I just want to say thanks for all of your anti percabeth takes. I never really shipped percabeth and I always felt sort of weird about them but I never realized why until I starting reading your posts. I think Rick is way better at setting up ideas and concepts of a relationships than he actually is at writing them. Like the idea of a Percabeth is great but the execution falls flat. There are so many non-canon Percy ships that have great potential and could be much better than canon Percabeth but this fandom is really against shipping non-canon ships (especially if it involves not shipping Percy and Annabeth)
Thank you! Yes, you are absolutely right-Percabeth's concept is amazing, but in the end, the result is honestly less than desirable. There are many moments between them that do not belong in a healthy couple, much less a golden standard one (though you couldn't make me call Percabeth the golden standard at gunpoint).
'Reyna doesn't owe Nico anything and she is free to do what she wants with her life and join the Hunters' and 'Nico can be distraught at Reyna joining the Hunters and have flashbacks and be negatively impacted by it' are two statements that can and should co-exist.
EXACTLY. Rick's misogyny should be crystal clear to anyone with good media literacy and a good understanding of Greek Gods and myths. He somehow manages to destroy every Greek God-someone give him the Golden Raspberry award for his portrayal of the Greek Gods.
Whatever Rick doesn't like, Percy doesn't like. Honestly, I can see why some people would think that he's a Gary Stu-literally everyone seems to like him and those who don't are villains or bad side characters. It's pretty tiring.
Why would the gods abandon Greece-especially Athena abandon Athens? It makes no sense, but American superiority takes precedence to actual respect for another country's culture.
He most probably did use his brains on denigrating Athena. And there were totally ways to make Poseidon morally gray, even in Percy's POV (have him threaten Annabeth like Athena threatened Percy. It fits him more too.)
On a side note, I do think that it would be interesting to see Persephone and Demeter have a good relationship but have Demeter not like Hades because, you know, the whole kidnapping thing.
I mean, it's symbolic of course, but if you look at it from their POVs, Demeter would obviously dislike Hades because he kidnapped and kept her daughter from her for 4 months or a half a year.
Maybe have it so that Hades tries to please Demeter and is very apologetic to her? She would probably mellow out with time but she'd still be a little upset with him of course.
Just my thoughts.
One thing I find so interesting about the PJO fandom is how they actually accepted how Rick fucked up 90% of the goddesses. Even when he uses a version of a myth that specifically talks about men being idiots, he villainizes women. Like, no one complained about how fucked up is that he used the story of Hephaestus trying to rape Athena and turning it into a “poor guy cried bc he was rejected by a girl” thing?
The true story is literally Hephaestus trying to rape Athena, she fights him off but his semen falls into her skirt and cleans it with a piece of cloth and tosses it into the ground (earth, which is Gaia) and from there, Erictonio is born. And Athena raised the child as her own even tho he was the product of the assault she suffered. The guy ruled Athens.
Rick turned it into Hephaestus falling in love with Athena and crying on her lap, making her reject and KICK him plus being disgusted by the tears and the dirt.
He also used all of Ovid versions he could possibly find to fuck Athena up. Arachne doesn’t happen with Greek writers and Medusa was never cursed (or assaulted) when we talk about the OG Myth. She was already born a monster and Athena only helps Perseus kill her bc yeah, Medusa killed people.
Also, Medusa’s version by Ovid is a lot alike Cassandra of Troy story, and let me tell ya, Cassandra was cursed but it wasn’t by a woman. And when she was raped by Ajax, Athena made sure that he didn’t made it back to Greece.
Now I’m gonna talk about Demeter. Demeter, who had her daughter kidnapped, raped and imprisoned, and was turned into the typical “mother in law who hated son in law bc she thinks her daughter could do better” when yeah…she has all the right to feel angry bc her daughter was KIDNAPPED.
Artemis doesn’t hate men and her followers also don’t hate men. Feminism isn’t about hating men.
Aphrodite. I cannot even describe how dirty they made Aphrodite’s children. Like be fr one of her children helped build what it would’ve been Rome. He was a fighter. And her cabin there is just so different of what she is truly like. They should have a lot of other powers.
Also, a lot of women from the books follows the same stereotype of “omg I hate makeup it’s so girlish and I’d rather fight” like you can be feminine, wear makeup and STILL FIGHT. One doesn’t erase the other.
Another thing, but this one is about MOTHERS! I truly cannot understand the way Rick creates his women. I’m serious tho. Like, I’m sorry but sometimes it seems that his thing some goddesses (Athena, for example) are personal. The “abandoning Athens” thing, the “should’ve chosen Poseidon”, the way he wrote her as being cold towards her kids…in one of the versions, Athena was the one who saved Dionysus from Hera. She raised a child and made him a king even though he was the product of her almost rapist. She was there helping heroes all along. She fought for Odysseus for ten years.
Also, this fandom is incapable of seeing the difference between Minerva and Athena. Minerva gave Annabeth the mark, Athena had nothing to do with this. Annabeth is her favorite daughter, she made her architect of Olympus, protected her through her journey to find Luke and Thalia, disobeyed her fathers orders trying to help to find Annabeth, made battle plans with her and all…and she always claimed all of her children.
I think people just don’t like her bc she doesn’t trust Percy. And she shouldn’t. I love him, but Athena IS the goddess of wisdom after all and as such, it would be pretty dumb to trust a demigod that won a battle against the god of war when he was only twelve. Not to mention that everyone kinda thought the “preserve or destroy Olympus” was on his hands. And he tortured a goddess…I’m sorry but she was pretty much right. Wouldn’t trust someone that had the power to fuck me and my family up either. She dint made the choice based on “omg I hate my rival and his children” even more so bc she was trained by one of his children and bunch of grandchildren. She made the choice based on what she thought was less risky.
If she was so against Percabeth, I can assure you she would’ve killed Percy and probably wouldn’t even suffer much consequences. She admires some things about Percy but she was right about his flaw. And she also helped him during one of his quest to go to college. Does she loves the idea of the relationship? No. But that’s bc she is precisely the opposite of love. She doesn’t make decisions based on what her heart says, but on what her brain says. If she succumbs to the heart, then she would seize to be goddess of wisdom, reason and all of what she values. That’s why she vowed to never marry.
And, as Helenist, I do not take the myths that seriously bc when we talk about religion, I have a clear mind that those myth were made by humans who used the gods as a tool to justify some of their actions, and I hate almost all of the retellings that those authors do, but is so wild to see how much power they have on society bc now I cannot see anything about the gods without someone saying shit about them. But I do know all about the myths and I gotta say, doesn’t make much sense to use a Roman author to talk about Greek Gods. He made them dirty. Also doesn’t make much sense to use this versions of Ovid but still change it to make it more sweet for the men. Poseidon and Athena didn’t spend that much time beefing, they even have a city together (Troezen) and she definitely doesn’t hate his children. Her best friend was literally his grandchild.
Safe to say that y’all should probably question Rick on how he treats women bc I was seeing the PJO series (the cast is amazing btw, safe to say that Leah/Annabeth is my fav) and by the looks of it, saying on how he changed Athena’s personality one more time, I legit think that Annie won’t jump to save her friends on season 3, she will probably be pushed by her mother or whatever.
Another thing: apparently only the women that like and have a friendship with Percy are treated as cool. But that’s on the fandom, not the author.
I forgot to add one thing and I’m gonna fix the grammar later but the “this is for children” excuse isn’t really valid considering that we saw Gabe being aggressive with Sally, we also saw Ares being a jerk to Clarisse (which also doesn’t make sense) and the story clearly states cheating, fights, death and a lot of other terrors. If you’re gonna use a rape version of a myth bc you chose to fuck a Goddess up, then you should state that the man is to blame. In the books we see Medusa saying she was Poseidon’s girlfriend/lover…she was his lover on the og myth, not in the version Rick chose. In the version that he chose, she was clearly raped. But he erased that and replaced rapist with boyfriend. He could’ve chosen to do another path if he didn’t want to talk about sexual abuse, I can tell y’all a hundred of ways this could go, but he chose this path and changed it, favoring the man. Again.
He could’ve gone with the theogony and said what was there that basically is: she was a monster, BORN a monster, daughter of other two monsters, no one wanted to get close to her, but he did. They slept together in a camp of flowers.
Athena only enters the story wayyy after this. And, as y’all can see, no curse. Yet, he chose to go with the rape version were Medusa is a maiden, loyal to Athena, gets raped on Athena’s temple by Poseidon and Athena curses her. And what did the author do? He made this: Medusa, loyal to Athena, fell in love with Poseidon and they did things on her temple. Athena cursed her. Again erasing the men’s fault.
The hate on Athena doesn’t make any sense at all. Y’all love some other male characters that don’t have a single sense of responsibility and possibly did everything wrong in the book. I saw people condemn Athena for her treatment of Deadalus when the guy literally killed his nephew bc he was more praised than him. And Athena gave him a mark that burned and did some shit to teach him a lesson. Poseidon wanted a trial to avenge his rapist son that was killed by Ares bc he tried to rape one of Ares daughters. A RAPIST. And Poseidon is treated like and angel bc what??? He likes Percy? Is his father and got him a gift? And Athena is being hated bc she isn’t his number one fan and her Roman part decided to give Annabeth a Mark? And mind you she’s just like that with him bc she knows more than everyone else and knows that he is dangerous. A good guy? Yes, Percy is the most amazing guy. Still dangerous. Still had the power to torture a goddess and win against the god of war. And she doesn’t dislike him, she dislikes his relationship with her daughter. And even so, she didn’t stop the relationship. So yeah I won’t ever get why the women always get more hate than the men considering this.
Again, as a Helenist, I don’t take the myths seriously when I talk about the religion in general bc the Gods are superiors. They don’t have human flaws. But, as someone who knows about the myths, is safe to say I hate those stories that uses myths like that and turns it against the Goddesses and make them out to be the worst ever. All the gods deserved way better than what they got with those retellings.
Have you noticed how both Percy Jackson and Cardan are often characterised as dumb and Cardan weak because they love their significant others? I think this is some weird sort of misogyny because 'only weak men will love these women' when that's simply not true!
Tell me if I'm crazy lol
You're not crazy. This is a real phenomenon that needs to stop.
The PJO fandom tends to dumb down Percy a lot and hype up Annabeth, when in reality it is Percy who comes up with brilliant strategies and fights very well. It seems to me that people think Percy is foolish and/or impulsive because he doesn't communicate his plans very well.
It's frustrating to read canon PJO and then go to the fandom PJO and see how much Percy is dumbed down. Even canonically, Percy is put down a lot-unfortunately, I think this is because Rick is influenced by the fandom, which he should stop.
In fact, Annabeth would have died without Percy. LOTS of people would have died without Percy.
Thankfully, there are many people who DON'T dumb Percy down, like @cynthiav06, @hermesmyplatonicbeloved and other people-I forgot the blogs, tell me if you want to be tagged.
Check out the blogs I mentioned above if you want Real Percy, not dumb Percy who's not even real.
And this happens with Cardan too.
All right-I will say it again and again.
REAL CARDAN IS NOT A DUMB, HELPLESS UWU POOKIE!
HE IS POWERFUL. HE IS SMART. HE IS CUNNING AND CAN RUN AN ENTIRE KINGDOM WITHOUT JUDE OR MADOC.
I think most of the TFOTA fandom forget that Cardan did, in fact, run the kingdom without Jude or Madoc between and at the beginning of The Queen of Nothing!
And he's no helpless pookie. Does ANYONE remember the scene in TWK where the sea mermaids and their retinue come and read the poem that's a threat in disguise?
Does anyone remember how Cardan reacted? I DON'T THINK THEY DO!
He did NOT whimper or look to Jude for help. Jude DID NOT step up and deal with things directly.
Cardan dealt with it. He gave a clever response and effectively dealt with it while remaining powerful in the eyes of his subjects. Jude herself notes how powerful he looks in that scene.
And his meeting with Orlagh? He looks and feels regal and intimidating, like a true ruler. He saves his kingdom from war, literally threatens to encase Nicasia in a tree to keep Orlagh in check like a true boss, is prepared to fulfil his theat and calls up AN ENTIRE ISLAND. AN ENTIRE NEW ISLAND, LIKE THE THREE ISLES, EXCEPT NOW IT'S THE FOUR ISLES.
And he also comes up with a smart plan for Jude's safety, thus ensuring that she can come back when she wants to. It's not his fault that she interpreted it differently and chose to ignore the real meaning when she finally found it.
And in The Prisoner's Throne when he saves Jude from the knives? 100 percent amazing scene. He really has a heavy regal ruler aura there. My favorite scene of Cardan.
Yet fandoms need must girlbossify the females and woobify the males to make us see that the females are oh so powerful and the males need them for everything apparently.
The fandoms make the males characters that are entirely dependent on the females and don't exist without them. And I can't emphasize how frustrated this makes some of us.
Annabeth is smart on her own without Percy and vice versa.
Same goes for Jude and Cardan. They deal with threats in their own effective ways, though said ways are different-but those ways still work for both of them.
This is a reverse form of misogyny that is still sexism to both males and females and this really needs to stop. Whenever a couple get together, people tend to not see them as equals-either the male or the female is dominant, and if it's the female, she has to be oh so strong and muscular and dark and serious while the male has to be soft and submissive to her at all times, oh noooooooooo.
Not to say that muscular and masculine women CAN'T be dominant, but please remember that this is not always the case. Submissive partners are not always soft and feminine, and dominant partners don't always need to be commanding and aggressive.
Being equals in a relationship is a big charm, and that's why Percabeth worked so well for a lot of people. That's a huge part of their charm. To take that away would be to push what made Percabeth good into an abyss and watch it disintegrate.
TFOTA fandom members, please remember that Cardan is a person on his own without Jude. Same goes for Percy and Annabeth, PJO fandom members.
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.
One of the most annoying things I find about Solangelo is the lack of development, the lack of progress from platonic to romantic in their relationship.
What, you're telling me that Nico, Nico di Angelo, an important character in the original PJO series and also HOO, who gets his own POV, just suddenly gets together with a random doctor………Will Solace? We see Will in what, The Last Olympian? And then we see him again in The Lost Hero, BARELY, just a few lines, and then again in Blood of Olympus, where he tells Nico that the latter that he's dense but not stupid? Which would be enough to piss Nico off? And then in Trials of Apollo……….they're…………TOGETHER? We barely got any chemistry or screentime, and what with Nico's internalized homophobia and years-long crush on Percy……….. HE WOULD NOT DO THAT. You don't just kiss someone your gender after only MONTHS of internalized homophobia, especially when Nico is from the LITERAL 1930s, where people were MURDERED for being gay.
It's clear that Rick only gave him a partner to 'confirm' it, which is annoying, because people can be gay without having partners.
And also, Will is so random and such a random, thrown-in character that I find it funny at times. Of course, he has somewhat of a personality outside being Nico's boyfriend, but not enough to make him a good sole character.Also, he's a terrible doctor for giving Nico's medical information to other people without Nico's consent-and he's 16. He clearly knows that he shouldn't do it. And he still does it.
Rick really just missed the opportunity to tell us about Bianca and Nico having dyslexia and ADHD and living in the literal 1930s, huh? Were they kicked out? Did they have to move from school to school? The only thing we know is that Nico studied Dante in elementary school. Other than that? Nothing.
I bet you my whole fortune that Nico and Bianca probably had some kind of trauma from the schooling in Italy. Maybe that's why Bianca felt that she needed to take care of Nico-they were ostracized in school for their weirdness (AKA ADHD and dyslexia). And Maria was such a nice mother, but would she really understand? She didn't have ADHD or dyslexia. And even if she did know about the perils of being a demigod, even then she wouldn't really be able to understand Bianca and Nico. Sympathise with them, protect them a little, but she still wouldn't understand.
Ok, people, does ANYONE in the TFOTA fandom want more of Cardan Greenbriar on his own?
Because most of the content I see with him is always linked to Jude somehow, and it's getting frustrating. This guy is his own person outside of Jude, yet no one seems to think about that. They just woobify him and reduce him to this himbo character.
What about his platonic relationships? I mean, I know he had an effed up relationship with Locke and Nicasia, but what about with Valerian (his thoughts on Valerian in general? Valerian lore?)
Or Vivienne? Or Taryn? Or his sisters or father or mother?
Or even Cardan with the court of Shadows. The Ghost, the Bomb and the Roach. Without Jude.
Or just on his own. Seriously, Cardan is an entertaining asshole who can be regal and intimidating-
and no one takes advantage of that. He's always dumbed down and placed with Jude. It's always Jude, Jude Jude with him and there's a certain point where it gets too repetitive.
Please make more of Cardan Greenbriar without Jude. I promise you that it is possible.
Why did Shannon have to give LINH AND TAM of all people the LIGHTEST EYES? It has racist connotations and ok, sure, all elves have blue eyes, but there are so many different shades of blue-she could have gone with really dark blue for the Asian looking characters as well as the black looking characters. Like Oxford blue or Navy blue, something like that.
Magnus Chase, The Kane Chronicles and Percy Jackson all should've been set in separate universes.
It's just, the mythology is all so tangled up. How does Rick justify the beginnings and endings of the world, seeing as some of them don't really have an ending (like Greek mythology) and some of them do (Ragnarok).
So why not set them in universes? Something like Daughter of the Deep and Percy Jackson-neither are in the same universe, but they're both written by the same author. So do that for MCGA, TKC and PJO.
And Percy and Annabeth definitely could have been written out with some assistance. The crossover literally didn't have to happen.
(Don't get me wrong, I don't hate it, I think all the pantheon gods interacting with each other could be a fun concept, but I don't care for this particular concept, though that's just my opinion).
Mitchell stared at his mother. Her skin was pale silver, and curly black ringlets framed her face, the rest being pulled back into a high ponytail. Her eyes, however, changed every moment, like a kaleidoscope. 'M-mother,' he stammered. He didn't know what to do-was this really his mother, or was she a hallucination? After losing Capture The Flag, Sherman had taunted him about his parentage. 'Aphrodite's children could never fight as well as the rest of us. Your mom is the goddess of lust and beauty, what's so strong about that?' Mitchell had punched him in the face. In retaliation, Sherman had nearly scratched his eyes out and left him with bruises that might last for a month. And then, in front of the whole camp, Mitchell had burst into tears and ran away, even as Silena called for him and Drew hissed at Sherman. And he had come to the forest, where he really liked to be alone. Thankfully, there were no nymphs or dryads now. Well, there was one, and he had turned to leave, but she called his name and beckoned him over. And then she had told him that she was actually his mother, Aphrodite. He had been told that if, by a rare chance, a god was actually encountered, they must be given the utmost respect and consideration. One's own needs were practically nonexistent, one always agreed with them no matter what. She patted a moss cushioned rock beside her. 'Oh, do sit down! It's been ages since I've talked to one of my children.' He sat down, assuming a respectful posture, hands folded in his lap. 'Ah…………uh, to what do I owe this honour?' 'Oh? Sometimes I secretly visit Camp Half Blood and watch Capture The Flag for fun, and, well, I saw what happened today.' Embarrassment heated his face. Was she going to tell all the other gods? Would he be made a laughingstock among them? Or would she turn him into something for embarrassing her? 'Oh, cheer up.' she patted his cheek and he blinked in surprise. 'I'm not going to humiliate you further. I felt that I ought to tell you how bad my children can have it, especially my sons. The patriarchy negatively affects men as well.' He swallowed. Ah. So……..she was going to comfort him? Would she expect something from him after this? Was she going to send him on a quest to prove himself or something? His throat constricted. He'd heard stories of campers going missing or worse. And there was that horrible tradition of weaving a burial shroud for a quester.
Imagines flashed through his mind, of his siblings weaving with trembling hands, of tears sliding down their cheeks, of the designs that they would struggle to choose from. 'My children are often dismissed and treated as frivolous. The gods are changed by how we are viewed, and people have begun to view me as a silly, fragile little thing who would sooner walk away then get my hands dirty. And the same goes for my children, which I cannot control, though I fervently wish I could.' Does she want to control us? Mitchell thought uncomfortably. Or is she talking about her image? 'My sons bear the brunt of this horribly-misogyny and misandry can be two versions of a terrible, useless coin. Feminine men were often mocked back in the day-well, they still ARE mocked, but you understand me.' And the point of this is? 'The point of this is to assure you that you are not alone. Other feminine men, even ones not my sons, suffer from the same discrimination. And my daughters are also mocked and called useless for the simple crime-' she wrinkled her in nose in distaste, '-of being feminine, even though femininity and fighting are intrinsically intertwined since the dawn of time. Women have silently fought their wars, not the ones with politics and weapons, but the ones with misogyny and violence from both men and women alike-and those battles have dragged on for millennia, and every generation has been witness and victim to them.' A beautiful monologue, worthy of Athena, Mitchell thought, smiling, then he was glad that his mother couldn't read his thoughts. 'And so……….' Aphrodite waved her hand, 'go back and fight, my son. I was once worshipped as a war goddess, and feminine people can still fight. Go and show them that you are a worthy son of mine.'