Rick Riordan Crit - Blog Posts

Rick Riordan SUCKS at writing romance. And I’m so tired of Percabeth stans denying that those two have flaws in their relationship. Do I enjoy Percabeth? Of course. I loved their dynamic in PJO.

HoO ruined it. Yes, they definitely had their moments. The stables scene was pretty cute. The judo flip was entirely unnecessary, though. They could’ve kissed and hugged. Rick pulled that scene out of his ass because he thought it was silly. No? Annabeth didn’t need to judo flip him, EVEN if she was angry at the moment and even if Percy seemed unaffected by it.

Also, the fact that Annabeth thinks Percy’s dumb in the new books, which objectively eat ass. No, she doesn’t?? Annabeth had canonically admitted that she thinks Percy is “pretty smart” in the Demigod Files. There are several examples of Percy arguing with Annabeth and holding his own pretty good. Annabeth thinks Percy is smart. Percy is objectively smart. Why the hell is Percy so incredibly stupid? Why did Rick feel the need to add that joke in HoH where Reyna says that Percy couldn’t find his way out of a paper bag without Annabeth’s help, and she agrees?? What?

Also, the fact that Annabeth’s friends first impression of Percy is bad. This implies that Annabeth has spoken bad about Percy. So we aren’t going to acknowledge that Annabeth was absolutely smitten with that man and now she talks bad about him? Do I believe she would? Of course not.

TL;DR: Rick is a bad author who is the only reason for the deterioration of Percabeth, and Percabeth is flawed.

part 2 of my ask about demigod scents and technology because the previous one would be too long and disorganised otherwise

Anyway:

I highly doubt that Piper, the teenaged daughter of a famous Hollywood movie star, had 0 access to phones growing up. I could see Tristan blocking certain social media apps to try and protect her (cause people are gross online to teenage girls and I don’t think he’s that incompetent of a parent to not care, especially as his fame grew). It meshes well with her backstory as well - Jane/ another assistant/ Tristan himself could’ve handed Piper a phone and expect that to fix her need for parental attention that wasn’t purely monetary, especially since Tristan wouldn’t’ ve known about demigods not being safe near phones

Frank could’ve not been allowed a phone due to his grandmother knowing about the Poseidon ancestry (if I remember right), but he also had the most normal childhood compared to the rest of the 7, as he likely went to a regular school (I remember he mentions participating in spelling bees), so he would’ve been around them for a good chunk of the day

Maybe consistency with his own worldbuilding is too much to ask from Rick anymore

This-all of this. You're right. Frank's grandmother could not be around him and protect him all the time. He would have used some technology-he would have encountered some monsters.

I wish we knew if he was homeschooled or went to normal school. We don't even know that much about his pre-CJ life.

You know that meme where an angry-looking guy yells at his employees for ideas and then he throws the third guy out of the window for suggesting something he doesn't like?

That's Rick and his consistency respectively.

This is an amazing critique of Rick's misogyny that most of the fandom is apparently incapable of seeing-they most likely intentionally turn a blind eye to it, which is very problematic. Authors are allowed to use their versions of the myths, but we must not take the media too seriously and we DEFINITELY should not think that that was the only version. Also, the fandom needs to differentiate between the OG myths and what goes in the modern piece of media that uses them (Lore Olympus, Percy Jackson, etc).

Also, I can commiserate with you about Demeter and Persephone, as it's tiring to see their loving relationship being destroyed and twisted into something horrible.

Rick really fucked up Athena and Aphrodite too.

One thing I find so interesting about the PJO fandom is how they actually accepted how Rick fucked up 90% of the goddesses. Even when he uses a version of a myth that specifically talks about men being idiots, he villainizes women. Like, no one complained about how fucked up is that he used the story of Hephaestus trying to rape Athena and turning it into a “poor guy cried bc he was rejected by a girl” thing?

The true story is literally Hephaestus trying to rape Athena, she fights him off but his semen falls into her skirt and cleans it with a piece of cloth and tosses it into the ground (earth, which is Gaia) and from there, Erictonio is born. And Athena raised the child as her own even tho he was the product of the assault she suffered. The guy ruled Athens.

Rick turned it into Hephaestus falling in love with Athena and crying on her lap, making her reject and KICK him plus being disgusted by the tears and the dirt.

He also used all of Ovid versions he could possibly find to fuck Athena up. Arachne doesn’t happen with Greek writers and Medusa was never cursed (or assaulted) when we talk about the OG Myth. She was already born a monster and Athena only helps Perseus kill her bc yeah, Medusa killed people.

Also, Medusa’s version by Ovid is a lot alike Cassandra of Troy story, and let me tell ya, Cassandra was cursed but it wasn’t by a woman. And when she was raped by Ajax, Athena made sure that he didn’t made it back to Greece.

Now I’m gonna talk about Demeter. Demeter, who had her daughter kidnapped, raped and imprisoned, and was turned into the typical “mother in law who hated son in law bc she thinks her daughter could do better” when yeah…she has all the right to feel angry bc her daughter was KIDNAPPED.

Artemis doesn’t hate men and her followers also don’t hate men. Feminism isn’t about hating men.

Aphrodite. I cannot even describe how dirty they made Aphrodite’s children. Like be fr one of her children helped build what it would’ve been Rome. He was a fighter. And her cabin there is just so different of what she is truly like. They should have a lot of other powers.

Also, a lot of women from the books follows the same stereotype of “omg I hate makeup it’s so girlish and I’d rather fight” like you can be feminine, wear makeup and STILL FIGHT. One doesn’t erase the other.

Another thing, but this one is about MOTHERS! I truly cannot understand the way Rick creates his women. I’m serious tho. Like, I’m sorry but sometimes it seems that his thing some goddesses (Athena, for example) are personal. The “abandoning Athens” thing, the “should’ve chosen Poseidon”, the way he wrote her as being cold towards her kids…in one of the versions, Athena was the one who saved Dionysus from Hera. She raised a child and made him a king even though he was the product of her almost rapist. She was there helping heroes all along. She fought for Odysseus for ten years.

Also, this fandom is incapable of seeing the difference between Minerva and Athena. Minerva gave Annabeth the mark, Athena had nothing to do with this. Annabeth is her favorite daughter, she made her architect of Olympus, protected her through her journey to find Luke and Thalia, disobeyed her fathers orders trying to help to find Annabeth, made battle plans with her and all…and she always claimed all of her children.

I think people just don’t like her bc she doesn’t trust Percy. And she shouldn’t. I love him, but Athena IS the goddess of wisdom after all and as such, it would be pretty dumb to trust a demigod that won a battle against the god of war when he was only twelve. Not to mention that everyone kinda thought the “preserve or destroy Olympus” was on his hands. And he tortured a goddess…I’m sorry but she was pretty much right. Wouldn’t trust someone that had the power to fuck me and my family up either. She dint made the choice based on “omg I hate my rival and his children” even more so bc she was trained by one of his children and bunch of grandchildren. She made the choice based on what she thought was less risky.

If she was so against Percabeth, I can assure you she would’ve killed Percy and probably wouldn’t even suffer much consequences. She admires some things about Percy but she was right about his flaw. And she also helped him during one of his quest to go to college. Does she loves the idea of the relationship? No. But that’s bc she is precisely the opposite of love. She doesn’t make decisions based on what her heart says, but on what her brain says. If she succumbs to the heart, then she would seize to be goddess of wisdom, reason and all of what she values. That’s why she vowed to never marry.

And, as Helenist, I do not take the myths that seriously bc when we talk about religion, I have a clear mind that those myth were made by humans who used the gods as a tool to justify some of their actions, and I hate almost all of the retellings that those authors do, but is so wild to see how much power they have on society bc now I cannot see anything about the gods without someone saying shit about them. But I do know all about the myths and I gotta say, doesn’t make much sense to use a Roman author to talk about Greek Gods. He made them dirty. Also doesn’t make much sense to use this versions of Ovid but still change it to make it more sweet for the men. Poseidon and Athena didn’t spend that much time beefing, they even have a city together (Troezen) and she definitely doesn’t hate his children. Her best friend was literally his grandchild.

Safe to say that y’all should probably question Rick on how he treats women bc I was seeing the PJO series (the cast is amazing btw, safe to say that Leah/Annabeth is my fav) and by the looks of it, saying on how he changed Athena’s personality one more time, I legit think that Annie won’t jump to save her friends on season 3, she will probably be pushed by her mother or whatever.

Another thing: apparently only the women that like and have a friendship with Percy are treated as cool. But that’s on the fandom, not the author.

I forgot to add one thing and I’m gonna fix the grammar later but the “this is for children” excuse isn’t really valid considering that we saw Gabe being aggressive with Sally, we also saw Ares being a jerk to Clarisse (which also doesn’t make sense) and the story clearly states cheating, fights, death and a lot of other terrors. If you’re gonna use a rape version of a myth bc you chose to fuck a Goddess up, then you should state that the man is to blame. In the books we see Medusa saying she was Poseidon’s girlfriend/lover…she was his lover on the og myth, not in the version Rick chose. In the version that he chose, she was clearly raped. But he erased that and replaced rapist with boyfriend. He could’ve chosen to do another path if he didn’t want to talk about sexual abuse, I can tell y’all a hundred of ways this could go, but he chose this path and changed it, favoring the man. Again.

He could’ve gone with the theogony and said what was there that basically is: she was a monster, BORN a monster, daughter of other two monsters, no one wanted to get close to her, but he did. They slept together in a camp of flowers.

Athena only enters the story wayyy after this. And, as y’all can see, no curse. Yet, he chose to go with the rape version were Medusa is a maiden, loyal to Athena, gets raped on Athena’s temple by Poseidon and Athena curses her. And what did the author do? He made this: Medusa, loyal to Athena, fell in love with Poseidon and they did things on her temple. Athena cursed her. Again erasing the men’s fault.

The hate on Athena doesn’t make any sense at all. Y’all love some other male characters that don’t have a single sense of responsibility and possibly did everything wrong in the book. I saw people condemn Athena for her treatment of Deadalus when the guy literally killed his nephew bc he was more praised than him. And Athena gave him a mark that burned and did some shit to teach him a lesson. Poseidon wanted a trial to avenge his rapist son that was killed by Ares bc he tried to rape one of Ares daughters. A RAPIST. And Poseidon is treated like and angel bc what??? He likes Percy? Is his father and got him a gift? And Athena is being hated bc she isn’t his number one fan and her Roman part decided to give Annabeth a Mark? And mind you she’s just like that with him bc she knows more than everyone else and knows that he is dangerous. A good guy? Yes, Percy is the most amazing guy. Still dangerous. Still had the power to torture a goddess and win against the god of war. And she doesn’t dislike him, she dislikes his relationship with her daughter. And even so, she didn’t stop the relationship. So yeah I won’t ever get why the women always get more hate than the men considering this.

Again, as a Helenist, I don’t take the myths seriously when I talk about the religion in general bc the Gods are superiors. They don’t have human flaws. But, as someone who knows about the myths, is safe to say I hate those stories that uses myths like that and turns it against the Goddesses and make them out to be the worst ever. All the gods deserved way better than what they got with those retellings.

It's really simple. The boon for one can be a curse for another is the phrase that comes to mind when Jason and Percy are involved. All the things that Jason deems as boons are akin to a curse for Percy. Things Jason wants and Percy does not want are denied to the former and thrust upon the latter. Destiny is inherently unjust to both of them.

Their lives are quite literally inverse and parallel of each other simultaneously.

Percy was initially hated and ostracized for what he was, while Jason was honored and revered.

Jason became the image everyone forced on him in hopes of finally earning genuine love, respect, and approval but was instead seen as doing what was already expected of him and was rewarded with even more expectations.

Percy who broke all preconceived and hateful notions about him by breaking records and creating miracles that the demigod world did not know existed and cemented himself as someone who would never be forgotten. He paid for all that in blood and pain, but at least he was rewarded with the love and loyalty of his peers for it. [Jason would call this a gift, a reward while Percy considers the price of love, respect, and loyalty of his peers was unjust and should have been given freely]

Percy's name is a gift and a prayer. It's the earnest symbol of Sally's need to keep her son alive and safe. Percy may be a symbol of a god's mistake once up on a time; but he is not a regret. No, he is a blessing in disguise.

Jason's name is a curse and a sacrifice. It is also a symbol of a god's mistake and, more importantly, a god's regret. He himself is a tool, a peace offering, and a sacrifice disguised as a gift. He can never be anything more in the eyes of his makers.

Percy is a symbol of love for both Poseidon and Sally. Jason was a symbol of status to Beryl and a bargaining chip to Jupiter against Hera. Poseidon would go to war with Zeus for Percy's sake while Jupiter would see Jason dead for his own agendas. And he did.

Jason desperately wants to be a legend that was woven around him while Percy wants to escape the legend he became and created.

Even their definitions of freedom are inverted.

To Jason, his freedom is being able to help the gods and his camp in whatever way he can and not be judged for it. His freedom is in the genuine love and respect of his peers and the approval of his father.

To Percy, his freedom is being left alone, without the watchful eye of gods on him, being able to do what he wants, whenever he wants. He cares not for earning the approval of any gods, instead he is the one that judges them to be worthy or unworthy of his respect.

Jason wants to be a leader while Percy is doomed to be one.

But by the end of it Percy is now the one saddled with responsibilities and expectations that he does not want ,drowning and chafing under the weight of such restraints that go against his nature while Jason's death despite it's unjustness has finally freed him from his shackles.

Jason is free, and Percy is not. Jason sees his death as punishment while Percy would think of his own death as freedom even though Jason's death is the actual freedom, while Percy's death would be the true punishment, after all he was so close to escaping his fate.

Their dynamic was perhaps the one with the most potential in the entire series, followed by Percy and Luke. The parallels, the contradictions, the mirrored philosophy, and mindset. All that golden potential and Rick squanders it on a superficial rivalry and poorly fleshed character motivations.

Jason who everyone believed would be great and Percy who knew that everyone except his mom believed he wouldn't amount to anything unless he proved himself. Percy who chose to make the Great Prophecy about him so Nico wouldn't have to bear more burdens after losing his sister. Jason who chose to confront Caligula alone so Piper would live after the oracle told him he or Piper would die.

Percy who believed he would die at 16. Jason actually dying at 16.

Imagine if Percy and Jason actually had the chance to have a genuine conversation about how being sons of The Big 3 hurt them in different but similar ways bc of what was expected of them and bc of how they were treated by people. Percy and Jason knowing that they can't really show weakness or insecurity or ever say that they were scared bc everyone at their respective camps were counting on their leadership.

Percy and Jason who had their own distinct journeys to be the heroes they became and both journeys were valid and important but did Jason and Percy ever believe for a second that they were important not for their parentage and achievements but because of who they are and actively chose to be