How do you think Dionysus looked when he was dating Pollux's and Castor's mother? Did he look like his usual self at Camp Half Blood or did he look more handsome, like his usual godly self before his punishment? It would be hilarious if he looked handsome when was dating her and then he went back to his usual appearance. Can you imagine her and her sons' confusion? She asks her sons about him and they describe him, and she's like, excuse me, is that your father? That's not how I saw him, and then she comes to camp maybe, and he reverts to his handsome appearance, confusing his sons and the other campers, and Chiron is trying so hard not to laugh.
And then his sons see him change appearances and stare at him in disbelief, maybe horror, and he smiles at them guiltily, and Chiron comforts them or something, IDK, I just think that that would be really funny.
So, in this post, I'm trying to examine how we as a society, even the ones who are progressive, automatically expect the older sibling, more importantly the older sister, to take on the burden of their siblings when their parents can't.
I'm going to use the example of Bianca di Angelo from Percy Jackson.
For context, I'll tell you-Bianca and her younger brother Nico were from pre WWII before the big 3 took the oath, and once her mother was killed by Zeus, her father put her and her brother in the Lotus Casino, which makes time pass slowly while the outside world time goes faster.
Bianca and her brother Nico were in there for about a month according to them but actually 70 years in real time. Keep in mind that during this time, there were no parental figures for them, even if they got everything they materially needed-food, clothes, etc.
Nico also mentions that Bianca was strict with what she let him watch, so this means that she watched over him in the Casino. Not fully, maybe, but she watched over him and felt parentified nonetheless.
Bianca felt that she had to take care of Nico.
And when they come out, they remember that their parents are dead and they go to a military school of all schools. Now Bianca feels like she has to take care of Nico because their parents are dead and because of the general expectations piled onto older sisters and they probably cling to each other a lot, seeing as how Nico didn't mention any friends from his boarding school time.
And when Bianca gets the chance to join the Hunters of Artemis, well, she takes it-and how do people react to this?
Well......they don't like it. They think she's abandoning Nico, they call her selfish, even though she's only 12-a literal child, not even a teenager. And she only wants to not be just a big sister, to have a life for herself. And she's groomed and mislead by two much older women who are also in the guise of being children (Artemis and Zoe) and she's told that she can meet Nico from time to time, but that she won't have to take care of him anymore and that he'll be taken care of. And so she takes the chance. She doesn't know that they're going to camp-she thinks that if she declines, she won't get this again. And she doesn't even think about the possible consequences of this, because again, she's just a scared twelve year old who barely had time to make a decision with a lot of pressure and 3 people there who tried to pressure her into the opposite directions.
No one really thinks about this, do they? They only think about how her joining the Hunters and her death affected Nico, and they judge their reactions to her based on him.
Because the way Bianca was written, she was always the Earth to Nico's Sun. And ultimately, she died and was only ever remembered as Nico's older sister, which is so sadly ironic because she always wanted to be more, but Bianca was doomed from the start.
And now we come to Vivienne Duarte, who can also be a slightly selfish sister, only people love her more because we actually see her helping Jude, and Jude doesn't seem to be that affected by Vivienne's distance from her and Taryn-in fact, Jude has said that Vivienne has come through for her plenty of times, and Vivienne does help Jude a lot over the course of TFOTA, so Vivienne would of course not be hated that much, right?
But, as always with case of older sisters not being there for their younger siblings, there's Vivienne hate for this.
And I mean, I can understand where you're coming from, because maybe it looks like Vivienne should have been there for Jude and Taryn-
But let me tell you, have we ever considered Vivienne as a person, and her desires and wants?
Let me tell you something very frankly-I wholeheartedly believe that if TFOTA was from Vivienne's POV, then a lot of people would be hating Jude and Taryn. We'd all be wondering why they choose to stay with the people who don't care for them and treat them like toys or pets. We'd be cheering Vivienne on, and maybe some of us would take some time to think about Jude or Taryn and maybe even defend them, but ultimately, we would say that they chose to stay in Faerie, so they weather the consequences.
And that's what I'm talking about. Have we ever considered the fact that Vivienne wanted to go back to the human realm, but Jude and Taryn wanted to stay in Faerie?
And then Jude and Taryn grew to love Madoc. Madoc, the man who killed Vivienne's parents, and kidnapped her and her sisters to a foreign land which they knew nothing of, and then her sisters started to love him.
It must have been awful for Vivienne. How many times did she turn away, her heart being pierced, when she saw Jude smile at or hug Madoc? How many times did she blink away tears when she saw Taryn with Madoc?
And she vowed to hate Madoc, but she was forced to live with him because of her sisters, even when she found a way out, because they wanted to go back to his stronghold, and VIVIENNE stayed for JUDE AND TARYN, even though she could have gone and lived in the Mortal Realm using her magic and she could have come and visited them when she wanted to.
Can you imagine a man murdering your parents, then he kidnaps you and your sister and is your biological father? And then your sisters, who aren't his real daughters, grow to love him even though you hate him, and you can't fathom how they can love him, because HE MURDERED YOUR PARENTS IN FRONT OF ALL THREE OF YOU.
I love the fact that she hates him. I love that she tried to kill him and betrayed him for her sisters. I love her for that.
And Vivienne did try to protect Jude and Taryn, but their relationshop fractured as Jude and Taryn grew to love Elfhame and Madoc, and that's realistic, because which person in Vivienne's place, with all her trauma and vows, would not hate her sisters a little for doing what they did?
And now we come to Vivienne's desires.
I mean, I already told you that she wanted to go and live in the mortal world away from Faerie, but she stayed for her sisters. Was she planning to stay forever if she had met Heather? Probably not, but she would have stayed longer.
But I think that when she met Heather and Heather wanted Vivienne to move in with her, Vivienne realised that it was either her or her sisters' desires-
And she chose herself over them.
And I think that that was wonderful, because she couldn't stay behind forever. She couldn't sacrifice forever.
And let me tell you, she offered so many times to Jude and Taryn, she said, hey, let's go back, stop being the the crazy psychos, and they kept saying no, we want to live here.
And Vivienne ultimately accepted that she couldn't always just try to help her younger sisters, that she and they would have to go their own separate ways, that ultimately she couldn't help them anymore. That Jude would have to fend for herself, that Taryn would have to find a husband.
And so she chose to leave for herself, and I think that that's so bittersweet, because she was leaving them behind for a new life, and she must have been hurt too, but she stopped sacrificing for her sisters. And she knew that she was immortal, so she could come back and visit them when they were settled.
And she tried, one last time, and she was even prepared to give up Heather for her sisters, but then they refused, and she gave it up entirely.
But I think that if Jude ever came to her, then Vivienne would help her, always.
Yes, Vivienne did play with Cardan, but that was most likely before he started bullying Jude and Taryn. Jude literally said that Vivienne stopped attending classes and also that she and Taryn hid their trauma in Faerie from Vivienne, so Vivienne didn't know that Jude and Taryn were bullied. And being the big sister that she is, she would never tolerate Cardan if she knew that he was bullying Jude and Taryn.
Bianca died, and Vivienne lived, and when people think of Vivienne Duarte, they're not always going to remember her as Jude's older sister, because she's so much more.
Vivienne stopped taking care of Jude and Taryn when she felt that she didn't need to and realized that they needed to fend for themselves and she couldn't always help them.
I feel like Bianca and Vivienne could have such a talk.........
@madockisser not sure if you've read Percy Jackson but what do you think about this? I'm trying to understand Vivienne's POV and I feel like I made some good points here, but I want your opinion too
what do you think of the court of shadows in the folk of the air?
I love them. They're the healthiest relationships that Jude has had in ages. I simply love the Bomb and Jude-it's nice to see good female relationships.
TBH I really think that the Bomb is Jude's healthiest female relationship other than Heather. Vivienne and Jude have a relatively healthy relationship, but there's a lot of unpacked trauma and understandable resentment on both sides. So yeah, the Bomb is her healthiest relationship with a female.
(I mean, there was that one time when the Bomb thought that Jude was the assassin and tried to kill her, but they cleared it up and the Bomb was actually sorry for what she had done. It's a good apology scene too).
And THE ROACH? Girl, he's my favorite character apart from Vivienne. I need to see more Roach. He's so chill, I love characters like those.
And the Ghost is amazing too. I love how complex he is too. Poisoned Liriope, but helped Locke. And he was kind of forced to obey Madoc and Locke, so yeah, there's that. And he literally told Jude to kill him so that he couldn't help Madoc-that right there is a whole other level of bravery, loyalty and dedication to his friends. And his scenes with Oak? Amazing. I also liked his scenes with Jude-killing the spy, training, etc.
Every Ghost, Bomb and/or Roach scene is amazing and so immersive for me.
To be honest, I don't care for the Bomb and Roach's romantic relationship, but I don't dislike it either-I just don't care for romance in general.
I love the whole Court of Shadows together, especially with Jude. They're all so funny and classy-Dain really knew what he was doing when he recruited them.
An Article from Neena Susan Thomas
“Through a rapist’s eyes. A group of rapists and date rapists in prison were interview…ed on what they look for in a potential victim and here are some interesting facts:
1] The first thing men look for in a potential victim is hairstyle. They are most likely to go after a woman with a ponytail, bun! , braid, or other hairstyle that can easily be grabbed. They are also likely to go after a woman with long hair. Women with short hair are not common targets.
2] The second thing men look for is clothing. They will look for women who’s clothing is easy to remove quickly. Many of them carry scissors around to cut clothing.
3] They also look for women using their cell phone, searching through their purse or doing other activities while walking because they are off guard and can be easily overpowered.
4] The number one place women are abducted from / attacked at is grocery store parking lots.
5] Number two is office parking lots/garages.
6] Number three is public restrooms.
7] The thing about these men is that they are looking to grab a woman and quickly move her to a second location where they don’t have to worry about getting caught.
8] If you put up any kind of a fight at all, they get discouraged because it only takes a minute or two for them to realize that going after you isn’t worth it because it will be time-consuming.
9] These men said they would not pick on women who have umbrellas,or other similar objects that can be used from a distance, in their hands.
10] Keys are not a deterrent because you have to get really close to the attacker to use them as a weapon. So, the idea is to convince these guys you’re not worth it.
POINTS THAT WE SHOULD REMEMBER:
1] If someone is following behind you on a street or in a garage or with you in an elevator or stairwell, look them in the face and ask them a question, like what time is it, or make general small talk: can’t believe it is so cold out here, we’re in for a bad winter. Now that you’ve seen their faces and could identify them in a line- up, you lose appeal as a target.
2] If someone is coming toward you, hold out your hands in front of you and yell Stop or Stay back! Most of the rapists this man talked to said they’d leave a woman alone if she yelled or showed that she would not be afraid to fight back. Again, they are looking for an EASY target.
3] If you carry pepper spray (this instructor was a huge advocate of it and carries it with him wherever he goes,) yelling I HAVE PEPPER SPRAY and holding it out will be a deterrent.
4] If someone grabs you, you can’t beat them with strength but you can do it by outsmarting them. If you are grabbed around the waist from behind, pinch the attacker either under the arm between the elbow and armpit or in the upper inner thigh – HARD. One woman in a class this guy taught told him she used the underarm pinch on a guy who was trying to date rape her and was so upset she broke through the skin and tore out muscle strands the guy needed stitches. Try pinching yourself in those places as hard as you can stand it; it really hurts.
5] After the initial hit, always go for the groin. I know from a particularly unfortunate experience that if you slap a guy’s parts it is extremely painful. You might think that you’ll anger the guy and make him want to hurt you more, but the thing these rapists told our instructor is that they want a woman who will not cause him a lot of trouble. Start causing trouble, and he’s out of there.
6] When the guy puts his hands up to you, grab his first two fingers and bend them back as far as possible with as much pressure pushing down on them as possible. The instructor did it to me without using much pressure, and I ended up on my knees and both knuckles cracked audibly.
7] Of course the things we always hear still apply. Always be aware of your surroundings, take someone with you if you can and if you see any odd behavior, don’t dismiss it, go with your instincts. You may feel little silly at the time, but you’d feel much worse if the guy really was trouble.
FINALLY, PLEASE REMEMBER THESE AS WELL ….
1. Tip from Tae Kwon Do: The elbow is the strongest point on your body. If you are close enough to use it, do it.
2. Learned this from a tourist guide to New Orleans : if a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse, DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM. Toss it away from you…. chances are that he is more interested in your wallet and/or purse than you and he will go for the wallet/purse. RUN LIKE MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!
3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car: Kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy. The driver won’t see you but everybody else will. This has saved lives.
4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping,eating, working, etc., and just sit (doing their checkbook, or making a list, etc. DON’T DO THIS! The predator will be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side,put a gun to your head, and tell you where to go. AS SOON AS YOU CLOSE the DOORS , LEAVE.
5. A few notes about getting into your car in a parking lot, or parking garage:
a. Be aware: look around your car as someone may be hiding at the passenger side , peek into your car, inside the passenger side floor, and in the back seat. ( DO THIS TOO BEFORE RIDING A TAXI CAB) .
b. If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door. Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars.
c. Look at the car parked on the driver’s side of your vehicle, and the passenger side. If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a guard/policeman to walk you back out. IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. (And better paranoid than dead.)
6. ALWAYS take the elevator instead of the stairs. (Stairwells are horrible places to be alone and the perfect crime spot).
7. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control, ALWAYS RUN! The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times; And even then, it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ. RUN!
8. As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic: STOP IT! It may get you raped, or killed. Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking, well educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked “for help” into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next victim.
Send this to any woman you know that may need to be reminded that the world we live in has a lot of crazies in it and it’s better safe than sorry.
If u have compassion reblog this post. ‘Helping hands are better than Praying Lips’ – give us your helping hand.
REBLOG THIS AND LET EVERY GIRL KNOW AT LEAST PEOPLE WILL KNOW WHATS GOING ON IN THIS WORLD. So please reblog this….Your one reblog can Help to spread this information.
THIS COULD ACTUALLY SAVE A LIFE.”
What if Zeus had swallowed Beryl to prevent Thalia from being born.
So people are going to notice that a lot of my complaints aren't just in PJO but extend to media portraying Greek Myths in general. But I want to focus on Percy Jackson and not other media, so I'm going to focus on Percy Jackson and not other media.
Starting off.................
The way Rick portrayed the Greek Gods was important because PJO was the most read book series that heavily centered around Greek Mythology he pretty much destroyed their images at the time.
There's an entire anti Percy Jackson tag as well as an anti PJO tag for you to scroll through to see how Rick Riordan portrayal of the Greek Gods was terrible. Be my guest and treat yourself to it. Search it up.
There are also people like @alatismeni-theitsa, @margaretkart and @katerinaaqu to ask for correct information on Greek Mythology. So be their guest too.
Today, we have PJO fans running around having incorrect perceptions of the gods and flinging hate and abuse at the real Greek Gods while Greeks have to suffer through all this bullshit.
The torture is REAL. Just ask them.
I mean, you have people claiming that they are the CHILDREN of VIRGIN GODDESSES.
Artemis, Athena, Hera and Hestia don't have any demigod children. They can't have any demigod children.
If you really want to, call yourself their chosen champion. Not their child. It's disrespectful to Greek culture and religion to do otherwise.
Rick Riordan read about and taught Greek Myths in school, so he must have read the actual versions of the myths.
And knowing these, he decided to twist them into his terrible, inferior, crappy versions.
That man literally wrote Hephaestus, a rapist, as a poor guy trying to get a girl, oh, he's so sad and pathetic, and Athena's such a mean bitch for not accepting his advances even if she doesn't want it!
I'm not joking.................and I don't have words for this. I just don't.
Riordan doesn't really have any tact, does he? None at all.
And no, Greek people cannot get away from these horrible portrayals, because there are too many Percy Jackson fans clogging up the Greek God tags with their Rick Riordan written PJO versions of the gods, which is kind of terrible for people who just want to read about real Greek Mythology, not Percy Jackson. And this happens in real life, too. I mean, people using PJO as a substitute for real Greek Mythology.
Pro tip for PJO tumblr users: if you're typing about a god, use the Greek God PJO tag, like PJO Apollo or PJO Aphrodite, not just Apollo or Aphrodite, ok? Thanks for reading this.
There are many common misconceptions about Greek Mythology due to Percy Jackson. So, if you're not sure about something, please search it up on verified academic websites or ask real people-you can do this online too.
Now I am aware that Rick has the creative license to portray Greek Gods however he wants-
Now, to name another shockingly appalling writing choice-
Yes, that's right-Rick Riordan, beloved author of a bestselling franchise for children and adults alike, reduces WW2, one of the most bloody and complex conflicts in history with a multitude of a reasons for its existence, to a fight between fictional demigods of the Big Three simply to have a reason for the Big 3 not to have children.
Do you actually know how serious this is?
Millions of people even today are affected by the WW2 due to generational trauma and abusive parents. WW2 killed millions of soldiers and civilians alike, and the Holocaust was so horrible that some people would faint just reading about what happened. I will not go into the bloody, gory details here, but if you still don't believe this, go search up WW2.
To have Rick Riordan portray it in such a callous way, to make a literal Greek God sire war criminals in modern history, when there were other methods he could have used to intertwine the mythological world and demigods and history.........it makes you wonder what was running through his mind at the time.
There were so many other ways he could have portrayed the prophecy-make it so that Big 3 children were constantly causing natural disasters and fictional wars in the mythological world, not the real world, and constantly dividing the cabins at CHB. Maybe they had their own war parallel to WW2. There were so many ways to do this- and none of them had to do what was ultimately done.
What makes this even WORSE is that during World War II, the Greeks were in fact part of the ALLIES.
The Allies were fighting against the Axis powers, the latter of which contained Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Japan.
When the Nazis invaded Greece-well, it's never a good thing for a country to be invaded by enemies during a time of war.
At least 250,000 people died during the Axis occupation. And the country's economy and infrastructure were ruined quite horribly.
And generations of Greeks are traumatised because of this, even today. Not just Greeks-thousands of people. Millions of people all over the globe are still traumatized from this war, be it direct experience or generational trauma.
And to make ANCIENT GREEK GODS responsible for WWII is simply, totally and absolutely unforgivable on Rick Riordan's part.
To make the Greeks' enemies the sons of their ancient gods........no. Just no.
And yes, Hitler is a son of Hades in canon. Rick later changed it because of the backlash. He's absolutely disgusting.
Now.........the Greek Gods are in the USA!
But..........they're Greek, right, which means that they should be in Greece! So why now are they in the USA?
Well.........here's Rick's explanation for it.
Apparently, the Greek Gods started with the fire of the Western Civilisation and then moved onto other places.
'Flame of the West' crap my ass. Search it up-there's this great article called the Whitening Thief. Read that.
Apparently, without the flame of Westernisation, there would be only darkness and chaos. As someone who's not part of a Western country, this is pretty racist to countries like mine and I'm pointing it out.
@margaretkart
@alatismeni-theitsa
@katerinaaqu
These are all good blogs to disillusion yourself with Percy Jackson and learn about what really happened in Greek Mythology.
And I just want to say-Percy Jackson is an ok start for venturing into Greek Mythology as long as you've read up some basic background beforehand, but-
But-
Do NOT, under ANY circumstances whatsoever, take RICK RIORDAN'S portrayal of the Greek Gods as the REAL Greek Gods.
Never do that. That is the one thing that must not be done.
Hera doesn't just love perfect families. She literally lives in the most dysfunctional family to ever exist. And she loves you if you try. She really does.
Hades would not threaten to eternally torture literal children just because of what their parents did to him. His literal job is to uphold justice in the underworld, and sending a child to Tartarus just because her father angered him and he couldn't punish the father isn't justice now, is it?
Ares loves his children and as for why Rick made him hate them-
Rick has a hate boner against the war god, that I will swear on. Read this post and the explanation for why Rick shouldn't have done it.
And the gods are actively depicted as cruel, neglectful, abusive parents, when in the myths they are quite the opposite.
Real Aphrodite loves her son Aeneas and frequently comes to his aid on the battlefield. She also tells him to not marry a woman (TO GIVE UP LOVE, HER LITERAL DOMAIN) so that he can fulfil his destiny of becoming a king.
Real Ares loves all his children. He tries to avenge his son Cycnus when Heracles kills him with good reason for being a cruel tyrant-and they were even riding chariots together when Heracles came across them. He avenged his daughter even at the cost of being punished by Poseidon and Zeus, neither of whom liked him.
Now, what I want to tell you is that the PJO Greek Gods are Rick's interpretation of them.
An interpretation of a Greek God by a modern author (who isn't Greek, by the way, please take note) is not the same as the real Greek God. Please understand this and accordingly adjust your views.
This also goes for Madeline Miller, Rachel Smythe, etc.
And lastly, one of the most ironic things is that though Richard uses the Greek Gods in his books, he has never ever added a single Greek character in it.
I'm talking about a modern Greek demigod who comes from Greece. Imagine them teaching the other demigods Modern Greek and Greek culture, language and traditions!
It's very ironic that he includes Chinese, African and Native American culture in his works and then turns around and pretend that Greek culture doesn't exist.
The demigods are in Athens, but for how much time before they go back to America? Barely any at all. And nothing learnt about culture while they're there.
(No hate to his already shitty representation. I'm merely making a point that there should have been a Greek character in a book that heavily centers on Greek Gods and their children, even if it's in America.)
So, if you've read the title, let me tell you something-
Do you know that Greek Gods are still worshipped?
Some of you do, some of you don't, but let me tell you, they are still worshipped.
And accordingly, you must respect them and their worshippers, just like you would do for Christians. You cannot maliciously ridicule and condemn Hellenistic Pagans who worship Greek Gods just because they are a minority.
And if you've read the myths and think that the Greek Gods being cruel......
They're not, actually. I mean, yes, you think they're cruel, but most of the myths aren't taken literally by Hellenistic Pagans who worship Greek Gods.
Hades kidnapping Persephone symbolises death ripping children from their grieving parents' arms. It's an explanation for the seasons and it finally represents the fact that daughters could be given away by their fathers with the mother having no say in it whatsoever.
Demeter's grief and her actually being able to do something about her daughter's marriage and Persephone being returned to her is supposed to be a comforting tale for grieving mothers who have lost their daughter.
Artemis' cruelty towards certain people? It represents the cruelty of nature towards humans and what it will do to humans if they provoke it.
Zeus' infidelity and abuse of his power? Well, it represents what kings do. Zeus represented the kings of Ancient Greece, and kings abused their power and had many mistresses besides having a wife.
Many Greek kings also claimed to sons of Zeus or descendants of the gods, so it the idea that Zeus had many affairs with ladies and princesses of royal lineages was conceived.
The link above provides many good reasons for why the Greeks wrote Zeus having many affairs with mortal women, so check it out.
Also, Zeus is symbolic of storms. Storms are volatile and raging, and so was Zeus at times. He was a god of storms and as such symbolised them.
Hera punishing the mistresses and children in a jealous rage to bother Zeus? That's what queens did back in the day since they couldn't directly punish their husbands.
Dionysus being charming and fun but also being mad and wild? Well, he represents breaking away from social norms and going fully wild. Also, wine can make people fun and charming, but at the same time, it can turn people into mad, raging creatures.
The point is, most of what the Greek Gods did was symbolic to their domains. And no, contrary to popular thought, Greeks did not live in fear of their Gods striking them down every moment. In fact, many of them genuinely devotionally loved their gods.
And Greek Gods themselves are very kind and benevolent to their devotees, even today, as long as you don't provoke or seriously insult them. Just ask Hellenistic Pagans who are their devotees and you'll be surprised at the results. I'm serious.
According to the Greeks, gods weren't humans. They were modelled after humans, but they were above humans and human flaws.
And the Abrahamic gods do terrible things too, but do we mock them? No, we don't, because their worshippers say that they are above humans and human flaws, so similarly, the Greek Gods are above humans and our flaws.
And no one cares about the fact that a guy is objectifying and making money off a culture all the while removing its significance and turning it into a joke.
Even though Greeks have a millennia old and rich culture, people are always bastardizing it. Non-Greeks really must stop doing this. It's very culturally disrespectful.
I've also seen grown adults saying that the Greek Gods are American so they're allowed to do what they want with them now, and that's absolutely disgusting. They literally stated that the Greek Gods were American now, right out in the open on Twitter.
Let me add one last thing here.
Rick Riordan has a series called Trials of Apollo in which Apollo is cast down to Earth as a human for the third time to defeat Python.
What I want to talk about here is Apollo's human name-Lester Papadopoulos.
Papadopoulos is a common Greek Christian surname that means 'son of a priest'. One of Apollo's domains in prophecy and he has many priests, so maybe this is a reference to that.
But what is most upsetting is that this name is used for comedy.
It's belittled, laughed at and ridiculed for its longevity and hard pronunciation when it is in fact a very normal Greek surname. Even if it's not an American surname, even if it doesn't sound normal and sounds ridiculous to you, it's not ridiculous to others and you should respect it.
Can you imagine how Greek people with that last name read the books and felt bad about their last name? Or felt furious. I know that I would be FURIOUS if my last name was used like that.
And the fact is that Papadopoulos isn't even that hard to pronounce! It's literally just 5 syllables that you can repeat a few times until it doesn't twist your tongue.
And if you can't repeat this simple name, then you need to go back to kindergarten. Hell, go back to preschool even.
And there are people who have the audacity to say that the Greek Gods belong to America and are American. Grown adults, actually, on Twitter, no less. Tweeting it for the whole world to see their absolute foolishness and audacity.
They're pretty tactless, huh?
The Greek Gods were and always will be GREEK. Foreigners are not their rightful descendants-the Greeks are (Greek immigrants included). I mean...........this is bizzarre.
To conclude, (really conclude this time) though it's a series heavily entwined with Greek Gods, the only Greek thing about the series is the Gods. There's no Greek culture, religion or language, and even the Greek Gods are heavily Americanised, which is pretty disappointing.
(Side note: If you think anything I've said is wrong, tell me. I'll correct it immediately.)
@fandomloverangel
You know, I've found the fact that Rick Riordan chose to make his main black character, who is also a girl, the youngest demigod of the Seven an odd choice.
Of course, Rick done effed up with Hazel's representation, and this is my critique on her age and why she didn't need to be thirteen.
Hazel Levesque is actually fourteen years old in Son of Neptune. But many readers think that she's thirteen years old because she states that she was thirteen when she died and she never acknowledged that she was fourteen years old.
But if we fit the pieces together-Hazel was thirteen and a half when she died. She came to Camp Jupiter a month before Jason was taken, which meant that by the time Son of Neptune happened, 8 months had passed, making her fourteen years and two months old.
But as I said before, we never get explicit confirmation from Hazel or any other character that she is fourteen, leading most of the readers to think that she is thirteen years old. We must fit the pieces together ourselves.
If Rick himself didn't bother to outright say that Hazel was fourteen, then he must have written the Frazel dynamic to make a 13 year old BLACK girl date a 16 year old boy. Because why wouldn't Rick have Hazel state that she was 14 years old? Why would he just have her state that she was thirteen when she died, but not make her state that she had since turned fourteen? Nothing about her fourteenth birthday?
If he intended to make Hazel fourteen and have us know, then he would have stated that she was fourteen, but he never does, which means that he was actually writing Frazel to be a 13-16 year old dating. Wow. Just.........wow.
In fact, I personally believe that Rick was writing Hazel and Frank to be 13-16 BECAUSE HE LITERALLY HAS HAZEL SAY THAT FRANK IS 3 YEARS OLDER THAN HER. HE NEVER ARGUES AGAINST THIS EITHER.
HAZEL BEING 14 WAS 99.99 PERCENT ACCIDENTAL ON HIS PART.
If there is actually a sentence saying that Hazel is fourteen years old, please tell me and I'll change this post. But I need explicit confirmation.
(And do not get started on that Hazel is confused crap. Rick was confused-Hazel is a fictional character who has no autonomy. If Rick had truly intended her to be fourteen, he would have made her say it at some point in the series.)
All right, I'm going to tell you my thoughts about Frazel. I'm going to summarise my opinions and then elaborate beneath.
1) The Frazel age gap is controversial. Hazel is 13 and a half while Frank is newly 15. It's one and a half year (correct me if I'm wrong, please). While some accept this, to others, it's not a good age gap and the maturity levels are different
2)They feel forced and rushed. We know that they knew each other for 8-9 months, but we don't see this, so it's rushed and forced to us. They skip the pure platonic friendship and jump straight to the romance-the Frazel moments in SON were heavily streaked with romance, not just platonic feelings
3) BEHAVIOURALLY SPEAKING, however they're the best couple in the PJO universe. Better than Percabeth, Caleo, Jiper and Solangelo
4) Frazel could have been one of the top ships of PJO if Rick had made Hazel older and if he had given us more memories and reminiscences of their time at Camp Jupiter
I don't understand why Hazel had to die at thirteen years old. Why not make her die at fourteen or fifteen? It would change nothing except making Frazel acceptable regarding the age gap.
See, Frazel's age gap is controversial. I mean, if Hazel was thirteen and Frank sixteen, it would've been taboo entirely, but since she's fourteen and he's sixteen with a 1 year and few month age gap, some people like it and others don't.
And when scrolling through the Anti Frazel tag, I see that most of the posts have the age gap as their main argument, which further cements the fact that Frazel's age gap is really what makes most people dislike it in the first place.
Technically, if Hazel turned 14 in December and Frank was still 15 but turned 16 in June, this makes their age gap one and a half years, which is very weird to some people but acceptable to others.
Hazel and Frank met at 13 and a half and 15 years old respectively and started to gain feelings for each other, which is very, very odd to some people but ok for others.
But if Hazel had died at 14 and been brought back, then she would have turned 15 in December and would be biologically half a year younger than Frank, which would push it from controversial to acceptable by all.
And in case you're thinking about the Great Prophecy in the OG PJO series, Hazel died before it came out, and she could have died at 14 and it still wouldn't have come out. Hell, she could die at 16 and it wouldn't have come out. It came out after WWII ended which is in 1945, and Hazel would turn 16 in 1944 because she was born in 1928.
2) They're way too rushed.
Ok, we get one book with them, and that too, they've already jumped to the romance. They were friends, but now they both romantically like each other but don't know that the other person likes them.
There's no platonic friendship here, only crushes. And a ship needs to have platonic friendship and development to be a proper ship that's accepted by the fandom, otherwise many readers will think that it's boring.
As I said above, my only bones to pick with Frazel is that I think that the age gap is weird and that they were too rushed. In the end, that's all.
3) BEHAVIOURALLY SPEAKING they are the best couple in the PJOverse hands down. No other ship compares.
All right so Percabeth is toxic. Search it up. Annabeth's behaviour towards Percy is toxic. Search it up. I do not need to tell you, it's too long for this post.
Caleo? I don't need to tell you how Calypso yells at, belittles and hits Leo, thus chipping away at his already crumbling self-esteem.
Jiper? Piper literally claims Jason as hers in front of the entire Aphrodite cabin WHO WILL MOST CERTAINLY TELL PEOPLE ABOUT THIS without Jason's knowledge or consent. And she's jealous when he brings up another girl, even his sister. And while she may not be physically abusive, she's still manipulative, and that's very bad.
Solangelo? Will Solace victim-blames Nico and literally tells him that he knows what's best for his health even though Nico can and has taken care of himself. There's also jealousy written terribly that's supposed to be a cute moment that never gets resolved.
Frazel, though.........they're behaviourally amazing for each other. No physical, verbal or mental abuse. No dismissing the other's intelligence. They're sweet to each other and aren't possessive of each other.
Of course, Frank gets suspicious when Hedge makes that comment about Hazel and Leo, but the way it was worded was bound to make Frank misunderstand. Also, Frank and Leo make it up and Frank does not use Leo on Hazel like Annabeth uses Rachel and the others on Percy.
Frank understands where they went wrong and accepts it. The others don't.
Of course, they're also a biracial couple where both of them are POC, so this is also a huge win. Best couple in PJOverse is also biracial POC couple. YEEEEEESSSSSSSS (Even if Rick fucked up while representing their ethnicities)
PS: I'm not anti Frazel
Ok, I need to tell all of you something.
Even if your posts don't get notes, that doesn't mean that someone is seeing them.
People are looking at your posts, they're reading them again and again, even if they're not nothing them.
I've read truckloads of posts that I have not noted. I've read them again and again. I haven't noted them, but I still read them.
Don't think that your posts aren't noticed if they're not noted.
Share this with people, ok? They need to know.
She met her in a mall courtyard.
Vivienne was simply walking around, window shopping. She occasionally bought something if she felt like it, or if she thought it would annoy Madoc, or to gift to Jude and Taryn, though they seldom liked such presents-maybe because it reminded them of their brief childhood in the human realm and they had no use for it in Faerie.
She usually glamoured herself to have round ears and brown eyes, though sometimes she let her natural features shine through. Some humans saw through it-rarely adults, sometimes children, who were not believed, though she smiled at them. If an adult really did see it, they convinced themselves that they were hallucinating. Sometimes, however, she let her real features show to enjoy the look on people's faces. Some of them would come up and ask her about it, and she would be vague about it.
This time, she wore her real features. She was feeling somewhat bummed out after a fight with Madoc and Oriana and wanted some comfort food after window shopping, one of her favorite things to do.
She wandered along the aisles, looking at glittery sticky hands, beautiful porcelain mugs, comfortable-looking sweaters and beanies. She smelt the aroma of Chinese food and Subway. She ran her hands along the grainy counter tops. And she sunbathed on the wooden benches while listening to her favorite music playlists on her phone that she had magically obtained-there was a whole lot of glamouring involved, too many complications all for a simple phone.
And then she saw Heather.
The first thing she noticed was a smudge of blue ink on her nose. Then she noticed her beautiful eyes, the color of darkest amber. And finally, when she spoke, Vivienne was afraid that she was talking to someone else.
'I want to draw you.'
Vivienne blinked. 'What?' she said, looking around, but there was nobody else. The girl was talking to her.
'I want to draw you. You're beautiful!' the girl said, gesturing towards her face. 'You're absolutely breathtaking-ethereal.'
Vivienne blinked rapidly and blushed. 'Oh-um, thank you. Thank you very much.' she giggled.
VIVIENNE. STOP GIGGLING LIKE AN IDIOT.
'I'm an artist,' the girl said, sitting next to her. 'I love drawing things. What's your name?'
'My name? Oh, it's Vivienne.'
'Ooh, French! Meaning full of life, very spirited.'
Vivienne laughed. 'Yeah, that's me. Very vivacious. Though my sisters call me ferocious.'
The girl laughed too. Her laugh was beautiful-very musical. 'Your eyes and ears-they're beautiful! How did you do them like that?'
How did I do them like that? Vivienne thought. Oh-she probably thinks that they’re fake products and contact lenses.
‘It’s a bit difficult, but I get it right in the end.’ she said, smiling mysteriously. At least, trying to smile like she was an enigma.
The girl laughed again. Her laugh really was music to the ears. ‘Oh, cool. Are you cosplaying or something? Or are you just doing it as part of a makeup routine, or do you just like the look?’
‘Oh, um, I just like the look.’ Vivienne said.
No, I do not like the look. In fact, if I could, I’d trade them for rounded ears and brown eyes in a heartbeat. Madoc would be so mad.
‘Wow. How’d you get your parents to approve? Mine are a little bit strict.’ she said.
Vivienne swallowed. ‘Well, my mom is dead, and my father and I aren’t on the best terms, so I usually stay away from the house. He doesn’t pay much attention to me anyway, so.’
She couldn’t lie, so she’d have to twist her words with this mystery girl-but she’d have to be much more subtle, since humans were not like the fey. They could probably see through lies much easier, since they could actively lie, something Vivienne wished she could do at times.
‘Ohhhhh.’ she said awkwardly. ‘Well, that’s sad. Um. So, do you come here often?’
‘Yeah.’ Vivi replied. ‘I love window shopping and then getting food to eat. It calms me down, every time.’
‘That must be nice-being able to find something that will calm you down, no matter what.’
‘It is.’ Vivienne agreed. Especially after she had come back to Elfhame after trying to leave forever.
‘So………….may I draw you? You look fascinating. Not to objectify you or anything,’ she hastily added.
‘Yeah……..wait, what’s your name?’
‘My name? Oh, it’s Heather.’ she said. ‘I’m gonna start sketching-are you ok with that? Just tell me if you’re uncomfortable.’
‘No, I’m ok. You can start,’ Vivienne assured her.
Heather started drawing, looking at Vivienne and then back at her notebook. Vivienne, in turn, secretly stared at Heather-she loved her bunch of pink curls, her gray glasses that kept slipping off her nose, her lovely eyes that were a lot like Jude and Taryn’s, her rounded ears, her clothes that also had drawings on them-beautiful, intricate designs. She didn’t know if she’d meet her again, but she wanted to stay in touch with her-someone actually her age.
‘Did you draw those?’ she asked, gesturing towards her clothes.
‘What? Oh, yeah, I sometimes sketch on my clothes, though it drives my mom crazy. I love tie-dye shirts because I can make whatever patterns I want-I also like to design my clothes.’
‘You can design your own clothes? That’s brilliant!’ Vivienne said. She normally wore human clothes, even when in Elfhame, but she sometimes wore faerie clothes, that were also intricate and delicate and simply designed for beauty, and she had a feeling that Heather would love those.
No way. You can’t tell her about Elfhame. She’d go mad. She wouldn’t believe you. She’d think YOU were mad.
‘Thank you!’ Heather smiled. Her smile was beautiful, like her laugh-it changed her face so much, Vivienne wished she’d smile forever, though she’d have so many wrinkles if she did. ‘My mom knows how to sew and all that-she taught me!’
‘Your mom is brilliant,’ Vivienne offered, then was pleased with Heather giggled and offered another thanks, saying that she’d be sure to tell her mother.
First off-if you came here to block me because you hated one of my posts, I am BEGGING you to search it up on my blog, because I have most likely deleted that post. I have posted MANY things that I regret and I've deleted even more, so please look for the post on my blog before you block me. Or send it to me to confirm that I deleted it. Thank you very much.
Ok, now that we're done with those two very crucial points-
I often edit my posts, so if you have read my posts before and don't like something about them or thought I was wrong, then please go read them again, because I might have edited them.
That being said, I don't think that my edits are included in reblogs, so if you see my post reblogged somewhere and don't like it, then please come to my blog and read the post again, because there's a high chance that it might be edited.
I have had opinions that I have changed and I have deleted my posts. If you dislike me due to a post you see that's reblogged, please come to my blog and search for it-there's a good chance that I've changed my mind and deleted it.
I am also open to constructive criticism and arguments. I have edited my posts due to constructive criticism many times and I'll do it again if I need to.
Also, I've lost interest in PJO. I have asks that I'll answer and if you have an ask feel free to send me one, I'll definitely answer it, but I won't post about it that much anymore. I'm not anti Percabeth or anti Annabeth, I simply use those tags for fandom etiquette and I do not think that Percabeth is abusive, that was in the past.
Rereading BOTL and when Annabeth says the Hera is the one who doesn't belong-
I'm like-
ANNABETH AND PERCY ARE YOU FUCKING DUMB OR WHAT
THIS IS THE QUEEN OF THE HEAVENS. GODDESS OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
ANNABETH WHAT ARE YOU DOING GIRL YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE SMART AND STRATEGIC AND WISE
WHY ARE YOU INSULTING THE QUEEN. THE FUCKING QUEEN. THE ONE GODDESS YOU DON'T WANT ON YOUR BAD SIDE
If that was the real Hera she'd have blasted them to pieces.
Ok maybe not Percy, but definitely Annabeth, and she'd send cows to bother Percy.
Rick what the hell are you doing. Richard what did you do