#like percabeth had so much potential and he just ruined it

[aetsiv]

What do you think about Percabeth or Perachel?

hi, thanks for the ask!

i personally prefer perachel over percabeth. my main reasoning for this isn't that i absolutely despise percabeth, i in fact think there was a lot of good potential in the ship and richard just messed all up. i could get by some of annabeth's treatment to percy in the early books since they were still rather young but i feel she just didn't mature that much throughout and kept calling stupid and what not and generally not showing much appreciation to him.

once again, i don't believe annabeth to be a bad character but instead a product of riordan's shitty writing for female characters. i honestly won't even get into the whole judo flip scene and everything percabeth had going in hoo because there were so many problems with it-- if you want to see anything relating to problems on hoo relating to percabeth, I'd recommend checking the "anti percabeth" or "hoo crit" tags as there are tons of posts relating to that. the most i'll say about percabeth on hoo is that i feel like annabeth generally got somewhat more abusive and possessive, starting treating percy even more so like he's stupid, percy's character was for the most part reduced to him being annabeth's boyfriend.

like i already mentioned, i much prefer perachel. i mainly enjoy it because rachel and percy's relationship both platonic and romantic is so healthy. percy enjoys being around rachel and feels like he can relax around her, doesn't have to worry all the time about what she'll think if he says or does something. rachel sees percy's intelligence and doesn't constantly berate him for small things, shares things in common with him (unlike annabeth and percy mainly only bonding over being demigods), and sees him as more than a demigod. they also have a well developed friendship and have actual bonding time unlike percabeth who only bond when they're forced to go on quests (i.e. them going to the beach).

i don't have anything against percabeth shippers (unless you think the judo flip was cute and romantic) and i think people should be able to ship whoever they want since it doesn't affect anyone else. i'm really sorry if this is a bit incoherent or has mistakes in grammer and sentence structure, i'm pretty tired right now so i'm not exactly thinking straight.

[shippy-pjo-shipper]

what are some of your favourite ships and why?

Oh thanks for the ask! I wanted to wait to see if my top had changed since this ask, but I don't think it really has actually (weird, my tops usually don't remain the same for more than a week😂). But I feel like talking about my faves so let's see for those ten and one or two others 😁 :

Perachel : Do I...need to develop ? It's Perachel. Come on, we're in 2021, every person with a little common sense recognizes how good they are for each other. They help each other through their personal problems, they can confide in each other, the have fun together, trust the other with their life and the fate of the world! They have such a good chemistry! (Let's be honest, without Annabeth in the picture, Rick would have put them together, to a point where it's "almost" ooc to not have done it).

Thaloe : Ennemis to lovers but with two of the most badass girls there ever was ? Yes!! I wanted more of them, I needed more of them!!

Percalypso : To quote myself : "Percalypso has at the same time the most interesting/mature/morally ambiguous potential and most adorable and fluffy potential for an au/fic" I just have so many ideas coming into my head at the same time when I think about them. They're a neverending source of inspiration.

Jeyna : most powerful couple ever, that's why Rick didn't make them canon, he was scared. But in all honesty, I'm kinda glad he didn't, this way Jeyna will forever belong to its shippers who make SUCH good works with them. Rick could never reach the level of perfection of some jeyna fics I read.

Ethalypso : The one that could stay. I wouldn't have mind a little epilogue to TLO about Ethan reaching Ogygia's beach... Him finding peace, Calypso finding someone who needs her as much as she needs him, both sharing the same hatred for the gods but healing together! Just thinking about them brings me inner peace.

Perzoe : Just...read Altered Destinies. Trust me, it's one of the best things ever made.

Ethachel : Again, they both deserve the other. Someone who sees the world with a clear and different sight, able to open new horizons to them. I love imagining them leading CHB after the departure of the Seven, trying to hold the camp together. A human and a traitor, two people who naturally feel excluded from those around them but who fight for them nonetheless. (Here's my HCs for them and their meeting, pretty old but I like them ❤)

Preyna : The ship that made of me a multi-shipper! It was reading about an AU where Percy forgot Annabeth and fell in love with Reyna which made me think "hey, that's interesting! I want to read more of that!" (Then I discovered that people had insulted this AU's author for ruining percabeth, as if a fanfic could change your viewing of the main canon pairing but ANYWAY). Reyna would bring stability to Percy while he would bring light and support to her, being the first person to ever make of her his number one priority.

Litpollo : It has a more mature vibe to it. I don't know. They both deserve happiness and have a similar experience with their fathers and the emperors they could bond other by healing together. Lityerses is a traumatized and exploited child and having him going with Apollo and Meg and trying to make amend by saving the world with them would have been so cool! (I mean...Lityerses is Meg's half brother...come on that would have been the funniest thing ever!)

Valdangelo : My boys who never interacted and should have because it was just so EVIDENT that they had to be friends but noooo Rick had to let Nico suffer in his own corner to make the ending more "satisfying" even if it means making it unrealistic and (a little) hurtful! They could have brought so much to each other. And yes I do believe Nico would love Leo from the get go, he just wouldn't admit it because he'd be jealous of the easiness with which he goes through life and its troubles even if he would see the pain he is trying to hide.

Percethan : Give it a little more development and they could have been the perfect ennemis to friends to lovers ! I love them both and I can see how good they could be to each other, especially on their view on the world and how it would help them grow up and be more at ease with themselves! (and...don't mind me...just giving the link to a post where I talk about my AU for them...it took me time!)

Racheleo : ...Could a funnier couple ever exist !?!? No, let me rephrase it : does a better couple about two people hiding their pain, insecurities and traumas behind humor and selflessness exist ?!?! Of course not ! Rachel and Leo aren't really similar, but I can see them work so easily! Rachel needs someone goofy to help her carry her burden but who always knows how to find the words to help in serious situations! Leo needs someone who knows where to put limits to fun and how to read him, so he can let his walls fall. I love them (how many times have I written that in this post again ? Probably not enough. I love them!)

That's it! I'm letting you go, the ranting is over ^^ Thanks for the ask!

[thebigqueer]

speaking of the sadie thing,,,, i think rr focuses too much on romantic relationships?? like, even in the other books, the halfbloods didnt need to all date, i didnt like that literally all of them were dating, you dont need to be in a relationship to be happy, which i think rr doesnt realize. also they were cousins,, the gods not having dna thing was such bs. half the 7 were okay single

hi anon! this has been in my asks for a few days, so i’m sorry for the wait. i’m assuming this is the post you’re referring to. 

also, before i go into this, i just want to say that these are just my opinions. others may have different ones.

anon, i really do agree with you on this. i’ve talked about this on a lot of posts but it makes me a little upset every time i think about the ways rick fucked up relationships. some of them were fine - like percabeth - because they had an actual base and their story made sense. (not that i’m saying they’re the only ship you can ship, though - totally up to who you want to ship percy & annabeth with, i’m just talking about canon context). 

i feel like the place where rick’s idea of “you need a relationship to be happy” is especially prominent with leo’s relationship with calypso. he already had issues (and potential for actual character development) about being the seventh wheel. putting him with calypso honestly ruined both of their arcs. i’m honestly glad they’re taking a “break” in trials of apollo now because their relationship was really unnecessary. leo’s character arc could have surrounded the fact that he needed to love himself for who he was first, or maybe get some clarity on his past, but rick decided that in order to solve leo’s “problem” of not loving himself for being the only single character on the ship (before nico came along), he’d need a girlfriend.

(also, if you’re interested, here is a post that goes into a different way that I wish would have gone with leo and calypso.)

also, frazel? i didn’t like that. hazel is literally 13/14 (fourteen is more likely I think). while people her age do date, i just feel like her relationship with frank wasn’t necessary to the plot? she’s still young - not to invalidate people her age who do date, but i still don’t think that he needed to put her in a relationship. 

a bigger issue of mine is also that he’s putting 13yo girls in a relationship at all? with guys who are a few years older? sadie, walt, and anubis for example - anubis was a literal god, so he’s even centuries old. walt’s age is honestly complicated because the wiki says he’s sixteen, other people say he’s 14, and apparently his age jumped around in one of the books, so i don’t really know what to say about him. if he is 16, though, then yeah that qualifies as i don’t like it. 

i loved that there was poly rep, but he didn’t do a good job of it by pairing sadie with guys who are older than her (and one who’s actually thousands of years old!)

i just overall really don’t like his mentality towards romantic relationships. the biggest problem, i think, is that he put so little emphasis on friendship and promoted romance so much. incorporating the importance of friendship honestly would have been such a great investment to make into his books! can you imagine all the different moments we could have had with all the seven? leo and percy? jason and annabeth? piper and percy? maybe even some more interaction with nico and the others?

there are some arguments where people say that the idea of demigods finding their soulmates at a young age isn’t a terrible idea. i don’t have much of an opinion on that argument, to be honest, but the issue isn’t that demigods have soulmates. it’s that he puts way too much emphasis on their romantic relationships. sure, they can have soulmates! i don’t mind that at all! but it’s the way he paired almost everyone off that annoys me, and the only people who are single are either super important girls (rachel), girls in the hunters, gods (apollo), and 12 year olds (meg). besides that i don’t really remember many single people. 

i think another argument is that, since he was writing heroes of olympus (where these relationship problems are most prevalent) in the early 2010s (which was vastly different compared to later 2010s), he was probably catering to the audience. that may also be true. and i guess if you consider reyna before trials of apollo, she was also one of the only main people to stay single by the end of the series. but i think the point stands that he still does romanticize romantic relationships too much. reyna may be an outlier (and even then, she ends up joining the hunters if you’ve read trials of apollo) but that doesn’t take away from the fact that a lot of the relationships in the riordanverse aren’t even necessary - they’re just ways for rick to give the characters a “happy ending.” (newsflash - relationships don’t solve everyone’s problems.)

demigods can find soulmates. i don’t care about that. i just wish he put more light on the beauty of friendship and stopped pairing almost everyone off. can’t someone be single just for the sake of being single? do they have to be doing something important? 

[epiphanicalbones]

no hate to Harry Potter but if asked who’s the better character between Harry Potter and Percy Jackson is, it’s Percy. Percy as a protagonist is sarcastic, witty, clever, fast, funny, caring not to mention PERCABETH as a ship is so real than Ginny and Harry. Percy and annabeth have been through hell and back, they’re the epitome of childhood lovers, friends turned into lovers. People who see you at your worst and choose to be there, that’s Percy and annabeth. Harry? Harry hid behind hermione’s intelligence, it seems like Harry and Ginny were just pushed together by Rowling to create a ship for the protagonist at the end of the saga. Harry had so much potential as a character but it feels as if he was just used to focus on voldemort, yeah villains are a big part of the book but so is the protagonist and their growth. Rowling ruined it by not making Harry a badass. He could’ve been so much better.

[takaraphoenix]

Thoughts on some of the canon ships in PJO (Percabeth, Franzel, Caleo, ect)?

Uuuuh. Sure. Why not. Positive thoughts above the cut, negative thoughts beneath the cut so people who don’t like negative stuff don’t have to look at it?

(Watch me try to remember what tf is canon anymore anyway... it has been so many years since I discarded canon. *chuckles*)

Tyson/Ella: While I do think this was unnecessary - in the sense that it was very rushed, sudden and seriously, Riordan, this is not Noah’s Ark, you don’t need to pair off LITERALLY EVERYBODY - I do think those two are very adorable and sweet with each other and I like how... innocent and cute they are

Frank/Hazel: They’re cute. A relationship based on friendship and mutual trust. I do have a weakness for the “No, I do not want to fall in love. Oh” kind of ships. I know this hellsite likes to pretend they’re ““toxic”“ because... Frank is two years older than Hazel, but I really do need all of those people to go outside, take a deep breath and then walk to their parents and ask them how old they were when they first met because two years is not an age gap, in neither fiction nor reality is two years an age gap and y’all need to stop throwing around your weird-ass American terms for what grade you’re in and pretend that’s like an indicator for right or wrong. I went to school too and I was in the same class and grade as people two years younger and two years older than myself, because some people are held back, some people start school a bit later and some start it a bit earlier and it is perfectly possible to be in the same grade with two years age difference this is not an age gap. Calm down. (/rant)

Grover/Juniper: I admit, I remember very little of what was between them in canon because it’s been ten years since I read the PJO series and it’s not like Riordan bothered to put them in the sequels, heck he barely remembered to put Grover in there for one scene. But I do remember liking them when I first read the books and thinking they were pretty cute.

Chris/Clarisse: LOVE IT. Clarisse’s soft side. The duality and complexity of the Titan War that Chris represents. The potential there - I know, I know, if we had gotten more than like a few brief moments between them, Riordan would have probably managed to ruin them (which, I assume also goes for Grover/Juniper), but damn, I love that Clarisse got to find love.

Charles/Silena: I love them so very much. So tragic, so soft, so poetic - Aphrodite and Hephaestus. The beauty and the mechanic. I love everything we got about them and I am still upset about their deaths.

Percy/Annabeth: Oh hey, look! My biggest NOTP in this fandom! For an elaborate answer, look here, but the short of it; they’re in a relationship, in canon, and still Annabeth abuses Percy and I just... am really not down for watching a character be put into a romantic relationship with some who is actively abusive?? I just? No?

Jason/Piper: I mean, it’s lazy af. “Oh look, we have fake memories of dating. Let’s just keep dating, despite not actually knowing each other yet”. So much so that Riordan had to retcon on his hint of Jason/Reyna because that could possibly not be a thing if Jason now has Piper, because as we know you meet your one, true and only love when you are like 15 and never-ever love someone else. lol Also, just, what he did with Piper for this ship? I... genuinely did not like her when she threatened Drew about Jason, it was very gross and very much like “Jason is a possession and he is Piper’s possession”. Also, much like Annabeth, her character was just severely reduced to revolve all around her feelings for him. And then, as I hear, Riordan backtracked on that in the sequel-sequels? Because of course he did since he wanted to kill off Jason and we all know in the Riordanverse you are expendable if you do not have a love-interest since shipping is just everything to him at this point. I mean, just, yikes about everything how he handled this ship.

Leo/Calypso: I am not for ship hate, but I am just completely baffled by the masses of nasty people in this fandom who hate loudly and vocally on Frank/Hazel and Percy/Nico for a two years “”age gap”” respectively, but... there is complete quiet about this 2000+ year old immortal repeatedly preying on teenage boys?? And I admit, I used to like Percy/Calypso in PJO, but ever since I did the math and realized this ass-old immortal was with fourteen year old Percy back then and now took fifteen year old Leo? That’s gross, ya know, like that makes me uncomfortable, so I’ll Hard Pass on it. Also, the whole part where she treats him like shit all the time, I mean she insults him, she belittles him, she has not a single nice word to say to him - a boy who has been abused and pushed around all his fucking life and now he’s stuck with an endgame romance with someone who treats him like shit, that’s not what Leo deserves, man.

Nico/Will: I don’t like it. It was completely rushed and forced in BoO where Riordan just REALLY needed everyone to be paired up like on Noah’s Ark so Nico walked away with ““skeleton butterflies”“ in his stomach after knowing Will for three fucking days, like he just... unloved Percy after having been in love with Percy for three fucking years. I just--damn, that’s bad writing. Also, Will was uncomfortably pushy all throughout their few, brief interactions in BoO. But, I admit, the majority of my dislike does root in the fandom - it’s not all of its shippers, but there are so many S0langelo shippers who got real nasty about people shipping Nico/Percy and... nasty people in fandom do tend to band together behind that one ship that somehow unites them, it seems this new wave of nasty people in this fandom band together behind this one, so that just... doesn’t help endear me to it, you know.