There's No Problem With That. It's True. A Lot Of The Characters Have Become Underwhelming. I Myself

What do you think about Perclarisse?

Perclarisee has been getting a lot of popularity recently. It's not a bad pairing, but i don't think it's best for the both of them given their nature's.

Percy is the child made and matured by war, while Clarisse is the child of war, seeking and living by its principles.

Clarisse probably is the person who most understands what the war has done to Percy and Percy is the person who most understands Clarisse's need for violence and how Ares's hypocrisy affects her so greatly.

They both, despite not seeing eye to eye, mostly have a great respect for each other.

But we come back to the point of healing from their traumas and insecurities. Percy and Clarisse talk in violence and in sparring. They need someone who would keep their pride aside and listen to their problems attentively without calling them out for their misgivings repeatedly.

Moreover Clarisse and Percy have a very distinctly different mindset.

As much as war plagues Percy he is no fan of it. He make not like war but the war likes him and it drives Percy insane.

There will never be a day he will get along with War Gods (but strangely, he is the only one who can say that he understands war more than anyone else) .

If it were upto Percy he would choose to talk his way out of everything because he knows if he fights he will leave nothing but pure destruction in its wake.

Clarisse on the other hand is a child of war. She lives and thrives on it. Violence is her language. She would resort to it each and every time.

She needs someone who makes her want to talk and bask in peace, not someone who keeps feeding into her violence hungry tendencies. (Chris has been perfect in that way. Both he and Silena have shown Clarisse how to manage her endless rage) .

But of course in some strange way if they did become a thing it would be interesting to see how they both change to understand the other and make an effort at changing their ways.

Percy needs to be more upfront about his rage instead of suppressing it while Clarisse needs to put a healthy bind on it and in that way I think they would be the perfect person to teach the other (if they stop to talk and don't just end up throwing hands).

The absolute highlight, however, would be Ares's reaction. Oh, Percy's going to have a blast annoying him. Imagine if Aphrodite and other Olympians join in. (I think Percy would do it just to spite Ares if he could lol aside from the respect he has for Clarisse).

It's a fun pairing, but I think it mostly works as close friends.

Hell yes. I have so many thoughts on this.

I have always headcanoned that Percy is super close with Aphrodite cabin cause you know they share certain interests. Aphrodite is of the ocean, and her children are also by extension of the ocean. Percy himself is a child of the Sea. Percy has much in common with children of Aphrodite as his connection with naiads and pegasi is something he shares with them. Therefore, all of the Aphrodite cabin is besties with Percy; every single one of them, because not only does he respect them and doesn't underestimate them, but he also shares their interests.

Exhibit A:

This might be speculation, but it fits, and I like it, so we are going with it. Percy is especially close with Drew. It used to be both Silena and Drew before the war. Drew totally completely looked up to Silena, and they shared a close sibling bond. Drew has not been the same after the loss of Silena, and neither has Percy or Clarisse.

Now,surprisingly or not, I have always liked Drew. I know Rick wrote her off as the stereotypical mean girl, but I think I always found her to be more authentic. I remember her cameo in Kane Chronicles. I was excited, assuming that she would have a bigger role there, maybe but no such luck. As for what Annabeth and Piper think of her? Well, they have a skewed perspective of many things, and it's a character flaw Rick hasn't really worked on at all in the case of Annabeth but at least a little in Piper’s case. [Tell me honestly if Piper and Annabeth don't have the vibes of the sort of girls who look down on other girls because they use makeup. And that conversation they had where Piper agreed that Annabeth should leash Percy and it was necessary? Come on, people, some things speak for themself]

Either way, Drew and Percy totally gossip about campers. It's not even the usual sort of gossip but the kind that involves intel on the campers. Percy is and has shown to be very good at manipulation/charming, and despite how he may seem, he has an innate need to know people's secrets. He doesn't have to always, but he would rather like knowing. It's one of his self-preservation mechanisms. He can make people talk as if he is their long-lost relative or close friend. He has done it at some point to everyone(only because nobody keeps him in the loop properly, so he has to resort to his own ways). I have always thought that trick was a bit like charmspeak. So it's understandable that he and Drew get along very well. They recognize that in each other. They are always underestimated at first glance, but nobody's pulling strings like those two. I have a post that explores this habit of Percy, HERE.

Drew's cold and a bit scathing attitude is her defense mechanism. Children of Aphrodite are considered overly emotional or sensitive, and it's her way of subverting that assumption. She's very good at it too, and Percy is one of the very few who sees and understands what it is at first glance. After all, he himself prefers to do things on his own rather than rely on others.

I have absolutely no basis for this, but remember when Percy was ostracized after his claiming and continued to be so up until after Titan's Curse? I think the Stoll brothers, Malcolm, Silena, or Drew, some campers from Demeter and Apollo Cabin(Yew and Gardner maybe) were the only people who talked to him normally during that period.

Another thing to remember is that when Piper met Drew, she was still recovering from the loss of Silena. And Piper, the new girl, who didn't even seem to respect Aphrodite cabin and their acceptance and love for femininity and the strength in feminine characteristics and emotions and various facets of beauty suddenly gets made Head Counselor out of nowhere just because she did one quest and is involved in the Great Prophecy. Mind you, it was a position that belonged to Silena before and to Drew after as Silena's succesor. It meant a lot to her, so obviously, Drew hates Piper. Everyone in the Aphrodite cabin hates her guts. They represent something that Piper doesn't understand and she is in a position that was just handed to her like a freebie out of nowhere, a position that belonged to someone very dear to all of the Aphrodite cabin whose loss was still very fresh in their mind and Piper had the audacity to insult them in their own home?

Also, note that Percy was missing by then, and [CHB] were all frantically searching for him. Before his disappearance, I headcanon(I canonize) that Drew and Clarisse used to sit together and talk fondly about their memories of Silena or just sit in silence. Because none of them would ever recover from this. Now, with Percy gone, Drew didn't have anyone else to rely on just as much. So yes, she was in a super rough patch, and she had every right to hate Piper. Hell, I am sure the reason Percy dislikes Piper stems from this as well. The Aphrodite Cabin told him of her behavior, and it didn't sit right with Percy. He wouldn't say it to Piper’s face quite so soon but he will give her a gentle reminder once things have settled down because he is the calmest, most tolerant person on the planet until you mess with someone he loves or cares for and then you are done for.

Drew and Percy are a very odd duo and a very frightening one. To others that is. They are actually very wholesome together.

Drew Tanaka gives Percy the safe space he needs to be a complete and utter bitch without remorse and thats why I believe with all my heart that they’re really close friends. No, I do not take constructive criticism.

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.

If there was a love triangle between Hayley/Klaus/Caroline in The Vampire Diaries, who do you think Klaus would prefer?

Let's consider this scenario for after he sleeps with her. I am certain Klaus would choose her, it would take time but he would definitely choose her not because she is pregnant with his child but because eerily enough she accepts him and understands him without judgement, is his mirror in fact and it's not just a one sided thing, they both complete each other.

Caroline "Klaus is root of all evil until I need something" Forbes would manage to string him along only so long. If he wasn't so intent on getting back at Tyler and so caught up in the thrill of playing hard to get he wouldn’t look at her twice. Caroline has on multiple occasions betrayed his trust, used his affections for her own gain and demeaned and disrespected him. Let's be real it would take Klaus two months tops, my bet is one really to get bored of Caroline, (when I say bored I mean irritated, annoyed, disappointed at Caroline).

Yes Klaus would initially be furious he lost precious hybrids due to Hayley's schemes but he would come to admire it instead.

Her ambitions to do everything under the sun and otherwise for the sake of mere information on her family(she was born to be a Mikaelson), her exceptional cunning, wit and survival instincts all stemming from roots of abandonment leaving her to face the world alone quite like his very own and her strength and perseverance despite it? It would awe and mesmerize him, I would say he would be falling for her so fast and so hard given their compatibility and chemistry.

Plus Hayley has what it takes to stand on equal grounds with Klaus Mikaelson and she would also get along swimmingly with his family (and if he have any evidence to go off of from The Orignals she would even unite them like never before). Caroline would be nothing short of a frivolous and insignificant distraction in the grand scheme of things between Klaus and Hayley.

Finally, thoughts on Percy beating Iapetus when they met? This boy managed to control the Lethe even while dying of a deadly poison and maintained that control even while tackling a Titan into it, resulting in the Titan becoming an amnesiac. And he was still injured throughout the whole fight!!

do not get me started because that is...

iconic behavior.

anyway, this is why i have such strong feelings about percy being a part of the ocean. i love love love how nico and thalia are doubtful that he can control the river lethe, and then he just. proves them wrong in the best way possible. there are just so many moments throughout pjo that leave everyone like 👁👄👁 when they see percy do some freaky impossible thing with his powers, and this scene with the big three trio is the perfect example of that.

nico and thalia are both powerful in their own right, but their powers leave them drained all the time. they can only use their abilities sparingly. percy, on the other hand, gets invigorated by water. and it’s glaringly obvious how powerful he’s become, because even other bodies of water that aren’t the ocean obey to his every command. and like, the fact that he could keep up the fight with iapetus, wash away his memories, and maintain control over the river just goes to show much more intrinsic his connection to his godly side is—unlike nico and thalia, whose powers and strengths are superficial, albeit more advanced than those of the average demigod. how percy is this way is still a mystery to me, though i do think that @posallys miss taylor knows the answer. but it’s still something so strange, for a demigod to possess so much control over their godly parent’s sphere of influence, although poseidon’s sphere of influence is one of the most primordial ones amosngt the olympians so. there’s that. it’s genuinely so cool, and i get why the gods are scared :)

Not to mention Apollo who canonically likes and respects Percy when got turned into the mortal Lester believes if anyone is worthy of becoming his master and commanding him (a literal god with huge ego) it would be Percy Jackson.

Even Hephaestus personally went to Ogygia to check on Percy and seems to like him well enough as he doesn't even get angry that Percy blew up his forge.

Athena, proud, Poseidon-hating Athena admits she was wrong about Percy to his face and backs up his analysis on how godly neglect led to the Titan War.

Also, to add another note to Hades's section, when Nico is trying to plead Hades to join the fight against Kronos, Hades says this verbatim, "“For demigods! I am immortal, all-powerful! I would not help the other gods if they begged me if Percy Jackson himself pleaded—”

He puts Percy in the same tier as the other Olympian gods, if not in a tier of his own.

In Crown of Ptolemy, Percy hosts the Egyptian goddess Nekhbeth without having a drop of pharaoh's blood, unlike Carter and Sadie, and Nekhbet comments that Percy is the strongest vessel she has ever inhabited.

Not to mention Kympoleia, a goddess herself sided with Polybotes, a giant that is Poseidon's bane just to capture and kill Percy.

Plus, Percy has canonically overpowered at least 3 river gods all by himself who all treat him differently with more respect than any other Poseidon child.

Even Gaea, the literal primordial earth, took a lot of special interest in Percy and wanted to wake to his blood spilling so much so that she killed one of her own servants over Percy because of his value.

Percy Jackson is either seen as a god, treated like a god, or considered as something more than a god. I swear no other demigod has an aura of power like Percy's. I mean Hazel, who is a child of big three herself thinks Percy is a god when she first meets him. Many characters have drawn similar parallels.

Can we talk about how interesting Percy’s dynamics with the Olympians actually is? Like, both on an individual and on a general level?

He and Ares have a rivalry. A genuine rivalry, based on mutual dislike. Frank described them in Son of Neptune as “two old war buddies talking trash” and Phobos described Percy in “Stolen Chariot” as a “sworn enemy” of Ares. That’s actually insane if you think about it. Those are the immortal god of war, and a sixteen-year-old teenager. Ares would have been fine with Percy becoming a god, because he looked forward to just fight with him or beat him up for eternity.

Percy is the only known male demigod Artemis respects, who won the friendship of not one but two of her lieutenants.

He is the demigod, who challenged Dionysus views on heroes as a whole, and that, as a son of Poseidon, half-brother to Theseus, the hero who betrayed and left Dionysus wife. The hero, who ignited Dionysus hatred of half-bloods in the first place. Still, Dionysus placed his trust in Percy to save both Olympus and Pollux in the Last Olympian.

He and Nico are the only two demigods to ever canonically acknowledge Hestia. Percy even sacrificed hope to her, which was probably the biggest sacrifice and the biggest sign of respect she ever received from a demigod.

Aphrodite takes a special interest in his love life.

Hermes and him are on pretty friendly terms. So far, that Percy even refers to him as a “friend” in the Staff of Hermes. He is also the only demigod to ever completely openly criticize him on how he handled Luke’s situation and doesn’t back down from a rather intense argument. At the end of the last Olympian, Hermes gives Percy a list of his children outside of Camp half-blood and asks him to personally escort them to safety.  

Despite Hades trying to imprison him and threatening him with death, Percy is, together with Nico, the reason why Hades and his children are accepted at Camp Half-Blood.

While Hera dislikes him, she still acknowledges Percy’s importance for her plans and describes him for one as “constant as a compass needle” when it comes to his friends, and also as someone who inspires loyalty in “Son of Neptune.”

Poseidon, centuries-old god of the ocean, who probably had thousands of children in his life called Percy his favourite son in Battle of the labyrinth. After a conversation about Antaeus, who, for over three thousand years has sacrificed people and monsters in honor of Poseidon. Still, it is Percy, who is his favourite son.

He is the only modern demigod to get offered godhood but chose instead to use their favor to create a better world for all demigods and to request forgiveness for the gods who fought on Kronos’ side, which changes some of the quintessential rules of their world.

Percy is blunt and not afraid to openly challenge them on their views and actions, but because he is probably the most powerful and accomplished hero to ever live, and because he has saved them and the world on numerous occasions, they can’t just ignore him or kill him off, and even have to listen to him on some rare occasions.

None of the other demigods really have that, at least to this scale.

It’s so interesting to me, how Percy’s relationship to the Olympians, both negative and positive, echoes more the relationship they would have to another god, than to a half-blood. 

Felt this one in my soul. THIS. Couldn't have said it better.

like why would u not have percy talk abt how comforting it is to be w annabeth...how she confronts percy's insecurities and makes him feel better...making it sound like percy is on the verge of a breakdown bc he doesn't feel like he's a good bf does not make p*rcabeth look good

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.

How to be Immortal:

I. 

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

II. 

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

III.

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

IV.

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

V.

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

VI.

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

VII.

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

VIII.

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

IX.

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

X,

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

- L.H.Z // How to be Immortal