Happy holidays, friends, and welcome to part two of a mini series I’m calling The Year of the Fangirl, where we celebrate all of the amazing fandoms that have gotten new content in 2023. Today, I’m celebrating the release of not only a new Percy Jackson novel, but also a PJO show on Disney. It has truly been a good year for PJO fans! Hope you enjoy this round-up of Percy Jackson-related content!
The Lightning Thief – guard your mind
The first post I’d like to share is a quote from the book that started it all, The Lightning Thief. At the end of this book, Percy’s mentor and teacher, Chiron, warns him of the dangers of letting fear and anger control him. he says that Kronos, the primary villain of the PJO series, wants Percy to “come unraveled,” which immediately reminded me of 1 Peter 5:8-9 when I was re-reading the series this past spring.
I absolutely loved this! It’s amazing to me how even a series written about the Greek gods, which has no religious undertones whatsoever, can point us back to the Bible and the truth about the Gospel and the world.
Favorite moment from this post:
“Chiron likely knows Percy is aware of the physical threat posed by Kronos and his ilk, but he warns him further of the mental threat, which may be even stronger. In fact, right before Chiron’s warning, Percy is exclaiming about the need to go after his friend-turned-enemy Luke and take him down right away, never mind the fact that he’s had less than a year of training. Chiron’s words are wisely placed, as he tells Percy to “train carefully” and patiently for the battle ahead. In the same way, as believers we’re called to be prepared and to train our minds through prayer and spiritual discipline.”
The Last Olympian – The power of yielding
The next post I’d like to share in this celebration of all things Percy Jackson is a quote from the last book in the original PJO series, The Last Olympian. As Percy and his people are in the midst of their final battle against Kronos, they encounter Hestia, the goddess of the hearth, who gives them some wisdom about the power of gentleness, humility, and yielding to the needs of others.
Favorite moment from this post:
“The word “gentle” in Greek is praeos, which means roughly “That disposition of spirit in which we accept God’s dealings with us as good, and therefore without resisting” (from Blue Letter Bible’s Interlinear tool). Another definition I found for this word was “Displaying God’s power under His control” (Wild and Free by Jess Connolly). In other words, being meek or gentle and quiet doesn’t mean being weak or suppressing our own strength or gifts for the sake of others. I would argue that it means the opposite, which is exactly what Hestia says in The Last Olympian: “The hardest power to master is the power of yielding,” and that makes a meek and gentle person one of the most powerful of all.”
The Chalice of the Gods – small waves
Next up is a quote from the BRAND NEW PJO BOOK that came out this year, featuring the original trio of Percy, Grover, and Annabeth. This book is absolutely amazing, it gave me everything I hoped for in a comeback tour for the series, and I cannot WAIT to see where it goes next!
Seriously, there are so many good things about this new book, I can’t even begin to expound upn them all, and I’m gonna have to re-read the book AGAIN (I have now read it in hard copy and audiobook form) so that I can write a full-length review. But, without spoiling too much, this quote was one of my favorites, and it immediately reminded me of verses like Colossians 3:23. In a rare moment of fatherly affection, Poseidon expresses pride in Percy’s willingness to Do Heroic Things even when the fate of the world isn’t at stake, which to me points to the fact that we are to do everything for the glory of our Father, the one true God. So cool!
Favorite moment from this post:
“As the story progresses, Percy discovers that, although he doesn’t need to Do The Thing, he actually kind of… wants to? He displays a uniquely human sense of empathy for the person he’s set out to help, and ends up with a sort of begrudging satisfaction when the quest is completed, even though he’s never recognized for it.”
Chalice of the Gods aesthetic
In celebration of the new PJO book’s release, I created a bullet journal aesthetic inspiration thingy that attempts to capture the ambience of the book. This was somewhat difficult to do, as I was waiting for/currently reading the novel at the time that I created the mood board, and I never actually made my own bullet journal setup for this month, but it was still a cool way to celebrate my PJO fandom in a visual/creative way!
You can see the bullet journal setup that I DID actually create on Instagram here : ).
The Lightning Thief – Percy is claimed by Poseidon
One of the most important moments in the entire PJO universe is the moment when Percy Jackson, the scrawny twelve-year-old kid still traumatized by his mother’s disappearance, is publicly claimed by his godly parent, Poseidon. I never noticed this before, but my MMC (boyfriend, aka Male Main Character), who’s reading the series for the first time, pointed out that moment to me as a way to point to our identity and chosenness in Christ. I loved looking at this from a Biblical perspective, and was even inspired to create some PJO fan art!
Favorite moment from the post:
“Knowing what we know about how different our God is, the image of young Percy Jackson with the glowing green trident over his head, proving whose son he is, becomes a reminder of whose we are in Christ. From the people of Israel, chosen to show the rest of the world how to truly live, all the way to centuries of Christ-followers all over the world, we are chosen. Both individually and as part of a people, we are chosen, holy, and dearly loved.”
Custom PJO character art – commission me!!
In celebration of a new PJO book AND a new show on Disney+ inspired by the series, commission me to create an abstract-style character portrait of yourself being “claimed” by your divine parent! You can choose the background color, claiming symbol, and describe yourself or send me a photo for reference. Please allow up to a week for completion. Happy fangirling!
Here’s an example of what your character art could look like:
Conclusion
I hope you’ve enjoyed this round-up of all the PJO-related posts celebrating the release of the new novel, The Chalice of the Gods. Have you read the new novel or seen the new show yet? What did you think? I’d love to know!
Happy fangirling!
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[…] Want some more PJO related content? Check out this post with all of my best works on the subject : ). […]