#i know the not like other girls things is mostly an issue with riordan writing teen girls

[neanderthyall]

Finished rereading the lost hero and it was certainly a book. Its weird because it follows the riordan formula pretty well and yet i was so underwhelmed for the most part. Like Jason is afraid of letting people down but it doesnt really amount to anything. Leo is... like that. Piper cant stop being Not Like Other Girls and also dragging out the keeping the truth from her friends plot until the last possible second like... girl pls just tell them about ur dad

[once-upon-an-animation]

My somewhat unpopular opinions about the HoO series

So I saw this tweet on Twitter that asked what opinions you had on PJO that would get you “cancelled”, and it inspired me to make a post describing all the things that I don’t like about the series. Not all of my takes will be “unpopular”, but they’ll mostly be negative. I also included a section at the end where I described what I would change.

Disclaimer: It’s been some time since I last read the series. I don’t remember every nitty gritty detail, so most of what I say will be broad generalizations and descriptions of what I can remember and how I remember feeling when I last read the books. If there’s a huge detail that would seriously discredit anything I said, then feel free to let me know. I’m open to changing my opinion about the books and like I said, my memory isn’t the best.

First and foremost, my biggest problem with HoO is that the story is TOO BIG. There’s too many characters, too many conflicts, too many plot lines, too long and too widespread of a journey, too many side quests, too many tasks to fulfill, too many relationships to develop, just TOO much. RR got a little too ambitious with this series and I think it really backfired on him. Everything felt hectic, rushed, and underdeveloped because he had too many things to write about. As a result, the conclusion and series as a whole felt underwhelming and almost every problem I had with the series is a direct or indirect result of this.

With the exception of Leo and sometimes Hazel, the new characters in HoO are kind of boring and are just not interesting to read about. I don’t know if it’s their personalities or the way RR wrote them, but I didn’t find their characterization very appealing. This annoys me because they all had the potential to be really interesting characters. I feel bad saying this because I know many liked the Asian rep, but Frank was just such a “meh” character for me. I liked that he was a cinnamon roll and he had cool powers and an interesting limitation, but that wasn’t enough to make the character resonate with me. I needed a little more umph to his character arc, something a little more complicated and conflicting than what he got. Jason was the biggest disappointment for me because his dad being the king of the Gods and the types of pressures/expectations that comes with should have made for a really impactful character arc. But the way Riordan wrote him was a little lacking and it didn’t meet my expectations.

My main issues with Piper may or may not be a reflection of Riordan’s weaknesses in writing female characters overall; his female characters tend to fall in some annoying tropes. I wasn’t a big fan of her “not like other girls” attitude and I would have loved for her to outgrow that throughout the course of the series and for her to see some of the positives in having fun with makeup/dressing up/experimenting with your appearance/etc. I also feel that after her arc with her dad in HoO, her role in the story became a little dull for me. I’m sure she had important tasks in the rest of the series, but seeing as I can barely remember them, I guess they weren’t that memorable, lol.

The romantic relationships in the series were just so bad and if we’re being honest, almost none of them needed to happen. Jeyna/Reyson didn’t need to be a thing, Frazel didn’t need to be a thing, and Caleo most definitely didn’t need to be a thing. If there was a poster child for a forced relationship in this series, Caleo would most definitely be it. I like the idea of revisiting Calypso and seeing how Percy/the gods failed to do right by her, but why did she need to become Leo’s girlfriend? Jiper was pretty boring. I saw some potential in it, with Piper navigating a tricky romance as a child of the love goddess / Jason dealing with expectations and having that manifest in his relationship. But I don’t remember RR doing a good job of playing up those angles so the relationship fell flat for me. I’ll give Solangelo points for LGBTQ+ rep, but their relationship also felt a little shoehorned. Percabeth was the only pairing I liked, but admittedly, nostalgia from the first series played a huge role in that. I liked some of their moments in HoO, but found others either unnecessary, not well written, or not emphasized enough. I also remember something about Annabeth’s character feeling off for me in regards to her relationship with Percy; there were some points where her character/thoughts felt a little weird for her character. I can’t remember the specific lines that made me feel this way, but I think I remember her thinking some thoughts that made her seem a little too dependent on Percy and his role in her life.

BoO was one of the most underwhelming conclusions to a series that I have ever read. The decision to exclude the POVs of half of the main cast was absolutely ridiculous, ESPECIALLY on Percy and Annabeth’s behalf’s. These two just came out of Tartarus and we don’t get to see the impact of that from their own perspective beyond HoH?Seriously??? I understand why Leo deserves his POVs, but the others were hard to justify, especially since Nico and Reyna weren’t a even part of the big prophecy. The battle with Gaia and her children was beyond anticlimactic. It was pathetically short and severely lacking in tension or emotional resonance, and it was beyond rushed. You’re literally battling Mother Nature and you easily get rid of her in just a few chapters? I felt more intimidated by Kronos than I did by Gaia, and she’s supposed to be the more powerful villain.

Unpopular opinion: I have mixed feelings about the inclusion of the Roman camp and the Roman concepts in general. On the one hand, it opens up a world of possibilities and potential conflicts/plotlines. On the other hand, I think a PJO sequel without the Romans would have done just fine. There’s more than enough storylines to explore with the Greeks, especially when there was so much to follow up on from the first series. RR could have done a sequel on some of the fallout and issues with the things that Percy wanted to gods to fix from the first series. Maybe there were still some Greek gods who felt jaded by the Olympians, and you could have done a civil war plot within the Greeks. Maybe he could have focused on some of the children of minor gods/gods that aren’t as popular. Like, can you imagine a book about a Hecate kid casting spells and shit? That could have been awesome!

If I had to offer suggestions on how to “fix” the series, my biggest suggestion would be to make it smaller in a narrative sense. For example, seven main characters is just too much. Percy and Annabeth have had their story already, so I would have given them more of a supportive role with glimpses of their relationship and interactions with the main cast here and there. I would make Nico one of the prophecy kids and have him resolve some of his character conflicts/develop his relationship with Will as a main character. Will could be the team nurse/team doctor for the group and they could end up growing close throughout the journey.

I personally don’t think that Frank was all that necessary of a main character. I would either cut him, merge him with another character, or give him a more supportive role. Maybe we could make him a mythological creature and have him replace Hedge’s role as the guide/supervisor of the trip. Maybe he could be a character that the group picked up along the way and he decides to support their quest.

This would cut the main cast down to five (Jason, Piper, Leo, Hazel, and Nico) and I think five characters is much easier to work with. We could also do six if people feel Frank is absolutely necessary. As for Reyna, she would either get cut because I would cut out the Romans in general and just have a story focused on the Greeks, or I would merge her with another character if the Roman story line was kept. I would probably merge her with Piper and then just have Reyna/Piper be from the Roman side and make her the child of Venus or something. Obviously, this would change a bunch of other aspects of the story, but I’m not getting into that.

As for what the story could be about, it would depend on whether we’re keeping the Roman plot. If we’re keeping it, I would suggest having the Athena statue and the other Doors of Death somewhere in the states (following the logic of Olympus shifting to the West over time) to keep the geographical spread a little smaller. I would also cut out a lot of the side quests, and focus more on developing the main quest. I would probably play up the civil war thing a lot more, and have Gaia more focused on instigating shit between the two camps as opposed to raising her children; I think the civil war thing and the threat of the two camps destroying each other would just be the main conflict. If we remove the Roman storyline and focus on the Greeks, then I would pick a story that still involves a journey to Greece, but still cut out a lot of the side quests. Overall, I would just aim for having a more contained story with more time to develop and execute the conclusion and the big battle at the end.

Lastly, I would do away with most of the romances. The only one I would keep is Piper/Reyna with Jason (or someone else) because of her mother being the goddess of love and how that would impact her perspective/approach to romantic relationships. Other than that and sprinkles of Percabeth, no romance. Platonic relationships only!

Sorry, that was super long, but I’m done!

[seattlesea]

Why is Piper McLean Annoying?

So, I see a lot of people saying that Piper McLean is annoying for a variety of reasons like ‘She’s too obsessed with Jason’, ‘She complains too much’, ‘She’s too jealous’, etc. (and I agree), but I also realize that barely anyone really explains why, which I think is a bit unfair to the Piper fans, cause I’m sure they want to see our reasonings. So, I thought it was only fair to explain why Piper McLean is annoying. 

First off, her obsession with Jason. I get that she likes the guy, but thinking about him every single paragraph gets really tiring after a while. It dragged the books and made them seem less of a hobby and more like a chore, like we had to get through the boring, tedious romance parts to get to the good stuff (which ended up disappointing). Of course Piper likes Jason, but her priority issues are what made her obsession with him so annoying. Like, doesn’t she have much more important things to do than sulk in her room whining about a boy? Like, I don’t know, train (which she only did in The House of Hades after Hazel told her to), plan for the final fight with the giants and Gaea, talk to her past friends and family in case she didn’t make it out alive, etc.? While all the other demigods were fighting for their lives, training their butts off, and working hard to make sure everything went smooth, Piper was sulking and whining about Jason in bed then complained that she was useless 💀 And I see a lot of arguments about why Piper’s obsession with Jason was fine, but let me make a counter-argument for each one- ‘She’s a daughter of Aphrodite’- You mean the daughter of Aphrodite who constantly claimed she hates Aphrodite and her children, is supposed to be the chill, down-to-earth one, and tries extremely hard to not be a typical daughter of Aphrodite? That one? I think the readers tend to forget that Aphrodite is the goddess of all love, not just romance.  ‘She’s a high school girl’- A high school girl who was given the responsibility of helping save the world, and yet her boyfriend is the number one thing on her mind? I can guarantee you high school girls do not only think about their boyfriends. That’s actually quite a rude stereotype that Riordan fell right into. ‘She wants normalcy’- And of course she’s going to get that with the guy who can shoot lightning from his hands and fly. If she really wanted normalcy, she would’ve gotten together with a mortal guy, not another demigod whom she’s questing with. ‘The people who claim she’s annoying for her crush on Jason are the same people who’ve had crushes on a million fictional characters’- But do those people let those crushes define their whole life, get in the way of their morals, and are the only thing they ever think or talk about? Liking multiple people and being creepily obsessed with another are very different things. 

Second, her jealousy over Reyna. I get that liking a guy and finding out another girl who’s known him for much longer also likes him is pretty jealousy-evoking...for a regular high school girl. But Piper isn’t a regular high school girl, she’s a demigod who’s supposed to concentrate on saving the whole world. Even in The Lost Hero, her jealousy and obsession was annoying (and creepy and honestly stalker-ish, like- wanting a guy all to yourself despite knowing your relationship with him was fake and completely dismissing the chances of any girl he might’ve known without ever getting to know him is pretty creepy) because even though she had just gotten introduced to the demigod world and had to adapt to it- she had just gotten introduced to the demigod world and had to adapt to it. How many people who just learned that gods, monsters, and myths were real and that they have to save their dad from a blood-thirsty giant and free a goddess from captivity or the world would end is going to think exclusively about a guy? That’s what makes it annoying. And even after The Mark of Athena when Jason and Piper were dating and Jason promised he wouldn’t leave her, Piper was still constantly worried about Reyna. Like, girl, don’t you have more important things to worry about? Like World War III between the Greeks and Romans? Or the literal end of the world? Or like, Armageddon? This also impacted the overall writing. During The Blood of Olympus, Frank and Piper were at a cave and Frank went in to get an ingredient for the Physician’s Cure, and the point of view was Piper’s, who sat outside waiting for him daydreaming about Jason and her friends. Frank was talking to his legendary shape-shifting ancestors and we got to read about a little girl complaining and sulking. That’s what makes Piper so annoying. 

Third, her complaining. Piper fans often argue that everyone is allowed to complain about their trauma and you shouldn’t compare it to others...but there is none for Piper. She’s literally complaining for nothing. ‘Oh, but her dad was neglectful and didn’t care about her!!!’ ????are we reading the same book??? Piper has had multiple flashbacks of her and her dad hanging out like going surfing, watching Tristan’s movies, reading Greek myths, discussing Cherokee stories, etc., and it’s obvious Tristan loves Piper very much. Everything he does is for her. It’s not even his choice to be busy, it’s his agent’s, and even though he’s super busy, he always makes time for Piper even though Piper constantly makes his life harder by getting herself in trouble despite knowing his job and life is already stressful enough. Plus the fact that no matter how much bad Piper did, Tristan never punished or got mad at her for it. The fact that she’s complaining about her private chef making her a gold-wrapped sandwich while a lot of the other characters spent their childhood having to wonder where their next meal was going to come from and complained about having things they didn’t have 5% of was what was annoying. There’s a difference between ‘comparing traumas’ and being flat-out insensitive (as Piper was). If I saw some spoiled rich kid complaining about their peanut butter-jelly sandwich being wrapped in fake gold by their personal chef right in front of a starving homeless kid, I probably would’ve thrown a rock at them. 

The last and most annoying part- the genre. The number one reason people think that Piper is annoying is that we didn’t read this story for romance. We didn’t pick up a Rick Riordan book to read about romance and jealousy, we did so to read about slaying monsters and saving the world. The entire Heroes of Olympus series was 80% dragged romance and 10% super-rushed, unrealistic, and horribly-written fights that mostly consisted of dialogue that never took longer than five pages but should’ve taken up a whole chapter or more. I- and multiple other readers- couldn’t care less about who gets in the way of whom and who gets together with whom and who likes whom, I care more about the battles and superpowers. Readers pick up action/fantasy/adventures stories to read about action, fantasy, and adventure, not romance. Piper ripped the readers from the fantasy world just to pine over her boyfriend, and the fact that that was what made up the majority of the books (along with other dumb, rushed romances) and Riordan spent like two pages- again, most of which consisting of dialogue- on the final battle against the second most powerful deity in all of Greek/Roman mythology (only surpassed by Chaos himself) after spending a whole book on just the Titan lord is what makes Piper so annoying. In Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the romance wasn’t even a subplot. It was a minor add-on, but all throughout HoO the romance was the main point, and Piper was the center of that. Plus she’s the center of a lot of racism and misogyny in the series. That’s what makes her annoying, my friends.

And yeah thanks for coming to my TED Talk. 

[diverse-writing]

Pt. 1-Hi! I'm a Black woman writing a Fanfiction for an anime series called Food Wars and I'm creating a sister and brother who are half-Lakota (Itazipcola Band) and half-Black American. They're going to a Japanese Culinary High School, the same school their great-uncle (Kiowa) went to when America was in Japan, post-WWII for a few years as his father was in the army. It's a very competitive school with diverse characters and cooking styles/types. They both want to travel and see a new country.

(continued) They live in Sioux Falls, SD after moving from the Cheyenne River Rez years ago. The family owns a Catering company with Native, African, and American Southern food (Mom is from VA) that does Showcasings, Chef Demos, and feeding the people within both communities while mentoring the youth. Annie (Older sis) wants to be a Pastry Chef as Andrew (little bro) does mostly savory, especially BBQ. Annie was on a kid's baking show as Andrew won kid's BBQ competitions. Both siblings want to help their communities by spreading awareness about poverty, suicide, and other stuff. They are active in their Native heritage. I did research in Natives in Japan, and I found that it's a bit mixed. Some people don't know about Natives, or that they do but only through the news and old western films. There's this one guy who went to a tribe to learn about the culture and he went back to Japan to teach his students about how the Natives truly lived. There's a Native jewelry store in Tokyo So some Japanese do know about Natives, I want to write a few small scenes where the Japanese students ask questions that are stereotypical about Natives and Black people, but they learn from the siblings. Annie begins to have a crush on a boy who is mixed indigenous (Ainu/Saami), but isn't connected to those cultures, because of his Ainu dad dying and Saami mom leaving him. He was adopted by a rich Japanese/Danish family. I want him to learn more about his heritage after falling for Annie and begins to heal from his past through learning about the Saami. Before he didn't want to do anything with them due to his mom. Andrew falls for a Japanese girl who does Medicine Cuisine. He's a expert in Nutrition and tries to help his people's health issues. They have a cute relationship. I thought of these characters just like any other person. I'm Black and I don't like seeing stereotypes. Annie and Andrew love music due to their dad formerly being in a band with only one album. They're both crafty with the Arts due to their grandparents on both sides teaching them. Annie is more outgoing, goofy, and blunt than Andrew but she enjoys the simple stuff in life and loves fashion (Vintage 60s/70s and Punk) Andrew is more quiet and shy, but not antisocial. He just likes doing his own thing while teasing his sis on her shortness and crush. He likes comfy, Punk clothing. I was just wondering what is offensive and not. I want to show their food and aspects of culture, like Powwows (I've been watching videos on Lakota Powwows) and I've been wondering if there's a coming of age ceremony. I don't want to show it just mention it. Is this where people get their Lakota name? I don't want to do religious ceremonies since that's sacred and also I'm not really religious, but what if I want to allude about it? Sorry that this was way too long!

Okay, this is a huge question but I’ll do my best to answer it with the GIANT caveat that I’m not indigenous and am only answering to the best of my knowledge. If any indigenous followers--particularly those with experience in Japan/with Japanese culture, though of course all are welcome--have thoughts or feelings, as always feel free to add more information and/or correct me!

A few observations that jump out, based on your description of your narrative framework:

Their food. Okay, while I know absolutely nothing about the food cultures you describe, I’m a huge fan of connecting with your culture through your food (and your stomach!) so I love this framing. That being said, to my knowledge African American food is fairly distinct from African food, with the former more likely to be in their cultural background given your description (obviously, in this situation you’re the expert on Black culture so feel free to totally ignore me here). 

Andrew’s food interests. Related to the previous bullet point, based on my understanding Medicine Cuisine and Nutrition would be super interesting focuses for him given his cultural background. It’d be super cool to seem him integrate his various cooking specialties and heritages into nourishing food to support his people. 

Knowledge about Native Americans in Japan. I do think it’s likely accurate that unless someone in Japan has personally done research, the average Japanese citizen probably knows very little about indigenous Native Americans in the same way the average American knows very little about Japanese indigenous ethnic groups. 

Relatedly, I think it makes sense for their Japanese classmates to ask stereotypical questions, but you should steer clear of just plain offensive questions. As you likely know, answering stereotypical questions about your identity and heritage is exhausting and should be treated as such within the narrative. Your characters are in school to educate themselves, not to educate their classmates, so while the latter may occur sometimes I don’t think it should be their focus. So while the intent of the questioning scene may partially be to help answer readers’ questions about Annie and Andrew’s heritage (and Black and Lakota culture to an extent), remember that the ultimate goal of representation is not to educate others but to help people within those demographics see themselves on the page. And more likely than not, Black and Lakota readers won’t want to see characters representing themselves having to answer the same repetitive questions they face down all the time.

I know you only mentioned him in passing, but I have a lot more thoughts specifically about Annie’s mixed Ainu/Saami crush. I don’t want to tell you *not* to write him but I do think there are several pitfalls you need to carefully avoid moving forward.

His Saami mother. There’s a big stereotype around POC abandoning their children, being absent or flighty parents, or otherwise just failing to properly nuture their children. While I’m unaware of any specific stereotype regarding indigenous  parents, I would tentatively say that doesn’t mean those stereotypes don’t exist, so tread carefully. That being said, I do know there’s a stereotype about indigenous people being alcoholics, so you should absolutely avoid characterizing his mother as such because as an outsider, you don’t have the power to subvert that stereotype. 

His relationship with his heritage. I would also be very cautious while writing his arc of reconnecting to his heritage. While reconnecting is unfortunately a very real (and very under represented) process for indigenous people, it’s an extremely difficult and personal process that I don’t think outsiders are qualified to write in-depth about. Though I don’t think you should necessarily gloss over his reconnecting process, I do think it should perhaps be a side character arc, rather than his defining character arc. For example, he might mention to Annie that her passion for her heritage has inspired him to research his own family, or else maybe he’s pictured buying a book on the Saami language. (The current discussion around Rick Riordan’s portrayal of Piper’s imperfect reconnection to her Cherokee heritage makes some really good points, so I’d check that out if you’re familiar with his books. I’d be happy to link you if you’re curious.)

His adopted family. I have to admit--as the daughter of a transracial adoptee in a family full of transracial adoptees, this framing makes me very wary. While I know transracial adoption parents likely have only the best intentions, the adopted child themselves often end up hugely disconnected from their birth cultures. It’s often an extremely stressful and traumatic event, especially in cases where the adopted parents don’t learn about their child’s birth culture themselves and/or only teach the child their own cultures (in this case, Japanese and Dutch). Honestly, with all due respect, I have yet to see any fictional narratives that properly address the trauma of transracial adoptions and given everything else going on in your writing, I’m not sure how well you would be able to write about it. More in the next bullet point.

His extremely mixed heritage. While I don’t want to come across as rude, I do have to ask: what’s your intention behind making a single side character with four different cultural backgrounds, especially backgrounds that you the author don’t share? The reality is that, no matter how much research you may do, these four cultures--Ainu, Saami, Japanese, and Dutch--are very rarely found in combination, and I think you’d be hard pressed to find any #ownvoices accounts from similar scenarios that you could hypothetically draw on to write more accurately. As a result, you’d know very little about how these different cultures meld together, and you’d have almost nothing to go on to write about his mixed multicultural background and the tensions that come with it. While I understand you may be attached to his parental setup and his backstory, I would highly advise simplification to avoid straying into territory you neither understand or are qualified to write about. Given your focus on his reconnecting, I would probably recommend keeping his Ainu father alive and cutting his adopted family. That way, you cut the number of unknown cultures in half and you can truly dedicate yourself to writing his Ainu heritage and his reconnecting process well.

With regards to your actual question about Lakota religious ceremonies, as a non-indigenous person I’m definitely not qualified to answer specifics about Lakota coming of age and naming ceremonies. That being said, I know this: Native American ceremonies, rituals, traditions, and lore are often closely guarded and not shared with outsiders. And I don’t just mean outsiders don’t share in the ceremonies themselves--outsiders often can’t even learn about the ceremonies because the knowledge itself is guarded. (This information is secondhand from my Blackfoot professor last year. If I’m wrong or if any indigenous followers have more accurate information, as always I’m open to critiques and suggestions!) As you continue researching this, I’d definitely be mindful of the source; if it comes from an official Lakota or indigenous source, it’s likely okay to share or discuss, but if all you can find about Lakota religious ceremonies is from, like, someone’s blog or Facebook post or something, then that information likely wasn’t approved to share and you shouldn’t write it into your story. Given that this seems to only be a character detail mentioned briefly, you may be able to simply mention the characters’ Lakota names in passing without referencing the ceremony itself.

Sorry for the long response, and I hope at least some of this information helps!

(Also, if you read this post, this is a good example of a really well researched and thought out ISO Sensitivity Reader question. Obviously, I’ve provided what information I can and this individual seems to have done lots of research, but the execution comes down to... well, the actual execution.)

[canarhys]

hazel levesque headcanons because i love her.

she’s an artist by the heart. not only does she know how to draw and paint, but she is also super good at writing poems and singing. she mostly sings r&b and indie rock, plus some jazz that reminds her of the times back in new orleans. she also plays the bass and has jam sessions constantly.

don’t tell anyone, but she adores activities like jump-rope and hula-hooping, since she’s really just a kid and she has so much energy in her tiny body that she needs to release it by doing kiddie games. she is currently the one of both camps with the highest number of skipping rope jumps, and she will demolish you in jacks.

she stims all the time. she likes bouncing on the balls of her feet and humming to herself, swinging herself back and forth whenever there’s nothing to do or she just feels like it. she plays with the bracelets around her wrists and snaps her fingers out of nowhere. she gets super flustered when someone points it out, so she tries to only do it around people she knows. luckily, her friends tell her that her mannerisms are great.

adrenaline junkie, all the way. piper had taken her ziplining one time and it was one of the best experiences of her life. she’s always the one to go first on a bungee jump, and will ride the tallest rollercoasters at the theme parks she visits. she loves the rush of freedom and euphoria as she drops at a ninety degree angle.

because of the retaliation she had received back in the past, she had stopped cursing for years and got super flustered whenever someone would curse. eventually, she becomes more accustomed to the modern era, and has started cursing once more. although poor jason had a heart attack when she suddenly yelled “fuck!” after she stubbed her toe on the table in the mess hall.

loves. astronomy. to death. she has always had a fascination for stars and planets and the moon, and leo had even gifted her a telescope for her birthday. she often finds herself on the crest of a hill, stargazing with the new tool and drawing the galactical objects into her special sketchbook. if she doesn’t become an illustrator when she’s older, she’ll definitely take the opportunity to become an astronaut.

is one of the strongest, if not the strongest, demigods who has ever lived. this isn’t even a headcanon, it’s pure fact. she can mold the precious metals she summons into sharp knives and spears, and she can manipulate the mist to trick monsters into attacking each other or attacking themselves, manipulating the battlefield to a shocking degree. despite her cheefulness and hopeful disposition, she is someone who should not be messed with at all costs. fuck with her, you perish by her hand.

as much as i love hazel’s spatha, i have something even better -- a scythe. during the quest of the seven, hazel gains a stygian gold scythe from her father (what’s stygian gold? it’s basically just gold dipped in the styx, like nico’s iron sword). she is deadly with it, even though she sometimes looks like she’s cutting grass whenever she wields it. she’s still thinking of a name for it.

has taken the opportunity to paint over all her clothes. she decorates her denim jackets and overalls with moons and stars, wears shirts that she has spray-painted herself, has shoes with embroidery of her design. she’s a goddamn artist, and she will be so till the very end of her days.

has made herself and all of her friends friendship bracelets. she does not even take them off when swimming, for they hold sentimental value to her. she would not even think of throwing them away, since she is desperate to live her second life to the fullest and make as many friendships as she can. for each friend, she makes two bracelets -- one for them, and one for herself. she can’t count how many she has. she doesn’t really care though.

eats spices like the queen she is. she obviously ate gumbo and jambalaya back then, so her taste buds rival the forges of hephaestus to a good degree. also, she can cook really well, and has replicated her mother’s recipes for everyone to enjoy.

her modes of transportation are literally either horse of bike. she rides arion when she needs to make it to destinations quick, since what else would you use the fastest horse alive for? however, if she’s looking for a calm and peaceful stroll, she may bring out her bicycle and bike through the neighborhood, enjoying the wind that beats lightly against her chest and causes her hair to flow in the wind.

also, she is a big horse girl. obviously, she loves arion to death and will never cease in making sure that he is properly cared for, offering him gold nuggets and placing flower crowns in his hair to brighten him up after a long journey. she is also seen constantly in the stables of the camps, chilling out with the horses and resting across their backs, even making arts & crafts as they watch with keen eyes. all of the horses would die for this tiny girl.

is small. she’s the smallest of the seven, but it’s like to the point where she needs to stand on the counter to reach things on the top shelf. she can’t even reach the microwave of the argo ii. the seven make jokes about it from time to time, but if someone else other than them makes fun of hazel for her height, she and/or her friends will unleash the beast.

her fatal flaw is guilt. i used to think it was fear, but i think that is more of piper’s fatal flaw, and her flaw listed in the riordan wiki is too vague and confusing. so it is guilt. she has a problem with beating herself up, not just in large instances such as raising alcyoneus or letting two of her friends fall into tartarus, but in small instances as well. she is guilty over forgetting a birthday even if she does not know that person, she is guilty over being too much for her friends to handle -- she has a guilt complex over the smallest issues to the biggest problems. it had taken control of her life since her mother had looked at her as if she were some sort of mistake. hazel has a ton of mental issues that even the fandom ignores.

but she has friends. they are her family, her ride-or-die and she will fight for them as they will for her. sometimes she is scared they will leave her, that they will realize just how useless she is. but she is not. she is hazel levesque, hero of olympus, and her friends are her home. and through them, hazel can learn to love herself.

[takaraphoenix]

You've said that female characters mostly reduced to the love interests, or that all they're thinking are their bf or love interests. But imo, this case access to the male characters as well. Percy doesn't think about Grover for example, I've always expected it to be there in his mind because of he's his bff. Instead, Grover just is... not that much of important anymore I guess? He doesn't think or concern that much about the demigods in CHB, whether they're okay or not. 1/9

They meet with the f-ing Hercules and Percy never once gets upset or brings the Zoe’s name in the ship. Instead, we see Percy’s making the dam joke in the MoA and saying it’s an inside joke. Which shows that Zoe is still in his mind. But dude, RR, please. If you’re gonna make Percy to come across with Hercules, and never once make him salty or angry with trying to acting on it while the other characters in the ship saying ‘’Percy dont1!!’ Then I’m sorry but what’s the meaning of those cases? 2/9            

7 team dynamic and friendship are basically dead. Riordan puts 7 supposedly all different characters in a ship and all dynamic that exists is mostly the love triangles. I don’t know if you talked about this issue but I’d like to see you point on this. Bc it was an important part in the series and Rick’s not playing with the potential actually is disappointing. He just mostly focuses on fricking romance instead and it’s annoying. 3/9            

Similar cases also existed in first series too. For example worst offender was whole Calypso case. I first thought that it wasn’t Percy’s fault that Gods didn’t keep their promises. But it was actually his fault, and also Annabeth and the others were at fault as well because of they legit thought Gods would keep their promises. I mean, dude. They even broke their biggest oaths and you all know it, and now you tell me that you never once checked out the gods’s jobs? 4/9            

In order to see if they kept their promises or not? Honestly it’s so… dumb? There must be a character development on this, basing on this situation, it does suck too. Percy should’ve learned that gods don’t keep their promises. And he should’ve checked it out himself after the war ends. Let’s say Percy was dumb, but Annabeth? She is a child of the Athena, who supposedly is smart, but never comes up with the idea of checking things out instead of just trusting gods to do their jobs. 5/9            

Or any other character, no one points the issue out. I’m not sure if this case was intentional or not, or RR himself just forgot about this but man, it comes across as such a bad writing. Also another biggest offender was May goddamn Castellan. So RR, you’re saying to me that no one, no Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, didn’t go to her house in order to see if she’s okay or not after war and events?In order to help her case, even if she’s still crazy or is cured? Or, was underw-kiss more important? 6/9            

After learning about her case, none of them didn’t ever wonder? What the actuality? Bob is another big offender. Not because of Percy left him; he didn’t. Bc you see, Bob was never his friends unlike Calypso. He was just a Titan, there was no actual friendship or anything. And it’s kinda dumb that Rick tries to portray Percy as a terrible friend in this case rather than pointing out other issues in his writing. 7/9            

But then in the Tartarus, they built a relationship, this time it’s actual. But when they go to the Doors, Percy never once actually try to save Bob or Damasen and it’s just…. I’d expected Percy to pull a thing in the end and sending them to the doors with risking his own life bc it’s Percy’s supposed characteristic element; he would do anything for his friends. But it just… doesn’t exist? Why it was never a big characteristic issue right there when you had to chance to write it? 8/9            

Also, at the end of the boO, Percy just generally is okay with sending his friends to fight with Gaia. They have a talk with Frank 1 minute, and after that, it’s all okay. No big issue. I guess it was so much challenging to pull that, RR. I believe that there are so much other problematic events but those came to mind at this time. Sorry if this was so much long and salty rant. *looks at the rant and cries in salt* 9/9            

Uhm, so, I love getting asks, I really do. But at a certain length, I think you should consider maybe… writing your own post and just tagging me in it if you want me to see it, because daaamn this is very… very… long. xD”

But yeah no, the boys are just as bad as the girls, that was never up for discussion. The question was just very explicitely about female characters, so I’m definitely not gonna drag guys into that. *chuckles*

Everything in Heroes of Olympus is about the romance. I mean seriously absolutely everything because even the villains shipped it - Gaia wanting specifically the blood of Annabeth and Percy because they totally are her OTP, Arachne having a tapestry of the underwater kiss how the ever-loving did she even know that happened how is that not the creepiest, most inappropriate and weird thing to happen in that entire gods damned series. They shoulda named that ship Ark II not Argo II, because it’s all about pairing up. It’s just that, in that ask, we were specifically talking about the bad writing of the female characters! ;)

Honestly. The Grover thing. I think that’s more on Riordan not thinking about Grover than on Percy. Like. I feel as though Riordan temporarily forgot Grover exists because he was so busy shipping. Because Coach Hedge should not have been on that ship. The satyr to go with them should have been Grover. Grover and Percy should have gotten a proper reunion. Instead, one throw-away dream-spy sequence where we got to see him and Rachel. So cheap.

The lack of friendship dynamics was most disappointing, yeah. Everything was about love. Even the one damn quest where all the girls could have bonded - lol nope it’s not a quest it’s actually a tea party with Aphrodite to talk about your love life!!! Because girls!!! Doing girl stuff!!! Seriously, old straight man writing teenage girls? Cringe.

Okay no I find it really asking too much that Percy shoulda pushed the gods about Calypso. Bear in mind the time. The war ended on August 18th. Percy gets abducted on December 15th. That’s four months. Four months of PTSD, of rebuilding the camp, of having a lot of other shit on his mind. If like… an actual big amount of time had passed and Percy had never checked? Okay. Yeah. That’s on him. But within four months? And… it’s not just Percy who had a lot of shit on his mind, let’s be honest, so did the gods. Tartarus was broken into, Olympus was demolished, very shortly thereafter they started having that identity crisis and souls started escaping from Hades. Four months pass in no time at all, especially when you do have a lot on your to-do list.

Same goes for May. Seriously. It’s only been a total of four months. I… genuinely would not have half a mind to care about a total stranger like May Castellan in the middle of my whole entire world kinda coming apart in a war and me having to deal with my own personal aftermath of that?? I mean, those are literal children who just saw their friends and family murdered in a war and who fought in that war themselves. I really, really do think that they had enough on their mind without caring to check in and see if this total stranger had been taken care of… And Percy, Thalia and Annabeth, were like the only ones with any kind of investment or even knowledge there, I mean it’s not like May was public knowledge and everybody cared. And who knows, maybe Thalia did go there off screen, check on her with the Hunt.

I’m generally not okay with Riordan’s attempt at portraying Percy as a bad friend in HoO. It’s wildly OoC. He established Percy’s fatal flaw to be that he would let the world burn for his friends, but suddenly he can’t be bothered with said friends? Both, Calypso and Bob, as used by Riordan, then the lack of Grover, the lack of… of any big reunion aside from Annabeth. He took this character that he specifically created as a very loving and devoted friend and suddenly made him not really care and also not really making friends. Yeah, Frank and Hazel. But… Percy Jackson? The Percy Jackson from the first series? He’d have been friends with everyone on the ship in five hours flat.

I STILL DON’T GET THE BOB AND DAMASEN PART. FUCK YEAH. Seriously, it’s been years and this still bugs me. That Percy and Annabeth were just like “Well. The doors closed. They dead now. Such a shame”. What the actual fuck was that. Try to save them! You could have still saved them!!! That was, too, so very OoC. Like Percy Jackson would just turn his back and let two of his comrades die.

[starrynightofcontradictions]

So, I love the Trials of Apollo. I think it’s probably Rick Riordan’s best work yet. There’s a lot of character development, more so than the other books, and yet there still the fast moving plot and humor that’s characteristic of Riordan’s books. I’ve seen and read a lot of analysis on here. However, I don’t see a whole lot about my girl Meg McCaffrey. At first Meg wasn’t my favorite character. I found her kind of annoying, but well-written. After her sibling-like relationship with Apollo became stronger, though, (I’m a sucker for the found-family trope) I began to truly love Meg as a character. So here ya go:

 Meg McCaffrey: A Character Analysis

 So, I started this when I noticed some people claim that Meg was hard to write. In my mental fandom fantasies that will never see the light of day, I’ve had a similar issue. It’s kind of hard to predict what she’ll do or say next. It’s difficult to give her dialogue because she’s so quiet. But at the same time, she’s a force of nature. I think I’ve kinda figured out why that is. This may come off as super obvious or completely off the wall, but I felt the need to get it down on paper.

           I feel like Meg as a character is torn between two people: Who she is naturally and who she is as a result of emotional abuse. These two kind of clash.

When we first meet Meg she’s totally wild. She’s doing cartwheels across New York City and quite literally climbing the walls. She’s annoying and vibrant and colorful in the best possible way. Apollo claims she’s pain, but I think he’s secretly drawn to her natural energy the same way he is Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Meg is everything a wild ADHD little girl should be.

           The one thing she’s not is talkative. Like most demigods, she hates talking about her past. She shuts down on several occasions when Apollo wants to talk about her history. It’s not until the third book that she tells him about her past, but even then she shows him instead of really explaining. I think this is all a result of Nero. Nero has been using his angry, violent side to create the persona of “the Beast” as a threat to keep Meg in line. He emotionally manipulates her in every way. Since his anger is the consequence, I gather that Meg has had to be very very careful of everything she does or says. She doesn’t know what kind of reaction she’s going to get, so it’s safer to not say anything at all. I’m hardly an expert on child abuse, but I’ve seen this quite a bit. When kids deal with trauma they tend to push it down to cope. Also, this is kind of a side note, but I doubt Meg got much of a formal education. I’m sure she knows the basics, but I can’t see Nero enrolling her in public school. This could be another reason why she doesn’t seem to have the strongest vocabulary.

           The thing is, the silence on Meg’s part doesn’t seem like a natural aspect of her character. I think if she had been raised properly, she would be a little more like Nico in the beginning of the Titan’s Curse. I also think this is why she’s hard to write. Who she is and who she ought to be clash more often than not. Given her wild, colorful nature, you’d think she would be happy and talkative, but she’s not.

           In terms of character development in the last two books, I would like to see Meg deal with her past and learn to open up more. I honestly think Reyna may play a role in this. I’d love it if Reyna’s past gave Meg the strength to deal with her own. I feel like in terms of character development there is only so much we can get with a twelve year old. I think she’ll be mostly healed at the end, but her true “happy ending” will be more foreshadowing. Emotional abuse is something that sticks with you to adulthood and I think Meg’s story would still have a ways to go. I do think that if Meg gets the chance to properly heal and just be a kid, then she will become more talkative. I think it’s a natural characteristic for her; she just has to get past the trauma and anxiety. She might always be withdrawn when it comes to the trauma of her childhood, but I think given the chance she might become quite chatty about things she’s passionate about/

           In terms of plot, more than anything I don’t want Meg to fade into being a side-kick. I want her to play an integral role in bringing down the Triumvirate. I would love to see her become immortal as many others have speculated. Not sure if that will happen or not. It’s a bold move, but Rick Riordan has been making quite a few bold moves this series. A few other things I want but will probably never see:

 -Meg moves back to her home in Palm  Springs where the dryads adopt her and love her unconditionally.

-She still goes to camp in the summer, where Apollo takes over as Camp Director and teachers her archery. (She’s terrible and shoots a dryad in the butt to Apollo’s eternal amusement)

-Apollo teaches her how to drive and has Thalia Grace flashbacks when she crashes the sun chariot. After that, they just use a normal car. She immediately runs over her own mailbox and develops road rage on the streets of Palm  Springs. (Apollo isn’t sure whether to laugh or cry- a common reaction when dealing with his adopted little sister.)

-Meg hates reading for school, but enjoys it for fun on her own terms.

-She still has hard days and bad dreams, but somewhere in her twenties she finds that they don’t affect her they way they used to.

-Meg McCaffrey has a nice life surrounded by people who love her unconditionally.

[beaulesbian]

I decided to finally make a part two of this post, it took me half a year longer than I anticipated, but I rushed to finish it at least for June.

🏳️‍🌈 Happy pride month! 🏳️‍🌈

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley – The best kind of subtle romance I have ever read. Includes mysterious pocket watch, solving bomb threats in Victorian London, a lady scientist, changing of future based on occurring events, an adorable clockwork octopus, and so much more! Did I mention the best, most beautiful romance I didn’t even expect to get?? Read it! (mlm main characters)

All out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages by multiple authors, edited by Saundra Mitchell – This book was so refreshing to read!!! Retellings of fairy tales but queer and poc and mostly happy. I enjoyed each of the short story so so much, I don’t have words to say how much I loved this book, just, can we please have more stories like that? Thank you.

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman – Ever wanted a book with a main character boy and girl who won’t end up together by the end of the book? Then this is a book for you. Frances and Aled do not only become best friends who won’t end up together, but there’s even more diverse characters than these two main ones. This book even has an ace (demi) sexual representation, which I was very excited about, and the main character is biracial bisexual girl. There is lot of fandom talk and a radio show drama (kind of similar to Welcome to Night Vale). But also talks about other important topics like deciding that college might not be for everyone despite them being a great student in high school.

Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee – It’s a cute and sweet superhero themed futuristic story, first book of a trilogy I think. The main character is Vietnamese American bisexual girl, Jessika Tran, whose parents are both superheroes, but she doesn’t have any powers. She starts working for a company she later discovers belongs to town’s villains, but with time she learns that not everything about superheroes and villains is perfectly black and white. Also she’s working there with her crush, so that’s a bonus. It’s a really great book, there’s wlw romance and lot of diversity, action and silly scenes. The history behind the people’s superpowers and worldbuilding was really interesting too. The sequel is also already out, featuring a poc trans boy as the main character, who is part of Jessika‘s friend squad.

The Gentleman‘s guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee – A book everyone here should read!! A historical roadtrip with lot of angst, fluff and mutual pining of two of the main characters. It takes place in 18th century Europe. Monty is kind of an asshole, some moments you will hate him then you will love him, but as the journey progresses so does he. He travels with his sister, Felicity, and his best friend (and crush!) Percy, to visit few cities in Europe before he has to start work in his fathers company. This book addressed lot of issues, like white privilege and racism in that time period, sexism and ableism. But it’s also an adventurous book that’s funny and charming, and makes you feel really happy one moment and sad the next. There are also pirates!

Dreadnought by April Daniels – This is a first book of a duology about a lesbian trans girl Danny who receives superpowers after witnessing death of the superhero Dreadnought, which means she now has to become the new Dreadnought. But with the powers also becames real the ideal vision of her body, that she always wanted. She is very happy about it, but it also means she has to face her family and best friend and explain why she looks different. On top of that she has to help the other superheroes with stopping the new threat to the city, the villain who killed previous Dreadnought. Trigger warnings for transphobia, but it’s really worth to read.

Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller – I’ve seen mixed reviews of this book but personally I loved it. It’s a fantasy YA with lgbt protagonist, that I don’t have enough of. Sal is a genderfluid, also bi? pan? thief who enters a competition to become one of Queen’s Assassins. Basically the last one standing (or rather living) takes the place. Sal knows how to fight and survive but also needs to learn other things to win this position. Like taking classes of writing/reading which teaches him a lady of court they previously stole something from, whom Sal quickly starts to like more than they should, with the competition at play. For me it was a really great book to read and I can’t wait to read the sequel!

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli – I had to read this one quickly before Leah on the offbeat came out, and it was a joy to read this one too! Again so much representation, I love Becky’s books and the Simon vs world. This story is about Molly who has had a lot of crushes but never actually dated anyone. She’s jewish, has anxiety, is fat, loves her family, is very creative, and has another crush on a guy who is her coworker. There’s so much cuteness in this book, I was smiling and crying the whole time reading it. More for representation: her sister is gay, she has two moms, a new Korean-American pansexual friend (who her sister totally likes) and more. I need to meantion trigger warnings for fatphobia, because of part there with her relative, it made me cry so much, it was very reletable and I hated it but there was very good closure for it in the end, which I’m happy about. Anyway read this book, overall it’s a cute and happy book with lots of fluff!

Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli – I loved Leah from the Simon vs book, so I was really happy we got more focus on her. She’s fat and funny, unapologetic about who she is, in her words: “basically your resident fat Slytherin Rory Gilmore”. There was mentions she likes boys as well as girls. Because of a tour for her college she goes with Abby to see where she will live the next few years and stuff happens. And then there’s also their high school prom, which she thought she was ready for, but maybe she’s not ready for at all. I’m not even going to write more, it’s an amazing book, I cried so many times.

Timekeeper by Tara Sim – This story takes place in a Victorian era Britain where clock towers are needed for time to flow correctly. Therefore there is lot of mechanics who repair said clock towers, because if the clock stops, the town around it stops in time as well. The main character Danny is one of those mechanics in London, but his father is trapped in a town that Stopped and Danny needs to find a way to save him. But after someone tries to sabotage a clock tower in a small city, Danny is assigned in that town to fix it, and he eventually finds out that the myths he heard – that in clock towers could sometimes be seen beings, spirits of the towers – might actually be true. This book was so nice to read, there was the atmosphere of the Victorian era, mystery, cute mlm romance and awesome female characters.

I’ll give you the sun by Jandy Nelson – I cried a lot reading this book. At first it actually took me few months to read past first two chapters, because the writing style was so different from what I was used to, but after that I got absorbed in it very quickly. It’s a story about two siblings, Noah and Jude Sweetwine, who both go through some difficult times, with family, school and personal stuff, it’s about making mistakes and fixing mistakes. It’s about love, art, sibling struggles and growing up.

Other books that I read and loved and definitely recommend:

Of Fire and Stars - Audrey Coulthurst (f/f fantasy romance)

We are the Ants –  Shaun David Hutchinson (m/m)

In Other Lands -  Sarah Rees Brennan (bi mc, m/m)

Release – Patrick Ness (m/m)

Our dark duet – V.E. Schwab (sequel of duology, agender character, not much romance at all in this duology, it‘s one of my favourites)

A Conjuring of Light – V.E. Schwab (a beautiful fantasy, last book of trilogy, happy ending for m/m pairing whose each story is important throughout the whole series. Again, one of my favourite series)

Magnus Chase and the Ship of Dead - Rick Riordan (I don‘t want to spoil here but it‘s good, genderfluid representation since book two, more in this final book)

Ice crypt - Tiana Warner (sequel of the Ice Massacre, wlw romance between mermaid and human girl, who knew each other since childhood, there is third final book, Ice Kingdom, already out, but I still haven‘t read it..)

Happy reading!

(tagging few people who i think might enjoy it ♥♥: @eradne, @poefinn, @twomillionfreckles, @eliotcoldwater, @queen-max, @tsukiyam-a)

[bebelasquid]

10/16/18 Part 2 in things I have great interest in and why!

Hey, I know it’s almost been a whole twenty four hours and you must be exhausted. Well now’s the time to slow down, lay down, put away the work clothes, and read as someone else talks about the things that they like for their own catharsis as carbon monoxide slowly kills them at their keyboard. 

So, my love of fantasy didn’t just stop with science fiction, I delved into high fantasy and urban fantasy’s of all sorts (mostly mainstream one’s because I’m too afraid to think for myself). A series that really entangled me within its vines of vivid fiction was the urban fantasy series Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Now a little background, be me, a 250 pound kid with a love for the supernatural and divine, sixth grade English and we have to make a cereal box project on a book we had to read within an allotted time. I had chosen Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, the second book in the series. I chose this because the movie based off the first book had come out relatively recently and I caught glimpses of the plot and thought it would be too easy to make a report on a book that had a (and I use this word lightly) movie to it’s name. I started off lost but I grew to love it. It was one of the first books that really got me to imagine how these characters looked like in my head, even if I was missing an important plot detail or two from the last book the fact that I was able to jump in and still understand it all was incredible. I did my report, was thoroughly convinced Poseidon was the best god of the Greek variety, and went on to get the first book, the pair of which now stood out among my Pokemon Adventure and Mege Man Megamix manga I had collected since the third grade. It was a good thing that I broke out of that barrier where I was intimidated to start new series and get accommodated to new characters and dynamics because if not I wouldn’t grow to appreciate all the hard work and effort put into varying one’s writing. The series treated me well, I was practically the Greek God expert in my class and my English scores skyrocketed as a result of my mom introducing me to new more mature books (mature relative to content and not tone). I read Shadow Hunters, and other slightly horror themed novels my mom lent me. In a way, Percy Jackson was like a gateway drug into the pantheon of books that exist, a gateway drug without the whole government lies and death thing. It was in this series and the Heroes of Olympus series after it that I was exposed to the harsh truth that there are more parents out there than we realize that are terrible to their children and family can be complicated and difficult to deal with. These characters were kids, growing just like me in a world that had yet to show them all it held. I had real friends who had terrible familial issues who I empathized with all that little bit better. The last novel in the Heroes of Olympus series, The Blood of Olympus, left me in awe and excitement most of my read, by the end it also left me with a feeling of finality. This was it, this series I waited for, the book I got the weekend it came out, it was over. I finished the series near the tail end of my eighth grade year, and while I couldn’t be a kid at camp Half-Blood or a warrior at Camp Jupiter, I knew that I would have my own stories to tell as I entered another chapter of my life. The book was closing, and I finished reading. Some things just leave you thinking and realizing that as you type this a series of books paid for by Disney about literal divine bastards touched you so deep. 

Also I got a girl I liked a Percy Jackson book she really wanted and she hugged me for the first time and that felt good. Just an example of how it still effected me two years after it was over. Thank you Rick Riordan, and thanks Camp Half-Blood, the summers there were unforgettable. 

[lady-adventuress]

Books I Read in 2017

Alphabetical list here, reviews under the cut in chronological order:

Almond, David: A Song for Ella Gray

Bardugo, Leigh: The Grisha Trilogy, Six of Crows, Crooked Kingdom

Cline, Ernest: Ready Player One

Cloonan, Becky, Brendan Fletcher, and Karl Kerschl: Gotham Academy Vol. 1-2

Cluess, Jessica: A Shadow Bright and Burning

Coulthurt, Audrey: Of Fire and Stars

del Duca, Leila and Kit Seaton: Afar

Dragoon, Leigh and Jessie Sheron: Ever After High: Class of Classics

Flores, Chynna Clugston, et al.: Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy

Gaiman, Neil: American Gods

Gaiman, Neil and Chris Riddell: The Sleeper and the Spindle

George, Madeleine: The Difference Between You and Me

Gilmour, H.B. and Randi Reisfeld: T*Witches #1-10

Hale, Shannon: Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World

Hicks, Faith Erin: The Nameless City, The Stone Heart

Jensen, Michael and David Powers King: Woven

LaCour, Nina: We Are Okay

Larson, Hope: Chiggers, Mercury

Lubar, David: Sophomores and Other Oxymorons

Riordan, Rick: The Trials of Apollo #1-2, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #2-3

Shea, Lisa: Ever After High: Once Upon a Twist: Cerise and the Beast

Stewart, Cameron, Brendan Fletcher, and Babs Tarr: Batgirl Vol. 1

Stoker, Bram: Dracula

Sugiura, Misa: It’s Not Like It’s a Secret

Turtschaninoff, Maria: Maresi

Weir, Andy: The Martian

West, Hannah: Kingdom of Ash and Briars

I also listened to a lot of audiobooks as I was working this year, but since I have terrible audio comprehension, I stuck to books I’ve already read and know I like:

From Tamora Pierce, Alanna: The First Adventure and the Trickster series, read by Trini Alvarado. The Protector of the Small series, read by Bernadette Dunne. The Immortals Quartet, Sandry’s Book, and The Will of the Empress, Full Cast Audio narrated by Tamora Pierce. All of them were good, but I especially loved hearing the Trickster series and all of the Full Cast books. I absolutely recommend them. Immortals was my favorite.

From Eoin Colfer, the Artemis Fowl series, read by Nathaniel Parker. I liked it a lot. It’s nice being able to hear the accents and remember that Artemis is actually Irish.

T*Witches #1-10, by H.B. Gilmour and Randi Reisfeld. Twin witches who were separated at birth meet at age fourteen and must learn magic to protect themselves from their evil uncle. This is a series from my childhood that still holds up in a cheesy nostalgic way. I always found the attempt at teen slang baffling, but at its core the story is still about family and girls supporting each other and trying to do the right thing. Excellent and complicated relationships between both biological and adopted families, excellent and complicated supporting characters.

Dracula, by Bram Stoker. An ancient vampire brings death and evil to England while a group of mostly-bumbling protagonists try to stop him. It’s hard to read a book like this without being influenced by the cultural interpretation, but one thing that really threw me off is the importance of characters that seem to get really downplayed in adaptations. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed the book, but I did enjoy how ridiculous parts of it was.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World, by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale. A fourteen-year-old girl tries to make new friends while keeping her squirrel tail and superpowers a secret. I love Shannon Hale’s children’s books. Squirrel Girl had the charm of her Ever After High work, surprisingly without being as over-the-top. Doreen isn’t the type of protagonist I tend to relate to and I always get a little weirded out with anthropomorphized animals, but the book was fun and funny with distinct voices and an appropriate amount of camp. Also, footnotes.

The Difference Between You and Me, by Madeleine George. The closeted popular girl and school outcast are on opposite sides of school politics, which causes problems in their secret relationship. I feel like there are tons of fanfictions like this, so I was glad when this book didn’t run into the overused tropes. Unfortunately, it didn’t really have much in the way of conflict at all, which was surprising when it seemed like every single character’s opinions were meant to be deliberately polarizing. I thought that situations and characters were set up really well, but none of it really came together in a satisfying way.

Chiggers, by Hope Larson. Graphic novel. A girl navigates summer camp drama and befriends the girl no one else likes. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Hope Larson, but I couldn’t like this book even though I was trying to. It felt like nothing was happening for most of the story, and I’m not sure what was accomplished in telling it. The elements of magical realism were interesting, but it wasn’t enough to carry the story, and neither was the mundane drama. There wasn’t enough time to invest in the characters.

Mercury, by Hope Larson. Graphic novel. A girl’s experience with a mysterious gold prospector affects the life of her modern-day descendant. The story was thought-provoking, even if it took me a while to get into it, and the magical realism was well-integrated. I don’t love Larson’s cartooning style, but I thought it was much more readable than Chiggers without sacrificing its uniqueness.

The Nameless City, by Faith Erin Hicks. Graphic novel. A boy befriends a native girl in the city his people conquered. Hicks’ visual storytelling skills are excellent, and I love how her characters and expression can be both subtle and cartoony. The story was thoughtful and deals with political realities in a way that doesn’t demonize or alienate anyone. Jordie Bellaire’s color palettes are beautiful.

Unfortunately, the sequel The Stone Heart doesn’t quite live up to the first book. The art is still excellent, but the pacing and plot seemed less well-planned, especially since the story now seems to be heading in a more predictable direction. There’s a third book forthcoming, so maybe that opinion will change.

Batgirl Vol. 1: Batgirl of Burnside, by Cameron Stewart, Brendan Fletcher, and Babs Tarr. Trade paperback. A college student tries to reinvent her vigilante identity while dealing with being the personal target of a mysterious villain. This was definitely not a bad book, but it also didn’t feel like a Barbara Gordon book. If you’re writing for characters with decades of history, that legacy deserves to be respected, and I’m not sure Stewart and Fletcher accomplished that in the writing. Separate from preconceptions, the plot was solidly set up with good dialogue and distinct characterization, although I thought Barbara’s arc had a weak resolution. Tarr’s art is great, though, and I can definitely see why this series is so popular.

Gotham Academy Vol. 1-2, by Becky Cloonan, Brendan Fletcher, and Karl Kerschl. Trade paperbacks. A girl investigates a haunting at her school, which is connected to a mysterious summer experience she can’t remember. Kerschl’s character acting is excellent, and the relationship between the protagonist Olive and her ex-boyfriend’s sister Maps is immediately compelling. The cast is well-rounded and interesting, and I enjoyed reading a comic set in a superhero world without being a superhero book. Plot elements are set up from the first issue, and the story is a lot of fun overall.

A Song for Ella Grey, by David Almond. A modern version of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth is told from the perspective of Eurydice’s best friend. Almond is an excellent writer, but I felt like this was a story that didn’t need to be retold, especially with his addition of a tragic unrequited queer romance. The protagonist doesn’t have any agency within the storyline so it felt like a series of events happening in sequence rather than a narrative. I did think the formatting shift at the turning point was interesting, but the myth dragged unnecessarily in order to fill the length of the novel.

The Trials of Apollo #1: The Hidden Oracle, by Rick Riordan. The Greek god Apollo is sent to earth as a teenager as punishment for his arrogance and is bound to the service of a young girl. It’s hard to enter into the Trials of Apollo series without prior knowledge of Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus, and even as a fan of the other books in the universe, I had a hard time engaging with Apollo as a protagonist. The narration fit the character well, though, and Riordan deals with serious subjects without resolving anything prematurely. I liked that each chapter was introduced with a haiku rather than a title.

The second book in the series, The Dark Prophecy, is similar in tone to the first. I would say the biggest change is the addition of Leo and Calypso from the prequel series to finish off the classic trio of heroes. That dynamic was interesting, and I also really enjoyed the appearance of my favorite Percy Jackson character.

We Are Okay, by Nina LaCour. A girl deals with grief over her grandfather’s death and reconnects with her best friend during winter break of her first year of college. It was a slow start and I had some trouble keeping up with shifts in the narration, but I ended up liking this book a lot. The writing is atmospheric and captures the protagonist’s thoughts well. The setup for the mystery is subtle and doesn’t take focus from the characters.

American Gods, by Neil Gaiman. After three years in jail and his wife’s death, a man takes a job that involves him in a war between old and new gods. I really like Gaiman’s writing, and Shadow is a protagonist that is engaging despite his relative passiveness. Even so, I wouldn’t say this was a book I actually enjoyed all that much, and plot twists were well-developed to the point that they weren’t particularly surprising or satisfying. I’ve seen a lot of stories modernize gods, so Gaiman’s treatment didn’t seem as unique as I’d been led to believe. That being said, maybe I would have enjoyed this more if I’d read it earlier.

Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Hammer of Thor, by Rick Riordan. A teenager resurrected as a Viking warrior goes on a quest to retrieve Thor’s hammer. This series in particular seems to depend on pop culture references, so while I liked the writing, I wonder if it will stay as relevant as Riordan’s other books. I did really enjoy the cast and the expansion of their backstories, and this book sets up what seems to be more of a crossover with the Percy Jackson series.

Book three, The Ship of the Dead, was also really fun. The closing of The Hammer of Thor was a little misleading in that the crossover elements were limited to the beginning and end of the story as usual, but by this time the characters are more than capable of standing on their own. It seems like this book is the last of the series, and it managed to close out the plot pretty well.

Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom, by Leigh Bardugo. Six teenagers are hired to break a political prisoner out of a foreign country. Not only is this an excellent heist story with a really detailed plot, but each of the characters are fully developed and they all have their own arcs throughout the books. Bardugo’s cast is inclusive and intersectional without feeling like she’s checking off a list and the writing is witty with clear voices. Both the characters and plot drive the story. I can’t say enough good things about this duology.

The Grisha Trilogy, by Leigh Bardugo. A teenage soldier discovers an elemental power and becomes part of a plan to overthrow a corrupt monarchy. This trilogy takes place before Bardugo’s Six of Crows books, but it was disappointing in comparison. I really disliked the protagonist, and there was a lot of focus on a frustrating romance, to the point that it overshadows the interesting worldbuilding. The plot dragged in places, despite being too thin to fill three books. Even so, there are a few really great supporting characters that almost made it worth it.

Sophomores and Other Oxymorons, by David Lubar. After a successful freshman year, a teenager’s overconfidence causes problems at his high school. This is the belated sequel to Sleeping Freshman Never Lie, which is one of my favorite books. Sophomores seems more self-referential and has a subplot that doesn’t seem to fit the tone as well, but for the most part it had the same witty charm that I loved about the first book. Of course, the best part of the series is still Lee, the female lead.

Maresi, by Maria Turtschaninoff. An abbey novice discovers her calling when a new girl with a troubled past arrives. This book was originally published in Finnish, I believe, but I think it must have lost something in the translation. The narration is distant, and even though parts of the world are described, it was hard to picture any of the setting. Overall it didn’t really hold my interest.

Kingdom of Ash and Briars, by Hannah West. After gaining magic powers and immortality, a girl becomes responsible for ensuring peace throughout three kingdoms. I really didn’t like this book. It treats the female characters poorly, especially the antagonist, and although the plot is ostensibly about duty, it’s heavy-handed, relies too much on tropes, and is really obviously motivated by romance. A lot of this can be overlooked if it’s ironic or just done well, but it never came together and ended up being very frustrating.

Of Fire and Stars, by Audrey Coulthurst. As she enters an arranged marriage, a princess has to hide her magic and her attraction to the prince’s sister. Even though the two protagonists are supposed to have equal weight, I ended up almost actively disliking one of them. The plot isn’t terribly engaging, but because I couldn’t get behind one of the characters, the romance couldn’t carry the novel for me. It wasn’t bad, but I wish it was better.

Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters, by Shannon Hale. A commoner-turned-princess takes an unattractive job to teach court manners to three royal sisters. This book is the third in Hale’s Princess Academy series and it is just as excellent as the first two. The plot is set up well across multiple books, and Miri is an excellent and flawed protagonist who is capable without overshadowing the other characters. The romantic plots don’t feel forced and the narration accomplishes a lot of interesting worldbuilding. Another book with girls supporting one another despite not necessarily understanding each other.

The Martian, by Andy Weir. An astronaut is stranded on Mars after an early mission evacuation and must survive until he can be rescued. I was skeptical about the premise, but everything is well thought out and clearly explained, without sacrificing either reader engagement or scientific accuracy. The protagonist has a great voice, but as soon as the perspective shifts away from his first-person mission logs, it’s easy to tell that Weir isn’t a very experienced writer, since the other characters and third-person narration are not nearly as well-defined. Overall, though, it was still a good book.

Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline. A high-schooler who is desperate to escape a dystopian future dedicates his life to solving a virtual reality puzzle and becoming the heir to a video game empire. There were two things that I really disliked about this book, the first being the protagonist, who seemed like a terrible person for most of the book. The second is that, despite being ostensibly a celebration of pop culture (and especially 80s pop culture), the overall viewpoint seemed really rigid and judgemental. The writing was fine, and there were some really interesting puzzles, but in the end I felt like it was male nerd entitlement in novel form.

Ever After High: Once Upon a Twist: Cerise and the Beast, by Lisa Shea. The daughter of Red Riding Hood and the son of King Charming are forced into the roles of Beauty and the Beast in order to escape their midterm exam. Cerise and Dexter seem like an odd pair, which sometimes works in the Ever After High universe, but didn’t really here. Part of this I think is because this book is written for an even younger audience than the original so the characters lost a lot of their nuance. The only part of the story that surprised me was almost immediately negated by a soap opera-worthy plot device to prevent the status quo from changing.

Afar, by Leila del Duca and Kit Seaton. Graphic novel. A girl tries to fix problems caused by her newfound ability to project herself into different worlds, while keeping her younger brother out of trouble. There is a lot of visual worldbuilding here, which I thought was very well done. Plot wise, it felt like the protagonist’s arc was maybe just the first act of a much longer book, but the characters were solid all around.

Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy, by Chynna Clugston Flores, Rosemary Velero-O’Connell, Kelly Matthews, and Nichole Matthews. Graphic novel. The ensemble casts of Lumberjanes and Gotham Academy work together to free their teachers from a girl’s attempt to relive a disastrous birthday. I think this book is set up more for fans of both series, and since I’ve only read a little of Lumberjanes, I felt like I was playing catch-up for some parts. I did really like the parts that showcased the Gotham Academy characters, though. I felt like the art was missing the lushness and texture of what I remember of the regular series, which was disappointing.

Ever After High: The Class of Classics, by Leigh Dragoon and Jessi Sheron. Graphic novel. The children of popular fairy tales learn more about their parents by using magic to relive parts of their high school experience. This book was very disappointing compared to other parts of the franchise. The art is minimal and flat compared to the webseries, and all but one of the anthology-esque stories felt like retreading old ground. I also really disliked the narrative hoops the audience was expected to jump through just to keep anything significant from changing.

It’s Not Like It’s a Secret, by Misa Sugiura. After moving from Wisconsin to California, a Japanese-American girl struggles to build a life she is happy with while keeping secrets that could ruin her family. This book was a bit surreal to read because specific parts of it were identical to my high school experience, while other parts were completely foreign. Still, the writing is solid and thought-provoking, and I liked that there is no easy answer to the protagonist’s problems.

A Shadow Bright and Burning, by Jessica Cluess. A newly-discovered sorceress takes on the role of a prophecized savior in a fight against enormous apocalyptic monsters. I found it a little difficult to get into the characters, especially since there is only one girl in a large group of boys and the gender difference is a large part of their interactions. I disliked the romantic subplots, which seemed to take over the narrative, even though the worldbuilding and political aspects of the plot were really interesting.

The Sleeper and the Spindle, by Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell. A queen postpones her wedding to deal with the sleeping curse that threatens to spread from the kingdom next door. The story begins as a mix of archetypes from Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, but Gaiman’s atmospheric writing elevate it even before the surprising finale. Riddell’s illustrations and other visual choices for the physical book are beautiful and tell the story meaningfully. Highly recommended.

Woven, by Michael Jensen and David Powers King. After his murder, an aspiring knight goes on a quest with a spoiled princess to stop the universe from unraveling. This book had an interesting premise, but its execution filled me with rage. Although it pretends to have dual protagonists, the princess is treated horribly by the narration without any kind of self-awareness. She is given a thin veneer of fighting ability but no agency in the story and is constantly being rescued without payoff. The writing and pacing also seemed flat. Overall extremely frustrating, especially because of the hints of interest.

[snarktheater]

What are your thoughts on Rick Riordan new series Trials of Apollo and Magnus chase? Do you believe the quality of his works has decreased over time?

I reviewed the first book in each series on the blog back when they were released (The Hidden Oracle - The Sword of Summer). My opinions on them are…mostly unchanged. Riordan’s take on Apollo and the surrounding characters is a well-meaning attempt at LGBT inclusion (and Magnus Chase offhandedly mentions the problem of homeless and queer/trans youth), but both books ultimately suffer from either the inability or the active refusal to write in a different voice than the one used in Percy Jackson. Which…you know, doesn’t really make them bad books, but I didn’t personally enjoy them.

I’ve had a similar issue recently with Chris Colfer’s final Land of Stories book (I’m still considering whether I should make a review of that at some point): after a while, if the author won’t adapt their voice to their growing audience, it just…stops working. At least for me. Other people are enjoying these new books, and it’s ultimately fine. Of course, apparently it’s extremely hard to find people who both enjoy things and accept that other people criticize them, so I kind of had to step back from the fandom out of necessity after an umpteenth attempt to explain that no, you’re not evil for liking this and I’m not trying to trigger your anxiety, but I still found it problematic because…well, you can picture it, I’m sure.

I still want to read the rest of these series. I know Magnus Chase introduced a love interest who is genderqueer, and I’d like to see how Riordan handles that for myself eventually. From the quotes I’ve seen, the book says genderfluid, but there are issues where Magnus’s PoV muddles things and kind of resolves to basically a trans girl? Which, admittedly, even a trans girl presented as a legit love interest would be a good thing. Thing is, I’m just…not curious enough to spend the time to check at the moment.

As for the Apollo books, I haven’t even heard of that series since the first book. Did it fade into obscurity, or had I just purged my dashboard so much in the year between books one and two that it didn’t reach me anymore? I don’t even know. I also want to read it eventually, but again, I don’t have any drive to do it (and an ever-growing pile of unread books I actually want to read). So I’m not committing to these.

[lil-loucifer]

ONE OF US MUST CHANGE AND IT AINT GONNA BE ME YOU FOOL. Ps 1-100 on the ask away tumblr asks

Hayden you f u c k

1. What have you eaten today?

A shit ton of pizza

2. Who was your last kiss with? Was it pleasant?

The most intimate touch I have ever felt was a hug

3. What color shoes did you last wear?

Black. Boots :P

4. Who has made you laugh the hardest in the last week?

Probably my sister??

5. What is your favorite scent?

Freshly baked stuff

6. What is your favorite season? Why?

Winter, because most if not all of my clothes are fucking winter sweaters and coats

And also because I like the cold

7. Can you do a handstand or cartwheel?

Nope!!

8. What color are your nails?

Natural?

9. If you had to get a tattoo on your face to save your life, what would it be?

A tiny star near the corner of my right eye, behind the mole so I could just hide it under my hair if I had to

10. What is something you find romantic?

Fucking flowers??? I dunno dude pretty much anything you devote some time and/or effort into doing for someone else in the name of affection?

11. Are you happy?

I dunno tbh

12. Is there anything in particular making you happy or sad?

For one thing, I did a fucking bomb-ass job on a presentation I had to do in front of a class, even though I couldn’t log into google drive and couldn’t access my fucking notes for the presentation and had to improvise it

13. Dogs or Cats?

Both!!!

15. Which do you prefer:a museum, a night club, the forest or a library?

A tie between a library and museum, but it depends on the museum. 

15. What is your style?

Scruffy as fuck, with some degree of hipster/punk, but mostly just slobbish.

16. If you could be doing anything you like right now, what would it be?

Affording material possessions I want to buy

17. Are you in a relationship or single?

“It’s complicated”

18. What makes you attracted to the person you like right now?

Emotional dependence???

Also probably mutual trust and care

19. If you could replace your partner/best friend with a celebrity of your choice, would you? Who with?

I don’t think I would??

20. Are you holding on to something you need to let go of? If so then what? 

Certain text conversations and shit my last ex and I had. It didn’t end well between us.

21. How did you celebrate last Halloween?

I stayed home and handed out fuckin candy

22. Have you recently made any big decisions? 

I dunno.

23. Were you ever in a school play?

Nahhh, I’m not a good actor

24. What movie would you use to describe your life?

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

25. Is there something you have dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven’t you done it?

HAVING FRIENDS BUT I CAN’T BECAUSE I HABITUALLY ACT LIKE A HUGE BITCH ALL THE TIME AND AM INTIMIDATED WHENEVER I’M INTRODUCED INTO GROUPS AND YET I’M STILL CLINGY AS SHIT

26. Complete this sentence, “I wish I had someone with whom I could share…”

Video games. I dunno man I just like playing games with people

27. What are two things that irritate you about the same sex?

A lot of guys are really gross and shit, and also sexist or alpha male-like. I catch myself exhibiting similar behavior sometimes and hate it

28. What are two things that irritate you about the opposite sex?

I’m too immature to understand anything

29. What is the best thing that has happened to you this week?

Pretty much reached a lvl 2 friendship with someone after we both let it slip that we were bi within three minutes of each other

30. What is something that makes you sad when you think about it?

Sad friends

31. How long was your longest relationship?

One business week

32. Have you ever been in love?

You know? I dunno 

33. Are you currently in love?

I think so?

34. Why did your last relationship end?

We were both in really bad mental places and decided to break up so we wouldn’t hurt each other

35. What jewelry are you wearing right now, and where did you get it

I’m not wearing any???

36. When was the last time you cried and why?

I don’t remember when, but it was definitely over feeling super alone

37. Name someone pretty.

Deborah Ann Woll??

38. What did you receive last Valentines Day?

I didn’t do shit last valentine’s day

39. Do you get jealous easily?

Kinda, but I don’t let it fuck up my relationships

40. Have you ever been cheated on?

Maybe?

41. Do you trust your partner/best friend?

Yeah!!

42. Ever had detention?

Kinda? I don’t remember it well but I think I talked my way out of it

43. Would you rather live in the countryside or the city?

I don’t know to be honest, probably the city if I could afford it

44. What do people call you? 

LUCIFER, THE DARK LORD OF THE NINE HELLS

45. What was the last book you read? 

The Ship of the Dead, by Rick Riordan

46. How big of a nerd/dork are you? 

Huge, but I don’t look the part. Someone once asked me “Hey, do you watch One Punch Man?” and his other annoying friend hastily whispered “Does he look like he watches One Punch Man?? Don’t annoy him bro” and they never asked again

I was, in fact, fully caught up with the anime at that point

47. What kind of music do you listen to?

All fuckin kinds bruh, mostly punk rock, metal and hip-hop tho

48. How tall are you?

5′10′’ I think??

49. Do you like kids?

Not really

50. Favorite fruits?

Grapes, apple and watermelon

51. Do you wear jeans or sweats more?

I haven’t owned a pair of sweatpants since I was ten

52. What’s your earliest memory?

I was still really young, maybe two-ish?? Either my sister or my mother--she was female--put me down on the floor in what would become my sister’s room, long before we moved most of her new furniture in and repainted her walls, next to a belt she would keep for the next ten years and an old comb she still has now. It was mid-day. 

53. Ever had a poem or song written about you or to you?

Nope!

54. Do you prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it?

Behind! Photography is fun~

55. Do you have a collection of anything? 

Video games?

56. Do you save money or spend it? 

I suck at saving money ffs

57. What would your dream house be like?

Simple and clean, full of my stuff

58. What top 5 things make you the angriest?

1: Maliciousness

2: Oppression

3: Bothering my crew

4: Bothering me

5: Losing repeatedly in video games

59. What top 5 things always brings a smile to your face?

1: Things that make me laugh

2: Writing a story easily

3: Pretty much anything to do with you ngl

4: Friends!!

5: Seeing an asshole get what’s coming

60. You are walking down the street on your way to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss has told you if you are late one more time you get fired. What do you do?

Y o u r e g o n n a h a t e m e i f I a n s w e r e d h o n e s t l y

61: You are at the doctor’s office and she has just informed you that you have approximately one month to live. a) Do you tell anyone/everyone you are going to die? b) What do you do with your remaining days? c) Would you be afraid?

Honestly I’d probably tell everyone I’m dying and face it with open arms

62. Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word; heart.

Beat

63. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go?

I dunno???

64. Do you like the beach?

I like the aesthetic appeal of the beach?? But I hate water and heat and sand, so... 

65. Ever sleep on the couch or a bed with someone special?

Never had a chance

66. Do you have a middle name? If so what is it!

Mayor

67. Do you talk to yourself?

I think out loud sometimes, but otherwise, no

68. Describe your hair.

Floofy

69. What is the meaning of life.

To find one

70. What is your ideal partner like?

You ;)

But for realsies, someone I can trust and feel comfortable around

71. Do you want to get married?

Not really??

72. Do you want to have kids?

NOT REALLY???

73. Like or dislike your family?

Neutral

74. Are you Chunky or Slim?

Chunky?

75. Would you consider yourself smart? 

No

76. What would you change about your life? 

My drive do do literally anything

77. Religious or Not?

Kinda?

78. You’re drunk and yelling at hot guys/girls out of your car window, you’re with?

The cop that pulls me over for drunk driving

79. You’re locked in a room with the last person you kissed, is that a problem?

I dunno man depends on how long I’m alone there

80. Does anyone regularly (other than family) tell you they love you?

You

81. If the person you wish to be with were with you, what would you be doing right now?

Either cuddling or legitimately fighting each other over who changes outfits in Animal Crossing

82. So, the last person you kissed just happens to arrive at your door at 3AM; do you let them in?

They are already here

83. Do you like when people play with your hair? 

Yeah, if I let them.

84. Do you like bubble baths?

I dunno, I haven’t ever had one.

85. Have you ever been pulled over by a cop?

Nope!

86. Have you ever danced in the rain?

Yeeeaaaah! And I didn’t get sick!

87. Do you trust anyone with your life?

Not really

88. What was your first thought when you woke up this morning?

As usual, “whhhaat fucking time is it??”

89. If money wasn’t an issue, what top 10 places would you travel to? (You get to stay at each place for a week) 

I’m not really into travelling???

90. How was your day today?

Average

91. Play an instrument? 

I suck at anything musical

92. Describe the what you think of the ocean.

Boundless, infinite. Terror beneath. 

93. Do you believe in aliens or ghosts?

Both!!

94. Honestly, are things how you wanted them to be? 

I can’t really say. I had a goal in mind, and just planned to improvise until I got there, so...

95. Do you have a mean bitchy scary side?

Yes and it is my default demeanor for most of the time

96. When are you vulnerable?

...All the time

97. How much free time do you have?

Too much, honestly

98. Do you like to go hiking? 

Hell no

99. Odd or Even Numbers?

Even?

100. Would you ever go sky diving, bungee jumping , cliff diving, wing suit gliding, parasailing, snorkeling, or other extreme activities? 

The most extreme thing I’ve done is knife fighting, does that count?

[fandomsandfeminism]

Rick Riordan's books just keep getting better (and more diverse!) Transcript

Part 1

Part 2

Transcript Below the Cut:

Rick Riordan. So, I've wanted to make a video about Rick Riordan for a while and with  The new Trials of Apollo book just coming out, I’m really hyped about it. So I wanted to talk about why I like his books, or at least some of the things that impress me about them and keep me consistently excited about them.

Rick Riordan, if you don’t know,  is the author of the wildly popular Percy Jackson series, and today I want to talk about his books, especially how his representation of minorities has improved over time.

So, a few quick things: First, I’m not going to talk about ALL of Rick Riordan’s work, especially his ancillary and tie in material like the Demi-God Files or all the cross over stories, mostly because I haven't read all of them.

And second: Spoilers. Just, big old spoilers for basically everything. I’m not going to go into big plot points much, but I will be talking about some of the characters in depth. I’m going to move through his ouvre in roughly chronological order. So, you are warned.

Lastly, this video hinges on the premise that well done, well executed, fully fledged representations of minority characters in children and Young Adult media is good and important.  I’m not really going to argue this point. It is the assumption we are beginning with. Diverse media with diverse characters is  good and important.  

And this point is, weirdly, kind of controversial. In fact, in the vast majority of children and young adult media most of the cast will be white, straight, cis, able bodied, neurotypical children or young adults with an unstated or vague religious affiliation. This last bit, about the unstated or vague religious affiliation is one we don’t often think about, but really, having a character with ANY stated religion is really rare. Most will, maybe, practice a sort of secularized Christmas maybe? But that’s about it.

The rationale you’ll hear for this is that this makes books more accessible and thus marketable. I would counter that if you really want your book to appeal to as many different people as possible, wouldn’t you want to have as many different types of characters as possible? But that comes with the assumption that outright bigots wouldn’t refuse a book because one of the secondary characters is in a wheelchair, I guess.

So, yeah. Most children's lit and young adult lit  will be white, straight, cis, able bodied, neurotypical children or young adults with an unstated or vague religious affiliation, even if it gets absurdly, massively popular. Popular enough to take risks and work outside the box. I’m looking at you, JK Rowling. Looking at you.

This fact, this lack of diversity, does not bother some people. And we are not going to argue this point in this video. We are beginning with the assertion that this situation is not ideal, and that added quality, well written diversity is a positive. And we are going to look specifically at how Rick Riordan improves in this specific aspect of his writing over time.

--

Ok, so, Uncle Rick is a San Antonio , Texas native, and as someone who was also born and raised in central Texas, I love this fact. He went to MY alma mater, UT, and became a middle school teacher. We’re basically the same person.

Now, Percy Jackson isn’t actually his first book series. In the 90s he wrote a detective series set in San Antonio called Big Red Tequila. There’s like 7 books in this series and I have read none of them. I’m sure they’re great though. How could they not be with a name like that?

Our story really begins in 2004-ish. The story goes that he was telling his son Greek myths as bedtime stories, and when he ran out of myths (or at least child friendly myths I assume), he started to make one up. He invented a story about a boy named Percy, a son of Poseidon, who goes on an adventure to return Zeus's missing lightning bolts.  His son told him that he should turn it into a book, his dad had published books before after all. So, Rick did just that. He then took his rough draft to his middle school students and used their feedback to revise.

He then sold this book to Miramax Books for enough money to retire from teaching and focus on writing. God damn. Rick was living the dream here. Life goals.

So, yeah. If you’ve never read the first Percy Jackson books they are...fine. They’re ok, good even. Definitely like, children’s books. But if you like bad puns and greek myths they are fun. I read all 5 in like...one weekend when I was in high school. I personally think the books really pick up in the third one: Titan’s Curse, mostly because we meet my favorite character, Nico. There’s some good world building in that book, and it really feels like Rick had figured out how he wanted to end the series by that point, so the plot feels more focused.  Maybe that’s just me.

So, remember how I said that Children’s lit will tend to be filled with white, straight, cis, able bodied, neurotypical children with an unstated or vague religious affiliation? Well, Percy Jackson and all his friends are...mostly, white, straight, cis, able bodied, children with an unstated or vague religious affiliation who have ADHD and Dyslexia.

Because Rick Riordan’s son has ADHD and Dyslexia, and Rick wanted these heroes to be like him. So, yeah. The diversity isn’t AMAZING here, but the intent to provide representation for minority children was present from the very beginning. And ADHD and Dyslexia are, like, super powers here, proof the children are demi-gods, are side effects of their brains and bodies being ready for amazing quests.  And there’s this great diversity in the characters with ADHD and Dyslexia and how it impacts them. Annabeth is depicted as super smart and studious. You have Percy who has always struggled in school. And so on.

Now, how you feel about this representation of ADHD and Dyslexia will vary. Some people really like it, others think it isn’t very well done or plays into some iffy tropes. I think we can safely say that the intent was very positive, but your milage may vary on the execution.

There’s also a movie adaption of the first 2 books which are…..bad. Logan Lerman was 18 when he played Percy- who should be like...12? And they made Hades the bad guy? And like..Persephone? Is? In? The? Underworld? In? Summer? Which….ugh. Like, they made Grover black, which was a cool choice, an attempt to address the lack of racial diversity it seems.  but still these movies are not good….maybe if you haven't read the books, you’ll like them. I don’t like them. I didn't even watch the second one honestly. .

Alright so we will look at the rest of Rick Riordan’s books in part 2 of this video. I wanted to cut it here to keep it from getting super super long. So I will see you guys over on Part 2 to finish up

CUT --

Welcome back to my look at all of Rick Riordan’s books and how they have improved over time. We are going to jump right in where we left off at the end of Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Ok, so after Percy Jackson, Rick Riordan started work on the Kane Chronicles. If you haven’t read the Kane Chronicles, I don’t blame you. They are kind of the forgotten half-siblings of the Percy Jackson universe, but you should read them. They are really good, and they feel like a really experimental time for Rick. Not only is this the first time we see him play with a split First Person narrator, where different chapters are from different character’s Point of View, but he also really tackles race in these books.

Carter and Sadie are biracial, and deal with all kinds of race issues- Sadie being white passing and Carter not, the books looks at  how that impacts them and their experiences with others, their family, and their heritage. Plus all the Egyptian shit is really cool.

But even if you skipped this book series (seriously, go back and read them.) you can see this evolution in Rick’s writing in his sequel to Percy Jackson- Heroes of Olympus. These books actually came out at the same time as the Kane Chronicles, with The first Kane Chronicles book coming out in May 2010, then The first Heroes of Olympus book coming out in October 2010, and back and forth. And it’s clear that his new skills in Red Pyramid were influential on Heroes of Olympus.

Not only do we see the return of the Shifting narrator, now a Third Person Limited Point of View that follows different characters in different chapters, but where the first series was overwhelmingly white, these books seem to make a real effort to avoid that. The first two books- The Lost Hero and Son of Neptune take place, more or less concurrent and independent of each other. It’s not until the 3rd book when all the new characters meet up. But in those first 2 books, we get 5 new MAIN characters- Jason, a white boy; Piper, a Native American girl, specifically Cherokee if I remember; Leo, a Mexican American boy; Frank, a Chinese American boy; and Hazel, an African American girl. We also get Reyna, who isn’t a main character at first, but I would argue becomes one in House of Hades, and she is Puerto Rican.

And ALL of these characters and their racial identities are handled really well. Like, they are fully fleshed out and genuine characters. This doesn’t feel like shallow, lazy tokenism. Their heritage plays a part in who they are, but is not the ONLY thing about them. Piper, for example, has a father who refuses to play Native American roles in movies because he wants to avoid being stereotyped or type cast and Piper carries that struggle to connect with her heritage with her. Hazel’s experience as a black girl, and a black girl from the 1930s at that, impacted how she was treated growing up and makes up a big part of her backstory. But they aren’t solely defined by these experiences like shallow stereotypes.

It’s well done ,is that I’m saying

-

So at this point, we could say that while Rick had a good grasp on racial diversity and neuro-divergence representation. Most of his characters were still straight, cis, able bodied, children with an unstated or vague religious affiliation. (Seriously, did none of these kids have like..faith in a religion before?)

Now, here is a true, fun fact. On June 30th, 2013, 3 months before the release of House of Hades, I went on Tumblr and wrote an Open Letter to Rick Riordan about how he should really include LGBT+ characters in his books. He had written. Like, 11 children’s books at this point, and despite my headcanons, every character had been portrayed as assumed straight and cis. So I wrote a letter. How much I liked his books, but really, could we have some LGBT+ characters, this IS Greek mythology after all.  I don’t think he ever saw this letter, despite me tweeting it at him.

Among other things in this letter, I go on to list several possibilities for LGBT+ representation in his books, including:  quote: maybe Nico feels an unrequited crush on Percy. A headcanon I had since book 4, Battle of the Labyrinth.

And so, I want my moment, just to say: I. Was. Right. And I told you so.

House of Hades came out in 2013, and well, so did Nico. My favorite character came out of the closet, or, well, was outed and it was heart wrenching. The fandom kind of lost its shit over this. Anyone who had shipped Percy and Nico was throwing a party, homophobes were throwing a fit, it was very emotional. I was gloating a lot.

And let’s be clear- Nico’s sexuality in House of Hades is not...handled the best. It’s better than nothing certainly, and it’s better than Word of God reveals post publication. Rowling. But, by itself, it’s...well...single sad cis gay boy pines over unrequited straight crush hits some stereotypes. None of this is malicious, but it by itself is only so-so representation.

But Rick wasn’t done there, because we still had one more book- Blood of Olympus. Nico gets a super cute boyfriend in the form of Will Solace, and gets some closure with Percy. Now, your mileage may vary with that particular scene. Nico smugly telling Percy he “isn't his type” feels, well, a little out of character and, I dunno, corny. But it’s nice to see Nico get this happy relationship with Will, and I’ll forgive Rick for any stumbles in the exact execution to avert that sad-single-gay trope.

- -

Ok. So, now at last, we get to the 2 series that are still in publication: Gods of Asgard and Trials of Apollo. These two series are publishing concurrently, and  because the Gods of Asgard started publishing first, let’s talk about it first.

I love Gods of Asgard. Truly. These might be my favorite of Riordan’s books. Part of that might just be that after 10 Greek and Roman books, a focus on Norse is refreshing, but I just love it. I love Magnus, I love the Annabeth cameos, I love Sam. Ok, so, the first Gods of Asgard book: Sword of Summer hits two important notes when it comes to minority representation.

Hearth is deaf and mute and uses sign language. This is the first time we’ve had a main character with a clear disability other than ADHD and Dyslexia. Which is really cool. And The consistent use of sign language throughout is neat.

Our second is Sam. Who is muslim and wears a hijab. Like, truly, how many stories do you know about a hijabi muslim valkyrie girl kicking all the ass.

Book 2, Hammer of Thor…well. Remember when I said Nico is my favorite character? Nico might have to fight Alex Fierro for my heart. Alex Fierro. A trans gender fluid child of Loki. I love Alex. Some people cried SJW Gay-Agenda bullshit over Alex like, being trans and gender fluid and, actually mentioning it more than once, but those people are unhappy assholes and I ignore them. I like Alex. Alex is an interesting, complicated character and I can’t wait for the next book.

Also, am I the only one who thinks Magnus and Alex are being set up for some romance? Just wishful thinking? Feels like romance. I ship it. I’ve been right before.

So ok, so We now have racial diversity, representation of multiple kinds of disabilities, a gay character, a gender fluid trans character, and a muslim character. -

Let’s talk about Trials of Apollo.

These books are really fun. If for no other reason than Apollo might actually be the most loud, entertaining narrator we’ve had yet. He’s funny, he’s an asshole. He’s also very loudly and clearly bisexual. Which, duh. How else would you even write Apollo if you have any understanding of Greek mythology?  It’s mentioned a couple of times in the first book, and then even more in the second, where his prior relationships have plot relevance.

The second book also introduced us to Jo and Emmie, a biracial lesbian couple who used to be hunters of Artemis who are now raising a daughter together.

And this is kind of the joy of really GOOD diverse representation. Like, Apollo has faced hardship because of his relationships, with both men and women, but his sexuality itself isn’t a problem with him. Alex is very secure with who they are, but has clearly faced a lot of transphobia. Nico was very closeted and seemed to have a lot of pain tied up in his sexuality and is only just now healing from that with Will. Jo and Emmie clearly faced issues with their relationship, having to leave the hunters, but have built a new life together. We get this great array of experiences, rather than just one prevailing narrative.

I love it, and we’ve come so far from that first bedtime story about a boy trying to find some stolen lightning bolts. - -

So, what’s in the future for Rick Riordan? Well, he hasn’t announced any new book series for after Gods of Asgard and Trials of Apollo wrap up. However, we do know that he is starting his own Publishing Imprint with Disney Hyperion.  Rick will only work as a curator it seems, focusing on having minority authors write fantasy/mythology based books from their native cultures. There are 3 books signed right now,

Jennifer Cervantes’s Storm Runner, which is about a boy having to save the world from a Mayan Prophesy.

Roshani Chokshi’s Aru Shah and the End of Time, about a 12-year-old Indian-American girl who unwittingly frees a demon intent on awakening the God of Destruction

And Yoon Ha Lee’s Dragon Pearl, about a teenage fox spirit on a space colony.

All of which sound AMAZING and I will preorder as soon as Amazon let’s me.

Look, Rick Riordan is not a perfect person or a perfect writer. Some people take issue with him because he has said some rather insulting things about the small number of people who still worship the greek gods. That he took these stories and was dismissive of the people who still value them religiously. Now, The majority of those comments seem to come from blog posts back in 2006, and he did have a brief apology for offending Hellenists on his facebook back in February. and one would hope that this interest on letting minority authors tell stories from their own culture in the future is evidence that he has learned and grown since then.

And not everyone will like Rick Riordan’s books no matter what. They are for kids. They are corny and have bad puns and sometimes meander or forget about important characters for long stretches of time. Sometimes the ideas he has are better than the execution. It happens.

But when I look at his books as a whole, I see Middle school teacher from San Antonio who started with a fun idea and never stopped growing as an author with a dedication to minority representation in his novels. And I certainly appreciate that, and look forward to more of his work for as long as he decides to produce it.

[hopefuldreamerpatrol]

INTERVIEW WITH SARA BUTLER ZALESKY

Today we have Sara Butler Zalesky, Author of her new book “Wheeler” .

Thank you Sara for participating in our interview.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how long you have been writing

I didn’t set out to be an author, that’s for certain! I was a dabbler since primary school, and in high school and college, I took several creative writing courses but didn’t do anything with it. My creative outlets have changed over the years, but dreaming up stories has always been there.

Please tell me about your book “Wheeler” and what gave you the idea for this one.

They tell you to write a story what you would want to read, so I did. My passion for cycling and my desire to support women’s cycling specifically, was the impetus for this book.

  What sort of research did you do to write this book?

Since the book is about a pro cyclist, I tried to get as much information as I could about the structure of the teams and further depth into how races and strategy work. This way, I would be able to explain the finer points without being overwhelming, but still impart the excitement and drama of racing.

I have also read more Shakespeare than I ever wanted to read, but don’t ask me to quote any lines. I can’t remember any of it.

Valentine’s card with tandem bicycle

Do you outline books ahead of time or are you more of a by-the-seat-of-your-pants writer?

Completely by the seat of my pants, although since I wrote Wheeler using the UCI Women’s Tour calendar, I think having some kind of structure has been a huge help.

How long does it take you to write a book?

I’ve been writing both Wheeler and the follow up since June, 2015. That’s when I accidentally emailed my best   a rough draft of Graham and Loren’s first date. I chose the wrong file but he encouraged me to keep going.

Do you have an agent or a publisher, and if you can share, who they are?

I do not have an agent or publisher. A sports romance set in pro cycling has been a tough sell. I stopped sending queries when I got to 117 rejections. And yes, I’ve kept every one.

What are you working on currently / next?

I’m currently working on the follow up to Wheeler, which doesn’t have a title yet. I’m taking suggestions though.

What does a typical workday look like for you?

I’m an indoor cycling instructor and two mornings a week, I roll out of bed at 4:30am to head to the gym and begin warming up for my cycling class. I’m back at home by 6:45ish for the scramble to get my son out of bed, fed and on the school bus by 7:20.

I’m to my full time job by 9. Working in law, there isn’t a day that is the same: I could be drafting pleadings, real estate agreements, transcribing correspondence, but I always have the interruption of answering the telephone. (Insert heavy sigh here) If I have some free time and an idea has been percolating in the back of my mind, I’ll write it down or I’ll do some editing.

Thursday nights, I’m back at the gym for my cycling class but the other evenings I spend with my son and my husband. Once the house is quiet, I sit at the computer and write or edit, but usually both, until I can’t see straight.

What does your writing space look like? (can we see a photo of the space?)

It’s a complete disaster and no, you can’t see it. ☺  I have a Mac, my iPad, a mic for practicing to record the audiobook (pipe dream) and usually a crochet project to help me think. One of my two cats is often lying next to or on the keyboard, blissful in the heat of the lamp.

I have noticed that a lot of authors have a spotify music playlist to work to, do you like writing to music and if so what playlist is your favourite?

I have Spotify here and Pandora and usually have either going while I’m writing. I was listening to a lot of love songs and romantic themed playlists but lately I’ve gravitated to instrumentals. On Pandora the playlist is called “This Will Destroy You Radio” as I created it using the post-rock band, This Will Destroy You.  I often post about songs that inspire me on my blog.

What do you do in your free time when you are not writing?

I’m usually out riding my bicycle but I don’t have a whole lot of free time.

Do you have any favourite authors?

Dan Brown, Mercedes Lackey, David Eddings, Michael Crichton, Rick Riordan and of course, JK Rowling.

What books have you read recently?

Sadly, I haven’t picked up someone else’s book since I started writing mine, but the last book I read was The Gate Thief by Orson Scott Card.

What has been one of your most rewarding experiences as an author?

I have met some amazing people in my journey and I cherish the friendships I have made.

What were some of the challenges you faced with your writing and on the road to getting published?

I write too much fluff but I’ve gotten better at identifying it before my editor points it out.

Do you have any wisdom to impart to any aspiring writers?

I have many regrets, far too many, but the number one thing is: Hire an editor. Hire an editor. I cannot stress that enough. There are some fantastic freelance editors out there that won’t cost you an arm and a leg.  Editing your story is akin to cutting out your heart and soul and having someone rip it to shreds in front of your eyes. You will cry. You will get angry. You will want to fire off emails laced with profanity. Don’t. Let their words simmer and think about it, then do what they tell you to do.

I wrote a post on my blog called: Things I Wish I Knew Before Self-Publishing which dives into the depth of my angst.

And finally please let our readers know where we can purchase your books.

Wheeler is available on Kindle and paperback  through Amazon.com.

   Name:  Sara Butler Zalesky

Genre: Sports Romance/Women’s Fiction

Bio: Sara has never lacked for imagination, but it wasn’t until the Fates decided to give the string of her life a tug, bringing her romantic leanings together with her passion for the sport of cycling, and Poof! She can call herself a (self)published author.

Sara was born in the wee hours of a November night in New York City. When her family moved to a small borough in northwestern New Jersey, she had little choice but to move as well. Self-sufficiency is a tough thing for a toddler.

The dichotomy of being the middle child of three, but the only girl, was difficult, as typically no one really pays attention to a middle child. Mostly, Sara spent her time creating fanciful stories in her head when she should have been focused on other things, an issue that continues to this day.

Most of these stories have never been shared, let alone completed. This all changed in the spring of 2015, when Sara was encouraged by a friend to expand upon a short story she had accidentally emailed to him. The result is ‘Wheeler’, a romantic, women’s fiction/sport novel, which combines the author’s romantic inclinations and her passion for cycling.

Sara currently resides in the suburbs of Philadelphia, PA, with her loving husband and their son. She is a paralegal for a boutique law firm in Chester County, Pa, an avid road cyclist and indoor cycling instructor at a national chain.

Visit my blog at www.sarabutlerzalesky.com which features posts about the women’s peloton, cycling in general, writing, and some personal tidbits. Readers might even find some clues about who inspired the characters in Wheeler. Follow me on Twitter @sarazalesky for updates on the second book.

Author links:

https://twitter.com/sarazalesky

https://sarabutlerzalesky.com/

https://www.facebook.com/SaraButlerZalesky/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15470045.Sara_Butler_Zalesky

  Fate whisper to the warrior, ‘You cannot withstand the storm.’ The warrior whispers back, ‘I am the storm.’

Loren Mackenzie has spent much of her life honing her body to overcome the physical challenges of being a professional cyclist in the women’s European peloton. She has also refined the control of her mind, using the power of her emotions in competition to become one of the elite cyclists in the world. An accident at the Philadelphia International Cycling Classic affords Loren opportunity to rise to the challenge of leading her team to victory, but also face the sting of defeat, together.

After a chance meeting with a famous actor, a whirlwind romance develops quickly, and what appears to be the perfect relationship threatens to unravel Loren’s tightly wound life. The microscope of media attention dredges up fears that her tragic past will be unearthed; secrets she has kept buried, even from those closest to her.

As the Women’s World Tour continues with races across Europe, a predator stalks Loren, conspiring not only put her chances at the World Championship in jeopardy but also force her to confront the phantoms haunting her mind.

Can Loren face the trauma of her past and vanquish the demons within, or will betrayal and obsession ultimately defeat her?

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      #INTERVIEW – Sara Butler Zalesky, Author of “Wheeler” – @sarazalesky @xpressoreads INTERVIEW WITH SARA BUTLER ZALESKY