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.
Ok, but when have we actually SEEN a good LGBTQ ship being DEVELOPED AND WRITTEN PROPERLY?
Like with Percabeth, you can see their development over the course of the series. WHEN HAVE WE SEEN THAT WITH GAY MALES OR LESBIAN FEMALES? I've never seen it (if you have, though, tell me please.)
We almost never get gay characters as major characters. Sure, Piper Mclean is bisexual, but we never knew it until the literal END of Trials of Apollo even though she was a major character in HOO and even starred as a side character for Trials of Apollo. Was her POV in HOO about discovering her bisexuality and coming out? No. Piper's representation is so shoved in that it barely counts, TBH. Though that is just my opinion on this matter-no need to agree with it.
And Nico di Angelo is gay, but his rep was handled terribly. A forced coming out with no closure and being paired off with a random side character to 'prove' his gayness. Also, Will being a terrible partner for Nico (sharing his medical information without authority, and being someone's doctor and boyfriend is problematic for boundaries. Nico could have had another doctor. Seriously, are there no Athena kids in the infirmary, or no trainee Apollo kids?).
I'm just saying that I'm not sure if Solangelo is good representation because we don't really get any development and whatever development there is on Nico's side is somewhat deteriorated. We don't even get much of Will as a character. No development at all.
And with the lesbian couple, Jo and Emmie, in ToA? No development-plus they got kicked out of a supposedly safe space for being lesbians. Very problematic.
And Piper and Shel? NOTHING. No page time. None whatsoever. No development or good writing.
Lavinia and Poison Oak? We're told, not shown. We don't even see Poison Oak.
Fierrochase is the only developed ship, and even then, it's a little rushed. (Just my opinion).