#Annabeth chase character study

[aficionadoenthusiast]

i could point out the beautiful parallels between nico's crush on percy, the crush he developed due to childhood trauma and intense hero worship and hung onto even after he thought his hero betrayed him, and annabeth's crush on luke, the crush she developed due to childhood trauma and hero worship and held onto even after her hero betrayed her, and how both of their crushes are commentary on their upbringings, nico's being how grief and internalized homophobia caused him to latch onto the beautiful hero that saved his life, annabeth's being how growing up neglected and unwanted caused her to latch onto the first person who showed her any attention and how that attachment only strengthened in their shared grief, and how those parallels extended to show how their respective attachments left them vulnerable to manipulation yet ended up not joining the dark side, ironically in part because of percy, either because of the crush (nico) or in spite of the crush (annabeth), and how those crushes contributed to their overall character arcs, nico's being to learn to let go: of grudges, grief, and his own self-hatred as a two part climax on that one page of boo and the cocoa puffs in tsats with will being the catalyst to making him see his own worth, annabeth's being to learn what real, healthy love looks like (a spot of irony: percy taught her this, which is contrasted with her typically being the person to teach him stuff) in contrast to what she ultimately got with luke which was manipulation, because luke, also being a neglected kid, never learned what healthy love looks like, but you guys are not ready to hear that so instead i'll just try not to cry at the hypocrisy of the pjo fandom's obsession with nico's crush on percy while refusing to see annabeth's crush on luke as anything more than a disgusting mistake

[cynthiav06]

Annabeth stans and Percabeth shippers are talking about how ooc Annabeth is in WOTTG with her thinking Percy is stupid as if she hasn't constantly made fun of Percy's intelligence since the very beginning. As if she doesn't do it in every book, multiple times. Rick's characterization of Annabeth isn't changing, people are finally just growing up and realizing their fave ship when they were 12 isn't healthy. But instead of actually acknowledging that it's a bad ship they just blame the author.

Warnings: This is going to be a rant; bear with me. People from the "take everything as a personal offense" group stop reading. Will give us both the luxury of a peaceful mind.

It's easier to blame Rick, I think, given his series of shit decisions. The Wrath of a Triple Goddess is a complete abomination, and so is Chalice of the Gods in many ways. But at least it has helped readers understand the glaring flaws of Percabeth as a ship. How Percy's character is butchered to hype up Annabeth.

And I am completely exhausted of trying to get any of them to think rationally and in an unbiased manner. I can't make a willfully blind individual see sense after all.

But yeah, Annabeth has many, and I mean many character flaws throughout the series. The number of times I have made a post on Annabeth's flaws or even why Percabeth is incompatible.... At this point, I believe open-minded and careful readers are going to see and make their own conclusions, and the blind shippers will keep doing their own thing. This , I think, was my most recent post and will probably be one of my last ones on a similar topic. Unless I get newer asks that have some different viewpoints that I can actually explore cause, all has been said so far, I think.

I had a feeling that things would get better as they got older, more mature, you know, an Annabeth character arc of some sort. Maybe exploring the positive and negative nuances of Percabeth or even Percy's suicidal thoughts, non existent self esteem and how Annabeth has been unknowingly feeding into those.

She is one of the more iconic characters to people even outside the fandom. One from a very, very , and exclusive pool of actually strong female characters and the way her character is devolving isn't helping anything.

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All of Riordan's characters have such high potential, and the amount of plots he could explore is staggering, and yet he still dishes out the same generic plot again and again. He is in it for the money now, has been for a while, and so there's no hope there.

This might be a very hot take, but I think romance ruined the series. Rick kept slapping romantic relationships on every character as if that would suddenly make things better. Give them a relationship rather than explore their trauma. I guess it's the easier of the two.

But seriously, Caleo? Jiper? Solangelo ? (I can see the hate comments already). Whatever he was doing with Reyna, but at least she wasn't completely butchered.

Rick's problem is that he keeps giving more importance to romantic relationships and makes that the entire personality of a character.

He butchered Percy, even Jason at times, Leo bloody Valdez and Nico more prominently.

The way Percy and Nico's very deep and volatile bond and heavily dynamic relationship was butchered and distorted to feed into Solangelo and Percabeth, and I can't possibly understate how highly that's been going on.

Then Luke and Thalia's relationship was completely butchered for no absolute reason. I have no idea why. They were in love or at least had romantic feelings for each other, and Thalia just woke up and wanted to kill him? He literally gave all the angst to Annabeth even though Thalia had known him longer, and they had a more nuanced bond.

Jason's relationship with Camp Jupiter individuals was completely scrapped, his and Reyna's dynamic completely watered down, or even his and Leo's great friendship discarded all for Jiper or whatever else was shoved at him.

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As opposed to this whole shit show, I loved the relationships in the Magnus Chase series and Kane Chronicles. That was good stuff. Both character relationships and romantic ones even though I am pretty sure he got a lot of diverse representation wrong or so I have read recently.

Then there's the stupid, blind, bigot part of the fandom that just can't help themselves. I mean dumb Percy takes, Annabeth stans ruining Percy's character arcs and overinflating Annabeth's character, which in turn made Rick do the same.Then the boring Jason thing? What the hell was that? It's like everyone missed the point of why Jason is the way he is. I am going to make a post on that soon, but seriously, the shit that's been going on.

Then the shippers. Solangelo stans and Percabeth stans. They have single handedly ruined the ships for me with their distorted ideas of character dynamics. And their blatant and brutal hate against other Percy or Nico ships is just ridiculous and heavily toxic.

It's a fandom, not a monopoly. Everyone can have their own little thing as long as you don't meddle in someone else's own thing. Let everyone enjoy their own thing.

And for all our sakes, at this point, just pick your own version of canon. Choose which books to stop at. Trust me, it's less frustrating that way.

[cynthiav06]

I am in love with this post. Because I have been screaming the same things for so long, and yet the fandom is as willfully blind as ever. Annabeth is more knowledgeable, but knowledge is nothing without practical application. Percy is quick on his feet, extremely adaptive, and has good instincts and has way higher emotional intelligence (people reading skills, people assessment skills) and is also a far better manipulator. Ergo Percy is smarter than Annabeth. There I said it. Plus, in knowledge and studies, which is Annabeth's supposed field of expertise, she still lost to Percy when Percy began putting in effort. So again, Annabeth's got nothing on Percy. Also, this is the entry op is talking about:

There's just so few people who are willing to acknowledge genuine character flaws instead of mindlessly defending their own skewed opinions. Everyone in the anti percabeth community or anti Annabeth chase community has been hounded with labels of being a misogynist, death threats and other complete and utter bullshit arguments lacking common sense like that one time someone told me, "But Percabeth are inspired by Rick's relationship with his own wife. So you can't critique them." I am sorry, what? If anything, that's more concerning.

Now that Rick's marketing trilogy is out and Annabeth's flaws are glaringly visible, like flashing neon red, everyone rushes to blame Rick's writing but given Annabeth's toxic traits and flaws have existed since the orignal series at least at some point readers need to admit that Rick was definitely framing the character persona like this since the start and everyone else has just been glossing over it for the convenience of their "golden ship" and "strong female character."

Annabeth out of every other character needs to be critiqued the most, given how redundant and devolving her character keeps getting. Like not only does she not get character development for her past mistakes and flaws, SHE SOMEHOW GETS WORSE WITH EACH BOOK AND EVERYONE JUST GLOSSES OVER IT.

Come on, people, even the fanfic authors change her personality to suit the idea of their golden relationship. Obviously, everyone is playing trail and error with Percy's personality anyway. Listen, if you have to change two characters completely to be able to ship them, then you aren't shipping the original characters, you are shipping oc pairing. And to all the proud Annabeth stans, if you really loved her, you would call her out on her bullshit and love her despite that. But you ignore that the flaws exists implying that you don't love the character itself but whatever altered version of her is in your head.

Okay, this is just a quick (lies, this ended up so long) and dirty articulation of why I don't like Annabeth Chase from PJO, her relationship with Percy, and what I think could fix it. (It got too long so I cut that bit. I'll write it if someone asks, but right now this is just a deconstruction of how, in my opinion, Annabeth Chase is not a well-written and compelling character.) This will be rambling and scattershot but hopefully it all makes sense, even if you don't agree.

First of all, Annabeth Chase has a lot of potential. I'm about to talk some shit, but I want to be clear, I see a lot in her character that could be interesting. I attribute most of my problems with her to Rick's writing, which, for all its good qualities, is not the strongest or most consistent imo. This isn't intended as a hate piece, just a way to organize my thoughts. I'm doing this all from memory, and am open to feedback, disagreement, or correction if I make a mistake so long as it's done in a civil way. Thank you.

I think my biggest frustration with Annabeth is that I simply don't believe her intelligence. I would LIKE to. But I think we are told that she is smart far more than we're shown, which makes the praise heaped upon her somewhat galling.

When I think about great strategies in these books, Percy comes to mind first. In The Last Olympian, he's the one who plans out the destruction of the bridges to frustrate Kronos' approach, including making diplomatic deals with the river gods and strategically deploying demigods to get it done. He's the one to realize that Poseidon is critical to success, find a way to get his attention in the middle of a war, and convince him to take heavy losses in Atlantis — and lose that battle which was very personal and precious to him — in order to win the ultimate war against Kronos. It is also Percy's strategy which is successful in defeating Typhon. Percy is constantly thinking up strategies in high pressure environments, such as fights. For example, in the Labrynth, when he realizes that his half-brother is healed by earth so he concocts a method with what he has around him to keep his brother suspended so he can be killed.

Now, other demigods also make important contributions in The Last Olympian. Wasn't it Nico who convinced Hades, Persephone, and Demeter to join the fight? And Annabeth activated Daedalus(??? spelling) statues in defense as well. But Percy is one that we are most often shown being strategic. I think it just goes under the radar because Percy does not have a high self esteem and does not praise himself internally for a lot of the clever stuff he does.

Annabeth most often contributes by knowing something. She often serves as exposition; she'll recognize a myth first, and explain it to Percy. But not only is prior knowledge and memorization not a replacement for actual strategy, BUT PERCY GETS BETTER GRADES THAN HER. I think it's in that Demigod Files book?? All Riordan's stuff has at least a month's waitlist at my library or I would double check my source, but I distinctly remember an entry where Annabeth is like, "Seriously, how is Percy getting better grades than me?? I'm the one who taught him how to put an essay together and now he's breezing through them??? Wtf." I find this intensely frustrating. Because what do you MEAN she's not even more successful than Percy academically? It's just, it's frustrating, because she's supposed to be so super smart, and I'm struggling to see where that actually gets expressed. If her only advantage is an earlier exposure to the Greek myths than Percy and a good memory, then her value as a character is highest near the start of the series and can only decline from there.

Even her encounter with the Sphinx highlights this. She had the trivia knowledge to answer the questions but not the wisdom to just, do that and not start an unnecessary fight in the middle of their quest.

I can think of several times in the books where Annabeth stutters, trying to think of something, while Percy improvises something that might be a little goofy but it WORKS.

Actually, Percy is by far the better manipulator out of the two of them. He is insanely good at reading his enemies, figuring out how to convince them to ally with him if possible, or defeat them if not. His big vulnerability is he can't do that for shit with people he cares about. Percy is actually very conflict avoidant in his personal life, I've noticed? And he's very quick to empathize with a friend and try to see things from their persepective (like when Grover kinda SABOTAGED his college applications and Percy heard him out and supported him in his emotional struggle with Percy leaving).

By contrast, Annabeth doesn't seem interested in the emotional wellbeing of her friends?

Annabeth often insults Percy's intelligence and his strategies. She says his head is full of kelp, seaweed brain, outright calls him stupid at least once (during that quest for Hermes, if I recall; was that in the Demigod Files as well? It wasn't in a main book I don't think). Everyone says that Annabeth is so smart, she's the daughter of Athena she's the architect of Olympus!! Meanwhile, the person I see actually implementing successful strategy is the person Annabeth constantly insults. She says that he's lucky, that he needs help to do anything, couldn't think his way out of a paper bag without her????????

That's what drives me crazy about Annabeth. Nobody ever calls her on her bragging or her putting down of other people. She doesn't learn. Not even when her carelessness and overconfidence gets her DRAGGED INTO TARTARUS. I'm so sorry, but is it not embarrassing for a daughter of Athena to be defeated like that??? All you had to do was keep an awareness of your environment, put two and two together that you're covered in webs just like the spider who just fell through the floor, and realize you'd better do something about that ASAP. And, like. Look. My issue isn't that she was pulled into Tartarus. My issue isn't even the way it happened. It matches with her fatal flaw.

My issue is that, like with everything else she gets wrong, she never seems to learn or grow from it. Like when Luke tricked her into holding up the sky. That to me is a perfect opportunity for a genuine character moment. It's so humbling, and would leave you so shaken. A moment for an unwanted but desperately needed reckoning between who she wants Luke to be and who he is. I'm not even saying she should have given up on him. I don't mind that she couldn't or that the whole thing was so messy and painful for her, but the way that it was expressed in the book made me feel like Annabeth was either willfully blind or untrustworthy. Her denial of Luke's worst aspects, her defending of him, her refusal to hold space for other characters feeling differently to her, all of it fostered suspicion in me when I first read the PJO books.

I remember when I first read the scene where Percy reveals his Achille's heel to her. My hair stood on end. Something about the way her eyes are described as "distant" when she asks where it is, and how Percy hesitates. In that moment I was screaming for him not to trust her. I did not want her to know. I thought his fatal flaw was going to kill him. Percy is a character who cannot anticipate betrayal.

Of course I was wrong about Annabeth there. Or was I? Other people before me have noted that when Annabeth judo flips Percy onto his back in New Rome, she does not know that the Mark of Achilles has been lifted. I don't think that the throw would have necessarily killed him if it hadn't; he lands on a flat surface. But it was certainly DEEPLY careless and foolhardy of Annabeth, EVEN BEFORE you take into account that it was, strategically, a STUPID thing to do. It makes me want to scream how dumb this moment makes Annabeth look. It's the tense, fraught first meeting in years between ancient enemies. You're the leader of your group, the diplomatic ambassador from Camp Half Blood. It's imperative that this goes well, for the fate of the world. And your emotions run so high upon reuniting with your kidnapped boyfriend — who was stolen by a god and has been through you-don't-know-what kind of godly fuckery — that you take it out on him, the VICTIM, and physically attack him. Didn't she put a knife to his throat?? If PERCY hadn't defused the moment, handled it, Annabeth would easily have destroyed the Greek-Roman alliance right there, no ghostly possession of Leo needed. With friends like her, who needs enemies?

Her relationship with Percy…I've never understood why they're the golden couple of the fandom. Annabeth seemed more interested in Luke than Percy, and when she was interested in Percy it was always…like, okay, Annabeth was vulnerable with Luke. I don't think he ever had a thing for her, but there was a tenderness to how she'd interact with him. When she interacted with Percy — think of the school dance, or how she handled having Rachel on a quest — she refuses to be vulnerable with him. If she has a crush on Percy, she hides it under glares, insults, and demands. Annabeth won't ask Percy to dance with her, she'll hit him and call him stupid for not asking her. She will not let her guard down with him.

This is a throughline in their relationship; even in Tartarus, she's thinking about how she likes to keep Percy on her toes. Yeah, Annabeth, we know. It was obvious when you manufactured a whole drama around your "one month anniversary." Which, no, that's not a thing, and it's completely normal of Percy not to anticipate that you would want him to do something special for it. I hated that whole story (it's in demigod files, I think). It's just Annabeth dangling Percy over undefined consequences if he doesn't read her mind and figure out what she wants and needs. He does all the work and she judges it. It's not cute or fun.

I do place most of the blame on Riordan's writing. What's that scene where Annabeth pushes Percy unexpectably off a cliff, triggering a very sensitive and dangerous encounter that he had to negotiate under time pressure while Annabeth watches? How does that scene start? "Get you a girlfriend who…" It's framed as a positive that Annabeth will just shove Percy into dangerous situations without warning when she absolutely does not have to do that. Isn't she supposed to be strategic? Why can't she think up a strategy and tell him, instead of shoving him at the problem and just, putting it on him to find a solution? "Give the problem to Percy" isn't a strategy worthy of Athena, I'm sorry. But my point is, Rick genuinely seems to think their romance is good and these red flag moments are cute and flirty. He is not writing Annabeth as an asshole on purpose.

I tend towards death of the author analyses myself, but Rick's writing is not consistent enough for that. You kinda just have to identify what he was trying to do, see where it failed, and decide how you wanna interpret that. And when it comes to Annabeth…I just want to either burn her relationship with Percy down or rewrite her character.

What else is there? Oh yeah, does anyone else feel like the way her family is written makes her seem…overdramatic? Like, meeting her dad and stepmom…it's an anticlimax. This girl was so unhappy she ran away from home as a child. She chose to become homeless in a world where monsters hunt her down, AS A CHILD, rather than stay with her dad. There's a deep unhappiness and loss to that. When she talks about it, she talks about being unwanted, a burden that her dad was unable and unwilling to handle, not being heard, not being believed. She is describing victim blaming. In that house, she, a six year old child, was seen as the problem.

And after that build up, we meet her family, and they are…well, they're fine, aren't they. Her step mom is concerned for her. She and Annabeth's dad (no i don't remember his name rn) seem to want the best for her, to help however they can. Mr Chase—is his name Frederick maybe???—Mr Chase takes the initiative, after Percy and his friends let him in on a sliver of what's going on with Annabeth, to melt down old weapons to make bullets and FLY A HELICOPTER to come save his daughter.

I'm honestly at a loss about what we're supposed to think here. At the end of Titan's Curse Percy gently suggests to Annabeth that she give her family another chance. If I recall, she says some things can't be repaired, but it's implied that she does actually try again with her family later. This always seemed to me to undermine Annabeth's entire narrative…the way she describes being treated simply does not match what we observe for ourselves in Titan's Curse.

I could go on but I'll cut it here. Maybe I'll make a post about I'd rewrite her if I could, because I do WANT to like Annabeth. There's a lot interesting that could be done with her. Probably not though bc all the Annabeth stans are gonna block me for this one I fear. Maybe I'll post my criticisms of other PJO couples instead lol (I won't. if you've read this far you'll find this claim dubious, but I actually don't enjoy being a hater. anyway i don't have nearly so much to say about any other pjo couple). Thanks for reading.

[thestarstoasun]

Possibly a hot take, but I think the Tartarus trip actually helped Will a lot. Obviously I have my disappointments with the book, but we do not only see Nico healing from the copious amount of trauma Rick fit into him; we get to see Will come to terms with darker parts of himself.

It's canon/very heavily implied (I can't remember and don't feel like looking it up) he came to camp at a very young age, younger than campers that aren't deemed "powerful" or have a strong scent. Despite Will thinking he isn't strong, he is the best healer Camp Half Blood has seen in, what we can assume, at least a century. He's a year-rounder, so he hasn't experienced life on the outside in years. Hell, until Trials of Apollo, his godly parent hardly took notice of him.

His older brothers and other siblings were his biggest supporters and motivators. They looked out for him and took care of him in place of a parent, specifically the older kids (Lee and Michael.) And he lost them during the Dark Prophecy - less than 2 years apart from each other. He didn't even get to search for Michael because Percy took him for a joyride across Manhattan on a motorcycle to help Annabeth.

Even after all of that, its implied/seen that he's someone who is always looking on the bright side of things, never making anything about himself, always helping others, etc. He's a ray of sunshine in everyone's life, never allowing himself to show anyone that he's hurting or suffering because he feels like he just can't. After all, he's Will Solace. He is the head medic, the infirmary can't just stop running. He's the counselor for cabin, his siblings need him to be strong.

He represses his negative emotions, even admits to it in Trials of Apollo. I think he represses them to a point he can avoid/ignore them or pretend they aren't his. It's easier to be a ray of sunshine in people's lives if the negativity and darkness you feel are projected onto someone else.

These tendencies are also something that causes strain in Nico and Will's relationship, because Nico doesn't understand how Will can't see how hypocritical he is. When in reality, Will does know, but it's easier if he avoids it. Ignorance is bliss after all. This doesn't mean Will doesn't work on trying to let Nico in, because he does, sort of.

On bad days, the days when he wakes up and wants nothing more than to curl up in the arms of his older brothers, he would go to Nico's cabin. However, his only explanation would ever be, "im tired." It frustrated him just as much as it upset Nico. He wasn't even sure if his boyfriend could tell. (Nico could, but that didn't mean it hurt any less.)

In Persephone's garden, he was forced to face the fact that there is darkness/negativity/hurt inside of him. He can't deny it when it's right in front of him, so he finally has to stop repressing everything, stop running away, and face his pains.

[the-camp-half-blood-library]

Hello! Could you suggest some shortish fics for a variety of ships? I'm trying to get to know the characters better, so some that focus more on characterization than relationships if possible.

Hey there! We've found a bunch of shorter fics for you -- ten, to be exact. Each fic will have the character or characters it focuses on in small brackets (placed after the title) to make your searching easier. Enjoy!

one day at a time [Everyone in HOO] by KlyssaCarrie

Estelle's people aren't alright. But it doesn't really register until she sees it. *** (basically a lot of microdoses on how traumatised everyone in the riordanverse is)

sea salt in my veins (dive into the mediterranean) [Percy] by Anonymous

What it means to be a child of the sea. "No one ever taught him how to swim. Not that he remembers. The waves in the shores by Montauk and the chlorine water of the pool alike had cradled him with fluid limbs since he was young. Percy does not even know how to drown, though he does not realize the significance of this until he is older."

Find A Way To Say That You Know Me [Will and Nico] by pickingupthepieces

“She would have been 18 today.” “How do you feel?” Nico sighs. --- Nico is opening up to Will more after Tartarus. Thinking about Bianca feels different now that he's older.

come down to the dead sea (suffer with me) [Percy] by Anonymous

Percy Jackson and survivor's guilt (aka what it means to learn death via war). "Death becomes a familiar dance. A repetitive ritual, a haunting rhythm. Where he goes, it follows. Grief whittles him down, till his bones feel like hollow reeds. Cattail swaying in a lake. He feels he will collapse into a swampy pool. He tastes salt and swims in a bog of it and it manages to burn his insides." 

year round [Leo and Jason] by planetundersiege

At the last day of summer, they watch almost everyone go back to their families. And it feels strange, not having a family to go back to as well. Neither Jason or Leo had a home to return to.

memento mori [Hazel, Leo, Jason, Frank] by @leovaldezdefender

A series of 4 interviews with 4 different demigods, all asked the same question. "What do you remember of your death?"

Goodbye, My Childhood (Friend) [Luke and Annabeth] by @vicwritesfic

Annabeth Chase grieves and accepts the death of Luke Castellan through a letter, written by him, delivered by Hermes. Grief is fickle, as is all else; subject to change, subject to time.

Innocence Died Screaming [Nico] by @runsonmatcha

The Underworld glowed. The home of the dead was vast and terrifying. But, more importantly, it was a home. Therefore, there were echoes of chatter, there was slang and tradition, spirits bustling back and forth. Oh gosh, it sparkled. Nico wished he’d seen it when he was eleven.

where i'm set alight and i blink in sight of your blinding light [Percy and Annabeth] by rosalba15

Percy wears a cheap blue suit bought from a thrift shop for his wedding, and secretly hates it. It’s not that he’s unhappy, because he really isn’t, it’s just that he hoped for something more. It feels like the worst thing to think, and he mentally slaps himself, but still can’t help it. The kid in him wanted a big party and pretty clothes and good food, and a small part of the boy who just turned eighteen he is now wishes the same. Or: Percy and Annabeth get married, and everything is fine, sort of.

stone-still statues [Sally Jackson] by KlyssaCarrie

Sally has killed a man. She doesn't regret it.

We hope these fics are what you're looking for! Don't forget to leave kudos and a comment, and happy reading!

-Mod 2

[arisveah]

why dont people like annabeth?

a common theme for athena stories is wisdom vs emotion, strategy vs ties, etc. and annabeth is subject to that theme as an athena kid.

she can be single minded, and do shitty friend things in pursuit of a plan- and it makes sense for her, because all demigod children inherit a little bit of their parents attitude (percy:rebellion,nico:grudges,butch:organic, etc.), but her greatest failures consistently come from emotion- NOT her fatal flaw, hubris. but she cares- a lot. she cries after leaving cerberus. she declares percy a friend after not a week of knowing him. she offers to sacrifice herself for his mother, because thats what matters most, isnt it? if annabeth cared a little less, she would have known luke was the lightning theif from the beginning. she was smart enough for it- but who wants to believe their longtime freind/crush/brother would do something bad? thats crushing. if she cared a little less, she never would have tolerated tyson long enough to trust him. she only compromised because percy cared about him.

if annabeth was some cold bitch, why would she have tackled the manticore? what strategic value is there in being kidnapped? that wasnt for her, it was for her friends. and then, she took the sky from luke. because he was in pain, and she's always had too big of a heart. its why she ran instead of just dealing with her father. rejection is just so much for a little kid. and of course she hoped for luke. hes the person who shes known the longest, who she depended on for years and years and who never once failed her. of course she hopes, and she tries to save him. he would've saved her, she thinks. but when he comes to persuade her, she still turns him away. she still chooses camp, even though they must be suspicious of her at this point- not only is she the traitors oldest friend, but she went and got "kidnapped" and was found at the enemies compound! people are bound to be suspicious of her.

and then, battle of the labyrinth- she gets her very first quest. a chance to understand what happened to make luke the way he is. a chance to prove herself in the eyes of her absent mother, and everyone else who wonders where her loyalties lay. and for the first time, luke fails her directly. he interferes with her quest and prepares to send her to a fighting ring for entertainment, and she barely gets away with her team. it turns out that they need a clear sighted mortal to navigate, so its not even really her glory. she learns luke plans to work with an ancient torturer. she loses percy, and she cries as she lights his shroud- she flips out when he comes back, because annabeth is not a girl who likes to feel vulnerable. she doesnt have the time. she grew up being constantly told her fears were illegitimate, and then she was on the run with two other minors. one of them died. she cant afford to be vulnerable. nonetheless, she takes a knife for an invulnerable man without a second thought. strategically, inadvisable. she just cared too much.

percy is taken. shes alone, again. and shes devastated- everyone in tlh is nervous to speak with her, because she just seems so worn out. sad, defeated. volatile.

she doesnt like to be caught vulnerable. its a little late for that though, so she wears tearstains like scars.

the whole reason she was pulled into tartarus? shock. she was too relieved to take in her surroundings, and she fell for it. begged percy to drop her, to leave her, and he refused. i think thats when their relationship really started to solidify for her, because she gave him an out and he. didnt take it. she wasnt left alone. and thats why the whole mark of athena quest was so hard for her, because throughout it she was completely and totally alone. abandoned as the catacombs she walked, seeing the lonely remains of those that came before her and meeting isolated priests. alone. lost.

and then bob showed up, and chose her and percy even after he regained his identity. damasen chose them, and fought against his own father for them. three times in a row, she was chosen.

i think the effect of tartarus on annabeth should be talked about more. it was Hell, and it was the home of 2/3 people who've ever chosen to fight for her. she was accepted, and she saw the ease with which another could do as the torturer of the hundred handed ones did. she drew a boundary, without experiencing the negative effects of avoiding it, for the first time in her life. in hell she was chosen, and in hell she finally drew a line in the fleshy sand saying: "i wont let you become this"

i bet she wishes she told luke. i bet that for a second, the briefest of seconds, she saw him in percy. i bet there was never anything as relieving as seeing him nod, hearing him agree to try another way. watching him choose the least brutal way to get around his situation. i bet she worries, each time she sends someone out, that there will be collateral damage- like how camp was a collateral, like how thalia was collateral. i think shes terrified. i think the pit soothed that in her.

[creative-hanyou-girl]

I'm so glad I wasn't the only one to pick up on that, but also you can look at Annabeth's short and blunt answers as a demonstration of her aloofness and disconnection from Percy. In the books and seemingly in the show, TLT Annabeth doesn't really have a lot of genuine or deep relationships at camp outside of Luke and Chiron. She doesn't really seem to hang out with other campers her age and therefore doesn't really know on how to interact with them in a more friendly or intimate level. She's so used to seeing on how people can be useful strategically that she doesn't really pick up on her own behaviors or actions and how they affect a person personally and emotionally. That's at least the vibe I get from Annabeth, especially in the show. Percy is clearly thrown off by her blunt and matter-of-fact nature and even feels hurt and betrayed when he realizes Annabeth used him as bait in Capture the Flag. And the way she responds is very short and matter-of-fact, like she doesn't understand that past the strategic planning, Annabeth had really hurt Percy on an emotional level.

I don't know, I just really like on how in the show, Annabeth comes off as aloof and like she doesn't understand Percy or his reaction to her answers and schemes, because I think it really shows on how disconnected Annabeth is from someone her age that she doesn't really know how to see past the strategies and planning to form that connection. She's been at camp so long and has fought monsters for even longer that she's so disconnected from the outside world and forming meaningful relationships with someone her own age. Leah did a brilliant job portraying that kind of aloofness and disconnect that Annabeth has at the beginning of the story.❤

there's something so intriguing to me about annabeth's speech in the show so far. in the way she answers percy's questions... yes, yes, maybe, no you don't. they're all these short, brief, to the point statements that absolutely do not begin to answer everything that percy is trying to ask. that is... until he says something and she finds herself sighing and saying "look.." before navigating through a piece of background information, though never all of it.

she's keeping her information and her plans close to her chest because she may not know who percy is, but she has her suspicions, and if he's the son of the sea god, she can't trust him, but if he's the one to get her on a quest, she needs to be in his good graces. none of her responses to percy are short because he's asking a dumb question or because she's trying to make him work for the information.. though i'm sure she is taking note of how far he is willing to go for it.

and the way she eventually resigns and gives him something to bite on each time it's... annabeth hates not knowing things, and i can only assume it would be difficult to see someone else struggle with question after question, without being able to provide clear cut answers (bc it would screw up the plan she has working, but also because sharing unsubstantiated information/guesses runs the risk of her being revealed to be wrong about something, even if she would have come up with the right answer eventually). like she understands what torture it would be for her to be in that position, so she eases up, but always just enough to keep him in arm's reach.

[lightbearcuddles]

Shadows Of Legends

Jason Grace didn’t know how to feel. Everywhere he went, he was reminded of who he wasn’t, who all these people seemed to love praise and even pray to?

Don’t get him started on the last one, the kid in front of him just burnt his peanut butter jelly sandwich to Percy! A peanut butter jelly sandwich! All he knew was that there was this kid, some son of Poseidon who was THE PERSON TO BE. He grumbled thanks to his dad, scraping off his meat brisket into the fire.

As Jason walked back to his seat, he continued his thoughts. He wasn’t being arrogant or wanting fame or anything, he just didn’t understand why people were so upset that this Percy guy was gone. Wasn’t he a son of Poseidon, did people like Poseidon here? They talked about HIM, like he was Hercules himself! What special thing did the guy do huh?

“Hey, that’s the new kid!”

“I want Percy back, not some no good Zeus kid, he doesn't even play with the kids!”

“Ugh, he’s so self obsessed, did you see the way he walked around camp with Piper, we get it man, you got a hot girlfriend!”

“Percy was never like this… I miss him”

Jason understood, he did really! They missed their little Hero, Percy Jackson, and they didn’t want replacements. But it wasn’t like it was his choice to be there you know. “Ughh, why can’t these people just shut up already?” He sighed.

“Who’s these people?”

“Better not be us!”

“Serious time guys”

Three voices sounded. Piper, Leo and… Annabeth. What on earth were they doing at his table? Athena’s daughter seemed to have read his mind “We’re here, because we’re four of seven. You three know each other, but you three don’t know me. And if you guys are going to help me get Percy back, then we’d better get to know each other quickly!”

Great, Woo Hoo Jason! Just your luck man, another Jackson fanatic.

“What’s your problem with Percy,” a dangerous tone.

Ah, that came out loud. Too loud. “I don’t have a problem with him, he’s cool, it’s just other people you know? I get it, you people would really rather have Percy around, you see him as a myth, a legend a hero! But don’t take that out on me you know?”

Leo and Pipes hung on the Percy bit more it seems. “No fence to you Annabeth,” Leo stuffed his mouth with…mashed potatoes? “but why’s he such a big deal round here anyway?”

“Gotta agree there, a kid in front of me literally offered up his dessert to Percy at the fire, he is a demigod right?” Piper asked.

Annabeth couldn’t seem to tell if to be offended on Percy’s behalf, but she managed to pick a more neutral tone.

“Percy, I guess you could say he’s another coming of the old heroes, I’m talking Hercules, Theseus — that kind.

He’s just done so many things we never thought possible, even before he had any training whatsoever, he killed a fury and Minatour

One week into camp, he was sent on a quest to retrieve Zeus’ lightning bolt, and to do so he killed the furies, Medusa, Chimera, and the biggest thing he did, he beat Ares in a fair duel.

His next year into camp, he ran away from camp with me Grover and… someone else, we rode across the sea of monsters on a lifeboat, then later a pirate ship and went to a cyclops lair, the old kind mind you, Polyphemus, and tricked Luke to showing that Chiron here was innocent after him having been framed.

Third year, fought and defeated the Nemean Lion and killed so many skeletons, befriended the Ophiotaurus aka a really important monster and saved its life multiple times, fought Atlas the titan, and held the sky.

Fourth Year, he navigated the labyrinth with me, killed a bunch of guys, and blew up Mount St. Helen with his powers, yes the one in the news. Then proceeded to do a lot more, I don’t like talking about that year…

Finally, last year, led us, all the demigods and hunters of Artemis into a war against the Titans, fought Kronos himself and bathed in the river Styx, and defeated Hades in a duel right after, though that may have been the Styx helping.

There’s just so many things I haven’t mentioned, like he was offered immortality and rejected that shit,”

By the end of it, Annabeth’s tone was a bit nasal and cracked. Jason was staring. At some point his draw had dropped ,and yes it just hung there like in cartoons.

Even Leo stopped fidgeting, seemingly stuck on ‘Mount St. Helen’. Pipes, she straight up said “Yup, lemme just go over there and offer my strawberry yoghurt to him.”

Jason, man he got it, he got all that Percy Hype . He was just a little bit crushed too, him fighting the titan Krios, it just seemed like a bunny’s task compared to whatever this guy did. He understood the weight of whatever this guy accomplished!

(But yes, he was still not happy about being compared with the guy, that was just plain mean!)

“Soo, getting to know each other huh, uhm, that sounds cool…” Jason glances over at Annabeth who seemed to have started tearing up, trying to break, whatever kind of shitty atmosphere this was.“Mhm, why don’t we, get on to that…”

[valewritessss]

I genuinely think Annabeth is a cat person and this is coming from a dog person

[drewlover]

annabeth is first introduced to eve at school. her teacher—ms. honey—had given her a bible. no one had told her it was for religious purposes, or that someday the idea of it would be so ridiculous to her, so she just treated it like any other story, another poem-of-sorts to be read and analyzed.

she barely makes it past genesis—there was only so much a six-year-old's attention span could take, no matter how smart the said six-year-old was. perhaps it had felt wrong, too, older forces making the wind cooler and the book harder to read, century-old jealousy rearing its head.

but annabeth was annabeth, and she took on challenges better than most. she finished genesis and gave it back to her teacher.

"eve is like me," is all she says when she gives it back to ms. honey.

ms. honey nods and smiles. "yes, darling. she is a woman, and as brave and beautiful as you will be."

annabeth nods. she doesn't tell ms. honey that the only similarity she's noticed between herself and eve was that eve did not have a mother, either.

-

her father is a good parent. the thing is, annabeth doesn't really know what a good parent is, but her father is kind. he doesn't raise his voice at her, and he smiles absently and nods when she says something. he never forgets to put a side a smaller serving on a smaller plate whenever he eats, even though he barely remembers to.

she tells him about eve, and tells him that she is like her. she doesn't notice the way his hands grip his pen tighter when she says the word 'mother'.

she doesn't understand why her father won't bring her to church, either.

-

annabeth is seven when her mother first speaks to her. she's been on the streets for so long, and she's tired. the spiders keep following. the monsters keep following. she's alone, and so, so hungry.

"annabeth."

the voice is stern—there is no warmth in them. sterile. cool. precise. annabeth looks up.

somehow, she knows. "mother."

her mother looks her up and down, but makes no move to go closer. a cap appears in front of annabeth—old and worn, yet heavy, still. a gift from her mother. she takes it, and her hands tremble.

athena notices. her mouth forms a sneer, but no insult comes out of her mouth. "do me proud," she says instead, like a seven-year-old will understand, like a child will understand.

yet athena still flows through annabeth's veins, and she nods. athena disappears, and there is nothing left—just the slightest ripple of a breeze. the monsters come, still, and the spiders soon follow. athena doesn't come back.

annabeth wonders if her mother gifts her invisibility so that she will never have to see annabeth again.

-

the invisibility cap hasn't worked in over a year. the first time it doesn't work she's caught of guard, and the scorpion hits her on the shoulder, already weakened from the time during the battle of manhattan. it takes the combined force of her, chiron, and will to stop percy from storming olympus and destroying her mother's temple.

"why would she give something just to take it away?" percy asked her, eyebrows furrowed with anger. he's a hurricane in her arm, fingers trembling and veins thrumming.

annabeth doesn't answer, but she knows. this is her mother, telling her that annabeth needs to be seen.

-

annabeth is nineteen years old when she renounces her mother, and the pain is bone deep.

she does it in rome, where her mother had sent her in a fit of anger, sending her daughter to execute her revenge. take back the mark of athena. make your mother proud.

athena had sent her there, a pig raised for slaughter.

she had braved tartarus. the gods, no matter their cruelty, held no power over her now.

her mother had always been one of the crueler ones.

"you renounce me? you dare?"

annabeth could feel her blood thrumming in her veins, threatening to burst out. athena was barely keeping her essence in—annabeth could see her skin burning gold, on the precipice of shifting to her godly form. everything was blurring around the edges—athena was barely holding on to her disguise. despite everything, she refuses to incinerate annabeth. a small act of mercy.

"yes mother. i dare." she could feel the blood soaking her teeth, could taste it's metallic tang on her tongue. the air grew hotter.

"you would not have me on your side. you will never gain back my alliance, annabeth. do you dare?"

annabeth laughed, and somewhere she knew dionsyus was chuckling in delight at the traces of insanity in it. blood trickled down her chin and onto the ground, but it did not sizzle. the blood wasn't an offering to athena. it was an act of defiance.

athena's most successful warrior—whose blood no longer belonged to her.

"very well," athena said eyes flashing gold. "you are no longer my daughter. greek land will reject your blood. no longer will you be accepted into our world, and no longer will you be mine."

annabeth felt the bones in both her legs crack, but she refused to let out the scream of anguish struggling to be let out of her throat. refused to give athena the satisfaction of knowing that this hurt her as much as it hurt the goddess.

all at once the goddess disappeared, and annabeth was left alone in the middle of rome.

she looked up. it was a church, and it was beautiful.

eve looked down at her, with her frightened eyes and trembling hands wrapped around the apple.

the apple that had gifted her knowledge. the apple that had taken away everything from eve. the apple that had gifted humanity freedom.

annabeth had never been more like her.

[notseaweedbrain]

I wanted to do a microscopic character study on Percy before the show drops! Enjoy! 🔱

Perseus “Percy” Jackson

A twelve year old boy named after the famed slayer of Medusa. The great hero Perseus. Stuck in the shadow of marble and myth.

A twelve year old kid with learning disabilities; which makes school a living hell

A twelve year old with bullies that target him

A twelve year old boy who has no true father

A twelve year old boy who is abused and neglected by the stand in “father figure”

A twelve year old boy whose only stable and loving relationship is his mother

A twelve year old boy learns the truth. He learns that the truth hurts

A twelve year old boy watches his mother die in front of him. He’s helpless as he watches.

A twelve year old boy, confused, distraught, and enraged; avenges his mother with his bare hands

A twelve year old boy passes out from exhaustion

A few days will pass; then the twelve year old boy will wake up in a new land

[aficionadoenthusiast]

i think the most interesting thing about luke castellan's character is that no matter what he did, he is fundamentally a good guy.

i mean, obviously he didn't always succeed, but everything he did was for demigods and to help make demigods' lives better. he (rightly!) saw a problem in the gods and tried really hard to fix it which is how he got corrupted in the first place - because he wanted better lives for himself and his people. he didn't do anything for money or fame. he didn't even particularly care about power. he just wanted the gods to stop mistreating their children. if the demigods had a union, luke would be the forerunner.

and the funny thing about that is it actually took him a long time to decide he wanted to overthrow the gods. he ran away at 9, right? met thalia at 14? that's five years it took to be disillusioned, then three more to actually act on that hatred. it took percy about an hour to be disillusioned, and he was literally fighting gods within a week. without luke to go first, i imagine percy would have led a rampage the size of texas before his 14th birthday.

then you also have to look at his recruitment methods. again, he didn't promise the demigods he recruited anything besides getting even with their neglectful parents. even percy (and jason) promised kymopeleia temples in return for her help. he promised annabeth a place at his side (i think?), but he also asked for her help when he realized he fucked up. by the end of the series, he sacrificed himself to kill kronos! this is not a man who intentionally did evil; this is a traumatized teenager trying to make sure no more kids get hurt.

technically, he succeeded because he managed to help elevate percy to a point where he could ask for those things, but my god. this kid is the definition of a tragic hero.

[cynthiav06]

Respectfully, did Percy Jackson even have any character development throughout the original series?

He doesn't have any flaws. He chose to take the prophecy from Nico, but he was always going to be the prophecy child.

He's good at the start and good at the end with no development unless you count being traumatised and depressed from a war as development, which it's not.

Not trying to be rude, sorry if I seem rude.

Worry not. It's a perfectly reasonable question and should usually be applied to most character studies. Also, buckle up. This is going to be long. Very long. It took me a while to get the time to post this and even more time to actually get my thoughts together. Like a lot of time. (To anyone who doesn't want to read the horrid mess of a post this is there's a partition at the end, after which all the most important points are summarized. ) Just skip to that, but hopefully, someone reads this whole thing because it took me eons to write.

I can see why you think that way, and it is contributed more so by Rick's absolute incapability of not recycling the dead horse that is the original pjo dynamics. He has inhibited character growth from almost every single character where all their epiphanies and character change in the end amounts to nothing, and they regress back to how they used to be, and any and all deviations their personality had are either dismissed or suppressed.

Percy is the victim of the latter. In the first book, he was a child, not particularly concerned with saving the world or being a halfblood. His life had been worse enough, and the halfblood situation had made it abysmal. Percy was living goal by goal. He wanted to get through the field trip, then through the semester, then through the Gabe interactions all so he could finally see his Mom, the one good thing about his life. Then that upends completely, and his only reprieve, the trip to Montauk, his safe place becomes the start of a series of grand tragedies in his life.

Sure, he stayed at the Camp, not willingly but for safety. He had nowhere to go, his life had been turned upside down, his mother was dead, and he wanted to go home, to have his mother back. He couldn't have cared less about the Gods and the world ending, but as soon as Chiron mentions Underworld, Percy is back on solid ground. He has a goal again. Get Sally back. He does everything to reach that goal. He fights monsters, prays to a godly father he refused to acknowledge beforehand, manipulate the press and the Gabe situation, bargain with immortal deities and such, and negotiate his way out of most of those bargains. All the while keeping in mind that he has a traitor to deal with, but Percy is the definition of "deal with one thing at a time. If it's not an immediate concern, it can wait." He does all that and is rewarded for it by being able to live, getting his mother back, and a taste of the life he has doomed himself to, and he almost seems to accept it. He even wonders if Camp Half Blood could be his home.

We see Percy do this throughout all the books. He is constantly changing his intentions, his goals, and his opinions on everything. He is also caught in his internal conflict of being with or against the Gods. The thing is, Percy has very little time for reflection as he is jumping from one existential threat to another, and yet he still manages to grow in the small ways. You need to see it individually book wise rather than over the whole series as Rick messes up terribly with character arcs and developments of literally every other character.

He begins by not caring about Poseidon's existence or his proximity, but in the end, he, too, is beholden to the intrinsic need of having a father. He, too, wants Poseidon to care for him like a father and is therefore hurt by being called a mistake. He knows Poseidon claimed him as a weapon against Zeus so he could rectify someone else's mistakes and restore Poseidon's reputation; who if not Percy would understand this manipulation the best? But the best lies are the ones you want to believe in, and so Percy keeps his silence because, of course, he wants to believe his father genuinely cares for him and loves him. Who doesn't?

He didn't want to be the hero, but by the end of the first book, when he is called one, he doesn't dislike the feeling. He accepts if only a little that this is to be his life now, and as the series progresses, he adds to the pros and cons.

In the Sea of Monsters he is very happy that Gabe is gone and it's just him and his mother again but by the end of it he has gained a new family member in Tyson and is very happy of the fact. He even manages to get over his initial hostility of Clarisse somewhat when he understands her situation.

Titan's Curse is all about Percy learning about the number of forces at play in the world of demigods. He tries to get along with the Hunters and Thalia; it doesn't work. He ends up almost losing Annabeth, someone who he considers a close friend by now. And so we see Percy spiral a little, show more of his anger issues as he interacts with Thalia or even Young Nico just after Annabeth falls from the cliff. Angry and impatient, he goes on his own quest.

I know most readers remember it as Percy, Annabeth, and Grover or the main cast always working together, but it's almost never like that. Somewhere along the way, Percy always ends up doing his own thing, which works because he best works on improvisations. It's Percy's plans that always end up working the most more so than Annabeth's. Just putting it out there.

Then it's just Percy having the worst month of his life. Annabeth is in mortal danger. No one seems to be hearing his opinions between Thalia and the Hunters. Then Bianca dies and Percy because he is Percy is completely and utterly guilty over it.

Note that Percy says he will do his best to keep Biancs safe and not outright promise to keep Bianca safe. But his non-existent self-esteem and other factors withstanding he blamed himself for it completely. Then Zoe dies, and Percy has lost yet another person he thought he needed to keep safe.

Percy is angry at the gods, but he is not surprised by their actions. But he is Percy, and he is determined to change the ways of Olympus, so he pressures the Council and his father to keep the Ophiptaurus, the very creature that threatens to topple their rule. It's his small was of rebelling, and Percy is always rebelling against the gods in his own way, almost never playing into their hands because as much as he despises Luke, he agrees with Luke too and unless he finds a better way to deal with the situation than what Luke is employing he too would have to one day follow in Luke's footsteps.

Now Percy, who trusts Chiron, even thinks of him as a secondary father figure realizes that Chiron for all his compassion for mortals and demigods will always in the end do the bidding of the Gods'. So he makes the snap decision to hide Nico's parentage from Chiron and from everyone else because Percy realizes no matter how much he loves or cares for certain people in his life, they are beholden to answer to a higher power he cannot gainsay, so he will have to take some secrets to the grave. He learns that in the end, some things he needs to shoulder himself.

And of course, the guilt of Bianca's death is no lesser, so he does the only thing he thinks can give him some relief from it. He takes the prophecy for himself, saving Nico and hoping it's enough to alleviate himself of this bile inducing sensation in his gut called guilt that is swallowing him whole.

Now, the Battle of Labyrinth is the most crucial. This is the book with maximum stress on Percy from all ends. From Sally dating Paul and Percy having to prove he is worth Paul's confidence in him in Goode, from Annabeth who is quite literally snippy and passive aggressive through the whole book either due to Rachel or due to her own prophecy even though Rachel and Percy are the two people who got them all out. Then there's the Nico situation. He knows Nico is spiraling, which is making Percy spiral and further strengthening his own guilt. And on top of all this, the Luke situation. Percy is literally caught between an enclosed space, with all four sides closing in on him rapidly while he is fending off mortal danger.

All this repressed tension is fully let loose when he explodes Mt. Helen's. And this is the tipping point. Percy wants to take the choice of Calypso's Island if only briefly and not because he loves her or anything of the sort but because it's his one escape. From everything from his own doomed prophecy. Yet again, Percy is trapped by his own fatal flaw. Personal Loyalty. So he chooses to carry out his responsibility because he has given himself no other choice.

If that wasn't enough of self-realization, he is faced with the horrifying realization of the devastation his power has wrought. His loss of control has single handedly released the greatest threat to Olympus. Hephaestus tells Percy he doesn't know the limits of his own, and by the gods, does that terrify Percy. Up until now, Percy knew his powers were dangerous, but now he knows that he is also dangerous; that he is the real danger. And it's not a reality he wants to ever confront, so he coils his power and holds it tight in a leash. (It's why Percy's burts of power always begin with an unraveling sensation in his gut or something breaking inside himself)

He is somewhat soothed by Poseidon's reassurance because not only does Poseidon not blame him, he also solidifies Percy's faith that he is doing the right thing. And if Poseidon sprinkles in the fact that Percy is the favorite child then who is he to deny himself the comfort of such sweet lies because, of course, Percy thinks it's a lie and of course Percy basks in it. He knows better than to trust gods, he knows better than to trust even his own allies because at the times like this, they will do and say anything to appease him, after all the fate of Olympus depends on him, does it not? And neither the Gods nor the demigods will risk a falling out with him at times like this.

He asks his father if he can help but is denied because he is needed here. Then he does his job as told, and Charlie dies. It's on him. He is struck with twice as much guilt. Over Beckendorf, and then over the state of Atlantis. He asks again if he can help his father and is denied again yet scorned by his father's family, for he can't even help them with the mess he started (or so he believes).

This is why Percy goes with Nico's plan of using the Styx. Because he assumes Nico of all people who already hated him has no reason to curry for his favor. But he makes a mistake. After all, Nico needs his father's favor, and Hades needs Percy gone. Percy can't really blame the kid, but he does anyway because why not? He is angry, he is furious, and everything is slipping from his fingers. He is going to die. Everyone is going to die, and it's all on him. It's all his fault, AGAIN. So he rages at Nico because for at least one single moment, he wishes this were someone else's burden, especially Nico's, but Percy's taken it for himself, and it's too late to back out now.

So he fights and manipulates and negotiates. Titans, River gods, his own demigods. Because don't forget Percy knows there's a mole and that's also his problem. Everything is his problem. All that work and so many dead. Silena, Michael, Ethan, and many more on both sides, and he is trying everything he can to make it better to fix things because, again, he thinks it's his fault. Imagine doing all that, and Rachel tells him he is not the hero, and Percy bristles because no, he doesn't want to be a hero, but of course, it offends him. Because, if he's not the hero, then it's not his burden, and then what the hell is he doing all this for if, in the end, he is not the hero that can save Olympus? Does that mean he read the prophecy wrong, and now he is going to get everyone killed because he wrongly assumed he isn't the hero. He is angry and impulsive, and he snaps at even Hermes. Because now HE is spiraling.

And somehow, it's all over with Luke killing himself, and it dawns on Percy, the truth. So despite all the hate because why wouldn't there be hate, Luke has singlehandedly tried to kill Percy more than Percy can count, and he calls Luke the Hero. Makes the choice because he believes in Annabeth's faith and Hermes's faith in Luke. It pays off and that's all that matters.

Finally finally it is all over. the Gods owe him, and finally, he has an answer on the path he wants to take to change the gods. He denies immortality because he is Percy Jackson, he is Sally Jackson's son and he knows better than to let others dictate the flow of his life, because he has better plans than wasting away inside for eternity, dancing on someone else's tune. He fights for the demigods, the non-Olympian gods and their children who Olympus has failed to do justice to, for Nico, and in some way for himself.

Then it's not over at all because Rachel has taken Blackjack and Percy knows the truth of the Oracle and he loves Rachel far too much to let her even try. But it works and she is okay; he can't be with her but she is alive and she is okay and Percy is extremely grateful for that.

But then there's a new prophecy, and even though he tries to find some peace with Annabeth, he knows it's not over. It's never over for him. But he can forget about it until he can no longer afford to ignore it.

___________________________________________

Of course, Percy repressed his trauma. The last time he let it out, he released the literal bane of the gods out. Do you think Percy could live with something like that happening again? What choice does he have? There's no one who can understand him. NO ONE. Not even Annabeth.

You can see him accept his role as a leader and grow more into it. In son of Sobek or even in Son of Neptune. He is more serious and more authoritative because he has so many people depending on him, so many expectations hanging on him. We can also see Percy's anger issues get out of hand. He is spiraling, the readers know he is spiraling, and Percy knows, but he can't do ANYTHING. HE IS LITETALLY DYING OR BEING ATTACKED, HE CAN'T, HE JUST CAN'T.

BUT WE KNOW IT'S THERE BECAUSE WE CAN SEE HOW MUCH PERCY HAS GROWN INTO SUICIDAL TENDENCIES. AND HE CAN'T ACT ON THEM MOST OF THE TIME BECAUSE OTHER PEOPLE ARE DEPENDENT ON HIM AND HIS FATAL FLAW WON'T ALLOW HIM TO PUT HIMSELF OUT OF HIS MISERY.

BUT WHEN HE HAS DONE EVERYTHING HE POSSIBLY COULD, AFTER HOUSE OF HADES, HE LETS POLYBOTES'S POISON CHOKE HIM, ALMOST KILLING HIM IF JASON HADN'T INTERVENED. THANK GOD FOR JASON GRACE.

Percy was this sassy, heavily independent, "I do my own thing" kid and now he is someone with more responsibilities than anyone with most of his free will stripped and most of his hopes ruined or deemed impossible. IT'S TRAGIC AND IT'S EXCRUCIATING AND HE CAN'T DO ANYTHING BECAUSE HE THINKS IT'S MAKING OTHERS HAPPY. IT'S SUCH A HORRIBLE SITUATION. IMAGINE BOOK 1 PERCY? HE WOULD HAVE LET IT BLOW UP IN EVERYONE ELSE'S FACE BEFORE HE EVER LET HIMSELF BE SO BROKEN.

I have seen so many people say how Percy is the standard hero who is always good and never makes bad choices, and I wonder which books they read. Percy always makes the supposed "right" choices at the cost of himself. His fatal flaw enabling his moral compass and the sheer guilt of the lives lost. He can't escape. He hates the gods, he hates the quests but he loves his family and friends so dearly, there's nothing he wouldn't do for them which means Percy is suffocating, drowning, choking in his own misery, his repressed trauma,his self loathing and being crushed to death by the weight of lives, responsibilities and expectations only he can hope to fulfil.

And one day Percy won't be able to take it. His lapses of control will increase in magnitudes so great, his inner rage will level the world. Destroyer, like Athena predicted, Destroyer like Kronos wanted and Destroyer like his name means.

Not every hero needs a villain arc. Percy is inspiring because after all this shit and all these horrors. He is still good, but WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE TOLL OF IT. PERCY IS STILL GOOD BUT AT WHAT COST? LOOK WHAT IT'S DONE TO HIM.

Rick has such a great potential for an arc like that but he is going to fuck it up, I know he is but I hope readers realize where it's all leading to and how much Percy has changed and how much he has sacrificed. Also, @hermesmyplatonicbeloved , @ogjacksonsimp , @cynicalclairvoyantcadaver , @helenofsparta2, @fourcornersofcreation thoughts? Did I stray too far from the canon, or am I getting it right at least a little? Because this post took days, I have no idea what it has devolved into.

[marmot-bee-person]

can we make ‘put a few random characters from different fandoms in a room together with no explanation whatsoever and see what happens’ a fanfiction trope

i submit anakin skywalker from star wars, annabeth chase from percy jackson and the olympians, and aang from avatar the last airbender as characters who would be interesting, entirely because they all have names with a lot of A’s and N’s and they have very different personalities and outlooks on life so it would be interesting.

Basically I want to see how they interact.

someone write this

[spiderbats]

Something was wrong with Percy, Grover despaired. Something happened in that museum room a month ago. Something more than that Kindly One who went in and never came back out. Something that changed Percy to the core.

Something that Grover was out of time to figure out.

-

Aboard The Princess Andromeda, an unexpected string is cut, so the Fates have to start all over at the beginning of the tale of the soon-to-be great hero, Perseus Jackson.

[a-whisper-in-the-closet]

Blame @xinhua-jun for me posting this. But, like. Just listen for a sec. Hear me out.

Annabeth is cat love

Nico is dog love

Annabeth would never back down or change her life for anyone. The fact she accepts a person into her life is it. That is the final form of trust she can give. That is her sincerest love. The ability to help and the chance to understand is her utmost affection. She can leave whenever she pleases and will do so if she finds anything displeasing. That is the deal. Both parties have to be happy with all of it, or at least content, or she'll leave for the both of them

Nico would follow someone to the end and beyond. He would eat them. He would keep them. He would take scraps if it meant being fed by his love. He would doggedly, stubbornly follow because devotion is his love language. He would not care how corrupt a path him and his love take, as long as they are safe. His love can be used as teeth. He would tear throats out at a word, and he would feel only happy that his love is now safer. He would end the world just to make sure everything was okay for what is his.

It's not kitty love or puppy love, to be clear. They're both too violent and jaded. It's a dog and a cat. There is nothing romantic about it, only the tragedy and pain of children learning what it means to have nothing and be even less.