u/merchantivories

while we are all fans of his works, it's undeniable that he isn't as great of a writer as he used to be.

for me, it was somewhere in heroes of olympus. i remember characters like percy and annabeth being OOC there vs in the original series, and i'm NOT talking about the change in POV from first person to third person. blood of olympus was outright terrible.

i recently rewatched the reaping scene -- jlaw's frantic "i volunteer, i volunteer!" line and how prim was screaming while gale was carrying her away were really well done, as well as the whole atmosphere of dread.

however, the whole shaky cam wasn't really done well in the arena scenes. that style was inspired by the action scenes in paul greengrass' bourne films but i don't think they were executed well in the first hunger games film.

i also hate the weird editing cut when she was volunteering -- they clearly had a break in this scene and it's really weird this wasn't edited better

as we all know, this show outright tells the viewer what's gonna happen in the story instead of keeping the same mystery and suspense in the source material -- the characters instantly know which monster they're facing despite them being 12 year olds, they outright tell us that thalia is gonna be revived by the fleece, etc. ... and seriously, i don't expect them to stop this anytime soon, not even with the lead actor claiming that "season 3 is the most accurate yet" (sorry buddy but i don't trust the writers of this show lol)

so, what are your predictions?

in other words, why is the movie version the only "acceptable" version of the character now (according to the fandom)? why are artists not allowed to depict her looking differently from the actress even if they still didn't depict the character as white? is there another character in this series where non-movie interpretations of them are discouraged by the fandom?

i think we can all agree the book series is good, but it does have flaws, and people agree there were some things that held the story back from being mainstream. again, don't get me wrong, the books are popular, but it's not as popular as other IPs. i've made a post about this yesterday, and so far people have pointed out:

• america-centrism. this book series is VERY american. would this book series benefit more if more international locations were included, especially the original ones in greece?
• summer camp setting is not relatable to everyone (i personally never connected to it bc i never went to a summer camp)
• the writing doesn't mature with the audience and characters even regress in terms of character development (percy in senior year adventures)
• the writing/narrative style is not for everyone (it feels too immature for some people). would the story be more appealing for the average person if it was done in a 3rd person, "epic" style?
• pop culture references that feel dated/make the story a period piece instead of timeless. if you were the author, how would you make the story "timeless" instead?
• it sucks to be a demigod (you're constantly in danger) so the escapism isn't as good as other series. CHB is a safe haven, but many demigods have to go back to school and can't live there all the time.

are there other things that can be included in the list? how would you improve them if you were the writer?

i made a post detailing how the movies being terrible adaptations prevented the IP from being mainstream before, but are there elements in the books that hold it back from mainstream popularity? don't get me wrong, this book series is popular (it sold 180m copies, after all) but it doesn't have the cultural footprint the way harry potter, MCU, star wars do.

what are things you've heard people not like/appreciate about the books, and what do you think the books could have done better to have the same mainstream appeal as other IPs?

since rick riordan made many mistakes with how he handled her, how would you write her based on:

• her cherokee heritage?
  • how would you write her as a non-conformist, rebellious character but still cherokee? or would you change her personality?
  • would she still be a vegetarian, or would you change her into a meat-eater (meat is significant in cherokee culture)?
  • would you depict her as connected to her culture as she grew up in a reservation, or raised as disconnected to her culture but attempting to reconnect (in an accurate manner)?
  • would you make her go hunting and fishing with her family? craft-making?
  • would she wear accessories? if so, what would she wear?
  • (i think we can all agree feathers in her hair and depicting her as a kleptomaniac is ❌❌❌)
  • (also i havent read trials of apollo so feel free to add how you'd improve her depiction there)
• her claiming?
  • how would you write aphrodite giving a makeover for piper for her claiming? would you still write her in a dress and gold accessories and makeup like aphrodite wanted (not sexualized though) simply to establish how different she and her mother are? or should she just be given comfortable clothes?
• her relationship with her mother
  • would you write aphrodite as wanting to change piper, or should she just accept piper as how she is?
• her relationship with her father, and how he is depicted
  • would he still disconnect himself from his culture and refuse native american roles for some reason like in the books? or would you change that into him playing them with no problem (and maybe even become an advocate for native american representation in hollywood)?
  • instead of "stealing to get her father's attention", how would you make her try to get his attention instead?
  • additionally, how would you write her relationship with her grandfather?
• her relationship with jason
  • do you like how riordan handled their relationship? if not, what would you change about it? do you still want them to be a couple, or should they only be friends?
  • do you see her relationship with jason as "comphet"? would you write piper as forcing herself to like jason and be in a relationship with him bc of the fake memories, or be genuinely attracted to him like in the books? would she be bi or a lesbian?
  • if you are native american, are you comfortable with a native american female character being paired with a blond-haired, blue eyed, (depicted as white) male character? if not, what kind of love interest would you be comfortable to pair piper with? (asking bc i have seen some native fans express discomfort over this pairing and i think it's valid)

in heroes of olympus, he pairs leo (16) and calypso (looks 16 but is thousands of years old). in kane chronicles, he pairs sadie (13) with anubis (looks 16 but is also thousands of years old, he >!and walt (16) become one by the end of the series though)!<. how do you feel about these age gaps?

if they actually cared about creeps they wouldn't support miller and leto, but we all know they don't actually care about what's right or seeking justice for the victims... they're only weaponizing it so they can justify their hatred for gunn. sure, he made a few edgy jokes before, but he hasn't actually done anything that's truly cancellable. hence why they have to lie about him to do so

i hope they get called out more for spreading career-damaging lies about gunn. the lies they make up for him are truly horrendous