Day 27: Your weapon of choice
Like, hypothetical demigod me? Because I'd probably go for the same thing Percy has - a pen that turns into a sword. Although, as a hypothetical child of Apollo, it's possible that I'd prefer the bow and arrow, but.... I don't think so. Sword-fighting is much more engaging.
Can I choose the same thing Percy has? Because I would definitely never lose a pen. Especially if it was a blue pen. That wrote very very smoothly. The only time I've ever lost a pen like that was when I forgot that it was stuck behind my ear.
(I'm apparently one of the only people on earth who actually runs their pens dry. At one point, in seventh grade, we had a funeral for one of my pens because it finally died. It was called, like, Bill or something, and we buried it on top of what I called the Singing Hill at my middle school. ....and you know, when you say it not in your head like that, it kinda makes us come off as a little bit batsh*t insane.)
But, yeah. A pen that is a sword? All the way, man. I realize that's not creative, seeing as it's exactly what Percy has in the books, but COME ON. Percy didn't even know he could write with the thing for like five years. I, at least, would know how to use it.
Yeah.
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Monday, September 29, 2014
Percy Jackson Thirty Day Meme: Day 25-26
I'm refusing to answer this on the same grounds that I didn't answer the other one about movie casts. Movies of this series are gross.
Day 26: Favourite Titan
BOB!
Yep, this series has a character called Bob the Titan.
See, what happened is that he used to Iapetus, the Titan of the.... west....? I think? Anyways, he sided with Kronos in the Titan War. Then, at one point, as a kind of "Oh yeah, remember when this thing happened but there was never actually a story written about it it just sorta happened..." Nico, Thalia and Percy fought Iapetus in the Underworld, and managed to dip him into the River Lethe, which of course, wipes all your memories. So Iapetus came out completely confused without remembering a thing about his past and so Percy and Thalia and Nico renamed him Bob and made him Hades's janitor.
This is the only series in which something this ridiculous could possibly happen.
Anyways, when Percy and Annabeth get trapped in the Tartarus, they're obviously in danger, being in monster headquarters and all. That's when Bob miraculously flies down to help them navigate and survive Tartarus, because Nico, who, as a son of Hades, visits the Underworld often, always told Bob that he and Percy were friends. So Bob's like, "I will help my friends," and Percy's like, "Oh yeah, but hold on, didn't we leave you in the Underworld and forget about you?" and Bob's like, "Yeah, that wasn't very nice. But whatevs I'm still going to help you out. I much prefer being a peaceful janitor Bob the Titan to being the Titan Iapetus who held down my own father as Kronos cut him up" (the book conveniently forgets to mention which bit they were cutting up - they were severing his man-bits). So, even though Bob wants to reach the not-Underworld and see the sun and stars again, he stays in Tartarus and fends off the monsters and the manifestation of Tartarus himself while Annabeth and Percy escape. We still don't know for sure how that ended up, but it's a pretty fair guess that he probably died.
Also, for a Titan, Bob is kind of adorable. He finds a kitten sabertooth in Tartarus (it's a long story), and he names it "Small Bob" because, like himself, the kitten is a monster, but a good one.
How can you not like Bob?
And, of course, in my own explorations of greek mythology...
...Kronos, I guess. I mean, that's really the only one that matters. (?) Clearly I'll need to do more research on the Titans.
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Percy Jackson Thirty Day Meme: Day 24
Day 24: Jason, Nico or Frank?
Not Jason. He only ever started getting interesting when he started getting a sub-plot with Nico. So no.
Nico or Frank... Frank or Nico. Hm. I love them both. How can I choose?
I know them both equally. I like them both equally. And I can't choose the one that needs more love because Frank is sorely underappreciated by every fan ever but Nico is sorely disliked by every single character in the book, so......
I'm going to have to go with Nico.
And now I feel like I'm betraying Frank.
Here's the thing. Everyone already knew that Frank was awesome and dangerous. He's a big cuddly teddy bear (sometimes literally hahaha get it because he can morph into animals) but he's also a Roman to the core. But he's, like, everything that was good about the Roman empire without the bad. You know, he's not prejudiced and dictatorly, even though by the end of the fourth book he kind of has every right to be dictatorly because he's so goddam awesome. But anyways, he singlehandedly took down all the monsters in a city that was being invaded by monsters, and he led four demigods to victory against an army of monsters using terrifyingly awesome son of Mars powers and just being smart. We should all bow down to the awesomeness of Frank Zhang. But he wouldn't like that because he's just a big modest teddy bear. Why don't more people love Frank?
But anyways, I picked Nico. I picked Nico because he is also terrifyingly awesome, but I feel like Nico has to prove himself more to the crew and that made me sad for him. Because Nico, of course, isn't one of the Seven. And actually, a bunch of the Seven didn't even want to rescue him from his being captured by giants because, well, they don't have time to save a kid they don't even know, right? Good thing Hazel, Nico's sister, called them out on their crap on that one.
But I feel like Nico's always automatically having to deal with prejudice against him, because of his being a son of Hades, and that makes me sad. He has amazing powers, but it always just freaks everyone out. He's also from a different century, which is rough, and secretly gay, which is a terrible feeling for him since when he was alive, it was World War II and he was living in Italy under Mussolini. I just hate that Nico has to constantly prove himself trustworthy, and everytime he shows up everyone's like, "Oh, jeez, it's that kid, he gives me the freaky-deakies."
When in fact he's an extremely competent fighter (he didn't get that Stygian iron sword for nothing) and has really awesome powers that have helped them out more than once and he honours his promises to lead the Seven to Epirus even though it was nothing but awful for him, and he had to get through Tartarus alone for crying out loud, so why can't more people see that the reason he's so withdrawn is because he's tired of everyone being scared of him? Gah.
I just have a lot of feelings about Nico.
(He gets a POV in Blood of Olympus I'M EXCITED)
The moment Nico made me go, "Why don't more people like this kid?" was when, as forementioned, Frank was leading the group against an army of monsters. It had been going really badly before, but now it's starting to pick up and they're winning and Frank hears Nico laughing, and when he looks over Nico's smiling and he's like, "That's more like it! Let's turn this tide!"
Do you know how many times Nico has smiled previously? I don't, but I know for certain that I could on one hand. And do you know how many times Nico had laughed? I'll give you a hint - it's less than one.
But he fights for good and he's amazing and awesome even if he is withdrawn and why doesn't everyone on earth just hug Nico di Angelo? He desperately needs a hug. Can I hug him?
Oh, yeah, you know how all that emotional masochism came from my Leo love? The same thing pretty much applies for Nico. I want to hug them both. So much.
Yes.
Not Jason. He only ever started getting interesting when he started getting a sub-plot with Nico. So no.
Nico or Frank... Frank or Nico. Hm. I love them both. How can I choose?
I know them both equally. I like them both equally. And I can't choose the one that needs more love because Frank is sorely underappreciated by every fan ever but Nico is sorely disliked by every single character in the book, so......
I'm going to have to go with Nico.
And now I feel like I'm betraying Frank.
Here's the thing. Everyone already knew that Frank was awesome and dangerous. He's a big cuddly teddy bear (sometimes literally hahaha get it because he can morph into animals) but he's also a Roman to the core. But he's, like, everything that was good about the Roman empire without the bad. You know, he's not prejudiced and dictatorly, even though by the end of the fourth book he kind of has every right to be dictatorly because he's so goddam awesome. But anyways, he singlehandedly took down all the monsters in a city that was being invaded by monsters, and he led four demigods to victory against an army of monsters using terrifyingly awesome son of Mars powers and just being smart. We should all bow down to the awesomeness of Frank Zhang. But he wouldn't like that because he's just a big modest teddy bear. Why don't more people love Frank?
But anyways, I picked Nico. I picked Nico because he is also terrifyingly awesome, but I feel like Nico has to prove himself more to the crew and that made me sad for him. Because Nico, of course, isn't one of the Seven. And actually, a bunch of the Seven didn't even want to rescue him from his being captured by giants because, well, they don't have time to save a kid they don't even know, right? Good thing Hazel, Nico's sister, called them out on their crap on that one.
But I feel like Nico's always automatically having to deal with prejudice against him, because of his being a son of Hades, and that makes me sad. He has amazing powers, but it always just freaks everyone out. He's also from a different century, which is rough, and secretly gay, which is a terrible feeling for him since when he was alive, it was World War II and he was living in Italy under Mussolini. I just hate that Nico has to constantly prove himself trustworthy, and everytime he shows up everyone's like, "Oh, jeez, it's that kid, he gives me the freaky-deakies."
When in fact he's an extremely competent fighter (he didn't get that Stygian iron sword for nothing) and has really awesome powers that have helped them out more than once and he honours his promises to lead the Seven to Epirus even though it was nothing but awful for him, and he had to get through Tartarus alone for crying out loud, so why can't more people see that the reason he's so withdrawn is because he's tired of everyone being scared of him? Gah.
I just have a lot of feelings about Nico.
(He gets a POV in Blood of Olympus I'M EXCITED)
The moment Nico made me go, "Why don't more people like this kid?" was when, as forementioned, Frank was leading the group against an army of monsters. It had been going really badly before, but now it's starting to pick up and they're winning and Frank hears Nico laughing, and when he looks over Nico's smiling and he's like, "That's more like it! Let's turn this tide!"
Do you know how many times Nico has smiled previously? I don't, but I know for certain that I could on one hand. And do you know how many times Nico had laughed? I'll give you a hint - it's less than one.
But he fights for good and he's amazing and awesome even if he is withdrawn and why doesn't everyone on earth just hug Nico di Angelo? He desperately needs a hug. Can I hug him?
Oh, yeah, you know how all that emotional masochism came from my Leo love? The same thing pretty much applies for Nico. I want to hug them both. So much.
Yes.
Friday, September 26, 2014
Percy Jackson Thirty Day Meme: Day 23
Day 23: Piper, Hazel or Reyna?
Hazel. Hazel all day every day thank you very much.
The thing is, I'm not going to fall into the footsteps of a lot of other people and say Piper's useless, because she's not. But she is really annoying. She's so clingy with Jason, and oh, what if I said something wrong to Jason, and wait, what was that Jason just said? She's just so overtaken with Jason and turns it into, like, a major plot point when it should really, at most, be like a detail. Because we all know they aren't going to break up. They don't have any relationship problems except for an unfounded jealousy of Reyna. And Riordan likes to write teenage romance as if they've all found THE ONE, so we all know they're sticking around. So shut up about it already. Learn to use your knife for something besides seeing ominous but vague visions of the future. Do something.
Reyna... I like Reyna. I do. She's strong and regal and so interesting. It's just that, in comparison to Hazel, I don't know her all that well. (She gets a POV in Blood of Olympus, so that should be interesting). That's the only reason I'm not picking her. I don't know her enough to really appreciate all the layers she probably has.
So, yes, I choose Hazel. Because she is strong, but so kind, and she's driven and she's capable of anything and I love her. Plus, I really appreciate that her relationship with Frank is like, yeah, he's my boyfriend, but whatever, I sorta need to fight this evil witch right now so who cares. That's how I think all relationships in most books should be. I mean, maybe without the evil witch. Just stop obsessing, is my point, because booooooooring.
Also, Hazel's the youngest one out of the group, but she's so powerful. She can control the Mist to counter super-powerful evil witches. She's the chosen one of Hecate, she's a daughter of Pluto, she's just really super-duper powerful.
And also, she's Nico's adopted sister kinda (it's a long story), and I think that's absolutely adorable because Nico is soft with no one. Not that he's unkind, he's just... not known for his... gentleness. Except with Hazel. They're so gentle to each other, because they understand each other so well (they're both from past centuries) and they help each other deal with their past and their present and it's adorable and I love them.
I just really like Hazel.
Hazel. Hazel all day every day thank you very much.
The thing is, I'm not going to fall into the footsteps of a lot of other people and say Piper's useless, because she's not. But she is really annoying. She's so clingy with Jason, and oh, what if I said something wrong to Jason, and wait, what was that Jason just said? She's just so overtaken with Jason and turns it into, like, a major plot point when it should really, at most, be like a detail. Because we all know they aren't going to break up. They don't have any relationship problems except for an unfounded jealousy of Reyna. And Riordan likes to write teenage romance as if they've all found THE ONE, so we all know they're sticking around. So shut up about it already. Learn to use your knife for something besides seeing ominous but vague visions of the future. Do something.
Reyna... I like Reyna. I do. She's strong and regal and so interesting. It's just that, in comparison to Hazel, I don't know her all that well. (She gets a POV in Blood of Olympus, so that should be interesting). That's the only reason I'm not picking her. I don't know her enough to really appreciate all the layers she probably has.
So, yes, I choose Hazel. Because she is strong, but so kind, and she's driven and she's capable of anything and I love her. Plus, I really appreciate that her relationship with Frank is like, yeah, he's my boyfriend, but whatever, I sorta need to fight this evil witch right now so who cares. That's how I think all relationships in most books should be. I mean, maybe without the evil witch. Just stop obsessing, is my point, because booooooooring.
Also, Hazel's the youngest one out of the group, but she's so powerful. She can control the Mist to counter super-powerful evil witches. She's the chosen one of Hecate, she's a daughter of Pluto, she's just really super-duper powerful.
And also, she's Nico's adopted sister kinda (it's a long story), and I think that's absolutely adorable because Nico is soft with no one. Not that he's unkind, he's just... not known for his... gentleness. Except with Hazel. They're so gentle to each other, because they understand each other so well (they're both from past centuries) and they help each other deal with their past and their present and it's adorable and I love them.
I just really like Hazel.
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Percy Jackson Thirty Day Meme: Day 22
Day 22: Favourite villain/anti-hero
Are there even any anti-heroes in these books? Everyone's pretty definitely a hero. Except Luke, I guess, but how boring is he?
Oh, well, Clarisse counts too. She's a lot less boring.
And then there's Hades, who kinda counts as both, depending on where you are in the series.
I know I've ranted about misrepresentation of characters in pop culture before, but seriously. Why is Hades always the villain of these movies and books? Because he's the god of the dead? He just drew the short end of the straw, that's not his fault. His brothers, Poseidon and Zeus, got luckier with the realms they got, that's it. I mean, he did technically kidnap Persephone, but in the myths, you never really hear about Persephone complaining about it. You hear about over-bearing possessive mother Demeter complaining about it (which is the reason we have seasons - in fall and winter Demeter mourns and the harvest dies, but in the spring and summer Persephone returns and she's happy again). But by all accounts (except the Percy Jackson series, for plot reasons), Hades and Persephone have a loving, faithful relationship. Hades isn't a bad guy. By most accounts, the villain of greek mythology is a lot more commonly Zeus's penis. It causes most of the death and destruction. (It was a lot of fun exploring Hades's character in my book I'm writing. I gave him a nervous stutter. It was so much fun seeing where that went.)
But anyways.
From the books, I guess I'll say Clarisse is my favourite anti-hero.
She starts out as this stereotypical bully, yeah? Percy Jackson has this thing where there always needs to be a school yard bully somewhere alongside the monsters and giants and things. She's big, she's mean and she's the daughter of the war god. She is the schoolyard bully. But even then, she's not dumb muscle. She's... mean, but competent muscle.
Then in the second book she goes on the quest to find the Golden Fleece. Percy figures automatically that someone like Clarisse will screw it up (plus it involved rescuing Percy's best friend, so no way was he going to miss out on that), so he also went on the quest. He overhears Clarisse talking to her father, Ares, the god of war. And overhears him threatening her. Straight up: Ares is an abusive father. So, yeah, Clarisse has got my sympathy there.
Then in the fourth book, they find someone from the Titan army, a demigod called Chris Rodriguez, who got lost in the labyrinth and nearly went insane. Before he was part of the evil Titan army, he and Clarisse were a thing, and so now she's trying to nurse him back to health as he recovers from the trauma of the labyrinth (it's the general theory that he had PTSD during this period) while everyone else gives up on him. Notable in that this is the first time we really see Clarisse being soft.
Then in the fifth book, we discover that she has a friendship with Silena Beauregard, a daughter of Aphrodite, which is sorta counter-intuitive, given that the Ares cabin is known for bullying, booby traps, hot-headedness and stubbornness, and the Aphrodite cabin is known for.... not fighting. But even so, they're close friends, and so when Silena dies? Clarisse throws it down. She single-handedly takes down a drakon (making no modesty of it, either: "I AM CLARISSE, DRAKON SLAYER!!!! I WILL KILL YOU ALL!") and makes the Titan army retreat, earning herself the blessing of Ares. Damn, girl, you go.
But, yeah, she was an important player in the Titan war, and I think that makes her a hero, even if it is an anti-hero. And she's fun. And interesting. So, yeah. She's my favourite.
Are there even any anti-heroes in these books? Everyone's pretty definitely a hero. Except Luke, I guess, but how boring is he?
Oh, well, Clarisse counts too. She's a lot less boring.
And then there's Hades, who kinda counts as both, depending on where you are in the series.
I know I've ranted about misrepresentation of characters in pop culture before, but seriously. Why is Hades always the villain of these movies and books? Because he's the god of the dead? He just drew the short end of the straw, that's not his fault. His brothers, Poseidon and Zeus, got luckier with the realms they got, that's it. I mean, he did technically kidnap Persephone, but in the myths, you never really hear about Persephone complaining about it. You hear about over-bearing possessive mother Demeter complaining about it (which is the reason we have seasons - in fall and winter Demeter mourns and the harvest dies, but in the spring and summer Persephone returns and she's happy again). But by all accounts (except the Percy Jackson series, for plot reasons), Hades and Persephone have a loving, faithful relationship. Hades isn't a bad guy. By most accounts, the villain of greek mythology is a lot more commonly Zeus's penis. It causes most of the death and destruction. (It was a lot of fun exploring Hades's character in my book I'm writing. I gave him a nervous stutter. It was so much fun seeing where that went.)
But anyways.
From the books, I guess I'll say Clarisse is my favourite anti-hero.
She starts out as this stereotypical bully, yeah? Percy Jackson has this thing where there always needs to be a school yard bully somewhere alongside the monsters and giants and things. She's big, she's mean and she's the daughter of the war god. She is the schoolyard bully. But even then, she's not dumb muscle. She's... mean, but competent muscle.
Then in the second book she goes on the quest to find the Golden Fleece. Percy figures automatically that someone like Clarisse will screw it up (plus it involved rescuing Percy's best friend, so no way was he going to miss out on that), so he also went on the quest. He overhears Clarisse talking to her father, Ares, the god of war. And overhears him threatening her. Straight up: Ares is an abusive father. So, yeah, Clarisse has got my sympathy there.
Then in the fourth book, they find someone from the Titan army, a demigod called Chris Rodriguez, who got lost in the labyrinth and nearly went insane. Before he was part of the evil Titan army, he and Clarisse were a thing, and so now she's trying to nurse him back to health as he recovers from the trauma of the labyrinth (it's the general theory that he had PTSD during this period) while everyone else gives up on him. Notable in that this is the first time we really see Clarisse being soft.
Then in the fifth book, we discover that she has a friendship with Silena Beauregard, a daughter of Aphrodite, which is sorta counter-intuitive, given that the Ares cabin is known for bullying, booby traps, hot-headedness and stubbornness, and the Aphrodite cabin is known for.... not fighting. But even so, they're close friends, and so when Silena dies? Clarisse throws it down. She single-handedly takes down a drakon (making no modesty of it, either: "I AM CLARISSE, DRAKON SLAYER!!!! I WILL KILL YOU ALL!") and makes the Titan army retreat, earning herself the blessing of Ares. Damn, girl, you go.
But, yeah, she was an important player in the Titan war, and I think that makes her a hero, even if it is an anti-hero. And she's fun. And interesting. So, yeah. She's my favourite.
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Percy Jackson Thirty Day Meme: Day 21
Day 21: Favourite friendship
This is kind of like the last one in that it's based around my own theories and head canons about the characters, but it also, like, textually exists so...
Leo and Piper.
Here's the thing. Leo, Piper and Jason are one of the main trios of the series. Except we're all supposed to really like Jason, because god knows everyone else in the books do. Piper falls for him and Leo gets into a bit of a bromance with him. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for bromance. I live for bromance.
Which is sorta why I prefer Leo and Piper. They're basically a bromance in which one of them is female, and it's terribly understated, because of Piper's much more public and pronounced (and annoying) feelings about Jason.
So here's the thing. The first time we meet Piper and Leo and Jason are they're all at a school for troubled kids. Leo because he ran away from all his foster homes, Piper because she's believed to be klepto. Why's Jason there? He doesn't know. He doesn't recognize them. He's lost his memory. It was taken from him for complicated reasons.
Turns out what happened was that Jason's never actually met them before. All the memories that Leo and Piper have of him being there and being part of their three musketeers were actually just implanted there. He was never their friend before the events of the books.
So, though it's never actually addressed, I'm putting in my own inference. Because if Jason was never there before, then that must mean that Piper and Leo were friends all by themselves. Before Piper got so annoying with her Jason-romance and Leo got shoved away as the third (or seventh) wheel. And although, as I said, this was never outright addressed, you can sort of see it in the way they interact. Leo's always making up nicknames for Piper (among them are "Pipes", for obvious reasons, and "Beauty Queen" since she's a daughter of Aphrodite). Piper's always super snarky to match Leo's general goofiness ("What's my title? Am I, like, captain, or admiral, or...?" "Repair boy." "Very funny, Piper.") They're bragging about each other to their other friends, and they totally trust each other. Not to mention the not-famous-enough moment when Piper found Leo after having been kidnapped by mer-centaurs, she literally dived into the ocean to kiss him on the cheek and that is adorable. And how Leo literally flirts with every single girl he meets, except with Piper. Especially notable in that she is a daughter of Aphrodite, making her totally out of his league A.K.A his type. But he doesn't flirt with her because their friendship is awesome and they're practically siblings.
This is one of the only things in the whole series that makes Piper seem like an interesting character, which makes it such a bigger shame that it's so understated.
The whole thing is understated and underappreciated.
And I adore it to pieces.
This is kind of like the last one in that it's based around my own theories and head canons about the characters, but it also, like, textually exists so...
Leo and Piper.
Here's the thing. Leo, Piper and Jason are one of the main trios of the series. Except we're all supposed to really like Jason, because god knows everyone else in the books do. Piper falls for him and Leo gets into a bit of a bromance with him. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for bromance. I live for bromance.
Which is sorta why I prefer Leo and Piper. They're basically a bromance in which one of them is female, and it's terribly understated, because of Piper's much more public and pronounced (and annoying) feelings about Jason.
So here's the thing. The first time we meet Piper and Leo and Jason are they're all at a school for troubled kids. Leo because he ran away from all his foster homes, Piper because she's believed to be klepto. Why's Jason there? He doesn't know. He doesn't recognize them. He's lost his memory. It was taken from him for complicated reasons.
Turns out what happened was that Jason's never actually met them before. All the memories that Leo and Piper have of him being there and being part of their three musketeers were actually just implanted there. He was never their friend before the events of the books.
So, though it's never actually addressed, I'm putting in my own inference. Because if Jason was never there before, then that must mean that Piper and Leo were friends all by themselves. Before Piper got so annoying with her Jason-romance and Leo got shoved away as the third (or seventh) wheel. And although, as I said, this was never outright addressed, you can sort of see it in the way they interact. Leo's always making up nicknames for Piper (among them are "Pipes", for obvious reasons, and "Beauty Queen" since she's a daughter of Aphrodite). Piper's always super snarky to match Leo's general goofiness ("What's my title? Am I, like, captain, or admiral, or...?" "Repair boy." "Very funny, Piper.") They're bragging about each other to their other friends, and they totally trust each other. Not to mention the not-famous-enough moment when Piper found Leo after having been kidnapped by mer-centaurs, she literally dived into the ocean to kiss him on the cheek and that is adorable. And how Leo literally flirts with every single girl he meets, except with Piper. Especially notable in that she is a daughter of Aphrodite, making her totally out of his league A.K.A his type. But he doesn't flirt with her because their friendship is awesome and they're practically siblings.
This is one of the only things in the whole series that makes Piper seem like an interesting character, which makes it such a bigger shame that it's so understated.
The whole thing is understated and underappreciated.
And I adore it to pieces.
Monday, September 22, 2014
Percy Jackson Thirty Day Meme: Day 20
Day 20: A character you like but think everyone else doesn't
Um.... I don't know. As far as I can tell, every character gets their share of appreciation. It would be easier to name a character I dislike that everyone else likes.
Oh, but hold on.
Hahaha.
Would anyone believe me if I said I liked Octavian?
Yeah, I know, the manipulative, treacherous, war-mongering augur of Camp Jupiter who called out Percy as a spy after a day of knowing him, who blackmailed Hazel into voting for him as praetor, who is pretty much the driving force behind the Romans attacking the Greeks. How could anyone possibly like him?
But I gotta admit, I really missed him in the Mark of Athena and the House of Hades.
And I also gotta admit, I was really excited when I heard that he got a POV chapter in Blood of Olympus.
Here's the thing about Octavian. He's really unlikeable. Like, really really unlikeable. Even when he was just a benign annoyance in the Son of Neptune, he was still an ass. But what made him such an ass? Well, it was his dedication to tradition.
He asks Percy for a letter of recommendation to join Camp Jupiter in spite of the fact that A) Percy can't remember anything so how could he possibly have a letter of recommendation, and B) Percy walked into the camp carrying a goddess, is that enough recommendation for ya? But he's obliged to ask anyways. It's traditional.
Yes, he met the Greeks already suspicious of them. They are flying to their camp in a big mother warship, for heaven's sake. To be honest, I'd probably be suspicious as well. And when Leo started firing on the camp (while possessed, but Octavian didn't know that), Octavian, as a Roman, sees that the best defense is a good offense. Attack the Greeks. That's the Roman way, the traditional way.
What you have to understand is that Octavian isn't exactly a demigod. He's a legacy. That means that he's the descendant of a demigod. You don't know by how many generations or whatever, all we know is that he's, by some extent, descended from Apollo. Which means, since his family has had multiple generations knowing themselves as descendants of gods, that Octavian is not new to the Roman ways. It would be a fair assumption to think that he probably grew up in New Rome, since they have a whole city that works as a safe haven for demigods and their kids. All Octavian probably knows is the traditional Roman ways.
Of course, that doesn't excuse the power plays and the treachery and all that stuff. And he's still not a likeable character by any stretch of the imagination. But the more I think about him, the more I find myself willing to understand him. None of the other characters at all seem willing to hear him out about anything, and I think that's a mistake. That's why I'm so eager for an Octavian POV in Blood of Olympus. I want to know what the heck that crazy kid is thinking.
Basically what I'm saying is that the only reason I enjoy Octavian is because I have a lot of hypothetical theories about the way his mind works that are barely, if at all, based on what the text actually said.
I am the master at overthinking things.
Um.... I don't know. As far as I can tell, every character gets their share of appreciation. It would be easier to name a character I dislike that everyone else likes.
Oh, but hold on.
Hahaha.
Would anyone believe me if I said I liked Octavian?
Yeah, I know, the manipulative, treacherous, war-mongering augur of Camp Jupiter who called out Percy as a spy after a day of knowing him, who blackmailed Hazel into voting for him as praetor, who is pretty much the driving force behind the Romans attacking the Greeks. How could anyone possibly like him?
But I gotta admit, I really missed him in the Mark of Athena and the House of Hades.
And I also gotta admit, I was really excited when I heard that he got a POV chapter in Blood of Olympus.
Here's the thing about Octavian. He's really unlikeable. Like, really really unlikeable. Even when he was just a benign annoyance in the Son of Neptune, he was still an ass. But what made him such an ass? Well, it was his dedication to tradition.
He asks Percy for a letter of recommendation to join Camp Jupiter in spite of the fact that A) Percy can't remember anything so how could he possibly have a letter of recommendation, and B) Percy walked into the camp carrying a goddess, is that enough recommendation for ya? But he's obliged to ask anyways. It's traditional.
Yes, he met the Greeks already suspicious of them. They are flying to their camp in a big mother warship, for heaven's sake. To be honest, I'd probably be suspicious as well. And when Leo started firing on the camp (while possessed, but Octavian didn't know that), Octavian, as a Roman, sees that the best defense is a good offense. Attack the Greeks. That's the Roman way, the traditional way.
What you have to understand is that Octavian isn't exactly a demigod. He's a legacy. That means that he's the descendant of a demigod. You don't know by how many generations or whatever, all we know is that he's, by some extent, descended from Apollo. Which means, since his family has had multiple generations knowing themselves as descendants of gods, that Octavian is not new to the Roman ways. It would be a fair assumption to think that he probably grew up in New Rome, since they have a whole city that works as a safe haven for demigods and their kids. All Octavian probably knows is the traditional Roman ways.
Of course, that doesn't excuse the power plays and the treachery and all that stuff. And he's still not a likeable character by any stretch of the imagination. But the more I think about him, the more I find myself willing to understand him. None of the other characters at all seem willing to hear him out about anything, and I think that's a mistake. That's why I'm so eager for an Octavian POV in Blood of Olympus. I want to know what the heck that crazy kid is thinking.
Basically what I'm saying is that the only reason I enjoy Octavian is because I have a lot of hypothetical theories about the way his mind works that are barely, if at all, based on what the text actually said.
I am the master at overthinking things.
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