Random Question That Popped In My Head.

Me casually thinking about how Thalia passed down the prophecy to Percy in a heartbeat, but Percy did everything in his power to stop it from being passed down to Nico, who had just lost his sister, his only friend, and had no one else but a(n) (abusive?) father for company cos no one wanted to be friends with him.

Thalia (basically): Yeah sure take the prophecy I don’t want to die

Percy: um ok then

Also Percy: I accept the prophecy, it is mine now and my future so no one (Nico) will be harmed by having to possibly die by it

Yes, absolutely yes. Gaea is literally the first of the Primordials. Dragging her into anything, be it major or minor, makes most plots baseless or completely entirely unrealistic even by fictional standards. Unless it's a war between primordials or divinities themselves.

Even in core Greek myths, Gaea or most primordials have extremely limited appearances, and Rick has no basis nor nuance for Gaea to appear or for it to be reasonable enough.

It should have been Greco-Roman conflict, which should have culminated with both camps teaming up against Giants [not Gaia, just the Giants] and which would have hopefully ended in changing the rigid ways of Camp Jupiter and certain problematic aspects of Camp Halfblood. That would have been so much better and with less plotholes.

Hot take I think hoo should’ve had NOTHING to do with Gaia and should’ve been completely about the war between the Roman’s and the Greek’s

I was reading your answer to ships that make you what to vomit and I'm genuinely curious as to why you said Percy and Annabeth's relationship is abusive? I've never heard anyone point out it was or even had the thought that it was abusive myself. I'd really appreciate if you could explain it to me because I'd really like to your opinions on the ship that everyone always seems to regard so highly (I hope this didnt sound rude, I'm just curious)

*frowns annoyed at tumblr* I have done an elaborate post on it before, but because tumblr is a little bitch, I can’t go looking for it on my own damn blog since the search-function doesn’t work. If you’re interested and the Tumblr Gods smile upon you, you could check out my “Riordan Critical” tag and seep through it for that post, it’s definitely there.

Due to tumblr being a little bitch, here’s the highlights of that post:

Annabeth continuously calls Percy a “seaweed brain” and other deteriorating nicknames. And no, insulting your significant other is not cute. Especially not for a boy who changed schools this often and has been bullied about, among other things, his intelligence. Absolutely no one can tell me that a boy who’s been bullied and called dumb by bullies for half his life would actually enjoy being insulted by his girlfriend.

In the beginning of The Titan’s Curse, when they’re on the school festitivity to pick up Nico and Bianca, Annabeth wants Percy to dance with her. Instead of asking him to dance, she is passive-agressively waiting for him to ask her. When he doesn’t… she punches him in the stomach. Not a friendly cuff in the shoulder, an actual punch and in one of the most vulnerable places. Using physical violence when your partner - and he wasn’t even her partner back then - doesn’t comply to your wishes, especially when you don’t even express those wishes vocally, is abuse. You can playfully swat your partner’s arm when he’s being silly, but punching someone in the stomach is not playful. And doing so because someone has not read your mind and anticipated your wishes is just straight-up gross.

When they are reunited in The Mark of Athena, her reaction is not to kiss him or embrace him, her reaction is to judo-flip him. And in as violent a manner that all Romans around them draw their weapons because their leader has just been physically assaulted. Now, like the assault itself wasn’t bad enough, she once again used physical violence to punish Percy for something. In this case, she is literally punishing him for getting abducted and suffering major trauma. It’s not like he willingly left her; he was abducted and has gone through a huge traumatic event in the past half year. Instead of being a comforting girlfriend concerned for him, she immediately punishes him physically for leaving her, like it was in any way or shape his fault.

People don’t notice because it’s the girl doing this and somehow, people at large have been so grossly brainwashed by straight romance to think that women physically abusing men is funny.

Now, please, imagine the roles being reverse, because then usually people see what’s actually wrong with that kind of behavior.

Imagine a girl not wanting to dance with a guy and he flat-out punches her in the gut. Seriously, that would not stand.

Imagine a girl having been abducted and traumatized and instead of embracing her and expressing his love, the guy judo-flips her and literally tags on verbally that this was because she left him and shouldn’t do that again.

Literally no one would have just read past such things. Everyone would have stumbled over those things. but since Annabeth is the cute blonde girlfriend and Percy is the strong male hero it’s ““funny”“ when she uses physical assault to punish him for not doing as she wants.

What makes matters worse is that she is literally a daughter of war, she is a genetically physically superior fighter. That’s how demigods work. And she has been training under Chiron for eight years. That’s the equivalent of a trained Navy SEAL assaulting you for upsetting them. That’s not some frail cute little cheerleader girly girl whose slap packs nothing.

And people just really don’t care or see what’s wrong with that.

EDIT: Thanks to @kimmycup for the link! Here’s the link to the OG post I made on this topic.

I am so sorry op but I think it's more on the inverse side. Percy's powers are so in tune with him that even with limited time, he was able to access a large arsenal of them. Sure he hasn't specifically trained to fine tune his powers but unlike the other big three children who have all experimented their powers before, he always ends up in mortal peril everytime he has to come up with something new. So unlike others who have kind of tried and tested and put a few limits on their powers, Percy just goes with it. He doesn't think about whether he can or not, it's always a case of "I must".

Iapetus is going to kill Thalia and Nico, so I have to find a way to stop him. But I am half poisoned and bruised, I can't fight him. Oh okay so I will just use the rivers in Underworld for help. They are water right?

Akhyls is going to kill me and Annabeth here, we aren't strong enough to fight a primordial. She is going to choke us with poison. Annabeth's going to die. I am going to die. Annabeth's going to die. Wait poison has large amount of water or even liquids. I can control it!

And each time he proves himself right he goes Oh cool, that's helpful. With no idea how world transcending his own abilities are. Were it anyone else they would have let their training and mindset of myths limit their imagination and their ability to fight. But Percy hasn't been trained traditionally, he has never put a limit on his own power. He does with it whatever he needs to and he doesn't let a pre defined set of rules or ways inhibit him. "What do you mean I can't overpower a Primordial in her own domain with her own poison? Of course I can. Poison contains water, it's liquid. I can totally do that."

I think Percy using less powers in the first series has more to do with his trust issues with it. See Percy has deeply internalized his self loathing and self esteem issues. He sees himself as a burden, a troubled kid who only causes problems. He doesn't want his powers to do that, to destroy everything in their path. So he keeps them coiled tight and shut. He needs it to do precisely what he wants, which it does almost always. He starts trusting them but but then at times when he he lets a leash loose, his powers do crazy shit like, blow up a volcano, lift an entire river bed from its roots, level a creek, start a hurricane or other disasters, so he keeps them tightly leashed.

We can see evidence of that with words like "a pull in my gut" "I felt something inside me break" "something uncoiled" and so on.

Whether he does it consciously or not, it only serves to benefit him because everytime his opponents foolishly think,

Enemy: I know all that you can do Perseus Jackson.

Percy: ........

Percy: Damn, even I don't know everything I can do. It's cool that you think you know all I can do though.

*obliterates the monster with something new he comes up with*

Percy: Ha didn't know I could that but boy am I glad it worked. See this is what I was talking about.

Either way I do agree with op on a few things like children of Hades have the most potent abilities, most broken ones but I think their lack of stamina does hinder them. And I mean Nico has known about his powers for even less time than Percy while neither Thalia nor Jason are very creative.

I think Hazel comes really close due to her versatility and creativity. Magic, mist and her own powers along with her fighting prowess. Her and Meg McCaffrey should have been compared to Percy more so than others given they were in similar situations and have such strong abilities. Technically Meg is a child of the Elder Gods.

I think Rick should have explored a bit more on the big three children and their powers.

The point I was trying to make is Percy is so powerful because of his lack of traditional training or traditional fighting knowledge. He learns by hands on experience, adapts on instinct and improves by finding loopholes or getting a better grasp of his already present abilities.

can we/rick talk more abt how extremely inexperienced percy is with his powers in comparison to many of the other big 3 kids

like it’s actually very interesting to think abt if you think abt the connection they each have as a scale to how connected they are to their godly parent (not like emotionally lmao but their godly heritage if that makes sense)

like if you think of nico and hazel those two are arguably the most like in tune with their powers both having used their powers since they were very young and being forced to kind of connect with their godly side much sooner/faster then the others

thalia and jason being second since thalia is literally the second in command to a literal goddess and as a soldier camp jupiter would definitely push jason to know his limits but they both haven’t reached that ease that nico and hazel have — thalia probably could’ve reached it if she hadn’t been snubbed at 15 and wasn’t scared of heights lmao and if jason had probably any type of support that wasn’t pushing him to just be better or focused more on his powers then physical strengths

both thalia and jason also started very young with using their powers yet both had that small blocker of other mortals/people around in comparison to hazel and nico

like hazel and nico are both so small that they’ve been taught to mostly use their powers not that they can’t fight but they rely a lot more on that rather then a sword unlike jason thalia or percy but i think that also just goes with the age that they are since their so young and were taught at that young age to lean on their powers that’s simply what’s easier

then you have percy who literally just found out half this shit was real like 5 years ago and knows nothing abt his powers like genuinely the amount percy leans more on his physical strength bc that’s all he’s had up until he was 12 in comparison to how much he leans on his actual powers is crazy especially if you look at the difference between how much jason or nico rely on their powers at their ages in comparison to how much percy did at those ages

it’s also interesting how that plays into people not taking him very seriously people see him as much more mortal and “weak” bc of it

not that any of them are doing it wrong obv it’s just very interesting to think abt

i think this also plays into percy’s morals a lot ? i recently saw a post saying nico wasn’t scared of percy when he was taking down an army and had hades with a sword to his neck yet annabeth was when percy was choking that goddess in tartarus even tho it was self defense which is all true but if you boil it down to those key points you can really see the clear distinction between the morality of nico and annabeth in those moments and how they know percy in that way as well

nico who’s on the cusp of godly hood in a way - being hades ambassador and spending most time in the underworld - he looks at percy as this hero who fights and kills and wins so that’s what he was letting percy do and he was watching it in awe

yet annabeth knowing percy stopped him yes in fear but in fear of the fact that that is simply not percy percy is the most mortal demigod we’ve met (him and piper tbh) he’s lived his life with mortal morals and he barely uses his powers bc of it so when he’s using his powers to literally kill a goddess like who tf is that ?? and who would he have been if he had gone through with it

i think that’s a pretty easy summary of why percy doesn’t really use his powers much as well he’s always seen himself as just some guy he doesn’t really like ppl calling him a hero he doesn’t really show off (on purpose/without reason) he’s just fighting to survive or to get shit done which is a very human trait percy is a very humble guy and it would just be crazy to see how much more powerful he’d be if he wasn’t bc ik a lot of that is what’s holding him back

also i think it’s interesting to point out the fact that percy used a sword when fighting hades in comparison to tartarus when he used just his powers id be interested to see what nico/annabeth would’ve thought if they were in each others shoes in those moments

also interesting that in both cases he doesn’t go through with it (killing a god/goddess) for 2 different reasons but what would they have done if he did …

i’m realising the purpose at the start of this is very different then what it ended in but i’d like to hear what ppl think if i’m just yapping or if anyone else knows wtf im talking abt lmao

The way I totally glossed over that despite having read MoA a few times. There's so many instances that should have been Jason chapters but were given to Piper instead. And even to Leo. There was absolutely no reason to give them so many povs in this book. Jason, Percy, and Annabeth should have been key players, yet only Annabeth was done right by. [Hell, she had too many chapters by my count. The quest for the statue was such a small part of the book that there was no reason to shove Annabeth in so many extra pov chapters.] The Pov Distribution was really terrible in the HoO series. With the exception of SoN and HoH, every other book had considerable pov distribution problems. The same treatment was given to Percy later on. The way that Percy doesn't have a single pov chapter in Blood of Olympus even though he was the one who awoke Gaea and was involved in other pivotal moments is insane.

A Jason and Reyna reunion? Jason's feelings on returning to his once home? Jason meeting Percy? The giant fight? One Argo ii deck meeting scene? We were certainly robbed of quite a lot of nuance in MoA.

jason grace not having a pov in mark of athena is WILD. that's literally supposed to be a book centered around him and reyna, and camp jupiter (in the beginning of the book, atleast). and you're telling me he had no.... pov? like hello? this is peak level of insane writing 😭

As it should be. And who's to say they had a choice in the first place.

Some character: "Oh, you need the pegasi for your very important quest to save Hera? Can't do. The Savior of Olympus himself is missing, so it's all hands on deck, really, so we will leave this minor task to you . And frankly, Blackjack's rallied all the Pegasi to look for "Boss," as he calls Percy so you will have no luck there."

Like, I don't think we talk about Blackjack or Ms. O Leary's situation when Percy's missing. They must be so sad, panicked, and feeling alone like any animal without its caretaker.

But I headcanon that Blackjack rallied all the Pegasi even 'Pegasus' himself to look for Percy while all the sea creatures and nymphs, naiads were also naturally looking for their Sea Prince. [Maybe on Poseidon's order but I think he was already being split between two halves of his personality when Percy went missing so the sea creatures are doing this for Percy just cause as he is very kind to them and always helps around. ]

Not to mention, Grover would obviously have all the nature spirits looking to find Percy as well.

We totally deserved a Percy-Blackjack-Ms. O Leary reunion scene and of course Percy Grover one as well.

I really love the fact that Camp Half-Blood didn't give Jason, Piper, and Leo Pegasi for their quest in The Lost Hero, despite the fact that they didn't really have an alternative for air transportation at this point in time, and only had four days to save Hera, solely because they used the pegasi to search for Percy.

Like, priorities were set, and Hera was not on the top of that list.

oh and ANOTHER interesting thing that Riordan does with Percy in the tartarus chapters to never ever bring up again is Percy achieving seemingly impossible(?) physical feats.

Like when Percy kills Arachne, he does so so quickly that Annabeth can't comprehend it. She literally asks him "How did you move so fast?" and he just shrugs and is like "Gotta watch out for each other right? Anyways..." and immediately changes the subject.

Then later he jumps over a river with Annabeth on his back and again, right before it, she's like "How are you going to do this??? It's twenty feet across. How can you possibly do that?" and he straight up is just like "yeah I can do it just close your eyes" and then does it???

of course these moments happen during Annabeth's pov so we'll never know for sure but its just so fascinating cause Riordan goes out of his way to indicate that Percy was displaying strength, speed, agility, etc way beyond his typical threshold while also implying that not only was Percy aware of it but he was either trying to downplay it to Annabeth or avoid discussing it altogether.

Preach. Finally someone else is also acknowledgeding this.

A big issue I’ve just realised while looking at P*rcabeth again, is something I haven’t really seen discussed. I think while a large portion of their relationship was forced by outside perspectives and everyone thinking they should be together, I think another factor that makes it just as toxic is the trauma bond aswell.

I whole heartedly believe that they didn’t stay together after canon because there is no way that is a functioning long term relationship. I think they relied on a connection they thought was there while they were literal children fighting wars, but after that it becomes harder.

I think Percy in particular should’ve stayed single, because I think there’s a lot of things he hasn’t dealt with and needs. He was (heavily implied) to have been abused growing up, he watched multiple friends die and handed Luke the knife he killed himself with (which even with everything that happened there, it would still weigh on him either way), all the pressure that had been put on him to save the world, Sally making the Blofis family after the fact (which again would be hard for Percy, no matter how welcoming, because he never got that like Estelle will). Not to mention all the other trauma over the years. The blame that others put on him (Bianca was the first death he saw, he was maybe fourteen, and he canonically has always felt guilty about it). Boy needs a therapist, and I think being with Annabeth only exacerbated both of their issues.

Listen, I read your post about Percy's strategic genius and I thought something.

Percy, Sally, and the entire Jackson family are descendants of Odysseus.

Sally is also damn smart, just look at how she competently got rid of Gabe and remained in full advantage.

And that is why how Athena treats Percy in this way.

He is a descendant of her beloved mortal, so similar to him in his mind and the son of her sworn rival, who tormented this very mortal and prevented him from returning home.

You seriously have no idea how GENIUS that headcanon is like holy hell the sheer depth it adds to everything is insane.

1. Athena begrudgingly guiding Percy in Titan's Curse, getting extreme deja vu (God's probably get that a lot) from the situation and how conflicting she gets over the mortal that is Perseus Jackson for his uncanny resemblance to Odysseus when it comes to his wit and his personality minus strangely the hubris.

Despite her disdain for him out of some strange loyalty, she tells him of his fatal flaw and how it would endanger him.

She let's her loathing for Poseidon get the best of her in Titan's Curse and votes to kill Percy and Thalia but Percy like Odysseus has both the wit and achievements she can't overlook despite her desperate intentions to and hence in the Last Olympian she acknowledges in her own subtle way that Percy is the greatest demigod of this age. That he's saved both the world and his friends.

2. Annabeth proud and confident as ever would be flabbergasted that Percy who she despite her supposed love for him undermines him almost always when it comes to his intelligence finds out that her mother has acknowledged Percy for his strategic mind and that he is the descendant of her mother's most favored mortal ever. (Maybe just maybe it will tone her hubris down a notch and then some, and if we are really lucky, a reality check)

3. Percy would laugh, probably shrug at the revelation. After all, stuff like that makes no difference to him.

4. But I can imagine if Sally knew beforehand about it, then how much hell must she have given Poseidon over it and probably still finds it to be a hilarious coincidence .

5. To Poseidon himself, it must have struck as an agonizing coincidence, but for the better, because for all of Poseidon's flaws, he loves his own intensely. His godly children, his monstrous children, his demigod children, and Percy, he loves most out of them all by his own words and he loves him so in some strange manner for the same humanity he scorned Odysseus for having.

Sally must have made him see the error of his ways, and even Poseidon for his quick temper would be loathe to not change his opinions on mercy then. (If the Queen among mortals tells you, you listen)

All in all, everything that happened in the Odyssey with Poseidon Odysseus and Athena would have come to a good closure with this.

That a millenia later by strange set of circumstances Athena and Poseidon begrudgingly acknowledged the folly in their perspectives from the times of Odyssey all because Poseidon met Sally Jackson and sired a demigod child who by a twist only the fates could make up turned out to be the descendant of Odysseus himself. (I reckon the fates must be cackling in glee at the whole thing)

PS: Hermes is having a blast with this news of Percy's ancestry.

No, but seriously, you have given me more pjo brainrot. (Now I hope this keeps you awake like it does me)

And on that note, Percy would totally canonly be the biggest fan of Epic the Musical, lol.

I have a feeling I am not going to stop talking about this now.

Top 5 powerful Percy moments

1. when percy cuts the williamsburg bridge in half with a scream as everyone watches. we love a dramatic king who shows off<3

2. the cleaning the stables scene, but more so because this is when he gets scared of what he’s capable of; he didn’t want to stop, and the man eating horses were genuinely terrified of his power because of this.

3. mount saint helens explosion. of course. i mean, c’mon, this is when he uses the max amount of his power, literally turning into water (this is just a theory of mine but yeah. he turned into water when the explosion happened and the strain of it was why he lost so much weight when he landed on ogygia)

4. him creating a hurricane as he fights hyperion!!!! king shit for real!!!! and i also love it because everyone gets to watch<3

5. this is a tie between when he raised the river lethe so he and thalia and nico could pass to the other side, while he was mortally wounded, to when he tortured aklyss (i think that’s how u spell her name). literally when he raised that underworld river thalia and nico thought him incapable because it was just that impossible, but he! proved! them! wrong!!! this is similar to the torture of misery, since he controlled other liquids that weren’t actual water in both scenes. anyway he should’ve killed that goddess i’m just saying 🤌