in Wrath of the Triple Goddess (though I hold that against Rick, not Annabeth, since Rick openly admits he's writing them differently now to mirror the TV show versions). But Percy and Annabeth have consistently demonstrated themselves as mature, responsible, and kind human beings who love and support each other and make each other feel very safe and valued. Everyone is welcome to have their opinions and post whatever, but I really do think we should channel these types of discussions towards far more deserving issues, especially those that actually have factual reasoning behind them rather than false claims.

[helpallthenamesaretaken]

remember when percy used to just casually bribe people? and then target their insecurity to manipulate them to get what he wanted? because i do. every day.

[punkeropercyjackson]

Women in stem(sacrilege,transfeminism,enrichment,mythology)

[ofir553]

"Chiron doesn't discriminate between campers."

Annabeth, accepts to read the prophecy because she wants to.

Percy? The child of the prophecy himself? Can't read the prophecy until it comes true.

Annabeth listens in on conversations, puts campers in danger, doesn't do her job as a guide, interrogates campers...

Chiron: "Curious girl, how cute."

Percy responds to the threat?

Chiron: "Punishment."

[blade-liger-4ever]

Relationship Analysis: Percabeth is Romanticized Toxicity

Believe me, I know I'm walking into the middle of a firing squad here. But you know something? I don't give a tinker's curse about the hornet's nest I'm about to disturb. I'm tired of men being abused in ships that are glorified by the fandom, and as such I could care less about who gets upset by the truth.

Anti Annabeth Chase/Percabeth people are welcome, but those who adore the ground she walks on are obligated to leave, posthaste.

Now, without further meandering, let's tear down this abusive relationship.

Annabeth: A Self-Righteous Narcissist

As can be told by any of a number of PJO fans, Annabeth Chase suffered depression from the belief that her parents hated her, was tormented by spiders once as a child, and ran away and fought monsters so that she could be free of her home life at age seven. While that last is inane considering how tiny and fragile she was at the time, it's these actions that led her running into the arms of Luke Castellan and Thalia Grace, who formed a pseudo family with her until they came to Camp Half-Blood, where Annabeth's woe filled story was capped off with Thalia getting turned into a tree for her own protection and then numerous strained exchanges with her father before Luke's later fall from grace.

Naturally, this is traumatizing. I would not mind such a backstory for Annabeth if she didn't throw it around as an excuse to abuse the people (effectively her own family, too) around her twenty-four/seven, and Percy Jackson in particular.

Annabeth consistently turns her nose up at Percy, throws his Poseidon heritage against him as an insult simply because their divine parents hate each other, demeans his intelligence in the exact opposite way his stepfather Gabe does, and physically assaults him from the age of twelve until they are sixteen....all while expecting Percy to know that she's in love with him.

Remind me again, how is physical, mental, and verbal abuse supposed to be clues that a girl loves a guy?

I don't care how traumatized Annabeth is. I don't care how drop-dead gorgeous she is. I don't care how much backside she can kick. This is unacceptable behavior.

From the start of their friendship, Annabeth props herself up as the brains and insists that Percy would be dead without her. This is ignoring the fact that she nearly died because of her hubris of improving a building's design in Sea of Monsters, where he literally had to drag her out of the water lest she drown. And speaking of, she also never cared about Percy's feelings. Keep in mind, she took the opportunity throughout the entire book to be racist towards his innocent little brother because he was a cyclops when it was clear that he wasn't like the others of his kind, which is then made worse by her taking the chance his "death" in the novel provided her with to play victim and say "look I get you liked your bro, but I knew so many bad ones that I had to kill, it's a miracle he wasn't anything like that."

Stuff that talk, you viper of a female. Percy's little brother just died in front of him. He needs comfort and sympathy, not your personal saga of a sob story.

Not once does Annabeth apologize for this moment, or even for her repeated assaults on him. It is an established fact in-universe that Percy is afraid of getting hit by her, which happens all the time even when he tries being careful with what he say to her. Furthermore, Annabeth isn't even pleased with his attempts when they start dating. When he sets up a picnic out in the field with pizza and sandwiches as the meal, Annabeth complains that she was "hoping for a bit more" than something so simplistic. Woman, I'd swoon if a man offered to take me on a date like that, and love it if he took me to the lake shore. Why is something as sweet and normal as that unsatisfactory? Because it's something mortals would do, and you hate mortals as much as you do monsters?

And she never improves.

Annabeth reacts violently to Percy leaving her sight twice in the franchise: the first time when she thinks he's died, the second time as part of Hera's second prophecy thing in Heroes of Olympus. And unsurprisingly, she reacts to his return with violence. She screams at him the first time, judo flips and pins his throat the second time, and both times threatens him into never doing that again when he was forcibly taken from the Camp. Then in the second arc, she torments him by making him nervous by bringing up Rachel, the one woman who posed a threat to her place as number one girl in Percy's heart, and essentially treated him as a monster for utilizing a heretofore unknown poison power he had that Percy had used to save her life.

Saying that it's her nerves, her upbringing as a child soldier, her trauma, or all of the above is a flat out excuse for abusive behavior. If a man did to a woman half the things Annabeth did to Percy, he'd be thrown in the deepest cell where he'd never see the light of day again, and rightly so.

The fact that everyone, in and out of universe, laughs and fawns all over her whipping of Percy in this relationship is borderline sadistic. It is not cute, it is not endearing, and it is not healthy.

You know why? I'll tell you why.

Percy: A Loyal Abuse Victim

Percy is a known victim of Gabe's abuse, same as Sally. Unlike Annabeth though, he doesn't use it as an excuse to behave badly. Rather, he remains kind to his mother, dutiful in whatever he can do at school or at home for her, and no matter what, is loyal to the end.

It's for these reasons that he's unable to break away from Annabeth.

Despite her treatment of him, of his family, and of Rachel, Percy's greatest strength, loyalty, is also his greatest weakness. Because of this trait and his background, it both tragically makes sense that he stays with Annabeth and horrifying that he cannot see her abuse for what it is.

Having known her so long and been so abused, Percy is unable to see her treatment of him as anything beyond something he earned simply because he's "too dumb to know better". Gabe always made fun of his intellect, which Annabeth herself does, but worse by telling him how stupid he is. She belittles his intelligence, which is actually incredibly high for a child such as him, and Percy, having had his self-image destroyed by his stepfather and peers both in the mortal world and at Half-Blood, accepts this because he truly thinks he can't know any better. This in and of itself is a weakness of his that doesn't excuse him from taking her abuse lying down, but it sure as hell explains why he can't see it for what it is. Additionally, remember that Annabeth erupted at him for being "too stupid to see that she loved him" (and who also forced herself onto him)? That alone will solidify to Percy that nothing he does will ever be smart enough without her, and that anything that comes across as abuse must be wrong if he "couldn't" see that Annabeth was in love with him.

None of this is healthy. Percy needs a woman who won't treat him like dirt after all he's been through, who won't pick on him because she's oh-so-much-better than him at everything, who won't put him down when he needs to be lifted up, and who won't override his needs simply because she's "been through so much worse than he could ever imagine".

He needs a woman who will take his understandable panic attacks in stride, who won't belittle his intelligence, who will freely admit she's not as good as him at some things, and who can swallow her pride to help him with his struggles rather than be consistently petty with him and propping herself up.

In short, he needs Rachel because she never once treated him horribly, and did all of the above as opposed to bash and treat him like a pet the way Annabeth did.

There's not much to conclude this post with. I've covered the major bases, though there may be others I'm forgetting. That said, I meant what I said, and I won't back down. Despite my disinterest in PJO, Percy is a darling young boy any mother would be proud to call her son, and given how un-defended sons are these days, I'm taking it upon myself to step in until I can (hopefully) be blessed with boys of my own to similarly defend, as well as to remind the other men out there that no matter how beautiful, traumatized, or awesome a girl may be, she's not worth your love if she treats you like an object or pet to be owned.

Until my next analysis post, readers.

[thegreatidk]

My biggest beef with the way Annabeth was written in the show is that I think Rick fell into his own trap. Like his whole thing with Annabeth is that just because someone doesn’t look smart doesn’t mean they aren’t. And while it’s about their literal looks for both the show and the book, book Annabeth also sometimes acted in ways that people wouldn’t stereotypically associate with “smart” because I think we’ve all be condition to think bbc sherlock no emotions genius is the only way to be smart. Book Annabeth acts super flustered around Luke because she's a kid and she has a crush on him, she's afraid of spiders, and wanted to see the arch just because she thought it was cool. In general book Annabeth is allowed to be sillier and have a wider range of emotions than show Annabeth without it detracting from the fact that Annabeth is smart. I find this whole "stoic genius" idea is often used to put down teenage girls for being dumb and superficial just because they show emotions and the only way to beat it is to be cold, calculating, and emotionless and most people just aren't like that.

[berrybore]

Sorry—what?

Is this the official explanation?

I just searched up why Rick Riordan added Annabeth's judo flip, and oh my god, it's just so bad-

No, I'm serious. Just look at this sentence-

Rick Riordan added the judo flip as a way to depict Annabeth's practical and strategic nature.

Practical? STRATEGIC? It was literally the opposite of that! Annabeth put her mission in danger! I know she was emotional, but that just doesn't make her actions any less stupid, and it's a blatant lie to paint her judo flip as practical and strategic.

'It's a moment of action and control, showcasing her quick thinking and ability to get out of dangerous situations.'

I just-who wrote this paragraph? How are they able to twist is so badly?

Annabeth literally made it worse-she put them in a dangerous situation by judo flipping Percy! If Percy and Reyna hadn't acted diplomatically, the whole mission would have gone to pieces.

'While it might seem unusual for a character, the judo flip highlights Annabeth's strength and resourcefulness, particularly in a world where demigods often face danger.'

I'm wheezing. Get out of danger? Honey, she just put them in more danger. Show her strength? If that's the best example you have, then your ability to write female characters and relationships is just terrible. There are other ways to show her strength, like having her beat a monster of fight another demigod (Which, by the way, she could have done if Rick hadn't decided to put another Percabeth moment in there. Sigh.)

The judo flip is a memorable and unexpected action that adds to Annabeth's unique personality. It shows she's not just intelligent and resourceful but also capable of physical strength and quick reactions.

Terrible writing. Horrible writing. Egregious writing. Dreadful, awful, appalling, horrific writing.

Resourceful and intelligent-we've already gone over this multiple times, the judo flip was the opposite of that.

Capable of physical strength and quick reactions-except there was no reason for a judo flip of all things. She could have done this when fighting a monster or an enemy demigod or even during sparring practice.

The judo flip can be seen as a symbol of Annabeth's ability to control situations and take charge. It reflects her leadership qualities and her willingness to defend herself and others.

Annabeth wasn't defending anyone, she was actively making the situation worse. She would have defended her team better if she hadn't judo flipped Percy.

Also, if she needs to take charge by physical violence, then she's not a good leader.

In essence, the judo flip is a character-driven moment that enhances Annabeth's personality and adds a layer of realism to the story.

I do agree with this sentence-it's definitely realistic and apropos to Annabeth's personality, but it's a flaw. And if flaws aren't developed and overcome, then it's just bad writing.

[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?