Not so smart anymore, huh? Too bad, now you gotta die, since you can't solve my riddle/challenge.

Ok, but seriously, the fandom seems to keep forgetting that she's also dyslexic just because she's "smart", and you can see it in "memes" like the next:

https://in.pinterest.com/pin/1056586762581459461/

And I put in quotation marks because memes are supposed to be funny.

Oh, wait, I really like that idea because it fixes everything about that stupid Sphinx scene:

Imagine if Annabeth wasn't asked questions that are "insults" to her intelligence just because they are general knowledge questions rather than tricky riddles.

Imagine if, instead, the Sphinx became tired of people learning by heart the answers to every popular riddle out there, of people preferring memorisation over critical thinking, of people surviving with no merit of their own. So she simply resorted to asking these know-it-alls questions that will actually make them sweat: spelling bees. Every demigod has dyslexia. This is way too easy for the Sphinx.

Imagine if Annabeth is someone who takes pride in her intellectual abilities, someone who enjoys puzzles because it's gratifying to feel challenged, rather than because it's gratifying to be right; that Annabeth is asked to spell temporarily or some shit.

But then, Annabeth explodes at the Sphinx. Because this isn't fair, and it's certainly not spelling words accurately that makes people smart and worthy of passage.

This actually fixes so much about the scene:

-> Instead of reinforcing Annabeth's pride as a fatal flaw, it breaks reader expectations by showing that pride can be a strength.

Pride means self-respect and having high standards for oneself.

Where another demigod would have simply taken the challenge, Annabeth is indignant that her intelligence is measured against something as stupid as a spelling bee.

Annabeth isn't fatally prideful in that moment, she's proud enough to stand up against a millenia old monster who's acting like a bully.

Her explosion would come from rightful anger, not petty arrogance.

This allows to balance Annabeth's character flaw. Percy's loyalty is always a good thing despite being called a "flaw", but with Annabeth? The dichotomy of pride is never shown.

-> Instead of a silly side-quest to tick on the checklist, this scene would have been a powerful commentary on ableism in schools:

Annabeth's intelligence is being questioned by the Sphinx's challenge because she is unable to spell a word...? That's just ridiculous and not fair at all!

Annabeth, considered the smartest demigod (more told than shown, but let's use our imagination) passionately speaks out about how spelling words correctly will never mark anyone as cognitively "superior" than everyone else.

This scene would become a cathartic and validating moment for the people this story is supposedly written for!

-> Instead of yet another moment of hubris from Annabeth, we'd be reminded of her struggles, which Percy rarely sees:

Annabeth is, like you say anon, often forgotten to be dyslexic by the fandom, simply because she is "smart" (and THIS is why a scene like the one I'm describing is incredibly necessary).

This is on Rick for being a rotten writer, on fandom misoginy who always dismisses female characters, but also on Percy's perspective, a guy who deals with a lot of unadressed internalised ableism from the very first book and onwards. Percy often forgets or needs to be "reminded" that Annabeth has ADHD and dyslexia, because she's soooo smart and smart people can't be neurodivergent or struggle with reading and writing. Right?

I also just needed scenes where neurodivergence and dyslexia are shown to create struggles for demigods within the demigod life. The "your disability is your superpower" pipeline is cute and all, but it also appears to shrugg off the fact that having a disability is... disabling.

Also the pin anon mentionned in the ask (in case it's deleted or something):