I’ve been watching Danny Phantom and I get it. I get it now.
This show loves to make some offhanded comment, not a hint of consideration or concern in its tone, and just moves on without addressing it like that wasn’t the most creatively horrific concept this side of Nickelodeon. Shit makes up wackass lore on the spot and then disregards it immediately after, asks fascinating questions then looks at you funny when you try to answer them.
I now fully understand how this show has legions of fans dedicated to taking this somewhat mid cartoon and running so far with the implications of the premise they created an entirely different show that’s so much more interesting I’m upset it’s not real.
with the way some people talk about shifting… idk maybe they should just consider roleplaying instead
despite everything, it’s still you—?
Canon Yuu
~~~
I saw a post about Yuu and canon facts about them so I went through all the character voice lines and picked out all the other facts I could find. Some will be a repeat of what’s mentioned in the original post, which you’ll find here. I may update it as the game and manga progress. Some voice lines aren’t translated or in the official wiki yet so I rely on other sources for those.
I hyper fixated HARD on this.
Last Update: 3.17.2024 | recently added info will be bolded
Yuusona Bingo
You have no idea how happy you’re all making me <3333
~~~
Yuu likes initiating physical contact. They’ve poked at Riddle and Leona’s tsum a lot. They’ve also poked at Leona, Ortho, Kalim (tickling him in the process), Jack’s sides, Deuce (twice), Floyd, and Epel. Yuu tugged on Riddle’s sleeve during a lab class, Leona while camping, Kalim’s ceremonial robes headdress, Trey’s Halloween veil, Sebek’s sleeve (much to his dismay), and Vil. They’ve pulled at Jack’s ceremonial robes and Ace’s arm. Vil teases Yuu in a voice line saying that he can’t fault their overwhelming desire to touch him given his alluring beauty. They touch Malleus and he teases that if they continue to do so, Sebek would throw a fit. Malleus welcomes Yuu to touch his horns. Yuu also touches him without shrinking in fear. They wanted to touch/hold Jamil’s gala couture corsage, he also asks if touching is customary where Yuu is from. Yuu has almost touched Ortho’s heat exhaust and even managed to tickle him. Yuu kept clinging to Lilia during lab class in hopes he’d tutor them. Floyd called Yuu a barnacle which may suggest they kept clinging to him. They kept touching Jack’s Halloween costume which made him worry the shells would fall off. They pet Cater’s tsum WHILE looking at him, which gave Cater mixed signals. Deuce complained once how they were getting handsy with him. They’ve tickled Floyd—who promised to get them back. They played with Floyd’s tsum. They straightened Epel’s ribbon (Ghost Bride) without warning, Silver’s horned hat during Halloween, and kept flipping open Riddle’s jacket in his Suitor Suit. They scratched under Grim’s chin without asking.
Yuu attends every character’ birthday celebration and always seems to have a good time.
Yuu has a knack for dancing.
Yuu has the habit of staring at other people, just about every character calls them out on it.
Yuu had difficulty with basic lab textbook questions, which may be expected since they’re not from Twisted Wonderland.
Yuu wears makeup, at least to ceremonies.
Yuu thinks the amount of traditional events NRC has is unusual.
Yuu asks for help with studying and homework from their friends—at least the better educated ones.
Yuu appears to be someone who gets anxious at ceremonies. Trey had to tell them to stand still and stay quiet, implying they get fidgety and restless. Ruggie teased Yuu about how they squirmed in preparation for a ceremony. He was also rushed by Yuu who feared they wouldn’t make it to the ceremony in time. Jamil had to guide Yuu in taking deep breaths when they were anxious, he also points out they were fidgety.
Many characters have commented on Yuu’s diligence.
Based on dialogue, Yuu is quick to pass snarky/sarcastic responses.
Yuu seemed to adapt to Twisted Wonderland fairly quickly. When they saw Jack for the first time, they can make a comment about how he has dog ears and a tail in a seemingly (distant?) tone. They never pointed out or questioned Malleus’ horns. Reminder they freaked out when they first saw Grim, before any other character, so they’ve grown accustomed to the strangeness of NRC.
Yuu was once able to play with Leona’s tail. Yuu grabbed Ruggie’s tail during his birthday. They grabbed Jack’s tail, too. They tried to grab Malleus’ tail during Halloween but he wouldn't let them in fear it would send Yuu flying.
There’s a good chance Yuu tends to fall asleep in class. Jack promises to wake them up if they do, commenting that he can’t focus when someone is dozing off next to him. Trey reminds them that he won’t wake them up if they fall asleep. Ace caught Yuu dozing off once.
Yuu isn’t very good at keeping their attire in place. It’s pointed out by a handful of characters, and even in the main story. The hood of their robe was once inside out during a ceremony. The collar of their PE uniform was all wonky. Vil has even said the uniform is a bit too big and makes them look sloppy— and that their labwear was wrinkled. Trey says it looks like the school uniform is wearing them.
Yuu doesn’t really know how to behave/carry themselves in formal situations.
Yuu can either be really perceptive or really oblivious. In a voice line for Riddle’s Suitor Suit, Yuu noticed something different about him but couldn’t figure out what it was until he outwardly said he styled his hair back. But then in a voice line for Ace’s Bloom Birthday, they noticed that he angled the hat differently. (Like seriously, what is with that???)
Yuu had an awful bed-head while camping.
Yuu seemed excited about the Beanfest event. Jack says that they’re “pretty gung-ho” about it. Apparently there’s a tale similar to Beanfest where Yuu hails from. Yuu wanted to team with Azul during the event. Jamil said they were very into it. Vil complimented Yuu’s skills during Beanfest but was quick to shut down their excitement. He also comments that Yuu is surprisingly good at the event. Yuu was confronted by Rook and feigned surrender. Based on other voice lines, it seems Rook hunted Yuu at some point.
It can be interpreted that the freshmen get together at Ramshackle.
In Bloom Birthday voice lines, Yuu got many characters to show them their magic.
Yuu is serious about helping Grim become a great sorcerer.
Yuu is easy to scare, many characters got the drop on them during Halloween. You didn’t seem to get them back with much success.
A few characters comment how/if Yuu has grown used to living in Twisted Wonderland.
Not necessarily a Yuu fact, but Ramshackle gets lots of snow during the winter.
Yuu can come off as a boisterous person at times.
Yuu is not fazed by Riddle’s temper/behavior.
Yuu enjoyed the food Riddle made during the Culinary Crucible and that he might make more for them.
Yuu was energetic at Riddle’s birthday, though his precise wording was “energetic as ever”, implying Yuu is often excitable.
Yuu hid a present for Riddle somewhere in Heartslabyul and in order to find it, he had to solve the answer to a riddle.
Ace regularly invites Yuu to his basketball games.
Yuu commented on Ace’s basketball skills saying that his handling of the ball is slick.
Cater gave Yuu a ticket to the Pop Music Club’s show.
Yuu is apparently homesick, something they confide in Cater with at least twice.
During their visit to the Scalding Sands, Yuu got worn out by the crowds. Cater took them aside to sit and rest.
Cater doesn’t know what’s going through Yuu’s head.
Based on a few voice lines, Yuu is very familiar with Cater. To a point where he reminds them that he is an upperclassman that deserves respect.
For his Bloom Birthday, Deuce got a coupon to use during his birthday month and invited Yuu to use it with him—but to not tell any of the others because it was only meant for two.
Yuu asked Deuce to see his awards from track meets. Deuce was very eager to show them.
Like with Ace, Yuu cheers Deuce in at his tracks meets.
In a Glorious Masquerade line, Deuce asks Yuu to dance.
In a New Year’s line, Deuce says he set aside an item that Yuu wanted.
Ace, Deuce, and Cater are both disappointed to an extent that Yuu isn’t in Heartslabyul.
During his Bloom Birthday, Yuu made Trey a tart. It was either strawberry or chocolate or maybe both!
Yuu told Trey that science was difficult to them, so he decided to show them it could be fun.
In some of his ceremonial robe lines, Leona suggests he and Yuu ditch.
Yuu gave Leona candy during Halloween hoping it might make him happier.
Yuu is relaxed around Leona.
Yuu was very meticulous in slicing a piece of cake for Leona at his own birthday.
Yuu tried to sneak up on Leona to surprise him on his birthday, but he noticed them before they could jump out.
Yuu liked Leona’s gala couture.
Because Grim ate their food during the camp event, they went to Ruggie for spare food.
Ruggie comments on how the other campers can’t pitch a tent or start a fire, this may or may not have included Yuu.
Ruggie has comments that Yuu is a good sense of rhythm.
Ruggie extended an invitation/suggested Yuu to join the Spelldrive Club. He said that even if they’re magicless, there are many tasks a manager can do.
Azul has said Yuu has a tender disposition.
According to Azul, Yuu seems to have a good time during flight class.
Azul doesn’t believe them to have a good singing voice.
Yuu complimented the round framed glasses Azul wore during the Glorious Masquerade event.
Yuu shared some pastries with Azul in Fleur City.
Yuu thought Azul looked good in his masquerade and union birthday outfits.
Jade has teased Yuu, calling them a mischief-maker.
Jade said that Yuu is a curious one and comments on how they somehow always manage to be at the center of everything.
Jade and Yuu took a selfie together during Beanfest.
Yuu wished to climb Mount Molm during the Harveston event, but Jade told them to start with a smaller climb—saying snowy mountains were dangerous.
Yuu isn’t good at plating food. Floyd finds this very funny.
Yuu told Kalim during culinary crucible that they liked his food. But since Kalim’s meals tend to come out a little… crisp and messy, they may just be saying it so as to not hurt his feelings.
Jamil thinks(?) Yuu has an acute sense of smell as they were able to find him preparing a light snack for Kalim.
Yuu thought Jamil was being insincere when he thanked them for celebrating his birthday.
Yuu got a bunch of sauce on their face in the Scalding Sands, something Jamil subtly teased them for.
Yuu sees Jamil as a voice of reason in almost every situation.
Yuu complimented Jamil on his fairy couture which made him feel a little better.
A voice line from Jamil mentions Yuu wears a uniform to school and that it’s “nice in its own right”. This could mean that Yuu’s school uniform is old/a hand-me-down and isn’t necessarily like everyone else’s.
Yuu thinks Rook is a bit odd.
Yuu confided in Rook saying they get embarrassed when they’re sweaty.
Yuu wanted to ride on a horse with Epel during the Ghost Bride event.
Yuu got giddy when it began to snow, a detail Idia pointed out during the Harveston event.
According to Idia, Yuu is a friend to introverts and someone he can count on.
Yuu wanted to wear Idia’s suitor suit attire.
Malleus says Yuu always seems to attract a crowd, but that’s a given since they’re the main character.
In a Glorious Masquerade voice line, Malleus says something along the lines of escorting Yuu for the night and to rely on him to lead their dance.
When Malleus suspects that Fleur City will look different at night, Yuu’s eyes lit up with interest and curiosity.
Yuu found many amusing sights in Fleur City. Malleus says this before commenting “It seems wherever I may go with you, there is never a dull moments to be found.”
Malleus comments that Yuu’s dancing prowess has greatly improved during the Glorious Masquerade.
When Malleus says a plate in the Scalding Sands possesses a recently made design, Yuu tells him that it’s an antique. Either Yuu has studied Scalding Sands history before visiting or the antiques of Twisted Wonderland are similar to those in Yuu’s world.
Malleus once said, maybe sometime in Book Three, that Yuu was not as innocent as their doe-eyes would suggest.
Yuu once wanted to see Malleus dressed in his ceremonial robes, so he wore it just for them.
A line suggests that Yuu lingered around and focused on Malleus during his birthday party.
As thanks for participating in his birthday party, Malleus invited Yuu to visit about ten ruins.
Yuu wanted to hear an earnest proposal from Lilia during the Ghost Bride event.
There’s a very real possibility Lilia gave Yuu a piggyback ride during Halloween.
When Sebek chastised Grim’s gluttonous behavior, Yuu seemingly gave him a dirty look.
Sebek made too much food for himself during Camp Vargas and Yuu was staring at it with a “greedy gleam” in their eyes.
Also during the Camp Vargas event; Yuu would cover their ears when Sebek did roll call.
Yuu MAY have beaten Sebek at party games during his birthday.
Yuu had difficulty handling Harveston sleds, leading Sebek to brag about how he could do so with ease.
Silver has said Yuu worries too much about those around them.
Silver thinks Yuu has some talent with a sword.
Judging by a voice line from Professor Crewel, Yuu isn't that good academically and may be close to failing his class. He also says they and Grim are his biggest troublemakers.
On the contrary, Professor Trein says during the Glorious Masquerade that he doesn’t worry about Yuu and Grim. (I theorize the following: Crewel’s classes are based in magic, a feat Yuu doesn’t have. Therefore they’re likely to sit on the side as Grim does the lessons assigned. But knowing Grim, he causes trouble in class. Since Yuu and Grim count as one student, Crewel assumes that they’re both rowdy. Meanwhile, Yuu is able to participate in Trein’s classes, which are more traditional with studying and tests. Yuu is in tune with this method and can therefore excel, while Grim can’t as he wasn’t raised alongside humans. Crewel gets the wild half and Trein gets the responsible half.)
Yuu has the option to buy woven bands during the Glorious Masquerade event.
~~~
Notice with how all success stories they all just had accepted it was done in imagination and gave up completely on trying to change the 3d and just became the person who had it/changed themselves? That’s all you have to do.
I just want to headcanon, that the Fenton's have a ethereal type of beauty, not sexy or hot. Ethereal, like if you didn't know that they're a family of Mad scientist, a obsessive therapist and a dead boy. they could've passed as deity's.
And the amity park's citizens can and will totally agree, they might've disagree and fight for a lot of things but the only thing they can agree on was the Fenton's was down to earth beautiful.
Like Jack Fenton for example, He has built that can seemingly bench you without any hesitation, but a himbo at heart, the greys of his hair compliments way it mixes with the black hair of his, if Jack isn't in his ghost hunting suit, he is pretty decent when it comes to his fashion sense, When Jazz first brought along her friends, the first thing they asked was if Jack was single, which caused Jazz to smack their heads individually with a newspaper.
And don't get me started with Madeline Fenton, because I cannot stop when it comes to her, My girl with her short straight Reddish-brown hair, looks like a masculine but also feminine beauty, Can and will bench you, if you have any ill intent towards her family, she came from a long line of riches if I say so myself. Tall as fuck, about 6'7 while Jack is 7'0. very elegant when it comes to fighting, that it looks like she's just dancing, Was titled as a Milf by Danny's classmate which made the boy groan in annoyance, Sam and Tucker calls out to Maddie and says "Mother is Mothering", just to get something out of Danny who looks at them with disgust knowing full well what they were trying to do. While Maddie is just happy for the kids to see her as a mother figure.
Now Jazz, My love, my girl. Her long Red hair that came down to her hips, and her blue eyes, made all the girls and boys in her college swoon, with her 6'4 figure she strutted down the halls with confidence, beauty and brains everyone would oh so called it, and her knowledge in martial arts didn't lessen her attractiveness, The humans and ghosts can agree with that delightfully.
And now her dearest sibling Danny, Danny is a nonbinary fuck that can gender envy anyone he meets, that's why he got bullied in the first place, he was too fucking beautiful and handsome at the same time, all the boys and girls of his school have atleast had a crush on him, He was the only cute boy there, what could they do? He stared at them with his icey colored eyes that made their legs tremble from the pressure, and that black hair that always seemed messy but in a good way. It didn't help when he got that lichtenberg scar, that ran up his neck and the side of his face. you should've seen him in P.E cause my guy got everyone staring at him.
And the Fenton family has fashion sense, if they really put their mind and soul into it, everytime they dressed up for a family reunion or just an outing it was a very sweet treat for everyone's eyes. like how it is right now.
The Amity parkers waved goodbye at the Fenton's as they went on and attended a gala they were invited to, it was supposedly because of the sudden rise and popularity of their works and how's it been helping the environment.
One citizen sighed as he looked at the car that family was driving as it slowly became smaller and smaller.
"You think they can handle Gotham, heard nasty thing bout that place." She questioned
"Girl, Gotham should be the one readying to handle them, that family may be beautiful, but their crazy." Her friend's answered
"well that does give them a more attractive look isn't it?"
"I hate how you're right."
The Gala the Fenton's went to certainly had an awkward atmosphere when they went inside, all the guest kept staring at them that it was starting to get creepy, did they overdress or underdressed, come on just walk towards start to talk or criticize them, because it's starting to get embarrassing for the family.
Gotham wasn't fucking prepared to meet the Fentons like as in, They had been awestrucked when the family walked in. A very tall man seemingly in his 40's with his hair gelled back, and a suit that fitted him too perfectly, gosh dang, even the homophobic guests couldn't help but stare, And then there was his Wife her straight her was curled and brushed out leaving a wavy effect that compliments her face shape, and that dress she was wearing was utterly gorgeous, fancy but also simple and mature, the heels certainly helped her height more and made her look more intimidating, The ladies blushed when she looks at them and smiles.
And don't get them started with the couples children, who looked adorable and elegant at the same time, The older sister had a aura that says: 'Im in your presence bow down' (And they would've if it was in a more private area due to the paparazzi's out the window). She wore a spaghetti strapped dress that had a slit on either side and was , making it more comfortable to move in for the girl, partnered by a white shawl made of silk, she had heels that also complimented he already tall stature, her hair was tied in a neat bun, with a few strands free to not make her face feel bare. And lastly the youngest everyone assumed, wearing a suit, double-breasted suit that was elegant and sophisticated it matched the way his hair is messed up for him to still look young, he was also wearing a black shawl that had specks of white making it look like stars. The family had a colour scheme of green, that made all gothamites present swoon, Including a certain family of bats.
(I might make a fanart of this later.)
not to harp back to a few days ago but the whole "taking phone calls in public/loud music in public/playing music and videos outloud in public is rude etc. (the list could go on)" argument is not only absurd,
(not all public spaces are going to be silent its is unrealistic, outside cannot cater to every single person as everybody has different needs, but this is not me dismissing there are concerns for people who may have sensory 'issues' or may be bothered by loud sounds)
but has ties to racism and classism, especially considering that many nonblack and white people call the police about "noise complaints" on black and brown people and poor people because the music being played at a party is 'too loud' or music from a car is being played 'too loud', which leads to them getting arrested or killed.
It also has links to gentrification, it is known that people who do complain about a community being too loud are clearly not familiar with the cultures in that area and that loud noise being a nuisance is a clear sign you are coming into a culture that isn't yours
anyway i think some of you need to read the article linked because the influx of these types of arguments is concerning.
the first two photos were later sold to a local newspaper and the last one was posted on dick grayson’s instagram with the caption “opps want to see me fall 💪🏋️♂️”
fuck killing a victorian child by making them listen to hyperpop all you gotta do is make a white tumblr user listen to rap
Because I have been talking about this for months and a lot of other people have too, but it’s disjointed. I want to compile it, since his mischaracterization breaks my heart and makes me want to scream with rage. Please add if you think of something I didn’t! I’m also starting the tag “#percy jackson defense squad”, so feel free to start dumping your salt and rage and theories and ideas in there because I wanna hear them!
Trigger warnings for mentions of suicidal thoughts, sexual abuse, child abuse, and domestic violence.
Percy had a really, really rough childhood.
Percy was abused. A lot of people don’t realize the gravity of this maybe ‘cause we were young when we read it and it’s written with sarcasm, and it has a Cinderella-story type vibe (not that Cinderella wasn’t also abused, but my point is, children’s fiction commonly glosses over abuse). BUT LISTEN. Gabe is an alcoholic who regularly drinks in front of Percy (who is twelve), Gabe verbally demeans Percy’s mother right in front of him, Gabe bullies Percy into funding his gambling, dumps beer bottles and cigar ashes all over Percy’s room (HE’S FUCKING TWELVE), Gabe physically and probably sexually abused Sally for years, Percy literally says that he would rather live on the streets or join the military than live with Gabe, Gabe literally turned THE ENTIRE NATION against Percy and branded a completely innocent child as a fugitive just for fucking money and media attention.
Percy hates Gabe so much that he barely even sees him as a human being. He uses the three-fingered claw that is used TO WARD OFF IMMORTAL FORCES OF EVIL THAT COME FROM THE DEPTHS OF TARTARUS against Gabe (AND IT WORKS) because that is how much Gabe has traumatized him. Gabe makes him so angry and vengeful that at the age of twelve, Percy strategically plans to murder him (Percy’s never killed a human being before or since).
Percy was physically abused. He instinctively reaches for Riptide when he encounters Gabe at the end of the Lightning Thief, which is an instinct that he has when he feels physically threatened. And there’s this line about the gambling money from the beginning, “He called that our ‘guy secret.’ Meaning, if I told my mom, he would punch my lights out.” This is written with heavy sarcasm, but I got news for you: it’s a kids series, and this is too disturbing to just write flat out, but he is speaking literally.
@lililibird wrote a gorgeous post about how Percy was abused here
Percy also comes from a relatively poor background: “We were always struggling with money. Between my mom’s night classes and my private school tuition, we could never afford to do special stuff like shop for a skateboard.”-Sea of Monsters. He hates kids who throw their money around: “They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were rich juvenile delinquents.”-Lightning Thief. He’s really insecure about it, too: “What I didn’t tell them was that I’d have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I’d go to school in the fall.” He feels like an outsider because of it: “My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I’d never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.”
Percy was an outcast growing up, and never had a lot of friends. The education system is stacked against him because of his learning disabilities, and he probably faced a lot of ableism growing up. He thinks his neurodiversity makes him stupid and expects teachers and students to think so as well. When Chiron (as Mr. Brunner) tries to tell him that he’s a special kid, he takes it as an insult because he’s used to being singled out for his disabilities, and tears up, saying, “Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me.” -Lightning Thief
Percy also grew up thinking his father didn’t want him (which really isn’t all that untrue). When he first meets Poseidon, his emotions are absolutely hearbreaking: “Wrongdoing. A lump welled up in my throat. Was that all I was? A wrongdoing? The result of a god’s mistake?”
His authority issues and his heavy use of sarcasm are a direct result from his childhood. Sarcasm is a coping mechanism that he uses to avoid thinking of himself as a victim. Authority issues stem from growing up under this domineering stepfather, and also due to his birth father leaving him and his mother. This is why Percy hates Dionysus so intensely: Dionysus reminds him disturbingly of Gabe. It’s why he’s so conflicted about helping the gods. It stays with him for all the books.
@jason-gracefully wrote a post here about how this abuse has a lasting impact on Percy that is really insightful
Percy thinks so badly of himself.
Percy literally hates himself. He doesn’t believe he’s a half-blood because he thinks he’s such a failure. He compares himself to Gabe because he feels so guilty, “between the two of us, we make my mom’s life pretty hard.” He’s constantly thinking stuff like, “What was so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+ report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years.” -Lightning Thief
This self-hatred never fucking goes away, either, not even as Percy starts to pull of some pretty impressive shit?
“But Percy didn’t feel powerful. The more heroic stuff he did, the more he realized how limited he was. He felt like a fraud. I’m not as great as you think, he wanted to warn his friends. His failures, like tonight, seemed to prove it. Maybe that’s why he’d started to fear suffocation. It wasn’t so much drowning in the earth or the sea, but the feeling that he was sinking in too many expectations, literally getting in over his head.” -Mark of Athena
He never thinks of himself as a hero and he hates the spotlight and gets embarrassed being the center of attention and is bad at taking compliments.
Most of his internal monologue is really pessimistic and he’s constantly remarking that he said or did something stupid (literally too many examples to cite, but you can’t get very far without seeing it if you pick up a pjo book).
All Percy ever wanted was to be normal.
That’s it. That’s all.
He’s miserable after Poseidon claims him because he’s finally found a place to fit in and no, of course not, he’s the first son of Poseidon to be born in 70 years, Zeus is trying to kill him and there’s a prophecy about how he’s going to decide the fate of the world.
He keeps going back into the mortal world even though it’s dangerous, because he just wants to be normal.
He starts spending time with Rachel between Battle of the Labyrinth and Last Olympian because he mentions that he needs to remind himself the mortal world is still out there, and he just needs a break.
He turns down godhood, because he just wants to grow up. (people make this about Annabeth, and she’s part of it, but far from the only reason. The significance of this as far as percabeth goes is that he decided that he wanted her to be a part of his future, but there was literally no way that Percy would have accepted godhood, Annabeth or no Annabeth.)
He literally starts crying when he gets to Camp Jupiter and realizes that, yet again, he’ll be an outcast, despite not even remembering his past. Like, this need to be accepted and find a home runs so deep that it transcends memory.
So OF COURSE he starts crying again when he sees New Rome, because he’s been searching for a safe home his entire life? It’s everything he’s ever wanted?
NOBODY WILL JUST LET HIM BE NORMAL. JUST LET HIM LIVE.
Percy. Cannot. Forgive himself. For. Anything.
“Not forgiving himself for his mistakes was one of Percy’s biggest talents.” -Mark of Athena.
He feels guilty about the sacrifices his mom made for him, and is unable to accept that she did it because she loved him.
He blames himself for Bianca’s death and actually says, “It should’ve been me.” Every time he looks at Nico he thinks of how he failed both of them and he spends the entire next book trying to make up for that.
He wiped Bob’s memory because Bob was trying to kill him, and he was weak and injured and desperate to get away, so he acted in self-defense, but still feels ashamed and furious at himself for doing it: “He’d never felt so low and dishonorable, so unworthy of having a friend.” And then he’s choking on poison in the heart of Tartarus, thinking it’s his own fault for…. for not visiting a Titan who tried to kill him? (would you go visit someone who attempted to murder you? i wouldn’t.)
BOB TRIED TO KILL HIM. HE WAS TRYING TO RUN PERCY THROUGH. WITH A SPEAR. AND IT’S HIS OWN GODDAMN FAULT THAT HE GOT TOSSED INTO THE LETHE. Not to mention that Percy was already dying from a really bad shoulder wound, and acted in self defense the only way he had available to him, since he was too injured to fight. Percy barely escaped with his life. Percy’s not a bad person at all for not visiting Bob, but he thinks he is, and you can hell bet he’s never going to get over that, especially after Bob’s sacrifice at the end of the book.
He blames himself for leaving Calypso as well? As though there was anything wrong with the way he treated her? As though they didn’t only know each other for two weeks? As though he wasn’t fourteen and should not have been expected to spend the rest of his life pining for her? As though you’re a bad person if you don’t fall in love with someone who’s in love with you? As though he didn’t offer to come back and Calyspo told him not to try? As though he didn’t speak her name in the throne room of Olympus, as though he didn’t look Zeus in the eye and remember the name of Calypso, the poor girl cursed to solitude by the Fates who saved his life? As though Calypso wasn’t his biggest, What if?
I pray that Leo and Calypso aren’t endgame because otherwise he’s going to have to put up with that guilt for the rest of his life and it’s completely unwarranted.
“‘You would’ve done the same for me.’ It was true. I guess we both knew it. Still, I felt like somebody was poking my heart with a cold metal rod.” -Last Olympian. Like listen, he straight up admits that he also would have taken a knife for her, but he still can’t accept that Annabeth took one for him.
whatever you do don’t think about percy mourning all the campers he couldn’t save whatever you do don’t think about himself shaking himself awake in the middle of the night crying because he can’t stop seeing the faces of all the kids who died in the war, whatever you do don’t think about him starting his life and thinking every time he does something new that there are kids who will never get this chance because he couldn’t save them, don’t think about him watching their shrouds burn and wishing it was him
Percy is suicidal and it goes completely unresolved.
“I felt like drowning myself. The only problem: I was immune to drowning.” -The Lightning Thief
“The last thing I remembered was sinking in a burning sea… and wishing I were able to drown.” -The Sea of Monsters
“He couldn’t blame anyone else for his troubles. Not the gods. Not Bob. Not even Calypso, the girl he’d left alone on that island.” -The House of Hades. Listen to me. He’s dying in Tartarus alone after sacrificing years of his life to trying to save the world and being a good person, and he thinks he deserves it. HE THINKS HE DESERVES IT.
“Thing is, as I was choking just now, I kept thinking: this is payback for Akhlys. The Fates are letting me die the same way I tried to kill that goddess. And… honestly, a part of me felt I deserved it.” A PART OF ME FELT I DESERVED IT. Like. Percy. You need help. You can’t just… that’s so unhealthy.
Percy is afraid of himself.
“I hadn’t been in control of myself in that mountain. I’d released so much energy I’d almost vaporized myself, drained all the life out of me. Now I found out I’d nearly destroyed the Northwest U.S. and almost woken the most horrible monster ever imprisoned by the gods. Maybe I was too dangerous. Maybe it was safer for my friends to think I was dead.” -Battle of the Labyrinth. MAYBE I WAS TOO DANGEROUS. MAYBE IT WAS SAFER FOR MY FRIENDS TO THINK I WAS DEAD.
This also goes hand in hand with being suicidal, because thinking “maybe everything would be better if I was dead” is definitely going to get you to the point where you say “maybe I’ll just do it myself.”
“My expression in the picture was fierce—disturbing, even—so it was hard to tell if I was the good guy or the bad guy, but Rachel said I’d looked just like that after the battle.” -Last Olympian
“I might have even laughed once or twice—a crazy laugh that scared me as much as it did my enemies.” -Last Olympian
And like, of course there’s the part with Akhlys, and I’m sure I don’t have to explain how he spends the entirety of the next book trying to apologize for losing control just that one time because 1. he scared himself, 2. he’ll never forgive himself for scaring Annabeth and hurting Akhlys that much, 3. and he also thinks this means he deserves to die, and that is just such a loaded character arc that I’m not even sure which heading to put it under, but I’m putting it under here because I think the linchpin in that scene is that Percy (and Annabeth) really didn’t realize that he was capable of something like that. It’s a really dark scene, and he disturbed himself (and Annabeth, which also puts a wedge in their relationship), and it causes really serious repercussions. Dude, that needs to be resolved.
Percy also like, really has a dark side and a serious temper, which is where a lot of this fear of himself comes from, but @ofswordsandpens already covered that beautifully here.
Other people are afraid of Percy.
“Something changed in Phobos’s expression. He looked surprised, maybe even nervous. ‘The son of Poseidon? The one who made Dad angry?’” -Demigod Files (Percy Jackson and the Stolen Chariot)
“I couldn’t kill him. He was immortal. But you wouldn’t have known that from his expression. The fear god looked afraid.” -Demigod Files (Percy Jackson and the Stolen Chariot)
“Believe me, revenge is coming. One of these days, he’s going to be sorry. Why am I waiting? Just strategy. Biding my time and waiting for the right moment to strike. I am not scared, okay? Anybody says different, I’ll rearrange their dental work.” -Demigod Files (Interview with Clarisse LaRue, Daughter of Ares)
“Leo’s legs trembled. The way Percy looked at him made him feel the same as when Jason summoned lightning. Leo’s skin tingled, and every instinct in his body screamed, Duck!” -Mark of Athena.This description is so Extra it’s almost funny like I can’t believe this is actually a canon line sdkfasdjk;sadf
“Piper guessed that Percy hadn’t meant to cause so much damage, but his glowering expression made her want to leave the ship as soon as possible.” -Blood of Olympus.
“Since she’d come back from Tartarus, Annabeth had told Piper about a lot of scary things that had happened down there. At the top of her list: Percy controlling a tide of poison and suffocating the goddess Akhlys.” -Blood of Olympus. AT THE TOP OF HER LIST. AT THE TOP OF HER LIST.
Annabeth then goes on to cry about how she can’t get his expression out of her head, and says she’s angry at him for frightening her.
“What would Percy be like if he wanted to act scary?” -Blood of Olympus. (we are still talking about the poison here. yes, still.)
“‘She died too easily, considering how much torture she put you through. She deserved worse.’ Annabeth couldn’t argue with that, but the hard edge in Percy’s voice made her unsettled. She’d never seen someone get so angry or vengeful on her behalf. It almost made her glad Arachne had died quickly.” -House of Hades. I mean, I also thought Arachne’s death was stupid so I don’t blame him, but.
“Everybody was looking at me—with concern, or pity, or maybe a little fear.” -Last Olympian
“Suddenly I realized that despite her angry attitude, she was afraid of me. She probably thought I was going to fight her for control of the river, and she was worried she would lose.” -Battle of the Labyrinth
“‘Luke feared you,’ the Titan’s voice said. ‘His jealously and hatred have been powerful tools. It has kept him obedient. For that I thank you.’” -Battle of the Labyrinth
“ I grabbed him by the shirt, which seriously wasn’t like me, but the stupid old goat was making me mad.” -Last Olympian. This is when he literally frightens Leneus so bad that he runs away into the woods.
“Hades swallowed. ‘Now, Jackson, listen here…’ He was immortal. There was no way I could kill him, but gods can be wounded.” -Last Olympian
“How was he keeping his cool? The way he talked to Bob left Annabeth awestruck… and maybe a little uneasy, too. If Percy had been serious about leaving the choice to Bob, then she didn’t like how much he trusted the Titan. If he’d been manipulating Bob into making that choice… well, then, Annabeth was stunned that Percy could be so calculating.” -House of Hades. Is she seriously kidding me with this though because how could she be stunned by that… which brings me to the next point….
Percy is incredibly manipulative, extremely clever, and very resourceful.
Canon doesn’t even represent this well, because it says stuff like “trickery and evasion were Annabeth’s tactics,” but Percy uses them constantly.
Most of the time when Percy does something “stupid” or “impulsive” it’s actually neither of those things, it’s just that he doesn’t take the time to explain things to everyone else. He has multilayered plans for how he’s going to get out of a situation, but other characters (and fandom) seem to attribute this to luck.
If Percy’s plans were genuinely stupid and impulsive there is no way he would still be alive. Just think about this realistically, okay. He doesn’t get lucky, he just knows what he’s doing.
Percy has a functioning knowledge of Greek mythology that he uses to his advantage constantly, and actually, he directly explains most myths to the reader. For some reason (?) most of fandom thinks he’s clueless. (just kidding, I know why, and @ehlihr explains it here)
Possibly the best example is Procrustes, who, at the age of twelve, Percy successfully swindled into laying down on his own torture device.
Gets into the Underworld on pure manipulation. Bribes Charon with Italian suits and a pay raise. Bribes Cerberus with a toy. Remember that scene where he dramatically stacks drachmas on top of each other right under Charon’s nose? Yeah. This kid could talk his way out of a paper bag, mark my words.
Lies on national television convincingly enough that the reporters take up a collection to buy them plane tickets to New York at the end of the Lightning Thief. And also gives the phone number to Gabe’s store and tells everyone to ask for free appliances.
Figures out Kronos’ plot entirely by himself, which is quite complicated, then breaks it down for the reader, Annabeth, and Grover. I bet you didn’t even realize that the reason the plot of the Lightning Thief wasn’t hopelessly confusing was because Percy explained it to you.
Percy is the first person to realize that Kronos is waking (aside from Kronos’ forces, of course). He predicts that he’s going to gain a solid form again. He and Annabeth simultaneously reach this conclusion around the same time without discussing it with each other, but Annabeth doesn’t anticipate the gravity of the war the way Percy does (and the gods won’t listen to him until literally the end of Titan’s Curse).
In the Sea of Monsters, he guides one of the cannibals into breaking down the locker room door by standing in front of it and dodging out of the way at the last minute, because he needs to get his sword from the locker room.
Withholds the Gray Sister’s eye until they explain “the location he seeks” and even rolls down the window and threatens to throw it into traffic.
That glorious scene where he manipulates Luke into giving himself away by IM’ing Mr. D behind Luke’s back. Possibly my favorite Luke and Percy moment ever.
He also challenges Luke to a fight at the end of Sea of Monsters because he needs a way to buy time so that Clarisse can get the Fleece to Camp Half-Blood, and it works, because he backs Luke into a corner where he’ll look weak if he turns down the fight.
Literally sneaks onto a quest. A quest which Zoe Nightshade, a Hunter and tracker, was on, and she didn’t even realize he was there until he literally ran up to her and showed himself.
Kills the Nemean Lion by throwing astronaut food from the gift shop in its mouth.
Percy is the one who figures out that Talos has a maintenance hatch that a person could fit inside. Otherwise they would have literally all died.
Convinces Nereus to jump into the water by feigning that he’s afraid of going in water, and then uses his increased strength to tackle him.
Cleans Geryon’s stables with a petrified sea shell.
Figures out how to navigate the Labyrinth.
And one of the greatest fight scenes in all the books (I think so, any way): jumps off Antaeus’ face and grabs the chains of skulls hanging from the arena ceiling, ties them in a knot, hooks Antaeus by his loincloth and suspends him above the ground by a chain of skulls, and then kills him. Can you imagine him crawling through the chains, “like some kind of deranged monkey.” Like that’s dark, but it’s also insanely resourceful and clever holy shit.
Percy made a bargain with Gaea using his own place in her creepy ass plan and in the prophecy to manipulate her into saving his life.
Gets the gryphons to stop attacking in Son of Neptune by threatening to stab their eggs.
Herds Polybotes over the boundary line so that Terminus will get angry and attack.
And, of course, the entire scene with Chrysaor is brilliant (and like the most in character moment for percy in all of hoo lmao).
Percy tries so hard to be a good person and he has such a good heart.
Remember after he saves Clarisse’s butt in Sea of Monsters, and once they make it back to land, he feels bad about stealing her quest and making her look bad, and doesn’t want her to get into trouble with Ares, so he sends her home with the Fleece alone? Tyson even says: “Percy is nice” and Annabeth says “Percy is too nice.” And then he never tells anybody about how she totally would have died if not for him and Annabeth because he doesn’t want to humiliate her?
And in the Demigod Files, when he encounters Phobos and Deimos with Clarisse and agrees again to keep quiet about it because he doesn’t want to humiliate her?
Percy searches for Nico all throughout Battle of The Labyrinth and never stops looking out for him, even when Nico curses him and wishes he was dead and repeatedly screws him over.
He forgives people? Like I know he’s vengeful and I know it’s hard to regain his trust, but he does forgive. He doesn’t even think twice about forgiving any of the demigods who fought with Kronos because he understands where they’re coming from and recognizes that they’re just kids. He honors Luke and Ethan’s dying requests despite the fact that they both tried to kill him about seven hundred times. He mourns them: “‘They were brainwashed!’ I said. ‘Now they’re dead and Kronos is still alive. That’s supposed to make me feel better?’” -The Last Olympian. And he completely and immediately backs Clarisse up in saying that Silena was a hero, and refuses to tell anyone that she was a spy. He also forgives Nico who, let’s be honest, is such a little shit in Battle of the Labyrinth.
Every time he realizes that he’s done something wrong he immediately pulls back and modifies his behavior.
Remember the confrontation with the river nymph before cleaning the stables? “She probably thought I was going to fight her for control of the river, and she was worried she would lose. The thought made me sad. I felt like a bully, a son of Poseidon throwing his weight around.” -Battle of the Labyrinth.
Percy befriends Grover, who is scrawny and gets bullied, and spends all year trying to defend him from the bullies? He even says that he’s lost sleep thinking about how Grover will survive school without him when he gets expelled from Yancy? Literally the reason the confrontation with Ms. Dodds even happens is because Percy was defending Grover.
Percy befriends Tyson, who, as far as he knows, is a homeless teenager with special needs who lives in a cardboard box and smells funny and cries a lot. He meets Tyson at the subway every morning so that Tyson won’t get overwhelmed being by himself. He stands guard outside Tyson’s stall so that Tyson can change in privacy. Like, Percy is so good to Tyson it breaks my heart? And he had no angle at all, he just genuinely likes Tyson and sees him as a friend. And he literally makes himself a social outcast by association; Matt Sloan even tells him, “You might have friends if you weren’t always sticking up for that freak.” And Percy says, “I was pretty much his only friend, which meant he was pretty much my only friend.”
He’s captain of the other dodgeball team against Matt Sloan because all the other kids who get picked on look to him for protection.
His life is terrible and nothing ever works out the way he wants it to, but instead of being a whiny pissbaby about it he just fucking…. he just fucking keeps saving the world? He just keeps putting himself back in mortal danger despite hating it more and more each time because… because it’s what he has to do? He doesn’t take it out on anyone? He just fucking keeps accepting it? And he gets bitter and jaded, but he never stops saving the world.
He literally finds out in Last Olympian that the entire prophecy, this whole time, they were all waiting for his death? Like he was a ticking timebomb, raising him to be slaughtered and lying about it? AND HE NEVER EVEN GETS BITTER? HE DOESN’T TRY TO RUN AWAY OR BLAME ANYONE? hE JUST FUCKING? DOES WHAT HE HAS TO DO?
(wouldn’t you be angry about that? even annabeth lied about it to his face for years? wouldn’t that feel like a slap to the face? because i’m pretty sure if the girl i loved did that to me i wouldn’t be able to accept it and would never look at her the same way? but maybe that’s just me?)
He snaps into Leader Mode in Last Olympian so quickly it’s amazing. That character development is just… gah, it’s so good. People start depending on him without question and nobody even blinks when Chiron addresses him as the leader of the group, because it’s just natural for them to follow him.
This piece by @llttledipper is gorgeous and covers a lot so I’m not even sure which heading to stick it under, but it’s worth the read.
Percy is really compassionate and a caretaker.
Running with everything mentioned above, of course.
Checks in on Annabeth and makes sure she’s sleeping and eating.
Comforts Annabeth a lot during the pjo series because like… for the brunt of it, he’s really all she has left, especially in Sea of Monsters.
He’s always very cautious about discussing Luke with her because he doesn’t want to upset her (but let’s be honest: he was right and she was wrong about Luke. She was pretty delusional for most of the series and it actually got worse as she got older).
Percy only really yells at Annabeth once. Which is pretty big of him, considering she yells at him practically once a chapter.
Apologizes to Reyna for something he doesn’t even remember. His exact words are, “If I hurt you, I’m sorry.”
He wants to help Reyna so badly in Son of Neptune because he feels for her. Once, he even opts to leave her alone, because he recognizes that she’s having a hard time projecting the image of a leader and needs some time to herself.
He goes on the quest in Son of Neptune because he knows Frank is scared and needs help, even though he wants to stay put.
The way he treats Hazel and Frank all throughout Son of Neptune is so sweet and brotherly. Especially the scene when he and Hazel are talking alone in her old house is so sweet, when he tells her that she’s definitely going to make it out alive, and the scene when he encourages Frank after killing the basilisks.
He’s constantly encouraging people to chase their dreams, like his mother’s dream to be a writer and Annabeth’s dream to be an architect and Grover’s dream to find Pan.
He wants to help Nico so badly, and he’s a total mother hen.
He even takes care of the readers by editing scary and disturbing stuff out! I mean, I know it’s because it’s a kid series and it’s convenient to water it down by having Percy edit stuff out, but narration is important to pay attention to, because Percy is talking directly to the reader, which is the easiest and most obvious way to develop a character. The warning in the beginning has a very “please save yourself” kind of vibe. He admits more than once that he’s not describing something because it’s disturbing: the fresh skulls in Antaeus’ arena, the tortures in the Fields of Punishment, etc.
And, like I said before, really has empathy for Kronos’ kids and genuinely wants to save them from themselves.
Annabeth’s quote in Mark of Athena, “Percy has a knack for making good friends” is so unbelievably accurate (like 10/10 on that one Annabeth because you definitely get some other stuff pretty wrong lol.)
Percy is actually quite intuitive.
His dreams are the most prophetic of all the demigods that we’ve seen.
Knows Luke is bad news right of the bat, but fights it, because he doesn’t understand why. (the foreshadowing is so BLATANT it’s embarrassing to reread)
Immediately mistrustful of the gods, for good reason.
Immediately trustful of a lot of good people, like Grover and Chiron and Hazel and Frank and Tyson, even if he can’t always explain why.
If Percy doesn’t realize people like him, it’s because he can’t imagine why, not because he’s unable to pick up on the signs.
I don’t know where the idea came from that Percy was clueless that Annabeh liked him? Because he absolutely was not? He knew all through the end of Battle of the Labyrinth and all through Last Olympian, it’s just that it wasn’t that simple. They had a lot to work through before they could throw romance into the mix (and I do mean a lot).
He’s also not oblivious that Annabeth is jealous of Rachel, it’s just that he’s mad about it because he thinks that she doesn’t have any right to be.
He’s not oblivious that Rachel likes him, either, it’s just that he’s not sure how he feels about it so consciously tries to avoid talking about it.
And as far as Nico goes, I mean, the majority of fandom was also oblivious about Nico’s crush and called it “THE SICKEST PLOT TWIST EVER” so what makes y’all think you’ve got any room to talk
As for Calypso, when she admits that she loves him, he literally says, “But…I’m just…I mean, I’m just me,” so I think that about proves my point.
Percy is angry.
He’s meant to directly parallel Luke, and that’s made pretty damn obvious by the end of pjo. And if it wasn’t, Percy directly compares himself to Luke later on:
“Percy remembered what Luke Castellan had told him years ago, when Percy had come back from his very first quest: Didn’t you realize how useless it all is? All the heroics–being pawns of the Olympians? Percy was almost the same age now as Luke had been then. He could understand how Luke became so spiteful. In the past five years, Percy had been used as a pawn too many times. The Olympians seemed to take turns using him for their schemes. Maybe the gods were better than the Titans, or Gaea, but that didn’t make them good or wise. It didn’t make Percy like this stupid battle arena.” -Mark of Athena
His anger motivates him most of the time. Percy’s knee jerk response to all of the trauma that he’s been through is to get angry (probably because it keeps him going).
Percy constantly talks about feeling angry, far more often than feeling sad or scared. This is so common that I couldn’t even cite one example, because it’s just a theme through all the books. When he gets angry, he kills stuff (like the Minotaur, twice).
It really comes to a head in the scene with Akhlys, but again, goes totally unresolved because that kind of anger doesn’t just fucking evaporate (it also gets partially replaced with guilt, which is just. so unhealthy).
@lililibird, @ofswordsandpens and @accioangelo wrote something really cool about that here
Percy is definitely mentally ill.
Like yeah, he’s neurodiverse, but he’s also canonically mentally ill. I’m not sure what type of mental illness it would best fit, or maybe more than one, but there’s absolutely no way this kid is mentally healthy.
He’s suicidal.
He has insurmountable guilt.
He’s afraid of himself.
He hates himself.
He’s angry.
He develops a phobia of his own element and never… never resolves it? He talks about feeling “unclean” after Phorcys aquarium and Annabeth notes how shaken up he looks, even the next day. He almost drowns two more times since it’s brought up (Nyphaeum-whatever-it’s-called and the Cocytus-however-you-spell-it) which means it probably got worse so I’m just gonna assume that he has a paralyzing fear of his own element? he also joined the swimteam which is literally like WHAT HOW WHY but i’m trying not to turn this into a wankfest
And in that same vein, this fear of suffocation, like you’re a fraud and don’t deserve the people who love you or the recognition you get? That’s super unhealthy. It’s important to accept people’s love, but he hates himself so much that he can’t see that.
He has frequent nightmares. Like, not the weird voodoo demigod nightmares, like night terrors. Nightmares that don’t have dream messages attached to them, just straight up nightmares. He’s constantly saying stuff like “I still had nightmares about it.” He mentions losing sleep because of it. The night when Bianca sends him the IM of Nico in the graveyard, he sits on the floor staring at the remains of the shattered water fountain all night and doesn’t move until Tyson gets him in the morning. Like, he’s really affected by the things that he’s seen. Also he’s been having nightmares about Tartarus since the Lightning Thief so I can only imagine how hard it’s going to be for him to recover from actually being there (they’re actually quite vivid: one time, he has a conversation with Kronos on the edge of the pit of Chaos).
“He glared at the poison flood encroaching from all sides. He concentrated so hard that something inside him cracked – as if a crystal ball had shattered in his stomach.” -House of Hades. He actually shattered a part of himself to be able to unlock that kind of power. And after Akhlys leaves he mentions it kinda starts to subside, but listen: broken glass doesn’t get fixed. He literally is admitting that he’s broken inside. Not to mention that this kind of misery doesn’t just come from no where; this is the combined effort of all the terrible things he’s been feeling his whole life. That’s pretty horrifying, and someone should help him through that instead of making him feel like a monster for doing it. it’s actually almost identical to nico’s dilemma except that people actually try to help nico.
Suicidal thoughts, pervasive guilt, self-hatred, self-blame, self-distrust, frequent nightmares, developing a phobia, using anger as a coping mechanism. This sounds like depression to me (how I experience it, at any rate), possibly with symptoms of PTSD, although I’m not a psychiatrist. Even if it doesn’t fit a specific mental illness it’s still a deeply unhealthy mental state to be in.
Like listen: Percy needs help.
Percy’s fatal flaw is so not a big deal.
Leaves his mother in the Underworld at the age of twelve. His mom. His mom, guys. Is there anyone he loves more on this earth, besides Annabeth? He’s twelve years old, and he comes to the understanding that he needs to let her go, leave her in mortal danger, because the fate of the world depends on him getting the bolt to Zeus, and, furthermore, that his mother would never accept his life in exchange for her own.
I mean, that’s really case closed right there, but there’s quite a bit more.
“I was leaving her in good hands after all. Her own.” -Lightning Thief. This is right after his mother tells him ‘you need to let me take care of myself.’ And he respects that so much that he actually leaves her with her abuser, which is really hard for him because he can’t bear to leave her in danger, but then he realizes that she’s capable of dealing with it and, more importantly, he lets her.
Encourages Grover to go off on an extremely dangerous solo quest to find Pan which no satyr has ever returned alive from, because he realizes that it’s really important to Grover and doesn’t want to hold him back due to his own fears.
Encourages Tyson to go join Poseidon’s forges because he recognizes that while he would like Tyson to stay, this is really important to Tyson.
Even in Titan’s Curse he wants to immediately throw himself off the cliff searching for Annabeth and he doesn’t because that’s dumb and he understands that. And then he goes on the quest but it’s like… everyone on that quest was looking for someone they loved so it’s really not a good example of Percy’s fatal flaw in action. Additionally, when Percy captures Nereus, his first instinct is to ask about Annabeth, but he doesn’t, because again: it’s not the best choice, and he understands that, so he asks about the monster Artemis was tracking instead.
Splits up with Grover and Tyson in the Labyrinth because he knows that Grover needs to find Pan and it’s really important to him. Annabeth is the one who keeps saying that splitting up is a bad idea because it’s not safe.
His first instinct is always to take care of people but he never infringes on their rights to make their own choices, even when he doesn’t agree with them. He never holds anyone back from reaching their full potential and usually encourages them to go for it, even if it means they have to leave him behind.
It was really fucking hard for him to let Annabeth go searching for the Mark of Athena but he did it. He even recognizes that she’s terrified and doesn’t want to do it and she needs him to believe in her and so he fucking sends her off because he never wants to hold her back from doing all the amazing things that she can do. I’m crying.
@greenconverses explains this a little more in depth here
Percy’s never jeopardized… anything? because of his fatal flaw? And it’s just kind of like… for something that is discussed so often it’s really kind of… not important?
Most important of all: he lets Beckendorf die. He looks into his eyes, Beckendorf tells him to go, he protests, but Beckendorf doesn’t waver. And Percy lets it happen, because it needs to happen.
I mean. Like. COME ON.
Now, I mean, if he understands that Beckendorf’s death is inevitable (mind you, Beckendorf was one of Percy’s closest friends), and he understands that it’s illogical to rescue his mother from the Underworld, then I think it’s safe to say that Percy understands and controls his fatal flaw. You could make the argument that maybe he wouldn’t if it was Annabeth. In which case, I say to you, that’s really not about fatal flaw, it’s just about human beings.
Annabeth takes a knife for Percy, which makes it pretty damn obvious that she’s willing to die for him? Beckendorf, Silena, Thalia, and Leo actually do die for their friends? Like, a willingness to die in place of their friends is something we see in every single main character in this series, and most of the minor characters too.
The only moment you really see it get him in danger is Tartarus and Mt. St. Helens, but listen, is there any other member of the Seven that would have let go of Annabeth’s hand like be serious. Can you honestly believe any of them would have let her fall alone and pulled themselves out of the pit like there’s just no fucking way that would have happened. Frankly, how much would you have to hate someone to let them get dragged to hell to die alone.
As for Mt. St. Helens, I mean, honestly? This scene could have gone the other way around just as easily. In fact, Percy actually stood a chance and Annabeth didn’t, so it makes a lot of fucking sense that he should be the one to stay behind.
It doesn’t take away from anything Percy’s done for his friends. In fact, it kinda makes it better because it’s not overshadowed by the lurking threat of the Elusive Fatal Flaw.
I’m not saying it’s not actually his fatal flaw, except that….. well, it’s not, really, is it? He’s got a good handle on it, which pretty much tells me that it’s not going to kill him any time soon, and more than that, it’s not unique to Percy. Who doesn’t struggle with wanting to protect the people they love?
Maybe let’s talk about Percy’s rage instead because that is something that actually comes up very often and usually gets the better of him.
Percy is incredibly capable and really powerful.
and all y’all are definitely going ‘lol like we didn’t know that’ but listen: no, i’m not sure that you did. and if you did then imma talk about it anyway because we don’t talk about it enough.
Percy spends just as much time saving Annabeth’s ass as she does his. It’s mutual. Their relationship is very balanced and I think it’s cheap and stupid to try and make her look better by belittling him. Oddly, this tactic is used by a lot of characters in the series? “I doubt Percy could find his way out of a paper bag without Annabeth” like okay how about the part where she would have dove straight off a cliff in the house of night like lmao where the fuck does this argument come from.
Firstly, I must say that WE DO NOT TALK ABOUT THE CURSE OF ACHILLES ENOUGH but I could rant about it for literal hours, so I’ll just link you to where I did that already.
KILLS THE MINOTAUR AT THE AGE OF TWELVE BY RIPPING ITS OWN HORN OUT OF ITS SKULL AND STABBING HIM WITH IT. like. The Minotaur. THE MINOTAUR. D’you know that in the myths, the Minotaur just fucking ripped up entire towns and cities and killed hundreds of people and nobody could stop it, until finally they built the fucking Labyrinth to lock it up because nobody knew what to do with it, and then it was still alive for years because nobody could kill it, and like, the culmination of Theseus’ entire hero career was killing this thing because that’s how fucking intense the Minotaur was. AND THEN PERCY JACKSON. TWELVE YEARS OLD. NOT A DAY OF TRAINING. NO WEAPON. JUST FUCKING. TAKES HIM DOWN. WHAT THE FUCK.
Kronos tells him that Luke is afraid of him.
Kronos also tells him that he wishes Percy had supplied his host body. Kronos is surveying bodies to possess and is like, “I want that one.” THE FUCK.
Jumps like, 120 yards off the House of Night and over the river Acheron????? With a person on his back?????? HOw????????? SINCE WHEN CAN HE FUCKING DO THAT???? (i will become FILLED WITH RAGE if anyone answers this with “he’s got skillz”)
Remember when he tells the Roman Senate that he fought Kronos himself and Reyna stumbles back in shock and is like???? how????
Kills a giant alone. Like, completely alone, except for Terminus who really doesn’t do anything, it’s just about the logistical need to have a god kill a giant.
Blows up a volcano and wakes Typhon. Like, wakes Typhon. And it wasn’t even on purpose! He was just being tortured and needed a way to escape like it was on pure instinct. And then when Hephaestus tells him so, he’s literally like, “I’m not that powerful.” And Hephaestus just kinda laughs like UM YEAH YOU KIND OF ARE, LOOK AT WHAT YOU FUCKING DID, SON OF THE EARTHSHAKER INDEED.
Wipes out Hades entire army like, basically without even realizing it.
Literally holds back Kronos’ entire army by himself. LIke, ALONE. A WHOLE ARMY.
“Part of their problem was Percy. He fought like a demon, whirling through the defenders’ ranks in a completely unorthodox style, rolling under their feet, slashing with his sword instead of stabbing like a Roman would, whacking campers with the flat of his blade, and generally causing mass panic.” -Son of Neptune. I love to think about this scene (these are the scenes that we need movies for, okay, think of how great this could be)
Kills the Clazmonian sow alone.
Holds off a drakon alone, although Clarisse is the one that kills it.
At the age of thirteen, he totally beats up Polyphemus, who is at least two times his size, just because he gets angry.
The first time he summons a hurricane he doesn’t even do it on purpose it just fucking happens instinctively. Grover’s like “bro what are you doing” and he’s like “what.” LIKE PERCY. SERIOUSLY.
He blows stuff up when he gets angry??? Like the plumbing incident in boo? That’s fucking intense okay like wow just one more reason for him to be afraid of himself
I saved this for last because this is my favorite: CONTROLS POISON. AND ALSO BODILY FLUIDS. I think we talk about the poison scene a lot but do you remember the part when Akhlys starts crying and he’s like “Oh, good, more water.” “OH GOOD MORE WATER” LIKE JESUS PERCY. And then he imagines her nose and throat filling with her own tears like HOLY SHIT. that’s some bloodbending level shit right there.
Please tell me I was not the only person cheering during that scene okay because I was like THIS IS IT, HE’S FINALLY SNAPPED, LET’S GO MOTHERFUCKERS, like I have been waiting and waiting and hoping and hoping for a scene like that for years. but annabeth ruined it because she clearly underestimated him like the signs were all there she should not have been surprised
Percy is not a lovable idiot.
Like, I mean, he’s just not. He’s a hugely complex character with a lot of conflicting traits. He’s vengeful but caring, loyal but resentful, capable but insecure, a natural leader but intimidating and sometimes even scary.
Like yeah, he’s got a sense of humor, but like???? That doesn’t cancel out any of the things I mentioned above.
Percy is also not an asshole.
In an attempt to get away from the “lovable idiot” fanon characterization, I think the pendulum swung too far the other way.
Percy is very compassionate, and very caring. He apologizes for his mistakes. He’s not cocky or arrogant in the slightest.
Yes, he can be intimidating and vengeful and once you break his trust you better look out, but that doesn’t cancel out his instinct to take care of people and his efforts to help people and his desire to be a good person.
Looking for more + References made in this post:
This post by @ofswordsandpens, with additions by @lililibird and @accioangelo (I have a special place in my heart for this post because it showed up miraculously on my dash from my main blog one day, and this is what convinced me to get back in this fandom because OTHER PEOPLE GET IT I COULD CRY)
And the (updated) original by @ofswordsandpens
This post by @lililibird
This post by @jason-gracefully
This post by @ehlihr
This post by @llttledipper
This post by @greenconverses
My own post
My other post