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Post-tartarus Percy and Annabeth and even post tartarus Nico weren't written well at all. Tartarus makes them manic, always on edge, jumpy. This is PTSD and it doesn't just go away. Not to mention, they lost Bob and Damasen.
Yes, sure, one could argue there weren't many opportunities for Rick to explore how Tartarus changed Percy in Heroes of Olympus series. There still should have been mentions.
Rick focused on Bob and Damasen part for a bit and then never again. It's like after Tartarus arc, Percy and Annabeth were back to being themselves, which is such a character assassination. Here are a few ways in which I think Tartarus changed Percy:
PART 1-PERCY
Percy becomes hypervigilant at all times.
He can barely sleep, and whenever he does, he is always affected by terrible nightmares.
He feels extremely guilty about not being able to save Bob and Damasen and hence is now extremely protective of his other friends and family.
He no longer feels at all safe in his cabin or at camp and avoids it since Hera abducting him from there led to the whole thing.
He spends large amounts of time away from the camp and avoids other demigods because he is constantly afraid he is going to hurt someone.
Percy only ever feels truly safe by the sea .
Percy knows how delicate Sally and Paul act around him, and he hates it and hates himself for it. They don't say a word even when his screams wake them up. In fact, they just sit beside him, holding his hand and letting him cry or scream. Mostly, he just finds himself shutting down.
Poseidon also makes his own protective tendencies known, and when Percy gets too manic to stay anywhere, he whisks him away to Atlantis to calm him and give him comfort.
Every night, Percy finds a place to look at the stars and repeat the same message : Bob says hello.
He becomes an entirely different person when attacked when fighting monsters. A killing machine. It scares most people especially Annabeth.
Percy becomes a lot more aloof and likes being by himself (so he doesn't have to bear the responsibility for protecting someone other than him for a while)
He becomes a bit more pensive and talks less than usual.
He hates his own power but doesn't shy away from using it in dangerous situations. But this leaves him with a long internal struggle.
He begins to think of himself as monstrous.
He can't feel at ease without feeling Riptide in his grasp.
Somedays the nightmares, the memories get so worse that he has to make himself bleed to take the worst of it away.
He becomes skeptical of most things: people, and food and objects.
Everyone makes sure not to bring Calypso in the same room as him lest he kill her then and there. It takes him a long time to forgive her.
Percy is now so good at sensing monsters that he is always ten steps ahead of everyone.
The worst of it is Percy's constant need to fight something. He spars with multiple strong opponents to at least make it a bit challenging for him. It makes him feel like Ares, and he hates it.
Percy's first true genuine smile is when he finds out he is going to have a baby sister.
Will cover Annabeth's and then Nico's in the next parts. This is enough ptsd for all of us for one day.
https://www.tumblr.com/perachel-events/751598005994520576/would-you-be-interested-in-participating-in-a?source=share
Would you be interested in a Perachel event?
Absolutely. I will check it out as soon as I get time. (I am literally so uneducated about tumblr and Fandom events I need help asap).
Perachel is the best Percy ship, no questions asked, and the amount of plotlines it could run on is so immense.
God and oracle au, both of them with their shared prophetic abilities having a unique connection , Percy being Rachel's muse, a shared mind link, a fated bond due to Percy being Fate's favored hero and Rachel being an envoy of the fates and obviously the relationship they had in canon should have been explored more because it's so good and has so much potential all by itself.
As you can see, I am about to digress into a Perachel rant, but seriously, it needs to be APPRECIATED more. RACHEL needs to be appreciated MORE.
Question. do you think Percy should have stayed Single? Or ended up with somebody other than Annabeth? I Really think he should have stayed Single. Because I personally don't Like Percabeth, I don't Ship Percabeth and I don't Like Annabeth at all because of the way the Shippers act, or The way the characters themselves in Canon Act, like how Percy just does whatever Annabeth says, or how Percy is scared of Annabeth, Or how fans make it seem like Percy would become an Emo Edge Lord if something happened to Annabeth, Or How much she Belittles and Degrades him (I hate the nickname Seaweed brain), Especially since she acts like Percy cant do anything without her That moment when She and Reyna were talking about how ("Percy Couldn't find his way out of a Paper Bag without you")Made me SO mad it made me Dislike Annabeth even more and Dislike the Percabeth Ship as a Whole, I even hated when she Pretty much Restricted percy of using his powers You Know? "The sea doesn't like to be Restrained" well here it is.. being restrained...Exactly what it hates, and I hate how the Fandom makes Percabeth a Godly Ship saying they are the "It Couple" which they aren't and how They treat anyone who doesn't like Percabeth or Ships Percy with someone else other then Annabeth, but the one thing I HATE the most is how they make EVERYTHING percy Does Romantic for Annabeth like she's the only person who matters to him (Percy Only Remembering Annabeth (a Girl he's Known for only a couple years) Instead of The woman Who RAISED him by a goddess who isn't even the goddess of Love Made me SO MAD and Even when Annabeth made Percy remember when he was in the River Styx when it should have been his Mom made me mad) which is why I mostly believe that Percy Should have just stayed Single (I'm all for an Aromantic Percy) or At least Give him a Love interest who he can be Comfortable around and doesn't have to Constantly walk on Eggshells around her (I wished he Dated Rachel) or Hell Even make him Gay i've saw characters who have Better chemistry with Percy then Annabeth IMO but this all just my opinion.
You honestly don't know how long I could rant on this exact subject.
It's partly Annabeth's fault, and it's partly Rick's fault.
Anyone and everyone who has read the Pjo and HoO series should have noticed how illogical Percy's personality change was.
Percy Jackson, the hero of Olympus and the strongest demigod to ever live, sassy as can be, laid back but scary beyond measure if you cross him and an absolute menace to his enemies and loyal to death.
That's who he is, and Rick remembered that initially, and even till Son of Neptune then he just forgot how Percy someone he himself wrote to be this way is.
It's like Percy has no identity of his own, and he is only significant if he is with Annabeth. Like hello, he's the main character people, is the Fandom seriously going to degrade the main character, especially when the said mc is Percy Jackson???
Percy, despite his own issues, is and will always be foremost in helping people. He would be the first person to help keep the seven together. He would be the first to try and make a bond. He wouldn't have some stupid and illogical and totally ooc beef with Jason. Instead, he would help Jason be more sure of himself to stand up to Jupiter and for himself.
He would help Leo personally to bring back Calypso and they would both shit talk Olympians and how fickle their oaths are.
He would literally do anything to save Nico. Like hello, are you telling me that the boy who at 14 took it upon himself to bear the Great Prophecy, which he thought who end up killing him just to save Nico from that fate????? He would go absolutely madly feral to save Nico from the Giants.
If Piper and Reyna had their screws all properly fit they would see that Annabeth and literally everyone else would be all left to die if it wasn't for Percy. Percy gets himself out of everything by his own efforts and his own strategies. (Annabeth's rarely work). It's time the Fandom acknowledges that the best strategist in the verse is Percy, no questions asked and finally give him due credit for all HIS efforts.
Percy would never ever leave Sally unless it was for a quest, especially not when she was pregnant and absolutely not to go to college, something he hates especially when it concerns New Rome.
Here's a thing about Percabeth shippers they care about Annabeth's plans and her dreams, not Percy's. It is literally so out of character for Percy to want to live in New Rome a place that invests in a child army, a place that despises his father and wouldn't even build him a decent temple, a place so extremely cut off from the sea.
If Percy wanted to live in peace and grow old, he would do it in a place of his choosing close to his mother, Paul and Estelle, and close to the sea. But here's the thing about Percy.
I don't think people get this, but Percy can't just up and leave, nor would he want to. His damned fatal flaw is LOYALTY. He would never ever leave demigods or anyone helpless by leaving Camp Half Blood. Sure he would take less quests on but he would ALWAYS stick around and Rick did him so dirty by making all his thoughts revolve around Annabeth and insinuating he would let others suffer just fine to be with Annabeth.
Percy gave up immortality because he took Sally's teaching to heart as she did so too when she denied Poseidon's offer. He did it for himself for demigods it didn't have shit to do with Annabeth, but of course, he would look at her because she represents his life as a demigod.
Rick making Percy see Annabeth near the Styx and making him remember Annabeth instead of Sally is just him bullshitting. We all know Percy is a mama's boy, and he would do right by Sally always, so him giving a girl who he has known for barely long enough has no basis to it.
And Percabeth stans literally can't take a mention of a single alternate Percy pairing that alone is the biggest red flag. Because they know their ship is toxic and that Annabeth is the root of it.
For the PEOPLE IN THE BACK aka toxic stans:
Annabeth's fatal flaw is HUBRIS, and she is by nature controlling and condescending, and her character had the chance to GROW and CHANGE, and it would have been the most epic character growth sequel but she did not and she is CONTROLLING, DISMISSIVE , DEMEANING.
The newest Read Riordan entry literally has Annabeth saying that she needs to catch up to Percy cause he scores a better grade than her in school (even there Percy is smarter folks there you have it) and she literally says if she doesn't catch up Percy might start calling her SEAWEED BRAIN. So it is a demeaning nickname she gives Percy and continues calling him that even after knowing how Gabe similarly verbally abused Percy.
This is the fandom's IT couple? Wow. Percy literally is going against his own nature of being free and unrestrained like the sea because of Annabeth's controlling nature.
The worst of her behavior is when she blames Percy for his disappearance when she dismissed him when he was talking about his trauma induced by Gabe, her beyond toxic treatment of Rachel, especially when she unreasonably asked Percy to supress the use of the very power that got them out alive (she is scared naturally but she cannot force her own fear on Percy when he did nothing wrong).
So yeah, Percy Jackson with anyone but Annabeth. I am all for aromantic Percy, but personally, I find Perachel to be more appealing.
Trust me, I could rant about this for hours, especially how Rick butchered Percy's personality and made it full of Annabeth, especially how he threw Percy's insecurities and trauma and PTSD out of the gutter post tartarus.
IDK why but I headcanon that Demi-gods look better than the Normal Human/Mortal
Or that When people (Mortal or Demi-God) first Meet Percy They do double takes and are Shook by his appearance and how attractive he is which is why people think he is a god or looks like one
I think demigods, in general, just have more unique features to them. (Unique hair or eyes since their morphology reflects a part of their godly DNA as well)
After all it's not said enough how much half godly DNA affects them really.
But we know it gives them enhanced physical abilities, so it's only natural that their appearance is better than most mortals.
Demigods certainly have a more alluring presence and unique facial features (eyes, hair .etc) due to their half godly nature.
Though really, I think it's more of a case of who the godly parent is more so than demigod children of all gods.
I mean, children of Ares have rather rugged and fierce features that aren't conventionally attractive .
Children of Aphrodite have strangely ethereal sense to their beauty, which might not always come from their appearance, but due to their attitude or voice or other features.
Children of Athena have only their unique grey eyes and so on.
Percy, however, is something else. He resembles Poseidon extremely closely as has been stated by literally everyone at this point and that no other demigod resembles their godly parent as much as Percy resembles Poseidon. It's another one of Amazing Percy things.
Another theory might be the stronger the demigod, the closer their appearance to that of a God. And we know Percy's the strongest, so it goes without saying that all big three children, especially Percy, look more exceptional or godly than others .
But I fully believe in the fact that demigods have such a unique presence that when mortals meet them they are struck by something a bit otherworldly that they can't exactly put a finger on (not necessarily their appearance) which makes humans a bit uneasy in presence of demigods.
The reason this theory works is because over the span of two series we see demigods go among mortals many times but their's not so much as a strong reaction to their appearance as it is to their presence so this is my best theory so far.
So let's headcanon that demigods have such a commanding presence or divine allure to them it makes people do double takes and makes them uneasy ( which may not always have something to do with their appearance but that can be a factor too)