One Of My Fav Scenes In The Entire Riordanverse Has To Be The One In SoN In Which Percy Makes A 50/50

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

Do you know something that I find really curious?

Is that in Ancient Greek, Greek Mythology, and Hellenic Polytheism, even tho we don't actually have the idea of "sin" there are a few things they and therefore, hellenic polytheistics shouldn't do, but interestingly enough the only thing that is likely, highly not encouraged to do, and mostly unforgiving in Hellenism, is Húbris.

I find it really interesting and curious, because I bet Rick knew about it when he wrote PJO and still decided to give Annabeth, one of his main characters, a fatal flaw that was the closest thing of what could be considered a "sin" in Ancient Greece (the society he was basing his story on).

I'm not saying "whoa, he wanted to make something." My personal opinion is that he just doesn't care, just like he doesn't care to make a better adaptation of the Gods, but I still find it interesting enough to rant about it.

+ it is really concerning see people treating her fatal flaw as something positive and to be cheered on, even in the literal book narrative, when in fact, It is not.

Excessive pride can be a sign of a narcissist behavior, what can lead to dangerous situations or to toxic relationships. And I see Rick playing too much with this edge in Perccabeth dynamics.

(I'm not saying she is narcissist, tho. I believe I have to make this as clear as possible here. There is a difference of having a trace of narcissism, and be diagnosticaded with it.)

Just to finish my thoughts, when I realized Perccabeth lost all the sparkle for me was when I've read one meta about someone who didn't like Annabeth's behavior towards Percy a long time ago. At that time I was an avid Perccabeth shipper, but I basically sat and tought about it, and made a mental exercise: If Percy was a woman, and Annabeth was a man, would their interactions still be considered cute and perfect in a relationship?

That was when I realized, no, it wouldn't be. And that was it for me.

No, I completely get it. I myself was a Percabeth shipper, I think everyone was at one point as most of us read these books at a young age. I am glad that all of us are seeing massive problems with the many canon relationships and other aspects of Riordan's terrible writing.

You give Rick Riordan too much credit. If you have checked out any recent pjo books, you can see how terrible the continuity is and how one dimensional the characters are becoming. So he certainly did not take into account the gravity of Annabeth's fatal flaw, it's repercussions or even it’s connotations in Greek myths.

Annabeth is, as I have said before, a character that always devolves through the lack of change in her attitude and the behavioral inconsistencies. She admits to her fatal flaw and how it endangers her in some instances but then never brings it up again. Doesn't do anything to actively improve on it either.

Her overall attitude remains condescending, judgemental, and heavily hypocritical. And that is putting it mildly.

The fact that she made Percy apologize for getting kidnapped against his will and then having his memory wiped out.

She repeatedly made negative or demeaning comments on his intelligence.

This should be enough of a giveaway in the first place.

Not to mention her horrifying treatment of Rachel and lack of remorse for it. Not a single apology made for it either. Or to Percy for acting as if she owned him.

Furthermore, her consistently violent actions. Now, even if they don't hurt Percy, it's still an extremely unhealthy manner of expressing her emotions.

Her repeated defense of Luke despite him putting Percy in mortal danger and attempting to kill Percy each time. Before anyone quotes they had a bond, they were family, I know, I do but by that time she had seen him do so multiple times and Thalia was family too, she understood right away that Luke was too far gone.

I also dislike the tendency of Rick and, therefore, the fandom to put Annabeth on a pedestal of she can do wrong. I have made multiple posts highlighting how Percy is canonically a better strategist than Annabeth and how Annabeth is certainly not the smartest demigod. Most knowledgeable, perhaps, but not the smartest.

To all the shippers, everyone agrees that the closest we get to absolutely perfect characterization of Percy is in Son of Neptune and Son of Sobek and the short story The Stolen Chariot. And the most obvious common thing between all these is the lack of Annabeth.

I am not saying Annabeth would ruin the book, but she does ruin Percy's character. Rick is so busy hyping her up for no absolute reason that it ends up demeaning Percy irrationally and illogically. And it happens every time.

Even if you blame later book characterizations of Annabeth on Rick Riordan's terrible writing, her early characterization had the same flaws. They are just now overtly apparent in the most recent books.

If the genders were reversed, this would be the paragon of a toxic relationship. I understand that there are excruciatingly few balanced heterosexual relationships that actually do it right and that the extreme nostalgia makes it hard for us to acknowledge any flaws on it but that's no reason to falsely advertise it as the perfect relationship. Not even close.

Not just due to these reasons but also because they have nothing in common nor do their goals align, and it's also a bit of a case of trauma bonding. Again, I have made individual posts on almost all these points

I don't think there's anything more that needs to be said on this matter, really, but feel free to ask.

Even if you eliminate the judo flip, it's still not the most concerning thing about the situation. She BLAMES Percy for getting KIDNAPPED AND BRAINWASHED BY A GODDESS, and fine, you would say she was super high on emotions, she didn't mean it. But then there's this:

Annabeth made Percy APOLOGIZE FOR STUFF THAT WAS COMPLETELY OUT OF HIS CONTROL. IT WAS AN ASSAULT ON HIM AND HE SHOULD APOLOGIZE??

This isn't the first time. She blames Percy in BoTL in the opening scenes for burning down the school, not even having enough trust in Percy to know he wouldn't do it. Not even after he tells her HE DIDN'T DO IT.

Also happens again in The Last Olympian. She gets angry at Percy because he is panicking over the prophecy that basically states [at that point] that he will die. SHE GETS ANGRY AT HIM AND YELLS AT HIM FOR BEING PANICKED ABOUT THE PROPHECY IN WHICH HE IS BASICALLY STATED TO DIE.

Like wtf. Why is no one pointing that out?? I swear if anyone comes along saying Annabeth was just worried so she got angry. It's like getting angry at a person for panicking before a life-threatening surgery because you couldn't handle your worry. And it's a multiple time occurrence.

Percy confided his worries in Rachel, too, and they were almost definitely dating. She didn't freak out or yell at Percy even though she was probably getting constant visions. She kept Percy company and did her best to lower his stress and get his mind off the situation.

Yet again Rachel shows more maturity and understanding than Annabeth. [Mind you Rachel was angry at Percy, if you remember he had a demigod dream where he found her throwing darts at his picture.] But never has Rachel had an outburst at Percy because she knows none of it is his fault.

Also, in BoTl, when Annabeth is basically calling Rachel a mortal like a slur and looking down on her and continuously insulting her, Rachel can tell exactly what's wrong with Annabeth, and she knows it's too stupid to even engage and Annabeth is left to being a short tempered girl yelling at someone else for no reason. Because again Rachel has more maturity than Annabeth.

I don't know why this turned into a Rachel post, but is anyone complaining?

The point is, there's an awfully long list of apologies Annabeth needs to get to, and Rick won't be doing it in this lifetime or next, so fic writers, would you like to take this one?

Finding a good blog to follow on pjo is so hard because you'll get like 10 good posts and then the 11th will have blatant abuse apologism and borderline victim blaming:

Do we really need to start reminding people that Percy had no control whatsoever over being kidnapped!? he barely knew what was happening!! He had his memories wiped!! How the fuck does he deserve to be physically assaulted?? HE WAS KIDNAPPED!!

Not to mention that like. the first time he went missing? yeah he nearly died. He would have died if Hera had not intervened and sent him to Calypso, who used her healing powers to save him. And then Percy returned to chb - returned to a building war and death sentence - as soon as he was recovered and physically able.

Hera deserved the judo flip. Not Percy. She took Percy twice. Annabeth, your anger is misdirected, please use your Athena given brains. You have them for more than one reason.

A friend of mine pointed out that people tend to date those with similarities to their parents.

When I started poking around the PJO franchise, my brain screamed that when I looked at Annabeth and then Gabe. And now I'm thinking about how Rachel may have similarities to Sally.

Please share Perachel thoughts.

This is so GOOD. I am only mad I didn't make the connection first. Percy is a mama's boy, so it's obvious his first girlfriend is a reflection of Sally. Bear with me, this is going to be LONG.

I am going to gloss over the bit about Annabeth and Gabe because it's not as much of a comparison as it is an analogy.

[Before anybody gets mad at anon, he wasn't saying Annabeth is like Gabe, he is paralleling them because Annabeth's form of mistreatment against Percy is so subtle but so deeply unsettling that he hasn't noticed it himself and if he has been feeling suffocated he hasn't yet connected the feeling to Annabeth.]

I feel compelled to clarify a few things in Gabe Annabeth comparison and why it's unfair.

Gabe was in no way, shape, or form Percy's parent.

Percy despises anything remotely related to Gabe like alcohol or poker, so Percy would never be with someone who, even for a second, reminds Percy of Gabe.

Gabe was exploitative of Sally, heavily so with no love or affection attached to it.

Annabeth, on the other hand, does love Percy. She, however, does not love him the way he deserves to be loved because her fatal flaw and a few toxic traits get in her way. For example, Annabeth has a habit of taking Percy for granted and is not appreciative of his efforts. She shows toxic possessiveness over him and almost always gets physical with Percy due to her lack of control over her emotions and not knowing how to express them well enough. She has consistently shown a poor understanding of Percy's motivations and his choices and has a habit of putting blame on Percy in several unnecessary situations. Character development would have served us all well but it doesn't seem very likely because Rick is Rick and Annabeth's fatal flaw is hubris, which means she is unlikely to acknowledge her toxic traits.

Now, back to our main point. Let's look at some direct or indirect parallels between Sally and Rachel and some things that deviate from the mold of Sally's experiences.

Rachel, I think, has always paralleled Sally. She is a mortal born with the sight, something that Sally herself has gone through. Rachel is Sally's past, and Sally is Rachel's future in a way, at least when it comes to their sight. Yet their final choices contrast each other, which is very fascinating.

Sally is a writer, and Rachel is an artist. They both have creative interests and aspirations. They are both naturally compassionate and kind but also very strong-willed.

What Poseidon was to Sally, Percy is to Rachel, and I think I really like that parallel. Maybe in another life, Sally would have said yes to Poseidon's offer, and in another life, Rachel would have turned down the Spirit of Delphi and pursued Percy, and Percy would have pursued her.

(They represent the pathway to an entirely new world to both Sally and Rachel, and its a feeling you cherish forever.)

Remember how being in the rain or near the sea makes Sally look younger and healthier, I think Rachel has a similar connection to the things Percy is connected with. After meeting him, she does seem to like beaches more. Considering her vacation spot was a beach and she also went on a beach date with Percy.

(You might think Percy chose that date spot, but it was obviously Rachel cause Percy is a gentleman who would definitely let his partner choose the date spots and then prepare the date for them as they like)

Her visions begin revolving around Percy, and Percy himself begins dreaming often of her. Not just visions but in general. It is stated in Botl that he dreamed of running into her again and not being able to answer her questions.

Another thing is that Sally parallels Rachel in case of emotional nuances between her and Poseidon and Rachel and Percy. Even after all these years, Sally trusts that Poseidon will not abandon Percy and will protect him when it comes to it, even after her death; especially after her death. The same way Rachel is comfortable in calling Percy whenever she is in trouble or when the visions are bothering her [I think we get a mention of how Percy has met with Rachel's father in The Last Olympian and how Rachel's father TRUSTS Percy's word about keeping Rachel SAFE.] And for the shippers, he has already met the parents and they approve lol.

The trust goes both ways, too. Cause we know Percy is an extremely private person and doesn't like to share anything about himself unless he is obligated too and even then sparingly. Even after being friends with him for so many years, Annabeth and Grover are in dark about a lot of things about him but Rache who has canonically had visions about Percy and his experiences, who has the power to tap into Percy's past and Percy is just so chill with that. Like he knows Rachel knows cause he has had several visions of his own about her, but he just lets it go.

Percy Jackson of all people TRUSTS Rachel enough to let her peek into his past experiences, hell it's because of her that he uncovered the true meaning of the prophecy and then TRUSTED HER WORDS ENOUGH TO STAKE THE FATE OF THE WORLD ON IT. We all know he hates Luke like no one else has hated Luke ever and yet GIVES Luke the knife, not cause of Annabeth's or Hermes's trust in him [they have both been wrong before] but because RACHEL SAID SO.

Another thing that's reminiscent of Sally's relationship with Poseidon is the fact that Sally was in no delusion of who she was with. No delusion of Poseidon being anything other than what he was, a force of nature and a god. He was kind and soft with her, but she was not disillusioned to his other natures. The same goes for Rachel.

Rachel doesn't expect Percy to be some tamed down version of himself or for him to suppress his impulses or nature. He is soft and nice to her. She appreciates it, but she doesn't expect nor want him to be anything other than what he is. As evidenced by the lovely painting she gives him of Percy looking fearsome against his battle with Antaeus. It was such a sight that Percy himself was jarred, but Rachel said he looked good. She was totally fine with his darkside, accepted it, and understood it.

Rachel also has a very positive relationship with things Percy is passionate about. She has a keen sense for environmental conservation as we see her participating in a charity work (actual volunteering) in BoTL and we know how sensitive Percy is on rivers or oceans being unclean.

She also seems to have a great bond with Percy's companions. Like you are telling me Blackjack, who has trauma of his time with being captive on Princess Andromeda under Luke, and who is fiercely loyal to Percy, let Rachel just order him into going to CHB like that. Obviously, Blackjack likes her enough to let her take him without Percy's explicit permission and without informing Percy because he knows his boss cares about her. I don't know how we, as a fandom, moved on from that scene. It's so beautiful that Rachel is able to connect to Blackjack so seamlessly. And how one of Percy's first thoughts is worrying about Rachel's well-being as soon as he finds out.

Don't even get me started on how him, including Nico and Hades in his wish and demanding justice and respect for children of Hades, is what broke the curse on the Oracle. I think Percy knew what Rachel was going to do or what her role was due to him seeing the visions of May Castellan, and don't tell me he didn't include Nico in his wish for that reason as well. And he was still so panicked when Rachel swore the oath to Apollo, despite the curse already being broken.

There's also a point of how they are both very integral part of Olympus and quite above the others in terms of hierarchy. Percy is the twice savior of Olympus. Several gods owe him a favor, and he is the prince of Atlantis. Rachel is the vessel of Spirit of Delphi, a force that has existed before even the gods. The Olympians need her, the demigods need her, and she is under the protection of Zeus himself. The two most important people in the world exempting gods and other immortals are literally them.

This is why it bothers me when people say Perachel is a big what if. Perachel isn't a what-if. It already happened. It simply didn't last. Not because they didn't want to but because the choice was taken from them. But both Percy and Rachel chose to save the world and chose to do the duty expected of them over dooming the world and being in a relationship. Destiny is inherently unjust as it were. The only what if's are what if they chose to defy expectations and rules and got back together anyway.

The Savior of Olympus and the Oracle of Delphi are a perfect match, but fate would not let it be. Perhaps in another world, they would have cared less about the fate of the world or less about defying Olympus. Maybe when Percy becomes immortal, he will finally get a chance to be with Rachel. In my headcanons, that is how it goes. I admit I like the dynamic of the strongest demigod ever and the Oracle herself teaming up. It's not like anyone can top that duo. The power couple that they would have been, the fandom is not ready for it.

we were stolen of a Percy/Hazel friendship after he got his memories back. they never interacted again in their own POVs and never got to talk about Percy’s past. (meanwhile he learned everything about Hazel in like 4 days)

because when Nico admitted to Hazel that he knew Percy in the beginning of SoN, he tells her about how powerful Percy is. but he doesn’t talk about their relationship, she doesn’t know what Percy means to him, and I’m not even talking about his feelings.

there should have been a scene in MoA, while Nico’s kidnapped, where they talked. imagine Hazel learning that Percy was the one who brought Nico to Camp Half Blood. That he knew Bianca too. That he was there when she died. Bianca was the reason Nico was in the Underworld when he found Hazel. And Percy had a connection to them this whole time. even the Great Prophecy connect them more than Hazel and Nico. because that was the reason Nico was sent to the Lotus in the first place. and the reason Percy took it upon himself was so it wouldn’t fall on Nico’s shoulders. imagine actually showing Percy being concerned for Nico during that argument with Jason and Leo. and his friendship with Hazel getting stronger.

The lack of Perachel is criminal. But percico next followed perpollo and jercy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Merlin was the love to Morgana’s hate. The subservience to her tyranny. When he was willing to believe, she lost hope. When he forgave, she sought revenge.

Too much love made him blind. Too much hate made her lose sight. He clings to the future. She stays in the past. He is Prophecy. She is the Seer. She is Destiny. He is the Choice.

While Merlin lost people, she cast hers away. When she loved, they kept her in darkness. When they loved him, he set them on fire.

Morgana is truth to Merlin’s lies. She is the revelation to his secrets, the freedom to his prison, the chasm to his light. He is loyalty. She is defection. For Camelot. For the Old Religion.

In poverty, in wealth, in status and the lack of it, they mingle. In castles, in hovels, in huts, and dugouts, they dance. Death, despair, pride and joy are known to only them.

Morgana is teamwork. Merlin works alone. He is Diplomacy to her Ground troops, both of them wage losing wars on opposite fronts. She makes her plans by the candlelight and torches. He is impulsiveness and quick thought in the dark corners. He is the sleight of hand, the hidden tricks, misdirection. She is performance and presentation. She is counsel at the shining throne. He is an afterthought by the smoldering hearth.

He murders in the shadows, she kills in the sun. She the poison, he the antidote. Life and Death are at their mercy. They are judge, savior and executioner, playing god, magic and human whenever they see fit.

He is hope and healing. She is doom and destruction. He is complicit. She is active. She fights for the people. He fights for one man. She thinks only for herself. He thinks of everyone.

Selfish and Selfless. They are the same, but also not. Fear and Courage. Affection and Spite. Oh how they attract. Oh How they clash. Sparks fly. The destruction lasts.

Bodies hang. Innocents are chained. None are spared in their ego. Only a few are saved.

omg pls elaborate, why don’t u like post pjo nico? I’m curious, I don’t really know how I feel abt him either tbh (u don’t have to respond tho!!! I hope u have a wonderful day!!)

nico is just a different character in pjo than he is in hoo.

i love pjo!nico. the struggle of fantasy (mythomagic, nico's view of the demigod world) vs reality ('mythology,' the reality of being a demigod), the themes of death and coming to terms with death while having a certain amount of power over death. in a world where demigods are the people who don't belong, nico being a kid that doesn't belong even more (hades not having a cabin, the other campers' avoidance or fear of him). grief, forgiveness, friendship. nico pushing people away, especially percy, nico changing from hero worship to understand that even demigods are just human and mortal, and nico accepting other people (accepting percy's friendship) and being accepted himself...

in hoo and beyond i think his story just gets lost, like a lot of other characters do. hoo in general doesn't have the same strength that pjo does - not that every story has to have 'deep' or particularly 'meaningful' themes per se, but pjo grapples with power, mortality. the flaws of gods, humanity. and a lot more. i know we're going really broad, but hoo doesn't deal with any of that. as a consequence nico's character just falls flat for me, because i don't feel that hoo deals with him with the same complexity and interest pjo does.

also, nico being gay. hmm. i have a lot of thoughts about rick and representation (and a good few of them are not great, even if a lot of younger fans sing his praises), and solangelo. now i think nico being gay overall is fine. i think it could add another layer to him when examined through the lens of pjo, and there were plenty of people who thought that way in fandom. but what it felt like to me when written in canon was rick making the decision, and making pjo support the idea retroactively. of course, that is speculation bc i can't 100% confidently say that's true. i don't mean to say that nico shouldn't be gay, but i don't think it was written well.

solangelo also felt like a shoe-in. rick has this thing about pairing characters up for their happy endings. solangelo is a hot mess, it's not compelling, and if we do accept nico's feelings about percy it gets reduced to a joke. nico's character swings from repression and struggling with himself to skipping off with will. i make it no secret i don't like canon solangelo, and the relationship being lgbt doesn't mean it's good. it's flat and boring. also the resolution to nico's 'arc' in hoo doesn't have to be that he ends up in a relationship.

take what i said about the above with a little grain of salt. every person’s opinion is different, some people really love solangelo and that arc of nico’s. i don’t think it’s wrong to like it or that you shouldn’t. but i didn’t, myself. it could have been written a lot better lol

hoo also contradicts like... all of nico's character growth from pjo, and repeats conflicts that were previously resolved instead of expanding or continuing them in interesting ways, or creating new ones that actually make sense.

one of nico's conflicts in hoo was not being accepted and feeling like he doesn't belong anywhere. particularly because of the exclusion of children of pluto by camp jupiter and their fear of him. like i mentioned earlier this was already addressed in the original series. in botl, nico tells percy that he doesn't belong at camp, that people are afraid of him, and ultimately chooses to leave to find his own path. at the end of tlo, nico is welcomed by the other campers. he proves percy's point to the gods, and percy pushes for nico and hades to be accepted by the other gods and demigods.

“It hasn’t been easy, you know. Having only the dead for company. Knowing that I’ll never be accepted by the living. Only the dead respect me, and they only do that out of fear.” “You could be accepted,” I said. “You could have friends at camp.” He stared at me. “Do you really believe that, Percy?”

Nico and Percy, Battle of the Labyrinth, pg. 192

“This camp isn’t for me. There’s a reason they didn’t put a cabin to Hades here, Percy. He’s not welcome, anymore than he is on Olympus. I don’t belong. I have to go.”

Battle of the Labyrinth, pg. 223

"And Hades—" ... "...your children should not be left out. They should have a cabin at camp. Nico has proven that..."

The Last Olympian, pg. 353

Nico sat at the main table with Chiron and Mr. D, and nobody seemed to think this was out of place. Everybody was patting Nico on the back, complimenting him on his fighting. Even the Ares kids seemed to think he was pretty cool.

The Last Olympian, pg. 371

all of that aside, here is a core issue: nico, the doors of death, and his choices. when you really look at it, what happens in hoo is a "fuck you" to nico's character in pjo.

let's recap:

in son of neptune, it's revealed that hazel was brought back by nico. not just that, though... nico was searching for bianca, who he hoped he could bring back. the reason he didn't was because he couldn't - she chose to be reborn to avoid just that.

but nico wouldn't have done that. nico attempting to, and arguably nico bringing back hazel, goes against all of his growth and character in botl.

this isn't the first time nico tried bringing back bianca. his main goal in battle of the labyrinth was to find daedalus to trade his soul for bianca's.

“I was hoping you would give up.” “Give up?” [Nico] sounded heartbroken. “How can you say that? I’m trying to save you!” “You can’t, Nico. Don’t do this. Percy is right.” “No! He let you die! He’s not your friend.”

Nico and Bianca, Battle of the Labyrinth pg. 108

in the labyrinth, percy confronts nico and reveals nico is looking for daedalus to trade his soul for bianca's. but when they find daedalus, when daedalus accepts his own death... nico chooses not to.

“I will take what comes,” he said. “And trust in the justice of the Underworld, such as it is. That is all we can do, isn’t it?” He looked straight at Nico, and Nico’s face darkened. “Yes,” he said. “Will you take my soul for ransom, then?” Daedalus asked. “You could use it to reclaim your sister.” “No,” Nico said. “I will help you release your spirit. But Bianca has passed. She must stay where she is.”

Nico and Daedalus, Battle of the Labyrinth pg. 217

The shimmering form of Bianca di Angelo stood in the clearing, smiling at her brother. She said something to him and touched his face—or tried to. Then her image faded. Nico turned and saw me, but he didn’t look mad. “Saying good-bye,” he said hoarsely.

Nico and Percy, Battle of the Labyrinth pg. 223

also i think it just becomes super clear when you read. i've gone back semi-recently to reread pjo. for this ask i pulled up botl. reading botl... reading pjo... i feel like the difference in quality is so clear when you read about nico.

I heard some discourse over whether the Curse of Achilles counts as immortality, and I am pretty sure it doesn't. The curse gives invulnerability, but I am unsure as to whether it stops natural aging. Does anyone have any reliable source they could cite, which either proves or disproves this? Cause Ogygia definitely counts as at least a pseudo form of immortality, I think, but whether the Achilles curse does or not is up for debate, I think. @deliajackson @ogjacksonsimp @fourcornersofcreation @fate-of-the-envious

If I had a nickel for every time Percy Jackson turned down immortality/godhood, I would have two nickels. Which is a lot, and it is absolutely iconic that it happened twice!