also related to the luke vs percy in terms of how whiteness plays into their motivations i also think it shouldn’t be overlooked how poc have more pressure to put on somewhat of a performance and “represent” their people in a positive light whereas white people are released from that extra pressure to be observably good and I think that is easily internalized and manifests in many poc having a community mindset and wanting to emphasize their “goodness” more than they would have if they weren’t as scrutinized
anyone else seeing posts like “Can’t believe pjo is gonna be a disney+ show- all the representation!” What Representation??? do ppl not remember the first series lol like did we read the same books
Anonymous asked: What do you think about people from the latin america saying that the latino percy headcanon is racist because it is based in negativa racial stereotypes? I’ve seen this going around in tumblr and would like to know your opinion pls
i haven’t seen whatever argument is floating around, but i know that a lot of latino percy headcanons on tumblr stem from my post about percy being from a poor latino neighborhood so i’m guessing it’s in response to that? i will say that my headcanon started mainly with me recognizing my own experiences and family in percy’s story, though. percy’s life echoes the lives of so many poc from the usa, especially in the lightning thief – he lives in a community that is only 7% white where his mom is one of many working her heart out to pull them out of poverty, he feels uncomfortable around his white peers, his teachers assume he is a troublemaker based off of his looks alone, & the media is all too ready to label him, a 12 year old, as a criminal. combined with his black, untamable hair, tan skin, and the fact that he looks at a biracial kid (sadie) and imagines she is what his and annabeth’s kid would look like, i honestly think it’s harder to make an argument for percy being white than him being a poc. his mom is even famous for her salsa lmao. obviously there are latinos in the us whose lives aren’t like this, but i think there’s a difference between recognizing the patterns between percy’s life and the lives of real nyc latinos, and basing a character’s race in stereotypes. leo, for example, feels very stereotypical to me – he’s overly flirty, short, has a loud mouth, and is walking comic relief. given the choice, i prefer having percy as my latino rep :)
Nico and Percy’s dynamic in BotL is honestly the funniest fucking thing because Percy’s this emotionally exhausted 15 year old who is the sole person concerned about this feral 11 year old street urchin that wants to kill him…Chiron and the rest of the camp are just like ‘sometimes, children are homeless and they die. what can you do😔‘ and Percy’s just like ‘no???? we need to make sure he’s eating???? and that he’s not captured by an army of monsters???’ and Nico keeps trying to plot Percy’s downfall except he can’t actually come up with a plan because he’s Eleven or whatever and it’s just….remember when you were 15? remember what that felt like? now imagine being 15 and trying to wrangle an 11 year old that’s hissing and kicking your shins into brushing his teeth. imagine trying to tell this little asshole to go to bed before 10pm and he pulls out a fucking sword. how is someone supposed to handle that??? Percy surely doesn’t know! there’s a scene in BoO where Nico’s like ‘I don’t want to eat anything, but I know Percy would annoy the fuck out of me to force me to eat if he was here ugh’ sfkjsdfkj Percy literally had to CONDITION him into acting like a functioning person…and Percy’s inner monologue half the time is like ‘Yes I would kill for Nico di Angelo. Yes he is the worst person I know and I Will strangle him to death one day.’ like he doesn’t even completely like Nico as a person but everyone else is just chill with letting him run around by himself so Percy somehow ends up having to pseudo-parent this goth brat when he’s 15 and Barely Holding His Own Shit Together like….objectively an incredible dynamic lmao
rick riordan writing a character who has eyes that are literally any colour other than brown: they had stunning, amazing eyes, they were so beautiful I couldn’t look away. The colour swirled around their irises in a way that was almost hypnotizing, they were absolutely captivating and beautiful and perfect.
rick riordan writing a character (…of colour) who has brown eyes: they had brown eyes.
rick riordan writing a character (…of colour) who has brown eyes ALTERNATE: they glared at me with their scary, intimidating eyes (that were brown).
technically i cheated and used another color but i am prepared to break rules and life is hard. what they’re crying about is really up to the viewer but if anyone has some uniquely good ideas i’m here to listen
I just know deep in my core that annabeth is constantly working on at least 3 different knitting and crochet projects At All Times
it’s called keeping your hands busy in a mundane task so you can let your mind fully focus on what you’re hearing baby 😌
every half hour annabeth shoves her project under percy’s nose and goes “look how long it is” and he smiles and feels the part she just made and gives her a thumbs up as he sips his juice like the supportive king he is
“I like your hat!”
“thanks! my girlfriend made it!” pointing to annabeth with a smile so wide it makes his cheeks look like they’re about to burst
Alternatively, things that people forget ignore about Percy and Nico’s relationship and are also totally ignored in Heroes of Olympus.
This is all 100% in the canon and doesn’t have to be shippy unless you want it to be.
Percy spoke up about Nico when Bianca was deciding to join the Hunters, because he felt terrible that she was leaving her little brother behind
Percy took full responsibility for all of Nico’s (questionable) actions during Battle of the Labyrinth because he blamed himself for Bianca’s death
Percy stepped up and claimed the Great Prophecy as his own at the end of Titan’s Curse so that Nico wouldn’t have to do it
Percy lied to Chiron (and everyone else) about Nico being a son of Hades so that Nico wouldn’t be in any more danger
Nico cursed Percy and ran off after Bianca’s death, and Percy responded by scouring the country for Nico
Annabeth and Grover are both uncomfortable with Percy searching for Nico and claiming the prophecy, probably because they don’t want Percy to be the prophecy kid because he’s their friend and they don’t want him to get his soul reaped, and Grover even protests that “this kid hates you and wants you dead” like, maybe you shouldn’t go looking for him? And Percy shoots that bullshit down so fast and immediately defends Nico and convinces them to keep searching for Nico throughout the next couple months
Percy offered for Nico to stay in his cabin at the end of Battle of the Labyrinth
Literally nearly all of Battle of the Labyrinth somehow involves Percy fussing over Nico’s safety
Percy is constantly thinking about Nico all throughout that book, and every time he hears of danger, his thoughts immediately turn to Nico
Percy finds a fast food wrapper in the Labyrinth leftover from Nico summoning the dead, and takes off running through the Labyrinth, which is insanely dangerous, with Annabeth, Grover and Tyson struggling to catch up to him, because he’s so desperate to find Nico
Percy begs Nico to leave Geryon’s ranch and come with them on the rest of the quest. Nico refuses, and Percy only accepts this because Eurytion promises that he’ll look after Nico
Bianca straight up tells Percy that the reason she felt like she could join the Hunters was because she knew Percy would take care of Nico
Bianca sends Percy Iris-messages about Nico’s whereabouts in the beginning of Battle of the Labyrinth because she trusts that Percy is going to track down Nico and talk some sense into him
Nico runs away from Geryon’s ranch and back into the Labyrinth because Minos convinces him that Percy is in danger and needs his help
Nico passes out after summoning skeletons to help fight the Battle of the Labyrinth, and Percy immediately rushes over to his side, kneels down next to him and tends to him until he’s confident that Nico is fine
When Nico shows up on Percy’s fire escape on his fifteenth birthday, Percy feels really sad for Nico and wonders if he’s ever had a birthday party before or ever been invited to a birthday party, and then invites him inside for cake and ice cream
Nico is the one who convinces Percy to take on the curse of Achilles, because he’s so worried about Percy’s safety in the upcoming Titan War
“I’m sorry if I’m being too pushy, but two years ago my sister gave her life to protect you. I want you to honor that. Do whatever it takes to stay alive and defeat Kronos” more like stay alive because I care about you and I want you to live
Nico panics when Percy climbs out of the River Styx because he thinks that he’s hurt, and right before Percy’s about to go in Nico gets really nervous and tries to talk him out of it, even though it was his idea in the first place
Nico breaks Percy’s trust by turning him over to Hades in Last Olympian, and spends the entire rest of the book trying to earn it back. And he really honestly was trying to help and didn’t want to betray Percy; Hades even tells Percy that, “I’m afraid Nico was quite sincere in wanting to help you. The boy is as honest as he is dense.” Hades definitely knows that Nico has a colossal crush on Percy and that’s what he meant by “dense,” I guarantee it
Percy and Nico obviously kept in touch between Battle of the Labyrinth and Last Olympian because Percy knows that Nico has been searching for a lead on his family and like this is an extremely personal subject that Nico doesn’t talk to anyone else about
Percy and Nico are friends?????? Like, actual friends who laugh and talk about real stuff?????? Like, Percy knows Nico well enough to tease him about stopping in to visit Juniper, and teases him about needing to take a nap after he shadow travels, and Nico has this sarcastic sense of humor that he quips back with? “With great power comes… great need to take a nap. Wake me up later.” Like this is witty and funny??? Nico doesn’t talk like that to anyone else
NICO DESIGNED HIS OWN CABIN. this isn’t really relevant to their relationship but it annoyed me that this was apparently forgotten.
Like even after they save Olympus and the battle ends and everything, even after Percy and Annabeth start dating, Percy still keeps an eye out for Nico. He takes note that he’s sitting at the base of Hades’ throne during the council after the war, because he cares about Nico. He also talks specifically about Nico’s cabin being built, because he’s been trying for years to get Nico to stay at camp.
Because Percy cares about Nico. Like, Percy is a complete mother hen about Nico and doesn’t ever pretend to be otherwise. Did I mention that he literally cannot stop talking about Nico’s safety for all of Battle of the Labyrinth, where, simultaneously, he was also worrying about Annabeth and Tyson and Grover and Camp Half-Blood, but still finds lots of time to worry about Nico, because Percy cares about Nico
Percy and Nico are friends. Like, they don’t have a “rocky relationship” anymore, like it says in Mark of Athena. They had some rough patches and they worked through them, and Percy was mildly miffed that Nico didn’t tell him who he was in Son of Neptune, but holy shit like Nico went missing and almost died and Percy thinks about this, like, maybe twice, which is totally out of character for him
So you’ll have to excuse me if I really don’t accept that Percy was sort of indifferent to Nico going missing and getting trapped in a jar guarded by two giants, because if Percy was actually in character, he would have spent half of Mark of Athena obsessing over Nico just like Hazel
I’m eternally annoyed that Percy didn’t say anything to stick up for Nico when Jason and Leo were like, “Hey maybe we shouldn’t go searching for him because he might be a traitor” because, like, Percy always sticks up for Nico and it’s really not like him to just shrug his shoulders and not care that Nico is in danger
And I absolutely will not take the excuse that Percy was too preoccupied with other things to obsess about Nico because Percy is always preoccupied with other things and still finds time to obsess about Nico
EVERYTHING THAT REYNA, JASON, HAZEL, WILL AND WHOEVER ELSE DOES TO HELP NICO IN HEROES OF OLYMPUS WAS ALREADY DONE FIRST BY PERCY. PERCY SAVED THIS KID’S LIFE SEVERAL TIMES OVER, AND EVERYONE LOVES TO FORGET THAT PART. ESPECIALLY RICK, APPARENTLY.
And you’ll really fucking have to excuse me if I don’t accept “Not my type” as a way to close out their relationship because THAT IS MOTHERFUCKING BULLSHIT, THEY’RE FRIENDS, AND THEY CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER, AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS A LOT MORE COMPLEX THAN THAT STUPID ONE-LINER MADE IT SEEM
one day i’ll write an essay about how bianca di angelo was actually the one fated to be the hero of the prophecy on the grounds that she and percy were the same age, hades was beyond angry that she died instead of nico, and a bit of myth theory, but i guess today is not that day
ok here’s some notes that i have from the series alone
gods already know what happens prophecy-wise: so i can’t remember correctly, but wasn’t it confirmed at some point the gods have a pretty clear idea the fate of their heroes? e.g. hermes and luke, poseidon and percy. so it’s kind of strange (and telling) that hades would have preferred bianca to live than nico. what’s so special about bianca?
hades kidnapping plan in the last olympian: why did hades want percy to wait out the war so nico could age and be the hero? did he always have that plan? bianca was twelve when she died; fourteen at the time of war. when hades explained his reason, it was as if was owed something and he was mad about it. he wanted a child of his to be a hero and he was sour about it, like he was expecting it
and this is a bit of monomyth theory; it can be interpreted two different ways: when bianca finds out who she is, she immediately joins the huntress’ of artemis. one, this could be her accepting demigod life and wanting to submerse herself in it and subverting the hero’s journey. or two, which makes more sense, it could be her automatically refusing the call of a fated hero by halting her aging.
