Properly Developing And Writing LGBTQ Ships.

Which Riordan character do you think had the most wasted potential?

I can't choose because there are too many.

WHY RICK WHY

Rereading BOTL and when Annabeth says the Hera is the one who doesn't belong-

I'm like-

ANNABETH AND PERCY ARE YOU FUCKING DUMB OR WHAT

THIS IS THE QUEEN OF THE HEAVENS. GODDESS OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY

ANNABETH WHAT ARE YOU DOING GIRL YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE SMART AND STRATEGIC AND WISE

WHY ARE YOU INSULTING THE QUEEN. THE FUCKING QUEEN. THE ONE GODDESS YOU DON'T WANT ON YOUR BAD SIDE

If that was the real Hera she'd have blasted them to pieces.

Ok maybe not Percy, but definitely Annabeth, and she'd send cows to bother Percy.

Rick what the hell are you doing. Richard what did you do

Let Nico speak Italian

One thing that bothered me when I reread The Tower of Nero was Nico only speaking Italian when he's really upset.

Nico only speaks Italian when something really bad has happened and he feels bad........so Italian is associated with something horrible happening.

But why does he only speak Italian when he's really upset? Why can't he just speak Italian normally? What's wrong with it? What's the reason to make him speak his mother tongue only when he's extremely emotionally distressed?

Taken on its own, it's not particularly bothersome to me, but when it's combined with Rick's other instances of racism, it's extremely annoying.

Another day, another post of defending Annabeth from haters with stupid reasons. Which is ironic, considering that I've made my fair share of anti Annabeth Chase posts (Though I'm neutral on her).

SOM (pg 3) - I thought I saw a shadow flicker across the glass -- a humanlike shape.

SOM (pg 7) - As I stepped outside, I glanced at the brownstone building across the street. Just for a second I saw a dark shape in the morning sunlight -- a human silhouette against the brick wall, a shadow that belonged to no one. Then it rippled and vanished.

SOM (pg 23) - [Percy realizes Annabeth has been stalking him] “Pretty much all morning.” She sheathed her bronze knife. “I’ve been trying to find a good time to talk to you, but you were never alone.” [ … ] “There’s no time to explain!” she snapped, though she looked a little red-faced herself.

Annabeth stalking Percy in his apartment and school was weird, but it's not mean-rather, that it's creepy and she should have apologised for it (for the trigger-happy Annabeth stans, I don't think Annabeth should apologise for every little single thing, but this was weird and creepy and she definitely should have apologised for stalking someone.)

SOM (pg 32) - [Percy asking about the Gray Sisters Taxi] “That’s outside their service area,” she said like that should be obvious.

There's nothing about this that's mean, only Annabeth telling Percy something in a manner of tone, and we know that he's insecure and an unreliable narrator. She wasn't deliberately or accidentally being mean here either.

SOM (pg 77) - [Percy tries to tell Annabeth about his dream with Grover] She perked up when I mentioned Grover, but when I told her what he’d said, she seemed to get distant again, suspicious. “You’re trying to distract me,” she decided. [ … ] “Oh right! Like Grover would just happen to stumble across the one thing that could save the camp!” [ … ] She rolled her eyes, “Go back to your chariot, Percy.”

There's nothing mean about this. It's understandable for Annabeth to think what she does and Percy isn't affected by this either. You're just being overly sensitive.

SOM (pg 86) - [Percy references the movie version of a myth] Annabeth rolled her eyes. “Oh my gods, Percy! You are so hopeless.”

This isn't mean and Annabeth's not trying to be mean here either. It's a normal thing to do as friends. And the way she says he's hopeless isn't mean either. It's one thing to tell someone that they're hopeless because they don't have good grades and aren't good at school and another thing to tell someone they're hopeless because of what Percy did here.

Also, digressing here-seeing the movie version of a myth is stupid. Annabeth didn't call Percy stupid, just hopeless, but it is still stupid.

SOM (pg 121) - As we came up the stairs to deck thirteen, where the admiralty suite was supposed to be, Annabeth hissed, “Hide!” and shoved us into a supply closet.

When in this scene is she ever mean? She's simply shoving all of them into a supply closet, which is perfectly normal. And in case you disliked the shoved part- it was necessary in this case. It wasn't physically violent. It's one thing to shove someone because you're angry with them, but why she shoved them in this scene was a good reason. There's nothing wrong with it.

SOM (pg 140) Annabeth glared at me, and I started to wish that I hadn't asked her this while she was holding a knife.

Annabeth glaring at Percy isn't mean, especially since he just asked her a very personal question, but I do think that the sentence that came afterwards- 'I started to wish that I hadn't asked her about this while she was holding a knife'-was weird and shouldn't have been written.

SOM (pg 183) 'Come on, Seaweed Brain.' she said.

There's nothing mean about this. The nickname isn't derogatory, it's an inside joke, and it's fine at this point.

SOM (pg 197) - [Percy rescuing Annabeth from sirens] She kicked me in the face, but I held on. Annabeth pummeled and kicked me, making it hard to concentrate.

Annabeth was under the influence of the siren song-of course she wasn't going to act normally! Also, Percy was pulling her away from her dream. It's not surpising that she did what she did, but ultimately, it had no effects in the long run. It's not the same as the judo flip or the gut punch or the shin kick or hitting him in the Staff of Hermes. It's not mean.

SOM (pg 199) She rolled her eyes. 'No, Seaweed Brain'.

There's nothing mean about rolling your eyes. I don't know if you're just really sensitive or you have it out for Annabeth. Also, Seaweed Brain is just a friendly nickname at this point. There's nothing wrong with it.

SOM (pg 236) - [Percy sends Clarisse with the fleece] “Percy,” Annabeth said, “that was so insane.” [ … ] “Percy is too nice,” Annabeth grumbled.

Percy's plan was insane. There's nothing mean about saying that.

Annabeth saying Percy is too nice isn't mean. I'm honestly just shaking my head in disbelief at this point. You're just taking sentences that she's said and calling them mean. I'm convinced that if Annabeth so much as exhaled too loudly, you'd call her mean.

Also, regarding the times Annabeth was mean to Tyson-of course she was going to be! You can toss around shouldn't have been all you'd like, but at the end of the day, realistically speaking, she was never going to have reacted well to a Cyclops.

Also, she got over it. She overcame her fear of them and is friends with Tyson-she even enlisted his help to bake Percy a blue birthday cupcake in TLO!

People like you are why so many people think Annabeth antis are ridiculous fools who are too sensitive. There are valid reasons to dislike and hate her (because no, the two are not the same) but what you're putting in here is just bullshit. You want Annabeth to smile and nod and praise Percy all the time instead of being realistic and imperfect. Please stop this and hate on her for valid reasons if you really want to hate on her.

Every Time Annabeth is Mean to Percy in the Riordanverse

This is something that I’ve been considering writing for a while but didn’t particularly want to put the work into until I was rereading The Titan’s Curse and came across a very specific line that went “She punched me in the gut.” I was so consumed with rage that I immediately began to reread the whole series and marked down every single instance that Annabeth was a dick to Percy. 

One thing to note is that I’ve marked down every instance of Annabeth calling Percy “seaweed brain” as being mean. Friendly reminder that her nickname for Percy means “stupid” and has always meant stupid and will always mean stupid and that just because he’s used to it by now, doesn’t make it okay. 

On that note, this also turned into me writing down every time someone other than Annabeth insults Percy’s intelligence just because I was curious.

Without further ado, I present to you, The Lightning Thief.

(Alternating colors for easier reading)

TLT (pg 57) -  [interrogation of Percy]   The girl with curly blond hair hovered over me, smirking as she scraped drips off my chin with the spoon. [ … ] Somebody knocked on the door, and the girl quickly filled my mouth with pudding.

TLT (pg 64) - [describing Annabeth’s eyes] but intimidating, too, as if she were analyzing the best way to take me down in a fight. 

TLT (pg 64) - “You drool when you sleep.”

TLT (pg 83) - When we reached her, she looked me over critically, like she was still thinking about how much I drooled. 

TLT (pg 85) - She saw me looking, and her expression hardened again.

TLT (pg 85-86) - She grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside. I could hear the kids of cabin eleven laughing behind me. When we were a few feet away, Annabeth said, “Jackson, you have to do better than that.” [ … ] She rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, “I can’t believe I thought you were the one.” 

TLT (pg 86) - [Percy is annoyed] “Don’t talk like that!” Annabeth told me. “You know how many kids at this camp wish they’d had your chance?” 

TLT (pg 89) - [Clarisse is hazing Percy] Annabeth looked pained, but she did stay out of it. 

TLT (pg 90) - [Clarisse is hazing Percy] Annabeth stood in the corner, watching through her fingers. 

TLT (pg 92) - Annabeth stared at me. I couldn’t tell whether she was just grossed out or angry at me for dousing her.

TLT (pg 93) - “I’ve got training to do,” Annabeth said flatly. “Dinner’s at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall.” [Percy apologizes] “Whatever.” 

TLT (pg 123) - [Annabeth sets Percy up to be bait for Clarisse, Percy confronts her] Annabeth shrugged. “I told you. Athena always, always has a plan.” 

TLT (pg 128) - Annabeth still taught me Greek in the mornings, but she seemed distracted. Every time I said something, she scowled at me, as if I’d just poked her between the eyes. 

TLT (pg 147) - [Annabeth has volunteered for the quest] “I’ve been waiting a long time for a quest, seaweed brain,” she said. “Athena is no fan of Poseidon, but if you’re going to save the world, I’m the best person to keep you from messing up.” 

TLT (pg 157) - [Percy is being optimistic] She gave me an irritated look. “It’s bad luck to talk that way, seaweed brain.” [Percy asks why Annabeth hates him] “I don’t hate you. [Percy disagrees] “Look…we’re just not supposed to get along, okay? Our parents are rivals.” 

TLT (pg 169) - She was silent for a few more steps. “It’s just that if you died…aside from the fact that it would really suck for you, it would mean the quest was over. This may be my only chance to see the real world.” 

TLT (pg 173) - [Percy lies to Medusa] “Your head is full of kelp.” 

TLT (pg 185) - [Percy doesn’t know the myths] Annabeth flashed me an irritated look. [explanation of the myth] Annabeth straightened. In a bad imitation of my voice she said: “It’s just a photo, Annabeth. What’s the harm?” 

TLT (pg 194) - [Annabeth wakes Percy after a nightmare] “Well,” Annabeth said, “the zombie lives.” 

TLT (pg 217) - [After Percy jumps off the Gateway Arch] Annabeth stood beside him, trying to look angry, but even she seemed relieved to see me. “We can’t leave you alone for five minutes! What happened?” 

TLT (pg 234) - [Percy asking Annabeth to go with him to get Ares’ shield] “Are you kidding?” She looked at me as if I’d just dropped from the moon. [ … ] “Me, go with you to the…the ‘Thrill Ride of Love’? How embarrassing is that? What if somebody saw me?” 

TLT (pg 234) - [Percy picks up Aphrodite’s scarf] Annabeth ripped it out of my hand and stuffed it in her pocket. “Oh no you don’t. Stay away from that love magic.” [ … ] “Just get the shield, seaweed brain.” 

TLT (pg 239) - [Percy has a plan] “Are you crazy?” 

TLT (pg 244) - [Percy backtalking Ares] Annabeth said, “That was not smart, Percy.” 

TLT (pg 251) - [Discussing what side they’ll pick] “Because you’re my friend, seaweed brain. Anymore stupid questions?” 

TLT (pg 257) - [Grover can only bless wild animals] “So it would only work on Percy,” Annabeth reasoned.

TLT (pg 263) - [Percy trying to get Annabeth’s attention at the Lotus Hotel] She looked up, annoyed. “What?” [ … ] “Hey!” She screamed and hit me, but nobody else even bothered looking at us. 

TLT (pg 282) - [Percy saves Grover and Annabeth from Crusty] “Be faster next time.” 

TLT (pg 370) - [Percy wakes up after almost dying] “You idiot,” Annabeth said.

TLT (pg 374) - She pursed her lips. “You won’t try anything stupid during the school year, will you? At least…not without sending me an Iris-Message?” 

TLT (pg 374) “Take care, seaweed brain.” 

TLT total number of times Percy is called stupid: 10 

TLT number of times Annabeth calls Percy stupid: 7

TLT number of times others call Percy stupid: Gabe (1). Grover (1). Thalia (1). 

Every day, I’ll reblog this post with the next book so keep an eye out for that.

I've seen this post before, and I wanted to argue against it.

Now, bear in mind that this is supposed to be a friendly debate and I don't want to offend you.

With that being said, let's look at the bullies that Percy's called out.

The teachers and students who bullied him at his old schools for his learning disabilities, Nancy Bobofit, Gabe, Dionysus, Tantalus, Ares, Hades (yeah he qualifies, he made Percy feel bad and Percy stood up to him. Go Percy, boss moment honestly) Clarisse, Matt Sloan and his gang.

These are people that Percy heavily dislikes (well, Clarisse is an exception, but at the time she bullied Percy, he heavily disliked her.) This makes it easier to call out their bullshit.

Annabeth is someone he likes. It's difficult to call out the bullshit of people that you like-very rarely can people can do this.

And we're forgetting that Percy's fatal flaw is loyalty. He's loyal to the people he loves and blind to their flaws, so he is the exact opposite of a person who'd be fair with both their friends and enemies.

Take Sally Jackson, for example. Sally herself admitted that she was selfish and kept Percy with an abuser so as not to be attacked by monsters instead of dropping him off at Camp where he would have been safer, especially with Poseidon's influence. Logically speaking, Percy should have resented her for this a little bit, right?

Now, for the morons who'll come to this conclusion, I am not saying that Sally Jackson is the devil incarnate. She was a struggling single mother stuck in between a rock and a hard place-there was no completely good option for her to choose here.

But she still chose to marry an abuser to keep Percy and herself safe. She knowingly married him knowing that he'd make Percy's life terrible and that Percy would be affected by this. This was definitely not a good choice on her part and it doesn't make her a good person (though she still is a good person, just not as good as one would make her out to be).

But Percy doesn't even think about this-he just idolises her (understandable, considering the circumstances, but still) and he never thinks about the situation from this point of view.

And Grover in Wrath of the Triple Goddess. Percy calls him out, but Percy later feels guilty for the stupid reason of Grover thinking he's going to be lonely when they (Percy and Annabeth) go to college, which is why Grover almost ruined the quest. Percy literally says that he should have been thinking about what Grover felt (Grover, who is responsible for his own self, Percy is not responsible for Grover) instead of, you know, thinking about himself and his future.

This is complete malarkey. It's a terrible reason for Grover's terrible actions. And what does Percy do?

He shoves it down, takes the blame, forces himself to be calm even though he should rage. This is another example of Percy not wanting to call someone's bullshit out because they're a loved one.

And Percy loves Annabeth. She's his friend, she went on his first quest with him, she's saved his life and she has a lion's share in his view of the mythological world since she was pretty much the first demigod that he really knew (discounting Luke who left after the first book).

All of this makes it pretty difficult for him to call out her bullshit-especially when she hates being called out on her bullshit, which she does.

Of course, he called out her bullshit during TLT and SOM regarding himself and Tyson respectively, but this is when they're not really friends. In the later books, where they're better friends and he likes her more, he doesn't do it.

And also, Percy has called Annabeth out on her bullshit, but she doesn't listen to him, so he becomes resigned to it.

Her calling him Seaweed Brain? He says that he's gotten used to it in TTC, meaning that he didn't like it but she didn't stop, so he just became used to it.

He says in TLO that he wanted to argue with Annabeth regarding his cabin inspection marks, but no good would come of it, so he just resigned himself to his marks.

He says that he wouldn't argue with her because she would beat him up.

Annabeth yells at Percy and blames him for leaving even though they both know that he was kidnapped. Does he call her out on this, tell her that she was wrong? No.

Annabeth makes Percy feel scared every time she brings up Rachel. This makes Percy feel bad and he does not call her out on it.

All of these are examples of Annabeth not listening to him and bulldozing her way over his protests, so he becomes resigned to it.

That's a common abusive tactic that I've experienced myself-don't listen to the victim and bulldoze your way over them until they become silent and resigned.

Now, I don't want to go so far as to call Annabeth abusive, but she is definitely pretty toxic towards Percy at times. I know that she loves him, I'm not denying that, but you can love someone and be toxic towards them.

Again, I don't want to be disrespectful and I respect your opinions. I'm just providing valid arguments as to why I think your statement was wrong.

when you say that percy is stuck in an abusive relationship with annabeth, you are not only insulting annabeth, you are erasing one of percy's best character strengths: how he is NOT afraid to call out people's nonsense and stand up against bullies no matter how bad or insecure they make him feel

Percy Jackson's foundation is problematic

Ok, so, the OG PJO series is amazing for a lot of people. I mean, it's almost as famous as Harry Potter for a reason. It has an immersive world which is escapism which is really nice for a lot of people including me..........

But the series could definitely have been rewritten to be better. Such as not making Annabeth hit Percy so often (only playful hits, no so hard) making Ares love his children, making Artemis NOT SO PREDATORY-

But the thing is, even if the series was rewritten to exclude these.........

The very foundation of the Percy Jackson series is problematic.

The foundation of the Percy Jackson series is about overthrowing an abusive system and making the abusers pay attention and listen, and I'm not saying that that's a bad concept. It's actually one of the best concepts, but-

But it's what Rick Riordan used as an abusive system that's really wrong.

He used the Greek gods as abusive parents when in the myths they were the furthest things from it.

Excuse me. Zeus was not an abusive father to Apollo. He genuinely loved him. He only punished him when Apollo needed to be punished and deserved it. Zeus was a loving father to Artemis as well. He gave her what she requested and let her live in the wild as she pleased. Zeus also stopped Athena from practicing divination at Apollo's request. Zeus would not leave two children with an abusive alcholic mother.

Poseidon was not abusive and neglectful. In the myths, he punished Odysseus for blinding his son Polyphemus. And he let Sciron do as he pleased in the ocean, though Sciron was a terrible person.

Aphrodite frequently came to her son Aeneas' aid on the battlefield of Troy. She loved him very much and even told him to give up LOVE to fulfil his own destiny of becoming a king.

And it also depicts Athena and Hades as having demigod children, when in the myths, Athena has no children at all and Hades is faithful to his wife Persephone, only cheating on her with TWO people in only a few variations of the myths, while other myths have Hades loving Leuce and Minthe before Persephone.

It's problematic for Athena to have demigod children, even brain children, because she was a virgin goddess who had no children in the myths. Ancient Greece associated marriage and having children with losing your virginity.

It was symbolic, so Athena having children, even brain children, makes her lose her virginity.

And about Hades being faithful-he's stated to have had multiple children with women when Persephone goes to her mother, which is why she's so unhappy.

This is incorrect and terribly wrong.

But if Athena and Hades didn't have children, and if the Greek Gods weren't abusive parents, then this series wouldn't exist. These problematic themes are essential to the story, which is why PJO is so problematic itself.

Not to mention the whole 'flame of the West' crap that is a big collective forehead smacking moment.

So even if Percy Jackson could be rewritten, it'll always be problematic in one way or another.

(Not saying that you shouldn't enjoy it. I have a love-hate relationship with it).

One of the most annoying things I find about Solangelo is the lack of development, the lack of progress from platonic to romantic in their relationship.

What, you're telling me that Nico, Nico di Angelo, an important character in the original PJO series and also HOO, who gets his own POV, just suddenly gets together with a random doctor………Will Solace? We see Will in what, The Last Olympian? And then we see him again in The Lost Hero, BARELY, just a few lines, and then again in Blood of Olympus, where he tells Nico that the latter that he's dense but not stupid? Which would be enough to piss Nico off? And then in Trials of Apollo……….they're…………TOGETHER? We barely got any chemistry or screentime, and what with Nico's internalized homophobia and years-long crush on Percy……….. HE WOULD NOT DO THAT. You don't just kiss someone your gender after only MONTHS of internalized homophobia, especially when Nico is from the LITERAL 1930s, where people were MURDERED for being gay.

It's clear that Rick only gave him a partner to 'confirm' it, which is annoying, because people can be gay without having partners.

And also, Will is so random and such a random, thrown-in character that I find it funny at times. Of course, he has somewhat of a personality outside being Nico's boyfriend, but not enough to make him a good sole character.Also, he's a terrible doctor for giving Nico's medical information to other people without Nico's consent-and he's 16. He clearly knows that he shouldn't do it. And he still does it.

Why do you hate the judo flip

Honey, you're talking to a sane, logical, rational person who doesn't normalise physical assault and victim blaming, not one of your Percabeth stan mutuals. Hope this clears things up :)

Sally and Gaia parallels

I've already said that Percy Jackson's Greek Gods is a terribly book at times and that you shouldn't take it too seriously, but one thing that really appalls and surprises me is that Percy calls Gaia a psycho for telling her children to overthrow Ouranous, who locked Gaia's children and the Titans' siblings in Tartarus.

Ouranous, who hated his children, locked them away in the Earth as a prison, essentially leaving Gaia to raise them, to raise them as a single mother while he did nothing.

Gaia who raised them lovingly and told them how to overthrow their abusive father and free their siblings to have a better fate.

Gaia and her children are overthrowing an abusive, neglectful father and Percy calls this..........psychotic?

This is VERY ironic, considering that Percy and Sally literally murdered Smelly Gabe for being abusive. They overthrew an abusive man, and a decade later, Rick writes a mother who wants to overthrow an abusive father and husband and free her children as insane and psychotic.

Coupling this with how he writes Gaia in HOO...........oh Gaia, wanting to overthrow an abusive father and husband for the sake of your children..........killing an abusive, domineering patriarch who abuses your children and then being demonised for it by another man.........how, oh all the women understand you. Oh, how they suffer too.

Jurdan is actually relevant to the plot

The thing about Jurdan is that their romance is ACTUALLY RELEVANT TO THE PLOT.

See, with Percabeth and Sokeefe, leaving out their romance wouldn't change anything. They could just be really good friends or best friends.

But with Jurdan, well, if Cardan didn't romantically love Jude, if he hadn't been OBSESSED with her, then he wouldn't have offered to make her queen, which would have changed a lot in the plot.

(Not saying that this makes Jurdan superior to Percabeth or Sokeefe)

This is my two cents-feel free to disagree and give me arguments why.