Sally Jackson is the reason that Percy does not see the issues in his relationship with Annabeth, and does not see it as toxic when it is.
Ok, now, before you raise my head on a pike, I have an explanation.
First I want to backtrack a little. I feel like Gabe needs to be more of a discussion point when talking about if Percabeth is toxic or not, because Gabe had a lasting effect on Percy and many of his actions inform how Percy sees himself.
Itās established that Percy has little to no self-esteem. He doesnāt like himself. Heās passively suicidal at best throughout most of the books, though Iād be tempted to say heās just full on suicidal really. He was abused at home, and at school treated as stupid and not worth the effort. All of this informs who he is when we start in TLT.
But the biggest thing, is that growing up Sally and Gabeās relationship was the only reference for romantic relationships he really had. Sure there mightāve been others around, but Sally married Gabe when Percy was only a few years old, meaning for most of Percy younger formative years, Gabe was the dominant male role model. He wasnāt good, but he was what Percy had as a guide. He watched people come in and out, and he watched as nobody stood up to Gabe. Nobody challenged Gabe, not his friends, not Sally, nobody. They accepted the behaviour, and on some level, seem to have taught Percy to do the same.
Itās not that Percy canāt recognise Gaveās actions as wrong, but that they, on some level, have to be accepted.
I think the other issue is that Annabethās toxicity, while prevalent in all her appearances, is definitely dialled back until they are older/in a relationship. Annabeth uses Percyās loyalty and his low self-esteem to boost herself.
Annabeth quite literally stated on Percyās first quest that she didnāt care if he died as long as she could stay on the quest. This is after setting him up to be attacked by the Ares Cabin, which she had to have logically known would most likely result in Percy being injured in some capacity.
Then, we have SOM. Not as bad, really, but her treatment of Tyson shows how her bias influences her decisions and overall sets the precedent of how sheās not really all that logical. This is also then exacerbated when her fatal flaw is revealed as Hubris. Annabeth, time and again, falls victim to her fatal flaw and quite nearly gets herself and everybody else killed for it. She has no ability to accept that she is wrong, and no ability to apologise or take responsibility for her own actions. But Tyson highlights an interesting pattern of bias with Annabeth, and how she continues to allow it to cloud her judgement. She does this with Luke and Poisedon, and the Aphrodite and Demeter campers too. She is quite easily ruled by her own emotions.
And really, this is more a dig at Rickās writing than anything, because the biggest annoyance with Annabeth is that she never shows any character growth. She doesnāt develop and therefore it makes her even worse.
TTC is one of my favourite books, because we get to spend time with Percy without Annabeth. This book completely dispels the idea that Percy is incompetent or reliant on anybody. He handles himself quite well and connects with both Thalia and Zoe, and even Bianca in a smaller moment. Again, Annabethās bias is what gets her in trouble. She takes the sky to save Luke, who she knows has tried to kill Percy multiple times at this point. Percy takes the sky to free Artemis so she can fight Atlas. Annabeth does it for Luke, whereas Percy does it for everybody. Thereās a big difference in that.
Then we get to BOTL, where the toxicity rears its head a bit more with Rachel. Now, weāve all been teenagers, everyone gets jealous of everything, thatās not news. Annabeth taking it out viciously on Rachel and nearly ruining the quest due to her bias against her is a big thing. I also hate when Percy returns from the island. Instead of just embracing the fact that heās alive and being grateful that he is, she gets huffy that heās been on an island with Calypso. That was not Percyās fault, yet she acts like he chose to go there.
then TLO. The coward line. Again, annoys the shit out of me. Like sheās pre-disposed to believe the worst of him. Itās an interesting juxtaposition, actually. Sheāll always believe the worst of Percy and the best of Luke. It comes up again and again.
Mostly the issue likes with HOO. The judo flip, I donāt even need to explain. But the entire way she acts towards Percy in that is terrible. This is also true for the short stories, where Percy outright states he is scared sheāll hit him.
Percy speaks multiple times about being scared of Annabeth, both of her physically hurting him and of her reaction to things in general. She does not communicate at all, and gets angry at him for not knowing. Then thereās the whole thing with Akhyls, which could be its own post.
But, the Sally of it all.
Sally invited a monster of a man into her home, knowingly, and that has had an effect on Percy. It warped his sense of what was acceptable and what wasnāt in a relationship. Kids internalise things, and we already know Percy did as a kid as a lot of his insecurities are things Gabe would pick on.
I think the biggest issue is that he believes Gabe didnāt love his mum, and he was terrible, so he was wrong. But he believes Annabeth loves him, and so every action she takes is for the better, which is plainly untrue.
Now Iām not saying this is all Sallyās fault, but I am saying that in exposing Percy to that relationship for a majority of his younger childhood had much more impact than what people discuss when writing fics. Percyās acceptance of Annabethās behaviour isnāt because heās a doormat. He doesnāt just accept people treating him shitty, so it has to stem from somewhere. It stems from Gabe, and consequently, what Sally taught him could be accepted
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