Will And Nico Weren't Built To Be Major Characters We've Gotta Put 'em Back

do you hate annabeth because she's black now??

Hate book Annabeth? Sometimes, but not entirely, though, I dislike her character portrayal later in the books.

Hate Show Annabeth? Not in this lifetime, she has managed to make Annabeth likable by toning down her sheer aggressiveness towards Percy that she has on the whole first two books and I think we can all agree that Leah has nailed the essence of Annabeth before the show ruined it that is.

(I won't even address your titular question because it's so absurd and of literally no significance to the whole thing.)

Have they butchered her character arc in the show? Absolutely. They made her borderline cold and detached from emotions and removed from things of normal world. Annabeth's problem has never been her lack of sentiment or normalcy or her cold demeanor. She is one of the most empathizing characters in the books because she is so flawed and so human, and the show has literally ripped that from her in an attempt of female empowerment and other bullshit as if Annabeth chase of all people needs female empowerment .

Do I hate Show? Absolutely.

I think it must be some sort of universal rule that you either get great books or great movies/shows, but you can't have both.

Cause the actors are spot on, but they have butchered the show utterly and completely like there's not enough words for the amount of things wrong with it.

And don't even get me started on visual effects for monsters and stuff cause even the movie had better visual effects .

The only redeemable part about the show is the Posally backstory and the take on Medusa.

And that's all I have to say over this whole mess .

Preach. Absolutely. I get some Greeks behaving the same with him cause Percy will have definitely told them to, but they most certainly would have made his position clear to any new campers. In my book, every demigod child of a minor god is entirely and absolutely grateful of Percy and totally secretly worshipping the guy.

So Piper and Leo should have also been told about Perseus Jackson, Savior of Olympus, Protector of Demigods and how great him denying immortality was.

Heck even Hera/ Juno should have introduced Percy better to Camp Jupiter. Given how Romans defer to gods and Percy Jackson who quite literally denied godhood implying that he is a god in all but name, should have sent the Romans kneeling and praying. Imagine the sheer hilarious situation.

Romans: (To Percy) You are a Graceus, your kind are abhorred here. Your status will be lower than dirt here.

Juno: (clearing her throat to clarify Percy's identity)Romans I present to you the son of Neptune but also the Savior of Olympus who Jupiter himself offered godhood too.

Romans: (nervous laughter) Lord Percy??

[To skeptics who think Hera would have never, her literal life depends on that plan working, you bloody bet she would have narrated all of Percy's titles and adventures if she had to, just to get the Romans to comply. Rick is just a coward]

And I also disliked how who should lead the Argo II was even a conversation?

I am sorry, shouldn't the Commander of Demigod Armies and the Savior of Olympus who has fought literally most monsters that exist, even the Titan King himself, be kind of explanatory? I mean, at what point do you think you NEED to pick a leader? It should have been obvious. I mean, one week awake in Rome, and he was already Praetor.

im so much more interested in a hoo that lets Percy keep the status and power he'd left off with in the Last Olympian and explores how he grapples with that instead of immediately forcing him back into the role of the underdog at the expanse of his prior development. Let the fact that he alone has the title the "Savior of Olympus" mean something. Let the fact that he is the sole survivor of the great prophecy mean something. Let the Curse of Achilles mean something. Let us see how it's a curse and how it could warp his sense of self. Let Percy be on a completely different playing field than the rest of the seven (or even the other children of the big three at this point) and show us how it alienates him.

Okay, people, can we just all stop collectively losing it over Rick's recent shitty characterizations and writing in wottg and tsats and so on? For our own mental peace and happiness , let's just collectively agree that anything written after Trials of Apollo is non-canon and loosely based on the orignal lore and full of inconsistent characterization and unnecessary dilution of the same plot.

In not so polite words: Everything after that is a bloody abomination of the original work that I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole, but it does give me the urge to strangle Rick for ruining a masterpiece.

Everything before that more or less has to be canon cause then we would have nothing to go off of. Even though characterizations begin to be inconsistent ever since HoO and Blood of Olympus is dodgy as hell but let's give it a pass. Everything released after Trials of Apollo, though? Absolutely not.

Also also one exception from Trials of Apollo: Jason's death is non canon and done by Rick for no plot or character development reasons at all and was an entirely unnecessary and illogical move.

So everything after ToA, along with Jason's death, is non-canon. That's it. That's the new canon.

We just have to do that, at least for all our collective sanity and mental peace. I wasn't even on posting schedule today, but one of the wottg excerpts made me so mad that I just couldn't stop myself. Come on, people, let's just agree on it for our mental peace.

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.

This Kid's Not Alright

perseus // unknown // The Battle of the Labyrinth, Rick Riordan // unknown // The House of Hades, Rick Riordan // unknown // @ vialjarhorn // The Last Olympian, Rick Riordan // The House of Hades, Rick Riordan // @ dying-dog // The House of Hades, Rick Riordan // brutal, Olivia Rodrigo // The Mark of Athena, Rick Riordan // unknown // The Gods Show Up, Michael Kinnucan // The Chalice of the Gods, Rick Riordan

THIS! Do stans think we would try and create false and toxic interactions just to convince them? The bunch of almost conditioned fans who neither hear nor see reason?

The number of people I have heard says that anti ship posts are spreading hate and being toxic. If the very insinuation of a ship other than the supposed canon ship is considered taboo and the very idea of critically analyzing the character dynamics is frowned upon, then it says more about the ship than it says about anti posts and anti bloggers.

Thinking about how easy it is for fanfic writers to twist Percabeth and Solangelo into toxic, unhealthy relationships whilst maintaining a surprisingly good portion of the official content's nuances - as if all materials are already there and all they need is just a soft push towards to right (or wrong) direction.

And Rick tells me they're supposed to be canon's exemplary, top-shelf, happily-every-after couples? He's not doing a good job at it.

Triton “I’m not particularly interested in my half-blood brother’s life, I just think…” ‘s opinions on some of Percy’s relationship outside the seafam:

Chiron: Should’ve been more careful with Percy, but overall okay given Chiron being an obviously underpaid and overworked old man

Grover: He likes him. It’s pity he didn’t marry Polyphemus, it’d be nice to have him in the family and maybe he would convince good old Polyphemus to start a healthier diet

Luke: Bad thing he betrayed Olympus, blah blah blah, but in a positive light he left camp before Percy’s hero worship turned into something more 👍

Annabeth: She… oh… okay… I guess I can’t write that, Triton. I’ll leave it here that you are strongly against her near your brother. What? No, I won’t say that either. What does Athena and Pallas have to do with this… Okay, enough. Next!

Apollo: Again, I can’t write that. I cannot call the god of sun a [redacted]!!! Okay, I’ll leave the message. Directly quoting Triton (not my words, Triton’s) “I know things about you, cradle robber. Don’t make me come for you!”

Hermes: Not bad. He’s happy that at least one god has restraining. Keep distance, either way. In fact, STOP visiting Percy with presents you were NOT allowed to gift him with.

Thalia: Surprisingly alright about their friendship, laments that she is the daughter of who she is, but she’s got points since she doesn’t like her father much, too.

Hazel: Best half-blood around (after Percy, ofc), says he’d like to have her and Frank over to dinner any day at the palace.

Frank: Basically family, he totally approves of Percy’s friendship with him. Pity he’s Roman and child of Mars, “no one is perfect, I guess”

Nico: In the name of Lady Amphritite, Lord Triton is asking you to eat more healthily. Mostly okay and “Don't crush on Percy again, if you know what's good for you.”

Jason: Roman. Jupiter. Multiple hisses… I don’t know what he meant with it, but whatever.

Beckendorf: He’s ranting for three hours about how great Beckendorf was. Terms such as “Honorary Percy’s Big Brother” were used.

Rachel: Very nice mortal. Poor taste in patrons, though.

And these are not even all the feats. Well and truly, Percy Jackson is in a league of his own.

Manipulated literal primordial of the Earth into saving him over her own servant Phineas after challenging him, a literal seer to a poison trial. [I know it's mentioned, but still wanted to clarify on it]

Was successfully able to hold his own for a while in a tug of war [for the control of the sea] against Chardybis in her own domain, at age 13

Came up with the plan to use the river gods against the Titan Army and successfully convinced them to give their assistance

Figured out Ares was the deciever.

Singlehandedly defeated Hades and his army in minutes [Even with the curse, it was still beyond impressive]

Not just became a Praetor but did so in a week

Found out the way to triump over Geras

Beat Phobos and Deimos, two minor gods

Managed to drown and brainwash a Titan in waters of Lethe when he was heavily injured

Has killed more monsters than any other demigod in the verse

Has been called by Apollo to be the only one worthy enough of his service, a god's service after he turned mortal

Is the only one to survive the curse of Achilles without dying

Survived Tartarus [Don't Annabeth me, the only reason she survived was because Percy was there, I would like to see how Annabeth stans try and refute that, Nico also doesn't count cause he got captured soon after entering Tartarus]

Hermes, one of the Olympians went to Percy after losing the symbol of his power

Dionysus trusted Percy to protect his son, no one else

Successfully resisted Pandora's Jar [which is literally meant to tempt you beyond what mortals can resist]

And yet, there are still some groups in the fandom that call Percy dumb and that he needs Annabeth to tell him what to do. Tell me you haven't read the books without telling me you haven't read the books for sure. Percy Jackson is literally a strategic genius and the most powerful and influential demigod of this age or ever. If you count how many individual key strategies Annabeth has made over the ones Percy made; he has made higher and more successful strategies literally in each book. Imagine how low of a self-esteem you would have to have for you to see yourself like this even after saving the world more times that you can count. And how comments and behaviors of Annabeth or other characters enable this behavior. It's like a broken tape at this point.

this is why we need a pov outside of percy cause wdym "i am a guy of limited talents" YOU NEARLY DROWNED A GODDESS IN HER OWN POISON AND ANNABETH HAD TO STOP YOU BEFORE YOU DID. BE FR

This might be a genuine Controversial opinion of mine. Really because I Always see The Black Percy fanart or POC Percy and I love them, even though i still love the book version...it had me thinking...

But I highly think that if Percy were Black or Any minority I Doubt he would Take Annabeth's Bs or let her treat him the way she does

What do you think?

I have mixed opinions on this. I think it's a bit controversial but not for the reasons you are going for. Bear with me.

I think all this diversity propaganda has warped our perspectives on characters and their roles. Rick is shit at diversity roles cause he is trying explicitly to write them as diversity characters. I mean yes coming from a certain race, culture or ethnic group does play a large part of who you are but most authors make that the entire point or personality of their character.

In a world like Percy Jackson, where far greater things are at stake, I don't think a character's race or ethnic group should be prioritized so much. In fact, their motivations, how they choose to cope with their trauma and insecurities, how they love, how they fight is what makes a character.

In contrast to Rick, Leigh Bardugo writes tons of diverse characters who are just that, characters in her eyes. It's not because she needs to meet some quota or write diversity for the sake of it. She writes as it comes to her, and I think anyone would appreciate that far more.

Now, coming to your point, I don't think Percy being a minority or person of color would have changed him much. Because the points that you are trying to make should already be valid for Percy as he is.

He had an abusive stepfather who not only physically and mentally abused him but also always harassed him for money. Percy has grown up in that environment, he knows abuse well.

Percy can't stand bullies or people who impose their will, which is a fundamental part of his character which we are actually introduced to very. early on

Not to mention, Percy grew up in the streets of NYC all on his own, also moving from one boarding school to another. He is seasoned player when it comes to cops or law enforcement.

Plus I headcanon that all demigods have issues with any kind of normal organization or law enforcement cause what explanation are they supposed to give for their actions when the person across from them can't fathom it, see it or let alone imagine it. So they are all kind of in similar situations despite whatever culture or ethnic group they are from.

Percy's actions are also a reflection of his self-esteem. That's the thing driving his behavior. Percy wouldn't stand for this from a stranger, but Annabeth is his best friend. The first person he got close to in Camp. She represents his demigod life in a way. To him, the fact that someone like her wants to date him seems unbelievable. He goes in that relationship or any relationship feeling inferior. Then he begins dating her, and he desperately wants to meet her expectations cause Percy Jackson can't take her walking out on him, not because he disappointed her. Cause what sort of shit boyfriend is he if he can't even stand and accept Annabeth as she is. So he takes it as it is. He takes her demands, her violent way of expressing her emotions and her need to be in control. She wants to go to University and study, she wants to be involved in the demigod business, wants to be the heart of it and Percy isn't about to leave her to be on her own. He is Percy, he would go to the ends of earth and beyond for people he loves and cares for. So he goes along with that too.

The question shouldn't be what it would take Percy to be done with Annabeth's bullshit or what would finally make him snap. That shouldn't be the focus.

The focus should be at what point will Annabeth realize that she is stifling Percy, leashing him. (Before you snap, percabeth stans hear me out, not my words. Literally a bloody conversation from Mark of Athena, in which Piper word to word says and agrees with Annabeth that someone needs to leash him and Annabeth can do it.)

And I love how the fandom just glossed over it. What the hell??? Are you people blind? How is that a healthy relationship??

Annabeth should realize how badly she is hurting Percy or how badly she has misunderstood him. How awful her actions have been and how her actions are enabling his lack of self esteem. (For confused people who think Annabeth can do no wrong, please check other posts. There's nothing wrong with admitting that your favorite character is flawed and can make mistakes. )

And then if she truly loves him they should separate, go their ways, still be friends but not romantic partners. Or they should go on a long break in which Annabeth needs to sort out her behavioral issues, come back to Percy, apologize to him earnestly, then to Rachel and even Reyna. And then if Percy (after he too understands the problems in their relationship and how disastrous his lack of self esteem and self deprecation is) is willing to give her a chance or even willing to be in any romantic relationship then and only then should they get back together.

It might not be the answer you were hoping for anon but I had to give my honest thoughts on this. Feel free to comment your own opinions on this as well.

kind of related to your post about zoe just now but: what do you think of the hunters in general? I've got a lot of thoughts on them myself.. most of them not that positive lmao lots of "could have been good, but very poor execution" and "sounds cool on the surface, but very questionable when thought about more"

First of all, thank you for the question :)))

Oh god, this might become a slightly longer post, because I have a lot to say about the hunters of Artemis.

From what you’ve written, it sounds like we might have a very similar opinion. I personally think they are one of the worst-written parts of the original Percy Jackson books. I love their idea, I love their basic concept, but their execution was pretty atrocious.

There are four main points regarding them that I want to talk about.

The portrayal of Artemis (though this one is by far not as bad as the others)

2. The behaviour of the huntresses

3. Bianca

4. Lacking Development

Artemis

Now, I know that the gods and goddesses of the Riordan verse, are sanitized caricatures, and shouldn’t be compared to their actual myth versions. I think everyone in this fandom has at least heard some well-founded criticisms regarding the portrayal of Ares, Athena, Aphrodite, Apollo or any of the other gods.  

I even understand why Rick Riordan made most of the decisions that he did. Obviously, the gods had to be sanitized for a book series primarily aimed at children, and, to be fair to him, even if their characterizations are a far-cry from their myths and sometimes overly stereotypical (Aphrodite), they are fulfilling the roles they have in this story as deeply flawed, but powerful individuals, because of whose careless mistakes and pride demigods, and other ‘lesser’ beings have to suffer.  

And I actually do not hate Artemis’ portrayal that much, if we exclude the behavior of her hunt, and the initiation of Bianca. Her taking Annabeth’s place in holding the sky and her loudly arguing against killing Percy and Thalia at the winter solstice was a great portrayal of her being a patron goddess of children, and the idea of including the hunters of Artemis as a group of girls, both from mortal and immortal parents, who have been hurt by the world, and found a safe place with one another is actually really great. Generally, whenever she appears in the books, I have the feeling she is handled with far more graze and respect than a lot of other godly beings.  

However, as someone who very much loves Greek mythology, I just want to point out some small parts, which are not entirely accurate, though, again,  I understand Rick’s reason for omitting them in the context of what he wanted to do with her character and the hunt , and I acknowledge that even in ancient times, there existed a variety of different interpretations of the gods.

(Please note, that while I read original sources like the works of Diodor, Apollodorus, Hesiod, and Euripides, I am not a classicist, and that my knowledge of the greek gods primarily stems from personal research and my own interest. If anyone knows more about Artemis, please feel free to correct me if necessary)  

While Artemis is primarily the goddess of the hunt, and in later interpretations of the moon, she is not only the protector of girls, but the patron goddess of children in general and a goddess closely linked to childbirth.

Yes, she expects her followers to remain chaste, but to say that she is completely against men would be a grave mistake. Male followers of Artemis did exist in mythology, most famously Orion, who later became a constellation, and Hippolytus, the son of Theseus and the Amazon Hippolyta.

So, her cold behavior towards Nico and her degrading words towards boys in general is an attribute primarily added by Rick Riordan.

Though, like I said, I understand making certain changes to gods and goddesses, or rather choosing different interpretations of them to have them fulfill a certain role in a book series, so Artemis portrayal itself doesn’t bother me that much.

But if we’re talking about the hunters themselves, things easily take a turn for the worse.  

The behavior of the hunters

Now, I understand the hunters point in the story.

A huge theme of Titan’s curse is to explore the difference between old ideals of what heroism entails and the modern take on it, represented through Theseus and Herakles on one side, and Percy on the other. The hunters, and especially Zöe, represent a group, who have suffered through the actions of those old, primarily male heroes, and have developed a strong bias against all boys and men as a result. A bias, Percy is supposed to break in this book.

This, in itself, is a pretty awesome concept. But, like I said, the execution mostly failed.

Most of the Hunters of Artemis in Titan’s curse were written without any nuance, without development and without any sense of self reflection.

To express it plainly, they completely suck. And that hurts to say, especially as someone who is asexual-sex-repulsed and aromantic, because, like I said, they could have been an absolutely amazing part of the overarching story and theme of the book series, but with the way Rick Riordan wrote them, they suck. They’re insufferable.  They’re a group of immortal teenagers with a superiority complex, who act the way right-wing republicans and trump supporters think feminists act like.

They’re completely antagonistic towards the campers at camp half-blood for absolutely no good reason, act really childish and immature, and their overwhelming bias against every male character, especially Percy and Nico, is just plain annoying and goes to a point, where it makes them act like absolute idiots and assholes.

Zöe’s behavior at the meeting to decide who should go on the quest to save Artemis is a pretty good representation of everything I dislike about the hunters.  

She doesn’t want to take campers with her on the quest, even though the oracle plainly stated that them working together was the only way for them to succeed:

“You’re missing something as usual,” Thalia said. “Campers and Hunters combined prevail. We’re supposed to do this together.”

“No!”, Zoe said. “The Hunters do not need thy help.”

Immediately afterwards, she makes fun of Silena Beauregard (who is around 14 or 15 at the time, might I add.):

“Percy is right,” Silena Beauregard said. “Two campers should go.”

“Oh, I see,” Zoe said sarcastically. “And I suppose you wish to volunteer?”

Silena blushed. “I’m not going anywhere with the hunters. Don’t look at me!”

“A daughter of Aphrodite does not wish to be looked at,” Zoe scoffed. “What would thy mother say?”

And then, she decisively refuses Percy’s help for the quest, even though he is objectively the best person for the job. I really can’t reiterate enough that Percy is the most accomplished hero present at that meeting. He has successfully led two quests, one to stop a civil war between the gods, the second to recover the golden fleece. Even in comparison to Thalia, Percy is more accomplished and has gained more respect within the mythological world.

As I walked back through the city of the gods, conversations stopped. The muses paused their concert. People and satyrs and naiads all turned towards me, their faces filled with respect and gratitude, and as I passed, they knelt, as if I were some kind of hero. (The lightning thief)

Yet Zoe refuses his help to save the goddess she serves and increases so the risk of failure, simply because he is a boy.

“Oh,” Grover said, suddenly aware of the problem. “Whoa, yeah. I forgot! Percy has to go. I didn’t mean… I’ll stay. Percy should go in my place.”

“He cannot,” Zoe said. “He’s a boy. I won’t have Hunters travelling with a boy.”

Another huge problem in their characterization is their immortality. Here I want to focus again on their ongoing beef with camp half-blood, because, yes, while the campers also act pretty antagonistic in return, I think it’s important to note that most kids at camp half blood are between the ages of 10 and I’d say maybe 17 years old, while the huntresses are immortal.

Now, it’s obviously possible that most of them are still teenagers and haven’t been part of the hunt for that long, but considering the fact that Zoe is over 3000 years old, and could very well be older than most Olympians, the chance of most hunters being older than at least 30, is pretty high, which makes their behavior seem even more ridiculous.

And obviously the whole situation with Bianca paints the hunters in the worst light possible.

Bianca

There are already some pretty good and detailed posts on tumblr regarding the subject of Bianca and the hunters, so I don’t want to dig into this subject too deeply, because this post is already way too long, but you can’t possibly write about the hunters without mentioning her.

The hunters, especially Zoe and Artemis convinced Bianca to join them in a moment of huge distress. Bianca was a twelve-year-old, vulnerable girl, who just found out she was a demigod, almost got kidnapped by the manticore, and watched a girl fall down a cliff, yet they expect her to swear allegiance to them after only a couple of minutes of knowing them.

They paint her this beautiful picture of having no responsibility and a new family, telling her exactly, what she wanted to hear without giving her even a moment to breathe or give her time to talk to her brother or fully think this through.

I want to point out that at this point in time, Artemis had already decided that she needed to go after the monster alone, and knew, that her hunters would spend some time at camp half-blood. But instead of giving Bianca these couple days/ weeks to accept this new reality of the mythological world and get to know both camp half-blood and the hunters, she wants an answer at this very moment,

Yes, Bianca’s answer was rash, and yes, I do think it’s rather cold that she didn’t first talk to Nico about it, but it’s pretty plain to see that she was overwhelmed and pretty much manipulated during this entire conversation.

Later, Zoe decides to take her with her on the quest, even though Bianca is completely unprepared for it. She is probably, aside from Nico, the most unprepared person in the entirety of camp half-blood to go on a quest.  

I don’t think I have to explain how terrible of a decision that was.

The hunters are objectively the worst thing that could have ever happened to Bianca and the main reason why she died.

Lacking Development:

Now, all of this, every single flaw I just pointed out, could have actually worked out, if there would have been some sort of change in the hunters’ way of thinking and an acknowledgement that their opinions on boys and males in general are misguided and lead to more harm than good during the course of the books.

Especially after their actions led to Bianca’s death.

Them seeing how much love Nico had for his sister and how much he suffered from her death could have been a great moment for some character development.

But nothing happened.

Camp half blood and the hunters grieving together at the end of Titan’s curse for both Zoe and Bianca could have resulted in a genuine moment of friendship between the two groups, leading to understanding and change.  

But nothing happened.

The only person who took responsibility for Bianca’s death at the end of Titan’s curse was fourteen-year-old Percy. The only person who cared enough about Nico to search for him and make sure he was safe, was Percy. The hunters didn’t care at all. Took no responsibility whatsoever.

All that happened at the end of that book was that Thalia became a huntress, and that Zoe and Artemis acknowledged Percy as a hero.

This, while admittedly, a great moment for Percy’s characterization and also somewhat for the character development of Zoe, had very little effect otherwise.  

Because, in the end, Zoe and Artemis treated Percy as if he was the exception. As if they had been only wrong about him, and not boys in general. They didn’t revisit their line of thinking, they didn’t self-reflect and they didn’t acknowledge that their bias was utterly flawed, and that they should treat male demigods generally better.

She (Zöe) grasped it contently. “You spoke the truth, Percy Jackson. You are nothing like… like Hercules. I am honored that you carry this sword.”

Then, she (Artemis) turned to me. “You did well,” she said. “For a man.”

Percy Jackson is fundamentally a story about the circle of abuse, and, Percy specifically, breaking that circle, but nothing of note happened with the hunters.

Because even if Zoe had confronted her own bias, (and there is admittedly an argument to be made that she did) she would have been the only hunter to do so. And she died.

Thalia becoming the lieutenant of the hunters as someone who is best friends with Percy and Grover, and who misses Jason more than anything, could have confronted this distorted line of thinking, but the other hunters remain pretty much unchanged in the last Olympian and The Lost Hero.

There were hugs and greetings al around- or at least Thalia was friendly. The other hunters didn’t like being around campers, especially boys, but they didn’t shoot any of us, which for them was a pretty warm welcome. (The last Olympian, chapter 10)

“Oh, no way,” Leo said. “We’ve been sitting in a cave and you get a luxury tent? Somebody give me hypothermia. I want hot chocolate and a parka!”

Phoebe sniffed. “Boys,” she said, like it was the worst insult she could think of. (XXXVI Leo, the lost hero.)

Conclusion:

So, yeah. They had huge potential, both as individual characters and as part of the overarching plot and theme of Percy Jackson, but their execution was absolutely abysmal.

The only possible positive thing I could say about them is that they are at least better than the Amazons (though that is not particularly hard)

I hope my rambling was understandable, it's already pretty late:')