I Rage Quit HOO Because Of The Gaea Stuff.

Vivienne Duarte, Bianca di Angelo and being an older sister

So, in this post, I'm trying to examine how we as a society, even the ones who are progressive, automatically expect the older sibling, more importantly the older sister, to take on the burden of their siblings when their parents can't.

I'm going to use the example of Bianca di Angelo from Percy Jackson.

For context, I'll tell you-Bianca and her younger brother Nico were from pre WWII before the big 3 took the oath, and once her mother was killed by Zeus, her father put her and her brother in the Lotus Casino, which makes time pass slowly while the outside world time goes faster.

Bianca and her brother Nico were in there for about a month according to them but actually 70 years in real time. Keep in mind that during this time, there were no parental figures for them, even if they got everything they materially needed-food, clothes, etc.

Nico also mentions that Bianca was strict with what she let him watch, so this means that she watched over him in the Casino. Not fully, maybe, but she watched over him and felt parentified nonetheless.

Bianca felt that she had to take care of Nico.

And when they come out, they remember that their parents are dead and they go to a military school of all schools. Now Bianca feels like she has to take care of Nico because their parents are dead and because of the general expectations piled onto older sisters and they probably cling to each other a lot, seeing as how Nico didn't mention any friends from his boarding school time.

And when Bianca gets the chance to join the Hunters of Artemis, well, she takes it-and how do people react to this?

Well......they don't like it. They think she's abandoning Nico, they call her selfish, even though she's only 12-a literal child, not even a teenager. And she only wants to not be just a big sister, to have a life for herself. And she's groomed and mislead by two much older women who are also in the guise of being children (Artemis and Zoe) and she's told that she can meet Nico from time to time, but that she won't have to take care of him anymore and that he'll be taken care of. And so she takes the chance. She doesn't know that they're going to camp-she thinks that if she declines, she won't get this again. And she doesn't even think about the possible consequences of this, because again, she's just a scared twelve year old who barely had time to make a decision with a lot of pressure and 3 people there who tried to pressure her into the opposite directions.

No one really thinks about this, do they? They only think about how her joining the Hunters and her death affected Nico, and they judge their reactions to her based on him.

Because the way Bianca was written, she was always the Earth to Nico's Sun. And ultimately, she died and was only ever remembered as Nico's older sister, which is so sadly ironic because she always wanted to be more, but Bianca was doomed from the start.

And now we come to Vivienne Duarte, who can also be a slightly selfish sister, only people love her more because we actually see her helping Jude, and Jude doesn't seem to be that affected by Vivienne's distance from her and Taryn-in fact, Jude has said that Vivienne has come through for her plenty of times, and Vivienne does help Jude a lot over the course of TFOTA, so Vivienne would of course not be hated that much, right?

But, as always with case of older sisters not being there for their younger siblings, there's Vivienne hate for this.

And I mean, I can understand where you're coming from, because maybe it looks like Vivienne should have been there for Jude and Taryn-

But let me tell you, have we ever considered Vivienne as a person, and her desires and wants?

Let me tell you something very frankly-I wholeheartedly believe that if TFOTA was from Vivienne's POV, then a lot of people would be hating Jude and Taryn. We'd all be wondering why they choose to stay with the people who don't care for them and treat them like toys or pets. We'd be cheering Vivienne on, and maybe some of us would take some time to think about Jude or Taryn and maybe even defend them, but ultimately, we would say that they chose to stay in Faerie, so they weather the consequences.

And that's what I'm talking about. Have we ever considered the fact that Vivienne wanted to go back to the human realm, but Jude and Taryn wanted to stay in Faerie?

And then Jude and Taryn grew to love Madoc. Madoc, the man who killed Vivienne's parents, and kidnapped her and her sisters to a foreign land which they knew nothing of, and then her sisters started to love him.

It must have been awful for Vivienne. How many times did she turn away, her heart being pierced, when she saw Jude smile at or hug Madoc? How many times did she blink away tears when she saw Taryn with Madoc?

And she vowed to hate Madoc, but she was forced to live with him because of her sisters, even when she found a way out, because they wanted to go back to his stronghold, and VIVIENNE stayed for JUDE AND TARYN, even though she could have gone and lived in the Mortal Realm using her magic and she could have come and visited them when she wanted to.

Can you imagine a man murdering your parents, then he kidnaps you and your sister and is your biological father? And then your sisters, who aren't his real daughters, grow to love him even though you hate him, and you can't fathom how they can love him, because HE MURDERED YOUR PARENTS IN FRONT OF ALL THREE OF YOU.

I love the fact that she hates him. I love that she tried to kill him and betrayed him for her sisters. I love her for that.

And Vivienne did try to protect Jude and Taryn, but their relationshop fractured as Jude and Taryn grew to love Elfhame and Madoc, and that's realistic, because which person in Vivienne's place, with all her trauma and vows, would not hate her sisters a little for doing what they did?

And now we come to Vivienne's desires.

I mean, I already told you that she wanted to go and live in the mortal world away from Faerie, but she stayed for her sisters. Was she planning to stay forever if she had met Heather? Probably not, but she would have stayed longer.

But I think that when she met Heather and Heather wanted Vivienne to move in with her, Vivienne realised that it was either her or her sisters' desires-

And she chose herself over them.

And I think that that was wonderful, because she couldn't stay behind forever. She couldn't sacrifice forever.

And let me tell you, she offered so many times to Jude and Taryn, she said, hey, let's go back, stop being the the crazy psychos, and they kept saying no, we want to live here.

And Vivienne ultimately accepted that she couldn't always just try to help her younger sisters, that she and they would have to go their own separate ways, that ultimately she couldn't help them anymore. That Jude would have to fend for herself, that Taryn would have to find a husband.

And so she chose to leave for herself, and I think that that's so bittersweet, because she was leaving them behind for a new life, and she must have been hurt too, but she stopped sacrificing for her sisters. And she knew that she was immortal, so she could come back and visit them when they were settled.

And she tried, one last time, and she was even prepared to give up Heather for her sisters, but then they refused, and she gave it up entirely.

But I think that if Jude ever came to her, then Vivienne would help her, always.

Yes, Vivienne did play with Cardan, but that was most likely before he started bullying Jude and Taryn. Jude literally said that Vivienne stopped attending classes and also that she and Taryn hid their trauma in Faerie from Vivienne, so Vivienne didn't know that Jude and Taryn were bullied. And being the big sister that she is, she would never tolerate Cardan if she knew that he was bullying Jude and Taryn.

Bianca died, and Vivienne lived, and when people think of Vivienne Duarte, they're not always going to remember her as Jude's older sister, because she's so much more.

Vivienne stopped taking care of Jude and Taryn when she felt that she didn't need to and realized that they needed to fend for themselves and she couldn't always help them.

I feel like Bianca and Vivienne could have such a talk.........

@madockisser not sure if you've read Percy Jackson but what do you think about this? I'm trying to understand Vivienne's POV and I feel like I made some good points here, but I want your opinion too

I think that it would be infinitely funnier if Rick had made Artemis and her Hunt be clueless (also somewhat wary) and have a superiority complex about being separated from men and living in the wild and turn it into a comedy.

'Men do THIS? No wonder you're so behind! We in the wild do (something completely absurd and simply undoable in modern society that can be done in her Hunt because it's timeless and magical and in the wild and she's also a goddess). Far superior.'

Why leave, did I not give you enough?

Madoc was standing in the house once again, reliving his worst memories-Eva and Justin's deaths. The house where Vivienne had vowed to hate him. The house where Jude had screamed at him and hit him. The house where Taryn had sobbed, shaking her mother's dead body, though Eva would never get up again. It was empty. No one had bought it even after 3 years-the deaths still haunted them. It looked normal-a red plastic FOR SALE was mounted on the lawn and the wind chimes jingled in the comforting breeze. He wondered if ghosts existed. Would Eva and Justin be staring at him with contempt in their eyes? He hesitated, just as he had 3 years ago on that fateful day. Oh, how he wished he had grabbed Vivienne and Eva and ran. Would Justin come after him? Perhaps. But maybe he would take care of his daughters first. Madoc didn't know-Justin had been such a strange man. He didn't want to go inside. He didn't want to relive the bloodstained carpet and smell of wet blood.

He swallowed. He was a redcap. He was brave, and he slept at night knowing that he had killed thousands of soldiers. He could go inside and endure the ghosts of the past. He inhaled, curled his hands into fists and stepped inside. Nothing. It was empty, scrubbed clean, like no one had lived inside it at all. There were ornamental decorations and a pleasant perfume permeated the air. All dressed up to make it look flashy and attractive. Nothing could ever attract Madoc to the house, except for the fact that his daughters had run away. Just like Eva. Just when he had thought that they had begun to like him-they had sat on his lap, eating out of his plate, and played Nine Men's Morris with him. Taryn had stopped flinching every time she saw him, and Jude had smiled at him, even coming to have a somewhat twisted affection for him. Vivienne, of course, had not stopped. The weight of her vow would never leave her, and she had been so angry that she could not speak to them for days. Had she guilt tripped them into leaving? Most probably. Though they loved him somewhat, they would never be able to forget their real parents. The ones that he had murdered right in front of their eyes. Blood on the kitchen floor and the heavy smell of blood. He forced his feet to move, up, down, up, down. Into the kitchen where Eva once lay. Into the backyard where Justin's forge once stood. Into the bedrooms- He stopped, inhaling sharply. The beds were clearly made with gray and yellow covers. The room was airy and sunlit, dust motes dancing in the sunlight. A peaceful, drowsy afternoon. Was this where his daughters had slept? Where they had played with each other? Where they had watched, what did humans call it, TV? Television? Eva had told him of it and he had watched the strange pictures dance across the screen. They had watched it together, she laughing, he not understanding but smiling and playing along. He closed his eyes. He opened them again. Any question of them being here was gone, though they might have come for a brief visit. Were memories too painful for them as well? Footsteps made him spin around. Standing there was a woman, wearing a suit that hinted that she might be a-what had Eva called it-a 'real estate agent', someone who sold property. 'Sir,' she said. 'I don't know what you're doing here, but you need to leave, unless you're a potential buyer. How did you get in here?' He hit her on the side of the head and she crumpled. His heart wildly richocheted and suddenly she was Eva. He had killed another person. He stepped back and fell against the wall, screaming into his bundled cloak. Was she dead? His eyes were wild, his heart pounded as he scrambled to find out. No, Eva, please don't be dead- She had a pulse. She was bleeding, but she would be all right. He couldn't stay here. He had to leave-he barely had a few minutes to go back before he would have to attend a meeting. He took her phone, called the police (911, was it?) gave them directions and then stepped out. Suddenly, he didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay here and drink in the memories of a family, torn apart by him, that he had so desperately tried to put back together. And now that they had run away, he might never be able to. He took the silky black horse back to Elfhame. His memories took the form of knives, stabbing into him as he recalled their painful shapes and colors. They took the form of needles, slowly sliding into him as he silently screamed, feeling the cold, sharp pain of memories upon him.

Rereading PJO, I've realised that Rick Riordan manages to mock, denigrate and terribly represent literally all the gods except Poseidon and Hestia.

At this point, I don't know if it's funny or not, but someone give Rick one of those reverse award medals where it's actually an award for being the worst at doing something.

The book version of Golden Raspberry for representation of Greek Gods. For Rick Riordan.

Anyway, I'm finishing my Athena essay. Should be here any day now.

HOW RICK PORTRAYS ARTEMIS

Now, before I start on the nasty pile of shit that is Rick Riordan written PJO Artemis (NOT the real one, NEVER the real one) let me give you some links to posts talking about her portrayal in PJO which you should most certainly read.

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RR crit re: aspec representation, the Hunters and the portrayal of romance

There are many things that bother me about Rick's aspec rep. His books are weirdly amatonormative and as an aspec person I find his portraya

You should most certainly read these posts-they talk about the subject of this post magnificently. Especially the first one.

THE HUNT OF ARTEMIS IS TERRIBLE AROACE REP

Rick makes her and her hunt aroace and depicts them as radical feminist misandrists.

This is misogynistic and aphobic, as it makes the narrative and by extension the readers think that hey, aroace women actually hate all men, which is not the case for every one of them!

Also, Rick writes Artemis as usually liking to appear as a young girl and never assumes a form older than twenty. And she always appears as a child in PJO. Never any other age. Also, the Hunters are apparently literal CHILDREN who are called immature and misandrist while also being aroace.......hmmmmmm.........aphobic much?

Yeah, do you see how aphobic this is?

People usually view aroace people as childlike and immature due to the fact that they don't want to have sex or romance when they can be just as mature or even more mature than non aroace people.

Also, the two hunters who've left the hunt, Emmie and Jo, are 'growing out of it'. Also, they fall in love and aren't as 'childish' anymore. This implies that aroace people are just 'late bloomers' and 'oh, you'll grow out of it!'

Which is not the case. It's never the case. They never 'grow out of it' because they don't feel attracted to it, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Romance and sex do not determine an adult's maturity. And they sure as hell don't determine Artemis' sexuality.

Also, Artemis kicks wlw hunters out-lesbians being kicked out of a safe space for women just for romantically liking women, does anybody hear this?-and calls romance a plague.

What the hell? Aroace people don't always think like this. And sex and romance are to different things. It's possible to be an asexual lesbian too.

This is lesbophobia, which is awful, because men are often violent towards queer women, so this could have been a good form of rep for queer women-queer female solidarity.

Now, I'm aware that Rick is allowed to portray Artemis as aroace. I'm simply pointing out the aphobic and misogynistic tropes that he fell into.

This isn't the only virgin goddess that Rick has turned into a child. Rick also turned Hestia, a former Olympian in PJO, into a child for no reason, most likely because she is also a willing virgin goddess. This is also extremely aphobic and unnecessary.

Artemis usually appears as a young woman in her statues and paintings. If Rick really wanted to make her young, he could've had her be in her late teens or early twenties. There was no reason to make her look like a child.

Also, the major huntresses of Artemis that we know of-Thalia, Bianca and Zoe-joined because they were traumatised from their past.

Thalia because Luke 'betrayed' her, Bianca because she thought she had to take care of Nico, and Zoe because Hercules also betrayed her. They're all traumatised and are frozen to become eternal children. And Reyna is also heavily traumatised.

Do you see this shit, my liege? This implies that all the aroace people are traumatised and that's why they suddenly become aroace and join the Hunt. Absolute nonsense.

Also, not all Hunters of Artemis are aroace. Taking a vow of virginity is not equal to aroace. I get that you want to have your representation, which is fair, but you need to know this.

PJO ARTEMIS IS CREEPY AND PREDATORY

So, we know from the Titan's Curse that Rick Riordan written PJO Artemis recruits girls between 10 and 14 into her hunt.

She says that girls that are older than 14 usually 'go astray' and 'leave their senses, running after boys all day'.

She makes her huntresses take oaths of virginity and celibacy. Why would anyone make a child take a virginity and celibacy oath?

She recruits girls who are too young to know if they want to date or have sex or grow up and pursue something else instead of just hunting all day.

She calls romance a plague and kicks out all lovers from her Hunt, be it mlm or wlw, which is terrible, because she was a sapphic icon back in the day.

And she promises young girls nice things and twists her word, not actually telling them about the bad things of the Hunt until they're actually in and can't get out again.

Do you know how terrible this is? And how terrible it is for the real Artemis and her worshippers?

This is very predatory-and extremely OOC for Real Artemis. She's the protector of girls-she doesn't take them on monster hunts.

REAL Artemis is the protector of children, especially young girls-she would not freeze them biologically forever and pull them out of their lives and take them on monster hunts, thus harming them and endangering them. She would take young girls into hunt, but she would educate them and train them to defend themselves and only take them on monsters hunts when they were fully mature, consenting adults.

Let me fill you in on info about the REAL Artemis' hunt-

If Real Artemis accepted girls into the hunt, they would age normally, and they weren't immortal. And she wouldn't make them hunt monsters. They'd hang around at camp, dance, sing, pick flowers and worship Artemis, like the original nymphs in the myths, who, by the way, were adults.

Also, Real Artemis' huntresses didn't always stay with her. They stayed for some time and left-actually, being a companion of Artemis was a popular title for heroines of Greek Myths, like Anticlea, mother of Odysseus, who hunted with Artemis when she (Anticlea) was young or Beroe, who was also a hunter before becoming a lover of Poseidon or marrying him.

Real Artemis' followers must be virgins or they cannot join her, but they are free to leave, and after that, they may lose their virginity.

Real Artemis' followers are not immediately granted immortality-they must earn it. Artemis grants Britomartis immortality after the latter jumps off a cliff fleeing from King Minos. In some versions, she turned Iphigenia into a goddess as she was sacrificed for Artemis.

And I get that it was a fun concept for Rick to make Artemis' hunt an immortal sisterhood band-and I'm not saying that it's a bad concept.

I'm just saying that the concept was horribly executed. It's absolutely horrible that the girls are frozen forever in time and never get to grow up and be more mature and educated. It would also help their muscle mass and strength, effectively making them better hunters. I've made another post about this.

And Rick also makes Artemis not interact with men because.......her first few interactions with men failed?

This is hilariously terrible. Oh no, Artemis doesn't like men because apparently a few of them failed her and her interactions with them went terribly wrong, so no men now!

And also, she kicks lesbians out of her hunt.

Read this post. It'll detail all the bad things about my last sentence, and in the meantime-

This is terrible, because Real Artemis was heavily associated with lesbianism back in Ancient Greece or before that. Also, Rick's hunt was supposed to be a safe space for girls. So many little lesbians thought that they'd been seen-only to have Rick throw this back into their face. And you know what's even more horrible? He could've made the hunters ace lesbians, because yeah, you can romantically love women and not want to have sex, it's entirely possible.

PJO Artemis is ultimately 'redeemed' by helping Percy and his friends and voting against his death, but her portrayal in such a popular books series will be an eternal tragedy.

And I've heard some people say that he turned Artemis into a radical feminist because it was popular at the time, and let me tell you-

You don't get to do that. You don't get to use a culturally, religiously and ethically sacred goddess as your experimenting ground for humour and modernity mixed with magic.

You don't just get to ignore all the myths and then reduce a sacred belief and way of life to something so horrible as what Artemis' hunt was in PJO-predatory, creepy, cult-like and abusive.

It isolated girls from the outside world and fed them one source of information.

It tricked them into joining by lying to them, promising them happiness, not telling them about the bad things, and then it did not let them leave when they wanted to, making them regret it eternally.

So many people actually worship this goddess-imagine how horrible they feel about this portrayal.

@fandomloverangel

Jude doesn't always think of Cardan

I saw a comment saying that everything and everyone that Jude thought about would tie back to Cardan every single time.

That's.......not true.

I'm not going to deny that Jude thinks about Cardan a lot and that their relationship is definitely a core part of the books. There's a reason why it's the number one thing the fandom talks about.

But she doesn't think about him all the time and she's certainly not obsessed with him as some people make her out be.

She has thoughts about Vivienne and her relationship with her, Taryn and her betrayal, Madoc and their complicated relationship, Oriana and Oak and even Dain and the Court of Shadows. She reflects on her past, present and future and her life in Elfhame, not all of which includes Cardan.

Even in the second book where their relationship picks up, she has thoughts about her family, her bio parents, her adoptive parents, her siblings, the Court of Shadows, Grimsen, her failed relationship with Locke, Vivienne's friendship with Cardan and she even thinks about Heather and also. There are plenty of moments without Cardan where she doesn't think of him.

And in the third book when she reunites with him and their relationship is official, she does think about him a lot, but not all the time. She thinks about her mother, her father, Madoc (her second father), Vivienne, Grima Mog, Heather, Taryn and Locke, etc. She even has moments with the Roach, the Ghost and the Bomb.

None of this ties back to Cardan. And it's true that their relationship is definitely present in each book, this just seems like another attempt to put romance above platonic relationships, which is exasperating. Seriously, let Jude have her platonic relationships without bringing Cardan into them!

We know that Vivienne, Jude and Taryn left when they were 10 years old-about the same time that Madoc courted and married Oriana.

Do you think that they left home because of this very reason? It's canon that they were worried about it, because Madoc might send them away, so it's a real possibility.

I wonder how he reacted when they ran away and then came back.

It's been a little while but I want to know : have you read the Bacchae now ? If yes, what's your opinion on it 👀 ?

(yes it's an excuse to start a discussion on this play)

I'm busy with personal stuff, so I haven't read all of the Bacchae yet.

I did however start reading it but had to stop because I'm busy, sorry haha.

However, if you and other people want to discuss it on this post, go right ahead!

I'll read it in a few months and get back to you :D

All right, OP, some of this is honestly ridiculous.

I don't mean to be rude and I'm not pro Annabeth Chase, but I need to point some things out.

How is Annabeth being mean to Percy here? She thought that he might have known something about stealing or the solstice. She didn't know that he didn't know. Judging by the information that she has and the circumstances that they're in, of course she'd think that he would know something about it!

Even if she was incorrect, she's not being mean here. And if you're talking about her smirking as she scraped drips off his chin, of course she'd smile-it's a little funny to spoon feed someone and see their expression when they're unconscious.

There's nothing in this scene to indicate anything mean.

2) How is Annabeth looking intimidating being mean to Percy? She's meeting him fully conscious, not just passed out. Of course she's going to look at him now that he's awake and conscious of his surroundings. Of course she's going to take note of him and analyze him. There's nothing wrong with this.

3) That's not mean. That is literally a comment on a fact. Percy drools when he sleeps and she told him so. How is that being mean?

4) As said in the second point, looking at someone critically when you're meeting them fully conscious for the first time isn't mean. Given Annabeth's surroundings and environment and how long she's been there, of course she's going to look at him critically!

5) Just because her expression hardens when she sees him looking does not make it mean or malicious. Actually, it was natural. Annabeth blushes when looking at Luke. Percy notes it. Annabeth is embarrassed when she sees Percy looking and hardens her expression. Logic.

10) Annabeth is........literally staring at him. Just staring at him. Percy says that he can't tell whether she's grossed out or angry-it's never stated or confirmed whether she's angry, and based on her reaction, she's not angry. She's impressed, actually, and she says that she wants him on her team for Capture the Flag.

11) Just because Annabeth doesn't get all sweet and reassures him that no, it's ok, you did nothing wrong, Percy, it's all fine! doesn't mean that she's being mean. She just gave him some instructions and didn't even mock his apology-she just said whatever and then left. None of that is mean.

18) You're taking this out of context to make it seem mean.

Right before this, Percy said that they had her mother to thank for fighting Medusa. He indirectly insulted Athena-that had to hurt for Annabeth. Of course she flashed him an irritated look!

She's not entirely right here, but she's not entirely wrong. Percy couldn't control meeting Medusa, but he didn't notice until it was too late while both Grover and Annabeth noticed. Of course she'd be a little mad.

19) *Sigh*. Ok, this is not being mean. There is nothing to indicate this being mean. It's a lighthearted, sarcastic joke. Nothing malicious or even unintentionally malicious.

22) Once again I ask you what is mean. Was it the fact that she ripped the love scarf away from him? It could have been a malicious object-Annabeth had enough experience to know while Percy didn't. She was warning him to stay away from it and possibly saving him!

23) You are once again taking something out of context!

They were hurtling at a very fast speed and the seatbelts were helping them. Percy, however, told Annabeth to unfasten her seatbelt! Of course she asked if he was crazy!

24) What about that is mean? She's right. What Percy did wasn't smart. Insulting a god is never smart. She stated a fact there.

26) I wondered if I'd find this here after reading the others.

This is a joke. A joke. She's not intentionally being mean-she's just cracking a joke. Percy protests, but he's not even offended by it after that. You are blowing this way out of proportion.

27) The hit here was because he was trying to get her out of her paradise. She wasn't thinking clearly-she wasn't able to think clearly because she was having fun and he was trying to pull her out of it. And it's not malicious like the gut punch at Westover Hall in TTC.

31) She's literally telling him to take care and sending him off. She has a stupid nickname for him-yes, it doesn't come from a good place, but we have to remember that she's literally twelve years old at that point. Of course she'd use a silly nickname like that for him. There's nothing wrong with it at that point in time.

I'm not pro Annabeth. I prefer to remain neutral, but some of this is downright foolish, and it seems like you're just villainising Annabeth at some point for no reason.

If you're going to hate on Annabeth, please do it with sound reasoning and logic. Don't take text out of context to paint Annabeth Chase as this crazy mean girl when she's not.

Every Time Annabeth is Mean to Percy in the Riordanverse

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

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

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

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

(Alternating colors for easier reading)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TLT total number of times Percy is called stupid: 10 

TLT number of times Annabeth calls Percy stupid: 7

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

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

How Rick could have portrayed Calypso

It would have been way better if Rick had portrayed Calypso as a mother figure instead of a teenager. I know that Percy Jackson is a kid's series, which is why he took out the rape, but choosing to portray Calypso as a teenager after reading about her being a fully-grown woman and raping Odysseus definitely feeds into the horrible mindset that men can't get raped by women because the latter are too cutesy and weak to do something that terrible.

She could remind Percy of Sally, ironically, because she wants him to stay (but won't force him to) and she's so angry with the gods because this boy is so YOUNG, only 14. And Percy loves her a bit like he loves Sally, and he resolves to make the gods free her if he can.

And when Leo crashes up on his island, barely older than Percy, Calypso doesn't really know if the war's been won or not, so she asks him, and he tells all, but instead of blaming Percy, she blames the gods again. And she reminds Leo of Esperanza and he comes back for her, and maybe she could join the Waystation and be friends with Jo and Emmie or something-just that terribly written and rushed romance plot.