do you have any more thoughts on npd!Annabeth? I love your takes so much - it explains so much
So this post has my initial thoughts on how I interpret Annabeth fitting the DSM criteria. As for other thoughts...
Personally I don't put too much stake in the sub-types of PDs because I think most people have a mix of traits from more than one. However, I do think it can be useful both for people trying to figure out their issues and a starting place for character work. Sub-types of any PD basically just break down different ways it may present in someone. As I understand it, there are a few sub-types for NPD, but the two most frequently spoken about are overt and covert. For me, Annabeth leans more towards overt narcissism.
Overt narcissism is generally viewed as stemming from a genuine view of one's own self-importance. Comparatively people with covert narcissism typically have deep insecurities and fears of failure/inferiority. Their narcissism is a projection meant to protect them. This is why covert NPD and AVPD can be mistaken for one another as both can stem from an extreme fear of rejection. But where covert NPD relies on a projection of superiority as a coping mechanism, AVPD relies on isolation.
Now, while Annabeth does lean more overt, she does have that fear of being less than others and is easily envious of other people's achievements, especially when they outshine her or she perceives them to have gotten something she deserves. But she is openly more grandiose (re: hubris), controlling and not as self-deprecating as may be seen in people with with covert NPD. When she receives criticism, she doesn't internalize and become depressed. She gets angry and rude. This is what I mean by people having a mix of traits among the sub-types.
I feel Annabeth is the type of person where you don't initially think of her as a narcissist, but once someone is like "she has NPD", you're like "oh yeah, I see that." Part of that is because she is a kind person and she gets along fairly well with other people. So she doesn't come off the way it's stereotyped. I don't think she masks much either, but because she grew up in an environment where her strengths thrived, she didn't have to. The praise and admiration she seeks is often praise and admiration she deserves.
So she often butts heads with people who did not grow up with her and thereby do not understand what a miracle of genius she is. I think the one person she struggles to get along with the most is Jason because of this. He grew up in an environment where teamwork was required and enforced. He personally believes that no one person is significantly better than the rest. So while he will praise her for an outstanding job, he won't lend her sole credit if someone else was also there, no matter how minor their role.
Since she's used to being touted as the best of the best, even if someone aided her, this doesn't go over well. Normally she would reject him immediately because this damages her ego, but because Jason is a child of Jupiter, chosen champion of Juno, former praetor of New Rome and Thalia's brother, she thinks of him as Special and Important and needs him to like her. Which he does! Just not to the extent she wants him to.
Her ability to get along well with others is also part of her NPD. She needs everyone to like her. She needs people to want to be around her. It strokes her ego.
Most people she interacts with are not Important or Special, but she is kind and friendly to them anyway because she is a nice person. Also being kind ensures that people continue to think of her as Important and Special. Because she is the world's most special princess, she prioritizes interacting with people who are also the world's most special princesses. Which is why she latches onto Percy so quick even though she thinks they're not supposed to be friends because of their parents. He is Special and Important and being around him will make her even more Special and Important.
Percy prioritizing his friendship with Grover drives her up the wall because she is Special and, while she does genuinely like and care about him, Grover is still just a neurotic anxious satyr who failed to do the one thing he's supposed to do. He is Not Special.
I have talked/joked about Annabeth and Leo starting their own business. Leo is a mathematics and engineering prodigy. Annabeth is not. So he often sees flaws her in her plans and she hates it so so much. She also prefers aesthetic whereas he prefers function. She wants it to look amazing. He just wants it to work. So he'll often have to talk her down from something overly extravagant and she hates that so so much.
Sometimes he doesn't see a flaw, he just sees missed potential, but she can't stand that either. Honestly she probably hates that more than when he notices a mistake.
She probably splits on him quite a bit because of this dynamic and it's definitely not healthy. Because she still needs him to value her, I think it would be uncommon for her to be explicit about the shift in thinking. She won't be upfront, she'll just knock him down a peg more subtly. Be a little ruder, a little shorter, a little more dismissive. And then eventually her mood settles and she shifts back to positive and they're fine until it happens again.
Definitely not healthy. But I don't see her recognizing this pattern and Leo does not have a healthy enough self-esteem to tell her to fuck off. If he's got AVPD tacked on top, he probably hides from her or self-deprecates until she's nice again.
It's difficult because I think Leo, for all his class clown antics, is fairly socially aware. Yeah, he tends to think of people looking down on him so the accuracy of that awareness is questionable but I think he picks up on shifts in mood and behaviour, so even if she's subtle about it, he knows she's pissed. It's not hard to pinpoint why. I think this makes it harder for him to speak candidly about her mistakes. He'll try to sugarcoat it in a joke or two but the sugarcoating just makes her feel worse because how dare he say she made a mistake and also treat her like a child.
That being said, Annabeth is well aware that Leo is a prodigy, even if that fact annoys her, so when her mind isn't trying to convince her that he does not deserve to associate with her because he's the world's worst person, she genuinely does enjoy working with him and is willing to learn new things from him. For her, I think Leo is a Special person, which would surprise him. He's not Important, but he's definitely Special and so she wants to hang out with him. I think he'd also be into architecture, but since that's not a passion for him, it allows her to show off and be better than him while also bonding.
When it comes to Special and Important People, I don't mean it in a favourite person sense either. She may sense that someone is Special (and Important) but not associate with or even like them. For example, Nico would be a Special (and occasionally Important, quest depending) person but she doesn't go out of her way to spend time with him.
When it comes to FPs, I've seen the respective term used be Equal Person (as in someone they consider to be equal to them) or Chosen Person (as in people they don't consider to be equal to them but care for deeply). But I'll just use FP going forward.
From what I've come to understand (and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong), with NPD, FPs are seen as kind of extension of the self. With BPD, an FP is a very large source of that person's identity and often a very key part in their ability to emotionally regulate. With NPD, it's more like they're an extra limb.
With this, I think Percy would probably be Annabeth's FP. She has very specific expectations of their future, he is typically willing to go along with whatever she wants or plans, he thinks highly of her, and she doesn't really bother with his interests but he is happy to engage with hers. Outside of PJOverse, this is mostly because Percy doesn't really have any clear interests. The books are very plot based, which is fine, and Percy is kind of a blank slate from which the readers learn Greek myths and such, so where other characters have their "specializations" that help advance the plot and teach us, Percy doesn't.
In universe, and specifically within this AU, this can be written off as Annabeth having trouble seeing Percy as his own person.
I think before Percy, Luke was probably her FP. And it's because he is an extension of her that she has trouble seeing him as the enemy up until the fifth book. He cannot be bad because she is not bad. Once she's able to understand it, Luke is dropped and Percy takes his place. This is bolstered by the fact that they are dating and Percy wants to make her happy.
So! When Percy has BPD, I typically write his mom and Grover as being his FPs. However, while she is not an FP in that Percy never fully idealizes her, when neither of them are around or available, she becomes a key source of his identity. His attachment is likely very fulfilling for her as it boosts her ego.
When trying to be canon compliant, I can see her utilizing their move to New Rome as both a way to ensure he continues to follow the plan she's setup for him (even if he himself doesn't care about it) and have him to rely on her in such a way that he continues to be an extension of her, rather than his own person.
When it comes to her siblings, canonically we don't get much insight on her relationship with them. Coupled with Athena favouring her (the invisibility hat, architect of Olympus post, something else I'm probably forgetting), I imagine her relationship with her demigod half-siblings lacks any real closeness. Whether consciously or not, she doesn't think of them as equal to her. She is their mother's favourite girl and she knows it and they know it.
I don't think she intentionally flaunts it at them. But she doesn't have the self-awareness to be humble about it when they're around. And on a surface level, she looks at her siblings and sees Athena's children, and as Athena's children they should be logical and smart and therefore understand that she is more Special than them and not care about it when she shows off for other people.
Unfortunately, they are more than just Athena's kids so it doesn't work like that. If she were to actually pay attention, she's probably recognize that her siblings are far closer to each other than to her. Whether or not this would bother her is debatable.
Alright, this is. Long. 😅 So I will leave it off here.
