I Just Searched Up Why Rick Riordan Added Annabeth's Judo Flip, And Oh My God, It's Just So Bad-

Relatable or self-insert?

You know, for some reason, I feel like Percy Jackson has turned from a relatable character to a self-insert character along the way.

Is it just me, or do other people feel this way?

COMPARING JUDE DUARTE TO PERCY JACKSON AND SOPHIE FOSTER

So, I've read TFOTA, KOTLC and PJO, and I'm sure many other people have done the same. I've been comparing Jude to Percy and Sophie for a long time, so I wanted to type it out and make an analysis. Here we go now.

One thing I find about Jude is that she's different from both Percy and Sophie in the sense that she's thrust into a hostile world where she had no friends and had to fend for herself pretty early on. Her parents are murdered right in front of her eyes and she's taken to Elfhame, and we know that the TFOTA faeries don't like humans-most of them at least.

And while Sophie is also thrust into an entirely different system, it's friendly to her. Yes, she misses her human family and Amy, but Shannon barely goes into this. Sophie's not harmed or looked down upon (except by a few people, and they're not that relevant.) In fact, she's quite important and gets a lot of help (along with a bunch of trauma, though. Not trying to downplay Sophie's experience).

Percy also discovers the world of demigods, but he doesn't have to leave much behind-the mythological and modern world are heavily intertwined, so actually gains something, which means that he can go on living his life like he used to, except with advantages now (except being hunted by monsters)

Which brings me to my first point-

JUDE HAS NO PROTECTION SYSTEM OR HELP

Sure, she's Madoc's ward, but she's not his actual daughter. But she's a human in Elfhame-and we all know what that means. Those of us who have read the books, at least. Sure, being Madoc's adopted daughter gives her some protection, but it doesn't stop her from being glamoured and traumatized. It doesn't stop her ring finger's tip from being bitten off at 9 years old, by one of Madoc's servants no less, right in his stronghold. It doesn't stop the servants from mentally abusing her by making her feel inferior and telling her that she is lucky to be raised like this. Jude herself says that Tatterfell was probably considering pricking the former with a pin, implying that Tatterfell has done it before, which is still physical abuse. It doesn't prevent her from being drugged and danced around against her will at 11, and it doesn't stop her from being bullied by Cardan and Co.

Now moving onto Percy and Sophie-they had amazing support systems. Percy had Camp Half Blood. He was Poseidon's son, a Big Three Kid, and they're practically worshipped. He had so many friends at camp. He had Chiron and his mom Sally, who was an AMAZING parental figure. And then Percy had Paul. Percy also had Poseidon at times, though the latter rarely showed up-he still helped Percy quite a lot. Percy also had the gods. Artemis and Apollo helped him. Aphrodite helped him. Poseidon helped him. Dionysus helped him. Hestia helped him. Hera guided them through the labyrinth and made Percy's arrow fly perfectly. Hephaestus helps him too. The majority of the Olympian council has helped Percy, and without their help, he'd be nowhere. He also has magic, insane magic powers and he's pretty magically powerful, which Jude is not. She doesn't have any magic-the closest thing she has to it is the geas that makes her immune to glamours, and that Prince Dain placed on her when she asked him to. Percy is basically a Chosen One after all the other Big Three kids (Thalia-huntress, Bianca-dead and Nico-too young) are pushed out.

Sophie also has a great support system. She's got many parental and trusted authority figures-Elwin, Alden, Grady, Edaline and Della. She also has her friend circle-Keefe, Fitz, Biana, Dex, Wylie, Marella, Linh, Tam-which rapidly expands and the support of the Black Swan. AND she has powerful magic and is a chosen one like Percy. Something else that Jude doesn't have.

To summarise this, Percy and Sophie had great support systems that they could lean on and they were helped by others quite a lot (especially Percy) whereas Jude mostly helped herself.

JUDE HAS NO GOOD PARENTAL FIGURES OR FRIENDS

Unlike Percy and Sophie, Jude doesn't have healthy parental figures either. But! you say. But she has Madoc! Madoc is not a healthy parental figure.

Jude loves him in an uncomfortable way, yes. He cares about her, yes. He insisted that she be raised like the Gentry Faeries-that she learn swordplay and strategy, wear beautiful gowns and attend Faerie revels. But he still murdered her parents right in front of her eyes when she was a child. He still ran his sword through her and left her out to bleed. He still abandoned her to die when he felt that she was a hindrance. He loves her, yes, and he would do a lot for her, but he is in no way a healthy parental figure. Oriana is not a parental figure to Jude. She's only Oak's mother. Not Jude's, not Taryn's, not Vivienne's. She is, in fact, normally cold and stand offish with them, though she can be helpful at times. Taryn is Jude's closest 'friend' and we know how many times she betrays Jude during the course of the series (Locke and Madoc). Vivienne is perhaps the healthiest relationship that Jude has (besides the Court of Shadows). She's a good sister who has come through plenty of times for Jude when no one else has, supplying her and Taryn with quick magic whenever necessary…… but even she has her limits. First of all, she doesn't want to stay in Elfhame forever. She understandably hates and doesn't want to live with her parents' murderer, but where else can she live in Elfhame? Even if she could live somewhere else, she doesn't want to, and wants to go back to the Mortal Realm. She stays for Jude and Taryn, then leaves for Heather. She is also somewhat selfish and doesn't listen to Jude either. She doesn't help Jude with politics either-Jude is able to trust Vivienne because the latter stays loyal to Jude, but only for so long till she tires and goes back to the Mortal Realm. And this is where I come to the Court of Shadows. Honestly, they're one of my favorite parts of TFOTA. Their relationship with Jude is amazing-BUT, hear me out. I'm talking about Jude for the whole decade that she lived in Elfhame, and she didn't even have the Court of Shadows for a fraction of that time. So yes, they're her best support system, even if The Ghost was under Locke and then Madoc's control for much of the series-and he showed remorse afterwards and apologised. Even if the Bomb tried to kill Jude because the former understandably thought that the latter was trying to kill Cardan-and she showed remorse afterwards and apologized. And there's no time when the Roach actively tries to harm Jude. Yeah, I love these guys' dynamic so much, I'd read a whole book on them. (Honorable mention for Fand here-while she was not Jude's friend, she was friendly with her and was Jude's first personal guard as Queen).

To summarise this paragraph, Jude didn't have a good support system her whole 10 years-Madoc's protection didn't always protect her, Taryn is self-explanatory and Vivienne could be selfish and had her limits as well. Except at the very end when Jude joined the Court of Shadows.

PERCY AND SOPHIE WERE CHOSEN ONES

Percy and Sophie were also 'Chosen Ones'. Percy was the prophecy kid, the Savior of Olympus, and Sophie is the Black Swan's weapon. Jude is not a Chosen One-being a mortal in Faerie, she's quite the opposite. She's simultaneously at a high rung of a ladder due to being Madoc's ward and at a low rung, due to being a human among faeries. She never had any magical powers and was at a severe disadvantage due to this for most of her time in Elfhame until Dain gave her the geas.

To summarise this paragraph-Percy and Sophie were magically powerful 'chosen ones', something Jude was most definitely not-in fact, she was the opposite until she got Dain's geas.

Percy and Sophie were already at the top of the ladder-they only had to climb a few rungs, while Jude was quite lower than they were, though not at the very bottom, and she had to climb a whole lot more than they did.

These facts make Jude a more compelling protagonist than Percy or Sophie to some people.

TO CONCLUDE Now, I'm not trying to bash Percy or Sophie here-Jude had 10 years in Elfhame while Sophie barely has 3 years in the Lost Cities and Percy only has 2-3 years of training his powers. There's a difference between the appeal of Jude versus Percy and Sophie-the first one's appeal is a powerless person rising to power and the second appeal is being a powerful person, an important chosen one, and having people admire and look up to you. Both can appeal to different people and the same people. But protagonists like Jude have an appeal that protagonists like Percy and Sophie can never have.

I think Jude is somewhat like Luke-ruthless and willing to do anything to ensure her loved ones' safety, including killing. She also rebels against the system like Luke and changes part of it by breaking the mold to fit herself in there. I'm not sure whom she's like from KOTLC, but if I had to pick a person, I'd pick either Forkle or Fintan-ruthless, morally grey, willing to do a lot to break the system and get accepted.

Though she is WAYYYYYYY morally better than them-a lighter shade of gray, if you will. She would never kidnap and torture a bunch of children for information and she'd never leave them to find their own way home when the chances are quite low.

I also think, that if the circumstances mandated it, Percy could be as ruthless as Jude if required. I'm not quite sure about Sophie, due to the whole elf guilt mental break thing, but I think that she could also be ruthless like Jude if she can convince herself that it's for the greater good and her loved ones.

Whew, this might be my masterpiece post. Well, if you have any counter arguments, then feel free to post them.

There are, in fact, people who would bring the sky down for their platonic friends.

Romance is not ABOVE friendship and platonic relationships. It exists on the same level, just in a different color/shape/flavor. People need to stop saying, 'Let's take our relationship to the next level' when talking about romance. Seriously, let's not act like friendship and other relationships outside of romance aren't important.

You know a character trope I love?

When person A loves person C for a good reason, but person B also HATES person C for a good reason.

Like in PJO. Nico loves Hades because the latter is his father and helps him out a lot, but Thalia also HATES Hades because he sent monsters after her.

There is so much potential for this. Nico and Thalia angst? Hello? Someone please write this.

I hope you get raped until you bleed and die, fucking TERF bitch

.

Yikes, just another toxic Percabeth moment

I was reading Percy Jackson Greek Heroes and I found another concerning Percabeth moment-

Percy says that when he doesn't like what Annabeth likes, she goes all 'man-hazan' (meaning warrior like) on him.

Meaning that she yells at him and is violent when he doesn't like what she likes..........

That's uncalled for. You don't have to like everything that your partner likes. And if they get angry at you for not liking what they like, then that's concerning and you need to talk to them about it.

Thinking about going through the next year without my dad is literally so terrifying that I start to cry.

Now that I've lost my dad, I'm feeling kind of overwhelmed about next year, which is important for me. I thought he'd be there to help me, but he's gone. It feels scary honestly. I don't know what to do.

Nico and Bianca's backstory makes no sense.

All right, so they were born in the 1930s, but after WWII they're placed into the Lotus Casino. 60 years later, still children, they're taken out and placed into a military school. And we all know what happens next.

But there were a truckload of changes from 1945 to the early 2000s.

And sure, you could argue that they were slowly exposed to it, as seen with the flatscreen TV in the Lotus Casino in their room, but how the hell do you expose all the changes that happened between NINETEEN FORTY FIVE AND THE EARLY TWO THOUSANDS IN A MONTH?!?!?!?!?!.

HOW. HOW DO YOU DO THAT.

Because they were in the Lotus Casino for a MONTH, and that's a very short time to be exposed to all these new inventions.

So in Nico and Bianca's POV, they're just getting all these presents so fast.

'Oh, look, we have coloured TVs now! Oh look, women can wear revealing dresses and pants now! They don't have to dress in skirts and conservative clothing anymore! Oh look, there's something called a computer now! Oh look, we have digital clocks and watches now! Oh look, we have freaking DIGITAL CAMERAS AND PHONES NOW! WE HAVE VIDEO GAMES! WE HAVE VIDEO TAPE RECORDERS! WE HAVE CALCULATORS! DIGITAL CALCULATORS! WANT TO USE GOOGLE? LOOK AT THE INTERNET!'

All this in just a month. Imagine how bewildered they must have been. Clothing changes, fashion changes, the entire damn society changed. Technology had changed. Everything was different. And it was just shoved onto Nico and Bianca. Poor children-I actually feel a little bad for them now.

This post is both critical and comical. Do what you will with this information.

Ok, I am once again wondering why Rick didn't just put PIPER in DREW'S PLACE.

Piper could have been the head counsellor of cabin 10-exhausted, burnt out, and she and Silena could have been the ones to have charmspeak, which would give them an extra special bond as the only ones who had it.

And when Piper gets really emotionally intense after the Titan War II, she just uses charmspeak on her cabin members. Of course, she feels guilty afterwards, but they still start to be scared of her.

And this way, we can learn more about what happens at camp, because maybe she could be a year rounder so as not to harm Tristan, but she could still have her trauma from her younger days.

Just another example of wasted potential in PJO, which is surprisingly easy to come by.

I want to draw you (Part 1)

She met her in a mall courtyard. 

Vivienne was simply walking around, window shopping. She occasionally bought something if she felt like it, or if she thought it would annoy Madoc, or to gift to Jude and Taryn, though they seldom liked such presents-maybe because it reminded them of their brief childhood in the human realm and they had no use for it in Faerie.

She usually glamoured herself to have round ears and brown eyes, though sometimes she let her natural features shine through. Some humans saw through it-rarely adults, sometimes children, who were not believed, though she smiled at them. If an adult really did see it, they convinced themselves that they were hallucinating. Sometimes, however, she let her real features show to enjoy the look on people's faces. Some of them would come up and ask her about it, and she would be vague about it. 

This time, she wore her real features. She was feeling somewhat bummed out after a fight with Madoc and Oriana and wanted some comfort food after window shopping, one of her favorite things to do.

She wandered along the aisles, looking at glittery sticky hands, beautiful porcelain mugs, comfortable-looking sweaters and beanies. She smelt the aroma of Chinese food and Subway. She ran her hands along the grainy counter tops. And she sunbathed on the wooden benches while listening to her favorite music playlists on her phone that she had magically obtained-there was a whole lot of glamouring involved, too many complications all for a simple phone.

And then she saw Heather. 

The first thing she noticed was a smudge of blue ink on her nose. Then she noticed her beautiful eyes, the color of darkest amber. And finally, when she spoke, Vivienne was afraid that she was talking to someone else.

'I want to draw you.'

Vivienne blinked. 'What?' she said, looking around, but there was nobody else. The girl was talking to her. 

'I want to draw you. You're beautiful!' the girl said, gesturing towards her face. 'You're absolutely breathtaking-ethereal.'

Vivienne blinked rapidly and blushed. 'Oh-um, thank you. Thank you very much.' she giggled. 

VIVIENNE. STOP GIGGLING LIKE AN IDIOT.

'I'm an artist,' the girl said, sitting next to her. 'I love drawing things. What's your name?'

'My name? Oh, it's Vivienne.'

'Ooh, French! Meaning full of life, very spirited.'

Vivienne laughed. 'Yeah, that's me. Very vivacious. Though my sisters call me ferocious.'

The girl laughed too. Her laugh was beautiful-very musical. 'Your eyes and ears-they're beautiful! How did you do them like that?'

How did I do them like that? Vivienne thought. Oh-she probably thinks that they’re fake products and contact lenses. 

‘It’s a bit difficult, but I get it right in the end.’ she said, smiling mysteriously. At least, trying to smile like she was an enigma.

The girl laughed again. Her laugh really was music to the ears. ‘Oh, cool. Are you cosplaying or something? Or are you just doing it as part of a makeup routine, or do you just like the look?’

‘Oh, um, I just like the look.’ Vivienne said.

No, I do not like the look. In fact, if I could, I’d trade them for rounded ears and brown eyes in a heartbeat. Madoc would be so mad.

‘Wow. How’d you get your parents to approve? Mine are a little bit strict.’ she said.

Vivienne swallowed. ‘Well, my mom is dead, and my father and I aren’t on the best terms, so I usually stay away from the house. He doesn’t pay much attention to me anyway, so.’

She couldn’t lie, so she’d have to twist her words with this mystery girl-but she’d have to be much more subtle, since humans were not like the fey. They could probably see through lies much easier, since they could actively lie, something Vivienne wished she could do at times.

‘Ohhhhh.’ she said awkwardly. ‘Well, that’s sad. Um. So, do you come here often?’

‘Yeah.’ Vivi replied. ‘I love window shopping and then getting food to eat. It calms me down, every time.’

‘That must be nice-being able to find something that will calm you down, no matter what.’ 

‘It is.’ Vivienne agreed. Especially after she had come back to Elfhame after trying to leave forever. 

‘So………….may I draw you? You look fascinating. Not to objectify you or anything,’ she hastily added.

‘Yeah……..wait, what’s your name?’ 

‘My name? Oh, it’s Heather.’ she said. ‘I’m gonna start sketching-are you ok with that? Just tell me if you’re uncomfortable.’

‘No, I’m ok. You can start,’ Vivienne assured her.

Heather started drawing, looking at Vivienne and then back at her notebook. Vivienne, in turn, secretly stared at Heather-she loved her bunch of pink curls, her gray glasses that kept slipping off her nose, her lovely eyes that were a lot like Jude and Taryn’s, her rounded ears, her clothes that also had drawings on them-beautiful, intricate designs. She didn’t know if she’d meet her again, but she wanted to stay in touch with her-someone actually her age.

‘Did you draw those?’ she asked, gesturing towards her clothes.

‘What? Oh, yeah, I sometimes sketch on my clothes, though it drives my mom crazy. I love tie-dye shirts because I can make whatever patterns I want-I also like to design my clothes.’

‘You can design your own clothes? That’s brilliant!’ Vivienne said. She normally wore human clothes, even when in Elfhame, but she sometimes wore faerie clothes, that were also intricate and delicate and simply designed for beauty, and she had a feeling that Heather would love those.

No way. You can’t tell her about Elfhame. She’d go mad. She wouldn’t believe you. She’d think YOU were mad. 

‘Thank you!’ Heather smiled. Her smile was beautiful, like her laugh-it changed her face so much, Vivienne wished she’d smile forever, though she’d have so many wrinkles if she did. ‘My mom knows how to sew and all that-she taught me!’

‘Your mom is brilliant,’ Vivienne offered, then was pleased with Heather giggled and offered another thanks, saying that she’d be sure to tell her mother.