So I think it's time for some useless fangirly ones!
It's just that I have like a hundred drafts of posts that are really thoughtful and analytical, but I can't finish any of them because my brain needs a break. I've kinda been writing non-stop.
And what better way to give my brain a break than to do the Thirty Days of Percy Jackson meme, because I have opinions and there's nothing I like better than... having opinions. Except, I think that instead of doing it in thirty days like you're supposed to, I'm just going to do it all in one post. I dunno, we'll see how it goes.
Day 1: Favourite Percy Jackson and the Olympians book
Easy. The Last Olympian, the fifth and last book in the series, is easily my favourite.
We all know that I love my epic action adventure stuff, and we also all know that if it starts to get real dark, I start to lose interest UNLESS
UNLESS it's tempered with a laugh here and there.
Buffy and Firefly do this beautifully (Whedon's kinda the master), hence my adoration for them, and The Last Olympian does this pretty well too.
Like, it's definitely one of the darkest ones of the series. Beckendorf dies in the first chapter of the book; Silena Beauregard dies a hero after living as a traitor; Percy takes a dip in the River Styx; Percy nearly gives up Hope (from out of Pandora's Box - it's complicated, but that's a thing that exists); we meet Luke's mom, who's been driven insane by a curse of the gods; the gods are losing the battle against the Titans; Luke sacrifices himself after working for the Big Bad all this time... there are a lot of things that happen.
But for a lot of those scenes, and a lot of stuff in between as well, I managed to laugh out loud at least once. Inappropriate, maybe, but how can you not laugh as Clarisse, taking revenge on the drakon that killed Silena, runs around screaming at the Titan army "I AM CLARISSE, DRAKON SLAYER! I will kill you ALL!" Or, after Percy takes a dip in the Styx and proceeds to destroy an entire army of evil skeleton warriors without getting a scratch on him...
Percy: I think it worked.
Nico: Ya think?
Or as the gods are losing the battle, and Dionysus pulls Percy into "party time" (because, since Dionysus is more or less the god of partying, his presence is invoked wherever there is a party) and warns him about Kronos... while playing Pacman.
Dionysus: The point is, I pulled you into party time to deliver a warning. We are in danger.
Percy: Gee. Never would've figured that out. Thanks.
(Dionysus glares at him and he loses the game)
Dionysus: Erre es korakas, Blinky! I will have your soul!
Percy: Um, he's a video game character.
Dionysus: That's no excuse! And you're ruining my game, Jorgenson!
Percy: Jackson.
Dionysus: Whichever!
The same thing could be said about the other books, though, of course. They all kinda have that tone, though books 3 and 4 are a little angstier than the others. But what I also appreciate about it is that hey, look at my babies, they're all grown up!
Nico chooses to forget his bitterness, at least for the moment, and help the demigods fight Kronos.
Grover is respected enough as a protector and as the chosen one of Pan that he commands an army of nymphs and satyrs against them.
Rachel Elizabeth Dare becomes the new oracle for Camp Half-Blood.
Tyson, my adorable baby cyclops Tyson who, if you don't love you have no soul, commands Poseidon's underwater army of Cyclops, not because he was promoted to that position, but because, in the words of Twisted Sister, We're not gonna take it/No, we ain't gonna take it/We're not gonna take it anymore. (This happened because the palace sorta got, like, bombed while they were eating lunch, and so Tyson was finally like, we've gotta fight and help Poseidon. So he stood up and yelled, "FOR POSEIDON!" but his mouth was full so all the other Cyclops thought he said something else, and they charged into battle with the battlecry "PEANUT BUTTER!")
Percy dips in the Styx in order to have a better chance of countering Kronos (his Achilles heel is the small of his back), NOT TO MENTION how he somehow, unofficially became the commander of Camp Half-Blood during the Titan War. And he does a good job, really.
Annabeth is just as kick-ass as she always is. She really matured emotionally here too, though. Namely, she stops acting like a jealous jerk toward Rachel.
And, hey, Clarisse is actually kind of a pleasant human being for a second or two there, so that's something!
But, yeah. The Last Olympian. Tension to keep you going, laughs to keep you happy, character development to keep you engaged. My favourite Percy Jackson book.
You know, I changed my mind, I think I'll do this in thirty days like I'm supposed to. Just 'cause I can and it's fun. :)
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