NOTES YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO READ:

To people who have just stumbled over the Guide; Welcome, and excuse any excess sarcasm. I sometimes get carried away.

To the people who are following this Guide: No, this isn't an underhanded ploy to get to the top of the PJO archive. Three new type!Annabeths (starting with type 1.h) have been added to the end of this chapter, and that is why this chapter came in your alerts.

This happened because I dispensed with the examples and reorganized the chapters to fit in better with the word-count structure. Because I like my stuff organized. Except when I don't.

4.2.1. How to Write Annabeth Chase, Part 2

ie. Part the Second of a long, long thing

1.f. Sweetheart!Annabeth

She adorable, she's pretty. She'd the big-sister mentor every new girl at camp looks up to. She's always willing to lend a hand and she always has a kind word and smile to give anyone who approaches her. Everyone loves her, she loves everyone and anyone who hates her is just being a bitch.

A lot of my Annabeth!Types involve Percy as romantic lead, mostly because that's where she gets herself mutilated the most. I finally have one that's just a bit more general. *cheers*

Annabeth has her good qualities, but infinite patience, abundant kindness and forgiving friendliness don't particularly feature in her resume. Which is why writing an Annabeth who spends most of her time being pleasant to her friends and generally being nice to every single person in the vicinity is a bad idea.

Because, from whatever we've seen, she's really not the type to suffer fools gladly. She doesn't seem to be the type to suffer anyone less smarter than she is gladly. Needless to say, this means that she doesn't really suffer people gladly. And she's definitely not going o go out of her way (which is pretty self-centered) to be nice to them. I figure that if she ever does do something like that, people will start panicking about the apocalypse/an elaborate scheme they'd rather not find themselves trapped into.

Think I'm being overly harsh? Let's illustrate with an example.

Percy wakes up in a camp full of demigods. He's been in a coma for a while. He's just been hunted by a Minatour, injured in the subsequent fight and has generally gone through more in a few days than he has his entire life.

The first thing Annabeth says when she sees him is not, "Hey, how are you?" or "I hope you're feeling better," or "Are you sure you should be up yet?", which are the things a nice person would say.

What Annabeth says is, "You drool in your sleep."

I rest my case.

1.g. HumanHosepipe!Annabeth

The drop of a hat (or possibly, her new earrings) can make her weep like a baby. And let's not even get started on Percy going to the Prom with Rachel or Luke finally sinking his evil claws into her. She'll weep (and she'll look lovely while doing it) so much that you'll wonder why she does not get dehydrated.

I did some research for this, because apparently I'm into masochism and can't get enough of it.

There was one thing where Luke kidnapped Annabeth. When she made the requisite "Percy will stop you!" declaration (through her tears, of course), he slapped her. She immediately collapsed to the ground and started to outright bawl because, I quote, it was "too much for her."

And here I repeat myself. The sky, guys. She held up the sky. A slap is going to annoy her, at most. :/ And don't even get me started on EvilOverlord!Luke.

*restrains herself only because EvilOverlord!Luke will get his own special section*

Annabeth's tears can be marvelous narrative weapons, because the general impression you get from her is someone who doesn't cry easily. She doesn't cry when she gets physically hurt (knife wound, TLO). She doesn't cry when she gets scared (any number of instances). She cries, as far as I've noticed, when people she cares about (and there really doesn't seem to be that many of them) gets themselves hurt/killed/vanished. And it's more tears of frustration and helplessness than just helplessness. There is a giant difference between the two.

So yes. Teary!Annabeth? Use sparingly. Bring her out only when the situation gets intense and desperate. It will go a long way towards proving that yes, your situation is intense and desperate.

1.h. NotSmart!Annabeth

No, this isn't DumbBlonde!Annabeth. Everyone knows that Annabeth is supposed to be clever, and everyone makes it a point to mention that.

To begin with, there are two types of smart; Book Smart and Street Smart.

Hermione Granger (From Harry Potter, for the benefit of the readers who've just come out from under their rock) is Book Smart. She possesses an infinite amount of knowledge, deduction capabilities and perceptive abilities. Ask her for an obscure fact, a possible scenario of actions that may be forthcoming from the big bad or even a bit of relationship advice- she'll give it to you in a heartbeat, and she'll do it well.

Percy Jackson is Street Smart. He has a major presence of mind thing going on, and his head and his body usually coordinate seamlessly. He can asses a situation without even realizing that he's doing it, and acting mainly on instinct, he's capable of coming up with quick solutions for rapid-fire scenarios. The Nemean Lion and the battle between him and Antaeus in the Labyrinth are two examples.

(And yes, the Seaweed Brain thing doesn't translate to him being as dumb as a patch of kelp.)

By now, it really shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody that Annabeth is both. So when you write her, you're supposed to make her both a know-it-all and a kid who can survive on her wits when she'd thrown out into a random street.

The NotSmart incarnation of Annabeth is a straight-A student and quite possibly the single dominant female in the CHB Arena. But put her into a situation which calls for brains, like calibrating the exact pull you need to swing that boulder into the Giant's face; or put her into a situation that calls for smarts, like how she's going to outmaneuver and trap that second set of Giants. Then watch her fail spectacularly.

Alternatively, a random OC states "Oh my gods, Annabeth. You're so smart!", and then this Annabeth counters that statement brilliantly by taking a trip through a monster-infested wood unarmed and prone to swoons during a war so she can get herself kidnapped.

Your character's actions are what showcase how smart they are. In Annabeth's case, I'd settle for a lack of the common stupidities mainly associated with the PJO fandom heroines. Like failing to take pregnancy precautions when you are a workaholic teenager who's obsessed with her future career.

If your character is supposed to be logical and hyper-competent, make sure it is consistent. This is especially true for female characters; because they tend to become prone to swooning and Epically Failing whenever the Hero is nearby.

1.i. DaughterofAphrodite!Annabeth

If the rest of the world is anything like the place I live in, girls think a lot about hair, nails and clothes. And when I say 'a lot', I mean hours-long discussions about the right colours, makeup, combinations and accessories; participated in by pretty much everyone in the vicinity with a double-X chromosome.

But here's the thing about that. Some people find that discussing about these things tend to get irritating after say- the first five minutes. Some girls really don't care all that much. And when clothing discussions happen for hours at a time, they are given to thinking homicidal thoughts.

Take it from someone who has literally hidden herself under pillows while heated accessory discussions happen around her. Multiple times. It gets infuriating and you want to go and just strangle someone already.

There is a trend. Percy asks Annabeth to a Prom/Dance/Karaoke/whatever; and she squeals and runs off to call Thalia, Silena and her OC BFFs. They spend a chapter or so giggling over clothing, makeup and accessories. Then there is a chapter where the girl's clothing is described in excruciating detail.

I repeat. It's a Camp for demigod warriors. Talking about girly things is not a taboo, as such. But long discussions and people actually getting excited over the things? Proceed with the kind of caution you reserve for driving a car through an area strewn with landmines.

1.j. EmoAngst!Annabeth

If you are in possession of an Annabeth who's every thought revolves around the sheer unfairness of her Stepmother hating her, her Dad overlooking her, Thalia getting herself turned into a tree, Luke turning traitor and Percy never, ever going to love her back; you have an EmoAngst!Annabeth.

EmoAngst is a popular character subclassification these days. (For anyone who's interested, I blame the YA surge in Vampire Romance.) Speaking as a person who has gone through her EmoAngst phase, I have to tell you that it's one of the least attractive things your character can possibly be.

Because after a point, it just gets boring.

Specific to Annabeth's case; she strikes me as a person who broods and overanalyzes thing; which is fertile ground for angsting. But she also strikes me as somebody who values being practical. Here's what I've derived from those assumptions;

When you make her angst, I'd advise focusing on something major (Thalia's transformation, Luke's betrayal, Percy's apparent death). Like, Life-or-death-or-eternal-damnation major. Not something like Percy asking Rachel to the Prom. For that last one, I'd personally recommend IceQueen!Annabeth with a side helping of Violent!Annabeth.

Second; don't overdo it. Angst, like drama, is something that should be added to a recipe in small doses. Too much of it is like an over-salted slice of pizza. Because even though it's pizza, it will still end up being barely palatable.

End Notes: Uh, so I'm apparently not as organized as I thought I was. Sorry?

My most sincere apologies to everyone who enjoyed the examples. I really regret the fact that I had to dump them. But the really obviously OOC examples were getting on my nerves and the Every-Other-Character-Goes-WTF examples were mutating into epic proportions. When it actually started developing into a story involving a magical OOC transfer with continuity, I knew I had to stop for the good of this Guide as a whole. :/

What could have been

"I am going to go punch his soft spot. Excuse me."

"Annabeth," Nico dug in his heels, "Calm down."

"Calm down. ? Calm down? He just called me babe. He slapped me on the butt. I'm going to go and make sure he can't walk straight for a week-"

"Annabeth," Rachel grunted, pulling at her other arm, "He dealt with you when you cried over your nails getting chipped. And he sat with you when you went all Harlequin novel on him. I think he's entitled to some leeway."

"I was not that bad-"

"Like hell you weren't," Thalia screeched, "Me and Clarisse had to sit through one hour of wardrobe discussions. ONE. HOUR."

"But I didn't slap your butt, did I?"

- Random scribbled scenario for Jerkass!Percy

And it just kept growing. And growing and growing and growing... :/