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Rick Riordan SUCKS at writing romance. And I’m so tired of Percabeth stans denying that those two have flaws in their relationship. Do I enjoy Percabeth? Of course. I loved their dynamic in PJO.
HoO ruined it. Yes, they definitely had their moments. The stables scene was pretty cute. The judo flip was entirely unnecessary, though. They could’ve kissed and hugged. Rick pulled that scene out of his ass because he thought it was silly. No? Annabeth didn’t need to judo flip him, EVEN if she was angry at the moment and even if Percy seemed unaffected by it.
Also, the fact that Annabeth thinks Percy’s dumb in the new books, which objectively eat ass. No, she doesn’t?? Annabeth had canonically admitted that she thinks Percy is “pretty smart” in the Demigod Files. There are several examples of Percy arguing with Annabeth and holding his own pretty good. Annabeth thinks Percy is smart. Percy is objectively smart. Why the hell is Percy so incredibly stupid? Why did Rick feel the need to add that joke in HoH where Reyna says that Percy couldn’t find his way out of a paper bag without Annabeth’s help, and she agrees?? What?
Also, the fact that Annabeth’s friends first impression of Percy is bad. This implies that Annabeth has spoken bad about Percy. So we aren’t going to acknowledge that Annabeth was absolutely smitten with that man and now she talks bad about him? Do I believe she would? Of course not.
TL;DR: Rick is a bad author who is the only reason for the deterioration of Percabeth, and Percabeth is flawed.