hiiiii violation beans

welcome back to tangents with gabby

as requested by the loml riptide2406 these are all of my unpopular pjo opinions

because i have these opinions, it does kind of shape how i see these characters going out into the world, which is an unpopular headcanon

you may also see that i now go against things that i praised before, one of which being that jason's death was cheap

i have learned a lot about writing and about characters and about pjo characters that have shifted these opinions into the ones i currently hold. and guess what? these opinions might change too.

if I disagree with something you like, bestie it's okay. honestly, the only time I get pressed is when i talk about Jason's death. But, i can see why some people will like a differing side

and i would love to know your own opinions. this is a safe space and i think that everyone is valid here

i am not meaning to attack you, and if you feel that i am, i apologize. that is not my intention.

so

yeah

we love doing this instead of writing because writer's block is a bitch

anyway 1

JASON BEING DEAD IS A GOOD WAY TO END HIS AND PIPER'S CHARACTER ARCS

ISTG IF I SEE ONE MORE oH iT wAs LaZy

bitch, it was not.

Jason has always been a much more practical strategist and not very emotional and, honestly, would sacrifice people if it meant his/his army's survival. nothing wrong with it, it's war. However, after being taken away from a place where people are disposable and into this huge family of people who genuinely care about each other while trying to figure out who he is, it's going to cause this divide inside of him

we see that he chooses to be more emotional rather than practical in BoO, but he doesn't really have any emotional maturity, which makes sense. Mans was raised by fucking wolves

we also see that Piper has some emotional maturity, but MUCH more empathy than Jason. Yes, she's practical. But she also has a tendency to overthink and overreact and hold a lot in

this is because of a different unpopular opinion i will get to shortly

Anyway, when Jason sacrifices himself it shows that he does care about his people, and that he finally achieved that mix of emotion and practicality he had been battling himself over throughout BoO.

But, Gabby, didn't you also say it helped Piper? How?

Well, Piper saw what it felt like for someone to actually care about her and show it.

Why is this such a big revelation?

1- gay awakening

2- TRISTAN MCLEAN IS A PRETTY SHIT FATHER

I can feel you all typing me a storm, so let me explain

We all know that Tristan wasn't really there much for Piper as a kid and probably dealt with some internalized racism and some misogyny. The latter hopped on Piper's boat.

But those aren't necessarily terrible things. I mean, they are, but they are fixed with some fucking education.

Being there for your child is not.

Tristan is and was emotionally neglectful, which turned into very very subtle and implicit emotional abuse.

This is actually very easy to point out in the novels, but no one really knows what emotional neglect is. People know about emotional abuse, which is more severe and easy to spot. But, once I explain this concept to you, I think you will see where I'm coming from.

The most basic definition is a failure to notice and respond to a child's emotional needs. It causes a lack of connection from a parent to a child, and a desire to have someone react to them from a child to a parent.

This happens a lot with parents who are absent a lot.

You see where I'm going with this? You see the parallels?

Don't worry, I will spoon feed it to you anyway.

Tristan McLean is constantly leaving Piper in the hands of whatever assistant he has at the time and kind of ignores her if she isn't right in front of him. Even then, he doesn't know anything about her because he isn't really connected to her. She doesn't like having her pb&j with 24k gold flakes dusted atop the bread. She doesn't like to wear super expensive clothes. She doesn't like being disconnected to her culture.

But she is willing to sacrifice all of that because if she does, her dad actually hangs out with her.

Wait, Gabby? Didn't you say that there isn't a connection between them? Why does Piper want to be connected to her dad?

One, because he isn't 100% absent and hasn't really given her a huge reason to not

Two, because they were close in the past. They used to hang out at her grandpa's house and surf and shit.

Eventually, Tristan does more and more films leaving Piper with some random dude more and more often. All she wants is to have her dad pay attention to her and her needs.

Actually, no. She just wants her dad to pay attention to her in general.

So, she lashes out. She has this cool ability to make people do whatever the fuck she wants, so she got a free car. It's not her fault the consultant said she could have it for free. She just took the offer.

Of course, this gets a reaction out of any parent. But rather than actually parenting the child, what did Tristan do?

...

...

THAT'S RIGHT HE SENT HER AWAY

and how might that affect any child?

...

...

YEP IT'S TRAUMATIZING

Wow, you are all soo smart.

This is where that very small amount of emotional abuse comes in

Emotional abuse in this case would be saying or implying that they don't want to deal with a kid. Saying that the kid ruined their lives. Overall being a piece of shit to the kid.

By sending Piper away after never really being there for her, what does it seem like?

...

...

YEAH! LIKE HE DOESN'T WANT TO DEAL WITH HAVING A KID.

So, do I think that Piper has some resentment towards her father? Yes! But that might be me projecting on my bio dad, who disowned me today so I can get adopted which is really fun! i got candy from it and a milkshake

lmao my friends were so concerned when i screamed HELL YEAH MY DAD DOESN'T LOVE ME because i was so fucking excited to get those damn papers signed so my step-dad can legally be my father

so fun

Anyway, back in topic we go.

That's why I think Tristan was a pretty shit father, and also why I think that Piper stayed with Jason even though I doubt she ever really loved him in a romantic sense.

I think that she just never got attention and when she received so much of it in a way that was so caring, along with all of these false memories, that she latched onto Jason in any way she could. I think that Jason helped her realize that people are supposed to care about you because they are your friend/family member not because they want to date you.

Caring about someone is common courtesy.

I think that Jason was the first semi-healthy relationship she ever had and I think i was a wake-up call for her, especially when he died, that her dad (from her pov) doesn't care about her.

omfg, this is already 1,000 words

and i am not splitting this up into parts we are doing it all

i fear how long this will be

Anway, you see how these two opinions connect to each other? Yeah, it's going to be like that a lot.

Because I actually liked Jason's death, I do not want Nico and Will to go after him in the fanfiction Rick is writing

okay but like, what is that title???? explain????

Jesus, can you tell I'm exhausted while writing this? I can.

Will I change it before I publish it? lmao no

Okay THE TOPIC WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE MAKING A RANT ABOUT

I also think that by Nico not going after Jason we will get this really nice internal conflict of blaming Jason for all of the pain and trying to grow and accept his trauma. Nico as a character, is super great and was developed pretty amazingly except for that one scene in HoH... we don't talk about Cupid.

Actually, off topic for a valid reason:

That scene is so fucking frustrating, and maybe this is an unpopular opinion, which it shouldn't, but I fucking hate it

1- do NOT out someone and not mention how fucking traumatizing that is

2- Cupid??? who is based on Eros??? Who is literally a fucking king in mythology??? No, he would never do that shit. Eros is simply vibing, making people fall in love, and being the best husband in mythology history (yes, even better than Hades)

Like, Eros and Psyche invented otps. Eros understands what it feels like to be forced away from a lover and understands how it feels to have a deep secret revealed. He would never do that to anyone else.

I understand changing the mythology for an audience, but Ricj still should not have done that. hellenistic people exist

But Eros and Psyche is all about an honestly very healthy relationship. If he wanted to add that drama, it should have been either Pothos (yearning) or Phthonus (jealousy).

Okay, but to Nico.

I feel that his abandonment issues, trust issues, PTSD, and overall trauma wasn't explored as much as it could have been. I think that this would be a great opportunity to do that while also providing this commentary on mental health.

This can also be used to show his relationship with Will, and can develop Will a bit more.

Which leads me to my next opinion: WILL IS NOT A SWEET INNOCENT ANGEL

HE IS LITERALLY A FUCKING WAR DOCTOR ORIGINALLY AT AGE 15, THEN AT AGE 13 BECAUSE INCONSISTANICIES

He is scarred. He's also very underappreciated in the novels. Yes, he does so much and we, as readers, know this. However, the people who get praised in the books are the ones who fight. Will can't fight.

And this is where my opinion turns into a headcanon:

I think that Will has a desire to be recognized, most people do. But I also think that as Will gets older he realizes that he doesn't really like people. He likes helping people, but when it comes to talking, it's always subtly strained.

Due to that, I think Will has emotional maturity that I think he was kind of thrown into. If he started healing at age 9, he needs to have the emotional control to stay lazer focused on one thing at a time.

In doing so his social skills are worse than my eye bags

I also think that as things start to finally cool down, Will is going to realize just how much pressure he is under and how he watched so many people die at such a young age under his watch. When he was 10, Will was probably treating stab wounds for the people he looked up to.

So, I think that he will not continue his career as a doctor, but stay somewhere within the medical field.

I think that he also has his own mental health issues, but because of his interest in the human body, I think he will get very into the exact psychology of it.

This can be used to develop his and Nico's relationship further, getting into why they work so well together.

I also think that Will would probably be the first to accept his trauma and forgive, mainly because he is so easy-going in the books. I think he will be more accepting.

However, I think that he will always have a desire to help people. But mental health is very important too, which is why I think that Will would start working on his social skills and realize that he doesn't hate people he just hates adults.

Why? Don't worry my Chiron opinions are coming soon.

I think that Will would really love kids and would do his best to help kids in whatever way he can because I feel like he would empathize so much more with children who have this light taken out of their eyes.

We see this a lot with Meg. Will loves Meg. So does Nico.

Which brings me to my next unpopular opinion: NICO DOES NOT HATE EVERYONE HE IS SIMPLY GUARDED

Why? Bestie look at his backstory. I'm still doing research on his psychology chapter that shit is brutal.

And by doing that I formed another unpopular opinion: nico is a dog person because he needs a big ass great pyrenes dog to hug and play around with. He needs loyalty and unconditional love from a dog. Cats are amazing, but I feel like when it comes to what would help Nico more, it would be a dog. Maily because of how they show affection, it's much easier to see. Hazel would be a cat person though.

Anyway, Nico was never hostile towards the campers until they were hostile to him *without reason*

When Annabeth was hostile to him in BoL, he didn't hate her. She had a reason to be mean.

I'm sure he recognized Meg's pain and I know that they bonded during ToA but it wasn't shown, which is a shame because you can tell that Nico cares a lot. I think he'd really like kids.

omfg 2,000 words someone stop me it's 10:30 pm and i've been up since 4:30 this morning because one year olds cry too loud

imma pass out and tell you when i decide to let my brain rot on the internet again

ok it's 8 am lets go

Due to all of this, I think that Nico is actually quite fatherly. ESPECIALLY to Meg, because she also has these abandonment issues and I think that Nico would do his best to help Meg in that regard.

And Meg is not heartless either, she was manipulated, abused, and gaslit by her father figure. Then when she finds out she doesn't know if she should believe it or not.

She doesn't hate Apollo or Nico or Will, she's just so confused and so young. You can't hold that against her

Thankfully, the people within the ToA fandom are much more mature than the other spaces in this fan base, so it isn't really an unpopular opinion.

Going back to Nico and Will, I think that Will doesn't need labels. Neither does Piper. People can be mlm and wlw and still identify as simply queer. And no, queer is not a slur, I'm saying that as an absolute lesbian. It's a word we have changed the meaning of over the years.

Besides, Piper seems to be more of a fuck labels kind of gal.

Unfortunately, I cannot and will not get into an analysis on why she would be that gal. (it's her father and the paparazzi)

But, moving on, let's go to... Oh, let's do the hunters thing.

Personally, I think that the Hunters of Artemis should have been for aro, ace, sapphics, trans women, and nb people. While I love the aroace rep, Artemis has always been a symbol of queer love. Certain people believe she had romantic relationships with some of the nymphs in her Hunt. Obviously, Orion was her primary lover, but I think that the Hunters are there to provide one thing:

Protection from men.

I think that it should be extended to sapphic women, but it really depends on your interpretation of the myth. There are no wrong answers here.

Because of this, I am very conflicted with Reyna. I always thought Thalia was aro ace, but I have gone back and forth on whether Reyna was homoromantic or not. I like both headcanons, so...

I also wish, as a Puerto Rican, that Reyna and Hylla (that should not have been her name) lived in the more rual parts of PR. Especially since they are meant to be poor. Ponce and San Juan are very rich areas. It would have been more realistic if they lived in Aguadilla or Rincon.

As for the other Romans, Hazel isn't innocent. It's not that unpopular but still. I also think that Frank and Hazel are in a healthy relationship, though the age gap was a bit startling while reading it. 2 years isn't a lot, it's just weird seeing a freshman and a junior in a relationship until they are both out of high school, you know? But I know people who are in that type of relationship, and it looks healthy from the outside, so it really has more to do with your own opinion.

They shouldn't be praetors, they are children.

Listen, I have so much shit to say about the camps in general, so we will get back to that in a bit.

Annabeth Chase is black. That's one unpopular opinion for ya

That's not really the biggest one, but it's pretty fucking important.

My biggest opinion comes with Luke. And I'm sure you all know exactly where I am going with this.

Annabeth was groomed by him, and was almost murdered by him multiple times. She would not name her child Luke.

She also probably has some growing hatred to Chiron, I will get to that in a minute.

I also think that Annabeth is very booksmart, but when it comes to emotions, she never learned how to deal with them properly. I got into that in my chapter about her.

You know who else is smart? Her boyfriend Perseus Jackson. I hope y'all know that.

Just because he jokes a lot and isn't really good at math and shit, doesn't mean he isn't intelligent. You can't be good at everything.

Annabeth is a strategist and fighter, but probably got shit grades in school too because she has a learning disability. Percy has that same disability.

Also, Percy isn't oblivious, he is insecure. Probably because he spent his entire life with people telling him that he's stupid and unlovable because ~ableism~

Leo is also very smart. I'm not sure why or how that got scewed so much, but you can be Mexican and smart. I know that's super hard to wrap your head around but it's true.

Boy, I wonder why people are such assholes when it comes to Leo's brain power. Is it perhaps his ADHD is more visible, and you hate neurodivergences????

Moving on, you all know that Percy is very fatherly, right?

So then why the actual fuck do you want me to believe that he would have let Nico rot? Explain that to me. Now.

Why are children expected to be exploited simply because it would be an inconvenience?

Which brings me to my biggest unpopular opinion:

CAMP JUPITER AND CAMP HALF-BLOOD ARE FUCKING TERRIBLE

Maybe, maybe, I can excuse CHB because they didn't have adults. But, they never tried so...

But Camp Jupiter is a terrible institution. There is a whole ass city there with working adults. Why is there a child army? Why are children running the government?

Why is it the expectation that children must be used for the gain of the gods and adults are immune to that?

Listen, I love Chiron. I really do. But he should have tried to keep quests to a minimum and worked on making the world a safer place for demigods and then only making ADULTS, people who are the opposite of a minor, the army.

That's why Will probably doesn't like Chiron that much. Imagine being 10 and watching your 15-year-old sibling die because Chiron told them to be a hero.

Imagine little Annabeth watching Luke come back from his quest a new person all because Chiron was adamant that the gods are the end all be all.

Need I explain further?

This is where my biggest headcanon starts:

Percy and Annabeth go to college at Jupiter because it's the only one that guarantees safety, then they go back to NY and take CHB and rebuild it

Nico and Will, who love kids, agree with all of the plans.

Piper, who has seen firsthand what it feels like to be abandoned and treated like nothing helps out too

Leo, who is in desperate need of some fucking stability stays with Emmie and Jo for a while, but once they start building, Leo joins in.

They create... new greece? idk It's like Camp Jupiter, except you don't need to be abducted by wolves If you're a demigod or legacy for ANY mythos, come on in.

There would be schools established and they would be normal schools, except they also learn how to use their powers so they don't go crazy, you know?

And it would be governed by ADULTS and while kids will train, it would be more of a just-in-case type of situation. They will not be trained in how to win a war. They would be trained in how to fight in case *insert scenario* happened so that they survive.

And mental health would be prioritized, and healthcare would be free and childcare would be free

and Apollo would 100% go down there all the fucking time and just hang there.

The actual camo would still be there, but it would just be a summer camp. Not something for your survival

ooh and it would be so eco friendly because Hephaestus kids, Demeter kids, and nyphs and satyrs would work together to make sure of it

then Frank and Hazel would leave Jupiter and join new greece and it would be great

and the fOSTER SYSTEM OMG THE FOSTER SYSTEM

this is where my kid fic idea that i'll never write came from.

omg the foster system in new rome is probably shit because it's new rome, most of it is. and so the foster system in new greece would actually prioritize the foster parents and give them resources and listen to kids if there was neglect

utopia. literally utopia.

thank you for your time and for allowing me to write 3,700 words about this shit

i need to take out my braids, they ain't looking too hot anymore.

soooo love y'all