You Know A Character Trope I Love?

Percabeth needs communication

You know, one thing that makes me unhappy about Percabeth in WOTTG is that Percy feels like he has to be the perfect boyfriend for Annabeth and feels pressured around her.

Because you shouldn't feel like you have to please your partner all the time. You should be able to relax and be yourself with them. If they're really your partner, they'll accept you, flaws and all. If you're with strangers at a party, uncomfortable, and they walk in, you should be able to light up and relax with them.

The way Percabeth is written, Percy would freak out and stress out even MORE about Annabeth being there because he'd want to impress her too much.

But I'm not blaming Annabeth for this-because I don't know if she knows what Percy's thinking.

Has Percy ever told her that he feels like he has to be the perfect boyfriend for her and always please her? Because if he has, and if she hasn't shot down that ridiculous notion, then it's bad writing on Rick's part-

But if Percy HASN'T told her that, then how can we blame her?

In the end, I blame Rick Riordan and his terrible writing.

But can someone please tell me if Percy ever told Annabeth about wanting to be the perfect boyfriend for her? Has he ever told her about ANY of his insecurities?

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

Follow culture is bizarre

Honestly the whole 'follow and unfollow' aspect of social media is just so ridiculous to me.

I don't give a damn if you follow or unfollow me. You don't have to justify unfollowing me-chances are I won't even notice, and if I do, I won't care. You're allowed to unfollow someone without justifying it!

If you want to follow me-great! I'm thankful that you like my content enough to want to follow me to get updates. I'm really glad and no offense to you.

If you want to unfollow me but are afraid that I'll be offended, however-go ahead and unfollow me right now because I don't care and I won't be offended at all.

I prefer if you interact with my posts instead of just following! Like, reblog with or without comment and comment (which is the best thing).

You don't have to follow your mutuals just because you're mutuals. Interacting with their posts is far more valuable than just following them. A person who doesn't follow me but interacts with my posts will always be more valuable than someone who follows me but never interacts with them.

I haven't read KOTLC or Shadowhunters in quite some time but if Cassius was Sophie's father (this is never happening, but hypothetically) do you think Shannon would pull some Clary/Jace incest pining type of shit.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

My theory as to why Rick added the judo flip

I was thinking about how weird it was that Rick added the judo flip scene to the reunion and I have a theory for why he did it.

Percabeth's reunion was supposed to be happy and romantic, and a judo flip is the antithesis of that.

My theory (And keep in mind that this is only a theory, so don't take it as canon) is that he added the judo flip in to make the scene unique.

Listen-every reunion scene like Percabeth's is happy and romantic, right? Happy couple is separated, they go on a journey to find each other and when they do it's seventh heaven and euphoria again. They kiss, hug, laugh, cry happily and declare that they'll never leave each other again.

Rick probably wanted to do that with Percabeth but he also didn't want to make it just another generic scene-he wanted to add somethjng distinctive that made it stand out. Not just 'Oh, it was a really sweet reunion scene' but 'Yeah, she judo flipped him! Crazy, right?' Something that people would remember, not just dismiss as another lovey-dovey reunion scene.

GREEK AND ROMAN DEMIGODDESSES IN ARTEMIS' HUNT

Ok, so, all of us PJO fans know about Artemis' hunt in PJO. It's terrible, honestly, the way Rick wrote it, but that's not what I'm talking about here.

If Greek and Roman demigods couldn't be in each other's presence without fighting, then what about the Greek and Roman demigods in Artemis' hunt?

Greek demigods have joined before and so have Roman demigods. And they would have met each other because they were all in the hunt, yes?

(I'm not sure how many huntresses there are).

Were there separate divisions? Branches? It doesn't say anything like that in the books.

So this is probably just another inconsistency in PJO.

What are your thoughts on this?

Jude and Madoc oneshot (From Madoc's POV)

11 year old Jude looked at Madoc. 'What you want to do is evade the strike.' he said. 'You can't always evade, but it's best to learn how. Your reflexes have to be quick enough-if they strike suddenly, you'll need to jump back and preferably not fall over. I'm going to strike, and you're going to step back.' 'Ok,' she said. He took the sword and struck at her. She screamed and jumped back, tripping over her feet. 'Yes,' he said, smiling slightly. 'That's what you want to avoid.' He would not admit it, but he was growing to love Jude more than Vivienne. She was so like him-fierce, determined, ready to protect her loved ones at all costs. He saw so much of him in her, rather than Vivienne, though he had spent years thinking about the latter and imagining how she could have been if not for her untimely 'death'. Yet it was Jude whom he gravitated to. She had Eva's fierceness, determination and resilience. What he had originally been attracted to. Taryn was also there, yes, but she was more quiet and submissive. It was Jude that he really liked. And it seemed that she growing to love him as well, though she did not feel comfortable with it. He had let her sit on his lap and eat out of his plate, even though he had murdered her parents in front of her own eyes. Jude flushed. 'Sorry.' she said, darting glances at him. 'Um.' 'Let's try again.' He struck at her and this time, she stepped back expertly. 'Good. Now, it's not always good to evade-you're only putting yourself where the blade is not, which might be useful in some situations, but if you want to end the fight, you'll have to strike back. And sometimes, the enemy will be faster than you, or you will tire out and finally be struck. And if you misjudge their timing, you're done for.' She nodded. 'You want to be able to do a simple BLOCK.' he said. 'When your opponent attacks you, you raise your sword and block their thrust. Put the blade between yourself and your attacker. You can also support the blade, like this-' he grasped the blade in one of his hands while holding the hilt with the other. She practiced the block and at the end of an hour, she had mastered it. 'Amazing, Jude! You're a natural.' he said, smiling at her. 'Keep on doing this and you'll be the best swordsman in Faerie.' 'Swordswoman,' she mumbled, then nodded and smiled back at him. One of their mutual interests was sword fighting-well, their strongest mutual interest, actually. They took many lessons outside, sometimes Jude being covered in dirt and sweat after them, much to Oriana's chagrin. Everything was all right now-he might have murdered their parents, but they seemed to have gotten over them and were well adjusted to Elfhame. (Even if they had left for a brief period of time last year. Vivienne had said that they just needed a vacation from Faerie, but Madoc was glad to see that Jude and Taryn were ecstatic to be back. Even if Vivienne was sulky and depressed.) Still, sometimes he felt depressed looking at them. How could he have killed their mother? They were so young, and it had obviously affected them in terrible ways. He wondered if they still cried into their pillows when they slept. Hopefully not. He was delighted with Jude's progress, and, as time passed, hoped to make her into one of the best, if not THE best, swordsman in Elfhame. It was the least he could do, teach her how to survive in Elfhame, for her mother. Eva may not have been a good wife, but he would be a good father to Jude-and to Taryn, and Vivienne. If there was one thing he would do for his dead wife, it would be to raise her daughters in honour and give them a good life. Fate may not have smiled upon him in the Duarte house, but he was in Elfhame, and by the blood crown would he bend it to his will here.

anon because the fandom does genuinely scare me sometimes, especially within the caleo stan circles

love your posts. what are your thoughts on caleo? i personally greatly dislike it, but how do you feel about it? i think it's another percabeth situation, where people only defend the abuse that happens because of the gender (if calypso was male and leo was female, there would be a riot. same situation with the constant hitting/violence with annabeth. a genderswap would ruin these ships.) i dont think leo or calypso act happy in the relationship, whatsoever.

About Caleo.............

All right, I hate that ship, but my main problem is how Rick portrayed Calypso in PJO versus how she is portrayed in the actual mythology and the Odyssey.

Putting this under a cut because I don't want to clog your feed up.

I don't know how many PJO fans have read the Odyssey, but if you have read it before or after, doubtless you'll be surprised at how different the two Calypsos are.

How Calypso is portrayed in the Odyssey.

She is not a sad, helpless UWU teen girl like Calypso in PJO. She shouldn't have even been a teenager in PJO-she romanced two grown men!

She's not the type of person to understand and let someone go. She didn't do that with Odysseus-she kept him captive for seven years and only let him go when Hermes threatened her with the wrath of Zeus (not something you want to tempt, never ends well.)

Being a nymph and a minor goddess who was the daughter of Atlas, she supported him during the First Titanomachy which was why she lived on Ogygia in exile as punishment. She's a goddess, which means that she was leagues more powerful than Odysseus, who was exhausted, traumatised and didn't have any crew or supplies to sustain him. Going back into the ocean was also dangerous because, well, Poseidon and his rage (not something you want to have on your head either).

It's literally stated in the poem that Odysseus cried on the beach every morning, wishing to return home and missing it terribly. He literally just wanted to see the smoke that rose from his homeland and wants to die. Exact lines copied from Homey's Odyssey-

'By night indeed he would sleep by her side perforce in the hollow caves, unwilling beside the willing nymph.'

'At night-time, true, he slept with her even now in the arching caverns, but this was against his will; she was loving and he unloving'.

'But Odysseus, in his longing to see were it but the smoke leaping up from his own land, yearns to die.'

And when Hermes forces her to let him go, she makes this speech saying that gods will ravish all the women they like, but the moment goddesses start doing the same, they are furious and make them stop.

That's literally just her trying to blame the gods and not herself for something she did. She's trying to shift the blame and make herself seem likeable because others did it, so why can't she?

This is something that a lot of abusers use to make them seem better. Calypso's actions are not ok, and the narrative does not tell us that it's ok. It condemns them, and so should we.

This by @katerinaaqu is a must-read, and you should check out their blog for more info on the real Calypso.

And how she's portrayed in Percy Jackson

We should not, for example, turn this adult nymph who's a rapist into a biologically and mentally 15-16 and make her a poor little girl who's sadly living on an island and then state that she's romanced grown men while somehow being 15-16 years old and ignore it.

I'm not saying that it had to be stated that she was a rapist because this is a children's book series.

But I'm not saying that she had to be portrayed as a teenager either.

The worst part is that though Calypso is depicted as a teenager, it's said that she fought in a war, the First Titanomachy which was much more serious than the Second One, and she romanced two grown men.

All of this while being a teenager? How the hell does that work? Apollo literally says that Calypso is old enough to be his babysitter! And he's millennia old! Millennia!

There is no logic in this, honestly. I mean, there's not much logic or consistency in PJO, but this really takes the cake.

And in Heroes of Olympus, more specifically the fourth book House of Hades, she appears again.........

And, well, this is where it gets really revolting.

Leo Valdez, a fifteen or sixteen year old teenager, is thrown all the way to Ogygia. And there he meets Calypso, who, as the book series states, cannot help but fall in love with every hero that appears on her island because they're just her type.

I think we all know what happens next.

Calypso, a millennia-old goddess who fought in a war and romanced grown men, gets into a relationship.........with a traumatized, mentally unstable teenage boy who's not even a legal adult. After only, what, a few weeks?

This entire situation feels like some bizzarre nightmarish distorted version of terribly-written, unfunny comedy.

THE ATROCITY OF ROMANTICISED SUICIDE

Ok, so Caleo is abusive, but I'll get to that later.

What I want to talk about-first and foremost about Caleo-is that Leo commits suicide to find Calypso's island again-and this isn't good.

...............Sorry, did I say that that wasn't good?

No, that's a fucking understatement and underestimation.

IT'S ROMANTICISED SUICIDE.

Sink that in your head people. He killed himself to find her island again and take her off of it!

And no, that's not romantic. It's not. Fucking. ROMANTIC.

it's disgusting, unacceptable, unpleasant, nasty, disagreeable, horrid, unwholesome, atrocious, awful, deficient, revolting, lacking, unwelcome, unfortunate, inferior, inadequate, lousy, flawed, pathetic, disastrous, ill, useless, worthless, gross, damnable, vile, absymal, horrendous, shoddy, abominable, crappy, faulty, trashy, substandard, nasty, terrible, dreadful, unfavourable, grim, distressing, regrettable, adverse to morality and humanity, entirely unnecessary and not up to scratch (THAT WAS THE ITCHIEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN).

How, just how am I supposed to explain how horrible this is? Especially in a children's book series?

Killing yourself just to find a loved one is never a good concept in any form of media. It's a self-destructive fantasy and suicide itself is a horrible, horrible thing-not to blame the suicidal person, but to both them and their loved ones.

And suicide should never be romanticised, never ever, period. To do so, especially in a children's book series, is absolutely atrocious writing on the author's part, no matter who they are.

He never even called it out. If he had said that it was horrible and treated it as such, it would be a little better-but no. It's cheered on and encouraged, which is a level of hell that's deeper than the Earth's core.

I don't think I've emphasized how awful this is. It's just.......let's not romanticise suicide and suicidal tendencies. Not for anything. Never.

LEO'S ARC IS RUINED

The entire point of Leo Valdez's arc was to show that being the third wheel (seventh one in this case) wasn't bad. Being single, not finding romantic love, was fine. Acceptance without romance was possible, and pure platonic love was also possible. And Calypso pretty much ruined this because in the end, heteronormativity forces romance above everything.

And he literally prioritises this random girl whom he spent a few weeks with over his friends whom he spent months with and knows them way better than Calypso.

The forced amatonormativity here is as transparent as clean air. You'' be able to see lichen growing on the trees if you look close enough.

Abuse in Caleo

Calypso is also abusive to Leo.

1) She looks into Leo's past and sees his memories. Without his permission. Which is pretty creepy and moves past boundaries in a bad way.

Now we come to the Dark Prophecy, where they star as a couple (more like a star explosion).

2) In TDP, Calypso jabs her fingers into Leo's ribs.

Why?

It's because she asked what was hiding Festus from the mortals, so he tells her what the Mist is and she says that already knows-even though she literally asked the question that provoked in the first place.

Even if she thinks he's insulting her or talking down, when he's not, she shouldn't jab her fingers into his ribs.

And that wasn't playful-Leo expressed physical pain through an exclamation. And even if Calypso thought it was playful, she didn't apologize afterwards when she saw that she caused Leo physical pain.

3) She also calls him by a name that he told her never to call him by-Leonidas.

He clearly doesn't like it, and knowing that, she still uses it, that too in front of someone they don't know very well, almost a stranger.

In the Riordanverse, names have power.

Leo chooses not to call himself that. He tells Calypso never to call him that. And she calls him that.

In this moment, she's taking his power and autonomy away from him by calling him something he doesn't like. It's probably minor to a lot of you, but honestly, it's pretty bothersome to those of us who have actually experienced this.

4) Leo often uses mechanical-related analogies, but Calypso hates them and makes him stop using them, so he doesn't even use them when she's not around.

What's wrong with him using his analogies? He uses them to help him and she makes him stop. She effectively stops him from using something that helps him. That is bad.

It's a fundamental part of him. If Calypso doesn't like it, then why is she dating him at all?

5) Leo is also bad to Calypso. He calls her Mamacita multiple times after she tells him not to. Reyna literally has to tell him to stop calling her that and intimidate him into doing it, and it's all passed off has lighthearted playfulness.

As someone who has been through this before, it's pretty damn frustrating. It's not funny or cute to do it. It's plain annoying and the person on the receiving end is completely right to want it to stop.

6) The age gap. I've mentioned this before.

But some people are saying that Calypso has the maturity of a teenager in PJO, so why shouldn't she date Leo?

All right, using that logic, let's make Apollo and Reyna date!

NO.

Calypso has lived for millennia on her island. She says that it's been three thousand five hundred and sixty eight years.

This isn't like Nico, who was in the Lotus Casino for decades but only aged a month. He was the same level of mature when he went into it and came out. Calypso was not.

Apollo has also lived for millennia. And he has a teenager's maturity. Does that mean it's ok for him to date Reyna.

No. It does not. And the same logic applies to Calypso and Leo.

I've also heard someone saying that Calypso is cursed to fall in love with whoever washes up on her island, which isn't true.

She says that the gods send her the type of person whom she can't help herself from falling in love with. Not that she's cursed to love them.

7) In TDP, Leo is working on something to try and find Georgina, a missing child.

And then when he says as much, Calypso sharply asks him if he can imagine losing his child.

He can, in fact, do that. He lost his mom, which was just as horrible if not more than Jo and Emmie losing their child, since there was a chance of Georgina coming back, but Esperanza could never come back.

He also has a little brother-Harley. He says that he would be furious if someone did something bad to Harley! So yes, he can in fact imagine what losing a child is like!

After this, Calypso for some reason gets frustrated and tells him that he can't reduce everything to a program.

He's not doing that. He's not reducing this problem to a program-he's working on a program to reduce this problem.

She tells him that Jo and Emmie don't need gadgets or jokes. They need someone who will listen.

And how is that going to help exactly? Leo is actually doing something. He's working on something to find Georgina.

A good listener is something nice to have, but a person who actually does something helpful is even better. And if Calypso thinks Jo and Emmie need a good listener, then she can listen. What else is she doing anyway?

Calypso willfully misunderstands this and wrongfully accuses him of not listening and trying to reduce everything to a machine when he's not. This is what a toxic partner does. They twist the narrative to make you think that your actions are wrong when they're not.

TO CONCLUDE

Neither Leo nor Calypso is happy in their relationship. It was built on naive dreams and false passions-the moment they became a real couple, they didn't know what to do. They thought that they loved each other, but it was only the idea of love and having a partner that was compelling to them. The moment they actually got what they wanted, which was to be in a real relationship, they didn't know how to actually be a couple. Then the problems of a real relationship began to hit both of them.

The logical solution would be to talk it out, apologise on both ends, realise that they wouldn't work out together and finally break up while remaining good friends or just stop contacting each other entirely-either one is fine.

They're taking a break now, so hopefully Rick Riordan will make them break up, but I think that he'll just never mention them again, which wouldn't be as great, but would be fine, honestly, regarding the current state of Rick Riordan.

Ok, listen………..I haven't seen anyone talking about this. So………men and other people who say that men are losers say that they don't have a job, a house, an apartment friends or a girlfriend. And I'm just like……..ok, the first four are valid concerns, but why do you need a GIRLFRIEND? It's just, they're treating all of these as goals to be accomplished, things to be bought and had, and girlfriends are not goals to be accomplished nor things to be BOUGHT AND HAD. They're real, living, breathing people. People who say that they have 'no job, no home, no girlfriend) are essentially treating girlfriends like objects to be had so that they can be better and more accomplished. Stop. There is NOTHING WRONG with NOT HAVING A GIRLFRIEND. More men NEED to see this. DO NOT TIE YOUR VALUE TO A PARTNER OR SIGNIFICANT OTHER. Say that you don't have a job, living space, real friends, but NEVER say 'Ugh, my life so bad, dude, I don't have a job, a house OR a GIRLFRIEND.'