Vent post. Because i feel like kicking a hornets' nest.

Honestly im just tired of how people will call someone ignorant/uneducated and will go for the throat for every little thing, while they themselves say shit like pierogis all the time. If you're going to point fingers at others, you yourself should be without fault.

The question is... can you?

me when someone makes an innocent typo for any other english name: im kalm

me when i see yet another person misspell a chinese name: REAL SHIT

when people read a fiction book & then complain about said fictional book not being realistic 🥴

On the one hand I… am a stodgy old lady when it comes to people who write about sports and get it wrong. I know that in the end it doesn’t really matter and I’m like one of three people who care. I accept this about myself. But on the other hand, like… you don’t have to. Especially if your writing makes you money. You don’t *have* to do it 😭

(Finn: Moralit-- Me: OH BOY!! DID SOMEBODY SAY ‘PROTAGONIST-CENTERED MORALITY????’)

Writing Fictional News

              Eee this is one of my biggest pet peeves in movies, games, stories, anything… As someone who reads and edits a lot of news articles for my job, I can tell soo instantly when fictional news articles or broadcasts were written by someone who has never written news before. I’m constantly saying, “hmm, they’d never publish that.”

              So here’s what you gotta know about writing (fictional) news stories.

1. They’re to the point… but not like that

This is the biggest thing I see in fiction that has news in it. People tend to write headlines that have the worst, gory details. For example,

“Student Sadie Walker murdered by 50 stabbings last night.”

While dramatic (and informative), I don’t see this as a news headline. The same situation (Sorry Sadie) may actually be reported as,

“Young woman passed away after involvement in stabbing late last night.”

              While news articles are to the point and informative, remember that they’re written for the general public. We often don’t get the super gory details (at least, not in the headline).

2. They have a pretty specific voice

While most journalism is meant to be free of bias, news is the most importantly objective. This tends to result in articles written in a more formal tone. They also follow a structure: the most specific details to the most general.

              Imagine you’re writing a piece that you’re expecting the reader to drop out at any moment. The headline is the attention grabber so your first line has the most important details of the story, so that someone can read it and know the jist.

Following our example, the first paragraph might be,

“Last night in June County a young woman was found unconscious, having suffered severe injuries. The woman was identified as Sadie Walker, a 21-year-old student attending June County University nearby. According to police reports, Walker had been walking between campus and the student dorms around midnight when she was struck and stabbed 30-50 times in the chest and back. Walker was found by a peer returning home an estimated hour after the attack and taken straight to Red Mill General hospital, where she passed away shortly after. The perpetrator is still unknown at this time.”

       Remember the 5 W’s and 1 H. Your first few lines should inform the reader of Who, What happened, Where did it happen, When did it happen, how it happened, and maybe why if you know—though since news is so timely, often the answer isn’t known right away.

3. Where the article is found in the news is telling

While a story like our example might make the front page of the paper (especially if nothing else is really going on in June County), only one story can make this top spot. Some papers are divided between the top and bottom of the page, known as “above the fold” and “below the fold”. It’s a bit more traditional format, but the ‘above the fold’ spot is the best one, because that’s the story people see when they’re passing by the newsstand, while ‘below the fold’ is another important story making the front page, but one would have to pick up the paper and unfold it to read it.

Not to mention all the stories found inside the paper. Consider how important your article is--not to your characters/plot, but to the general society your fictional newspaper is serving. Would your MC’s win at the local dog competition make the front page of big city news?

Any other news writers on here? What did I miss?

My biggest pet peeve with a lot of online writing advice is how much of it just straight up pretends personal taste doesn't exist and tries to pass itself off as Objective when it's...really not.

One advice article will insist it's super distracting if you get too deep into the worldbuilding. Another will insist that you need to be thinking about the geology, geography, and ecology of your world and how that affects human behavior at ALL times in order to make your fictional civilizations believable. One will insist that your fight scenes must be grounded, and realistic, and have a basis in real human limitations; no one will take you seriously if your main character can just push through an injury that should be fight-endingly debilitating. Another will say that realism doesn't matter nearly as much as drama, framing, and pacing; that having your character push beyond normal human limitations, rule of cool style, helps keep the tension tight and the stakes palpable; and in fact that trying to keep things too realistic feels less like experiencing a story and more like getting a medical lecture. One guide will say that unhealthy relationships and dark tropes in romance are grating, overdone, cheap edgelord garbage; another will say that happy, fluffy romance where the worst that goes wrong is miscommunication is preachy, childish, saccharine, and unengaging. Which one of any of these pairs of directly conflicting takes is correct?

Trick question! It's both, and neither! They're all for different audiences and different preferences!

As for my personal advice for dealing with this mess:

Step 1: Acknowledge that you are a human being with personal taste, not a mindless objective Content Processing Machine.

Step 2: Own it and put your whole pussy into making a story that you love and do everything in your power to not only stop caring if someone else hates it, but try to take the hate of a non-target audience as a compliment.

You can do this by finding the advice that resonates with you and your taste and listening exclusively to that, or you can do it by trial and error, using conflicting advice as exercises until you find what works for you, but however you do it, do it with everything you've got.

But hey! That's just my own opinion too!

I think one of my biggest pet peeves in fandom/with fan interpretation of a text is when people conflate issues with the writing with the characters in the text themselves. The practice of media literacy in regards to fiction requires you to to apply suspension of disbelief. When you go see a play you don't look at the actor jumping away from a flashing orange light meant to represent fire and go "Huh. that was kind of ridiculous of the character because it's not real fire. that must mean that the character is stupid." Or maybe you do in which case you need to work on that before you can engage with the narrative. Anyway. Peoples brains have been so poisoned by CinemaSins style media analysis that when a work of fiction makes a choice/mistake that they dislike they will absolutely refuse to accept any Doylist explanation. They cannot and will not engage with the text from the perspective of an artist. People cannot understand that sometimes the plot comes before the characters and that isn't necessarily a reflection of the characters themselves. People cannot understand that sometimes a narrative is restrained by the medium in which it is told, which is often why movies get spin off books and video games get animated adaptions. It drives me crazy. Some of you guys would explode if you ever had to watch a musical

Interested in Writing But Can't Seem to Write

Anonymous asked: I've been interested in writing since I was a child. Used to be a bookworm. Whole chapter books in one night, completely addicted as a form of escapism. My first real dream job was to be an author - I decided this at around 11 maybe. No matter how many phases I've had, I always return to wanting to be an author. I am 22 now. I have not written a single thing. I vaguely remember writing like, maybe 3 things at most. Incomplete works that I just had fun with. And this was before I even turned 14. But in all those years of "loving writing and books" and "wanting to be an author" I did straight up nothing. Didn't even contribute to fanfics for the fandoms I was deeply obsessed with (I do remember trying once but wasn't into it). At some point reading was out of my life too.

I'm going to start here, because of these conflicting statements:

-- "I have not written a single thing." -- "I vaguely remember writing like, maybe 3 things at most."

See the issue? ;) If you've written "maybe 3 things" you have written something. They may have been incomplete, and you may not even remember what you were, but that doesn't mean you should discount them. You have written. That experience is still in there somewhere.

One of my biggest pet peeves as a longtime writer is hearing newer writers refer to themselves as "aspiring writers." If you write, you're a writer. Period. It doesn't matter if you journal, write poetry, write fan-fiction, or wrote a middle-school round robin with friends where you all married your favorite K-Pop stars. You write. You're a writer. And, honestly, even if you're not actively writing right now, if you want to write--if you think about writing, are constantly jotting down story ideas and character names, and are eagerly gathering inspiration from all around you... guess what? You're still a writer.

Now I'm trying to take my interest in writing more seriously, but I just can't sit down and write. I'm good at storing notes and ideas and daydreaming what my stories are about, but nothing is ever produced. If I think about it I immediately lose interest - even if I am in fact still interested in writing and publishing? I'm very confused by my behaviour and I wonder if it's normal.

What you're experiencing isn't unusual. In fact, most writers experience it from time to time, though usually it happens at points further into the writing journey and not right at the start. But I still wouldn't call that "abnormal." It happens.

There are a hundred-million reasons why it happens, and the only way to figure out why it's happening for you right now is to do some soul-searching. At your age, I think a prime suspect would be that you're in the jumping off point for your adult life. This can be a tumultuous time for a variety of reasons, and your focus and energy may be naturally geared toward the things that help you explore and settle into this new phase of life. Even beyond that, if you have have a demanding job (including being a parent or caregiver), are going to school or studying for job-related tests/classes, or have a lot going on right now (multiple projects, lots of travel, lots of appointments and social commitments, etc.)--your focus and energy is probably running thin as it is, so finding a way to funnel what's left into writing is going to take some finesse. And that's if this is even the right time for it, which I'll get to later on.

Writing Stress = Writing Avoidance

One of the most mind-blowing things I've learned about writing is that writing avoidance often comes down to writing feeling stressful for whatever reason. If you're putting a lot of pressure on yourself to write, write a certain amount, meet goals or deadlines, that translates to stress. It makes writing stressful, and the problem with that is evolution has wired our brains to avoid things that are stressful. At its most basic level, stress is a response to danger--you hear a lion roar in the distance, it causes you stress, you turn and run in the opposite direction. Stress triggers the "fight or flight response," a defense mechanism that protects us from the impending danger. With writing, "fight" shows up as self-criticism. "Flight" shows up as avoidance.

So, if you find that you want to write but are avoiding it, it's worth considering if you're avoiding it because it feels stressful to you. If so, there are things you can do to de-stress writing. For one thing, let go of the notion that you have to write any particular thing or amount in order to be a writer. Set yourself a bare minimum writing goal to reach every day... like writing for 10 minutes. That can be any writing--journaling, writing prompts, working on a story, fleshing out story ideas, fluffy fan-fiction, poetry, writing down a favorite memory, doing a book or movie review, anything. Try to do it every day, but don't beat yourself up if you sit down and aren't able to write anything, don't write a lot, or never sit down at all. Just try, every day, do your best. Also, try setting up a writing routine that you do every day when you sit down for that little writing session. Try to pick the same or similar time each day, do a little meditation or stretch beforehand, put on some soft music or light a candle, get your favorite drink or small snack. If you do this almost every day, what you'll start to find is that the writing happens more and more easily. Eventually you'll be spend more and more time doing it.

Why can I say I'm interested in writing when I don't write at all?

I'm interested in traveling to England but I haven't yet and have no current plans to. Does that mean I'm not allowed to say I'm interested in traveling to England?

Being interested in something doesn't mean you have to do that thing right now or you can't say you're interested in it.

And even if you can't write right now for whatever reason, there are still plenty of writerly things you CAN do. Following writing blogs and vlogs is a good start. You can listen to writing podcasts and read writing craft books. You can keep a notebook full of plot and character ideas, setting inspiration, favorite quotes, interesting words, and overheard bits of dialogue. You can watch TV shows and movies (and read books, which includes listening to audiiobooks!) You don't even have to do these things all the time or everyday. Just periodically, when you can. It all goes into your creative well and will be there to draw from when you are able to write.

One final word...

You do not have to be in a hurry to be a writer or to be a published writer. The average age of first-time publication is mid-30s. I was mid-40s. Jane Austen was 35. Toni Morrison was 40. J.R.R. Tolkien was 45. Richard Adams was 52. Annie Proulx was 57. Laura Ingalls Wilder was 65. National Book Award winner Harriet Doerr was 74. Poet Sarah Yerkes started writing poetry at 97 and was published at 101.

So, be interested in writing. Own that interest. Figure out if and how writing fits into your life right now. If it doesn't, do the other things. Fill your creative well so it will be ready when writing does fit into your life. ♥

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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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Ever seen “Black Sad”? What’re your thoughts on them if so

Okay lemme stop you right there before I start fanboying out…I LOVE Blacksad, it’s one of my favorite comics of all time…the art is so immersive and the writing is so smooth it’s one of my biggest inspirations actually. I make a lot of my mini comics with that in mind fun fact. I’ve read all the comics during December of 2022 and it has burnt into my mind ever since (tho the recent one has ended on a cliffhanger and I haven’t heard any new updates which is making me salty)

Honestly I love the fact that it’s a novel detective story with animal people and something about Blacksad screams peak design…

though the implications of fur color racism in this universe has got me thinking a lot but somehow it makes sense (I’m not sure if you know one of the comics is about a white supremacy group filled with pure white animals). Overall they have really good mysteries, I like the one in New Orleans and the other in Route 66. The way they delve into the culture also…there’s a huge show don’t tell aspect into the comics I really like. What I mean by that it’s very visual, there’s a lot of emphasis on action and expression which pairs really well with the thoughts of the characters, and you know Blacksad’s a detective so he monologues a lot, it works.

Idk how to describe it and maybe I’m wrong but it makes scenes where they’re just talking so endearing to look at and it makes me engage with the story really well…

Btw the spreads are insane…so much background detail, I’d recommend you see the full things for yourself

And now it’s time for my major complaint…why the fuck do all (or at least a majority I know Blacksad himself has more humanistic features) the male characters have beastly features compared to the female characters that is just a basic human body and with cat ears and a nose???

Hell even if there are more animalistic designs of women the problem is they’re either on the side or just a joke/gimmicky character compared to the ones that are a major part of the storyline it seems unfair with the male cast. Like you know you can an attractive furry woman without relying too much on humanistic features right???

So far the only redemption I see is with the alpaca lady with the “they all fall down” comic so I’ll give it that.

But yeah that’s the only thing that’s taking me out of reading these comics…and also the fact they play with women’s suffering for shock value for the sake of the story which seems to be a staple in noir/pulp type fiction. Which is…nothing I can do about but it’s more of a pet peeve really :/

But yeah despite all that it is still my favorite comic ever and a huge art influence minus the female furry design…

one of my biggest pet peeves is people in this fandom telling others how to characterize a character . like the inherent beauty of fiction and media is that the interpretations are limitless, and u want to crop that all out to the same character depiction ? don't u get bored ? don't u want to see something different ? and the especially amazing part of the internet is that if u don't like it u can just click away ! isnt that beautiful !!!

I always find it interesting that homosexual coded main characters don't really get shipped with every single side character of the opposite gender. And people get told off for shipping lesbian coded characters with men or gay coded characters with women by the rest of the fandom. But it's always aroace coded main characters getting shipped with every single side character that exists. And aroace fans getting told to "not generalise the entire aspec community" and "let people ship whomever they want!! It's just fiction!!!" as if we don't deserve to see characters living happy lives not being in relationships. And my biggest pet peeve is the trope of an aroace coded character "growing up and maturing" by... getting in a romantic/sexual relationship. Really shows what these people think about non-partnering aspec people irl. It's not just about fictional characters but they'll never admit it 🤷

I will say that there are some idiots out there who do ship gay characters with the opposite sex because they believe in people being able to ship whatever they want (which can lead to some disturbing places but I digress) But those kinds of ships do get a lot more push back and the same people who get after people for changing characters from gay to straight do not have the same energy when it happens to aro /aroace characters.

These same people are the ones calling for representation and how we treat characters identities in fiction does reflect how we view those identities in the real world EXCEPT when it comes to aspec characters. Suddenly then it's "fiction doesn't effect reality!!!" there's some double standards happening and it's beyond frustrating that no one seems to even notice and get mad at us for pointing it out.

Not to mention it's incredibly funny to hear them cry "Don't generalize the community" while they generalize the community by acting like every aro/ace/aroace person can date and have sex - which like you said ignored the existence of non-partnering identities and I'd like to add it also erases repulsed identities.

None of these people actually care about the aspecs who date or have sex. they don't actually care how those identities work or those experiences at all. they're using them as a get out of jail free card. a loop hole. a "I can't be homophobic because I have a gay best friend" card. They don't care about QPRs and how those relationships can be experience in wildly different ways. All they care about is if they get to have two characters kiss without having to genuinely look at themselves and their biases and possibly have the revelation that they might hold bigoted beliefs about aspec people.

And at this point I'd rather them admit that they don't actually care about aspec identities or experiences instead of tying themselves into knots to try and prove "I'm not aphobic!!!!" because they actively tried to find a loop hole to make it so that they could feel superior and in the right for being able to erase an entire identity of people.

one of my absolute BIGGEST fucking pet peeves in fiction is when you follow the characters to being parents and then they're like. Shitty at it when they, to anybody with a brain, would be fucking AMAZING at it. Like He Would Not Fucking Parent Like That lmao

June MC of the Month: Dr. Casey MacTavish Carrick

Please welcome our fifth MC of the month! Each month, we will highlight one MC or OC that is currently on our Meet My MC / OC List. The MC / OC is selected randomly on the Wheel of Names, and eligibility requirements can be found here. We accept MC / OC profiles on an ongoing basis. Please feel free to send yours in!

This month's MC of the month is...

@jerzwriter's Casey MacTavish Carrick.

Learn more about Casey and her creator, Elsa, below.

In your words, tell us what you like most about your MC. 

There are many things I love about Casey. First and foremost, she’s genuine.  What you see is what you get; she has no time for games or being fake.  She wears her heart on her sleeve, and even though that has burned her in the past, she refuses to allow it to change the person is.  She’s passionate about her beliefs and does not back down.  She is very serious when she needs to be - at work, when dealing with a crisis, or engaged in activism - but in her personal life, she’s playful, quirky, and not afraid to make an idiot out of herself (or others) to have some fun.  She really tries to live every day to its fullest, even when it’s difficult to do so.  

Do you feel your MC is like you at all? How are you alike or different?

In some ways, yes; in others, no. We’re both passionate about our beliefs and fight for them. We were both activists from a young age, and that's an important part of our lives. We try not to take life too seriously and to enjoy the journey more than the destination. And the people we love mean more to us than anything else. most. 

However, Casey has her shit together to a level I have never been able to achieve. lol She’s a doctor, and I barely passed my science classes. And her husband is FAR superior to any of my exes (if I had what she does, I'd make sure they never became exes). lol What can I say? Fictional men written by women are just better. 

What is most important to your MC? What is their motivation in life?

People matter the most to her. It was her motivation for going into medicine and what has driven her activism.  She can’t witness problems and gross inequity and not attempt to do something to solve them. She believes if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. 

She almost lost her mother as a young child, and she almost lost her own life as a resident, and again in her 30s, so she values every day and lives with the understanding that we all have expiration dates.  There is no day but today - and she uses that to push herself. 

Her career is very important to her, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the people she loves.  She is fiercely loyal, and when she loves someone, she loves them for life.  Tobias and their girls are her world, and they have plenty of family - real and found - surrounding them.  

Casey wants to leave the world better than it was when she entered it.  She has worked tirelessly for equity for all. As a proud bisexual woman, she has fought for women's and LGBTQ rights. Growing up in a diverse community, in a city that has residents living in both extreme poverty and excessive wealth, she loathes inequality. As such, racial and social justice issues, as well as equal access to healthcare are important issues to her. She is appalled that people die in one of the wealthiest nations in the world simply because they don’t have insurance.  That becomes her biggest mission. 

What are their biggest pet peeves/dislikes? 

Pretentiousness. She’s not a fan of affluence, and she's automatically suspicious of people who have too much. That’s a struggle for her and Tobias initially because he is extremely wealthy. It took a lot of work, and some changes and compromises, for them to rectify that.

Intolerance. People who feel the need to control how others live their lives incense her. She has no use for people who espouse racist, misogynistic, and homophobic views.

Hypocrisy and phoniness.  She’s a genuine soul, and she expects the same in return.  She can usually sense when someone is inauthentic, and she will do her best to keep such people out of her inner circle.  

If your MC could change one thing - anything - what would it be? 

She would change the world.  She would rid it of many -isms. More than anything, she’d like to see a world where people are truly judged by the content of their character, not by their race, gender, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic standing.  She knows the world is an unfair place, and it’s distressing to know how it is almost impossible to change it, but it doesn’t mean she won’t try.  But, if she were given a magic wand, she knows exactly what she’d do with it. 

What is your MC’s favorite quote or song?

“Love is a combination of care, commitment, knowledge, responsibility, respect, and trust.” - Bell Hooks - This is her guiding principle.  Love is not a noun, it’s a verb, and when we love people or things, we need to give them our full commitment and dedication.  One cannot be lazy about love. To whom much is given, much will be required (Luke 12:48) Although she was raised in the Catholic faith, Casey really had no use for organized religion and considered herself agnostic by the time she met Tobias.  Three things made her begin to believe in something greater: her near death after the chemical attack, the love she shares with Tobias, and the birth of their first child, Samantha.  She NEVER becomes a bible thumper, nor does she believe there is one "true" religion. She considers herself more spiritual than religious, but this bible quote resonates with her.  Especially after she and Tobias were sure they would share a future together.  Given his level of wealth, she insisted this would be how they would live and raise their daughters. She has a zillion favorite songs, but the four songs that she and Tobias selected for their wedding will forever hold a special place in her heart.  They are All of Me by John Legend, Spend My Life With You by Eric Benet, Every Time I Close My Eyes by Babyface, and You Make Me Feel Brand New by The Stylistics.  Is there anything else you’d like to share about your MC: (It can be why you created them, how they’ve inspired you, or you could write a little blurb as if it is coming from your MC - an acceptance speech. :) ) 

Casey’s sunny demeanor leads most who don’t know her well to believe she has had a charmed life.  But that's not true. Casey made a decision to have a bright outlook - whenever possible - because of the struggles she faced.  Nearly losing her mother at a young age, seeing her family struggle under the mountain of medical debt, and coming to terms with her sexuality were all defining moments of her younger years…. And each one played a part in the anxiety that remains an issue for her throughout her life.  These struggles all left scars but also helped her become the woman she is today. 

Her unlikely romance with Tobias Carrick faced challenges at first, but once they realized that they both accepted that they had found “the one,” they were all in for life. They’re alike in many ways… outgoing, flirtatious, full of life, and, yeah, horny. Lol, But their differences complimented each other.  Tobias is so self-assured, and he helps Casey build her confidence.  Casey’s authenticity helps Tobias get in touch with his authentic self, and together, they live their very best lives.

To learn more about Case, please see her character bio and Casey & Tobias's masterlist.

I wanted to ask you!! Why do so many people complain about Aye being OOC in Our Skyy 2? I mean, he was a bit off compared to The Eclipse Aye, but it's still Aye 🥺🥺🥺 what did you think?

I am, quite possibly, the worst person to ask this because I am one of the people who thought Aye was horribly out of character. You can find a full list of reasons why here, but my biggest pet peeve was simply that no one in their right mind—fictional character or not—would continue the ruse of a surprise party when it’s causing their significant other pain. 

That being said, I have since learned from my Thai teacher that surprise parties are a big deal in Thailand. When I told her I had never had a surprise party (and never wanted one), she was appalled. I don’t know the full cultural context there, but I would be eager to learn. I’m not sure if that fully excuses Aye’s actions, but it does at least soften them a little bit. 

First and Khaotung have both said that they had a lot of input into the Our Skyy episodes, which is fair. This is their goodbye to these characters. They should be able to stretch canon and experiment a little, but I think in doing that, we might have ended up with RPF instead of an Eclipse epilogue. It’s just so FirstKhaotung coded. 

People got super mad at me for saying that, though. Apparently, critiquing the writing of a series—despite being a writer yourself—is *checks notes* homophobic? People in the Aye-is-out-of-character camp were accused of only liking gay characters when they’re being nice, shipping FK instead of AkkAyan, and probably a bunch of other ridiculous things that I didn’t see because I stopped going into the tag.

It’s been months now and I still don’t think I’m wrong about this. I like the episodes for what they are, but I prefer to view them as an AkkAyan AU rather than a direct epilogue to The Eclipse. No hate on people who thought Aye was fully in-character. We’re all entitled to our own opinions. I just don’t see it.

The 'Bashing Fictional Characters' Series– Chapter One, Piper McLean.

Piper McLean, the tomboy daughter of Aphrodite, badass on the battlefield, a classic example of defying her heritage– not. 

Now, don't get me wrong. There are moments where Piper is really brave and shows her worth to the readers– like battling the winter goddess Khione, waking up Festus, using her charm-speak power and her quick thinking to get our favorite boys and girls out of trouble. She's an admirable character, and I don't doubt for a second that the crew needs her. 

I am not her biggest fan in town, but I disagree with people who say that our Argo II team would have survived without her assistance. She's shown to be a huge asset to the crew, and we can leave the honor of uselessness to other characters like Hazel Levesque Octavian NoLastName. Drew Tanaka, who can charmspeak, wouldn't get along with the others and would probably spend the battle staring in the mirror. There is no replacement for Piper in the series.

Now, with those points aside, Piper is a hollow character who Rick Riordan could have done so much for, but decided to make her a female-warrior, a tomboy, a cliche boy obsessed demigod who seems more like the girl of the group than anything. 

The main thing that bothers me about Piper is that half of her chapters seem to revolve around Jason, and how great he is. I mean, she should have been locked up when she said that Percy is unimpressive looking next to the cold hero Jason is (she's absolutely right.) I mean, I get it babe, Jason is hot and everything, but Jason doesn't seem to think about Piper nearly as much as she thinks of him. I know that she likes him, but it seems near-obsessive. Everyone should be proud of their dashing superman boyfriends, for sure, but her constant after-thought of Jason after every sentence just gives me.. icks. If she was nearly as independent as Riordan likes to portray his women in HOO, I think she should be able to look at a desk without comparing the shine of it to Jason's glowy eyes. 

Another pet-peeve of mine is less Piper's fault and more Rick's, but I feel like her character is just like every other girl in the series—hates feminine things, actively ruins and downplays her beauty, and hates being the daughter of Aphrodite. Every girl in the series, like Annabeth, Reyna, Zoe, Thalia, Hazel, seem to have a couple things in common: being rough and tough and tomboyish. It makes you think that you can't be a hero if you like girly things, and I don't think that's fair at all. There is nothing wrong with enjoying normal teenage girl hobbies– I mean, I could totally take out Kronos with my makeup brush. When I was shown Annabeth's casualness to the feminine side of things in the Sea of Monsters, when Percy says that makeup and dresses and braided hair isn't Annabeth, I said, "Fine. Feminine isn't the core of all females. I like how Annabeth is different from how blonde white girls are portrayed in the 2000's." But as time went on, and every girl I met was just like Annabeth, the heat of the anger fell to Piper, the last girl to fall in this pile. (I am aware that Silena Beauregard was a girly-girl and a hero, but she is one of so few.) 

Also, totally unrelated, but her constant bitching, uh, I mean, whining, in the books makes me want to cover my ears, and I'm reading off a page with total silence around me. 

But all of these are minor problems. Other problems, like her being strong enough to put a Giant to sleep, are just minor pet-peeves that are more on Riordan's short thinking than Piper being a lacking character. 

But, the one thing that threw Piper out of the window for me, is her breakup with Jason in the Trials of Apollo. 

As most of you know, Piper and Jason's relationship was fabricated by Hera and Aphrodite. Her dance with Jason on the rooftop and their limited-time dating was a trick of the mist, and she was devastated that everything she knew about him was all in her head. 

But the thing about Piper in HOO was that she spent all the series making up for the faked time. She proved, through all odds, that Jason and her were meant for each other. She refused to let Hera and her mother get in the way of her love for Jason, and that's really admirable– she is utterly in love with Jason, and actively makes up for the wasted time. At the end of the series, we see everything Piper and Jason were supposed to be in the beginning. 

That is something I genuinely loved her for. Against all odds, her love for Jason prevailed, in classic Aphrodite fashion, but it was a sweet and commendable ending. 

And then she broke up with Jason in TOA using the excuse of feeling chained because their relationship was fabricated by Hera and Aphrodite, and wanting to find out who she was without being told by goddesses– What? She spent all of the Heroes of Olympus series making her and Jason's life real. She made up for the fabrication that was her love life and got her ending with Jason, but she ruined it. Like, girl, if you were so stressed about your relationship being a lie, what were you thinking for 5 whole books? Not a single thought for 5 books, and suddenly it's a whole issue behind the scenes. Reyna could have had him if you had made up your damn mind, and gotten her happy ending (/j.)

Then Jason is killed right in front of her before they could reconcile. She then goes on to blame Apollo for this and largely retreats to the sidelines. Appearing at the very end having her rooftop fantasy with some girl that we never met before named Shel.

What just happened? 

Short summary: Piper sucks.