Persassy Jackson

I talk about it, even after twelve years of being introduced to it: yup, I’m talking about the PJO universe book series as my most formative book!

look at my thicc boi

When I was younger, I always felt like the odd man out. I never really felt like I really related to my peers: I was too shy and too stupid to make friends myself. And my family was too poor and unstable to even give me some natural clout to even have people approach me (such as having money to afford cool pens or cool shirts or something like that). So I was quiet, but things changed when I was in third grade. I had my first “man” teacher that year and when he met me I was too scared to even shake his hand but he was understanding. I remember, he squatted to eye level with me (which was pretty low cause I was like 3 feet and he was like 6 foot) and he said “We are going to make this year a good year and we are going to be friends by the end of it.” (thinking about this makes me cry because that teacher was really nice to me). And he did just that, he encouraged me speak in class, he would set me up to work with kind people to help me make friends (that’s how I became friends with Stacey :))), and made me feel smart. Anyway, sometime in the first quarter (yes, we unfortunately had quarters in my elementary school) he told us that he had a friend who was a writer. That year, his friend apparently just finished making the third book to his series which he sent to my teacher a few weeks before it was released for him to read. My teacher wanted to have an excuse to read while he worked so he said that he would read the books aloud to us for 30 minutes at the end of the day. However, he had to start with the first book and go through the series so that my classmates and I could understand and that’s when I was introduced to the loml Perseus Jackson. I instantly fell in love with him!

The reason I love Percy Jackson and the PJO Universe is because it is so relatable. Never have I read a book where the main character was cool and funny and non-traditionally smart despite being the unpopular kid who was bullied, who had a missing dad, who had an abusive step-father and an essentially single mother, was perpetually poor, and had learning disabilities.The representation that the PJO Universe brings to those who often are ignored and/or never presented as the main protagonist of a story. Aside from the representation through the main character (I won’t go through all the good representation work done through all the other characters because that would be A LOT) the plot is also great! In every book there is a deadline that is created through some absurd circumstances (for example Percy having to return Zeus’ lightning bolt by the winter solstice because Zeus thinks he stole it and if Percy doesn’t come up with it by then he would be killed) and by trying to meet that deadline Percy and his friends are met by a bunch of random weird situations that are always really interesting and engaging to read. Like I remember this guy who was named Crusty (it was short for Procrustes) and he stretched out Annabeth and Percy to “fit” them to the bed since they were too short for it. It’s weird and random but the interaction that Percy and the gang have with the random side characters in these odd situations really develops the characters. For example with all of Percy's interactions, it is well established that he is super sassy, though no one really noticed how sassy Percy was until the second series. In the first series, no one noticed because it was first-person and we had his thoughts which justified his sassiness but in the second series we see Percy’s actions through other people’s points of views and you’re just like, “Dang Percy chillllll with that sassiness please”. I tried to find a few sassy quotes by him but they all require a lot of context and even with context you need to build a relationship with Percy to truly appreciate the sassiness so I will spare you guys. But on top of all that, the romance in the series is well made. I never enjoyed a book before and rarely after that creates romance that’s slow and normal and well, natural. By the end of the series, after more than 1000 pages you were like yeah of course Percy and Annabeth deserve/needs to be together. And their love for each other isn't blind, they see the flaws in each and they even argue which makes it feel "real". Plus, the PJO universe was the first series that I read that had a break up that didn’t feel overdramatic and earth shattering (not between Percabeth if anyone was concerned).

But yeah, I really love Percy Jackson/the PJO universe and the lovely person who introduced me to it. Honestly I can go on in so much more depth but I feel like this is becoming a Percy Jackson appreciation post more than anything. But I really do appreciate the series so much because it not only made me realize that I wasn't so alone in my experiences but it also taught me that I could be the hero of my own story despite all my "adversities":). Okay, I will leave this post with this little fun fact: Percy Jackson was the second crush of my life (y’all already know my first crush ;)).

Alrighty, I hope you guys are doing well! Imma just add some pics I took over the week, Love you guys and ttyl!

My sister, my niblings, and I decided to go off the beaten path and find a river my sister and I remembered finding when we were younger

We found some soft grass and decided to take pics in it

We found it relatively easy (it was surprisingly because we haven't been to this river thing in over ten years)

We were playing in the water for when we found a baby turtle and started playing with it

My sister wanted me to take pics with the kids to remember this day, we posed as muscle-y men

They started stressing me out because they started screaming like muscle-y men in a contest

Then we tried to take a normal picture

I tried to make ochazuke (rice steeped in tea), I followed a recipe that said no seasonings were required but I think the next time I make it I will but it was good: I give it a 6/10

My niece drew Aboni's shadow and I thought it was the funniest thing

This morning Sebastian randomly sent me this pic saying to honor it