you asked for and ask to write an essay on percabeth and i'm here to comply
i did in fact ask to be held accountable and y’all delivered. it’s been a hot second since i wrote an essay about pjo, bear with me. (based on this post.)
one of my favorite things about percabeth is actually one of my favorite things about romance as a genre in general. obviously pjo as a series is not a romance, and percy and annabeth’s relationship is not the core relationship of the series, (there is no sole core relationship of the series, which is why it works, but that’s a different post i don’t have the energy to make right now) but that’s also a strength! there is something so powerful about knowing two characters are going to end up together from their very first interaction and then having to wait to see the relationship grow. canon percabeth from book one means absolutely nothing. they are two twelve year olds who are in charge of saving the world for the first time without a single clue of what’s coming for them. annabeth says “he’s the one, he must be,” and we Know, but one of the defining characteristics of percy and annabeth’s relationship is that it is built on friendship and mutual understanding. it is not built on destiny or fate (the literal thesis of the entire series), it is built on moments like the conversation in the zoo car in tlt and the bubble at the bottom of siren bay, with absolutely no ulterior motive in the support they give each other. there are still cute, innocent moments where percy thinks annabeth looks pretty (circe’s island) or makes her blush, but it is so overwhelmingly platonic. they are children! they are still growing! they’re putting down roots and only just starting to realize how that makes them intertwined.
it isn’t until ttc that we really see exactly how much untangling those roots hurts. despite the fact that annabeth isn’t physically present for the majority of the book, ttc is undoubtedly the romantic turning point of the series for percabeth, and a strong one at that. obviously there are moments where percy sneaks onto a forbidden quest with the explicit intention of saving her, spouts random facts about architecture he picked up from years of listening to her ramble on passionately, repeatedly dreams of her whereabouts, and sees her face in the literal goddess of love--those are all powerful and carry their own weight within the narrative. but my favorite part of ttc is that it is the book where percy and annabeth are truly the only people who understand the burden the other has taken on. they hold the sky and are marked with their matching grey streaks. they have other relationships and other struggles the other doesn’t understand, but this is something absolutely unique to them. this is what grounds them through botl and tlo, where the struggles that are unique to them begin to threaten the security of their relationship.
knowing that percabeth is endgame from the first interaction is what lays the groundwork for botl and tlo (especially the space between) where their relationship is tested. percy is pulled toward normality and rachel, which hurts annabeth, and annabeth is pulled toward luke, which hurts percy. the strife they go through and overcome is necessary to set them up for success; it’s why it’s believable that they are going to college together (though i refuse to accept they leave nyc and my blog acknowledges nothing past pjo as canon (keep this in mind while reading this post)) and are going to last. being close with rachel allows percy the narrative ability to choose annabeth knowing she is what he wants rather than the only option. they have grown with and because of each other, and the climax of the series relies almost entirely on the traits they bring out in each other. there is no way percy gives luke the knife without annabeth in the room. there is no way annabeth is secure enough in her relationships to keep from giving into luke before this without percy in her life. it’s here at sixteen instead of twelve--still very much kids, but kids who have years of shared experience, friendship, and love under their belt--that they are ready to capital L Love each other. they have put in the work and shown each other and the reader that they’re ready for it in ways they couldn’t have fathomed in the beginning.
it is such a joy to read about two people who love each other so fiercely from the very beginning without having this love undercut by romance. the romance comes when they’re ready for it, when the world is saved and they have time to figure themselves and each other out. it is such a beautiful standard to set in a children’s series. i genuinely get emotional thinking about kids growing up with such a wonderful example of healthy love to look up to. percy and annabeth are kids, and they’re allowed to make mistakes, and they are allowed to love each other anyway for it.
