Exploring Percy's Canon Interactions With Nico From Botl And Onwards On The Level That I Am For My Fic

If you had the chance to cast Phoebe Tonkin and Joseph Morgan in a series you wrote yourself, what script would you write for them?

If we are to stay true to the supernatural roots, I find the idea that they are Greek deities, Hades, and Persephone reincarnated in the mortal world to be particularly enticing. They are without recollections of each other or their godly origins. They end up running into each other once as fated and never have two people loathed each other more on first sight. And to their perpetual frustrations, they bloody keep running into each other, always, everywhere, every time so much so it would probably go on forever. To love someone for even the worst parts of them is the greatest of love. To learn to love each other as familiars is far easier than as strangers. The other members of the Mikaelson family and other characters from The Orignals are other reincarnated gods. It would make for a most intriguing plotline. Romantic, full of action, and with supernatural twists. A true homage to the fact that the characters they play are eternal soulmates, be it as gods or mortals, they will find each other in life and death and unlike all others their love transcends all not even death could part them.

To stray from the supernatural plotline for avoiding the risk of being redundant , as normal humans, the most fitting a plot for them is and always will be a marriage of convenience. They don't know each other, let alone love each other, yet to fulfill their most desired agendas, they can rely only on each other. They barely coexist well enough without devolving into forever escalating disagreements. It takes herculean effort on both their parts to set aside their pride and see eye to eye with one another. But that's the only move it takes to set in motion a chain reaction of long repressed feelings. Tolerance, Anger,Hate, understanding, acceptance, and love. It's like a beautiful dance between feeling too little and feeling too much. Neither can control where they fall and somehow end up falling for one another irrevocably, utterly, spontaneously, and helplessly. Family, children, money can all come with time. It's love and understanding that must follow first. This would probably be terribly angsty, but it fits with who they are.

Others themes can be added later on but these are my primary thoughts on this.

A unique ask, enjoyed answering it. ( Terribly sorry for the late, was swamped in studies.)

I love seeing them together 🌊⚡️

Another old art I did from last year

I have a Question.

I'm just know finding out about percy jackson and was wondering...

Is this book series worth reading?

Even though it's almost like 10 years old?

I'm really late finding out about it

And what things should I look out for in the Fandom and the books?

Oh my, am I really going to be the one to introduce you to Percy Jackson Series? What an honor! 100%, yes, you should absolutely read it. The main series, at least for sure.

There's some serious drama going on in the fandom right now over certain sequels but the orignal series is perfection.

If you are looking for a fast-paced, action-adventure sort of thing but with tons of humor, then that's the series for you. There's a romantic sub-plot as well if you are interested in that. Percy is one of the sassiest main characters ever and one of the best main characters of all time to date, period.

All the characters are great and nuanced (stick to the main series for this), and it's an awesome mix of fun , trauma, and battles. And no one, no one in the entirety of fandom will ever say they regretted reading the series. The only reason everyone is so furious at the later sequels is because we absolutely adored the main series and want a fitting continuation. Now, this main series I keep talking about refers to Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which is the first set. Five books in this order:

The Lightning thief

Sea of Monsters

The Titan's Curse

Battle of the Labyrinth

The Last Olympian

Now my advice is that you read certain short stories like The Stolen Chariot, The Bronze Dragon, and the Sword of Hades before The Last Olympian. Personally, I think you can skip the Bronze Dragon, but the other two, especially the Sword of Hades, are a must-read.

There are post main series short stories too, but I won't overwhelm you with them right now.

After this, when (not if) you fall absolutely in love with the series, you can read Heroes of Olympus series [also 5 books], which is the second set. It's a direct continuation of the first series. There's some whacky stuff here and there, which means there are a few problems with certain characterizations, but ultimately, it's worth it. You would have to be a super serious fan to be bothered by it, so don't worry about it. It's all great. Heroes of Olympus gets really, really good in the middle, and personally, you should absolutely read it cause you would be missing out on a whole lot of greatness if you don't.

There are other book series taking place in the same universe and lots of fun cross-overs, if you like that sort of thing.

The fandom is a great place if you want for super cool headcanons or great character analysis or great au fanfics, and so on. A few characters have toxic stans, I won't mention which characters cause you might be put off by that during reading; these stans are mainly involved in the ships' monopoly. There are many ships and you can ship whoever you want really but some of the blind fandom is a bit touchy feely regarding their pairings so yeah try not to get involved in those if you want a fun time and a peace of mind( mainly cause you won't have to deal with toxic stans) ; unless you want to cause chaos instead (join the party), which is where the real fun is.

You are going to completely and absolutely love this series, I guarantee you. Take my word on it. Have fun, and if you have a blog here, would love to know your personal reviews after reading each book.

kind of related to your post about zoe just now but: what do you think of the hunters in general? I've got a lot of thoughts on them myself.. most of them not that positive lmao lots of "could have been good, but very poor execution" and "sounds cool on the surface, but very questionable when thought about more"

First of all, thank you for the question :)))

Oh god, this might become a slightly longer post, because I have a lot to say about the hunters of Artemis.

From what you’ve written, it sounds like we might have a very similar opinion. I personally think they are one of the worst-written parts of the original Percy Jackson books. I love their idea, I love their basic concept, but their execution was pretty atrocious.

There are four main points regarding them that I want to talk about.

The portrayal of Artemis (though this one is by far not as bad as the others)

2. The behaviour of the huntresses

3. Bianca

4. Lacking Development

Artemis

Now, I know that the gods and goddesses of the Riordan verse, are sanitized caricatures, and shouldn’t be compared to their actual myth versions. I think everyone in this fandom has at least heard some well-founded criticisms regarding the portrayal of Ares, Athena, Aphrodite, Apollo or any of the other gods.  

I even understand why Rick Riordan made most of the decisions that he did. Obviously, the gods had to be sanitized for a book series primarily aimed at children, and, to be fair to him, even if their characterizations are a far-cry from their myths and sometimes overly stereotypical (Aphrodite), they are fulfilling the roles they have in this story as deeply flawed, but powerful individuals, because of whose careless mistakes and pride demigods, and other ‘lesser’ beings have to suffer.  

And I actually do not hate Artemis’ portrayal that much, if we exclude the behavior of her hunt, and the initiation of Bianca. Her taking Annabeth’s place in holding the sky and her loudly arguing against killing Percy and Thalia at the winter solstice was a great portrayal of her being a patron goddess of children, and the idea of including the hunters of Artemis as a group of girls, both from mortal and immortal parents, who have been hurt by the world, and found a safe place with one another is actually really great. Generally, whenever she appears in the books, I have the feeling she is handled with far more graze and respect than a lot of other godly beings.  

However, as someone who very much loves Greek mythology, I just want to point out some small parts, which are not entirely accurate, though, again,  I understand Rick’s reason for omitting them in the context of what he wanted to do with her character and the hunt , and I acknowledge that even in ancient times, there existed a variety of different interpretations of the gods.

(Please note, that while I read original sources like the works of Diodor, Apollodorus, Hesiod, and Euripides, I am not a classicist, and that my knowledge of the greek gods primarily stems from personal research and my own interest. If anyone knows more about Artemis, please feel free to correct me if necessary)  

While Artemis is primarily the goddess of the hunt, and in later interpretations of the moon, she is not only the protector of girls, but the patron goddess of children in general and a goddess closely linked to childbirth.

Yes, she expects her followers to remain chaste, but to say that she is completely against men would be a grave mistake. Male followers of Artemis did exist in mythology, most famously Orion, who later became a constellation, and Hippolytus, the son of Theseus and the Amazon Hippolyta.

So, her cold behavior towards Nico and her degrading words towards boys in general is an attribute primarily added by Rick Riordan.

Though, like I said, I understand making certain changes to gods and goddesses, or rather choosing different interpretations of them to have them fulfill a certain role in a book series, so Artemis portrayal itself doesn’t bother me that much.

But if we’re talking about the hunters themselves, things easily take a turn for the worse.  

The behavior of the hunters

Now, I understand the hunters point in the story.

A huge theme of Titan’s curse is to explore the difference between old ideals of what heroism entails and the modern take on it, represented through Theseus and Herakles on one side, and Percy on the other. The hunters, and especially Zöe, represent a group, who have suffered through the actions of those old, primarily male heroes, and have developed a strong bias against all boys and men as a result. A bias, Percy is supposed to break in this book.

This, in itself, is a pretty awesome concept. But, like I said, the execution mostly failed.

Most of the Hunters of Artemis in Titan’s curse were written without any nuance, without development and without any sense of self reflection.

To express it plainly, they completely suck. And that hurts to say, especially as someone who is asexual-sex-repulsed and aromantic, because, like I said, they could have been an absolutely amazing part of the overarching story and theme of the book series, but with the way Rick Riordan wrote them, they suck. They’re insufferable.  They’re a group of immortal teenagers with a superiority complex, who act the way right-wing republicans and trump supporters think feminists act like.

They’re completely antagonistic towards the campers at camp half-blood for absolutely no good reason, act really childish and immature, and their overwhelming bias against every male character, especially Percy and Nico, is just plain annoying and goes to a point, where it makes them act like absolute idiots and assholes.

Zöe’s behavior at the meeting to decide who should go on the quest to save Artemis is a pretty good representation of everything I dislike about the hunters.  

She doesn’t want to take campers with her on the quest, even though the oracle plainly stated that them working together was the only way for them to succeed:

“You’re missing something as usual,” Thalia said. “Campers and Hunters combined prevail. We’re supposed to do this together.”

“No!”, Zoe said. “The Hunters do not need thy help.”

Immediately afterwards, she makes fun of Silena Beauregard (who is around 14 or 15 at the time, might I add.):

“Percy is right,” Silena Beauregard said. “Two campers should go.”

“Oh, I see,” Zoe said sarcastically. “And I suppose you wish to volunteer?”

Silena blushed. “I’m not going anywhere with the hunters. Don’t look at me!”

“A daughter of Aphrodite does not wish to be looked at,” Zoe scoffed. “What would thy mother say?”

And then, she decisively refuses Percy’s help for the quest, even though he is objectively the best person for the job. I really can’t reiterate enough that Percy is the most accomplished hero present at that meeting. He has successfully led two quests, one to stop a civil war between the gods, the second to recover the golden fleece. Even in comparison to Thalia, Percy is more accomplished and has gained more respect within the mythological world.

As I walked back through the city of the gods, conversations stopped. The muses paused their concert. People and satyrs and naiads all turned towards me, their faces filled with respect and gratitude, and as I passed, they knelt, as if I were some kind of hero. (The lightning thief)

Yet Zoe refuses his help to save the goddess she serves and increases so the risk of failure, simply because he is a boy.

“Oh,” Grover said, suddenly aware of the problem. “Whoa, yeah. I forgot! Percy has to go. I didn’t mean… I’ll stay. Percy should go in my place.”

“He cannot,” Zoe said. “He’s a boy. I won’t have Hunters travelling with a boy.”

Another huge problem in their characterization is their immortality. Here I want to focus again on their ongoing beef with camp half-blood, because, yes, while the campers also act pretty antagonistic in return, I think it’s important to note that most kids at camp half blood are between the ages of 10 and I’d say maybe 17 years old, while the huntresses are immortal.

Now, it’s obviously possible that most of them are still teenagers and haven’t been part of the hunt for that long, but considering the fact that Zoe is over 3000 years old, and could very well be older than most Olympians, the chance of most hunters being older than at least 30, is pretty high, which makes their behavior seem even more ridiculous.

And obviously the whole situation with Bianca paints the hunters in the worst light possible.

Bianca

There are already some pretty good and detailed posts on tumblr regarding the subject of Bianca and the hunters, so I don’t want to dig into this subject too deeply, because this post is already way too long, but you can’t possibly write about the hunters without mentioning her.

The hunters, especially Zoe and Artemis convinced Bianca to join them in a moment of huge distress. Bianca was a twelve-year-old, vulnerable girl, who just found out she was a demigod, almost got kidnapped by the manticore, and watched a girl fall down a cliff, yet they expect her to swear allegiance to them after only a couple of minutes of knowing them.

They paint her this beautiful picture of having no responsibility and a new family, telling her exactly, what she wanted to hear without giving her even a moment to breathe or give her time to talk to her brother or fully think this through.

I want to point out that at this point in time, Artemis had already decided that she needed to go after the monster alone, and knew, that her hunters would spend some time at camp half-blood. But instead of giving Bianca these couple days/ weeks to accept this new reality of the mythological world and get to know both camp half-blood and the hunters, she wants an answer at this very moment,

Yes, Bianca’s answer was rash, and yes, I do think it’s rather cold that she didn’t first talk to Nico about it, but it’s pretty plain to see that she was overwhelmed and pretty much manipulated during this entire conversation.

Later, Zoe decides to take her with her on the quest, even though Bianca is completely unprepared for it. She is probably, aside from Nico, the most unprepared person in the entirety of camp half-blood to go on a quest.  

I don’t think I have to explain how terrible of a decision that was.

The hunters are objectively the worst thing that could have ever happened to Bianca and the main reason why she died.

Lacking Development:

Now, all of this, every single flaw I just pointed out, could have actually worked out, if there would have been some sort of change in the hunters’ way of thinking and an acknowledgement that their opinions on boys and males in general are misguided and lead to more harm than good during the course of the books.

Especially after their actions led to Bianca’s death.

Them seeing how much love Nico had for his sister and how much he suffered from her death could have been a great moment for some character development.

But nothing happened.

Camp half blood and the hunters grieving together at the end of Titan’s curse for both Zoe and Bianca could have resulted in a genuine moment of friendship between the two groups, leading to understanding and change.  

But nothing happened.

The only person who took responsibility for Bianca’s death at the end of Titan’s curse was fourteen-year-old Percy. The only person who cared enough about Nico to search for him and make sure he was safe, was Percy. The hunters didn’t care at all. Took no responsibility whatsoever.

All that happened at the end of that book was that Thalia became a huntress, and that Zoe and Artemis acknowledged Percy as a hero.

This, while admittedly, a great moment for Percy’s characterization and also somewhat for the character development of Zoe, had very little effect otherwise.  

Because, in the end, Zoe and Artemis treated Percy as if he was the exception. As if they had been only wrong about him, and not boys in general. They didn’t revisit their line of thinking, they didn’t self-reflect and they didn’t acknowledge that their bias was utterly flawed, and that they should treat male demigods generally better.

She (Zöe) grasped it contently. “You spoke the truth, Percy Jackson. You are nothing like… like Hercules. I am honored that you carry this sword.”

Then, she (Artemis) turned to me. “You did well,” she said. “For a man.”

Percy Jackson is fundamentally a story about the circle of abuse, and, Percy specifically, breaking that circle, but nothing of note happened with the hunters.

Because even if Zoe had confronted her own bias, (and there is admittedly an argument to be made that she did) she would have been the only hunter to do so. And she died.

Thalia becoming the lieutenant of the hunters as someone who is best friends with Percy and Grover, and who misses Jason more than anything, could have confronted this distorted line of thinking, but the other hunters remain pretty much unchanged in the last Olympian and The Lost Hero.

There were hugs and greetings al around- or at least Thalia was friendly. The other hunters didn’t like being around campers, especially boys, but they didn’t shoot any of us, which for them was a pretty warm welcome. (The last Olympian, chapter 10)

“Oh, no way,” Leo said. “We’ve been sitting in a cave and you get a luxury tent? Somebody give me hypothermia. I want hot chocolate and a parka!”

Phoebe sniffed. “Boys,” she said, like it was the worst insult she could think of. (XXXVI Leo, the lost hero.)

Conclusion:

So, yeah. They had huge potential, both as individual characters and as part of the overarching plot and theme of Percy Jackson, but their execution was absolutely abysmal.

The only possible positive thing I could say about them is that they are at least better than the Amazons (though that is not particularly hard)

I hope my rambling was understandable, it's already pretty late:')

*whispers* jercyyyyy

yells* JERCY!!!!

surprise hug&kiss!!

The biggest concern of all Perachel shippers and the most used argument used by anti Perachel shippers is that Rachel is an oracle and she took a vow of celibacy so no dating. That's not exactly how it works.

The reason they are made to make such a vow is to put serving their God Apollo first and foremost.

May Castellan had already had a child when she went to bond with the Oracle, and her not being celibate has nothing to do with that as we know .

Now, even in Ancient Greece, older women have been vessels for Oracles. They just had to put their family aside.

So, in conclusion, the vow of celibacy isn't an obligate condition.

Now for a bit of an history lesson The Oracle of Delphi is extremely unique as she has existed long before the Gods did as a spirit in Lake of Delphi and was often initially referred to as the Oracle of Gaia.

The titaness Phoebe used the powers given by the lake to divine futures. That was how Rhea knew where to hide and how to trick Kronos as she had gone to Phoebe for advice.

Now, for an even more interesting piece of fact after the Gods took control, the Lake of Delphi remained for millenias under the jurisdiction of Poseidon himself.

Priestesses used to come there to seek the power to be able to divine the futures. Only when it was attacked by Python himself and then saved by Apollo who killed the Python did the Spirit of Delphi choose to host itself in Apollos Priestesses thus abandoning the Lake.

The spirit of Delphi has no clear allegiances being able to change who she serves, and we know the Oracle spirit has some fondness for Percy given his own exceptionally prophetic dreams which is a power akin to an Oracle.

This means Rachel can probably choose to serve another God, maybe Poseidon himself, again, so he would revoke the no dating condition.

Or or this is my absolute favorite headcanon about Perachel, that given how many times Percy has managed to save her when Percy eventually ascends to Godhood Rachel and the Oracle spirit, swear fealty to him.

Take that Percabeth shippers. Your only viable argument against Perachel is no longer an argument.

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!

Between both these entries, I am sure it's proven beyond all doubt that not only is Percy obviously a strategic genius, but he is also school smart when he puts effort into it. Give it up for Percy Jackson; no one is the fandom is getting away with slandering Percy, especially for stuff the haters obviously made up.

just another snippet from readriordan.com CANONICALLY CONFIRMING that percy is extremely intelligent

just in case anyone forgot

He looked at Annabeth cause she reminded him of Luke's words and everyone else he had lost.

For the last time, he didn't give up godhood for Annabeth. And if you still think that after all this, then you have obviously missed a huge chunk of the books. He did for the Non-Olympian gods and their children, for everyone who had died to make this possible, for children of Hades, for Nico. He literally namedrops Nico two sentences after this. How can you reduce such a nuanced scene to some pathetic romantic implication?

I cannot believe how this hasn't been addressed in the PJO Fandom yet but does no one notice that the books, Rick himself glosses over or downplays the fact that PERCY FUCKING JACKSON GAVE UP IMMORTALITY!!!

And in reason as to why Percy gave up immortality?

The Percabeth stans are only too happy to make "Oh Percy gave up immortality for Annabeth." The hell he did. Have we read the same books? Are you really demeaning the importance of what Percy did. Cause here's what happened, and here's why it's so important:

PERCY GAVE UP IMMORTALITY SO THAT GODS COULD CLAIM DEMIGOD CHILDREN EARLY SO THAT THEY DO NOT REMAIN DEFENSELESS.

Furthermore, he did it so CHILDREN OF MINOR GODS COULD HAVE A PLACE TO BELONG TO, TO HAVE IDENTITY OF THEIR OWN, SO MINOR GODS THEMSELVES CAN BE PROPERLY ACKNOWLEDGED.

Similarly, he further added that CHILDREN OF HADES SHOULD NOT BE OSTRACIZED, THEY AS WELL AS HADES DESERVE TO BE WELCOME INTO OLYMPUS AND INTO CAMP , DESERVE PROPER RESPECT.

What ticks me off the most is how such an important sacrifice such an important change is never addressed again to the extent it deserves.

Cause this is not a surface level thing. This is going to change and better the lives of all demigods that come after or even demigods who were wrongly forced to remain in Hermes Cabin. A safe, more respectful, more meaningful environment for all demigods no matter who their godly parent is.

Are you telling that children of minor gods don't literally worship Percy for doing all this? Don't wholly completely feel grateful at least that he voiced out for them over his own difficulties? That he made a safe place for them happen?

Are you telling me that Minor Gods themselves don't feel at least a little grateful and respect Percy who did this of his own volition without having even met many Minor Gods. That he voiced out for their own children when they couldn't?

Are you telling me that Travis and Connor or any other demigods and cabin counselors don't automatically rave on about the greatness of Percy Jackson to any new arrivals in Camp Half-Blood?

Cause we were robbed of this of a proper homage to the sacrifice other demigods, Luke himself and Percy himself made to make it happen.

Piper, Leo , and Jason all seem so ignorant to it. Even newer demigods in Chalice of Gods or other books seem ignorant to this, and that's so against the usual canon representation of Camp Half-Blood as a community.

We should have seen it in Lost Hero, should have seen it in Chalice of Gods, should have seen it acknowledge repeatedly. You know why?

Yes, Percy didn't want immortality, but don't you know that deep down Percy knew exactly what immortality meant? Eternal protection from his father in his realm. No Gods bothering him, no more sacrifices or death quests. Freedom to do what he wants. To be able to spend time with his family as long as he wants without the worry of risking their safety. And he gave it all up

NOT EVEN IMMORTALITY. GODS WOULD HAVE GRANTED ANY WISH. HE COULD HAVE WISHED ANYTHING. FOR HIM TO BE PROTECTED? NO MORE QUESTS? FOR GODS TO LEAVE HIM ALONE? HE GAVE IT ALL UP, ALL OF IT.

Perseus bloody Jackson made happen what no one in the History of Camp Half-Blood has ever done. He managed to make Gods change their ignorant ways. He dismantled a culture of neglect and abuse.

And the fact Rick himself let this happen, let all this gloss over, and the fact that Percabeth stans have the AUDACITY to insinuate that he did for Annabeth and demean Luke's sacrifice, Percy's sacrifice is beyond me.

And the fact that everyone in his new reality kept throwing in his face that he shouldn't exist. The people in the place that was supposed to keep him safe ostracized him for what he was. The first person to be civil with him (Luke) turned out to be a traitor out to murder him and everyone who stands in his way.

All the while being on the run because his abusive stepfather had framed him wrongly and the police was after him. All the supernatural troubles notwithstanding, Percy was still in a situation that could not have got worser.

Now add in the fact that the Lord of the dead sent his own executioners after a 12 year old[Furies], the king of gods also sent his torturer/executioner [Echidna], the god of War was out to get him while he was simultaneously fighting the oldest of Greek monsters like Medusa and the chimera. And we haven't even covered the trip to hell yet.

The strongest forces in the world were beefing with a 12 year old, giving him physical, mental and existential crisis all the while he was in actual mortal danger 24/7.

And Percy still managed to come out alive mostly by his own wits and out of sheer spite against the gods. And people have the audacity to say he has plot armor. He bloody well should if he's dealing with this shit. I swear Percy should just crash out at everyone at Camp Half Blood. He has earned the fucking right. Even at Grover and Annabeth. He's totally earned it.

When you think about it, Percy had one of the most, if not the most, traumatic introduction to the gods and the divine world in general

Rereading that scene as an adult is like. damn. This kid was gaslit for a whole semester, questioned his sanity, woken up in the middle of the night, in the middle of the worst storm that year, chased by one of the worst monsters in mythology, still knows nothing about anything, suddenly the car flips, lightning hit the car, it’s a terrible crash, probably his first and definitely his worst, he could’ve died his friend could’ve died his mom could’ve died, there’s not enough time to check if everyone’s alright because they’re still being chased by something, nothing makes sense, his friend isn’t who he thought he was and a creature out of a storybook is coming after them. He’s separated from his mother but not before he watches her die, just watches her get squeezed to death, and his friend passed out and is in immediate danger, and he has no choice and he’s filled with so much grief and the world is splitting itself open around him and he kills it somehow and his friend is still unconscious and he so tired and hurt that he’s crying out for his dead mom while helplessly dragging his friend uphill because what else is there to do? He makes it to the top with his friend and passes out for three. Whole. Days. Only to wake up and find out that he was the target of the chase and someone, a god, is out to kill him

I don’t think anyone had such a violent introduction to the divine world where everything that can possibly go wrong did