Pop Goes the Culture!

[franklyopinionated]

People are obsessed with exaggerating Annabeth's flaws while also downplaying her good qualities.

People exaggerate a few snide comments she made to Rachel in botl but no one ever talks about how Rachel would have died a painful death if Annabeth hadn't risked her own life to save Rachel from a crashing helicopter in TLO. Annabeth wasn't even fully sure she could fly the helicopter, yet she jumped into it and risked her own death on the chance that she could save Rachel. Mind you, she didn't even like Rachel at this point but she put her feelings aside to save her. She literally could have stood there and let Rachel die and absolutely no one would be able to blame her for it.

People always bring up the fact that she wanted to save Luke as a negative thing while never mentioning that the thing that stopped Luke in the end was his love (familiar) for Annabeth and the promise he made to protect her. Annabeth would not have leaned on that promise to snap Luke out of being Kronos's meatbag if she had completely given up on him like Thalia. Her love and faith that Luke could be saved literally was the ace in the hole in stopping the war and she never gets credit for it. I've seen people give Percy credit for this and claim he was the one that knew when Luke was ready to be saved (give him the knife) which is absolute nonsense. Percy despised Luke right up until the end. He didn't decide Luke was ready for the knife. Annabeth did. What Percy did was finally trust Annabeth's opinion on Luke, something he hadn't done in the books leading up to this moment. But Percy 100% is not the person who made the call that Luke could be trusted, Annabeth was. Yet all of her credit always goes to Percy. Kind of annoying.

People act like Percy is the only one in their relationship that goes above and beyond while never mentioning that a full year before Percy fell into Tartarus for Annabeth, she actually took a near fatal blade straight to the chest for him and almost died. Mind you, she did this after Percy spent an entire summer hanging out with someone else and considering her history with her loved ones that must have completely felt like one more person in her life who abandoned her for someone less complicated when things got tough just like her father did. But when push came to shove she valued his life above her own because she loved him that much even when it could be argued that based on the state of their relationship at that point it would be understandable if she didn't think his life was worth risking her own life for his. But thats just not who Annabeth is. She loved Percy completely, even when they're not in the best place and he's spent the summer leading up to a war in which Annabeth could die hanging out with another girl. After all of that she still never strays from his side or having his back when it really matters.

People always gloss over the fact that Nico wanted to dislike Annabeth because of his crush yet he could never bring himself to dislike her because Annabeth was one of the few people at camp who was always nice to him. Annabeth has always been canonically nicer to Nico than Percy ever has. Yet people who want to ship Nico with Percy (someone who canonically has zero interest in him) they try to act like Annabeth was a monster. Mind you, Percy is the one who found Nico annoying for the duration of the books and Annabeth is the one who looked for him between TTC and BOTL and who was always so nice to him that Nico couldn't even bring himself to dislike her.

And then you have her family. Despite her being emotionally abused and neglected she still continues to give her family chance after chance to be better throughout the books. And despite fandom trying to rewrite history, that decision has nothing to do with Percy. She canonically has been trying to repair her relationship with her father and stepmother even before she meets Percy in Lightening Thief. She's one of the most loyal and forgiving characters in the series and never gets credit for it. *and yes, Annabeth is one of the most loyal characters in the series. Not sure why people act like characters can't have dominant personality traits outside of their fatal flaw. Annabeth is canonically just as loyal as Percy is and Percy has moment of incredible hubris that never gets called out for being hubris.

Really sick and tired of certain folks in this fandom exaggerating or completely making up Annabeth's flaws while ignoring the same or similar flaws in other characters (like Percy for example). And while Annabeth does have flaws, most of what people hate her for are things they have made up in their heads and have seemed to convince themselves is actually the canon from the books. It's both delusion, hateful and misogynistic. They hate her for flaws and problems they made up or exaggerated while straight up ignoring her accomplishments, character growth and good qualities. It's getting ridiculous. And we know most of you only do it because you want to ship Percy with someone else so you need to turn Annabeth into a villain to justify other ships which is incredibly ridiculous because you can literally ship whatever you want without being hateful and making things up about another character.

So many of your favs would be dead or worse off if Annabeth really was the monster ya'll try to act like she is to justify your hatred, misogyny and racism against her. * a lot of Annabeth hate picked up with the show casting a dark skin black girl and any one who thinks that's a coincidence is an idiot.

[franklyopinionated]

It always confuses me when people complain that Rachel and Percy aren't close after the first five book. Did we all read the same books? There's a reason for that. One of the reasons Percy and Rachel are not shown to be super close in the text anymore is because it's normal and healthy to not to remain best buds with someone that you kinda dated (even if they never did officially). It's a sign of respect for your current relationship to not put yourself in that situation.

It would be weird if Percy and Rachel were still having "beach dates" when he was in serious relationship with Annabeth. Not sure why anyone finds that confusing. Do you guys think Percy should just lack respect for Annabeth and carry on a super close frinedship with a girl he once considered dating?

I think Percy and Rachel no longer being super close is absolutely realistic. They're still friendly, as are Annabeth and Rachel, but anything beyond that would be absolutely disrespectful to his current relationship.

[franklyopinionated]

I feel like a lot of people see Percys disrespect of Annabeth as "funny" and they probably see it that way because Rick wrote it that way.

Because the "How about a kiss for luck" and "isn't it a tradition" from Last Olympian isn't really funny or cute or romantic when you recall that the last time Annabeth worked up the courage to kiss Percy he heroically saved her but then proceeded to get feelings for another girl literally days later while not even knowing if Annabeth was even alive of dead.

He gets off the island and then proceeds to straight up mock Annabeth's intelligence in front of Rachel during botl when Rachel joined the quest. Percy wasn't even joking when he did that. They were not in a good place with each other when he did that. He was just being cruel to be cruel and he was doing it in front of another girl. Ultimate fuck boy behavior. The minute Percy started to get attention from other girls he started to treat Annabeth like shit and no one ever brings that little disgusting fact up because they know it makes Percy look shitty. And make no mistake he was shitty for that type of behavior. Why is it never ok to call Percy out when he's being horrible but it's ok to literally make up things that aren't in the book to hate Annabeth?

Mind you Percy follows the events of botl up by then proceeding to spend the entire summer leading up to a war in which Annabeth could die hanging out with another girl.....at this point what about Percabeth at the end of Last Olympian doesn't feel like Annabeth is settling for a guy that 100% does not deserve her based on how he treated her when he had other options and it was convenient for him to not treat her well?

Every attempt Annabeth has ever made in their relationship has been minimized by Percy, which would 100% be okay if he didn't then turn around in his narration and attempt to turn the audience against Annabeth by comparing her to his new love interest and implying that Annabeth was the one unclear about her feelings and where their relationship stood? Mind you, he's blaming Annabeth for this while spending his entire summer with another girl who he is smart enough to know has feelings for him beyond friendship. Percy is an outright hypocrite (and a tiny little bit of a fuck boy) at the start of Last Olympian and no one in the text or in the fandom ever calls him out on it.

Quite frankly, Percy treats Annabeth like shit compared to his other love interest until it's convenient for him to treat her better at the end of Last Olympian when Rick needed to wrap their story up. Their relationship only happens on Percy's timetable, never Annabeth's and never on equal footing (Annabeth has no other actual love interest to the two others that Rick gave Percy.....*not counting Luke who is a predator.....though by that logic so is Calypso). Their relationship has never been equal and a lot of the reaction to their relationship are usually a result of people wanting to coddle Percy or people not examining his unreliable and biased narration when he uses it against Annabeth to cast himself as the aggrieved party. Ricks misogynistic writing has always been skewed to infantilize and coddle Percy while borderline vilifying Annabeth so that Percys other love interest and his treatment of Annabeth once they are part of the narrative in botl/tlo can be justified.

[franklyopinionated]

I hate when people do the whole alternate Percy fell into Tartarus alone or with someone else bit because I think people forget that Tartarus really starts as Annabeth's story, not Percys. Annabeth is the one who was always going to fall, Percy only fell BECAUSE he wouldn't let her fall alone. There is no reasonable scenario where Percy would have fallen in without her. But of course as always people love to erase women from stories.

Because as much as some people pretend to hate Annabeth they love inserting their fav's into her storylines.

[squirrel--boy]

I absolutely agree with your sentiment...BUT.

Percy falling is an interesting storyline as he I'd isolated from Annabeth, therefore bloodbending. Dark Percy. Annabeth falls alone...Dies when she hits the bottom. Pretty darn quickly bc Waterboy can't save em. Thus hecka dark Percy, like destroy all enemies in vengeance Percy. Regardless. Annabeth just...doesn't survive alone.

[franklyopinionated]

Actually, we don't know if Percy would have survived falling alone. This is the thing people forget. Annabeth is the one who alerts him that water was nearby because Percy was out of it the entire time they were falling. Once they fell into the river Percy was actually drowning and it's Annabeth who saved him, not the other way around. It's not normal water, it's not his fathers domain. Percy was just as likely to die on impact or by drowning soon after, if Annabeth was not there. And even if he survived the fall and the river it's extremely unlikely that he would have figured out to drink the firewater. Which means he would have died soon after from dehydration. I'm not sure why people ignore that Annabeth played a huge part in them surviving Tartarus and if Percy fell alone he likely would have died same as Annabeth likely would have died if she fell alone. The entire point of Tartarus is that they survived because of each other, not because of Percy. The entire concept of Percy fell alone downplays the role Annabeth played in Percys survival in Tartarus and that's kind of the point I'm making. It's misogynistic AF.

[franklyopinionated]

I hate when people do the whole alternate Percy fell into Tartarus alone or with someone else bit because I think people forget that Tartarus really starts as Annabeth's story, not Percys. Annabeth is the one who was always going to fall, Percy only fell BECAUSE he wouldn't let her fall alone. There is no reasonable scenario where Percy would have fallen in without her. But of course as always people love to erase women from stories.

Because as much as some people pretend to hate Annabeth they love inserting their fav's into her storylines.

[franklyopinionated]

Percy spent the entire summer leading up to a war in which Annabeth could die hanging out with another girl. Prior to that he got feelings for another girl days after Annabeth worked up the courage to take the first step in their romantic relationship and kiss him and let's not forget that he didn't know if Annabeth was alive or dead when he was on Ogygia and that didn't stop him from getting feelings for Calypso during that time.

The fact that Percy treating Annabeth poorly coincides with him starting to get attention from other girls for the first time is hands down one of the douchiest parts of his personality in the first five books that never gets called out.

That said, I don't mind Percy having other love interest, I just wished Rick would have given Annabeth the same respect and experiences of romantic connections outside of Percy that didn't include being preyed on by a grown Luke. That difference in Annabeth and Percy having other romantic connections will always read as an insane level of really gross misogyny to me.

I don't think Rick concluded any of those storylines well enough. Percy comes off as wishy washy in some of his romantic choices. Calypso was left open ended in terms of his feelings, and Percy never actually made a choice to not pursue anything with Rachel romantically, Rachel made that choice. Things just happen to Percy. Percy really doesn't seem like an active participant in any of his choices.

In my opinion, the Percy/Rachel stuff lasted way too far into Last Olympian for me to believe the resolution of Percy/Annabeth by the end of the book. Percy was still acting like Rachel was a romantic interest by the last few chapters of the book. The Percy/Rachel stuff concluded and Percy/Annabeth got together like five minutes later. It was jarring and rushed and I firmly believe that Annabeth and that entire storyline that had been built up for 5 books deserved better.

The only thing that got me to like Percabeth again was Mark of Athena and House of Hades. I just could never be okay with how Percy treated Annabeth compared to his other love interest in botl and tlo to like them together by the end of Last Olympian because I will always think she deserved better than a guy who was wish washy and unclear about how he felt about her compared to any other girl who batted their eyes at him until the very last minute, after she did all the emotional labor in the lead up to their relationship, and only when it was convenient for him.

[pevensiegiigi]

They're teenagers with dramas. Analyzing a teenage plot as adults who see the world differently... Hmm Too convoluted.

[franklyopinionated]

Why do we act like teenagers can't be assholes and shouldn't get their asshole behavior called out? No one is saying Percy is a monster, but b being a teenager is not an excuse to treat someone who you're suppose to care about like absolute shit until it's convenient for you to treat them better.

[franklyopinionated]

Percy spent the entire summer leading up to a war in which Annabeth could die hanging out with another girl. Prior to that he got feelings for another girl days after Annabeth worked up the courage to take the first step in their romantic relationship and kiss him and let's not forget that he didn't know if Annabeth was alive or dead when he was on Ogygia and that didn't stop him from getting feelings for Calypso during that time.

The fact that Percy treating Annabeth poorly coincides with him starting to get attention from other girls for the first time is hands down one of the douchiest parts of his personality in the first five books that never gets called out.

That said, I don't mind Percy having other love interest, I just wished Rick would have given Annabeth the same respect and experiences of romantic connections outside of Percy that didn't include being preyed on by a grown Luke. That difference in Annabeth and Percy having other romantic connections will always read as an insane level of really gross misogyny to me.

I don't think Rick concluded any of those storylines well enough. Percy comes off as wishy washy in some of his romantic choices. Calypso was left open ended in terms of his feelings, and Percy never actually made a choice to not pursue anything with Rachel romantically, Rachel made that choice. Things just happen to Percy. Percy really doesn't seem like an active participant in any of his choices.

In my opinion, the Percy/Rachel stuff lasted way too far into Last Olympian for me to believe the resolution of Percy/Annabeth by the end of the book. Percy was still acting like Rachel was a romantic interest by the last few chapters of the book. The Percy/Rachel stuff concluded and Percy/Annabeth got together like five minutes later. It was jarring and rushed and I firmly believe that Annabeth and that entire storyline that had been built up for 5 books deserved better.

The only thing that got me to like Percabeth again was Mark of Athena and House of Hades. I just could never be okay with how Percy treated Annabeth compared to his other love interest in botl and tlo to like them together by the end of Last Olympian because I will always think she deserved better than a guy who was wish washy and unclear about how he felt about her compared to any other girl who batted their eyes at him until the very last minute, after she did all the emotional labor in the lead up to their relationship, and only when it was convenient for him.

Annabeth deserved better than the way Percy behaved in botl and tlo. She always has and the only reason Rick never gave her another love interest is because he knew the contrast with how Percy was treating her in those two books would be appalling if we compared it to someone actually treating her with respect and care. I'm tired of pretending that Percy having several other love interest and Annabeth only having a predatory connection with Luke is anything other that misogyny that benefits Percy at Annabeth's expense.

[sheespi]

I think that SO many people didn't reread pjo in their adulthood AND IT SHOWS

like wdym you don't like that they changed things for the show? would you have preferred watching Percy, Anabeth and Grover fight PILLOWS in the first season?? the lack of deepening in all of the enemies (except maybe Luke and Ethan, and even them could have been written better)? absolutely all of the characters being white af? the fact that NONE of the fatal flaws were relevant at the end?

I can understand the discomfort to a certain extent but my god there's so many of you that are just completely blinded by nostalgia

[franklyopinionated]

This! The books aren't awful. Not by a long run. They're actually fantastic books. But intentional or not Rick has some really questionable moments in those books that lean into racism, misogyny and sexism, especially in botl, tlo and Heroes of Olympus, that 1000% has to be updated for the show and I'm sick of book purist pretending that everything should just be 1 to 1.

[franklyopinionated]

Getting mad at people who point out the problems in some of Percy's characterization in botl and tlo makes no sense.

Rick wrote a book where we're expected to believe Percy already has romantic feelings for Annabeth yet we're also expected to believe Percy, whose fatal flaw is loyalty, also got feelings for another girl one chapter after Annabeth kissed him for the first time, and even worse, he got feelings for another girl during a short period of time where he wasn't sure if Annabeth was alive or dead.

Many people forget that it's canon that Percy did not know Annabeth was alive until Hephaestus showed up on Ogygia and confirmed that she made it back to camp safely. Under the assumption that Annabeth could have been hurt, in danger or dead, Percy found time to get feelings for another girl who he barely knew.

I'm sorry, but that's ooc writing for Percy any way you swipe it and it's not consistent with the character Rick built in previous books. That has nothing to do with Percy having other love interest because the Rachel arc does not suffer from the same problems. There are other timeline problems with the Rachel arc, but it's nowhere near as bad as the Ogygia problems.

Get mad at Rick, not the fans who point out the inconsistencies in Percys character in those two books. Because the truth is that Rick sacrificed some of Percys character to make the Ogygia chapter romantic and people hate to admit that because people hate any opinion of Percy that's not putting him on a pedestal.

[just-tryina-live]

I mean I haven’t read the books in a while but wasn’t it part of the calypso story that all male demigods automatically fall in love with her? Like I thought it was magic, because as soon as Percy left, he forgot all about her. The only way Leo remembered was because he wasn’t ’charming and handsome’ like the other demigods who ended up on her island, so he was there for a lot longer before the magic raft came

[franklyopinionated]

Yeah, you're recalling that wrong. For one, Leo was there for just as long, if not longer than Percy and by the end of his time there Calypso was in love with Leo, a child. Secondly, all demigods don't have to fall in love with her and it never says Percy does, only that he has feelings/a crush by the time he leaves which again goes back to my point that this happens one chapter after Annabeth kisses him for the first time and during a period of days where he didn't know if Annabeth was alive or dead. People only try to say the island was magic to give Percy an excuse for some really shitty behavior because he does look very wishy washy and his actions and line of thinking come across as really shitty when you think about the actual timeline of Ogygia and the events immediately preceding, during and after it.

[moonliightings]

one of my biggest problems with pjotv is unfortunately still the way they write women. adding a whole new female antagonist (alison) to shift the blame away from the male antagonist (luke) is certainly a choice!

[franklyopinionated]

This! And they're already laying the groundwork for Annabeth to be hated by S4/S5. I have a feeling I'm going to need to check out if S3 doesn't do better with playing the blame game for the female characters.

[franklyopinionated]

Getting mad at people who point out the problems in some of Percy's characterization in botl and tlo makes no sense.

Rick wrote a book where we're expected to believe Percy already has romantic feelings for Annabeth yet we're also expected to believe Percy, whose fatal flaw is loyalty, also got feelings for another girl one chapter after Annabeth kissed him for the first time, and even worse, he got feelings for another girl during a short period of time where he wasn't sure if Annabeth was alive or dead.

Many people forget that it's canon that Percy did not know Annabeth was alive until Hephaestus showed up on Ogygia and confirmed that she made it back to camp safely. Under the assumption that Annabeth could have been hurt, in danger or dead, Percy found time to get feelings for another girl who he barely knew.

I'm sorry, but that's ooc writing for Percy any way you swipe it and it's not consistent with the character Rick built in previous books. That has nothing to do with Percy having other love interest because the Rachel arc does not suffer from the same problems. There are other timeline problems with the Rachel arc, but it's nowhere near as bad as the Ogygia problems.

Get mad at Rick, not the fans who point out the inconsistencies in Percys character in those two books. Because the truth is that Rick sacrificed some of Percys character to make the Ogygia chapter romantic and people hate to admit that because people hate any opinion of Percy that's not putting him on a pedestal.

[franklyopinionated]

Yes, Percy would react poorly to anyone he loves in danger. But people are being a little ridiculous at this point by acting like his feelings for everyone in his life are exactly the same. Six months from now he see Annabeth when looking at Aphrodite and even in SOM he was carrying around her picture (the show included Grover's picture here as well, but in the books it was just Annabeth's to drive home a point for a reason). It's true that Percy is not yet aware he has a crush on Annabeth, a crush that will eventually turn into love, but the seeds are being planted and it's not unintentional. It's not happenstance that these are moments specific to Annabeth and Percy.

Not sure why people are ridiculously trying to deny this or act like his freak out in 206 is not specifically framed as a Percabeth moment for a reason. Even the "Don't touch her" is pulled directly from Last Olympian when he also loses it at Annabeth being hurt.

Also, we literally saw him watch Tyson fall off a cliff in the very same scene. He screamed, because of course he would, and of course he would sacrifice anything if he could have saved Tyson, but he also immediately goes back to screaming about Annabeth in that scene even though Tyson had just fallen off a cliff. Doesn't mean he doesn't love Tyson, because of course he does. It also doesn't mean he loves Tyson less. But it's undeniable that it's being framed that there is something different there when it comes to Annaebth, even if it's not ready to be acknowledged.

Not really sure why people are so stubborn about trying to deny that while Percy would sacrifice the world for any of his loved ones Annabeth does hold a special place to him and his protectiveness of her has always been a little more intense than it is with anyone else, except for Sally. The seeds of that are what we're seeing being planted even if neither of them will be ready to acknowledge it for a while yet.

Like I said, six months from now he sees her when looking at the goddess of love and has a fit about the idea that she might join the hunters and leave him. It's okay to acknowledge that there is a certain level of intensity in those scenes that are specific to it being Annabeth and would not be a one for one copy and paste if it was someone else, even if it was someone else he also loved and cared about.

[franklyopinionated]

Why does no one ever mention that until Hephastus showed up on Ogygia Percy actually had no idea if Annabeth had made it back safely or not. The last time he saw her they were both in danger. He told her to leave but he had no idea for sure that she made it back safely. Yet while on Ogygia Percy "my fatal flaw is loyalty" Jackson does not spare much time thinking on if Annabeth was alive or dead because he was too busy catching feelings for another girl.

This is one of the main reasons I will never truly believe that loyalty is Percys fatal flaw. His feelings were so fickle and easily forgotten in both botl and tlo for me to believe that. Rage or impulsivity should have been his fatal flaw and I'll die on that hill. Blame it on Rick's writing if you want but between botl and tlo he wrote a ot of scenarios where Percys fatal flaw being loyalty makes zero sense. It's insane to think that Percys fatal flaw is loyalty if you think about the implications of the Ogygia chapter or the fact that Percy spent the summer leading up to a war in which Annabeth could die making another girl his priority. It's laughable that people will try to burn you at the stake for saying that Annabeth deserved better and Percy was a shitty kabob in these storylines. Blame Rick, not the audience for pointing out these gross inconsistencies in Percys character and how he treats Annabeth in the books where he starts getting attention from other girls.

[franklyopinionated]

I think one part of the entire Calypso and Rachel conversation that people intentionally and disingenuously leave out is the timing of Percy getting those crushes. Yes, Percy did have crushes on both those characters so there is no use denying it. However, a lot of the reasons people tend to push back on both of these crushes is because the timing is weird and super disrespectful to Annabeth.

Calypso: Percy gets a crush on Calypso ONE chapter after Annabeth works up the courage to kiss him for the first time. Him and Annabeth weren't even in a bad place when this happened. It's not like they were arguing or anything so this one reads as particularly douchy. Also, he had no idea if Annabeth was alive or dead and instead of being worried about her he was more worried about himself having a new crush. It was gross.

Rachel: Percy still had a crush and was hanging out with Rachel in a "semi romantic" way just DAYS before he and Annabeth officially got together.

There's nothing wrong with Percy having other crushes. In fact, it would have been nice if the writing wasn't playing into gross gender stereotypes and we could have gotten Annabeth with a love interest outside of Percy as well (not counting a predatory relationship with Luke). That said, I'm tired of people acting like the timing of Percys crushes aren't odd.

No, Percabeth weren't together when Percy got crushes on Calypso and Rachel but both Percy and Annabeth were already aware of their feelings for each other to some degree at that point and it's clear from the writing that they were working up to something. So yeah, it reads as really shitty that in the middle of them working up to something we saw Percy for the first time get attention from other girls and we saw exactly how easy it was for him to hurt Annabeth when other options presented themselves. In both scenarios his feelings for each girl were so easily (within the span of days) put on hold and temporarily pushed to the side when it was convenient for him, not for the girls, but for him. It's really not a good sign of how loyal Percy would be in an actual relationship if that's all it took for him to break Annabeth's heart the very first time the opportunity presented itself.

It makes Percy seem really wishy washy and also kind of flies in the face of his fatal flaw and the only reason people won't admit that is because this fandom hates any conversation that might lean into criticizing Percy.

I have never liked Percy and Annabeth getting together at the end of tlo because I've always thought Annabeth deserved better than a guy who still had feelings for another girl just days earlier. I do like Percabeth by Mark of Athena onwards, but there is nothing about them in tlo that doesn't make me sad that Annabeth doesn't understand that she deserved to be treated with a little more respect. Especially because Rick doesn't even allow them to have a proper conversation where maybe Percy could kind of make some things right at the end. Percy really just gets to coast by and get the girl....on his timeline. It's gross.

Edit: And while we're at it please stop saying that Percy is the only person who never abandoned Annabeth. Cute saying. But ultimately a false concept as Percy 100% temporarily abandons her (Rachel) or strongly considers abandoning her (Calypso) when the going got tough just like her father and Luke did, though not with the severe ramifications as the latter two. *comparison only used because they're the three most important men in her life. Frederick and Luke's abandonment were way worse because they owned Annabeth way more as a father and a big brother than Percy did.

Percy is better that Luke and Frederick by miles, but don't erase Annabeth's pain by acting like he never abandoned her for an easier option when he canonically did. It wasn't until after the war when it was safe and the choice was easy did he choose Annabeth. Percy proved within a shadow of a doubt that he was not willing to stick with her when the going got tough (at least until Mark of Athena). When the going was tough he absolutely did abandon her like everyone else in her life usually does.

Frederick and Luke really did a number on her self esteem that she really thinks she deserves the bare minimum from the boys/men in her life and Percy, intentional or not, benefitted from that. Don't erase Annabeth's story and her pain to glaze Percy.

[franklyopinionated]

Can I point out the fact that som, ttc and botl are three books in succession where female characters are given the responsibility of leading the quest and eventually the quests become about Percy taking over because he knows best?

Som and ttc at least had him acknowledge the girls/women in the end by giving Clarisse the fleece or by holding up the sky because Artemis was stronger than him. But putting a nice bow on it at the end to make Percy looks nice doesn't change the concept that a quest given to a female character was essentially taken over by Percy three times in a row. The optics have always been odd because he's never written to do this to male characters, only female ones.

Also, botl is the most egregious example of this and no-one talks about it because for years fans have been too busy hating the female characters to acknowledge the misogyny at play in a lot of how Annabeth's quest eventually became about Percy taking it over and deciding what was best. Also, using the book about Annabeth finally leading her own quest to introduce two new love interest for Percy and actually have one of those love interest take over Annabeth's quest and including a scene where Percy mocks Annabeth's intelligence in front of Rachel was an off choice. It's weird that no one ever calls him out for this gross behavior. If Annabeth had ever mocked Percy's intelligence in front of another guy that the readers knew he was insecure about they would never forgive her, but Percy does it and everyone just glosses over it? Percy deserves respect in their friendship/eventual relationship, but Annabeth does not?

*and before anyone makes excuses like "they needed Rachel in botl" or "Percy knew what to do in som so he had to take over" I think it's important to remember that these books are not historical retellings. They're fictional. The author created storylines where a male character would always magically have the answers so that he would have to impose himself (som, ttc) or just take over (botl) a female characters quest. Rick could have written that in a way to empower his female characters and he chose instead to downplay and borderline insult them. That was a writing choice, not something that needed to happen.

[franklyopinionated]

Why are people trying to reframe the scene on the ironclad to make Percy look good and Annabeth seem harsh.

In the scene Percy is the one who was arguing with Clarisse's and Percys plan was bad because he didn't even know the myth. So Annabeth initially agrees with Clarisse that the plan is bad and then ask for Clarisse's own plan and only disagrees when Clarisse chooses the path that would get all of them killed. Annabeth doesn't boss them around. She gives both Percy and Clarisse chances to say what their plans are and only lays out her own plan when Clarisse's mockingly ask her for it. And to be clear Annabeth's plan is based on history and strategy (which would have worked if Clarisse didn't go rouge).

Percy immediately agrees with Annabeth's plan and harshly tells Clarisse's as much. The conversation Percy and Clarisse has later was less about the choice she had to make and more about her relationship with her father.

Don't twist things to make it seem like Annabeth is unnecessarily harsh and Percy is easy going and coddled Clarisse into going with their plan. Percy was actually the one arguing with Clarisse and Annabeth was the one actually playing peacemaker to both of their immaturity.

Don't twist things to put Percy on a pedestal and leave the door open for people to criticize Annabeth. We have enough of that in this fandom without people making things up.

Trying to reframe those scenes to make Percy seem like the peacemaker is actually vile. He was fighting with Clarisse the entire time except for that one conversation. Annabeth was the one playing peacemaker that entire episode and i truly hate when people give credit for things she did to other people.

[franklyopinionated]

I absolutely HATED that they changed them getting caught in a Cyclops trap from being an error on Grovers part to an error on Annabeth's part. It's really freaking annoying to give Annabeth flaws and mistakes she didn't make in the books when she already has enough.

The Cyclops trap scene in the books is a scene where Annabeth at seven years old is ABSOLUTELY freaking brave and is the ace in the hole in getting Thalia, Grover and Luke loose so that Thalia could fight them. But in the show they change it to be her fault and Thalia having to save her.

I think the show is absolutely doing some things really really well with Annabeth's character and I also think there are some ways in which they're already starting to fail her and it's making me nervous for how Annabeth is treated and written in S3 and especially in S4 because NEWSFLASH, Annabeth is not a character just built on flaws. It's maybe about time the writers start showing some other sides of her. And while we're at it, let's stop pretending that Percy's only flaw is that he's too loyal. Because that's barely a flaw and Percy has a lot of actual flaws as a character.