🌪️

any pronouns. in my 20's. #1 percy enjoyer. multishipper. main blog: @dracaelus. beware english is not my first language

[dracaelus4pjo]

Greetings 🦇

I'm dracaelus, or drac for short, your friendly percy-obsessed neighbor who you can refer to by any pronouns. Welcome to my humble blog, and make yourself at home. But before you follow me, you might like to read through this post.

First of all, my main blog is actually @dracaelus, which is the reason why I can't do some things like follow people back or like people's posts as dracaelus4pjo. For that, you might see dracaelus in your notifications.

I'm a twenty-something brazilian who has been obsessed with PJO since I was eight. This is a PJO-centric blog mostly focused on Percy and his dynamics with other characters.

You can find my fanarts under the tag #my art.

You can find my analysis, headcannons and general commentaries under the tag #drac rambles

I tag my fanarts with the name of the character + the dynamic in it, when it's more than one character (e.g.: percy & hermes, percy & apollo, percy & [insert character he's with]), so it's easier to search for

You can also find me on Instagram and on threads as @/dracaelus

Percy has been my favorite character from the start so if you dislike him, there won't be much for you in this house. Feel free to look around, but be aware that speaking ill of him will get you blocked.

I'm a Rick Riordan critic and I don't like most of HOO, but for what it's worth, I prefer to focus my blog on the stuff that I actually like - hence why most of my posts are about the first saga. Still, even the first saga is not completely above criticism. If you don't like to see any criticism of Rick's work, be warned that you won't be safe from it here.

I also hate the show, but for that, I simply refrain from speaking of it at all. If you like it, for better or for worse, you won't see much relating to it on my blog.

I don't mind spam likes or reblogs, and I don't think there's anything weird in interacting with older posts, so feel free to search through my blog as you please.

Feel free to use my askbox as you wish too, and don't mind if I take ages to answer - sometimes it just takes me a while to think of a response, and other times I'm just fighting my executive dysfunction.

DNI if you're: lgbtqiapn+ phobic, which includes transphobic, homophobic, acephobic, etc; if you're zionist; antisemitic; misogynist; racist; xenophobic; islamophobic; ableist; a Trump supporter; or if you support AI generated images as "art"; ademais, se você for br, também não aceito bolsonaristas, isso aqui não é a casa da mãe joana.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

[phoenixystix]

Frank being reduced to a cinammon-roll esque character when he's actually extremely grumpy and cynical for like 90% of his narratives. Yes he's also funny and goofy I'm just saying like Frank's narratives are so cynical they put Percy's to shame

[phoenixystix]

@meaningxmeaning why yes I will elaborate. In addition to Frank being the one who is described as cursing the most often in SON (except for perhaps the horse), for starters, look at this INCREDIBLY long list of grievances:

and this collection of Frank being grumpy, cynical, & sarcastic:

& then I think everyone knows about his Peak hater era in MOA, but here are some gems from House of Hades:

& this is of course not even to touch on the war gods screaming in his head

[helenofsparta2]

The way Percy describes Apollo and Aphrodite is actually really sweet when you stop and think about it for a second.

Like, in Greek mythology, Aphrodite and Apollo are essentially the divine standards for feminine and youthful masculine beauty. And while Percy definitely notices that they're physically attractive (quite often, might i add, my bi king), the details he remembers most aren't really about perfect faces, but about aspects that have more to do with their personality.

With Aphrodite, he obviously describes her as stunningly beautiful, but then immediately afterwards he also says this:

She really was beautiful. And not just because she had a pretty face or anything. She believed in love so much, it was impossible not to feel giddy when she talked about it. (Titan’s Curse, Chapter 13)

Like, I love the fact that one of the things Percy considers most beautiful about the literal goddess of beauty isn't her appearance, but her genuine love for love itself.

And with Apollo, while Percy also repeatedly describes him as very handsome, the detail he keeps coming back to is specifically the way he smiles:

The driver got out, smiling. He looked about seventeen or eighteen, and for a second, I had the uneasy feeling it was Luke, my old enemy. This guy had the same sandy hair and outdoorsy good looks. But it wasn't Luke. This guy was taller, with no scar on his face like Luke's. His smile was brighter and more playful. (Titan’s Curse, Chapter 4)

Despite the battle scars, the Titan’s face was handsome and strangely familiar. Percy was pretty sure he’d never seen this guy before, but his eyes and his smile reminded Percy of someone (…) He remembered the name Leto: the mother of Apollo and Artemis. This guy koios looked vaguely familiar because he had Artemis’ cold eyes and Apollo’s smile. (House of Hades, Chapter 61, Percy)

I just think that's really endearing.

When Percy describes the two gods who literally embody ideal beauty, the qualities that leave the biggest impression on him aren't things like symmetrical features or perfect physique, but the things that reveal personality...

He can be so cute :((

[pregnanthudsonwilliams]

not naming names but some of you are so creative and talented it's an honor to have you in my phone

[atsumarii]

tbh pjo's main conflict feels so much more fleshed out than hoo's. in pjo you have the final battle last a few days, and you have percy strategizing and everyone being more serious. percy is treated like an intelligent character in tlo because he IS a smart person, he just gets flanderized into being an idiot. you have the characters panicking and getting tired and more than two characters dying in tragic ways, putting strain on the other characters. and everyone is stressed the fuck out. in hoo the final battle lasts like a few hours and gaia gets taken down relatively fast and the only prominent deaths are octavian's death and leo's death. and octavian's death is just a mentally ill teenager killing himself during an episode and it's not treated with the emotional weight it deserves because apparently he's pure evil and irredeemable. rick riordan i dont know what you were on while writing hoo but never go on that again. im not saying i didn't enjoy hoo, but oh boy do i have problems with it. unfortunately it's my favorite out of the three

[starcrossedconverse]

talking about a character's negative actions in a neutral way is never "anti character" or "character bashing" btw.

[dracaelus4pjo]

(click for better quality)

[dracaelus4pjo]

Remember all those times in HoH when Percy did feats so amazing Annabeth couldn't understand how he was able to do so, but we never got to see Percy's narration of these events, and he and Annabeth never got to talk about how exactly he was able to do such things?

Well, I would like to show you something from SoM

First, we have Percy and Clarisse fighting Polyphemus, and barely scratching him. And then:

Mind you, Polyphemus is described as being at least fifteen feet tall.

Percy's anger in this scene seems to unlock something in him, allowing him to do things he wouldn't normally be able to. Or maybe he already could do that, but didn't know he could, or didn't know how to?

Is Percy stronger than he thinks he is? Did his anger make him stronger, or did it simply allow him to forget that he was "hopelessly outmatched", and attack without limiting himself?

There are a few moments during the saga where you get to see Percy doing things that require a greater amount of strength than what you would think he possesses (all while not being in contact with water)

From tBotL:

From HoH:

What I find interesting about these scenes is that, in the fight with Polyphemus, despite knowing how impossible what he just did is, Percy either refuses to think about how the hell did he just defeat this giant cyclops all by himself, or he refuses to tell us what he thinks about it.

Then, in the fight with Antaeus, Percy seems to be trying to play it off, reasoning that his mother always said he had "a gift for getting stuff tangled up" — which doesn't explain at all how he had the strength to do any of it — and also implying that this was an extraordinary situation, since he was "desperate to save [his] friends", so, obviously, that's not something he could do in a normal context, right? Right.

Then, in the scene he kills Arachne and Annabeth asks him how he moved so fast, you can't really tell if he is deflecting the question on purpose. And at last, the most interesting thing about the jump scene isn't even the jump itself, but rather the fact that Percy knew that somehow he would be able to pull it off. It seems to me like at this point, Percy is finally able to admit to himself that he is capable of doing more than what is expected. In his narration we so often see him saying that the idea of doing something is "impossible", right before he does that exact same thing.

From TLO:

(I also like this scene bc Percy is still deluding himself into thinking he's not as powerful as he is but Michael knows he can do it)

From HoH:

When Percy allows himself to try, he always seems to be able to do impossible things. And I don't think he is comfortable with this idea, going so far as only letting himself attempt to control poison bc a) he was dying and b) well, surely that's only possible bc he's in Tartarus right? That's certainly not a power he has access to on a daily basis...

But I feel like as time goes on, Percy is less and less able to continue telling himself he isn't more powerful than he thinks he is.

[dracaelus4pjo]

Another instance of Percy pulling out insane moves is this Deadpool moment in TTC (how could I forget?)

[meaningxmeaning]

Adding a few more moments.

From BotL:

This is interesting because he explicitly says he has nothing, but then mentally, he is already assuming he'll succeed and is just scared about the potential of it getting away from him. Like the jump in his thoughts is just really clear, there. He already has a sense that he will succeed if he tries.

From MoA:

This is him trying to escape Phorcys' aquarium and it just not working...

And then this is him just... deciding to try harder, I guess. Like to be clear this is about one page later. And I'm sorry, I just do not believe that Frank shoving with his shoulder and Coach Hedge's roundhouse kick were the key factors that made a difference here.

Percy just has untapped reserves of power that he can draw on whenever he wants by just wanting it bad enough, it feels like. And at the same time, he also manages some of his other most absurd feats by accident, like his first time controlling poison against Polybotes, where his narration literally glosses over, he just says he deflected it with his will, or when he accidentally summoned a hurricane against Hyperion.

(Also fun fact I discovered about Percy using his powers against Chrysaor. People talk about it like Chrysaor overpowered him, but Percy just tried once and straight up didn't try a second time, after the initial impact and attack.)

[dracaelus4pjo]

This reminded me that in tBotL we also have this confirmation of Percy being built different:

Not to mention that just the fact that he survived the explosion long enough to fall into the ocean and later be healed by Calypso is already pretty insane...

[phoenixystix]

i think it's time we start being honest about the fact that chiron is completely useless as a mentor to percy

[vyky]

SoN where everything is the same, except Thanatos gives Percy his cloak after Percy into freezing water

[vyky]

I like to think Hazel helps in training legionaries. they all love her because she's very sweet and helpful teacher, even if they all end up bruised to high heaven

[vyky]

type shit

[bayetea]

son of neptune is also funny because the characters have no significant issue with each other. every other previous mainline book involves some kind of tense dynamic with the questing characters. in tlt it's percy and annabeth. in som annabeth hates tyson and percy is defensive of him whilst trying to swallow the fact that he's embarrassed to have a monster for a brother. in ttc percy and thalia and zoë are all fighting with each other constantly. in botl percy is back to childish quarreling with annabeth over the luke/rachel stuff + grover is scared of tyson + annabeth is intensely antagonistic towards rachel. and in tlo percy and annabeth are bickering again + percy strangles nico for lying to him. even jason and piper (though jason is still immediately jumping off a cliff to save her whilst unaware that he can fly) have instant tension in their dynamic that runs through the veins of tlh and beyond + leo struggles with feeling like a third wheel + piper is worried about betraying them for her father and that impacts the way she interacts with them

and then son of neptune rolls around and percy is immediately just like Wow you two are just awesome. I know we just met but we're besties now. and frank and hazel both already like + know each other and they immediately stick their necks out for percy and like him. like this has never happened in any other book before. they don't clash with each other At All. they have uncomplicated affection for each other in all directions of their trio and that kindness and affection is the soul of son of neptune. they are just so so friendly to one another and the only source of awkwardness among the main characters is frank's crush on hazel since the start of the book, a crush that barely even results in any real tension or conflict because they're still best friends from the jump and hazel likes him too, she's just a lot less willing to do anything about it because she hates herself and thinks gonna die by the end of the week

[helenofsparta2]

Rereading the first couple chapters of Mark of Athena is so sad in regards to Percy and Jason and their relationship, because this very first interaction laid actually such a good groundwork for what could have been an easygoing, fun friendship between them.

Like, the concept of the roman son of Jupiter and the greek son of Poseidon getting along perfectly fine and just clicking without much tension is so much more fun and in character for Jason and Percy than the weird ass power rivarly dynamic Rick wrote for them only a couple pages later.

[phoenixystix]

Cursed Trio, aptly named.

[bayetea]

the line in hoh where percy is like "I wish frank were here 😔 in hell 😔 with me 😔"

[bayetea]

this tickles me so much obviously percy just thinks frank's abilities would be useful to get them out of there but if you go back and reread some of percy's most Dire moments in the series you'll find that it's very rare for percy to hope to be rescued by a friend when he's in danger (and I think this speaks to how frank is one of percy's closest friends out of this entire cast #longlivesontrio). I am also tickled by the thought of percy telling frank after the fact that he was thinking of him in tartarus

[bayetea]

percy: while I was trudging through hell with annabeth, I just kept wishing that I could see you buddy. we really could've used your help

frank, touched: me? not hazel or someone like jason? you wanted me?

percy: yeah I just kept praying and praying to your dad that you would trip and fall down the tartarus hole or something

frank: wh

percy: in hindsight your dad hates me and praying for his son to go to hell probably didn't help

[what-a-precious-seaweed-brain]

“I choose the prophecy. It will be about me.”

In my opinion, this quote from The Titan’s Curse is one of the most important moments for Percy’s character in the whole series. Here he is, still a kid, pushing down his fear and choosing a prophecy that could easily end in his death, all to protect Nico from that very same burden. He admits in the next few lines that he doesn’t want it, but he steps up and claims it anyway to spare a kid who hates him. It’s the selflessness and compassion that Percy displaye here in willingly shouldering such a heavy burden that, to me, truly makes him such a remarkable hero. There are so many stories about heroes having a great destiny, but Percy really stands out here because of his choice. He accepts the personal pain and suffering that could potentially come out of this prophecy and doesn’t shy away from it, just to save Nico. To me it’s this moment that truly shows that Percy is the child of the prophecy, not just because of his choice, but because of what his choice proves about who he is - a courageous, selfless person who is truly strong enough to fulfill his destiny and lead the demigods. I honestly still feel proud every time I reread this scene.

[aaaaalice]

I'm thinking about my awful man that could be so much more complex and used to be, Zeus❤️❤️again❤️❤️

Idk you were the first mutual that popped into my head that i could annoy with this

Hell yeah I love complicated Zeus! Some thoughts that are hopefully on a similar frequency to yours:

- Zeus saying sometimes he wishes he never married Hera. Hera hears "I hate you" but what he meant was "I worry that our marriage has brought you more pain than happiness."

- Kid Zeus wondering what his older siblings will be like once he saves them.

- Zeus having all sorts of complicated feelings about Percy because the last person who was destined to defeat Kronos was himself, and he went on to become king of the gods. So what's Percy gonna do in the future?

- Zeus being glad that Athena and Poseidon are rivals because her brains combined with his power would make him nervous, but at the same time he feels like a real piece of shit for not wanting his daughter to get along with her uncle.

- It's rare that Zeus indulges in it but on occasion he can be a massive troll. There's one story where Apollo challenges Zeus to an archery contest, and Apollo goes first and shoots his arrow to a mountain on the other side of Greece. Zeus walks over there in a single step, picks up the arrow, and says "So what are we shooting at?"

Also idk if you've read it but if you don't mind a little self-promotion, my story End of an Era on AO3 has some complicated Zeus if you're interested.

[bugwolfsstuff]

Yes yesss

On the 'wondering what his siblings would be like' thing. I hc that he was attatched from day 1 and thought they could do no wrong in his eyes the first few years after he saved them. Wherever they were, so was he.

Poseidon is straight up dropping his weapons and putting himself and everyone else in danger by fighting with his teeth? How dare you, he is perfect. Zeus will fight for him.

Also I hc that Zeus devouring Metis was a thing that he very much regretted and tried to desperately undo (i believe I have some scrapped art of it) so I feel like he fears his marriage to Hera ending up like that.

Guilt over Metis also is sorta one of the main reasons he favors and fears Athena. Tho Athena doesnt realize that cus she doesnt really give thought about Zeus' 1st wife. She is motherless Athena after all.

Also to me. None of Zeus' fam actually wanna kill him. They think he needs to chill and maybe they wanna take him down a peg but never kill. Thats their baby brother/father. Hes too paranoid to realize that tho.

[aaaaalice]

Ooh, Zeus not realizing that his family would never seriously hurt him is some delicious tragedy!