You Do Not Need To Remind Me How Precious My Cargo Is. (Hayley And Hope)

Ok, so I am HOWLING with laughter.

So, have you heard? People are comparing Percy and Annabeth to................Odysseus and Penelope.

When I heard this, you don't know how funny it was to me. I almost choked on my spit. LMAOOOOOOOOOOO

Penelope would NEVER hit or insult Odysseus. She doesn't play mind games with him and they communicate properly.

Odysseus and Penelope are not toxic. Percabeth is.

Also, Rick Riordan is LEAGUES worse than Homer. Like, the guy cannot even compare to the ACTUAL GREEK POET.

And people are actually comparing the two.

Percy Jackson IS good at times, but it will NEVER compare to Homer's compositions. Literally never.

TBH that's just my personal opinion.

Also, Homer actually composed many of the Greek epics that we still read today.

I get why people would want to compare them, but there is no comparison, really. It's so fucking funny to me.

Anyway, what are your thoughts on Percabeth compared to Odysseus and Penelope?

That comparison alone has ruined the New Year for me. It's an insult to the Odyssey. Hell, it's an insult to the recently released Ithaca Saga of Epic the Musical.

But seriously, are these things actually being said? Cause that puts Percabeth stans from delusional category to brain dead.

Homer's Iliad and The Odyssey are one of history's most reputed myths of all time. And the primary source of Greek mythology for many people. I am certain Rick himself referred Homer's works for ideas and references. Even Riordan himself would be ashamed to compare his writing to Homer, in even the slightest manner.

Now to Odysseus and Penelope; the greatest couple of all time, truly and undeniably. The orignal eternal love. Even Hera, the goddess of marriage and family, considers Odysseus and Penelope's marriage bed sacred. Which Odysseus carved out of a living tree as a symbol of their undying love and so that it could never be moved.

Odysseus crawled through hell to get to Penelope and Telemachus. He survived and won the 10 year long Trojan war, defeated/ tricked a Cyclops, countless mythical monsters, Circe, Calypso, and even Zeus himself and at last Poseidon. That alone is beyond comprehension. Because Odysseus isn't a demigod or any specially blessed being. No, he is just an ordinary mortal, a genius mortal, one trained by the wisdom goddess but an ordinary mortal all the same. Yes, he is one of a kind genius, but these are literally eldritch creatures compared to him.

Let me put it this way, Odysseus is the OG Batman. He is who all smart fictional human characters aspire to be.

The Odyssey is literally about the all transcending power of human will. Of Odysseus's sheer fucking will to get back home, to his wife and son. That's it. A common desire of a common man, yet so miraculously burning and indomitable in Odysseus's mind that it alone outshines his extraordinary genius.

He quite literally died on his way there. Had to hitch a ride through the Underworld and then some.

Then he had to sacrifice his ENTIRE CREW, HIS FRIENDS, HIS COMRADES to get back to Ithaca. Mind you, Odysseus had the record of getting every single one of his 600 men alive out of Trojan War. The only one to have done so. And he had to lose some to the tragedies and then WILLINGLY SACRIFICE others to get back to Penelope.

I don't think there are words enough to encapsulate Odysseus's dedication.

Now Penelope. The thing is, she is just as bloody impressive. The Queen of Ithaca and a Spartan Princess, she is also one of a kind. Throughout Odysseus's departure and the suitors' invasion , not five, not ten, 108 SUITORS, Penelope held her own, keeping the castle, her son Telemachus and herself secure. All the while, raising Telemachus and running the kingdom on her own as well.

She tricked the suitors into an eternally futile game of trying to lift Odysseus's bow and shoot with it. Tricked them by telling them she was weaving Odysseus's shroud, which, when finished, would signify that she is picking a new husband. Each day, she would weave for all suitors to see, and each night, she would unravel the shroud. All in an attempt to stall. Among the many other ways, she did so. Including STEADFASTLY DENYING EACH AND EVERY SUITOR CONSTANTLY FOR YEARS AS THEY ASKED FOR HER HAND, NEVER ONCE LOSING HOPE OR FAITH IN ODYSSEUS.

When Odysseus returns, disguised as a beggar, she not only immediately recognizes him but subtly helps him in killing the suitors, which then Odysseus and Telemachus proceed to do.

All 108 suitors dead in a night. Add that to 600 men under Odysseus's command. 708 lives murdered and then some all for Odysseus and Penelope to reunite.

And this is me abridging the whole thing. Imagine the struggle, the suffering, the mental and physical trauma. 20 years straight. You can't fathom it.

I don't think I have words enough to state how repulsively disrespectfully wretched this comparison is. I would use an analogy, but it's so horrendous that I don't think there's one that suffices.

I literally have more than half the posts dedicated to dismantling the delusion of percabeth being a perfect ship, so I won't preach to the choir, but I mean Annabeth's fatal flaw is Hubris and Percy's is Personal Loyalty. Go figure.

If that isn't enough, Percy jumped in Tartarus for Annabeth. She fell, but Percy jumped, among the many other ways he has saved her from countless deaths. And Annabeth offers him what in return? It would have been alright if she gave him nothing in return, but somehow, the situation is EVEN WORSE.

Physical and mental demeaning. Toxic and controlling attitude and of course BLAMING HIM FOR GETTING KIDNAPPED AND HAVING HIS MEMORY WIPED BY A GODDESS. WOW, THAT SOUNDS SO SIMILAR TO PENELOPE AND ODYSSEUS.

Not to mention, Penelope accepted her husband, as he was. Even after being so completely changed by his tragic journey that he was quite literally NO LONGER HIMSELF.

And Percy when had to CHOKE AKHYLS WHO WAS DEFINITELY GOING TO KILL HIM AND ANNABETH, WAS KILLING HIM AND ANNABETH, OUT OF SELF DEFENSE AND SHE BLAMES HIM AND FORCES HIM TO PROMISE NOT TO USE HIS POWERS TO DEFEND HIMSELF???

WHAT THE FUCK??? And sure it would have been ignorable had it not had any long term effects. BUT NO PERCY ALMOST KILLS HIMSELF OUT OF KEEPING HIS PROMISE TO ANNABETH.

Call them whatever the hell you want but DON'T EVER COMPARE THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO ODYSSEUS AND PENELOPE.

PERCY DESERVES INFINITELY BETTER THAN ANNABETH. Enough said, really.

The Percy Jackson Fandom as a whole has this blind misconception that Annabeth is the smartest but Percy is this super powerful but dumb guy who can't do anything without Annabeth.

There is no evidence that proves Annabeth is the smartest, and let us break down the criteria for this.

1)Mythological knowledge:

Annabeth gets full points cause she has an exceptional amount of knowledge regarding almost all sorts of things.

Do we know anyone who knows myths better than her?

Nico and Jason most certainly have just as good theoretical information on Greek and Roman myths.

So, is this category inclusive to Annabeth? No.

Another point is that Percy is so good at adapting that even though he is unaware, almost always of who his opponents are, Percy ways manages to outwit them or beat them.

2)Quick thinking/Adaptation:

Percy Jackson wins no contest here.

Most newer demigods like Hazel and Piper have also shown the ability of quick thinking well.

Frank's tactical abilities are really underrated, along with Jason's .

3)Specialized weapons

The invisibility cap

(It was unusable through the whole of HoO.)

4)Power specific skill set:

Photographic memory

(It's an ability all Athena children probably have)

Natural aptitude for weaponry

(All children of war gods have this)

Trickery

I didn't say manipulation cause Percy is way better manipulator than Annabeth. It's not even comparable.

5)No. of Strategies made/ Perceptive ability/

Percy:

Tricking Crusty

Unraveling Ares's scheme

Unraveling Luke's betrayal

Figuring out use for Hermes's gift in SoM

Proving to camp of Luke's betrayal by tricking him

Helping in Tricking Atlas to lift the weight of the sky

Figuring out Kronos's plan

Planning the entire strategy of Battle of Manhattan

Tricking Gaea into helping him over Phineas

Tricking Chrysaur

Outwitting Geras

Annabeth:

Made the plan to kill Medusa

Taming Cerberus

Tricks Polyphemus, however, she directly copies Odysseus, so it's not an original tactic

Figuring out Quintus' true identity (along with Percy)

Activates Deadleus's defense mechanisms

Tricking priestesses of Roman deity

Tricking and trapping Arachne

I think based on all this, there's sufficient information that dispels the misebelief that Percy is somehow dumb and Annabeth is the smartest

The entire Fandom needs to listen to this:

Percy having a thing for Rachel was so absolutely deserved like he should have been head over heels for her. Here's why:

First meeting? Runs her through with Riptide, and where anyone would have spent the whole time yelling and arguing, Rachel quickly gauged the situation, helped Percy hide, deviated the skeletons from their orignal path all at the same time.

Percy is so awed and he should be and Rick Riordan doesn't do justice to the whole thing.

It ends on Percy saying he owes her one, almost an indication that they would meet again.

Yet Percy is terrified of running into Rachel again because he isn't sure if he could answer all her questions, most definitely because he doesn't want to drag her into the whole thing. So much so that when he sees her at Goode, he calls her "my redheaded nightmare " .

Not only has he thought of her since they last met, but he may or may not have dreamed about her, not to mention he remembered her full name after listening just once.

When he does meet her again she yet again warns him about monsters hence saving both of them.

The most important thing is Percy, who all his life has been judged blamed ridiculed, and mocked is for the very first time understood so instantaneously by Rachel. She who has been put in mortal danger every single time she meets him doesn't blame him, doesn't judge him for it, and openly takes the blame for the burning school. Even Annabeth's first response to seeing the smoke is blaming Percy despite being around him and knowing well enough for 3 years; she chooses to blame him as if she doesn't know that it's never Percy's fault. Yet Rachel, someone who he has met only twice and that too for meager few minutes, understands him and his situation so well.

All the people in the Fandom ask yourself this: Will Percy Jackson not for all that he is be absolutely head over heels and in awe of someone like that?

He can barely give her any answers at the moment, but she agrees to a death quest to help him save the world.

Throws a literal hairbrush at the Titan King and stands her ground.

Stays by him and comforts him through his depressive thoughts about dying due to the prophecy.

Falls in love with him despite knowing he has little time left.

Does her best to help him while still keeping his mind off from spiraling into dark thoughts.

Rides a literal helicopter mid-apocalypse to get to him just to warn him of the dangers?

Percy would be so absolutely over the moon in love with Rachel, were Uncle Rick not so fixated on Percabeth agenda.

The last bit is for toxic Annabeth stans:

Rachel is a genius too.

She is ambidextrous and can draw with both hands and legs; probably has exceptional memory, and her composure and quick thinking are on par with Percy himself.

I hate bringing this to looks, but I will if I get to shut up toxic fans. Annabeth is certainly beautiful, and her grey eyes are quite unique, but Rachel is the most underrated and definitely the most beautiful out of all Percy Jackson females.

The woman literally won genetic lottery with red hair and green eyes, and the only reason Rick doesn't rave about her beauty is to not make Annabeth insecure.

Also, for those overly concerned about the Oracle celibacy thing, I will address that in my next post and how it's not a problem at all. (Now posted link is here:

Expect more Pjo-centric posts along with Perachel headcanons and more.

THIS! Do stans think we would try and create false and toxic interactions just to convince them? The bunch of almost conditioned fans who neither hear nor see reason?

The number of people I have heard says that anti ship posts are spreading hate and being toxic. If the very insinuation of a ship other than the supposed canon ship is considered taboo and the very idea of critically analyzing the character dynamics is frowned upon, then it says more about the ship than it says about anti posts and anti bloggers.

Thinking about how easy it is for fanfic writers to twist Percabeth and Solangelo into toxic, unhealthy relationships whilst maintaining a surprisingly good portion of the official content's nuances - as if all materials are already there and all they need is just a soft push towards to right (or wrong) direction.

And Rick tells me they're supposed to be canon's exemplary, top-shelf, happily-every-after couples? He's not doing a good job at it.

If The Originals was a more normal show instead of a show about supernatural beings like vampires, would Hayley and Klaus have a chance to be a couple?

Supernatural status plays no other role in Klayley than just adding on to the parallels between them. After all, love's all about emotion, and Klaus and Hayley evoke every possible emotion out of each other. Love, Hate, Rage, Joy, Care, Envy. It's like a language only they are privy to. A game, a dance, a battle, a romance of solely two souls with none other. So yes, Klaus and Hayley, regardless of the nature of their species, are each other's eternal soulmates. Always have been forever will be. Together or not at all. However, fleeting may be the time they are together, the whirlpool of emotions they elicit will always culminate in absolute love. It's their very own,

" I love every part of you, known and unknown, and I love you in every universe, always and forever. "

JAY WHEN I CATCH YOU JAY!!

I know, I know, I am so late to the ever-growing brainrot due to Epic now with the Underworld Saga out but I honestly needed to just sit with that thing for a while.

Polites was obviously expected, but the open arms reprise still hurt, especially with Ody deciding to abandon Polites's ideals, which are something he has considered to be a crucial part of him for a long time.

What made this more tragic is the fact that we as an audience know for a fact that the monster ideology is what will get Odysseus back home and would have also not gotten Polites killed and yet it's so much better that he doesn't have to witness his best friend become that sort of monster and he could instead die with some semblance of peace knowing for all the pain it got him Odysseus still believed in his ideals till his dying breath and only in death has Odysseus made peace with the monster he has to become and that he will never have to see it or know it happen especially because he was one of the catalysts that incited it. (It would destroy Polites to know that, but he doesn't. Therefore, he died in peace with his ideals held intact, and so did his best friend because Odysseus is no longer himself when he gets back!!!!!!)

Don't even get me started on Anticlea. Tell me it doesn't haunt Odysseus for the rest of his days. The hollow voice waiting and waiting unwavering in love as it fades for something that will never be a reality, not for Anticlea, not in her lifetime and him forever unable to soothe her even after he brings his mother's once futile hopes to fruition. And the tragedy that no matter how enduring a will and unwavering her beliefs, she is and has always been betting against Gods and for all their supposed benevolence they will not grant her only wish; that she dies with no semblance of an idea of what happened to her beloved son.

And Odysseus is the most tragic of them all for he knows all of this and more, has to feel and survive past it and watch his own descent into monstrosity as he falters at last in the face of a wretched Prophecy that seeks to upend all hopes of the haven he thought he would be returning to from the hell he has sailed through.

God the songs are so good and so just and so repulsively heartwrenching when you think on it for even a little while, I swear Jay and the whole Epic cast has written arguably the greatest masterpiece of a musical!

It's only in Percy Jackson Fandom where shipping anything other than the main couple seemingly warrants death sentence.

Every other fandom explores so many other ships as shipping between characters helps in finding out how far the depth of their relationship might go.

Personally, I have always loved the idea of what Perachel could have been if Uncle Rick had actually tried. Imagine:

Part 1

Percy staying up thinking about this mortal he accidentally ran his sword through; she looked furious and confused and long after its over he is left wondering if that's how his mother felt when she met his father. He wonders it ceaselessly at times.

Rachel living in fear of everything she sees, plagued by dreams and visions, and this guy who ran her through with a literal sword calling her a mortal and surprised she can even see the sword just straight up leaves, taking all the answers with him. Long after it's happened, all she's left with is a canvas filled with the sketches of a sea-green eyed guy.

Then fate connects them yet again because Percy needs her. It starts with his need to fulfill the quest and her need for answers, but the awe Percy must have felt at Rachel's courage through the whole quest despite the incessant quips from Annabeth. He is sorry then that he has dragged someone like her to her death and if that weren't enough they run into the Titan King and he knows that maybe he has doomed them all and Rachel, mortal and unreliable according to Annabeth , throws a hairbrush at the literal actual Kronos himself.

On the flip side, Rachel knows for sure that whatever happens with her visions she will always dream of the sea green eyed hero. The images are everywhere. Him fighting, him negotiating, leading, saving them so she draws and draws and hopes it stops.

It has been noted somewhere in the Fandom once that the only reason Rachel was attracted to Percy was because he introduced her to a whole new world as if that isn't reason enough, as if they need a reason. As if it's not happened before with The Sea God and the Queen among mortals.

It doesn't stop for either of them cause now Rachel knows there's a prophecy hanging over Percy's head, and Percy knows she will see its outcome. So they talk of anything but this, whatever they can because neither of them wants to see how it ends, for the world and for them.

Long before Blackjack crashes his hooves on Paul's Prius, he knows it's coming; the end of the world, and it's far too late to look back. He leaves Rachel there because he is never taking her on a mission again, Morpheus knows he has enough nightmares of something happening to her.

Rachel watches him leave as a prickling at the back of her head tells her one of them isn't returning and no matter how wrong it is, she wishes against all odds that it won't be him.

After that, Rachel has only her visions to keep her company. She has started seeing someone's past , it's not his, but if she tries hard enough, she sees him once or twice. She commits the visions to memory, immortalizing them in art.

Percy doesn't speak to her for a good while after that, not because he doesn't want to, he would do anything to speak to her instead of doing this but his life's already forfeit so he might as well save the world. But he doesn't need to speak to her; they talk best in their visions. When of present, they are always of her. He understands why he sees them, for it's necessary to know what she sees, for she can't tell him, but he's glad for the excuse of it. He gets to see her, and he stays sane.

Yup, she's certifiably insane when she gets in a helicopter to see him, but he needs to know.

He was quite prepared for it, his death and her possibly becoming the Oracle later on. He knew it would happen. He is glad in some part of him that he would die long before it comes to fruition, that he would die in a world where they were together.

It would be their shared tragedy, them fulfilling their destinies as he escapes the divine while she ties herself to them.

Rachel had prepared for the same. She could give up over men , she was certain she would never think of them again after Perseus Jackson dies; it would be her eternal mourning and if someone asks she might tell them that the Spirit of Delphi lost her favored hero to her own prophecy.

But Fate's far too cruel.

Rachel is euphoric. He won't die, HE WON'T DIE. He's NOT the hero. The implications don't set in until she is facing him in the Throne room of Olympus. She says the things she doesn't even mean so she can soften the blow. She sees the break in him in his eyes as they share a last glance instead of a last kiss.

It clicks for him after Luke dies a hero. The bittersweet pang of triumph and loss. Blackjack is gone, and she's taken him. He isn't nearly as furious over that as he is about what she is to do.

He doesn't know if the curse is broken for sure, and he definitely doesn't want her to be the test run. Does she not know visions of her ending up like May Castellan are what breaks him in his worst nightmares.

He is the one who sees her take the oath, as she breaks what's left of them. A moment before all things come crashing down, she looks at him, and he looks back. The Oracle of Delphi and The Savior of Olympus have roles to play and loving the other isn't written in fates or destiny but they share one last vision of a perfect kiss as they resign themselves to their fate for the rest of their life; Their destinies forever entwined but never joined.

....Part 2 pending

(Also going to write headcanons of just perachel things and there are many so wait up)

Makes me think about the moment where Percy actually died for the first time i.e when he bathed in Styx. It's said to be a rebirth of sort. Those who survive it burn away all their mortality except at a single point. The Curse of the Styx is essentially meant to be for a lifetime because the Styx is about unbreakable oaths, and the curse is an oath of sort. Terrible power for a terrible weakness. But we know that Percy subverted the Curse when he passed into Roman lands by Juno's intervention. He escaped his fate of a terrible death, escaped the Styx's Curse and broke his vow. We know promises made on the Styx when broken lead to catastrophic outcomes [maybe a bit more bearable for gods but not for others]. I have nothing but pure vibes to go off of here but what if this is the Styx's punishment?

She can't punish Poseidon or any of the big three gods directly, so she settles for their mortal halves, their demigod children. Unlike the others, Poseidon loves his child the most. Killing Percy by using Poseidon's own domain would be enough to scar Poseidon for eternity. Percy had a chance to escape Styx's wrath by keeping faithful to the Curse, but he too, like his father defied his vow, and now he has to pay the price for it.

Percy's suicidal tendencies will keep getting worse, and he will keep looking for ways to die. One day, he will find one, and chances are he will drown to death. Maybe not by Poseidon's rivers then by one of the Underworld's. Because the Styx keeps grudges and she has been waiting to collect on this one for a long time.

It might be so for every big three child. Cause there's a vague pattern here. It might not be intentional by Riordan but it's there. Personal headcanon. A bit morbid than usual but I really can't get the symbolism out of my head.

Thalia has died once already but she didn't stay dead.

Hazel has also died once but didn't stay dead either.

Nico has, in a sense, embraced death once (pomegranate seeds induced death trance), and maybe soon, it will embrace him back.

Bianca is already dead. [Only after Bianca's death was Hazel resurrected]

Jason is now dead, too. [Thalia was dead till events of the Titan's Curse and was later given Artemis's blessing. So, immunity to natural death but she could still be killed. But now Jason's dead so does that mean Thalia is exempt?]

Did Thalia, Nico, and Hazel pay for their safety with the life of their siblings? The question is, will Styx be satisfied with one sacrifice per each god, or does she want them all?

It's just a vague theory, but it's been stuck in my head for so long. Might as well pester everyone else with it, too.

@helenofsparta2 I kind of really want to hear your thoughts on this.

love when percy's suicidal and he gets upset that he can't drown. dude you have other options

How to be Immortal:

I. 

‘Learn to rip hearts’ Aphrodite murmurs. Artemis smiles. ‘And enjoy the taste of the blood on your hands.’ She runs her hands through dark tresses. ‘Enjoy the hunt and dance to their screams.

II. 

‘Know the constant war between chaos and order.’ Poseidon says, ‘the ebb to the shore and the hurricane to the sky.’ He dips his hand in the saltwater, watching his waves. ‘A war that can be tipped to either side by a single breath.’

III.

‘Master balance.’ Themis tugs at her weights, ‘The tips of the scales does govern.’ Athena sits beside her. ‘And your limitations will be only your mind. The cosmic laws will bend around you, enforcing them will be your task.’

IV.

‘Memorize the color red.’ Ares says, the sound of clanging metal not far behind. ‘The color of wine. The color of blood. The color of pain.’ Dionysus adds and glance at Hermes who dips his head in agreement. ‘For every path you journey, each step will seem like a century. It will be the color that greats you one border to the next.’

V.

‘Embody the lesson of stone’ Medusa hisses, ‘Unmoving. Enduring. Set.’ Her hair twists and tangles together, the scales with a mind of their own. ‘Know you will last as lesser things crumble. Dust between your fingers.’

VI.

‘Be at home in the dark.’ Nyx whispers. She leans her head on Hemera, ‘And appreciate the comfort of the dawn. Promises of tomorrow on her lips. You will steal them one by one for each time you see the sun set and the darkness take his place.’ Her dark eyes drift to the sky. “And you will learn the wrath of the stars.’

VII.

‘Understand that your memories will be your enemy.’ Mnemosyne tilts her head back, eyes closing. ‘Ghosts that will plague you, twisting and clawing until all that remains of you is the fights of your past and the demons.’

VIII.

‘Accept change.’ Psyche murmurs, her head dipped in the clouds, ‘You will have nothing and everything one second to the next.’ Persephone smiles before adding, ‘You will force revolutions and watch as the structures topple. Laugh at fate for the bounds you are born to will not be those you end up with.’

IX.

‘Take pleasure in your power.’ Zeus declares with Hera at his heels. ‘Take pleasure for you will be vilified for it.’ She says, ‘They will fancy themselves judge and jury of your character, but you are above them. Beneath you, they burn.’

X,

‘Realize the blurred line between sleep and death.’ Hypnos and Thanatos say, arms around each other, ‘and remember that you have crossed both.’ Atlas nods, shifting slightly under his burden, ‘You will bear the weight of time.’ He steals a glance to Hades. ‘And you will wish you could collapse beneath it.’

- L.H.Z // How to be Immortal 

The fact that Annabeth has nothing on Percy in terms of rank and reputation is hilarious to me. Prince of Atlantis, Praetor of Rome, Savior of Olympus, Head Counselor, Commander of the Demigod Army, blessed by PAN and so much more.

Rick can't really expect anyone to actually believe that PERCY "GIVE OTHER GODS AND THEIR CHILDREN THE RESPECT AND WORTH THEY DESERVE" JACKSON is not a complete celebrity and absolutely hero worshipped by literally all young and new campers. There's no way everyone wasn't raving about him nonstop. Especially the Hermes Cabin.

Rick completely lost consistency in HoO, and most of the Camp Hlaf Blood portrayal in The Lost Hero is very vague and iffy.

Also, Piper Mclean? Her? You expect her to understand? The character who looked down on her own siblings because they actually valued their beauty and invested time on it? The character who has been a consistent hypocrite? She literally turned to thieving for attention from her father, not to mention her thinking Annabeth leashing Percy is okay and necessary. To add to that, she herself tried everything to force the fake relationship on Jason more and more with no respect for his boundaries or his likes.

Every time I get reminded that Piper didn't think Percy was all that, I wonder. Is it because she thought Jason was the ideal man? And nobody could top that? Or was it because Annabeth talked bad about Percy, so Piper thought he was a dumbass and not all that.