The Last Olympian question

Hate to break it to you but the majority of the fan base are die hard Percy/Annabeth shippers (and those that don’t tend to be slash shippers). The goods news for you though is that I happen to be one of the few that ship Luke/Annabeth though I also ship Percy/Annabeth.

My thoughts on each pairing are as follows.

Here’s my defense of Percabeth: I don’t believe Annabeth ever hated Percy. I think in the first book she was a little confused and conflicted because here was this boy who could give her what she always wanted which was a quest but at the same time her mom and his dad didn’t really get along so she wasn’t sure quite how she should feel about Percy. But by the end of book 1 she considered him a friend as evidenced by her saying that if war did break out she would side with Percy regardless because they were friends. I think she first started having romantic feelings for him by the end of book 3 after he had saved her. He was the only one who kept actively searching for her, never giving up. Everyone else was too concerned about Artemis even Thalia. But all Percy cared about was Annabeth. And once Luke left her there trapped holding up the sky she was very upset and felt very betrayed. Before that point I felt like she still believed he would never truly hurt her when it came down to it which was why she still tried to help him even knowing all the bad stuff he had done thus far. We know she considered joining the hunters and I think that was because she was afraid Luke would never love her back and was beginning to see his true colors. And he was her only family so once he left, she like Thalia thought that the hunters could give her that feeling of family and protectiveness again. But when she saw all that Percy went through to get her back she realized how much he cared about her and began to see him as more than a friend and therefore changed her mind about joining the hunters. Percy and Annabeth’s friendship and bond continued to strengthen over the course of the series and by the end I feel like they truly bring out the best in one another and are each other’s best friend.

Why I love the Luke/Annabeth pairing: As I mentioned before, Luke along with Thalia were Annabeth’s only real family. She never felt like she belonged with her dad and stepfamily. The connection she shared with Luke and Thalia is not easily broken, they understand each other and were there for one another when no one else was. I personally would love if there was a prequel series about their adventures on the run together. Annabeth’s crush on Luke in the first book was adorable and her devotion to him throughout the series despite all he did was truly beautiful. I never wanted Luke to be evil. His betrayal was the worst and I didn’t completely think he was in the wrong. Sure he should never have tried to bring back Kronos but his anger at the gods felt justified. I hate the Greek deities, they are petty vengeful and vindictive. But they are certainly the lesser of two evils when compared to the titans. Like Annabeth I never stopped caring about Luke and wanting him to be good, hoping he would be redeemed. I love that in the second book when the sirens show her her desires Luke is apart of it. She wants him back and never gives up on him. Even when he uses her to lure Artemis into a trap you can see his fear when Atlas says Annabeth can be disposed of. He immediately tries to argue the fact and looks unsure of what to do. I don’t think he really could have killed her when it came down to it. I don’t believe he would and it was proven in the last book that he couldn’t. Even though it’s implied Thalia loves Luke too it doesn’t take much for her to give up on him and abandon both her and Annabeth to join the hunters. Only Annabeth can bring him back in the end. Percy tried, Thalia tried, Hermès tried. But in the end only Annabeth could bring him out of it and help him see the error of his ways. When asked how she felt about Luke in the last book she claimed she only ever loved him a like a brother but it felt so forced. I never saw it that way, their connection was always something more, something beyond family and friendship.

Why Percy/Thalia don’t seem compatible to me: In book 2 when we started learning about Annabeth’s past and Thalia I like you thought she would be good with Percy. I love to ship characters who have similar personalities and are best friends. But when we got to know Thalia in book 3 I quickly realized they wouldn’t work because they are too similar. They fought like crazy and if Delphi the oracle hadn’t come down during capture the flag, Percy and Thalia might very well have destroyed each other or started a war. They ended up having more of a frenemies kind of thing going on anyway whereas it’s Annabeth and Percy who are best friends. Annabeth seems to be the only who can rein Percy in when he’s in a temper and talk some sense into him. I don’t think Percy/Thalia could work in canon but there is always fan fiction which can be used to tweak the characters just enough to make them work and I do enjoy writing stories with that pairing from time to time.

So in conclusion Percy/Annabeth are well suited in my opinion but so are Luke/Annabeth. I’ll always wonder what could have been if Luke had never been blinded by his anger and tricked by Kronos. I also think Percy/Thalia only work in fanon. Feel free to talk with me about pairings anytime, it’s nice to finally meet someone who ships Luke/Annabeth like me.