khgirl08

What's up, guys?  If you haven't read House of Hades yet (or haven't gotten to what is probably the most polarizing point in the book, about two hundred pages in or so), you may not want to read this.

So, a lot of you seem to be unhappy with a certain revelation about Nico.  You seem to be angry at Riordan, at Nico's character, at the whole situation as if it has completely ruined the series forever and nothing will ever be the same.  "It never happened", you say, "Nico and Jason never went to visit Cupid.  Nope, it's not true.  And it's especially not true that we found out something about Nico's sexual orientation there, because of COURSE Nico's straight!  He's a major character, he can't be g-g-homosexual!"

To all of you, I say the following:

Nico hasn't changed.

I'll say it again:  Nico hasn't changed.

This revelation is simply that: a revelation.  It's kind of a post-event plot twist for the latter few books in the first series, but it doesn't inherently change anything about him.  His motivations haven't really changed, except that he's now afraid he'll be outed by Jason to the rest of the group.  You can look back at his character and see that, yes, maybe those tortured expressions and that hatred of Annabeth make more sense, but that doesn't change any of his actions.  He's not suddenly jumping around in a frilly pink leotard and batting sparkling eyelids at Percy.

His reason for saving Percy from Hades' prison, for helping the Demigods against Kronos, and for not telling the others about Camp Jupiter are the same.  Nico is the same, sensitive person he's always been, wears the same drab clothes and gloomy expression that he always has, and has the same badass Stygian iron sword he's always had.  He's going to continue to interact with Percy the same way that he always did (which, if you'll remember, has always included a lot of angst and guilt and drama).  Until Percy finds out that Nico likes him and not Annabeth, nothing in their relationship will change one way or another.

The only reason you are so angry is because you're afraid that Nico's entire existence is now going to be to push the acceptance of homosexuality onto us impressionable readers.  After all, it's a hot-button issue right now.

What if I told you that homosexuality has been around for pretty much ever?  We even met the West Wind and explored his backstory of manlove.  Having a gay character in a story about the Greek and Roman gods won't banalize it.  It might make it a little more true to the original.

You're angry that Nico's going to change now.  Guess what?  I'm here to tell you that he'll stay the same.  It just gives us another lens through which to view his character.

And that's never a bad thing.

I'm now certified to teach English as a Second Language. 

On top of that, I also played Grand Theft Auto for the first time on Friday night.  This is important because it forced me to brush up on my reaction time.  This is important because on Saturday morning I nearly got hit by a semi-truck on my way to class and only survived because I was able to swerve into the median when he came over into my lane.  Destroyed my car's alignment and shocks and got me a slight concussion and terrible whiplash, but both me and my car are mostly intact.  I credit this to my lovely friend who forced me to play GTA for several hours when I stayed over at his house.  Thank you, lovely friend!

My concussion is actually impeding me in a lot of ways, unfortunately.  I can look at a screen that's far away for a while without it hurting too badly, but I can't stay on a computer for more than twenty minutes or so without it hurting like mad.  Also, I can't read irl books without my vision blurring.  That last part in particular is driving me insane, but if a sore head and not being able to read is the alternative to death...I'll deal with it.

Now I just have to get back into the writing swing while I start applying for jobs in Japan.

...in Japan.

Japan.

Is this even real life?

I'm going back to college for all of three week...ends.     I'm also weirdly nervous about that, because it's been over a year since I've had any sort of schooling and I have an inkling that I'm going to be an old fart in a room full of youngsters (gosh, I already sound old just saying that!).

But waiting for me at the end of eighteen hours of class a week and an additional forty hours of online work will be a shiny license that proves I have the stuff it takes to teach abroad.  I'm weirdly torn between ing and ing  at the prospect of leaving home for a year to live in an entirely foreign country.  I mean, I spent three months in an English uni during my undergrad, and that wasn't bad at all, but it was also pretty close to how we live here in America.  Everyone speaks English, the food isn't that different, the culture is largely the same...facing a society that speaks an entirely new language and has completely different customs is so amazing and terrifying at the same time.

In other words, as I gear up for my first day of class and my first step towards a new adventure, I could use some positive vibes or prayers sent in my way so my brain doesn't start leaking out my ears or something.

Can I just say that I hate baseless criticism?  I mean, obviously everybody does, and I don't mean to suggest that I hate it particularly more than other people do, but I just...I really really hate it.

If something is honestly wrong with a piece of my writing, as in I used the wrong form of "your/you're" or I left the "u" out of "beautiful" or something so severe as my main character being a Mary Sue or my plot not being given the time and space to come to a proper conclusion, that's one thing.  I want, no, I need people to tell me about that.

What I don't need is reviews like the following:

"Please stop writing now, you can write an alternate universe but you are getting basic magical concepts wrong; badly wrong.  Just stop even trying because, you suck."

Okay, what "basic magical concept" am I utterly destroying?  Why should making this one supposedly-grievous error stop me from trying to write?  Is there any way I can improve on it?  Is there anything good about my writing?  Why didn't you sign in to your real account so I could respond?  Who died and left to you the responsibility of giving vague, demeaning reviews rife with punctuation abuse and misuse to stories?

It's hard enough finding the motivation to write when I'm barely getting feedback without the only feedback being a negative, possibly troll-spawned review.  I know I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but this kind of response happens too often on submissions all over the 'net, not just on my stuff.  I see nothing wrong with being gently critical, but instead of just pointing and saying "lol u suck @ writing loser go kill urself" (I got that review as a 15 year old, and I didn't post anything for over two years) or something similar, point out the major problem areas and either offer to help the writing who you're currently flambeing or just give them a quick tip or two.  It isn't hard, and it's much better for self-esteem and the community at large.

And, for the record, I don't have a thin skin when it comes to my writing.  I know I need to improve upon it and have a long road ahead of me before I'm even close to perfection, but reviews like the ones quoted above just make me want to give up and chuck my keyboard out the window.

'laine out, yo.

I'm crying.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtLkym…

Anyone want to geek out with my while I try to regain some normal semblance of life?  Thanks.