sunelloise

[sunelloise]

There are many decisions in this series that I genuinely cannot tell if they are from cringey ignorance trying to be funny or overconfident incompetence but these two are the worst offenders off the top of my head:

Nico “I had a crush on you but I’m over it”

Percy [Bluescreen]

Zeus “I can just slap you back to America”

Feel free to add your own for this joyride down memory lane

[sunelloise]

Pick any book in any genre and they all make the same excuse. Complain about harmful relationships in romantacy and its defenders will go "it's just for fun books don't always need righteous morals we know it's fiction" and in the same breath tweet about how they want men just like [insert aggressive abusive male love interest] and how romantic it is. It's not a coincidence that the sides arguing for or against romantacy as being the pinnacle of romance fall along regressive and feminist lines.

Any one book is not beholden to portraying characters responsibly, but any one book attempting to reap the rewards of responsible characters has to be prepared for backlash from critics telling them all they're doing wrong, especially books for children with heroes they're supposed to look up to and learn from and aspire to be like, and especially books with heroes they're meant to live vicariously through.

One of the things I hate about Percabeth is that it disregards partner sensibility. Somewhere out there many people would be calling their partner Seaweed Brain even though they are insecure about their intelligence. Somewhere out there people could be hitting their partners making them feel like they deserve the pain even if they dont. This is a children's book and young minds are easily molded.

The stans would be like " You are being too sensitive. It is not our fault they did not know better " Then we all just sigh and say " You guys are the insensitive ones for not caring since it doesn't affect you"

I get some of us knows better. I get some of us don't. Still, don't flip the script and pretend nothing wrong was done.

[sunelloise]

This could have been a reblog but I hate it when contrarians do that to me so I'm not doing that to this person.

Friend, you are missing the point of why people hate percabeth. I don't hate that Annabeth is a mess, I hate that she gets away with being a mess while holding Percy to perfect boyfriend standards. I hate that she gets to have complex feelings about Luke but gods forbid Percy even *look* at another girl just to be his friend.

Fantastic character flaw, if annoying and immature, but a horrible trait in an allegedly loving and supportive girlfriend.

I hate that her being a mess is constantly dismissed by Percy and everyone else meanwhile he cannot fuck up whatsoever in their relationship without swift consequences and Annabeth never letting him live it down. He can't even start doing well in school without her perceiving a threat to 'her thing' and getting jealous and petty about it.

Fantastic character flaw, if annoying and immature, but a horrible trait in an allegedly loving and supportive girlfriend.

She doesn't have to be a perfect girlfriend, she doesn't have to be a perfect person. No one is asking for this whose opinion is worth their salt. We are asking that she takes the hits she gives. If Annabeth gets to be snippy at Percy when she's frustrated, she needs to be able to take it when he's snippy at her when he's frustrated, and she can't.

"Not simply about learning to treat their boyfriends better" --great! Then let her be single if she can't handle a healthy relationship. Nobody, gender regardless, is entitled to a romance, and nobody, gender regardless, deserves to suffer for someone else's immaturity in that romance.

It isn't a crime to make teenage girls do things wrong. It is harmful, however, to romanticize and excuse that behavior just because they're girls. Feminism isn't about "but the boys were mean so now I'm entitled to be mean back now that I have power" it's about equality, breaking the cycle of abuse, not giving a fuck about gender at all and who's "superior". Otherwise we just keep going around in circles.

I'd love nothing more than for every girl in the cast to have an arc independently of the men in their lives. That's not the case, unfortunately, and the way Annabeth treats the man in her life is inexcusable.

[sunelloise]

Thinking about Nico’s whole role in HOO, and man was that boy a MacGuffin for too much of those books. Nico, randomly here in New Rome to do nothing except exist and make Percy’s memory itch and occasionally pop up in senate meetings. How did he ingratiate himself here? Why is he here messing with the Romans? I don’t think we’re ever explicitly told what his motive was for not telling Percy (beyond sustaining the amnesia) but I headcanoned that he either physically couldn’t, or was too afraid of putting Percy in more danger by interfering, vs what it really felt like given how he was written in the later books, that being a vindictive and petty little shit.

But then he’s randomly captured by the giants in Tartarus off-page. I know why he was down there because that’s what the story said, but why he was down there based on the character I thought I knew from PJO made no sense. When I was reading the books the first time, and when I re-read them a few years ago stopping after HOH, I was and am still confused about how such a massive plot point “Nico is being held hostage by the enemy and we gotta save him before he suffocates” was just “oh yeah this happened off page you definitely didn’t want to see that play out and don’t care about the details”.

Then he’s kind of around for his role with Cupid, and then he’s here to transport the statue, and then he has the worst and most un-cathartic ‘talk’ with Percy about his crush, and Percy’s written like an absolute fool, and then he immediately does a 180 from a years-long crush on Percy to thinking Will is hot.

Of all the character assassinations in HOO, and ignoring those that don’t even exist anymore like Grover, Nico might be the worst. Percy at least had a good run in SON where he still felt like Percy, amnesia notwithstanding. Everything that Nico was, all his potential set up at the end of TLO where he was on track to be a more temporary presence at camp, where he finally understood that he could have friends and a home and that people didn’t hate him just for being Hades’s son… all of that undone for a ‘suffering gay’ arc where the main conflict, his feelings over Percy, were barely even paid off in a 5-second interaction as the series was ending. And when he didn’t have that arc, because it sure came out of nowhere in book 4 of 5, he was a plot device because he has a convenient powerset.

He had some good moments in HOO, just not enough of them for a satisfying character arc on par with those in the first series. He was barely even a character in TLT and yet felt like a full and complete person in his interactions with Percy, through Percy's POV in BOTL and TLO, more than he did across 4 massive books and his own POV within them.

[sunelloise]

One time I wrote my first ever completed original work, took me from 17-18 years old, my first year of college. I'm white, and one of my major characters in the ensemble cast was black-coded (space opera, no humans, no earth).

And I made mistakes. I knew I made mistakes because I paid real money to hire a sensitivity reader specifically for this one character. Biggest transgression I made was making her the "strong black woman" completely unintentionally and I have no idea how much was bias versus a roll of the dice for roles on the spaceship. She was the medic character, so she had a lot of important duties, and also very self-sufficient and proud, which made her an emotionally distant superwoman.

So when I rewrote her, I softened her edges, gave her chances to rely on her friends and use her crew for physical and emotional support, among other things.

Saying this because I was *broke*. I didn't hire my sensitivity reader at 18, only a few years later when I was working on the sequel and wanted to fix the original to better fit the new plan, and I still didn't have very much money. I never published it, and of the 2 books I have published and sunk thousands into, I have made less than $400 back from all my efforts.

So Mr. Riordan, in the 7th book of his bestselling series among all his other publications making him bank, had absolutely no excuse to not hire sensitivity readers for Hazel and Thanatos other than ignorance, pride, ego, and stubbornness.

[sunelloise]

The only brownie points I'm giving Riordan is that he stood by the choice to have queer rep at all--which I 100% agree was badly done speaking as a queer myself--when PJO was that mainstream and published by Disney Hyperion of all companies that would not have cared *how* Nico was queer, but that he merely existed, back in 2013. It's hard enough today to get legit rep from a Disney IP and I know their studios and publishing house don't fall under the same management, but it is still the Disney name.

Authors as they get more popular tend to have carte blanche over editors and sensitivity readers because capitalism, which is how something like Maximum Ride exists (and how the rest of these nonsensical writing choices in later books also exist). So he might not have had that much of an uphill battle, but if he did, he did so brashly and with heavy bias and misunderstanding, but he did do it loud enough so that other better authors can follow after and show him up.

Does he deserve praise for how he did it? No, not at all. Do I wish he wasn't the first to do it? Also no, an actual queer author would have been better. But it's likely because he's a cis straight white man that this was allowed to happen at all unfortunately. A queer author never would have gotten through the door because we're perceived as too volatile and risky of an investment. That he did do it, when he was under no obligation to do so, when there were risks to his series reputation and alienating his conservative audience (and risking his and Disney's paycheck), does at least merit recognition.

In the same way that people get mad at big companies for barely recognizing Pride Month in their logos and being very token about it--yes, it's token and often very contradictory to their actual business and hiring practices, but it's the canary in the coal mine where once these companies no longer see absolutely any value in queer rep, when they face no consequences for not doing queer rep, when we're back to being completely invisible and forgotten, something horrible has gone wrong. A rainbow Target logo still says "we are here you cannot forget us."

Now if he'd just learn a little humility and stop making the same damn harmful and disrespectful mistakes, that's a whole different conversation and we can stop treating him like he's god's gift to humanity.

TLDR: In the American sociopolitical environment, a cis straight white male author determined to give queer rep at all when mere whiffs of it send conservative asses puckering, deserves recognition. Praise for what he did when he got there? No. Continued praise like he's written the best queer rep and nothing better has come after? Fuck no.

Thank you, Riordan, now move out of my way, there's your spot on the NYT Bestseller list for me and all my fellow queers.

How the fuck did we go from "Queer people should be given healthy space and time to come out" to "it's okay for a cishet man to write a forced, violent outing for ✨RePresEnTatIoN brownie points"?!

Get a move, pjo fans!

[sunelloise]

In what world does "my lover is imperfect so I'm justified in abusing them for their imperfections because I am, in fact, perfection" constitute a healthy relationship?

"You're biased and just hate Annabeth!!"

Recently, I've noticed posts criticizing anti-Percabeth shippers for being biased against Annabeth because we overlook Percy's mistakes. There's some truth to that.

We focus more on Annabeth's actions than Percy's because they're more impactful and harmful, at least that's me. That's not to say Percy is a saint because he's not. While I do see more criticism of Annabeth, I also see criticism of Percy, such as his passivity when Annabeth does something he dislikes or his lack of openness to her. Hell, a lot of anti-percabeth stans feel Percy is a shell of himself and don't like where he's heading. I also see them criticize how he treated Bob in Tartarus because he was manipulative and a dick. I'm sure there's a lot more to criticize him on.

Percy gets criticized as a character and his choices, but for percabeth, he's rarely the issue here.

To keep it short, let's ask ourselves:

Has Percy done ANY of the following to Annabeth?

Has he called her mean names, intending to bring her down, so he feels better about himself?

Did he demean Annabeth for not understanding something?

Did he crap over her accomplishments because others acknowledge her achievements, then get happy when she's being insulted and told she can't do anything without Percy's help?

Has he insulted her family members or friends?

While Annabeth mourns for her dead brother, has Percy made that moment about himself?

Did he stalk her while she was changing and make excuses for it?

Did he yell and scream at her during stressful times, causing more stress?

Has he made her afraid of him to the point she expects to get hit or chewed out for getting something wrong, even if it's a little?

Has he hit, kicked, shoved, and body slammed her because she ANNOYED or ANGERED him? We're not talking about sparring. Has Percy put his hands on her because she did something he didn't like?

Has he shown a lack of appreciation when she does something kind because she can't afford to do something extravagant?

Has he made her plan everything and hold expectations while he sits on his ass, only to later judge her efforts???

Has he put her life at risk by shoving her into a dangerous situation with a dangerous god/goddess wanting to kill her, watching her getting her shit rocked, and when she asks for help, he sits on his ass and points to his "watch"? Did he do all of this, not knowing if she'll survive?

Has he tried to control her? Make her do something she doesn't like, or make him uncomfortable about interacting, or even think about others?

Has he brought up an ex in fucking Tartarus with the intention of making her uncomfortable?

Has he shamed her for using dark powers that literally saved their lives? Again, showing no gratitude.

Has he gossiped about her to a friend and let his friend paint her as an animal/monster that needs to be leashed?

Has he tried to guilt-trip Annabeth into doing things?

All of those are no.

But Annabeth has done them to Percy.

What's worse? She hasn't apologized. Not once.

Now do you understand why anti-percabeth stans don't like her or are critical of her? It's hard to like a character that's not only a bitch but a bitch that faces little to no consequences, on top of stans calling you 'sexist' for not kissing her feet and calling their relationship the "golden standard".

Trying to shift blame onto Percy is annoying at best and scummy at worst. It's victim blaming. Yes, Percy has done some rude things, but that's nowhere near as horrific as what she did.

When I hear stans talk about her changing, part of changing is acknowledging WHAT NEEDS TO BE CHANGED. Being aware of your wrongdoings. Please list where she has apologized to Percy for being a cunt? Where does she realize she's being cruel and needs to change?

It's Percy who either apologizes or looks over what she did.

That's not changing or becoming better. That's sweeping your shit under the rug and hoping no one smells it. It's the victim trying to tell themselves that what they're going through isn't terrible, and they need to "toughen up".

Yesterday, I saw a stan bashing a fanfic writer for writing Annabeth in a critical light. When the author gave evidence of how Annabeth mistreats him, not only did they ignore it, but they also bash Percy and blame him for things he didn't do or were out of his control.

And that's why I criticize her more. Her actions are more impactful and harmful than Percy's ever will be. The fact Percy EXPECTS her to hurt him is damaging enough. That's probably how fucking Sally feels with Gabe. If I do something wrong, he'll hurt me. Why the fuck can't this be considered the same or similar to Percabeth? Her intent to bring him down and hurt him because of her insecurities is why I voice my complaints, and when I got hardcore stans trying to OVERLOOK and DEFEND her actions, even blaming Percy, I can't help but scorn and bitch louder.

You stans want Percy to share the blame when he isn't required to. You want Annabeth to seem less bad and mean, and I am not okay with that. We should not lessen the blows she delivered. I get that some people can blow things out of proportion, but we have evidence that she's similar to Gabe and is just a nasty person.

Overall, it's not bad that one person gets more blame, especially when they're the ones causing the problems, and that someone is Annabeth Chase, and I won't stop being vocal about that.

Alright. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

Have a good night xxx.

[sunelloise]

I remember as a kid when HOH came out (I was… I think 14 I very much grew up with these books) my mind was absolutely blown by the Nico reveal.

It wasn’t just that this character we’d known for years was suddenly gay, it was in a book this big in a franchise this mainstream where the author actually pulled the trigger and made it explicit.

HOH is probably my second favorite of HOO, behind SON, mostly for the grit, the drama, the callbacks that felt like they mattered to past monsters and mistakes in Tartarus, and Percy was front and center in both books. Nico’s moment was also part of that, for a little while.

Then I grew up and began recognizing everything wrong with this whole concept, but I’d like to give some grace to myself and everyone like me who thought this was amazing, even back then where there were immediate critics:

This was probably a lot of readers first canon gay rep, just as it was definitely the author’s first gay rep. We had no idea what constituted “good” rep only that its mere existence in a heroic character as a thing that can’t be denied had to be a good thing.

After a few years of fanfic where, previously, I didn’t care about shipping culture and never paid it any mind, actually having it confirmed in a real published book for children was mindblowing. I didn’t know yet that I’m an aroace lesbian (knew it but didn’t know aroace was an option) but seeing that Nico existed in this way made me feel seen and validated in a way I couldn’t describe.

And while I grew up, as a writer myself with experience in crafting characters and especially taking diversity rep seriously and with great respect, I grew out of appreciating queer rep as simply existing, and started acknowledging that merely existing doesn’t count when it’s done sloppily and insultingly.

It’s not an excuse for people to still be thinking “I don’t care if it’s good, it exists and that’s good enough” but we do deserve better representation and while Riordan does get points for telling Disney Hyperion we are having a gay main character and I’m not taking no for an answer, because that does matter, he does not still get points for the illusion of competence just because he was an early adopter, because Nico’s ensuing characterization proves that he did not at all and still does not understand proper minority representation, because he’s still blinded by being a middle-aged cis white man, and now is also blinded by being a bestselling author who defined a generation with the ego to think he can do no wrong.

We do not have to keep thanking this man for the bare minimum. He is still writing books, and we’re allowed to be upset with how he refuses to learn from his mistakes as the people who supply his paycheck by buying his work.

You can't say "judge the book by the era it was written in" when he is still doing the same damn thing today. I give HOO the thinnest, barest pass for a man who did not fully understand the complexities of this undertaking but tried anyway when he did not have to, but there is no excuse to double-down on those mistakes and ignore his very valid and loud critics demanding he do better.

[sunelloise]

I know saying “this character should have just gone to therapy” is like, antithetical to fictional problems, but I think my issue with the Percabeth Tartarus trauma-bond isn’t necessarily that it happened—people go through traumatic things together and can grow closer and want to stay close because no one else understands (for better or for worse)—it’s that them refusing to get external help or open up about it to their friends was seen as romantic, like all they need is each other.

I also know that saying “your lover cannot and should not be made to be your therapist” is also, like, a new concept to people. But he’d gone out of his way to establish the social infrastructure of New Rome to be a whole demigod/legacy city, and with such an emphasis on generational trauma and what neglect does to child soldiers, having Percabeth be the sole thing that keeps Percy going feels like ‘Uncle Rick’ forgot the point of why he wrote these books.

New Rome should have had therapists and psychologists specializing in demigod problems. He didn’t have to write Percy sitting in a session but at least the acknowledgement that he went to one off-page while recognizing that Annabeth isn’t the end-all/be-all satisfying his every need would have been nice.

If something like this does happen post-TDP, I dnf’ed halfway though TDP so forgive me, I reached my limit on the shell this series became.

Didn’t find out until a few months ago even big stuff like that Jason dies, idk how, idk if it was handled well, idk the ramifications. So maybe I’m wrong about the lack of therapy for these kids. I’d be happy to be wrong.

As it was written in BOO, the trauma-bond wasn't to my taste. But also that wasn't Percy throughout the entirety of that book, so.

[sunelloise]

The thing I love about rare pairs is that I might not agree with the ship, but I am 100% down for this fic to present its case and it can be a real fun time. Yes, show me what you can do with two people who are so far down the character rankings that they don’t even show in Ao3’s top 10 list.

[sunelloise]

Actually I’m not done talking about hating what the PJO show represents, because I saw someone else talking about the visible shift between TLT and BOTL, away from character development and more toward “what do I have to do to make Percabeth happen”.

Not the entire books and BOTL and TLO are my two favorites of the OG series mostly because I like the scale of epic fantasy battles and the threats and stakes were so high. So here’s a short list of the things I still love even as I get older from both those books:

Calypso representing Percy’s “what if I didn’t have to be a hero” path that he was never going to take but I appreciate that the chance was there. When I was a kid I did not at all pick up on the romantic angle, I thought and still prefer to interpret it as just Percy being able to escape the Prophecy here, the way Nico almost did in the Lotus Casino.

Annabeth taking that knife for him and almost dying and the ensuing Percabeth afterwards. Listen. I don’t like this ship, but Annabeth losing and owning up to her dumb choices felt so earned and was the last bright point of Percabeth where they felt like equals before it all went wrong.

That neither shied away from killing child soldiers in either big battle and the emotional toll it takes on those left standing. Something the og series did so well that fell off in the later books was maintain the theme of the tragedy of what demigods are and how so many die young and pointlessly cleaning up a mess they didn’t make.

Nico di Angelo and Rachel Elizabeth Dare. The weight they added to the cast, the new perspective, the new “what ifs” represented in both of them. Nico’s being what if Percy just stopped caring and lost his way, and Rachel’s being the mortal life he might’ve had to escape all this tragedy.

The culmination of the Great Prophecy in a way that felt earned, shocking, and doomed, like once you read it, of course this is how it would end. Percy’s honor and loyalty were never going to be in question, Luke had to be the fated hero.

The concept of the Labyrinth was just so cool and so unique compared to the first 3 quests, it was creepy, dark, hypnotizing, and the visions of Daedalus threaded throughout were just so so good.

The problem is, and I can say with absolute certainty that it is not my nostalgia goggles talking. The original series was different. The humor was different, the themes were louder and stronger, the story was one big unfolding drama built from the very start with an intimate threat in Luke not just a weightless goon of Gaea. It didn’t need pop culture references and fan service and it wasn’t beholden to “giving the fans what they want”.

These first five books were designed with a very clear endpoint in mind. Everything that came after was putting the carriage ahead of the horse. And some of it turned out really well! I did like SON and pieces of HOO. I did not like MOA or BOO and I quit practically mid-sentence during the second TOA book. I just couldn’t take the flattening of personalties so that every major character was becoming Marvel-ized—a wise-cracking smartass quipster who definitely had time in this urban fantasy setting to keep up with Game of Thrones and whatever else was popular at the time of writing (still cannot fathom in what capacity a homeless kid in Boston had access to HBO).

I got sick of ship-forward character development where everybody has a somebody or they’re dead or a forever virgin. I got sick of content for the sake of more content, for the borderline misleading teasers about a substantial story between the Greeks and Egyptians. And I got sick of feeling like I had to do homework to keep up, just like with Marvel—actually in a lot of ways it has the same issues as the MCU, where with Phase 1 each movie was building toward the same specific goal of the Avengers, and building further into the Infinity Saga. And now we’re just left with content, filling time, compelling people to not cancel their Disney+ subscription.

This show was not made in the era of the first series back before the author got too big for his britches. It was never going to be faithful to the original if not in small details like Percy’s black hair, or in large details like Grover being a coward at the start so he has room to grow into a hero, not starting out as a clever little smartass in book 1. Basic fundamentals of a character arc just thrown away for the illusion of “fixing” the problems with the original.

If they had gone into this with transparency at the start and said, full-stop, that anyone expecting to see TLT brought faithfully to screen were going to be disappointed, that would be one thing, but insisting that what they’ve given us is inherently better and that we should be grateful is just insulting to the people who made it possible for this series to get where it is today.

I know there’s fans my age who love this show. There’s also fans my age unapologetically defending Percabeth and a whole bunch of other bad decisions.

But the idea that flippant change is always better, without respecting the ramification of those changes and how those will ripple out into the greater story at large isn’t revolutionary storytelling, it’s recklessness hiding behind inclusion and progressivism.

Poseidon isn’t a neglectful asshole in book 1 anymore? Where’s his room to earn his right to call himself Percy’s father over the next four seasons?

Grover isn’t a coward anymore? Where’s his justification for his whole arc into gaining his courage and becoming a lord of the wild over the next three seasons?

And yes I’m one of those people annoyed that Percy is blonde and this is why: Percy, Nico, and Thalia are all black-haired children of the big three. These are the only black-haired demigods (who aren’t POC) and that mattered, whether the author meant it that way or not. Annabeth and her whole cabin are blond or not clarified otherwise. Apollo’s whole cabin is blond or not clarified otherwise. Clarisse is a brunette. Luke is blond. Rachel’s a redhead.

Black hair was as unique as it was damning. Why a character looks the way they do isn’t just picked by spinning the Wheel of Fortune. Everything about a fictional character, especially your protagonist should be designed with intent, with nothing left up to be incidental. Percy’s favorite color isn’t blue by a dice-roll, and it’s not coincidence that blue is the ocean’s color or that it’s a rare natural color in foods (which was the origin of the gag). If his black hair is as unimportant as the defenders of his actor’s blondness claim, then fuck it, make his favorite color purple. Purple foods are rare, too.

What’s the difference? It’s just a color, it doesn’t mean anything, who cares? He still has a favorite color, stop whining.

Not every single character’s hair color is thematically relevant. Katniss being brunette vs blonde had her own uproar of protest, but in fantasy, when it’s pointed out multiple times that Percy looks just like his godly father with fantasy genetics in play, and that his hair stands out for its color, yes, it matters if it stays that color in the adaptation. I’m aware that Poseidon is also now blond, so they still match, but now both characters are wrong.

If not in attention to detail, in the willingness of the director to respect the source material and not change things for the sake of changing things and appreciate why things were written the way they were.

[sunelloise]

Something I know was impossible to explore in a middle-grade novel that would be a very, very tough topic to handle with tact is the idea of the mortal parents of these demigod children, who do know what they’re signing up for and what they’re cursing their children with… following through with having the kid anyway.

Even when I was a kid (aroace autistic who never wants my own children and intends to adopt if/when I have the stability and finances to do so) I wondered why Sally Jackson was told that her son would not only be a demigod with the average lifespan of like, 15, but that he’d be cursed by his father’s broken oath, and still had Percy. Like she knew before conception. This wasn’t a surprise diagnosis in the third trimester or in the hospital and this isn’t a pro-life debate. Percy being a dangerous demigod targeted by dangerous gods and monsters was an absolute promise from Poseidon from the get-go.

Especially for the kids who don’t even get to understand who they are before some monster comes to kill them, and Percy was almost that kid many, many times because she lied to him and acknowledged even then that it was a selfish thing to do. I kind of wish the “sight” just didn’t exist, so that Sally could have the plausible deniability of not knowing what she was signing up for.

There’s probably some horrific in-world logic where Sally didn’t actually have a choice but told Percy otherwise, like the gods are still gods and if they want children consent doesn’t matter. Which is the plot of an adult horror novel (and many Greek myths some that Percy does actually reference) not a kid’s book.

And I know I’m saying this in a world where people who aren’t me believe in either having children as a reflection/successor of yourself or having children because you just really badly want to be a parent regardless of how good of a life you can give that child. And this is a book by someone in one of those camps.

But it still left that question wide open and I was reading these books at Percy’s age, and I do have an absentee bio dad growing up in a position where my parent was not prepared to have me and did their best. Difference is that I wasn’t a kid in Percy’s hyperbolic situation, we were just poor. You can't tell me that kid never once felt a little jaded and questioned Sally for having him, even if he hates himself after for a passing thought.

Tackling a story about parental neglect with children as pawns while glossing over the whole premise of the mortal mothers and fathers knowingly dooming their children to a difficult and traumatizing and most-likely brutally short life is a necessary shame, but a shame nonetheless.

It’s a no-win situation. Either Sally had full power of consent and selfishly had Percy because her need to be a mother came before Percy’s chances at a good and fulfilling life, or Poseidon gave her no say in the matter and he’s not actually the semi-decent bio dad that Percy slowly warms up to.

Sally actually being another secret Medusa situation, when the comparison was already there by Medusa herself and Annabeth telling him that Poseidon is a god and gods are above morality, would have given Luke a massive softball to lob at him at some point to try and convince Percy to change sides. But that would have been messy, and we can't have messy.

All we have is what’s in the text. Sally says she loved Poseidon and she chose to have Percy knowing the risks, convinced that he’d be the one to get away even if he lives with the trauma of ten mortal souls, and that will never not leave a little bitter taste in my mouth.

[sunelloise]

PJO is the only fandom I’ve ever been in where I actively want to block and disengage with specific aspects of the IP. You have something like Marvel which has the MCU, the Netflix shows, the older movies, and the comics, and I don’t see a specific show and want to click away or block the tag.

Idk how it is for HP book fans, movie fans, and now the upcoming movie remake fans, but because I know my cringe response, I generally avoided this fandom on this website until very recently.

I don’t hate the actors or any one person who worked on this thing, I just hate what it represents, and because tagging has no rules, to be part of this fandom is to have the constant reminder that this adaptation exists and that people like it enough to defend it as even better than the books. Heck, to be part of this fandom is to have the reminder that it did not end at Blood of Olympus.

I liked exactly one episode that felt in some faint hint, faithful to the book, Medusa's episode. That one was the only one where I thought I was wrong to be so critical, and then it just got worse and never recovered.

To be clear: These books are not perfect, and they have many mistakes and are dated and victims of their cis white middle-aged male author's biases. This show is just making more problems attempting to fix all the unimportant problems and hiding behind a "all complainers are racist and close-minded whiners just like star wars fans" shield.

I don’t need any arguments from its defenders, I don’t need to be told to give it another chance, this show very clearly was not made for me and I am under no obligation to like it or give it my time. I watched season 1, I hated season 1, and it lost its benefit of the doubt entirely.

[sunelloise]

The other thing about abusive relationships irl, as a survivor of several of them, is that if abusers were always mean and violent all the time, their victims wouldn’t stay, and wouldn’t have gotten with them in the first place.

Every time I see someone go “But Annabeth’s not abusive and she’s not a terrible person! Look at all the evidence of her heroism you idiots are ignoring!”

That’s the point! If she was like early-Clarisse, Percy would not have let her in. She slipped between the cracks of his wall between bullies who abuse him, and people he cares about who wrong him, and to anyone else who goes “but he says he loves her” a) he’s a fictional character and he was written to be in love with her logic and realism notwithstanding, and b) this is his personal loyalty at play. Once it’s someone he cares about, they can do a whole heck of a lot to him and he’ll just take it. It’s who he is.

An abuser who is inconsistent tricks you into thinking that they’re a kind person who makes mistakes, vs a selfish bully who knows how to reel people in and control them. They’re someone who makes you think that their bad moments are your fault. They’re someone who makes you think that they’re the best you’re ever going to get so you’d better be grateful for the crumbs of attention and back-handed validation they’re giving you.

Annabeth is also a survivor and suffers her own traumas and abandonment issues. I don’t think for a second she is cruel intentionally or knows what she’s doing and actively schemes up ways to manipulate Percy.

That doesn’t make any of it okay.

Her insecure and staunch rejection to any criticism or protest from him ruins any goodwill I have for Percabeth. Never is Percy allowed to stand up for himself where she’ll actually back down, admit she’s wrong, and change for the better because she loves him. Everything she does, even her fuck-ups, are justified by her and his excuses for her.

[sunelloise]

This little passage right here is the Atlas holding up the anti-percabeth sky.

To anyone who thinks seaweed brain is a cute little endearment, Annabeth is here telling you it isn't.

To anyone who thinks she's overcome her jealousy and insecurity from when they were 12 and will *of course* mellow out as adults, Annabeth is here telling you that she won't.

To anyone who thinks she values Percy's intelligence that shows itself constantly in his resourcefulness, ingenuity, wit, and creativity, Annabeth is here telling you that all she gives a shit about is academic prowess.

I don't know how old she is in cotg but they were seventeen at the end of HOO. If I found out that my girlfriend and best friend of 6+ years still suffers raging insecurity and actively wants me to fail at something she knows I've struggled with my whole life--getting good grades and succeeding in school and having quantitative proof that I'm not an idiot--just so she can be better than me?

I'd dump her ass immediately.

And to any haters: I had a best friend who was insecure just like this. She was booksmart and studied hard and probably had some kind of neurodivergence. I'm audhd as well. This girl never let me win anything, any time I succeeded at something that she was *supposed* to be better than me in, then came the snide comments and remarks. Board games, sports, mathematics, art, studying (I'm not someone who really needs to study I retain lectures really well).

It's not cute, it's not friendly, it's not romantic. To anyone going "but Percy finds it so romantic" he's not real! He was written to find it romantic by the author who finds it romantic and I am not about to begin extrapolating on the details of a real human being's love life unlike some of you.

Proof that she uses 'seaweed brain' as an insult and wouldn't want to be called that in return.

Someone give that kid some self esteem. I have no idea how I finished cotg with the amount of percabeth shoved down my throat. And it wasn't even good percabeth.

Annabeth doesn't get better and Percy is enabling her. Please stop. I'm begging at this point. Just break up.

[sunelloise]

My Response

Since I can't reblog, I'll respond this way.

THIS IS NOT TO ATTACK BUT TO SHARE MY REASONING FOR DISAGREEMENT.

I won't lie. This tweet really bothered me. Same annoyance and sadness with 'You can't criticize percabeth because it's based on Rick's marriage.' I'm not saying you said that, but I see that comment often.

Anyway, I'm going to remain respectful.

You are NOT erasing Percy's character's strength by pointing out the toxicity and abuse of Percabeth. Yes, Percy is not afraid of calling out people's nonsense. HOWEVER, he does that with people he DOES NOT like. Of course, it's easier for him to call out people he doesn't like because it wouldn't affect him.

However, when it comes to people he cares for, that's another story. When it comes to Grover nearly fucking up Percy's quest because he didn't want him or Annabeth to leave him, instead of calling out his selfishness, Percy bites his tongue and BLAMES HIMSELF for making Grover feel that way.

What about when his mother admits she was selfish by not letting him go to camp? Despite being a safer option, she didn't want him going to camp. Percy had every right to be mad. This could've saved him from Gabe. But instead, he still adores her. He doesn't hold it against her.

Lastly, with Annabeth, she's done all sorts of things, like punching him in the gut, judo flipping him with the intention of hurting him, and blaming him for leaving her even though he was kidnapped.

Did Percy lash out? No. There wasn't a retort either. Instead, he laughed it off, and they haven't spoken about it. If anything, he felt the need to make it up to Annabeth. He felt GUILTY for something that was not his fault.

What about when she calls him seaweed brain, a name he doesn't like? A name similar to 'brain boy,' something smelly Gabe calls him to demean his intelligence. A name that ANNABETH finds insulting too, and doesn't want to be called. Does he tell her to stop or call her mean names back? Kinda, but he later GIVES UP and bites his tongue.

What about when Reyna says he 'couldn't find his way out of a paper bag,' and Annabeth laughs and agrees with her. Percy may have said 'hey!" but that's it. Was it talked about? I don't think so. It was brushed to the side.

Percy may be brave enough to stand up to bullies, but he doesn't stand up to his loved ones when they truly hurt him. His fatal flaw being loyalty to loved ones, even when they fuck him over, prevents him from doing that.

Annabeth is nowhere near like Gabe, but that doesn't mean she's not hurting Percy, and you're not degrading Percy for calling this out.

I was in Percy's shoes. I stood up to bullies and people I didn't like. Uncomfortable? Scary? Hell yeah, but I did it anyway. I know what that's like. However, just like Percy, I also brushed off the pain my friends and loved ones caused me. I brushed off my 'friends' fucking me over, even took the blame for them. Why? I didn't want them to leave me. I overlooked when my loved ones would unintentionally say hurtful things. Why? Because I love them and didn't want them to leave me either. Also, I tried to appear strong, too. It's okay now that I had therapy and stuff.

Guess what? Percy does the same thing, and that's worth calling out. Victims of abuse tend to overlook their loved ones hurting them.

I'm not 'minimizing' or 'erasing' Percy's strength and courage for calling a spade a spade, and I can not stand when percabeth stans try to sweep toxic things Annabeth does under the rug. Again, is she abusive and like Gabe? No. BUT she does things that remind me of Gabe, like calling Percy mean names to insult his intelligence. She hits, kicks, and hurts him when he does something she doesn't like. Gabe doesn't do this, but Annabeth would sometimes play mind games or make her boyfriend anxious just for the hell of it. (Bringing up Rachel to make Percy uncomfortable). I'll stop listing.

But I have to say. You said it was 'insulting' to Annabeth to call her actions 'abusive'? I say it's insulting to act like what she's doing isn't abusive or toxic. All that I've listed, she didn't do this playfully or in a lighthearted manner. Annabeth did this angry or annoyed and with INTENT. It wasn't an oopsie! No, she wants it to hurt, especially the judo flip scene. So, do I care if I insult Annabeth? Sorry, but no. I don't care because she's in the wrong. Not always, but MOST, and I don't feel guilty because of her actions and how she hasn't learned (and doesn't want to).

Overall, I hate that these types of arguments become popular. I understand you don't like your ship being called horrible things, and I'm not trying to be mean. Most of us are not. However, we can NOT sweep over some of the things Annabeth or Percy do, mainly Annabeth.

I'm sorry for dumping something heavy. I'm not trying to make this about me. My point is that you're not discarding Percy for calling out Percabeth's toxicity. That's it.

Night

Edited: March 18th, 2025. I wanted to add a little more and correct grammar and typos.

[sunelloise]

Oh, obviously,” Reyna said. “Without you, I doubt Percy could find his way out of a paper bag.” “True,” Annabeth agreed.

I was thinking about this quote earlier, and now I present to you, a list (taken from my memory, so some examples may be missing) of everything Percy managed to achieve either without Annabeth in the picture or with very minimal involvement from her:

Fighting a fury (Alecto), and killing her

Fighting the Minotaur, and killing him

Resisting Clarisse’s bullying

Managed to pull off a difficult sword manoeuvre (according to Luke) on his first try (granted he did douse himself with water, but that was before Percy knew of his parentage)

Fighting against around 6 Ares campers whilst Annabeth stood there and watched

Fought a Chimera

Was the one to realise something was wrong at the Lotus Hotel and Casino and broke Annabeth out of her delusions

Dealt with Procrustes

Bribed Charon to take them into the Underworld

Possibly a questionable one, but I would say coming up with the plan to distract Cerberus. If you agree that the plan was basically ‘distract Cerberus with playtime’, (which Grover credits Percy with), the issue was not the plan but the items involved. Since if it was Annabeth’s plan originally why wouldn’t she just use the red ball straight away?

Fights Ares and draws first blood (or ichor, in the case of Ares)

In the fight against the Laistrogynians, Annabeth doesn’t show up until almost the end. Tyson does most of the work, why isn’t Tyson gettting credit, Reyna? 😡

Saves Annabeth from the Sirens

Alongside Tyson, fights Polyphemus

Is the one to give the Fleece to Clarisse, meaning Luke can’t get his hands on it. Annabeth calls him insane for doing this and says he’s ‘too nice’ and acts as though Percy is mad for trusting Clarisse to get back to camp.

Proves Chiron’s innocence and gets rid of Tantalus.

Fights and comes up with the strategy for defeating the Nemean Lion, with the help of Thalia, Zoe, Bianca, and Grover

Comes up with the strategy for beating Talos

Figures out how to escape the Spartoi at Hoover Dam

Captures Nereus

Works to convince Thalia that Zeus does care about her and not to sacrifice the Ophiotaurus

Fights Atlas

Holds up the sky

Deals with Geryon, first by cleaning the stables and then by killing him

Defeats his brother Antaeus (I will acknowledge that Annabeth tells him about Antaeus’s parentage though)

Eventually figures out that they need a clear-sighted mortal to navigate the Labyrinth (and a reminder that Annabeth admitted she had no idea what she was doing)

The entirety of the Stolen Chariot

The entirety of The Sword of Hades

Explodes Kronos’s ship with Beckendorf (the reason it didn’t go well is because of the spy, not because Annabeth was out of the picture)

Fights Kronos

Fights Hades and his army

Deals with the Hudson and the East, and by extension the monsters crossing the rivers

Fights the Minotaur (again)

Fights Kronos (again)

Deals with the Clazmonian Sow

Fights Hyperion with the help of the satyrs and nature spirits

Convinces Poseidon to come and help with Typhon

Continuously kills Stheno and Euryale

Manages to trick both Phineas and Gaea

Kills Polybotes with the help of Terminus

Defeats an entire cohort of Roman ghosts on his own

Becomes Praetor of New Rome

Causes a massive storm with Jason

Fights Otis and Ephialtes with the help of Jason and Bacchus

Comes up with the strategy (on the spot) for defeating Chrysaor

Defeats Akhlys on his own

Is at least part of the reason why Bob is in Tartarus to help them (the rest of the credit goes to Nico)

There’s probably a load more I’m missing, but that’s all I can remember up to the end of House of Hades. Is there a reason why Annabeth doesn���t bother to correct Reyna?